Wise Men are Billionaires?

The ever-perceptive A’sad Abukhalil dispels any doubts about the so-called ‘wise-man committee’ selected supposedly by the ‘youth’ in Tahrir Square, Cairo:

So a self-appointed committee, called the “Wise Men Committee” has been issuing opinions and commands and is trying to mediate between the people of Egypt and the regime of Mubarak. Their first idea was to donate Egypt to the head of Mubarak’s secret police, `Umar Sulayman. The Egyptian billionaire, Najib Sawiris, is a member of the committee and that troubles me greatly. What would have Marx thought about an initiative of a billionaire at a time of revolutionary change. Sawiris, of course, has been close to Jamal Mubarak and is an opportunist who shifts and flip flops, even on Palestine. I trust him like George Habash trusted Yasir `Arafat. `Amr Musa is another well-known opportunist: a servant of Mubarak has just saw the light because Sha`ban `Abd-Ar-Rahim likes him. But the protesters are impressive: when one member of the Committee (Abu Al-Majd) tried to talk today in Tahrir Square, he was shouted down and interrupted and sent home.

The ‘youth manifesto’ is here (for the English version in .pdf format, go here)

At Al Quds newspaper in the UK, there’s a story which I’ve google-translated and which indicates that the wise-men committee was submitted by Cairo, whilst the Youth manifesto says the youth did the selection. One has to wonder, therefore, who in fact prepared the Youth manifesto.

‘Cairo presented a so-called Committee of Wise Men in Egypt, a set of proposals for the youth of the demonstrators to be the center of the dialogue between them and the Egyptian government.

According to press sources, on Friday evening said that when Dr. Ahmed Kamal Abul Magd, a member of the Committee, the dumping of the proposals on the demonstrators in Tahrir Square boycotted and rejected a large number of them to listen to these proposals, which forced him and most of the members of the Committee of Wise Men to return to the headquarters of the League of Arab States, near Tahrir Square amid bitter divisions between supporters of the proposals and Ravdiha for different reasons.

The statement of the wise men to ensure a wide range of points to calm the demonstrators, most important of which are assigned to Alsidamr Solomon Vice President managing the transition.

Among the statement included also be a place for young people and clear in the national dialogue and to be “institutionalized dialogue” is selected any of its functions and objectives and the participants in a clear and specific.

The statement should also be developed in political reforms and not to limit the dialogue to the traditional parties are provided sufficient guarantees for a peaceful transition of power, with an estimate of the role played by the military at this point.

Taking Committee confirmed that it sought to “complete agreement between the parties regarding the solution,” and expressed hope that the resulting proposal to reach a solution “in the coming hours”, the Commission invited the young protesters to choose the leadership of their representative and drew in contrast to the “Muslim Brotherhood” pledge Under this proposal, failure to submit a candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections.

Includes a committee of elders of both the thinker Ahmed Kamal Abul-Magd and the world, Ahmed Zewail, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and businessman Naguib Sawiris, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States Amr Moussa, head of the Central Auditing Agency Malt and the President of the Islamic Front Party Democratic Osama Ghazali Harb, and Dr. Amr Hamzawy, Munir Fakhri Abdel the light and the media Mahmoud Saad. ‘

At Enduring America, we are told:

’1610 GMT: Al Arabiya reports that the 10-man wise men committee has gotten positive feedback from President Mubarak about handing over power to VP Omar Suleiman. No one else has confirmed this’

Jack Shenker at the Guardian has uncovered another list of demands which sounds to me more like the real deal:

The Guardian has learned that delegates from these mini-gatherings then come together to discuss the prevailing mood, before potential demands are read out over the square’s makeshift speaker system. The adoption of each proposal is based on the proportion of cheers or boos it receives from the crowd at large.

Delegates have arrived in Tahrir from other parts of the country that have declared themselves liberated from Mubarak’s rule, including the major cities of Alexandria and Suez, and are also providing input into the decisions.

“When the government shut down the web, politics moved on to the street, and that’s where it has stayed,” said one youth involved in the process. “It’s impossible to construct a perfect decision-making mechanism in such a fast-moving environment, but this is as democratic as we can possibly be.”

“Genuine opposition politics in this country has always relied on people taking the initiative, and that’s what we’re seeing here – on a truly astounding level,” said Ahdaf Soueif, an Egyptian author who has been closely monitoring the spontaneous political activity on the ground. “There is more transparency and equality here in Tahrir than anything we’ve ever seen under the Mubarak regime; anyone and everyone can have their say, and that makes the demands that come out of the process even more powerful.”

The document that has emerged from Tahrir details calls for the election of a founding council of 40 public intellectuals and constitutional experts, who will draw up a new constitution over the coming months under the supervision of the transitional government, then put it to the Egyptian people in a referendum. Following the passage of the new constitution, fresh elections would be held at a local and national level.

Such a scenario would go far further than the piecemeal constitutional reform offered by the present government, and would preclude any delay in Mubarak’s departure or any transitional governing role for existing members of country’s ruling elite.

The demands, which have been endorsed by the so-called “300” – the loose coalition of online activists who were behind last month’s call for the “day of rage” on 25 January, the event that sparked the current uprising – are also more radical than those put forward earlier this week by a group of senior judges, diplomats and businessmen in the Egyptian daily newspaper Al Shorouk. The latter group’s statement endorsed the idea of Suleiman as a transitional president, an outcome firmly rejected by the majority of those camped out in Tahrir.

Other demands to have come out the square include the end of the country’s Emergency Law, the dismantling of the state security apparatus, and the trial of key regime leaders, including Mubarak.

“The regime is trying to demonise protesters as agents of foreign powers, fomenters of chaos, and so on,” says Hossam el-Hamalawy, a journalist and blogger. “But go down to Tahrir, sit on a corner, and within a few minutes you’ll be in the middle of a spontaneous political discussion – the energy of people’s ideas is inspiring. It’s down there that the legitimate voice of the protesters and our revolution can be heard.”

More from the Houston Chronicle:

A self-declared group of Egypt’s elite — called the “group of wise men” — has circulated ideas to try to break that deadlock. Among them is a proposal that Mubarak “deputize” his Vice President Omar Suleiman with his powers and, for the time being at least, step down in everything but name.

The “wise men,” who are separate from the protesters on the ground, have met twice in recent days with Suleiman and the prime minister, said Amr el-Shobaki, a member of the group. Their proposals also call for the dissolving of the parliament monopolized by the ruling party and the end of emergency laws that give security forces near-unlimited powers.

Late Friday, a delegation from the protesters themselves meet with Shafiq to discuss ways out of the impasse, said Abdel-Rahman Youssef, a youth activist who participated in the meeting.

Youssef told The Associated Press on Saturday that the meeting was not a start of negotiations. “It was a message to see how to resolve the crisis. The message is that they must recognize the legitimacy of the revolution and that president must leave one way or the other, either real or political departure,” he said.

The protesters are looking into the proposal floated by the “wise men,” said Youssef, who is part of the youth movement connected to Nobel Peace laureate and prominent reform advocate Mohamed ElBaradei.

“It could be a way out of the crisis,” Youssef said. “But the problem is in the president…he is not getting it that he has become a burden on everybody, psychologically, civicly and militarily.”


Protesters, however, are wary of a trap. They fear that without the pressure of protesters in the streets demanding democracy, the regime will carry out only superficial reforms while keeping its grip on power. So they are reluctant to end the demonstrations without the concrete victory of Mubarak’s ouster and assurances on what happens next.

el-Shobaki, of “the wise men,” said Suleiman did not respond to their proposal that Mubarak deputize him.

“The stumbling point ,” el-Shobaki said.

The “wise men” are comprised of about a dozen prominent public figures and jurists, including former Cabinet minister and lawyer Ahmed Kamal Aboul-Magd, businessman Naguib Sawiris and political scientist academics like el-Shobaki. “We don’t represent the youth on the ground. We keep in touch with them,” said el-Shobaki.

The protest organizers themselves are a mix. The majority are young secular leftists and liberals, who launched the wave of protests though an Internet campaign, but the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood also has built a prominent role. They have succeeded in drawing a startlingly broad cross-section of the public, including the urban poor, lower middle class and young upper class.

Protest organizers have formed a committee that will carry out any future negotiations with the government over reforms. The committee includes ElBaradei, the Muslim Brotherhood and representatives of the youth factions.

Mousa appears as a possible candidate for presidency in the Washington Post.

Pampering the ziocolony isn’t the only interest the US has apropos Egypt.

According to the State Department, U.S. military aid to Egypt totals over $1.3 billion annually [5] in a stream of funding known as Foreign Military Financing.

U.S. officials have long argued that the funding promotes strong ties between the two countries’ militaries, which in turn has all sorts of benefits. For example, U.S. Navy warships get “expedited processing” through the Suez Canal.

Here’s a 2009 U.S. embassy cable recently released by WikiLeaks that makes essentially the same point [6]:

President Mubarak and military leaders view our military assistance program as the cornerstone of our mil-mil relationship and consider the USD 1.3 billion in annual FMF as “untouchable compensation” for making and maintaining peace with Israel. The tangible benefits to our mil-mil relationship are clear: Egypt remains at peace with Israel, and the U.S. military enjoys priority access to the Suez Canal and Egyptian airspace.

The military funding also enables Egypt to purchase U.S.-manufactured military goods and services, a 2006 report [7] from the Government Accountability Office explained [PDF]. The report criticized both the State Department and the Defense Department for failing to measure how the funding actually contributes to U.S. goals.

Movement in the NDP:

From @SultanAlQassemi

BREAKING Al Arabiya: President Mubarak has resigned as head of the ruling NDP party

Al Arabiya now speaking to corrupt NDP tycoon Ibrahim Kamel (who was pushing for Gamal to be president) “This is a natural development”

To clarify to all: Mubarak is still a member of the NDP, as a technicality he must remain a member, however he is no longer head of the NDP.

Breaking Al Arabiya: Gamal Mubarak, Safwat El Sarif, Mufeed Shehab & Zakaria Azmi no longer members of the NDP (this is what I see onscreen)

Breaking Al Arabiya: The new leadership of the NDP party are: Hossam Badrawi, Mohamed Ragab, Mohammed Abdallah & Magid Sharbini

“Gamal Mubarak resigns from Egypt ruling party in gesture to protesters” http://bit.ly/i2DTb0 Gamal is no longer …a member of the NDP party

RT @weddady: RT @bbclysedoucet student protestor Tahrir Sq:we want 2 get rid of cancer but they’re giving us aspirins -reaction NDP resignations #jan25

RT @5thEstate: Arabiya retracts report #Mubarak resigned as heading of ruling NDP (Rtrs) #jan25 #oops

CIA weasel! RT @5thEstate: U.S. crisis envoy to #Egypt, Frank Wisner, says #Mubarak must stay in power to steer changes (Rtrs) #jan25

‘”We need to get a national consensus around the pre-conditions for the next step forward. The president must stay in office to steer those changes,” Frank Wisner told the Munich Security Conference.’

Yet in the NYTimes:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking to a security conference in Munich, said it was important to support Mr. Suleiman, a pillar of the Egyptian establishment and Mr. Mubarak’s longtime confidante, as he seeks to defuse street protests. Mr. Suleiman has promised repeatedly to reach out to opposition groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, but there were few indications that any genuine dialogue with opposition leaders had begun.

Ms. Clinton’s message, echoed by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, was a notable shift in tone from the past week, when President Obama, faced with violent clashes in Cairo, demanded that Mr. Mubarak make swift, bold changes. The change appears to reflect worries that rapid change in Egypt could destabilize the country and the region.

“That takes some time,” Mrs. Clinton said. “There are certain things that have to be done in order to prepare.”

But Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel laureate who has been chosen to negotiate on behalf of the protesters and other opposition groups, said the American-backed transition plan was a nonstarter. “I do not think it’s adequate,” he said in an interview. “I’m not talking about myself. It’s not adequate for the people.

“Mubarak needs to go,” he said. “It has become an emotional issue. They need to see his back, there’s no question about it.”

From @exiledsurfer:

The 7 Demands of the Tahrir protesters: 1. Resignation of the president 2. End of the emergency state. 3. Dissolution of The People’s Assembly and Shora Council. 4. Formation of a national transitional government 5. An elected Parliament that will ammend the Constitution to allow for presidential elections. 6. Immediate prosecution for those responsible for deaths of the revolution’s martyrs. 7. Immediate prosecution of the corrupters & those who robbed the country of its wealth. (via @ioerror, @suzeeinthecity, @kyrah) #tahrir #jan25 #egypt #cairo #suez #alexandria #feb1 #departurefriday

I’ll update this post with any new info.

Related Links

Egypt Talks Start on Sidelining Mubarak With Protest in Day 12
EGYPT: Missing Google executive Wael Ghonim named symbolic spokesman of opposition group

Egypt Links

Blast at gas terminal in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula – disgruntled Bedouins? –

Egypt has potential natural gas reserves of 62 trillion cubic feet (1.7 trillion cubic meters), the 18th largest in the world.

Egypt began providing Israel with natural gas in February 2008 under a deal by which it will sell Israel 60 billion cubic feet (1.7 billion cubic meters) a year for a period of 15 years.

The deal raised controversy at home, with some in the Egyptian opposition saying the gas was being sold at below-market rates. Others resent Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, and say Egypt shouldn’t supply energy to Israel.

“The deal (to sell gas) was a blow to the pride of Egyptians and a betrayal,” former diplomat Ibrahim Yousri told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Yousri led a high court challenge to try halt Egypt’s sale of gas to Israel. Although the high court ruled in his favor in February 2010, the ruling was widely ignored by the government.

RT @SultanAlQassemi: Al Arabiya: North Sinai explosion didn’t target the pipeline itself but the gas filtering station that supplies Jordan #
RT @REUTERSFLASH: #Egypt gas pipeline blast struck Jordanian branch, authorities blame “foreign elements” – Security source #
@deanproctor Sinai gas pieline blast cuts gas supplies to Israel. Weren’t they telling Mubarek to shoot the protestors? Karma unconfirmed. #Tahrir #Jan25 # – Gas tycoons who are trying to get the increased excise tax blocked in the Knesset will be rejoicing at the sinai attack
RT @Dream23fb: Ayman on AJE confirms unknown group set off blast at gas pipeline in Arish in the North Sinai #Egypt #
The new Egypt-Israel Gas deal: What we need to know
Egypt-Israel gas deal: WHO is behind it? The names, the relationships, the clientelism…
Tunisian cyber activists take on Egypt
Picture of fire from bombed gas pipeline to Israel in Arish
Ikhwanweb: Egypt’s Revolution is a People’s revolution and has no Islamic agenda
‘Mubarak, Mubarak, What Have You Done?’
Turkish minister says unrest in Egypt no longer an internal matter
Marching to Tahrir Square: ‘Welcome to liberated territory’
Obama Faults Spy Agencies’ Performance in Gauging Mideast Unrest, Officials Say – blame the intel, right.
Error-Prone NYT Reporter Lectures Al Jazeera English on Accuracy
The Arab freedom epic “Now, we witness the third and most significant Arab historical development, which is the spontaneous drive by millions of ordinary Arabs to finally assert their humanity, demand their rights, and take command of their national condition and destiny.”
Police attack Cairo tweeter, destroy car
Israel fears Egypt becoming ‘radical Islamic theocracy’ – hasbara alert
Thank God some reporters don’t idolise Petraeus
Douchowitless froths
Egypt’s moment
Killed in Egypt
U.S. expects Egypt to keep peace with Israel regardless of who is in power
A Media Guide To The Egypt Uprising
When there is free election in Egypt, do you think any political party in Egypt, even the one that would be funded by the Mosssad, would dare say in its platform: and if elected, we promise to keep the Israeli flag flying in Cairo?
If Obama and Hillary were around for the Titanic disaster, they would have advised that the ship was not sinking: that it merely needed the passengers and captain to engage in meaningful dialogue.
Detained in Cairo
Don’t be nervous ‘If Egyptian now demonstrate in solidarity with the Palestinians now, for example, no security forces would prevent them from leaving the Al-Azhar or the Cairo University. It is a different country even if the head of the secret police, `Umar Sulayman (the candidate of reform and democracy according to Obama and Clinton), takes over in a transitional period.’
James Zogby on Egypt: Can He Sink Any Lower?
Clinton warns of “perfect storm” in Middle East
Mubarak TV
The US ‘The time when the US could have exploited the Egyptian uprising to feign identification with the people is long gone. The US clumsily–from its own imperialist standpoint–put itself squarely on the side of the enemies of the people of Egypt. Now this will have long term repercussions.’
Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Settling In for the Long Game
Egypt Arrests 4 Facebook Activists [Updated]
Treatment for malignant narcissism imminent? Egyptian VP, top military leaders planning ‘graceful exit’ for Mubarak
Cairo’s biggest protest yet demands Mubarak’s immediate departure
At hand, an Arab awakening
The State of Egyptian Antiquities- 4 February 2011
Shut Up Khamnenei , Shut Up Fox News And Cherchez Le Regime In The gas pipeline
Crisis in Egypt Tests U.S. Ties With Israel – American zionists whining
Blair: We want to engage with whoever will rule Egypt
Egypt protests: Hillary Clinton signals US backing for Omar Suleiman
In the hands of the secret police
The Egyptian people, on many levels, have pulled away the curtain, revealing American hypocrisy and the hard-core interests of the American ruling elite.’
The Angry Arab not fond of the MB
Blast in Egypt church near Gaza border – witnesses – false flag?
It’s not radical Islam that worries the US – it’s independence – Chomsky
3Arabawy Photos

Palestine / Israel Links

Israelis rally for Egypt; others express racist ideas about Arabs
Israel’s government raises alarm at events in Egypt
Netanyahu commits to promoting Arab construction in East Jerusalem – hasbara
Family of Amr Qawasme, murdered in his bed, seeks accountability
Going back to Herzl – The Zionist Plan for the Middle East
Bil’in protest in solidarity with Egypt attacked by Israeli troops
Settlers kill 2 Palestinian teens, soldiers attack funeral
Out with the collaborators: in with honest unity

Other Links

Jordan’s King changed his prime minister, and the US hails that as reform
Debating the Link Between Food Prices and Revolutions
US: Conspiracy charges filed against Muslim students
David Cameron tells Muslim Britain: stop tolerating extremists – the Pauline Hanson of Britain
After Egypt, Saudi activists start Facebook campaign for change in conservative kingdom

Extra Tweets

RT @mosaaberizing: “Twitter”, “Facebook” and “Aljazeera” written in large letters on walls of Tahrir. #Media #Tahrir #

Is There An Historical Precedent?

The US wants Mubarak to stand down in favour of his chosen successor, Omar Sulieman – this seems to be an unprecedented move on the part of the US in the role of neocoloniser with any of its vassals. On Al Jazeera Catherine Ashton from the EU Council echoes the US line, assuring all that Suleiman will be in discussion ‘with opposition leaders yesterday today and tomorrow’. As Paul Barratt, ex-Australian Defence Secretary tweeted today:

@phbarratt: @Jinjirrie The paradigm remains “stability through repression”. #fail #

In the Guardian, Timothy Garton Ash describes the price for the neocolonial, racist Europeans should Egypt not achieve liberation.

Europe’s future is at stake this week on Cairo’s Tahrir Square, as it was on Prague’s Wenceslas Square in 1989. This time, the reasons are geography and demography. The Arab arc of crisis, from Morocco to Jordan, is Europe’s near abroad. As a result of decades of migration, the young Arabs whom you see chanting angrily on the streets of Cairo, Tunis and Amman already have cousins in Madrid, Paris and London.

If these uprisings succeed, and what emerges is not another Islamist dictatorship, these young, often unemployed, frustrated men and women will see life chances at home. The gulf between their life experience in Casablanca and Madrid, Tunis and Paris, will gradually diminish – and with it that cultural cognitive dissonance which can lead to the Moroccan suicide bomber on a Madrid commuter train. As their homelands modernise, young Arabs – and nearly one third of the population of the north African littoral is between the age of 15 and 30 – will circulate across the Mediterranean, contributing to European economies, and to paying the pensions of rapidly ageing European societies. The examples of modernisation and reform will also resonate across the Islamic world.

“There is a lot of uncertainty out there and I would just caution against doing anything until we really understand what’s going on”, says McMullen of withdrawing aid to the Egyptian military. Translation: we don’t want the military to back the people, we want them behind the regime, which should be a regime we want.

The logical outcome to circumvent the current neocolonials’ plan whilst avoiding bloodshed may be in train – the Egyptian army to submit to the forthcoming pro-democracy people’s council presently being built in Tahrir Square. Army head, Tantawy is apparently in the square with his generals. Exiled Egyptian Al Qaradawi in Qatar has suggested guidelines for action. (via @SultanAlQassemi)

Al Qaradawi who now holds Qatari citizenship was banished from Egypt decades ago & is known for his anti-Mubarak regime statements.

Al Qaradawi speaking now on Qatar TV “If a leader is hated he just leave. You can’t lead a people by force” http://yfrog.com/h4174sj

Al Qaradawi “O Pharaoh (Mubarak) the time of Pharaohs is over. You cannot force yourself. If you were their ‘father’ why did you kill them?”

Al Qaradawi “Millions of people don’t want you. As long as this man is there Egypt will not be stable”

Al Qaradawi “If he was really their ‘father’ he would have mercy on them. (Tunisia’s) Ben Ali had better logic, he left the people”

Al Qaradawi “Do you have a drop of mercy in you? Yesterday snipers killed ten protesters (in Meydan Tahrir), aren’t these your children?

Al Qaradawi “Mubarak is responsible for that happened. What happened yesterday & the day before is unacceptable, even the PM said so”

Al Qaradawi “The Youth were there, not one policeman was killed, the protesters didn’t shoot. Until the Baltagiya came, rented by the state”

Al Qaradawi “The same Baltagiya who stop voters from voting. How can a leader use criminals against his own people?”

Al Qaradawi “The Prime Minister says ‘I don’t know who did this?’ The gov did this”

Al Qaradawi “Like the poem goes, if you did know then it is a problem, and if you didn’t know then the problem is greater”

Al Qaradawi “Just because you want to stay seven months? You will kill your people for seven months? Leave now, go rest, you are 82”

Al Qaradawi “I call on Mubarak to leave. I call on his regime to leave. To the Egyptian army, protect your people, you fought for them”

Al Qaradawi “During King Farouk time the Egyptian army fought for Palestine, it can be the saviour of the Egyptian people”

Al Qaradawi “Sadly the army let the Baltagiya shoot the people over the last two day. Shots in the head, some are in critical condition too”

Al Qaradawi “This army that fought for Egypt I tell them stop this now, you must take responsibility. The VP is the President, the same”

Al Qaradawi “The regime will go but the state will stay. The army must protect, I’m not calling on them to rule, just protect your people”

Al Qaradawi “Take this power from the Vice President & give it to the people. The Parliament Speaker is a fraud, even Mubarak agreed”

Al Qaradawi “The Army must install an independent temporary supreme judge who will run the state, that is my wish now”

Al Qaradawi preaching in a Qatari mosque to Meydan Tahrir protesters. (extreme left) http://yfrog.com/h8twcxj

Al Qaradawi “Today we will pray for the souls of the martyred protesters of Egypt & of Tunisia”

Al Qaradawi said that the Qatari Embassy in Cairo has been closed because of the protests on Mustafa Mahmoud square.

Let the revolutionary spirit blossom for Egyptians, Tunisians, Jordanians, Sudanese, Yemenis and spread to all crevices of the world where dark tyranny stalks the people for the benefit of foreign satraps!

Egypt

Women And Egypt–Links
Egypt has become our ballad – a testimony before the world, crying out that we live
The Egyptian revolution threatens an American-imposed order of Arabophobia and false choices
What the Mubaraks are worth
Amnesty International staff member reports from a raid on a Cairo law centre
World Cannot Believe Mubarak Hasn’t Fucking Left Yet
Egypt Protesters Will Spark Global Mass Movements: Internet and Globalization’s Positives
The difference between a secular autocracy and medieval monarchy when it comes to revolution
Mubarak Switches On Smear Campaign
Breaking: Amnesty International Staff Detained in Cairo
Blogger Describes Being Attacked in Cairo
Muslim Brotherhood seeks end to Israel treaty
Egypt: much too early to celebrate
White House, Egypt Discuss Plan for Mubarak’s Exit
In Egypt, as Mubarak Vows to Maintain Order, There Will Be Blood
Egypt set for Tunisia-style change: UN rights chief
Cabinet Approves Higher Taxes for Israel’s Gas Tycoons

The Israeli cabinet has approved the Sheshinski Committee’s recommendations to raise the royalties on Israel’s gas fields from 33 to 55-65 percent. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that most of the extra billions of dollars collected by the government will be allocated to education.

U.S. defense contractors with the most at stake in Egypt
The UK is the largest foreign investor in Egypt. Oil and gas accounts for much of this but British investment is wide-ranging and includes financial services, tourism, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, textiles and consumer goods. The cumulative total exceeds £10 billion sterling.
Israel Worries About Gas Pipeline
In August 2007, the Egyptian Minister of Investment announced that the UK was the largest investor in Egypt, based on cumulative FDI figures since 1970.
How Was Egypt’s Internet Access Shut Off?
Görmez warns against tragedy over developments in Egypt
Socialist International cancels Mubarak’s party membership
#Jan25 Diplomatic car runs over pro-democracy protesters (28 Jan)
Omar Soliman’s First interview in the media
Helping Mubarak sell his torture-techniques in the West
Muslim Brotherhood seeks end to Israel treaty
Network Anchors Leave Egypt Amid Crackdown
European leaders mount pressure on Egyptian ruler

The statement from French Pre-sident Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero urged a “quick and orderly transition to a broad-based government.” “That transition process must start now,” it said.

Egypt: When Pictures Speak Louder than Words
Muslim Brotherhood 2008 Municipal Election Platform
MB calls for changes to prevent another Tunisia
Analysis: Concern about Islamists masks wide differences
Video: Slaughter in Egypt
Egypt protesters make public appeal
Foreigners being attacked in Egypt
Google still searching for executive Wael Ghonim in Egypt
We All Helped Suppress the Egyptians — With Our Taxes. So How Do We Change?
The real Pyramid scheme
Just now from Tahrir square #Jan25
Israel: A tale of two demonstrations
Husni gone mad
Mubarak Switches On Smear Campaign
Aljazeera: Arabic vs English Versions; Mubark is “Fed Up!”
Israeli Military Backs Egyptian Troops
Obama Treats Egypt like a Banana Republic
Who’s afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood?
How Large Is Egypt’s Religious “Right”?
We Are All Egyptians
How Big Business Ruled Egypt
Voices from Departure Day in Egypt
If this is young Arabs’ 1989, Europe must be ready with a bold response
Protesters holding up signs in Hebrew #tahrir #jan25
People are now forming to make the word “Leave” for the helicopters above to see
Interview: protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square push back Mubarak thugs
Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Big Day — And Not Just in Cairo
Egyptians doing it old school
“The Lion Hearted”
Gaza TV News: Gaza TV News – Yvonne Ridley, The Revolution in Egypt
Fox News smears democracy
How Big Business Ruled Egypt
The west must be wary of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (Benny Morris’s shameful racist trash)
Jewish Voice for Peace in the NYT – “He may be a barbarian, but he’s our barbarian,” Mr. Rothmann continued. “You need to have an alternative, and we have never been able to create one.”
Fidel Castro: Hosni Mubarak’s ‘Fate Is Sealed’

Palestine / Israel

Netanyahu to offer gestures to Palestinians in effort to deflect Quartet criticism
Sixty-five percent of Israelis said Mubarak’s fall would be bad for Israel, according to a poll published in the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Thursday. Only 11 percent thought the results would be positive for Israel. Likewise, a majority – 59 percent – said a Muslim regime was more likely to emerge in Egypt, compared with only 21 percent who said the government would remain secular.
Palestinian Popular Committees to Egyptian Protesters: Abandon the Treaty
Macy Gray crawls over Palestine to Israel
Goldstone’s Legacy for Israel by Naomi Klein
Hamas allows anti-Mubarak protest in Gaza
Jewish Groups Clash Over Response to Fox Host’s On-Air Holocaust Rhetoric – zionism is not a left-wing movement.
A new regional order – slanted Haaretz article slurring Erdogan’s efforts as neo-Ottoman
Israel refuses to let Barbra Streisand’s cousin make aliyah
Israeli “liberals” make light of sexual assault and assassinations by the IDF
Obama, don’t be a hypocrite : oh god … what obsequious slime
“Israeli Wikileaks:” Kamm could face 9 years in prison

Wikileaks Links

Gillard continues to get it wrong on Assange
Holocaust denier in charge of handling Moscow cables

Other Links

American propaganda watch
Being opposed to Australia dumping refugees in East Timor
Global net crackdown to shatter ‘utopian’ internet: experts
Appeal: Help Us Save Hala Al Rafee’s Life
OUR GENERATION – Land, Culture, Freedom
Police Open Fire on Yemen Protesters
Once Upon a Time in Afghanistan…
Light dawns on Aboriginal find

Extra Tweets

RT @SultanAlQassemi: Scene only seen in Mecca before. 100s of thousands of Meydan Tahrir protesters pray together. http://yfrog.com/h8dsscvj

RT @SultanAlQassemi: There are 2 prayers at Meydan Tahrir, Muslims & Christians praying simultaneous…ly. Gathering est at over one million.

RT @MoatazMedhat: @Jinjirrie @SultanAlQassemi Actually it is estimated there are 2 Millions praying in Tahrir.#Egypt #jan25

RT @SultanAlQassemi: Al Jazeera estimates there are two million protesters. I don’t think they are wrong.

RT @avinunu: “No to Suleiman, Mossad agent, agent of America” – Amman protest speech #jan25

RT @avinunu: “No to Mubarak, son of Israel” Amman protestor #Jo #jan26 http://yfrog.com/h5twlsqlj

RT @SultanAlQassemi: Here’s the list of Committee of Wise-Leaders (disappointingly, they’re all men) http://bit.ly/hziimT Click English Version (Mousa is on it)

‘1610 GMT: Al Arabiya reports that the 10-man wise men committee has gotten positive feedback from President Mubarak about handing over power to VP Omar Suleiman. No one else has confirmed this’

Egyptian Revolution 2011

Egypt Links

@PJCrowley: There is a concerted campaign to intimidate international journalists in #Cairo and interfere with their reporting. We condemn such actions. #
Vodafone confirms the Mubarak regime forced them to send messages to the people of Egypt
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/foreign-ministry-seeks-release-of-israeli-jailed-in-egypt-1.341010
Reporters Held, Beaten in Egypt
UNESCO Director-General launches heritage and press freedom alert for Egypt
Demanding Change In The Middle East And North Africa
Cairo Exclusive: Interview with ‘Sandmonkey’
Egyptian prime minister apologises for violence (Extra)
Egypt: Doctors say 35 killed in Thursday morning clash
Egypt: Mubarak Reveals a Brutal Plan to Hold Power
‘We are not leaving until Mubarak leaves’
Who Is Omar Suleiman?
A letter from the barricades in Cairo
‘The Arab World Is on Fire’ : Noam Chomsky
What Zionism has done to my people
From an arrested thug: an MP brought him & others in truck saying: “let’s beat Americans in Tahrir”
Egypt: Were the Army and the Cops in Cahoots All This Time? – ugh, same boss
#Jan25 Women protesting in Tahrir Square
The End
Here’s the New Police-Special Forces of #Egypt. #Tahrir #Jan25
Netanyahu: Due to turmoil, Israel must get stronger
Mubarak backers open fire on protesters
Rachel Maddow – Tienanmen Square 1989 anniversary
Update: 5 protests killed by pro-gov’t attackers
Egypt – U.S. intelligence collaboration with Omar Suleiman “most successful”
Game over: The chance for democracy in Egypt is lost
More detentions in Ramallah at rally for Egypt
Robert Fisk: Blood and fear in Cairo’s streets as Mubarak’s men crack down on protests
”..the protester went to the feet of the soldier and asked him to help protect them from Mubarak’s thugs and the soldier is crying because he said that he can’t because he was not given the orders to.”
Why hate the US? (warning, very graphic)
Egypt attacks journalists to censor news: watchdog
Live From Egypt: The True Face of the Mubarak Regime

It’s a massacre,” said Selma al-Tarzi as the attack was ongoing. “They have knives, they are throwing molotov bombs, they are burning the trees, they are throwing stones at us…this is not a demonstration anymore, this is war.”

Some of the attackers were caught. Their IDs showed them to be policemen dressed in civilians clothes. Others appeared to be state sponsored “baltagiya” (gangs) and government employees. “Instead of uniformed guys trying to stop you from protesting. You’ve got non-uniformed guys trying to stop you from protesting,” Naguib said.

Democracy vs Thuggery
Open and Urgent Letter to Obama
Noam Chomsky: “This is the Most Remarkable Regional Uprising that I Can Remember”
Mona Eltahawy Should Be Careful What She Wishes For
Graphic photos
Live from tahrir square. 2 February – Eyewitness account
Traveller Within’s photostream
Update: 5 protests killed by pro-gov’t attackers
Clinton Urges Investigation Into New Cairo Violence – unbelievable US admin coverup:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke today to Egypt’s new vice president, Omar Suleiman, and urged him to conduct an investigation into violence that rocked Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

“She emphasized our condemnation of the violence that occurred today and the responsibility of the government to hold fully accountable those who did it,” said Philip J. Crowley, the State Department spokesman.

Crowley said the U.S. doesn’t know who is behind attacks on protesters, which left more than 1,000 injured, according to the Al Jazeera television network. “Whoever they are, there needs to be accountability here,” Crowley said. “This was clearly an attempt at intimidating the demonstrators.

Sulieman is BFF torturer for US rendered prisoners.
Revolution in Egypt – and the Hypocrisy of the US and the West
Egypt, Right Now! @sandmonkey – RT @RamyYaacoub: Breaking news: @Sandmonkey arrested by state security. They called his father & claimed he has revolution leaflets #Egypt

Palestine / Israel Links

‘Economic peace’ betrays the hand of a grasping Israeli right
UN Criticizes Destruction of Palestinian Water Resources
Israeli soldiers shot and killed 15 Palestinians, including three children, and kidnapped more than 200 others during the month of January.
Palestine: Israeli army kidnaps three children in Bil’in
Why isn’t the PA supporting the Egypt uprising?
Birthright puts the kibosh on J Street-led trip
Could US abandon Israel too?
Netanyahu: Due to turmoil, Israel must get stronger – Israel has its paw out for more already on the strength of the Egyptian people’s struggle for democracy
Palestine and the uprisings in the Arab World
New Zealand PM says foreign policy dictated by keeping Israel happy
Justin Bieber to play Israel in April – Spoof
Israel, Thy Name is Arrogance
Robert Fisk: Blood and fear in Cairo’s streets as Mubarak’s men crack down on protests

Wikileaks Links

At least somebody appreciates the vital importance of Wikileaks
Documents in Julian Assange Rape Investigation Leak Onto Web

Other Links

Public servant sacked for googling ‘knockers’ at home

Israeli Apartheid is Worse Than Apartheid Practised by White South Africa

“93% of the land of Israel is for exclusively jewish use. In South Africa, we used to talk about the fact that 13% of the population had control of 97% of the land. In Israel it is worse.”

Na’eem Jeena reflects on the challenges and victories of the BDS movement, drawing parallels to the 30 year BDS movement that helped bring down the Apartheid regime in South Africa.

Nada Elia at 2010 Israeli Apartheid Week

Tanya Reinhart on Israeli apartheid: ‘It’s trying to get as many Palestinians out of the land as possible … it’s about driving them out of the land.”

While Ran Greenstein in this article defines Israeli apartheid as that practised throughout ‘Greater Israel’, he sees solutions to broach it through a staggered approach, due to the occupation – that making Israel a state for all its citizens is more immediately achievable than achieving this in ‘Greater Israel’.

Reverend Allan Boesak:

It is worse, not in the sense that apartheid was not an absolutely terrifying system in South Africa, but in the ways in which the Israelis have taken the apartheid system and perfected it, so to speak; sharpened it. For instance, we had the Bantustans and we had the Group Areas Act and we had the separate schools and all of that but I don’t think it ever even entered the mind of any apartheid planner to design a town in such a way that there is a physical wall that separates people and that that wall denotes your freedom of movement, your freedom of economic gain, of employment, and at the same time is a tool of intimidation and dehumanisation. We carried passes as the Palestinians have their ID documents but that did not mean that we could not go from one place in the city to another place in the city. The judicial system was absolutely skewed of course, all the judges in their judgements sought to protect white privilege and power and so forth, and we had a series of what they called “hanging judges” in those days, but they did not go far as to openly, blatantly have two separate justice systems as they do for Palestinians [who are tried in Israeli military courts] and Israelis [who are tried in civil, not military courts]. So in many ways the Israeli system is worse.

Another thing that makes it even worse is that when we fought our battles, even if it took us a long time, we could in the end muster and mobilise international solidarity on a scale that enabled us to be more successful in our struggle. The Palestinians cannot do that. The whole international community almost conspires against them. The UN, which played a fairly positive role in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, takes the disastrous position of not wanting to offend its strong members like the United States who protect Israel. So even in the UN, where international law ought to be the framework wherein all these things are judged, where international solidarity is not an assumption but is supposed to be the very foundation upon which the UN builds its views on things and its judgements as to which way it goes, the Palestinians don’t even have that.

Palestinians are mocked in a way that South Africans were not. In a sense, the UN tried in our case to follow up on its resolutions to isolate the apartheid regime. Here, now, they make resolutions against Israel one after the other and I don’t detect even a sense of shame that they know there is not going to be any follow up. Under Reagan the United States was pretty blatant in its so called constructive engagement programme and in its support for the white regime in South Africa, but what the United States is doing now in the week that UNESCO took the decision to support the Palestinian bid for a seat in the United Nations, to withdraw all US financial support; to resort immediately to economic blackmail, that is so scandalous. So in all those ways I think we are trying to say that what is happening in Israel today is a system of apartheid that in its perfection of that system is more terrifying in many ways than apartheid in South Africa ever was.

Recently retired South African ambassador to Israel, Ismail Coovadia, says he rejected a symbolic gift from the Israeli government due to the country’s discriminatory treatment of Palestinians:

Ismail Coovadia made the statement in a letter to pro-Palestinian activists.

In it, Coovadia explained his decision to reject a symbolic gift from the Israeli government — planting trees in his honor in a national park named after South Africa.

He said Israeli policies that discriminate against Palestinians appeared to be reminiscent of his experiences under South Africa’s apartheid system. South Africa’s post-apartheid government frequently identifies with the Palestinians.

Coovadia, who completed his four-year term in January, confirmed the letter’s contents on Tuesday.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Coovadia did not made such complaints during his term. Israel routinely rejects the apartheid comparison.

Attitudes in Israel

Israeli politicians and academics:

Michael Ben-Yair, Israel’s attorney general from 1993 to 1996, has written that following the Six Day War in June 1967, “We enthusiastically chose to become a colonial society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft and finding justification for all these activities.

“Passionately desiring to keep the occupied territories, we developed two judicial systems: one ? progressive, liberal ? in Israel; and the other ? cruel, injurious ? in the occupied territories. In effect, we established an apartheid regime in the occupied territories immediately following their capture.”

That oppressive regime exists to this day. Avraham Burg, Israel’s Knesset Speaker from 1999 to 2003 and former chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, has long determined that “Israel must shed its illusions and choose between racist oppression and democracy,” insisting the only way to maintain total Jewish control over all of historic Palestine would be to “abandon democracy” and “institute an efficient system of racial separation here, with prison camps and detention villages.” He has also called Israel “the last colonial occupier in the Western world.”

Yossi Sarid, who served as a member of the Knesset between 1974 and 2006, has written of Israel’s “segregation policy” that “what acts like apartheid, is run like apartheid and harasses like apartheid, is not a duck – it is apartheid.”

Yossi Paritzky, former Knesset and Cabinet minister, writing about the systematic institutionalization and legalization of racial and religious discrimination in Israel, stated that Israel does not act like a democracy in which “all citizens regardless of race, religious, gender or origin are entitled to equality.” Rather, by implementing more and more discriminatory laws that treat Palestinians as second-class citizens, “Israel decided to be like apartheid?era South Africa, and some will say even worse countries that no longer exist.”

Shulamit Aloni, another former Knesset and Cabinet member, has written that “the state of Israel practices its own, quite violent, form of Apartheid with the native Palestinian population.”

In 2008, the Association of Civil Rights in Israel released its annual human rights report which found that the dynamic between settlers, soldiers and native Palestinians in the occupied West Bank was “reminiscent, in many and increasing ways, of the apartheid regime in South Africa.”

Ehud Olmert, when he was Prime Minister, told a Knesset committee meeting, “For sixty years there has been discrimination against Arabs in Israel. This discrimination is deep?seated and intolerable” and repeatedly warned that if “we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights (also for the Palestinians in the territories), then, as soon as that happens, the State of Israel is finished.”

Ehud Barak has admitted that “[a]s long as in this territory west of the Jordan river there is only one political entity called Israel it is going to be either non-Jewish, or non-democratic. If this bloc of millions of ­Palestinians cannot vote, that will be an apartheid state.”

Shlomo Gazit, former member of Palmach, an elite unit of the Haganah, wrote in Ha’aretz that “in the present situation, unfortunately, there is no equal treatment for Jews and Arabs when it comes to law enforcement. The legal system that enforces the law in a discriminatory way on the basis of national identity, is actually maintaining an apartheid regime.”

Last summer, Knesset minister Ahmed Tibi told the Jerusalem Post that “keeping the status quo will deepen apartheid in Israel as it did in South Africa,” while Gabriela Shalev, former Israeli ambassador to the UN, told The Los Angeles Times last year that, in terms of public opinion of Israel, “I have the feeling that we are seen more like South Africa once was.”

Council on Foreign Relations member Stephen Roberts, after returning from a trip to Israel and the West Bank, wrote in The Nation that “Israel has created a system of apartheid on steroids, a horrifying prison with concrete walls as high as twenty-six feet, topped with body-ravaging coils of razor wire.”

In April 2012, Benjamin Netanyahu’s own nephew, Jonathan Ben Artzi, wrote that Israel’s “policies of segregation and discrimination that ravaged (and still ravage) my country and the occupied Palestinian territories” undoubtedly fit the definition of Apartheid.

Linguist, cultural anthropologist, and Hebrew University professor David Shulman wrote in May 2012 in The New York Review of Books that there already exists “a single state between the Jordan River and the sea” controlled by Israel and which fits the definition of an “ethnocracy.” He continues:

“Those who recoil at the term ‘apartheid’ are invited to offer a better one; but note that one of the main architects of this system, Ariel Sharon, himself reportedly adopted South African terminology, referring to the noncontiguous Palestinian enclaves he envisaged for the West Bank as ‘Bantustans.’”

B’tSelem: Land Grab

From Haaretz: Segregation of Jews and Arabs in 2010 Israel is almost absolute:

“For those of us who live here, it is something we take for granted. But visitors from abroad cannot believe their eyes: segregated education, segregated businesses, separate entertainment venues, different languages, separate political parties … and of course, segregated housing. In many senses, this is the way members of both groups want things to be, but such separation only contributes to the growing mutual alienation of Jews and Arabs.”

From a Former Attorney General of Israel:

“Despite its best intentions, Israel has created a system of separation in the West Bank which fits the textbook definition of apartheid. According to Michael Ben-Yair, Attorney General of Israel throughout the nineties, “In effect, we established an apartheid regime in the Occupied Territories immediately following their capture. That oppressive regime exists to this day.” He is not alone in asserting this perspective. Many notable Israelis like Meron Benvenisti, Akiva Elder, and Shulamit Aloni, to mention a few, agree that Israeli style apartheid is a reality.”

Mitchell Plitnick’s contortions in an effort to hang onto zionist hegemony through a perverse form of federalism are embarrassing – still he recognises the egg can’t be unscrambled.

More Information

Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC) study : Israel is practicing both colonialism and apartheid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
Full report of the South African Human Sciences Research Council [.pdf]
Israel/Palestine and the Apartheid Analogy: Critics, Apologists and Strategic lessons (Part 1) by Ran Greenstein
Israel/Palestine and the Apartheid Analogy: Critics, Apologists and Strategic Lessons (Part 2) by Ran Greenstein
Israel/Palestine: Apartheid of a special type? by Ran Greenstein
Israel singles itself out – as Professor Ran Greenstein of the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa says, Israel has ‘imposed severe sanctions and used violent means of censure against numerous targets in the last two decades: PLO, Hamas, Burma, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Belarus, Serbia and, most recently, Libya and Syria, have been subject to sanctions and military campaigns far more aggressive and violent than Israel is likely ever to face. Israel has been singled out indeed, for receiving vast sums of military and financial aid that allow it to entrench the occupation, and diplomatic immunity by the USA for its acts of violence against civilians.’
Ran Greenstein: Israeli Jews, Palestinian Arabs and the Apartheid question – at the Russell Tribunal
Israel 2007: worse than apartheid by Ronnie Kasrils, SA Minister of Intelligence
Israel/Palestine, South Africa and the ‘One-State Solution’: The Case for an Apartheid Analysis (whole .pdf of the article is here [Bakan, Abigail B. and Abu-Laban, Yasmeen(2010) ‘Israel/Palestine, South Africa and the ‘One-State Solution’: The Case for an Apartheid Analysis’, Politikon, 37: 2, 331 — 351])

Our South Africa Moment Has Arrived : Omar Barghouti [03/18/2009]
Israel knows apartheid has no future by Mustafa Barghouti
“Boycotts work”: An interview with Omar Barghouti
Why Is BDS a Moral Duty Today? A Response to Bernard-Henri Levy
Reap what you have sown by Nawal El-Saadawi
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967
Why Israel is an Apartheid State

Women’s emancipation in the Arab region is closely linked to the regimes under which we live, regimes which are supported by the US in most cases, and the struggle between Israel and Palestine has an important impact on the political situation. Besides, how can we speak of liberation for Palestinian women without speaking of their right to have a land on which to live? How can we speak about Arab women’s rights in Palestine and Israel without opposing the racial discrimination exercised against them by the Israeli regime?

Israel should be given the South African treatment : Antony Loewenstein and Moammar Mashni
Adalah, ‘The Inequality Report: The Palestinian Arab Minority in Israel’ (pdf) – important document
South African scholar Na’eem Jeenah trapped at Istanbul airport after Israeli interrogation, confiscation of passport
Yishai wants to affirm ‘Jewish nationality’ highlighting the lack of any ‘Israeli nationality’. This segregationalism is consistent with Grand Apartheid.

In a significant legal victory for palestinian solidarity as well as freedom of political speech,

the ASA released a ruling on 5 July 2011, dismissing each and every complaint made by the SAJBD against the advert and instead ruled in favor of the submissions made by SA Artists Against Apartheid. The ASA also refused to provide any sanctions in favor of the SAJBD.

Reggae DJ, “The Admiral”, and member of the SA Artists Against Apartheid collective, welcomed today’s decision:

“The ASA decision is significant due to our own history of Apartheid. The decision sends a clear message to the Zionist lobby that the time has come for an end to the baseless accusations of “discrimination” and “hate speech” whenever criticism of Israel is voiced. Calling Israel an Apartheid state is legitimate because Israel practices Apartheid. The boycott of such an oppressive regime should be supported as it was in our own Anti-Apartheid freedom struggle.”

On how Apartheid South Africa was unfairly demonized — like Israel
The crime of apartheid : Israel on trial at the 3rd International Session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine in November, 2011 in Cape Town
Israel and Apartheid: Is It a Fair Comparison? – quotes several Israeli indignitaries describing existing or future apartheid
Brothers in arms – Israel’s secret pact with Pretoria
Boycotting Israeli Apartheid: Evoking South Africa’s Legacy
Israel and South Africa: A Natural Alliance
‘Israel will look like South Africa during the apartheid’ — Israeli ambassador Shalev
UN OCHA MoveMent and access in the West Bank September 2011: This is Israeli apartheid, and it’s growing:

“-522 roadblocks and checkpoints obstruct Palestinian movement in the West Bank, compared to 503 in July 2010.
– So far in 2011, an additional 495 ad-hoc ‘flying’ checkpoints obstructed movement around the West Bank each month (on average), compared to 351 in the past two years.
– 200,000 people from 70 villages are forced to use detours between two to five times longer than the direct route to their closest city due to movement restrictions.”

Targeting Israel with Boycotts, Divestment, Sanctions, and Prosecutions

In July 2008, 21 South African activists, including ANC members, visited Israel and Occupied Palestine. Their conclusion was unanimous. Israel is far worse than apartheid as former Deputy Minister of Health and current MP Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge explained:

“What I see here is worse than what we experienced – the absolute control of people’s lives, the lack of freedom of movement, the army presence everywhere, the total separation and the extensive destruction we saw….racist ideology is also reinforced by religion, which was not the case in South Africa.”

Sunday Times editor, Mondli Makhanya, went further: “When you observe from afar you know that things are bad, but you do not know how bad. Nothing can prepare you for the evil we have seen here. It is worse, worse, worse than everything we endured. The level of apartheid, the racism and the brutality are worse than the worst period of apartheid.”

Desmond Tutu: Divesting From Injustice

I have been to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and I have witnessed the racially segregated roads and housing that reminded me so much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under the racist system of Apartheid. I have witnessed the humiliation of Palestinian men, women, and children made to wait hours at Israeli military checkpoints routinely when trying to make the most basic of trips to visit relatives or attend school or college, and this humiliation is familiar to me and the many black South Africans who were corralled and regularly insulted by the security forces of the Apartheid government.

Parallels Between Apartheid South Africa & Israeli Policies : Quotes
“We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of Palestinians.” — President Nelson Mandela, Pretoria, December 4, 1997
“Israel, like South Africa, is an apartheid state.” — Former South African President Hendrick Verwoerd, Rand Daily Mail, November 23, 1961
“When I come here and see the situation [in the Palestinian territories], I find that what is happening here is 10 times worse than what I had experienced in South Africa. This is Apartheid.”
Arun Ghandi

“As someone who lived in apartheid South Africa and who has visited Palestine I say with confidence that Israel is an apartheid state. In fact, I believe that some of the atrocities committed against the South Africans by the erstwhile apartheid regime in South Africa pale in comparison to those committed against the Palestinians.” – Willie Madisha, in a letter supporting CUPE Ontario’s resolution.

“They support Zionism, a version of global racist domination and apartheid based on the doctrine that Jews are superior to Arabs and therefore have a right to oppress them and occupy their country.” – Current COSATU President, Sidumo Dlamini.

A South African Christian response to the Kairos Palestine Document

But we can also say that the practical manifestations of Israeli apartheid are in many ways worse than South African apartheid ever was.There was never a “security wall” built around Bophuthatswana or any of the other Bantustans. There was never a time when only certain people could drive on certain roads. There was never a serious debate about the right of exiles and refugees to return to South Africa. Therefore, over and above your situation containing the essence of apartheid, it is in many ways worse than apartheid, and we call on the world community to condemn the Israeli occupation as such.

Yours is also, in our view, a typical colonial situation whereby the colonizers claim the lives and land of the colonized. Furthermore, your situation is exacerbated by the West satisfying their guilt for the Holocaust at your expense. We reject this utterly and call on the West and their allies across the world to take responsibility for the situation that they have created.

John Dugard :

‘Israel discriminates against Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in favour of half a million Israeli settlers. Its restrictions on freedom of movement, manifested in countless humiliating checkpoints, resemble the “pass laws” of apartheid. Its destruction of Palestinian homes resemble the destruction of homes belonging to blacks under apartheid’s Group Areas Act. The confiscation of Palestinian farms under the pretext of building a security wall brings back similar memories. And so on. Indeed, Israel has gone beyond apartheid South Africa in constructing separate (and unequal) roads for Palestinians and settlers.

Apartheid’s security police practiced torture on a large scale. So do the Israeli security forces. There were many political prisoners on Robben Island but there are more Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails.

Apartheid South Africa seized the land of blacks for whites. Israel has seized the land of Palestinians for half a million settlers and for the purposes of constructing a security wall within Palestinian territory – both of which are contrary to international law.’

The Russell Tribunal verdict (Johannesburg Nov 7/2011): ” The Tribunal finds that Israel subjects the Palestinian people to an institutionalised regime of domination amounting to apartheid as defined under international law. This discriminatory regime manifests in varying intensity and forms against different categories of Palestinians depending on their location. The Palestinians living under colonial military rule in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are subject to a particularly aggravated form of apartheid. Palestinian citizens of Israel, while entitled to vote, are not part of the Jewish nation as defined by Israeli law and are therefore excluded from the benefits of Jewish nationality and subject to systematic discrimination across the broad spectrum of recognised human rights. Irrespective of such differences, the Tribunal concludes that Israel’s rule over the Palestinian people, wherever they reside, collectively amounts to a single integrated regime of apartheid.”

The United Nations Human Rights Council

has passed a resolution ordering a first probe into how Israeli settlements may be infringing on the rights of the Palestinians.

The resolution was adopted on Thursday, with 36 votes in favour and 10 abstentions. Only the United States voted against it.’

CERD.C.ISR.CO.14-16

UN report on Israel is the ‘most cutting recognition and condemnation of a legal system of segregation since apartheid South Africa’
UN Committee 2012 Session Concludes Israeli System Tantamount to Apartheid

Settlers Attack Local, International Law Professors In Hebron: Palestinian researcher, professors of Refugees Studies at Oxford University, Abbas Shiblaq, stated that “this attack is a proof of the fascist nature of the Israeli occupation and its settlers” who aim at uprooting the Palestinians from their homeland, and a proof that Israel’s policy if based on “voiding the other”.

Shiblaq described the situation in Hebron and the illegal Israeli violations as a system that is deeper and larger than the former apartheid system in Southern Africa. He added that what the media reports about the violations carried out by extremist settlers and Israeli soldiers, in Hebron, barely reflects %5 of what is happening on the ground.

Built-in racism: Israeli real estate article lauds “desirable” Arab-free neighborhood

BDS and apartheid

BDS Movement
PACBI
More on the University of Johannesburg boycott decision
The Israeli government has been quite explicit that it uses culture as a propaganda tool in its war against the Palestinian people.

Nissim Ben-Sheetrit of Israel’s Foreign Ministry:

“We see culture as a propaganda tool of the first rank, and I do not differentiate between propaganda and culture.” (Ha’aretz; 21/09/05)

An example:

Linkin Park played Israel 15 November 2010, and posed with Nir Barkat, Mayor of Jerusalem when the day before his engineer announced 3,000 more jews only homes including in East Jerusalem.

Study: Israel leads in ignoring Security Council resolutions

A zionist propaganda site is established to capitalise on and collect the quotations of artists who have played Israel.

Recently, the US-based Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) — a group of US entertainment industry leaders — was formed with the explicit intent to crush the BDS movement as it pertains to the cultural boycott against Israel. In an October article, the Jerusalem Post reported that:

Creative Community For Peace (CCFP) pledges to use a wide range of measures to bolster the resolve of artists who sign contracts to perform in or travel to Israel and then face calls from various “boycott groups” to cancel their trips, according one of its founders, Steve Schnur.

Schnur is a worldwide executive of music and marketing for Electronic Arts and president of Artwerk Music Group, and is responsible for licensing music for some of the most popular computer video games.

“We felt that if we could create a place where artists can get information from other artists and from people they know who understand what Israel is really about – the freedom, the democracy and equal rights – and not rely on the disinformation they’re given about ‘apartheid’ Israel, then maybe we could change things,” Schnur said in a phone call this week from Los Angeles.

“Our aim isn’t to applaud the fact that artists have come to Israel, but to enable others to continue to go there.”

The boycott issue has always been present with regard to international artists and Israel, but in the past few years, pro-Palestinian organizations abroad have stepped up efforts to bombard scheduled acts with e-mails, letters and Facebook campaigns urging them to cancel.

Earlier this month, as The Electronic Intifada reported, a coalition of artists — Artists Against Apartheid — called for a comprehensive boycott against CCFP, which they categorized as a “complicit propaganda institution seeking to normalize Israeli apartheid and strongarm entertainers into its service.”

CCFP is also closely linked to StandWithUs (SWU), a US-based pro-Israel and anti-boycott organization devoted to expanding Israeli propaganda on US college campuses and crushing Palestine solidarity activism in local communities. As The Electronic Intifada reported, SWU has tight ties with the Israeli government to combat BDS.

Origins of Zionist Racism

Etan Bloom, Arthur Ruppin and the Production of the Modern Hebrew Culture, PhD. dissertation, Tel Aviv University, 2008 [.pdf]

Lessons from the South African Anti-Apartheid Campaign

The anti-apartheid movements in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand [.pdf]

UPDATE 24/11/11

David Newman, dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Ben-Gurion University.

The list is a long one: Preventing the funding of propeace and pro-human rights organizations, intervening within the judicial system and politicizing the appointment of Supreme Court justices, challenging the status of Arabic – the mother tongue of over 20 percent of the country’s population – as an official language, threatening to intervene in the curriculum of the country’s universities, turning a blind eye to attacks on left-wing peace activists, forcing an oath of loyalty on those citizens whose ethnic and national background is neither Jewish nor Zionist, and the rounding up, imprisonment and physical expulsion of helpless refugees without the right to a fair hearing or trial.

It has become almost second nature for Israelis to view the Arab and Palestinian residents of the country as citizens with lesser rights than those of the Jewish majority. But the ease with which those rights have been denied, is now spreading to the Jewish majority.

So who is driving who into the sea? “In the case of South Africa the aim of apartheid was to set up a situation where blacks were confined to Bantustans, but there was no intention to drive the black people out of the area all together. They wanted to exploit the labor of the black people. This is the big difference with the overriding purpose of the apartheid system across of Mandate Palestine. The overriding purpose here is population transfer. The idea is to drive the Palestinians out completely and to bring the Jewish settler population in, so it becomes an exclusively Jewish state.”

Israel’s gone way beyond apartheid – Frank Barat interviews Jeff Halper, who says: ‘Prisoners can rise up in the prison yards but prison guards have all the rights in the world to put them down. That’s what Israel has come to. They are terrorists and we have the right to put them down. In a sense Israel has succeeded with the international community, and the US especially, in taking out of this situation the political. It’s now solely an issue of security, just like in prisons. It’s another concept that does not have any legal reference today but we’d like to put that in because warehousing is not only in Israel. Warehousing exists all over the capitalist world. ‘

Samer Abdelnour in Al Shabaka: “Much analysis of Israeli apartheid focuses on comparisons with South Africa. Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Samer Abdelnour argues that the specific characteristics of Israel’s unique brand of apartheid need to be better understood in order to successfully dismantle it. He identifies three inter-locking dimensions of Israeli apartheid: physical, architecture, and ideological. Examining apartheid through these dimensions, he reveals Israeli apartheid to be far more sophisticated than that of South Africa and suggests directions for thinking and action to overcome Israel apartheid.”

Freedom Dominoes Falling

From Tunisia, to Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Algeria, Jordan and Yemen, people are rising up against the waning US empire’s puppet dictators while the US pays begrudging lip service to their struggle or like Biden, sacrifices the democratic aspirations of Egyptians to Israel and US geopolitical scheming (he means resources and militarisation). The price, once again for empire, is worth it? After all, these are only brown people who happen to be living where the resources which the US covets are situated. Several patronising US blogocrats of various shades of white supremacy have expressed less than admirable support for the courageous Egyptian people – surely these annoying foreign brown people should wait until the empire tells them it is convenient for them to pursue regime change, the government leaders they acquire after the revolution may be even more unappealing than their current torturous US allied villains. For neocon Laurent Murawiec afficionados, the dream of Egypt being the ‘prize’ for empire is surely now a nightmare.

LatuffLater, @PJCrowley tweeted “We are concerned that communication services, including the Internet, social media and even this #tweet, are being blocked in #Egypt.” #

The people’s demonstrations express heartfelt grassroots impatience to be rid of oppression – an impetus echoed also by Iranians attempting to dislodge their current repressive nexus. In Egypt,

At least four persons have died so far, 600 have been arrested and many more injured. Protests are flaring up in Cairo, 6th of October City, Suez, Mahalla al-Kubra and Alexandria.

“Young people are standing in the way of heavily armed armored vehicles and stopping them. People are genuinely frustrated,” Khaled al-Balashy, editor-in-chief of al-Badil newspaper told IPS.

“That was the first time I see people literally sacrificing their lives in face of police brutality,” al-Balashy said. “They think nothing worse could happen to them. This is unprecedented. And the changes will be equally unprecedented. It is a matter of time.”

Diaa Rashwan, an analyst with the semi-official al-Ahram Center for Strategic Studies noted that the protests are now calling for regime change, not for the usual government benefits or reduction in food prices.

In contrast the people of Palestine continue to struggle against a despicable tripartite adversary which includes the leaders of the Palestine Authority collaborator, imposed upon them by the US for its own and its zionist crony’s benefit.

… the administration at least twice threatened to cut funding to the Palestinian Authority if elections were called and anyone other than Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad remained in power.

And it actively works with Israeli and Palestinian security services to deny the democratic will of Palestinians.

What is clear, then, is that Obama not only prefers the status quo, but the United States will actively subvert democracy in order to ensure that governments that will follow its policies remain in power.

If the administration has taken such an anti-democratic line with Palestinians, imagine how it must feel about the protests that have just exploded in Egypt, where substantive democratic change and a truly representative government would no doubt be far less amenable to US policies and strategic objectives regarding Israel and the war on terror than is Mubarak’s.

Faced with the overwhelming calumny and injustice of its oppressors evidenced in the Palestine Papers, dispossessed Palestinians are steadfast, continuing to insist on their rights.

For Amar al-Masaid, 28, history was something he lived with every day. “Our country was taken by force,” he said, amid jumbo boxes of cornflakes, tins of spam and chocolate Santa Clauses in his family’s shop. “They invaded us. They are a colonial power. We will never make any compromise. We will never sell our land. It would be better to stay with the Jews under occupation that give up our rights.”

His family had fled from Deir Aban in 1948; his father still has the deeds to the land they lost. “If you ask a little baby in these camps where their home is, they will answer you,” he said.

On cue, seven-year-old Dahoud and his sister Ranim, five, arrived to buy dried coconut, sent by their mother. Where did they come from? “Palestine,” said the boy; his sister whispered “Al-Maliha,” an Arab village south of Jerusalem until 1948, now home to a huge Israeli shopping mall and sports stadium.

According al-Masaid, the refugees live in a prison. Look around you, he said gesturing at the wall looming a couple of hundred yards away.

Nearby, 63-year-old Mousa al-Masaid, wearing a red-and-white keffiyeh, was passionately dismissive about the recent disclosures of negotiations. “I don’t care what they say on al-Jazeera,” he said. “All I care about is going back to my homeland. You want me to give up my land for peace? To hell with peace! I would rather live under the rule of monkeys than give up my land for peace.”

The Palestinian negotiators did not represent him, he said, and had no right to bargain away his homeland on his behalf.

Free Palestine!

At this moment

The offices of the Palestinian ambassador to the UK have been occupied by a group of students who are demanding new Palestinian national council elections.

At 1pm today, around a dozen Palestinian students from a number of British universities arrived at the Palestinian general delegation to the UK in Hammersmith, west London.

Although they had made an appointment to see the ambassador, Professor Manuel Hassassian, they arrived in large numbers and with computers and banners.

A spokesman for the students said they had been moved to stage a peaceful sit-in by the release of leaked Palestinian papers over the last few days.

“The documents confirmed what we had known all along — that they are out of touch with the people,” the spokesman said.

As well as calling for new elections, the students — from Oxford, SOAS, LSE, City and Westminster universities — are demanding a more inclusive political process that reflects and engages all Palestinians.

“We are ready to stay as long as necessary until our message has been received and understood,” he said.

The ambassador, whose office has been occupied, has asked the students to leave the room but has told them they are welcome to remain in the building.

“They told me they wanted to hold a sit-in in my office. I told them: ‘You’re welcome. This is your embassy. This is your home’,” he said.

Hassassian also said he had agreed to pass their demands on to the Palestinian government, but needed his office back if he was to relay them.

“We are being very hospitable and we hope that they respect our hospitality,” he said.

Two Metropolitan police officers entered the embassy a little after 4pm, and chatted to the ambassador and protesters.

The Palestinian students have issued a demand for the Palestinian Liberation Organisation to be restored “as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people”.

Related Links

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Egypt is not Tunisia – Op-ed: Egypt’s security services know how to handle protests, Mubarak isn’t going anywhere – Israel just loves Mubarak
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/el-amiro21/5390526441/
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Egyptian slogans
What the herd is saying in Egypt
Egypt Unemployment Rate 2010 – 9.4%
African National Congress manual
Egypt: An Internet Black Hole
Palestinian students claim right “to participate in shaping of our destiny”
Guardian Journalist Arrested and Beaten Alongside Protesters in Egypt Secretly Records Ordeal ‘In Egypt, running battles between police and anti-government protesters continued into the early hours of Thursday morning. Police have arrested up to 1,200 people, including a number of journalists. Among them was Guardian reporter, Jack Shenker. He was arrested and beaten by plainclothes police on Tuesday night and shoved into a truck with dozens of other people. He managed to keep his dictaphone with him and recorded what was happening as the truck carried them outside of Cairo.’
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Egypt braces itself for biggest day of protests yet
Mohamed ElBaradei lands in Cairo: ‘There’s no going back’
State Dep’t says democracy is OK for Tunisia but not Egypt because of Israel
Emergency Response Plan: EGYPT
Egypt shuts down the internet on eve of protest as the world community gathers
Joe Biden says Egypt’s Mubarak no dictator, he shouldn’t step down…
Once again: new Khaled Said in Alexandria. Elsayed Belal was tortured to death by Egyptian police.
Counternarcotics and Law Enforcement Country Program: Egypt
What if this was Iran?
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Translated Excerpts from Egyptian Activists’ Action Plan
The Birth of the New Middle East
OPERATION EGYPT – ANONYMOUS PRESS RELEASE – 26/01/2011
The US role as Israel’s enabler : George Mitchell’s message means the United States is out of touch with Palestinian realities. by Mark Perry and Ali Abunimah
Streisand me! is a service by the proud people of the internet. This is a meeting place and resource page for everyone who want to participate in the creation of a censorship resistant internet.
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How to open blocked Facebook, Twitter and any website.
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U.S. cables: Mubarak still a vital ally
Biden: see no good, hear no good, speak no good
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Egyptian Activists’ Action Plan: Translated
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Muslim Brotherhood demands of Mubarak

@SultanAlQassemi Hassan Nafaa on Al Jazeera Arabic “The only replies from the govt were on the security front, no political concessions were offered” #Jan25 #

@SultanAlQassemi Hassan Nafaa “What we want is for President Mubarak to announce he will not run again for presidency or appoint his son as president” #Jan25 #

@SultanAlQassemi Hassan Nafaa “We want the parliament to be reformed. We want to hear Mubarak say ‘I understand your demands & we will comply'” #Jan25 #

@SultanAlQassemi FYI: Hassan Nafaa is Professor & Chairman of the Political Science department at Cairo University & anti-inheritance of power campaigner #

@SultanAlQassemi Poetry #Jan25 “O Security Officers, who will you protect when the Pashas flee Egypt like others have done? Carry two sheilds instead of one” #

@SultanAlQassemi Poetry of #Jan25 “And he wants to appoint his genius son for us as well? After 30 years!” Tamim Al Bargouthi poetry on Al Jazeera Mubasher. #

RT @ummhajarforpal: All known ways 2 stay online in #Egypt + HOWTO make gasmask http://wp.me/p16sn9-2QP #jan25 #bloggers Please RB & RT!!!

Internet working in most 5 star hotels??

Palestine / Israel Links

Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (20-26 January 2011)
Breaking: Settlers Kill Palestinian Near Iraq Burin
The rabbis of the devil
Obama must call Israeli settlements illegal
The Goldstone Report: more important than you think
THE PALESTINE PAPERS: MAKDISI – The Palestinian people betrayed 27Jan11
The EU and Israel committed themselves to establishing a partnership which provides for close political and mutually beneficial trade and investment relations together with economic, social, financial, civil scientific, technological and cultural cooperation.
The Palestine Papers: our red lines have been crossed
One doesn’t boycott the only free society in the Mideast -BHL rant

Wikileaks Links

WikiLeaks may put India in big trouble
Police arrest five over Anonymous WikiLeaks attacks
Pirate Party slams police over Anonymous arrests
WikiLeaks rival goes live as editors turn on Assange
09CAIRO1468, NDP INSIDER: MILITARY WILL ENSURE TRANSFER OF POWER
iewing cable 09CAIRO874, SCENESETTER: PRESIDENT MUBARAK’S VISIT TO

Other Links

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The wrong kind of sharing: Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook page hacked
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The Haiti Situation : An interview with Jean-Bertrand Aristide
America’s Culture of Cruelty
Open Leaks Open but no leaks
My battles with Rupert Murdoch : Murdoch will tolerate competition, but prefers market dominance. Monopoly? Even better
Mainstream Media Continues to Ignore the Horrifying Murder of Brisenia Flores
BOMBSHELL REPORT: Goldman Sachs Got Billions From Taxpayers Thru AIG For Its OWN Account, Crisis Panel Finds; Contradicting SWORN Testimony From Execs
Smoke Signals – Plexus : Mark Pesce
Development and Discussion of the Plexus Social Networking Stack
Himalayan glaciers not melting because of climate change, report finds
US diplomat charged with Pakistan double murder
Video: “I Am Not A Terrorist, I Am A Child” (ORPHANS DUE TO “GERMAN/US AIRSTRIKE”)