Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Thursday, April 29, 2010
'Accepting Palestinians into Israel better than two states' Rivlin (haaretz) 29th April 2010
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said Thursday that he would rather accept Palestinians as Israeli citizens than divide Israel and the West Bank in a future two-state peace solution.
Speaking during a meeting with Greece's ambassador to Israel Kyriakos Loukakis, Rivlin said that he did not see any point of Israel signing a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority as he did not believe PA President Mahmoud Abbas "could deliver the goods."
Referring to the possibility that such an agreement could be reached, Rivlin said: "I would rather Palestinians as citizens of this country over dividing the land up."
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Late last year, Rivlin said in a Jerusalem address that Israel's Arab population was "an inseparable part of this country. It is a group with a highly defined shared national identity, and which will forever be, as a collective, an important and integral part of Israeli society."
In a speech given in the president's residence, the Knesset speaker called for a fundamental change in relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel, urging the foundation of a "true partnership" between the two sectors, based on mutual respect, absolute equality and the addressing of "the special needs and unique character of each of the sides."
Rivlin also said that "the establishment of Israel was accompanied by much pain and suffering and a real trauma for the Palestinians," adding that "many of Israel's Arabs, which see themselves as part of the Palestinian population, feel the pain of their brothers across the green line - a pain they feel the state of Israel is responsible for."
"Many of them," Rivlin says, "encounter racism and arrogance from Israel's Jews; the inequality in the allocation of state funds also does not contribute to any extra love."
Speaking during a meeting with Greece's ambassador to Israel Kyriakos Loukakis, Rivlin said that he did not see any point of Israel signing a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority as he did not believe PA President Mahmoud Abbas "could deliver the goods."
Referring to the possibility that such an agreement could be reached, Rivlin said: "I would rather Palestinians as citizens of this country over dividing the land up."
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Late last year, Rivlin said in a Jerusalem address that Israel's Arab population was "an inseparable part of this country. It is a group with a highly defined shared national identity, and which will forever be, as a collective, an important and integral part of Israeli society."
In a speech given in the president's residence, the Knesset speaker called for a fundamental change in relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel, urging the foundation of a "true partnership" between the two sectors, based on mutual respect, absolute equality and the addressing of "the special needs and unique character of each of the sides."
Rivlin also said that "the establishment of Israel was accompanied by much pain and suffering and a real trauma for the Palestinians," adding that "many of Israel's Arabs, which see themselves as part of the Palestinian population, feel the pain of their brothers across the green line - a pain they feel the state of Israel is responsible for."
"Many of them," Rivlin says, "encounter racism and arrogance from Israel's Jews; the inequality in the allocation of state funds also does not contribute to any extra love."
Monday, March 29, 2010
Israel is sliding toward McCarthyism and racism By David Landau
"In every generation a man is to consider himself as if he personally experienced the Exodus from Egypt." That is the central message of the Haggadah, of the seder night and indeed of Passover itself - the Festival of Freedom.
The message isn't necessarily confined to the experience of the Hebrew slaves, who were delivered from bondage. The entire epic of the Exodus is meaningful. Our generation, in particular, the generation of renaissance and occupation, might do well to consider the narrative from the Egyptian perspective.
In other words, how does a society professing the noblest values toward the Other - "In the best of the land bring your father and your brothers to live," Pharaoh urges Joseph (Genesis 47:6); "the foundations of freedom, justice and peace," Israel's Declaration of Independence proclaims - how does such a society come to adopt policies of discrimination, persecution and endless conflict? "Let's double-cross them," the new pharaoh, the one who "knew not Joseph," says of his Jewish minority. "Or else they'll grow demographically, and when war comes, they'll side with the enemy ..." Sound familiar?
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How, then, does a society morph in this way? The answer seems to be, inadvertently. Since last Passover, over the first year of Benjamin Netanyahu's prime ministership, Israel has slid almost inadvertently a long way down the slope that leads to McCarthyism and racism.
Inadvertently. That must be the explanation. Otherwise, how to explain the dismal fact that during this year a heinous travesty was perpetrated against Naomi Chazan - and the streets of our cities weren't seething with mass demonstrations? Major crossroads around the country were adorned with a literally Sturmer-like cartoon portraying this hitherto respected and distinguished woman, until recently a deputy speaker of the Knesset, who heads a fund that pours millions of philanthropic dollars into educational and civil, social projects in Israel - and thousands of decent people were not out there shouting, 'Fascism shall not pass!' One needn't like all of the organizations that Chazan's New Israel Fund supports to be outraged and disgusted and frightened by the style of the campaign that was mounted against her. (Full disclosure: I've lectured on occasion for the New Israel Fund.)
What's so depressing about the Chazan affair is not so much the crude brutishness of her adversaries as the limp impotence of the many people who tut-tutted - and did nothing. When this form of inadvertence descends on an enlightened society, it numbs and paralyzes. That, perhaps, is how to understand a recent academic discussion broadcast on Army Radio about the "Nakba Law." A noted jurist explained that a bill submitted by a group of MKs, slapping a three-year jail term on anyone mourning the Nakba ["the catastrophe," as the Palestinians see 1948 and after] on Independence Day was unlikely to get through the Knesset. Even if it did, she went on, it would probably be struck down by the High Court of Justice. The criminal code, she explained, was not the appropriate means to deal with "the problem." However, she added, completely matter-of-fact, a bill cutting off state funding from any local authority marking the Nakba on Independence Day would probably get through. Its curtailment of freedom of speech could be deemed proportionate. (A bill in this vein has since passed its first reading.) Not a word of reservation from this jurist or her interviewer, who himself is an academic lawyer. No value judgment. Just dry academic analysis.
Without making any ghastly comparisons, listening to this radio program, one found oneself thinking that in other countries where the regime steadily transformed from democratic to non-democratic, there must have been liberal-minded, gently spoken academics who provided meticulous, legalistic analysis of malevolent laws enacted against minorities.
As history, both ancient and more recent, teaches us, there is another vital component in the inculcation of a whole society with xenophobia. It's the big lie, repeated over and over until ordinary people inadvertently come to regard it as truth. "Go and worship your God," Pharaoh pretended to Moses, time after time. His own people no doubt believed him.
In our own case, this past year, Netanyahu has incessantly repeated his mantra that he's merely doing in Jerusalem "what all my predecessors have done for 43 years." The purpose of this pretense is to erase from the public mind, at home and abroad, the fact that two of his predecessors negotiated with the Palestinians and the Americans over dividing the city. The purpose, too, is deliberately to blur the hugely significant difference between building in the Jewish neighborhoods that have been developed over decades and forcibly inserting Jewish settlers into all-Arab neighborhoods like Sheikh Jarrah. The purpose, basically, is to obliterate any chance of implementing the "Clinton parameters" - Jewish areas to Israel, Arab areas to Palestine, Holy Basin to God [or an international consortium representing Him] and thus reaching a fair compromise on Jerusalem.
The demonstrations taking place on Fridays at Sheikh Jarrah offer some smidgen of hope that not everyone has been duped and silenced. The Naomi Chazan front was abandoned. The "Nakba Law" front was lost without a fight. The battle line in Israel's war of survival as a Jewish and democratic state now runs through the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. There, alongside the few brave Israelis out demonstrating, the president of the United States has planted his pennant, too. Is that the line, at last, where Israel's decline will be halted?
The message isn't necessarily confined to the experience of the Hebrew slaves, who were delivered from bondage. The entire epic of the Exodus is meaningful. Our generation, in particular, the generation of renaissance and occupation, might do well to consider the narrative from the Egyptian perspective.
In other words, how does a society professing the noblest values toward the Other - "In the best of the land bring your father and your brothers to live," Pharaoh urges Joseph (Genesis 47:6); "the foundations of freedom, justice and peace," Israel's Declaration of Independence proclaims - how does such a society come to adopt policies of discrimination, persecution and endless conflict? "Let's double-cross them," the new pharaoh, the one who "knew not Joseph," says of his Jewish minority. "Or else they'll grow demographically, and when war comes, they'll side with the enemy ..." Sound familiar?
Advertisement
How, then, does a society morph in this way? The answer seems to be, inadvertently. Since last Passover, over the first year of Benjamin Netanyahu's prime ministership, Israel has slid almost inadvertently a long way down the slope that leads to McCarthyism and racism.
Inadvertently. That must be the explanation. Otherwise, how to explain the dismal fact that during this year a heinous travesty was perpetrated against Naomi Chazan - and the streets of our cities weren't seething with mass demonstrations? Major crossroads around the country were adorned with a literally Sturmer-like cartoon portraying this hitherto respected and distinguished woman, until recently a deputy speaker of the Knesset, who heads a fund that pours millions of philanthropic dollars into educational and civil, social projects in Israel - and thousands of decent people were not out there shouting, 'Fascism shall not pass!' One needn't like all of the organizations that Chazan's New Israel Fund supports to be outraged and disgusted and frightened by the style of the campaign that was mounted against her. (Full disclosure: I've lectured on occasion for the New Israel Fund.)
What's so depressing about the Chazan affair is not so much the crude brutishness of her adversaries as the limp impotence of the many people who tut-tutted - and did nothing. When this form of inadvertence descends on an enlightened society, it numbs and paralyzes. That, perhaps, is how to understand a recent academic discussion broadcast on Army Radio about the "Nakba Law." A noted jurist explained that a bill submitted by a group of MKs, slapping a three-year jail term on anyone mourning the Nakba ["the catastrophe," as the Palestinians see 1948 and after] on Independence Day was unlikely to get through the Knesset. Even if it did, she went on, it would probably be struck down by the High Court of Justice. The criminal code, she explained, was not the appropriate means to deal with "the problem." However, she added, completely matter-of-fact, a bill cutting off state funding from any local authority marking the Nakba on Independence Day would probably get through. Its curtailment of freedom of speech could be deemed proportionate. (A bill in this vein has since passed its first reading.) Not a word of reservation from this jurist or her interviewer, who himself is an academic lawyer. No value judgment. Just dry academic analysis.
Without making any ghastly comparisons, listening to this radio program, one found oneself thinking that in other countries where the regime steadily transformed from democratic to non-democratic, there must have been liberal-minded, gently spoken academics who provided meticulous, legalistic analysis of malevolent laws enacted against minorities.
As history, both ancient and more recent, teaches us, there is another vital component in the inculcation of a whole society with xenophobia. It's the big lie, repeated over and over until ordinary people inadvertently come to regard it as truth. "Go and worship your God," Pharaoh pretended to Moses, time after time. His own people no doubt believed him.
In our own case, this past year, Netanyahu has incessantly repeated his mantra that he's merely doing in Jerusalem "what all my predecessors have done for 43 years." The purpose of this pretense is to erase from the public mind, at home and abroad, the fact that two of his predecessors negotiated with the Palestinians and the Americans over dividing the city. The purpose, too, is deliberately to blur the hugely significant difference between building in the Jewish neighborhoods that have been developed over decades and forcibly inserting Jewish settlers into all-Arab neighborhoods like Sheikh Jarrah. The purpose, basically, is to obliterate any chance of implementing the "Clinton parameters" - Jewish areas to Israel, Arab areas to Palestine, Holy Basin to God [or an international consortium representing Him] and thus reaching a fair compromise on Jerusalem.
The demonstrations taking place on Fridays at Sheikh Jarrah offer some smidgen of hope that not everyone has been duped and silenced. The Naomi Chazan front was abandoned. The "Nakba Law" front was lost without a fight. The battle line in Israel's war of survival as a Jewish and democratic state now runs through the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. There, alongside the few brave Israelis out demonstrating, the president of the United States has planted his pennant, too. Is that the line, at last, where Israel's decline will be halted?
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Wild West Bank like Wild West July 4th 2008
"Noar Gvaot" stoned moving bus near Shiloh on West Bank. July 4th 2008.
I was by the windows that shattered on the bus with "Peace Now".
Hagit Ofran of "Peace Now" settlement watch took us on a tour Friday.
As we drove from Jerusalem we were pointed out that apart from many settlements there are many "illegal" outposts. like "Givat Asaf, Azmona, Migron" and many more.
In second picture I took you can see one of the leaders of a small village "kiryot"
telling us about the many problems living on west bank.
The road leading from the village has been blocked making it difficult to go to nearby Ramallah.
I wished them that Inshalah the many Problems can be solved.
We also went by Beit El where many years ago was my Miluim Storage point.
I was at Shiloh twice soon after it was declared "Archeological Dig" in 1977 and with "Peace Now" when Tumarkin set up "Dove Tower" there.
30 years since 1978 and the situation is impossible and is far from stable.
Ynet report:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3564543,00.html
14:16 , 07.06.08
PR in Territories
Bus stoned in West Bank Photo courtesy of Peace Now
Peace Now organizes settlement tours
Poll ordered by left-wing movement reveals 73% of Israelis have not visited West Bank in recent years. Following data, group decides to hold summer tours to settlements, outpost to explain its stance
Efrat Weiss
A poll ordered recently by the Peace Now left-wing movement reveals that some 73% of Israelis have not visited the West Bank over the past few years, and those who have, did it as part of their military service or due to a family event.
Following the data, the movement decided to hold summer tours to settlements and outpost in order to allow people to closely examine the situation there.
A movement official said that one of the most difficult problems is explaining the current state of affairs in the territories, settlements and outposts to the Israeli public – as people find it difficult to understand the impacts of the settlement construction without personally visiting the area.
To tackle this problem, Peace Now ordered a survey from the Maagar Mochot research institution, aimed at examining the patterns of visiting the West Bank area among the wide public.
Asked "how many times have you visited settlements in the Judea and Samaria territories over the past five year?", 73% of the respondents said they have never visited the area, while 22% said they have visited the area once or several times as part of a trip, a visit, a family event, military service and business.
Peace Now bus with shattered windows (Photo courtesy of Peace Now)
According to the poll, the majority of the public have not visited the territories due to lack of interest and for fear of terror attacks, as well as for political reasons.
The survey also revealed that the frequency of visits to settlements among the ultra-Orthodox in particular and the Jewish sector in general is double the frequency among the Arab sector.
In addition, 79% of the Israeli public have never visited West Bank outposts. The percentage of visitors is higher among younger Israelis.
In response to the poll, Peace Now decided to hold a series of tours during the summer, appealing to people who have never visited the territories.
A first tour to settlements and outposts in the Binyamin region was held over the weekend with 80 participants. The buses they traveled in were stoned near the settlement of Shiloh, and the windows were damaged.
Additional tours are planned to the separation fence and roadblocks, as well as to the city of Hebron.
Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer said, "More people prefer spending the summer holiday in Antalya and Paris than witnessing what is taking place a half-hour car drive away from their homes."
פעילי ימין יידו אבנים לעבר פעילי "שלום עכשיו"
יום שישי, 4 ביולי 2008, 16:04 מאת: מערכת וואלה! חדשות
פעילי ימין יידו היום (שישי) אבנים לעבר שני אוטובוסים של פעילי תנועת "שלום עכשיו", שסיירו באזור שילה ובנימין. בגלי צה"ל דווח, כי איש לא נפגע, אך נזק נגרם לאוטובוסים.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Israel's Peace Now turns 30
Israel's Peace Now turns 30
by Beth O'ConnellMon Apr 7, 3:29 PM ET
Loathed or loved by many Israelis, Peace Now this week marks 30 years as a movement which has deeply influenced public opinion but not achieved its vision of peace with the Palestinians.
The group plans to celebrate three decades of activism and anti-settlement battles on Tuesday at a Tel Aviv square named after prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated after addressing a peace rally there in 1995.
In 1982, Peace Now led a 400,000-strong protest at the same square, calling for a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
What was then seen as a radical concept is now the US-backed consensus view in Israel and the basis for negotiations under way with the Palestinians.
Longtime activist Galia Golan remembers secret meetings with representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in occupied east Jerusalem nearly 30 years ago to discuss possible future peace talks.
The breakthrough finally came in 1993 when Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Rabin signed the Oslo accords, five years after the PLO recognised Israel's right to exist.
"We had a role in changing the public dialogue and the fact is that today there is a majority supporting the two-state solution, negotiations and pulling out of the West Bank," said Golan, 69.
Peace Now first won prominence on Israel's political scene in 1978, riding a wave of popular support for army reserve officers who had published a letter calling for peace between Israel and Egypt.
One year later, president Anwar Sadar signed a peace treaty with prime minister Menachem Begin making Egypt the first Arab government to make peace with Israel.
Since then Peace Now, which calls itself Israel's oldest peace movement, has drawn hundreds of thousands of Israelis to its rallies, and some of its activists have gone on to win parliamentary seats.
It has also taken its campaign against Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank to Israel's highest court. The international community considers the settlements illegal and a key hurdle to Middle East peace.
"Peace Now was established to fight the settler movement," says Sammy Smooha, a sociology professor at Haifa University.
"It has provided information on settlements and demonstrated that they are counterproductive for Israeli security and the peace process."
The peace movement was a counterforce to hardline Jews who settled the West Bank and Gaza Strip after their occupation in the 1967 Middle East war.
"We saw the issue of the settlements as central for peace from the start," says Golan, a professor at the Lauder school of government in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv.
"We failed to prevent new construction but we managed to make the issue critical and make the public realise we must get rid of them," she said.
Not surprisingly, the movement's loudest critics come from the right-wing settler movement.
"In 30 years Peace Now has brought upon Israel only violence. I don't judge their intentions, just the result of their deeds," says Dani Dayan, chairman of the main settlement organization, the Yesha Council.
Dayan pointed to the group's support for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon in 2000 and from Gaza five years later, which he said had served only to bolster Israel's Islamist foes Hezbollah and Hamas.
The last major Peace Now demonstration was in May 2005 in support of the removal of Jewish settlements in Gaza, and today some question the group's relevance now that its political views are mainstream.
To the settlers, Peace Now's influence seems to have waned since the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000, the collapse of US-sponsored peace talks early the following year and Hamas's seizure of Gaza last June.
"Israeli public opinion has seen the illusion of peace, seen the big mistakes Peace Now and their allies have made," says Dayan, who believes it may result in victory for the right at the next elections.
But over the years Peace Now has made a significant contribution to raising public awareness, says Smooha, "spreading the idea that peace is possible, achievable, and not an illusion."
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Redemption Song-These songs of freedom
18th August 2007 Saturday Evening "Leilot Yaffo - Jaffa Nights"
Artist: Bob Marley
Album: Uprising
Title: Redemption Song
Old pirates, yes, they rob i;
Sold i to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took i
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong
By the 'and of the almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'cause all i ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look? ooh!
Some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil de book.
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'cause all i ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
---
/guitar break/
---
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our mind.
Wo! have no fear for atomic energy,
'cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil de book.
Won't you help to sing
Dese songs of freedom? -
'cause all i ever had:
Redemption songs -
All i ever had:
Redemption songs:
These songs of freedom,
Songs of freedom.
Artist: Bob Marley
Album: Uprising
Title: Redemption Song
Old pirates, yes, they rob i;
Sold i to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took i
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong
By the 'and of the almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'cause all i ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look? ooh!
Some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil de book.
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'cause all i ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
---
/guitar break/
---
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our mind.
Wo! have no fear for atomic energy,
'cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil de book.
Won't you help to sing
Dese songs of freedom? -
'cause all i ever had:
Redemption songs -
All i ever had:
Redemption songs:
These songs of freedom,
Songs of freedom.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Burg: Defining Israel as a Jewish state is the key to its end
From Haaretz:
Last update - 06:41 07/06/2007
Burg: Defining Israel as a Jewish state is the key to its end
By Ari Shavit, Haaretz Correspondent
Avraham Burg, former Knesset speaker and former head of the Jewish Agency says "to define the State of Israel as a Jewish state is the key to its end. A Jewish state is explosive. It's dynamite." In an interview in Haaretz Weekend Magazine, he said that he is in favor of abrogating the Law of Return and calls on everyone who can to obtain a foreign passport.
Burg, who was interviewed on the occasion of the publication of his book "Defeating Hitler" said "the strategic mistake of Zionism was to annul the alternatives. Israeliness has only body; it doesn't have soul."
"Judaism always prepared alternatives," says Burg, who three years after leaving Israeli politics is now a citizen of France and a successful businessman.
"Just as there was something astonishing about German Jewry, in America, too, they created the potential for something astonishing. They created a situation in which the goy can be my father and my mother and my son and my partner," Burg says.
His book ruminates about Israel and Zionism, compares Israel and Germany, harshly criticizes Eichmann's hanging, reflects on Judaism in the age of globalization and remembers his father's house.
Burg said he started his book in mourning for the loss of Israel. "During most of the writing the book's title was 'Hitler Won.' But slowly I discovered the layer of not everything being lost. And I discovered my father as a representative of German Jewry that was ahead of its time. These two themes nourished the book from beginning to end."
Last update - 06:41 07/06/2007
Burg: Defining Israel as a Jewish state is the key to its end
By Ari Shavit, Haaretz Correspondent
Avraham Burg, former Knesset speaker and former head of the Jewish Agency says "to define the State of Israel as a Jewish state is the key to its end. A Jewish state is explosive. It's dynamite." In an interview in Haaretz Weekend Magazine, he said that he is in favor of abrogating the Law of Return and calls on everyone who can to obtain a foreign passport.
Burg, who was interviewed on the occasion of the publication of his book "Defeating Hitler" said "the strategic mistake of Zionism was to annul the alternatives. Israeliness has only body; it doesn't have soul."
"Judaism always prepared alternatives," says Burg, who three years after leaving Israeli politics is now a citizen of France and a successful businessman.
"Just as there was something astonishing about German Jewry, in America, too, they created the potential for something astonishing. They created a situation in which the goy can be my father and my mother and my son and my partner," Burg says.
His book ruminates about Israel and Zionism, compares Israel and Germany, harshly criticizes Eichmann's hanging, reflects on Judaism in the age of globalization and remembers his father's house.
Burg said he started his book in mourning for the loss of Israel. "During most of the writing the book's title was 'Hitler Won.' But slowly I discovered the layer of not everything being lost. And I discovered my father as a representative of German Jewry that was ahead of its time. These two themes nourished the book from beginning to end."
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
40 Years Six Day War. (Also Naksa)
So many Events, 40 years, In a week we will be tired of it. Just like in November so many Politicians say they will continue in Rabin's Way and a week later it is forgotten.
I am planning to be at Rabin Square Saturday.
From Wikipedia Naksa Day:
Naksa Day (6 June) commemorates the Naksa ("setback"), the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during and after the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Syria. The first mass displacement, known as the Nakba, took place during and after the 1947-1949 Palestinian Civil War and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. This exodus is marked on Nakba Day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naksa_Day
I am planning to be at Rabin Square Saturday.
From Wikipedia Naksa Day:
Naksa Day (6 June) commemorates the Naksa ("setback"), the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during and after the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Syria. The first mass displacement, known as the Nakba, took place during and after the 1947-1949 Palestinian Civil War and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. This exodus is marked on Nakba Day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naksa_Day
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Pardes Daka Sunday 27 May 2007
חברות וחברים שוב שלום-
מחר, יום ראשון – 27.5, עתיד להתבצע פינוי ומיד לאחריו הריסה של בית משפחת ד'קה בשכונת פרדס ד'קה, יפו. המשפחה מתכננת להתבצר בביתה על מנת למנוע את הפינוי וההריסה, ואנו עימם.
נפגש בשעה 08:30 בצומת הרחובות יפת והבעל שם טוב.
(פעילים שהגיעו לבית ביום חמישי האחרון וכבר מכירים את הדרך מוזמנים להגיע גם ישירות לשם!)
כפי שנמסר גם בעבר, נראה כי מוצו כל הדרכים המשפטיות לביטול/דחיית ההריסה, כך שפעולה ישירה משותפת לסיכול הביצוע היא הדרך היחידה העומדת בפנינו כרגע- אנא בואו בהמוניכם!
Activists of the Jaffa struggle again Salam,
The evacuation and demolition of Daka's family house that were postponed last Thursday are set for Tomorrow, Sunday – 27/5.
We will meet tomorrow at 8:30am at the cross of "Yeffet" and "Haba'al Shem- Tov" streets.
(Activists that were there last Thursday and know the way are welcome to arrive directly to the Daka's Family house!)
There seems to be no legal way to prevent the warrant from being executed, and therefore, we will join the family in trying to stop it from happening.
English Follows
פעילות ופעילי מאבק יפו שלומות,
למיטב הבנתנו (ממידע שנמסר למשפחה ע"י המשטרה) בעקבות ההתארגנות המוצלחת של משפחת ד'קה והפעילים אתמול, להתנגדות לפינוי וההריסה שתוכננו, הוחלט ע"י המשטרה לדחות את "המבצע".
הפינוי וההריסה נקבעו ליום ראשון הקרוב (ה- 27.5). פרטים מדויקים על מקום ושעת מפגש ימסרו בהקדם האפשרי.
פרטי המקרה הידועים לנו עד כה:
משפחת ד'קה מתגוררת על גבול שכונות ע'גמי וג'בלייה בשכונה המכונה– פרדס ד'קה. בידי המשפחה 22 דונם אדמה הרשומים בטאבו עוד מלפני 48', ובית המשפחה המיועד להריסה בנוי על אדמה המצויה כולה בבעלות המשפחה. עם זאת, ביתם הוכרז בחלקו כ"בנייה בלתי- חוקית", על ידי המנהל, שכן השטח כולו מוקפא זה שנים ולא ניתן להוציא היתרי בנייה. המבנה הנוכחי המיועד להריסה בשל "בניה לא חוקית" הינו הקומה השנייה בביתו של טאלב ד'קה, בה מתגורר בנו מוסא, ומשפחתו. הבן ומשפחתו מוגדרים כ"פולשים" על ידי המנהל. צו ההריסה שהוצא לביתו של הבן, צפוי ללא ספק לפגוע גם בקומה הראשונה, ולמעשה, במבנה כולו, בו מתגוררות ארבע משפחות.
ההליך המשפטי נגד בניית הקומה השנייה, ביתו של מוסא ומשפחתו, נמשך כבר כ-7 שנים. ההליך הסתיים בחודשים האחרונים, בצו פינוי והריסה סופי שנקבע לאתמול (חמישי, 24.5). ניסיונות המשפחה עד הרגע האחרון לפנות לבית המשפט ולעיריית תל-אביב על- מנת למנוע או לדחות את ההריסה, כשלו כולם.
כפי שדווח לאחרונה בעיתונות, פלאטו שרון נמצא במגעים מתקדמים לרכישת שטחי אדמה נרחבים באזור זה, להקמת שכונת מגדלי דירות למגורים במקום. משפחת ד'קה המורחבת, כמו גם משפחה נוספת המתגוררת במקום, חתמו על זיכרון דברים עם עורכי דינו של פלאטו שרון, ממ"י, חלמיש ועיריית ת"א. בהסכם נכתב כי האזור כולו יפונה מדייריו הנוכחיים בהסכמה, במסגרת מכירת הקרקע לפלאטו שרון, על בסיס פיצויים וקניית הקרקע כפי שיוסכם בין הצדדים. לפיכך מבקשת המשפחה להתחשב בפינוי- העתיד להתקיים בעוד כשנה וחצי- ולהקפיא את הצווים הנוכחיים לפינוי והריסה. טענה זו הועלתה בפני שופט בימ"ש מחוזי ושופט בג"צ, אך בשני המקרים נדחתה ולא הושג צו הדחייה.
הועדה העממית של יפו קיבלה אמש מן המשפחה עותק של הסכם זה, ותלמד אותו לפרטיו ועל כל משמעויותיו בהקדם. אין ספק שלהסכם השלכות מרחיקות לכת על אופי ועתיד האזור, ועל המאבק העממי ביפו.
Activists of the Jaffa struggle Salam,
To the best of our knowledge (according to information given to us by the police) and following the successful organization of the Thakka family and the activists yesterday to resist the planned evacuation and demolition, the police have decided to postpone the "operation".
The evacuation and demolition are set for this coming Sunday (May 27 th). Specific details about place and time of meeting will be given as soon as possible.
Here is the information we have gathered so far on the case
The Thakka family lives on the border of Ajami and Jabalia neighborhoods, in a place called "Orchard Thakka". The family owns 22 dunam of land, registered in the "tabo" before 48', and the family's house, designated for demolition, is built completely on their private land. Even so, their house is partially declared as "illegal construction" by the "Minhal", since the whole area has been "frozen" for years, and as such, doesn't allow issuing construction licenses for further building. The part of the house that is designated for demolition is the second floor, where the family's son, Mussa, and his family are currently living. Mussa and his family are defined by the "Minhal" as "intruders" or "trespassers". The demolition warrant issued for the second floor will undoubtedly harm the entire house, occupied by four families.
The Legal proceedings against the building of the second floor has been ongoing for 7 years, and ended recently with an evacuation and demolition warrant, dated yesterday (May 24 th). The family's efforts, made until the very last minute, to prevent or postpone the execution of the warrant, all failed.
As reported recently in the newspapers, Plato Sharon is currently in advanced contact status to acquire wide scale land in the area, in order to build apartment buildings there. The extended Thakka family, as well as another family living in the area, had signed a letter of agreement with Plato Sharon's lawyers, the Minhal, Halamish Company, and Tel Aviv municipality. The agreement stated that the area will be evacuated of its tenants with their consent, on the basis of a compensation settlement made between the sides. Therefore, the family is asking to consider the coming evacuation, set to start within a year and a half, and to freeze the warrants that were issued for the house demolition. That claim was presented to a judge in county court, as well as the Supreme Court, and was declined by both. The Popular Committee of Jaffa had received the agreement's draft yesterday, and will study its various ramifications thoroughly as soon as possible. There is no doubt that this agreement could have far reaching implications on the character and future of the whole area, as well as the popular struggle in Jaffa.
מחר, יום ראשון – 27.5, עתיד להתבצע פינוי ומיד לאחריו הריסה של בית משפחת ד'קה בשכונת פרדס ד'קה, יפו. המשפחה מתכננת להתבצר בביתה על מנת למנוע את הפינוי וההריסה, ואנו עימם.
נפגש בשעה 08:30 בצומת הרחובות יפת והבעל שם טוב.
(פעילים שהגיעו לבית ביום חמישי האחרון וכבר מכירים את הדרך מוזמנים להגיע גם ישירות לשם!)
כפי שנמסר גם בעבר, נראה כי מוצו כל הדרכים המשפטיות לביטול/דחיית ההריסה, כך שפעולה ישירה משותפת לסיכול הביצוע היא הדרך היחידה העומדת בפנינו כרגע- אנא בואו בהמוניכם!
Activists of the Jaffa struggle again Salam,
The evacuation and demolition of Daka's family house that were postponed last Thursday are set for Tomorrow, Sunday – 27/5.
We will meet tomorrow at 8:30am at the cross of "Yeffet" and "Haba'al Shem- Tov" streets.
(Activists that were there last Thursday and know the way are welcome to arrive directly to the Daka's Family house!)
There seems to be no legal way to prevent the warrant from being executed, and therefore, we will join the family in trying to stop it from happening.
English Follows
פעילות ופעילי מאבק יפו שלומות,
למיטב הבנתנו (ממידע שנמסר למשפחה ע"י המשטרה) בעקבות ההתארגנות המוצלחת של משפחת ד'קה והפעילים אתמול, להתנגדות לפינוי וההריסה שתוכננו, הוחלט ע"י המשטרה לדחות את "המבצע".
הפינוי וההריסה נקבעו ליום ראשון הקרוב (ה- 27.5). פרטים מדויקים על מקום ושעת מפגש ימסרו בהקדם האפשרי.
פרטי המקרה הידועים לנו עד כה:
משפחת ד'קה מתגוררת על גבול שכונות ע'גמי וג'בלייה בשכונה המכונה– פרדס ד'קה. בידי המשפחה 22 דונם אדמה הרשומים בטאבו עוד מלפני 48', ובית המשפחה המיועד להריסה בנוי על אדמה המצויה כולה בבעלות המשפחה. עם זאת, ביתם הוכרז בחלקו כ"בנייה בלתי- חוקית", על ידי המנהל, שכן השטח כולו מוקפא זה שנים ולא ניתן להוציא היתרי בנייה. המבנה הנוכחי המיועד להריסה בשל "בניה לא חוקית" הינו הקומה השנייה בביתו של טאלב ד'קה, בה מתגורר בנו מוסא, ומשפחתו. הבן ומשפחתו מוגדרים כ"פולשים" על ידי המנהל. צו ההריסה שהוצא לביתו של הבן, צפוי ללא ספק לפגוע גם בקומה הראשונה, ולמעשה, במבנה כולו, בו מתגוררות ארבע משפחות.
ההליך המשפטי נגד בניית הקומה השנייה, ביתו של מוסא ומשפחתו, נמשך כבר כ-7 שנים. ההליך הסתיים בחודשים האחרונים, בצו פינוי והריסה סופי שנקבע לאתמול (חמישי, 24.5). ניסיונות המשפחה עד הרגע האחרון לפנות לבית המשפט ולעיריית תל-אביב על- מנת למנוע או לדחות את ההריסה, כשלו כולם.
כפי שדווח לאחרונה בעיתונות, פלאטו שרון נמצא במגעים מתקדמים לרכישת שטחי אדמה נרחבים באזור זה, להקמת שכונת מגדלי דירות למגורים במקום. משפחת ד'קה המורחבת, כמו גם משפחה נוספת המתגוררת במקום, חתמו על זיכרון דברים עם עורכי דינו של פלאטו שרון, ממ"י, חלמיש ועיריית ת"א. בהסכם נכתב כי האזור כולו יפונה מדייריו הנוכחיים בהסכמה, במסגרת מכירת הקרקע לפלאטו שרון, על בסיס פיצויים וקניית הקרקע כפי שיוסכם בין הצדדים. לפיכך מבקשת המשפחה להתחשב בפינוי- העתיד להתקיים בעוד כשנה וחצי- ולהקפיא את הצווים הנוכחיים לפינוי והריסה. טענה זו הועלתה בפני שופט בימ"ש מחוזי ושופט בג"צ, אך בשני המקרים נדחתה ולא הושג צו הדחייה.
הועדה העממית של יפו קיבלה אמש מן המשפחה עותק של הסכם זה, ותלמד אותו לפרטיו ועל כל משמעויותיו בהקדם. אין ספק שלהסכם השלכות מרחיקות לכת על אופי ועתיד האזור, ועל המאבק העממי ביפו.
Activists of the Jaffa struggle Salam,
To the best of our knowledge (according to information given to us by the police) and following the successful organization of the Thakka family and the activists yesterday to resist the planned evacuation and demolition, the police have decided to postpone the "operation".
The evacuation and demolition are set for this coming Sunday (May 27 th). Specific details about place and time of meeting will be given as soon as possible.
Here is the information we have gathered so far on the case
The Thakka family lives on the border of Ajami and Jabalia neighborhoods, in a place called "Orchard Thakka". The family owns 22 dunam of land, registered in the "tabo" before 48', and the family's house, designated for demolition, is built completely on their private land. Even so, their house is partially declared as "illegal construction" by the "Minhal", since the whole area has been "frozen" for years, and as such, doesn't allow issuing construction licenses for further building. The part of the house that is designated for demolition is the second floor, where the family's son, Mussa, and his family are currently living. Mussa and his family are defined by the "Minhal" as "intruders" or "trespassers". The demolition warrant issued for the second floor will undoubtedly harm the entire house, occupied by four families.
The Legal proceedings against the building of the second floor has been ongoing for 7 years, and ended recently with an evacuation and demolition warrant, dated yesterday (May 24 th). The family's efforts, made until the very last minute, to prevent or postpone the execution of the warrant, all failed.
As reported recently in the newspapers, Plato Sharon is currently in advanced contact status to acquire wide scale land in the area, in order to build apartment buildings there. The extended Thakka family, as well as another family living in the area, had signed a letter of agreement with Plato Sharon's lawyers, the Minhal, Halamish Company, and Tel Aviv municipality. The agreement stated that the area will be evacuated of its tenants with their consent, on the basis of a compensation settlement made between the sides. Therefore, the family is asking to consider the coming evacuation, set to start within a year and a half, and to freeze the warrants that were issued for the house demolition. That claim was presented to a judge in county court, as well as the Supreme Court, and was declined by both. The Popular Committee of Jaffa had received the agreement's draft yesterday, and will study its various ramifications thoroughly as soon as possible. There is no doubt that this agreement could have far reaching implications on the character and future of the whole area, as well as the popular struggle in Jaffa.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
17th May 1977 and Netanyahu's Mistakes Today
Just like last year, Netanyahu Automaticly Supports Going to War and He continues to lie to us and himself:
In May 1977 they did not say "Only Not Begin" as Netanyahu incorrectly said twice Today on Galey Zahal and Reshet Bet. They Did say "Rak Lo Maarach" "Only Not Maarach" Labour and voted DASH
and as a result got Begin. Begin led the largest Party but Did not win the Elections!
More important:
Begin as Leader of Opposition did not tell Golda Why are you not speaking to Saadat in 1972.
Thus avoiding 1973 War.
Bibi in 2006 and Now Supports Violence and War.
Does not criticize Government for not having a Policy, And not Setting Long Range Aims.
In May 1977 they did not say "Only Not Begin" as Netanyahu incorrectly said twice Today on Galey Zahal and Reshet Bet. They Did say "Rak Lo Maarach" "Only Not Maarach" Labour and voted DASH
and as a result got Begin. Begin led the largest Party but Did not win the Elections!
More important:
Begin as Leader of Opposition did not tell Golda Why are you not speaking to Saadat in 1972.
Thus avoiding 1973 War.
Bibi in 2006 and Now Supports Violence and War.
Does not criticize Government for not having a Policy, And not Setting Long Range Aims.
Friday, May 04, 2007
The Demo I did not go to: Politics without Politics. The Haj.
I did not go to the Demo Last Night as it was "Politics without Politics"
I Bought The Haj by Leon Uris First Edition 1984 Hard Cover.
an Amazon Reviewer: Maximillian Ben Hanan
"The Haj" by Leon Uris is an important book (in print or audio form) for understanding the negative aspects of Arab culture and little known aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict that the great majority of the media won't share with us. Specifically, "The Haj" is historical fiction about a Palestinian-Arab family before and after the 1948 War for Israeli independence (From about 1922 to sometime around the 1960's or 1970's).
Leon Uris wrote this about the book (in the beginning of "The Haj"):
"Many of the events in The Haj are a matter of history and public record. Many of the scenes were created around historical incidents and used as a backdrop for the purpose of fiction. There may be persons alive who took part in events similar to those described in the book. It is possible therefore, that some may be mistaken for characters in the novel. Let me emphasize that all of the characters in the Haj are the complete creation of the author, and entirely fictional. The exceptions, of course, are the recognizable public figures who were associated historically with this period, such as David Ben-Gurion, the Mufti of Jerusalem, Abdullah, Yigal Allon, and others."
There is no question that this book is fiction regarding the details its' story tells, but the story itself is a real one. Arab refugees did stream out of Israel during the 1948 war and Arab leaders telling them to do so (there are taped broadcasts of these calls) was definitely one of the major causes of the plight of the Palestinian-Arab refugees. There was also very definitely a very active terrorist movement among the Arabs in the Middle East, which survives to the present day (witness groups like Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hizbollah, the PLO / Palestinian authority, and others). The Palestinian-Arabs continue to suffer under poor leadership that represses their rights (witness many human rights organizations' reports of extrajudicial killings by the Palestinian Authority, the same autocratic leader, Yassir Arafat, who refuses to transfer the reins of power, and other facts). It is also a well-documented fact that the Mufti of Jerusalem was an ally and guest of Hitler during WWII. These things are facts and are indisputable. "The Haj" tells a story using the device of historical fiction to relay the often-ugly facts of life for the regular "fellah" (sometimes translated as peasant) in the land the British called Palestine and is now known again as Israel.
The book is well written (good grammar, punctuation, style, etc.) and the story flows. I enjoyed reading about the characters of the story, but often wanted to cry for them. Some of the most poignant moments of "The Haj" occur during the flight of the Haj's (the main character is Haj Ibrahim and the book is the story of him and his family) family during the 1948 war and in refugee camps in Jordan. It was very sad to see how members of the same culture (the Arab culture) and most of the time the same religion (Islam) can be so cruel to each other. This is still an endemic problem in the Arab world (witness how the Arab governments squabble among each other and often fight and kill one another). Some of the depictions of the relations between the largely city-dwelling Palestinian-Arabs and the nomadic Bedouin are among the saddest. There is still a strong hatred between these groups to the present day.
Why read "The Haj?"
Read "The Haj" because this is real information presented in a novel format that you can no longer get from most university classes about the Middle East. Read it to learn what AP and Reuters news services constantly gloss over in their writings used by newspapers around the world. Most of all, read "The Haj" to understand that one of the fundamental truths about problems in the Middle East is that the problems have less to do with Israel and Jews than cultural, political, and even religious problems and divisions in the Arab world. Israel is really a side issue at best (and excuse used by the Arab governments to cover their faults). Autocratic tyrannies (or gangster governments like Yassir Arafat's Palestinian Authority) are the true source of unhappiness in the Arab world. It's easy to understand that truth after reading "The Haj."
You can get this same information from a pile full of academic texts (and I do recommend reading more research about the Middle East after reading "The Haj"), but this is the easiest and quickest way to introduce yourself to the bitter realities of politics in the Middle East.
I highly recommend "The Haj."
Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan
Monday, April 30, 2007
Basic Issues- Vinograd Initial Report
The Media has allready played down the Basic Issues that Vinograd said apart from Personal Responsibilty of Olmert, Peretz and Halutz.
21. We believe that - beyond the important need to examine the failures of conducting the war and the preparation for it, beyond the need to identify the weaknesses (and strengths) in the decisions made in the war - these are the main questions raised by the Second Lebanon war. These are questions that go far beyond the mandate of this or that commission of inquiry; they are the questions that stand at the center of our existence here as a Jewish and democratic state. It would be a grave mistake to concentrate only on the flaws revealed in the war and not to address these basic issues.
We hope that our findings and conclusions in the interim report and in the final report will not only impel taking care of the serious governmental flaws and failures we examine and expose, but will also lead towards a renewed process in which Israeli society, and its political and spiritual leaders will take up and explore Israel's long-term aspirations and the ways to advance them.
21. We believe that - beyond the important need to examine the failures of conducting the war and the preparation for it, beyond the need to identify the weaknesses (and strengths) in the decisions made in the war - these are the main questions raised by the Second Lebanon war. These are questions that go far beyond the mandate of this or that commission of inquiry; they are the questions that stand at the center of our existence here as a Jewish and democratic state. It would be a grave mistake to concentrate only on the flaws revealed in the war and not to address these basic issues.
We hope that our findings and conclusions in the interim report and in the final report will not only impel taking care of the serious governmental flaws and failures we examine and expose, but will also lead towards a renewed process in which Israeli society, and its political and spiritual leaders will take up and explore Israel's long-term aspirations and the ways to advance them.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Jaffa Demo I took part 27th April 2007
Protestors rally in Jaffa against move to evict local Arab families
By Yigal Hai, Haaretz Correspondent
Hundreds of Jaffa residents on Friday participated in a march to protest measures that the Israel Lands Authority and the Amidar housing company have taken in the past year to evict Arab families from Jaffa.
The Israel Lands Authority and Amidar claim the families invaded the properties and built on them illegally.
The march was organized by The Popular Committee to Defend the Land and the Right to Residency, which was established by the Arab residents of Jaffa several weeks ago.
According to the committee's leaders, the Authority and Amidar in the past year issued 500 eviction notices to Arab families from the Al Ajami and Givat Aliya neighborhoods, and some of the notices have evolved into eviction lawsuits.
The organizers of the march questioned why the Authority and Amidar have taken a sudden interest in the matter in the past year, when the families have been living in their homes for several decades. They say the families have held a status of protected tenants who pay rent.
The residents' representatives say the authority and Amidar are attempting to Judaize Jaffa while also making a profit from selling the properties, which are near the seafront, to an affluent Jewish population.
The protesters in the march shouted various slogans such as "Jews and Arabs against house demolitions" and "The transfer won?t happen."
According to the "This is a tsunami of evictions and demolitions," said Al Ajami neighborhood chairman, Camel Agbaria. "The struggle for a roof over one's head should be the ultimate struggle. Instead of firing bullets, they fire dollar bills here."
March participants included Meretz MKs Yossi Beilin and Ran Cohen and Hadash MKs Dov Khenin and Hanna Swaid.
Throughoutt the past week, the Popular Committee handed out flyers to Jaffa residents, calling on them to join the protest. The flyer, entitled "The residents of Jaffa are at risk of being evicted and expelled again," presented a picture from 1948 of an Arab family reluctantly leaving its Jaffa home along side a picture from 2005 of a tractor demolishing the home of an Arab family in Jaffa.
"500 families are at risk of being expelled," the flyer read. "Thousands of people remain with no roofs over their heads for the benefit of the wealthy and rich entrepreneurs."
The Housing Authority and Amidar reject the accusations. A statement issued by the Housing Authority said, "The documents in question are warning letters issued by the Amidar company, which manages the Authorities properties and deals with invaders." Only several dozens of letters have been issued."
"If anyone has any complaints, they are welcome to visit the Amidar offices and prove they have a legal claim to the property," the statement read. "The claims that this is a transfer are demagoguery. No person will be evicted without a court order."
According to the head of the Amidar directorate, Doron Cohen, Amidar rejects "with scorn the demagogic attempt by the 'Popular Committee' to use the events of the War of Independence to protect those who break the law. Amidar works to protect the State's property rights regardless of the tenants' character, religion or nationality."
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Wye Wye Wye- Why Pollard?
The Wye Double-Cross Page
Time for America to Honor Its Commitment to Free Jonathan Pollard
FROM THE KNESSET RECORD, February 28, 2001:
"...The former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, made an explicit commitment to the then-Prime Minister of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu, to release Jonathan Pollard.
This promise was made prior to the Wye Summit and [again] during the course of the negotiations at Wye... This was not a personal promise made to a particular prime minister... This was a promise made to the State of Israel and to the People of Israel..." Dani Naveh, Minister without Portfolio
The Wye Double-Cross Page
Time for America to Honor Its Commitment to Free Jonathan Pollard
FROM THE KNESSET RECORD, February 28, 2001:
"...The former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, made an explicit commitment to the then-Prime Minister of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu, to release Jonathan Pollard.
This promise was made prior to the Wye Summit and [again] during the course of the negotiations at Wye... This was not a personal promise made to a particular prime minister... This was a promise made to the State of Israel and to the People of Israel..." Dani Naveh, Minister without Portfolio
Time for America to Honor Its Commitment to Free Jonathan Pollard
FROM THE KNESSET RECORD, February 28, 2001:
"...The former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, made an explicit commitment to the then-Prime Minister of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu, to release Jonathan Pollard.
This promise was made prior to the Wye Summit and [again] during the course of the negotiations at Wye... This was not a personal promise made to a particular prime minister... This was a promise made to the State of Israel and to the People of Israel..." Dani Naveh, Minister without Portfolio
The Wye Double-Cross Page
Time for America to Honor Its Commitment to Free Jonathan Pollard
FROM THE KNESSET RECORD, February 28, 2001:
"...The former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, made an explicit commitment to the then-Prime Minister of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu, to release Jonathan Pollard.
This promise was made prior to the Wye Summit and [again] during the course of the negotiations at Wye... This was not a personal promise made to a particular prime minister... This was a promise made to the State of Israel and to the People of Israel..." Dani Naveh, Minister without Portfolio
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Partach
Kishon was buried in Tel-Aviv recently.
So Olmert and Peretz did not invent Partachia!
Kishon 1924-2005Ephraim Kishon, one of Israel's greatest writers and satirists died in 2005 at the age of 80. In the course of his career, Kishon was a successful playwright, the author of several novels and a highly popular weekly newspaper column, and the writer-director of a number of classic Israeli films like Salah Shabati, Ta'alat Blaumilch ("The Blaumilch Canal" also known as "The Big Dig"), and HaShoter Azulay ("The Policeman"), which won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Picture in 1971.
About Partachia:With his early satirical essays, Kishon became a master at lampooning the foibles of Israeli society: the high taxes and overarching government bureaucracy, the rudeness of the inhabitants, and especially the rampant Israeli tendency to do everything half-assed, a trait he called partatch. In one of his most famous books, Kishon elaborated on the theme of partach by describing the inhabitants of a country called Upper Partatchia, located "on the eastern end of the Mediterranean Basin, in the vicinity of Dizengoff Street." It is a wonderful land with high levels of humidity and taxation, which have combined to form the unique character of the partachi, the natives of this land:
One common characteristic of the average partatchi is his hostility to instructions. If he sees a box labeled "This way up", he turns it upside down. If the box has a big red warning "Fragile!", he tosses it up to the top shelves, puts his fingers in his ears, and steps aside. If the label says "Store in a cool, dry place", he places the thingie on top of the boiler. Nothing will happen, since the boiler doesn't work anyway. He rang up Stokes two months ago, but the plumber never came. So he gave the boiler a new coat of paint.The purebreed partachi loves fresh paint. If something is dirty, he paints it. If it is rusted, another coat. For repairs that call for welding, he prefers white glue and uses scotch tape instead of bolts. If he does decide to use bolts then only one, two maximum. It will hold.
The partachi eats noisily, walks noisily, talks noisily. Complains about the noise. If his television set squeaks, he calls the technician. The technician tells him to try and raise one side up. He raises the side and the noise stops. He places a matchbox underneath the left side. If the noise starts up again, he replaces the matchbox. Or hits the television. On the side and on top, a couple of smacks with the palm of the hand. In general, if something breaks, the partatchi hits it. If it doesn't work, he waits a couple of days and hits it again.Sunday, February 11, 2007
Not Funny
From Haaretz Today Similar to Haaretz Headline Friday.They have not Learnt the Lesson of last July Lebanon War.
Friday, January 12, 2007
News From Anat, And ze Loony zisstem in izrael
Spoke to Anat, she is taking a trip soon to India, Hope she enjoys it.
From Haaretz a month ago, The Izraeli Zizstem..:
Considering his deserved reputation as a master of the English language, Winston Churchill's much-quoted maxim on democracy is surprisingly inelegant. In a debate in the House of Commons in 1947, Churchill said: "... it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." But the saying, however clumsily phrased, is incontrovertible. The dustbin of history is crammed to overflowing with ephemerally successful attempts at alternative forms of government that have in the end proved disastrous. We only have to look at the calamitous totalitarian experiments of the 20th century to be reminded of what awaits those who depart from the democratic paradigm. Yet there has never been a time that Churchill's adage has been more sorely tested. As the United States attempts forcibly to foist the blessings of constitutional government on a hitherto undemocratic and demonstrably ungrateful Middle East, the newly enfranchised of Iraq and Palestine respond by disobligingly electing parties that vilify the system that gave them power.
Democracies come in all shapes and sizes and electoral systems vary radically among them. In its purest form, a democratic system should give equal weight to the vote of each elector. That is patently not the case in the United States and Great Britain. Their "winner takes all" system for the election of legislatures effectively disfranchises those who voted for a losing candidate in a particular district. But it ensures stable government.
If your idea of an ideal democratic electoral system is one that accurately reflects the percentage of votes cast for a party in an election, you should be looking for a country with a single-chamber legislature and a system of nationwide, single-constituency proportional representation. There is one such country - the country whose language gave the world the term tohu-bohu. In Israel, you get what you vote for. Proportional representation anywhere involves government by coalition; in a Jewish state it is a recipe for anarchy. In order to cobble together a government, a would-be prime minister must yield to the demands of diverse special-interest groups, who command much-needed votes in the Knesset, Israel's legislature. The process is ruinously expensive because each potential partner has demands, financial and legislative, favoring his own sector. The stranglehold of the religious parties over legislation has resulted in Israel - a country that, whatever its faults, has a Western-style, open society - having laws of personal status that would shame the Taliban.
Israeli elections are said to be dull. I am not sure that I share that view. For one thing the voter is faced with an embarrassment of choice. Earlier this year, over 30 parties presented lists of candidates for election to the Knesset. You could, for instance, choose to vote for such exotica as the Green Leaf party whose sole platform was the legalization of cannabis. This list received over 40,000 votes, 1.3 percent of the popular vote. With a little more luck it would have passed the 2-percent threshold and would have put into the Knesset three members who would have joined any coalition that permitted them to smoke pot.
Divorcees and dodderers
Frivolity on the part of voters is not confined to Israel but it is only under a system such as Israel's that it can actually make a difference. In Britain the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, founded by the wildly eccentric rock singer, the late Screaming Lord Sutch, has contested numerous constituencies over the years, but never got near to getting a candidate elected to Parliament. Yet, in a by-election in the constituency of Rotherham in 1994, the Screaming Lord succeeded in getting 4.2 percent of the vote. That percentage, translated into Israeli terms, would have earned the raving loonies six seats in the 120-member Knesset. Six seats! They would have been worth gold when the time came for negotiating the coalition. The party whose ideology is "Insanity, Satire, Pragmatism and Existentialism" could have demanded, as a condition for its joining the coalition, that the new government adopt the Loony manifesto demanding the abolition of income tax; the introduction of a 99p (make that agorot) coin to save on change; and the retraining as vicars (rabbis) of traffic police too stupid for normal police work.
Of course, you could add some really mad ideas that might catch on in Israel. This may sound farfetched but you could, for example, propose a law forbidding any man called Cohen from marrying a divorcee.
Getting the Loonies into the Knesset is something of a pipe dream. But, in 2006, something similar did happen to another single-issue party. A perennial no-hoper in Israeli elections was the Pensioners' Party. Its program was to improve the lot of senior citizens, an estimable enough cause, but, in the many previous elections in which it had run, the electorate had chosen to cast its vote for parties with less sectoral aims. But something happened in 2006. Against all expectations, the pensioners' list received almost 6 percent of the popular vote, bringing the party seven seats in the Knesset and taking a group of dazed dodderers to Jerusalem where they found themselves, thanks to the vagaries of the electoral system, wielding a power that they can never have dreamed of as they sat at home dozing in front of their television sets.
How did a party that had in every previous election had meager support, suddenly produce 185,000 votes? This was not a revolt of the aged. It was not that the elderly, however ill-used, had changed their party affiliations to vote en masse for their special interests. This was a vote for a lark by people who would otherwise not have voted at all. It was a classic instance of the social epidemic, a phenomenon analyzed in a much-discussed 2000 book, "The Tipping Point." According to its author, Malcolm Gladwell, a staff writer for The New Yorker, there is a stage that an idea or trend crosses a threshold, tips and spreads like a brushwood fire. This is the tipping point and how it happens is the subject of the book. Here, the word got round that the cool thing to do was to vote for the pensioners. In a matter of days the tipping point was reached.
The beneficiaries of this epidemic, the Pensioners' Party, were not unworthy but the motives for voting for them were essentially irrational. The "connectors" and "mavens" who, according to Gladwell, produce social epidemics could equally have pushed the Raving Loonies or their local equivalents, the War Against the Banks list or the party for men's rights, over the tipping point. Israel's electoral system encourages this type of irresponsibility on the part of the voters.
Unhappy day
It is apparent to any reasonably objective observer that reform of Israel's electoral system is long overdue. The difficulty has been that the very interests whose baleful influence gives rise to the need for reform wield that same disproportionate influence to scupper reform. There has been no shortage of proposals for reform. Indeed, there have been as many such proposals as there are party lists in the elections. In the 1980s a movement for reform spearheaded by prominent law professors actually culminated in a new law: the direct election of the prime minister. Hard though it must have been to achieve, the reform - giving each voter two votes, one for a party list and one for a candidate for prime minister - resulted in even greater chaos than had prevailed hitherto. Fragmentation of government increased and the already outrageous bargaining power of splinter parties was enhanced. The whole sorry experiment was canceled after the elections of 2001 and the old system was restored. So much for law professors.
Electoral reform is once more in the air in Israel. One who has a proposal for reform is Avigdor Lieberman. The head of a party commanding a powerful 11 seats in the Knesset, he has recently joined the ruling coalition. A principal feature of his platform is the redrawing of Israel's boundaries so as to exclude, in favor of a future Palestinian state, areas of Israel that are chiefly populated by Arabs. He has also advocated the death penalty for Arab members of the Knesset that he regards as collaborationists. The fact that liberal-minded ministers find it possible - faute de mieux - to sit in the same government as Lieberman is itself the most eloquent criticism of the state to which Israel's electoral system has reduced us. Lieberman's own proposal for reform is for a "presidential" system. The strong man he has in mind to lead the country under this system is generally assumed to be the one whose face he sees in the bathroom mirror every morning.
It was an unhappy day for Israel when it adopted its unique, nation-wide electoral system. Ben-Gurion himself favored a two-party system with constituencies on the British model. Thanks to pusillanimity on the part of the major parties, this is not likely to happen soon. But one day something like it will have to happen if Israeli democracy is to survive.
From Haaretz a month ago, The Izraeli Zizstem..:
Last update - 07:52 08/12/2006
Sutch a loony system
By Michael Fox
Considering his deserved reputation as a master of the English language, Winston Churchill's much-quoted maxim on democracy is surprisingly inelegant. In a debate in the House of Commons in 1947, Churchill said: "... it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." But the saying, however clumsily phrased, is incontrovertible. The dustbin of history is crammed to overflowing with ephemerally successful attempts at alternative forms of government that have in the end proved disastrous. We only have to look at the calamitous totalitarian experiments of the 20th century to be reminded of what awaits those who depart from the democratic paradigm. Yet there has never been a time that Churchill's adage has been more sorely tested. As the United States attempts forcibly to foist the blessings of constitutional government on a hitherto undemocratic and demonstrably ungrateful Middle East, the newly enfranchised of Iraq and Palestine respond by disobligingly electing parties that vilify the system that gave them power.
Democracies come in all shapes and sizes and electoral systems vary radically among them. In its purest form, a democratic system should give equal weight to the vote of each elector. That is patently not the case in the United States and Great Britain. Their "winner takes all" system for the election of legislatures effectively disfranchises those who voted for a losing candidate in a particular district. But it ensures stable government.
If your idea of an ideal democratic electoral system is one that accurately reflects the percentage of votes cast for a party in an election, you should be looking for a country with a single-chamber legislature and a system of nationwide, single-constituency proportional representation. There is one such country - the country whose language gave the world the term tohu-bohu. In Israel, you get what you vote for. Proportional representation anywhere involves government by coalition; in a Jewish state it is a recipe for anarchy. In order to cobble together a government, a would-be prime minister must yield to the demands of diverse special-interest groups, who command much-needed votes in the Knesset, Israel's legislature. The process is ruinously expensive because each potential partner has demands, financial and legislative, favoring his own sector. The stranglehold of the religious parties over legislation has resulted in Israel - a country that, whatever its faults, has a Western-style, open society - having laws of personal status that would shame the Taliban.
Israeli elections are said to be dull. I am not sure that I share that view. For one thing the voter is faced with an embarrassment of choice. Earlier this year, over 30 parties presented lists of candidates for election to the Knesset. You could, for instance, choose to vote for such exotica as the Green Leaf party whose sole platform was the legalization of cannabis. This list received over 40,000 votes, 1.3 percent of the popular vote. With a little more luck it would have passed the 2-percent threshold and would have put into the Knesset three members who would have joined any coalition that permitted them to smoke pot.
Divorcees and dodderers
Frivolity on the part of voters is not confined to Israel but it is only under a system such as Israel's that it can actually make a difference. In Britain the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, founded by the wildly eccentric rock singer, the late Screaming Lord Sutch, has contested numerous constituencies over the years, but never got near to getting a candidate elected to Parliament. Yet, in a by-election in the constituency of Rotherham in 1994, the Screaming Lord succeeded in getting 4.2 percent of the vote. That percentage, translated into Israeli terms, would have earned the raving loonies six seats in the 120-member Knesset. Six seats! They would have been worth gold when the time came for negotiating the coalition. The party whose ideology is "Insanity, Satire, Pragmatism and Existentialism" could have demanded, as a condition for its joining the coalition, that the new government adopt the Loony manifesto demanding the abolition of income tax; the introduction of a 99p (make that agorot) coin to save on change; and the retraining as vicars (rabbis) of traffic police too stupid for normal police work.
Of course, you could add some really mad ideas that might catch on in Israel. This may sound farfetched but you could, for example, propose a law forbidding any man called Cohen from marrying a divorcee.
Getting the Loonies into the Knesset is something of a pipe dream. But, in 2006, something similar did happen to another single-issue party. A perennial no-hoper in Israeli elections was the Pensioners' Party. Its program was to improve the lot of senior citizens, an estimable enough cause, but, in the many previous elections in which it had run, the electorate had chosen to cast its vote for parties with less sectoral aims. But something happened in 2006. Against all expectations, the pensioners' list received almost 6 percent of the popular vote, bringing the party seven seats in the Knesset and taking a group of dazed dodderers to Jerusalem where they found themselves, thanks to the vagaries of the electoral system, wielding a power that they can never have dreamed of as they sat at home dozing in front of their television sets.
How did a party that had in every previous election had meager support, suddenly produce 185,000 votes? This was not a revolt of the aged. It was not that the elderly, however ill-used, had changed their party affiliations to vote en masse for their special interests. This was a vote for a lark by people who would otherwise not have voted at all. It was a classic instance of the social epidemic, a phenomenon analyzed in a much-discussed 2000 book, "The Tipping Point." According to its author, Malcolm Gladwell, a staff writer for The New Yorker, there is a stage that an idea or trend crosses a threshold, tips and spreads like a brushwood fire. This is the tipping point and how it happens is the subject of the book. Here, the word got round that the cool thing to do was to vote for the pensioners. In a matter of days the tipping point was reached.
The beneficiaries of this epidemic, the Pensioners' Party, were not unworthy but the motives for voting for them were essentially irrational. The "connectors" and "mavens" who, according to Gladwell, produce social epidemics could equally have pushed the Raving Loonies or their local equivalents, the War Against the Banks list or the party for men's rights, over the tipping point. Israel's electoral system encourages this type of irresponsibility on the part of the voters.
Unhappy day
It is apparent to any reasonably objective observer that reform of Israel's electoral system is long overdue. The difficulty has been that the very interests whose baleful influence gives rise to the need for reform wield that same disproportionate influence to scupper reform. There has been no shortage of proposals for reform. Indeed, there have been as many such proposals as there are party lists in the elections. In the 1980s a movement for reform spearheaded by prominent law professors actually culminated in a new law: the direct election of the prime minister. Hard though it must have been to achieve, the reform - giving each voter two votes, one for a party list and one for a candidate for prime minister - resulted in even greater chaos than had prevailed hitherto. Fragmentation of government increased and the already outrageous bargaining power of splinter parties was enhanced. The whole sorry experiment was canceled after the elections of 2001 and the old system was restored. So much for law professors.
Electoral reform is once more in the air in Israel. One who has a proposal for reform is Avigdor Lieberman. The head of a party commanding a powerful 11 seats in the Knesset, he has recently joined the ruling coalition. A principal feature of his platform is the redrawing of Israel's boundaries so as to exclude, in favor of a future Palestinian state, areas of Israel that are chiefly populated by Arabs. He has also advocated the death penalty for Arab members of the Knesset that he regards as collaborationists. The fact that liberal-minded ministers find it possible - faute de mieux - to sit in the same government as Lieberman is itself the most eloquent criticism of the state to which Israel's electoral system has reduced us. Lieberman's own proposal for reform is for a "presidential" system. The strong man he has in mind to lead the country under this system is generally assumed to be the one whose face he sees in the bathroom mirror every morning.
It was an unhappy day for Israel when it adopted its unique, nation-wide electoral system. Ben-Gurion himself favored a two-party system with constituencies on the British model. Thanks to pusillanimity on the part of the major parties, this is not likely to happen soon. But one day something like it will have to happen if Israeli democracy is to survive.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Change the System of Elections to the Knesset!
Here is the Haaretz Editorial from Thursday 4th January 2007.
I agree with this but ask what is the difference in having 17 constituencies instead of what I prefer 60?
w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
Last update - 10:48 04/01/2007
Propitious time for change
By Haaretz Editorial
The presidential commission examining the method of government in
Israel, headed by Prof. Menachem Magidor, has carried out comprehensive
and impressive work. Its most important reccommendation is without a
doubt about what not to do: not to move over to a presidential system,
but on the contrary, to strengthen the parliamentary one.
Over the last few years, the public debate in Israel has tended to
reject the existing system, preferring revolutions instead. But the
majority of the 73 experts who participated in the Magidor commission
maintain that a presidential system is not suitable for the Israel of
today and that the parliamentary system, with all its faults, was and
remains the preferred option. The commission's message is clear: Those
who want to copy the presidential type of government from the United
States must first copy America's rigid constitution and political culture.
The Magidor commission issues recommendations that aim to make the
parliamentary system more efficient to strengthen voter confidence in
the government. Its suggestions include changing the electoral system to
make half of it based on regional representation, raising the electoral
threshold to 2.5 percent, requiring a two-year budget instead of an
annual one, and passing a law that would prevent a fraudulent party census.
President Moshe Katsav is the first president to appoint a public
commission, and he did so in connection with a very important subject.
For this, his initiative should be welcomed, and the pall hovering over
the president due to the criminal allegations against him should not
affect the attitude toward the report. The Magidor report must not be
buried in a drawer like so many other commission findings.
The suggested electoral reforms would harm small parties, but there is
no choice because only in this way will the country be able to have a
stable and more representative political and parliamentary structure.
Historic movements and factions, no matter how unique, will have to find
some way to unite. This necessary process will apparently require
additional time to become accepted in the political world, and will
involve bitter disputes. However, the recommendations dealing with the
Knesset and the government can and must be implemented without delay.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who put the issue on the national agenda,
must now lead the Knesset in adopting the commission's recommendations.
For instance, laws that limit the number of ministers to 18 and require
confirmation hearings for ministers should be passed as soon as
possible. The recommendation that a no-confidence motion should require
submission of a proposed alternative government should also be
considered. This would change a no-confidence motion from a weekly
nuisance to an unusual and significant parliamentary proceeding.
The Knesset would do well to pay a lot of attention to the
recommendations dealing with improving its functioning by decreasing the
number of committees and the number of MKs in each committee. The MKs
should also seriously consider the suggestion to increase the number of
workdays from three a week to four. Even if it seems to them that they
work fairly hard, the public appears to think otherwise. These
recommendations could improve the image of the Knesset and the public
confidence in it.
This is a propitious time and a time of goodwill in the political
system, and it is understood that the method of government must be
changed. The Knesset now faces an important test: Will it take advantage
of the opportunity to improve the system of government, or will it miss
the opportunity?
I agree with this but ask what is the difference in having 17 constituencies instead of what I prefer 60?
w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
Last update - 10:48 04/01/2007
Propitious time for change
By Haaretz Editorial
The presidential commission examining the method of government in
Israel, headed by Prof. Menachem Magidor, has carried out comprehensive
and impressive work. Its most important reccommendation is without a
doubt about what not to do: not to move over to a presidential system,
but on the contrary, to strengthen the parliamentary one.
Over the last few years, the public debate in Israel has tended to
reject the existing system, preferring revolutions instead. But the
majority of the 73 experts who participated in the Magidor commission
maintain that a presidential system is not suitable for the Israel of
today and that the parliamentary system, with all its faults, was and
remains the preferred option. The commission's message is clear: Those
who want to copy the presidential type of government from the United
States must first copy America's rigid constitution and political culture.
The Magidor commission issues recommendations that aim to make the
parliamentary system more efficient to strengthen voter confidence in
the government. Its suggestions include changing the electoral system to
make half of it based on regional representation, raising the electoral
threshold to 2.5 percent, requiring a two-year budget instead of an
annual one, and passing a law that would prevent a fraudulent party census.
President Moshe Katsav is the first president to appoint a public
commission, and he did so in connection with a very important subject.
For this, his initiative should be welcomed, and the pall hovering over
the president due to the criminal allegations against him should not
affect the attitude toward the report. The Magidor report must not be
buried in a drawer like so many other commission findings.
The suggested electoral reforms would harm small parties, but there is
no choice because only in this way will the country be able to have a
stable and more representative political and parliamentary structure.
Historic movements and factions, no matter how unique, will have to find
some way to unite. This necessary process will apparently require
additional time to become accepted in the political world, and will
involve bitter disputes. However, the recommendations dealing with the
Knesset and the government can and must be implemented without delay.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who put the issue on the national agenda,
must now lead the Knesset in adopting the commission's recommendations.
For instance, laws that limit the number of ministers to 18 and require
confirmation hearings for ministers should be passed as soon as
possible. The recommendation that a no-confidence motion should require
submission of a proposed alternative government should also be
considered. This would change a no-confidence motion from a weekly
nuisance to an unusual and significant parliamentary proceeding.
The Knesset would do well to pay a lot of attention to the
recommendations dealing with improving its functioning by decreasing the
number of committees and the number of MKs in each committee. The MKs
should also seriously consider the suggestion to increase the number of
workdays from three a week to four. Even if it seems to them that they
work fairly hard, the public appears to think otherwise. These
recommendations could improve the image of the Knesset and the public
confidence in it.
This is a propitious time and a time of goodwill in the political
system, and it is understood that the method of government must be
changed. The Knesset now faces an important test: Will it take advantage
of the opportunity to improve the system of government, or will it miss
the opportunity?
Saturday, December 02, 2006
A Interesting Blog and lots of News
http://story-of-israel.blogspot.com/
News:
Mubarak: Rallies may turn Lebanon into 'battlefield'
Hezbollah supporters camp at site of anti-government Beirut rally; attendance estimated at 800,000. 17:02
Triple trouble
How will George Bush strengthen Iraq's Al-Maliki, Lebanon's Siniora and Abbas?
Back on track
With his speech this week, Olmert is rebuilding his hapless and helpless image.
UN passes 6 resolutions backing Palestinian right to statehood
General Assembly calls on Israel to withdraw from W. Bank, Golan; Israeli law in Jerusalem declared void. 18:09
News:
Mubarak: Rallies may turn Lebanon into 'battlefield'
Hezbollah supporters camp at site of anti-government Beirut rally; attendance estimated at 800,000. 17:02
Triple trouble
How will George Bush strengthen Iraq's Al-Maliki, Lebanon's Siniora and Abbas?
Back on track
With his speech this week, Olmert is rebuilding his hapless and helpless image.
UN passes 6 resolutions backing Palestinian right to statehood
General Assembly calls on Israel to withdraw from W. Bank, Golan; Israeli law in Jerusalem declared void. 18:09
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Spin and Anti Spin
I am tired of the Spins. Is Liberman joining the Government or is it true Peretz wants Meretz and Aguda instead??
Look at Todays Photos. On Lebanese Border a Month Before The War.
Paul And Andri Below my new home in Jaffa.
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