The Latest from Mondoweiss for 11/09/2010

 

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Here are the headlines from Mondoweiss for 11/09/2010: Night raid in Bil'in Five young Jews disrupt Netanyahu speech with call for new Jewish identity My conversation with an Israeli leftist Canadian lawmakers resurrect McCarthy in hearings that say criticism of Israel is anti-Semitism Israeli Supreme Court approves buildings for 'Jews only' in Jaffa 'Zionism and peace are incompatible' — Israeli general's son Noah's arc Gaza siege keeps graduate student from attending program in the US Mike Pence takes part in a venerable Washington tradition Who is this cat, our secretary of defense? Night raid in Bil'in Nov 09, 2010 12:04 am | Hamde Abu Rahme (Photo: Hamde Abu Rahme) Today, November 9 at about 3:00 in the morning, the Israeli army entered the village of Bil'in. About 50 soldiers entered the village by jeep and foot. When they arrived at the two targeted houses, they ran and took positions outside while a number of soldiers entered the house. (Photo: Hamde Abu Rahme) At first the soldiers were hammering on the door of one house, demanding to see 30-year old Ashraf al-Khatib. It turned out they went to the wrong house. They then went to another house – forcing one of Ashraf's brothers to show them where Ashraf lives. Soldiers then entered that house, and his brother's family's house, and again they woke up the family, asking for Ashraf al-Khatib. His brother, Haytham al-Khatib, is a journalist from the human right's group B'tselem and was of the ones woken up by the army. Even though they entered a house where their target didn't  live, they stayed there for about one and a half hours, searching all the rooms. Haytham al-Khatib told me about his 6-year-old son's reaction to waking up to see dozens of soldiers in his house, "he asked me to close the door, because he didn't want to see them." Haytham himself was prevented when he wanted to record the raid in his family's houses – the soldiers simply locked him in a room for more than an hour, away from his children and wife. The children in the houses are ages 1,5 and 8 years old, and this is not the first time they have seen their homes raided at night. However, after 1.5 hours of searching for the target in three houses, two of which he doesn't reside in, Ashraf al-Khatib was not found. Five weeks ago Ashraf was shot in his leg with live ammunition by an Israeli soldier during a demonstration in Bil'in. The bullet went through his leg, breaking the bone. Even though he was heavily injured and in major pain, the soldiers tried to arrest him. Luckily he was brought to safety, and then taken to a hospital for surgery by fellow protesters. Tonight the army decided to come and take him in front of his wife and 1.5 year old daughter instead. The soldiers finally retreated from the targeted houses by foot, walking toward the military road that follows the illegal segregation fence in Bil'in, at about 4.30 AM. The village of Bil'in has suffered from frequent night raids over the last few years, and a number of villagers have been taken for interrogation and imprisoned for their non-violent resistance to the occupation and segregation wall on Bil'in's land. (Photo: Hamde Abu Rahme) Comment on this article > Five young Jews disrupt Netanyahu speech with call for new Jewish identity Nov 08, 2010 06:18 pm | Philip Weiss Update: The video with four of the activists who disrupted Netanyahu was just posted to YouTube. News from the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations in New Orleans, a press release from Jewish Voice for Peace. Note the inspiring statements from the young disrupters: A group of young Jews with the Young Leadership Institute of Jewish Voice for Peace has traveled to the largest gathering of Jewish leaders in the US, the Jewish Federation General Assembly, to confront leaders on an approach to saving Israel's reputation and building young Jewish identity they say actually turns young Jews away. Five of the young adults, including 3 Israelis and Israeli--Americans, disrupted a speech this morning by Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu with banners that said: YoungJewishProud.org and and one of the below- The Settlements Delegitimize Israel The Occupation Delegitimizes Israel The Siege of Gaza Delegitimizes Israel The Loyalty Oath Delegitimizes Israel Silencing Dissent Delegitimizes Israel and The Settlements Betray Jewish Values (and in hebrew:) Justice justice you shall pursue - Deuteronomy 16:20. The young Jews faced a violent backlash from some audience members. Some audience members attempted to hit and gag Rae Abileah, a young Jewish protestor. 3 of the young Jews- Matan Cohen, Matthew Taylor and Emily Ratner were temporarily detained, but not before they interrupted Netanyahu's speech five times with chants, and forced him to address them directly. Two of them were captured on the conference live TV feed as they were removed from the crowd. Flipcam footage will be available later. The young Jews' website, www.YoungJewishProud.org,  presents the group's Young Jewish Declaration, a compelling vision of collective identity, purpose and values written as an invitation and call to action for  peers who care about Israel and Palestine. It is also a strong challenge to elders. ["We are young Jews, and we get to decide what that means."] These actions are in part a protest of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and Jewish Public Affairs Council (JCPA) newly announced $6 million dollar program to target campus, church, peace and human rights groups that are working to end Israel's human rights violations through nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions pressure campaigns. The Federations and JCPA are calling this initiative the "Israel Action Network."  Critics say it is a "Shoot the Messenger" approach. "We're here to call out the elephant in the middle of the room. Israel continues to expropriate Palestinian land for Jewish-only communities, passes increasingly racist laws in the Knesset, the foreign minister wants to strip Palestinian citizens of their citizenship -- these are the reasons Israel is becoming a pariah in the world, NOT the human rights groups that are using nonviolent economic pressure to hold Israel accountable. We would be dismissing the values we were raised on if we did not speak up." Eitan Issacson, Israeli-American, Seattle "The Jewish establishment thinks that all we want are free trips to Israel and feel-good service projects. That is in insult to our intelligence and to the Jewish values we were brought up on. What we want is for the American Jewish community to stand up and say that Israel's ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights are wrong and that we will not continue to support it with our dollars, our political strength and our moral abilities. We are the next generation of American Jews, proud of our heritage, strongly committed to Jewish life. We live our Jewish values in opposing Israel's human rights violations and we invite – no, implore –all Jews to join in this urgent struggle." Hanna King, Swarthmore College, Philadelphia "We were surprised by how many other young Jews were enthusiastic about the perspective that we brought to the General Assembly. It was scary to ask questions of sometimes hostile panelists, but in fact many people our age were supportive and even asked their own critical questions. We realized this is a terrific opportunity to organize." Antonia House, graduate student, NYU "Right now, the choice for those of us who care about the future of Israel and Palestine is between the status quo--- which includes continued settlement expansion, the siege of Gaza, and the racist Israeli foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman-- or Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions. Given that choice, Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions will win every time."  Matan Cohen, Israeli, Hampshire College The students also announced the creation of a spoof Birthright Trip called Taglit-Lekulanu http://taglit-lekulanu.org/ , Birthright for All, open to Palestinian and Jewish-Americans which they followed up with a spoof denial. The goal of the spoof was to highlight the one-sided narrative that Birthright presents, the ways it renders Palestinians invisible. The rebuttal laid bare the problematic assumptions underlying Birthright such as the emphasis on marrying Jews and procreating. http://taglit-lekulanu.org/ Comment on this article > My conversation with an Israeli leftist Nov 08, 2010 06:15 pm | Andraos Tarshihee I think the following gchat conversation gives some insight into Israeli leftist thinking. The irony of this conversation that sticks out most is that in visiting various villages in the West Bank, it is notable that Israel does not at all differentiate itself from the dozens of settlements it has built inside the West Bank & East Jerusalem, where police officers wear the same uniforms and use the same data systems for information sharing. Notably, Palestinian citizens of Israel are referred to as "Arabs 48" (in Arabic) and many Palestinians elsewhere refer to Israel as '48 (the year the land of Palestine was declared the State of Israel), noting that Israel is yet to recognize their rights and their existence. me: hey me: I am going to be in '48 for a stretch soon I think, because people here will begin with Eid al-Adha. So maybe I can come by and see the office during that time? israeli leftist: yes, I am here everyday me: k :) me: i got detained for the 1st time yesterday btw me: which was sort of ridiculous. i was with some farmers helping, and got detained israeli leftist: sorry to hear that me: no biggie. only upset bcs they took my info israeli leftist: oy me: writing it up now me: army came to get us - then transfer us to police... which was odd israeli leftist: maybe they heard you cannot utter the word "Israel" out of your mouth and decided you want to destroy Israel me: lol israeli leftist: seriously, why can't you say the word "Israel"? me: what r u talking about? israeli leftist: you just wrote "I am going to be in '48" me: yeah, what's wrong with that? me: and why does that indicate that I cannot utter the word Israel out of my mouth? israeli leftist: it does not indicate it, but still the use of the expression "'48" to indicate that you are going to Israel, might, albiet not necessarily, indicate that you don't want to use the word Israel me: first off, if you were to visit your chat history I'm sure you can find instances of me using the word Israel. second, if I said I never wanted to use the word Israel because Israel stands for the destruction of peoples' land, ethnic cleansing, and millions of refugees both here in the west bank and across the world. If I said that I didn't want to use Israel because my family doesn't share equal rights there, because my uncle, a man of musical brilliance had his instruments cracked open by racist police officers there - because he was beaten brutally by a racist cop for being a Palestinian. If I said I didn't want to say Israel for all those reasons - would that be a problem for you? israeli leftist: yes, it is a problem for me you cannot use the word Israel. israeli leftist: Next time I visit 1776, I will look for Guantanamo Bay me: I have a lot of respect for you and the work you do. But please, only IM me when you've looked over how ridiculous this conversation is and when you start seeing me as an equal human being. If a native-american came to me tomorrow and he called the land I lived on "1776" - I would never have the audacity to have this disgusting conversation with him - and he'd be more than welcome to call it that as it's his fuckin land I'm living on and my country that's oppressing him. me: Especially if my country was still actively taking his land, oppressing him, and there were laws that discriminated against him/her inside the country and a military occupation of the land he had retreated to. israeli leftist: I wish you all the best. I am with you in this struggle, but I have no patience for this bullshit. Andraos Tarshihee is a diaspora Palestinian human rights activist whose family are Palestinian citizens of Israel. Comment on this article > Canadian lawmakers resurrect McCarthy in hearings that say criticism of Israel is anti-Semitism Nov 08, 2010 03:13 pm | Jillian Kestler-D'Amours Canada is the latest front in the battle between critics of Israel and those who would smear them as anti-Semites. The video below is from Independent Jewish Voices. An article by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours follows. The Canadian Parliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism (CPCCA) held an international Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism in Ottawa from Nov. 7-9, in what for many not only signals Canada's increasingly pro-Israel policy, but demonstrates the dangerous worldwide trend of equating legitimate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. "The CPCCA's goal is to criminalize criticism of Israel and Zionism, not to hold impartial hearings," wrote Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) Canada, in a petition addressed to Canadian Parliament members that has been signed by over 1,500 people. "Therefore, we oppose the CPCCA as an ideologically biased organization with an agenda that will harm free speech and human rights activity in Canada. We oppose the CPCCA's Orwellian distortion of anti-Semitism. It is a danger to both Canadian liberties and to the genuine and necessary fight against anti-Semitism," IJV Canada wrote. The CPCCA boasted that Parliamentarians and experts from over 40 countries gathered in Ottawa for what was "the largest ever international parliamentary gathering on anti-Semitism." "The recommendations made by participants during the Conference will be made available broadly and be used as the basis for further action to help put an end to the world's oldest and most enduring form of discrimination," the CPCCA website read. It continued, "Anti-Semitism is an age-old phenomenon, yet it is always re-invented and manifested in different ways. For example, while accusations of blood libel are still being made against the Jewish people, instead they are being directed against the State of Israel, such that anti-Zionism is being used as a cover for anti-Semitism." Between November 2009 and January 2010, the CPCCA held ten separate hearings during which representatives of various non-governmental organizations, universities, police departments and Canadian political parties presented papers meant to assess the level of anti-Semitism in Canada. Most of the speakers during the hearings equated legitimate criticism of Israel with this so-called "new" anti-Semitism and a particular focus was placed on Canadian university campuses, the supposed hotbeds of anti-Semitism. Indeed, according to the CPCCA website, anti-Semitism "is especially prevalent on campuses where Jewish students are ridiculed and intimidated for any deemed support for the "Nazi" and "apartheid" State of Israel, which is claimed to have no right to exist. The problem is also exemplified by individuals and governments who call for the destruction of the State of Israel and its inhabitants." On Tuesday, November 24, 2009, however, in the fourth session of the hearings, Dr. Fred Lowy, President Emeritus of Concordia University in Montreal, stated that "by and large, Canadian campuses are safe and are not hotbeds of anti-Semitism of any kind." Still, representatives of B'Nai Brith Canada, the Canadian Jewish Congress, and other organizations across the country continued to talk about this "new" anti-Semitism, and often targeted the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement as the prime example. "Much of today's anti-Semitism manifests in anti-Israel agitation around boycotts, divestment and sanctions," said Avi Benlolo, President and CEO of the Toronto-based Friends of the Simon Wisenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, during the November 30, 2009 hearing. "It deploys an unfair double standard against the Jewish state, singling out of Israel alone for one-sided, harsh criticism and calls for punitive actions. Some of the criticism approaches open incitement that contributes to hatred of Israel, Judaism, and the Jewish people in the mainstream of society," Benlolo said. In recent years, Canadian policy has been increasingly pro-Israel in nature. In fact, Canadian politicians across the entire political spectrum have not shied away from declaring their support for Israel, despite ongoing illegal settlement construction in the West Bank and the Israeli attack on Gaza in December 2009/January 2010. In February 2010, for example, Canada's Junior Foreign Minister Peter Kent was quoted in Shalom Life magazine as saying that "an attack on Israel would be considered an attack on Canada." A month earlier, Canada announced it would discontinue its financial contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the organization that provides support and resources like clothing, food and health services to approximately 4.7 million registered Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied Palestinian territories.  Since it took power, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority Conservative government has cut funding to many Canadian non-governmental organizations, many of had worked on issues related to Israel/Palestine in some way, or had spoken out against recent Israeli human rights abuses. These organizations, including Kairos Churches and Alternatives, had maintained relationships with the Canadian government for decades.  Right-wing Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman even remarked in June 2009: "It's hard to find a country friendlier to Israel than Canada these days." ndeed, according to Thomas Woodley, the President of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), the intent of the CPCCA hearings and conference is in line with Canada's over-arching policy: to stifle criticism of Israeli policy and intimidate individuals and organizations working for Palestinian rights. "The presence on ICCA's steering committee of hardliner Israeli minister Yuli Edelstein—who not only opposes any moves to scale back the Occupation but also seeks to intensify Israeli presence in Palestinian territory— is indicative of ICCA's orientation and underlying purpose," Woodley said. In a press release dated November 5, 2010, CJPME also outlined its disappointment that Canada's Governor General David Johnston, the House of Commons (Parliament) and Senate Speakers, Official Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff and Foreign Affairs critic Bob Rae all spoke at and lent "their names —and Canada's— to a closed event orchestrated to shield Israel from criticism." "CJPME is firmly opposed to anti-Semitism, a historical problem of tragic proportions, and is concerned about a growing movement to conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism."  Jillian Kestler-D'Amours is a freelance writer and documentary filmmaker based in occupied East Jerusalem. More of her work can be found here. Comment on this article > Israeli Supreme Court approves buildings for 'Jews only' in Jaffa Nov 08, 2010 01:47 pm | Seham And more news from Today in Palestine: Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing IOA deprives two Palestinian villages of potable water The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) has been depriving villages of Brukin and Kufr Al-Deek, west of Salfit district, of potable water for the fifth day on Sunday, locals reported. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7 Israeli police threaten to tear down Sahwa Mosque in Negev area again The inspector-general of the Israeli police, who personally supervised the demolition of Al-Sahwa mosque said the mosque will be razed again after the Palestinians there finish rebuilding it. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b Defiant Bedouin rebuild Rahat mosque razed by state Residents relay foundations after police demolish illegal building funded by Islamic Movement activists. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/defiant-bedouin-rebuild-rahat-mosque-razed-by-state-1.323466?localLinksEnabled=false Al-Aqsa preacher slams demolition of Negev mosque JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- The orator of Jerusalem's iconic Al-Aqsa Mosque condemned on Sunday Israel's demolition of a mosque in the Bedouin town of Rahat, in the Negev, as a part of an attempt to drive Palestinians off their land.  Yousef Jumah Salamah said the demolition was a "crime that was carried out by Israeli soldiers." http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331739 Jerusalem: 32 housing units approved for construction in Pisgat Zeev The Jerusalem Municipality's Planning and Building Committee approved the construction of 32 housing units in the neighborhood of Givat Zeev Mizrach, located beyond the '67 borders. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3981486,00.html Netanyahu faces embarrassment in U.S. over new Jerusalem building plan Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee published details of program that will allow 930 new housing units to be built beyond the Green Line. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-faces-embarrassment-in-u-s-over-new-jerusalem-building-plan-1.323597?localLinksEnabled=false Full Haaretz expose / How the state helped right-wing groups settle East Jerusalem A Haaretz investigation shows the state used a controversial law to transfer East Jerusalem assets to the rightist organizations Elad and Ateret Cohanim without a tender, and at very low prices. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/full-haaretz-expose-how-the-state-helped-right-wing-groups-settle-east-jerusalem-1.323312?localLinksEnabled=false Incentives for settlement freeze likely on agenda as Netanyahu heads to Jewish GA Netanyahu envoy arrived in Washington earlier this week to meet chief Palestinian negotiator on ways to renew negotiations. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/incentives-for-settlement-freeze-likely-on-agenda-as-netanyahu-heads-to-jewish-ga-1.323293?localLinksEnabled=false Yossi Sarid / GA delegates - beware when you cheer for Netanyahu When it comes to America, Netanyahu's rules change suddenly: The U.S. will continue to give generously, and will get an obscene hand gesture in return. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/yossi-sarid-ga-delegates-beware-when-you-cheer-for-netanyahu-1.323291?localLinksEnabled=false Barghouthi: IOA exploiting negotiations to impose facts on the ground MP Dr. Mustafa Al-Barghouthi said that giving the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) a fresh breathing space to continue negotiations would not be of any good. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7 Local & Global Actions: Week Against the Apartheid Wall 9-16 November 2010 Nov 7, 2010-- The list of Local & Global actions for the National & International Week Against the Apartheid Wall between the 9th -16th of November 2010.  Updated Continuously [MORE] http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2391.shtml Palestine, before 1948 http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1416/5155829463_afd8fa9a4f_z.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/5156439622_07f42e4ef2_z.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1236/5155829185_127dca25cb_z.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1396/5156439176_4fb34f66a2_z.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/5156439236_1ddbd85380.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1377/5156439936_fa3459a61d_z.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/5156439972_6bccd528f5_z.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1196/5156439860_a648b59525.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/5156440204_0eedc282bc_z.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1240/5156440064_e1359de6ab_z.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/5155830033_64bb50c6f2_z.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1185/5156440418_7011ba5373.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4110/5155830099_e56de776e6.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/5155830281_de901644c5_z.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1059/5156474452_78e791d975_z.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/5156439808_785ec68bf1_z.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1124/5156439300_dd6d3bef90_z.jpg Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Israeli forces remove the memorial of Samer Sarhan amidst daily unrest in Silwan Today, workers from the Jerusalem municipality and Israeli forces removed the Memorial of Samer Sarhan, this morning. They also removed the water supply donated on the soul of Samer Sarhan and the olive tree planted in the place, although the tree was present prior to the monument. The operation took place under the monitoring of an Israeli helicopter in the area. Vehicles of municipal workers and Israeli forces emerged after the enforcement of the task in less than ten minutes. One eyewitness and a resident of the region said, "members of the Israeli police came earlier to take pictures of the site of the memorial. They must have have studied how to implement the process in a very short time and leave before a large number of residents noticed them." He adds, "police were not alone http://palsolidarity.org/2010/11/15410/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29 Ten Protesters Injured During Nabi Saleh Demonstration; Four Hospitalized In another outbreak of military violence against protesting civilians, soldiers and Border Police officers confronted demonstrators with rubber-coated bullets and tear-gas; torched olive tree. http://josephdana.com/2010/11/ten-protesters-injured-during-nabi-saleh-demonstration-four-hospitalized/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ten-protesters-injured-during-nabi-saleh-demonstration-four-hospitalized Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign in Support of Palestinian Human Rights Moves Forward in Australia After Landmark Conference:  Worldwide Activism, Australian BDS Campaign, Nov 4, 2010 From October 29-31 more than 150 Palestine solidarity activists and supporters of human rights gathered in Melbourne for Australia's first national Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) conference. The conference represents a watershed moment in the Palestinian solidarity movement in Australia with activists across various campaigns coming together and addressing the way forward in the global campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions. http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/2390.shtml Join the Anti-Apartheid Media Marathon on 12 and 13 November Nov 8, 2010-- The annual Week Against the Apartheid Wall from 9-16 November is starting! Palestinian and international activists will again mobilize in the streets and organize a series of events across the globe. This mobilization on the ground will be complemented by a fast paced 48 hour media marathon on 12 and 13 November. We call on media to join 48 hours non-stop coverage! http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2392.shtml Local & Global Actions: Week Against the Apartheid Wall 9-16 November 2010 Nov 7, 2010-- The list of Local & Global actions for the National & International Week Against the Apartheid Wall between the 9th -16th of November 2010. http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2391.shtml 8th Week against the Apartheid Wall, November 9 – 16 2010 Sep 1, 2010-- Eight years into the construction of the Apartheid Wall, over 60% has already been built to ghettoize communities, threatening over 260,000 people with displacement and stealing land and water resources. http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2361.shtml A scene from the boycott movement, 2010 Eva-Lee Baird took this photo in September outside Ricky's cosmetics store in Brooklyn. That's Nancy Kricorian of Code Pink on the left, she's led the boycott against Ahava products made from stolen minerals in the occupied West Bank, and she's giving a piece of her mind to some of the young men who come out to mock the boycotters wearing clown wigs. Great street theater. http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/a-scene-from-the-boycott-movement-2010.html #BDS: Marilyn Monroe launches 'Boycott Israeli Blood Diamonds' campaign in Dublin On Saturday 30th October 2010 the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) held a nationwide awareness-raising day to expose the contamination of the global diamond market with Israeli "blood diamonds" ahead of the annual meeting of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KP) in Jerusalem on November 1st. To launch the Boycott Israeli Blood Diamonds campaign activists from the IPSC in Cork, Galway, Limerick, Wexford and Waterford activists from the IPSC handed out thousands of leaflets and collected petition signatures to while in Dublin, a blood-stained Marilyn Monroe even turned up to endorse the campaign saying "the fact that Israeli diamonds are sold as 'conflict free' means that diamonds can no longer be considered a girl's best friend!" http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-marilyn-monroe-launches-boycott.html Goosebumps video links American sacrifices in civil rights struggle to Palestinian protesters' travails One of my strongest impressions of my last trip to Palestine is what a great price people are paying for their sturdy resistance to occupation. This is also a theme of Budrus, the fine new documentary. Well now Sana Kassem (whose work we grabbed last week) sounds the same theme with another stirring video, this one marrying Barbara Dane's civil-rights anthem, It Isn't Nice (backed up by the Chambers brothers), to images of the struggle in Palestine. Notice especially the three last pictures in the sequence http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/goosebumps-video-links-american-sacrifices-in-civil-rights-struggle-to-palestinian-protesters-travails.html #BDS: 'Lonely Planet' guidebook rates Tel Aviv among world's 'top ten cities' despite boycott calls In the midst of a worldwide boycott campaign urging tourists to refuse to visit Israel until Israeli authorities adhere to international law and signed agreements, the 'Lonely Planet' travel guide company has listed Israeli city Tel Aviv as #3 in its 'top ten cities for 2011'.  The company has been the subject of a targeted campaign by the Israeli tourism ministry after boycott activists encouraged the company to support a boycott of Israel. http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-lonely-planet-guidebook-rates-tel.html #BDS: Turning the tables on BDS Don't just react; undermine the credibility and influence of groups promoting boycott, divestment and sanctions. The North American Jewish community has taken an important step to counter the delegitimization campaigns targeting Israel. Directed by the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) in partnership with the Jewish Council of Public Affairs (JCPA), the Israel Action Network should be a vital resource to combat these assaults. http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-turning-tables-on-bds.html The tired "academic freedom" argument Once again, the specter of the suppression of academic freedom has been invoked in what is now becoming an organized campaign to counter the growing global movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) of Israel, and the academic and cultural boycott in particular. This time, a number of American, European, and Israeli Nobel laureates have been enlisted in the campaign, in the hope that their plea to defend "academic freedom" will stem the tide of this ever-expanding movement. http://www.tadamon.ca/post/8307 For Family of Activist Killed in Gaza, No End in Sight for Case "I don't see this as about Israel's legitimacy," she said in an interview. "My family is not anti-Israel. What Rachel saw when she went to Gaza was extremely troubling and because of what happened to her we are now connected to the Palestinian issue. But Israeli peace activists shared her concern and are helping us with our case. From our family's perspective, this is about human rights for all people and holding governments accountable." Cindy Corrie added, "An Israeli colonel said at this trial that there are no civilians in a war zone. But there are. If that hadn't been the army's attitude, maybe my daughter would still be with us." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/world/middleeast/08corrie.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss 'New Yorker' connects Elvis Costello's use of the word 'nigger' 30 years ago to his recent participation in boycott of Israel, Philip Weiss From Abe Foxman's lips to the New Yorker's ear. Nick Paumgarten profiles Elvis Costello in the new New Yorker magazine, and links the entertainer's use of the n-word in an episode 30 years ago to his participation this year in boycott of Israel, another "mess" that Costello made for himself. Ali Gharib, who brought this to my attention, writes: "There is no mention of a positive reaction to Costello's move (I sure saw the Facebook postings and got the blast e-mails); it is merely suggested as a racist 'bookend' to his career or the 'arbitrary... singling out of Israel.'" Does the New Yorker understand the moral/political universe that Costello is operating in? In the occupation, a Palestinian is killed every other day, and inside Israel, hundreds of Jewish towns have been created in the last 60 years, and not one new Palestinian town, and meanwhile the foreign minister talks about expelling Palestinians. This is why boycott has traction. http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/new-yorker-connects-elvis-costellos-use-of-the-word-nigger-30-years-ago-to-his-recent-participation-in-boycott-of-israel.html Israel's Lieberman denounces settlement boycott (Reuters) Reuters - Israel's ultranationalist foreign minister Monday accused left-wing artists threatening to boycott a theater in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank of waging "cultural terrorism." http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101108/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_settlements Siege/Rights Violations/Restriction of Movement Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (28 Oct. - 03 Nov. 2010) http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/VVOS-8AWQEQ?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P Goods – Needs Vs. Supply – Oct 10 – Nov 6 http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/11/goods-%e2%80%93-needs-vs-supply-%e2%80%93-oct-10-%e2%80%93-nov-6/ Source: United Nations General Assembly:  Israeli Restrictions Deepen Palestinian Hardships, Second Committee Told as It Considers Arab Sovereignty over Natural Resources in Occupied Lands Israel's continuing restrictions on Palestinian movement and access to natural resources, its expansion of settlements, and its military offensive against the Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009 had deepened the hardship suffered by the Palestinians, Amr Nour, Director of the United Nations Regional Commissions New York Office, told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today. http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-8AWL5Y?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P Israeli government documents show deliberate policy to keep Gazans at near-starvation levels Documents whose existence were denied by the Israeli government for over a year have been released after a legal battle led by Israeli human rights group Gisha. The documents reveal a deliberate policy by the Israeli government in which the dietary needs for the population of Gaza are chillingly calculated, and the amounts of food let in by the Israeli government measured to remain just enough to keep the population alive at a near-starvation level. This documents the statement made by a number of Israeli officials that they are "putting the people of Gaza on a diet." http://www.imemc.org/article/59843 UN fears Defense Ministry control of Jerusalem crossings will delay aid For several years, the IDF has been gradually handing over responsibility for crossings into the West Bank to the Defense Ministry Crossing Authority. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/un-fears-defense-ministry-control-of-jerusalem-crossings-will-delay-aid-1.323472?localLinksEnabled=false Israel denies doctor entry to Gaza GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities denied entry to a doctor visiting Gaza as part of a French group Sunday, medical sources said.  The Iraqi doctor holds British nationality, and is an anesthestist. He was part of a delegation with Professor Christophe Oberlin, a specialist in hand surgery, a statement from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331841 Gaza worker dies collecting rubble GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A 19-year-old worker died of asphyxiation Sunday after he fell in a ditch and was buried under rubble as he collected stone aggregates in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.  Gaza medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiyya identified the victim as Mahmoud Salem Abu Araqa, and said his body was transferred to Nasser Hospital. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331784 Stressed out Gazans need therapists, pop pills JABALYA, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - If ever there was a little corner of the world where trauma therapists hanging out their shingle should do a boom business, it has to be Gaza. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A71UF20101108 Racism and Discrimination Supreme Court okays Jewish-only buildings in Jaffa Three apartment blocks approved for Arab neighborhood Ajami - despite discrimination claims. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/supreme-court-okays-jewish-only-buildings-in-jaffa-1.323474?localLinksEnabled=false Bnei Brak rabbis: Don't rent to refugees Six of ultra-Orthodox city's religious leaders sign halachic ruling forbidding locals to rent apartments to Africans. 'Yeshiva students scared to walk on street at night,' says neighborhood rabbi, calling upsurge in Sudanese residents a 'spiritual danger'. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3981441,00.html MK: Tel Aviv to turn into African city National Union's Yaakov Katz warns that 'within a few years, Israel will have more than 100,000 African immigrants.' Tel Aviv's residents will have to move to Judea and Samaria, he adds. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3981335,00.html Fundamentalists Attack Chilean Tourist After "Suspecting" He Is Arab A group of Israeli fundamentalists attacked, on Thursday after midnight, a Chilean tourist while walking through a public park in Jerusalem after "suspecting" that he is an Arab. http://www.imemc.org/article/59847 War Criminals IOF soldiers shot any Palestinian talking on mobile phone in Gaza war Israeli occupation forces (IOF) invading the Gaza Strip in late 2008 and early 2009 shot at any Palestinian citizen talking on a mobile phone, Hebrew website Walla said. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?x Inside Story - Abandoning 'universal jurisdiction'? Britain's foreign minister has pledged that the UK will quickly amend a law that has allowed pro-Palestinian activists to request arrest warrants for visiting Israeli officials over alleged war crimes. Activists in Britain have sought the arrest of Israeli officials in the past under the principle of "universal jurisdiction", which allows courts to prosecute alleged war crimes from elsewhere in the world. The reassurance came after Israel suspended suspended 'special strategic dialogue' with the UK in protest over the law. But what message is the UK sending to the rest of the world? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNqJUmFITFQ&feature=youtube_gdata Israel is right to be concerned, Rami G. Khouri We can learn much from the Israeli government's decision this week to suspend a special strategic dialog with the United Kingdom because of concerns that Israeli officials could be arrested and indicted with crimes against humanity in the UK, according to a British law that provides for "universal jurisdiction" in such cases, i.e., a suspect of any country can be charged, detained and tried in a British court even if the alleged crimes occurred in a third country and did not include British citizens among the victims. Israel's Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni recently cancelled a trip to London as did Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor this week, because he was advised that he risked being arrested. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=121218#axzz14dFrT96M Violence & Aggression IOF troops fire at residential quarters in Rafah, round up more West Bankers Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired at Palestinian citizens' homes and land east of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, on Sunday night but no casualties were reported. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q "targeted assassinations," in Gaza, again, Max Ajl I meant to write about this earlier but forgot. Several days ago, to conscience-shattering silence, the Israeli Defense Forces carried out a "targeted assassination" in downtown Gaza City, blowing up a car belonging to Mohammed Jamal al-Nimnim, a senior member of the Army of Islam. The little black crosses, xananas (drones) that buzz above Gaza constantly apparently hit the car with a missile, "pre-empting" several "terrorist attacks" against "American and Israeli" targets al-Nimnim was planning in the Sinai. IDF spokeswoman Lt.-Col. Avital Leibovitz said that "Earlier today, the Israeli army targeted a ticking bomb," and since army spokeswomen are incapable of emitting truth, we know how to take that assertion (Someone tell me what "American" targets are sitting in the Sinai—sun-burnt tourists in Sharm al-Sheikh?) Enjoy also the color the racist Jerusalem Post added to the story: "Hamas said he was a senior aide to Mumtaz Dughmush, commander of the Army of Islam. Dughmush is a former Hamas activist and heads the violent Dughmush clan in Gaza City," a bizarre Orientalist way to describe the Dughmush family, as though they're sitting around a campfire in the Gazan dunes with their scimitars plotting the next Jew-killing. http://www.maxajl.com/?p=4400&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+http%2Fwwwmaxajlcom%2Ffeedrss2+%28Jewbonics%29 Detainees Palestinian prisoner society calls for firing Habbash from his post The Palestinian prisoner society called on Mahmoud Abbas to remove his minister of religious affairs Mahmoud Habbash from his post after he expunged 200 names of pilgrims. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6 Political "Developments" Netanyahu tells Biden: Peace agreement must not be forced on us from above Netanyahu meets with U.S. VP Biden on sidelines of Jewish GA in New Orleans; says that Palestinians must be stopped from taking unilateral action to establish a state. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-tells-biden-peace-agreement-must-not-be-forced-on-us-from-above-1.323469?localLinksEnabled=false Biden: US opposes unilateral moves After meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, American vice president addresses Jewish leaders, stresses his country will do all it can to fight de-legitimization campaign against Israel. He cautions both Israel, Palestinians from taking unilateral actions. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3981195,00.html `Unilateral statehood unwise at this juncture` BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A limited accord was reached between Israeli and Palestinian leaders discussing the issue of a unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood when the two met on Hard Questions, the Palestinian talk show.  Former Palestinian Ambassador to Cairo Nabil Amr debated the issue alongside Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset Jamal Zahalqa with questions from chief editor of Ma'an Nasser Lahham. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331255 Abbas: Palestinian State Could be Declared Within a Year Speaking at the first Sir Bani Yas Forum on Peace and Global Security in Abu Dhabi, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that Palestinians will declare a sovereign state within a year, if negotiations with Israel fail. http://www.imemc.org/article/59848 Bahar: West Bank lawmaker can't hold PLC meeting GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Palestinian Legislative Council Deputy Speaker Ahmad Bahar criticized a West Bank lawmaker for claiming to hold a session of the parliamentary body on Sunday.  This came in response to an announcement by Fatah lawmaker Jamal Abu Ar-Rub that the PLC would hold a special session in Ramallah to discuss making arrangements for Palestinian prisoners' families to perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331723 Hamas wants Gaza security structure included in future deals Hamas Interior Minister Fatthi Hammad said Sunday that Hamas security services must remain inside the framework of any future agreement with Fatah party.  Hammad said security forces in Gaza "have succeeded in running the Gaza Strip," adding "this thing should not be bypassed in any reconciliation agreement."  Hammad's statements came during a parade for his ministry's security services all over the Gaza Strip, which Hamas has been controlling since routing pro-Abbas forces in 2007. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/7191056.html Hamas slams German foreign minister's refusal to meet GAZA CITY (DPA) -- The Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip on Monday slammed as "insulting" the refusal by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to meet it while visiting the salient.  Senior Hamas leader and legislator Kamal Shrafi said that while the Islamist Palestinian movement welcomed a visit by an official of his standing, it was "completely wrong to come to Gaza and not meet with the legal government's representative." http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=332001 Fatah using Iran bogey to justify surrender to Israel To justify its moral and political bankruptcy, the Fatah movement, under PA leader Mahmoud Abbas, is trying to use the so-called Iran bogey to justify its effective surrender to the Zionist regime. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq Other News West Bank most-wanted terrorist list has dwindled to almost nil The situation is a reflection of both the improved security situation in the West Bank and the increasing cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian Authority security forces. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/west-bank-most-wanted-terrorist-list-has-dwindled-to-almost-nil-1.323465?localLinksEnabled=false Eli Yishai to Netanyahu: Push for the release of Jonathan Pollard during U.S. visit Shas chairman says the request is now justified since Israel is asked to make concessions for peace; Netanyahu refuses to take MKs' letter asking for Pollard's release to the U.S. http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/eli-yishai-to-netanyahu-push-for-the-release-of-jonathan-pollard-during-u-s-visit-1.323278?localLinksEnabled=false Maariv: Geert Wilders to express support for "Jordan is Palestine" at Tel-Aviv conference Cooperation between the extreme right wing in Holland and Israel: Dutch anti-Muslim nationalist Geert Wilders will come to Israel in order to support the idea that "Jordan is the Palestinian nation state," which is being promoted by MK Arieh Eldad (National Union). armed UNRWA "UNRWA — the "United Nations Relief and Works Agency" for Palestinian refugees — has had plenty of problems through the years. But, if it now starts to shoot at Palestinians, it's situation in Gaza will become untenable.  What good are four "submachine" guns going to do, if there's a real attack on the UNRWA Director of Operations, John Ging, who these weapons are reportedly meant to protect? Maybe the UN should pull out of Gaza, instead of running around with a few powerful weapons.  If the UN begins shooting up the place, there's no telling what will happen next." http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/armed-unrwa.html Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest It's time to dismantle the PA, Ahmed Moor Salam Fayyad is surviving on borrowed time - or money. By now everyone's aware that the Netanyahu-engineered "economic miracle" is the predictable result of periodic cash injections into a closed economic space. Pretending that Palestinian growth in the West Bank is viable is like pretending a six-year-old is rich because his mother handed him twenty dollars.  But it's more insidious than that. The unsustainable bubble economy fails to capture the means of production and therefore strengthens the occupation. That's because the European donor funds (that's how the Europeans remain 'relevant' to the 'peace process' - they pay for what Israel breaks) are meted out in salary form to sustain Fayyad's repressive police statelet. http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/its-time-to-dismantle-the-pa.html Erekat: "I Will Not Join the Zionist Movement" Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat equates Israel's request at recognition as a "Jewish state" with a request to join the "Zionist movement," army radio reported on Saturday., Erekat reportedly made the remark during his visit to Washington where he has met with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, as well as other senior State Department officials, saying "they [Israel] want me to join the Zionist movement. I will not.", In addition, he said, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu must choose between settlements and peace, referring to the reason peace talks were stalled on when building moratorium expired on September 26. The Palestinians have demanded a resumption of the freeze as a condition for rejoining direct talks., Last week, Erekat said that the Palestinians are willing to give the United States at least two more weeks to break the impasse in the peace process and to return both sides to the negotiating table, despite a looming deadline set by the Arab League., Despite the fact that the Arab League on October 9 gave the US only 30 days to find a way to continue the talks, Erekat said the Palestinians were willing to give the US the time it needed., Source: Jerusalem Post http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=161209&language=en 'Let us out of the box', Scott McConnell On Thursday, Palestinian chief negotiatior Saeb Erakat sat down for an hour and half "conversation" with former peace processor Aaron David Miller at the Woodrow Wilson Center in DC. They spoke in a cozy theater on the sixth floor, a setting perfect for peace process theater. Erakat is a decent and intelligent man, who said wryly that negotiating with Israel is the only thing on his CV, he's been involved in such things for twenty years. The same could be said of Miller.  The conversation was not clarifying. Erakat expressed frustration in various ways, and must have used some variant of the phrase "in a box" , or "let us out of the box" a dozen times. http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/let-us-out-of-the-box.html Former AIPAC aide calls J Street fleas and liars, Philip Weiss Josh Block used to work at AIPAC (and before that for Edward Kennedy). He just left the organization and, freed from institutional restraint, teed off on J Street, and J Street knocked him back. And now Block has gone back after J Street in a note to Adam Kredo of Washington Jewish Week. There's a lot of vicious invective here that I pass along because it is so repulsive. I wonder what Block is afraid of? http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/former-aipac-aide-calls-j-street-fleas-and-liars.html Alienated affection: Israel relationship is costing the U.S. its alliance with Turkey, Gil Maguire Israel and its U.S. lobby's insistence on unquestioning U.S. support for Israel in its brutal and illegal conduct toward Palestinian and Turkish civilians has cost the U.S. a major, strategic ally, Turkey, and has severely undermined U.S. foreign policy goals, strategy, and power in the Middle East.  President George W. Bush has been accused of having the most disastrous foreign policy in U.S. history. Unfortunately, President Obama's apparent inability to stand up to Israel's U.S. lobby may have created a foreign policy catastrophe that exceeds even that of his hapless predecessor by costing the U.S. the loss of Turkey as our main strategic ally in the region, and by drastically reducing U.S. influence and power in the Middle East. http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/alienated-affection-israel-relationship-is-costing-the-u-s-its-alliance-with-turkey.html Cornerstone of Zionism is to Conquer, Not Negotiate, Hasan Afif El-Hasan Only through force and sheer violence, not negotiations, an exclusively Jewish state could be established in a country inhabited and owned by another people. It is humanly inconceivable that people surrender their country to strangers through negotiations. Thus violence against the indigenous Palestinians has been a central component of the Zionist movement since it was conceived as a colonial enterprise. Violence as an instrument to intimidate the Palestinians has been embedded in the Zionist ideology and in its popular culture. http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16390 Political Roulette in Palestine, Dr. Eyad El Sarraj - Gaza - She asked: Where have you been all day? I was worried about you! And why did you turn off your mobile? - Then he replied meekly:"It was an exhausting day, long strategy meetings and discussions of administration and finance. I have a meeting tonight with "the Elders". - "What elders?" - "They are the group of Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and other international figures who are to tell the truth on the world's troubles" - "And what is the benefit of meeting them?" - "It is very important to tell them our story" then almost begging "Now, I want to rest for a while so that I can go to the meeting." http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16391 A Lost Decade in Israel-Palestine: Diary Series Kickoff, Assaf Oron This diary opens a collaborative effort to profile the past decade in the life of Israel-Palestine. A Lost Decade in all respects. Far worse than Japan's "Lost Decade."  Unfortunately, the events that set this decade onto its lamentable trajectory happened shortly before the advent of the blogosphere. Therefore, in living blogo-memory, it has always been like this: a partisan tit-for-tat between "I"s and "P"s, accompanied by bigotry and shrill name-calling, and a sense of helpless circularity – or rather, of gradually spiraling down. http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/11/a-lost-decade-in-israel-palestine-diary-series-kickoff/ Israeli State Violence and the Value of Palestinian Life, Elia Zureik Disregard for Palestinian life has characterized the attitudes of Israeli authorities towards its Arab citizens since the establishment of the state. The Palestinians constitute what the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben calls homo sacer, according to which the laws of humanity do not apply to them. For Israel, the Palestinians exist in conditions of "bare life". Their minimal existence is tolerated but not enhanced. Invariably, the law is suspended when it comes to rectifying Palestinian grievances. Israel is usually quick to cite "national security" as justification for its lethal actions. Life for Palestinian citizens of the state is in a perpetual state of emergency where exception to the universal application of the law is the rule. As a colonial state, life in Israel is best viewed from a racialized prism where ethnicity and race govern the treatment of its citizens. As in all colonial regimes, territory and population are the two central elements which occupy the colonizer, and Israel is no exception. Both of these components provide the cornerstone of modern Zionism. http://www.kabobfest.com/2010/11/israeli-state-violence-and-the-value-of-palestinian-life.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kabobfest%2FGrillMe+%28KABOBfest%29 Is Netanyahu a Botha or a de Klerk? 1948 is an infamous year.  It was the year that Jews largely separated themselves from non-Jewish people in Palestine, and it was the year that the system of Apartheid began in South Africa.  Afrikaners progressively separated themselves from blacks and coloreds in a racist system.   The system continued through the years that Die Groot Krokodil (Afrikaans for "The Big Crocodile") P. W. Botha- the religious, former Minister of Colored Affairs- led South Africa. For many, the ending of Apartheid seemed unfathomable, yet the system of racial separation in South Africa ended under President F. W. de Klerk. http://palestinenote.com/blogs/blogs/archive/2010/11/07/is-netanyahu-a-botha-or-a-de-klerk.aspx For Palestinians, Mid-Term Elections don't Mean Much, Joharah Baker for MIFTAH Many of us were disheartened by the outcome of the United States' mid-term elections and for good reason. It has been decades since the Republicans have made such a sweeping victory, taking over the House of Representatives and sizably increasing their number in the Senate. This set off alarm bells, not only for Democrats, but for plenty of others the world over. The Palestinians, who always watch US elections closely, did so this time around too, not because they are so concerned with internal US affairs but because they always seem to think that US elections, kind of like Israeli elections, will have a direct impact on the peace process. Aisheen: Still Alive in Gaza Shot a few weeks after the end of Israel's January 2009 offensive, this sensitively crafted doc captures the human suffering and devastation wrought on Gaza's Palestinian residents as they struggle daily to survive. "Where is the ghost town?" asks the little boy to the theme park attendant. "It's there, right there. But it has been bombed.  Do you want to see it?" With these words, Aisheen begins. The film is a compelling, impressionistic journey through a devastated Gaza after the war. And the ghost town? Gaza is the ghost town. Clowns trying to make children forget the bombing with balloons and make-up; a beached whale "as big as a building" picked clean in a matter of hours by hungry residents; a scrawny stuffed lion hanging limply in a zoo cage—these surreal scenes convey the absurdity of a nation living on the brink, seemingly forever. http://www.cinemapolitica.org/node/1859 My family, the enemy Israeli film-maker Noa Ben-Hagai went in search of a forgotten great-aunt and found cousins who are Palestinian Arabs. What happened next?  Back when peace did not seem such an impossibility, it was fashionable to cast the Middle East conflict as a family feud. Jews and Arabs were held to be if not brothers then long-lost cousins – the descendants, of Isaac and Ishmael, perhaps, or of Jacob and Esau – who would one day end their estrangement in an embrace. After the collapse of the Oslo peace process, a second intifada and a lethal military offensive in Gaza, you don't hear that kind of talk so much these days. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/nov/08/israel-palestine-jewish-film-festival The proxy war in the Middle East may escalate in the coming weeks, David Ignatius While American eyes were focused on the midterm elections, a bitter conflict has continued between the US and Iran for influence in the Middle East. The flash points have been Iraq and Lebanon, where the Iranians have been pushing through their proxies for what amounts to political control. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=121220 Lebanon Court sentences man to death for collaborating with Israel BEIRUT: A Lebanese man was sentenced to death Friday on charges of collaborating with Israel. The Permanent Military Tribunal headed by Judge Nizar Khalil had demanded the death penalty for detained Gerges Elias Farah on charges of collaborating with Israeli authorities and providing them with information about military headquarters belonging to Hizbullah along with civilian structures. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=121250 Media watchdog: Israel interrupted radio frequency BEIRUT: The Samir Kassir Eyes (SKeyes) foundation mentioned an Israeli violation of a Lebanese radio frequency in its monthly media freedom report Friday. The radio frequency 90.3 FM, used by the Lebanese radio station Light FM, was interrupted by the station Sawt al-Mashreq, the official station for what was known as the South Lebanon Army militia. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=121237 Hezbollah: False Witnesses to Be Transferred to Judicial Council 06/11/2010 Hezbollah renewed on Saturday calls for transferring the file of the false witnesses in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri's case to the Judicial Council, wondering about the reasons preventing some Lebanese politicians from taking such decision.  In this context, member of the Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc MP Hussein Moussawi said that Hezbollah was determined to transfer the false witnesses to the Judicial Council as soon as possible in order to sue the ones who harmed the country and hurted its relations with brothers. He accused those who're seeking to cover the false witnesses and protect them of being additional false witnesses. http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=161257&language=en Hezbollah to Kouchner: STL Tool in US War on Resistance! 06/11/2010 French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in Beirut…  The French top diplomat, who became a "close friend" to some Lebanese politicians thanks to his various visits to Beirut, held a series of meetings in the Lebanese capital, stressing once again his country's "commitment" to Lebanon's sovereignty and stability as well as international resolution 1701 and, of course, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=161239&language=en Anti-landmine group welcomes Lebanese ban of cluster bombs BEIRUT: A leading anti-landmine campaign group welcomed Sunday Lebanon's decision to become the 46th country to ratify an international treaty banning the use of cluster munitions. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=121285 How Israel fights wars (and gets humiliated) "Bush voiced disappointment in the Israel Defense Forces' performance against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 (though he does not say, at least according to the excerpts released so far, that while he gave Israel unlimited time for action in Lebanon, he tied its hands by vetoing its plan to strike Lebanon's infrastructure )." http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-israel-fights-wars-and-gets.html Chou Sar? What Happened in Lebanon?, LARRY PORTIS His name is De Gaulle, and he knows well what happened on December 9, 1980. He was ten years old on that sunny afternoon in the northern Lebanese village of Edbel, 20 miles north of Tripoli—Lebanon's second largest city—when almost his whole family was killed before his eyes.  De Gaulle, named after the famous French general and president in honor of the then independent foreign policy of the French government concerning the Middle East, knows well what happened because he knew the killers he saw and heard. They were from the same village. http://www.counterpunch.com/portis11052010.html Iraq Car bombings in Iraq kill 18 (AFP) AFP - Twin bombings in Shiite holy cities targeting Iranians killed at least 18 people on Monday, 10 of them pilgrims from Iran, at the start of a ninth month of wrangling over a new government. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101108/wl_afp/iraqunrest Car bomb kills 3 in Iraq's holy city of Najaf NAJAF, Iraq, Nov 8 (Reuters) - At least 3 people were killed and 10 others wounded when a car bomb exploded near buses transporting Iranian pilgrims in Iraq's holy Shi'ite city of Najaf on Monday, a health official said. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE6A70UT.htm Activists mock political greed in Baghdad skit (AFP) AFP - Activists staged a satirical play in a Baghdad square on Saturday to protest against greedy politicians, as Iraq marked eight months without a new government since an inconclusive parliamentary election. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101106/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpoliticsparliamentdemo France to treat Iraqis wounded in church siege (AFP)  [Great news for the wounded, but what about the Muslims that are targeted every day?] AFP - Almost 40 Iraqis wounded in a deadly Al-Qaeda hostage crisis in a Baghdad church are to be flown to France for hospital treatment, the French embassy in the Iraqi capital said on Saturday. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101106/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestchristianslebanonfrance French asylum for Iraqi Christians France has offered to grant asylum to 150 Iraqi Christians, including those wounded in church attack. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/11/201011884743146470.html Robert Fisk: Only justice can bring peace to this benighted region The speed with which the Baghdad church massacre by al-Qa'ida has frightened the peoples of the Middle East is a sign of just how fragile is the earth's crust beneath their feet. http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-only-justice-can-bring-peace-to-this-benighted-region-2126754.html Iraqi Kids Struggle on Dangerous Edges in Syria (OneWorld.net) OneWorld.net - DAMASCUS, Nov 7 (IPS) - Leila, 17, presses her hijab-clad head against the front door and strains to hear outside. "There's nothing," she says cautiously, turning towards her mother Rawda, the head of the household, in their quiet basement apartment. Along the brocade couch sit her two sisters, Mona, 19, Nadja, 15, and 10-year-old brother Khaled.* http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/oneworld/20101107/wl_oneworld/world3696201289171048 Chart Of The Day Each pixel represents a death: U.S. soldiers blue, Iraqi troops green, enemies grey, and civilians orange. http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/11/chart-of-the-day-1.html U.S. & Other World News ANALYSIS / Bush's memoir explains: U.S. can't appear to be doing Israel's bidding In excerpts released from soon-to-be-published book, ex-president says was asked by then PM Olmert to strike Syria's nuclear reactor. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/analysis-bush-s-memoir-explains-u-s-can-t-appear-to-be-doing-israel-s-bidding-1.323296?localLinksEnabled=false Senator: US must neuter Iran Lindsey Graham says Obama will 'feel a lot of Republican support if he decides to be tough with Tehran beyond sanctions,' adding, 'Last thing world needs is nuclear-armed Iran'. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3980736,00.html Netanyahu to press U.S. for military threat on Iran (Reuters) Reuters - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will tell U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday that only a credible military threat can deter Iran from building a nuclear weapon, Israeli political sources said. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101107/ts_nm/us_usa_israel Netanyahu to Biden: Sanctions are not stopping Iran's nuclear program Premier meets U.S. Vice President on sidelines of Jewish GA, says that Palestinians must be stopped from taking unilateral action to establish a state. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-to-biden-sanctions-are-not-stopping-iran-s-nuclear-program-1.323448?localLinksEnabled=false What Did WikiLeaks Really Tell Us about Iran?, Ali Gharib Use caution in reading the Iraq war logs—and news coverage of them.  A source provides details to the American government about the nefarious activities of a Middle Eastern country. That information ends up in scores of secret U.S. government documents. Subsequently, the information winds up on the front pages of major newspapers, and is heralded by war hawks in Washington as a casus belli. http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/what_did_wikileaks_really_tell.php Now Sweden accuses US of spying Sweden joins Norway in alleging US embassies spied on citizens People linked with the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm have performed surveillance activities in Sweden without the knowledge of the host nation's authorities, a government officials said Saturday. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/sweden-accuses-spying/ Obama's midterm blues elicit advice from Israel, Philip Weiss More craziness from Israel-- pressure on Obama without the usual lobby middlemen. Aluf Benn, an editor at Haaretz, echoes David Broder's column saying that a U.S. attack on Iran would resurrect the economy and reelect Obama (Broder link here), then goes further and advises Obama to carry out such an attack so as to win Israel's compliance with international law re colonies in West Bank. Israel sure is a tough lay! http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/obamas-midterm-blues-elicit-advice-from-israel.html Ileana Ros-Lehtinen once called for the assassination of Fidel Castro, Josh Rogin Ever since we published our election night profile of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the next head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, we've received dozens of e-mails pointing us to a video clip where the Florida-based Cuban-American lawmaker appears to call for the assassination of former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.  "I just feel such a great source of pride of being here in the United States Congress representing so many freedom fighters both in exile in the United States and on the island as well. I welcome the opportunity of having anyone assassinate Fidel Castro and any leader who is oppressing the people," Ros-Lehtinen says in the video clip, recorded in a 2006 interview for the British documentary 638 Ways to Kill Castro. http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/11/05/ileana_ros_lehtinen_once_called_for_the_assassination_of_fidel_castro Ex-Clinton strategist: Obama needs event 'similar' to OKC to 'reconnect' with voters Former Hillary Clinton campaign adviser and current public relations executive Mark Penn suggested that President Obama needs a moment "similar" to the tragic terrorist attack on the Oklahoma City federal building, in order to "reconnect" with voters. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/exclinton-strategist-obama-event-similar-okc-reconnect-voters/ None of Us Were Like This Before: American Soldiers and Torture: Reporter Joshua Phillips With the support of Adam's mother and the cooperation of his Army buddies—investigated Adam's death. What Phillips uncovered was a story of American veterans psychologically scarred by the abuse they had meted out to Iraqi prisoners. http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2010/jun/15/american-soldiers-and-torture/ http://www.versobooks.com/books/483-none-of-us-were-like-this-before Inside Story - US human rights abuses The US has, for the first time, faced the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva over accusations of human rights violations. Is it an opportunity for Washington to defend its human rights record, or an opportunity for others to shatter the US' public commitment to international human rights? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBf8YyzEeNg&feature=youtube_gdata Amnesty International:  Slideshow: Photographs from The Invisibles Every year, thousands of migrants face kidnap, rape and murder in Mexico. Driven by grinding poverty and insecurity back home, they travel through Mexico in hope of reaching the USA with its promise of a better life. But all too often their dreams are turned to nightmares.  Told over four parts, The Invisibles exposes the truth behind one of the most dangerous journeys in the world and reveals the untold stories of the people who make the journey north through Mexico. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/slideshow-photographs-invisibles-2010-11-08 Tunisian leader defends law accused of limiting free speech TUNIS: Tunisia's President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali defended Sunday a controversial law that critics say limits press freedom as he announced increased subsidies to opposition parties and their newspapers. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=121266 Egypt Cracks Down as U.S. Stands NEW YORK, Nov 7, 2010 (IPS) - In the face of police brutality, crackdowns on political parties and media, and a host of other violations ahead of Egypt's Nov. 28 parliamentary election, human rights advocates are calling on President Barack Obama to use U.S. leverage to persuade Egypt to reform its electoral process, allow international monitors to assess the election, and conduct transparent and accountable balloting. http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53481 Egyptian Christian Women Convert To Islam To Obtain Divorce BAGHDAD — Al-Qaida's front group in Iraq has threatened more attacks on Christians after a siege on a Baghdad church that left 58 people dead, linking the warning to claims that Egypt's Coptic Church is holding women captive for converting to Islam.  The Islamic State of Iraq, which has claimed responsibility for Sunday's assault on a Catholic church during Mass in downtown Baghdad, said its deadline for Egypt's Copts to release the women had expired and its fighters would attack Christians wherever they can be reached. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/05/egyptian-christian-women-convert-divorce_n_779644.html Popular Saudi supermarket chain snubs fatwa against use of women cashiers JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia: Women cashiers were at work in several Jeddah supermarkets over the weekend as their employer ignored a fatwa by the country's highest religious authority forbidding female checkout clerks. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=121258 Syrians working harder on child labor DAMASCUS, Syria (IRIN) -- The Syrian government and international agencies are focusing efforts on tackling child labor, amid concerns that rates in the country are rising.  "Child labor is a serious issue in Syria and the government, UNICEF and the ILO [International Labour Organization] all look at it as an issue of concern," said Sherazade Boualia, UNICEF country representative. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331492 Scepticism surrounds Jordan polls Jordanians are making their choice for a new parliament on Tuesday. The vote is being boycotted by the country's main opposition group. Last year, Jordan's king dissolved parliament after accusing politicians of failing to address the people's needs. Al Jazeera's Nisreen El-Shamayleh reports. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v6k1UgOvbk&feature=youtube_gdata Iran and Qatar renew cultural ties Iran's ancient culture is on display at a week-long event in Qatar. Relations between the two countries precede the Islamic Revolution of 1979. While Iran struggles to promote a harmonious image to the world, Qatar is proving to be an important partner in the process. Al Jazeera's Dorsa Jabbari has some of the highlights. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWZA3I8yHy0&feature=youtube_gdata Acclaimed Indian Author Arundhati Roy on Obama's Wars, Poverty and India's Maoist Rebels Maoist rebels in India called for a strike Monday to protest President Obama's visit. The Indian media reports Maoists blew up a new school building and killed four persons in the eastern Indian states of Orissa and Bihar. We speak with author and essayist Arundhati Roy about the struggle of the Maoist rebels in India and her assessment of President Obama. http://www.democracynow.org/2010/11/8/acclaimed_indian_author_arundhati_roy_on Netherlands politician has angry words for Muslims Parliament member Geert Wilders compares the Koran to Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' and wants the followers of Islam deported. He says his legal fight is putting the right to free speech on trial.  He calls Islam a "totalitarian ideology." He compares the Koran to "Mein Kampf" and wants it banned. He says that millions of Muslims who have settled in Europe ought to be deported, taking their "retarded" culture with them. http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/h48RSL8U3r8/la-fg-netherlands-wilders-20101107,0,522057.story Ignorance and prejudice in the New York Times, As`ad Abukhalil I don't know who this guy is, and I have never heard of his name, but I can easily tell that he knows no Arabic whatsoever.  The Syrian people live under a repressive regime and yet they show tremendous courage and defiance and innovation in the face of censorship and repression.  Days ago I was talking to a guy who stopped me near Bab Tuma in downtown Damascus: and he was complaining about censorship and how arbitrary it seems.  He told me that Al-Akhbar is sold in Syria but is regularly banned on Saturdays, when my article appears.   1) I don't mind that the article talks about repression in Syria but the paper ignores repression--worse repression--in pro-US regimes, like Saudi Arabia or Libya; 2) the article does not give credit to the Syrian people in how they defy the regime; 3) look at this passage:  "I had seen what he meant just the previous night, wandering past a cafe where dozens of Syrians had gathered outdoors as usual to watch, on a big screen, "Bab al-Hara," a hugely popular soap opera across the Arab world about life in Damascus at the turn of the last century. In it women gossip, men shoot guns and shout at one another. It's what passes for popular culture — not worse than what passes for it in Rome or Red Hook, maybe, except that for Syrians the alternatives are few."  That was what really irked me.  This guy knows no Arabic and sat down to watch people watch a program and wrote this.  I happen to have seen all episodes of this season's Bab Al-Harah and wrote a critique of the show, but this lousy and silly description does not do justice to the show and its actors and actresses.  Another moment of shame, prejudice, and ignorance at the New York Times.  When it comes to covering Arabs and Muslims, they don't disappiont--the classical bigots and racists, that is. http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/ignorance-and-prejudice-in-new-york.html  www.TheHeadlines.org Comment on this article > 'Zionism and peace are incompatible' — Israeli general's son Nov 08, 2010 01:40 pm | Miko Peled Now that the two-state-solution is all but dead, it is vital for Americans to hear the voices of Israelis and Jews and Palestinians who are imagining a different future. And maybe we are witnessing in that the end of Zionism. The important thing though is the strength of the voices, and the moral and spiritual vitality of them, and their potential leadership. Here is Miko Peled, an Israeli, the son of a war hero, uncle of the victim of a suicide bomber, writing a month ago: Setting aside for a moment the argument of whether dividing historic Palestine into two states was ever a good idea, clearly forty years ago it was a viable solution. Today as liberal Zionist Jews and others call for this solution, it is a sad and pathetic sight. In 1967, after the IDF completed the conquest of Palestine, great men like Dr. Nahum Goldman, Dr. Yishayahu Leibovitch, General Dr. Matti Peled and other prominent Jews called for the immediate establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. However, Jews in Israel, America and elsewhere around the world were basking in the messianic glow of the conquest of historic Israel, bewitched by the sounds of biblical names now made accessible.  Names like Hebron and Bethlehem, Shilo and Bet El, all of which who were now within reach drove everyone, including secular liberal Jews to believe that there is a God and that he was really on their side. Never mind that a solution whereby half of the population receives barely 20 percent of its historic homeland while the remaining half receives the rest had little chance of success to begin with. Now the West Bank is riddled with towns and malls and highways built on Palestinian land for Jews only and Israeli cabinet members openly discuss population transfers, or rather transfer of its non-Jewish population.  The level of oppression and the intensity of the violence against Palestinians has reached new heights and so the questions that begs to be asked are: who exactly will allow Palestinians to establish their mini state? and where will this state exist? If there is any doubt in anyone's mind, Israel has no intentions of ever letting go of any part of historic Israel.  Discussing the two state solution now under these conditions shows an acute inability to accept reality. As one learns about the history of the Zionist movement and the early years of the state of Israel one will understand that parting with any portion of historic Israel is not something Israel will ever do.  Liberal Jews in the US (see J Street) and in Israel (see the Zionist liberals like David Grossman who recently received a peace award in Germany) all of a sudden realized that there was a problem. They all claim that the solution is partition and segregation via the creation of a tiny and impotent state for the Arabs of Palestine.  They do claim that Israel must be reprimanded for its treatment of Palestinians and they even condemn the siege on Gaza.  These are commendable statements coming from Zionists anywhere particularly in the US where criticizing Israel is a mortal sin, but this is just talk.  There is an illusion that a liberal, forward thinking government can rise in Israel and then everything will be just as liberal Zionists wish it to be.  They will pick up where Rabin and Arafat left off and we will have the pie in sky Jewish democracy liberal Jews want so much to see in Israel. This illusion is shared by American Jews, liberal Zionists in Israel and around the world and in the West where guilt of two millennia of persecuting Jews still haunts the conscience of many.  If only there were better leaders and if only this and if only that… But alas, reality continues to slap everyone in the face: Zionism and peace are incompatible. I will say it again: Zionism is incompatible with peace.  A serious study of the history of modern Israel will show that the emergence of Netanyahu and Lieberman was perfectly predictable. They are the natural successors of David Ben Gurion, Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin.  As one looks at the political map in Israel one can see that future Zionist leaders, be they from Labor, Likud, Meretz or the religious nationals, will be no different and offer no change.  The problem is Zionism and the solution is dismantling the Zionist framework and instituting a secular democracy that does not discriminate between Israelis and Palestinians. In other words, no one nation will rule over the other but the rule of law will govern everyone equally.  Zionism has created a state that wants nothing to do with peace or reconciliation.  The problem is not Benjamin Netanyahu and Lieberman and the solution is not Yossi Beilin or David Grossman who represent the Zionist liberals.  The problem is that the basic premise on which the Jewish state was founded, Zionism, is flawed. Comment on this article > Noah's arc Nov 08, 2010 01:20 pm | Philip Weiss Last Friday at NYU, Noah Feldman, the terrifyingly-successful Harvard Law School professor and former Iraq war apparatchik, raised one of the central points in the pro-Israel argument when he said in essence that the Palestinians are not ready for democracy. I'll get to his argument in the body of this report, but I wanted to flag it at the top. This really is the key issue for a lot of Israel lobbyists and their fellows, and it has a real logic. Look around at the Arab world and there are countless big men and dictatorships. Why do you think you can plant a democracy in Palestine? The occasion was Feldman's speech on American religious freedom at an NYU Law school conference about the First Amendment under attack. A friend, sending along the info, said, "Noah gets to be a liberal at home" – in distinction to his hawkish foreign policy positions. I wanted to see Feldman because I like to study Establishment success, sometimes with a clothespin on my nose, and Feldman didn't disappoint. He is a small guy with a confident, kinetic but slightly aggressive manner, very attractive, a strong profile under the well-known pouffe of blonde hair. He looks very young. For 20 minutes, he spoke about the political reaction against the Islamic center in lower Manhattan and what it reveals about a "grave" shift in American political culture, and then he answered four or five questions. He was on and off in 30 minutes. He is facile in the best and worst senses of the word. I saw a few flashes of brilliance, a hint of arrogance, no no no passion, and he made one joke. He said that Mayor Bloomberg doesn't really belong to any political party, because he's a billionaire. Good joke. The speech was inoffensive, and you had little idea where Feldman's heart lies. The most interesting moments in the performance were the asides. The speech was premised on what Feldman said was Madison's initial opposition to the First Amendment because he believed that unless there was a vibrant and diverse political culture, no constitutional provision would guarantee freedom of expression and worship. And Madison was right about the structure of democracy, but this diverse tradition, Feldman said, was now at risk. The battle over the Islamic center in lower Manhattan had become partisan, and the claim that there should be limits on Muslims' freedoms had entered the mainstream public discourse, the two-party structure. Grave and serious.  Let me get to the asides. Aside 1 came when Feldman was saying that the argument against the Islamic center had begun at the periphery of the political discourse till it was responded to by two "significant" figures, Mayor Bloomberg and Barack Obama. The first opposition "began as an argument that was politically acceptable": that this specific location was "inappropriate" for a mosque. But then it had snowballed into a larger anti-Muslim sentiment that was not acceptable. Feldman didn't unpack these ideas, and I don't think he wanted to. He wanted to stay on the easy/valiant political ground that Muslims have the right to free religious practice. He wanted us to glide right by his view that it was OK to argue that Muslims couldn't build near Ground Zero. I don't know what that means. I need to say frankly here that I have good friends who said in July or so that it was inappropriate that the mosque be built there, and I admit that I wondered if they were right; and then I watched them change their position, to one of vigorous support for the right of the Park 51 to be built there, due to the leadership of people like Mike Bloomberg. To me this was actually the revelation of the episode. That when leaders like Mike Bloomberg stood up for their right to do so, what Feldman had styled a "politically acceptable" argument vanished. But it took moral leadership to draw that line. I remember other folks like Ali Abunimah and Steve Walt and MJ Rosenberg speaking out forcefully on the question and leading. So I felt that Feldman was less than sincere. If it was really a "politically acceptable" argument that the mosque not be built near Ground Zero, well, he should have explained this belief and stood up for it. But the speech was dry. There was really no personal exposure in the speech. Aside 2 was that the U.S. had maintained religious diversity because there is no single majority religion and that even the "made-up religion, Judeo-Christianity," was made up in the '50s for a good reason, in order to be inclusive, "to try and communicate the message to a Jewish minority that they weren't wholly excluded and they would be honored with the great privilege of being associated with Christianity." Laughter. Aside 2 upset me. Feldman and I are both beneficiaries of this wonderful process of inclusion; and there was no acknowledgment of what this had really meant, what a boon it had been to our little 2 percent, the Jews, and actually there was a kind of chippiness towards the Protestant establishment in his comment rather than an awareness of the social revolution that lifted Noah's arc, and mine, way below his. And out of that spirit of inclusion, is the American experiment finished? No no. We Jews were once other and lesser in many ways; what extension of spirit is now demanded of us in the Establishment? Aside 3 was the most important aside. It came during the Q-and-A. Someone asked him about the degree to which Republicans demonize the Other, and Feldman had a really interesting answer, interesting because it had such scope and knowledge, and even touched on the Jewish rise into the Establishment (at the end of the answer), and his sense of anti-Semitism (at the beginning). But the answer was also assumptive, and in the end, disturbing. Here's a partial transcript:  It's a fair and legitimate question…There has traditionally in the United States been substantial nativist sentiment coming from the left, not the communist left, but the progressive labor left but also from the right… No one has a monopoly in the American political context on these issues. Notice the sensitivity to Jewish oppression. Feldman is referring to anti-Semitism among the isolationist LaFollette types, the time when Minneapolis was the capital of anti-Semitism. Feldman then moved to George W. Bush's commitment to religious liberty and then to the "compatibility" of Islam and democracy. In my own view, very far from being purely instrumental is [Bush's] defense of religious liberty, he was actually saying things that he truly believed....And he and others on the conservative side were far more open to the argument of compatibility than was anybody on the Democratic side, certainly in the foreign policy establishment.  Now you might say about Bush he believed that as a pure article of faith, he didn't believe it as a matter of cold rational logic…What I think is indisputable is that he believed it and said it many times, and it often led to very bad policy decisions. You know, his view for example that holding elections in Iraq in particular but one could add Palestine and some other examples, his belief that having such elections would not have any negative consequences for politics, because, you know, democracy and Islam are perfectly compatible, I think is a view that he unquestionably sincerely believed. Feldman then took the question back to the field of religious tolerance in the U.S. And again we have a sense of the Jewish presence in his comments. So I think it's very complicated in the American context. It has to do specifically with the way that different religious denominations in the United States have seen themselves as in or out of power, and there there are plenty of circumstances where religious minorities have been conservative in American political history and have therefore have stood up for the general principle of religious liberty and indeed have embraced the idea of religious difference from the right The answer offers what Feldman offered throughout-- a clinic on power, where it lies, how to find it. It touches on his earlier statement that the debate on the Islamic Center had gone on in "fairly peripheral" places till "significant" figures, Obama and Bloomberg, picked it up. Well actually the debate had gone on among very smart people before Obama picked it up. They just didn't have nearly his power. As Feldman would not say publicly, because he lacks intellectual courage, Jews are a religious denomination that are now "in ... power." And there was throughout his speech not the least acknowledgment of that power, nor of Madison's famous fear in the Federalist papers about factions dominating our political life: "a number of citizens, whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community." Madison's warning anticipates the Israel lobby, and what you see in Feldman's description of the Palestinians is the Israel lobby in action. I even think there's some Jewish superiority buried in his statement. Think about it, the Israelis-- citizens of a country that a majority of the residents did not want established in the first place-- have been able to hold elections for many years, and have lately elevated a rightwing government with fascistic leanings, and meantime the Palestinians have had no rights of self-determination for more than 60 years and have lost land and rights again and again. 90 years ago the British Mandate was established in part because British lawyers believed that the Palestinians "are not able to stand alone" (as Strawson tells us) and Feldman is merely the American version of that legal condescension, a century on.  I don't know how you accept such a double standard and meantime exalt the 1950s inclusion of Jews in America--Jews being a fractional minority. I imagine that Feldman is a secret Bernard Lewisite, that he would say that US political culture and Islamic political culture are two different animals. And there's obvious truth there; but does that justify oppression and a complete absence of democracy? Palestine has been shattered politically again and again because it has no political representation. If you don't like Hamas, or the Jewish-supremacist party, Yisrael Beteinu, maybe the answer is to actually imagine a full democratic transition in Israel and Palestine, with an undivided polity, in which the reasonable middles on both sides would then have to find one another in campaigns, and support centrist candidates. As it is, the two sides are divided, and they are led by their extremist bases.  What you see in Feldman is high intelligence yoked to the most conventional ideas. He is wed to the standard Establishment (read Israel-lobby) take on Islamic political culture and on that basis can justify what we've seen forever in Israel and Palestine, the denial of democracy for everyone but Jews. Comment on this article > Gaza siege keeps graduate student from attending program in the US Nov 08, 2010 11:33 am | Adam Horowitz Abed Al Hadi Basheer is being prevented from attending gradutate school at Washington State University because Israel will not allow him to leave Gaza in order to attend his student visa interview in Jerusalem. The only possible bright side to this story is that it is exposing more Americans to Israel's collective punishment of ordinary Gazans. From the WSU paper The Daily Evergreen: "I am just waiting for a miracle," Basheer said in an e-mail to The Daily Evergreen. "I called Amnesty International, raised the issue in Israeli court, and even called the Gisha organization in Tel Aviv. Nothing new (has) happened." According to the organization's website, Gisha is a nonprofit organization aimed at protecting "freedom of movement" for Palestinians in Gaza. The organization is just one of many advocacy groups trying to end Israel's blockade on the region. "International law says (Israel) can't have a blockade the way they are doing it," said Michael Hayes, associate professor of teaching and learning at WSU. "There have been international protests and a variety of other things that protest the blockade." Hayes said he met Basheer while working on a project with students in Gaza. Basheer's interaction with Hayes is what motivated him to apply to WSU's graduate program. "Michael Hayes was surprised that the embassy refused to grant (the) visa," Basheer said. "All I can do now (is) draw my appeal." WSU contacted local government representatives and the American consulate with Basheer's case, Hayes said. "Senators (Maria) Cantwell and (Patty) Murray have written very supportive letters to the American consulate," he said. "We're trying to apply pressure wherever pressure can be applied." In an attempt to draw support, Basheer created a Facebook page called "Free voice from Gaza, 'Help Abed AlHadi bASHEER'" that has attracted 375 members. "This is my last chance to come to (WSU) in the spring," Basheer said. "(Representatives) of Washington are the only people who can help me (by) calling the embassy. I am ready to start studying."   Comment on this article > Mike Pence takes part in a venerable Washington tradition Nov 08, 2010 10:53 am | Adam Horowitz The above video is from Sam Husseini's indispensable blog The Washington Stakeout. After noting that Mike Pence is eying a 2012 presidential run (and that he's on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia) Husseini adds: Pence refuses to acknowledge the empirical fact of Israel's nuclear arsenal. Unfortunately, he's not alone. Stakeout also asked this question of John Edwards and then-Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, who also tried to dodge it. Helen Thomas asked a similar question of Obama at his first news conference. One of the few politicos to answer that question in a remotely straightforward manner was Russ Feingold. Comment on this article > Who is this cat, our secretary of defense? Nov 08, 2010 09:44 am | Philip Weiss Haaretz: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in New Orleans on Sunday and asked the United States to "create a credible threat of military action against Iran," which he said was the only way to make sure Iran doesn't go nuclear, a senior Israeli official said.   Comment on this article > Your donation to Mondoweiss ensures we will continue to cover the most important issues surrounding Israel/Palestine and US foreign policy. Please donate today.   Follow Mondoweiss on Twitter and Facebook   Upcoming Events Thurs, November 11 Church of Gethsemane 1012 Eighth Avenue (bet 10th St. & 11th St.) Brooklyn NY Jewish Perspectives on the BDS Movement A respectful dialogue on BDS—whether you already have a position on it or you want to clarify for yourself the complex issues it raises.  This event will provide an opportunity to hear from people who disagree about whether BDS is an appropriate and effective strategy.

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Being happy–is it good for the Jews? "Before Professor Dershowitz accused me of being an anti-Semite (news to me), I was a happy person. Since then, I'm still a happy person". –Michael Santomauro

An antisemite condemns people for being Jews, I am not an antisemite.--Michael Santomauro

Most of us are mentally trapped to think Jewish. Actually, it is safe to say that virtually every mainstream publication or or other type of media organ is "nothing more than a screen to present chosen views." The great battle over the last century has been a battle for the mind of the Western peoples, i.e., non-Jewish Euros. The chosen won it by acquiring control over essentially the complete mainstream news, information, education and entertainment media of every type, and using that control to infuse and disseminate their message, agenda and worldview, their way of thinking, or rather the way they want us to think. Since at least the 1960s this campaign has been effectively complete. Since then they have shaped and controlled the minds of all but a seeming few of us in varying degree with almost no opposition or competition from any alternative worldview. So now most of us are mentally trapped in the box the chosen have made for us, which we have lived in all our lives. Only a few have managed to avoid it or escape it, or to even sometimes see outside of it, and so actually "think outside of the (Jewish) box." --Michael Santomauro

Thank you and remember: 

Peace is patriotic!

Michael Santomauro

253 W. 72nd Street

New York, NY 10023

Call anytime: 917-974-6367

E-mail me anything:

ReporterNotebook@Gmail.com

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