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Thread: Israel/Palestine roundup

  1. #1
    Partridge Guest

    Israel/Palestine roundup

    British Foreign Office 'unrelentingly pro-Palestinian' says Israel
    The Guardian

    Israel has reacted angrily to a confidential Foreign Office document accusing it of illegally expanding Jewish settlements and routing the West Bank barrier to prevent east Jerusalem from becoming the Palestinian capital. Officials described the document, drafted for an EU foreign ministers meeting earlier this week, as "anti-Israeli" and said it was further evidence the Foreign Office is "unrelentingly pro-Palestinian". Britain makes more formal protests to Israel over its actions in the occupied territories than any other country.

    The document warns Israeli actions are jeopardising peace and risk radicalising Palestinians. It recommends several measures to resist the Israeli tactic, including politically symbolic actions such as moving meetings with Palestinian officials from Ramallah to east Jerusalem. {snip}



    Prime minister plans to draw 'the final shape of Israel'
    Daily Telegraph



    Sixty years after the state of Israel was created, Ariel Sharon is effectively drawing its final borders, say his advisers, diplomats, friends … and the cartographers.

    They believe that Mr Sharon, who as a general played a leading role in the expansion of Israel's borders in successive wars since 1948, is now - as a politician - determined to set the country's hitherto elastic frontiers in stone.

    What is more, judging by his track record and the way public opinion is shifting, there is a real chance that he may succeed.

    In 2002, he ordered the construction of the controversial separation barrier - an 18ft high combination of concrete wall and chain fence that snakes through the West Bank. Over the summer his government successfully oversaw the withdrawal of the thousands of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. {snip}

    Israeli settlers destroy Palestinian olive trees
    Reuters


    Jewish settlers cut down and uprooted hundreds of olive trees on Palestinian farms near the West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday, residents and Israeli police said.

    Settlers from the most radical enclaves in the occupied West Bank have often attacked farms since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000, in which settlers have often been targeted by militants. Settlers say that the land, which Palestinians want for a state, is theirs by biblical birthright.

    Residents of Salem said dozens of settlers from Elon Moreh chopped down hundreds of the town's olive trees, the main source of income for 5,000 residents. {snip}

    Size of Sharon's new Knesset faction nears that of Labor
    Haaretz


    MK Michael Nudelman (Yisrael Beiteinu) on Sunday became the 17th legislator to announce he is joining Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new party, Kadima, bringing its total faction number to three short of Labor's 20 seats.

    The Likud, which had 40 seats before Sharon's departure last week, remains the largest party in the Knesset, but now only has 26 Knesset seats. Labor is second, and Shinui, which was the third largest party, has 14 seats in the Knesset.

    Since its creation last week, Kadima has attracted 14 MKs from Likud, as well as MK David Tal of One Nation and MK Haim Ramon from Labor. {snip}

    Gaza joy as 'gate of hope' open
    The Australian

    Amid joyful and raucous scenes, almost 1600 Palestinians crossed from Gaza into Egypt on Saturday after Israel agreed to hand back the keys to the gates it had strictly controlled for 38 years.

    Several thousand more Gaza residents queued yesterday to take advantage of the now Palestinian-controlled crossing at the southern border town of Rafah, in the wake of the landmark agreement. Thousands more are expected to follow this week as the crossing builds towards an around-the-clock operation. {snip}

  2. #2
    Partridge Guest
    Weekly Summary of Israeli War Crimes (6min audio - Palestinian Centre for Human Rights)

  3. #3
    PhilosophyGenius Guest
    Damn them.

    Hey Partrige you from Europe right? I like that poll where Europeans named Israel one of the world's greatest threats. America was up there too for good reason.

  4. #4
    Partridge Guest
    Yeah I remember that poll - and the outcries of 'anti-semitism' and 'anti-americanism' that followed it. Of course, Iran and North Korea polled the same (53%) as the USA - no-one was complaining of a European 'anti-Iraian' bias.

    But see, if you asked me do I think Israel is a threat to world peace, I'd have toa nswer yes - not because I think its going to nuke somewhere or whatever (though it may bomb Iran at the US's behest if needs be) - its because its continued brutal treatment of the Palestinians (and the US support for it) is one of the root causes of hatred towards the West in the world today (at least among Muslims). And of course, unblinking US support for Israel doesn't help the US cause much either.

    And well, I prefer to think of myself as a Citizen of the World, but technically I'm located on the periphery of Europe, and for better or for worse I'm an EU citizen.

  5. #5
    PhilosophyGenius Guest
    Israel is one of the greatest threat to world peace because it's sturring up radical Islamic fundementalism. (like you said) America because of the Iraq war obviously, and sturring up trouble with other nations (thanks to Bush).

  6. #6
    Partridge Guest
    And now for some anaylses:

    Podcast: Debating the Gaza "Disengagement" at North Park University
    Electronic Intifada

    Listen to a podcast of EI co-founder Ali Abunimah and Tel Aviv University Professor of Philosophy Ilai Alon discussing the Gaza "disengagement" and what it means for the prospects for Palestinian-Israeli peace.

    Peretz or Bust?
    Jeff Halper - Counterpunch

    The up-coming election in late March is presented as a three way one pitting the left (Peretz) against the center (Sharon) and the right (Netanyahu). But it is actually a two-way race. Peretz, who can truly be called a candidate of the left in both his progressive social views and his commitment to a just peace with Palestinians, is pitted unevenly against an array of three right-wing forces: Netanyahu's Likud which rejects any Palestinian state whatsoever; Sharon's new "center" party which appears to favor a two-state solution but which in fact is heading for unilateral apartheid; and a Labour Party more or less in step with Sharon. {snip}

    The Great Gaza Border Deal
    Ramzy Baroud - Counterpunch

    There is little historic precedent to conclude that Israel will respect the arrangement. Since the Israeli army has the "green light" to strike Gaza at any time of its choosing (as it has repeatedly since the disengagement) and to freely assassinate any Palestinian "terror suspect", it is difficult to convince ordinary Palestinians that they are truly free, even if the man checking their worthless travel documents at the Rafah border looks and sounds Palestinian. {snip}

    Vanunu speaks about his November 18th arrest
    Edited by Zachary Wales - Electronic Intifada

    Mordechai Vanunu, often dubbed the "Israeli nuclear whistle-blower," was arrested on Friday 18th November for traveling to the East Jerusalem suburb al-Ram. Vanunu, 51, was released on the following day and returned to his de facto house arrest at St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem, where he has sought refuge since being released from his 18-year detention and torture under Israeli authorities. {snip}

    Turbulent politics as Sharon divorces Likud
    The Socialist (UK)


    The Israeli government is collapsing in turmoil, forcing forward the date of the next general election by eight months. The political drama began when trade union federation leader, Amir Peretz, unexpectedly ousted Shimon Peres as leader of the Labour Party, by a vote of the party rank and file.

    Peretz then quickly moved to withdraw the Labour Party from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition government, which left Sharon without a majority. Then came a second bombshell; Sharon decided to abandon the right-wing Likud party that he helped create in 1973, to set up a new party as a vehicle for fighting the coming election and then trying to form another government. {snip}

    Peretz victory changes political mood
    Socialist World

    Just over a week ago, according to many, the unthinkable happened: Amir Peretz, head of the Israeli trade union federation, the Histadruth, a rank outsider in the beginning of the election campaign, won the vote for leader of the Labour Party using radical rhetoric calling for example, a big increase in the minimum wage and an end to poverty in Israel. {snip}

    Secret British document accuses Israel
    The Guardian

    A confidential Foreign Office document accuses Israel of rushing to annex the Arab area of Jerusalem, using illegal Jewish settlement construction and the vast West Bank barrier, in a move to prevent it becoming a Palestinian capital. {snip}


    The border of the state of Ramallah
    Amira Hass - Haaretz
    In contrast to the "big bangs," or the election of MK Amir Peretz as Labor Party chairman and the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from the Likud, the establishment of the southern border of the state of Ramallah is happening with nary a whimper.

    Like the disengagement from the Gaza Strip, it is a unilateral Israeli move. Unlike the disengagement from Gaza, it is totally unilateral: There are no negotiations, and there is no involvement by the World Bank and quartet envoy James Wolfensohn to determine the transit arrangements. {snip}

  7. #7
    Partridge Guest
    Barghouti wins Fatah primary poll
    BBC


    Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti has emerged as one of the most popular candidates ahead of parliamentary elections in January. Barghouti came top in a primary poll for the ruling Fatah movement in the West Bank district of Ramallah.

    He is serving five life terms in an Israeli jail for the killing of four Israelis and a Greek monk.

    Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said there was no chance of Barghouti getting an early release.

    Barghouti, 46, won 34,000 out of 40,000 votes - affirming his status as one of Fatah's most popular politicians, say correspondents.

    New guard

    From his prison cell where he has been since his sentencing in 2004, Barghouti has continued to play an important role as a political figure.

    Palestinian analysts say his victory is also a victory of the Fatah young guard, which has been pushing for a stronger say within the movement.

    "The old guard has failed politically and administratively, and in running their organization in a democratic way," said Palestinian analyst Hani al-Masri.

    But Mr Shalom vowed Barghouti would not be released.

    "Marwan Barghouti has blood on his hands," he said. "Marwan Barghouti will sit in jail until the end of his days."

    About 463,000 people have registered to vote in the selection process - the first time Fatah candidates have been selected by ballot.

    Fatah primaries were held in many of the West Bank's largest districts on Friday and more will follow, including in the Gaza Strip, in the coming days.

    There are 463 candidates in the West Bank and 311 in Gaza vying for a place on the final list to be presented to the electorate on 25 January.

  8. #8
    Partridge Guest
    Activists sabotage Gaza vote
    Al Jazeera

    Armed men have stormed into several polling stations in the Gaza Strip where President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party was holding primary elections.

    As the members of Fatah burned tyres in the streets on Monday, they complained that names of many eligible voters were missing from election lists.

    No injuries were reported.

    The primaries in Gaza, from which Israel withdrew in September and which is widely seen as a testing ground for Palestinian statehood, were held days after voters in the occupied West Bank cast aside veteran Fatah politicians in favour of newcomers and fighters.

    Despite the violence in the central Gaza Strip, the primaries to pick Fatah candidates for parliamentary elections due in January continued in Gaza City and the southern town of Khan Yunus.

    Voting postponed

    Voting in Rafah, along the Egyptian border, was postponed until Wednesday. The reason for the delay was not immediately clear.

    The Palestinian Authority has been struggling to control the Gaza Strip since Israeli forces withdrew after 38 years of occupation.

    A strong primary showing by young Fatah leaders demanding a say in decision-making could help Abbas to meet a challenge by the powerful Hamas fighter group, taking part in national elections for the first time, analysts said.

    But some commentators also say weakening the Fatah old guard that thrived under the late Yasser Arafat risked touching off political infighting that might further fracture the ruling party.

  9. #9
    Partridge Guest
    Peres quits Labour to back Sharon
    BBC

    Veteran Israeli politician Shimon Peres has quit the Labour Party and announced his support for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for March's general election. Mr Peres lost the Labour leadership to trade union leader Amir Peretz in a contest earlier this month. The 82-year-old former prime minister stood for his party's leadership on and off for the last three decades. Mr Peres said he would stop party activity and would focus on the "supreme effort of making peace". {snip}

  10. #10
    Partridge Guest
    Sharon's New Party: The Other Meaning of Israel's Political Earthquake
    By RAMZY BAROUD - Counterpunch

    Most of what has been written or said to depict Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's departure from the Likud party is parable to an "earthquake," or the "eruption of a volcano," and has, without a doubt, turned the Israeli political map "topsy-turvy," to borrow Ha'aretz Gideon Samet's phrase.

    Like an earthquake it was unforeseeable -- except to the prudent few, mostly in Israeli political circles who predicted a dead end in Sharon's dealings with the Likud, the same political party he helped create 30 years ago.

    But acknowledging the significance of the undeniably consequential event is one thing. Succumbing to a flawed analysis that it is a real opportunity to resuscitate the so-called peace process -- is entirely a different matter.

    Similar to his unilateral move to "disengage" from the Gaza Strip earlier this year, the rightwing prime minister once again managed to control media discourse surrounding his Nov. 21 decision to jump the Likud ship in favor of a new center-based "liberal movement" -- a political party tentatively known as National Responsibility. {snip}

    ===========

    Video - Noam Chomsky vs Alan Dershowitz - Havard Univeristy, 29-11-05.

    (Real Player - 48mbs)
    Last edited by Partridge; 11-30-2005 at 06:42 PM.

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