Netanyahu’s Transparent Dancing Demurral

The lying Nutanyahoo attempts to avoid the lobster quadrille with the Quartet, preferring to commence a secret hasbara tango with an illegitimate Abbas, who is making offers without consultation again. Anyone who’s read the Liekud Party platform, which remains unchanged, or Nutanyahoo’s Bar Ilan speech of June 09, knows how disingenuous Nutanyahoo really is. He can’t go against his own party platform which says, amongst other chauvinist, colonialist drivel that flies in the face of international law:

The Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza are the realization of Zionist values. Settlement of the land is a clear expression of the unassailable right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and constitutes an important asset in the defense of the vital interests of the State of Israel. The Likud will continue to strengthen and develop these communities and will prevent their uprooting.

The Government of Israel flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan river.

The Palestinians can run their lives freely in the framework of self-rule, but not as an independent and sovereign state. Thus, for example, in matters of foreign affairs, security, immigration and ecology, their activity shall be limited in accordance with imperatives of Israel’s existence, security and national needs.

Palestine / Gaza Links

Viva Palestina is finalising plans for the Kick Off for Palestine campaign to construct and maintain links with sporting venues in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Ali Abunimah makes a terrific post examining the differentiation between criticism of jewishness and zionism in matters of dual loyalty:

I agree fully with Jones’ reading of Flynn’s reported comments. If accurate it is indeed outrageous to suggest that a British person cannot be loyal to the UK just because he or she is also Jewish. And it’s even more outrageous to suggest that a Jewish person has no “roots” in the UK, just as it would be to suggest the same of a British Muslim or any other person.

But what Jones – and perhaps other critics of Flynn’s comments – have missed, is that the claims Flynn reportedly made have always been at the very heart of Zionism.

Joseph Massad has noted this in his crucial book The Persistence of the Palestinian Question as has international law expert Victor Kattan.

The basic idea is simple enough: Zionists, just like anti-Semites, believed that Jews were inherently alien and rootless in Europe and needed to be expelled physically. The “father” of Zionism, Theodor Herzl in his seminal tract, Der Judenstaat, wrote this nauseatingly anti-Semitic passage:

The Jewish question exists wherever Jews live in perceptible numbers. Where it does not exist, it is carried by Jews in the course of their migrations. We naturally move to those places where we are not persecuted, and there our presence produces persecution. This is the case in every country, and will remain so, even in those highly civilized—for instance, France—until the Jewish question finds a solution on a political basis. The unfortunate Jews are now carrying the seeds of Anti-Semitism into England; they have already introduced it into America.

Of course the “political solution” of which Herzl spoke was – Zionism – the removal of Jews from Europe and America so that they could not carry with them the “seeds” of their own persecution.Greatest British Zionist hero a vile anti-Semite

It is no coincidence then that the greatest British hero of Zionists to this day is Lord Arthur Balfour whose eponymous Balfour Declaration promised the Zionist movement that to which it had no right: the land of Palestine.

As Kattan points out in his book From Coexistence to Conquest: International Law and the Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1891-1949, Balfour’s anti-Semitism was well documented and expressed in his writings. From Kattan:

Zionism actually provided Balfour and those who thought like him with the perfect pretext to reduce Jewish immigration into Britain whilst portraying themselves, falsely, as ‘humanitarians’ concerned about their welfare. This is what Balfour wrote in the conclusion to his introduction to Nahum Sokolow’s epic book, the History of Zionism, 1600–1918 (1919):

If [Zionism] succeeds, it will do a great spiritual and material work for the Jews, but not for them alone. For as I read its meaning it is, among other things, a serious endeavour to mitigate the age-long miseries created for western civilisation by the presence in its midst of **a Body which it too long regarded as alien and even hostile, but which it was equally unable to expel or absorb. Surely, for this if for no other reason, it should receive our support.

That Balfour had the gall to write this in a book on Zionism was foreboding. One can only imagine what he wrote about the Jews in private or in correspondence that was destroyed or lost.

Indeed. And, as Kattan documents, such sentiments were shared by German anti-Semites who in the same period became enthusiastic supporters of Zionism.

U.S. military chief: Unclear if Israel would alert U.S. ahead of attack on Iran – protocols stuffed?

He said the United States was convinced that sanctions and diplomatic pressure was the right path to take on Iran, along with “the stated intent not to take any options off the table” – language that leaves open the possibility of future military action.

“I’m not sure the Israelis share our assessment of that.

And because they don’t and because to them this is an existential threat, I think probably that it’s fair to say that our expectations are different right now,” Dempsey said in an interview as he flew to Washington from London.

Asked whether he was talking about the differences between Israeli and U.S. expectations over sanctions, or differences in perspective about the future course of events, Dempsey said:

“All of the above.” He did not elaborate.

He also did not disclose whether he believed Israel was prepared to strike Iran.

Fayyad to Haaretz: I will not lead a Palestinian unity government
Survey released last week shows 57 percent Palestinians want Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to serve as head of the unity government.

More Inspirational BDS Successes!

A good day for BDS, a good day for justice

Omou Sangaré has cancelled her performance in Tel Aviv scheduled for the 9th December.

BDS : Oumou SANGARÉ annule son concert en Israël !

This is the DPAI (Don’t Play Apartheid Israel) letter to her:

OPEN LETTER to Oumou Sangaré … Don’t close your eyes to torment

Over 150 Swiss artists pledge to boycott apartheid Israel.

Declaration of Swiss Artists Responding to the Palestinian Appeal for Solidarity

Please like and share these pages for Bruce Springsteen (kite-flying maybe but it has been in the Israeli media a lot)

Bruce Springsteen: Working on a Dream for justice, not apartheid
And Ana Moura – 27th January and performing in Dublin beforehand
Ana Moura: Please Don’t Sing for Apartheid
Arch Enemy who have banned and deleted BDS postings from their official page
Arch Enemy: Resist Playing for Apartheid Israel

SOURCE

Rafeef Ziadah – “Shades of Anger”

Rafeef Ziadah in London on the 12th November, 2011.

“You tell me I send my children out to die,
But those are your copters, your F-16s in our skies.”

Samah Sabawi will be presenting at the Labor Fringe in Sydney on the 3rd December 12.45pm to 2pm at Darling Harbour – make sure you are there to support if you can!

Related Links

Israel’s vile blockade on Gaza affects the sick – the most vulnerable people – in terrible ways.
Bruce Springsteen: Working on a Dream for justice, not apartheid
Ana Moura: Please Don’t Sing for Apartheid
Palestinian citizens of Israel and Jewish Israelis protest the death of public housing
In Historic Move, Iceland Becomes the First Western European Nation to Recognize Palestinian Statehood
‘In a meeting Monday night of the NUS’ National Executive Council (NEC), a motion demanding the “immediate end” of KCL’s research project with Ahava was passed with no votes against.

The NEC motion, noting the “overwhelming” international position on the illegality of Israeli settlements, states that “by collaborating with Ahava, King’s itself has become complicit with violations of international law”.’

Witnesses in Bassem Tamimi’s Trial: We were Instructed by Interrogators to Incriminate Him
AIUK : USA only country in world to sentence child offenders to life in prison without parole
Solidarity, Renewal, and Struggle: Revolution Until Liberation
PACBI-Arch Enemy: Stand with Revolution not Apartheid

Occupy Links

Egypt rights group goes after gov’t over US tear gas imports
Robert Fisk: A glimpse of real democracy – but it may prove too good to be true
Election updates in Egypt
A Voter’s Lament – By Mohamed El Dahshan

Australia Links

Australia lowest among OECD disability rankings :

Shame on Australia, and shame on Julia Gillard : ‘The report, Disability Expectations: Investing in a better life, a stronger Australia, found that 45 per cent of people with a disability in Australia live in or near poverty, the worst out of OECD countries, where the average is 22 per cent.’

Barbra Streisand: Don’t Sing for Israel’s Injustices

Dear Barbra Streisand,

It has come to our attention that you have plans to perform in support of Israeli Soldiers on 8 December. Right now Israeli soldiers are committing with impunity countless well-documented war crimes against the indigenous population of Palestine.

We are calling on you now to heed the Palestinian call to boycott the only apartheid regime in the world, one which holds the population of Gaza in virtual imprisonment.[1] The IDF troops maintain what main-stream human rights organizations have called the largest open air prison in modern history, they enforce Israel’s five-year blockade, 63 years of dispossession and ethnic cleansing. Palestinians rely on people of conscience, including artists and musicians, to take a stand and refuse to entertain Israel. In Gaza, over two thirds of the population are UN registered refugees, ethnically cleansed from their homes by Israeli soldiers in 1948 to live the rest of their lives in the Gaza prison camp.

Barbra StreisandMillions more refugees, living in exile, remain and are denied their right to return home to see their loved ones thanks to Israel’s policy of restriction of movement and its refusal to abide by international law. Your performance for the “IDF Troops” will encourage the Israeli state to believe that is does not have to be accountable to international law, that it can continue to act with impunity.

The ongoing siege of Gaza, has made existence for the approximately 1.2 million Palestinians there intolerable, cutting off the main life-line of goods and people coming into Gaza, resulting in severe shortages of food supplies, basic goods and crucially important items like cement which is vital to rebuild the 17,000+ homes that have been destroyed by Israeli attacks. Injured and ill people are not allowed to travel abroad to receive all manner of medical treatment unavailable in Gaza. Over 600 sick patients have died because they had no solution but to stay in the besieged Gaza Strip where they spent their dying days, to the despair of their families.

Most recently, Israel has instituted a ‘punitive policy’, more collective punishment, a crime against humanity, toward the people of Gaza, by cutting off their electricity. The north of Gaza has had no power for the past 9 days. [2]

For musicians with a passionate heritage of music and dance, the Israeli siege of Gaza bans importation of instruments, the possibility of receiving international performances and taking their music abroad. Israel’s air, land and sea blockade of all their borders has meant that for years musical instruments were banned from entry to Gaza [3]

Do you really want to perform to support Israel’s soldiers given that in the winter of 2008-9, they attacked Gaza, committing war crimes and human rights violations against a population of which over half -an estimated 800,000- are children. During this merciless 23-day assault, 1,417 people were killed including hundreds of children, with over 5500 injured. These heinous crimes have been recounted in detail in the United Nations Fact Finding Mission report. [4]

In the face of an international conspiracy of silence, Palestinian Civil Society, almost unanimously, called for international artists to refuse to perform in Israel as part of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign which is a non-violent method of holding Israel accountable to standards of equality and human rights that modern nations are accustomed to.

A host of internationally renowned musicians have already joined this call by refusing to perform in Israel including Carlos Santana, Annie Lennox, Faithless, Elvis Costello, the Pixies, Gil Scott Heron, Massive Attack, Leftfield, Gorillaz Sound System, Snoop Dogg, Jean Luc Godard, and Devendra Banhart. Roger Waters, wrote a letter announcing his support of a cultural boycott of Israel. He said that in his view,

“..the abhorrent and draconian control that Israel wields over the besieged Palestinians in Gaza, and the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, coupled with its denial of the rights of refugees to return to their homes in Israel, demands that fair minded people around the world support the Palestinians in their civil, nonviolent resistance.” [5]

We ask you to join their fight, a fight for basic human rights, equality and justice. It is time for the world to take real action to stop Israel’s war crimes against children, women and men; it is time for conscientious individuals to stand on the right side of history by refusing to condone the war crimes of the Israeli state.

Please stand on the right side of history and refrain from entertaining a regime that has committed and continues to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Sincerely,

Don’t Play Apartheid Israel

We are a group, of over 800 members, representing many nations around the globe, who believe that it is essential for musicians & other artists to heed the call of the PACBI, and join in the boycott of Israel. This is essential in order to work towards justice for the Palestinian people under occupation, and also in refugee camps and in the diaspora throughout the world.

NOTES:
[1] http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=869
[2] http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=440158
[3] http://www.gazagateway.org/tag/musical-instruments/
[4] http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/9/docs/MediaSummaryReport_English.doc
[5] http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/waters-endorses-5484#.TsRUWsMr2so

SOURCE

Related Links

By playing nuclear-armed Israel and for the oppressors of the Palestinian minority, Streisand would be going against her causes. Streisand said,

“The Democrats have always been the party of working people and minorities. I’ve always identified with the minorities.”
….
Streisand has personally raised $25 million [52] for organizations through her live performances. The Streisand Foundation,[53] established in 1986, has contributed over $16 million through nearly 1,000 grants to “national organizations working on preservation of the environment, voter education, the protection of civil liberties and civil rights, women’s issues [54] and nuclear disarmament”.

Palestine / Israel Links

International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People – 29 November
Oi Va Voi : Please Don’t Be Complicit with Apartheid Israel
Video: Chicago activists tell shoppers to boycott Israel on Black Friday
Video: French BDS activists de-shelve huge amounts of Israeli produce at Carrefour
PCHR Strongly Condemns WHOs Decision to Conduct a Conference in Jerusalem – International Middle Ea.
Video: Israeli occupation forces demolish homes and mosque, arrests girls near Hebron :

Israel’s foul acts of ethnic cleansing continue: ‘At 10 am two bulldozers arrived in the village, escorted by five military vehicles. Without showing any demolition order, the army demolished two houses, a mosque, a barn and a structure containing the generator.’

Army To Demolish A Palestinian Home In Jerusalem
Liberal Zionists and the Palestinian right of return
Official: Israel deliberately disconnects Gaza electricity :

Israel, another word for collective punishment – the apartheid ziocolonial entity uses ‘punitive policy’ against the people in the north of Gaza. Electricity had been cut off to the north for nine days.

End of the Argument

Gareth Evans blithers about Responsibility to Protect, omits ongoing zionist ethnic cleansing project. Gareth should rename policy as Responsibility to Protect But Not From Us, as it doesn’t apply to western settler colonial genocidalists.

Times Photographer Complains of Israeli Soldiers’ ‘Cruelty’ at Border Crossing
From The Lancet :

‘10% of pregnant Palestinian women were delayed at checkpoints every year from 2000 to 2007, while travelling to give birth in hospital. These delays resulted in 69 births, and 35 infant and five maternal deaths at the checkpoints. Generally, the type and severity of the delay-related morbidity are not recorded.’

John Lyons describes Israel’s villainous treatment of Palestinian children destined for military court. ‘After September 11 I’d seen images of alleged terrorists walking like this but I’d never seen children treated this way. It’s not surprising that Israel doesn’t want this image out there – it would look uncomfortably like a Guantanamo Bay for kids.’

Other Links

Egypt imports 21 tons of tear gas from the US, port staff refuses to sign for it – Bikya Masr
Northern Territory intervention has brought hatred, says Arnhem elder
‘Intervention mark II’ a new whitewash
The price of siting US ‘defence’ installations: Turkey threatened by Iran if US or Israel attacks – there’s a lesson for Australia there.

Chomsky Lecture at Deakin University 4 November 2011

Professor Noam Chomsky presented a lecture ‘Changing Contours of Global Order’ a look at our drastically changing world, and the implications for domestic and world order on 4 November 2011.

Noam Chomsky – 7th Edward Said Memorial Lecture on November 5, 2011

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Australia/US MOU Links

Palantir, the War On Terror’s Secret Weapon
From the left, Gillard marches to Uncle Sam’s beat
Sweden vs. Assange

Australia Selling Uranium to India Links

What’s the harm in selling uranium to India?