Students who are Palestinian citizens of Israel (within the pre '67 borders) are victims of a campaign to deny housing to them. In the city of Safed the chief rabbi (in Israel chief rabbis are paid government functionaries) has pronounced a ruling (a fatwa?) that no Jews can rent to non-Jews. This movement is spreading around Israel and is part of the general escalation of ethnic cleansing in Israel and the occupied territories. Will the Israeli authorities do anything about it? Don't hold your breath.
Safed student says 'Arabs out!' spray-painted on his car
12 Dec - Ali Mustafa, a student who rents an apartment in the north Israeli city of Safed, awoke on Friday to find his car vandalized. He reported to the police that unidentified perpetrators smashed his side mirror, scratched the vehicle and spray-painted the words "Arabs out!" on it ... Mahmoud Abu Salah, a representative of the student union at Safed College, said that the act was an example of the racist attitude prevalent in the city ... Police have charged a few Jews for some of the acts, and claim they continue to search.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3997561,00.html
Monday, December 13, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Brazil's recognition of a Palestinian state isn't primarily about Palestine
R. Congress
Brazil's recognition of a Palestinian state, followed by Argentina and Ecuador is obviously about siding with the Palestinian people against Israel's ethnic cleansing and lying posturing about security. Even the unjust ceding of a sliver of land for a nominal "state" for Palestinians is too much for Israel to stomach. They never negotiated in good faith and always had as their goal a single, racially pure Jewish state in which the Palestinians have the right to get out or drop dead.
So these three Latin American states are making a public gesture in protest of this. But what's more important (I think) is that these three countries are first of all saying:
"screw you USA! Tu madre! You don't own us anymore, Yankee pendejo. You are going down hill and we are going uphill. You can't dance us around like a puppet on a string as you did in the past with the phony OAS that you controlled. We aren't going to let you pillage our natural resources and get US backed military dictatorships in return (as did Brazil and Argentina among other South American nations). Your half-baked coup attempt in Venezuela ten years ago collapsed. Your Honduran coup by proxy won't last. And you can take the Cuban vote in Florida and shove it...Cuba's still there with no prospects of the former property owners returning to power."
Latin America is looking out for its own interests first, not for those of the IMF, Wall Street or the state department. The latest public recognition of a Palestinian state is more than a gesture of disapproval of Israel and of solidarity with the Palestinians. It's a declaration of independence from yankee imperialism.
Brazil's recognition of a Palestinian state, followed by Argentina and Ecuador is obviously about siding with the Palestinian people against Israel's ethnic cleansing and lying posturing about security. Even the unjust ceding of a sliver of land for a nominal "state" for Palestinians is too much for Israel to stomach. They never negotiated in good faith and always had as their goal a single, racially pure Jewish state in which the Palestinians have the right to get out or drop dead.
So these three Latin American states are making a public gesture in protest of this. But what's more important (I think) is that these three countries are first of all saying:
"screw you USA! Tu madre! You don't own us anymore, Yankee pendejo. You are going down hill and we are going uphill. You can't dance us around like a puppet on a string as you did in the past with the phony OAS that you controlled. We aren't going to let you pillage our natural resources and get US backed military dictatorships in return (as did Brazil and Argentina among other South American nations). Your half-baked coup attempt in Venezuela ten years ago collapsed. Your Honduran coup by proxy won't last. And you can take the Cuban vote in Florida and shove it...Cuba's still there with no prospects of the former property owners returning to power."
Latin America is looking out for its own interests first, not for those of the IMF, Wall Street or the state department. The latest public recognition of a Palestinian state is more than a gesture of disapproval of Israel and of solidarity with the Palestinians. It's a declaration of independence from yankee imperialism.
Palestine the story in a nutshell
Blogspot censorship
The title I entered for this post was originally: "The whole story in a nutshell Palestine and Zionist expansionism."
A red line appeared over the title I had typed in and a message said: "these characters not permitted in a title post."
This is the first time anything I've posted was censored. What's with Blogspot?? Has AIPAC or the FBI or the State Department gotten on your case?
free speech means free speech... except when the true nature of Isarel's USA enabled criminal acts are revealed.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Defend democratic right against FBI dirty tricks
The Violation of Human Rights: The “War on Terror” Continues at Home and Abroad
A Forum and Discussion
Friday, December 10 from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Judson Memorial Church Assembly Hall
239 Thompson Street at Washington Square South
A, B, C, D, E, F, M train to W.4 St.; #1 to Christopher St.-Sheridan Sq.; PATH to 9th St.; N, R to 8 St.-NYU; #6 to Astor Pl.; buses via Houston St., 6th Av., Broadway, 8th St., 9th St.
Join the NYC Coalition to Stop Islamophobia on Friday, December 10th, for an eye-opening panel presentation and open discussion about how fear and anti-Muslim bigotry is mobilized to enable political prosecution, entrapment, targeted assassinations, indefinite and abusive detentions, and unjust occupations of Muslim & Arab countries, while at home we face the rise in Islamophobia. Hear speakers who will present different perspectives, from attorneys to activists.
Speakers:
Pardiss Kebriaei, staff attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, is challenging the Obama administration’s targeted assassination order on Anwar Al-Aulaqi, an American citizen residing in Yemen, in a lawsuit filed by CCR and the ACLU. Ms. Kebriaei will discuss this case, as well as the arguments presented by the Obama administration to prevent judicial review of the case.
Lamis J. Deek, is an attorney and human rights advocate specializing in defending Arab & Muslim community members, activists and organizers against governmental attack. Lamis is a long time member of Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, the Arab Muslim American Federation, and the National Lawyers Guild. She is co-founder of the US Palestine Community Network.
Lynne Jackson, is a volunteer, president and one of the founders of Project SALAM – a group that believes hundreds of innocent Muslims were targeted, prosecuted, and convicted in the hysteria following 9/11 using the FBI’s and the Justice Dept. new paradigm of prevention. Ms. Jackson will identify tactics used in preemptive prosecution, discuss cases prosecuted in the federal courts, and their effect and excessive sentences on families; also she will discuss recent trial & conviction of the Newburgh 4.
Nima Shirazi is a political commentator from New York City. He is a contributing columnist for Foreign Policy Journal and Palestine Think Tank. His analysis of United States policy and Middle East issues, particularly with reference to current events in Iran, Israel, and Palestine, can also be found in numerous other online and print publications, as well as his website, WideAsleepInAmerica.com.
Sponsored by: Al-Awda NY, Project Salam, UNAC, World Can't Wait, IJAN, ISO
www.stopislamophobia.org
A Forum and Discussion
Friday, December 10 from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Judson Memorial Church Assembly Hall
239 Thompson Street at Washington Square South
A, B, C, D, E, F, M train to W.4 St.; #1 to Christopher St.-Sheridan Sq.; PATH to 9th St.; N, R to 8 St.-NYU; #6 to Astor Pl.; buses via Houston St., 6th Av., Broadway, 8th St., 9th St.
Join the NYC Coalition to Stop Islamophobia on Friday, December 10th, for an eye-opening panel presentation and open discussion about how fear and anti-Muslim bigotry is mobilized to enable political prosecution, entrapment, targeted assassinations, indefinite and abusive detentions, and unjust occupations of Muslim & Arab countries, while at home we face the rise in Islamophobia. Hear speakers who will present different perspectives, from attorneys to activists.
Speakers:
Pardiss Kebriaei, staff attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, is challenging the Obama administration’s targeted assassination order on Anwar Al-Aulaqi, an American citizen residing in Yemen, in a lawsuit filed by CCR and the ACLU. Ms. Kebriaei will discuss this case, as well as the arguments presented by the Obama administration to prevent judicial review of the case.
Lamis J. Deek, is an attorney and human rights advocate specializing in defending Arab & Muslim community members, activists and organizers against governmental attack. Lamis is a long time member of Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, the Arab Muslim American Federation, and the National Lawyers Guild. She is co-founder of the US Palestine Community Network.
Lynne Jackson, is a volunteer, president and one of the founders of Project SALAM – a group that believes hundreds of innocent Muslims were targeted, prosecuted, and convicted in the hysteria following 9/11 using the FBI’s and the Justice Dept. new paradigm of prevention. Ms. Jackson will identify tactics used in preemptive prosecution, discuss cases prosecuted in the federal courts, and their effect and excessive sentences on families; also she will discuss recent trial & conviction of the Newburgh 4.
Nima Shirazi is a political commentator from New York City. He is a contributing columnist for Foreign Policy Journal and Palestine Think Tank. His analysis of United States policy and Middle East issues, particularly with reference to current events in Iran, Israel, and Palestine, can also be found in numerous other online and print publications, as well as his website, WideAsleepInAmerica.com.
Sponsored by: Al-Awda NY, Project Salam, UNAC, World Can't Wait, IJAN, ISO
www.stopislamophobia.org
NY Time's Tom (always wrong) Friedman laments America's White Man's Burden*
By R. Congress
Poor US of A! crack NYT pundit Tom (always wrong) Friedman was wailing in today's Sunday Times (12/5/10) over the mess that our great value-laden republic finds itself in over that wayward, incorrigible Middle East. They will never behave! Even among our allies we have corrupt government officials pocketing our money (Afghanistan, among others), double-dealing nations that want us to solve their problems and take the heat, or who aid fundamentalist America/Israel-hating Islamic groups (the Saudis) and the Taliban (Pakistan) Well, Pakistan and Afghanistan are not really the Mid East, but why quibble?.They are supposedly helping us to fight against the groups they are aiding on the sly. For Friedman the Wikileaks revelations just underscore how Uncle Sam, that naive,affable chump, is being taken for a ride by those crafty, swarthy A-rabs
But we brought it on ourselves, Friedman complains. The U.S. is addicted to oil and thus dependent upon the Saudi rulers and other oil producing states for this vital resource. So now we have no leverage to get those Mid Easterners to change their corrupt and devious ways so we can win our multiple wars for democracy and against terrorism and once and for all straighten out those people who are giving such a hard time to... us, the USA, the leader of the fee... I mean free world... you know, the West!, with its top drawer values of honesty and democracy.
Whining, round earth leftists question poor Uncle Sam's motives and try to drag in irrelevant items like the historically verifiable, indiscriminate mass murder Washington has visited upon, say, Vietnam, Palestine (by proxy) Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. (But it's only collateral, accidental, damage -- to get one really bad guy it's necessary to wipe out six or eight other people.) Anyway, we shouldn't listen to those wet blankets. They even say that the USA is full of corruption and fuels it abroad. Don't these miscreants know that, especially since the latest ruling by the Supremes, corruption in the USA is now perfectly legal!
Not only has the USA lost its leverage in the Mid East because of its oil consumption, but it has lost leverage in the whole world because of its massive borrowing and its debt to China. When the "indispensable nation" can't throw its weight around and make those countries populated by brown and yellow people jump, then civilization as we know it is in jeopardy.
Rodney King asked "why can't we all just get along?" Tom Friedman asks, "why can't we just go green and live within our means?" I mean, really, America, just shape up! Demand electric, solar and nuclear powered cars. Stop buying Chinese imports... or something like that, maybe. But free trade shouldn't be tampered with (says Friedman in his flat-earth books).
Well, whatever the solution is, this is serious!
* referencing, of course, that literary defender of 19th Century British colonialism, Rudyard Kipling. Someone might object that now we have a non-white president of the USA. My reply is "deeds, not words...or melanin."
Poor US of A! crack NYT pundit Tom (always wrong) Friedman was wailing in today's Sunday Times (12/5/10) over the mess that our great value-laden republic finds itself in over that wayward, incorrigible Middle East. They will never behave! Even among our allies we have corrupt government officials pocketing our money (Afghanistan, among others), double-dealing nations that want us to solve their problems and take the heat, or who aid fundamentalist America/Israel-hating Islamic groups (the Saudis) and the Taliban (Pakistan) Well, Pakistan and Afghanistan are not really the Mid East, but why quibble?.They are supposedly helping us to fight against the groups they are aiding on the sly. For Friedman the Wikileaks revelations just underscore how Uncle Sam, that naive,affable chump, is being taken for a ride by those crafty, swarthy A-rabs
But we brought it on ourselves, Friedman complains. The U.S. is addicted to oil and thus dependent upon the Saudi rulers and other oil producing states for this vital resource. So now we have no leverage to get those Mid Easterners to change their corrupt and devious ways so we can win our multiple wars for democracy and against terrorism and once and for all straighten out those people who are giving such a hard time to... us, the USA, the leader of the fee... I mean free world... you know, the West!, with its top drawer values of honesty and democracy.
Whining, round earth leftists question poor Uncle Sam's motives and try to drag in irrelevant items like the historically verifiable, indiscriminate mass murder Washington has visited upon, say, Vietnam, Palestine (by proxy) Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. (But it's only collateral, accidental, damage -- to get one really bad guy it's necessary to wipe out six or eight other people.) Anyway, we shouldn't listen to those wet blankets. They even say that the USA is full of corruption and fuels it abroad. Don't these miscreants know that, especially since the latest ruling by the Supremes, corruption in the USA is now perfectly legal!
Not only has the USA lost its leverage in the Mid East because of its oil consumption, but it has lost leverage in the whole world because of its massive borrowing and its debt to China. When the "indispensable nation" can't throw its weight around and make those countries populated by brown and yellow people jump, then civilization as we know it is in jeopardy.
Rodney King asked "why can't we all just get along?" Tom Friedman asks, "why can't we just go green and live within our means?" I mean, really, America, just shape up! Demand electric, solar and nuclear powered cars. Stop buying Chinese imports... or something like that, maybe. But free trade shouldn't be tampered with (says Friedman in his flat-earth books).
Well, whatever the solution is, this is serious!
* referencing, of course, that literary defender of 19th Century British colonialism, Rudyard Kipling. Someone might object that now we have a non-white president of the USA. My reply is "deeds, not words...or melanin."
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
yet more vingettes from "tales of the only democracy in the Mideast"
From Mondoweiss:
U.S. State Department: Israel is not a tolerant society
Nov 30, 2010 12:16 pm | Adam Horowitz
The above headline is taken right from Haaretz. Akiva Eldar wrote in 2009 about a report from the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor which found:
The report says that the 1967 law on the protection of holy places refers to all religious groups in the country, including in Jerusalem, but "the government implements regulations only for Jewish sites. Non-Jewish holy sites do not enjoy legal protection under it because the government does not recognize them as official holy sites."
At the end of 2008, for example, all of the 137 officially recognized holy sites were Jewish. Moreover, Israel issued regulations for the identification, preservation and guarding of Jewish sites only. Many Christian and Muslim sites are said to be neglected, inaccessible or at risk of exploitation by real estate entrepreneurs and local authorities.
The report makes it clear that practices that have become routine in Israel are considered unacceptable in enlightened countries and should be corrected.
You can read the most recent State Department report here; it shows that many of these issues remain the same. To understand how and why this level of inequality continues it is useful to look at the Israel Democracy Institute's new Israeli Democracy Index for 2010 which was released today. It offers some very interesting data that sheds light on current Israeli (especially Jewish Israeli) views on democracy and the Jewish state. Here is a sampling of its findings:
86% of the Jewish public (76% of the total population) thinks that critical decisions for the state should be made by the Jewish majority.
53% of the Jewish public also believe that the State is entitled to encourage the emigration of Arabs.
81% of the population agrees with the assertion that “democracy is not a perfect regime, but it is better than any other form of government.” However, 55% of the public believes that Israel should put observing the law and public order before the ideals of democracy. Of the Jewish respondents, 60% of those on the political right supported this idea compared with 50% of those in the center and 49% of those on the left.
43% of the general population feels that it is equally important for Israel to be a Jewish and democratic country, while 31% regards the Jewish component as being more important, and only 20% defines the democratic element as being more important.
51% of the general public approves of equality of rights between Jews and Arabs. The more Orthodox the group, the greater the opposition to equal rights between Jews and Arabs: only 33.5% of secular Jews oppose this, compared with 51% of traditional Jews, 65% of Orthodox Jews and 72% of ultra-Orthodox Jews.
67% of the Jewish public believe that close relatives of Arabs should not be permitted to enter Israel under of the rubric of family unification.
Almost two-thirds (62%) of Jews believe that as long as Israel is in conflict with the Palestinians, the views of Arab citizens of Israel on foreign policy and security matters should not be taken into consideration.
55% of the general public thinks that more resources should be allocated to Jewish municipalities than to Arab municipalities, while a 42% minority disagrees with this statement.
Within the Jewish public, 71% of right-wing supporters agree that more resources should be allocated to Jewish municipalities than to Arab municipalities, as compared to 46% of centrists and 38% of leftists. When segmented by degree of religious observance, 51% of ultra-Orthodox Jews agree with the statement, while 45% of Orthodox Jews, 28% of traditional Jews, and 18% of secular Jews agree with it.
46% of the Jewish public admitted to being most bothered by Arabs, followed equally by people with cognitive disabilities living in the community. 39% were bothered by foreign workers, 25% would be bothered by same-sex couples, 23% by ultra-Orthodox Jews, 17% by Ethiopian immigrants, 10% by non-Sabbath observers, and 8% by immigrants from the Former Soviet Union.
The Arab public is less tolerant than Jews of neighbors who are “Other.” 70% thought the least desirable neighbors would be same-sex couples and 67% were opposed to having ultra-Orthodox Jews as neighbors, followed closely by 65% who would be opposed to former settlers. 48% answered that the most “tolerable” neighbors would be foreign workers.
U.S. State Department: Israel is not a tolerant society
Nov 30, 2010 12:16 pm | Adam Horowitz
The above headline is taken right from Haaretz. Akiva Eldar wrote in 2009 about a report from the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor which found:
The report says that the 1967 law on the protection of holy places refers to all religious groups in the country, including in Jerusalem, but "the government implements regulations only for Jewish sites. Non-Jewish holy sites do not enjoy legal protection under it because the government does not recognize them as official holy sites."
At the end of 2008, for example, all of the 137 officially recognized holy sites were Jewish. Moreover, Israel issued regulations for the identification, preservation and guarding of Jewish sites only. Many Christian and Muslim sites are said to be neglected, inaccessible or at risk of exploitation by real estate entrepreneurs and local authorities.
The report makes it clear that practices that have become routine in Israel are considered unacceptable in enlightened countries and should be corrected.
You can read the most recent State Department report here; it shows that many of these issues remain the same. To understand how and why this level of inequality continues it is useful to look at the Israel Democracy Institute's new Israeli Democracy Index for 2010 which was released today. It offers some very interesting data that sheds light on current Israeli (especially Jewish Israeli) views on democracy and the Jewish state. Here is a sampling of its findings:
86% of the Jewish public (76% of the total population) thinks that critical decisions for the state should be made by the Jewish majority.
53% of the Jewish public also believe that the State is entitled to encourage the emigration of Arabs.
81% of the population agrees with the assertion that “democracy is not a perfect regime, but it is better than any other form of government.” However, 55% of the public believes that Israel should put observing the law and public order before the ideals of democracy. Of the Jewish respondents, 60% of those on the political right supported this idea compared with 50% of those in the center and 49% of those on the left.
43% of the general population feels that it is equally important for Israel to be a Jewish and democratic country, while 31% regards the Jewish component as being more important, and only 20% defines the democratic element as being more important.
51% of the general public approves of equality of rights between Jews and Arabs. The more Orthodox the group, the greater the opposition to equal rights between Jews and Arabs: only 33.5% of secular Jews oppose this, compared with 51% of traditional Jews, 65% of Orthodox Jews and 72% of ultra-Orthodox Jews.
67% of the Jewish public believe that close relatives of Arabs should not be permitted to enter Israel under of the rubric of family unification.
Almost two-thirds (62%) of Jews believe that as long as Israel is in conflict with the Palestinians, the views of Arab citizens of Israel on foreign policy and security matters should not be taken into consideration.
55% of the general public thinks that more resources should be allocated to Jewish municipalities than to Arab municipalities, while a 42% minority disagrees with this statement.
Within the Jewish public, 71% of right-wing supporters agree that more resources should be allocated to Jewish municipalities than to Arab municipalities, as compared to 46% of centrists and 38% of leftists. When segmented by degree of religious observance, 51% of ultra-Orthodox Jews agree with the statement, while 45% of Orthodox Jews, 28% of traditional Jews, and 18% of secular Jews agree with it.
46% of the Jewish public admitted to being most bothered by Arabs, followed equally by people with cognitive disabilities living in the community. 39% were bothered by foreign workers, 25% would be bothered by same-sex couples, 23% by ultra-Orthodox Jews, 17% by Ethiopian immigrants, 10% by non-Sabbath observers, and 8% by immigrants from the Former Soviet Union.
The Arab public is less tolerant than Jews of neighbors who are “Other.” 70% thought the least desirable neighbors would be same-sex couples and 67% were opposed to having ultra-Orthodox Jews as neighbors, followed closely by 65% who would be opposed to former settlers. 48% answered that the most “tolerable” neighbors would be foreign workers.
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