22 jan 2011
Israeli war crime confessions to debut in bookstores this month
An Israeli organization has compiled many statements by Israeli soldiers confessing to war crimes against unarmed Palestinians in a book that will be released soon and sold in Europe.
The NGO Breaking the Silence will release this month details of torture and murder incidents committed by 180 soldiers from 2000 to 2009.
Testimonies, tapes and images have already been in circulation, but the soldiers who testified will for the first time ever reveal their identities and faces.
Breaking the Silence founder Yehuda Shaul, who is an ex-soldier, said he aimed to launch debate in Israel about the country's army.
"[The Israeli army] is corrupting the youth," Shaul said.
The book, containing first time ever released details, is expected to spark controversy in Israel and the world over.
Breaking the Silence has a membership of 700 former soldiers and activists.
The NGO Breaking the Silence will release this month details of torture and murder incidents committed by 180 soldiers from 2000 to 2009.
Testimonies, tapes and images have already been in circulation, but the soldiers who testified will for the first time ever reveal their identities and faces.
Breaking the Silence founder Yehuda Shaul, who is an ex-soldier, said he aimed to launch debate in Israel about the country's army.
"[The Israeli army] is corrupting the youth," Shaul said.
The book, containing first time ever released details, is expected to spark controversy in Israel and the world over.
Breaking the Silence has a membership of 700 former soldiers and activists.
20 jan 2011
Wikileaks Cables on Israel's Gaza Onslaught
CounterPunch has accessed Wikileaks' file of cables on Israel's Gaza assault two years ago (Operation Cast Lead, December 27, 2008 through January 18, 2009). Though the cables often simply rehash Israeli press reporting, providing little new insight into Israel's attack or the planning behind it, they show with pitiless clarity the U.S. government to be little more than a handmaiden and amanuensis of the Israeli military machine.
The cables make clear, were any further disclosure needed, exactly where the United States stands with respect to Israel's unprovoked attacks on Palestinians and its other Arab neighbors. Although Operation Cast Lead took place in the last days of the Bush administration, ending two days before Barack Obama was inaugurated, every Obama policy in the succeeding two years -- including the administration's repudiation of the Goldstone Report detailing Israeli atrocities and war crimes during Cast Lead -- has demonstrated a striking continuity of support for Israeli actions.
The cables give a notably one-sided account of the assault. Because they take their daily reporting primarily from the Israeli media, the cables keep a tally of rockets fired into Israel from Gaza and dramatically describe "burned dolls and destroyed children's toys" at an unoccupied kindergarten in Beer Sheba hit by a rocket, but make virtually no mention of Israel's intensive air and artillery bombardment of Gaza, including its civilian population. There are no reports of burned Palestinian babies or very few of destroyed property in Gaza. Even the western media provided more accurate coverage of Palestinian casualties than this.
The U.S. embassy cables did provide some information on Palestinian casualties, but the reporting was minimal. In one cable buried in the collection, approximately ten days into the assault, western press reports are cited giving a single report of 530 Palestinians killed. This was at a point when the cables counted five Israelis having been killed. Israeli casualties were totted up repeatedly. This roughly 100-1 ratio of Palestinians to Israelis killed persisted throughout the operation, but this is not noted in the U.S. cables. In a few instances, U.S. consular officials report the views of a few Gazans, frankly conveying Palestinian distress, but even here, when one Gazan reports that his town is increasingly being assaulted by Israeli fire, the cable qualifies his report by referring to "what he termed 'indiscriminate' Israeli fire."
Whenever the cables mention a specific location in Gaza having been attacked or destroyed, including hospitals and mosques, the cables repeat Israeli claims without questioning them; on January 2, for instance, it is reported that the Israeli Air Force destroyed a mosque "reportedly serving as a weapons depot and communications hub." The embassy reports, without a hint of skepticism, the Israeli claim midway through the operation that Hamas operatives were reconstituting "certain command and control capabilities" at Shifa Hospital in Gaza by disguising themselves as doctors and nurses.
The earliest of this collection of cables reveals U.S. bias by reporting several days before Cast Lead began that pressure had been building in Israel for a "response" to rocket attacks from Gaza, "since Hamas announced the end of the "tahdiya' truce agreement December 19." This effort to place responsibility for the hostilities on Hamas ignores the fact, which was no secret to those following the situation at the time, that it was Israel that had violated the truce, in effect since the previous June, on November 4 when it launched an unprovoked incursion into Gaza and killed several Palestinians. Hamas's action in ending the truce weeks later was a response to Israel's violation.
The most blatant evidence of U.S. bias -- and the only instance of analysis or policy advice in this collection of cables -- also comes before the operation began. "Our recommendation," Ambassador James Cunningham writes on December 22, "is that USG start with putting the blame on Hamas for the illegitimacy of its rule in Gaza, its policy of firing or allowing other factions to fire rockets and mortars at Israeli civilian targets, and its decision to end the 'tahdiya' calming period." Cunningham seems to confuse cause and effect: even were Hamas rule illegitimate, which it was not -- Hamas having been democratically elected three years earlier -- it is not a common presumption that political illegitimacy justifies a massive military assault. And particularly not when, as the U.S. had to know, Hamas did not provoke the hostilities. Cunningham goes on to recommend support for "Israel's right to defend itself." Hamas apparently has no such right to defend Gazans from Israeli attack.
The embassy burnishes its conscience by "emphasizing our concern for the welfare of innocent Palestinian civilians and the U.S. readiness to provide emergency humanitarian relief." This is the only mention of innocent Palestinian civilians in the entire collection of cables.
The hypocrisy is glaring. The U.S. bias shown here is obviously not at all a new phenomenon. But here it is in black and white -- or, more accurately, in pin-stripe -- diplomacy as cheerleader for massacre and genocide (a term used by not a few Jewish and other commentators during the Gaza assault). Such atrocities are all right in U.S. eyes if Israel commits them, but Hamas is not allowed.
Kathleen Christison is a former CIA political analyst and is the author of Perceptions of Palestine: Their Influence on U.S. Middle East Policy and The Wound of Dispossession: Telling the Palestinian Story, and is the co-author (more...)
The cables make clear, were any further disclosure needed, exactly where the United States stands with respect to Israel's unprovoked attacks on Palestinians and its other Arab neighbors. Although Operation Cast Lead took place in the last days of the Bush administration, ending two days before Barack Obama was inaugurated, every Obama policy in the succeeding two years -- including the administration's repudiation of the Goldstone Report detailing Israeli atrocities and war crimes during Cast Lead -- has demonstrated a striking continuity of support for Israeli actions.
The cables give a notably one-sided account of the assault. Because they take their daily reporting primarily from the Israeli media, the cables keep a tally of rockets fired into Israel from Gaza and dramatically describe "burned dolls and destroyed children's toys" at an unoccupied kindergarten in Beer Sheba hit by a rocket, but make virtually no mention of Israel's intensive air and artillery bombardment of Gaza, including its civilian population. There are no reports of burned Palestinian babies or very few of destroyed property in Gaza. Even the western media provided more accurate coverage of Palestinian casualties than this.
The U.S. embassy cables did provide some information on Palestinian casualties, but the reporting was minimal. In one cable buried in the collection, approximately ten days into the assault, western press reports are cited giving a single report of 530 Palestinians killed. This was at a point when the cables counted five Israelis having been killed. Israeli casualties were totted up repeatedly. This roughly 100-1 ratio of Palestinians to Israelis killed persisted throughout the operation, but this is not noted in the U.S. cables. In a few instances, U.S. consular officials report the views of a few Gazans, frankly conveying Palestinian distress, but even here, when one Gazan reports that his town is increasingly being assaulted by Israeli fire, the cable qualifies his report by referring to "what he termed 'indiscriminate' Israeli fire."
Whenever the cables mention a specific location in Gaza having been attacked or destroyed, including hospitals and mosques, the cables repeat Israeli claims without questioning them; on January 2, for instance, it is reported that the Israeli Air Force destroyed a mosque "reportedly serving as a weapons depot and communications hub." The embassy reports, without a hint of skepticism, the Israeli claim midway through the operation that Hamas operatives were reconstituting "certain command and control capabilities" at Shifa Hospital in Gaza by disguising themselves as doctors and nurses.
The earliest of this collection of cables reveals U.S. bias by reporting several days before Cast Lead began that pressure had been building in Israel for a "response" to rocket attacks from Gaza, "since Hamas announced the end of the "tahdiya' truce agreement December 19." This effort to place responsibility for the hostilities on Hamas ignores the fact, which was no secret to those following the situation at the time, that it was Israel that had violated the truce, in effect since the previous June, on November 4 when it launched an unprovoked incursion into Gaza and killed several Palestinians. Hamas's action in ending the truce weeks later was a response to Israel's violation.
The most blatant evidence of U.S. bias -- and the only instance of analysis or policy advice in this collection of cables -- also comes before the operation began. "Our recommendation," Ambassador James Cunningham writes on December 22, "is that USG start with putting the blame on Hamas for the illegitimacy of its rule in Gaza, its policy of firing or allowing other factions to fire rockets and mortars at Israeli civilian targets, and its decision to end the 'tahdiya' calming period." Cunningham seems to confuse cause and effect: even were Hamas rule illegitimate, which it was not -- Hamas having been democratically elected three years earlier -- it is not a common presumption that political illegitimacy justifies a massive military assault. And particularly not when, as the U.S. had to know, Hamas did not provoke the hostilities. Cunningham goes on to recommend support for "Israel's right to defend itself." Hamas apparently has no such right to defend Gazans from Israeli attack.
The embassy burnishes its conscience by "emphasizing our concern for the welfare of innocent Palestinian civilians and the U.S. readiness to provide emergency humanitarian relief." This is the only mention of innocent Palestinian civilians in the entire collection of cables.
The hypocrisy is glaring. The U.S. bias shown here is obviously not at all a new phenomenon. But here it is in black and white -- or, more accurately, in pin-stripe -- diplomacy as cheerleader for massacre and genocide (a term used by not a few Jewish and other commentators during the Gaza assault). Such atrocities are all right in U.S. eyes if Israel commits them, but Hamas is not allowed.
Kathleen Christison is a former CIA political analyst and is the author of Perceptions of Palestine: Their Influence on U.S. Middle East Policy and The Wound of Dispossession: Telling the Palestinian Story, and is the co-author (more...)
15 jan 2011
'South African groups seek arrest warrant for Livni'
Pro-Palestinian groups want Kadima leader arrested for her role in the Gaza war two years ago, South African media outlets report; Livni due to visit South Africa next week.
The Media Review Network and the Palestine Solidarity Alliance are seeking to secure an arrest warrant in South Africa for Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni, who is due to visit that country next week, Channel 10 reported citing South African media outlets.
The South African groups allege that Livni is guilty of war crimes due to her role in Israel's three-week offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the winter of 2008-09, when Livni was foreign minister in the government of Ehud Olmert.
"We have now been informed that Livni has been invited to this country and have therefore instructed our legal team to take all necessary measures to secure an arrest warrant," MRN chief Iqbal Jassat was quoted as saying. "Our decision is based on the fact that South Africa is a signatory to the Rome statutes which obligates all member states to honor their responsibility in the prosecution of war criminals."
Livni was invited to South Africa by the local Jewish community to give a number of speeches and hold meetings in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
South African Jewish leader Zev Krengel expressed disappointment in the decision of the Media Review Network and the Palestine Solidarity Alliance to pursue Livni.
“First of all we are very sad that they would even want to do such a thing," Krengel was quoted as saying. "Tzipi Livni has been an enthusiastic supporter of the peace process.”
Krengel added that Livni's trip would go ahead as planned.
"It is a pure intimidation tactic by people who are not interested in finding a solution to the situation in the Middle East," he was quoted as saying.
South Africa must arrest Israeli war criminal Tzipi Livni
Tzipi Livni, former Israeli foreign Minister poses as a peace-maker. Her Wikipedia page does not mention a single word about the fact that she was part of the Cabinet decisions to bomb Lebanon in July 2006 and Gaza in December 2008.
Livni not only helped authorise these decisions but she defended and promoted these attacks. She was also part of the decisions to blockade Gaza and to impose collective punishment on its people.
Livni is now leader of the Opposition in Israel but we remember her as one of the bombers of Lebanon and Gaza. She will be visiting South Africa and our government must arrest her under the Rome Statute for war crimes and crimes against humanity. In May 2010, an arrest warrant was issued for her in Britain. She cannot visit that country. We have a duty to do the same.
Tzipi Livni will be speaking at the Albow Centre, Hatfield Street Cape Town 27 January 2011 at 20:00.
Our message Israeli war criminals are not welcome in South Africa.
Zackie Achmat
How Livni escaped arrest in London
3 MAY 2010
By Itamar Eichner, YNetnews.com - 3 May 2010
It happened in London last December: Police officers raided a hotel in the British capital to arrest Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni for alleged war crimes during Operation Cast Lead. Luckily for her, she was not even in the city.
The details of the dramatic affair, which could have sparked a wide-scale diplomatic incident and possibly put Israel and Britain's relations in danger, were brought to the attention of the Yedioth Ahronoth daily on Sunday.
Tami Shor, deputy director-general of Israel's Water Authority, visited London in December 2009 after being invited to deliver a speech at a conference in the city. Her only resemblance to Livni appears to be her hair color and blue eyes.
But a Palestinian organization, convinced that this woman was the Israeli opposition leader, asked a local court to issue an arrest warrant against her for alleged war crimes committed during the Israeli operation in Gaza. The court was told that Livni was staying at the Hendon Hall Hotel in northern London.
A police force, armed with an arrest warrant, raided the hotel. The policemen searched for Livni, but couldn't find her for a simple reason: She was indeed slated to visit London and attend the conference with the Water Authority deputy director-general, but had canceled the visit two weeks earlier.
However, her name was not deleted from the list of participants, and the organizers failed to announce that she won't be attending in order to draw more people to the event.
The police, who thought Livni was hiding, searched for her throughout the hotel but couldn't find her. Their next step was to demand that the hotel provide them with the security camera footage with the hopes of tracing her, but the opposition leader was nowhere to be found. A thorough investigation revealed that she had never arrived in Britain.
Tami Shor confirmed the details of the report.
Following the incident, the Foreign Ministry recommended that Livni avoid visiting Britain, and indeed she has refrained from doing so ever since.
A loophole in British law allows courts to issue arrest warrants against foreign leaders on suspicion of committing war crimes without the attorney general's approval. This means that any Palestinian who learns about an upcoming visit of a suspicious Israeli official can ask for an arrest warrant and it will be approved by the British court.
The Media Review Network and the Palestine Solidarity Alliance are seeking to secure an arrest warrant in South Africa for Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni, who is due to visit that country next week, Channel 10 reported citing South African media outlets.
The South African groups allege that Livni is guilty of war crimes due to her role in Israel's three-week offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the winter of 2008-09, when Livni was foreign minister in the government of Ehud Olmert.
"We have now been informed that Livni has been invited to this country and have therefore instructed our legal team to take all necessary measures to secure an arrest warrant," MRN chief Iqbal Jassat was quoted as saying. "Our decision is based on the fact that South Africa is a signatory to the Rome statutes which obligates all member states to honor their responsibility in the prosecution of war criminals."
Livni was invited to South Africa by the local Jewish community to give a number of speeches and hold meetings in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
South African Jewish leader Zev Krengel expressed disappointment in the decision of the Media Review Network and the Palestine Solidarity Alliance to pursue Livni.
“First of all we are very sad that they would even want to do such a thing," Krengel was quoted as saying. "Tzipi Livni has been an enthusiastic supporter of the peace process.”
Krengel added that Livni's trip would go ahead as planned.
"It is a pure intimidation tactic by people who are not interested in finding a solution to the situation in the Middle East," he was quoted as saying.
South Africa must arrest Israeli war criminal Tzipi Livni
Tzipi Livni, former Israeli foreign Minister poses as a peace-maker. Her Wikipedia page does not mention a single word about the fact that she was part of the Cabinet decisions to bomb Lebanon in July 2006 and Gaza in December 2008.
Livni not only helped authorise these decisions but she defended and promoted these attacks. She was also part of the decisions to blockade Gaza and to impose collective punishment on its people.
Livni is now leader of the Opposition in Israel but we remember her as one of the bombers of Lebanon and Gaza. She will be visiting South Africa and our government must arrest her under the Rome Statute for war crimes and crimes against humanity. In May 2010, an arrest warrant was issued for her in Britain. She cannot visit that country. We have a duty to do the same.
Tzipi Livni will be speaking at the Albow Centre, Hatfield Street Cape Town 27 January 2011 at 20:00.
Our message Israeli war criminals are not welcome in South Africa.
Zackie Achmat
How Livni escaped arrest in London
3 MAY 2010
By Itamar Eichner, YNetnews.com - 3 May 2010
It happened in London last December: Police officers raided a hotel in the British capital to arrest Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni for alleged war crimes during Operation Cast Lead. Luckily for her, she was not even in the city.
The details of the dramatic affair, which could have sparked a wide-scale diplomatic incident and possibly put Israel and Britain's relations in danger, were brought to the attention of the Yedioth Ahronoth daily on Sunday.
Tami Shor, deputy director-general of Israel's Water Authority, visited London in December 2009 after being invited to deliver a speech at a conference in the city. Her only resemblance to Livni appears to be her hair color and blue eyes.
But a Palestinian organization, convinced that this woman was the Israeli opposition leader, asked a local court to issue an arrest warrant against her for alleged war crimes committed during the Israeli operation in Gaza. The court was told that Livni was staying at the Hendon Hall Hotel in northern London.
A police force, armed with an arrest warrant, raided the hotel. The policemen searched for Livni, but couldn't find her for a simple reason: She was indeed slated to visit London and attend the conference with the Water Authority deputy director-general, but had canceled the visit two weeks earlier.
However, her name was not deleted from the list of participants, and the organizers failed to announce that she won't be attending in order to draw more people to the event.
The police, who thought Livni was hiding, searched for her throughout the hotel but couldn't find her. Their next step was to demand that the hotel provide them with the security camera footage with the hopes of tracing her, but the opposition leader was nowhere to be found. A thorough investigation revealed that she had never arrived in Britain.
Tami Shor confirmed the details of the report.
Following the incident, the Foreign Ministry recommended that Livni avoid visiting Britain, and indeed she has refrained from doing so ever since.
A loophole in British law allows courts to issue arrest warrants against foreign leaders on suspicion of committing war crimes without the attorney general's approval. This means that any Palestinian who learns about an upcoming visit of a suspicious Israeli official can ask for an arrest warrant and it will be approved by the British court.
10 jan 2011
Video calls for legal official's murder
Film distributed on Web against Deputy State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan following his request from police to probe anti-Arab incitement on Facebook. Police launch investigation; Nitzan may get bodyguards. Rightist groups condemn video, but suggest it may be 'leftist provocation'
Wild incitement on the Web: A video distributed on the internet on Sunday night calls for the murder of the deputy state prosecutor for special assignment, Attorney Shai Nitzan, claiming that he has failed to probe incitement against Jews and is only looking into anti-Arab calls.
According to Israel Radio, the address of the person who sent the video impersonates that of the justice minister. The video concludes with the slogan "Kahane was right", referring to slain right-wing leader Rabbi Meir Kahane.
The video includes pictures of Nitzan and footage of Palestinian protestors chanting, "Death to Jews."
"Instead of defending the people of Israel from the Arabs, he covers up for them and cooperates with them against the Jews," the slides say in red letters on a black background.
The video also claims that Nitzan "persecutes Jews and harasses Jews. He defends Arabs and cooperates with them."
The film's editors call on the deputy state prosecutor, "Shai Nitzan, you better wake up, quickly! You should pay attention that the Arabs, not the Jews, are the enemies of the people of Israel." They also call for the murder of Arabs, left-wing activists and Israel's enemies.
The film's distributors complain that Nitzan called recently for an investigation into incitement against Arabs on the Facebook social network on suspicion of incitement to racism. The State Prosecutor's Office asked the police to appeal to Facebook to remove the abusive publications.
"Shai Nitzan is now ordered to investigate those who call for his murder as well," the video's editors say.
Ynet has learned that the police and Justice Ministry are considering giving Nitzan a personal bodyguard and stationing guards around his house.
Commander Yoav Segalovich, head of the police's investigation department, instructed the International Investigations Unit to find the person behind the video calling for Nitzan's murder.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and State Prosecutor Moshe Lador issued a joint statement supporting Nitzan. "The distribution of the clip is yet another negative record in the serious phenomenon of incitement against public servants, who are fulfilling their duties in a professional manner.
"The police have launched an investigation into the incident with the help of the relevant security elements. The attorney general plans to follow the investigation closely. We hope that those responsible for this serious incident will be located as soon as possible and brought to trial."
The office of Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman asked to clarify that the video did not originate from the minister's email address. "The remarks made in the message are extremely severe and we condemn them. The justice minister's office has handed the material to the Justice Ministry's security department and has filed an official complaint to the Israel Police and other law enforcement elements."
Right urges probe
The incitement against Attorney Nitzan was also condemned by right-wing groups. The "Yesha Human Rights Organization" called for an investigation against the people behind the video.
"There is no, and can be no, justification for murder. The justified criticism against Attorney Nitzan's selective enforcement activity and discriminating decisions does not justify, in any way, a call for any type of violence, all the more so murder."
The organization stressed, however, that "the sick and dangerous call for murder has yet to be probed, and it's unclear who is behind it. It should not prevent the voicing of legitimate criticism against Attorney Nitzan's legal methods, and must not serve as a basis for incitement against an entire public which shares the criticism but strictly opposes incitement and violence."
The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel suggested that the move may have been planned by the Left in a bid to degrade the Right. "Despite our serious dispute with Nitzan's treatment of the settlements, we must not accept death threats, whether they come from a violent element from the Right or as an act of provocation from the Left."
Nitzan asked the police to launch an investigation against two Facebook groups. The first one, "Death to all Arabs," has 170 members and includes explicit calls for violence against Arabs. "They should be murdered one after the other" and "a good Arab equals a dead Arab" are only some of the posts on the group's wall.
The second group was founded ahead of a right-wing rally in the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm. Its members posted statements suspected as incitement to racism and offensive anti-Islam quotes, including "death to Arabs" and "Muhammad is a pig".
Wild incitement on the Web: A video distributed on the internet on Sunday night calls for the murder of the deputy state prosecutor for special assignment, Attorney Shai Nitzan, claiming that he has failed to probe incitement against Jews and is only looking into anti-Arab calls.
According to Israel Radio, the address of the person who sent the video impersonates that of the justice minister. The video concludes with the slogan "Kahane was right", referring to slain right-wing leader Rabbi Meir Kahane.
The video includes pictures of Nitzan and footage of Palestinian protestors chanting, "Death to Jews."
"Instead of defending the people of Israel from the Arabs, he covers up for them and cooperates with them against the Jews," the slides say in red letters on a black background.
The video also claims that Nitzan "persecutes Jews and harasses Jews. He defends Arabs and cooperates with them."
The film's editors call on the deputy state prosecutor, "Shai Nitzan, you better wake up, quickly! You should pay attention that the Arabs, not the Jews, are the enemies of the people of Israel." They also call for the murder of Arabs, left-wing activists and Israel's enemies.
The film's distributors complain that Nitzan called recently for an investigation into incitement against Arabs on the Facebook social network on suspicion of incitement to racism. The State Prosecutor's Office asked the police to appeal to Facebook to remove the abusive publications.
"Shai Nitzan is now ordered to investigate those who call for his murder as well," the video's editors say.
Ynet has learned that the police and Justice Ministry are considering giving Nitzan a personal bodyguard and stationing guards around his house.
Commander Yoav Segalovich, head of the police's investigation department, instructed the International Investigations Unit to find the person behind the video calling for Nitzan's murder.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and State Prosecutor Moshe Lador issued a joint statement supporting Nitzan. "The distribution of the clip is yet another negative record in the serious phenomenon of incitement against public servants, who are fulfilling their duties in a professional manner.
"The police have launched an investigation into the incident with the help of the relevant security elements. The attorney general plans to follow the investigation closely. We hope that those responsible for this serious incident will be located as soon as possible and brought to trial."
The office of Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman asked to clarify that the video did not originate from the minister's email address. "The remarks made in the message are extremely severe and we condemn them. The justice minister's office has handed the material to the Justice Ministry's security department and has filed an official complaint to the Israel Police and other law enforcement elements."
Right urges probe
The incitement against Attorney Nitzan was also condemned by right-wing groups. The "Yesha Human Rights Organization" called for an investigation against the people behind the video.
"There is no, and can be no, justification for murder. The justified criticism against Attorney Nitzan's selective enforcement activity and discriminating decisions does not justify, in any way, a call for any type of violence, all the more so murder."
The organization stressed, however, that "the sick and dangerous call for murder has yet to be probed, and it's unclear who is behind it. It should not prevent the voicing of legitimate criticism against Attorney Nitzan's legal methods, and must not serve as a basis for incitement against an entire public which shares the criticism but strictly opposes incitement and violence."
The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel suggested that the move may have been planned by the Left in a bid to degrade the Right. "Despite our serious dispute with Nitzan's treatment of the settlements, we must not accept death threats, whether they come from a violent element from the Right or as an act of provocation from the Left."
Nitzan asked the police to launch an investigation against two Facebook groups. The first one, "Death to all Arabs," has 170 members and includes explicit calls for violence against Arabs. "They should be murdered one after the other" and "a good Arab equals a dead Arab" are only some of the posts on the group's wall.
The second group was founded ahead of a right-wing rally in the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm. Its members posted statements suspected as incitement to racism and offensive anti-Islam quotes, including "death to Arabs" and "Muhammad is a pig".
9 jan 2011
A Cold-blooded Execution
From left: Lt. Col. Guy Hazut, Major General Avi Mizrahi, Brig. Gen. Nitzan Alon, and Brig. Gen. Yoav “Polly” Mordechai.
Troops of the Israeli occupation war criminals Lt. Col. Guy Hazut, (סא”ל גיא חזות), Major General Avi Mizrahi, (אלוף אבי מזרחי), Brig. Gen. Nitzan Alon, (תא”ל. תא”ל אלון ניצן), and Brig. Gen. Yoav “Polly” Mordechai, (אלוף יואב (פולי) מרדכי), murdered in cold blood the elderly Palestinian Omar Salim al-Qawasmi, 66, at dawn of last Friday.
They smashed his head to pieces while he was sleeping in bed in his house at Haret Al- Sheikh in the center of Hebron. Lt. Col. Hazut, the so-called military brigadier of the IDF in Hebron was with his bloodthirsty death squads when they murdered Al-Qawasmi. This war crime was perpetrated during the raid on the house of Al-Qawasmi where a political leader, one of six Palestinians who had been released from the PA jail the day before, rented an apartment in the first floor of the victim’s house.
Sobheye al- Qawasme’s, the victim’s wife, said that she did not know how the IDF soldiers broke into their home. “I was praying at dawn when that the IDF soldiers broke into our house. I don’t know how they opened the door. Suddenly I saw the soldiers closing my mouth and pointing their guns to my head. I was shocked. I asked them, “What are you doing?” They ordered me to shut up and took me to another room under threats of shooting me in head. My paralyzed child was also in this room and very frightened”.
“I saw many soldiers break into the room where my husband was sleeping. I heard bombs and several shots inside the room. When the occupation soldiers left, I went to the room, I saw that the head of my husband was broken and smashed into several pieces, his brain was out, and his blood was spilled in bed. He was swimming in a pool of blood.”
Troops of the Israeli occupation war criminals Lt. Col. Guy Hazut, (סא”ל גיא חזות), Major General Avi Mizrahi, (אלוף אבי מזרחי), Brig. Gen. Nitzan Alon, (תא”ל. תא”ל אלון ניצן), and Brig. Gen. Yoav “Polly” Mordechai, (אלוף יואב (פולי) מרדכי), murdered in cold blood the elderly Palestinian Omar Salim al-Qawasmi, 66, at dawn of last Friday.
They smashed his head to pieces while he was sleeping in bed in his house at Haret Al- Sheikh in the center of Hebron. Lt. Col. Hazut, the so-called military brigadier of the IDF in Hebron was with his bloodthirsty death squads when they murdered Al-Qawasmi. This war crime was perpetrated during the raid on the house of Al-Qawasmi where a political leader, one of six Palestinians who had been released from the PA jail the day before, rented an apartment in the first floor of the victim’s house.
Sobheye al- Qawasme’s, the victim’s wife, said that she did not know how the IDF soldiers broke into their home. “I was praying at dawn when that the IDF soldiers broke into our house. I don’t know how they opened the door. Suddenly I saw the soldiers closing my mouth and pointing their guns to my head. I was shocked. I asked them, “What are you doing?” They ordered me to shut up and took me to another room under threats of shooting me in head. My paralyzed child was also in this room and very frightened”.
“I saw many soldiers break into the room where my husband was sleeping. I heard bombs and several shots inside the room. When the occupation soldiers left, I went to the room, I saw that the head of my husband was broken and smashed into several pieces, his brain was out, and his blood was spilled in bed. He was swimming in a pool of blood.”
|
Omar Salim al-Qawasmi, 66, a victim of the commonaders seen in the picture above
During the IDF raid, they arrested the neighbor of Al-Qawasmeh, Wael Mahmoud Said al-Bitar, a Palestinian activist who was one of six political prisoners released by the Palestinian jailers on the previous day. |
Al- Bitar lives with his family in a rented apartment in the first floor of the same house of Al-Qawasme.
Security Coordination and a Cold-blooded Execution
Five of the political activists had been jailed at the Jericho prison during so-called “security” coordination between the traitors of the PA and the occupation after some jewish colonists were killed in September 2010 near Bni Neam village near Hebron. The prisoners were tortured and denied family visits. They went on hunger strike for over 45 days, demanding to be moved to Hebron so that their families could visit them. The Palestinian media was censored by the PA and did not report about the hunger strike and the deteriorated health of the prisoners.
Finally, a campaign of spying between the Palestinian security and the Israeli occupation, in which the PA decided to release the political activists (a trick) so that the IDF war criminals could proceed to arrest or execute them. During the campaign between the Israeli war criminals and their friends, PA traitors, the prisoner’s interrogation files were submitted to the Israeli occupation. On last Thursday the Palestinian authority implemented the first part of their deceptive campaign and released the prisoners.
Security Coordination and a Cold-blooded Execution
Five of the political activists had been jailed at the Jericho prison during so-called “security” coordination between the traitors of the PA and the occupation after some jewish colonists were killed in September 2010 near Bni Neam village near Hebron. The prisoners were tortured and denied family visits. They went on hunger strike for over 45 days, demanding to be moved to Hebron so that their families could visit them. The Palestinian media was censored by the PA and did not report about the hunger strike and the deteriorated health of the prisoners.
Finally, a campaign of spying between the Palestinian security and the Israeli occupation, in which the PA decided to release the political activists (a trick) so that the IDF war criminals could proceed to arrest or execute them. During the campaign between the Israeli war criminals and their friends, PA traitors, the prisoner’s interrogation files were submitted to the Israeli occupation. On last Thursday the Palestinian authority implemented the first part of their deceptive campaign and released the prisoners.
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Sobheye al- Qawasme's, the victim's wife is shocked in her bed room.
The dirty mission was implemented by the PA, whose officials who stated on Thursday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had ordered the release of the six prisoners after direct appeal from the Emir of Qatar and because the president wanted to end this issue of the political prisoners once and for ever. |
The Palestinian “security” organization officers at jail forced those prisoners who were released and their families to sign a pledge according to which they bear responsibility for their own safety after their release.
This dirty act of treachery between the PA and the colonial israeli zionist occupation, President Mahmoud Abbas and his traitors used the arrest of the activists who were released and then arrested by the Israel as a justification to keep three thousand more political activists in jail, among then teachers, engineers, doctors, professors, youths and elderly. The PA in all seriousness claims that the jailing of political activists is some kind of “protection” from the Israeli occupation.
Hamas accuses the PA of jailing and torturing 3000 of its elements at its prisons, which previously were jails of the occupation.
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Majed Faraj
It must also be noted that the Committee of the Palestinian Prisoners Relatives, a group of relatives of the abductees in the prisons of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied territories in the West Bank, released a statement accusing Mr. Majed Faraj, chief of the General Intelligence of the Palestinian Authority, which is under the authority of President Mahmoud Abbas, of calling the wives of the prisoners to |
his office and abusing them sexually and extorting sexual favors from them in exchange of promises to release their husbands or commuting the sentences issued against them by military courts, or for permission to visit the husband.
I was direct witness of one such case and I know that it is usual procedure by PA police or jail officers to extort sexual favors from relatives of prisoners, especially if the women are young and beautiful.
On the other hand, Fatah accuses Hamas of arresting its political elements in the Gaza. Fatah issued a statement warning of “the risk of death threats” to the lives of its militant activists who went on hunger strike in centers of torture of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Fatah appealed in a statement issued in the second of this month for the intervention of Palestinian national groups, personalities, independent Palestinians, and human rights and international organizations to put an end to the repressive measures against the political activists in the centers of torture belong to Hamas and asked them to work to release them all.
Fatah stated that six of its activists had entered a hunger strike since three days, claiming that the prisoners already suffered poor and deteriorated health conditions as a result of torture and the daily violations of their rights at the centers of torture affiliated to Hamas.
Fatah stated that “Hamas” is fully responsible for the lives of their detainees. Fatah added that the detainees fall under the risk of “double death”, as a result their deteriorated health due to torture and the continued hunger strike, in addition of leaving them held in places which could be bombed at anytime by the Israeli occupation.
It is truly disgusting to see to what level the PA has learned the arts of whining and lying from their jewish masters. It is disgusting to see the abject levels of betrayal of these brown-nosers who have no compunction in setting up a situation where it people get murdered. With the murder of Omar Al-Qawasmeh by Hazut and his henchmen, it has become clear that the PA has become more jewish than the jews, more zionist than their zionist masters, and equally devoid of humanity and honor. It is equally disgusting to see Hamas jailing resistance people just because they are not under their control, dirtying upright citizens with accusations of collaborating with israel, torturing them, breaking their legs or murdering them, only because they walk under different colours.
I was direct witness of one such case and I know that it is usual procedure by PA police or jail officers to extort sexual favors from relatives of prisoners, especially if the women are young and beautiful.
On the other hand, Fatah accuses Hamas of arresting its political elements in the Gaza. Fatah issued a statement warning of “the risk of death threats” to the lives of its militant activists who went on hunger strike in centers of torture of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Fatah appealed in a statement issued in the second of this month for the intervention of Palestinian national groups, personalities, independent Palestinians, and human rights and international organizations to put an end to the repressive measures against the political activists in the centers of torture belong to Hamas and asked them to work to release them all.
Fatah stated that six of its activists had entered a hunger strike since three days, claiming that the prisoners already suffered poor and deteriorated health conditions as a result of torture and the daily violations of their rights at the centers of torture affiliated to Hamas.
Fatah stated that “Hamas” is fully responsible for the lives of their detainees. Fatah added that the detainees fall under the risk of “double death”, as a result their deteriorated health due to torture and the continued hunger strike, in addition of leaving them held in places which could be bombed at anytime by the Israeli occupation.
It is truly disgusting to see to what level the PA has learned the arts of whining and lying from their jewish masters. It is disgusting to see the abject levels of betrayal of these brown-nosers who have no compunction in setting up a situation where it people get murdered. With the murder of Omar Al-Qawasmeh by Hazut and his henchmen, it has become clear that the PA has become more jewish than the jews, more zionist than their zionist masters, and equally devoid of humanity and honor. It is equally disgusting to see Hamas jailing resistance people just because they are not under their control, dirtying upright citizens with accusations of collaborating with israel, torturing them, breaking their legs or murdering them, only because they walk under different colours.
7 jan 2011
Israeli pilot describes 'good strike' that killed 15 Gazans in 2002
Salah Shehadeh
A crewman involved in the assassination of Hamas military leader Salah Shehadeh recently spoke with students about the controversial incident.
By Amira Hass
The airmen who bombed the home of a Hamas military leader in 2002 did not know or did not want to know the identity of their target before the strike, according to T., one of the crewmen directly involved, who spoke recently with students at a secular yeshiva in Tel Aviv.
The July 22 bombing of the home of Salah Shehadeh, who had headed Hamas military wing, in the densely populated Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, killed a total of 15 people, including Shehadeh and his assistant. The other victims included eight children (ranging in age from less than a year to 14 years old) and three women.
Haaretz acquired a recording of the discussion held with T. at the BINA Center in Tel Aviv, and for the first time is reporting testimony from one of the direct perpetrators of the assassination.
On December 19, 2010, T. participated in a discussion titled The Limits of Obedience, part of a series called The Military in a Democratic State, held jointly by the yeshiva and the IDF Staff and Command School.
A crewman involved in the assassination of Hamas military leader Salah Shehadeh recently spoke with students about the controversial incident.
By Amira Hass
The airmen who bombed the home of a Hamas military leader in 2002 did not know or did not want to know the identity of their target before the strike, according to T., one of the crewmen directly involved, who spoke recently with students at a secular yeshiva in Tel Aviv.
The July 22 bombing of the home of Salah Shehadeh, who had headed Hamas military wing, in the densely populated Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, killed a total of 15 people, including Shehadeh and his assistant. The other victims included eight children (ranging in age from less than a year to 14 years old) and three women.
Haaretz acquired a recording of the discussion held with T. at the BINA Center in Tel Aviv, and for the first time is reporting testimony from one of the direct perpetrators of the assassination.
On December 19, 2010, T. participated in a discussion titled The Limits of Obedience, part of a series called The Military in a Democratic State, held jointly by the yeshiva and the IDF Staff and Command School.
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After preparing and training for a number of days, T. said, They authorized the takeoff... We took off from the Hatzor airbase. It takes two minutes from Hatzor to Gaza ... flight time. Two minutes after takeoff we are told go and wait over the sea.
That means west, a great deal out, in the dark, so that there is no noise, T. continued. This [kind of] person can smell planes, can hear them coming and escape... So we wait over the sea for 50 minutes. Then they tell us: approval for strike. I say fantastic. You must have seen the movies ... that's what it looks like. We move east, then west, strike, the house goes down, collapses ... We don't see anything around ... at that height you cannot see very much. I have a television screen when I look at the target. I strike using night vision, land and wait for the base commander... [He] tells me that it was Salah Shehadeh, and I say good, T. said. I have no idea who or what he's talking about. We carried out a good strike, alpha that's what it's called in air force talk and that's it. [After that] we went to sleep. |
The next day, actually the same day, they tell us that the strike killed Salah Shehadeh, his wife, his daughter, his son and others... The commander of the pilots called us all in for a talk about ethics, the first one I'd ever heard about..
During the discussion in Tel Aviv, T. asked the teenagers, who are themselves, preparing for their military service, the following question: Had I known that 14 other people were with him ... what should I have done?
During the discussion in Tel Aviv, T. asked the teenagers, who are themselves, preparing for their military service, the following question: Had I known that 14 other people were with him ... what should I have done?
6 jan 2011
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Graphic!
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2 jan 2011
Israeli War Crimes: From the USS Liberty to the Humanitarian Flotilla
- This is dedicated to the brave Turkish and American martyrs on the Mavi Marmara, May 31, 2010, and to the 34 murdered American sailors on the USS Liberty, June 8, 1967 – all victims of an unrepentant criminal state – Israel.
By James Petras, Israel Crimes on the High Seas
On June 8, 1967, two squadrons of Israeli warplanes bombed, napalmed and machine-gunned the US intelligence-gathering ship, USS Liberty, in international waters, killing 34 US sailors and wounding another 172. The assault took place on a sunny afternoon, with the US flag and identifying markers clearly visible. The Israelis targeted the antennae to prevent the crew from broadcasting for help and shot up the lifeboats to ensure no survivors.
There were, however, survivors who rigged up an antenna and radioed their distress, a call for help that reached Washington D.C. In an unprecedented act of betrayal, President Johnson, in close liaison with powerful American Jewish Zionist political backers, covered up the mass murder on the high seas by issuing orders first to recall Mediterranean-based warplanes from rushing to assist their besieged comrades, then threatening to court-martial the survivors who might expose the deliberate nature of the Israeli assault and finally by repeating the Israeli line that the attack was a matter of mistaken identity, a lie which numerous military leaders later rejected.
Almost to the day, 43 years later, on May 31, 2010, Israeli warships, helicopter gun ships and commandos assaulted a convoy of humanitarian ships carrying ten thousand tons of aid to Gaza in international waters. Prior to the aid mission Turkish authorities had examined the passengers and the ship to ensure no weapons were on board. The Israelis never the less came on board shooting and clubbing the unarmed passengers, killing up to 19 and wounding dozens. Despite subsequent Israeli and Zionist claims to the contrary no weapons were found, apart from sticks used by some of the victims attempting to fend off the murderous premeditated assault planned, directed and defended by top Israeli leaders and the entire leadership of the major Zionist organizations in the US and elsewhere.
The invading Israeli stormtroopers systematically destroyed all cameras, videos and tape recorders that had documented their savage assault, in order to subsequently spread their brazen lies about their being subject to armed resistance.
The World Response
By James Petras, Israel Crimes on the High Seas
On June 8, 1967, two squadrons of Israeli warplanes bombed, napalmed and machine-gunned the US intelligence-gathering ship, USS Liberty, in international waters, killing 34 US sailors and wounding another 172. The assault took place on a sunny afternoon, with the US flag and identifying markers clearly visible. The Israelis targeted the antennae to prevent the crew from broadcasting for help and shot up the lifeboats to ensure no survivors.
There were, however, survivors who rigged up an antenna and radioed their distress, a call for help that reached Washington D.C. In an unprecedented act of betrayal, President Johnson, in close liaison with powerful American Jewish Zionist political backers, covered up the mass murder on the high seas by issuing orders first to recall Mediterranean-based warplanes from rushing to assist their besieged comrades, then threatening to court-martial the survivors who might expose the deliberate nature of the Israeli assault and finally by repeating the Israeli line that the attack was a matter of mistaken identity, a lie which numerous military leaders later rejected.
Almost to the day, 43 years later, on May 31, 2010, Israeli warships, helicopter gun ships and commandos assaulted a convoy of humanitarian ships carrying ten thousand tons of aid to Gaza in international waters. Prior to the aid mission Turkish authorities had examined the passengers and the ship to ensure no weapons were on board. The Israelis never the less came on board shooting and clubbing the unarmed passengers, killing up to 19 and wounding dozens. Despite subsequent Israeli and Zionist claims to the contrary no weapons were found, apart from sticks used by some of the victims attempting to fend off the murderous premeditated assault planned, directed and defended by top Israeli leaders and the entire leadership of the major Zionist organizations in the US and elsewhere.
The invading Israeli stormtroopers systematically destroyed all cameras, videos and tape recorders that had documented their savage assault, in order to subsequently spread their brazen lies about their being subject to armed resistance.
The World Response
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Within hours of Israel ’s bloody act of piracy, nations, political leaders, human rights organizations and the vast majority of the international community condemned the Israeli state for its violation of international law. Turkey , Spain , Greece , Denmark and Austria summoned their Israeli ambassadors to protest the deadly assault. The Financial Times, (June 1, 2010) referred to the Israeli assault as a “brazen act of piracy …hurtling into lawlessness” rooted in its “illegal blockage of Gaza .”
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Turkey ’s Prime Minister Recep Erdogan called the Israeli assault an act of “state terrorism” which would have “serious consequences.” Israel ’s attacks on ships flying Turkish, Greek and Irish flags on the high seas were described by legal experts as an “act of war.”
The UN Security Council, NATO and the Secretary General of the UN demanded Israel cease its aggression, while tens of thousands of demonstrators marched denouncing Israel ’s blatant act of state murder and wounding of pacifists, humanitarians and protesters from 60 countries. UN experts demanded that Israeli leaders “must be held criminally responsible.” Only the Obama regime refused to condemn the Israeli act of state terror, merely expressing “concern and regret.” The Israeli state defended its murderous assault, promised more in the future and insisted on maintaining its blockade of Gaza , even after the US suggested it might be loosened.
The Israeli Defense of Piracy and State Terror
As news of the Israeli massacre slipped out and the international community reacted with horror and anger, the Israeli government “sought to flood the airwaves with their versions of events … more importantly, the authorities ensured that their narrative gained early dominance by largely silencing the hundreds of activists who were on board during the attack” (Financial Times, June 2, 2010, p2.). The Jewish state held all the prisoners alive, wounded and dead incommunicado, seized their mobile phones and prohibited any interviews, barring all journalists. Like most terrorist states, the Jewish state wanted to monopolize the propaganda media. The Israeli propaganda machine via its state sponsored journalists and news media employed several ploys typical of totalitarian regimes.
The US Zionist Power Configuration: In Defense of the Massacre Just as the entire leadership of the 51 principle American Jewish organizations defended every Israeli war crime in the past, from the bombing of the US Liberty, to the Occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza so too did these most honorable apologists repeat verbatim the lies of the Israeli state regarding the assault of the humanitarian flotilla.
The Daily Alert (May 31 – June 2, 2010), the official public propaganda organ of the Presidents of the Major American Jewish Organizations, published every scurrilous Israeli state lie, about the Israeli commandos being ‘lynched,’ ‘attacked’ and the human rights victims being responsible for the death of their comrades … at the hands of Israeli commandos. Not a single deviation, not a single word of criticism. Not even a single mention of even the superficial Israeli critics who faulted the execution, the use of deadly weapons, the assault in international waters, and the public relations fiasco. The vast majority of Israeli Jews and organized Zionists in the US supported the bloody massacre and were opposed by a small minority who has no access to the mass media.
Zionist control over the mass media was once again demonstrated by the reporting through “ Israel ’s eyes” (FAIR, June 1, 2010). Essentially the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, CBS, NBC presented the Israeli commandos attacking the humanitarian boat as being … “assaulted and beaten” (Washington Post, June 1, 2010). The New York Times gave credence to the Israeli claim that its act of piracy on the high seas was legal (NY Times, June 1, 2010). For the US mass media the problem is not Israeli state terror, but how to manipulate and disarm the outrage of the international community. To that end the entire Zionist Power configuration has a reliable ally in the Zionized Obama White House and US Congress.
The Obama Response to Israeli State Terror
The UN Security Council, NATO and the Secretary General of the UN demanded Israel cease its aggression, while tens of thousands of demonstrators marched denouncing Israel ’s blatant act of state murder and wounding of pacifists, humanitarians and protesters from 60 countries. UN experts demanded that Israeli leaders “must be held criminally responsible.” Only the Obama regime refused to condemn the Israeli act of state terror, merely expressing “concern and regret.” The Israeli state defended its murderous assault, promised more in the future and insisted on maintaining its blockade of Gaza , even after the US suggested it might be loosened.
The Israeli Defense of Piracy and State Terror
As news of the Israeli massacre slipped out and the international community reacted with horror and anger, the Israeli government “sought to flood the airwaves with their versions of events … more importantly, the authorities ensured that their narrative gained early dominance by largely silencing the hundreds of activists who were on board during the attack” (Financial Times, June 2, 2010, p2.). The Jewish state held all the prisoners alive, wounded and dead incommunicado, seized their mobile phones and prohibited any interviews, barring all journalists. Like most terrorist states, the Jewish state wanted to monopolize the propaganda media. The Israeli propaganda machine via its state sponsored journalists and news media employed several ploys typical of totalitarian regimes.
- Israeli storm troopers invading the ship were turned into victims and the humanitarian pacifists were turned into aggressors. “Israeli Soldiers Met by Well-Planned Lynch Mob” ( Jerusalem Post, March 31, 2010); “Israeli Soldiers Attacked” (IDF, March 31, 2010).
- Israel’s act of piracy in international waters was declared legal by a Professor Sabel of the Hebrew University .
- The humanitarian organizers were accused of having ties to terrorists according to Deputy Foreign Minister Ayalon, though no evidence was presented (Ha’aretz, May 30, 2010). The organizers including the Turkish human rights group accused by Ayalon were cleared by the Turkish intelligence agency, the military and the Erdogan government, a member of NATO and for many years (in the past) a collaborator with the Israeli Mossad. The other 600 plus human rights volunteers, included pacifists, parliamentarians, former diplomats, as well as current members of the Israeli parliament.
- While dozens of human rights people were shot, killed and maimed, Israeli propagandists doctored video releases portraying one of the Israeli assailants on the deck, cutting out the preceding sequence of attack (Financial Times, June 2, 2010, p. 2).
- The Israeli sea and airborne assailants were described as the victims of a “Brutal Ambush at Sea” (Ynet News, June 1, 2010).
- The terrorized human rights workers were accused of being a "lynch mob,” attacking the Jewish commandos who were firing automatic rifles wildly across the deck and at cornered victims. The few courageous individuals who fought back to stop the murderous attack were slandered by the Zion-prop, which itself
is as monstrous as the crimes they perpetrated.Once the Israeli propaganda machine started spewing out its gutter lies, the entire leadership of the Zionist Fifth column swung into action … first and foremost in the United States .
The US Zionist Power Configuration: In Defense of the Massacre Just as the entire leadership of the 51 principle American Jewish organizations defended every Israeli war crime in the past, from the bombing of the US Liberty, to the Occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza so too did these most honorable apologists repeat verbatim the lies of the Israeli state regarding the assault of the humanitarian flotilla.
The Daily Alert (May 31 – June 2, 2010), the official public propaganda organ of the Presidents of the Major American Jewish Organizations, published every scurrilous Israeli state lie, about the Israeli commandos being ‘lynched,’ ‘attacked’ and the human rights victims being responsible for the death of their comrades … at the hands of Israeli commandos. Not a single deviation, not a single word of criticism. Not even a single mention of even the superficial Israeli critics who faulted the execution, the use of deadly weapons, the assault in international waters, and the public relations fiasco. The vast majority of Israeli Jews and organized Zionists in the US supported the bloody massacre and were opposed by a small minority who has no access to the mass media.
Zionist control over the mass media was once again demonstrated by the reporting through “ Israel ’s eyes” (FAIR, June 1, 2010). Essentially the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, CBS, NBC presented the Israeli commandos attacking the humanitarian boat as being … “assaulted and beaten” (Washington Post, June 1, 2010). The New York Times gave credence to the Israeli claim that its act of piracy on the high seas was legal (NY Times, June 1, 2010). For the US mass media the problem is not Israeli state terror, but how to manipulate and disarm the outrage of the international community. To that end the entire Zionist Power configuration has a reliable ally in the Zionized Obama White House and US Congress.
The Obama Response to Israeli State Terror
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There is only one basic reason why Israel repeatedly commits crimes against humanity, including the latest assault on the humanitarian flotilla: because it knows that the Zionist Power Configuration, embedded in the US power structure, will ensure government support, in this case the Obama White House. In the face of the world-wide condemnation of Israel ’s crime on the high seas, and calls from the international community for legal action, the Obama regime absolutely refused to criticize Israel .
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A White House spokesman said, “The United States deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained and is currently working to understand the circumstances surrounding the tragedy” (AFP May 31, 2010).
An act of state terrorism does not evoke “regrets” – it normally provokes condemnation and punishment. The power which caused “loss of life and injuries” has a name – Israel ; the persons who suffered death and injuries during the Israeli assault – have a name – humanitarian volunteers. It was not simply a “loss of life” but a well planned premeditated murder which is openly defended by Prime Minister Netanyahu and his entire Cabinet.
The “circumstances” of the murders are clear: Israel assaulted an unarmed ship in international waters, opening fire as they boarded the ship. The Obama regime’s obscene political cover-up of a deliberate criminal act in violation of international law is evident in his description of a serial homicide as a ‘tragedy’.
Premeditated state terror has no resemblance to a tragic noble ruler forced by circumstances into a criminal act against their closest allies.Washington , pressed to participate at a UN Security Council meeting, spent 10 hours eliminating all references to Israel ’s illegal criminal act, ending in a resolution which merely calls for an “impartial” investigation, with Washington pushing for an Israeli investigatory committee. To the world at large, including the Turkish government, the Obama regime and the US government, by refusing to condemn Israel , are “accomplices to a mass murder.”
To understand why the Obama regime brought shame and infamy to itself in the eyes of the world, one need look at the Zionist composition of the Obama White House and, equally important, the direct power and access that the principle Jewish-Zionist organizations have over the US political system. In the week preceding Israel ’s announced assault on the humanitarian flotilla, (pro-Israel) Jewish leaders met with over a third of US senators to pressure them to pass harsher sanctions on Iran by June. Among the key operatives attending were the Jewish Federation of North America, AIPAC and the rest of the Israeli Fifth Column (Jewish Telegraph Agency, May 26, 2010).
The following day a squadron of leaders from the Jewish Federations flew into Washington to meet with top Obama administration officials, to ensure that the White House and Congress did not in any way or form publicly express any criticism of Israel ’s settlement policy. No doubt the Zionist apologists for Israeli war crimes extended their agenda to include no public criticism of the Israeli assault on the flotilla. Rahm Emmanuel, top US Presidential aide, was in Tel Aviv as a guest of top officials of the Israel Defense Force a few days before the IDF launched the assault, no doubt having filled Rahm in on the details.
The Israeli-American aide to Obama no doubt assured the war criminals of Washington ’s unconditional political and military support for Israel ’s acts of aggression.
From within the Obama Administration and without, the aggressive pressure from the 51 principle organizations of the American Zionists have guaranteed Israeli war criminals immunity from any War Crimes Tribunal, or even serious political condemnation by the UN Security Council. The Zionized White House’s tactic is to deflect attention from immediate consequential condemnation let alone sanctions, hoping that over time, aided by the blanket mass media apology in the US , the mass indignation and protest overseas will gradually wither away.
Obama and his Zionist cohort are already in a belly crawl mode with Israel. Part of Rahm’s mission to Israel was to hand Netanyahu an invitation to the White House, during the week of the slaughter at sea. The only reason Netanyahu did not come to Washington was because he rushed back to Israel to buttress the Foreign Office’s defense of the slaughter in the face of world-wide outrage. But in a phone conversation, Obama promised Netanyahu a prompt new invitation – assuring the Jewish statesman that violating international laws and bloodying dozens of humanitarian activists is of no consequence, especially since it insures continued financial support by Obama’s Zionist backers.
An act of state terrorism does not evoke “regrets” – it normally provokes condemnation and punishment. The power which caused “loss of life and injuries” has a name – Israel ; the persons who suffered death and injuries during the Israeli assault – have a name – humanitarian volunteers. It was not simply a “loss of life” but a well planned premeditated murder which is openly defended by Prime Minister Netanyahu and his entire Cabinet.
The “circumstances” of the murders are clear: Israel assaulted an unarmed ship in international waters, opening fire as they boarded the ship. The Obama regime’s obscene political cover-up of a deliberate criminal act in violation of international law is evident in his description of a serial homicide as a ‘tragedy’.
Premeditated state terror has no resemblance to a tragic noble ruler forced by circumstances into a criminal act against their closest allies.Washington , pressed to participate at a UN Security Council meeting, spent 10 hours eliminating all references to Israel ’s illegal criminal act, ending in a resolution which merely calls for an “impartial” investigation, with Washington pushing for an Israeli investigatory committee. To the world at large, including the Turkish government, the Obama regime and the US government, by refusing to condemn Israel , are “accomplices to a mass murder.”
To understand why the Obama regime brought shame and infamy to itself in the eyes of the world, one need look at the Zionist composition of the Obama White House and, equally important, the direct power and access that the principle Jewish-Zionist organizations have over the US political system. In the week preceding Israel ’s announced assault on the humanitarian flotilla, (pro-Israel) Jewish leaders met with over a third of US senators to pressure them to pass harsher sanctions on Iran by June. Among the key operatives attending were the Jewish Federation of North America, AIPAC and the rest of the Israeli Fifth Column (Jewish Telegraph Agency, May 26, 2010).
The following day a squadron of leaders from the Jewish Federations flew into Washington to meet with top Obama administration officials, to ensure that the White House and Congress did not in any way or form publicly express any criticism of Israel ’s settlement policy. No doubt the Zionist apologists for Israeli war crimes extended their agenda to include no public criticism of the Israeli assault on the flotilla. Rahm Emmanuel, top US Presidential aide, was in Tel Aviv as a guest of top officials of the Israel Defense Force a few days before the IDF launched the assault, no doubt having filled Rahm in on the details.
The Israeli-American aide to Obama no doubt assured the war criminals of Washington ’s unconditional political and military support for Israel ’s acts of aggression.
From within the Obama Administration and without, the aggressive pressure from the 51 principle organizations of the American Zionists have guaranteed Israeli war criminals immunity from any War Crimes Tribunal, or even serious political condemnation by the UN Security Council. The Zionized White House’s tactic is to deflect attention from immediate consequential condemnation let alone sanctions, hoping that over time, aided by the blanket mass media apology in the US , the mass indignation and protest overseas will gradually wither away.
Obama and his Zionist cohort are already in a belly crawl mode with Israel. Part of Rahm’s mission to Israel was to hand Netanyahu an invitation to the White House, during the week of the slaughter at sea. The only reason Netanyahu did not come to Washington was because he rushed back to Israel to buttress the Foreign Office’s defense of the slaughter in the face of world-wide outrage. But in a phone conversation, Obama promised Netanyahu a prompt new invitation – assuring the Jewish statesman that violating international laws and bloodying dozens of humanitarian activists is of no consequence, especially since it insures continued financial support by Obama’s Zionist backers.
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Like Lyndon Johnson with the cover-up of the USS Liberty, Obama’s apology of Israel ’s war crimes, is the price for ensuring the backing of billionaire Zionist financiers and media moguls, the tens of thousands of pro-Israel Jews and the 51 President of the Major American Jewish Organizations.In the face of Washington ’s complicity with Israeli war crimes, the only road is to intensify the worldwide boycott, disinvestment and sanctions campaign against all Israeli products, cultural activities and professional exchanges.
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Hopefully, the Islamic-led mass protests will find echo in the wider anti-Zionist communities – especially, when Israeli apologists for state terror make public appearances. Even more important each and every Israeli involved in the mass assault should be subject to criminal prosecution wherever they visit. Only by making the Israelis understand that they will pay a high price for their serial homicides and violations of international law will reason possibly enter their political narrative.
Only by moving beyond symbolic protests, like recalling diplomats, and taking substantive actions, like breaking relations, will the international community isolate the perpetrator of state terrorism.
All Americans should send loud and clear to President Obama – NEVER AGAIN. Otherwise, with the Zionist Power Configuration active 7/24, the Obama regime, true to the Zionist agenda, will once again focus attention on attacking Iran . Israel’s action today with US complicity is a prelude of the kind of deadly force it has in store for sabotaging the recent Turkey-Brazil-Iran diplomatic agreement.
This is dedicated to the brave Turkish martyrs on the Mavi Marmara, May 31, 2010, and to the 34 murdered American sailors on the USS Liberty, June 8, 1967 – all victims of an unrepentant criminal state – ISRAEL.
Only by moving beyond symbolic protests, like recalling diplomats, and taking substantive actions, like breaking relations, will the international community isolate the perpetrator of state terrorism.
All Americans should send loud and clear to President Obama – NEVER AGAIN. Otherwise, with the Zionist Power Configuration active 7/24, the Obama regime, true to the Zionist agenda, will once again focus attention on attacking Iran . Israel’s action today with US complicity is a prelude of the kind of deadly force it has in store for sabotaging the recent Turkey-Brazil-Iran diplomatic agreement.
This is dedicated to the brave Turkish martyrs on the Mavi Marmara, May 31, 2010, and to the 34 murdered American sailors on the USS Liberty, June 8, 1967 – all victims of an unrepentant criminal state – ISRAEL.