Amsterdam Dutchman, sociologist, journalist, interested in the War of Ideas in the Middle East. This user account status is Approved Comments Comments Posts Posts In support of Sweden's FM Margot Wallström. Send the below text to the Swedish Embassy in your country. E-mail addresses of Swedish embassies and consulates worldwide are listed here: http://www.swedenabroad.com/en-GB/Embassies/ To the attention of Ms Margot Wallström, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Sweden Dear Mrs. Wallström, I have taken notice of your stance on the necessity to investigate Israel’s extrajudicial killings of Palestinians. I have also noted the shameful reactions of Israeli leaders and others. It's the ferocity and disgrace of these reactions that urge me to speak out in support of your remarks and integrity. I support your position that Israel should be held accountable for what are in fact proven extrajudicial killings. Amnesty International and other organisations have provided plenty of evidence, as in the case of Hadeel al-Hashlamoun, the young Palestinian woman who was executed point blank by the Israeli army. Much of this evidence is available online, ranging from reports to video's and testimonies. They make clear that these killings are no exception, but part and parcel of the structural Israeli mistreatment of Palestinians. Its not that we don't know about the Israeli atrocities. The problem is that we refuse to act on them. As a result the Palestinians pay the price and Israel goes unpunished – giving the country carte blanche to proceed, which is exactly what we are witnessing. This is why I applaud your principled stance. If no one acts, the remains of the Palestinian society will be destroyed before our eyes. I regret that the Foreign Minister of my own country has not acted, and has not expressed his support for Sweden. Please be informed that I will urge him to correct these failures. Sincerely, [name, city, country] On Israeli mayors initiate boycott of Sweden over foreign minister’s criticism [“My point is that the original Times article included the familial details that Phil Weiss omitted. It’s about context guys, c-o-n-t-e-x-t.”] Well then: in the even more original articles in the Dutch press Mr Zanoli is talking about ‘my family’ and ‘my family members, murdered by the State of Israel’. Some more context? Mr Zanoli is the great-uncle of a Dutch diplomat, Mrs Angélique Eijpe, stationed at the Dutch Embassy in Oman. She is married to a Palestinian, Mr Ismail Ziada. Six of his relatives were killed in the Israeli airstrike: three brothers, his mother (a refugee in 1948), a sister-in-law and a nephew. The Dutch-Palestinian couple didn’t see their relatives for four years: they didn’t get permission from the Israeli authorities to travel to Gaza, and the relatives didn’t get permission to leave Gaza. Why? Nobody knows. The airstrike on the family got a lot of attention in the Dutch press. On Man who saved Jewish boy in Holocaust acts to save Israel from ‘racist… quagmire’ Another tunnel mystery: In the Dutch press there have been at least three reports (the first dated July 31th) stating that Israel knew about the ‘terrorist tunnels’ for years. People from several kibbutzim near the Gaza border stated in these reports that they heard people digging below their feet years ago, that they informed the IDF and the authorities, but that no one bothered. But all of a sudden, at the start of the Gaza offensive, Israel ‘discovered’ the tunnels, acting surprised and claiming they were an immense threat and had to be destroyed immediately, whatever the costs (for the population of Gaza). Did Israel keep the discovery a secret, to be revealed at a suitable occasion - as a pretext for a military operation? What are your thoughts, dear readers? Have the statements of the kibbutzniks been publicized in the USA (or elsewhere) in the first place? On How many Israeli civilians have been attacked from the Gaza tunnels? Any? Mahane, It is a shame those walls, fences and checkpoints don’t stop the terrorists. This morning they killed a man just south of Nablus. And on Yom al-Nakba they killed two boys in Beitunia. On Teju Cole continues eye-opening tour of occupied Palestine Ivri, is it really that difficult to understand what Amnesty is talking about? And if you want to talk about the casualties of the Second Intifada, be my guest: the number of Palestinian casualties was three times the number of Israeli casualties. What about that? On Cut off arms to Israel, Amnesty Int’l says, citing 22 civilians killed at protests last year Speaking about BDS: the pension fund of Luxembourg’s government workers has added all five of Israel’s major banks and several top Israeli firms to its list of banned investment targets. Source: i24 news: http://tinyurl.com/mt3f6q7 On Boycotting the land you love: Israeli activist Leehee Rothschild on BDS and the struggle for Palestinian rights There is a petition called ‘ABP Stop Funding Apartheid!’ online. The text starts like this: ‘We, the undersigned - researchers, teachers, professors, workers in [Dutch] educational institutions, and symphatizers - express our grave concern about recent news concerning ABP, our pension fund provider. ABP owns over € 37 million in stocks in Israeli banks and companies that are complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank and its illegal settlement activities. University employees as well as employees at all levels of public education contribute annually to ABP. This means that ABP invests our money in Israel’s illegal settlement activities -- discriminatory laws towards the Palestinian community in Israel, the permanent isolation of Gaza, and the construction of an illegal apartheid wall.’ http://www.petities24.com/abp_stop_funding_israeli_apartheid On As boycott pressure grows, Israeli business leaders plan to confront Netanyahu Happy New Year everyone! Keep up the good work, Mondoweiss! On Happy new year from Mondoweiss The Times of Israel, December 4: “European diplomats have been mulling the possibility of ending EU funding for the Palestinian Authority should negotiations between Israel and the PLO fail, the Times of Israel has learned. Such a move, if undertaken, could lead to the financial collapse of the PA, which receives European funding estimated at between €300 and €500 million per year.” www.timesofisrael.com/half-the-eu-supports-settlement-product-labeling On EU official threatens funding to PA, saying Israel should pay for its occupation
