Construction in Judea and Samaria up a whopping 660%
Arutz Sheva [settler news site – apologies for using it] 1 Sept — About 75,000 new homes are under construction in all of Israel right now, a government agency said Wednesday. With the end of the building freeze, construction has started up in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) communities. In fact, said the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), building jumped 660% in Judea and Samaria during the first half of 2011, as compared to the previous year. While the statistic was certainly breathtaking, the actual numbers on the ground were less impressive: Construction started on 546 new homes in Yesha communities during the period. Still, it was a sharp improvement over the number of housing starts in the first half of 2010, when only 72 housing starts were announced.
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing
Turkish journalists pay an Eid visit to Jerusalem lawmakers
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 2 Sept — Palestinian-Jerusalemite lawmakers in a sit-in tent for more than 450 days have received Turkish journalists working as volunteers in the Jordan-based Al-Sabeel newspaper who paid them an Eid visit on the second day of Eid … MP Ahamd Atton, MP Mohammed Tutah, and former Jerusalem minister Khaled Abu Arafa had been in the sit-in tent for nearly 500 days rejecting an Israeli decision to deport them out of their hometown. Abu Arafa explained that the sit-in was the only means for them to resist the Israeli decision, adding that their firm stand has helped in derailing the Israeli policy of deporting Palestinian Jerusalemites out of the city and make it empty of Arabs, in addition to embarrassing the Israeli occupation authorities before the international community.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7bJigBGKMRM3psLD733n3WGhYqSLuhapSLwGiPgC%2f1kubqgP1EsRkz%2fw51vHXVZ9pMO%2beAGQEqrY9uzL8tt344iu5HL%2fp3kexcSZmUHne4Qs%3d
Bedouins near Ramallah face double-edged sword by Israeli settlers / Amira Hass
Haaretz 2 Sept — The new school year will open on Sunday at Palestinian schools in the West Bank and Gaza Strip including the Bedouin school in the village of Khan al-Ahmar near Jerusalem. But the nearby Jewish settlement of Kfar Adumim seeks to have the school, which has attracted attention around the world because it is made of tires and mud, demolished. Kfar Adumim and its satellite settlements of Shchunat Alon and Nofei Prat filed a petition on August 1 seeking a court order that would require the Israel Defense Forces and the IDF Civil Administration to explain why the school had not already been demolished in accordance with an order by the Civil Administration in the summer of 2009.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/bedouins-near-ramallah-face-double-edged-sword-by-israeli-settlers-1.382053
will we see the day when Israel does something like this?
Turkey announces return of properties to non-Muslim minorities
VOA 30 Aug — Turkey has announced the return of hundreds of properties seized by the state from Christians and Jews over the past seven decades. The move is being described as a landmark decision for the country’s non-Muslim minorities and a major boost to the country’s much-troubled bid to join the European Union. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the decision to return hundreds of properties to non-Muslim communities is about righting a wrong made against them. He spoke Sunday at a dinner attended by the leaders of Turkey’s Christian and Jewish faiths.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Turkey-Announces-Return-of-Properties-to-Non-Muslim-Minorities-128712928.html
PA asks IOA to confiscate Palestinian lands
RAMALLAH (PIC) 2 Sept — The Palestinian Authority in Ramallah city has urged the Israeli occupation authorities to confiscate Palestinian land in the city after owners of the land refused to sell it to them to use is as dumping site, the local Watan TV channel reported. According to the channel, the incident wasn’t isolated asserting that a couple of months ago, Hassan Abo Libda, the minister of economy in Fayyadh government, urged the IOA to confiscate Palestinian lands in the industrial zone in Jenin city after owners of the land refused to sell it. Abo Libda is now on trial on corruption charges.
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/pa-asks-ioa-to-confiscate-palestinian-lands/
Settlers
Fatal hit-and-run driver detained near Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 2 Sept — Hebron police tracked down a hit-and-run driver who killed a 10 year-old boy on Thursday, a statement said. Muhammad Ghannam was standing at the side of the road in Yatta, a village south of Hebron, when a car ran him over and killed him on the spot, the police public relations department said. The driver escaped from the scene and switched cars to avoid detection, police said, but an investigation led to his arrest.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=417203
Settlers plan attacks against Palestinians in September
IMEMC 2 Sept — As Israel decided to further arm the settlers by providing them with stun grenades and tear gas bombs, the settlers, supported by extremist right wing factions in Israel, are preparing a plan to “respond to any popular Palestinian move that will likely take place as the Palestinian leadership asks the United Nations this month to recognize a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital. Extremist right-wing factions in Israel are preparing a plan dubbed “children against children, women and [against?] women”, as part of settlers’ activities and attacks against the unnamed Palestinian population in the West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem. Jewish settlers, illegally living in the occupied territories, are a largely armed population and well trained for combat situations. The settlers currently own more than half a million automatic rifles, and practically unlimited amounts of ammunition.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61930
Armed settlers attack West Bank village
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 2 Sept — Armed Israeli settlers attacked Jalud village south of Nablus on Friday demanding that villagers leave their homes, a Palestinian official said. Clashes broke out and Israeli police arrived on the scene, where they fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse villagers, Ghassan Doughlas, the Fatah official charged with monitoring settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma‘an. The settlers, from a small outpost near Jalud called Ahiya, attacked homes and properties, Doughlas said … A spokeswoman from Israel’s Judea and Samaria Police said groups of Palestinians and Israeli settlers from Ahiya gathered “to protest about each other.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=417253
Israel court rejects settlers’ eviction appeal
JERUSALEM (AFP) 2 Sept — Israel’s Supreme Court on Thursday turned down for the second time a request for a retrial over the fate of a building owned by settlers in the flashpoint East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. It also reprimanded the Jewish settlers living there for failing to heed earlier court rulings demanding that they evacuate the building, which is located in the heart of a densely populated Palestinian neighborhood…. In their petition, the settlers claimed the authorities were discriminating against them, citing the fact that demolition orders against hundreds of Palestinian homes in the same neighborhood were not being reinforced.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=417200
Israeli forces / Closures
PCHR Weekly Report 18-24 August: 17 killed by Israeli forces, including 5 civilians
IMEMC 2 Sept — …During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed 17 Palestinians, including 5 civilians (two children, a physician, a worker and a farmers), in the Gaza Strip. They also wounded 20 Palestinians, including 6 children and two women in the Gaza Strip, and 3 others in the West Bank. Additionally, an activist of the Palestinian resistance died of a previous wound in the Gaza Strip.
During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 27 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they abducted 77 Palestinian civilians. [Note that not all of the 27 invasions were reported here or, apparently, anywhere else, at least not in English – by now they are too numerous to keep track of.] Most of the detainees were abducted in Hebron. Two Palestinian civilians were wounded by Israeli forces in Hebron and Bethlehem.
and much more…
http://www.imemc.org/article/61932
Israeli harassment campaign masquerades as murder probe in Jenin theatre / Jillian Kestler-D’Amours
JERUSALEM (IPS) 2 Sept — Israeli soldiers and security forces have conducted a string of arrests and violent raids at Jenin’s renowned Freedom Theater over recent weeks, in their investigation into the murder of actor and director Juliano Mer-Khamis. According to those close to the theater, however, the Israeli authorities’ actions hint at a purpose other than solving the ongoing murder investigation: impeding the work of the theater itself.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-harassment-campaign-masquerades-murder-probe-jenin-theater/10341
Those ungrateful Palestinians / Adam Keller
CrazyCountry 2 Sept – Yesterday was celebrated throughout the Muslim world – including the Palestinian Occupied Territories – the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the month of Ramadan. And with the end of this month there also came to their end the special Ramadan easing of restrictions which the state of Israel and its armed forces granted the Palestinian population on the occasion of Ramadan … As at the time reported proudly on the Israel Defense Forces blog, it was decreed that no less than 200 Palestinians be allowed to travel abroad via Ben Gurion Airport; that during Ramadan the Beit Mishpat crossing to Ramallah be open to Palestinian traffic, as would be Gate 107 near Qalqiliya; and that during Ramadan, trucks carrying supplies will be able to travel freely between the Judea and Samaria Region and the Jordan Valley. Also, in a most generous good will gesture, it was decreed that for the duration of the Ramadan period, no less than 2,000 Palestinians be able to pray at Temple Mount during weekdays.
http://adam-keller2.blogspot.com/2011/09/those-ungrateful-palestinians.html
Extrajudicial killings
[Excerpts regarding extra-legal executions from] PCHR weekly report on human right violations in the occupied Palestinian Territory 18-24 August
PCHR 25 Aug — In the Gaza Strip, a few hours following the armed attack in Eilat, on Thursday evening, IOF extra-judicially executed 5 members of the Popular Resistance Committees and the child of one of them in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.
On Wednesday, 24 August 2011, IOF extra-judicially executed a leader of the Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) in Rafah. A passing child was wounded.
http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7679
WikiLeaks: IDF uses drones to assassinate Gaza militants
Haaretz 2 Sept — The IDF uses weaponized unmanned aircraft to assassinate militants, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks. The IDF Advocate-General Maj. Gen. Avichai Mandelblit revealed this information to the previous U.S. Ambassador to Israel James Cunningham in a meeting that took place in February 2010 … One of the incidences of civilians deaths that they two discussed was the IDF attack on a group of Hamas members who were standing next to a mosque in Gaza. 16 Palestinians were killed in that attack, most of whom were inside the mosque at the time. The summary of the meeting that was sent to Washington stated, “Mandelblit said that the facts were known: A UAV shot at two Hamas fighters in front of the mosque and 16 casualties resulted inside the mosque due to an open door through which shrapnel entered during a time of prayer.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/wikileaks-idf-uses-drones-to-assassinate-gaza-militants-1.382269
Gaza
Egypt envoy: No plan to demolish Gaza tunnels
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 2 Sept — Egypt has denied plans to demolish tunnels on the border with Gaza. Yasser Othman, ambassador to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, said Friday that no decision had been taken about the tunnels. The plan is to restore security in the Sinai and the border area — not to tighten the siege on Gaza, he says. He said the security campaign in the tunnel area will only target areas which threaten Palestinian and Egyptian security. He also said that restoring security in the northern Sinai would help Egypt improve facilities at the Rafah crossing.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=417261
‘O brother where art thou!’
HopeinGaza 1 Sept — Back In 2003, my eldest brother Tawfiq travelled to Jordan to study ‘Biomedical Engineering’ there. He came to visit us in Gaza two times ever since. The first, I don’t remember when while the second was in 2006 for my sister’s wedding. After that he never came to Gaza until a week ago. The time between 2008-2011, each time we would call him we would ask him the very same old question about visiting us again, and he would reply with the very same old ready answer, “Hey, why don’t you come to Gaza this summer?” “I would really love to, but you know ‘borders.'” “Don’t tell me borders I hear it’s open, come to Gaza we miss you” “I wish, but I have a job now and I can’t jeopardize being stuck there. One day it’s open the next it’s closed until further notice” by the time, questions became a little shorter.. “wanna come to Gaza?” “borders.” Until we barely even used words “GAZA??” “Borders!”
http://hopeingaza.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/o-brother-where-art-thou/
Activism / Solidarity / BDS
Video: Ni‘lin demonstration met with violent response
PSP 2 Sept — Volunteers from PSP today joined residents of Ni‘lin in their weekly demonstration against the apartheid wall. Around twenty protesters marched from the village to the illegal wall, and a short speech was given, denouncing the theft of Ni‘lin’s land. The Israeli military stationed in a guard tower behind the wall responded with several dozen volleys of teargas, which left some protesters suffering from teargas inhalation. One of the canisters also set light to an area of the olive grove. Thankfully, protesters managed to extinguish the blaze.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/09/02/nilin-demonstration-met-with-violent-response/
VIDEO: BDS activists disrupt Israel Philharmonic Orchestra 5 times tonight at BBC Proms, London
1 Sept — Protesters have disrupted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s BBC Proms concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Several demonstrators in the hall shouted as Zubin Mehta stood to conduct Bruch’s violin concerto. The rest of the audience booed in response. BBC Radio 3 said it had to interrupt its live broadcast twice “as a result of sustained audience disturbance”. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign had earlier called on people to boycott the concert and urged the BBC to cancel it. In a statement published on its website ahead of the Proms, the pro-Palestinian group claimed the IPO showed “complicity in whitewashing Israel’s persistent violations of international law and human rights”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrjvUkt7zKA
VIDEOS: Protesters interrupted Passacaglia w/ Beethoven (more on Israel Philharmonic protest in London) / Eleanor Kilroy
Mondoweiss 2 Sept — …As the orchestra played Passacaglia, Op. 1 by Webern, the group calling themselves ‘Beethovians for Boycotting Israel’ positioned themselves in the choir stalls so they could be seen by the audience. To the tune of Ode to Joy by Beethoven they sang: Israel, end your occupation: / There’s no peace on stolen land. / We’ll sing out for liberation / ’till you hear and understand. / Ethnic cleansing and apartheid / Should belong to history. / Human rights cannot be silenced: / Palestine will soon be free.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/09/protesters-interrupted-passacaglia-w-beethoven-more-on-israel-philharmonic-protest-in-london.html
BBC Proms radio broadcast pulled after Israel protest
Telegraph 1 Sept — The BBC was forced to pull a live Proms performance off air on Thursday night after a performance by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was disrupted by protesters. The orchestra was due to perform at the prestigious BBC Proms in London despite calls for a boycott of its performance. But the live broadcast of the performance was pulled from air after protesters interrupted the concert at the Royal Albert Hall, west London. A BBC spokeswoman confirmed the live broadcast had been taken off air on Radio 3 “as a result of sustained audience disruption”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/proms/8736402/BBC-Proms-radio-broadcast-pulled-after-Israel-protest.html
Hasbara
Thus spake the spokesman / Doron Rosenblum
Or, Diary of the Spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office. Haaretz 2 Sept — …A little disappointed with the new job. Appears I am not the only spokesman, or even one of three – but one of more than 100, seated in a 50-20-30 attack formation that’s divided more or less as follows: 50 online commenters (27 anti-opposition and 23 anti-media ), 20 explainers (nine internal coalition spokesmen and 11 external ones, who also serve as Nazi hunters and identifiers of anti-Semites worldwide ), 30 deputy director generals of PR and Spokesman Affairs, including 17 personal spokesmen of the prime minister and five for his wife. Then there are two spokesmen whose job is to coordinate denials among the aforementioned groups and MK Akunis, the coalition’s unofficial spokesman and the prime minister’s in-house denier.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/thus-spake-the-spokesman-1.382195
Racism / Discrimination
Muslim workers at Israel’s Hebrew University forced to work on Eid
Haaretz 2 Sept — More than 50 employees required to work despite the holiday, which ran from Tuesday through Thursday, without receiving the 150-percent overtime pay that is mandated by law for work on religious holidays — Muslims throughout the world this week celebrated Id al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, but the Muslims employed as cleaners on the Hebrew University’s Mt. Scopus campus in Jerusalem reported to work as usual … Workers said they were threatened with dismissal if they refused to work through the holiday.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/muslim-workers-at-israel-s-hebrew-university-forced-to-work-on-ramadan-1.382061
Tel Aviv joins other Israeli districts in opening segregated schools
IMEMC 1 Sept — The Tel Aviv municipality in western Israel has become the latest of a dozen school districts in Israel to force children to attend schools segregated by race and nationality … A number of school districts in the last several years have forced students into separate schools based on the students’ nationality, religion or ethnicity. Some schools have specifically excluded Africans, even though many of the Africans in Israel are Jewish. The issue of segregated schools is one that has been raised by activists worldwide who have challenged what they call Israel’s ‘apartheid’ practices — a reference to the race-based system in South Africa prior to 1994.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61928
Turkey and Israel
Turkey president: Expulsion of Israeli envoy is just the first step
Haaretz 2 Sept — The expulsion of Israel’s ambassador over an Israel Defense Forces raid of a Turkish aid flotilla is just one step in many possible measures taken against Israel if it persists in its refusal to apologize for the incident, Turkish President Abdullah Gül said on Friday. Gül’s comments came just hours after Turkish Foreign Minister announced the downscale of diplomatic relations with Jerusalem, saying the move was a direct response to Israel’s refusal to apologize for the deaths of nine Turkish nationals in the May 2010 raid … Additionally, Davutoğlu announced the cancellation of all defense contracts between Israel and Turkey, adding that Ankara would both initiate legal action against the Gaza blockade in international courts, as well as aid families of those killed in the Gaza flotilla raid in seeking litigation against Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/turkey-president-expulsion-of-israeli-envoy-is-just-the-first-step-1.382232
Israel: We hope to mend ties but will not apologize for Gaza flotilla
A senior source in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated that Israel will endeavor to mend frayed ties with the Turkish government and people, but that it will not apologize for the deaths of 9 Turkish activists, who it says were only killed by IDF soldiers in self-defence.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-we-hope-to-mend-turkey-ties-but-will-not-apologize-for-gaza-flotilla-1.382240
Turkey vows to take legal action against Israel
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) 2 Sept — Turkey said on Friday it will seek to prosecute all Israelis responsible for crimes committed during an Israeli raid on a ship bound for the Gaza Strip that killed nine Turks in May 2010. “Turkey will take legal actions against the Israeli soldiers and all other officials responsible for the crimes committed and pursue the matter resolutely,” Turkey’s embassy in Washington said in a statement.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110902/wl_nm/us_israel_turkey_un
Israel forms team to fight lawsuits over flotilla attack
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 2 Sept – Israel has decided to form a special legal team to fight possible lawsuits against its military staff in the international criminal courts. The Israeli Attorney General and Ministry of Justice have been bracing for likely lawsuits against Israel’s military personnel who participated in the lethal attack of the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara ship that killed nine activists on board, Israeli media outlets said. According to reports, the team consisting of legal experts and consultants will weigh all judicial and legal dimensions enveloping the possibility. The Israeli military leadership has already officially approved the move
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/israel-forms-team-to-fight-lawsuits-over-flotilla-attack/
Israeli Arab MKs laud Turkey move to expel Israeli envoy over Gaza flotilla
Haaretz 2 Sept — …In response to the Turkish announcement, two of the Knesset’s leading Israeli Arab voices later Friday voiced support of the decision to expel the Israeli envoy to Ankara, with United Arab List-Ta’al chairman Ahmed Tibi saying that “these days, whoever kills pays,” adding that “eventually, Israeli arrogance will lead to an apology by the most extreme and arrogant of Israel’s governments.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-arab-mks-laud-turkey-move-to-expel-israeli-envoy-over-gaza-flotilla-1.382225
Turkey to host NATO early warning radar
Reuters 2 Sept — Turkey is set to host a NATO early-warning radar system as part of improved defenses for the Western military alliance, the foreign ministry said on Friday.
Turkey, with NATO’s second biggest military, has a geo-strategic importance to the alliance dating back to its role as a front-line state in the Cold War era. But its value to NATO has risen as Middle East states with anti-Western policies, like Iran, have developed their missile capabilities.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4117134,00.html
US and Israel
US-Israel joint training on the increase, missile defense cooperation accelerates
JINSA 31 Aug — The Israel Defense Force’s two premier training bases recently saw some 200 U.S. Marines spend a month improving their counter-terror and urban combat skills alongside Israeli troops. At nearly the same time, the U.S. Army announced that in May 2012 it intends to hold Austere Challenge, one of the largest joint exercises in the history of the two countries that will take place in Israel. Just as significant, the annual U.S.-Israel Juniper Cobra missile defense exercises will take place just before the joint IDF-U.S. Army exercise.
http://www.jinsa.org/publications/research-articles/us-israel-cooperation/us-israel-joint-training-increase-missile-defen
American taxpayers subsidize Israel’s ascendancy over the US / Alison Weir
CNI 1 Sept –Israel’s prosperity grows at the expense of Americans — Israel’s Jerusalem Post newspaper recently published an article calling Israel “The New Golden Country” for young people from around the world. It reports that Israel boasts an ever-increasing GDP, a strong currency, and a “lower unemployment rate than the US.” The article fails to mention the well over $3 billion a year that American taxpayers have given Israel for years, nor the fact that some of this money has been used to develop industries that compete with US companies, costing thousands of American jobs and adding to the American unemployment rate. The story also omits the fact that Israel has periodically stolen US technology, hurting the US economy still more, and fails to note that support for Israel has cost Americans in the range of $3-$6 trillion and that these costs continue to escalate. The article reports that many young Jewish American singles “are realizing that their future is in Israel. Since 2002, over 7,000 students and young professionals have made Aliyah [“ascended” to Israeli citizenship] from North America and the UK… bringing with them their skills…”
http://www.councilforthenationalinterest.org/component/k2/item/695-american-taxpayers-subsidize-israel%E2%80%99s-ascendancy-over-the-us.html
Other news
Protesters near Netanyahu’s residence: Israel’s economy is killing us, not rockets
Haaretz 2 Sept — Israel’s socio-economic issues pose the greatest threat to the safety of its citizens, not the threat of terrorist attacks, protesters said in a rally near the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem on Friday. The rally was composed of about ten participants, all of whom marched to Jerusalem from the southern city of Be’er Sheva to protest what they called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to thwart a recent wave of social unrest by focusing on renewed tensions along the southern front with the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/protesters-near-netanyahu-s-residence-israel-s-economy-is-killing-us-not-rockets-1.382176
Barak: Israel can’t cut defense budget to meet social demands
Haaretz 1 Sept — Defense Minister comments come amid calls to slash defense spending in wake of recent social protests … In an interview with The Marker, Barak stated that the Defense Ministry is already cutting its NIS 40 billion budget, but that the Israeli social protesters will not find their “salvation” in said cuts. “There is no possibility to implement these cuts to assist the public without exposing Israeli citizens to danger,” said Barak.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/barak-israel-can-t-cut-defense-budget-to-meet-social-demands-1.381945
Analysis / Opinion
Inside the factually challenged UN report on Israel’s flotilla massacre / Max Blumenthal
Al-Akhbar 2 Sept — The much anticipated United Nations Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Inquiry on the 31 May 2010 Flotilla Incident was published today. The investigative committee that produced the report, known as the Palmer commission, had no power to subpoena documents or witnesses — it relied mostly on the public record and had to contend with Israeli intransigence. Thus the report, which faulted Israel but was marred by factual inaccuracies, was not factually or legally binding.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/max-blumenthal/inside-factually-challenged-un-report-israels-flotilla-massacre
VIDEO: Best J14 animation ever – ‘The Israel Machine’ / Noam Sheizaf
972mag 2 Sept –There have been many inspiring or funny J14 videos posted in recent weeks, but this one is by far the best, getting all the important issues–from militarism through the deportation of migrant workers and refugees to the Separation Wall–wrapped to one and a half minutes.Watch it with sound. The characters at the top of the machine, by order of appearance, are PM Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud), Foreign Minster Avigdor Lieberman (Israel Beitenu), Interior Minister Eli Yishay (Shas), Defense Minister Ehud Barak (ex-Labor) and Opposition leader Tzipi Livni (Kadima). The handles they are dancing on state their role. The caption on the Youtube page with the video says “instead of changing seats, let’s change the system.”
http://972mag.com/best-j14-animation-ever-the-israeli-machine/
Video: Palestinian rights absent from Israeli protest demands / Lia Tarachavsky
Real News 31 Aug — The Real News’ Lia Tarachansky teamed up with Ha’aretz journalist David Sheen during last Saturday’s protests to talk to demonstrators about why in the fight for social justice they are avoiding speaking about equal rights to all citizens of Israel, let alone the occupation of the Palestinian territories. Tarachansky also interviewed +972 Magazine’s Joseph Dana and Muhammad Jabali, an activist who, part of the J14 movement, set up protest tents in the mixed Israeli-Palestinian city of Yafa.
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=7238
The September journey Part 1: Why I’m heading off / Yuval Ben-Ami
[photos in parts 2 and 3] 972mag 31 Aug — Staying on the move in Israel and the Palestinian Territories through a month of trial. Here’s an attempt at explaining why this is a good idea … The twin tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and their respective leaderships now reach their month of trial, and the omnipresent tension between the two groups is rumored to be more explosive than ever, which is why I have my bag packed. My plan is to get on the road and move incessantly throughout the month: through Israel, through the West Bank, crossing between the two as often as possible, posting my observations as often as possible, trying to chart out this unique period from street level. I will use public transportation, hitchhike and walk. take as many photos as I can and yes, try to stay safe despite everything. [The first three reports:]
http://972mag.com/the-september-journey-part-1-why-im-heading-off/
http://972mag.com/the-september-journey-part-2-what-are-the-chances/
http://972mag.com/the-september-journey-part-3-invisible-cities/
Dogs of war / Uri Avnery
Gush Shalom 3 Sept — Such terrifying dogs have not been seen since the Hound of the Baskervilles. They have been bred by an ardent admirer of the late ‘Rabbi’ Meir Kahane, who was branded by the Israeli Supreme Court as a fascist. Their task is to protect the settlements and attack Palestinians. They are settler-dogs, or, rather, dog-settlers. All our TV stations have reported on them at length and lauded their effectiveness and ardor. All in preparation for “September”. September is not just the name of a month, the seventh in the old Roman calendar. It is the symbol of a terrible danger, an unspeakable existential menace. In the next few weeks, the Palestinians will ask the UN to recognize the State of Palestine.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1314963921/
WikiLeaks documents expose Israeli racism, hypocrisy, and double standards
MEMO 2 Sept — …While the overt views of Israeli officials and their American allies are hardly well-kept secrets, the cables shed additional light on their intent and attitudes. According to the record of a meeting with the US ambassador on 31 January 2006, for example, Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman advocated the adoption of the Cyprus model to ensure Israel’s security and Jewish identity. Thus, just as Greeks and Turks on the island were separated, so too Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs must be kept apart. Despite the obvious draconian nature of Lieberman’s proposal, it did not evoke a word of protest or any sense of apprehension from the ambassador. There was no reference to what the views of the people affected might be or, indeed, that they would even be consulted.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/resources/commentary-and-analysis/2780-wikileaks-documents-expose-israeli-racism-hypocrisy-and-double-standards
A tale of two Gaza flotilla reports / Yousef Munayyer
Permission to Narrate 2 Sept — …Due to the impact of the Goldstone Report on Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, it is only natural that this report will be seen through the prism of the Goldstone experience and in comparison to it. But in reality, this Palmer Report (named for the leader of the inquiry Sir Geoffery Palmer) and the Goldstone Report are two very different things … It is important to note the differences between the two reports, not only because of their starkly contrasting conclusions about the events on the flotilla and the Israeli blockade, but also because of their methodologies and intentions. Below, I enumerate some important differences between the newly released Palmer Report and what I will refer to as the Hudson-Phillips report for consistency and expediency.
http://blog.thejerusalemfund.org/2011/09/tale-of-two-gaza-flotilla-reports.html
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