Netanyahu Confirms Apartheid State of Israel

11 Comments

1. 

   Oui on May 2, 2014 at 5:26 pm

   ○ John Kerry was right to say ‘apartheid’ — more voices chime in

   • 

     kafkananda on May 2, 2014 at 9:08 pm

     Big article breaking now. First seen reported at dailykos by David Harris Gershon……White House: Israel Killed the Peace Talks on a report by Larry Derfner at +927.com…..U.S. post-mortem on peace talks: Israel killed them

     Americans involved in Kerry initiative give interview indicting Netanyahu government and exonerating Palestinian leader Abbas.

     Yedioth Ahronoth’s Nahum Barnea, Israel’s No. 1 print journalist, has a long interview on Friday with unnamed U.S. officials involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, giving their view of why they failed. The interview (not published online) is quite a bombshell, as well as a historic document.

     This interview is a comprehensive indictment by the Obama administration of Israel’s handling of the peace talks, and an exoneration of the Palestinians’ conduct. The Americans won’t act on it, of course, but they have set the record straight, they’ve injected a megadose of truth into the story of Israel’s domination over the Palestinians, and thus strengthened the fight to end it.

     My bold above.

     So far the full interview is not online. And it’s the Friday news dump time. Telling the Israeli public but keeping it quiet from the American public? We’ll see.

     This is very big, imo. The ground is changing very swiftly under the Zionists’ feet. Before they realize it, they might have fewer friends at the UN than they think they have.

2. 

   Oui on May 3, 2014 at 2:10 pm

   .

   Dutch Activists Plan To Mark ‘Shadow’ Holocaust of Palestinians

   (JTA/The Forward) – A Dutch Muslim group is planning to commemorate “the ethnic cleansing of Palestine” on Holland’s memorial day for victims of Nazism.

   The Platform Bewust Moslim group, whose name means “Platform Aware Muslim,” is planning to hold the ceremony on May 4 in Hilversum near Amsterdam under the banner ” Palestine, the Shadow Holocaust,” the Jewish television channel Joods Omroep reported on its website Monday.

   The event was advertised as a symposium offering “a review of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the passive attitude of the international community” and is slated to take place at Hilversum’s Al-Amal mosque.

   May 4 is the Netherlands’ official day for Remembrance of the Dead [The official name combines May 5th, Liberation Day – Oui], when official commemorations are held for Dutch civilians and members of the armed forces killed by enemy forces, in terrorist attacks or in combat. The date was selected after World War II and many of the events held on May 4 are designed to commemorate victims of Nazism, often with an emphasis on victims of the Holocaust. [Not true anymore, the May 4th will commemorate all Dutch citizens and soldiers who lost their lives in NATO or UN operations around the globe. There are more days to commemorate Westerbork camp and victims of Auschwitz, Holocaust Memorial Day. See ceremony in photo @The Forward.  – Oui]

   The municipality of Hilversum has received 45 objections urging it to prevent or postpone the event, Joods Omroep reported. Some complaints also were made to the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, or CIDI, a watchdog group based in The Hague. Hilversum Mayor Pieter Broertjes told the Joods Omroep he is discussing the relevant issues with organizers, “including the possibility of postponement.”

   ○ Arutz Sheva: Dutch Memorial Day to Feature Muslim ‘Shadow Holocaust’ Event

   The city mayor of Hilversum will permit a closed session conference, not open for the public. IMO, the muslims have pushed this event as a provocation, not on a reconciliatoty note. In private, this group can commemorate any topic they choose. The official Nakba Memorial Day is May 15.

3. 

   Oui on May 4, 2014 at 2:33 am

   PS I don’t believe Martin Indyk was the unnamed US official who leaked information. Due to secrecy of talks, Indyk would lose all credibility to work as a professional on security issues. What is the background of this accusation from Israeli sources?

   U.S. envoy Indyk likely to resign amid talks blowup  by Barak Ravid

   (Haaretz) – The U.S. special envoy for peace talks, Martin Indyk, is considering resigning following the blowup of talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and in light of President Barack Obama’s intention to suspend American mediation, according to Israeli officials who asked to remain anonymous due to the issue’s sensitivity.

   The officials said Indyk had already informed the Brookings Institute– where he is vice president and director for foreign policy – that he might soon be returning to his post, from which he took a leave of absence nine months ago.

   In Jerusalem, it is believed that Indyk is the senior American official – anonymously quoted in a report published Friday in the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth – mainly blaming Israel for the failure of the talks. According to the report, the senior official claimed that “the main damage to the peace talks comes from the settlements,” and that, during the talks, “Netanyahu did not move more than an inch.”

   It is believed it will not be possible to renew the talks in the near-future, and the fact that the White House does not want to invest further efforts in the process has reinforced the envoy’s desire to leave his post. The atmosphere at the White House since the talks ended is reportedly one of deep frustration that major American efforts over the past nine months have ended in failure.

   A senior European diplomat who met recently with senior U.S. officials said Obama’s statement about a “pause” in American involvement in the peace process was very clear. “The White House has no desire to do anything now on the Israeli-Palestinian matter,” the diplomat said. “They are simply standing aside and not getting involved.”

   …
   Kerry hinted Thursday, during a press conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, that he was considering releasing the document. “What has not been laid out publicly, and what I will do at some appropriate moment of time, is make clear to everybody the progress that was made. These eight months, eight months plus, were not without significant progress in certain areas. And I don’t think anybody wants to lose that progress,” Kerry said.

   Kerry: all sides must ‘pause’ to reassess Middle East peace talks

   Author: Barak Ravid is the diplomatic correspondent for Haaretz newspaper. He joined Haaretz in April 2007, covering the Prime Minister's Office, the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Defense, dealing with issues such as U.S.-Israeli relations, EU-Israeli relations and the peace process. Before joining Haaretz, Barak Ravid worked for two years for Maariv daily newspaper, spending a year covering the Palestinian Authority and a year as a diplomatic correspondent. Ravid has a BA in the history of the Middle East from the University of Tel Aviv. He served for six years as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces, and concluded his service with the rank of captain. He and his wife live in Tel Aviv.

   ○ Anglo-American Relationship, Atlanticists and Israel
   ○ Haaretz: Don’t confuse Obama with a miracle-worker  by Richard Silverstein

   Haaretz’s Barak Ravid has written about this.  Since Ravid is usually a conduit for the Israeli political establishment, I’m guessing he was leaked this story by someone in the PM’s office or the like. [I’m on the fence as Barak Ravid’s investigative work on Danny Seaman‘s propaganda in Netanyahu’s PMO was well done – Oui]

   An eye-catcher by Larry Derfner @972+
   ○ U.S. post-mortem on peace talks: Israel killed them

   Yedioth Ahronoth‘s Nahum Barnea, Israel’s No. 1 print journalist, has a long interview on Friday with unnamed U.S. officials involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, giving their view of why they failed. The interview (not published online) is quite a bombshell, as well as a historic document.

   h/t kafkanade, a reader @BooMan

   ○ US Ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk’s Security Clearance Suspended – Sept. 2000
   ○ U.S. Department of State Press Briefing [Sept. 25, 2000]

4. 

   cruzy on May 5, 2014 at 10:33 am

   The Likude “central committee” has 3,000 members? Seriously?

5. 

   Oui on May 6, 2014 at 12:36 am

   .

   The Kerry Mission: An Exercise in Perfect Fatuity   by Jerome Slater

   Yet, all this said it seems to me that liberal Zionists (like me) face an insoluable dilemma.  On the one hand, we still think that there was a good case for the establishment of a Jewish state and we still care about the future of Israel–not that it’s easy to do so.  On the other hand, as American liberals we strongly support the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.  The problem is that liberalism in the U.S., as in Israel, is under siege from the lunatic fringe and the know-nothings in both countries.

   Given the power of the Israel lobby in the U.S., then, any serious U.S. pressures against Israel would likely backfire in our domestic politics and further strengthen the Republican party–especially if, as seems likely, it leads to large scale Jewish defections, votes, and money from the Democrats. In the worst and by no means implausible case, in the next few years it could result in full Republican control of Congress, the presidency, and Supreme Court appointments for a long time to come.

   That’s way too high a price to pay.  Not only that, even if the U.S. government made its continuing support of Israel conditional on its ending the occupation and accepting a two-state settlement, it is not obvious to me that Israel would bow to those pressures, thereby risking violent civil conflict and possibly even a revolt by the IDF, which is increasingly nationalistic, religious, and hardline.

   h/t reader Donald @Tikun Olam

   • 

     kafkananda on May 6, 2014 at 10:07 pm

     Thank you once again, Oui, for all the work that goes into your comments and posts. Your work is one of the most accessible digests covering these VERY important topics that are readily available to the rather easily conned, ignorant Americans (in which I include myself). So of course I understand why folks like Demian at MoA feel as they do, even if I think certain thinking involves gross over-generalization. 🙂

     To the highlighted comment above….

     I think this shows a LOT of muddled thinking and the usual subtle liberal Zionist fear mongering. It misunderstands the nature of the “Shift” that we are undergoing in the public mind. These ideas of ‘forcing’ change upon the Israelis are based upon the old paradigms of external power and do not reflect the awareness of the inner power of centered cohesion, which is a basic understanding of The Art of War.

     As far as the Republican Party and the Lobby/Zionists/Israelis/AmericanJews (LZIA) are concerned, let’s place today’s positions in a broader historical context.

     By Truman’s time and the birth of Israel, the US Government was already being ‘lobbied’ by Israeli influence. The Democratic Party was a natural place for the LZIAers. An open society and acceptance of minorities meant that Jews would be accepted, too. Thus into the sixties this dynamic continued. (I remember back then that one of the issues of the day was that Jews were being blackballed from joining elite country clubs. Back when WASPS had more sting!). Along the way events happened. Ike gave a farewell warning and the civil rights movement transformed the political landscape. The switch of the south from Democratic to Republican was most eventful because the MIC power base was centered on the Southern Democrats continuously chairing the needed military committees. Then it became the same faces but they were now the ranking member. Meanwhile, they was increasing pressure on Democrats from their more peace loving members to reduce the DOD and end the war. So the American MIC had a problem. I think (warning: speculation ahead), that the LZIAers became very important in the handling of many left energies by the world class hasbara propaganda of the LZIA programs. Through control of much of the media and entertainment complex, we have been feeding at the trough of spin our entire lives, it seems.

     But the new dynamic is interesting and I am hopeful for the ongoing unfolding. The large breadth of American Jews are being forced to decide who they are. The visage of Adelson is a pretty stark image for many. Thus this split of the more aggressive (and rich) zio-energies going to the Republicans will continue. Bad thing? They have the money. This is where I suggest that a turning point is close at hand. And after that turning point, all that money could become very heavy baggage.

     So we will see but I will remain hopeful and generally wary of the wordy fearmongers.

      

6. 

   Oui on May 6, 2014 at 3:42 pm

   .

   If this isn’t apartheid, then what is it?  by Ran Greenstein

   (+972) – The 2002 Statute of the International Criminal Court contains no references to South Africa and regards apartheid as “an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group.” We must also bear in mind that the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination [UNGA December 1965] extends the term to cover “any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin.”

   … How is the notion of apartheid relevant to this reality?

   The Israeli regime is based on an ethnic/religious distinction between Jewish insiders and Palestinian outsiders. It expands citizenship beyond its territory, potentially to all Jews regardless of their links to the country, and contracts citizenship within it: Palestinians in the occupied territories and refugees outside have no citizenship and cannot become Israeli citizens.

   The regime combines different modes of rule: civilian authority with democratic institutions within the Green Line (pre-67 boundaries), and military authority beyond it. In times of crisis, the military mode of rule spills over the Line to apply to Palestinian citizens in Israel. At all times, the civilian mode of rule spills over the Line to apply to Jewish settlers. The distinction between the two sides of the Line is constantly eroding as a result, and norms and practices developed under the occupation filter back into Israel. Israel as a `Jewish democratic state’ is `democratic’ for Jews and `Jewish’ for Arabs.

   All state institutions and practices are geared to meet the concern for a permanent Jewish majority exercising absolute political domination.

   These conditions are particularly visible in the occupied territories: Jewish settlers live in exclusive communities, from which all Palestinian locals are barred (except, occasionally, as `hewers of wood and drawers of water’). They drive on Israeli-only roads, enjoy Israeli military protection and access to all the privileges and and services that come with citizenship rights, including voting for the Israeli parliament. Palestinian subjects are denied access to any of the above, and have no say in the way they are governed.

   Report OHCHR: Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories (2013)

   The rights protected by the human rights treaties must be available to all individuals who are in the territory or subject to the jurisdiction of Israel, except where the State has lawfully derogated from them. The UN treaty bodies which monitor the implementation of the applicable human rights treaties have consistently concluded that the treaties to which Israel is a party are applicable in respect of acts carried out by Israel in the OPT.3 This has been confirmed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Furthermore, Israel’s human rights obligations apply both in peace and times of armed conflict. In the latter situation, they continue to apply alongside international humanitarian law to provide complementary and mutually-reinforcing protection.

   A situation of military occupation prevails in the OPT. As the occupying Power, Israel is bound under international humanitarian law by a set of obligations which are provided for in the Hague Regulations 1907, annexed to the Hague Convention IV respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land 1907, which are recognised as forming part of customary international law, and Geneva Convention IV relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War 1949 (“Fourth Geneva Convention”), to which Israel is a High Contracting Party.

   2004 ICJ Advisory Opinion, paras. 101 and 109-113.

   As discussed @Tikun Olam and @MoonOfAlabama

   • 

     Oui on May 6, 2014 at 4:29 pm

     .

     Origins of Fascism

     While socialism (particularly Marxism) came into existence as a clearly formulated theory or program based on a specific interpretation of history, fascism introduced no systematic exposition of its ideology or purpose other than a negative reaction against socialist and democratic egalitarianism. The growth of democratic ideology and popular participation in politics in the 19th century was terrifying to some conservative elements in European society, and fascism grew out of the attempt to counter it by forming mass parties based largely on the middle classes and the petty bourgeoisie, exploiting their fear of political domination by the lower classes.

     Forerunners of fascism, such as Georges Boulanger in France and Adolf Stöker and Karl Lueger in Germany and Austria, in their efforts to gain political power played on people’s fears of revolution with its subsequent chaos, anarchy, and general insecurity. They appealed to nationalist sentiments and prejudices, exploited anti-Semitism , and portrayed themselves as champions of law, order, Christian morality, and the sanctity of private property.

     Characteristics of Fascist Philosophy

7. 

   Oui on May 6, 2014 at 6:27 pm

   .

   Netanyahu’s Blood and Soil: Racist-Nationalism of his “Jewish State” Ideal

   (Informed Comment) – Binyamin Netanyahu is again beating the “Israel is a Jewish state” drum, and now wants to have it legislated into Israeli organic law.

     On Sunday, Netanyahu said,

   “There are those who do not want Israel to be defined as the national homeland for the Jewish people…”

   “They want a Palestinian national homeland to be established here next to us, and that Israel be gradually turned into a bi-national Jewish-Arab state within our reduced borders…”

   Netanyahu wants to take Israel and Palestine back to the bad old days of race-based nationalism characteristic of central Europe in the mid-19th century- the kind of Romantic nationalism that gave us Aryan race theory.

   Or let’s listen to Netanyahu in a 1960s South African accent:

   “There are those who do not want South Africa to be defined as the national homeland for the Afrikaners…”

   “They want Bantu national homelands to be established here next to us, and that South Africa be gradually turned into a bi-national Afrikaner-Black African state within our reduced borders…”

   “You cannot say we want to break away from Bantustans to prevent a bi-national state — something which has a certain logic — and at the same time give your blessing to a bi-national, Afrikaner-Black state within South Africa’s permanent borders…”

   “South Africa gives full equal rights to all of its citizens but it is the national homeland of just one people – the white Afrikaner people.”

   ○ Israel apologists attempted to discredit Mandela with false Israel apartheid quote (2001)
   ○ Mandela at the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
8. 

   Oui on May 8, 2014 at 11:12 am

   Whether it was Libya, Syria, Ukraine or the Middle East … in a long read and excellent article I found at Open Democracy … challenging the Israeli narrative of The New York Times et all.

   New media and the changing narrative on Palestine  by Victoria Brittain

   I want to dedicate this paper to the great journalist and writer on the Middle East, Patrick Seale, who died last week – for decades he set an example of writing counter-narrative, and generously gave help and encouragement to others trying to do so.

   Lots of substance, needs to be diaried!!

   ○ NY Times Public Editor Slams Jodi Rudoren for Allowing Israeli Security Apparatus to Co-Opt Reporting
   ○ Shin Bet Gags Reporting on Secret Arrest of Israeli-Palestinian Journalist-Activist
   ○ NY Times Slammed for Honoring Israeli Govt Gag Orders