Beware of Barak

Ran HaCohen - December 27, 2007
Israeli "Defense" Minister Ehud Barak is definitely the most dangerous politician in the Middle East. Ahmadinejad can only dream of having the powers – political and military, conventional and non-conventional – that Barak already possesses. Netanyahu and other far-right Israeli politicians say what they think and are earmarked as extremists, so they are under permanent scrutiny. Barak is more extreme than Netanyahu, but he's an extremist in disguise.

The person who destroyed the Oslo Process and initiated the second Intifada, the person who demolished the Israeli peace camp from within, by spreading legends about a "generous offer" rejected by the Palestinian, by persuading the Israelis that he "unmasked" Arafat and that there was no Palestinian partner – this person still calls himself "the leader of the Israeli peace camp." That's one of Barak's most dangerous traits: his inherent untruthfulness, his presenting himself as the very opposite of what he actually is.

Barak hasn't changed. As Yedioth Ahronoth announced just a few months ago ("Labor Leader More Right-Wing Than Netanyahu," Aug. 10, 2007), Barak described the renewal of the peace talks as "a fantasy," said "there is no difference between Hamas and Fatah"; promised "I will not remove roadblocks in the West Bank"; and repeated his old mantra, "there is no chance for a settlement with the Palestinians."

Indeed, Barak opposed the Annapolis Summit all along. His opposition turned into reserved support just a few weeks before, when it became clear the meeting would be nothing but a photo-op. On top of it, to make sure nothing comes out of the newly launched process, Barak repeatedly calls to resume peace negotiations with Syria, simultaneously with the Palestinian track. A characteristic Barakian trick: urging to resume peace talks with Syria enables Barak to boost his false reputation as a man of peace even as he knowingly works to sabotage any prospect of peace. In an official report written under then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak in 2000, recently obtained and published in Hebrew by Ha'aretz (Dec. 13, 2007), Barak's bureau chief wrote that resuming negotiations with Syria had led to extreme distrust and stiffening on the Palestinian side, and, on top of it, that the Israeli team had been unable to manage negotiations on both fronts simultaneously. In other words, resuming negotiations with Syria is a tested measure to make sure the Palestinian track doesn't work, and Barak is playing this dirty card for the second time.

Barak promised to quit the coalition with Olmert after the publication of the Winograd Commission final report, which is likely to blame Olmert for the failed war in Lebanon in summer 2006. He has now hinted, through his "aides," that he won't keep his promise (Barak never speaks to the media; he sends his "aides" to hint at his intentions, so that no one can hold him responsible for anything he actually says). It is quite likely that Barak's perverse logic leads him to plan his return to the prime minister's office by way of a "small" war. Once Olmert is officially discredited for the failed Lebanon war, Barak as defense minister can hope to take all the credit for a new, successful war – a big operation in Gaza ("drawing nearer all the time," as Barak tirelessly repeats), a war on Syria, a strike on Iran, or a combination of all these. Such a war would also be an excellent pretext to break his promise to exit the coalition: after all, it would be "irresponsible" to quit when a war is imminent.

Barak knows all too well how to get Israel into a war, even behind the government's back if needed: after all, it was young Maj. Gen. Barak who in the early 1980s recommended to his superiors in the army to use deception in order to allure the Israeli government and public into a war in Lebanon.

Rwanda Is Richer

Much of the foreign news in the popular media falls under "infotainment": "Man Bites Dog," "Host Eats Guest," "Woman Dry-Cleans Cat." Recently this kind of reporting – in both style and contents – is applied ever more often to the Gaza Strip, a region under effective Israeli control, just an hour's ride from Tel Aviv. We are informed about the price of a pack of cigarettes in besieged Gaza – more than $15 – while 63 percent of Gaza residents live on less than $2.50 a day, beating the poverty rate of Rwanda. We watch an amused television report about a soft-drink producer in the Strip, who, unable to get CO2-gas, found an original way to produce soda pop using some other, available gas. Or about a dramatic rise in the prices of donkeys, since there is no gasoline for cars, and how the transport of goods is done by animals. Great pictures: The soft-drink producer proudly showing his chemical invention, shaking off allegations it may cause cancer. A starving Gazan donkey auctioned for $60, $75, $100, the seller saying he cannot afford to feed it. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh congratulating his people on the Muslim holiday of Eid ul-Adha, admitting there are no lambs to sacrifice in the starving Strip.

Hermetically under siege, after decades of occupation and years of Intifada in which Israel destroyed the little infrastructure that the Strip ever had, following many months of total embargo on everything except basic food products, which brought the economy to a halt, with daily invasions of Israeli tanks and extra-judicial killings by Israeli airplanes, and now with gasoline supplies cut and electricity supply to be reduced soon, the Gaza Strip (1.5 million people, 80 percent refugees) is no longer the world's biggest open-air prison. It's a huge laboratory for human experimentation, run by the Israeli army.

Some of these reports came together with the "good news" about the international community promising to give more than $7 billion to the Palestinian Authority over the next three years. Some Israeli commentators described the promised sum as the biggest amount ever given to any leader anywhere, though it is significantly smaller than the American military support given to the regional power, Israel, in any given three years. Others quickly calculated that every Palestinian family would "earn" about a $1,000 a month, if the sum were to be divided equally; but, they added triumphantly, we all know that most of it would get to the corrupt pockets of the Fatah leadership and not to the poor guy selling his donkey in Gaza. Dramatic sigh of despair and self-righteousness: once again, the Palestinians are to blame for their own plight. No one bothers to take the thought a step forward – for example, to wonder why Israel is so anxious to keep alive the corrupt Fatah leadership, even after it lost the support of its own people and was overthrown in Gaza, precisely because of its inherent corruption.

The public discourse in Israel does love questions – but only of the kind posed by President Shimon Peres last week: "There's not a single Israeli settler or soldier in Gaza now, so why do they shoot at us?" Yes, why do they?

Peace Now at the Checkpoint

Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Written by Yossi Bartal for the Alternative Information Center (AIC)
Peace Now and their male oriented leadership have always attacked the refuseniks movement and kept on proudly committing war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories in the name of national unity and obedience to the law. One can just hope that they will stop being seen by the world as a part of the peace movement in Israel.

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Peace Now. Now?! Well, Maybe Later - How the Peace Camp 'Vanished'
Ran HaCohen - February 8, 2002

WHAT IS THE PEACE CAMP?

There are two Israeli peace camps. One peace camp wants peace with the Palestinians, without occupation and without settlements. The other "peace camp" – I'll be using quotes to refer to it – wants peace with the settlers, not with the Palestinians. The issue of refusal is the very Shibboleth dividing the two camps.

HOW DOES PEACE NOW FIT IN?

Maybe because of its memorable logo, maybe because of good things it may have done when I was a child, Peace Now is still considered, especially in the US, as the incarnation of the Israeli peace camp. Peace Now is a non-parliamentary movement, whose supporters are more-or-less identical with the Meretz constituency.

Now it is high time to tell the truth: Peace Now is a marginal mainstream movement, far from any dissent, not part of the Israeli peace camp, but the very essence of the "peace camp". During the last eight years, Peace Now has been virtually absent from the Israeli public sphere. Its only activity worth mentioning is monitoring the expansion of the settlements, a documentation project issuing a communication to the press every few months.

A mass demonstration planned for this Saturday (9 February) can clarify the issue. The rally – postponed from last Saturday for technical reasons – is organised by an ad hoc "coalition for peace" comprising an unprecedented large number of bodies.

Among the speakers invited in the rally are signatories of the refusal petition and others public figures who support refusal. Though it was invited, Peace Now not only refused to participate, it is now trying to sabotage the rally by publishing big ads in the Israeli dailies announcing a demonstration a week later and signing "coalition for peace", in an obvious attempt to confuse demonstrators and tempt them to believe the rally was postponed once again.

If Peace Now's donors wonder where their money goes, here is an answer: to pay for expensive whole-page ads aimed at splitting and breaking the resistance to the Occupation and to Israel's war crimes from within.

The Israeli Right Has a Peace Plan

The Israeli Right Has a Peace Plan
Ran HaCohen, October 16, 2007
It's important to monitor the Israeli far Right. The settlers' ideology is usually shared by the Israeli military, and the military is the central political agent in Israel, much more important than any short-lived government or prime minister.

This is why plans, demands, and suggestions of the Israeli far Right, no matter how lunatic they sound when launched, are often the best prediction for future reality, which usually lags just a few years behind.

Palestine: Blood Is in the Air

Ran HaCohen - June 26, 2007
Five years after His Highness G.W. Bush – president of the United States of America, czar of Afghanistan, emperor of Iraq, democratizer of the Middle East, etc., etc. – launched his "Road Map for Peace in the Middle East," announcing a Palestinian state by 2005, the Israeli public has a new pastime. The public discussion in Israel now revolves around "Three states for two peoples?": that is, should the Jewish state use the Hamas coup in Gaza to separate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank and deal with two Palestinian states, or should Israel keep the two districts connected? Roughly, the right wing supports the former track – based on arguments like "divide and rule," "two states are easier to manipulate than one," etc. – whereas the left wing tends to the latter option, remembering Israel's obligation in the Oslo accords to treat the two districts as one political entity and airing arguments like "one enemy is better than two," "two states would compete with each other in hatred," etc.

An amazing discussion indeed. Never mind the fact that the Strip and the West Bank have actually been separated by Israel for years, forcing even the Palestinian parliament resort to video conferences as the only way to "convene." What's appalling about this discussion is that just as the Palestinians are as far as ever from having an independent state, Israelis indulge in a fantasy in which such a state already exists, perhaps even two of them. Indeed, when the gods want to destroy a nation, they make it blind first.

Back to Reality

Obviously, there is no Palestinian state, and there may never be one (or two). The Gaza Strip is "an independent state" just like any prison cell is: a hermetically sealed cage, overpopulated by 1.3 million people; no sea port or airport; no control over its own borders, waters, or airspace; even its population database, not to mention water, food, electricity, gasoline, and medical equipment, are all strictly controlled by Israel.

And as for the West Bank, it's enough to look at its recent map prepared by the UN to understand why no Palestinian state can emerge there: notice how the small area was pulverized into numerous tiny cages for humans, separated by Israeli settlements, fences, roadblocks, and checkpoints. Cages for non-Jewish humans only, mind you; Jews move around freely in their (whose?) land.

How Things Changed

What is Israel – backed as always by the U.S. – up to? The media once again celebrates Peace. Olmert is extremely serious, Israeli analysts say. Some suggest he is now strong enough to make peace, others claim he is so weak that peace is his only survival strategy; who cares why, as long as he is portrayed as a man of peace.

In a matter of days, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas turned from an unreliable foe to a precious friend. All of a sudden the boycott against the Palestinians was lifted, Israel unfroze Palestinian tax money, and Abu Mazen was promised a generous package of Israeli gestures and invited to a leaders' summit.

And why does Abbas suddenly deserve all that? As a reward for his most impressive success: namely, losing Gaza to Hamas forces. Fatah's defeat in Gaza was allegedly unexpected; Israel and the U.S. wanted to help Abu Mazen but their aid came too little or to late, and Israel finally realized that it was time to save the Palestinian non-Islamist national movement by making peace with its moderate leader. And we are supposed to believe all that.

Scenting Prey

Let me suggest another option. Fatah's defeat in Gaza was all but foreseeable; ask any analyst, or consult last year's election results. Israel/U.S. didn't do anything to help Abbas survive there, simply because they couldn't care less: a Hamas-controlled Gaza is much easier to portray as a terrorist nest, freeing Israel of any obligation to its colony and letting it perish strangulated, as Israeli fascist minister Avigdor Lieberman, and some American voices too, now openly suggest.

Apparently, the only one truly shocked by Fatah's defeat in Gaza is Fatah itself. Having lost the last general elections, and having now been violently ousted by Hamas, the small Fatah elite finally faces the hatred it earned among Palestinians in almost a decade and a half of corrupt rule. Fourteen years in which the Palestinians have been progressively caged and strangulated by walls and checkpoints, by unemployment and poverty, while a small group of PLO officials moved around freely in luxurious cars thanks to their VIP cards issued by Israel.

Facing this popular animosity, Abu Mazen and his elite are now scared to death. They followed, if not experienced themselves, the atrocities of Hamas in Gaza. And they know their popularity in the West Bank is not much higher. The Fatah elite is literally fighting for its life.

Time to Make Friends

We have seen this situation before, in the early 1990s. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shook hands with Yassir Arafat just as the latter was about to end his career as an irrelevant old leader enjoying a good life in Tunisian exile. Arafat was fighting for his survival; Israel knew it very well. Leaders just about to be forgotten, or, as in Abbas' case, just about to be thrown out of the window of the 15th floor, are excellent partners for colonialist regimes. Listen carefully to what Zakaria Zbeidi, Fatah military chief in Jenin, told Zvi Yehezkeli of Israel's TV Channel 10 June 24: "We'll be your South Lebanon Army, just help us." The SLA was a Lebanese militia, financed, equipped, and trained by Israel, that served the Israeli occupation up to Israel's withdrawal in the year 2000, when most of its officers sought refuge in Israel lest they face trial (or worse) for their defection and high treason. That's precisely what Israel is looking for in the West Bank: a ruthless, weak, and hated partner, fighting against its own people for survival and relying on Israel rather than facing it.

What Israel Offers

Take a close look at the list of "gestures" offered to Abu Mazen. At first, removal of roadblocks was considered: bolstering Abu Mazen by giving relief and hope to the desperate Palestinian street and showing Israel's peaceful intentions. It took Israel just a couple of days to change its mind: no removal of roadblocks ("Army Objects," of course: Ha'aretz, June 25). What does Israel offer? Here's the list:

* "Release of PA funds collected by Israel," so that Fatah can buy weapons and pay its supporters.

* Continuation of humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip," paid for by the international community of course, not by the Israeli occupier, to prevent embarrassing pictures of hunger.

* "Reissuing VIP cards to Palestinians and expanding the permits to Palestinian businessmen wishing to cross into Israel" – that is, more bonuses for the co-opted elite.

* "Allowing the transfer of armored cars to the Fatah forces in the West Bank" – no need to explain.

* "Renewed security cooperation in the West Bank" – between Israel and the Palestinian militia loyal to it.

* "Resumption of the work of the combined security committee – Israel, Egypt, PA, U.S. – particularly in efforts to curtail arms smuggling to the Gaza Strip from Sinai," to make sure only the right Palestinian militia gets weapons.

Not a single measure, then, to improve the everyday life of millions of impoverished Palestinians strangled by walls and roadblocks, exposed to the Israeli army and settlers' terror. All these measures have just one objective in common: strengthening the Fatah militia and enabling it to crush any opposition. Fatah's hysteria should now turn it into an Israeli proxy, dependent on Israel to survive, serving Israel's interests, and using ever more violence against the Palestinian opposition, which happened to win the democratic elections. Forget removal of roadblocks, let alone of outposts and settlements; forget work permits in Israel; forget freedom, of movement or otherwise; forget a Palestinian state. The occupation is here to stay.

The Legend of the Removed Checkpoints

The Legend of the Removed Checkpoints
Ran HaCohen, April 19, 2007
In this exceptional case, it took less than a week to expose the dirty deal between the government and the army. Scores and dozens of such deals – among the government, the army, and the settlers – are never exposed; the entire Israeli colonial project is based on such deals, made behind the back of all democratic mechanisms.
But this was an exception.

On Jan. 22, following an embarrassing UN report, the army had to admit:

"The Israel Defense Forces admitted yesterday that the 44 dirt obstacles it said had been removed from around West Bank villages did not actually exist.

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But why bother to tell the truth when a lie is just as good?

Three months later, Israel is again counting on our short memory. In an official meeting between the Israeli prime minister and the Palestinian president, no less, the army airs once again the legend about the 44 "removed checkpoints."

The lie exposed in January is recycled as truth in April, and everybody is happy: Israel can claim it kept its promise, the Americans can claim progress in the "peace process," even President Mahmoud Abbas can claim an achievement.

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IDF source admits 44 barriers allegedly removed did not exist
Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent, 22/01/2007

The Temples of the Occupation
Meron Benvenisti, Ha'aretz, 01.01.2007
So far, of the dozens of checkpoints promised to be removed from the West Bank in a "gesture" to Mahmoud Abbas, not a single checkpoint has been dismantled.

12.12.06

Who Makes the Middle East?
Ran HaCohen, 29 November, 2006
A revealing book I have recently read about the present Middle East is Joris Luyendijk's Almost Human. Luyendijk was a Dutch journalist who spent several years (1998-2003) in Arab countries as well as in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, working for two Dutch quality newspapers and for the television. His background as a social science student, his command of Arabic and his academic research in Egypt, as well as the fact that he deserted the journalistic profession, all give him a unique critical perspective on the "Middle East," both as an actual reality and as a permanent media item. In fact, the gap between these two – between the Mideast's reality and its Western image – is the true subject of the book.

The book is currently available in Dutch only; I hope some English-language publisher will pick up the glove and translate it.

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Elbow to Elbow, Like Cattle - The Cruel Line into Gaza
Gideon Levy, December 11, 2006
Without anyone paying attention, the Gaza Strip has become the most closed-off strip of land in the world--after North Korea. But while North Korea is globally known to be a closed and isolated country, how many people know that the same description applies to a place just an hour away from hedonist Tel Aviv?

When You Annoy a Soldier ...The Checkpoint Generation
Amira Hass, December 2 / 3, 2006
For nearly a month now, a young Palestinian has been hospitalized at Beilinson Hospital; soldiers shot him at a checkpoint in northern Nablus on Saturday, November 4. Haitem Yassin, 25, is conscious now,but he is still hooked up to a respirator. In recent days, he has been suffering from a high fever, apparently caused by an infection in his abdomen, which was wounded in the shooting. His family is still waiting for a report from the hospital about the number or type of bullets that caused the serious injury.

Cancer didn't kill my mother, the occupation did
Raed M. Sharif writing from Syracuse, U.S., Live from Palestine, 11 December 2006

Allegra Pacheco on the Israeli Policy of Closure

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A shocking statement: HRW condemns Palestinians' use of nonviolence to protect homes from destruction (Human Rights Watch: "OPT: Civilians Must Not Be Used to Shield Homes Against Military Attacks"; The Associated Press : "American nun, priest join Gaza standoff") 11.23.2006

Palestinians Are Being Denied the Right of Non-Violent Resistance?
Would HRW Have Attacked Martin Luther King, Too?
Jonathan Cook, November 30, 2006

UN EXPERT URGES ISRAEL TO STOP DESTRUCTION OF HOUSES AND INFRASTRUCTURES IN GAZA, CALLS FOR MILITARY SANCTIONS
10 November 2006

The following statement was issued today by the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, Miloon Kothari:

"As Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, I condemn in the strongest possible terms the artillery shelling of Palestinian homes by the Israeli defence force in Beit Hanoun that killed 19 innocent civilians and injured 60, including women and children. The explanation by Israeli authorities that this wantonly criminal act was a mistake is unacceptable. The shelling and subsequent killing of civilians indicates a premeditated military tactic constituting a form of collective punishment against the Palestinian people.

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The End of Academic Freedom and the Israel Lobby
Juan Cole, November 28, 2006
The general tone of the participants' comments suggested that academic blogging has severe drawbacks and, with regard to Middle East bloggers, has not produced a 'second generation' after the crop of 2002. One reason in my view is that academics who blog on the Middle East are relentlessly harassed and cyberstalked by Likudnik crazies and other sorts of wingnut. You have to have very thick skin and, I think, you have to just not care about the career ladder or social climbing of other sorts to risk it. In my case, I think it helped to have been an army brat. You're always being transferred to another base and you can't count on friendships lasting very long, so you just become self-reliant. And, of course, the ethos of the army encourages you to stand up to bullies. But I take Mark Lynch's point that it isn't everyone's cup of tea.

There is something wrong with our society if simply sharing one's expertise for free is actually punished. We should do something about that.

Mideast studies accused
Rebecca Weisser, November 22, 2006
Allegations of bias in Australian universities were made in federal parliament in August when Labor MP Michael Danby singled out Andrew Vincent from Macquarie University's Centre for Middle Eastern and North African Studies and Amin Saikal of the Australian National University's Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies.

Video - 11.11.2006
One viewer's impression of the Norman Finkelstein - Alan Dershowitz debate.

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BIRZEIT STUDENTS AND LECTURERS CALL FOR ACADEMIC BOYCOTT
Right to Education Student Committee, Birzeit University, 28 November 2006

Open letter in support of Irish academics,

We, the undersigned, members of the Birzeit University' community ofstudents, teachers, faculty staff and employees, congratulate and thank the group of Irish academics who called for a moratorium on theEuropean Union's financing of Israeli academic institutions until Israel withdraws from the occupied Palestinian territories and abides by international humanitarian and human rights laws, including theright of return.

The recent attacks and re-invasion of Gaza and Lebanon expose the contempt with which Israel treats the UN, its resolution and its own bilateral agreements. We strongly condemn the death, chaos and destruction inflicted upon Gazans and Lebanese, and call upon the students, academics and staff of universities worldwide to collectively condemn these acts and take action to support us in our struggle to end Israeli military aggression and occupation.

Academic Boycott: "We do not want to continue business as usual"
Birgit Althaler, The Electronic Intifada, 8 November 2006
Jonathan Rosenhead (67) has been a member of the British Committee for Universities of Palestine (BRICUP) for the past two years. He has been a member of staff at the London School of Economics since 1967 and Professor of Operational Research from 1987.

Sue Blackwell, a lecturer at Birmingham University is interviewed about the Academic Boycott on Radio BBAD.

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Principled Dutch ASN Bank ends relations with Veolia
Adri Nieuwhof, November 26, 2006
This week, ASN Bank, a Dutch bank based in The Hague,1 announced that it would end its relationship with Veolia Transport, and all companies that benefit from Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory. Since it first announced its intentions to become involved in an Israeli project to build a light rail / tramline system, to be constructed in occupied East Jerusalem, Veolia Transport, a French multi-national corporation, faced a lot of criticism from all over the world. The tramline aims to connect the illegally-constructed settlements in East Jerusalem with towns and cities in Israel.

Labour Youth calls for Israel Boycott to mark UN Day of Solidarity with Palestine
Labour Youth (Ireland) November 28, 2006
Labour Youth will mark November 29th, the United Nations day of solidarity with Palestine by calling for a boycott of all Israeli goods and services as well as support for the educational and cultural boycott of Israel. Speaking ahead of the UN day of solidarity, Labour Youth National Chairperson Patrick Nulty said "As an organisation, Labour Youth has a proud tradition of solidarity actions with the Palestinian people and wishes to mark this year's international day of solidarity by reiterating its call for a boycott of all Israeli goods until such time as they respect international law and norms for human rights."

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A rare voice: An interview with author Ilan Pappe
Christopher Brown, 11 December 2006
I think the problem with Avigdor Lieberman is not his own views but the fact that he reflects what most Israeli Jews think, and definitely what most of his colleagues in the Olmert government think but don't dare to say, or don't think is desirable to say for tactical reasons. But I do think that we should be worried about Lieberman, not as an extreme fascist but rather as a person who represents the mood of Israel in 2006.

Peace through equality for all
Bernard Sabella, IMEU, Nov 16, 2006
In the land where Jesus once walked, Palestinian Christians face extinction. With nearly 500,000 Palestinian Christians worldwide, only 170,000 remain in the Holy Land. They belong to 15 different Churches,some still using Aramaic, the language Christ spoke. But the traditions of service and continuity of Christian communities in the very birthplace of Christianity may soon disappear.

Refugees Are The Key
Sam Bahour, The Electronic Intifada, 11 December 2006

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As'ad Abukhalil - Thursday, November 03, 2005
Yes. Jimmy Carter has a new book out.

As'ad Abukhalil - Monday, December 11, 2006
Jimmy Carter who has just--just now--discovered the power of the pro-Israel lobby defines the state of Israel as a place "where democracy prevails and citizens live together and are legally guaranteed equal status."

Norman G Finkelstein: Jimmy cracks fibs, and I do care
12.01.2006
See 01 min 17 sec into the video: Jimmy Carter: "Inside Israel... Arabs and Jews both have the same priveleges. There's no allegation of any kind of discrimination."(Anderson Cooper 360, 11.30.2006)

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APARTHEID - Israelis adopt what South Africa dropped
John Dugard The Atlanta Journal-Constitution November 29, 2006
Former President Jimmy Carter's new book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," is igniting controversy for its allegation that Israel practices a form of apartheid. As a South African and former anti-apartheid advocate who visits the Palestinian territories regularly to assess the human rights situation for the U.N. Human Rights Council, the comparison to South African apartheid is of special interest to me.

Two laws, one trap for family unification
Shahar Ilan, Ha'aretz, November 30, 2006

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Disregard for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
AL-HAQ PRESS RELEASE FOR RELEASE ON 10 DECEMBER 2006REF.: 38.2006E
9 December 2006
Today the United Nations (UN) observes the 58th International HumanRights Day, commemorating the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the UN General Assembly, on 10 December 1948. On this occasion, Al-Haq is compelled to note the stark contrast between the fundamental standards enshrined in the UDHR, and the situation of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

U.N. group: Israel laid mines in Lebanon
Zeina Karam, Associated Press, Sat, Nov. 25, 2006
BEIRUT, Lebanon - A U.N. agency said Saturday that Israel laid mines in Lebanon during this summer's war between the Jewish state and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group - the first time Israel has been accused of planting mines during the latest fighting.

Prime suspects
Jonathan Cook, November 24, 2006
While many seem to have made up their minds that Pierre Gemayel's murder was down to Syria, the blame could still lie elsewhere.

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72-year-old left-wing activist decries repeated 'harassment' by B-G security
Rebecca Anna Stoil, November 21, 2006
Ingrid Steinitz, a 72-year-old Danish Jew, has alleged she was strip-searched and harassed by Ben-Gurion Airport security for hours and on a second occasion told to spread her legs and place her hands against a wall. But Ben-Gurion security officials said Monday that everything was done according to procedures, and that the treatment the grandmother and left-wing activist had received was entirely justified.

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As'ad Abukhalil - Friday, December 08, 2006
I am not in the habit of defending Jimmy Carter. Never. But for Dennis Ross to make a claim of plagiarism over this? Give me a break. What? Ross invents maps of lands that do not exist except in worlds that he alone can see and in planets that he inhabits by himself? What is next? Dennis Ross claims exclusive ownership over the word "potato."? And since when Dennis Ross "makes" maps? I mean, I know that he makes great contributions to the absence of peace in the Middle East, but I never knew that he has other skills besides not knowing much about the Middle East, and merely advancing the cause of Zionist militancy.

Israel's white Australia policy!

The Struggle for Palestine's Soul
Jonathan Cook, October 6, 2006

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Fatah's US saviour
Erica Silverman, Al Ahram, 19 - 25 October 2006
The United States is standing squarely behind Fatah as rumours spread of possible new legislative elections.

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Ten Palestinians Killed in Gaza Past Two Days
Report, PCHR, 15 October 2006
In the past two days, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed 10 Palestinians and wounded 11 others, including a child, in the Gaza Strip. Six of the victims, including two civilians, were killed during an incursion conducted by IOF into the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya. The remaining victims were extra-judicially executed by IOF in Beit Lahia and Gaza City.

Gaza doctors say patients suffering mystery injuries after Israeli attacks
Rory McCarthy in Gaza City, Wednesday October 18, 2006

Starvation continues
Al Ahram, 12 - 18 October 2006
Amid defiance on the part of Hamas and endurance by the population, no end seems in sight to the policy of starving the Palestinians into submission, writes Erica Silverman.

Good News From Gaza
Ran HaCohen, October 16, 2006
But even in these darkest days there is a single ray of light. There is someone who does care about the people of Gaza, someone who does see them as human beings deserving food, shelter, freedom and dignity. Guess who. Mother Teresa? Close, but no cigar. The answer is: the Israeli army. At least if you ask Israel's by far most popular portal, YNET, the website of Israel's most selling daily Yediot Achronot. Read along (Hebrew; translation: ynetnews.com ).

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Just Another Mother Murdered
Alison Weir, October 6, 2006

Weekend Reading: Collateral Damage
Gideon Levy, October 11, 2006
Let the chips fall where they may, the saying goes, but this time the chip was a terrifying concrete beam that was sent flying into the air hundreds of meters from a house the IDF bombed in the middle of the night. It landed in the bedroom of a 14-year-old girl, Dahm al-Az Hamad. Sometimes children are killed, but this time the girl was her parents' only child. Her mother is paralyzed. Sometimes tragedies happen, but the tragedy of the Hamad family is almost too much to describe.

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The BBC and Israel's plan for a military strike on Iran
Jonathan Cook, 12 October 2006

A re-run of the Lebanon war in Palestine?
Hasan Abu Nimah & Ali Abunimah, 11 October 2006

Israeli / US Cluster Bombs Litter Lebanon
James Brooks, October 17, 2006

Official: Israel used phosphorous bombs
23 October 2006, USA Today
JERUSALEM (AP) -- The Israeli army used phosphorous artillery shells against Hezbollah guerrilla targets during their war in Lebanon this summer, an Israeli Cabinet minister said, confirming Lebanese allegations for the first time.

Extreme right-winger to join Israeli government
Ben Lynfield in Jerusalem, Scotsman, 23 October 2006
A FAR-RIGHT politician dubbed "the most dangerous politician in the history of Israel" because of his anti-Arab and authoritarian views last night looked set to join the Israeli government.

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Air Condi - The Mystery of America
Gideon Levy, Haaretz, October 9, 2006
It happens once every few months. Like a periodic visit by an especially annoying relative from overseas, Condoleezza Rice was here again.

Denial of Entry: Rice's Probe and the Israeli Administration
Rima Merriman, October 17, 2006

2 pictures speak volumes + denied entry update
Sam Bahour, October 14, 2006

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Israel's white Australia policy!
Mark Elf - Friday, October 13, 2006

Israeli envoy faces sack over race slur
David Humphries and Edmund Tadros, October 16, 2006

Careless words are often an indication of underlying racism
Iain Gillies, Thursday, October 19, 2006

Katsav urged to quit
Agencies, 16/10/2006

Israeli President accused of rape
PM - Monday, October 16, 2006
Reporter: David Hardaker

A soul-searching mission
Arthur Neslen, October 19, 2006
Allegations against Israel's president have opened up a dialogue on sexual violence - one of many things the country needs to talk about.

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Academic to quit post in anger over Israel
Penelope Debelle The Age October 11, 2006

http://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/againstwall/2006-08/msg00019.html

Israeli academic condemns ethnic cleansing
Tony Iltis, Green Left Weekly, October 18, 2006

Review of week of solidarity with Palestine
Rahul Prassad & Amber Pike - Sydney
Green Left Weekly, October 18, 2006

600 Attend Landmark BDS Conference in Toronto
Press Release, CAIA, October 10, 2006