Stolen, I admit it from a mail list, but this is too good to let go.
Bill Friend is a distinguished
Jewish American and antiZionist. He just cannot abide the hypocrisy
(Zionists who cannot
spell the word please take note) of the shills for Israel who masquerade
as concerned
citizens. I get discouraged with the continuing murders and other
lesser atrocities the
damnable Zionists are carrying out on the defenseless Palestinians, so
it is good to have
a bright spot in anotherwise dismal picture. Bill’s nom de plume is
Zevei Wolf or sea wolf.
RLA
To the editors:
I am not familiar with Ms. Amiel; as to whether she is a columnist for
your newspaper or as to whether she is merely an individual citizen
saying her peace. However I take issue with many of her assumptions and
presumptions which she comes forth with in her opinion piece below. For
the sake of clarity, I will intersperce my remarks as commentary to her
statements in brackets [ ].
Israel must survive for Judaism to have a future
By Barbara Amiel
[ From the very beginning, in her title, Ms. Amiel makes a very broad
assumption that a world religion, which has existed since time
immemorial is dependent on a state created by various world powers in
1948. Many Jewish clergy as well as laity, especially in the United
States are decrying the fact that since its inception, and partially
because of the very real and grave tragedy of the Nazi holocaust against
the Jews of Europe, the self-described, de jure, “Jewish State”, has
become a substitute for universalist Judaism. I could list any number
of rabbis and other Jewish theologians who have spoken out against this
latest form of idol worship, in any number of opinion journals targeted
to primarily Jewish audiences. For the sake of brevity however, I will
only list some of the journals in which this case has been made: Tikkun
Magazine, Midstream, Reform Judaism Magazine (the official organ of the
Union of American Hebrew Congregations of North America), Lilith,
Commentary and others.
There is one quote which I cannot fail to include, and it is from the
editor and publisher of Tikkun, Rabbi Michael Lerner. Writing in the
March/April 1998 issue, in an article entitled “Post-Zionism, Restoring
Compassion, Overcoming Chauvanism”, Rabbi Lerner states at the outset; ”
” If you judge ‘who is a people’s God’ by what they hold sacred,
where and for whom they are prepared to make sacrifices, where and for
whom they spend their money, then you have to conclude that for much of
the past fifty years, the real object of worship of much of the Jewish
people has been Israel and Zionism. Unfortunately, LIKE ALL FALSE GODS
this one has failed to satisfy the spiritual hunger of the Jewish
people. (all emphases are mine -B.F.)
If many Jews turn away from Judaism today, Israel has played no
small part in that process.”
in fact, Lerner concludes something which Ms. Amiel no doubt would find
startling,
” Judaism may be one of Israel’s most important casualties. The state
that was created to preserve Jews may be at the center of the process
that leads Jews away from their Jewishness” ]
DOES it matter if the Jews as a people or nation continue to exist? Once
this was the sort of question I played with at university over cups of
bad coffee in the early Sixties. Were the Jews a race, a religion, a
culture, a tribe? Whatever we were, we were living a good life in
Britain, America and the West in general. In those simple, heady days,
the state of Israel was seen as a heroic little country.
[ Considering the fact that at the time Ms. Amiel pondered these
profound questions, she was a college student without very much
perspective on things, one might understand how she would have doubts
about some of the above issues, and a grave misconception about what
Israel truly is, which is anything but “a heroic little country”. In
order to make this clear, it becomes necessary to deconstruct virtually
the entire thought process above.
I think that to the first question posed, does it matter if the Jews
as a people or a nation continue to exist, that the answer is Yes.
However, just as one makes assumptions when asking another person if
they “believe in God” and the other person answers in the affirmative;
one must avoid certain assumptions to my answering Yes to her question.
Answering the first question in the affirmative is contingent on what
one means by Jews as a people. The late Rabbi Elmer Berger, wrote at
great length on the quantum difference between Jewish people and THE
Jewish people. There are manifestly, somewhere in the neighborhood of
15 to 16 million Jews in the world; so there are certainly enough people
who are Jews to make that question rhetorical. However, since the
inception of the Judaic religion, Judaism has always been a group of
persons freely associating with the creed of Judaic thought. That one
can cease being a Jew by virtue of conversion, or simply abandonment of
that creed has always been an option.
One can always change one’s religious affiliation without much
hindrance, unlike changing one’s ethnic background.
Are Jews a nation? No. The state of Israel is certainly a nation in
the commonly understood definition of that term. But Jews are members of
a religion. The early Zionists, such as Herzl and especially Chaim
Weizmann, who ascended to the chair of the Zionist Organization after
his predecessor’s early death at the age of forty; would interchangeably
use the word “people” and “nation” as it suited them, for the
understanding of those controlling the great powers of the day – Great
Britain, Imperial Russia, Germany, the Ottoman Empire and France.
The document which came to be known as The Balfour Declaration was
quite specific and careful in its diplomatic wording. “His Majesty’s
government approve with favour…a national home for the Jewish
people…” At the time, the official language of the Z.O. was German,
and in German, home and state under the word “heimstatte” are virtually
interchangeable. Thus the high presumption made in this document,
parenthetically over the strenuous objections of the one Jew in the
British Cabinet at the time, Lord Edwin Montagu, Viceroy of India; is
that THE Jewish people (which the Zionists always thought of as a
nationality) needed their own STATE. This state of course would be
national, not in the way one understands French or American nationalism,
but a “herrenvolkest” state, in the manner of the German nationalism
which led to the ascendancy of the Nazis under Hitler. Blood and soil
was the watchword of the day in the Third Reich, along with the need for
“liebensraum”, breathing space for this German “volk”, at the expense of
all of the “non-Aryans” residing on German soil (blood).
The urge is now to poke a bit of fun at Ms Amiel’s lamenting over
bad coffee. Since we are obviously contemporaries, as I too spent my
college years in the socially revolutionary sixties, I too had my share
of bad coffee, over “allnighters”, and yes I’ll admit it, unlike our
lately unlamented ex-President, Bill Clinton; I did in fact, on more
than one occasion – inhale.
Having overindulged in some substances, it is easy to understand why
a college student might bring forth questions, the answers to which had
already been settled.
No serious anthropologist considers Jews to be a race, so why even
bother to raise the question?
Since by definition, a Jew is someone who subscribes to the religion
known as Judaism, it is on its face apparent that to be Jewish is to
subscribe to a particular religion, however tenuously one does so. Even
though many in other religions cannot understand the concept of how one
might affirm they are an atheist while maintaining that one is a Jew; it
must be mentioned that there is in fact a branch of Judaism composed of
atheists known as Secular Humanistic Judaism; founded by Rabbi Sherwin
T. Wine( ordained in the Reform movement at the HUC-JIR seminary) of
Minnesota.
The center of the movement is still located there at the Birmingham
Temple.
Rabbi Wine makes this case in his book, “Judaism Beyond God publ.
KTAV Publishing House, 1995 jointly with the Society for Humanistic
Judaism. Another important work from that particular branch of Judaism
is “Judaism in a Secular Age – an anthology of Secular Humanistic Jewish
Thought” also date and publishers the same.
“A culture?” Not even close. I hate to disabuse most of my Jewish
friends of that notion, but there has never been such a thing as a
“Jewish culture”. Rather, there have been any number of “Jewish
cultures”, all dependent on where any particular group of Jews found
themselves at some point in history. All cultures have certain markers
– a common language, common modes of dress, common foods, common
folklore, even common recreational activities.
Thus among Jews, especially those of northern and eastern Europe,
and now the predominant population of Jews in N. America; there was
certainly a specific culture known as Ashkenazic. I am a product of
this culture, as my maternal grandparents came from the Pale of
Settlement, and my Paternal grandparents from Austria-Hungary. This
culture was distinquished by the use of Yiddish as the common language
(Hebrew, being the “holy tongue” was restricted for use in prayer at
shuls, and even sermons were delivered in Yiddish.), many of the Jews in
the pale would wear what we now know as Hasidic modes of dress, while
others would wear what was common among other people of that area.
Certain foods which we now think of as “Jewish” hail from that region,
such as bagels, smoked fish, prepared and seasoned meats and certain
weekend stews (cholent). Folktales particular to that area were
popularized in the general culture by the man we know as Shalom
Aleichem; and woe to the son who did not practice on his violin. But
this culture was not Jewish.
Many Jews in Britain and N. America, are quite correct when they state
that they “feel” Jewish. They certainly feel a distinctness, but that
distinctness is not Jewish, it is Ashkenazic, as they are part of that
great subdivision of Jews known as Ashkenazim.
Distinct from their northern and eastern co-religionists were of
course, the Sephardim, the “Spanish and Portuguese” Jews, who were
expelled as we all know, and wound up in The Netherlands, in the New
World, and in North Africa. The language of the Sephardim is Ladino; a
completely different tongue than Yiddish with a different derivation.
Much sephardic cooking incorporates rice and legumes, two things
virtually unknown in Ashkenazic cooking. In fact, on the Passover,
Sephardim are permitted rice whereas it is prohibited to Ashkenazim.
Other cultural factors also fall into the same places. What do these
two separate and disparate cultures have in common? They practice the
same religion, Judaism, and that is all.
The same case can be made for Jews from Arab countries, who
culturally feel Arab, Persian Jews, Indian Jews and even Chinese Jews.
Yes, Virginia, there is a kosher Chinese restaurant in NYC called
Cho-Sen (get it?) but it is not the same thing as Chinese Jews.
Are Jews a tribe? Only as in the snickering question, “Are you a
member of the tribe? (M.O.T.)”
Of course, this misconception comes from the biblical history of the
twelve tribes, ten of which were “lost” (in reality the populace
assimilated into the surrounding Assyrian culture), leaving only Judah
and Benjamin, the latter being incorporated into the remaining kingdom
of Judea (and hence the name Jew). However, since that time, those
known as Jews have intermarried with the communities in which they found
themselves, people have entered the religion, left the religion; and an
entire country, Khazaria, was by royal decree converted to the Judaic
religion. This country flourished as an important buffer state in the
area north of the Baltic, Caspian and Aral seas, the latter two of which
it half encapsulated between the years circa 700c.e. to 1100 c.e. Even
today in afternoon Hebrew schools, children are taught the legend of
King Bulan, and how he chose Judaism over both Christianity and Islam.
The current country of the former USSR, Khazakstan, now approximates the
borders of that ancient kingdom.
Yes, whether British, American or other Western Jew, we were living
the good life. How ironic that that very statement completely refutes
one of the fundamental premises of Herzlian Political Zionism. This
19th century utopian philosophy, in all aspects a virtual mirror image
of the virulent strain of 19th century racist, as distinguished from
religious, Jew-hatred (anti-Semitism) was predicated on two tenets:
(1) Jews were and are unassimilable into general European society
(2) Because of (1) the “solution to the Jewish question in Europe”
(a phrase invented by Herzl and only borrowed by Hitler) was to form a
separate state….somewhere.
What has been proven in this century is that both premises were not
only incorrect but ludicrous.
It is ironic that one of the things that scares modern Zionists the most
is the high rate of acculturation (they prefer to use the word,
assimilation, as a pejorative term) of Jews marrying “outside”. In some
sections of the U.S. this rate exceeds 50% of all marriages in which one
of the spouses is a Jew. Was not the goal to be accepted among the
population in general? What better proof than to take on and be
accepted by a non-Jewish spouse and her family?
As for “The Jewish State”, I ask, in what country are Jews in more
jeopardy merely for the fact that they are Jews, than in the state of
Israel? In all countries in the West, Jews are completey free to
worship as they please, where they please, and when they please, by
rabbis of whatever sex and/or sexual orientation they please in some of
the denominations without the censure of either the state or the head of
the state religion, as they are in “The Jewish State”. In Israel, of
course, only one branch of Judaism is recognized as “torah true” and
that of course is Orthodoxy. This is not merely custom but is
incorporated into the laws of the State of Israel. Why on earth, any
Jew seeking religious freedom would put up with such an anomaly is
entirely beyond me.]
Nothing essential about Israel has changed since then but the Zeitgeist
has changed and, about 30 years ago, Israel went out of fashion.
[ Woops, sorry love. Israel did not change fashion statements. What
happened is that thirty years ago, Israel conquered in war (who started
it is a valid point of contention, but keep in mind that Menachem Begin
himself admitted that Israel did, and that he knew that Gamal Abdel
Nasser was saber rattling. It was seen as an opportunity to grab land
that the fix was in for with Britain and France in ’56, but Ike held
firm against his erstwhile WWII allies. ) all of the remainder of the
territory of the former British Mandate, plus the Golan, plus Gaza, plus
The Sinai. The only thing that had gone out of fashion, and that was
since the end of WWII was the conquest of land by force of arms. ]
This has created an irony that the early founders of Zionism never
foresaw.
[ Were Ms. Ariel to study just a little history, she would find that the
early Zionist maps show a “greater Eretz Israel” which they intended to
retake, on some maps encompassing everything from the Eastern shore of
the Nile to the Euphrates, or as it is written in the Tenakh, “from the
river Nile to the great river.” The fact that the Nile has more than
twice the drainage basin of the Euphrates and therefore ought to be
“The Great River” was apparently lost on an all-knowing god. Be that as
it may, other “more realistic” maps presented to both the formulators of
the Balfour Declaration, and again to the powers meeting to divide up
the middle east at the Paris Peace talks in 1919 by the Zionist
Organization, show a “Jewish State” with the northern border on the
Litani river (remember that “security zone”?) the eastern border
extending to the Damascus-Petra-Amman railway, the southern border well
into the Sinai, and the western border from El-Arish all the way up to
Tyre, certainly shows that not only did the early founders foresee where
they wanted the borders of the Jewish State to go, but that except for
bugging out of the “security zone”, and relinquishing the Sinai back to
Egypt, they have pretty much accomplished what they set out to do!]
Israel was established to spare Jews physical danger and anti-Semitism.
[Well, that was the party line, it certainly was not the goal of the
British. As for the Nazis, not only was the Yeshuv, the organized Jewish
community in the Palestine Mandate, virtually useless, but there is
remarkable and compelling evidence of cooperation by the Zionist
hierarchy with the Third Reich. Well, don’t take my word for it; read
The Transfer Agreement by Edwin Black; the same author who has just
released the worldwide bestseller about the collaboration between IBM
and the Nazis. Or read Zionism in the Age of the Dictators by Lenni
Brenner; or The Holocaust Victims Accuse, put out by the Neturei Karta
(“the guardians of the city”), or Ben-Gurions Scandals by Naiam Giladi,
who worked for the Mossad; or the classic in this regard, PERFIDY, by
the great playwrite, Ben Hecht. Note every person writing these
treatises is Jewish; not some wacko holocaust denier, or neoNazi
apologist. ]
The irony is that nowhere in the world does being a Jew carry a higher
price-tag than in Israel.
[ Well, she finally managed to get one thing correct!]
The question that now begins to force itself upon some of us is one we
have tried to avoid: is this grim scenario of killings and bombings and
endless warfare worth it – to the world and, on a personal level, to our
children? I think the answer is yes, but there are persuasive arguments
to be confronted.
[ This woman thinks that war is worth it? Well, Ms. Amiel, if you think
such nasty things are so compelling, why haven’t you made “aliyah”, and
joined the IDF upon embarcation. I’m sure someone there, perhaps the
war criminal Ariel Sharon, would be more than willing to put you at some
front line action – perhaps Hebron? Moreover, warfare is NEVER endless.
It is only the obstinacy of refusing to see the truth in all of this
that makes it seem endless. Here for your consideration, Ms Amiel is
the pure distillate – YOU STOLE THEIR LAND, THEY WANT IT BACK.
This is not complicated, it is actually very simple, and has been
the cause of all wars against colonialism for as long as colonialism has
existed. The given is that when the native population that has been
colonized exceeds that of the colonizer, the colony eventually fails, be
it of a regular colonialist nature, or as in the case of Israel, of a
settler colonialist nature. ]
The reaction of much of the media and many commentators to the election
of Ariel Sharon has been a lightning rod for this hostility to Israel.
“Is Ariel Sharon Israel’s Milosevic?” asked the LA Times. The
Independent’s Review section led with a front that described Sharon in
oversize type as a man whose “name is synonymous with butchery; with
bloated corpses and disembowelled women and dead babies, with rape and
pillage and murder”
[ Yes, and with good reason. Most people still remember the massacres
at Sabra and Shatilla in Lebanon during the unprovoked invasion of that
country by a Sharon-influenced-Begin in 1982. A Court of Law IN ISRAEL
found Sharon responsible for that massacre by Phalange forces, to the
extent that the recommendation was made that he never serve as Defence
minister again. They forgot to throw in Prime Minister, too bad.
However, many, including I dare say, Ms. Amiel, have completely
forgotten, or have never heard of Force 101, commanded by the young
Lieutenant Sharon which massacred over 40 defenseless women and children
in the town of Qibya back in 1953, or which invaded and killed scores of
people in el-Bureij in Gaza in late 1955 in an effort to provoke Egypt
into the Suez Canal war. There are other skeletons in the closet of
“The Bulldozer” as well. ]
The Guardian’s special report on the Middle East contained a piece by
journalist David Hirst. Hirst, a regular contributor to the online
English language Lebanese Daily Star, made his position on the Middle
East quite clear in a January 25 article for the Star.
[ David Hirst is also the author of the highly praised history of the
region titled “The Gun and the Olive Branch.” Ms. Amiel might do well
to pick up a copy. It is more readily available in Britain than it is
back here in the colonies. ]
For him, the state of Israel is a “colonialist enterprise” and any
solution to the conflict begins with the assumption that every inch of
Israel is “usurped land” and the entire entity is illegitimate.
[ And there you have it.]
Yesterday’s Observer ran a poem by the highly regarded Arts Council
recipient Tom Paulin that described “the Zionist SS”.
One can take the view, legitimately, that Israel is a disputed land with
two peoples each believing it is theirs, and that it is difficult to say
who is right or wrong. What is immoral and illogical is to talk about
international law, rights and wrongs, and then blithely disregard every
rule, whether it is the UN resolution establishing Israel,
[ Ms. Amiel may find this difficult. I find it blessedly easy. Since she
brought up international law, why not discuss that for a moment. The
Hague Convention of 1908, set terms for the treatment of
non-belligerents on conquered territories. Now it is obvious that
Israel was not a signatory to that since it didn’t yet exist, yet upon
its establishment in 1948, the governing body of Israel agreed to abide
by that convention. Moreover, Israel IS a signatory to the Geneva IV
convention which is extremely specific on the same matter, and of which
Israel has either disregarded, ignored, circumvented or spat on every
article thereof.
As for UN resolution 181, which was the international resolution
voted on by a narrow majority in the General Assembly (try to get it
passed now!) on a second vote, and after much arm twisting; which gave
“international legitimacy” to a “Jewish State” also set up an “Arab
State” with Jerusalem as a “corpus separatum” belonging to neither.
Monday Quarterbacking of course is not very fair, but in hindsight, had
the Arabs accepted this, I believe there would be no Jewish state at the
current time. In fact, it may have lasted less than a decade since
inside its borders as directed by that resolution, 45% of the population
was Arab. What would Ben-Gurion have done without the pretext of the
refusal of the Arab states. Of course, can the Palestinian Arabs be
blamed for refusing to turn over the choicer parts of an area (The
Mandate) of which they owned 94% to settle for 45% of land much of which
was not arable (like the Negev?)? The Arabs rightly saw this action as
not only an insult but once again a betrayal, as had occurred in the
aftermath of WWI by the Western Powers. At that time, Britain and
France, acting under the secret Sykes-Picot agreement which contradicted
both the Hussein-McMahon Letters of Correspondence, AND The Balfour
Declaration at the same time; divided up the entire area of Greater
Syria between them. So once again the Arabs saw that the fix was in and
they smelled a very large rat by the name of Uncle Sam.
It was the specific goal of the leadership of the Yeshuv, and then
of the new state, to grab as much of the Arab designated territory as
possible before the great powers made their move. And they did. And in
the process threw 750,000 souls off their ancestral land, stole their
property and forced what now amounts to over two milion to live in
squalor.
But lets for the moment forget about 181 and jump to UNGA 194. This
resolution, the quid pro quo for the admission of Israel into the United
Nations, required that Ben-Gurion agree to repatriation and restitution
of the refugees. He agreed, then once Israel was in, he welched on the
deal. This resolution has been reconfirmed in every successive GA since
then; and what is amazing is that Israel has not been tossed out on its
rump from the assembly, in the same way that the Apartheid South Africa
was dealt with.
A careful reading of the “Oslo Peace Treaty” shows that it is in
reality, or thankfully WAS, a mechanism to circumvent UN resolutions 242
and 338 on which it was allegedly based. The more correct term for Oslo
should be “The Oslo Articles of Conditional Surrender”. Arafat
undoubtedly never read the document, preferring to take the money and
running to the nearest numbered Swiss bank account, or perhaps swimming
to the Cayman Islands. There is of course the wry joke told by
Palestinians among themselves about why Arafat can’t sink – His lips
keep him afloat. ]
the Oslo Accords, or laws against targeting civilians in terrorist
attacks or using civilians as shields for military attacks. This is like
umpiring a boxing match and letting your favourite contestant take a
submachine gun into the ring while shrilly pointing out any rules broken
by his opponent.
[ And that presumably is why 94% of the fatalities and casualties in the
current hostilities have been born by Palestinians?]
The Israelis are exhausted by it all. The country has been in a state of
war that started five hours after it came into being in 1948.
[ Once again demonstrating her poor grasp of history, Ms. Amiel
overlooks that fact that civil war in The Mandate started in earnest in
1947 as soon as Britain announced to the world that it was giving up the
ghost and going somewhere more profitable, although it never announced
just where that was. But then, when all else fails you could always
invade Canada, eh? The fighting never really stopped, and in truth had
been going on since the 20s, based on provocations from both sides, if
one is to be entirely honest. ]
This low-level war of 52 years has been interspersed with armed truces,
but it has never ceased and it is predicated on one simple fact: the
rejection by the Arab world of the UN vote to partition Palestine into
an Arab and a Jewish state in the Middle East. You can argue whether or
not this rejection is justified, and I have some sympathy for the
arguments of the Arabs, who had nothing to do with the Holocaust in
Europe that gave impetus to the establishment of the state of Israel in
their midst.
[ The Nazi holocaust against the Jews of Europe had nothing to do in
essence with the plans for A Jewish State. Those plans were on the books
long before Adolf Hitler did his worst. I will concede that the
realization of the world, of those horrors certainly generated
sympathy,goyisha guilt, however one must remember that the Zionists,
like the Nazis, used the genocide as a form of eugenics. They only
wanted to take those Jews who were able-bodied and of breeding age. Yes,
I know that is coarse, but then, the Zionists were coarse when the
leader of the Zionist Organization, Weizmann, referred to the majority
of “ostjuden” as “human dust”, unworthy of being saved, and in fact, a
detriment to the gene pool in the Zionist quest to create “The New
Hebrew man and woman.”
Hitler would have been pleased had he lived to see it. Ms. Amiel really
must read either The Holocaust Victims Accuse, or Perfidy. Ben Hecht by
the way was a member of the Irgun, so his terrorist credentials are
entirely in order. Oh yes, that great humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize
winner Elie Weasel (sic) was also a member of the Irgun. I almost
forgot.]
But the fact of their non-acceptance is undeniable. Even Egypt, signer
of the first peace treaty with Israel, has never established anything
more than a cold-war accommodation with its Jewish neighbour.
[ So that makes Egypt, presumably, Israel’s Moslem neighbor? Ms. Amiel,
keep in mind that peace is merely the absence of hostilities. One does
not need to play kissy face. When the Brits kissed the French, did they
turn into handsome princes, or were most of them still frogs? ]
Indeed, of late, the anti-Israeli rhetoric has been heating up in Egypt.
Last December, in the government-sponsored weekly October magazine, a
two-part article by General Hassan Sweilem, “The Jewish personality and
Israeli actions”, concluded: “Historians, race-studies professors and
sociologists agree that humanity throughout its long history has never
known a race such as the Jewish race in which so many bad qualities,
base and loathsome, have been gathered.” The series included
anti-Semitic remarks attributed to George Washington and Benjamin
Franklin, first used in a vicious forgery that appeared in 1935 in
Germany in the Nazis’ Handbook on the Jewish Question.
[ Well, bravo Ms. Amiel. Of all of the cogent things and intelligent
things written in the Egyptian press, as exemplified by the weekly
Al-Ahram, you managed to find a certified anti-semite, to condemn the
entire intelligentsia of Egypt by. No, I am not defending those noxious
words at all, but perhaps you ought to take time to read some of the
legitimate critiques. ]
Once you face the fact that what exists in the Middle East is a war,
albeit a low-level one, the futility of trying to judge individual acts
is obvious. The world judges the warring parties anyway, according to
the spirit of the times. There was a time when, perhaps wrongly, every
Palestinian act was considered one of terrorism and similar Israeli acts
were never condemned. That lasted until the end of the 1960s. Now the
climate is such that only Israelis are judged.
[ Hey, remember when the Indians were the wild savages and the White men
were all the good guys protectin’ their wimmin’ from a-scalpin’ an’
worst? Then along came Dancing With Wolves and Black Robe and ruined
all of our fun. John Wayne died for our sins, you know.
“Do not forsake me oh mah dahlin’
On this are weddin’ day,……” – High Noon –
“Watchyou mean, “we” Kimosabe?” – Tonto – ]
Arab rejectionism is more obdurate than ever because it is closer than
ever to succeeding. Morale in Israel is low. Emigration is an option
when the computer age makes it feasible for labour to be mobile.
[ Actually emigration was a big option even back in the horse and buggy
days. In the early days of the Yeshuv, for several years, there were
more people leaving than coming, and this of course had the Zionists
very worried. Then Hitler came along and solved their problems. Isn’t
that amazing?
Quite the coincidence. Then of course there were the millions of Jews
who fled via any means possible, from the pogroms of the Tsars, and the
closest any of them ever came to a computer was an abacus. ]
You can as easily do your job in Cincinnati as Ramat Gan and not worry
about a bomb going off on a bus.
[ Well apparently you haven’t been to Cincinnati recently, or Baltimore,
Detroit, Philadelphia or any of the other crumbling inner cities of the
U.S. How’s Manchester by the way? ]
The Arabs are many, the Israelis few. As the Muslim world has said, we
can outwait you and we will prevail.
[ Is that what they said? You mean they didn’t say they were going to
throw the Jews into the sea? I coulda sworn that was what Ami Isseroff
of PeaceWatch told me. ]
Islam is on an upswing throughout the world. I come from a British
Jewish family that was all but assimilated.
[ Which part of you was NOT assimilated.]
I barely understand a word of Hebrew or Yiddish, yet my personal pride
comes from my Jewish identity.
[ Since the estimable Ms. Amiel concedes that she is “all but
assimilated”, does not understand two of the several languages
associated with Jews, I seriously question what precisely it is that she
uses to self-identify as a Jew? Could it be the universalist values
instilled by the prophets? Nah, she already stated she was in favor of
continuing war if that’s what it took. Jeremiah would definitely not
approve, nor would Isaiah and certainly not Micah. Could it be a deep
and abiding respect for the bare minimum of Judaism, “do not do unto
others that which is hateful to yourself, that is the entire Torah, all
the rest is commentary?” Nah, she thinks there is some latitude to the
dispute. What happened to a few of the Big Ten – You shall not steal,
you shall not lie, You shall not murder, You shall not covet that which
is your neighbors? Those are manifestly things which one could follow
which would impart Jewish identity.
I hope her Jewish identity does not simply extend to “gustatory
Judaism”, which means that she assiduously eats smoked salmon with her
kippers on Sunday mornings. ]
Given this, how can I fail to understand how strong the tribal sense of
belonging must be to those among the Arab and Islamic world, many of
whom are devout, highly religious and brought up with a narrow
perspective on the world compared with Western notions of liberalism?
[ And Ms. Amiel thoroughly studied the Qu’ran with Imam…….? ]
The problem with nationalism – or tribalism and deism – is that the
people who are immersed in it generally oppose everyone else’s version,
while those who are distanced from it don’t understand the power of such
notions and blithely bash on, trying to build happy multicultural
constructs. At the same time, Jews themselves lack some essential
character traits for survival. We can be excellent soldiers and
commandos. We may even have the odd sadist or death squad. But we don’t
revel in it.
[ ..and how nice to make these broad generalizations about groups of
people. Gee, Herr Goebbels would be proud! ]
We cannot contemplate mass population transfers and the extermination of
a people or nascent state as the price for the survival of Judaism. It
is not in the Jewish temperament.
[ What on earth would this “all but assimilated” Jewish woman know about
“Jewish temperament”, whatever on earth that is, and frankly I’m highly
insulted by the characterization that there is such a thing. I’m sure
Ms. Amiel is also an expert on “The Arab Mind”, as were many
“Orientalists” at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th
century. Oh yes, I suppose “all dem niggers be lazy” yessuh massa, as
well. It’s just part of their “temperament”, but damn they’re fast. ]
What many sentimental or Left-wing Jews, both inside and outside Israel,
do dream of is a multicultural Israel in which Jew and Arab live
together in harmony in one land under a flag flying both the red
crescent and the Star of David.
[ Well you could pick out a different color scheme for the new flag, but
on the other hand this is a contemplation devoutly to be wished, before
we shuffle off this mortal coil. It would be rather nice, rather than
constantly bearing the slings and arrows and stuff you know. By the
way, since you’re a Brit, I’ve always wanted to know something. What’s
a fardle? And why would be bear it? ]
Nice stuff if you could get it. If, deep down, some of these Jews
understand that within one hour of the crescent going up on the Jewish
flag, Israel as a Jewish state would end, they either don’t care or are
in denial.
[ And hey, that’s not just a river in Egypt, either.]
An Islamic state is not an inclusive state and has no room for full
citizenship for practising Jews.
[ Or even non-practicing, “all but assimilated Jews” who speak neither
“Hebrew nor Yiddish” as Ms. Amiel has so eloquently stated. But then
again, there is a presumption that this new entity would be an Islamic
State, and not a completely secular state. What is it that makes Ms.
Amiel think this. Moreover, if she practices no religion, why should she
care? Because she “feels Jewish”. She has no idea what a Jew is! ]
Would it really matter if Israel ceased to exist? For the extraordinary
achievements of its 52 years alone, it deserves to exist.
[ Kindly name some of those “extraordinary achievements”. OK, here’s
one in the annals of jurisprudence – The Present-Absentees Law. That’s
my personal favorite. ]
But, in the past 50 years since the end of the Second World War, the
actual necessity of a Jewish homeland seems to have progressively
diminished. Overt anti-Semitism has been all but vanquished. Certainly,
Jews appear to have given the Western world disproportionate gifts in
the arts, literature and sciences.
[ Ms. Amiel appears to be hung up on the collective. “Jews” did not
give this to the Western World. Individuals who just happened to be Jews
did. There just aren’t those many Einsteins, Freuds, Salks, Sabins, and
Stanley Kubricks (he’s a homey of mine) to go around. And thankfully
there aren’t those many Elie Weasels to go around either. And there was
only one Groucho.
“My name is Captain Spalding,
The eminent explorer
Did someone call me Schnorrer?
Dadadadada dup dup.” – Groucho Marx –
“Oh that this too too solid flesh would melt,
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew.” – that was either Jean Neidich
or Fergy, The Dutchess of York, I think.
But one of the great unknowables is whether an unassimilated group makes
more or less of a contribution than assimilated peoples. We don’t know
what the Samaritans or Babylonians, never mind the Visigoths, have given
to the world since they disappeared into the greater population pool.
[ Actually the Samaritans still exist and live near Nablus. What they
have taught the world is the dangers of inbreeding, similar to our own
Mississipians, Alabamans and Cajuns on this side of the lake. ]
Myself, I’d be sympathetic to the view that the unusual contribution
Jews have made to the world may have been due to the peculiar position
that we have never been fully assimilated, or become masters of our own
culture, and this has been a spur to Jewish achievement. This is purely
speculation and has no scientific basis at all.
[ That’s a relief, because besides being an interminable run-on sentence
it is a total brain fart.]
While organised anti-Semitism has been eliminated in the world today,
the situation of the Jews hasn’t fundamentally changed. Notwithstanding
the moderating forces of liberalism and the fact that we can live
peacefully anywhere, the same forces that turned Germany into Nazi
Germany still exist in the world.
[ I knew you had to be reading up on Richard Icke and the reptiles.]
Any people such as the Jews who do not have a country of their own may
forever be at the mercy of any virus that takes hold. We might live
peacefully for the next five generations without Israel. After all,
about five generations of Jews managed quite well from the time of the
Habsburgs’ Joseph II until the end of the Weimar Republic, suffering
only those restrictions that were totally normal in any place at that
time that had a Leitkultur or dominant culture.
[
ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…………………………………………….]
Only the Israelis can make the decision on whether to keep up the fight
for their country. All they really want is to be accepted by their
neighbours as a nation like any other. If that were genuine, all the
squabbling about holy places, settlers and borders could easily be
resolved. Israelis want to be able to travel from A to B without fear of
ambushes.
[ as opposed to EVERY PALESTINIAN who can’t “get there from here”without
a myriad of “peppers” as in “Vere er yur peppers? ACHTUNG!! ARBEIT MACHT
FREI!!!!! ]
They want to stop worrying whether or not their children will survive
military service – a requirement that is not simply a year or two of
some discomfort and disruptions, as it may be in other countries that
have an active military service, but a lottery in which their sons and
daughters may not come out alive.
Without Israel, it is hard to see how all Jews in the diaspora could
avoid assimilation.
[ If you are barely Jewish, why are you concerned with a “diaspora”. If
you are “all but assimilated” do you truly believe you are in exile?
And if you truly believe you are in exile, what the heck is stopping you
>from making “aliyah”? C’mon, if not for yourself, then do it for Edgar.
Hey, Birthright Israel and all that swill you know. ]
Jews have survived more than 2,000 years in the single, unshakeable
belief that one day their dislocation would end with their return to the
Promised Land. This is the central underpinning of Judaism. “Next year
in Jerusalem”
[ It is certainly a blessed thing that Ms. Amiel is NOT a rabbi. Not
even close. Ms. Amiel as she admits understands NOTHING about Judaism,
if she thinks that the central underpinning of Judaism is “next year in
Jerusalem”. The absolutely, fundamental tenet of Judaism is this:
“Choose life” In fact, just that is written on the walls of many
Synagogues. Not “Next year in Jerusalem, but this year in Cancun” as
I’ve heard so many joke at Pesach seders. By choosing Zionism over
Judaism, Ms. Amiel chooses death, for Zionism, just like the legendary
golden calf, will melt of its own weight as an abomination before man
and God, but especially before man. ]
is the single phrase every Jew hears and remembers from the moment he
can speak.
[ Actually the first thing I remember speaking was “Hey, cut that out!”
That was to the mohel. ]
If, this time, Israel is destroyed and the Jews leave, whether through
progressive absorption into an Islamic state or bloody warfare, there
seems little chance of a Third Temple and a return. Without the
possibility of Israel, Judaism becomes pointless.
[ Third Temple? Judaism has survived for 2,000 years without a third
temple. Moreover, in case you hadn’t noticed, it has progressed
immeasurably beyond the days of animal sacrifice and priests.
Moreover, how would you know when Judaism would become pointless, since
you have no idea what Judaism is to begin with? You know what, without
Israel, Judaism undergoes a renaissance.
More progress has been made within the religion of Judaism, since 1948,
outside of the state of Israel, than anything The Jewish State had to
contribute to the growth of religious sensibilities. ]
In the diaspora, the remaining practising Jews may well face unbearable
burdens.
[ Yes. I’m afraid my BMW is finally on its last legs. You know what, I
can’t take the flatulence anymore. If one is a practicing Jew in a free
country, who is placing a burden on the person? Is not that person free
to practice their religion in peace without interference, even if
virtually everyone around is not practicing any particular creed? Who
would bother this person? Is that what a fardle is? ]
We have put to rest the curse that we were responsible for the death of
Christ.
[ Thank God. Amen. ]
But if a Jewish state is eliminated from the Middle East, our children
may inherit such canards, for example, as our supposed role as
persecutors of the brave victorious Palestinian people. Losers do not
get a hearing. The Israelis will make their decision whether to carry on
the draining struggle for a Jewish state, but all Jews, even the
anti-Israel Jewish journalists in the West, may yet bear the
consequences of that decision.
[ And I’ll only have myself to blame.
Which is why my friends call me Wolfie.
“Hey there little red ridin’ hood,
You sure are lookin’ good,
‘Cause yur everthang that a big bad wolf could want…”
Sheesh, this trash makes a major British newspaper? Where’s Robert Fisk
when we need him? Or Chris Hitchens? What pub? Heheheh……..
I mean BAddddddddddd……………….
Sorry gang, I couldn’t stay serious with some of this pure utter bilge.
I know y’all are forgiving……]
Zevei
From [email protected] Fri Mar 9 16:09:33 EST 2001
Article: 258060 of soc.culture.canada
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From: Roger Alexander <[email protected]>
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Subject: Re: Dragging a dead body. What horror.
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I realize that it is easy to write dismissive oneliners. The poster is right, all
the wars save the
October War were started by Israel. Schwarz is merely spouting the Zionist party
line,
as usual.
RLA
Omri Schwarz wrote:
> Nonsense.
>
> “Point” <[email protected]> writes:
>
> > All the war except 1 were started by Israel.
> >
> > “meshehu” <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]…
> > > In article <[email protected]>, “David Martin”
> > > <[email protected]> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > > “Israel has no future in a harmonious fraternity of peoples unless it is
> > > > “de-Zionized,” that is, becomes devoted to the admirable Jewish faith of
> > the
> > > > Prophets, whose goal was not nationalist and colonialist military
> > conquest,
> > > > but rather bringing the divine message to the whole world.”
> > > >
> > >
> > > That’s a stupid quote. The reason israel is so nationalist and military in
> > > the first place is because of all the wars the arabs keep waging.
> >
> >
>
> —
> Omri Schwarz —
> Timeless wisdom of biomedical engineering:
> “Noise is principally due to the presence of the
> patient.” — R.F. Farr
From [email protected] Fri Mar 9 16:09:34 EST 2001
Article: 258062 of soc.culture.canada
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Live by the sword, die by the sword. That there could be another choice
never enters Mr. Schwarz’s pea brain.
RLA
Omri Schwarz wrote:
> Roger Alexander <[email protected]> writes:
>
> >
> > Israel is determined to suppress all resistance to its brutal,
> > illegitimate regime.
>
> Better that than be dhimmies.
>
> —
> Omri Schwarz —
> Timeless wisdom of biomedical engineering:
> “Noise is principally due to the presence of the
> patient.” — R.F. Farr
From [email protected] Fri Mar 9 16:09:34 EST 2001
Article: 258063 of soc.culture.canada
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Subject: UNITED STATES AND BRITAIN ISOLATED AFTER ATTACK ON IRAQ
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UNITED STATES AND BRITAIN ISOLATED AFTER ATTACK ON IRAQ
Ali Abunimah
February 17, 2001
The United States and United Kingdom stood almost isolated as
they were roundly condemned by the international community for
their unprovoked attack on Baghdad on Friday which killed two
Iraqi civilians and injured twenty others. The British and
American governments said the attacks were “self-defense.”
Loud criticism of the attack came from governments and media all
over the world, and thousands of Palestinians marched in Tulkarm
and Hebron in the occupied West Bank to oppose the attack on
Iraq, even as at least two more Palestinians were shot dead for
protesting continuing Israeli occupation.
Leading the criticism was Russia which said the attack violated
international law and U.N. Security Council resolutions. Russian
Deputy Presidential Chief of Staff Sergei Prikhodko said Russia
always “strongly opposes any U.S. military actions, whomever they
are against, if these actions bypass the U.N. Security Council
resolutions.”
A spokesperson for the French foreign ministry said that France
was neither informed or consulted about the attack, which France
believes “raised questions.” In 1998 France withdraw from
enforcing the unilaterally imposed “no fly” zones and has since
been highly critical of Anglo-American policy and attacks on
Iraq.
Belarus, a close ally of Moscow said in a statement from its
foreign ministry that “Such actions should be regarded as an open
violation of international law which undermines the U. N. system
of maintaining international peace and security. Such actions can
only aggravate the situation on the regional and global scales.”
China, whose embassy in Belgrade was bombed and destroyed in a
U.S. attack in 1999 also strongly criticised the Anglo-American
action. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said “We condemn
the air attacks launched by the United States and Britain against
Iraq, and express deep regret over the deaths and injuries of
innocent civilians resulting from the action.”
Iraq’s neighbor Iran denounced the attack in a commentary on
Tehran Radio, saying “The violent attacks of the American air
force are signs of the adventurism of the new administration of
George W. Bush,” and “This surprise attack adds to the growing
violence in the Middle East,” in reference to the continued
violence by Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian
people.
Turkey, a member of NATO, whose military-dominated government
allows the United States to launch planes against Iraq from the
Incirlik airbase also condemned the Anglo-American attack. Prime
Minister Bulent Ecevit said “We followed the military operation
with concern. It is regrettable that a need was felt for such an
operation and that civilians were affected.” Ecevit also
expressed regret that the United States had not consulted Turkey
over the action.
Atal Behari Vajpayee, the prime minister of India called the
attack on Iraq “unacceptable” saying that “India has consistently
opposed the unilateral imposition of the no-fly zones on Iraq”
because “They do not come within the framework of United Nations
Security Council resolutions.” Vajpayee added that “Such strikes
cause unnecessary and avoidable suffering upon the innocent men,
women and childen of Iraq.”
While popular and media reaction in the Arab world was sharply
against the newest American aggression, and many commentators
noted that once again Arabs are being killed and injured at the
hands of both Israel and the United States simultaneously,
reaction from governments was more muted. In Jordan the main
dailies which usually reflect government thinking strongly
condemned the attacks as “cowardly” and featured prominent photos
of civilian victims.
While Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abd El Meguid said the
attack on Iraq had “had no justification,” Generally, however,
Arab governments, particularly those in the Gulf maintained
silence. Iraq accuses Kuwait and Saudi Arabia which allow
themselves to be used as bases for American attacks on Iraq of
being accomplices.
The United States found some support from Poland. A spokesman for
prime minister Jerzy Buzek said the attacks were
“understandable.” Poland joined NATO, the U.S.-led military
alliance in 1999. Canada’s prime minister, Jean Chretien,
betraying a disturbing ignorance about Iraq said that his country
was not informed about the attack in advance but that “This is
the protection of the freezone … there is an agreement there
and when it’s not respected the enforcement of the agreement is
done by the Brits and the Americans and they do it on their own
without consultation with us.” There is in fact no “agreement”
regarding any “no fly zones.” These zones were unilaterally
created and imposed by the United States and are not mentioned in
any U.N. resolutions or the ceasefire agreements Iraq signed
ending the Gulf War ten years ago.
In the United States leading newspapers such as The New York
Times welcomed the American attack and most electronic media
broadcast Pentagon justifications without criticism, comment or
dissenting analysis. American media downplayed or omitted mention
of Iraqi civilians killed and injured by frequent U.S.
bombardment, including the latest attack. While international
reaction to the U.S.-led action was loud and clear, the question
remains as to whether the United States is able to hear it.
Ali Abunimah
[email protected]
http://www.abunimah.org
From [email protected] Fri Mar 9 16:09:34 EST 2001
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Subject: British MP slams U.S.-British air strike on Iraq
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British MP slams U.S.-British air strike on Iraq
Baghdad |Reuters | 20-02-01
A British member of parliament yesterday denounced as “immoral, cowardly
and terrorist” a U.S.-British air attack three days ago on targets near
Baghdad. George Galloway, of Britain’s ruling Labour Party, condemned
his own country and the United States during a visit to a Baghdad
hospital where he was told Friday’s air strikes had killed two civilians
and wounded more than 20.
“It is an immoral, cowardly and terrorist act,” said Galloway, who has
been campaigning for an end to economic sanctions against Iraq imposed
for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Galloway spoke to doctors at Yarmouk
hospital in Baghdad treating those wounded in the attack.
“Turn your cameras to this boy and tell me if it is a military target,”
he told reporters while standing near a 10- year-old child wounded in
the attack. “We are bombing these children in the north and south of the
country and now we are bombing them in the capital,” he said, referring
to U.S. and British warplanes patrolling no-fly zones in north and south
Iraq set up soon after the 1991 Gulf War.
Galloway said that an Iraqi child dies every eight minutes because of
the decade-old UN sanctions. He blamed the continuation of the sanctions
on his own government and that of the United States. “It is immoral to
starve children and cut children with hot steel from airplanes because
of a political dispute,” he said.
Washington and London have been adopting a strict policy against Baghdad
and the two governments want to see the sanctions continuing on Iraq.
Galloway said that the U.S. and British policy against Iraq was
strengthening President Saddam Hussein.
“I honestly wonder sometimes that the British and Americans are working
for Saddam Hussein, because the policy they are pursuing is boosting his
standing around the world rather than reducing it.”
Washington and London said their planes had targeted Iraq’s defence
systems around Baghdad. In December 1998, U.S. and British planes
launched an extensive, four-day bombing campaign against Iraq.
From [email protected] Fri Mar 9 16:09:35 EST 2001
Article: 258085 of soc.culture.canada
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Subject: Re: Dragging a dead body. What horror.
References: <[email protected]> <[email protected]>
<[email protected]> <[email protected]>
<t90r8m65175[email protected]> <[email protected]>
<[email protected]> <[email protected]>
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I’m not an expert on Palestinian history, so anything I say about that time is
not worth writing. I do understand that the Arabs reacted to the Jewish immigration
with some violence.
RLA
PF wrote:
> On Mon, 19 Feb 2001 23:42:16 -0600, Roger Alexander
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I’m not trying to vindicate Israeli aggression or to frame it as
> “self-defense”, but wouldn’t it be accurate to say that the earliest
> clashes (1920’s-30’s) between Zionists and Palestinians were
> instigated by Palestinians?
>
> (I don’t think that “you hit me first” justifies Israel’s past or
> current offensives; just trying to get the record straight for my own
> knowledge)
>
> >I realize that it is easy to write dismissive oneliners. The poster is right, all
> >the wars save the
> >October War were started by Israel. Schwarz is merely spouting the Zionist party
> >line,
> >as usual.
> >RLA
From [email protected] Fri Mar 9 16:09:35 EST 2001
Article: 258121 of soc.culture.canada
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Subject: Re: UNITED STATES AND BRITAIN ISOLATED AFTER ATTACK ON IRAQ
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Well, I wouldn’t go quite that far Mr. Gildersleeve. Any moral person doesn’t
want
a whole country, or a single innocent person, for that matter, to be killed.
Of course, if you happen to be a dedicated cult member, such as Zionists are,
then morality is not a question for you.
RLA
Diddly Whoot wrote:
> Hate to blow your bubble, but it is really not that big of a deal. Nobody
> really gives a rats ass if Iraq is bombed off the map. Don’t listen to all
> the hot wind from various countries and their politicians, just wind. , they
> really do not care, except for France who would like to get their big
> outstanding loan to Iraq paid.
>
> Conduct a little poll in the USA and UK and see what most normal folks
> think, half will say nuke the prick before we have BIO or chemical attach in
> one of our cities.
>
> big snip of nonsense~~~~~~
From [email protected] Fri Mar 9 16:09:35 EST 2001
Article: 258159 of soc.culture.canada
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Subject: Israelis-Tell Your Children By: E. Yaghi
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Israelis-Tell Your Children
By: E. Yaghi
Israelis, you tell yourselves and the world that Palestine was always
Jewish. We, the Palestinian people, ask you therefore that when you
teach your school children about how Palestine was always Jewish, to
instead tell them the truth. Tell them that we Palestinians are the
native inhabitants of our land.
You teach your generations of children that all your victories are just
battles, but whenever we rise up against the yoke of oppression you have
placed upon us, our reprisals against the slaughter of our people are
called terrorist acts.
We ask you to tell the truth and not to lie. Tell yourselves and your
children about how your Haganah, Irgun and Stern gangs massacred
Palestinians at Deir Yassin, Ein Az Zeitun, Lydda, Safsaf, Saliha, and
at Duwayma where 100 women and children were slaughtered. Tell them how
you killed our children there by smashing in their skulls. Tell them
too about the massacres at Balad as Sheikh, Qibya (Jordan) and Sabra and
Shatella (Lebanon) and others too many to mention.
Your history books teach that Palestinians are murderers and terrorists.
We only fight in self-defense. We only fight when we can bear no more
of your oppression, your siege of our towns and villages, of your
closure of our airport, of your demolishing our homes, shelling our
villages, bulldozing our farms and uprooting our trees. You have taken
our land, pillaged and plundered us, dispossessed us of a way of living.
When we rise to protect ourselves, our homes, our children, you call us
violent, but when you use tear gas, nerve gas, bombard us by air, land
and sea, you are called brave and patriots.
You call us treacherous, but you make no mention of your own treachery,
or the UN resolutions you fail to recognize or enforce. Your peace
proposals to us merely portion off more of our land while you continue
to encourage your Jewish “in-gathering” and build more settlements on
the remnants of what is left to us.
You call yourselves civilized and brand us as savages. But I ask you, is
it civilized to kill women and children? Is it civilized to attack our
homes as we sleep? And how civilized can any people be when they
imprison and torture children? What then is civilization? If you measure
it by a noble religion, philosophy, art, poetry, stirring music, a rich
legacy, we had all of these. Our poetry was renowned for its beauty even
before God sent down to mankind the Holy Koran. Western civilization was
built on our vast contributions to the arts and sciences.
Some of our songs and poetry carry the sounds of nature, the running of
waters, the sighing of the sea-borne winds and the calls of our wild
animals. Teach our rich legacy to your children so they may come to love
nature and the arts as we love and have loved them.
Some of our stories have been passed down to us through the noble
generations of our ancestors who sat around fireplaces telling our
wide-eyed forefathers the glorious legends of our past. Why not teach
your children some of our folklore and our proverbs? Tell them too, how
we loved all that is beautiful. While you sit around your lush swimming
pools stealing our water from us and not even providing us with enough
to drink in the ghettos you have placed us in, tell your children how we
made use of all the resources we consumed and wasted nothing.
Tell your children how there was a time when Palestinians and Jews lived
in harmony and peace. During the Islamic Empire, you flourished as a
people and it was only when Saladin re-took Jerusalem in 1187 that you
trickled back into the city that now you claim as only Jewish and your
eternal capital.
Tell your children that you are the new Hitlers and that the Diaspora is
now ours and that the Holocaust has become Palestinian.
Tell your children that Israel is a democracy only for Jews and that you
try your best to drive us, the natives of our land, out of our homes so
that more Jews from all over the world can take our place.
Teach your children that the true mark of any civilization is when the
dignity and integrity of all are respected.
We, the Palestinians, ask you Israelis to stop the slaughter of our
people and to keep our memory sacred.
From [email protected] Fri Mar 9 16:09:36 EST 2001
Article: 258161 of soc.culture.canada
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Subject: The revolt of the guinea-pigs By Amira Hass
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Ha’aretz
February 21, 2001
The revolt of the guinea-pigs
By Amira Hass
Members of Israel’s security and intelligence establishments (and their
representatives in the political system) are now announcing the imminent
collapse of the Palestinian Authority (PA).One arm of the security
establishment orders concrete blocks placed at entrances to Palestinian
villages, preventing the residents from reaching their fields or their
jobs
in the cities, while another sheds crocodile tears over the population’s
lost
income. One order prevents PA officials from reaching their offices in
the
various cities, while a press briefing explains to reporters that the PA
is
not functioning. With one statement the political establishment prevents
the
supply of fuel and gas to the Gaza Strip and blocks the transfer of tax
and
tariff income to the PA, while another notes the growing gap between the
Palestinian public and the PA, which cannot supply that public with
decent
services.
This feigned innocence fits in well with the victorious, Israeli,
representation of the events: Arafat initiated the Al Aqsa Intifada in
breach
of agreements made with him – or at the very least, he did not stop it.
Arafat is not putting the Intifada down, and therefore Israel’s policy
of
collective punishment and acts of repression – military, financial and
logistic – are a legitimate defense of the attacked side: Israel.
According to this representation of reality, everything started with the
first Palestinian stone, the first Palestinian bullet and the road-side
bomb
on the Netzarim-Karni road.
There is probably little chance of convincing the Israeli public today
that
there is a link between that stone, bullet and bomb and the fact that
the
Oslo years did not offer the Palestinian public a future of
independence, nor
a hope for social well-being. Those who in recent years gladly adopted
the
victorious, Israeli, version of reality – alleging that the occupation
is
over because the PA got administrative control and policing powers over
most
of the Palestinian population in isolated enclaves – cannot be and are
not
interested in recognizing the occupied population’s right to rebel.
Those who
yield to the victim-mindset that is daily fed by Israeli occupation
mechanisms; those who count their own dead and wounded while remaining
indifferent to the huge number of dead and wounded on the other side,
are
making no attempt to understand the meaning of the experiment that began
in
the last decade of the 20th century.
The Oslo lab experiment must be judged, not on the basis of the promises
and
declarations of its architects, but on the basis of the Israeli policy
implemented on the ground. In short, the experiment tried to examine the
possibility of continuing the rule over the Palestinians by shutting
them
into autonomous bordered-off areas, and taking over as much as possible
of
their water and land resources. An integral part of this experiment was
cultivating excess privileges for the Palestinian leadership – giving it
the
stamp of approval and Western legitimacy as substitutes for recognizing
United Nations resolutions regarding the solution for the conflict.
Regardless of the personal feelings and past record of each member of
this
over-privileged leadership – long out of touch with its own people – it
served at one and the same time as both one of the guinea pigs and one
of the
junior partners running the experiment.
The movement restrictions, the freeze on transferring funds to the PA
and the
destruction of the PA’s economy are not an invention of recent months.
They
were a fundamental ingredient of the Oslo experiment, and of Madrid
before
it: On the one hand, international conferences allocating huge sums to
the
Palestinian Authority to compensate for the infrastructure destruction
caused
by the Israeli occupation since 1967; and on the other hand, a sealing
of the
borders – sending half the population below the poverty line and causing
losses totaling more than the donations. This happened in March 1993, in
the
summer of 1995, and in the winter of 1996. The collective punishment
policy
at the time was not only a conditioned reflex of a veteran and
experienced
occupation mechanism, but also a tactic intended to ensure the taming of
the
Palestinian leadership into accepting the rules laid down by the
victorious
side: We will draw your people’s borders of independence; you will
persecute
anyone who opposes this; you will become rich, thanks to the special
freedom
of movement we will grant only you; and we will all call this a peace
process. If you break these rules, we have the power to jeopardize your
public position, weaken your rule, and cut your sources of income.
The experiment is not over yet: It has neither been deemed a success nor
declared a failure. CIA-favorite Jibril Rajoub’s talks this week in
Washington indicate how important the success of the experiment is to
the
United States – not only to Israel – and how crucial it is to some in
the
Palestinian leadership. The main problem, overlooked by the scientists,
is
that the human guinea pigs are rebelling against the experiment
From [email protected] Fri Mar 9 16:09:36 EST 2001
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Subject: LAW Weekly Palestine News Roundup 15-21 February 2001
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And a sordid tale of murder and death it is too. I would call the
Israelis murdering assassins, but they are proud of this label.
If one is the scum of the earth, it is hard to shame him.
RLA
LAW Weekly Palestine News Roundup 15-21 February 2001
During the third week of February, Israeli forces continued to shoot at,
beat and abuse unarmed Palestinian civilians, shell Palestinian
residential
areas, hold Palestinian towns and villages under siege and pursue their
policy of extra-judicial execution.
In the past week, Israeli soldiers and police reportedly caused the
death of
eight Palestinians; four through shelling Palestinian towns, one by
assassination, two during a car chase by the Israeli police, and one who
was
prevented from crossing an Israeli checkpoint.
First: Violating the right to life and security of person
1. Deaths
* 29 year-old Isam Al Taweel, a father of 3 from Hebron, died on
February 16
after being shot in the chest. According to eyewitness statements to
LAW,
Isam was on the way to his home in Al Karantina opposite the Jewish
Avraham
Avino enclave in Hebron when he got caught in the Israeli shelling of Al
Karantina. He bled for some time before anyone could reach him.
According to
LAW’s information, five other Palestinians were wounded in the attack;
Malaka Al Bakeri (42) was hit by shrapnel in the back, and Nawal and
Yacoub
Marar were hit by shrapnel in their home.
* Shakir Al Manasra, 23, from Bani Na’eem, Hebron, also died on Friday
16
February, when Israeli forces bombed the cow farm where he worked.
Eyewitness Jalal Faraj, 26, told LAW that he and three of his colleagues
were sitting in a room in the farm at 8:30pm when Israeli forces started
bombing. Ahmad Faraj Allah, 33, who was shot in the stomach during the
attack, died on Sunday 18 February. Ahmad had a brother named Faraj who
was
killed in the first Intifada, and Ahmad had married his dead brother’s
wife.
Also injured in the attack was Manasra’s brother Yusif Mawas, 30, who
was
shot in the right shoulder and left arm.
* Usama Al Kurbi, 18, from Beit Sahour, was killed on Thursday 20
February
when the rood of his house caved in on him due to shelling by the
Israeli
army. According to LAW’s documentation, many parts of Beit Sahour such
as Al
Iraq quarter, the environs of the Saint Nicholas cathedral and the
Orthodox
Centre were shelled by Israeli artillery and automatic gunfire from Gilo
settlement. Usama was buried under the wreckage for several hours before
his
family and fire-fighters could pull him out.
* 76 year-old Abdul Rahman Jum’a from Beit Leid in Tulkarem died when
Israeli soldiers delayed the car taking him to hospital for one hour.
Eyewitness Muhanad Jum’a told LAW:
“At 10am on Friday, we took Jum’a in a car to hospital in Tulkarem after
he
felt a severe chest pain. When we arrived at the checkpoint at the
entrance
of Tulkarem, we told the Israeli soldiers there that we had with us a
very
ill man who needed to be hospitalised. They refused to let us pass, but
held
us at the checkpoint for an hour. Finally, when we arrived at the
hospital
an hour and a half later, the doctor told us that Jum’a had passed away
half
an hour ago. The road to the hospital normally takes half an hour.”
* Mohammad Al Hawamda, 25, from Al Samou’a, Hebron, and Omar Abu Tarash,
20,
>from Al Kiya in Bir Al Sabia’a, died when Israeli police chased Al
Hawamda’s
car, which hit that of Abu Tarash. Ismail Al Hawamda, 25, was injured in
the
incident. Al Hawamda’a was on his way home after a working day in Bir Al
Sabia’a (within the borders of Israel).
* Mahmoud Al Madani, 25, from Balata refugee camp, was reportedly
assassinated in an ambush by Israeli Special Forces on February 19. He
was
shot and killed as he left the camp’s mosque accompanied by his 21
year-old
brother at 2:30 pm. LAW Society’s documentation indicates that Mahmoud
and
his brother Nur Al Deen left Fatouh Mosque in Balata. As they passed the
south-eastern entrance to the camp near Jerusalem Road on their way to
their
grocery store, Mahmoud was shot twice in the chest, once in the waist,
and
once in the left shoulder. He was taken to Rafidia hospital in Nablus,
where
he was pronounced dead at 6:30 pm. Mahmoud’s brother, Nur Al Deen,
stated to
LAW that the shots had been fired from very close range. According to
the
initial medical report, the distance was estimated at 15 metres. Nur Al
Deen
added that the bullets had exploded inside his brother.
According to LAW’s investigation, immediately after Mahmoud had been
shot
soldiers at the nearby Israeli military outpost on Mount Jirzeem opened
fire, seemingly to cover up the work of the Special Forces and aid their
retreat from the area. Later that evening, the official Israeli media
declared, “A Special Forces unit south of Nablus today opened fire at a
Palestinian man, wanted by the security services for being involved in
acts
of aggression such as explosions inside Israel, and critically wounded
him.”
2. Injuries
84 Palestinians were injured when Israeli forces attacked Palestinian
protesters in Hebron, Al Bireh and Deir Nitham and in the shelling of Al
Bireh. 6 of the wounded were hit with live ammunition, 33 with steel
bullets
and 14 with shrapnel. The rest suffered teargas inhalation.
The following Palestinians protesters were wounded on 16 February when
Israeli forces broke into the village of Deir Nitham, west of Ramallah:
1. Tayseer Al Araj (16), hit by a steel bullet in the right arm
2. Ahmad Salih (12), hit by a steel bullet in the left arm
3. Mohammad Mazhar (14), hit by a steel bullet in the right arm
4. Abdullah Salih (17), hit by a steel bullet in the genitalia
5. Tariq Ameer (14), hit by a steel bullet in the chest
6. Hassan Eed (18), hit by a steel bullet in the spine
7. Fadel Ziyad (26), hit by a steel bullet in the left foot
8. Shahir Mas’ad (16), hit by a steel bullet in the right shoulder
9. Fadi Mas’ad (19), hit by a steel bullet in the left foot
Also on 16 February, Israeli forces, equipped with tanks and bulldozers,
stormed into Al Salam quarter south of Rafah at 3am and demolished seven
homes. They also knocked down some greenhouses as well as several
chicken
farms. They invaded the home of Nasser Al Sha’er, held his family
hostage
and used them as a human shield until 8pm. During that time they used Al
Sha
’er’s house as a military outpost from which they wounded the following
people:
1. Mousa Abu Mu’amar (14), hit by shrapnel in the right leg
2. Hassan Al Satri (14), hit by shrapnel in the head
3. Muhyi Mansour (27), hit by shrapnel in the head
4. Yusra Awida (31), shot in the left foot
5. Mohammad Abu Kuus (10) shot in the left foot
In a separate incident, Israeli soldiers wounded the following
Palestinians
near Netsarim junction:
1. Abdul Rahman Al Hajar (15), shot in the left leg
2. Hazim Said (15), shot and slightly wounded in the head
3. Nasser Al Nabaheen (16), shot and slightly wounded in the head
4. Hassan Ghazal (17), hit by a steel bullet in the head
5. Mohammad Al Abed (15), shot in the stomach
6. Khaled Akil (20), shot in the stomach
7. Ghanam Bader (12), shot in the left thigh
At 11:30 am, also on 16 February, 16 year-old Mohammad Abu Hamida from
Khan
Younis was cycling on the main road to Rafah when a military jeep hit
him
and left him bleeding on the road. The boy suffered a broken arm and
bruising all over his body.
In Hebron, on the same day, Israeli forces stationed at Al Samou’a
entrance
shot 25 year-old Mohammad Abu Jadayil in the chest. Medical staff at Al
Ahli
hospital stated that doctors there had performed surgery on Mohammad,
removing his left kidney and spleen. His spinal cord was also severely
damaged, and he is currently in intensive care. Yusif Abu Rabee’a, 21,
from
Al Fawar refugee camp, was severely beaten by Israeli soldiers. 11
year-old
Munthir Abu Warda from the same refugee camp was hit in the head by a
steel
bullet, and 16 year-old Ameena Al Khateeb was hit by a rock during a
settler
attack on Beit Enun.
At 4 pm on Sunday 18 February, Israeli forces shooting Palestinians in
Al
Salam quarter wounded the following:
1. Mahdi Omar, 15, shot in the right thigh
2. Ahmad Abu Taha, 14, shot in the back (he is now semi-paralysed)
3. Asam’a Kishta, 18, was hit in the shoulder by shrapnel
4. Mohammad Matar, 14, was hit in the back by shrapnel
At 3 pm the following day (19 February), Israeli forces in the same
location
wounded the following Palestinians:
1. Mahmoud Zu’rub, 21, shot in the pelvis
2. Buthaina Madi, 25, shot in the right foot
On the same day the following were wounded in Hebron’s H2 area:
1. Khaled Al Masri, 6, suffered teargas inhalation
2. Noah Al Shaludi, 35, suffered bruises and fractures
3. Ni’ma Muhsen, 47, suffered bruises and scratches
4. Sumaya Abu Dawood, 11, suffered bruises and scratches
On Tuesday 20 February, 16 year-old Ra’ida Al Atrash was admitted to
Alia
hospital. Ra’ida told LAW, “At 7:30am, I was standing by the cemetery
wall
opposite the Avraham Avino Jewish enclave in Hebron with another three
girls
>from my school – Al Yacobiya Basic School. We were on our way to school
and
there were soldiers on the street. Suddenly I felt something hit me in
my
right arm and left leg. I was taken to a nearby UNRWA clinic, and after
some
x-rays I was told I had been hit by rubber-coated steel bullets.
Israeli forces stationed west of Rafah wounded the following
Palestinians on
the same day:
1. Ahmad Ali, 13, was shot in the right arm
2. Ali Abu Hussein, 15, was shot in the right thigh
3. Mahmoud Abu Ataya, 9, broke his leg as he ran away from the shooting
At Netsarim junction on the same day, Yusif Amar (35) from Al Braij
refugee
camp was shot in the right foot and Mohammad Younis (14) from Al Nsirat
refugee camp was shot in the right thigh.
Second: Shelling
In the afternoon of Friday 16 February, Israeli forces shelled Al Balo’a
area north of Al Bireh. In Nablus, they shelled a transmission station
and
destroyed it as well as some nearby water tanks.
On Saturday 17 February, Israeli forces stationed at the Ramat Yashai
enclave in Hebron bombed Bab Al Zawyi, Al Shalala Street, and Al Sheikh
quarter in downtown Hebron. Two bombs exploded in Bab Al Zawyi,
wounding:
1. Siham Jaradat, 40, hit by shrapnel in the head
2. Nadir Shaheen, 36, hit by shrapnel in the head
3. Jihad Ghaith, 35, hit by shrapnel in the right foot
4. Khaled Arafa, 15, hit by shrapnel in the face
5. Isa Tanina, 40, hit by shrapnel in the right knee
6. Wadee’a Al Hadad, 48, hit by shrapnel in the right shoulder
7. Jihad Iskafi, 13, hit by shrapnel in the right shoulder
8. Fahid Al Natshi, 24, hit by shrapnel in the right leg and the face
9. Zeidan Iskafi,45, hit by shrapnel in the head and the back
10. Nidal Al Haymuni, 24, hit by shrapnel in the right leg
11. Zeidan Iskafi, 20, hit by shrapnel in the head
Israeli forces stationed at the Tshiva’a military outpost near Tayaseer,
Jenin, bombarded residential houses in the village, damaging several
homes
as well as electricity and telephone cables. The shelling also damaged
the
doors and windows of Tayaseer School. Sbaih Sbaih (21) was wounded by
shrapnel in the shoulder.
On Sunday 18 February, Israeli shelling of Khan Younis refugee camp
wounded
8 year-old Nada Abu Abida, who was hit by shrapnel in different parts of
the
body, and 10 year-old Suha Abu Akir, who was hit by shrapnel in the
neck.
Faik Abu Akir’s store and the UNRWA building in the camp received damage
to
their windows and doors. The following were wounded in the shelling that
evening:
1. Mohammad Abu Azam, 8, hit by shrapnel in the eye
2. Khalid Shath, 27, shot in the right arm
3. Jamal Al Shareef, 40, hit by shrapnel in the foot
4. Ahmad Sahloul,16, hit by shrapnel in the waist
5. Ghasan Al Saibi,18, hit by shrapnel in the right shoulder
6. Ala Safad,12, hit by shrapnel in the face
On 19 February 22 Israeli forces shelled Al Bireh, directly hitting:
1. The home of Basil Al Shawa, destroying the balcony and sewage network
as
well as burning the furniture
2. The National School for the Blind, destroying a bedroom and some
windows
and terrorising the pupils
3. The offices of Beit Al Shi’ir Al Falastini, destroying the façade,
the
external doors and the entrance
On the same day, Israeli forces shelled Maryland Theme Park in Tulkarem
from
Beit Haifar, injuring Ys Brandt Sandu from Holland and Martin Vwrgn from
South Africa. Vwrgn told LAW,
“Yesterday, 19 February, the workers of Maryland had a break between 7
and
8pm. During that time, we heard gunshots coming from the left of
Maryland.
The shooting went on for at least an hour. Two or three bullets came
towards
us, so we started to run for safety. I realised that myself and a friend
had
been wounded. There was no shots at that moment; we just felt a burning
feeling. My friend fell to the ground and I saw blood coming from his
leg;
then I realised that I was also bleeding. Some people found more
gold-coloured bullets. Both of us had been hit by bullets from the left.
We
were taken straight to hospital for treatment. Everything happened so
fast
that we had no idea who was shooting at us. If the bullets had been shot
a
little higher the wounds would probably be much worse. We are both ok
now
but we will remember this for the rest of our lives.”
The homes of the following peoples were hit during the shelling of Beit
Jala:
1. Zu’rub (one room was burnt)
2. Ilyas Matar (partial damage and one room was burnt)
3. Isa Ghnaim (furniture and windows destroyed)
4. Ilyas Nazal (furniture and windows destroyed)
5. Mohammad Shananir (furniture and windows destroyed)
6. Johnny Sam’an (furniture and windows destroyed)
7. Ilyas Khouri furniture and windows destroyed)
8. George Nazal (furniture and windows destroyed)
9. Sameer Kantar (furniture and windows destroyed)
10. Khalid Shaker (furniture and windows destroyed))
11. Nasar Khamees (furniture and windows destroyed)
12. Frida Abu Eed (furniture and windows destroyed)
On the same day, houses were also shelled in Al Khader village, damaging
the
homes of Sa’id and Mohammad Salah.
On Tuesday February 20, Israeli forces shelled Beit Sahour and Bethlehem
>from Gilo settlement, killing Ibrahim Usama Al Kurbi.
Third: Siege and curfew
The curfew of the occupied part of Hebron continues, with 40,000
Palestinians being held under curfew for two consecutive weeks,
including
12,000 students unable to go to school.
The Israeli policy of siege and collective punishment has deprived
Palestinians from travelling from one place to another and Muslim
pilgrims
>from travelling to Mecca.
LAW Society reiterates the following:
1. Israeli forces are committing increased crimes and using the Israeli
war
arsenal against unarmed Palestinian civilians.
2. They continue to shell Palestinian residential areas.
3. They continue to use collective punishment against Palestinians and
deprive them of their basic human rights.
4. Israeli forces use settlements as bases from which to bomb
Palestinian
areas
LAW demands:
1. The Israeli government to immediately stop its crimes and collective
punishment against Palestinians.
2. An international investigation committee to be set up, working
according
to UN Resolution 1322.
3. The Contracting Parties to the 4th Geneva Convention to ensure
Israel’s
compliance with the Convention.
4. Palestinians to be placed under international protection.
5. The international community to put an end to these crimes and the
Israeli
occupation.
LAW – The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and
the
Environment is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to preserving
human
rights through legal advocacy.
LAW is affiliate to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ),
Fédération Internationale des Ligues de Droits de l’Homme (FIDH), World
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and Member of the Euro-
Mediterranean
Human Rights Network
From [email protected] Fri Mar 9 16:09:36 EST 2001
Article: 258228 of soc.culture.canada
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Subject: The Israeli Shelling: Illegal and Morally Reprehensible AlHaq Case Study
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For Immediate Release
Al-Haq Case Study
21 February 2001
The Israeli Shelling: Illegal and Morally Reprehensible
Since the eruption of the Palestinian Intifada Israeli forces have
shelled many civilian Palestinian areas on a nightly basis killing and
injuring numerous Palestinians and destroying their property.
Indiscriminately fired Israeli shells make no distinction between
civilian homes and facilities and legitimate military targets. Over the
last five months al-Haq has been carefully following and documenting
these developments. After intensive bombing campaigns during the first
few months of the Intifada, Israeli forces, under intense international
pressure, began to limit their use of tanks and helicopters in strikes
against Palestinian targets during January. Unfortunately this reprieve
proved to be only temporary. During the last several weeks, Israeli
missiles have once again begun to rain down on Palestinian civilian
areas. What follows is a case study of one of these attacks based on
information gathered by al-Haq’s fieldworkers.
The National School for Blind Girls in al-Bireh came under fire from
Israeli tanks and heavy weaponry on 20 February 2001. The school was
shelled for more than three hours causing extensive damage to the
building. However, of greater significance is the psychological impact
that the shelling had on the disabled children in the school. “The crime
is doubled when it is committed against disabled children who can hear
the sound of the explosions, but can not see what is happening around
them. We do not know what to do now in order to protect the children ”
said the school’s headmaster Mr. Hayyan al-Idrisi.
The National School for Blind Girls was established in 1978 under the
initiative of the Friends of the Blind Association in Palestine with the
objective of providing an education for children whose parents cannot
afford the expense of educating their disabled child. The school works
hard to integrate the students into the wider Palestinian society in an
attempt to provide them with every opportunity given to student without
disabilities. It currently serves 75 blind female students ages 4-18 and
is primarily dependent upon charitable donations given by local
community members. The school provides educational, artistic, and
counseling services for its students. It doubles as a home for many of
the students who board there. Teachers treat students with motherly
affection and the students feel safe while they are at the school. Both
students and their teachers believed that the school was a safe location
in which the students could receive a good education. Unfortunately, the
Israeli shelling changed this belief causing many students and staff to
feel worried and on edge.
Ten-year-old Isra’ Ziedan told of the shelling as follows, “I was
awakened by the sounds of shelling. I began crying and woke up the rest
of the children to escape. None of the children could move out of fear.
Our teacher came and asked us to move to the staircase, as it is the
safest place in the building. All of the students rushed to the
staircase and, as they cannot see, many fell down out of panic and fear.
After I left my room I started looking for my brother who attends the
school with me, but I could not find him. Our teacher then asked us to
pray for the shelling to stop and to ask God to protect us. Ulfat, who
is only 4, would not stop crying until our teacher Suhier came and
hugged her” Ulfat said that at first she tried to calm down other
children, but being only a child herself she was also scared of the
shelling and needed someone to comfort her. After a short time she said
that she could not contain her fear and began to cry. Her teacher said
that she cried throughout the rest of the Shelling, which lasted for
three hours.
The Israeli authorities often talk about “purity of arms”, but then
defile this “purity” when they use force indiscriminately against
civilian targets, including innocent disabled children. In so doing the
Israeli forces have violated international treaties and norms related to
the rights of children, and all commonly held ethical standards.
For years al-Haq has repeatedly warned the international community about
the consequences of Israel’s continuous violations of International
Humanitarian Law and Palestinian civilians’ human rights. We would now
like to express deep concern regarding these most recent developments
and Israel’s continued grave violations in the Occupied Territories.
Local and international human rights organizations have repeatedly
called upon the United Nations Security Council to provide a protection
force for the Palestinian people. Unfortunately their requests have
fallen upon deaf ears and no action has been taken. In order to stop
the Israeli authorities from continuing their illegal campaign, which
has instilled terror in the local Palestinian population, al-Haq now
calls upon the international community to place pressure upon the
members of the Security Council to take immediate action. To wait can
only serve to further Israel’s goal of terrorizing the Palestinian
people and will lead to an increased number of human rights violations.
The Palestinian people both deserve and require the assistance and
protection of the international community.
From [email protected] Fri Mar 9 16:09:36 EST 2001
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Subject: England asks Israel to free British citizen
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England asks Israel to free British citizen
Occupied Jerusalem: 22 February, 2001 (IAP News) – The British Foreign
Office has urged the Zionist regime to immediately release a British
citizen detained in the Jewish state on suspicion of affiliation with
the
Lebanese Hizbullah Islamic movement, Israeli officials said Thursday.
Gerard Shuman, who is also known as Jihad Shuman, arrived in Palestine
on
31 December as a tourist, and was arrested by Israeli Shin Bet agents on
6
January on suspicion that he was planning to carry out attacks against
Israeli targets.
Shuman, a British citizen of Lebanese descent, denied all the charges
against him and complained that he was badly tortured by his Israeli
interrogators, a fact confirmed by a British doctor who has examined him
on
the embassy’s behalf.
“If they have evidence against him, they should put him on trial. If
not,
they should release him,” Shuman’s lawyer, Lea Tsemel, said.
On Wednesday, the outgoing Israeli Prime Minister, who also assumes the
defense portfolio, signed a six-month administrative detention order
against Shuman.
Administrative detention, or open-ended incarceration with charge or
trial,
is commonly used against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Israeli media made hyperbolic statements following Shuman’s arrest
six
weeks ago, claiming, among other things, that he was a “senior Hizbullah
terrorist sent to Israel to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli
targets.”
From [email protected] Fri Mar 9 16:09:37 EST 2001
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Subject: Re: England asks Israel to free British citizen
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Matt Giwer wrote:
> Roger Alexander wrote:
> >
> > England asks Israel to free British citizen
> >
> > Occupied Jerusalem: 22 February, 2001 (IAP News) – The British Foreign
> > Office has urged the Zionist regime to immediately release a British
> > citizen detained in the Jewish state on suspicion of affiliation with
> > the
> > Lebanese Hizbullah Islamic movement, Israeli officials said Thursday.
> >
> > Gerard Shuman, who is also known as Jihad Shuman, arrived in Palestine
> > on
> > 31 December as a tourist, and was arrested by Israeli Shin Bet agents on
> > 6
> > January on suspicion that he was planning to carry out attacks against
> > Israeli targets.
> >
> > Shuman, a British citizen of Lebanese descent, denied all the charges
> > against him and complained that he was badly tortured by his Israeli
> > interrogators, a fact confirmed by a British doctor who has examined him
> > on
> > the embassy’s behalf.
> >
> > “If they have evidence against him, they should put him on trial. If
> > not,
> > they should release him,” Shuman’s lawyer, Lea Tsemel, said.
>
> > On Wednesday, the outgoing Israeli Prime Minister, who also assumes the
> > defense portfolio, signed a six-month administrative detention order
> > against Shuman.
>
> > Administrative detention, or open-ended incarceration with charge or
> > trial,
> > is commonly used against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
>
> > The Israeli media made hyperbolic statements following Shuman’s arrest
> > six
> > weeks ago, claiming, among other things, that he was a “senior Hizbullah
> > terrorist sent to Israel to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli
> > targets.”
>
> Did you ever get the impression Israel believes Britain has foregiven
> and forgotten the Irgun and Stern Gang?
I don’t know about that. I do think that Britain under Blair is like a little
boy
tagging along after his big brother, the US. It is sickening.
RLA
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Subject: Media manipulators: How north London web-designer began campaign that
deluged Guardian with emails
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Media manipulators: How a north London web-designer began a campaign
that deluged the Guardian with emails
David Leigh
Thursday February 22, 2001
The Guardian
Why would the Guardian provide moral and medical justification for
the multiple murder of innocent Israeli civilians?
It’s a pretty bizarre question, but we found ourselves being asked it
over and over again this week. Emails clicked in to the letters page
by the hundred, all making the same weirdly alliterative points. This
followed publication of a Guardian article trying to understand the
motivations of the Palestinian bus driver who ploughed into a queue
this month, killing eight Israelis.
The mysteriously similar emails – from all over the world – started
coming in, too, to our foreign editor; to our website; and to the
personal email address of our Middle East correspondent, Suzanne
Goldenberg.
They were inconvenient, and also sometimes a bit scary in their
violent tone – “The bloody Guardian… Have you killed a Jew
today?… Are you anti-Jewish?… Unrelenting Guardian anti-Israel
bias… Why would the Guardian provide moral and medical
justification etc…?’
This global blitzing was tending to crowd out genuine expressions of
opinion from our readers. Our suspicions aroused, we tried to
discover what was going on. It wasn’t straightforward. But eventually
we discovered the trick. A website calling itself HonestReporting.com
was set up in London last autumn.
It has recruited 12,000 subscribers to its database, it claims, all
dedicated to fighting anti-Israel “bias” in the media. The aim was to
recruit a total of 25,000.
Every time someone writes something they don’t like, details of the
offending article are circulated round the world, together with a
handy form of protesting words, ready to be lightly embroidered and
electronically dispatched at the push of a button.
“This is what you should do,” they tell their members “Forward it on
to the news company concerned at the email address provided. If you
can, please change the subject of the email to ‘complaint’ or
something similar.”
Their first success, HonestReporting boasted, was with the London
Evening Standard. Its columnist Brian Sewell wrote last autumn
calling on Israel to “become a multicultural society” and cease
exploiting the Holocaust to justify unacceptable behaviour.
“The next day, [we] sent out a letter to subscribers.” Standard
articles recorded “a wave of complaints… hundreds of Jewish readers
have written in”. Then “after more pressure” there followed a pro-
Israel article by Simon Sebag-Montefiore. “This is an example of what
we can do.”
And now it was the Guardian’s turn to get the email treatment. A long
electronic bulletin went out headed: “The Guardian: a mainstream
British newspaper consistently blames Israel for everything.”
It complained that a Steve Bell cartoon showing Sharon’s bloody
handprints on the Wailing Wall “encroaches on brash anti-semitism”.
It complained that a Muslim, Faisal Bodi, had written questioning
Israel’s right to statehood; and complained that the Guardian had
said Sharon had killed the peace process. “No blame is assigned to
Arafat.” And there too, was our old alliterative friend: “Why would
the Guardian provide moral and medical justification…?”
Who was behind this internet harassment? The website gave no address.
It had been registered last October under a London name and phone
number that seemed not to exist. Eventually, it transpired that it
had been set up by a 27-year-old Jewish web-designer from north
London called Jonathan. “Don’t give my full name,” he asked. “Someone
was killed in Stamford Hill [the Jewish district] the other day.” He
and his friends came up with the idea by themselves: “We were just
brainstorming.”
But the operation was now being funded and run from the US by an
organisation concerned with media fairness, Media Watch
International.
And who were they? “We’re pretty new,” says their director, Sharon
Tzur, speaking from Manhattan. “It’s a group of concerned Jewish
business people in New York.”
Yet a bit more inquiry reveals that this is not quite the whole story
either. For this week’s bulletin denouncing the Guardian was in fact
composed in Israel by a man named Shraga Simmons.
And when he is not working for HonestReporting, Mr Simmons is to be
found employed at another organisation altogether – Aish HaTora. This
is an international group promoting orthodox Judaism. “I do some work
for Aish,” Mr Simmons says, from Israel. And Jonathan, the web-
designer who started it all in London, also concedes: “I go to the
odd class at Aish.”
Aish verge on the colourful in their antics. Founded by Rabbi Noah
Weinberg, who complains that “20,000 kids a year” are being lost to
Judaism by marrying out, Aish invented speed-dating – eight-minute
sessions in cafes to help New Yorkers find compatible Jewish
partners. They’re widely regarded as rightwing extremists. And
they’re certainly not people entitled to harass the media into what
they would call “objectivity
==========================================
We have at least one similar group in the US whose object is to
deluge the Congress with e-mails favorable to ISrael. They are
called VIPAC, and as best I can tell, are the handiwork of
two New York guys. Like this spam, they have canned letters
which one can sign and send on. At one time they went out about
once a week, but lately they have heated up to 2 or 3.
RLA
