Shin Bet maintains surveillance of foreign activists

[ 04/05/2010 - 11:49 AM ]


NAZARETH, (PIC)-- The Shin Bet security service has admitted in an affidavit to the High Court of Justice that it has been conducting surveillance of a left-wing Australian activist living in Israel.

Bridgette Chappell, an activist with the International Solidarity Movement, arrived in Israel in August 2009 and went to live in Bir Zeit, near Ramallah.

She took part in protests against Israeli occupation practices against the Palestinian people in general and the establishment of the separation wall in particular and was arrested in Bir Zeit at the beginning of February together with another activist, a Spanish citizen.

Chappell's lawyer, Omer Shatz, petitioned the High Court, which had meanwhile issued a temporary order allowing Chappell to remain in Israel. The petition argues that Israel has no jurisdiction in matters pertaining to population administration in Area A, which is under Palestinian civilian and military control, and therefore Chappell's arrest was illegal.

"We are pleased that the state has finally admitted that it is the authority in Area A, as if the Oslo Accords have disappeared, and that the 'bantustan' known as the Palestinian Authority has no significance. This straightforward position will certainly interest the U.S. secretary of state, in light of the start of proximity talks," Shatz told Hebrew daily Ha'aretz.


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

The Only Democracy in the Middle East:

Pulse 
30.04-01.05.2010

Four people arrested in Bil’in. As you can tell by the video’s last few minutes, as friend and journalist, Tommy Donnellan, is being carried off, the army knows that he is of the press. What do you call it when the authorities arrest the press, again?

The demonstration was held in solidarity with the actions of IPSC – the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign – which is organizing major demonstrations this week against the Irish multinational company CRH. CRH acquired a 25% shareholding in the Israeli group Mashav Initiating and Development Ltd, which is the holding company for Nesher Cement. Nesher is the sole Israeli cement company, meaning it supplies cement and building materials for the ongoing construction of the illegal Separation Wall, the Jerusalem Light Railway project, the illegal colonial settlements and the network of apartheid settler-only roads, underpasses, bridges and tunnels in occupied Palestine. Demonstrators in today’s procession carried signs calling for CRH divestment from Israel, to coincide with the CRH annual general meeting that will take place on Wednesday, May 5.

Emad Rezqa, who was wounded in the head by a high velocity gas canister, in last week’s demonstration, was released from the hospital a few days ago and is feeling fine.

Iyad Burnat, of the Bil’in popular committee has been restricted from living the country and promoting the struggle.

Smoother sailing in al-Halil/Hebron, this week, when approximately 50 Palestinian, Israeli, and International activists gathered in Hebron next to the checkpoint gate separating Shuhada Street in H2 from the Casbah in H1. The protestors stood in front of the gate, holding signs and chanting slogans in Arabic, Hebrew, and English. After about an hour of protesting at the gate, a march began, through the old city streets to the other side. On the way, settlers attacked the protestors, spraying water on them from rooftops.The protest ended shortly afterwards, with a promise to return next week.



More ammunition remains were added to the Nebi Salleh collection, as gum-chewing soldiers shamelessly fired gas canisters and rubber coated bullets into houses, this week, under the watchful eye of international media.



In Gaza Ahmad Sliman Salem Dib, 19, died of blood loss at 4:30 pm today, following emergency surgery. Dib was shot in the leg by an Israeli sniper at a non-violent demonstration, with more than 200 participants, which marched towards the Israeli imposed buffer zone near Nahal Oz crossing with Israel east of Gaza City. Regular popular demonstrations are being are held in protest of the arbitrary decision by Israel to instate a 300 metre buffer zone as no-go area for Palestinians where a “shoot to kill” policy is implemented. People have been shot regularly as far as 2 kilometres away from the border.

More nonviolent demonstrations took place during the week in the villages Ni’lin, Ma’asara, Beit Jalla, Wallage and Beit Ummar.

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Israel's Stasi Watch over Imams

The head of the Shin Bet, Yuval Diskin.



By Jonathan Cook - Jaffa

Job interviews for the position of imam at mosques in Israel are conducted not by senior clerics but by the Shin Bet, Israel’s secret police, a labour tribunal has revealed.

Sheikh Ahmed Abu Ajwa, 36, is fighting the Shin Bet’s refusal to approve his appointment as an imam in a case that has lifted the lid on Israel’s secret surveillance of the country’s Islamic leaders.

At a hearing last month, a senior government official admitted that 60 undercover inspectors were employed effectively as spies to collect information on Muslim clerics, reporting on political opinions they expressed in sermons and relaying gossip about their private lives.

Sheikh Abu Ajwa took his case to the tribunal after the Shin Bet rejected him three years ago as the imam of a mosque in Jaffa, next to Tel Aviv, despite his being the sole candidate. He was told after a security clearance interview that his views were “extremist” and too critical of Israel, even though an imam is not officially defined as a security-related position.

“During one interview with the Shin Bet, they told me they had been collecting information on me since I was 15,” Sheikh Abu Ajwa said.

“I am the first imam ever to challenge the Shin Bet’s role in our appointments. It’s important to win a precedent-setting ruling from the courts to stop this kind of interference.”

Michael Sfard, a human rights lawyer representing Sheikh Abu Ajwa, said that, as far as it could be determined, no similar vetting of rabbis took place before their hiring.

“This sort of surveillance relating to a non-security position like an imam comes straight out of the era of the Stasi police in East Germany or the McCarthy period in the United States,” he said.

The traditional independence of the local Islamic authorities was removed at Israel’s creation in 1948, when the government confiscated almost all waqf property -- endowments of land and property used for the benefit of the Palestinian Muslim community -- removing the main source of income for clerics, the Islamic courts and charitable services.

According to experts, as much as a fifth of Palestine’s cultivated land was waqf property before 1948. Israel passed most of it to Zionist organisations like the Jewish National Fund or sold it to developers.

Responsibility for hundreds of mosques, cemeteries and other holy sites, meanwhile, was handed either to the religious affairs ministry or to Islamic boards of trustees appointed by the government.

Today, most imams and all Islamic judges must submit to a security clearance interview before being awarded a state salary.

Israel’s Arab minority, one fifth of the population, have long charged that many of its Muslim leaders are little more than government placemen, whose Islamic learning takes second place to their co-operation with the authorities.

Sabri Jiryis, a historian of Israel’s early years, has noted that the boards of trustees repeatedly rubber-stamped government decisions to sell off Islamic property to developers. Most notoriously Jaffa’s board approved in 1971 selling an Islamic cemetery in Tel Aviv on which the Hilton hotel was built.

Sheikh Abu Ajwa said: “In Jaffa, the government appointed many clerics because they had proved their loyalty, though not to other Muslims. They sold off our property -- but you can’t sell what belongs to Allah.”

Jaffa, which was once the commercial capital of Palestine, today has a population of nearly 50,000 residents, of which two thirds are Jewish and the rest Muslim.

The sheikh has been preaching at the seafront Jabalya mosque, one of six in the town, since he was 19, making him reportedly the youngest person to serve as an imam in Israel’s history. He qualified as an imam at an Islamic college in the Israeli Arab city of Umm al Fahm in 1998.

The local community universally backed him as the new imam when his predecessor retired three years ago, but he cannot be officially recognised, and is ineligible for a salary, without the interior ministry’s approval.

As part of his application, he was interviewed by a Shin Bet officer named “Dror” who, he said, waved at him a folder of confidential information collected by undercover inspectors. “We will decide who is the next imam,” Dror told him, according to Sheikh Abu Ajwa. The sheikh was asked mainly about his political opinions and demonstrations he had attended.

The Shin Bet’s assessment, revealed to the tribunal, was that Sheikh Abu Ajwa’s appointment “may jeopardise security and peace in Jaffa”. In addition, the agency told the Haaretz newspaper that the sheikh “has had a long involvement in hostile activity, which manifested itself in incitement against the state and its Jewish citizens”.

Sheikh Abu Ajwa said this was a reference to his position as the leader in Jaffa of the popular northern wing of the Islamic Movement. Its leader, Sheikh Raed Salah, has raised the hackles of Jewish officials both by running a campaign warning of Israel’s intentions to take over the Al Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem and by promoting a boycott of parliamentary elections.

The head of the Shin Bet, Yuval Diskin, warned in 2007 that his agency’s role was to prevent any activities, including democratic ones, that worked against the interests of a Jewish state.

Yaakov Salameh, the head of the religious minorities department at the interior ministry, told the tribunal last month that his inspectors collected information on Muslim religious leaders, including rumours about their private lives, such as whether they had had an affair or beat their children. The information was then handed to the Shin Bet, which assessed whether they were suitable to be appointed.

Mr Sfard said it was an “extraordinary” admission, given that under Israeli law the criminal records of candidates for religious appointments could only be considered if the applicant agreed to the information being handed over.

David Baker, a spokesman for the prime minister’s office, which is responsible for the Shin Bet, refused to comment on whether the appointment of rabbis followed the same procedures as those for imams.

Sheikh Abu Ajwa observed that many rabbis, particularly those in the settlements, said “very extreme things but no one spies on them. In fact, they have full government support.”

He admitted he was outspoken in his sermons, but said he had never broken any laws and never advocated violence. “I talk about our Palestinian identity and criticise the policies of the state in its treatment of us as a minority,” he said. “These are very sensitive things that they want to prevent us from talking about.”

During one Shin Bet interview, he said, he had been told: “We know everything about you, we are always watching you.”

The goal of such interviews was often to recruit Muslim clerics to become informers themselves, he added.

- Jonathan Cook is a writer and journalist based in Nazareth, Israel. His latest books are “Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East” (Pluto Press) and “Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair” (Zed Books). His website is www.jkcook.net. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.



River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Steinitz: Egypt, Israel maintain strong relations especially against "common enemy" Gaza

Steinitz: Egypt, Israel maintain strong relations especially regarding Gaza

[ 04/05/2010 - 09:55 AM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli finance minister Yuval Steinitz has hailed the strong cooperation relations between his government and Cairo especially regarding the siege on Gaza Strip.

The Hebrew radio on Monday quoted the minister as saying that the Egyptian-Israeli relations had improved noticeably recently despite differences over a number of issues.

He pointed to the solid cooperation in the field of barring smuggling of weapons to "terrorist organizations" in Gaza.

The statement came in the wake of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Egypt where he met with president Hosni Mubarak for an hour and a half.

Benjamin Ben Eliezer, who attended part of the meeting, said that Netanyahu and the accompanying delegation were warmly welcomed in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Meanwhile, Hebrew media reported that American president Barack Obama told Netanyahu in a telephone conversation that Washington was strongly committed to Israel's security.

Obama's phone call was meant to signal the start of American-patronized indirect talks between the PA in Ramallah and Israel.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

To bomb or not to bomb !!

Frustrated Arab's Diary

Three Palestinian-workers
building at the Israeli-settlements...

Do not drop any atomic bomb
anywhere in Israel !!
Because ,you will practically
kill more Arabs than Israelis !!

Look it up , in any demographic-map
and , please,  find another solution !!

Not even a dirty-Bomb will do ,
nor any chemical-Bomb

Even a home-made-simple-bomb
on a local bus
would kill as much Arabs
as ......Chosen-thieves  !!


No sir  !!,
if you do insist
and you have no other method
nor any other tool
try the settlements in the West-Bank.


but wait first until,
those building-workers
the gardeners , the housemaids,
the plumbers , the electricians
 and the street-sweepers
all go back home ,first.

(if those Palestinians still have ,  one home ).
Sherlock Hommoshoping for the demographic-bomb

Posted by Тлакскала at 11:17 AM

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Settlers burn mosque in Nablus village

[ 04/05/2010 - 09:51 AM ]

NABLUS, (PIC)-- Jewish settlers set fire to the main mosque in Luban Al-Sharqiya village, south of Nablus, at dawn Tuesday burning it completely.

Head of the Luban council Jamal Daraghmeh said in a press statement that around 3 am residents heard vehicles driving around the area of the mosque.

"But at 3:45, when the mosque's imam arrived at the site to prepare for the morning prayers, he saw the mosque on fire. The fire consumed 80%, maybe 90% of the mosque."

He said the area where the fire originated was not connected to electricity because works were underway at the site, and added that the pile of holy Qurans found in the area of the fire proves that it was deliberate arson.

According to Daraghmeh, this is not the first time the village was targeted by settlers: "In the past they also smashed windows, uprooted olive trees, damaged houses and property. At least once a week settlers come in, riot and harm the village."

The village is located near the settlements of Shilo, Ma'ale Levona, and Eli, which have confiscated 30% of the village lands.

Firefighters from Nablus extinguished the fire in the village that is 22 kilometers south of Nablus.
This is the third arson attack by settlers this year against mosques. They have earlier burnt the Yasuf and Hawara mosques also in Nablus district.

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Dr. Abu Sha’ar warns of Israeli intents to annex settlements in J’lem

[ 04/05/2010 - 09:48 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Dr. Taleb Abu Sha’ar, the minister of religious affairs, on Monday warned of Israeli intentions to annex the settlement outposts in occupied Jerusalem to its territory in the context of its schemes to seize the entire holy city.

In a press release, Dr. Abu Sha’ar said this Zionist scheme was voted on in the Knesset by the Likud right-wingers and welcomed by heads of the settlements who demanded to turn words into action.

He affirmed that the settlements which the Israeli government wants to annex, according to the bill, include Maale Adumim, Efrat and Givat Ze’ev, adding that the decision will be implemented by the Israeli municipal council in Jerusalem.

The minister, in another context, strongly denounced Israel for allowing its settlers to seize a Palestinian home under police protection belonging to the family of Salah in the neighborhood of Beit Safafa, south of Jerusalem.

The minister asserted that the settlers raised Israeli flags on the house, assaulted and forced the family out and performed provocative dances in its courtyard while the police escorts prevented the family members from defending themselves and threatened to arrest and deport them if they did not leave the entire area.

The minister noted that this Israeli crime led to the displacement of 40 Palestinians living in this house.

In another development, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Ramahi, the secretary-general of the Palestinian legislative council (PLC), said that the Israeli government’s declaration to build 187,000 new housing units in east Jerusalem dealt another blow to the Arab decision to resume peace talks with Israel, especially the Palestinian negotiator who, despite all concessions he made, could not get even a nominal decision to halt settlement activities.

Dr. Ramahi called on the Arab states and their follow-up committee to necessarily reconsider its position towards the negotiations with Israel, whether direct or indirect, and warned them of relying on the US promises.

For its part, the Israeli Jerusalem Post newspaper revealed that Arieh King, the head of Israel’s land fund, proposed a plan to build about 187,000 settlement units in east Jerusalem.

King called in a news conference held by Menachem Begin heritage center on Sunday for discussing initiatives for the future development in east Jerusalem represented in using lands owned by individuals and the Jewish national fund to build these new units in east Jerusalem, E1 area between the holy city and Ma’ale Adumim and on lands stretching from Ramallah to Bethlehem.

The newspaper quoted King as saying that if Jerusalem did not expand eastwards if would turn into another Gaza Strip.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

The Terroist called , a pianist

Frustrated Arab's Diary

The evil-player of the macabre-sonatas.

A Pianist ,  plays the Piano
A Violinist,  caresses the Viole
A Rapist ,  rapes.....
while, 
a Terrorist does Terror.


You may terrorise,anyone and anywhere,
with a dynamite-belt around your waist
or
with a "B52" Bomber
carrying 132 tons of  bombs.


You may terrorise in the name
of national-liberation
when the others,
may terrorise in the name
of "Democratisation".


A pianist plays the piano
and
a terrorist can also play that same piano ,
when and if ........ he survives.


Raja ChemayelI have more valid-reasons not to play that piano.

Posted by Тлакскала at 1:50 PM

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Zahhar: We reject the Arab cover for IOA schemes

[ 04/05/2010 - 09:41 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The indirect talks between the PA in Ramallah and the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) were meant to improve the latter's relations with the American administration and other countries that were dismayed at the current stalemate, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, political bureau member of Hamas, said.

He told Al-Jazeera net on Monday that the indirect talks, which the Israelis yearned to start, would not be of any benefit to the Palestinian people, recalling that direct talks over the past 18 years did not yield anything positive for the Palestinians.

Zahhar said that Hamas rejected the Arab cover for such talks that only allow Israel to carry out its expansionist and judaization policies and plots.

The Hamas leader predicted that the negotiations would only lead to more judaization of Palestinian lands and compromise of national rights.

For its part, the popular front for the liberation of Palestine (PFLP) denied reports that Washington had extended any written or verbal guarantees to the PA over an Israeli halt of settlement building in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.

The PFLP said in a statement on Monday that the PLO executive committee, in which the PFLP is a member, did not receive any such guarantees for the sake of resuming direct or indirect negotiations.

The PFLP called on the PA leadership to respect national unanimity resolutions and not to bow to pressures and promises that only target weakening Palestinian steadfastness, unity, and resistance.

The PFLP declared its categorical rejection of the Arab follow up committee's decision backing indirect PA-IOA talks.

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Pity the Nation..........(with added photos)

Frustrated Arab's Diary

Pity The Nation.

Pity the nation that is full of beliefs
and empty of religion.

Pity the nation that wears a cloth
it does not weave,
eats a bread it does not harvest, and drinks a wine that flows
not from its own wine-press.


Pity the nation that acclaims
the bull as hero, and that deems the glittering conqueror
bountiful.

Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,
whose philosopher is a juggler, and whose art is the art
of patching and mimicking.


Pity the nation whose sages
are dumb with years and whose strong men
are yet in the cradle.

Gibran Khalil Gibran The garden of the Prophet (1934)

Raja has just added the relevant photos !
(Hoping that "cousin" Gibran shall not mind.)



First of May 2010
Labour´s Day !!

Posted by Тлакскала at 1:56 PM

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US Military Aid to Israel – ACT NOW to Stop!

- 04. May, 2010

14friendsofpalestine

Contact your state congressmen or senators today. The U.S.Congress is considering a bill to vote for it’s annual $3 Billion assistance to Israel’s IDF.

The US 2011 budget is now in the House Appropriations Committee, and Israel is to be given another $3 Billion in Military Aid! In past years, Israel has been given this “aid” with no discussion, no conditions that must be met, no reporting requirements, and no incremental/quarterly payments as is done with every other country receiving such Aid. These practices clearly must be stopped if the US is to be able to bring Israel to end all building of settlements, open Gaza and enter into good faith negotiations for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace agreement.

It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that our House Representatives hear from us NOW, before the $’s are approved with no changes, no conditions that Israel must meet! Tell your Rep. by phone, email or fax to insist on placing conditions on the release of more of our tax dollars (see section B – for sample text for you to “paste” into your congressperson’s contact “box” – We’ve tested it and it will fit into those typical “boxes”).

In Section C you will find the names, phone numbers and key aide of all 8 Democratic members of the powerful Appropriations Subcommittee for State and Foreign Operations. They make the initial recommendation to the house for these funds. They are key to this process, so PLEASE CONTACT THEM ALSO. We need them to add the necessary conditions on the release of any aid to Israel! We can make a difference!

A – Talking Points for your phone calls:

1 -No funds released until all settlement construction is halted in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

2 -No funds released until Israel opens up Gaza.

3 – No funds released until the Administration fully investigates Israel’s possible violations of the US Arms Export Control Act in the recent attack on Gaza – including the preliminary evidence in the Goldstone Report.

4- No funds released until Israel has withdrawn all military checkpoints, barriers, troops, walls/fences, military zones and installations from the West Bank (the pre June 5, 1967 borders).

B – Sample text for your congressperson’s “contact me box”:

2011 Budget time is here. We must not continue to support the land takeover and brutal occupation of recognized Palestinian land.

The World is watching us and our continued unconditional support is harming the USA, and Israel’s continued actions harm them.

Please ensure that certain reasonable, easily achievable, conditions on the release of that Military Aid to Israel is enacted in this budget. All of these conditions may be met with Israel’s security insured, in fact, their security will be much improved by these conditions being implemented. Placing conditions on the release of aid will assist the Administrations efforts to bring Israel and the Palestinians to a negotiated agreement and an end to this terrible situation.

2011 Military Aid to Israel be given in quarterly amounts based on:

1st qtr -No funds released until all settlement construction is halted in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

2nd qtr -No funds released until Israel has allowed Gaza: all food, medical aid, water purification and sewer treatment supplies; safe access to farm land and fishing; necessary building materials and supplies; movement and access as agreed upon in the 2005 Agreement.

3rd qtr - No funds released until the Administration presents Congress with a full investigation of Israel’s possible violations of the Arms Export Control Act during the Dec. 08 – Jan. 09 attack on Gaza. The investigation is to include relevant portions of the UN’s Goldstone Report.

4th qtr – No funds released until Israel, with appropriate security in place, has withdrawn all military checkpoints, barriers, troops, walls/fences, military zones and installations from the West Bank (the pre June5, 1967 borders).

C – This is the Subcommittee that makes the first approval on the proposed Military Aid to Israel: (Swarm them with faxes, it is all about numbers!)

Appropriations Subcommittee for State and Foreign Affairs - Democrats

Nita M. Lowey, New York – Chair NY-18^th Dist. Office in White Plains.
DC Office 202-225-6506, Fax – 0546
Ann.Vaughan@mail.house.gov (Lowey’s aide for this subcommittee)
Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., Illinois
DC – 202-225-0773, Fax -0899
Charles.Dujon@mail.house.gov
Adam Schiff, California
DC – 202-225-4176, Fax 5828
Timothy.Bergreen@mail.house.gov
Betty McCollum, Minnesota
DC 202-225-6631, Fax 1968
Peter.Frosch@mail.house.gov
Steven R. Rothman, New Jersey
DC 202-225-5061, Fax 5851
Jonathan.Moore@mail.house.gov
Barbara Lee, California
DC 202-225-2661, Fax 9817
Julie.nickson@mail.house.gov
Scott.Exner@mail.house.gov
Steve Israel, New York
DC 202-225-3335, Fax 4669
Mike.Ryan@mail.house.gov
Ben Chandler, Kentucky
DC 202-225-4706, Fax 2122
Jim.Creevy@mail.house.gov
David R. Obey, Wisconsin, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and Ex-Officio on this Subcommittee
DC 202-225-3365
Anne.Georges@mail.house.gov

The opposition is panicking!

AIPAC’S Call – in support of Aid! http://action.aipac.org/security_aid/

- http://www.14friendsofpalestine.org/

Via: My Catbird Seat

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US, with 5,113 Nuclear Warheads, Claims Iran Peaceful Program Threats the World!

US, with 5,113 Nuclear Warheads, Claims Iran Peaceful Program Threats the World!

Hanan Awarekeh Readers

04/05/2010

- US nuclear arsenal: A TOTAL OF 5,113 WARHEADS

- Israel: SOLE NUCLEAR POWER IN THE MIDDLE EAST WITH OVER 200 NUCLEAR HEADS

The United States disclosed for the first time on Monday the overall size of its nuclear arsenal, saying it had a total of 5,113 warheads operationally deployed, kept in active reserve and held in inactive storage. Moreover, Israel is believed to be the sole nuclear power in the Middle East with more than 200 nuclear heads and is not even a signatory for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).

However, Washington and its main ally Israel are impudent enough to attack Iran’s peaceful nuclear program claiming Tehran is seeking to develop a nuclear bomb and threatening to impose more sanctions against the Islamic republic.

Again the double standard policy seems to dominate the US talks, one can not but wonder how come the international community, led by the United Nations, doesn’t raise its questions about the US and Israeli nuclear arsenals at a time it is seeking sanctions against the Islamic republic nuclear program based on “doubts” and “fears” that it may be using it for developing a nuclear bomb.

According to figures released by the Pentagon, the total does not include warheads that have been retired and scheduled for dismantlement, an estimated 4,600 according to the Federation of American Scientists nonprofit group. The US nuclear arsenal has been reduced by 84% from its maximum level of 31,225 warheads at the end of fiscal year 1967.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday said that Iran's nuclear program put the world at risk and called on global nations to rally around US efforts to hold Tehran to account. "Iran is the only country represented in this hall that has been found by the IAEA board of governors to be currently in non-compliance with its nuclear safeguard obligations," Clinton said in a speech to a Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference at the United Nations.

"It has defied the UN Security Council and the IAEA and placed the future of the non-proliferation regime in jeopardy, and that is why it is facing increasing isolation and pressure from the international community," she said.

Clinton spoke to the meeting of the 189 signatories of the 1970 NPT just hours after Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blasted the United States for threatening to use nuclear arms, triggering a sharp American response and a walkout by several delegations.

Ahmadinejad said having nuclear weapons was "disgusting and shameful, and even more shameful is the threat to use, or to use, such weapons."

"Regrettably, the government of the United States has not only used nuclear weapons but also continues to threaten to use such weapons against other countries, including Iran," he said.

The Iranian president called for states that threaten to use atomic weapons to be punished, a clear reference to a new US nuclear strategy released last month.

He urged "considering any threat to use nuclear weapons or attack against peaceful nuclear facilities as a breach of international peace and security."

Such threats should meet with "swift reaction from the United Nations and termination of all cooperation of NPT member states with the threatening aggressor state," Ahmadinejad said, adding that among the punishments that should be meted out to countries that use, or threaten to use, atomic weapons against other nations is suspension from the board of governors of the UN nuclear watchdog in Vienna.

Ahmadinejad also hinted that Israel and an unnamed European country had made nuclear threats.

His attacks against the United States and its allies triggered the walkout. Delegates from the United States, Britain, France and several non-nuclear weapons states left the assembly hall.

The Iranian leader went on to attack Israel directly, saying, "The Zionist regime continues to threaten the countries of the Middle East with its arsenal. It continues to threaten the world's countries with acts of terror and invasion, and even gets the necessary assistance for its nuclear program."

The United States' so-called nuclear posture review reduces the role of atomic weapons in US defense policy but does not rule out the use of nuclear warheads against countries like Iran and North Korea that are according to the US considered to be “NPT violators”.

According to the Iranian television IRIB reported that a Fox news reporter “was angry Monday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been appreciated by the participants of the NPT Review Conference despite his critical remarks about US policies and calling Israel as Zionist regime .
IRIB added that “in his report, Fox news reporter Eric Shawn, also expressed regret that while President Ahmadinejad denied that his country was to make nuclear bomb and instead said that the US should be punished for possessing nuclear weapons, he was still appreciated by the participants . ”

Both the United States and Israel have suggested that they could use military force against Iranian nuclear facilities, which they suspect are part of a covert atomic weapons program. Iran denies pursuing atomic weapons and insists its nuclear program is limited to peacefully generating electricity.

In his speech, Ahmadinejad rejected allegations that his country is developing nuclear weapons, citing "not a single credible proof."

Clinton said the world stood at a crossroads, facing a future either of sharply reduced nuclear risk or of a spread of nuclear-armed states and groups, and that issues such as Iran's nuclear program could determine which path is taken. "Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something and the world must stand together to prevent the spread of these weapons," Clinton said. "It is time for a strong international response."

She also said the United States would ratify nuclear weapons-free zones in Africa and the South Pacific and also support "practical measures" to establish the Middle East as a region free of weapons of mass destruction - which could pique US ally Israel, presumed to have a sizable nuclear arsenal. However, Clinton later told reporters that conditions for such a zone in the Middle East did not yet exist.



River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

US Threatens to Nuke Iran and Anyone Else it Feels like Nuking.

by Shirin Ebadi

Global Research,

May 3, 2010

Iran Affairs - 2010-04-29

The 2010 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference will convene from 3-28 May 2010 in New York.

This year's conference - as with previous years' - promises to be yet another battle between the developing and the nuclear-armed nations. The US insists that the NPT needs to be rewritten so as to place greater limits on what it calls "nuclear weapons proliferation" whilst the developing nations say that the concern over proliferation is being used as a pretext by the US to avoid its own obligations under the same treaty to disarm its own nukes and to share nuclear technology with everyone else. This year, the same conflict will likely continue, and the US (and the US media) will of course try to blame it on Iran when in fact the emphasis on disarmament is shared by a number of countries called the New Agenda Coalition that includes Brazil, New Zealand and Egypt, and is not limited to Iran. 

In the 2005 Review Conference, the state parties failed to agree on an outcome document, largely because of disagreement between nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states, with the former emphasizing the importance of strengthening nonproliferation efforts and focusing on specific cases of actual and suspected non-compliance with the Treaty, and the latter emphasizing the importance of compliance with and implementation of past disarmament obligations by the nuclear-armed nations, as well as the importance of sharing civilian nuclear technology.

The mainstream US media of course automatically buy into the nuclear-armed nation's agenda, claiming that the NPT needs to be "fixed" because it has "not prevented Iran from enriching uranium" ... as if the role of the NPT is to prevent the peaceful use of nuclear technology (when in fact the explicit role of the NPT is to encourage it.) Look for the media making a big deal out of Ahmadinejad and trying to use him as a foil, and blaming him for the continued standoff at the meeting.

Under the terms of the NPT, the US and other nuclear-armed countries that have signed the NPT are obligated to 1- work towards disarmement, 2-share nuclear technology with other signatories, and 3- not share nuclear technology with non-signatories such as India and Israel. Also, in addition to these treaty commitments, in 1995 the US promised (again) not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear armed countries (known as the Negative Security Assurance) and is also bound by international law and UN Security Council Resolution not to threaten other countries with nuclear weapons. 

However, every single obligation listed above.

The US had initially agreed to a 13-step plan of action to disarm its nukes as obligated by the NPT. By 2005 and under Bush, the US declared that the 13-steps to be non-binding and irrelevant. The US and Britain and France have formally declared that they have no plans on scrapping their nuclear weapons. Sure, Obama did just hold a disarmament meeting with Russia, but that was just PR.

The US has also shared nuclear technology with both Israel and India, two non-signatories, in blatant violation of the NPT.

THe US and other nuclear-armed countries continue to place limits on the sharing of nuclear technology with NPT signatories under the guise of preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons. THe developing nations have consistently decried this. The Final Document of the United Nations General Assembly resolution S-10/2 which was adopted at the 27th plenary meeting of the tenth special session on 30 June 1978 stated in paragraph 69: "Each country's choices and decisions in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear energy should be respected without jeopardizing its policies or international cooperation agreements and arrangements for peaceful uses of nuclear energy and its fuel-cycle policies". This position was reiterated in the 1980 NPT Review and Extension Conference and has been consistently reiterated in every Review Conference since then, including the 1995 Review Conference and in the Final Document of the 2000 NPT Review Conference. The Final Document of the 10th Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2002 also reiterated that non-proliferation measures should not be used to jeopardize the inalienable rights of all States to have access to and be free to acquire technology, equipment and materials for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and that each country's choices regarding nuclear fuel cycle policies should be respected.

And finally the US has explicitly threatened to nuke Iran and anyone else it feels like nuking.

So, where exactly is the "crisis" in the NPT -- with Iran, or the US?

 Global Research Articles by Shirin Ebadi

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Details of Gaza blockade revealed in court case

By Tim Franks
BBC News, Jerusalem



Shoes and clothes have recently been allowed into Gaza

BBC News has seen documents, submitted to an Israeli Court, which give more detail than ever before about how and why Israel maintains its Gaza blockade.

In one document, Israel describes the import curbs as "a central pillar in the armed conflict with Hamas".

It also confirms estimates were made of how many calories Gazans need, but says these were not used for policy-making.

Israel says the blockade is to pressure Hamas, which does not recognise Israel and backs attacks on its citizens.

Three years ago, after the Islamist Hamas movement seized power, Israel and Egypt tightened their closure of Gaza's borders, leaving the territory's 1.5 million inhabitants facing acute shortages.

But Israel has never published a list of banned items, saying it approves requests on a case-by-case basis.

Items allowed have changed over time, which has left humanitarian organisations and commercial importers constantly attempting to guess what will be approved.

The court case has been brought by the Israeli human rights group, Gisha.

The group has been trying, for more than a year, using freedom of information legislation, to squeeze information from the state about what exactly is allowed for import to Gaza, and why.

In January, Gisha, took the Israeli authorities to court, to try to force them to provide the information.

Gisha's director, Sari Bashi, says she is no security expert, "but preventing children from receiving toys, preventing manufacturers from getting raw materials - I don't see how that's responsive to Israeli security needs."

And she says that some of the prohibitions appear to be absurdly arbitrary: "I certainly don't understand why cinnamon is permitted, but coriander is forbidden. Is there something more dangerous about coriander? Is coriander more critical to Gaza's economy than cinnamon? This is a policy that appears to make no sense."

She argues that if there is a logic behind such decisions, the military should reveal what it is.

'Conflict against Hamas'

Now, after several months' waiting, the state has given its response to the court, in a written submission, seen by the BBC.

It throws a small pool of light on the process behind the blockade.

The overall rationale is set out, in bold type: "The limitation on the transfer of goods is a central pillar in the means at the disposal of the State of Israel in the armed conflict between it and Hamas."

The Israeli authorities also confirm the existence of four documents related to how the blockade works: how they process requests for imports into Gaza, how they monitor the shortages within Gaza, their approved list of what is allowed in, and a document entitled "Food Consumption in the Gaza Strip - Red Lines" which sets out the minimum calorie intake needed by Gaza's million and a half inhabitants, according to their age and sex.

This paper was however, the state insists, just a draft power-point presentation, used for "internal planning work", which "never served as a basis for the policy of the authority".

But while the first three documents promise a great deal of detail, that detail is not delivered.

In each case, the state argues that disclosure of what is allowed in and why would, in their words, "damage national security and harm foreign relations".

It offers, instead, to reveal the contents of the documents to the court in a private session with the judge.

'Collective punishment'

The lack of clarity causes immense frustration not just among Gazans, but among aid groups, diplomats, and the United Nations - which has described Israel's blockade as "collective punishment"

The problem, they say, is not just the shortages themselves, but the unpredictability and changing nature of what is permitted for import.

Israeli officials have said, in the past, that they are concerned that building materials in particular could be misappropriated by Hamas for military ends.

But some Israeli commentators - even those who advocate a tough stance against Hamas - say that the strategy behind the much wider blockade is ill-defined, and harmful to Israel's international standing.

The BBC has received information from reliable sources that there are currently 81 items that are approved for import - from kidney beans to tinned meat - and as of March, shoes.

Among the large range of goods currently forbidden are jam, chocolate, wood for furniture, fruit juice, textiles, and plastic toys.

The 13-page submission by the Israeli authorities to the Tel Aviv District Court raises more questions than it answers.

It does set the context for the blockade: in what Israel considers to be its existential conflict with Hamas.

But it will not satisfy those noisily calling for Israel to be more open about one of its most contentious policies.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Israel moves to ban Israeli human rights organisations that expose Israeli war crimes

Live From Occupied Palestine 

Dear friends,
on the back of the poll that reveals that a majority of Israelis are willing to see the banning of Israeli human rights organisation, 20 Israeli parlimentarians have tabled a bill to outlaw Israeli human rights organisations which expose Israeli warcrimes and wrong doings by the Israeli military. (Most of this has been reported in the Hebrew press language rather than English language press - the second article includes a translation of the article from Maariv)

Two articles/blogs below on the newly proposed law, as well as a statement issued by Israeli Human Rights organisations in response.

in solidarity, Kim

***
From The Promised Land Blog:
http://www.promisedlandblog.com/?p=2534

Knesset moves to outlaw human rights organizations in Israel

Posted: April 29th, 2010 | Author: noam | Filed under: In the News, The Left, media | Tags: adalah, avi dichter, human rigths, im tirzu, meni mazoz, new israel fund, shin beit, the only democracy in the middle east | No Comments »

Something very troubling is happening to “the only democracy in the Middle East”
More than 20 MKs, including members of opposition party Kadima, proposed a new bill which will make it possible to outlaw the important human rights groups in Israel. Among the organizations mentioned in the proposed bill are Doctors for Human rights, The Coalition of Woman for Peace, The Public Committee against Torture in Israel, and Adalah: the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights. All these organizations receive funds from the New Israeli fund.

According to a report in Maariv, the new bill will outlaw any organization “which is involved in activity intended to lead to the prosecution or arrest of IDF officers and government officials for war crimes.” the word “involved” makes it a very broad definition.


Palestinian child tied to a Israeli jeep and used as a human shield by Israeli Occupation Forces - a war crime under international law.

Two weeks ago, an article by Maariv’s Ben Caspit suggested that NIF sponsored organizations that are linked to an international effort to investigate and prosecute senior IDF officers for war crimes.

The introduction to the new bill declares that:

“… “Those organizations help foreign organizations that seek to issue arrest warrants and indictments against senior Israeli officials, either by means of providing information—the preponderance of which is erroneous and even mendacious—to foreign groups, or by publicly agreeing and lending credence to the accusation that Israel is guilty of war crimes.”

More than 20 MK’s signed the offer. Among them are known parliament members from Tzipi Livni’s opposition party Kadima, former head of Shin Beit Avi Dichter and members from Likud and NRP.

—————————
From all the anti-democratic measures I’ve been writing about here, this is by far the most extreme. Even if a mild version of this law passes, defending human rights in Israel – a difficult tusk as is – will become practically impossible. Merely proposing this bill will harm grassroots efforts and freedom of speech, as both the media and the public are becoming more and more hostile to people and groups who are portrayed as unpatriotic or anti-Israeli.

Much of “the case for Israel” is based on the notion that this is a democracy – the only one in a hostile environment. But Israel is changing. This is not something that you notice on a one week vacation in Jerusalem or from on the Tel Aviv beach, but if you pay close attention to the news, you can easily notice it.

People are harassed and delegitimized for the things they say and because of their views. Foreign activists are arrested and deported. The Shin Beit, Israel’s security agency, stated recently before the court that it sees its job as to supervise and follow the actions of Israeli left-wing organizations even when they are not suspected in breaking the law. This statement was approved by the former Government’s attorney, Meni Mazoz, who also heads the prosecution in Israel.

As a poll published this week on Haaretz shows, the Jewish public is supportive of such measures:

57.6 percent of the respondents agreed that human rights organizations that expose immoral conduct by Israel should not be allowed to operate freely.

Slightly more than half agreed that “there is too much freedom of expression” in Israel. The poll also found that most of the respondents favor punishing Israeli citizens who support sanctioning or boycotting the country, and support punishing journalists who report news that reflects badly on the actions of the defense establishment.

Politicians and Journalists, always sensitive to public opinion, follow such trends with calls for actions. Violence against activists in the West bank becomes common. Police arrests organizers of legal protests, even if there is nothing to charge them with.

As most of the country carries own with its daily life, and the world is busy with efforts to re-ignite the peace process and doesn’t pay much importance to such details, it is easy to miss the big picture. But something very major is happening here right now. I don’t have any idea where will it end up leading us, but I suspect it’s not such a good place.

UPDATE: here is a full translation of today’s article in Maariv, courtesy of Coteret blog.

MKs Propose Outlawing Adalah

Ma’ariv (p. 12) by Arik Bender — More than 20 MKs from the coalition and the opposition yesterday introduced a bill that is geared to outlaw non-profit organizations that are involved in activity that is geared to bring about the arrest of IDF officers and senior government officials overseas for war crimes. The bill did not specify the names of the non-profit organizations in question, but the law-makers did cite NPOs such as Adalah, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Physicians for Human Rights and the Coalition of Women for Peace—all of which receive funding from the New Israel Fund.

“It is very saddening that in an era such as this one, when we ought to be united against those very same baseless accusations, we witness Israeli NPOs and organizations operating beneath the surface against Israel,” read the printed explanation to the bill. “Those same organizations help foreign organizations that seek to issue arrest warrants and indictments against senior Israeli officials, either by means of providing information—the preponderance of which is erroneous and even mendacious—to foreign groups, or by publicly agreeing and lending credence to the accusation that Israel is guilty of war crimes. Sometimes they even extend palpable legal assistance in drafting the arguments.”

The bill was submitted yesterday at the end of a tempestuous debate in the plenum about Ma’ariv’s expose about the involvement of the New Israel Fund in lawsuits against the IDF and top state officials. Among the signatories of the new bill are the former director of the GSS, MK Avi Dichter, former deputy GSS director MK Gidon Ezra, Chairman of the State Audit Committee MK Yoel Hasson, MK Ronit Tirosh, MK Otniel Schneller, MK Yaakov Edri, MK Moshe Matlon, MK Ophir Akunis, MK Tzippi Hotovely, MK Uri Orbach, MK Zvulun Orlev and others.

“The bill will put an end to the rampage by NPOs who are trying to subvert the state under the guise of human rights,” said yesterday Ronit Tirosh, one of the sponsors of the bill.


Im Tirtzu smear campaign poster against Noami Chazan and the New Israel Fund.

Upon the introduction of the bill, the Im Tirtzu movement announced that it was ending its campaign against the New Israel Fund. Ronen Shoval, the director of Im Tirtzu, said that he was pleased that his movement’s message had been heard in the Knesset. “We congratulate the MKs who picked up the gauntlet and intend to defend the IDF from the NPOs that are supported by the New Israel Fund,” said Shoval.

The forum of directors general of the human rights organizations in Israel, which includes Adalah—the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel— issued the following statement in response: “Instead of defending the values of democracy, the sponsors of the bill opt to trample it to dust. The bill—which seeks in practice to conceal information or suspected crimes—contravenes international conventions and the universal declaration about human rights that were signed after World War II and constitutes an unprecedented moral nadir in the Israeli legislature.

***
Israeli law proposal: Outlaw organisations reporting on violations
Foreboding in the Israeli human rights community as a new proposed law targets organizations reporting on breaches of international law
By JNews Thursday, 29 April, 2010 - 13:44 London, UK
Source: Knesset minutes, nrg, Maariv, Israeli human rights groups

http://www.jnews.org.uk/news/israeli-law-proposal-outlaw-organisations-reporting-on-violations

A new law tabled on Wednesday in the Israeli Knesset, seeks to forbid registration of Israeli organizations (NGOs) that are suspected of provision of information or involvement in law suits against Israeli officials or commanders for breaches of International Humanitarian Law, or war crimes. It would also require the Registrar of Association to close down existing organizations engaged in such activities.

The proposed Associations Law (Amendment – Exceptions to the Registration and Activity of an Association), 2010, comes in the wake of an incitement campaign against the human-rights community in Israel and is the second law to be proposed against their activities this year.

Among the signatories to the proposed bill are two former members of Israel’s secret police, the Shin Bet or shabac: former director Avi Dichter and former deputy director Gideon Ezra.

The law proposal does not cite names of specific organizations, but the initiators of the bill, 19 Knesset members (MKs) from various parties of both the coalition and the opposition, cited Israeli groups Adalah, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and Coalition of Women for Peace as examples, in the course of a debate held on the bill Wednesday.

Israeli daily Maariv focused specifically on Adalah, a human-rights organization led by Palestinian citizens of Israel. Its news item on the law proposal was headed “MKs propose: Outlaw Adalah

In a heated discussion in the Knesset yesterday, MK Nitsan Horovitz of the left-leaning Meretz party described the law proposal as a witchhunt.
“So long as activities are legal under Israeli law, they are [allowed] under freedom of expression, and the conflict is a political one,” said Horovitz. “Is anything illegal being done by an organization? – then go to the police,” he said.

He added that the Knesset should address the allegations made by the organizations under attack, instead of silencing them.

A group of ten Israeli human rights organizations has published a response to the bill, saying that it “violates international treaties and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which was signed in the wake of the horrors of World War II,” and that it “seeks to conceal information or suspicions of a crime.”

The group added that “The Israeli government’s refusal to allow the domestic legal system to investigate allegations of war crimes is the very reason that war crimes may be investigated and prosecuted abroad,” and that “instead of defending democracy, the sponsors of this bill prefer to reduce it to ashes.”

Adalah’s Director Hassan Jabareen, added that “if the legislation is enacted, it would constitute an official admission by the State of Israel that it is committing war crimes, and is ordering human-rights organizations in Israel to keep silent about them, to refrain from passing on information about them, and to cease assisting both the victims and the international community in working to prevent their continuation. Only a state that commits prohibited acts would be interested in such legislation.”

This article may be reproduced on condition that JNews is cited as its source

**
Human Rights Groups in Israel Respond to Proposed Bill to Suppress Information about Serious Breaches of International Law: A Danger to Democracy
http://www.phr.org.il/default.asp?PageID=222&ItemID=662

Democratic values are important to the human rights community in Israel. A new bill proposes to trample these democratic values and undermine the ability to seek accountability for human rights violations. It is with great concern that we respond to the proposed bill: Associations (Amutot) Law (Amendment – Exceptions to the Registration and Activity of an Association), 2010.


Brochure: Adalah - Legal Centre for the Arab Minority in Israel

The bill, introduced yesterday, would prohibit the registration of any Non Governmental Organization (NGO) if "there are reasonable grounds to conclude that the association is providing information to foreign entities or is involved in legal proceedings abroad against senior Israeli government officials or IDF officers, for war crimes". An existing NGO would be shut down under the proposed law if it engaged in such activity.

Instead of defending democracy, the sponsors of this bill prefer to reduce it to ashes. This bill is the direct result of irresponsible leadership that is doing all it can to undermine democratic values and the institutions that are the backbone of a democracy: the Supreme Court, a free press, and human rights organizations. A public sphere without these institutions operating independently of the government is a public sphere that is crippled and anti-democratic at its core.


Logo of B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

The sponsors of this bill would do well to invest their energies in fulfilling their duty to oversee the actions of the executive branch, including the security forces. Where a suspicion arises that war crimes have been committed, legislators should act to bring about an independent, impartial investigation in Israel, according to the standards set by international law. The Israeli government's refusal to allow the domestic legal system to investigate allegations of war crimes is the very reason that war crimes may be investigated and prosecuted abroad. The bill – which essentially seeks to conceal information or suspicions of a crime – violates international treaties and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which was signed in the wake of the horrors of World War II. It represents an unprecedented moral nadir within the Israeli house of parliament.

This response is issued by the Directors' Forum of the above-listed human rights organizations, all of whom are associations (amutot) registered in Israel.

For further information:
Keren Tamir, Spokesperson of Gisha, 052-891-9190, 03-6244120, keren@gisha.org; Sari Bashi, Director of Gisha, 054-8172103.
Louis Frankenthaler, International Outreach Director, Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, 02-642-9825, 052-364-8822, louis@stoptorture.org.il.

ADALAH - THE LEGAL CENTER FOR ARAB MINORITY RIGHTS IN ISRAEL | ASSOCIATION FOR CIVIL RIGHTS IN ISRAEL | BIMKOM – PLANNERS FOR PLANNING RIGHTS | B’TSELEM - THE ISRAELI INFORMATION CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES | GISHA - LEGAL CENTER FOR FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT | HAMOKED - CENTER FOR THE DEFENCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL | PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS - ISRAEL | PUBLIC COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE IN ISRAEL | RABBIS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS | YESH DIN - VOLUNTEERS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Posted by Kim at 8:47 PM 

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian