Moonbat AG: ISIS, Hamas and Hezbullah flags out, but PLO flag in
In a letter to the prosecutors' offices, our moronic attorney general says that if you display an ISIS, Hamas or Hezbullah flag, you will be arrested and prosecuted (unless you're a 'Palestinian' or other non-Israeli citizen, in which case even those flags are okay), but if an Israeli citizen displays a PLO flag, that's cool with Yehuda Weinstein.
The letter says that, according to Weinstein's opinion, the state is
on clear legal grounds to persecute such actions. “The Palestine
Liberation Organization was declared a terror organization many years
ago, and that designation has never been changed. Technically, flying
the PLO flag is a crime, as that was legislated when the PLO was
declared a terror group.
“Given the new relationship between Israel and the Palestinian
Authority, which represents the PLO, the Attorney General has for many
years overlooked the criminal aspects of flying the PLO flag, and no one
is persecuted [sic - CiJ] for this anymore,” the letter said. “With that, there is
no overall protection for flying the flag of terror groups, which is
still a crime.” That law, the letter said, needed to be enforced against
groups that practice terrorism, including ISIS, Hezbollah, and Hamas.
“When such flags and symbols are displayed police must judge if there
is a possibility of public disorder or disturbance, or of danger to the
public. If there is, police should take steps to remove the flags. In appropriate cases, charges may be made against perpetrators,” the letter added.
While the PLO flag could fly, the letter said, action should be taken
as quickly and forcefully as possible against the flags of other terror
groups, the letter said. “We have recently distributed these
instructions to police and security officials and expect them to act
according to these principles,” it added.
'Israeli Arabs' are now officially allowed to fly the 'Palestinian flag' in Israel. What could go wrong?
On October 24, 2010, there as a demonstration of 'Palestinians,' 'internationals' and Israelis in Nebi Saleh in Samaria. One of the policemen saw Dana and someone named Yuval Oron throwing stones at the security forces. The two were arrested half an hour later for activity designed to prevent the police from fulfilling their legal duties, for participating in an illegal demonstration in a manner that disturbed the peace and instilled fear in the public.
Dana claimed that he had not thrown stones and that he was in the area due to his occupation as a 'journalist.' He claimed that he arrived fifteen minutes before he was arrested from Naalin, where he had reported on his Twitter account. Therefore, he claimed that he could not have been throwing stones half an hour before he was arrested.
Dana tried to get himself released by claiming that he was a journalist.
The judge did not accept his story and believed the police instead. The judge cited a text message from anarchist Jonathan Pollack to Dana that placed both of them in Nebi Salah when the stones were thrown. She also rejected Dana's claim that he was acting as a journalist, citing the fact that there was no article or recording of Dana engaged in journalism that day.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Ohio Chapter.
CAIR is a nationwide, nonprofit organization whose mission is to “enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.” For the past ten years, CAIR Ohio has played an instrumental role in helping to bridge the divides between Greater Cleveland’s diverse communities.
...
Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in recognizing the Council on American-Islamic Relations Ohio Chapter for their tenth years of outstanding achievement. May their efforts to promote dialogue and create a more inclusive world continue to endure.
I wonder if there's a place for him in a second-term Obama White House.
In an earlier post, I noted the withdrawal of support by the JCC of the East Bay from a forum at which Peter Beinart is scheduled to speak on April 17. In response, I got this in an email from Zev Jabotinsky (also known as Wrath of God to former LGF'ers).
I noticed in the "Beinart Ostracized" article that the JCC of the East Bay was withdrawing its sponsorship of the speech due to the so-called moderator.. That is great news, but that is only a portion of the real story here. The same statement states that said event was organized by KPFA.
You've been out of the U.S. for so long, I imagine that you don't know much about KPFA. They make Finklestein and Beinart look like Kahane & Dannon. Here is their personal site. They are part of the Pacifica Radio family (started by someone protesting U.S. involvement in WW2). Their link.
As part of the Pacifica Radio family, they are unmistakeably not in any way for open dialogue; they are unabashedly Anti-Israel; PERIOD! They are one of the most disgusting Anti-Israel (anti-Jewish; they used to have Rosanne Bar as a host for example who would talk about "jewish money" and "Jewish Government control" etc, almost daily, and she wasn't even the worst) The moderator being a JVP board member is actually the least of the JCC's worries, and from their perspective probably was moderate. Yes, Pacifica is actually that bad, or worse. Honestly, they make Peace-Now look moderate.
Pacifica blatantly calls for the destruction of Israel often. Along with their LA Affiliates "radio intifada" program, they have never a nice thing to say about Israel, ever. The would do well as Hamas' mouthpiece. I quick review of their site (or worse, listening to their stations) will make this point better than I ever could. On "palestine".
Harvard students turned back after entering closed military zone
A report in the Harvard student newspaper complains that a bus containing 55 Harvard 'students' was turned back after attempting to enter a closed military zone in the village of Walajeh just outside the Gush Etzion tunnels (Hat Tip: Mike P). The driver and the guide - both of whom undoubtedly know better - were detained by police.
Shireen Al-Araj, the students’ guide and a coordinator of al-Walaja’s local Popular Committee Against the Wall, was arrested by police and released after the incident, according to a trip participant, an organizer, and a photographer who witnessed the arrest.
No charges were levied against anyone involved in the Harvard trip.
The students’ bus was boarded by armed Israeli military personnel and the riders were told that the road they were traveling on was a military zone, according to one of the trip’s organizers.
The organizer, a Palestinian teaching fellow at Harvard, is not traveling on the trip and asked to remain anonymous to avoid trouble with authorities when he returns home to Palestine.
When he returns home to where? Where is that country? We've become so immune to the Left's message that most of us don't even jump on that sort of thing anymore.
The organizer also complained about the Israeli security officers’ behavior during the incident.
“There was very little communication from the security officials, and [the students] didn’t know where they were going,” he said. “The students and organizers were peaceful and cooperative—they didn’t break any laws, but they were treated in this way.”
Excuse me, but they did break the law. Entering or staying in a closed military zone without permission from the IDF or the police is illegal and you can be arrested for it. In fact, the IDF frequently declares Jewish 'outposts' to be closed military zones in order to keep supporters from massing in them. So that cuts both ways.
An English website of the Palestinian News Network reported about an hour after the incident that the 55 students had been arrested. In fact, the students were redirected to a nearby Israeli checkpoint with at least two armored vehicles escorting them but were not charged.
However, rumors circulated online that trip participants were under arrest. Upon learning about those rumors, one participant told The Crimson by text message, “This isn’t true. Our tour guide got arrested and our bus was redirected after it was boarded by Israeli soldiers.”
I'm shocked - just shocked - to hear that the Palestinian News Network lied.
“I think this is the first time that Shireen and the group were taken by the Israeli army,” said Anne Paq, a friend of Al-Araj and a French photographer living in Palestine who published photographs of the incident on Activestills.org. “[Al-Araj] is very active in trying to raise awareness of al-Walaja village, so I’m not surprised that they are trying to put pressure on her, to intimidate her—to prevent internationals from coming to the village.”
Al-Araj was escorted to Bethlehem by her lawyer and two Israeli officers for several hours of interrogation, according to the Palestinian trip organizer.
Her lawyer? Her lawyer just happened to be on the bus? I thought only the Donald Trumps of the world could keep their lawyers at their sides.
“They said that she would be fined 5000 shekels [about $1325.52] if she does it again—but we are not sure what they mean by ‘do it again,’” Paq said, adding that she did not think Al-Araj did anything illegal to warrant interrogation. “For me, it’s a sign that the Israeli authorities are trying to prevent people from coming, from knowing what is happening [in al-Walaja].”
'Again' means entering a closed military zone. This is such a load of you-know-what. What's 'going on' in Walaja is quite out in the open. I've driven through there (fearing for my life) myself.
So why are areas declared 'closed military zones'?
The picture at the top of this post is typical of what used to happen in 2003 when the army hesitated to declare closed military zones in the area - full story here. That's maybe a kilometer away from the edge of Walaja.
By the way, I have not heard anything about this in Israeli media.
Antiwar.com tries to flush a post down the memory hole
On Friday, I did a post that made Antiwar.com look like a bunch of morons. They tried to flush that post down the memory hole. So I just thought I'd tell you that the cached page is here.
Along with internal Palestinian changes, Hamas is also revaluating the nature of its struggle against Israel. Hamas spokesman Tahir al-Nono has stated that the use of violence against Israel is not their preferred policy. A similar comment was made by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, who noted that Hamas will focus on popular resistance, and strive for a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. Both of them added the proviso that Hamas still reserves the right to use violence in self-defense.
Hurvitz obviously wasn't talking to Mahmoud al-Zahar, who unlike Meshaal actually lives in Gaza.
"Popular resistance is inappropriate for the Gaza Strip," al-Zahar said. "Against whom exactly would be rally? Such resistance would be fitting if Gaza was occupied." However, he claimed that all forms of resistance – including the armed kind – are appropriate for the West Bank, as it is "still under occupation."
Hurvitz goes on to argue that Hamas is reorienting itself away from the support of Iran, Syria and Hezbullah. That is true with respect to Syria, but given that Ismail Haniyeh plans to visit Iran this week, Hurvitz seems to be incorrect with respect to Iran. His ready dismissal of Hezbullah also seems quite unrealistic.
The Shiite axis, which has supported Hamas up until a few weeks ago and is made up of Iran, Syria and Hizballah in Lebanon, is disintegrating. Syria's despotic regime, which has hosted Hamas in Damascus for several years, is being brought down by mass demonstrations. Iran is in dire economic and diplomatic straits, and Hizballah is disoriented. The alliance has run aground and Hamas leaders have decided to jump ship.
I wonder if anyone in Lebanon would agree with the description of Hezbullah as 'disoriented.' If anything, Hezbullah is amassing more weapons as Iran transfers them from its Syrian client to its Lebanese one.
Hurvitz then argues that Hamas is reorienting itself toward 'moderate' Sunni states like Egypt and Tunisia - both of which have elected Islamists to power as the first move of their 'democracies.' Undaunted, Hurvitz claims that means that Egypt and Tunisia's Islamist governments both want to live in peace with Israel.
Lastly, the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Nahda have stated explicitly that they are interested in good relations with the West. What is more, the Muslim Brotherhood have declared that they respect Egypt's past international agreements. This means living alongside Israel in peace.
Except that the Muslim Brotherhood has said exactly the opposite when it comes to Israel.
The Muslim Brotherhood "did not sign the peace accords," Rashad al-Bayoumi told the London-based newspaper. "We are allowed to ask the people or the elected parliament to express their opinion on the treaty, and (to find out) whether it compromised the people's freedom and sovereignty.
"We will take the proper legal steps in dealing with the peace deal," he added. "To me, it isn't binding at all. The people will express their opinion on the matter."
While the Brotherhood intends to temporarily honor Egypt's international pacts, al-Bayoumi told noted, "each side has the right to reexamine the treaty."
...
He stressed that under no circumstances will the Brotherhood recognize the State of Israel.
I don't know what Hurvitz means by Egypt 'respecting' its agreements, but it sure seems that when it comes to Israel, the opposite is true.
So where is Israel in all this? You knew that was coming. After all, Hurvitz is a professor at what may be the most anti-Israel university in Israel (okay, admittedly, there is lots of competition for that title).
But whereas Hamas is signaling change, Israel's leadership is recalcitrant. In reaction to the development in the relations between the Hamas and Fatah, Israel's prime minister, Netanyahu, has repeated his refusal to speak with Fatah if they unite with Hamas. It is unfortunate that while Israel's harshest enemy is scaling down violence and preparing itself for an historical shift, Israel's leaders are rehashing their old slogans. This is not the time to discard diplomatic opportunities. Rather, it is time to put such developments to the test and check if they can transform the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Yes, it's all Israel's fault because we won't negotiate with a terror organization that doesn't want to talk to us and doesn't accept our 'right to exist' in any place and under any circumstances.
In Israel, this passes for 'academic scholarship.' Keep that in mind the next time that BGU comes calling for money.
The moron who heckle Prime Minister Netanyahu on Tuesday is a member of Code Pink (which is quite proud of her - I won't help them out with a link). You can learn more about her - including her phone number - here. I hope you'll all give her a call when she gets out of the hospital (or prison) and suggest that she try living in Hamastan for a while where she can't run around with tattoos in a tank top (see the next link below). According to friends of mine who know about her, she's the child of Israeli lunatics who felt so bad about the 'occupation' that they left the country and moved to San Francisco.
Nut job McKinney claims Congress signs pledge of allegiance to Israel
Remember Cynthia McKinney, the former Democratic Congresswoman from Georgia who arrived in Gaza on a flotilla and once slapped a security officer in Congress who asked for her identification? Well, she took a trip to Libya and Iran, and she's back at it again. Here she is on Iranian television.
Jeffrey Wisenfeld, the CUNY trustee who kept that honorary degree out of Tony Kushner's grubby little hands, hangs to to rip Kusher again.
If his libelous statements against Israel were made by anyone outside the Jewish community, that person would be correctly labeled an anti-Semite. When you hold the State of Israel – a nation in a struggle for its survival from the beginning, a target for the misogynist, racist, anti-western, dictatorial regimes which surround it – to a standard you would hold no other nation under normal circumstances, let alone under such exigencies – and when you spew libel against our sole regional democratic ally for “crimes” concocted by delegitimizers, you are an anti-Semite.
I would no differently oppose a racist for an honorary degree who personifies himself by calumny against a people. If Mr. Kushner were a CUNY student degree candidate, or even more extremely, if he were David Duke or Lynne Stewart or Sonny Carson or any other detestable individual, no trustee or administrator would have the right to deny him or her a degree if requisite requirements were fulfilled .
To the contrary, an honorary degree is wholly within the absolute discretion of the board to grant. It identifies the University with accomplished, generous citizens or public figures. It is also a tool which highlights the University and enhances its image in the educational marketplace. Every year, there are candidates that some trustees may not particularly favor. We can all express dissent where we warrant it – it is our right. However, every nominee that has been brought before the board, during my 12 years at least, has been approved by the full board. Mr. Kushner, however, was opposed because he is an extremist. No extremist from any quarter is a good face for any University – from far left or far right. Honorary degrees are public declarations of esteem by the university community conveyed to the honoree; for the university, they are image-building, advertising and publicity as well.
Haaretz, Israel's Hebrew 'Palestinian' daily is horrified. After nearly two decades of constant, horrific, bloodthirsty 'Palestinian' terror, young Israelis are turning to the Right.
The study found that 60 percent of Jewish teenagers in Israel, between 15 and 18 years old, prefer "strong" leaders to the rule of law, while 70 percent say that in cases where state security and democratic values conflict, security should come first. A similar picture emerges in the 21 to 24 age group.
...
According to the authors, the report shows a strengthening of Jewish-nationalist beliefs among Jewish youths, and a clear weakening of the importance given to the state's liberal-democratic base.
Among Jewish youths, support for the definition of Israel as a Jewish state as the most important goal for the country grew from 18.1 percent in 1998 to 33.2 percent last year, the survey reports. At the same time, there has been a consistent drop in those who back the importance of Israel's identity as a democratic country - from 26.1 percent in 1998 to 14.3 percent in 2010.
Support for Israel to eventually live in peace with its neighboring countries also fell significantly, from 28.4 percent 12 years ago to 18.2 percent last year. This is the third such survey of young people conducted by the two organizations in the past 12 years.
...
The right wing enjoyed a clear majority of support among the young people surveyed. Among Jews, the numbers stood at 57 percent and 66 percent for the two age groups respectively, while those who said they considered themselves to be left wing made up only 13 percent and 10 percent of those respondents.
The support for the right rose overall from 48 percent to 62 percent during the study's 12-year period, while support for the left fell from 32 percent to 12 percent.
As to the possibility of peace with the Palestinians, 755 of the Jewish respondents said they do not believe negotiations will lead to peace, and most prefer that the present situation continue.
Actually, the commitment to democratic values is quite strong - within the Jewish community. But after all these years of 'Palestinian' terrorism, most of us have awoken to the reality that the 'Palestinians' will never live in peace with us.
At the University of California at Berkeley, the pro-Israel group Tikvah organized a pro-Israel rally during the heart of 'Israel Apartheid Week.' The rally took place on Wednesday. I don't agree with everything said here, but it's good to see a pro-Israel rally in the midst of all that shmutz (dirt).
As an update to the continuing disruptions of Israel events on campus by 'Students for Justice in Palestine,' the pro-Israel students at the University of Pittsburgh did a little editing of the 'Students for Justice in Palestine' video of their own heroics.
Moonbat blogger's commenters force him to retract murder claim
On Friday, moonbat blogger Richard Silverstein published a claim that a 'Palestinian' teenager had died in Shabak (General Security Service) custody under horrible circumstances.
An Israeli source confirms the horrifying news that one of the five Israeli Palestinians detained a few days ago in secret by the Shabak has been killed today (or possibly yesterday) in custody in Jalameh prison near Haifa. The victim was Ashraf al-Baladi of the northern Israeli Palestinian village of Sachnin. Here is a description of what happened to him: he was bound to a chair, he either fell over or was pushed onto the floor. The fall cracked his head open, punctured a lung, and broke a rib. The secret police didn’t know what to do. They couldn’t bring him to a hospital for treatment since he’d been secretly detained.
A doctor was summoned but he arrived too late. The boy died shortly thereafter.
On Saturday, Silverstein was forced by his own commenters to retract.
Trees Kosterman says: February 19, 2011 at 6:31 AM
Dear Mr. silverstein. I live in the village of Sakhnin. And when I read your article, i asked people around me if they know about those 2 people. Sakhnin is a community that, if something like this happen, it become known immediately. And I didn’t hear about it. Please can you tell me what your news resources are? I really hope that it is not true. Again, if it is true, I wonder why we don’t know. Also the names are very unfamiliar to me.
In sakhnin, everybody knows everything from everybody, and if this happened, then the whole village will talk about it. I hope you can give me some more information
* Richard Silverstein says: February 19, 2011 at 9:53 PM
It appears that the names of the detained individuals have been identified but that they don’t live in the villages my source indicated. Plus, both the Shabak and Ahmed Tibi are denying any boy has died in custody. So I’m afraid that the story as my source told it to me is so far unconfirmed. Thanks to everyone who’s done research on this & written to me. And again I apologize for any possibly error there might’ve been in this story.
While it’s possible that this story or some version may be true. I don’t consider it authenticated.
...
Rechavia Berman says: February 19, 2011 at 12:29 PM
OK, people, calm down. As of now there is zero corroboration for any of this – even the existence of an al-Baladi family in Sakhnin or the existence of any of the names reported by Richard. An aide to a leading Arab MK in Israel whom I asked to look into this got back to me with “No such thing”. Absent further data, I’ma go out on a limb and say this isn’t true. This could change, but as of now there is simply no evidence, so hold off on the letter to your MP and so on.
* The Answer Giver says: February 19, 2011 at 5:33 PM
Rechavia, i have access to a program known as חיפושון it is a database of all israeli citizens, my version is up to date. all names and ID numbers exist in the DB. i can’t publish them, but if you would email me i will provide them to you.
o Richard Silverstein says: February 19, 2011 at 10:00 PM
But they don’t live in the villages my source reported & no one in Israel can confirm that any child has been killed in Shabak custody. It’s easy to look in an ID directory & find a bunch of names & claim things happened to them. But that doesn’t constitute evidence that what the source says happened did happen.
And finally this at the top of the post:
Important Update: After numerous attempts to confirm the information published here and being unable to do so, I am sorry to say that at best the account is uncorroborated, and at worst it’s possible the information was not correct (or perhaps credible) to begin with.
I will continue my attempts to verify the details. Meanwhile many thanks to those Israelis who went out of their way to make inquiries on my behalf and apologies to my readers if this story turns out to have been wrong.
I think that's what's called a hoax. Promoting one does wonders for your credibility.
In an earlier post, I reported that Nir Rosen had been forced to resign from New York University over his despicable Twitters regarding the sexual assault perpetrated against CBS News reporter Lara Logan. What's amazing is that Rosen wasn't forced out earlier.
Rosen made his name shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a journalist willing to take big risks to get a story. If his editors never wondered how he was able to endear himself to, say, the Sunni insurgency in Fallujah, or the Taliban, or Hezbollah, that’s because they had more important concerns—like waging a media campaign against the Bush administration. Therefore, it didn’t matter to any of the prestigious press outlets that published Rosen (like the New Yorker, Harper’s, the NewYorkTimesMagazine, or the Atlantic, which also publishes Goldberg) that he was openly rooting for the other side.
“Hizballah is not a terrorist organization,” Rosen said of the Lebanese outfit that is responsible for killing American soldiers, diplomats, and civilians, as well as Israelis, Arabs, and other Lebanese. “It is a widely popular and legitimate political and resistance movement. It has protected Lebanon’s sovereignty and resisted American and Israeli plans for a New Middle East. It’s also among the most democratic of Lebanon’s political movements and one of the few groups with a message of social justice and anti imperialism.”
Rosen never hid his convictions or sympathies, and no one ever called him to account for it. Instead he was rewarded, made a fellow at the New America Foundation and then NYU, and invited to share his expertise in broadcast media, like the PBS’s “Newshour” and CNN’s “GPS with Fareed Zakaria.” Most remarkably, he was invited to testify on Iraq before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2008, which includes this telling exchange with then Senator Joseph Biden. “As a journalist,” said Rosen, “I'm uncomfortable advising an imperialist power about how to be a more efficient imperialist power.”
As Jeffrey Goldberg reports at the Atlantic, Rosen has been making disturbing and violent comments on Twitter for quite awhile. Of course, the difference was that these remarks took aim at politically correct targets — America and Israel — while his Tweet mocking Logan’s sexual assault was decidedly un-PC.
Indeed. Read the whole thing. You'll find out that NYU probably would have rather kept him despite the tweets. Think about that the next time NYU asks you for money (I went to law and business school there).
In case you're wondering, yes, he's Jewish (with that name it would be surprising if he were not), and yes, he's Israeli. And the morons at Mondoweiss are in mourning for him.
A British physician and medical school professor has written a letter to Tel Aviv University urging it to discipline two of its professors who signed onto a letter calling on an Irish author not to accept a prize from the State of Israel, and calling for support of the BDS (boycott-divest-sanction) movement.
Prof. Stuart Stanton, president of the British Society of Urogynecology and chairman of Hadassah UK, wrote to TAU rector Prof. Aron Shai and president Prof. Yossi Klafter after Prof. Rachel Giora and Dr. Anat Matar, along with 10 other Israeli activists, wrote a letter that was published in the Guardian, calling for British author Ian McEwan to turn down the Jerusalem Prize.
McEwan is set to receive the prize, Israel’s highest literary honor for foreign writers, at a ceremony at the Jerusalem International Book Fair on February 20.
The letter also reiterated support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign.
...
Stanton – a visiting professor in Hadassah’s Obstetrics and Gynecology Department who goes to Jerusalem to teach, consult and operate on a voluntary basis – said in his letter that with academic freedom comes responsibility, and that if the two lecturers had been working for a public or private company, they would have been suspended.
“Academic freedom is not just a privilege and a right, but it also entails a responsibility, and you must be painfully aware that many Jews, myself included, find this public call by other Israelis, particularly lecturers from your university, for boycott divestment and sanctions, utterly unacceptable and degrading,” he said.
Calling for the university “to take a stand,” he stated, “It is hard for me to understand how you will continue to employ them [the lecturers], and compromise and prejudice the name of your university. Their actions are totally counterproductive to fundraising for your university abroad, particularly in the UK.
“I hope you will give consideration to taking disciplinary action against them and look forward to hearing from you,” he said.
"We are firmly against BDS in all its forms, but there is something particularly insidious in calling on writers and thinkers, and academics for that matter, to participate in boycotts,” said Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. “Closed minds are not the solution to the problems in the region."
What Dr. Stanton is calling for is what common sense would dictate. Unfortunately, common sense is in short supply in most of Israel's universities.
Both Giora and Matar have a long history of this sort of behavior (some of which is set out at the link), but I'd be very surprised to see Tel Aviv University take any action against them.
Uri Davis and I agree: The JNF should not be donating trees to 'Palestinians'
More than a year ago, I reported that the Fatah was upset over a donation of 3,000 trees by the Jewish National Fund to the new 'Palestinian' city of Rawabi (you know - the one that is boycotting 'settlement' products and labor). Fatah wasn't upset about taking the donation - only that it had been publicized. I wrote that I was upset that the Jewish National Fund was donating trees to the 'Palestinians' at all.
Uri Davis, a Jew who is a member of the 'Palestine National Council' (we have all types here), has now criticized the 'Palestinian Authority' for accepting the trees. He's now calling Rawabi a 'Zionist project.'
As the Convener of the Fatah Revolutionary Council Committee on Resistance to the Settlements, the Apartheid Wall and the Ethnic Cleansing it is my responsibility to ensure that damage already done in the construction of Rawabi city is minimized.
My concern hinges on the acceptance of a donation of thousands of tree saplings from the Jewish National Fund by Rawabi city developers, planted on lands sequestered by the Palestinian Authority from neighboring villages, for a private and commercial venture.
Billed as a new Palestinian city, nine kilometers north of Ramallah with a panoramic view of the Mediterranean and only 70 kms from Amman, Rawabi has been adopted as a project of national importance and the symbol of the Palestinian right to build.
The 850 dunum hilltop development (seen in the map above, photo 2) was approved by the Palestinian Authority Higher Planning Council in October 2008 for construction in three stages. It includes the commercial center and a range of public facilities and has the potential to accommodate a population of up to 20,000.
...
The bulk of the Rawabi development site was private land purchased by developers from the Bayti Real Estate Investment Company. The remainder, however, was sequestered by Presidential Decree.
On 15 November 2009, Abbas signed the decree, taking approximately 1,537 dunum of lands from the neighboring village of Ajjul, 122 dunum from Attara and 118 dunum from Abwin.
It remains a matter of debate as to whether a project designed to fetch a possible windfall profit for a private corporation should qualify for support as a "national project."
But worse, it seems unless public measures are taken by Masri and Bayti, the continued construction of Rawabi places the PA in a position of complicity with one of World Zionist Organizations and Israel’s ugliest apartheid instruments, the Jewish National Fund, a body that "greenwashed" the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 and 1967.
...
In 2009, Masri accepted a donation of some 3,000 tree saplings from the JNF, and allowed the organization arrange to plant the trees on Rawabi lands as a "green" contribution. A portion of the trees were planted on the lands sequestered from nearby villages.
The mission of the JNF is the "redemption" of lands in "Eretz Israel," including Israel, the West Bank, Jerusalem, Gaza and beyond for Jewish settlement. In the wake of the 1948 Nakba, the JNF planted mainly pine trees and other conifers over some 500 ethnically cleansed Palestinian villages.
To add insult to injury, rather than plant indigenous arboreta, notably olive tree saplings, the tree saplings planted by the JNF in the area designated for the Rawabi projects are typically political-Zionist pinera (conifers), the most common tree planted by the JNF in the forests and recreational centers on the lands and over the ruins of Palestinian-Arab villages ethnically cleansed by the Israeli army.
In its support for the city of Rawabi, designated a Palestinian national project, the PNA has implicated itself in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine alongside the JNF and the Israeli army.
Not all Israelis are created equal when it comes to explaining our positions. While the 'Palestinians' speak with one voice and have clear demands, Israelis speak with many voices and have many different views of how our conflict should be resolved. While on the one hand, that is healthy, because it is a sign of a democracy rather than a dictatorship, on the other hand, it places us at a disadvantage, because the world doesn't understand that inviting an 'Israeli representative' to debate with a 'Palestinian' sometimes means that you have not invited anyone with a different viewpoint. They assume that all Israelis think the same way, just like all 'Palestinians' think the same way.
The Russell Tribunal, also known as the International War Crimes Tribunal or Russell-Sartre Tribunal, was a public body organized by British philosopher Bertrand Russell and hosted by French philosopher and playwright Jean-Paul Sartre. Along with Ken Coates, Ralph Schoenman, and several others, the tribunal investigated and evaluated American foreign policy and military intervention in Vietnam, following the 1954 defeat of French forces at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and the establishment of North and South Vietnam.
The formation of this investigative body immediately followed the 1966 publication of Russell's book, War Crimes in Vietnam. The tribunal was constituted in November 1966, and was conducted in two sessions in 1967, in Stockholm, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark. It was largely ignored in the United States, where many considered it an ineffectual, biased show trial.
Nurit Peled (also known as Nurit Peled-Elchanan) is a known Jewish 'activist' for the 'Palestinians' who - as you will hear in the video - has a family history of acting against Israel's interests. She lost a child in a terror attack R"L (God save us), and that has become another part of her repertoire, as you can see by clicking through to the Wikipedia link (and no, she's not the only 'peace activist' to lose a child - suicide bombers don't discriminate). If you see her on a program as an Israeli representative (she's quite well known in Europe - I believe that she is less well-known in the US), you should complain that she is not representing a pro-Israeli point of view. She is not much different than Gideon Levy, for example.
Let's go to the videotape. I'll have one more comment afterward.
The irony of this 'presentation' is that the very things of which she accuses Israel are true of the 'Palestinians.' For example, she accuses Israel of electing representatives who have 'Palestinian' blood on their hands. With the exception of Salam Fayyad (who was not elected), every 'Palestinian' leader has spent time in prison for terror activities. The bloodier, the more popular (see: Barghouti, Marwan).
So now you have all been warned about Nurit Peled and about anti-Israel Israelis generally. Caveat emptor.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
