EXTRACTS from Denise Jannah statement [for full statement see link below]
September 10, 2011.
Please let me start by telling you this: of a cultural BDS boycott Ramon and I had NO knowledge, none at all. This is where the problem started, for had I known I would have done things differently: the reasons for this boycott are valid. Saying this I do acknowledge all those in Israel who do want Peace and are equally tired of the whole situation. I too detest what is happening in Gaza and the way the Israeli government is going about, it’s all absolutely horrendous! And this is the same reason why Ramón and I have sincerely supported “Music For Gaza” in Rotterdam, September last year. This had not been my first time supporting the Palestine case, by the way, I once did through Amnesty International as well. To be accused of violating this boycott is extra painful to us. The boycott is supposedly a worldwide one, known also in all Europe. I hereby respectfully suggest to the BSDI to make sure that this becomes a 100% reality indeed. Because unless I seriously missed something I had never heard about it in the Dutch Jazz scene, and I am still to hear from any of my Dutch colleagues what they know about it; nor have I received word from any musical organization here in the Netherlands so far about this boycott, I’m sorry to say.
And then we are being urged -understandably so!- to cancel our concerts, just 2 days before. I have no objections against the open letter sent to us. I respect its writers, its contents, and agree with them/it too. But any serious working professional would know that breach of contracts will have legal consequences. Unfortunately no one of those pleading with us or downright accusing us have come forward with any idea whatsoever for a possible legal solution in this matter. In this light all we can do is stick to our sincere intention that we’ve had in the first place: to work through our Music with the talent that we’ve been blessed with to help spread Love, preach Peace, talk to people’s hearts and point out to everyone in our audience that we ALL have a responsibility to help make this world a better one, be it on a smaller or very big scale. And with all this in our hearts it’s extremely painful to have been accused of all we have been accused for and to have been called all that we were called unto this day.
The accusation that we work/have worked (in our case as musicians, work=to perform) for the Israeli government is very far from the truth and I strongly object and resent it. Maybe people don’t know this, but performing in a certain venue doesn’t automatically mean that one has been hired by that venue itself or whoever is behind it, as other musicians will also know. The agency that booked us for a few concerts is privately owned, besides: Jazz is considered commercial music and therefore doesn’t get any government support in Israel anyway. Anyone thinking that I would willingly perform for the Israeli state doesn’t know me at all. But I can’t blame anyone either. I’ll have to be content with knowing that they who really know me, will also know that I have never shied away from taking a stand, be it political or otherwise. Again I regret to not have known about the BDS boycott, and I also wish that Ramon and I, especially after “Music For Gaza”, had been informed personally, be it as a follow up, together with all the others that were involved that evening (or maybe they have been? I don’t know.) With better international information by BDS/BDSI, Ramón and I wouldn’t have to feel as if we’re standing trial today.
The Palestine people simply deserve their Freedom, their Justice, their Land, and I pray for Peace for the whole region.
In spite of everything I want to thank everyone who has reacted towards me/us this past week, no matter how harsh and painful it has been for me/us to swallow sometimes. I can still say thanks because I believe in the Divine who knows my heart, and I know too well that every experience is a learning one and that everything happens for a reason. No, my conscience has not been blinded (another one of the accusations), quite the contrary. The talks and encounters I’ve had while in Israel: I’m grateful for these chances of direct communication and enlightenment. The talks were with Israeli and non-Israeli who oppose their government/the Israeli regime and have dedicated themselves to the Palestine cause. We talked about me returning and crossing the border with them into Gaza. I have been on the Israeli radio in a live interview that was to be about my music, where I openly talked about me and Ramon performing for the children of Gaza at the event “Music for Gaza”, last year September, and what moved us to do so. And in that same live interview I also mentioned and talked about the BDS movement and its boycott: that I hadn’t known about it beforehand but that I fully agree with the reasons that have originated this boycott. I knew beforehand that I wouldn’t leave our strive for Peace and Justice untouched during our concerts, and I haven’t. Music is our art, and also our tool.
The BDS boycott and movement is a legitimate way to raise public awareness and a nonviolent way of resistance.
Please know that our strive for World Peace, which I think we all share has only gotten stronger since last week’s experience. And to use our talent as artists to keep giving our efforts accordingly, will be the only way, in moving forward from here on, to make up to everyone we have made feel let down.
Peace and Blessings,
Art which represents the relations of people with others is political – even to represent the human form in some cultures is a political act. There is nothing wrong with art that is political, it is perfectly valid. Yet when art is censored for political reasons, we have a problem, Houston. The MECA “Child’s View from Gaza” exhibition, due to open on September 24, 2011 at the Oakland Museum of Children’s Art [MOCHA], has been cancelled due to political lobbying by zionist groups.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 19 states:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
and further in Article 27:
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
while the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue affirms:
“Physically silencing criticism or dissent through arbitrary arrests and detention, enforced disappearance, harassment and intimidation is an old phenomenon … Such actions are often aimed not only to silence legitimate expression, but also to intimidate a population to push its members towards self-censorship. ”
Dr. Michael Siegel is a professor of community health sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health and he observes
‘In essence, MOCHA is using these Palestinian children as pawns in a political maneuver that delivers a clear message about what the public is or is not to believe. MOCHA is essentially contributing toward the suppression of the truth about the effects of the Israeli incursion into, and blockade of Gaza.’
The zionist lobbyists who harangued the MOCHA Board of Directors with traditional fallacious moaning about ‘it will be divisive’, ‘anti-Israel incitement‘, ‘one-sided propaganda’, ‘anti-Jewish propaganda’, ‘pink jihadist sympathizers‘, ‘they are HAMAS pictures’, ‘these are not done by small children‘, ‘MECA misled MOCHA’, ‘MOCHA didn’t know the content of the pictures’ and ‘the pictures are not suitable for young children’ do not represent a ‘general body of people’, but a sectarian putsch with a specific political agenda of justifying Israel’s crimes against humanity, and, contrary to the US constitution, suppressing political dissent that doesn’t present Israel in a pristine light. Is using the cancellation of Palestinian children’s art as a metaphorical human shield for apartheid, colonialism and war crimes really acceptable in the US ‘general community’?
On his own FB page, board member Randolf Belle said of those who pushed this campaign, “At first I thought they were just whiney, then it turned stupid”.
The ambit of zionists purveying hasbara is to NOT answer questions about their censurious actions, but to divert toward the fallacious propaganda used to persuade the MOCHA board to censor Palestinian children.
The initial hasbara meme of the zionist lobby was ‘the exhibition will cause division’. Ironically, the Israel lobby’s strong-arming and subsequent banning of the exhibition is causing huge division, including within the Jewish community. Prepare for this contradictory outcome to be blamed on those who object to the outrageous censoring, while ziocultists claim innocence and propose that any criticism of them, ad nauseum, is ‘antisemitic’.
For example, Philip C says “A museum of children’s art is not a place for hateful, distorted polemics. Thanks for canceling the political art from Gaza.”
The second meme is that the pictures would be inappropriate for the very young children that patronize the Museum, a banal hypocritical argument. The MOCHA FAQ states:
Can I drop my child off at MOCHA? Do you offer daycare?
You must remain with your child at all times (the only exception is art camp). Not only is this a legal requirement, it is in keeping with our aim to provide valuable art experiences in which children and parents participate together.
Thus children visitimg MOCHA must be accompanied by their parents unless attending art camp. This FAQ requirement is at variance with the letter affirming cancellation of the Gaza children’s exhibition from the MOCHA Board.
Most children that visit MOCHA are between the ages of 5 and 9, and many children enter our gallery without the supervision of their parents.
MECA, the curator of the exhibition advises “Due to the graphic nature of some of the images, adult supervision is advised.”
No complaints from the zionist lobby were presented to MOCHA when it exhibited drawings by children from Iraq of the conflict they endured. Should the children of Oakland who draw pictures of the violence they experience in their community be censored? Should any Museum or art gallery ban children from visiting in case they view a violent image? do the ziocensors prevent their children from watching the nightly news?
It’s worth bearing in mind the process of hasbarisation inculcated on Israel’s propaganderists is deliberately designed to create cognitive dissonance and irrationality, obvious to observers but opaque to the hasbarists.
‘And who says you can not facilitate analysis and criticism, while also encouraging students to reach the right conclusions?’
An intellectually bankrupt ‘teaching’ technique which is cognitively dissonant itself, this strategy would be laughable if it wasn’t aimed at producing cultists dedicated to minimising, excusing and disappearing alternate views which *are* directly based in experience of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Cults call out their cult ‘traitors’ – for cultists, loyalty to the cult is more important than human rights, justice and freedom for which cult dissenters advocate. Goldstone experienced this victimisation for crossing the zionist red line to find Israel had committed war crimes.
President Shimon Peres called Goldstone “a small man, devoid of any sense of justice.” Others in the government and media piled on, as did the so-called leaders of the “organized” American Jewish community. Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz said Goldstone was “an evil, evil man,” “a traitor to the Jewish people,” the U.N.’s “token court Jew” and a “despicable human being.”
There’s a Hebrew word for what these people did to Richard Goldstone: They put him in cherem, meaning he was not just persona non grata in the eyes of our religious arbiters, he was totally cut off from the Jewish community. From the moment the report was released, he was treated like a leper — shunned, defamed, disowned — and the worst was yet to come.
In April 2010, the South African Zionist Federation reportedly threatened demonstrations outside the Sandton Synagogue if he showed up at his grandson’s bar mitzvah. Given the volatile political context, that was tantamount to banning the grandfather from the ceremony. No less an authority than Rabbi Moshe Kurtstag, head of the local rabbinic court, endorsed the idea that Goldstone should simply stay away, calling it “quite a sensible thing to avert all this unpleasantness.”
After an international outcry, Goldstone was able to attend the bar mitzvah. However, that hardly absolves Jews worldwide for the smear campaign against him. Appalling enough in human terms, I believe it should be condemned on speci?cally Jewish grounds. The most Jewishly observant and educated of Goldstone’s attackers surely knew that speaking ill of another human being (“hate speech” in current parlance) violates one of Judaism’s most sacrosanct laws, the prohibition against lashon hara (the Evil Tongue — i.e., gossip), which Maimonides de?ned as any utterance (true or not!) that might cause a person physical or monetary damage, or shame, humiliation, anguish or fear.
The Gaza children’s art confirms the findings of the Goldstone report, another target for delegitimisation by the Israel lobby. Nutanyahoo said early last year:
“We face three major strategic challenges. The Iranian nuclear program, rockets aimed at our civilians and Goldstone.”
The report of the UN Fact-finding Mission into Israel’s Operation Cast Lead is on the UN General Assembly agenda this month.
Crayonophobia
Pedophobia is a fear of children, an appropriate term for people who are attempting to censor Palestinian children. Or should it be crayonophobia? The zionist lobbyists are afraid of what Palestinian children have to say with their art. They are afraid of the truth that these children have seen with their own eyes, heard with their own ears. The truth is a powerful weapon against the hideous injustice of the Israeli occupation, apartheid and colonialism.
Later in 2010, Nutanyahoo expanded the threat list to Israel to include an ongoing threat to its legitimacy ‘as anti-Semitism had warped into criticism of the Jewish state’, a classically topsy turvy explication of Zionist reality.
In line with current Reut Institute strategy which reveals how criticism of Israel is to be dealt with, between redlines and bluelines, zionists wage war on US democracy in an obscene attempt to stifle criticism of Israel on the MOCHA facebook wall.
Who would think that so many grown adults (?) would be terrified of what children think and create? These art censors are into control – of all our lives, of all our children. Forget the US constitution, free speech and parents’ rights, zionists know best what’s good for you and yours, with an underlying assumption that what is good for Israel, assuming that political censorship IS good for Israel, is good for the US. While many of the facebook page posters in favour of showing the exhibit are Jewish, the zionist art censors claim to represent the interests of ‘the Jewish community.’
This issue *is* about antisemitism – that of political zionist bigots who think they speak on behalf of everyone, including all Jews, that zionists have a right to determine what everyone sees about Israel, whilst trampling upon Palestinian children’s freedom of expression to do it. Unfortunately, self-appointed art censors operating from political zionist lobby groups help fan real antisemitism.
Political zionism was proposed by Herzl, who based this 19th century nationalist ideology on a racist assumption that Jews create antisemitism wherever they go. In Der Judenstaat he writes:
“The Jewish question persists wherever Jews live in appreciable numbers. Wherever it does not exist, it is brought in together with Jewish immigrants. We are naturally drawn into those places where we are not persecuted, and our appearance there gives rise to persecution. This is the case, and will inevitably be so, everywhere, even in highly civilised countries—see, for instance, France—so long as the Jewish question is not solved on the political level. The unfortunate Jews are now carrying the seeds of anti-Semitism into England; they have already introduced it into America.”
Yet Jews should be able to feel safe anywhere. Herzl had a plan for antisemitism, that the ‘the anti-Semites will become our most loyal friends, the anti-Semite nations will become our allies.’
Ziocultists continue in Herzl’s tradition, attempting to manufacture antisemitism where it doesn’t exist. And those who oppose zionism might also be aware not to play into zionist stereotypes.
Emma Rosenthal: If depicting the zionist lobby as powerful and financial is anti-semitic, then they need to stop doing that!!! Anti-zionists need to stop doing it too, because it makes one little community group (the JCRC) seem much more powerful than it is, when it tells a museum it needs to shut down an exhibit.
Emma Rosenthal: Clarification, the zio lobby needs to stop presenting itself as powerful and financial.
Becky Dent: But it is powerful and financial. 🙁
Sylvia Posadas Yet the zio lobby is geared to the fomentation of antisemitism since Herzl.
Emma Rosenthal: Yes, but not so powerful that anytime anyone complains, it needs to be heeded. That just feeds the power. and their power certainly isn’t magical. It is powerful within a system of power. Any power the zio lobby has is due to inherent inequalities within the already existing amerikan capitalist system.
There have been many examples of small organizations like this museum, refusing to be told what to do by groups like the JCRC and Standonus, and they have survived. When people have been defeated by this power block, it’s because targeted organizations buckled down to the pressure of these groups and forgot their core constituency.
It gets to the point, when there are 3 phone calls from “the jewish community” saying something is anti-semitic, it is interpreted that the powerful lobby has descended, when all it is is 3 phone calls. The anti-zionist jewish lobby doesn’t have the same mystique. (we also don’t have the money and power) but who’s to say those 3 callers do either.
I asked Maxine Waters when she would come out with a statement of real support for palestine. She told me “AIPAC is too powerful”. It’s an excuse. she’s untouchable. They may be able to make life a bit more difficult for her, but there’s no way she could be defeated in her district, no matter how they draw the districting lines. Truth is, she doesn’t want to take them on because she might want other things for her district. It ends up being an excuse.
Sylvia Posadas: The ‘powerful mystique lobby’ can also serve as cover for hegemonic power too – the lobby can be blamed when policies are aiming for outcomes with increased defence spending to funnel into congressional districts etc.
Why would a polly cut military spending and risk his/her seat by job losses in defence industries in their district = the tension from Israeli destabilisation, primed by the lobby, gives excellent cover.
In the end, the ‘powerful mystique’ doesn’t serve ordinary people, it serves an elite which also can be antisemitic – while Jews are cast as the all powerful money folks, the dynastic and nouveau elites can use them as cover also. So folks end up diverting their antipathy towards Jews – directed by the ziolobby and the ruling elite to do so.
Emma Rosenthal: Syl’s point is excellent. the lobby, on the national level merely reinforces the MIC and that whole trajectory of U.S. foreign policy. Where they have real power is in the way they persuade cultural organizations, labor unions, educational facilities, etc. to marginalize and blacklist members, and to cancel events. At this level, it IS about mystique. If the JCRC and Stand on us really represented so many people, we’d actually have a deluge of resistance to our resistance. But as it is, there are only 3-4 zionist trolls on this wall, spreading lies and half truths, with really bad unsubstantiated arguments.
It is at the point where they claim they have grassroots support where we need to stand our ground and challenge and demystifying them.
Sylvia Posadas If folks followed the REAL money, they would know it resides in the Pentagon, with its $1.2 trillion which gets recycled majorly back to US defence corporations, whose shareholders reap unbelievable profits from maintaining conflicts around the globe. Not forgetting big pharma, oil, the prison industrial complex, intelsec, all benefit from maintaining militarisation globally.
Emma Rosenthal: I’m very aware of that power, but for example, when I came under attack w/in my union, and a flurry of letters came to the union president for work I was doing on BDS, any letter that started with “as a jewish person i…” was categorized as being against BDS. They didn’t even bother to read the next sentence, which often went on to say something about support for Palestinians. The zio lobby perpetuates the idea that they represent most jews, when they don’t even represent most zionist jews.
Sylvia Posadas: The other con where the ziolobby and US imperialists/white supremacists do Jews a big disfavour is in the maintenance of the myth of the aid to Israel, which US people often blame Israel for. In reality nearly ALL the milaid supplied to Israel is recycled back to teh US – first off, 75% has to be spent on US defence product, the other 25% goes to Israeli defence corps, most of whom are floated on the NASDAQ with majority US capitalist shareholders.
The US runs the same scam throughout the ME and wherever else it wants to retain tabs on its tributaries and vassals.
Emma Rosenthal: It is a powerful lobby that gets liberal jews to demand that a small local museum practice censorship!!! (who would have thought that was even remotely possible!!??)
Of course zionism serves the ruling class by means of confusing imperialism, censorship, settler colonialism and militarism with social justice and human rights.
Sylvia Posadas: OK, so how can we better explicate this relationship so at least ordinary folks can stop being conned by really powerful large predators?
Zero tolerance for racism, bigotry, elitism, ableism, and sexism has to be one way where ordinary folks do have a chance to participate in taking control.
Emma Rosenthal: Well the fact that it is confusing is of course part of its brilliance.
Sylvia Posadas: Playing on people’s hopes and fears – the American scream, anyone can be president, fear the other, work till you drop, taxes are bad (even though they might improve most people’s lot) they want to take what we have …. we don’t want to give back to those from whom we have taken …
Emma Rosenthal: And the fact that in amerikkka it is worse to be called a racist (including anti-semitic) than it is to actually BE racist (such as closing down a children’s art museum because some people think palestinian children’s art is terrorism.)
I’m well aware of the semantics of semitism. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/720/op63.htm – that has nothing to do with it. I happen to disagree with the zionist lobby, which isn’t exclusively a jewish lobby. many jews don’t support the lobby, and many many many non-jews are part of the lobby. Jewish is an ethnic/religious/cultural group. Zionism is a political ideology, that one can agree to or disagree with.
The original settlers of the “new world” used much of that same rhetoric and biblical reference in their conquest. These were, in many ways, the first zionists and they weren’t jews, and they didn’t settle in historic palestine. their zion was the region that is now the continental U.S.A. It wasn’t jews who named Zion national Park. It was Mormons.
Most zionists today are not jewish. They are christian zionists.
I won’t conflate zionist with jewish. There are too many exceptions to that rule, including both anti-zionist jews, and non-jewish zionists. For example, one is supposed to imagine that Fatima Husseni is a zionist, but not jewish. right? and in the context of this wall, is definitely part of the zionist lobby. on the other hand, I’m clearly NOT part of the zionist lobby. But I’m jewish. (in rw, not just on fb!) so even here, with only a few zionists posting, most of the jews in this discussion are anti-zionists and support the exhibit, and not all the zionists who oppose the exhibit, are jews. so how could we even begin to assume that zionist means jewish. it clearly does not.
On the MOCHA page, David M says : “We don’t want our children and other people’s children exposed to it. The East Bay JCRC worked very hard to get this exhibit stopped.” Fatima H says “The MOCHA decisons were made locally, by grass roots peace activists working hand in hand with the museum.”
David M again: “I am simply providing some information about why we did that and why the museum board listened to us. It is not policing adult or teen age thought to be concerned about what children as young as two are exposed to.”
David M: “Do you think there would be an exhibit from WW II showing how kids felt about the Japanese? Or from the Korean War showing how kids felt about the Chinese? Or one showing how kids in India feel about terror attacks originating in Pakistan? I would not want any of those exhibits shown.”
Slurs against BDS and JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace):
David M: “We are trying to respond to the BDS campaign, which is very well funded and organized. We can’t match the funding and numbers but we can improve our ability to respond to attacks like these. We have a lot of work to do. JVP is very good.”
And slurs against MECA:
David M: “Parents don’t take their children to the museum or approve their going on field trips so MECA assistants can indoctrinate them with their extreme political ideas.”
David M: “I agree with MECA about the therapeutic benefits of art expression for children. They have picked 50 out of many pictures and are using them for propaganda purposes. That is fine with me as long as they show them somewhere other than this small museum.”
Allen S: “is this show about art or to broadcast a praticular mono-selective ageda with exculdes the atrocities of both sides of the conflict.?”
The self-appointed censors cast blame and assert antisemitism:
David M: “Right. Those who don’t see things your way must be inferior to you.”
David M: “One issue is their lack of truth in the interest of attacking Jews. Another is the inappropriate audience.”
David M: “That is not a projection. It is a guess. Rhetoric like that here tends to lead to action.”
David M: “The virtual attacks on the museum’s Facebook wall will probably lead to physical attacks.”
David M: “When people mad about this say Zionists, they mean Jews. It was leading Jewish organizations which dealt with this. I am sure our overseas visitors do not understand how the US Jewish community works.”
David M: “The intended effect of the exhibit is important. These are very sensitive issues. There are communal tensions and people get attacked.”
David M: “The kind of things you folks say inspire violence.”
David M: “I would not approve of an art exhibit which aroused anger against Muslims period; whether it was shown to children or not, whether the art was created by children or not.”
Aleksandra F: “I dare you to show me one Arab in Gaza that wants to get along with the Jews instead of slitting Jews’ throats! Don’t give me this “peaceful” crap! ”
Aleksandra F: “Rebut my content – like I said, label me what you will – it stiil doesn’t change the fact that there are no peaceful “Gazans” whatever that may mean. Aza has always been Jewish land and we will get it back. Time to end Arab occupation of Jewish land and take back the language from lowlifes like yourself ! I have no patience for those who defend terrorists.”
These “arguments” are more transparent excuses which avoid dealing with the heinous immorality of art censorship for political reasons and recalling what sort of tyrannical regimes practise political censorship.
In Studies on Hysteria, Freud pinpoints the ‘rationale’ of the hysteric for censorship:
“We are very often astonished,” he writes, “to realize in what a mutilated state all the ideas and scenes emerged which we extracted from the patient by procedure of pressing. Precisely the essential elements of the picture were missing […] I will give one or two examples of the way in which a censoring of this kind operates . . .” (1895b, p. 281-282). He then shows that what is censored is what appears to the patient to be blameworthy, shameful, and inadmissible. In a letter to Wilhelm Fleiss (December 22, 1897, in 1950a) he compares this psychic work to the censorship that the czarist regime imposed on Russian newspapers at the time: “Words, sentences and whole paragraphs are blacked out, with the result that the remainder is unintelligible” (1950a, p. 240).
The art burners blame the artists and those who support them for ‘divisiveness’ – they play the same game as the apartheid entity they protect – blame the victim. One of the real divisions is that there is a substantial body of medical evidence confirming the expression of art by traumatised Gazan children and its display is psychologically healing for them. These children are facing fears which are ever-present in reality for them. On the other side of the ‘divide’ are those who wish to censor the creative expression of these children. These suppressors across the ocean do not have to face daily bombings, death, white phosphorus, mutilation, deprivation and occupation. Neither can they bear to be reminded of them. In censoring these children, they enmesh themselves in more guilt.
The self-appointed gatekeepers can’t allow the whole picture to be presented. They attempt to ensure that essential pieces of the picture of Israel’s crimes against humanity and war crimes are deleted perhaps lest they are forced to acknowledge that they, and the US, are fully complicit with those crimes. At the least they follow the dictates of Israel’s Reut Institute current hasbara strategy, including the strategic conflation of Israel with zionism and all Jews.
Over the past year, and especially following Reut’s study visit to the Bay Area in February, it has become clear that the response to the assault on Israel’s legitimacy must begin with internal Jewish deliberation: we have to broaden our tent, as well as establish red-lines; we have to work together across the political spectrum ,with the Government of Israel and with both establishment and non-establishment groups; and we have to transform the education on Israel.
…
the Reut Institute has been committed to responding to the challenge of the de-legitimization of Israel since the fall of 2008. Our team, led by Eran Shayshon,
has worked to catalyze an effective response to this challenge in Jewish communities including in London, Orange County and the Bay Area, as well as in the Government of
Israel , as well as in the Government of Israel. Reut’s conclusions are summarized in a trilogy on de-legitimization (each can be skimmed in 10-15 min through the bold sentences): Building a Political Firewall Against Israel’s De-Legitimization (click here); The Gaza Flotilla – The Collapse of Israel’s Political Fire Wall (click here); and London as a Case Study (click here). In
addition, we published a document on the BDS movement (click here), which exposed its de-legitimizing character. This paper informed the following YouTube clip produced by StandWithUs (click here).
More projection of blame is uncovered by reviewing Stand With Us’s actual violent acts. Were these ziolobbyists concerned about young children witnessing them? Robin McClaren relates her personal experience with SWU:
I was not going to relate this story here because the subject is a CHILDREN’S art exhibit being cancelled. But since YOU brought up “violence” and the folks at Stand With US were a major force behind getting this exhibit cancelled I am going to share my very first up close and personal experience with those folks. It was in 2007 at the Beverly Hills Library. Women in Black were hosting Hedy Epstein, a Holocaust survivor in her 80s. The room was not large. My 16 year old daughter and I were sitting directly in front of a row of Stand With Us people. The entire time Hedy was speaking the people right behind us with loudly muttering in the FOULEST language possible. There were more of these SWU folks at the back of the room. I turned around several times to ask them to please keep their voices down and not speak like that within hearing distance of my daughter. I was told to “F–k off” along with the nastiest superlatives for the female anatomy in the English vocabulary. Immediately when Hedy finished talking all hell broke loose. Shouting, jumping up and a woman in the back had to be escorted out by library security for SHOUTING and cussing about Muslims. I was SO glad security was in place because it was SCARY.
Stand With Us also threatened violence in Seattle should the bus ads run. NO ONE ELSE did this, SWU did.
So you brought it up Mr. Marshak, not one single person here has threatened “violence” OR tried to incite it and on the contrary Zissa was asked to COOL HER JETS. But here you come saying “words lead to actions”. I suggest you take care of your own constituency before you start projecting that anyone commenting here negatively about this censorship be accused of having their words “probably lead to violence”.
Medical experts say it is beneficial for Palestinian children to show their art, while zionists cynically claim that exhibiting their art is ‘abuse of the pain of Palestinian children for political ends’. Ziocultists in fact propose such abuse by denying these children an audience, by bantustanning, corralling off these childrens’ expression even though the MOCHA have shown the works of other children from other regions of conflict, including Iraq.
“He was extremely disappointed, and the other children were obviously shocked and sad as well … It’s upsetting to them to hear that a children’s art museum across the world decided that their personal [narratives] are offensive, and then silenced their voices and artwork. When you hear about an art museum that has violated its own mission to censor children’s artwork and children’s artistic expression, it’s extremely disappointing.”
The zionist lobby has a track record for closing down Palestinian and even Jewish art which challenges Israeli propaganda.
Art critics and visitors to the museum were impressed. Some of the museum’s powerful backers were not. They included Chicago’s Jewish federation, which contributes $700,000 a year, or 10% percent, of the Spertus’ operating budget, and whose membership contributed generously to Spertus’ new, $55 million home.”
…
Those looking at the exhibit in the spirit of Spertus—to learn—did so. Those looking at it through politically motivated lenses preferred to find the exhibit objectionable. In the end, the politically motivated won. The exhibit was censored.
How to make ‘peace’ with zionist lobby groups which can’t allow children to express themselves? If the survival of Israel depends on censoring Palestinian children’s art, then Israel truly is doomed.
Truth cannot be divided, truth promotes understanding and resolution of conflict. The creative expressions of children who suffer oppression directly are essential reflections of their world and their lives. To censor Palestinian children because it makes those who condone and perpetuate injustice toward them feel uncomfortable is immoral. Unfortunately, this success on the part of the vigilante art censors may only encourage them to find other ways to suppress expression by victims of Israel’s crimes. Democracy thrives on open dissent, not political censorship of art the anti-democratic Israel lobby regards as inconveniently violent, ‘divisive’, ‘unsuitable for young children’ and slanders as ‘untruthful’. The MOCHA board must take a stand against censorship at the behest of the zionist lobby and reverse their decision.
The famous words of Frank Zappa: “I think you should leave it up to the parents, bec not all parents want to keep their children totally ignorant.”
From Stephen King: “What I tell the kids is, don’t get mad, get even. Run, don’t walk, to the first library or bookstore you can find and read what they are trying to keep out of your eyes because that is exactly what you need to know.”
And from Jin: “A curse on those who promote and capitulate to the evil of political censorship, you open the door to hell just a little wider”.
22. The right to freedom of opinion and expression is as much a fundamental right on its own accord as it is an “enabler” of other rights, including economic, social and cultural rights, such as the right to education and the right to take part in cultural life and to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications, as well as civil and political rights, such as the rights to freedom of association and assembly.
…
However, the Special Rapporteur deems it appropriate to reiterate that any limitation to the right to freedom of expression must pass the following three-part, cumulative test:
(a) It must be provided by law, which is clear and accessible to everyone
(principles of predictability and transparency); and
(b) It must pursue one of the purposes set out in article 19, paragraph 3, of the
Covenant, namely (i) to protect the rights or reputations of others, or (ii) to protect national
security or of public order, or of public health or morals (principle of legitimacy); and
(c) It must be proven as necessary and the least restrictive means required to
achieve the purported aim (principles of necessity and proportionality).
Moreover, any legislation restricting the right to freedom of expression must be applied by
a body which is independent of any political, commercial, or other unwarranted influences
in a manner that is neither arbitrary nor discriminatory, and with adequate safeguards
against abuse, including the possibility of challenge and remedy against its abusive
application.
25. As such, legitimate types of information which may be restricted include child
pornography (to protect the rights of children), hate speech (to protect the rights of affected
communities), defamation (to protect the rights and reputation of others against
unwarranted attacks), direct and public incitement to commit genocide (to protect the rights
of others), and advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement
to discrimination, hostility or violence (to protect the rights of others, such as the right to
life).
Article 12 (Respect for the views of the child): When adults are making decisions that affect children,
children have the right to say what they think should happen and have their opinions taken into account.
Article 13 (Freedom of expression): Children have the right to get and share information, as long as the
information is not damaging to them or others. In exercising the right to freedom of expression, children
have the responsibility to also respect the rights, freedoms and reputations of others. The freedom of
expression includes the right to share information in any way they choose, including by talking, drawing or
writing.
All countries in the world have ratified the UNCRC except the US and Somalia which is intending to ratify.
I’m dismayed that the MOCHA Board crumbled to the evil of political censorship from those political lobby groups who only realised they had a concern about your exhibitions when it came to exhibiting Gazan children’s art.
These traumatised children’s creative expression of their suffering has been identified as a healing for them from the horrors of war – a powerful message for us all. Their art stands alone as a testament to hope – that when noone wants to listen, one can delve into one’s own creative reservoirs for sustenance. Yet there are those who still wish to deny them an audience, because what these children have to say is deeply uncomfortable to their colonisers.
Let’s close the dark door which some would have us open that unleashes further travesties. Please reconsider, take courage as these Gazan children have to reach out with their art, and search within your own creative resources for sustenance to resist opening that door – these children of all children, living in the world’s largest open air prison, under siege now for 1,553 days, deserve to be heard without gatekeepers suppressing and demonising them and their creative expression abroad even as they are oppressed, rendered voiceless and inconsequential in Gaza under Occupation. You can be these children’s link to hope. You can make a difference to their impoverished lives against those who find them an embarrassment or would prefer they did not exist at all.
It was a young Jewish San Franciscan that was allegedly punched when she interrupted a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year. In Berkeley, Rabbi Michael Lerner has had his home vandalized several times with graffiti branding him a supporter of terrorism. The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival sparked furor and lost some funding over its decision to put on a program featuring a film about Rachel Corrie, the activist killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in the West Bank, and an appearance by her mother. And just last week, in Oakland, an exhibition of Palestinian children’s art was canceled because the subject proved too controversia
During my twenty-seven years of poster-making, no piece that I have created has been censored more than Stop US Aid to Israel. When I made the poster in 1988, it was displayed restaurants, grocery stores and bakeries all over Berkeley. Within two weeks from the time of posting, all the posters had been removed. The merchants were told, in no uncertain terms, by Israeli supporters “show this poster here and your business will suffer.”
It is my hope that many people will see these images to better understand that there are no ‘smart bombs.’ Children and innocents have been killed, crippled, maimed and orphaned by this war. War is not a football game. There are no winners. War represents the worst of human nature.
Grooving on Lowkey’s T shirt – AUSTRALIA HAS A BLACK HISTORY
The track also mentions Ali Abunimah.
US Imperialism
Noam Chomsky on the Dangers of American Empire and Why the US Continues to be Bin Laden’s Best Ally : What Chomsky doesn’t mention: The ruling elite in the US who invest in the defence and associated corporations benefit hugely from increased militarisation and Pentagon budget pursuant to 9/11. The US taxpayers are fleeced by the ruling class, and the scam is reinforced and insured by the existence of defence and allied industries providing jobs in nearly every US state.
In 2010, US arms exports were round $8641m, a small fraction of the US defence budget of $698b. Arms exports are the number 1 US export earner.
The 180-strong community faces the threat of imminent displacement if the Israeli authorities demolish their homes and school as planned. This may well destroy the community, one of 20 in the area, who have become victims of creeping settlement expansion and ethnic cleansing. Write Israeli Minister of Defense Barak to demand he refrains from pursuing the demolition of the Khan al Ahmar School.
‘According to the statement, Israeli authorities used Allawi’s personal passwords to gain access to Al-Jazeera’s internal news and email networks.’
What have the Israeli ghouls been doing to Samer Allawi?
“Appeal to District Court for Independent Doctor to Visit Al Jazeera Journalist Samer Allawi Detained for 23 Days without Charge by the Israeli GSS (Shabak)”
‘He is currently detained at the Kishon prison, an IPS detention facility in Haifa, and is under interrogation by the ISA, with no charges have been filed against him to date.
Mr. Allawi’s attorney, Salim Wakeem, has voiced concerns regarding the methods of his interrogation, particularly as Mr. Allawi suffers from chronic health conditions. Mr. Allawi’s attorney was denied access to documentation concerning his medical condition and treatment.
Court protocols from Mr. Allawi’s hearing dated 22 August 2011 indicate that Mr. Allawi was not examined by a physician upon arrival in the detention facility, in contradiction of the IPS regulations, which provide that a detainee should be examined by a medic within 24 hours and by a physician within 48 hours of arriving in a detention facility.
According to court protocols, Mr. Allawi stated that since his arrest he has suffered pain that is not treated; that he was not examined by a physician since his arrest; that he has used only medications he had with him upon his arrest, and that the IPS has not supplied him with any further medication. ‘
‘The report noted that the panel did not have the power to compel testimony or demand documents, but instead had to rely on information provided by Israel and Turkey. Therefore, its conclusions cannot be considered definitive in either fact or law. ‘
The report wrongly argues that Israel’s blockade does not constitute collective punishment ‘which would be illegal’, and that the naval blockade is necessary for Israel’s ‘security’. Further, the report smears the IHH without evidence. It also dissembles when it describes the direction in which the Mavi Marmara was heading prior to attack by Israel.
The report says:
‘107. Material before the Panel indicates that between 10.58 p.m. and 11.58 p.m. on 30
May 2010 the Mavi Marmara changed course from a bearing of 222º to one of 185º.
However, there is dispute about the significance of this. The Turkish report states that
this course was directed towards a point between Al-Arish and the Suez Canal; while
Israel maintains it in fact turned the vessels more directly towards Gaza.
Given the distance of the vessels from shore, it is hard to draw a firm conclusion as to their
intention from their course alone. Significantly, although the Israeli Navy continued to
issue warnings, no radio message was transmitted by the flotilla indicating that its course
or intended destination had been changed.
108. On the best view we can form of the matter we believe it was reasonable in the
circumstances for the Israeli Navy to conclude that the vessels of the flotilla intended to
proceed to Gaza. That is what they repeatedly said. That intention was consistent with
an intention to breach the blockade.
The report fails to note above that the Israelis jammed radio communications from the vessels prior to their attack. Further in the report though, it is noted that
112. It seems that the decision to commence the take-over operation by surprise just
before dawn was motivated by the desire to avoid publicity as much as by operational considerations.
This was reinforced by the communication blackout imposed against
the Mavi Marmara.”
UPDATED: Mavi Marmara was fleeing west at full-speed at time Israel claims “rioters initiate confrontation with IDF soldiers,” and had already been under sustained attack for some time.
The ship Mavi Marmara was not heading toward Israel or Israeli territorial waters when it was attacked, boarded and comandeered by Israeli forces in the early hours of 31 May in the international waters of the Mediterranean Sea approximately 85 miles west of Haifa. Had it stayed on its heading at that time it would not even have approached Gaza’s waters.
…
Automatic Identification System (AIS) data transmitted by the Mavi Marmara and captured on the web site Marine Traffic indicates that prior to the Israeli attack, the Mavi Marmara, and presumably the rest of the flotilla in close formation, were traveling due south, parallel to the coast of Israel at a distance of more than 80 miles — well outside Israel’s 12-mile territorial limit. At 00:56:46 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), or 3:56 am local time (UTC+3), according to the AIS data, Mavi Marmara was at coordinates N 32° 47′ 37.3518″, E 33° 31′ 34.14″ and moving south southwest on heading 184 at 7.4 knots.
…
At 01:35:20 UTC, or 4:35 am local time, the ship had apparently accelerated to 11 knots and begun to turn west, directly away from Israel. At that point it was located at N 32° 42′ 52.848″, E 33° 31′ 0.2604″ and moving southwest on heading 195.
At 01:51 UTC (4:51 am local), the Twitter account @ShipToGazaGr, which was in direct contact with the two Greek-flagged flotilla ships Eleftheri Mesogeios and Sfendoni tweeted, “we have lost comms with ship, last contact was mentioning attack, we are in alert mode.”
At that moment, 01:51:00 UTC, Mavi Marmara was already due almost straight west on heading 247 away from Israel and the Gaza Strip and had sped up to 12.6 knots.
It is clear from the tracking map that the fleet was not heading toward Gaza or Israel before or at the time of the attack and was in international waters. The Palmer report misrepresents.
The Israelis have been upset about the assessment by the Palmer report since:
110. The Panel questions whether it was reasonable for the Israeli Navy to board the
vessels at the time and place that they did. There are several factors to be weighed in that
equation. The boarding commenced at approximately 4.30 a.m., before dawn had
broken.
The distance from the blockade zone was substantial—64 nautical miles.
There were several hours steaming before the blockade area would be reached. Then
there is the fact that the boarding attempt was made by surprise, without any immediate
prior warning.
The last radio warning had been transmitted at some point between
12.41 a.m. and 2.00 a.m.—at least two and a half hours prior to the boarding
commencing.
The vessels were never asked to stop or to permit a boarding party to
come on board. No efforts were made to fire warning shells or blanks in an effort to
change the conduct of the captains. While it must have been clear to the flotilla captains
that the Israeli Navy had been shadowing them for some time, nothing was
communicated about the immediate intentions of the IDF to board the vessels by force.
and later, the report’s assessment that
117. Israel’s decision to board the vessels with such substantial force at a great
distance from the blockade zone and with no final warning immediately prior to the
boarding was excessive and unreasonable:
a. Non-violent options should have been used in the first instance. In
particular, clear prior warning that the vessels were to be boarded and a
demonstration of dissuading force should have been given to avoid the type
of confrontation that occurred;
b. The operation should have reassessed its options when the resistance to the
initial boarding attempt became apparent so as to minimize casualties.
The Palmer report affirms that 5 of those killed on the Mavi Marmara were shot by cowardly IDF from behind. [p. 59] with ‘significant mistreatment of passengers by Israeli authorities’ after the flotilla takeover [p.61]
Although not all the passengers allege mistreatment, in none of the
events to which the statements of the 93 witnesses relate are the witnesses generally more
consistent than upon this matter.
Further [p.65]:
145. There was significant mistreatment of passengers by Israeli authorities after
the take-over of the vessels had been completed through until their deportation.
This included physical mistreatment, harassment and intimidation, unjustified
confiscation of belongings and the denial of timely consular assistance.
Israel’s excuse of ‘security’ does not justify its actual human rights abuses, including its attack of the passengers on the Mavi Marmara and its overall collective punishment of the people of Gaza of which the naval blockade forms a part. Importantly, the Palmer report fails to recognise the impact of Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza’s fishing industry on which many depend for their livelihood nor those to whom they sell their produce – the beleaguered population of Gaza. According to Save the Children UK in its 2010 Review “Child Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” ‘85% of maritime areas for fishing are blocked to Palestinians, affecting the livelihoods of an estimated 178,000 people—12% of the population’.
The Palmer report was a setup job at the request of the US to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to counter the UN HRC report which is due for discussion at the UNGA this month. With a conservative NZ politician at the helm and the US pawn human rights abuser Uribe involved, there’s no surprise that the findings of the Palmer report are deceptive and favourable to the Israeli interpretations of its piracy at sea and collective punishment.
Turkey has remained adamant that Israel must end its illegal blockade on the people of Gaza, make an apology for its flotilla murders and compensate the families of those murdered.
Whilst erroneously suggesting the blockade was legal, the Palmer report [p.74-75] recommended that
An appropriate statement of regret should be made by Israel in respect of
the incident in light of its consequences.
Israel should offer payment for the benefit of the deceased and injured
victims and their families, to be administered by the two governments
through a joint trust fund of a sufficient amount to be decided by them.
Turkey and Israel should resume full diplomatic relations, repairing their
relationship in the interests of stability in the Middle East and
international peace and security. The establishment of a political
roundtable as a forum for exchanging views could assist to this end.
‘The Turkish demand to end the Gaza siege will put Arab states on the spot. They cannot maintain their silence. This goes especially for Egypt, which disgracefully reneged on its commitment last May to reopen the Rafah crossing with Gaza, undoubtedly as a result of pressure from the US, which still retains enormous influence with Egypt’s military.’
“Israel has always acted like a spoiled child in the face of all UN decisions that concern it. It assumes that it can continue to act like a spoiled child and will get away with it.”
…
“If the measures [we have] taken so far [against Israel] are part of a Plan B, then there will also be a Plan C. Different steps will be taken depending on the course of developments. … We are totally suspending our commercial, military and defense ties. They are being frozen entirely,” he added, without clarifying what the next round of sanctions might include.
Officials at the Prime Ministry, however, elaborated later in the day that commercial ties with Israel will not be affected, adding that the commercial ties Erdo?an mentioned refer to the commercial aspect of defense relations. Turkey did not impose a trade embargo on Israel but suspended ongoing defense projects and purchases from Israeli defense firms.
…
Turkey’s total exports to Israel were around $2.082 billion in 2010 and $1.382 billion over the course of the first seven months of 2011. Turkey imported goods from Israel totaling $1.359 billion in 2010 and $1.180 billion in the first seven months of 2011.
…
Turkey and Israel signed a tourism cooperation agreement in Jerusalem on June 1, 1992 and Turkey became the second most-popular tourism destination for Israelis. Turkey received 511,435 Israeli tourists in 2007; 558,183 in 2008; 311,600 in 2009 and only 109,600 in 2010.
“Recognition of a Palestinian state is not a favor for the Palestinians, it is the Palestinian people’s most natural right and our debt to them,” Davuto?lu said. “It is time to pay the debt.”
…
‘Davuto?lu said keeping Gaza and the West Bank under occupation is already illegal and that it is unacceptable to see the blockade over an illegally occupied territory as legal.
On Saturday, Davuto?lu said Turkey would start procedures to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands.
He said to end the illegal Gaza blockade, Turkey will continue its legal struggle in international sphere. Noting that Shaath was also briefed by steps Turkey will be taken regarding Israel, Davuto?lu said he shared his views about a UN General Assembly decision to take Israel to the ICJ.
Davuto?lu said Turkey is wrapping up its works to challenge Israel’s Gaza blockade in the ICJ and that he received the support of Arab League and the Organization for the Islamic Cooperation. ‘
‘The EJC echoed the words of the report, which recommends that Turkey and Israel should resume full diplomatic relations or there may be disastrous unseen consequences.
Turkey’s reluctance to comply by the recommendations of the report is unfortunate, the representative body of European Jewish communities said, and is not helpful towards their efforts towards membership of the European Union. ‘
‘But the Turkish military has justifiably expressed worries over the AKP’s power grab and its implications for the direction of Turkish foreign policy.
The effects of this erosion of power are already being felt. Turkey’s military establishment, the traditional guardian of Mustafa Kemal Attaturk’s secularist legacy, has long been the main driver of strategic ties with Jerusalem. Its progressive loss of control over the country’s security policy has therefore called into question the durability of Israel’s most important regional alliance. ‘
The two are due to sign a strategic cooperation agreement concerning military, diplomatic, and economic issues.
The moves comes as the crisis in Israel-Turkey relations deepened after the UN-commissioned report on the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid was leaked to the New York Times, foiling a last-ditch effort to patch up relations between the two countries.
Meanwhile, following the expulsion of the Israeli envoy from Turkey, Egyptians called on their government to follow in Turkey’s footsteps, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday, and expel the Israeli envoy in Cairo, as well as alter the Camp David Accords to allow more Egyptian forces in the Sinai Peninsula.
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Ekmeleddin ?hsano?lu on Saturday called on the international community to exert as much pressure as possible on Israel to lift the illegal blockade it imposes on the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza, while he expressed dismay at the UN report on the raid that said Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza was a legal security measure. ?hsano?lu also voiced support for Turkey’s reaction to the report, apparently lending support to Turkey’s expulsion of Israel’s ambassador and the severing of military ties with Israel.
The OIC chief said he believed the UN Panel of Inquiry’s report “failed to reflect an objective and unbiased position, as it considered the Israeli blockade of Gaza legal and appropriate.”
“The OIC cannot accept any report that would whitewash Israel’s attack on the humanitarian flotilla and condone Israel’s illegal blockade against the Palestinian civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip. The Israeli blockade on Gaza is an unjustified collective punishment conducted illegally by an occupying power. Israel should be compelled to lift this embargo and be held accountable for all its illegal actions,” ?hsano?lu said, calling once again for an “objective and even-handed” probe into the flotilla incident.
The meeting on Saturday gathered together 27 ministers from EU member countries, as well as their counterparts from Iceland, Turkey, Croatia, Montenegro and Macedonia, all nations aspiring to join the bloc, in the Baltic Sea resort of Sopot, Poland.Davuto?lu was the last minister to take the stage, where he answered questions apparently prompted by his announcement Friday in Ankara that Turkey has downgraded its diplomatic ties with Israel to the level of second secretary, and giving the Israeli ambassador and other high-level diplomats until Wednesday to leave the country.
In other measures against Israel, Turkey suspended military agreements, promised to back legal suits brought against Israel by the families of the raid victims, and vowed to take steps to ensure that freedom to navigate is maintained in the eastern Mediterranean.
Speaking with Today’s Zaman late on Saturday en route from Sopot to Turkey, Davuto?lu said he first explained to the assembled ministers how the situation in the eastern Mediterranean has been prone to escalating tensions due, to the unresolved Cyprus conflict and the ongoing crisis in Syria. “I brought up the issue of the overall dynamics in the eastern Mediterranean. I noted that everyone should be careful, and told them about the Israel issue. Everyone came up to me and asked if there is anything they can do about it. They agree that Turkey is right, and they advise us to ease up the tension. I told them that it is an issue in its own right for us, with or without the Arab Spring or the Middle East conflict. When the incident happened a year ago, there was no Arab Spring. It is about principles for us. Our people were murdered by an army outside of combat conditions,” Davuto?lu told Today’s Zaman.
‘But Turkey’s demand that Israel apologize, compensate the victims and lift the Gaza blockade is rooted primarily in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s obligation to his electorate. It has become a common, uniting, national denominator, an integral part of Turkey’s national prestige and its domestic policy.’
he UN report concluded that the blockade was “a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons entering Gaza by sea”.
Davutoglu said Turkey did not accept that conclusion, noting that it contradicted the UN Human Rights Council’s findings.
“We will start the application process to International Court of Justice within the next week, for an investigation into what the Gaza blockade really is,” Davutoglu told TRT news channel.
‘But the country that was—that really cooperated with Israel—and it was a shock and quite sad—was Greece. And it did—we did learn that it came under a lot of political and economic pressure also because of the economic situation that they’re in. But they did impose restrictions and did not let our boats leave. So it really became complicit in Israel’s blockade. And we are challenging that on different levels.
Turkey itself didn’t really. It did communicate to us and to our Turkish partners that it might not be helpful at this time, but what happened—but the Turkish organization IHH remained fully a part of the flotilla. The Mavi Marmara was not able to go, because it was not physically, mechanically ready to go. In fact, up until the date that we were supposed to launch, they still had people working to meet all of the guidelines for being certified to go into international waters on the kind of mission that we wanted it to. So we knew—at a point, we realized it wasn’t going to be ready, and we took that boat out of the equation. But the Turks remained fully a part of the organizing. And in fact, we were going to launch one boat from Turkey. One of the boats—it was the Irish ship—was located in Turkey, but it was sabotaged by, we believe, Israeli agents and was not able to launch. So, they didn’t really place any barriers, certainly not like Greece did.’
According to Norman Finkelstein:
“This report does not claim that they were looking for a confrontation. It holds them morally culpable for trying to cast publicity on an illegal and inhumane blockade. With the Israelis, at least we’re in the same moral universe, and it’s a question of fact. What was the intent of these commandos—excuse me, what was the intent of the activists? Was it to get a confrontation, or was it to cast humanitarian—cast light on what’s happening? But with this report, we’ve entered a new moral universe. They are actually saying that to cast light on an illegal and inhumane blockade is a morally sinister act.
…
Then there’s the other side of the equation. There is not one word, one syllable, on how many Gazans have perished as a result of Israeli attacks. It’s not 25. It’s not 250. It’s at least at an order of magnitude of 2,500. We’re not just talking about the 1,400 Palestinians who were killed in Operation Cast Lead. Israel always has operations in Gaza, has very fancy names—Operation Summer Rains, Operation Autumn Clouds, Operation Hot Winter, Operation Rainbow. All of it vanishes from this report. The only people who have suffered deaths in Gaza due to armed hostilities are Israelis.
Now, let’s say it’s true. Fair enough. They have a right to impose a naval blockade to prevent weapons from going to Gaza, for security reasons. Don’t the people of Gaza have the right to impose a military blockade on Israel, to prevent weapons from going to Israel? You can’t even raise that question. It’s beyond their comprehension. In fact, the irony is, that’s the law. The law is, as Amnesty International pointed out in its report “Fueling Conflict,” under international law and domestic American law, it’s illegal to transfer weapons to any country or—any state or non-state party which is a consistent violator of human rights. So, if that commission, the Palmer Commission, named after, you know, the former New Zealand president, if they had any integrity, they would have said, OK, Israel has the right to impose a blockade on Gaza, and the international community” — because this is what Amnesty said. Amnesty says the international community has an obligation—that’s what they said—to impose an arms embargo on Israel, as well, because it’s a consistent violator of human rights.
…
It was a complete spit in the face of the Turks, what this report said.
So I think, from a moral point of view, it was a disgrace. But from a political point of view, it will probably end up helping the Palestinians. You have to remember the whole point of the report. It described the killing of the nine members of the—on the—passengers on the Mavi Marmara. You know the phrase they used? It was a “major irritant” to diplomatic relations. Killing nine people is an “irritant.” And they said, “We have to get over this irritant, so that Israel and Turkey can restore diplomatic relations.” That’s their moral level.
One calculation Turkey certainly would have had time to consider is the price it might pay in terms of retaliation from the United States, Israel’s protector and patron. Turkey, unlike Israel, is a formal ally of the United States, a member of NATO, and thus has a mutual defense pact with the United States.
The Turkish government must have concluded that it can withstand whatever wrath the United States might mete out, especially since the US still feels it needs Turkey to help maintain its faltering hegemony in the region.
On the same day it announced sanctions on Israel, Turkey also revealed that it had reached agreement to host radar installations as part of the American-sponsored and conceived NATO “missile defense” program.
Press reports indicate that as part of the deal, the US acceeded to a Turkish demand that data from the Turkish-hosted radars not be shared with Israel.
Turkey, it turns out, is still of more practical benefit to US regional hegemony than Israel, which is increasingly a strategic and political burden to the United States.
Turkey is preparing to challenge Israel’s blockade on Gaza at the International Court of Justice.
“What is binding is the International Court of Justice,” Davutoglu said. “This is what we are saying: let the International Court of Justice decide.”
UPDATE 2
Another reason the US demurs to Turkey – the Incirlik air base, with 5000 US airmen is.gd/MqlFVA
Yet another reason why the US is fond of Turkey – the Nabucco pipeline is.gd/iA4Znb
Further, Turkey is a formal ally of the US, unlike Israel, which is just a ‘special friend’
Yet another reason why the US needs Turkey – TAI supply to Northrop Grumman of F35 parts is.gd/f32O5k
Turkey is fully integrated into US hegemony as projector of US power & facilitator of resources
Flashback to June 2010 in EI ‘After the Flotilla, will Turkey emerge as a force for Palestinian rights?’ is.gd/2fxChq
Turkish diplomats told the Hürriyet Daily News that the Turkish Navy will be more visible in the eastern Mediterranean through regular patrolling in international waters. “A more aggressive strategy will be pursued. Israel will no longer be able to exercise its bullying practices freely,” one said.
‘Dubbing Israel’s current stance “a position devoid of strategy,” Gül spoke to the media on Friday hours after Ankara announced the sanctions to be imposed on Israel due to the country’s refusal to comply with Turkish demands for compensation, an apology and the lifting of the Gaza blockade’.
…
‘The country has demanded an apology and compensation from Israel, as well as the removal of the Gaza blockade, before the countries can finally normalize their relations. The report, made public by media outlets on Thursday, revealed that it considered the Israeli navy’s blockade of Gaza a legal action, while deeming the Israeli interference “unreasonable killing” of civilians; however, it merely suggested that the country pay compensation to the families of the deceased activists slain on the ship. The report was initially set to be released in February, but faced multiple delays meant to give the countries an opportunity to come to an agreement without the disruption the findings may cause.
“The requests for the delays came from Israel every single time,” Davutoglu said in a press conference on Friday, where he explained that Israel needed the extensions to sort out the deadlock in the Israeli cabinet. “We have held four sessions with Israeli officials to come to an agreement,” the foreign minister said and noted that some of the sessions yielded results agreeable to both parties. “However, the agreements were delayed with the aim of reaching an internal consensus in Israel.”’
…
‘Outlining the course of action Turkey would take from Friday onwards, Davutoglu noted that “Turkey does not recognize the blockade Israel has over Gaza. We will ensure that the blockade is investigated in the International courts.” The minister also announced that Turkey would “help the victims of the flotilla raid in any way it can” to claim their rights, a move Israel had feared would come if they issued the apology to the country for the loss of life aboard the Mavi Marmara.
Davutoglu also indicated that “it is time for Israel to make a choice” and that true security could only be obtained with the establishment of true peace, a comment that referred to the blockade on Gaza, which Israel defends as a measure of security to block arms from reaching Hamas in Gaza.’
…
Holding Israeli administration “the sole responsible” for the deadlock, Davutoglu stated that Turkey would be imposing sanctions on Israel as “it is now apparent that Israel is only trying to drag the process out with its perpetual requests to delay the report.” In the sanctions announced by the foreign minister, Turkey is projected to reduce the diplomatic relations to the level of second secretaries starting Wednesday, and put a hold on all military agreements between the countries, which have been significant partners in the field, with military contracts soaring beyond $1 billion.
Turkey says it is expelling the Israeli ambassador and cutting military ties with Israel over the country’s refusal to apologize for last year’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday Turkey is downgrading diplomatic ties to the level of second secretary and that the ambassador will leave Turkey by Wednesday.
Davutoglu also said Turkey was suspending all military agreements signed between the former allies, saying “it is time Israel pays a price.”
Unless there is an Israeli apology, “we will put Plan B into play,” Davutoglu said in a joint interview to the Thursday’s Zaman and Hurriyet dailies. He said Turkey intended to impose sanctions, “which both Israel and other international parties are aware of.”
Referring to Israel’s request for another delay in the report’s publication, he said that Ankara “cannot accept another six-month extension.”
Senior Israeli officials said Thursday that Israel would not apologize for the raid and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reiterated this to the U.S. administration in the past few days.
The sanctions Turkey is planning against Israel include scaling back the level of diplomatic representation in both countries from ambassador to first secretary. This means Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, Gabby Levy, and his deputy, Ella Afek, would be expelled.
Turkey is also planning a diplomatic and legal campaign against Israel in the United Nations, and will help the families of those killed and injured in the raid to file lawsuits against Israel in courts worldwide.
In addition, Ankara is threatening to halt trade between Turkey and Israel, which totals in the billions of dollars.
Davutoglu said Turkey had agreed to delay the report’s publication several times because Israel wanted to negotiate over the Turks’ demand for an apology.
“We patiently waited for Israel to decide. It seems Israel has some difficulty in making a decision,” he said.
Todays Zaman: Turkey has vowed that its demands from Israel remain unchanged and that it is powerful enough to protect rights of its citizen in a first official reaction to a leaked United Nations panel report on Mavi Marmara incident
Davutoglu reiterated that Turkey’s position regarding Israeli lethal raid into Mavi Marmara ship has been very clear since May 31 last year and vowed that Turkey is powerful enough to protect rights of its citizens “no matter who says what.”
Turkish foreign minister also added that there are many things in the report that make Israeli side uncomfortable. Davutoglu downplayed the importance of report by suggesting that more important is what Israel did not realize with respect to Turkey’s demands.
Davutoglu said Turkey’s demands – official apology, compensation to families of the victims and lifting Gaza blockade – firmly remain in place and that whatever the report finds, Israel did not meet Turkey’s demands.
The foreign minister said his “comprehensive statement” on the issue will largely focus on Israel’s failure to meet the demands of Turkey rather than the report itself.
…
Davutoglu told Today’s Zaman in an interview on Wednesday that the last chance for Israel to extend an apology of the lethal Israeli raid is the date when the UN report is released. He said Turkey will do whatever is required if Israel does not extend apology by Friday.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated on July 23 that Turkey now intends to move on to “Plan B” with respect to Israeli apology conundrum, which will include a campaign against Israel to be carried out at UN institutions, legal action against senior Israeli figures in European courts, and military cooperation between Turkey and Israel being put on hold.
The total estimated value of the current military contracts that Turkey has awarded to Israeli companies amounts to $1.8 billion. This figure comprises a significant amount of the two nations’ total annual trade volume of $2.6 billion. Turkey had cancelled dozens of military agreements, war games and military projects with Israel following the lethal Israeli raid of the Mavi Marmara in May of last year.
Highlighting Turkey’s determination to switch to the so-called Plan B, Davuto?lu said: “We have been told that there has been a consensus, including an apology and other issues, which means we have made progress in the negotiations. But when it came to the final move, Israel always takes a step back at the last minute because of debates among its coalition.”
“Turkey will be imposing sanctions that are well known by Israel and some other international parties,” Davuto?lu firmly noted as he stated that Turkey is determined in its clear stance and ready to act accordingly.
“Turkey has gotten closer to Iran and constitutes a direct continuation of the axis of evil. The government in Washington must answer the Turkish problem before it is too late,” Danon wrote, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The Israeli official called for economic and diplomatic sanctions against Turkey until Ankara changes its ways and abandons what he said “the way of terror.”
“The Turks have crossed the line. They supported the flotilla, they support terror and they dare to ask Israel to apologize to them,” Danon said.
In preparation for the Palestinian fakestatehood bid, Kahanist illegal settlers in the West Bank are readying their trained hounds to go for the throat.
COMMENT: Less violent demonstrations are likely to stymie the IDF. As MOD Pol-Mil chief Amos Gilad told USG interlocutors recently, “we don’t do Gandhi very well.”
According to Haaretz, the Israeli Knesset is paddling Nutanyahoo for lack of preparation for the declaration of Palestinian fakestatehood this month whilst acclaiming the IDF for its perspicacity.
Based on discussions with MKs and others who have read the report, its authors warned that a successful Palestinian bid for UN recognition as an independent state UN will produce “a long-term anti-Israel process” that will further Palestinian interests and restrict Israel’s ability to maneuver.
The report argued that had Israel offered “a political option” that would have enabled the U.S. administration to draft an agreed formula for resuming Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, it might have been possible to neutralize the Palestinian move.
The report also criticized the failure to integrate the work of various relevant agencies, something that is the responsibility of the Prime Minister’s Bureau and, especially, of the National Security Council.
On the other hand, the committee was favorably impressed by the preparations of the defense establishment, and especially the IDF, for the possibility of a confrontation in September.
The report concluded that what happens in September will create a risk of regional escalation and deterioration. Even though the current Palestinian leadership is not interested in another armed conflict like the second intifada, it said, the impact of the atmosphere generated by the “Arab Spring,” combined with frustration among the Palestinian public at the gap between the UN’s declaration and the reality on the ground, could result in an outbreak of frustration that could end in serious violence.
The IDF alarm should be taken under hasbara advisement, particular in regard to their last claim of Hamas working with Bedouin in the Sinai:
The senior IDF and Shin Bet officials who appeared before the committee warned that following the UN vote, a “dynamic of events” might develop, and under certain circumstances, this could result within mere days in nonviolent Palestinian demonstrations turning into violent confrontations with many casualties. Under such circumstances, the defense establishment believes the Palestinian security organizations might not be able to contain the violence.
The officials also noted that Iran and Hezbollah have a clear interest in a violent confrontation between Israel and the Palestinians.
Clashes in the West Bank could result in isolated settlements having to defend themselves against mass marches of Palestinians. This in turn could lead to acts of revenge against the Palestinians by extremist settlers.
Defense officials also warned that the confrontation could spill over into Sinai, where there has been growing activity by Hamas in conjunction with groups of extremist Bedouin.
It is not only the the fakestatehood declaration which comes up this month in the UN General Assembly, but the Goldstone Report (aka the UN Fact-Finding Mission Report on the Gaza Conflict), the UN HRC report on Israel’s flotilla attack and the Palmer Report. With a back drop of Israel’s version of Arab Spring – the J14 protests, this may not be a fortuitous month for Israel’s ruling Likud party.
Edward Said deconstructs the spurious Zionist claim to sole ownership of the region they call Israel. “Nobody has a claim which overrides any others and entitles them to drive people out.”
‘At the Viva Palestina Arabia conference at the American University of Beirut, there was little enthusiasm among the Palestinians for the idea of a UN membership for rump Palestine.
Far from helping it, the PA’s bid for UN recognition has worsened its political crisis. Palestinians point out that it is meaningless for towns, villages and refugee camps surrounded by Israeli walls to be presented as a sovereign state.
Dr Ghada Karmi, a leading Palestinian activist and writer, has for decades been an ardent supporter of a civil revolt as opposed to armed resistance. She, however, was severely critical of the insistence of PA president Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah group on talks with Israel. “They (Fatah) have closed all doors,” said Karmi, 74, while referring to the president’s position that negotiations are the only means to a solution. “Once your enemy knows that carrying out [futile] talks is all you are capable of, he won’t care. You can talk for as long as you like and they (the Israelis) will build settlement upon settlement,” she added.’
36. Question of Palestine (resolutions 65/13 to 65/16).
51. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near
East (resolutions 65/98 to 65/101).
52. Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the
Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied
Territories (resolutions 65/102 to 65/106).
61. Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied
Syrian Golan over their natural resources (resolution 65/179).
WikiLeaks accused the Guardian’s investigative reporter David Leigh of divulging the password needed to decrypt the files in a book published earlier this year.
the fact that Dorling has sole custody of the WikiLeaks cables, and the editors of The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald have not insisted on the publication of cables relevant to Dorling’s news stories, regardless of what WikiLeaks was doing, is a dereliction of their editorial responsibility.
