apartheid

September 1, 2011December 11, 2020

September Spring Surprises

According to Haaretz, the Israeli Knesset is paddling Nutanyahoo for lack of preparation for the declaration of Palestinian fakestatehood this month whilst acclaiming the IDF for its perspicacity.

Based on discussions with MKs and others who have read the report, its authors warned that a successful Palestinian bid for UN recognition as an independent state UN will produce “a long-term anti-Israel process” that will further Palestinian interests and restrict Israel’s ability to maneuver.

The report argued that had Israel offered “a political option” that would have enabled the U.S. administration to draft an agreed formula for resuming Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, it might have been possible to neutralize the Palestinian move.

The report also criticized the failure to integrate the work of various relevant agencies, something that is the responsibility of the Prime Minister’s Bureau and, especially, of the National Security Council.

On the other hand, the committee was favorably impressed by the preparations of the defense establishment, and especially the IDF, for the possibility of a confrontation in September.

The report concluded that what happens in September will create a risk of regional escalation and deterioration. Even though the current Palestinian leadership is not interested in another armed conflict like the second intifada, it said, the impact of the atmosphere generated by the “Arab Spring,” combined with frustration among the Palestinian public at the gap between the UN’s declaration and the reality on the ground, could result in an outbreak of frustration that could end in serious violence.

The IDF alarm should be taken under hasbara advisement, particular in regard to their last claim of Hamas working with Bedouin in the Sinai:

The senior IDF and Shin Bet officials who appeared before the committee warned that following the UN vote, a “dynamic of events” might develop, and under certain circumstances, this could result within mere days in nonviolent Palestinian demonstrations turning into violent confrontations with many casualties. Under such circumstances, the defense establishment believes the Palestinian security organizations might not be able to contain the violence.

The officials also noted that Iran and Hezbollah have a clear interest in a violent confrontation between Israel and the Palestinians.

Clashes in the West Bank could result in isolated settlements having to defend themselves against mass marches of Palestinians. This in turn could lead to acts of revenge against the Palestinians by extremist settlers.

Defense officials also warned that the confrontation could spill over into Sinai, where there has been growing activity by Hamas in conjunction with groups of extremist Bedouin.

It is not only the the fakestatehood declaration which comes up this month in the UN General Assembly, but the Goldstone Report (aka the UN Fact-Finding Mission Report on the Gaza Conflict), the UN HRC report on Israel’s flotilla attack and the Palmer Report. With a back drop of Israel’s version of Arab Spring – the J14 protests, this may not be a fortuitous month for Israel’s ruling Likud party.

Edward Said deconstructs the spurious Zionist claim to sole ownership of the region they call Israel. “Nobody has a claim which overrides any others and entitles them to drive people out.”

Related Links

‘What will happen if this bid indeed changes nothing on the ground, as most Palestinians indeed believe? What will happen when the Palestinians realize that UN recognition doesn’t change their lives, that the settlements continue to expand, and the occupation continues?
August Position Paper of the Palestinian Delegation to Australia and NZ on statehood makes no mention of Res 194 or ’67 borders.
‘Adalah and ACRI demand that the Israeli police and security services do not treat Arab citizens of Israel who exercise their right to demonstrate as enemies of the state. This demand comes in light of the bitter experience of police conduct towards protests and demonstrations by Palestinians in Israel, first and foremost in October 2000 in which 13 Arab citizens were killed by police fire’
Comprehensive list of various analyses on the fakestatehood bid
As PA ditches “1967 borders” to win UN vote, It’s time to switch to Civil Rights. ‘Now, instead of recognizing Palestine within the 1967 borders, it will say that the permanent borders will be determined by, yes, you guessed, negotiations with Israel “based on” the borders of June 4, 1967. This is where the negotiations were at five years ago.’
Leila Khaled: ‘People who support negotiations, must identify whom the Palestinians must negotiate with’.

‘At the Viva Palestina Arabia conference at the American University of Beirut, there was little enthusiasm among the Palestinians for the idea of a UN membership for rump Palestine.

Far from helping it, the PA’s bid for UN recognition has worsened its political crisis. Palestinians point out that it is meaningless for towns, villages and refugee camps surrounded by Israeli walls to be presented as a sovereign state.

Dr Ghada Karmi, a leading Palestinian activist and writer, has for decades been an ardent supporter of a civil revolt as opposed to armed resistance. She, however, was severely critical of the insistence of PA president Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah group on talks with Israel. “They (Fatah) have closed all doors,” said Karmi, 74, while referring to the president’s position that negotiations are the only means to a solution. “Once your enemy knows that carrying out [futile] talks is all you are capable of, he won’t care. You can talk for as long as you like and they (the Israelis) will build settlement upon settlement,” she added.’

Relevant UN General Assembly Agenda items:

36. Question of Palestine (resolutions 65/13 to 65/16).

51. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near
East (resolutions 65/98 to 65/101).

52. Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the
Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied
Territories (resolutions 65/102 to 65/106).

61. Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied
Syrian Golan over their natural resources (resolution 65/179).

Are Palestinians walking into a trap at the UN?
Why Israel’s Blockade on Gaza is Illegal
Palestinian Americans “unequivocally reject” PA’s UN statehood bid
Ben White: The problem with Palestinian political leadership : A legitimacy deficit, a lack of smart tactics and a focus on power for power’s sake are all barriers to Palestinian liberation
Leila Khaled: ‘People who support negotiations, must identify whom the Palestinians must negotiate with’.

Palestine / Israel Links

Danon sleazes up to South Sudan, which needs to get a clue about the apartheid entity.
For the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state is to declare their surrender, meaning, to waive their group dignity by negating their historical narrative and national identity.

Wikileaks

WikiLeaks: Iraqi children in U.S. raid shot in head, U.N. says
A massive archive of unredacted US diplomatic cables is circulating freely on the web

WikiLeaks accused the Guardian’s investigative reporter David Leigh of divulging the password needed to decrypt the files in a book published earlier this year.

It’s done: bruised egos lead to the release of uncensored WikiLeaks cables – Bernard Keane has a rounded view
Jonathan Holmes :

the fact that Dorling has sole custody of the WikiLeaks cables, and the editors of The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald have not insisted on the publication of cables relevant to Dorling’s news stories, regardless of what WikiLeaks was doing, is a dereliction of their editorial responsibility.

August 29, 2011December 11, 2020

Beyond July 14

Predicated on an antisemitic fallacy that Jewish people can only be safe in a Jewish state and that Jews bring antisemitism with them, Herzl’s political zionism was intrinsically bigoted. Jews should be able to be safe anywhere – there is no place for racism or bigotry of any kind within social systems which respect universal human rights and justice.

Jewish ‘security’ in Israel is mounted on two-tiered formally legislated privilege for Jews and dispossession of non-Jews, beginning with the fact that only Jews are nationals of Israel, while all are citizens.

So political zionism turns out not to be like ‘ANY nationalism’. In democracies, nationality is not determined by religion or ethnicity. Not so in Israel where more than 30 laws discriminate against non-Jews. Racist division and class envy are useful to elites, who then redirect challenges to their ruling hegemony toward chosen scapegoats. Palestinians, their supporters, and most visibly, the demonised spectre of Hamas, serve as zionist hegemony’s scapegoats.

The July 14 movement is protesting the practices of a state which imposes legal constraints circumscribing zionist elite privilege, challenging oppressive neoliberal structures directly on the issue of unequal access to housing, an issue adversely affecting a large majority, save the elite, across many divides within the imaginary Israeli borders. This movement is organic, seems to be inclusive and coopting of common cause, heading in the right direction toward equal rights for all, challenging the internal class divide. There is understandable concern that Palestinians who have located themselves within the protest movement are being used to further zionist privilege whilst the urgent, grievous lack of Palestinian rights is neglected for political expediency and a tactic of uniting the polity (not including Palestinians in the OPT) against the state.

The protest has support of 85% of the Israeli populace – if it maintains momentum, there’s potential for the racist state and its exclusivist zionist ideology to be irrevocably transformed by the process as its polity – its complete citizenry – transforms through direct action and interaction. Palestinians have erected tents to highlight their issues and spoken to demonstrations. Yet to expect uncritical solidarity for a movement which marginalises the most severe injustices perpetrated by the zionist regime as a tactical move by excluding them from the main agenda is petulant. Social justice movements worthy of the name aim for justice for all, not ‘just us’ and seek allies who are solidly grounded in human rights and social justice, not drive them away or expect them to drop their long-held principles – that is a form of colonisation, the prerogative of the Occupier.

Those who are annoyed that some folks aren’t rushing to acclaim the J14 protests unequivocally might consider the reaction in Australia if Aboriginals and their supporters were told to back a cause for affordable housing prices across Australia where specific Aboriginal housing concerns and dis-advantage were kept off the main agenda in order not to alienate wide support.

@AboriginalOz lol, the condition of participation for Aboriginal ppl is to exclude the possibility of meeting the needs of Aboriginal ppl? ummm #

UPDATE RT @Budouroddick @davidsheen Since list of demands drops all references to aiding non-Jewish groups who suffer worst from housing crisis, #j14 is now officially #jew14 #

Related Links

Kadima opportunism on the J14 movement, including annotation of early views
Essential reading: Max Ajl, “Social Origins of the Tent Protests in Israel”
Can the J14 protests help overcome zionism? ‘Palestinian-Israelis join the July 14 protests at great personal risk. They fear that by joining the movement their own national identity will be co-opted to advance a struggle that will betray them in the end’.
Olive Revolt in Palestine
Yossi Gurvitz casts out the doubters and critics … ‘Israelis have never received any education about equality.’
The sham solidarity of Israel’s Zionist left
J14 and the rift between Israeli and international activists
Arab social justice needs heard by the gov’t-what about J14?

‘The initial list of demands J14 released included two items specifically about Arab citizens – blanket recognition for unrecognized Bedouin towns and the expansion of municipal borders for Arab towns to accommodate natural growth, Dimi reported. But a separate document prepared by a different grassroots group has no special demands related to Arabs – rumor has it that these might be adopted by the Student Union, although it’s not clear. In a press conference last week, Daphni Leef – the symbolic leader of the original housing protesters – presented a short list described as the most urgent priorities, which had no such demands.’

Amira Hass: Israel must get ready for its own ‘Irene’
The September Journey part 1: Why I’m heading off
In final push, J14 to hold ‘million-person’ march
Max Blumenthal : J14 and the Calamity of Hope: a response to critics
Palestine is Still the Issue The Zionist left in theory and practice
Normalcy, hope and the Israeli tent protesters

August 29, 2011December 11, 2020

BDS Protest Against Apartheid Israel Near Max Brenner in Brisbane

Ian Curr at the Workers Bush Telegraph reports on the protest at South Bank against Israeli company Max Brenner’s support of apartheid and occupation.

Ironically, the BDS protest was opposed by a strident group of “Zionists, people mobilised by Max Brenner and University of Qld Liberal club … heavily supported by the Australian Patriotic Defence Movement (APDM), a fascist organistion here in Australia”.

With no irony they shouted slurs like ‘racists’ ‘anti-semites'(curious because some of us are semites) and ‘traitors'(to what, the Israeli flag they carried?). Some held up placards of the Australian Flag.

..The cops used water barricades to separate us from the abusive mob. Our speakers could not be heard above the din as the slanging match began. No reasoned debate was possible. The mob held up ‘Never Again’ placards, taking the holocaust slogan in vain. How could Jewish people stand alongside Nazis from the APDM to shout us down is beyond me. Our message was never about race or religion, it was about democratic rights for Palestinian people indicated in the three demands of the BDS movement …

Ian says that ‘This was the first time in 30 years that a demonstration I have been in had been attacked by the organised right.’ The opposition of the white supremacist far right against the anti-racist, pro-human rights BDS solidarity for Palestinians which includes amongst its supporters many Jewish people is unsurprising. White supremacists either hate Arabs only slightly more than they hate Jews, or hate Jews only slightly more than they hate Arabs. White supremacists are opportunistic with their allegiances, gravitating to support other intrinsically fascist movements – like political zionism, which erroneously claims to represent the aspirations for ‘security’ of all Jews by the false premise and maintenance of a racist religio-ethnic state built on the dispossession, subjugation and de-privileging of Palestinian people. Like other groups, Jews should be able to live safely anywhere, without compromising the collective and individual human rights of others.

On a very positive note, and as highlighted in the video below:

‘… the Qld Teachers Union QTU had just passed a motion in support of the Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions BDS campaign. Inside the Convention Centre next door the teachers had voted to continue to support the BDS.’

The next Brisbane Justice for Palestine meeting will be held on 14th September at 6.30pm at the TLC building.

The good news is that there is no call to march on Jewish-owned businesses by any group of people. But also worth knowing is that if indeed Jewish businesses were ever targeted by any group I would not be surprised to find the same human rights advocates who are marching against Israel today standing to defend the Jewish community’s right to live free of racism and intolerance. These are the values held by the BDS movement: non- violence, equality, justice for all and zero tolerance for all forms of racism and discrimination. But you would never know that, if your primary source of information is The Australian newspaper.

BDS protesters say they won’t be silenced, intimidated
Greens senator Lee Rhiannon stands by Israel boycott
Danby implies that the white supremacists who demonstrated with zionists are ‘mainstream Australia’

BDS action against Max Brenner undeterred by counter protest
Canada: Community radio broadcasters back Israel boycott
Chocolate war gets messy
Zionist propaganda about the Brisbane demo
Australia BDS campaign under attack
Anti-Israel campaign leaves parliament in shameful disarray

Why does the ALP continue to resist BDS? supporting BDS is consistent with opposition to South African apartheid! The Australian continues its disgraceful divide and conquer attack on BDS support from Australian unions – the zio-imperialists continue to illustrate their fear of the strength of ethical BDS.

Enough With The Nazi Slurs : Antony Loewenstein
Why Palestine protests target Max Brenner

Contrast the Max Brenner protests in Australia with the Palestinian Olive Revolution protests and commentary in Part 2: The Olive Revolution, Knocking on Jerusalem’s Doors at Qalandia Checkpoint

Abir Kopty reports : Olive Revolt in Palestine

Palestine / Israel

Youth Against Normalization: #BDS: Boycott #Israel campaign targets London’s Hatton Gardens
Israel uses sport for propaganda to normalise its apartheid
Sonja Karkar:

For decades the mantra of a Palestinian state side by side with the state of Israel has been the only solution given any credence. But now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going all out to prevent it, while a long-time supporter in Australia is deciding between a ”no” vote in the UN or abstaining.
…
The arguments for and against statehood are many. There is a sense of foreboding in many Palestinians and supporters who see the statehood bid as only further entrenching Israel’s occupation, with no prospect of an intransigent Israel abiding by international law.

Negotiations are, in fact, a ruse to keep the old discredited paradigm of a two-state solution going for as long as it takes Netanyahu to achieve his goal of a Greater Israel.

More than the statehood bid, what threatens the Greater Israel dream is the fast-growing global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Modelled on the movement that helped bring down apartheid South Africa, BDS is adding to the tremors being felt in the power structures that have enabled Israel to wreak such havoc at home and in the region.

For peace and a just solution, it is time to hold Israel to account.

Gaza strikes kill two youths, and cut off hands of 13-year-old boy playing football
Israel’s bloodthirsty illegal reprisals against Gazan citizens claim 17 lives, including 2 children. PCHR Weekly Report

‘In addition, 3 workers went missing when Israeli warplanes bombarded a tunnel in Rafah. A Palestinian resistance fighter died of a previous wound in Gaza City.

14 Palestinians, including 5 children and two women, were wounded by Israeli forces the Gaza Strip.’

Video: No Place is Safe in Gaza

Report: Egypt thwarts Israeli assassination of Hamas PM
Australia supported the US against the Goldstone Report after a US demarche
Protests in 6 governorates demand expulsion of Israeli ambassador

While protests in Egypt are demanding a reassessment of Egypt Israel ties, Nutanyahoo is using this to delay negotiations with Palestinians.

Jimmy Carter to Haaretz: Recent Cairo protests threaten Israel-Egypt peace treaty
Israel OK’s expansion of building in Hebron : Israel OK’s expansion of building in Hebron: Barak “a tool of the most radical settlers”.
Occupation renews administrative detention of Palestinian lawmaker
Israel inflicting the third pillar of apartheid again
Microsoft CEO “Microsoft is as much an Israeli company as an American company
Egypt’s military ruler Tantawi and the American siege of Gaza: revelations from Wikileaks

Australia Links

Amerikkka using historical commemoration as propaganda in Australia: the Great White Fleet
Maxine McKew and Greg Smith confide in the empire prior to the 2007 election
What Really Happened in the Bin Laden Raid?

Libya Links

Did Wikileaks just reveal the US blueprint for Libya?
Dead Sirte: Another Murderous Twist in NATO’s Coil of Lies
Oh look, AQ freed in Libya, joining the rebels – what a lovely excuse for the US to establish AFRICOM bases there. : Al Qaeda Terrorists Fled Libyan Prisons, Joined Rebels – Report
The rape of Libya
Assault on Tripoli ‘planned weeks ago’
Video: With Support Of NATO Racist Rebels Continue To Eradicate Black Libyans
NATO nations set to reap spoils of Libya war
The African Union (AU) does not currently recognise the Transitional Council as the ruling power in Libya.
Libyan “liberation” : Max Ajl surveys the devastation of Libya and looks at some of the wins in store for empire.

August 25, 2011December 11, 2020

Tuba Skinny Explains Why They Cancelled Their Gig in Israel

NOTE: I and others emailed Kiowa of Tuba Skinny to ask for a clear statement about the reasons for their Eilat gig cancellation. He has kindly provided one below.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————-

The viewpoints of Tuba Skinny in regard to our recent cancellation at the Red Sea Jazz Festival have recently become a popular topic of debate among numerous websites and news forums. We did not want to comment on a situation that we as foreigners know so little about, but it seems that we now have no choice but to comment.

The reasons for our cancellation are numerous. First, when we agreed to play the festival we were not aware that it was largely state sponsored, or that people on the other side of the wall would be denied entry. This should suffice to demonstrate my meaning when I say that we do not have the comprehensive viewpoint necessary to make political commentary on such a serious matter. It is a fact that prior to our show, two days before we were scheduled to fly to Israel from Rome, we were approached by various people via E-mail who are affiliated with the BDS and AAA movements. After thoroughly researching what they told us in numerous emails, we were more enlightened on the current situation of the Wall, in addition to the extreme actions taken by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people. This was a shaking realization, especially because as a street band from New Orleans, we had not even heard the call to boycott, and never so much as considered the idea that playing music for people could be seen as a statement aligning us with any extremist group. Our intentions were to play on the street in Israel and the surrounding areas for the people, not for any government. It is a real regret to not play for Palestinian and Israeli people alike, especially because many of these people have expressed openly that they do not support the Wall, or the killing of innocent people carried out by either side. Our intentions at no time included playing in support of government sponsored atrocities or independent ones. The day before our flight, after hours of stressful deliberation, we decided that we should not back out of our slated appearance for these reasons: Many people who live in Israel and wish for equal rights and peace had bought tickets to see us, and it was mere days before the show; the organizers, whose political stance has never been known to us, had worked very hard on our behalf; We were in Italy with no way home; and we viewed it as an opportunity to speak out against segregation and senseless killing. We thought to donate the proceeds from the festival to relief and human rights organizations involved in this crisis. After reaching this painful decision, we immediately learned of the killings outside of Eilat and the subsequent bombings in Gaza, both with the loss of innocent lives. This was the icing on the cake. We could not support any of these actions, let alone risk the obvious personal danger that was implied. It was for a mixture of these reasons that we decided to back out. Not only the Apartheid Wall, not only the attacks at Gaza, not only the attacks outside of Eilat, not only the endless violence for centuries, but all of it combined. Of course we do not support the merciless bulldozing of homes or the indiscriminate murder of Israeli and Palestinian people from both sides! With this in mind, I in my ignorance would never be so presumptuous as to approach an Israeli or Palestinian individual and start spouting off about my political opinion. To a mother who has lost her child. An Israeli mother, a Palestinian mother, it makes no difference. I cannot imagine what that would be like, though there are many alive today who can. We live in a country whose government is involved directly in this crisis, and many of the citizens here avoid talking about it because even here it often ends in heated debate or violence. Many of the citizens in the USA have never supported the government in this.

We have received pressure from many directions to make a statement. Here it is.

-Kiowa Wells on behalf of Tuba Skinny

Kiowa sent a second statement also:

By the way. If anybody plans on quoting our statement, it would be appreciated if nobody takes excerpts here and there to prove a point we are not making. I do not expect that anyone I sent this to would do that, but just wanted to put it out there anyway, because so often people will extract some part of a sentence and add it to their own very different statement. Thanks- kio

August 24, 2011December 11, 2020

BDS Protests Max Brenner Support of Apartheid Israel’s Occupation

The latest BDS (boycotts, divestments and sanctions) action against the Israeli Strauss Group business at the company’s Newtown location was a great success. For more than 30 years, Max Brenner Chocolates have proudly sponsored a notorious, brutal component of the illegal Israeli military occupation, the Golani Brigade, infamous for its involvement in the 2006 invasion of Lebanon and other atrocities. As the corporate website says: “Our connection with soldiers goes as far back as the country, and even further. We see a mission and need to continue to provide our soldiers with support, to enhance their quality of life and service conditions, and sweeten their special moments.” Green Left Weekly reports:

The action also protested the arrests of several BDS activists in Melbourne for engaging in peaceful protest. Vivienne Porzsolt, from Jews Against The Occupation, explained why it was ridiculous and a slander to try and brand the BDS movement anti-Semitic which it clearly is not. In fact, she added, the BDS movement was pro-freedom and anti-racist.

The next BDS protest against Max Brenner will be in Brisbane this weekend.

PROTEST: Sat August 27
Gather at 1pm in park on cnr of Merivale & Glenelg St for a march to Max Brenner store at South Bank

Phone: 0400 720 757, 0401 586 923
Email:

Spread the word!

Download posters and flyers:
http://boycottmaxbrenner.wikispaces.com/flyers+and+posters

Palestine / Israel Links

Injured CodePink activist Rae Abileah to file suit against Netanyahu supporters : Rae Abileah ‘hopes to make those who silence the truth about what is happening in Palestine “held accountable for their illegal actions”.’

UK Riots

Shoplifters of the World Unite : Slavoj Žižek on the meaning of the riots