Freies Politikforum für Demokraten und Anarchisten

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

.........Fast forward to 2015, this past Saturday, when Bernie Sanders, an increasingly viable contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, held one of his biggest campaign rallies to date, drawing more than 20,000 people to an event at the Boston convention center. Among those visitors were a number of young activists from Boston Students for Justice in Palestine, who were curious about Sanders’ position on the occupied territories. They had a sign with them; in a playful nod to one of Sanders’ campaign slogans, it simply asked, “Will Ya Feel The Bern For Palestine?” The activists say they were well-received by other Sanders supporters in the crowd.

But staffers working for a candidate widely viewed as one of the most progressive members of the Senate were apparently not happy. Security was made aware of a threat: Some students who support Sanders were holding a sign with a question on it. A tactic right out of the Bush campaign “playbook” went into action.

https://theintercept.com/2015/10/05/dissent-on-israel-not-permitted-at-bernie-sanders-event/

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon requested that his Brazilian counterpart, Jaques Wagner, facilitate approval of Dani Dayan as Israel’s ambassador to Brazil. Ya’alon appealed to Wagner after the government learned that Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff intended to reject the appointment of the settler leader.

Dani Dayan is an Argentinean citizen who resides in the settlement of Ma'ale Shomron, located to the east of Qalqilya. From 2007 to 2013 Dayan served as Chairman of the Yesha Council and later was appointed as the only official representative of the settlement movement to the international community.

The Yesha Council is an umbrella organisation of West Bank settlement municipal councils.

Obviously, as a leader of the Israeli settlement movement, Dayan participates in Israeli violations of international law, specifically international regulations that prohibit transferring a civilian population into territories it occupies.

As chairman of the Yesha Council, Dayan was engaged in planning and executing the transfer of Israeli civilian population into territories occupied by Israel in 1967. In many cases Dayan exerted political pressures on the Israeli government to violate international understandings in order to make possible this transfer. According to the statutes of the International Criminal Court, Article 8(2)(b)(viii), such an act constitutes a war crime.

http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/aicoment/1042-dani-dayan-a-war-criminal

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

The city council of Reykjavik, Iceland's capital, approved a motion to boycott all Israeli products “as long as the occupation of Palestinian territories continues.”

http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/news/25-bds/1028-reykjavik-first-western-capital-to-support-bds

Two prominent US Jewish groups on Friday also denounced the move.

The Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, a human rights group, issued a travel advisory to warn Jews of Reykjavik's "racist vote" which it said could "create an environment hostile to Israelis and other Jews."

The New York-headquartered World Jewish Congress meanwhile urged Iceland's federal government to act against the boycott, which it said "only strengthens extremists on both sides."

http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767720

Israel to bypass EU labeling by direct state contacts

Israel will circumvent EU plans to label settlement products by directly lobbying EU member states against implementation of this guideline.

http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/news/25-bds/1035-israel-to-bypass-eu-labeling-by-direct-state-contacts

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

.....................The disturbing logic informing Pfeffer’s analysis is that in order to be a player on the world stage one has to support either a mainstream or a right-wing agenda. A leader cannot have a complex political agenda, challenge imperialism, support anti-colonial movements, or espouse an international socialist agenda if he or she wants to have influence in the global arena. He also unwittingly reveals that the most hated enemy of liberal Zionism is actually the international left, not the right. And yet, ironically, the attempt to render the political vocabulary of the left as both illegitimate and ridiculous suggests that it still constitutes a viable threat.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/israel-arms-over-corbyn-threat-244769470

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

Israel has had a remarkably “varied” string of UN ambassadors. Some were distinguished statesmen like Abba Eban, Gideon Rafael and Yosef Tekoah. Others like Ron Prosor were affable hatchet men doing their country’s biding in the world’s most august body. Dore Gold was a hatchet man with no affable qualities whatsoever. With the impending appointment of Danny Danon to this post, Israel has reached a remarkable milestone: it has named one of its most racist, thuggish and corrupt rising young politicians to represent it before the world body in New York. Aside from these virtues, Danon was fired from his last ministerial post (as deputy defense minister) when he criticized his boss, the prime minister, for not killing more Gazans during Operation Protective Edge.

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2015/08/15/netanyahu-to-name-danny-danon-as-israels-un-ambassador/

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

Introductory Note: This is an expanded version of the article that Middle East Eye published earlier this week. I also just published a new piece at Mint Press News, In Israel, Jews Can’t Be Terrorists, on the Jerusalem Gay Pride attack and the West Bank arson attack that killed a Palestinian baby. Please help me publicize it via social media and your e mail list.

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2015/08/02/transforming-the-u-s-into-clone-of-israeli-national-security-state/

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

On May 18, 1971, Israel's Mizrahi Black Panthers launched a resistance movement against the Labour Party-led Zionist establishment. Eventually, this led to the first Israeli political coup in 1977, when the Likud won a landslide victory against Labour. This year marks the 44th anniversary of the Black Panther movement.

This article analyses the emergence and decline of Israel's Black Panther movement and explores its relationship to the Palestinian struggle. Thinking back on the Black Panthers can shed light on contemporary Israeli social movements, such as the recent Ethiopian Israeli uprising against racism and police violence.

http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/aicoment/946-44-years-of-black-panthers-in-israel

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

The head of the World Jewish Congress sharply criticized German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel Wednesday for his recent visit to Iran, accusing him of putting business interests before morals and calling his approach to Tehran naive.

Lured by the prospect of an easing of economic sanctions against Iran following a landmark nuclear deal with western powers last week, Gabriel, who is also vice chancellor, made a three-day trip to Iran from Sunday to Tuesday, meeting President Hassan Rouhani and his top ministers.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2015/Jul-22/307780-jewish-leader-condemns-german-vice-chancellors-iran-trip.ashx

Iran Nuclear Deal Leaves Bibi High and Dry

...The deal has the Republicans and Israelis howling. Which is as it should be. Remember that George Bush was offered a Grand Bargain by Pres. Khatami in 2003. Ending Iran’s nuclear program in return for ending sanctions and normalizing relations. The Bush-Cheney response was the American version of Khrushchev’s infamous: Nyet. If a Republican president turned down the most generous offer Iran’s ever made to end its nuclear program, what would you expect his successors in Congress to do?

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2015/07/14/iran-nuclear-deal-leaves-bibi-high-and-dry/

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

Since South Sudan’s independence, Israel has continuously sold it weapons, military training, homeland security and surveillance technology. The only problem? They are being used to commit war crimes and potential crimes against humanity

http://972mag.com/the-untold-story-of-israeli-military-exports-to-south-sudan/107137/

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has distanced itself from comments attributed to the former director of its US office that it sought to assist Israeli government propaganda against the movement for Palestinian rights and accountability for Israeli crimes.

Uri Zaki, who was initially identified by Ynet as the director of B’Tselem USA, told the Israeli publication that his organization’s efforts to help combat the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement had been rebuffed by the government, which only wanted to work with more right-leaning organizations.

“Uri Zaki’s term of employment at B’Tselem USA ended in May 2013,” B’Tselem spokesperson Sarit Michaeli told The Electronic Intifada in response to an inquiry about the Ynet report. “If quoted accurately, his comments were not expressed on behalf of either B’Tselem or B’Tselem USA, nor do they reflect the policies of either.”

Ynet later updated its article to describe Zaki as the “former” director of B’Tselem USA.

Michaeli did not elaborate on why Uri Zaki left the organization but the former staffer’s comments nevertheless raise troubling questions about how B’Tselem’s US advocacy arm has functioned, even after his departure.

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/has-human-rights-group-btselem-ended-its-role-israels-propaganda

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

One of the most interesting aspects of the Israeli national security state is the IDF military censor and the ways in which it stymies the free flow of ideas and information within Israeli society. Unlike in the U.S., where the NSA and the covert side of the CIA operate in almost total secrecy (except when someone like Edward Snowden comes along), Israel is a place more uncertain and anxious about such things. There the military censor even publicly addresses criticism of her role. Not because she wants to (I would argue), but because the military constantly feels the need to justify the restrictions it places on Israelis and the sacrifices it forces them to accept. One of the ten most powerful armies in the world has an inferiority complex that compels it to self-justify.

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2015/07/01/the-poison-pill-of-israeli-and-wikipedia-censorship/

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

While former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has received significant scrutiny over allegations that she unethically used her position for personal financial gain, current Secretary of State John Kerry is now being hit with similar charges. If you haven't heard about it, that's because it's happening abroad.

As The Times of Israel reports, Kerry allegedly pressured the Israeli government to make energy policy decisions which would be favorable to Noble Energy, a Texas oil company in which he holds as much as $1 million in stocks. The Israeli government has considered forcing Noble to break into smaller companies on antitrust grounds, as the corporation (in partnership with Delek Energy) effectively monopolizes the Israeli natural gas market.

Kerry reportedly encouraged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "forgive" Noble and Delek, and his State Department also helped negotiate export deals between Noble and several countries near Israel. In December, a State Department representative said the agency would continue to support Noble's natural gas deals in the Middle East, because it "strongly believe[s] that these deals would enhance energy security in the region." Bonnie Kristian.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42249.htm

Israel Project urges Drexel to withdraw honor for anti-Israel activist Chomsky

The U.S.-based Israel education group The Israel Project (TIP) on Friday sent an email asking supporters to sign a petition urging Philadelphia’s Drexel University, “Don’t honor hate. Withdraw your award to hateful extremist Noam Chomsky.”

http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2015/6/23/israel-project-urges-drexel-to-withdraw-honor-for-anti-israel-activist-chomsky#.VY5yNv33c4Q=