Author: shergald

It was Noam Chomsky who let loose his disdain for the Obama administration’s pretense at Middle East peace making at a time when Obama’s betrayal on domestic policy looms even larger. But there will be no Middle East peace and if liberal-progressive Democrats were concerned, reasons to support the reelection of Obama in 2012 are much dimmed down.
Noam Chomsky’s take on what Obama is doing to negate a Palestinian state, the two state solution, is clear:

Washington’s pathetic capitulation to Israel while pleading for a meaningless three-month freeze on settlement expansion–excluding Arab East Jerusalem–should go down as one of the most humiliating moments in U.S. diplomatic history.

In September the last settlement freeze ended, leading the Palestinians to cease direct talks with Israel. Now the Obama administration, desperate to lure Israel into a new freeze and thus revive the talks, is grasping at invisible straws–and lavishing gifts on a far-right Israeli government…..

MORE: http://inthesetimes.com/article/6715/the_charade_of_israeli-palestinian_talks/

As Netanyahu’s poodle, Obama seems to be capitulating to right wing factions everywhere, foreign and domestic.

David Reeb is a 58 year old Israeli peace activist has, for the past two years, documented the continuing Palestinian fight for freedom and self-determination  in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Here are some of the latest nonviolent protests that took place over the past couple of weeks, in November.

Protests at Ni’ilin and An Nabi Salih, on Friday November 12, 2010

Friday November 19, 2010 protest at Nabi Salih against the occupation and against encroachment on the village’s land

“Bil’in – Ramallah: Friday 19 November/2010, one citizen was wounded and dozens suffered tear gas inhalation due to the clashes that took place in the village of Bil’in. Peace activists and international supporters marched alongside village residents in the weekly demonstration against the wall and settlements, and in solidarity with activist Abdullah Abo Rahma, who was refused release by the Israeli military court of Ofer even after his sentence expired.

The march participants carried Palestinian flags and pictures of Abdullah Abo Rahma, coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil’in, and chanted slogans condemning the policy of occupation, settlement expansion, and repression against the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. They also chanted slogans condemning the attacks on the houses of Jerusalem, plus calls to stop the policy of deportation and exclusionand to release all detainees and political prisoners, particularly those involved in the non-violent resistance.

The demonstrators marched from the village while calling for unity and rejection of differences, and confirmed the need for a resounding Palestinian resistance to occupation and freedom for Palestine.

The march headed toward the wall, where the military force of the Israeli occupation army was waiting behind the concrete blocks of the wall. They had closed the gate of the wall with barbed wire. The army fired sound bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas at them from all directions, resulting in injury to Kamel Khatib (18 years), who was shot in the hip by a rubber-coated metal bullet. Dozens of participants experienced suffocation and the effects of tear gas inhalation.

The Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil’in calls for condemnation of the military court’s refusal to release Abdullah Abu Rahma, and appeals to the international community and international human rights organizations to stand next to Abdullah Abu Rahma, whose prison term has expired yet still remains in jail .”

Bil’in demonstration on Friday November 26. 2010 against the separation barrier.

And the struggle continues.

This story was published yesterday in the alternative press because no major news sources seem to be carrying it. “Happy Thanksgiving” was Phil Weiss’ cynical appraisal as Israel apparently used the American holiday to mete out more destruction of Palestinian life in the West Bank, life that already exists on the edge of abject poverty.

Israeli forces demolished Palestinian homes in the Jordan Valley and the South Hebron Hills today in what seems as a wave of demolitions following yesterday’s demolitions all across the West Bank. Non-violent leaders from Beit Ummar have also been arrested in night raids. Grassroots organizers Mousa and Yousef Abu Maria were arrested from their homes as harassment continues in Beit Ummar

After carrying demolitions in the villages of Qarawat Bani Hassan near Salfeet, al-Jiftlik in the Jordan Valley and Hizma near Jerusalem yesterday, Israeli bulldozers returned to the Jordan Valley today. At 6:30 this morning, Israeli Civil Administration bulldozers accompanied by soldiers and armored military jeeps entered the Jordan Valley village of Khirbet Yarza, east of Tubas, and demolished the village’s mosque, houses and four animal shelters. The demolitions rendered eleven people homeless.

LINK: http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/israel-conducts-wave-of-demolitions-including-mosque-across-west-bank.

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In what was probably the most naive statement pronounced by a famous humanitarian, U2’s lead singer, Bono, in a NYT article he expressed hope that the Palestinians will eventually find “their Gandhi, their King, or their Aung San Suu Kyi.” His blindness to the reality of Palestinian non-violent protest, which has been going on for years, has apparently led him to remain quiet about the plight of the Palestinian people.

In response, Phillip Weiss asked: “Why hasn’t Bono heard the names of Jamal Juma’, Mohammad Othman, Abdallah Abu Rahmah, and other Palestinians who have been jailed for their resistance to modern apartheid, their efforts to stop the Wall being built on their land, their promotion of nonviolent tactics of boycott and divestment?”

Videos are from the Bi’lin Village site of the latest weekly protest, dedicated to Abdallah Abu Rahmah:

The people of Bil’in dedicated the weekly demonstration in the village to Abdallah Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee, who is kept in jail despite having served his one-year sentence in full. One protester was injured.

Dozens of Israeli and international supporters joined the demonstration in Bil’in this week, which was dedicated to Abdallah Abu Rahmah, the local grassroots organizer jailed for his part n the village’s campaign. The protesters condemned his continued detention and the fact that he is still in jail despite having finished serving his sentence. People waved Palestinian flags and pictures of Abu Rahmah, and chanted slogans condemning the Occupation, settlements, the repression of the struggle and the jailing of Palestinian activists….

An hour into the demonstration, most demonstrators had already started to retreat back to the village, which apparently did not seem like reason enough for the soldiers to keep barraging the village with tear-gas, and eventually even invaded the village for a short while. An eighteen year-old was injured by a rubber-coated bullet that hit him in the hip.

Abdallah Abu Rahmah, a school teacher, who was convicted by a military court over a year ago for incitement (leading non-violent protests in Bi’lin), remains in prison in spite of completing his sentence.

So to Bono we can say, here’s your Gandhi. Now how about your appeal to have him released from prison?

President Obama just offered Israel a squadron of the latest US jet fighters in return for a freeze on settlement building (stealing further Palestinian land) in the West Bank for three months (East Jerusalem? That’s okay).

Richard Silverstein (of Takun Olam) did the math:

America is used to buying its way to quasi-peace in Iraq and Afghanistan and appears to be doing something similar by buying Israel’s acquiescence in a 90-day, partial settlement freeze.  The going price: $33.33-million a day for the entire 90 day process [thanks readers, for correcting my math!].  Now, we know what Hillary and Bibi were doing in that New York hotel suite for seven hours earlier this week.  It wasn’t canoodling!  But she was virtually giving away the store.

(LINK to the full article above.)

Netanyahu is no doubt laughing all the way to the bank. After stalling the peace process for two years, he will do three months standing on his head, at further US taxpayer expense.

Israel!

Protest of IDF recruitment at the University of Michigan.
EdwardTeller posted most of this diary (with the slightly revised title above) at FireDogLake yesterday.

Does the British Army get to recruit on U.S. campuses? How about the Canadian Army? Or the Mexican Army? No, they don’t.

But the Israeli Army – the IDF – gets to.

Increasingly, their appearances are being protested. No doubt, the U.S. Congress will soon be told by a certain foreign country’s agents to pass a law forbidding protests against these recruiting missions, and they will probably pass the bill with large bipartisan support.

Meanwhile students are doing what they can.

At the University of Michigan, the students staged a walkout, and rightly so. When the recruiter asked if there were any questions, a student (video) replied: “were the children of Gaza offered the chance to ask questions?”

Another video of the walkout.

An anonymous comment:

On October 20 2010, two IDF soldiers came to the University of Michigan campus as part of a national PR campaign by Stand With Us aimed at justifying Israel’s recent atrocities in the Middle East. Students, staff, and community members collectively engaged in a silent walk-out in memory and in solidarity with all of the silenced Palestinian children that were killed by the IDF during Israel’s most recent offensive on the Gaza Strip who are unable to take a stand and give their account today.

Similar protests of IDF recruitment took place at Arizona State University, but Youtube appears to be restricting the videos, allegedly because some users might find the material inappropriate.

….for the THIRD time.

Video of Jewish activists disrupting Netanyahu at Jewish Federations General Assembly.
….in the VIDEO Bibi is heckled while addressing the Jewish Federations Convention in New Orleans, quoted here not just for its irrelevance, but to show that at least someone, if not Obama or Biden, spoke up about the latest embarrassment of the US by Israel’s government (See Adam Horowitz’s report at Mondoweiss for the details).

It was actually MJ Rosenberg, writing at Huffington Post, who remarked on the latest insult:

Is this is a sick joke? Netanyahu pulls this TWICE (correction, it is now THREE TIMES).

While visiting Israel in March, Vice President Joe Biden delivered a speech that delighted the Israeli right and its followers here. The key passage was this: “When it comes to Israel’s security there can be no daylight — no daylight — between Israel and the US.”

That formulation, which was devised by AIPAC, pleased the Netanyahu government, which interprets it to mean that Israel has carte blanch from Washington to do whatever it wants. No other country in the world enjoys such a pledge from the United States.

Within hours, the Israeli government responded to Biden’s endorsement by announcing that it would be building 1,600 new settler units in Arab East Jerusalem.

That announcement — and the slap in the face that it represented — led to the Spring 2010 crisis in US-Israel relations that seemed to indicate that, at long last, the United States was standing up to Israel on the settlement issue. In Israel, it was widely speculated that Netanyahu’s government would fall. Many believed that the dispute would force him to implement a settlement freeze or face serious consequences.

Of course, none of that happened. Today, at least the EU finally spoke up: EU urges Israel to ‘reverse’ plan for 1,300 East Jerusalem homes; Israel also announces plans to build 800 homes in Ariel.

U.S. President Barack Obama cautioned Tuesday that Israel’s plan to construct 1,300 new homes in East Jerusalem could obstruct the pursuit of peace in the Middle East.

“This kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations,” said Obama, adding that he was concerned Israel and Palestinians were not making enough of an effort to advance peace negotiations.

…..

The U.S. State Department said it was “disappointed” after it learned Monday that 1,300 Jewish homes had been approved for construction beyond the Green Line in East Jerusalem. Later in the day, it emerged that Israel had also approved second plan to build 800 homes in the West Bank settlement of Ariel.

….the United States sees it (Ariel) as a panhandle sticking into the West Bank, intended to prevent Palestinian territorial contiguity.

“Disappointed?” Is that you, Hillary? If it were not so predictable, we would all be disappointed.

Here’s MJ Rosenberg once again for the last word:

Following Tuesday’s “shellacking,” the big question in Washington is whether the president is going to push back against ugly slaps like this or simply try to conciliate his adversaries.

No that was not the final word. Here is the final word: Obama, they’re laughing at you (Posted by Seham).

Click the link for numerous stories about Netanyahu’s disingenuousness and his intent to implement the Likud Charter in what’s left of Palestine. If you don’t know what the Likud Charter is, click HERE. It’s intent is to wipe Palestine off the map (and no, that is not the Iranian PM speaking; it’s what Netanyahu is all about).

Adam Horowitz, writing at Mondoweiss, weighed in on the affect of the midterm election on US-Israel relations. His piece was described as “BREAKING NEWS, cynically as no one familiar with the state of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process (or pretext) expected otherwise: that Israel, hence Netanyahu, would retain control of the US Congress. The cast of Republican characters now working for Israel in the House is stunning (see below). For reference sake, The Israel Project is a major propaganda arm in the US of right wing Israeli perspectives on the Palestinian quest for a state (If only they were not terrorists endangering Israel’s existence).
Horowitz writes,

The headline is courtesy of Ali Abunimah’s twitter feed. Josh Rogan reports for Foreign Policy on The Israel Project’s victory lap:

One prominent pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington is already praising the GOP takeover of the House of Representatives as a net benefit for Israel.

“While Democrats are likely to keep control of the U.S. Senate, Republicans will take over the U.S. House of Representatives following Tuesday’s elections. This is likely to have implications for Israel-related issues such as Israel’s relationship with the United States and the push for sanctions against Iran,” said an e-mail blasted out by The Israel Project only minutes after news stations called the turnover of House control a certainty.

“The takeover of the House by Republicans is great news for Israel and her supporters,” the email quotes Ari Fleischer, White House spokesman under President George W. Bush, as saying. “The House leadership and almost every single GOP member is rock-solid behind Israel. At times like this, Israel needs friends everywhere.”

But the Israel Project’s e-mail then quickly turns on its head and praises Congressional Democrats in the House and Senate for their staunch support of Israel.

“The House Democratic leadership has been powerfully supportive of Israel, and Speaker Pelosi has been nothing short of passionate in her successful pursuit of biting sanctions against Iran – a key interest of the pro-Israel community,” The Israel Project quotes David Harris, president and CEO of the National Jewish Democratic Council, as saying.

So which is it? Is The Israel Project saying that Republicans or Democrats are better for Israel?

“American voters on both sides of the aisle support Israel,” Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder and president of The Israel Project, says in the e-mail.

I guess in the end Netanyahu couldn’t lose.

The Israel Project identifies several key Congressional changes that could impact the Israel debate on Capitol Hill. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) will take over the House Foreign Affairs Committee from Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA). House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), who the Project calls “staunchly pro-Israel,” will likely be the next Speaker of the House and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) could become Majority Leader, “the highest-ranking post a Jew has ever held in Congress,” the e-mail points out.

The Project also points toward Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), who could become the new head of the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on terrorism, non-proliferation, and trade, and whoever will replace Barney Frank (D-MA) as head of the Finance Committee, “a key avenue for sanctions against Iran.” The top three contenders for chairman are Spencer Bachus, (R-AL), Pete King (R-NY), and Royce.

The message is: the more US politics change, the more it remains the same.

….subtitled, goodbye Tom J, who recently joined “the banned” at Daily Kos.

Strikes of political blogs are generally only symbolic protests and this one is no different. A week ago, a Daily Kos diarist was banned from the site by an administrator, for no apparent reason, which ticked off Arab and Palestinian bloggers, and their sympathizers. So one of them called for a strike, and others joined in.

The banning was of Tom J. Tom J was a regular diarist at Daily Kos who provided factual diaries about daily events taking place in Israel and Palestine against its indigenous inhabitants, the Palestinians. Diaries about the effects of Israel’s occupation, the enforced colonization it has been conducting for over 40 years, stories about killings, house demolitions, wrecking of farmlands and orchards, and deprivation of water resources, all for the purpose of expanding Jewish settlements, the towns and cities Israel has built over the years on stolen Palestinian lands.

Tom J provided a daily account of the horrors taking place through news stories, pictures, and videos, the kind of reporting that is usually censored from mainstream US media. Without implying conspiracy, Tom J is also the proprietor of the site, STOP AIPAC.

By simply revealing the reality, Tom J continually disturbed the large gang of right wing Zionists who blog at Daily Kos, viewed his diaries as Israel-bashing, and him as part of the “Israel is always wrong” crowd. However, under the brutal conditions of the Palestinian occupation/colonialism, there has never been an “Israel is right” diary posted on Daily Kos  that justified Israel’s behavior toward the Palestinians. Diaries about left wing peace activism inside Israel or Palestine or in the US, especially among Jewish peace groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, recently condemned as anti-Israel by the ADL, have always been considered Israel-bashing, strange as it may seem.
HERE is the proposal to strike Daily Kos by a Palestinian member, simone daud, previously known as the Palestinian Professor (annotated):

COMMENT

I’m now calling a strike of Arab participants on dailykos, until Meteor Blades (administrator) explains the banning of Tom J and why this ongoing disruptive behaviour and anti-Arab viciousness is allowed to persist in these threads.

The strike will last a week to the morning of 30th October.

Non-Arab participants are welcome to join the strike (some like Assaf, a Jewish Israeli and peace activist, did).

by simone daud

RESPONSE

We are definitely being personally abused in every essay.

I’m not feeling very welcome here.

The people that show up on every essay speaking to, and showing video of the crisis in Palestine get verbally abused and have their essays derailed by a vocal few who are trying to eliminate any Free Speech on the subject.

It is horrific when humanitarians and Peace Activists get shouted down by name calling and vile comments.

Tom J was a brilliant writer and a man concerned with our relatives there.

I had my ratings taken away months ago for uprating something by sheer accident, after removing it an apologizing for the scroll over. They were never returned.

I feel it is because I am an openly Arab man of Palestinian descent who speaks against the atrocities in Palestine.

But I am loathe to be silenced by those who throw “anti-semite” around to defend a Government that has run as far right amok as the Bush administration and beyond.

Let me sleep on this Simone.

by Peacenick

Other responses to the call to strike can be read at the link.

Tom J will undoubtedly become just another one of the more than 35 bloggers banned from Daily Kos in the past few years for advocating for the Palestinian cause for freedom and self-determination. In the same period, only two right wing Zionist bloggers, an obvious troll and a self-described jazz singer, have been banned. Daily Kos, it seems, has made a choice, not to advocate for democratic principles supported by say a Jimmy Carter, but to follow Steny Hoyer-like Democrats, the AIPAC fawns in Congress, by suppressing information about the truth about what is going on in Israel-Palestine. Diaries such as this one, Israel/Palestine News, by Friendlystranger, showing the reality on the ground may continue to be posted, but for doing so, he and others can expect to be banned.

So be it. As these bloggers fall, more and more will rise up to take their place.

This photo is attached to a story by Phil Weiss (Mondoweiss) about the fact that “Obama’s gonna have to leave politics before he denounces the occupation.”

But here’s another president, Jimmy Carter, no longer fearful of the Lobby, protesting in East Jerusalem for human rights. But that’s Jimmy Carter for you, never looking the other way while the injustices of military occupation and colonialism in Palestine, and the horrible and deadly siege of Gaza, continue.

LINK: http://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/obama-will-have-to-leave-politics-before-he-denounces-the-occupation.h

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