Here are the headlines from Mondoweiss for 11/23/2010:
Israeli forces raid Bil'in in the middle of the night to arrest the child of jailed activist leader
Nov 23, 2010 12:31 am | Hamde Abu Rahme Israeli forces stormed the village of Bil'in in a night raid. Four soldiers raided the home of Adeeb Abu Rahma, one of the prominent organizers of the non-violent demonstrations against the Wall. Adeeb Abu Rahma has been imprisoned by Israel for the last 17 months. Tonight, Israeli forces arrested Mohammed Adeeb Abu Rahma, Adeeb's son, who is under 16 years old. It is unknown where he was taken. Mohammed is Adeeb's only son. He was helping the family with their affairs while Adeeb remains unjustly detained by Israel. Seven daughters and Adeeb's wife also live in the home that was raided. In this inhumane attack on the Abu Rahma house, Mohammed was beaten by the Israeli soldiers when he peacefully resisted arrest. During filming of the raid, local journalists Haitham Al-Khatib and Hamde Abu were mercilessly beaten by Israeli Occupation Forces and caused extensive damage to Haitham's Camera, wanting Haitham to stop filming what was happening during the incursion. This is what happened in Bil'in today and this is what happens in the village of Bil'in and other Palestinian villages every day. 
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Obama's passivity
Nov 23, 2010 12:30 am | Philip Weiss Earlier tonight we posted Dimi Reider's analysis that the Israeli Knesset killed the two-state solution yesterday by passing a law to require a super-majority of the Knesset or a popular referendum to approve any Israeli withdrawal from East Jerusalem, which was to be the capital of the forever-promised Palestinian state. Mitchell Plitnick agrees with Reider, saying, "What this law does is essentially present a choice to the international community: either force a resolution on the Israeli people or give up on the two-state solution." Well, here is the official response by the U.S. government to the news, from today's briefing with P.J. Crowley, ass't sec'y of State (in what would appear to be a special amendment to the briefing). Imagine if the Palestinian Authority did x or y to frustrate the "peace process" and what the U.S. would say about its internal affairs... Question: Is the U.S. concerned about legislation passed by the Israeli parliament requiring a two-thirds vote by the Knesset or a referendum to withdraw from annexed east Jerusalem or the Golan Heights? Answer: This is an internal Israeli issue and the Israeli government is in the best position to address inquiries related to its process.
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The Knesset has killed the two state solution
Nov 22, 2010 06:26 pm | Dimi Reider I just finished watching a live transmission of the Knesset vote on the referendum law. The law, which passed at a majority of 65 to 33, conditions any Israeli withdrawal from any of its territory – into which Israel, alone in the world, includes the Golan Heights East Jerusalem – on passing a nation-wide referendum. To overrule the law, the Knesset would need a privileged majority of 80 out of 120 parliamentarians. Considering current and foreseeable trends in the public mood, overwhelming support for withdrawing from East Jerusalem – including the Old City, Gilo, Ramot Eshkol, and others – is highly unlikely. This means that even if we ever get to an agreement on the key issue of a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem and the status of the city's Palestinian residents, the referendum will kill it. The only alternative are if the government makes a new legislation and kills referendum law first, which seems highly improbable. The future Palestinian state, if it ever comes to pass, will be without its main symbol and historic capital. The two state solution was in dire straits ever since it was born; the huge settlement expansion under Israel's most leftist governments, especially the Rabin-Peres one, made it all but impossible to achieve on the ground. Whatever was left of its political future was further cast into question by the Olmert and Netanyahu documents, demanding the new Palestinian state has no control of airspace or non-Israeli borders, and other attributes of a sovereign state. The referendum bill put nail-before-last in the two-state process. The last nail will come when the Palestinian Authority implodes, whether for lack of credibility, or for a conscious change of tactic in favour of demanding vote and collective rights within the overarching Israeli government. For the record, all of the Labor ministers, led by Ehud Barak, walked out of the chamber, not voting at all. Much of of Kadima are absent, except Livni, who voted against, and a handful of MKs. Labor once again chose the illusion of power over whatever they were once meant to stand for politically; some Labor ministers said they would vote against the law, but naturally didn't threaten to resign, so Barak pulled out the lot of them. Livni, in all probability, feared an open revolt in her badly fractured party. Netanyahu voted in favor – I'm surprised you asked. Click here to download the full text of the law (Hebrew .pdf) In all honesty, the two state solution appears to be long past its due – what's worse, considering the leadership Israel has to implement it, it seems likely to become an instrument of oppression, rather than liberation, for all involved. If this path appears so unpromising, alternatives must be considered and discussed openly. I can only join Danny Rubinstein, Ali Abunimah, Yehuda Shenhav, Noam Sheizaf, Reuven Rivlin and a growing number of other voices calling to begin earnestly examining ways of achieving self determination, security, and collective rights for Israeli Jews and for Palestinians in a one-state framework. Dmitry (Dimi) Reider is a journalist and photographer working from Israel and the Palestinian territories. This post originally appeared in +972. 
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The calm strength of a Palestinian woman
Nov 22, 2010 02:57 pm | The volunteers of the Harvesting Peace Project 
Umm Khaled being followed by the settler.
Umm Khaled, at first glance, is a Palestinian woman like many others: black clothing drapes over her body and head, her face marked by the years making her look older than she probably is. Yet this woman, who according to Western stereotypes should be ignorant and submissive in an oppressive patriarchal society, possesses an uncommon strength, a strength that only those who have known suffering, yet face difficulties with their heads held high, possess. We met her in Jeb al Theeb during a meeting we scheduled with the residents of the village in order to introduce ourselves and explain our month-long project offering accompaniment during the olive harvest in this area under threat by the illegal Israeli settlements of Tekoa and Nokdim, home to Israeli FM Lieberman. The turnout for the meeting was less than expected, despite our best efforts (including distributing a flyer translated into Arabic by our local coordinator), due to the sudden death and funeral for a woman from the village. There were just a dozen adults, surrounded by the ever-present children. 
Meeting by kerosene lamp in Jeb al Theeb.
As our coordinator began speaking with those present, even without the occasional translations between questions and answers it was clear to all of us that these people, after years of harassment and vile attacks, were understandably afraid. However, one woman, who had just minutes before underlined the very real risks she and her family face, decided to attempt to access her land with. This woman is Umm Khaled, and in the light of the kerosene lamp (Jeb al Theeb is denied electricity by Israel) her face sums up the modern history of Palestine: the pain of abuses suffered unjustly, the hope of living one day a life of dignity and the awareness of the need to continue to resist. Arrangements were made to meet at 7:30 the following morning. At 7:00am we begin to climb the hill that separates us from Jeb al Theeb, and as the village came into view we saw Umm Khaled waiting to greet us. She offered us an abundant breakfast, followed by a visit to the tiny village preschool and then we started out toward the olive trees. Trailing behind us was an elderly man who had been brutally attacked by the settlers two years ago. He did not speak, but his smile indicated his approval of our presence. Along the short walk to Umm Khaled's olive trees, the scene is dominated by the Israeli fertilizer plant built next to the village, together with its stench. A shame, for if it weren't for the plant and the settlements the view on this autumn day would be breathtaking. As we reached the olive trees, our worst suspicions were confirmed: the settlers, after having denied her access to her own land, had stolen most of Umm Khaled's olives. Not to be discouraged, we set about our work and after a couple of hours we had almost finished harvesting the few remaining olives, approximately 15 kg. Just then a settler, who had by now become a loathsome yet familiar face, arrived on the scene with his white pick-up truck, observing us from a distance, his machine gun slung over his shoulder. After a few minutes, as we continued to pick olives, he pulled out his phone and called a certain Ariel. At this point, mindful of previous experiences, we expected the arrival of IDF soldiers, who fortunately did not appear. 
Umm Khaled taking taboun bread out of the oven.
As the harvest was nearly complete, we began to make our way back to the village. The settler followed slowly behind us in his truck in a clear act of intimidation, while his accomplice, who had arrived just as we were coming down the ridge of the hill, arrogantly wove in and out of our group trying to photograph us. Not wishing to give him the satisfaction, we staged a sort of improvised ballet to dodge his camera, while Umm Khaled continued straight on her own way, head held high, without even bothering to even look at him. The two settlers eventually left and we entered the village where Umm Khaled demonstrated how Taboun, a typical Palestinian bread, is made. We ate lunch together and enjoyed the view. In the afternoon, a trail of colored aprons and backpacks came over the hill on the dirt road as the children returned from the school in the next village and spent the afternoon playing with us, overcoming the initial shyness of our first encounter. As the sun descended upon the horizon, we headed back home, our hearts filled with wonderful memories of the day and in hopes that other people of this devastated village will follow the example of Umm Khaled, an extraordinary woman. The Volunteers of the Harvesting Peace Project Harvesting Peace is an Italian civilian peace intervention project in Palestine to support the olive harvest and the work of Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (www.popularstruggle.org). The project is promoted by Service Civil International - Italy, Association for Peace and Un Ponte Per. Volunteers will be providing international accompaniment for four weeks in the village of Jeb al Theeb near Bethlehem, under threat by the nearby illegal settlements and settlers. raccogliendolapace.wordpress.com 
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Bronner: 'There aren't many other places in the world where white people with guns tell brown people what to do'
Nov 22, 2010 02:46 pm | Philip Weiss Didi Remez reports at 972: According to Oren Persico of the The 7th Eye, a respected online media magazine published by the Israel Democracy Institute, Ethan Bronner, The New York Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief, appeared on Sunday at the Eilat Journalism Conference and said this [full translation of section at the bottom of this post]: "There aren't many other places in the world where white people with guns tell brown people what to do," said Ethan Bronner, The New York Times correspondent in Israel, today as he tried to explain Israel's image problem in the international press.
[Here's the transcript: [Bronner: You're starting way back in trouble because most don't really understand why you're trying to stop stuff from getting into Gaza. We know why you're trying to stop arms from getting into Gaza, but most people don't understand why you're trying to stop other stuff from getting into Gaza. And then when you try to stop them 9 people are killed. זה לא טוב. It doesn't look good. You've got a lot of to catch up on to convince people that well some of those people really were nasty people. [There aren't that many places left in the world where white guys with guns are telling brown people what to do. [Lilach] Sigan: We're not perfect. The problem is that the focus is only on Israel's mistakes and not on Hamas' mistakes and how much suffering they are causing their own people. [Bronner: 9 people are dead. Who shot the 9 people? Not Turkey. That's the story. If nobody died on the flotilla, nobody would have given a damn about what happened on that flotilla. Nine people were killed. It's the main thing, it's the first fifteen paragraphs."] Bronner is coming under heavy flak today from the left for writing over the weekend that "the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been largely drained of deadly violence in the past few years," forgetting, among other things, that the '09 Gaza War was rather deadly and pretty recent. Now he's going to get it from the right. I don't think he's consciously triangulating, and he's not known for being particularly courageous, so what cause him to make the white/brown analogy in public? Exasperation, most likely. He's invited to speak at a journalism conference and it feels like an AIPAC rally: Lilach Sigan, editor of Globes's daily magazine, asked Bronner why the international media only dealt with Israel's actions around the Turkish flotilla and did not devote sufficient coverage to the Turkish and IHH connection. "We're not perfect," she pointed out, "the problem is that the focus is only on Israel's mistakes and not on the mistakes of Hamas and the suffering the they inflict on the Palestinians." After Sigan's statement elicited applause from the audience, Bronner replied: "Nine people died. Who shot the nine? Not Turkey. That's the story. If no one had been killed on the flotilla, nobody would have cared about it. Nine died. That's the main thing. Those are the first fifteen paragraphs."
Sigan, ostensibly a journalistic peer, actually went on to sputter: "One of our biggest problems is that we're a democracy," she said. "We have freedom of information and freedom of expression and everyone can say whatever he wants, and these things are quoted elsewhere."
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'London Review of Books' is unsurprisingly a target of the lobby
Nov 22, 2010 02:19 pm | Muhammad Idrees Ahmad If I had to rank the world's best publications, I would put the London Review of Books on top. Unlike its progenitor, the NY Review of Books, it is edgier, more daring in its politics. It also has a generally-superior stable of writers. The late Edward Said was a frequent contributor, so is my friend Tariq Ali. Its Israel-Palestine beat is covered by critical voices like Rashid Khalidi, Yitzhak Laor, Ilan Pappe, Neve Gordon, Uri Avnery, Charles Glass, Henry Siegman, Alastair Crooke, Avi Shlaim, Sara Roy, Raja Shehadeh et al -- writers you'd never expect to see in the NYRB or the New Yorker. And of course, in 2006 it did what no American publication dared do: it gave platform to John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. Unsurprisingly, it has been the target of the lobby's wrath ever since. Earlier this year the neoconservative Standpoint magazine launched a campaign to have its (negligible) public funding revoked. It also smeared LRB publisher Mary-Kay Wilmers. Now comes another salvo. Just Journalism -- the UK counterpart to CAMERA -- has published a 'study', now being publicized by the ADL, which claims to prove LRB's anti-Israel bias (an allegation that has less sting in the UK than it does in the US). Just Journalism first tried to mask its Israel lobby origins by appointing the Egyptian-born Adel Darwish as its director. However, Darwish only lasted a few months, announcing his resignation in a rambling, semi-coherent post in which he warned that the overzealousness of the organization's principals risked turning it into 'a Maccarthist [sic] which-hunt of fellow journalists'. He also noted: One significant handicap from which the project suffered from the start was the absence of any analyst or researcher with journalistic experience. Although they were excellent researchers of good academic minds (one was a lawyer), dedicated and enthusiast about the work; they lacked the experience of being reporters on the ground and were never exposed to newsroom culture. This resulted, sometimes in researchers being overzealous or under the illusion that unless they find reports and media news item that breached the code of good journalism it means they were non productive... As weeks and months passed, it was obvious that within Just Journalism, there was two irreconcilable views of media reporting on Israel. Mine, seen from a standpoint of a long experience in journalism; and that of the chairwoman, with her commercial background and experience in corporate management who wanted 'value for money' which had only one translation 'as many items on the site as possible' – obviously items of analysis of unbalanced or biased against Israel, and how many journalists per week were ticked off or contacted to be told that their work did not meet the criteria. Because of the difference in the political culture, the lobby's tactics are different in the UK. The press recognizes that there is a bigger gap between public opinion and foreign policy and it does not respond well to overt campaigns of intimidation. The lobby has therefore adopted a behind-the-scenes approach. JJ initially tried to present itself as a mere media watchdog, with Darwish as its public face. It even succeeded in organizing events where British media icons like Jon Snow participated. It now appears to have adopted a new tactic: drop the mask and put the whole weight of the lobby and the Israeli embassy behind it. JJ has now a joint event planned with the Israeli embassy, the Henry Jackson Society (UK counterpart to Project for the New American Century, including some of the same board members), the Jewish Chronicle and Bank Hapoalim. Besides Henry Jackson Society, JJ also has links through its board with the Hudson Institute and the Center for Social Cohesion. The neocon network has also got a boost from the fact that at least one HJS veteran is now part of Cameron's cabinet. Michael Gove, the Education secretary, is a close associate of James Woolsey, and UK's leading purveyor of the Iraq-Al Qaeda link in the lead up to the war in 2003. The campaign against LRB is seemingly coordinated. It started with a smear campaign against LRB publisher M-K Wilmers by Daniel Johnson, the editor of the neoconservative Standpoing magazine. And JJ's campaign against the journal started shortly after Johnson joined its advisory board. Of course, LRB will weather this storm as it has past ones, but this is mainly due to the loyalty of subscribers and Mary-Kay Wilmer's support. Over the past few years I have done my bit toward ensuring its sustainability by buying subscriptions for half a dozen friends. I would take this opportunity to encourage readers to consider subscribing to this superlative publication.   
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Israeli authorities raze Araqib village for the seventh time
Nov 22, 2010 11:33 am | Seham And other news from Today in Palestine: Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing Jerusalem is excluded from any settlement freeze
The Israeli occupation authority stressed that "east Jerusalem" will not be included in any future settlement freeze.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k
PA: Settlements must stop completely
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian government in the West Bank called on Israel Monday to end all expansion of settlements as a necessary step toward renewing peace negotiations. The cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in a declaration: "Halting settlement activities completely in the Palestinian territories including Jerusalem is the basis for a serious political process which will end occupation and guarantee the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=334912
Analysis: Barkat still seeks ways to save Beit Yehonatan
21 Nov - Jerusalem mayor attempts to sidestep Attorney General in drive to save Silwan structure illegally built by right-wing families.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=196097
IOA extends ban on entry of Abdulqader to O. Jerusalem
The Israeli occupation authority extended the ban imposed on the entry of Hatem Abdulqader, the official in charge of the Jerusalem file, to Jerusalem for six additional months.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Knesset to vote on bill outlawing Palestinians from living in '48-occupied land
The Israeli Knesset will vote Sunday on a racist bill outlawing Palestinians from residing in 1948-occupied Palestinian territories with a majorly Jewish population.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k
Israeli authorities planning to eject 100,000 Palestinians from Jerusalem
Observers say the situation in Jerusalem is likely to explode in light of a decision by Israeli authorities to demolish hundreds of Palestinian homes in the city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Israeli authorities raze Araqib village for the seventh time
Israeli municipality bulldozers razed the Arab Bedouin village of Araqib in the Negev desert for the seventh time on Monday, local sources reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd8
Armed settlers bar farmers from land
NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Armed settlers stopped Palestinian farmers from working on their land in the West Bank village of Qaryut, south of Nablus, Monday, officials said. Mofeed Jameel, the secretary of Qaryut's village council, said gun-wielding Israelis from the settlement of Shilo ordered the farmers to leave farmland surrounding the settlement. He added that residents of the village have a decision from the Israeli Attorney General that allows them to work on the land in question, an area of about 50 dunums.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=334822
Settlers make water sources a tourist site and bar Palestinians from entering
West Bank Jews are making tourism sites of water sources that Palestinians use for agriculture.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/settlers-make-water-sources-a-tourist-site-and-bar-palestinians-from-entering-1.326005?localLinksEnabled=false
Jewish settlers set fire to girls school while expanding Rahalim settlement
As Jewish settlers spent Sunday morning digging up land in south Nablus to expand settlement, Nablus lawmaker Yasser Mansur warned expansion of illegal Jewish settlements was on the rise.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q
Settlements Wiping Out Natural Life in the Jordan Valley, Palestine Monitor
We spent two days in the Auja area north of Jericho on a field trip to survey what remains of the animals and plants in one of hundreds of areas directly devastated by Israeli occupation policies. Our host and guide was Mubarak Zawahra, a father of seven young children who lives near Bethlehem but his mother and many of his brothers live in the Jordan valley.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1618
Another Settler Arson of Salem's Olive Trees, Assaf Oron
Uri Pinkerfeld, Villages Group coordinator for Salem and Deir El Hattab, reports: On Sunday November 14 2010, around 12 noon, smoke was seen rising from the olive orchards on the slopes of Jabal Kabeer above Salem. Several farmers went to locate the fire's location, north of the settler bypass road, not far from the cistern. Two local teenagers who were shepherding nearby hurried to the location as well, and tried to put out the fire. They reported having seen two settlers run off towards the "Skali Farm" settler outpost. The farmers immediaterly called firefighters from Nablus and the officers of the District Coordination Office. The military allowed the fire truck to get to the orchards, but the road was too steep. Farmers eventually managed to put out the fire manually.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/11/another-settler-arson-of-salems-olive-trees/
Palestinian olive harvest plows on, despite tension with settlers
The annual Palestinian olive harvest dates to antiquity and continues today much the way it has for centuries – although in recent years, the presence of settlers has made the harvest more challenging.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/rXngo_xloss/Palestinian-olive-harvest-plows-on-despite-tension-with-settlers
The Bat Ayn Settlement – Neighbors from Hell
The Bat Ayn settlement was established in the early 1990s by a breakaway group from the nearby Gush Etzion settlement. Bat Ayn was established under the guidance of the controversial Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburg. Rabbi Ginsburg has been quoted in the New York Times as stating that "any trial based on the assumption that Jews and goyim [non-Jewish people] are equal is a total travesty of justice". Rabbi Ginsburg also praised the actions of Baruch Goldstein who in 1994 murdered 29 people and wounded more than 125 people who were praying in a mosque in Hebron.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2010/11/20/the-bat-ayn-settlement-%e2%80%93-neighbors-from-hell/
Video disproves settler hasbara and demonstrates how the settlements expand through intimidation, Adam Horowitz
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/video-disproves-settler-hasbara-and-demonstrates-how-the-settlments-expand-through-intimidation.html
Nakba Through Legislation, Palestine Monitor
Charlotte Silver analyses the effects of land bills being passed through the Israeli Parliament. Palestinians face mass expulsions on a scale reminiscent of 1948.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1620
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Ashraf al-Khatib, Bil'in, turns himself in to Ofer Military Prison after weeks of collective punishment
On Sunday morning, 30-year-old activist Ashraf al-Khatib turned himself in to Ofer Military Prison after weeks of military and Shebak harassment to his family and the village. The military had been searching for him due to his involvement in weekly demonstrations against the wall and occupation. During recent night raids of the village, soldiers beat villagers, activists, and photographers attempting to reach Ashraf's house. IDF soldiers aggressively entered the homes of Ashraf's family, breaking down doors to look for him, but were unable to find him.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/11/15673/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
Mustafa Barghouti decorated with the Insignia of Officer of the French Legion of Honour, Palestine Monitor
Bernard Kouchner delivered on Monday 15th of November during an official ceremony at the Quai d'Orsay, the Insignia of Officer of the Legion of Honour to Mustafa Barghouti, President of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society. This decoration demonstrates the support of France to the determined action of this well known Palestinian figure in favour of peace and defence of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1616
Silwan Youth Movement visits martyrs families for Eid
The Silwan Youth Movement held a series of activities throughout the holiday of Eid el-Adha, including visits to the families of marytrs throughout Silwan. Families were visited in the neighborhoods of Ras el-Amud, el-Thuri, Wadi Hilweh, el-Bustan, Bir Ayyub, Wadi Rababa, Baten el-Hawa, Wadi Yasur, Shiah, the Maghrabi Gate and other districts of Silwan village. Youth Movement spokesperson Yousef Ahalisi presented families with memorial plaques in remembrance of their lost loved ones. Members also visited many of those in the village injured as a result of the militarization of Silwan by Israeli forces. The Silwan Youth Movement, which has no affiliation to any political body or agenda, strives for social unity and solidarity through volunteering activities and events to serve the community. Recent initiatives include a clean-up of Bab el-Rahma cemetary, with plans to resume the clean-up campaign tomorrow.
http://silwanic.net/?p=8725
One by one, Americans awaken
Deppen Webber, 42, and father of one, quit his $100,000 job in Sonoma County, CA, after 9 years with the company when he realized how much it was making off defense contracts, and then he went off to Israel-Palestine to help in the olive harvest and bring attention to the struggle.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/one-by-one-americans-awaken.html
'End Military Aid to Israel' message reaches thousands of Chicago commuters
As our target date approached, we could not get confirmation that the ads would go up for our announced date in early October. Maybe the skeptics were right – this campaign would never see the light of day. Undaunted, we were insistent on a response – positive or negative. Our persistence paid off, and the ads went up as scheduled. Our CTA "ad buy" bought posters both on train cars and in underground waiting areas in downtown Chicago – sites that thousands of Chicagoan commuters pass through daily. We chose October as our launch date to get the message out to as many people as possible. Between the crowds on the trains for the annual LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon on October 10 and the massive outpouring for the annual Columbus Day parade on October 12 in downtown Chicago – we couldn't get much better exposure.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/end-military-aid-to-israel-message-reaches-thousands-of-chicago-commuters.html
New MNBBC Video calling on Minnesota to Divest from Israel Bonds!
Dear all, MN BBC launched it's first video calling for Minnesota to divest from Israel Bonds until Israel complies with international human-rights law! The video includes clips of Israel's recent assault on Gaza, features varied voices from across Minnesota, and draws parallels between Israeli and South African apartheid and racial segregation in the US. JOIN IN ON THE EXCITEMENT! PLEASE CONSIDER PLACING A LINK OF THIS VIDEO AND OUR PETITION ON YOUR ORGANIZATION'S WEBSITE. WATCH the video on You Tube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXJIpYFCgn8 SIGN the MN BBC Petition at: http://mn.breakthebonds.org/?cat=18
Minnesota's investment in two Israel bonds supports Israel's apartheid system in both Israel and the Palestinian Territories and enables widespread abuse of human rights. Israel Bonds finance infrastructure projects including settlement building on the Palestinian West Bank and in East Jerusalem; these settlements displace Palestinians from their own lands.
To request a copy of the new video, email mn@breakthebonds.org.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-new-mnbbc-video-calling-on.html
#BDS: Israeli Citizens to Leiden University: Please Do not Hold the 2010 Cleveringa Lecture at the Hebrew University!
Dear Officials of Leiden University, We are a group of Israeli citizens. It has recently been brought to our attention that Leiden University had decided to host a special lecture at Jerusalem's Hebrew University on Thursday 25/11, commemorating a speech by Professor Rudolph Pabus Cleveringa during the Second World War, in which he protested the removal of Jewish faculty members.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-israeli-citizens-to-leiden.html
#BDS: Other Israel Festival Loses Key Palestinian Support
Artists Against Apartheid welcomes the withdrawal of participation of the following filmmakers from the Other Israel Film Festival and its Brooklyn Palestinian Spotlight: Rashid Masharawi, Scandar Copti and Annemarie Jacir. As elegantly stated by The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), the Other Israel Film Festival (OIFF) currently finds itself in much closer alignment with the 'Brand Israel'campaign than the Palestinian led BDS Movement. In a private letter to festival participants, co-signed by the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI), Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and Existence is Resistance, we have requested withdrawal of participation in the festival. We will continue to advocate for such while OIFF continues to violate and obfuscate the Palestinian led cultural boycott of Israel.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-other-israel-festival-loses-key.html
#BDS: Record Turnout For Olympia Food Co-op Board Election
Olympia, WA — In a record turnout, members of the Olympia Food Co-op have chosen four new representatives and one incumbent for the organization's Board of Directors. The large turnout was attributed by many in the community as a response to the July 15 decision by the Olympia Food Co-op to boycott Israeli goods in support of Palestinian human rights. The ballot included 14 candidates and the five elected are: Rochelle Gause, Erin Genia, John Regan, Eric Mapes, and TJ Johnson. "An organization that places social justice and sustainable practices at the forefront of the policy decisions is an organization I am proud to serve," says newly elected Erin Genia, a low-income mother of three, a recipient of Master of Public Administration, and a member of the Sisseton-Wapheton Dakota Oyate.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-record-turnout-for-olympia-food-co.html
#BDS: Open letter from Besieged Gaza to Michel Platini and UEFA: Reverse Apartheid Israel's Participation in European Competitive
We are writing as Palestinian footballers, coaches and athletes in the besieged Gaza Strip to commend your statement highlighting the impossible conditions imposed on our sports, echoing the general consequences for all aspects of our life caused by the Israeli occupation and hermetic siege. You recently said that, "Israel must respect the letter of the laws and international regulations otherwise there is no justification for them to remain in Europe…Israel must choose between allowing Palestinian sport to continue and prosper or be forced to face the consequences for their behaviour."
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-open-letter-from-besieged-gaza-to.html
#BDS: Download Australians for Palestine BDS Manual Oct10
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-download-australians-for-palestine.html
The hummus intifada
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv1VrPabBxw&feature=player_embedded
Exclusive: Obama - Netanyahu Conversation
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/saturday-morning-cartoons.html
Khalidi and Mearsheimer offer qualified endorsements of Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions, Philip Weiss
Yesterday the Institute for Middle East Understanding had a conference call with Rashid Khalidi and John Mearsheimer to talk about the latest offer in the peace process. Both men used the word "charade." It's an entertaining conversation, go to that link. Some of my notes: Mearsheimer is a two-stater, but he says that Palestinians ought to declare for one state. "I think this whole process is a charade...This demonstrates clearly that you're not going to get a viable Palestinian state." Palestinians should accept that reality and say that Israel can have one state, "and we insist that it be a democratic state."
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/latest-scene-in-peace-process-is-a-charade-khalidi-and-mearsheimer.html
#BDS: Hot-button issue: Performing in Israel
When the Cape Town Opera's revival of "Porgy and Bess" toured Europe, its novel resetting of the American classic to apartheid-era Soweto won raves. When the touring production moved to Israel this month, attention turned sour. No less than Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu called it "unconscionable" for a South African opera company to perform in Israel, the target of an increasingly aggressive international cultural boycott organized by pro-Palestinian activists hoping to turn Tel Aviv into the new Sun City. After an ugly public tussle, "Porgy and Bess" — a piece about racism, written by a Jewish composer — opened on schedule Nov. 15, albeit with some hastily added events with Palestinian artists. But protestors outside the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center still accused the black South African performers of betraying the same kind of boycott that once helped bring down South Africa's apartheid regime.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-hot-button-issue-performing-in.html
Anti
Livnat: Actors who boycott West Bank arts center are ignoramuses
Debate over boycott on Ariel cultural center intensified as the Culture and Sports Minister slammed the theater figures involved.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/livnat-actors-who-boycott-west-bank-arts-center-are-ignoramuses-1.326066
Siege/Rights Violations/Restriction of Movement
Construction to start on border fence
Defese Ministry to begin building electronic fence aimed at preventing infiltration of Israel-Egypt border.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3987888,00.html
Gaza student finds new way to protect people from generator explosion
GAZA, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Abu Ouda, a student who studies accounting in a Gaza university, has invented a new way to operate electric generator via a cell phone. Like other Gaza residents, Abu Ouda has a electric generator on the roof of his house. "The thing that propels me to invent this is that the generator might explode anytime and might hurt my family members," he said. The new invention is about a cell phone that has an electronic panel, a chip and is linked to the electric generator, "once I dial via the cell phone, the generator would operate immediately," Abu Ouda said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-11/22/c_13617546.htm
Racism and Discrimination
Ethiopian teen attacked at mikveh
Racism in Bnei Brak: Worker curses boy at entrance to ritual bath, calling him 'stinking black person,' then follows him home and physically attacks his family. 'I slapped him but good,' he tells police.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3988246,00.html
In unexpected move, Israel stops asylum seekers from working
Asylum seekers' visas now state that, 'this temporary permit should not be treated as a work permit.'
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/in-unexpected-move-israel-stops-asylum-seekers-from-working-1.325901?localLinksEnabled=false
Eli Yishai: Infiltrators pose existential threat to Israel
Interior Minister urges more government funds to construction of barrier along Egypt border in order to stop flooding of migrant workers into Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/eli-yishai-infiltrators-pose-existential-threat-to-israel-1.326075?localLinksEnabled=false
Jerusalem to hold segregated event
'Khamenei can't hold a candle to us here,' says councilman about show honoring security forces.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3987920,00.html
High Court leaning toward allowing gender segregation on public buses
Transportation Ministry recommended allowing 'voluntary separation' on ultra-Orthodox bus lines, as long as practice is not enforced through violence or coercion.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/high-court-leaning-toward-allowing-gender-segregation-on-public-buses-1.325956?localLinksEnabled=false
Violence and Aggression
Air raid shatters holiday for Gaza family
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (Ma'an) -- The most intense Israeli airstrikes in months disrupted what had been a quiet holiday for one Gaza family. Sulaiman Abu Mustafa, an olive and eggplant grower with a small farm near the border with Israel outside of Deir Al-Balah, was celebrating the Eid Al-Adha holiday with his family in his yard when the strike took place. Abu Mustafa's uncle and aunt were visiting -- there were around 20 people outside the house.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=334664
Palestinian farmer wounded in explosion of IOF ordinance
A Palestinian farmer was wounded on Sunday when Israeli army ordnance exploded near him in his farm east of Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, medical sources reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k
Israeli police shoot Palestinian worker
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) – Israeli police on Monday shot a Palestinian worker who was in Israel without permission, officials said. Police said the worker, who was not identified, was shot after he tried to run over a group of people near Ashkelon. Police pursued the car and opened fire at the driver injuring him in his foot. He was evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=334928
IOF soldiers storm home of MP, hand him summons
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided Saturday night the house of Palestinian lawmaker Mohamed Abu Jehaisha and handed him a summons from the intelligence director at Etzion detention center.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx
Detention of Children
Israeli soldiers detain five Palestinian Schoolboys in South Hebron Hills
At-Tuwani – Claiming that the children were throwing stones, Israeli soldiers detained five Palestinian schoolboys. Since the beginning of 2005, the children from the village of Tuba wait every morning for an Israeli army escort to accompany them to the school in At-Tuwani, along the shortest road that goes through the Israeli settlement of Ma'on and the illegal outpost of Havat Ma'on. The escort's task is to protect the children from the violence of the Israeli settlers of Havat Ma'on.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/11/15671/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
Teen detained at army checkpoint
NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces detained a Palestinian teenager at the Huwwara military checkpoint on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus, witnesses said. Witnesses estimated the young man to be 17 years old. He was carrying a suitcase, they added. Solders ordered the teen to step out of a taxi, then detained him, as he attempted to leave Nablus. Ma'an was unable to immediately identify the detainee.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=334887
Other Detainees
IOF kidnap seven Palestinians from Ula town in Al-Khalil
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped on Monday seven Palestinian citizens from Beit Ula town, west of Al-Khalil city, during raids on homes.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
Arrest of Young Man from Wadi Hilweh
Israeli forces arrested Mohammed Natshe, 27, from the Wadi Hilweh district of Silwan.
http://silwanic.net/?p=8743
Undercover Forces Arrest Two Youths
Undercover Israeli forces recently arrested two youths in Silwan from the Bir-Ayyub neighborhood. The region is witnessing a state of heightened tension with the notable presence of Israeli troops in the Bir-Ayyub and El-Bhutan areas.
http://silwanic.net/?p=8736
PA prisoner goes on sixth day of hunger strike
Islamic Jihad movement member Bilal Nabeel Dhiab, protesting violations against him in the Palestinian Authority security prisons, is going on his sixth day of an open hunger strike.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
International campaign demands release of MP Abu Tir
The international campaign to release detained Palestinian MPs in Israeli occupation jails has demanded the immediate release of MP Mohammed Abu Tir.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87
Arab Helpers
PA militias raid home of MP Qar'awi, kidnap his son
Security militias from the Palestinian authority stormed the home of Hamas lawmaker Fathi Qar'awi in Nour Sham refugee camp, Tulkarem city, and kidnapped his son Hazem.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7
War Criminals
Soldiers who made boy search 'bomb' bags freed
Two soldiers convicted for ordering a nine-year-old Palestinian boy in Gaza to search bags that might have contained explosives avoided jail yesterday when they were demoted and given suspended prison sentences.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/soldiers-who-made-boy-search-bomb-bags-freed-2140329.html
Belgian ladies sue Israeli officials in Brussels
The federal prosecutor's office in Brussels received on Friday a lawsuit filed by four Belgian young women against Israeli officials.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q
The Internet, Facebook are placing IDF soldiers in the crossfire
An online list of Israeli military personnel who took part in Gaza fighting is putting regular Israeli conscripts under threat of global arrest and harassment.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/the-internet-facebook-are-placing-idf-soldiers-in-the-crossfire-1.325570
"War Criminals" Leak Strikes at Heart of Israeli Society, Paul Larudee
When unknown elements in Israel leaked the name, rank, identification number and other information about two hundred Israeli military personnel who reportedly participated in the 2008-2009 invasion of Gaza, the effect was sudden and profound, according to sources in Israel. Although the first site on which it appeared was taken down by the host, it has continued to circulate via email, and has appeared on at least one other site. The Israeli military and other Israeli agencies are reportedly doing all they can to shut down every site on which it appears, and to prevent it from "going viral." At least one popular blog that links to the site has received a record number of death threats.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/11/war-criminals-leak-strikes-at-heart-of-israeli-society/
Political Developments
Interview: Possibility of inter-Palestinian reconciliation within coming months slim: official
RAMALLAH, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Wassel Abu Yousef, secretary general of the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF) and member of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that he rules out the possibility of a reconciliation to be reached within the coming months amid the current situation.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-11/22/c_13616144.htm
New details of Dahlan's plan to control PA, replace Abbas unfolded
An informed source from Fatah unveiled new developments about what became known as the file of Mohamed Dahlan and his scheme to control the Palestinian authority and replace Mahmoud Abbas.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Former envoy: Haggling over freeze harms Israel
Former US Ambassador Dan Kurtzer calls American offer of perks such as 20 warplanes in exchange for halting settlement construction 'unprofessional'. Such haggling casts doubt on Israel's security issues, he says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3987912,00.html
Israel says US has provided written guarantee (AP)
AP - The U.S. has given Israel a written guarantee that it won't pressure the Jewish state for additional settlement freezes if it accepts a limited 90 day construction moratorium to revive Mideast peace talks, a top Israeli official said Saturday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101120/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
Palestinians may reject talks due to U.S. incentives: official
The Palestinians may reject resuming peace talks with Israel due to proposed U.S. incentives to Israel, a Palestinian official said Sunday. Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee, said the Palestinians will reject any position "that leads to legitimizing the Israeli settlement activities after a certain time." Abed Rabbo said the incentives, which include supplying Israel with F-35 war jets, have an anti-peace impact and boost Israel's aggressive trend.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/7206067.html
US pledges never to ask Israel for another settlement freeze
The US continues to offer Israel a list of incentives to let peace talks flourish by stopping settlement expansion on Arab lands for another three months.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7
Abbas eyes UN appeal as talks stall
With little progress in U.S. attempts to broker a new settlement freeze, the Palestinians could seek world recognition for an independent state.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/abbas-eyes-un-appeal-as-talks-stall-1.326029?localLinksEnabled=false
Knesset to demand referendums on future Israeli pullouts
Legislation calls for national vote to approve any withdrawal from East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/knesset-to-demand-referendums-on-future-israeli-pullouts-1.325975?localLinksEnabled=false
Israeli bill could threaten future peace deals (AP)
AP - Israel's hard-line parliament was expected to approve a bill on Monday that could sink future peace deals with the Palestinians and Syria.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101122/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
Other News
Nobel laureates urge Israel to let Vanunu receive int'l rights award
Atomic whistleblower seeks to attend ceremony granting him the International League of Human Rights' Carl von Ossietzky Medal in Berlin.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/nobel-laureates-urge-israel-to-let-vanunu-receive-int-l-rights-award-1.325707
Poll: Most Palestinians view talks as precursor to 1 state
Disturbing US poll: Most Palestinians refuse to accept idea of Israel as Jewish state, view peace talks, two-state solution as first step towards creation of one Palestinian state in area; 58% support armed struggle.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3987277,00.html
Ex-AIPAC official got at least $670,000 from donors
One philanthropist "bundled" about $200,000 for him, Rosen said. Saban gave $100,000 to him, his wife and children. Another supporter, philanthropist Lynn Schusterman, paid off Rosen's daughter's $18,000 college loan, he said. In all, about a dozen supporters gave him $670,000, according to his testimony, which AIPAC released last week. The payments stopped in 2009, Rosen says, when the government dropped its case against him and another AIPAC official, saying it couldn't make an espionage case against them."
... "Rosen says his actions were common practice at the organization. He said his next move is to show that AIPAC, Washington's major pro-Israeli lobbying group by far, regularly traffics in sensitive U.S. government information, especially material related to the Middle East."
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/11/ex-aipac_official_got_670000_from_private_donors.html
Ex-AIPAC official threatens to uncover mass spying at Israel lobby
Top AIPAC officials visited prostitutes, regularly watched porn at work: claim Is US's most influential advocate for Israel about to implode? A former foreign policy chief for the largest Israeli lobby in the US is threatening to provide evidence members of the organization regularly trafficked in classified US government information.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/official-uncover-mass-spying-israel-lobby/
7% of Israeli teenagers don't study or work
Figures published ahead of International Children's Day by Central Bureau of Statistics reveal 24,388 teenagers between ages of 15-17 did not attend school or work during 2009.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3986166,00.html
Ultra-Orthodox groups suspected of forging IDs to swindle state funds
Associations in charge of ultra-Orthodox schools falsely reported having hundreds of students, funneling millions of shekels into their pockets.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/ultra-orthodox-groups-suspected-of-forging-ids-to-swindle-state-funds-1.325932?localLinksEnabled=false
Israel Police representative to U.S. returns to face sexual assault allegations
A polygraph backs up claims by made external adviser to Public Security Ministry regarding alleged incident at police convention in Eilat.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-police-representative-to-u-s-returns-to-face-sexual-assault-allegations-1.325964?localLinksEnabled=false
Israel rejects cancer treatment successfull in U.S.
Health ministry turns down funding for proton therapy, effective in treating many cancers without the side effects of traditional treatments.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-rejects-cancer-treatment-successfull-in-u-s-1.325984?localLinksEnabled=false
Alternate Reality: Letter from a war criminal / Yoav Keren
To be honest, I was a little insulted. I looked for myself on the list of 200 Operation Cast Lead war criminals published online last week but didn't find what I was looking for. I performed almost a month of reserve duty during the operation, yet nothing; no mention. Not even a small one ... I served in the Gaza Division war room for 26 days and saw everything in real time. I saw how every time we had to curb Qassam fire from populated areas, officials considered it seven times and meticulously calculated the firing range and angle, as not to hurt civilians by mistake ... I saw the great seriousness in addressing a water pipe that burst in Rafah, and the kind of effort invested in order to bring food into the Strip and allow ambulances to evacuate wounded Palestinians from the war zone.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3987565,00.html
Israeli media provides a glimpse of how spin drives Israeli diplomacy, Didi Remez
On the front page of this morning's Maariv, senior columnist Ben Caspit reports [full translation at the bottom of the post; Hebrew original here]: At least three top Likud figures who were briefed recently by officials very close to Netanyahu on the talks with the Americans, on the letter that has not (yet) been written, on the promises that were not made and the stealth bombers that stole away, say that the prevalent view in the Prime Minister's Bureau about the US administration is that it is "not a credible administration." That is the reason, these sources say, for Netanyahu's insistence on receiving the promises in writing. And that is the reason, say these sources, that some of the promises that Netanyahu heard from the Americans evaporated shortly afterwards.
http://coteret.com/2010/11/21/israeli-media-provides-a-glimpse-of-how-spin-drives-israeli-diplomacy/ Analysis/Op-ed
Inside the bubble, Norman Finkelstein
Ethan Bronner in the New York Times today: "It is worth noting that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been largely drained of deadly violence in the past few years." So much for the Gaza massacre.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/inside-the-bubble.html
Perry: Obama's obeisance to Netanyahu is 'dangerous' and of a piece with Dogan's unprotested killing and Kagan emulating an Israeli justice, Philip Weiss
Here is an amazing post by Mark Perry at Foreign Policy blasting Obama's deal with Netanyahu for a settlement freeze extension as a gutless concession of power. Even Petraeus is afraid of the Israel lobby, which dominates Establishment attitudes, Perry says, and he honorably cites the killing of Furkan Dogan on the Mavi Marmara as evidence of American subjection to Israeli interests. This is a new level of criticism of the Israel lobby, at Foreign Policy no less, as compromising Beltway culture; and why I've always said that Walt and Mearsheimer merely scratched the surface. And why Lincoln's attack on the two-party "conspiracy" of the slave power in our politics should be echoed today by criticism of the two-party agreement on blind support for Israel.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/perry-settlement-deal-is-dangerous-and-of-a-piece-with-dogans-unprotested-killing-and-kagan-emulating-israeli-supreme-court-justice.html
Helen Thomas get standing 0 from 500 as Sam Donaldson declares her the 'best ever', Jefferson Morley
From Jeff Morley at World Opinion Search: The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee honored Helen Thomas at a dinner in northwest Washington last night. The evening was all Helen, all the time, featuring accolades from the (still!) irrepressible Sam Donaldson(!), sweet Rosemary Oakar, and the pungent James Abourezk. Donaldson called Thomas "the best White House correspondent ever!" Abourezk gibed Thomas was not fired because of comments she made about Jews. Her "fatal sin," he said, was asking President Obama if any countries in the Middle East currently possessed nuclear weapons. The always-self-righteous Ralph Nader said, "If ten reporters had acted the way Helen acted there never would have been an Iraq war.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/helen-thomas-get-standing-0-from-500-as-sam-donaldson-declares-her-the-best-ever.html
Wait– we are giving who?? 20 F-35 stealth attack jets?? for what??, Virginia Tilley
With 25 years of experience under my belt analysing the Middle East conflict, and as a close observer of US foreign policy with a pragmatic attitude toward its realist exigencies, I have never seen anything as destructive, humiliating and ruinously conceived as the "incentive" package now being offered by the US to Israel for a 3-month settlement freeze. It is our country's foreign policy nadir: a deal is so damaging to US interests that it is hard to find words for it. What can be said plainly is that US citizens – yes, even those jaded, tired, embittered, disillusioned folks who have watched this stuff for too long – have to rise up and move fast to stop this, in the name of our country's future.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/wait-we-are-giving-who-20-f-35-stealth-attack-jets-for-what.html
Why did Saban and other Jewish donors give a man charged with espionage $670,000?, Philip Weiss
Wow I missed this angle on the AIPAC scandal. Jeff Stein at the Washington Post didn't. Neither did Justin Elliott who picked him up, calling it "a story that shows just how committed the nationwide network of pro-Israel donors are to their cause". Myself I am not sure of the motivation for this largesse to Rosen. My wife, who witnessed the kind treatment by his friends of the late-troubled-neocon Eric Breindel through numerous ordeals, used to say that neoconservatives are more loyal than lefties; but I wonder whether these givers weren't trying to buy something from Rosen?
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/why-did-saban-and-other-jewish-donors-give-a-man-charged-with-espionage-670000.html
"What "looks and acts like a banana republic? "
wo recently published items present what I see as telling, if limited and even evasive, probes into the extent and depth of Israel's militarization, each revealing a different manifestation of it. The first (truncated in the English version which omitted the passages of personal testimony from soldiers and police, included in the Hebrew original) looks at the confusing, contradictory maze of authorities in charge of the checkpoints that monitor the passage of West Bank Palestinians into Israel. Chaim Levinson erroneously calls these Green Line checkpoints, despite the placement of some of them inside the West Bank, as part of Israel's ongoing drive to re-draw the Green Line to its convenience. These highly sensitive, loaded meeting points between Israeli authorities and the stateless, non-citizen Palestinians whom they control are, Levinson says, operated under an entangled-to-non-existent chain of accountability. He lays the blame with bureaucracy and extremely faulty administration.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/11/what-looks-and-acts-like-a-banana-republic/
There Could Never Be Peace Without a Minimum of Justice, Palestine Monitor
Mustafa Barghouthi, Palestine, PNI, thanked the Socialist International for its constant efforts to support the cause of peace in Palestine and in the Middle East, and he apologised for questioning whether the current discussion could be called a debate when the representative of the Israeli Labour Party had left immediately after giving his speech.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1617
President Obama Would Rather Kill Palestinians than Feed American Children
Pity the American people who ignorantly pay and die for Israel's wars while believing the lies and fear mongering chants of the Pro Israel criminal cabal that the Muslims and Iran seek to destroy this nation. Shockingly, Mr. President, you have no political choice but to accept what Netanyahu dishes out against your person or against this nation having proclaimed that he has the ability to "move" this nation in the direction he sees fit. You would rather send billions of dollars of killing weapons that offensively violate America's laws than send such money to feed hungry American children blocks from your resident.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/11/20/president-obama-would-rather-kill-palestinians-than-feed-american-childre/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SabbahsBlog+%28Sabbah+Report%29
Angry Birds Peace Treaty
A historic moment for birds and pigs everywhere.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMltvlqEM54
Rosengarten reflects on the 'insanity' of the response to the Jewish boat to Gaza, Lillian Rosengarten
We have run a few accounts from Lillian Rosengarten, an American, of her experience aboard the Jewish boat to Gaza in September. As time elapses her feelings have changed and solidified. Her latest: I want to give you a small sense of the political climate that hovered over us when we attempted to sail to Gaza. The bottom line truth of my experience on the little Jewish boat Irene, is that I became a witness to what I can only call insanity. I am completely indebted to this historic voyage for it has fueled in me a fire, an intense determination to break down walls of hate, to speak out, to shout and condemn Israel's insane politics and to use myself in the spirit of non violence for I am a pacifist. I support liberation and an open society for Palestinians and Israelis as one. This is my dream to break down barriers of fear and hate. There is no other choice.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/rosengarten-reflects-on-the-insanity-of-the-response-to-the-jewish-boat-to-gaza.html
Adbusters Magazine and the Israel Lobby
In view of recent events, last week Remembrance Day commemorations ought to have been cancelled out of respect for the thousands of Canadian soldiers, airmen, and sailors who gave their lives fighting fascism. It's a cruel irony that we should be honouring Canadians who liberated Europe 60-65 years ago when Canadians at home are losing theirs today.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/11/adbusters-magazine-and-the-israel-lobby/
Seeing the elephant in front of you, Yossi Gurvitz
Shmuel Sermoneta-Gertel has basically accused me of being a racist, after referring to Avigdor Liberman as a Homo Sovieticus. I contend that claim. The term "Homo Sovieticus" has a very distinct meaning. It refers to someone who accepted basic Soviet thinking, including blind acceptance of claims made by authority and isolation from and hatred of the outside world. You could add several other symptoms of the Soviet systems – disregard of human rights, contempt for democracy and the democratic process, and rampant racism towards "uncivilized people", such as Asians or Muslims – and you would have described Avigdor Liberman, as well as most of his followers, to a T.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/seeing-the-elephant-in-front-of-you.html
Palestinians' White Knight Blots His Escutcheon, Stuart Littlewood – London
From champion of the vulnerable to betrayer in one bound… Nick Clegg, Britain's new deputy prime minister, is surprisingly agile. Betrayal started with Sheffield Forgemasters, a well-respected company in Clegg's own constituency, who were promised a government loan to enable them to compete for large contracts in the nuclear industry. This was cancelled as soon as the new government was formed with Clegg as deputy prime minister.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16429
Why Not Permanent Seats for Palestine and Haiti Too?, Dallas Darling
When President Barack Obama announced support regarding a permanent seat for India on the UN Security Council, it reminded me of what Howard Zinn wrote: "The creation of the United Nations during the war was presented to the world as international cooperation to prevent future wars. But the U.N. was dominated by the Western imperial countries-the United States, England, and France-and a new imperial power, with military bases and powerful influence in Eastern Europe-the Soviet Union."
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16432
I am Zionism's mandatory object. So don't I get to define it?, Ahmed Moor
There's an excellent discussion of the 'Zionism is racism' question over at Jeremiah Haber's site, The Magnes Zionist. Haber makes some very good points which are especially compelling since he – a multiculturalist who self-identifies as a Zionist – is making them. Indeed, anyone who reads his site knows that people like him will be an asset in the as-yet-unrealized egalitarian one-state Palestine/Israel. I'll get to the contradiction implicit in this statement in a moment. First, I want to review why this is an important discussion that cannot exist independently of the anti-apartheid struggle; why can't we just focus on the tangibles like the ethnic cleansing in Sheikh Jarrah?
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/i-am-zionisms-mandatory-object-so-dont-i-get-to-define-it.html
Me and my Israeli cousin, Mohammed Rabah Suliman
In the early 1980s my father was illegally crossing the borders as he stamped his passport with forged seals of the countries he wished to visit, from Libya to Syria, then on to Jordan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia he settled for 16 years, though he did not remain in one place for long and carried on his habit, moving from Al-Riyadh to Jidda, and from Jidda to Tabook— where I was born, and lastly coming back home. His brother, meanwhile, had already settled himself in a land far more handsome and graceful, mild and sunny, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean sea far from the baking wilderness of the Arabian Peninsula. He had already gained a wide reputation as the best T.V. technician in the Galilee. By then, he had his own shop, and diligently worked so as to preserve his place in that heaven; he feared nothing more than the prospect of going back to a flaming Gaza. I care not how low, inconsiderate, and void of principles this man might be regarded, nor do I care how discreet and realistic his attitude toward life was. He married an Arab-Israeli girl of fifteen from Kofor Kana, who as she crossed our doorstep in Beit Lahya thirteen years ago had already brought him three sons and two daughters, who joined the loosely connected extended family to which I belong.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/me-and-my-israeli-cousin.html
Hussein Ibish Is Now Vacationing At The Spot Of The Last Confirmed Sighting Of James Zogby's Dignity
Members of the "Arab Lobby" in America are in love with the rulers of the Arab Gulf States. If they're not hosting one of the Sheiks, Emirs, or Princes at their Banquets, Conventions, or Galas in Washington DC, they are found visiting the American military bases and oil-colonies along the Eastern shores of the Arabian Peninsula. Although "Saudi" Arabian officials and Princes remain everyone's most sought after guests at Washington events, the United Arab Emirates, with its tourist friendly city-states, and unique attractions appears to be a favored destination spot. One exclusive, high-end travel agency in Dubai has begun to offer a new James Zogby dignity tour. For a reasonable fee tourists will see the town and earn a chance to win a grand prize. They spend an entire day with a tour guide visiting the streets, sewers, and trash bins of the city-state searching for Zogby's dignity. Whoever finds it wins 50,000 Dirhams, a visit to a palace, and a picture with one of the Emir's sons.
http://ikhras.com/2010/11/hussein-ibish-is-now-vacationing-at-the-spot-of-the-last-confirmed-sighting-of-james-zogbys-dignity/
America's Bad Parenting Skills, Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
For parents, discipline is, by far, the most difficult of everyday parenting skills. Punishments and rewards should be meted out fairly and consistently in a way that the child eventually understands what behavior evokes which response. At least, that is, in a perfect world. For the United States, its "child" is not only unruly, it has come to call the shots, much like a frayed parent who continually gives in to their wayward child just to keep them quiet, all the while convincing themselves that their parenting skills are just fine.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=22827&CategoryId=3
American Radical on Link TV
American Radical is the probing documentary portrait of American academic and activist Norman Finkelstein. A devoted son of holocaust survivors, ardent critic of Israeli and US Mid-East policies and author of six provocative books–including The Holocaust Industry, Beyond Chutzpah and the soon-to-be-released A Farewell to Israel: The Coming Break-Up of American Zionism, Finkelstein has been at the center of many intractable controversies. Called a lunatic and a self-hating Jew by some and an inspirational, street-fighting revolutionary by others, Finkelstein is a deeply polarizing figure whose struggles arise from core questions about freedom, identity and nationhood. Following him as he presents his message to audiences around the globe, American Radical provides an intimate portrait of the man behind the controversy, giving voice to Finkelstein's critics as well as his supporters.
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/american-radical-on-link-tv/
Check out Laila El-Haddad's new book Gaza Mom: Palestine, Politics, Parenting, and Everything In Between,Adam Horowitz
The video above is from an event Thursday night at the Palestine Center in Washington, DC launching Laila El-Haddad's new book Gaza Mom: Palestine, Politics, Parenting, and Everything In Between . El-Haddad is a journalist and blogger from Gaza who maintains the Gaza Mom blog and has now published a book based on the blog. You can learm more about the book, and buy it, on the Just World Books website.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/check-out-laila-el-haddads-new-book-gaza-mom-palestine-politics-parenting-and-everything-in-between.html
Breaking w/ Israel has helped Turkey in competition for Asian markets, Philip Weiss
This is interesting. Risk analyst Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia group was on Charlie Rose two nights back describing the struggle between market capitalism and state capitalism, US v China. My sense is that risk analysts are cold fish who assess the geopolitical business climate without regard to the moral struggle; and there was a bright thread through Bremmer's comments that Israel is just getting in the way, and also that the Palestinian story has merit.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/breaking-w-israel-has-helped-turkey-in-competition-for-asian-markets.html
An Orientalist Masterpiece, RICHARD ESTES
On Sunday, I had the opportunity to watch about 4 hours of the approximately 5 1/2 hour French miniseries about the notorious Carlos the Jackal at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco. You can also apparently rent a shorter version on cable if you have the Sundance Channel, and it will be released nationally in yet another edited version as well. I hope to watch the remainder of it sometime soon. As'ad Abukhalil, the Angry Arab, has said that Carlos is good entertainment, but bad politically, and that's a pretty fair assessment. I probably wouldn't gone to see it except for the fact that one of my favorite directors, Olivier Assayas, made it. I've seen a lot of his movies, going all the way back to Disorder from the mid-1980s, and think highly of him. I've always considered him to be one of the heirs to Fassbinder, with an acute sense of the internal rhythms of film narrative, a highly developed sense of the banalities of life and an empathy for what cultural studies types describe as transgressive behaviour. For my review of his movie, Summer Hours, released in the US last year, go here.
http://www.counterpunch.org/estes11192010.html
`Abdul-`Aziz Ad-Duri
The "dean" of Arab historians is dead. Not a word about this great scholar in any Western publication. The New York Times had 3/4 of a page devoted to the marriage of Prince Harry or Henry or Williams in UK. I kid you not. The style section of the NYT had a two page spread on Kim Kardashian. What do you expect. `Abdul-`Aziz Ad-Duri is not only a historian of the Arab world: but he was a historian of Arab history. He was a critical historian of history by Arabs. He was quite daring in his critical look at the early Arab historians including the sirat of Ibn Ishaq of the prophet (see his introduction to An Inquiry in the formation of the Science of History Among the Arabs (in Arabic). Ad-Duri believed that it was possible to write a history of the Arabs, consistent with his Arab nationalist views. He chaired the department of history in Baghdad University but later relocated to Jordan.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/abdul-aziz-ad-duri.html
BBC (Saudi) "documentary": `Abdur-Rahman Ar-Rashid and Saudi propaganda, As'ad Abukhalil
Ian Black has an article about nixing of the "documentary" that was supposed to air on the BBC channel. Nadim offers this genius-level explanation: "Nadim Shehadi, a Lebanon expert at the Chatham House thinktank in London, said: "There is an atmosphere of terror in Beirut. It may be a deliberate campaign to apply pressure to the tribunal. It is almost as if there is a communications strategy."
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/bbc-saudi-documentary-abdur-rahman-ar.html
The Return of Ghosts: Debating the rise of Geert Wilders and the far-right at the Nexus Symposium, Max Blumenthal
I spent last week in Amsterdam, where I participated in the "Return of Ghosts" symposium of the Nexus Institute, a discussion/debate about the resurgence of neo-fascism in Europe and anti-democratic trends in the West. Besides providing a forum for debating European politics, the symposium was the occasion for the first public appearance in Europe by Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa since he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature last month. The arrival of Vargas Llosa, one of the world's foremost intellectuals, resulted in an overflow crowd filled with members of the Dutch media, the country's political class, and the royal family.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/11/the-return-of-ghosts-debating-the-rise-of-geert-wilders-and-the-far-right/
TSA is Delivering Naked Insecurity, Ralph Nader
To the Department of Homeland Security: If you thought this week was bad, brace yourself for a tsunami of protests in the days ahead.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-11-18-column18_ST1_N.htm
Lebanon
Lebanese President urges to safeguard country against internal strife
BEIRUT, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- President Michel Suleiman called Sunday on rival Lebanese groups to safeguard the country against internal strife. Suleiman's appeal comes amid rising fears of sectarian strife over the indictment expected to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), probing the assassination of Lebanese Former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-11/22/c_13616140.htm
CBC report, again (see below)
This CBC report rendered a great service to Hizbullah's campaign against the Hariri court. Public opinion surveys in Lebanon already point to a clear and systematic decline in public support for the court, even among Sunnis and Druzes (the Christians are split). I mean, to accuse the key intelligence guy in the Hariri camp, Al-Hasan, of complicity is to turn the investigation into a farce. This Wisam Hasan was so key to UN investigation that he was even used (at least in the case of "false witness", Muhammad Zuhayr As-Siddiq) as the official interpretor of the UN team. And for the report to rely on the account of Mehlis discredited the court and report further. The Hariri camp is now clearly at war, and Wisam Hasan (who is named in the report) has so much dirt on his Hariri enemies and will fight back. The movie will now get more interesting and suspenseful. As for the Hariri investigation itself, you may relegate it to late night TV, on "Nick at Night". Check your local listing.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/cbc-report-again-see-below.html
Evidence links Hezbollah to Hariri death
A Lebanese police officer and U.N. investigators unearthed extensive circumstantial evidence implicating the Syrian-backed Hezbollah movement in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, according to an investigation by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=a1d9b807bd22702113ef886257cde4db
Lebanon: 'resistance must continue'
Parliamentary speaker says despite Israeli pullout from disputed border village, resistance to neighbour must continue.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/11/20101118133429610900.html
First it was Der Speigel, now it's the Canadian CBC
It appears that the Zionists have decided to initiate their next round their anti-Hezbollah campaign by using the Canadian CBC to, yet again, accuse Hezbollah of the murder of Rafik Hariri. That's a way to give at least some cover to the now thoroughly discredited UN investigation. Remember how the Zionists used the German magazine Der Spiegel to "leak" their accusations? Now they do the same with the CBC. This latest move is also a way to cover up the proof presented by Hezbollah of Israel's involvement in Harari's murder. I frankly doubt that this latest stunt will have much traction, at least in Lebanon (they have already heard it all, a million times over). Mostly, this latest move is a "psyop preparation of the battlefield" before the official release of the indictments of various Hezbollah officials by the UN investigators.
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2010/11/first-it-was-der-speigel-now-its.html
Lebanon, the endgame, Norman Finkelstein
Several recent news items have focused on Israel's desire to confront Iran in Lebanon by taking on Iranian ally, Hizbollah. Yesterday Norman Finkelstein sent along this clip from the Asia Times, "Israel moves to counter Hezbollah," which begins, "In the past few months, Israel has gone out of its way to cast itself as a victim of aggression in case a war with Hezbollah breaks out." Finkelstein wrote, "Setting aside the obvious propaganda and lies, it's accurate: we're approaching the endgame." I asked him to elaborate.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/lebanon-the-endgame.html
Iraq
Christian brothers shot dead in north Iraq
MOSUL, Iraq — Two Iraqi Christian brothers were gunned down inside their vehicle workshop in the restive northern city of Mosul on Monday, police said. Saad Hanna, 43, and Waad Hanna, 40, were shot dead at around noon (0900 GMT) in the city, 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Baghdad, the latest in a spate of attacks targeting the minority community in Iraq.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gbwg3Jb5V8vwSiE000KI3S2XpriQ?docId=CNG.4552f80a82547c738e9dde8b3a339cd7.521
Sunday: 2 US Soldiers, 3 Iraqis Killed; 2 Iraqis Wounded
At least three Iraqis were killed and two more were wounded in new attacks. Also, one U.S. soldier was killed in a small arms attack today, and another U.S. soldier died during physical training on Friday. Thousands of Iraqi pilgrims are making their way. Meanwhile, Iraq has run out of money to pay widow's benefits and for other poverty alleviation programs.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/11/21/sunday-3-iraqis-killed-2-wounded/
Iraq TV reporter gunned down in home: police (AFP)
AFP - Gunmen killed a young television news reporter in his home in the restive northern city of Mosul on Sunday, in the latest in a series of deadly attacks on journalists in Iraq, police said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101121/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestmedia
Bomb targets Iraq lawmaker from Sunni-backed list (AP)
AP - A roadside bomb went off in the northern city of Mosul Friday, narrowly missing a member of a Sunni-backed political bloc but killing one of his bodyguards, Iraqi officials said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101119/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
120 mass graves discovered in Iraq in seven years
Iraq has yielded 120 mass graves, but the number is certainly bound to balloon as only a small portion of the country has been surveyed so far, according to Human Rights Minister Wojdan Salem. "We cannot say how many mass graves are there in Iraq. But we have verified information about 120 of them, many of which we have excavated" but have not yet dealt with all the bodies in them, Salem said. The minister said she was concerned about the fate of Iraqis who were killed and buried en mass, urging the authorities to provide more resources for her ministry in order to expedite its surveys. Salem said the number her ministry has on mass graves represents locations of these mass burial sites. "One mass grave may contain several others," she said.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2010-11-22\kurd.htm
Tariq Aziz seeks pardon from Iraqi president (AP)
AP - Lawyers for Tariq Aziz are asking Iraq's president to pardon the former Saddam Hussein ally, who faces execution for the persecution of Shiite Muslims.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101122/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_aziz
Iraqi Christians seek safe haven in Jordan (AFP)
AFP - A spate of attacks targeting Christians in Iraq has forced many to flee to neighbouring Jordan which many see as a stepping stone to a new life as far away as possible from the violence-ridden country.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101122/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestchristiansjordan
Rights TV Show Bolsters Iraqi Activists
Prominent Iraqi activists and journalists say IWPR Iraq's television reports have bolstered human rights campaign work and broadened media coverage of rights issues.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/rights-tv-show-bolsters-iraqi-activists
The Listening Post - Iraq's factionalised media
It took eight months for the Iraqi government to finally reach an agreement on a power-sharing deal. The war torn country is notoriously factionalised with a population divided by politics and religion and plagued by sectarian violence. These divisions were very evident in the Iraqi media's coverage in the lead up to the election. In an effort to deal with the media cacophony, the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission - set up in 2004 - entered the fray. When the commission started threatening to shut down outlets that incited hatred, many journalists in the country were left unsure of exactly what they could and could not say. This week, The Listening Post looks at the media's role in the lead up to the election, what it may be like under the new power-sharing agreement and whether or not it will be able to put aside its differences without being censored.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAz-TljqDwU&feature=youtube_gdata
From the archive, 22 November 1927: King Feisul of Iraq - the man and his aims
Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 22 November 1927. The personal charm of Arab leaders is a theme that has been overworked by writers as far apart, perhaps, as Gertrude Bell and Ethel M. Dell, but it would be impossible to ignore in an attempt to estimate the position and importance of King Feisul of Iraq, who arrives in Manchester to-day as the guest of the British Cotton-growing Association. To see him in England is a revelation of the passion for Westernisation which, under his aegis, is surging through his country.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/nov/22/archive-king-feisul-iraq
U.S. & Other World News
Wikileaks: Next batch of secret documents seven times larger than Iraq war logs
STOCKHOLM — Whistleblowing website WikiLeaks said Monday it was planning to publish nearly three million more secret documents in its next mass release of confidential material, according to its Twitter feed. WikiLeaks did not say when the release would be, nor on what subject, but the number of documents would be seven times larger than its release last month when it posted some 400,000 secret documents about the war in Iraq on its site.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/wikileaks-batch-secret-documents-times-larger-iraq-war-logs/
Senate panel OKs 'Internet censorship' bill
WASHINGTON — The US Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill on Thursday that would give US law enforcement more tools to crack down on websites abroad engaged in piracy of movies, television shows and music.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/panel-oks-internet-censorship-bill/
The 19 Senators Who Voted To Censor The Internet
This is hardly a surprise but, this morning (as previously announced), the lame duck Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to move forward with censoring the internet via the COICA bill -- despite a bunch of law professors explaining to them how this law is a clear violation of the First Amendment. What's really amazing is that many of the same Senators have been speaking out against internet censorship in other countries, yet they happily vote to approve it here because it's seen as a way to make many of their largest campaign contributors happy. There's very little chance that the bill will actually get passed by the end of the term but, in the meantime, we figured it might be useful to highlight the 19 Senators who voted to censor the internet this morning.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101118/10291211924/the-19-senators-who-voted-to-censor-the-internet.shtml
Obama to give George Bush, Sr. the presidential Medal of Freedom
Former President George H.W. Bush is among 15 people selected to be awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom, the White House announced Wednesday night. The Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, is awarded for "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/obama-give-george-hw-bush-presidential-medal-freedom/
U.S. wants to widen area in Pakistan where it can operate drones
ISLAMABAD - The United States has renewed pressure on Pakistan to expand the areas where CIA drones can operate inside the country, reflecting concern that the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan is being undermined by insurgents' continued ability to take sanctuary across the border, U.S. and Pakistani officials said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111906268.html
NATO occupation forces kill three children in northeast Afghanistan: locals said a fourth person was also killed in the incident
According to provincial police chief Brigadier General Khalilullah Ziayee, speaking to the Pajhwok Afghan news agency, a police officer and his three nephews - all children - were killed in the accident.
http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-88599.html
Gunmen torch 10 Nato oil tankers in Peshawar
According to police officials, six assailants attacked a workshop located on the Ring Road and torched 10 Nato oil tankers, completely gutting them. The attackers fled while opening fire.
http://www.dawn.com/2010/11/20/gunmen-torch-10-nato-oil-tankers-in-peshawar.html
Thousands protest against Afghanistan war
The demonstration, which organisers said was 10,000-strong, came as the prime minister, David Cameron, said the withdrawal of British combat troops from Afghanistan by 2015 was a "firm deadline" that would be met.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/20/protesters-march-against-afghanistan-war-london
Egypt denies Mubarak swayed Bush on grounds to invade Iraq (AFP)
AFP - Egypt denied on Sunday that President Hosni Mubarak had swayed his then US counterpart George W. Bush to invade Iraq in 2003 because its leader Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101121/wl_mideast_afp/egyptusiraqpolitics
Saudi king will travel to US for treatment
Saudi Arabia's elderly King Abdullah flies to the US today for checks for a back ailment, and Crown Prince Sultan is returning from holiday. Political stability in the monarchy is of global concern. The Gulf Arab state controls more than a fifth of the world's crude reserves, is a vital US ally in the region, a major holder of dollar assets and home to the biggest Arab bourse.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-king-will-travel-to-us-for-treatment-2140325.html
Muslim Brotherhood supporters clash with police in Alexandria
Supporters of a Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary candidate marching in Alexandria on Friday night (10/19/10) encountered state security forces as more than 200 people were arrested across the country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9LSp8LjoWw&feature=youtube_gdata
For Saudi Women, Biggest Challenge Is Getting to Play
After the 18-year-old Saudi equestrian Dalma Malhas won a bronze medal in show jumping at the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August, she was singled out for praise by Jacques Rogge, chairman of the International Olympic Committee, in a news conference at the Games' conclusion. "This is indeed the first time that a Saudi woman is participating in an international event," let alone winning a medal, Mr. Rogge said of Olympic events. Ms. Malhas's achievement, he said, had made the I.O.C. "absolutely happy."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/sports/18SAUDISPORTS.html?_r=1 www.TheHeadlines.org 
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Israel's ashkenazi elite, not Russian immigrants, are responsible for the country's ever increasing racism
Nov 22, 2010 11:33 am | Gabriel Ash Before syphilis was baptized with its modern name, it used to be called the "French disease" in Italy, Poland and Germany, the "Italian disease" in France, the "Spanish disease" in the Netherlands, the "Polish disease" in Russia and the "Christian disease" in Istanbul. Something quite similar appears to be today the fate of overt racism. Bad people always seem to be bringing it from elsewhere. For some unfathomable reason nobody wants to claim ownership. Thus, of all places in Israel, Yossi Gurvitz informs us that "disregard of human rights, contempt for democracy and the democratic process, and rampant racism towards 'uncivilized people', such as Asians or Muslims" are symptoms of the Soviet system, the portrait of a homo sovieticus. To be clear, I don't call Gurvitz "a racist," a term that I believe should, for reasons of discursive hygiene, be reserved to those who advocate racial discrimination. "Identify the racist" is often a loser's game, and merely replacing the figure of the homo sovieticus with that of a homo ashkenaz would achieve little that is worth achieving. What is worth achieving is understanding how racializing reinforces relations of power and domination. To do that one must start with dismissing Gurvitz's defense, not in order to prove that he is indeed a racist, but to understand the work expressions such as homo sovieticus perform. Gurvitz's main defense is that he cannot be a racist because he has the facts on his side. Russian immigrants have measurably more racist attitudes. To argue with such facts would be to defy common sense. But racism almost always proceeds from facts. To be sure, fictional racism exists, witness Joan Peters, Alan Dershowitz and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. These however are the exceptions. Racist arguments are generally based on facts, badly selected, misused and misinterpreted, but nonetheless facts. Racism is not ignorance of the other. On the contrary, it is a form of knowledge. Russian immigrants do hold more authoritarian and racist news than average Jewish Israelis, but what Gurvitz does with facts such as this is crude. He presents a one tone stereotype of a "Lieberman voter." Do really people vote for Lieberman because they are "isolated from the outside world?" Do issues of class, resource allocation, power and identity have nothing to do with that vote? Then he attributes that caricature to "the soviet system." Is "blind acceptance of claims made by authority" really the result of living under the soviet system? I was born in a communist country, and the people I know took from the experience a general belief that claims made by state authorities are lies. Perhaps I am not as well informed about Soviet life as Gurvitz. Finally, he asserts that these racist attitudes inherent in Russians made Israel more racist, a very questionable claim. What motivates Gurvitz's anger? Gurvitz assures us that he knows all about Israel's history. Unfortunately he shows little effort to draw insight from this knowledge. Let us begin with the end: Gurvitz says that "there is something exceptionally loathsome in an émigré whose politics are based on the idea of expelling the native population." Israel exists by virtue of Jews arriving from Europe and expelling the native population. Granted that what Lieberman is proposing is loathsome, how is it exceptionally loathsome relative to the very foundation of Israel and its continuing refusal to allow the return of the expelled Palestinians? Were not the Palmach troops composed of and led by émigrés? Isn't the very expression of "exceptional" outrage here a mean to normalize and naturalize the original outrage? The expulsion of 1948 is not only the foundational act of Israel's creation. Crucially, it is the foundation of the distribution of wealth in Israel. By and large, Israelis possess wealth to the extent that they or their families were close to this act of original dispossession. The wealthiest, most powerful, most connected Israelis, which Gurvitz identifies, following Kimmerling, as "ahusalim" (secular Ashkenazi veteran socialist nationalists), were those whose families directly profited from the expulsion. The domination of this group over other subordinated groups was and is based on the control of the resources primarily grabbed through that expulsion. Itzhak Laor, reviewing Kimmerling, explains what happened next: One by one, Kimmerling enumerates the sequence of cracks that appeared in Ahusal rule: Gush Emunim, the ultra-Orthodox, the Mizrahi Jews who have their origins in the Muslim countries and Shas, the immigration from Russia, the deprived Arabs. All these groups were created by the Ahusalim, or more precisely, were shaped by the Ahusalim into dependents, potential voters in return for loyalty, and turned into forces that at one stage or another shook off the need to kiss the hand of the Ahusal.(http://www.haaretz.com/culture/books/wiped-out-1.70743 )
Gurvitz thinks that being an "ahusal" is a pejorative. It needn't be. It is the naming of a sociopolitical configuration. If you want to change a society, a good starting point is understanding it, mapping it, and indentifying how power flows in it. Political strategies follow from political analysis. For Gurvitz, the reason Israel is becoming more and more racist is because of the rise of various groups that are inherently more racist than the original ethnic cleansers. These groups are primarily religious Jews and Russians. A clear political strategy follows from this racialized analysis of racism in Israel: we need to strengthen the power of the original ethnic cleansers and the people who benefitted most from that ethnic cleansing. The more power they have, the more liberal and democratic Israel will become. This is the upshot of Gurvitz's homo sovieticus putdown for Lieberman. It is a plea for people outside Israel to support "ahusal" domination. The alternative analysis that I propose, following Kimmerling, Laor, and others, is that, rather than other Jews being inherently more racist, it is precisely the various maneuvers of the ahusalim seeking to defend their privilege against challenges that has progressively moved Israel to ever increasing racism and violence. The original settlers opened the country to Arab Jews in order to avoid having to let the Palestinian refugees back in. Then the elite chose the economic path of militarization and war primarily to avoid having to share wealth with these same Arab Jews. Militarization lead directly to the occupation of 1967. After 1967, the territories became the tool for keeping the peace between the different sections of Israeli society, and in particular for building an alliance with religious Jews. This became even more important during Oslo, when settlements became an alternative welfare system while Israel itself went the neoliberal way, allowing the wealthiest Israelis to become ever wealthier. Finally, the Russian immigration itself was welcomed and encouraged in order to check the rising power of Shas and restore white power. The often noted absence of a class and race perspective from the analysis of the conflict presented by the Israeli left is not merely a matter of a moral failure. The Israeli "left" cannot deal critically with its own class and race position because it is the political expression of racially constituted elite. This elite is looking for "peace" when and to the extent that it perceives it as a useful strategy for maintaining power and privilege, not only vis-à-vis Palestinians but also vis-à-vis all other sectors of Jewish society. Unfortunately, this very strategy explains why reconciliation with Palestinians has such a small constituency in Israel and why challenges to the power of this elite manifest themselves primarily as expressions of anti-Arab racism. The upshot of this analysis is also clear. Supporting white Ashkenazi (ahusalim, if one prefers) domination in Israel, in addition to having no moral justification, is, to the extent that the past is any indication, a recipe for further disaster. That is a good reason why the racialization of "fascism" in Israel as a Soviet import that Gurvitz offers as analysis should be politely turned down. Gabriel Ash is an activist and writer. Ash is a core member of IJAN (Inrternational Jewish Anti-Zionist Network), and he co-writes the blog Jews Sans Frontieres. He writes because the pen is sometimes mightier than the sword and sometimes not. He welcomes comments at g.a.evildoer A T gmail D O T com. 
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Lebanon, the endgame
Nov 22, 2010 09:16 am | Norman Finkelstein Several recent news items have focused on Israel's desire to confront Iran in Lebanon by taking on Iranian ally, Hizbollah. Yesterday Norman Finkelstein sent along this clip from the Asia Times, "Israel moves to counter Hezbollah," which begins, "In the past few months, Israel has gone out of its way to cast itself as a victim of aggression in case a war with Hezbollah breaks out." Finkelstein wrote, "Setting aside the obvious propaganda and lies, it's accurate: we're approaching the endgame." I asked him to elaborate. The US, UK and French will first use the UN to soften the target: (1) Israel is withdrawing from northern Ghajar to put it in compliance with UNSC Res 1701. Pressure will now be exerted on Lebanon to comply with 1701 by disarming Hezbollah; (2) The Special Tribunal on Lebanon (STL) will indict members of Hezbollah for Hariri's assassination, sparking sectarian Shia-Sunni discord; (3) The threat of a devastating Israeli attack will foment domestic pressure supporting Hezbollah's disarmament to preempt such an attack; (4) The UNSC will then start passing resolutions (reminiscent of 1990-1991 against Iraq) putting sanctions on Lebanon. Once the ground has been prepared Israel will move in for the kill. Of course, the Palestinian "Authority" will be told that once the Hezbollah threat is removed, Israel will be prepared to make real concessions for peace. As to what will happen in the likely event of war, see the section titled "1967 REDUX/THE WAR TO END ALL WARS" in the attached afterword to the forthcoming paperback edition of the Gaza book, This Time We Went Too Far. [excerpt:] Feeling trapped and cornered, desperate to restore its deterrence but appearing yet more inept after each successive attempt, emancipated from the constraints of public opinion and legal repercussion, and after repeatedly threatening to attack Iran and Hezbollah, making it ever harder to back down and not lose credibility, an unhinged Israeli leadership just might go for broke. It is not being a Cassandra to prognosticate an impending doomsday, and it is far from premature to sound the alarm that at bare minimum Israel must be compelled to join the regional consensus supporting a WMD-free zone in the Middle East. Indeed, it deserves underscoring that Israel's refusal to fully withdraw from the territories it conquered in 1967 has blocked a diplomatic settlement with the Palestinians and Syria that would drastically reduce the likelihood of regional war.
Of course, Obama's promise to veto any "anti-Israel" resolutions in the next year will enable Israel to massacre Lebanon with complete impunity. 
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Put it down and walk away?! (an exchange over BDS, and Israel, between 2 Jewish lawyers)
Nov 22, 2010 08:59 am | David Samel and Kathleen Peratis Two weeks back we reported on a debate on Jewish Perspectives on Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions at a Brooklyn church (videos here). Adam Horowitz moderated, and Kathleen Peratis, a lawyer and member of the J Street board, argued against boycott. David Samel, who is also a lawyer, attended the event. He later sent Peratis a letter. She responded. Samel and Peratis have allowed us to publish their correspondence: Dear Kathleen Peratis: I attended the BDS debate in Park Slope Thursday night and found it quite fascinating. I hope you do not mind my burdening you with this rather lengthy response. I'm an appellate lawyer for whom "brief" is a one-word oxymoron. You and Gil Kulick were very articulate in your presentation and conveyed the sincerity of your hope for a resolution that, if not perfectly fair, could be agreeable to all sides. However, I disagreed strongly with the content of your positions, and would like to respond on three particular issues: the viability of a truly Jewish and democratic state; the events of 1948; and the question of apartheid. There was much discussion on whether there can be a democratic and Jewish State. You see no contradiction in the terms Jewish and democratic, and think that such state can provide equal rights to all. Israel is now in its 63rd year, and as you are well aware (and expressed vehement opposition to), discrimination against Palestinian citizens is only getting worse. We're not talking about private discrimination of the type that continues to exist in the US, but government-sponsored discrimination that would never survive scrutiny under our constitutional equal protection guarantees. In education, Arab and Jewish children are mostly in separate schools, with Jewish schools receiving several times the funding per student as Arab schools. In social relations, Jews and Palestinians may not marry each other in Israel, and have to travel abroad to do so. In housing, Jews can live virtually anywhere, while Palestinians are severely restricted. The list goes on and on. Surely these discriminatory policies can be ameliorated, but can there ever be true equality between Jews and non-Jews in a Jewish State? I think that is not even possible theoretically. The policy of giving you and me the right to "return" to the land from which our ancestors supposedly were expelled millennia ago, while denying that right to the ethnically-challenged Palestinians whose roots "only" go back hundreds of years, is inherently discriminatory. Even more importantly, the more egregious forms of discrimination against Palestinian citizens appear destined to continue, and perhaps worsen, into the far foreseeable future. How long should they have to wait for improvement, especially when full equality is beyond their reach? You and Gil seemed to cherish the 1948 declaration of Ben-Gurion founding the state, with its rosy promise to guarantee equal rights to all. Whether you accept his sincerity or not, and I do not, his guarantee is absolutely meaningless, just like the Soviet Constitution guarantee of free and fair elections. Of course, for the following 18 years, Ben-Gurion's promise did not even include the right to vote for Palestinians. Since 1966, the words of 1948 have continued to be empty and meaningless, a promise that will never be fulfilled. That leads me to 1948. You claimed that the UN partition resolution of 1948 created the state of Israel and signified international recognition of a Jewish State. First of all, the resolution dated from 1947, and the mistake is not as trivial as it may first appear. The resolution did not create the state. It was a non-binding General Assembly proposal for partition that passed. The state was created when Ben-Gurion made his declaration of independence, and a sufficient number of countries, principally both the US and USSR, recognized Israel's independence. But even worse, your invocation of the UN is disingenuous. I cannot think of a single UN action since then that Israel has respected. One year after the partition resolution, the UNGA passed Resolution 194, calling for the return of Palestinian refugees, and Israel has adamantly rejected that ever since. Even the partition resolution did not have unequivocal Jewish support. Many Jews rejected partition itself, and those like Ben-Gurion who accepted it did not accept the borders drawn or the prohibition against driving people from their homes. The UN Mediator Bernadotte, a hero of the Holocaust, was assassinated by the Jewish side in 1948. It would be hypocritical in the extreme to demand respect for a single 1947 UN resolution - and only the one aspect of that one resolution that proposed the Jewish State - while ignoring Israel's flagrant disregard and even contempt for the UN ever since. While it was not discussed much at the debate, the origin of the refugee issue is highly relevant. To establish the type of Jewish State with a Jewish super-majority, dispossessing large numbers of Arab inhabitants was necessarily part of the plan. We all agree that if all of the Palestinian descendants were allowed to return today, Israel would be demographically overwhelmed and unable to continue as a Jewish State. Israel's founders were well aware of demographics, and knew that if they did not expel hundreds of thousands, their state would have a rather short expiration date. Even Benny Morris, the leftist-turned-rightist historian, concedes that there were at least 24 massacres by armed Jewish forces of Palestinian civilians in an effort to incite flight. (He thinks Ben-Gurion should have completed the ethnic cleansing process.) Finally, you were indignant in denouncing the comparison of Israel to apartheid. As your co-panelist Gil conceded, the situation in the occupied territories already resembles apartheid in South Africa. It is the OPT situation of complete separation and grossly unequal access to resources that has most often been compared to apartheid. Specifically, that is what Jimmy Carter had in mind when his famous book title drew such scorn. But what of Israel itself? You claim that it is not nearly as bad as SA apartheid, and that is arguably true, but as Hannah Mermelstein [arguing the pro-BDS side] pointed out, it still may fit the international law definition of apartheid that is not restricted to conditions as they existed in South Africa. And you expressed revulsion over the continuing intolerable discrimination within Israel, but say it falls well short of apartheid. What would you call it? Apartheid-lite? When the African National Congress demanded an end to apartheid, they insisted on equality, not simply diminished discrimination. I think the main difference between you and me, Kathleen, is that you see 1948 as a glorious achievement that has been undermined by post-1967 misjudgments. I see 1967 as a continuation of the faulty principles that have plagued the Zionist movement since the beginning. It was always about building a national fantasy at the expense of the natives, who simply don't count as much. It was always envisioned that Palestinians would be severely compromised to pave the way for the Jewish State, and they cannot be faulted for refusing to accept their expulsion, domination and subjugation. (I do not excuse in the slightest their attacks on Israeli civilians, but that does not "delegitimize" their grievance.) Relatedly, all of this talk about Jewish self-determination and Jewish sovereignty is ill-conceived. As American Jews, a tiny minority of the population, do we lack self-determination and sovereignty? Perhaps you fear the risk of a worldwide tidal wave of anti-Semitism. Personally, I think that Jews are among the most protected human beings on Earth, despite (or maybe as a result of) our unfortunate history. But do you think that the hypothetical and speculative danger to Jews should take precedence over the genuine misery that Israel has inflicted, and continues to inflict, on Palestinians? I also think that much of the anti-Semitism that exists in the world is generated by the arrogance of Israel in callously, even gleefully at times, forcing that misery upon a defenseless population. It is not easy to say one day that something you always believed in - a Jewish State that can truly be a model for humanity - actually was a bad idea from the start, and has no future in a world that rejects as immoral any inequality based upon birth characteristics. Today, it is not possible to reverse the decades of death and dispossession and discrimination. But there is a way forward. Enter the 21st century and decide that the principle forbidding ethno-religious discrimination trumps the necessity for a Jewish State. It might be difficult, but certainly not impossible, to transform Israel and the territories into one state that treats all citizens equally, with guarantees of security and religious freedom for all. On the other hand, there is no long-term future for a Jewish State that offers more privileges, rights, and status to some (even a majority) of its citizens. That is a recipe for perpetual seething discontent. Despite our differences, I do want to thank you for your participation in the debate. I found all four of the panelists to be very eloquent, respectful and honest, and I'm very glad I attended. Cordially, David Samel Dear David,
I am afraid we have little common ground other than our mutual desire to have a respectful exchange with each other.
Our fundamental and unbridgeable gap is your assumption that the continued existence of Israel is actually on the table for discussion. It is not. Israel is a legitimate member of the community of nations--not the best of them but far from the worst--and you and others who actually think this is a productive subject for discussion are at best wasting your time and at worst serious obstacles to peace. You seem to suggest that if the original raison d'etre for Israel was a post-Shoah safe haven for Jews, then that reason no longer applies and so Israel should say, "Okay, if that is how you feel, we will fold up and go away." Even the Arab world accepts Israel (see Arab Peace Initiative http://www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/league/peace02.htm) so to what end are you beating this dead delegitimizing horse? By the way, national liberation movements have led to bloody expulsions and even genocide over the last 100 years but I am not aware of any serious calls to undo the creation of the resulting states. Are you?
I see what may be a clue to the answer to this question in your saying, "It is not easy to say one day that something you always believed in -- a Jewish state that can truly be a model for humanity--actually was a bad idea from the start..." If by this you are assuming it is something I always believed in, you are wrong. I did not grow up with Zionism or even Judaism. I came to both only twenty years ago--recently enough so that I knew what I was getting into. But I suspect that what you actually mean is that you always believed in a Jewish state that could be a model of humanity, and instead you are facing the curdling of your dreams. If so, and if that accounts for the intensity of your bitterness, then I actually understand.
You use a very colorful and not wholly inapt phrase "building a national fantasy at the expense of the native who simply don't count as much." As I read that phrase, I though of America, and counting a slaves as "worth" 3/5 of a white person for apportionment purposes, enshrined in our very constitution, which took a civil war and 150 more years of racial struggle to undo. The discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel is beyond appalling. I could tell you stories that I have heard first hand from a number of Palestinian Israeli friends and also Palestinian American friends that shame me. But, unlike you, these outrages do not make me want to (as I said at the debate, a la Food Channel cooking contests)) "put it down and walk away" or make the useless demand that Israel cease its existence. Instead it motivates me to redouble my support for the thousands of Israelis (Jewish and Palestinian) who feel exactly the way I do and, I gather, the way you did before you gave up, who want to end the discrimination against Palestinians, against immigrant workers, against women, against the non Orthodox; who want to abolish state-sponsored religious courts, who want to enforce Supreme Court rulings against housing discrimination, who want to close the income gaps. Will they ever achieve perfect equality and justice for all of the citizens of Israel? I assume not (no surprise there). Is Israel's Jewish state self-definition the principle problem to doing so? Hardly. I favor making Israeli democracy really good before we worry about making it perfect.
And that brings me to the subject that brought us here-- the Global BDS Movement--which was the subject of the debate last week that you attended. As you know, I regard this movement as a distraction from doing the things that might actually help the American Jewish community drop its blinders and defensiveness and start looking seriously at those painful compromises that are necessary for peace. Neither B, D nor S has any chance to have any economic impact, as Hannah Mermelstein, one of its most prominent spokespeople, admits. It is meant to be an education and organizing tool. As such, it is my observation that it is giving both sides an opportunity they are enthusiastically grasping-- to go right back to their comfort zones, one side delegitimizing Israel and the other side decrying the delegitimization of Israel. Both side are experts at doing what they are doing but that does not advance the cause of peace one millimeter. The hard issues are how to move the Jewish community toward what we correctly call the "painful compromises" and the BDS boogeyman is a great big distraction.
Shavua tov,
Kathleen  
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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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