Beatings and abuse in the shadow of war

B'Tselem Report: "Beatings and abuse in the shadow of war"

According to B'Tselem’s research, since the beginning of Operation Summer Rains in the Gaza Strip, on 28 June 2006, there has been a substantial increase in cases in which Israeli soldiers and Border Police in the West Bank beat, abuse, and humiliate Palestinians. The increase in incidents has been particularly evident since the outbreak of the war in Lebanon, on 12 July. ...

The research indicates that Israel’s increased restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank are the immediate cause for the increase in violence. Particularly in the northern West Bank, the additional restrictions Israel has imposed have heightened the friction between soldiers and the civilian population.

However, there are indications that the events in Lebanon and Gaza also played a role, and this for two reasons. First, information obtained by B'Tselem indicates that reports on the extensive casualties that Hezbollah caused among Israeli civilians and soldiers aggravated the rage and frustration of security forces, which they was expressed in increased aggression towards Palestinians, including various remarks and insults directed at them. Second, with the public’s attention almost completely focused on events in Lebanon, and to a lesser extent in Gaza, the security forces in the West Bank may have thought they would not be held accountable for violent and abusive treatment of Palestinians. ...

Click Here for the whole report

Israel's Foes as Beasts and Insects

Weekend EditionJuly 29/30 2006
"But They're Not Human Beings, They are Not People, They are Arabs!"
By PUNYAPRIYA DASGUPTA

Had Israel stopped even at the pre-June 1967 lines there would have been no 1973 war, no Lebanon wars, no Hezbollah, no intifadas. Hezbollah was born of the need for an effective resistance to the Israeli juggernaut after the Arab armies had repeatedly failed. Hezbollah ran the Israelis off from Lebanon, excepting Shaaba Farms, a tiny patch Israel treats as a part of the Syrian Golan Heights it conquered and annexed. To the people in the Arab world Hezbollah is their David confronting the Israeli Goliath. Hezbollah's standing firm and inflicting substantial losses on the world's fourth mightiest force this time has heightened Arab expectations.

Lebanon's 9/11 or Why Do They Hate Us? Picture Album

What exactly do our politicians mean when the say we support Israel in its action against Lebanon? What is it that they support? Surely not this carnage?

Jewish Conscience

Thursday, August 24, 2006

A Must watch video - SF Die-In VIDEO: 8-22-06

The importance of place

If Hizbullah's 12 July capture of Israeli soldiers took place on the Lebanese side of the Blue Line, as some say, everything changes, writes Serene Assir

Now there is a new mystery, but it involves neither car bombs nor the untimely death of a head of state. But when it comes to the question as to where Hizbullah captured two Israeli soldiers on the morning of 12 July, the taxi driver's statement seems to hold true with extraordinary power.

Wake up, America! Israel is no friend of yours

Friday, August 25, 2006
While Us citizens benefit from the arab world, they don't know they're on the losing end with Israel.
The so-called "special relationship" between the the US and Israeli governments is well known. It goes without saying that the vast majority of Americans wholeheartedly support their nation's love-fest with Israel. Most Americans feel an affinity with Israelis to the detriment of Arabs. How mistaken they are! The fact is that while Americans benefit hugely from the Arab world, little do they know they are on the losing end when it comes to Israel.

US tries to counter Hizbollah rebuilding efforts

By Sue Pleming Thu Aug 17, 7:00 PM ET (click here to read more)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Concerned that Hizbollah has an early advantage in rebuilding shattered south Lebanon, the Bush administration is trying to speed up aid and encouraging Arab states to step in quickly, U.S. officials said this week.

TOO SLOW
....."This is an emerging tactic, which is commit acts of terror, try to get people to fight against each other, and set up a charitable foundation to hand out cash and crumbs to the victims," Snow told reporters.
A senior U.S. aid agency official Bill Garvelink said the near-term focus would be on helping to rebuild people's homes and that American engineers were in the area assessing damage to bridges and roads.

Why America Needs Hezbollah

By Ted Rall (click here to read more)
08/18/06 "Information Clearing House" -- -- Hours after a ceasefire halted a five-week war between Israel and Iranian-backed Islamic militias in Lebanon, reported the New York Times, "hundreds of Hezbollah members spread over dozens of villages across southern Lebanon began cleaning, organizing and surveying damage. Men on bulldozers were busy cutting lanes through giant piles of rubble. Roads blocked with the remnants of buildings are now, just a day after a ceasefire began, fully passable." Who cares if Hezbollah is a State Department-designated terrorist organization? Unlike our worthless government, it gets things done!

The army is back, but don't expect it to disarm Hizbollah

Robert Fisk: (click here to read more)

Now you see them, now you don't. Hizbollah weapons? None to be seen. And none to be collected by the Lebanese army. For when this august body of men crossed the Litani river yesterday, their officers made it perfectly clear that it would not be the army's job to disarm the Hizbollah. Nor was anyone in Lebanon surprised. After all, most of the Lebanese troops here are Shias - like the Hizbollah - and in many cases, the soldiers who crossed the Litani are not only from the same southern villages but are related to the guerrillas whom they are supposed to disarm. In other words, a typical Lebanese compromise. So whither UN Security Council Resolution 1701?

More photos from August 12

Click Here for more photos of the August 12 march & rally in Denver, these provided by Claire, one of the organizers...

IMEMC: Israeli "Summer Rains" continues

From City to Town to Village, Israeli 'Summer Rains' Continue to fall on Gaza

Rami Almeghari - Sunday, 13 August 2006, 04:21

Excerpts:

Mayor Mansour pointed out that "For more than 40 days, the Shouka rural area has been under Israeli attack, as the Israeli tanks have been firing, by day and night, on the people's houses and farms.”

"The damages are immense; 129 green houses have been destroyed, 58 houses were torn down, while many of our village's inhabitants have been evacuated to safe shelters at local UNRWA(United Nations Refugee and Works Agency)'s schools. The water networks in the village have been totally destroyed. Shouka is a traumatized village", Mayor Mansour confirmed.

26 year-old local farmer Toufic Albraikat, described the destruction he has suffered: "2000 square meters of green houses plus 4000 square meters of electronically-irrigated garlic crops plus 9 sheep and 2000 bricks as well as a barbed-wire fence around my land, all have been destroyed by the Israeli tanks ".

"The last invasion of Shouka by the Israeli military forces resulted in a total of 17 dead, 50 injured. Around 25 of the dead and injured are children under the age of 15. We found that in this attack that the Israeli forces used a new weapon, as most or even all of the dead received by the hospital had been shot by missiles and tank bombs. The bodies of the victims had been torn apart, covered with burns. Fifteen of the wounded are in critical condition, having each had at least one limb amputated."

According to the latest Palestinian Health Ministry reports, since the June 26 military attack codenamed 'Summer Rains' has begun, the Israeli occupation army has killed 203 Palestinians, including 58 children and 25 women, and wounded 783 others, including 281 children, and 86 women. 72 of the injured have had limbs amputated.

It isn't anything new...

On this day, August 15...

2004: The IDF raided Ramallah; while attacking Balata refugee camp (Nablus), the IDF shot Mohammed al-Fayoumi, 17, in the chest and confiscated the home of the al-Sal'ous family to use as a military post; the IDF imposed closure on several Palestinian villages and neighborhoods near Al-Quds including al-Aisawiyya, Sur Baher, Um Toba, Silwan, and al-Thawri; at Beit Foreek, east of Nablus, the IDF launched mass arrests, abducting more than 60 Palestinians; in the Al Zeitoun neighborhood, near Gaza City, the IDF razed dozens of dunums of olive trees owned by the Hajji, Dahdouh, and Omadeen families; IDF soldiers based in the Neve Dekalim settlement opened fire from the settlement on Khan Younis refugee camp, shooting Omar Quannun, 58, in the face....

2003: At Tulkarem, Israeli settlers opened fire on Palestinians, wounding Ahmed M. Hammed, 44, in the arms & chest while he was returning home from work; the IDF abducted Shaikh Taiseer Al-Tamimi, a Palestinian cleric, who was brought to the Kahanist settlement of Kiryat Arba in Al Khalil (Hebron); the IDF raided Nablus and the Balata refugee camp, demolishing one home and abducting three Palestinians; the IDF raided Yebna refugee camp in Gaza, demolishing one home; the IDF also attacked the city of Jenin....

2002: IDF shelling of the Elsattar Elgharbi neighborhood of Khan Younis resulted in the murder of five year-old Aiman B. Fares and the wounding of members of her family; Burkain village, near Jenin, was placed under closure; IDF bulldozers razed three dunums owned by Khaled M. Elarouj from Elaroub village to the east of Bethlehem; at Nablus, the IDF took 22-year-old Heba Elattari hostage because her husband, a Fatah activist, was wanted by the Israeli occupation authority; 9-year-old Islam W. Ghanem, from Imartien village in the west of Nablus died after the IDF refused to allow his ambulance to reach the hospital; 75-year-old Mariam Mattar was killed by the Israeli strike that killed seventeen residents on the previous day...

2001: The IDF shelled Al Khalil (Hebron) and at least six Palestinians were wounded; the IDF also raided Bethlehem and Khan Younis; in the town of Ezbet Al Taieb, one home was demolished while settlers opened fire on Palestinians; an Israeli undercover assassination unit killed Emad Abu Snena, 25, at Al Khalil; and at Abu Dis - near Al Quds (Jerusalem) - the IDF abducted 15 year-old Ata Faroon....

...and so it continues...

More photos from the August 12 march

Here is another (see below) blog posting, this one from a sympathetic blog, with photos from the August 12 rally & march in Denver: Click Here for photos from 'Fire Witch Rising'

IMEMC: Gaza situation overshadowed by Lebanon

Report: Humanitarian crisis in Gaza being overshadowed by Lebanon war, IMEMC & Agencies - Monday, 14 August 2006

Excerpts:

"The food and security situation in Gaza is catastrophic," said Mario Carera, head of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) for Gaza and the West Bank. The SDC, along with the United Nations and Swiss agencies are warning of a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, which has been largely forgotten due to the conflict in Lebanon. The situation in Gaza has seriously deteriorated over the past few weeks, say the Agencies. ...

"Israel's armed forces attack the Strip with up to 300 shells a day using aircraft and warships. Incursions by tanks and bulldozers terrorise the population."Among the more than 170 victims killed in this invasion are more than 50 children. This is a clear breach of international humanitarian law under which the civilians should be protected," she said. ...

In June Israel destroyed the only power plant in Gaza leaving nearly half the local population without electricity and the main border crossing at Rafah was also closed.Wenger for her part says the Gaza Strip resembles a huge prison. "It's an overall feeling of hopelessness and desperation. This leads to more and more violence in the community." ...

Ceasefire Resolution: paragraph-by-paragraph legal analysis

The UN Mideast Ceasefire Resolution Paragraph-by-Paragraph 08/13/06 from "Jurist"

JURIST Guest Columnist Anthony D'Amato of Northwestern University School of Law offers a detailed analysis of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the Middle East conflict involving Israel, Hezbollah and Lebanon...

Hezbollah's surprising television announcement accepting the terms of the UN Ceasefire Resolution means that the precise wording of the Resolution will be under strict diplomatic scrutiny for weeks or months to come. The following is my paragraph-by-paragraph commentary (in regular text) on the complete text (in italics) of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 (11 August 2006). ...

B'Tselem: Almost half the Gaza Palestinians killed in July innocent

B'Tselem Report: Almost half the fatalities in the Gaza Strip in July were civilians not taking part in the hostilities 8 August, 2006

Excerpt:

In July, the Israeli military killed 163 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, 78 of whom (48 percent) were not taking part in the hostilities when they were killed. Thirty-six of the fatalities were minors, and 20 were women. In the West Bank , 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in July. The number of Palestinian fatalities in July was the highest in any month since April 2002.

Of the incidents B'Tselem investigated in Gaza over the past month, the organization has identified three cases in which Israel may have committed grave breaches of the laws of war. A total of 13 Palestinian civilians were killed in these incidents, including 6 minors, the details of which are as follows: ...

Adalah's Ad in Ha'aretz

[Ad placed by Adalah in Ha’aretz on 13 August 2006
Translated into English by Adalah]

To: Mr. Meni Mazuz, Attorney General

Dear Sir:

Re: The International Criminal Tribunal and Civilian Targets

We wish to draw your attention to the judgment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which convicted senior commanders and politicians for killing civilians and the destruction of villages and houses, among other charges. The Tribunal imposed sentences of between 15 and 45 years’ imprisonment. The defendants argued that the destruction was carried out on the grounds of “urgent military necessity.” The Tribunal ruled, inter alia:

The acts of war carried out with disregard for international humanitarian law and in hatred of other people, the villages reduced to rubble, the houses and stables set on fire and destroyed, the people forced to abandon their homes, the lost and broken lives are unacceptable. The international community must not tolerate such crimes, no matter where they may be perpetrated, no matter who the perpetrators are and no matter what the reasons for them may be ...International courts, today this Tribunal, tomorrow the International Criminal Court, must appropriately punish all those, and specially those holding the highest positions, who transgress these principles.

The Prosecutor v. Blaskic (2000), IT-95-14-T

The complete text of the judgment can be downloaded at: www.adalah.org
Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel

CPSC responds to the Colorado Executive Committee

The Colorado Palestine Solidarity Campaign's reaction to the Colorado General Assembly's decision to endorse Israeli mass murder.

After the recent decision of the Colorado General Assembly’s Executive Committee to endorse a radically anti-peace resolution supporting Israeli war crimes in Lebanon and Occupied Palestine, the CPSC has decided to keep this waste of Colorado tax dollars on the agenda.

At the time of the announcement, members of the members of CPSC and other organizations chose to protest the press conference, significantly outnumbering the resolution’s supporters and leading to a rather awkward situation for the legislators present. After this, there were some exchanges on the issue in the newspapers and some private meetings, but that appeared to be the end of it.

The CPSC disagrees that this should be the end of the matter and believes that, as we go into the election season, many Colorado voters would like to know how their legislators are wasting Colorado tax dollars taking positions on foreign conflicts that they have no influence on. Therefore, we have launched six informational websites, one for each member of the Executive Committee, detailing this foray of the Executive Committee into international politics. If any of the legislators are willing to publicly repudiate their open support for mass murder, open support for violating international humanitarian law, open support for Israeli violations of U.S. law by renouncing their support for this resolution, we will be more than happy to take down that legislator’s page and freely donate the domain to his or her campaign for their own use.

The sites:

Sen. Andy McElhany: http://www.andy-mcelhany.org/

Sen. Ken Gordon: http://www.ken-gordon.org/

Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald: http://www.joan-fitzgerald.info/

Rep. Mike May: http://www.mike-may.info/

Rep. Andrew Romanoff: http://www.andrew-romanoff.org/

Rep. Alice Madden: http://www.alice-madden.org/

Please encourage our representatives to stop wasting our Colorado tax dollars cow-towing to lobbyists for foreign interests and to focus on matters that have some relevance to Colorado. Surely, regardless of party or position, our legislators can find something in Colorado to spend their time on as opposed to supporting mass murder on the other side of the planet.

If you support what we’re doing, please place links on your blogs, websites, and so on.

Drunkablog

This Link goes to a hostile anti-peace blog post about our event yesterday but includes a few good photos.

Denver Post on A12 rally

Mixed rally, one goal: peace Denver marchers share horror of Mideast war

Excerpts:

Chanting "Cease-fire now!" a diverse group of more than 350 Coloradans - from young women in head scarves to graying peace activists - marched from City Hall through downtown Denver and back Saturday protesting the killing in Lebanon.

It was one of several marches that brought thousands to the streets nationwide challenging U.S.-backed Israeli bombing.

Marchers in Denver included Christians, Muslims and Jews. For three hours they vented a shared sense of outrage at the month-long war that has killed hundreds of Lebanese civilians and dozens in Israel as Hezbollah rockets rain down. ...

Israel's action using U.S.-made weaponry "is certainly increasing the threat of terrorism" targeting Americans, said Mark Cohen, 60, a legal advisor helping run the rally. U.S. support for the war "is not making us safer. It's putting us in more danger," he said. ...

Shoppers along Denver's 16th Street Mall stopped and watched. Police monitoring the rally reported no trouble. ...

Religious leaders helped organize the march. Mixed messages ranging from steadfast nonviolence to support for Hezbollah "show the diversity" of a new organization called the Front Range Coalition for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, said Imam Ibrahim Kazerooni, a leader of interfaith efforts at St. John's Cathedral.

But the clear call to immediately stop violence and for a U.S. policy based on more than military methods "may be something political leaders have to take into consideration," he said. ...

A12 Backgrounder: Israel and the City & County of Denver

A12 Backgrounder: Israel and the City & County of Denver

[Why we are starting the A12 march at the City & County Building]

The Colorado-Israel Chamber of Commerce (CICC) is a small affair, composed of some twelve members. However, what caught my attention is that one of those members is the Denver Mayor’s Office of Economic Development & International Trade.

The CICC’s purpose is rather direct (excerpts):

· “To help Israel create jobs, build its economic base, and achieve its objectives of investment growth, infrastructure development, and economic self-sufficiency.

· To help Colorado businesses identify development and investment opportunities in Israel.

· To provide networking resources for Colorado businesses seeking to establish a presence in Israel.” (CICC)

Among its initiatives has been a May 2006 trade mission to Israel and apparently they have an interest in promoting the outsourcing of Colorado jobs in that two of the five news articles on the homepage focus on outsourcing resources. In that they are trying to encourage Colorado businesses to invest in Israel, they have a vested interest in Hasbara (Israeli propaganda), so of course there is a link to the “good news” (meaning they simply ignore all the ‘unpleasantness’ and pretend as though everything is wonderful) website: http://www.israel21c.com/ The central point of contact appears to be Julie Rubin, who is both on CICC’s Board of Directors as well as an international trade specialist with the Mayor's Office of Economic Development and International Trade. (“New Colorado-Israel council forges economic strategy” Denver Business Journal)

ness' simply ignore all the 'e is a link to link on the homo invest in Israel, they have a vested interest in Hasbara

Those of you that were involved in the Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace (CCMEP, http://www.ccmep.org/) are probably not surprised that Mayor Hickenlooper has reached out to Israel. During his run for office it became known that an organization that he co-founded – the Chinook Fund – had given money to the “rabidly anti-Israel” (Andrea Jacobs, “Hickenlooper denies anti-Israel accusation; affirms his support” Intermountain Jewish News) CCMEP. His comments on the topic were rather to the point: “I went on their website [CCMEP’s] and saw they were calling for the US to cut all its funding to Israel. That's absolutely crazy,” and that Israel “is an inextinguishable beacon of democracy within a troubled region, an important US ally and the spiritual home for the Jewish people.” (Andrea Jacobs, op. cit.)

Since that time, Hickenlooper has been very active in pro-Israel events, including:

Ø January 10, 2006 – Mayor Hickenlooper was the intro speaker at Institute for the Study of Israel in the Middle East’s dinner in honor of Jordan Perlmutter whose keynote speaker was Daniel Ayalon, Ambassador of Israel to the United States.

Ø June 2005 - Mayor Hickenlooper participated in the “Walk for Israel” demonstration and fund raiser (Allied Jewish Federation “Over a Thousand Turn Out at Federation's Israel Walk and Festival” )

Ø April 29, 2004 – The Denver chapter of the American Jewish Committee’s “National Human Relations Award Dinner” was held in honor of Mayor Hickenlooper.

Ø October 29-31, 2003 – Over a three day cycle of meetings between the Colorado-Israel Economic Development Council (the parent of the CICC), reinforced by Zvi Vapni, deputy consul general of the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles and Doron Abrahami, Israel's council for economic affairs, Hickenlooper was an active participant. Other local political leaders that participated included Rep. Bob Beauprez. (“New Colorado-Israel council forges economic strategy” Denver Business Journal)

So the point is that we cannot expect real sympathy from Hickenlooper to end his office’s formal association with the Colorado-Israel Chamber of Commerce. Nevertheless, we can protest this association and demand that Denver stop supporting pro-Israel initiatives – like CICC – until Israel complies with its legal obligations regarding its mass murder campaign in Lebanon and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This makes gathering at the City & County building appropriate and not merely coincidental.

The Colorado Israel Chamber of Commerce is located in Denver, the heart of Colorado. For any information concerning business opportunities, or membership applications, please contact Michele Bartlett, Executive Director, by phone at (303)-761-3596 or fax (303)-761-3635, or by email: Michele@ coloradoisrael.org. Our mailing address is PO Box 5371, Englewood, CO 80155

A12 Backgrounder: Keren Kayemth LeIsrael / Jewish National Fund (KKL/JNF)

A12 Backgrounder: Keren Kayemth LeIsrael / Jewish National Fund (KKL/JNF)

[Why we are marching to 16th & Arapahoe on August 12]

Pre-State History

The Keren Kayemth LeIsrael / Jewish National Fund (KKL/JNF Israeli HQ: http://www.kkl.org.il/ ; US Branch: http://www.jnf.org/ ) was one of the first active entities established by the World Zionist Organization, modeled in part on the suggestions of Theodore Herzl (the founder of Zionism via “Der Judenstaat”, chapter 3) and in part on the proposal for a “national fund” made by Hermann Schapira (1840-1898) at the First Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland in 1897. The KKL/JNF came into official existence at the Fifth Zionist Congress (also at Basle) in 1901 with the specific purpose of purchasing land for Zionist colonization in Palestine.

Beginning with a series of fundraisers and fund raising schemes (The “Golden Book,” JNF stamps, and the “Blue Boxes” i.e. donation boxes that were positioned at all Zionist businesses, the few pro-Zionist synagogues, and many personal homes). In 1903 the KKL/JNF acquired its first land parcel in Palestine, 50 acres near Hadera. From this point on the KKL/JNF began purchasing land for Zionist colonization, often from absentee Arab landlords resident in Istanbul, resulting in the dispossession of the Palestinian fellahin (peasantry). For more on this process, see Rashid Khalidi “Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness.” The most famous of the KKL/JNF’s land purchases was the acquisition of Marj Ibn Amer (the Valley of Jezreel) in 1921.

The KKL/JNF also played a leading role in the “Redeeming the Land” movement among the Zionist colonists, which essentially translated into changing Palestine to make it more compatible for the European colonists. This included a forestation program (which resulted in another KKL/JNF fund raising device, the “Plant a Tree in Israel” program), draining wetlands, and other permanent changes to the environment meant to facilitate Zionist colonization.

History after the establishment of Israel

After the establishment of the Israeli state, the JNF redirected its efforts into land development, as land acquisition was no longer an issue. This new focus provided two benefits to the colonists, namely it advanced the modification of Palestine to make it desirable for European immigrants and it played a significant role in providing employment to new colonists. This amounted to massive Forestation programs in the Galilee and near Al Quds (Jerusalem) and the creation of new settlements in the Jerusalem Corridor, Galilee, the Taanach and Adullam regions.

After the June 1967 Israeli attack on its neighbors and the successful conquest of Gaza, East Al Quds and the West Bank (the Occupied Palestinian Territories), the KKL/JNF immediately expanded its operations into the newly conquered lands.

In the 1980’s the KKL/JNF began to focus consolidating the Israeli hold on the regions that remained largely dominated by Palestinians, specifically the Negev and Galilee. In the Galilee most of the Jewish-only “hilltop” settlements meant to consolidate Israel’s hold on the region were established by the KKL/JNF. In the Negev the focus was on colonization (to surround and control the movement of the Bedouin), forestation, and various water projects.

Relationship to the Israeli Government

The KKL/JNF is structured as a private, multi-national corporation with a vast array of fully or majority owned subsidiaries in Israel and throughout the world. Nevertheless, “Despite this fact the JNF is a national government body defined as a private company. The Finance Ministry also claims that the JNF is a national body. In a letter written by Yuval Rachlevsky, the supervisor of wages at the Finance Ministry, to the director general of the JNF in May 1999, he wrote, “The JNF is a public body, or at least pseudo-public, inasmuch as the monies that reach it originate from assets that belong to the public (revenues from the leasing of the lands) and it is therefore actually a body that relies on the public coffers….This being the case the norms that are customary to public bodies should apply to it….” (David Blougrund, “The Jewish National Fund” Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies, September 2001)

This is further reinforced by a series of state actions on behalf of the KKL/JNF such as the JNF Law (1953), the Covenant Between the State of Israel and the KKL (1961), the pseudo-Constitutional “Basic Law: Israel Land” (1961), the mandate of the Israel Land Authority, and others. Like other governmental agencies, though not like most private corporations, the KKL/JNF is also specifically exempted from most Israeli taxes. Despite the fact that the KKL/JNF remains primarily concerned with land and land development, “The JNF has tremendous influence in many areas in Israel: education, tourism, agriculture, employment, development and even the Israel Broadcasting Authority.” (David Blougrund, op. cit.). Some 70% of the Israeli Jewish population lives on the 13% of Israeli land that is legally owned by the JNF.

Legalized Anti-Arab Discrimination

Through the Jewish National Fund’s integrated relationship with the Israel Land Authority (ILA in English), non-Jews - including Palestinian citizens of Israel – were fully excluded from receiving new land leases (according to the Basic Law cited above, no state land – which included KKL/JNF land – is sold to private parties). In 2000, the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that the ILA could not discriminate against Palestinians holding Israeli citizenship, leading to voracious opposition from the KKL/JNF that even threatened to sever it ties with the Israeli government as a consequence. For more, see: Stewart Ain and Joshua Mitnick “Land Sales To Arabs Could Force JNF Changes” The Jewish Week (NY) 02/04/05. To quote the KKL/JNF itself: “KKL-JNF’s central goal, stated also in its articles of association as a company, is Jewish community building - on its lands, of course. This objective is a direct continuance of the Law of Return, which also applies exclusively to Jews with the purpose of securing the Jewish State. … The existence of land assets as a perpetual possession of the Jewish People to be used for Jewish communities building is a fundamental value in our legal system. If a Zionist entity in a Jewish state would not be allowed to be the owner of land to be designated for developing Jewish communities, what unique value does that state have?” (KKL/JNF)

Hasbara Activity

Beyond continued land and water projects to advance and consolidate the Zionist project in Palestine, the KKL/JNF has also become a global leader in Hasbara (Israeli propaganda) activity throughout the world. Hasbara Programs include:

Ø The “Caravan for Democracy” Israel advocacy project

Ø Is a sponsoring member of the “Israel on Campus Coalition” to advance Israel solidarity on U.S. college campuses

Ø Taglit-Birthright Israel Solidarity Tours for free to Jewish people

Ø The KKL/JNF Speaker’s Bureau

Ø “Operation Security Blanket” which among other things finances the construction of “security roads”

Ø An “Educational Department” to train teachers and children proper Israel solidarity

Ø And others…

So, I believe the above makes the case adequately that the KKL/JNF office in Denver makes a legitimate protest target.

Denver, CO - Mountain States Office

(Serving NM and UT)
1515 Arapahoe St. - Park Central
Tower One - Suite 1600
Denver, CO 80202
303-573-7095
fx: 303-835-1185
Stanley Kamlet, Regional Consultant
Roberta Witkow, Consultant

Indigenous Middle Eastern Jews condemn Israeli aggression

Indigenous Middle Eastern Jews condemn Israeli aggression
Submitted by David Bloom
Thu, 08/03/2006 - 00:28.

Indigenous Middle Eastern Jewry, from Lebanon, Morocco, and Iran, have issued recent condemnations of the Israeli assaults on Lebanon and Palestine.
(click the header to read more...)

Cease Fire Now! (video)

~ Click here to watch the VIDEO ~

This video is dedicated to the children who have lost their lives because The US, UK and Israel have willingly stopped a ceasefire resulting in the deaths of many civilians in Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank.
Where is the worlds conscience!
- Warning -
This video contains images depicting the reality and horror of war and should only be viewed by a mature audience.

EU rebuffs US : Won't put Hezbollah on terror list

EU rebuffs US : Won't put Hezbollah on terror list
By Mark Beunderman
08/02/06 "EuObserver" -- -- The EU will not for the time being put the Islamist Hezbollah movement on its blacklist of terrorist organisations but the discussion could re-emerge in the future, the Finnish EU presidency has said. Finnish foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja declared after crisis talks with EU counterparts on Tuesday (1 August) "Given the sensitive situation where we are, I don't think this is something we will be acting on now."Mr Tuomioja's remarks came as a response to a letter signed by 213 members of the US Congress, sent to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, demanding that the EU follows the US in branding Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.
(Click header to read more)

"Civilians are the real victims" Longmont Daily Times-Call

Here is a column I wrote - it appeared in the Longmont Daily Times-Call on Wed., Aug. 2nd. It was in response to their editorial saying Israel was the victim.

==================

Civilians are the real victims
by Ron Forthofer

During the first part of June, Israel shelled the Gaza Strip numerous times and killed over two dozen Palestinians, mostly innocent civilians. Then on June 24th, Israeli commandos entered the Gaza Strip and kidnapped two Palestinian civilians. If the reverse had happened, that is, Palestinians had been the attackers, we would have heard ad nauseam about Israel's right to defend itself. We've heard nothing about the Palestinians' (equal) right to defend themselves.

But wait, we don't have to be hypothetical. On June 25th, the very day after Israel kidnapped two Palestinian civilians, Palestinians entered an Israeli military base and captured one Israeli soldier and killed two others. Then the Israeli military went berserk and attacked a power station, bridges, and the power distribution system in Gaza. The consequent shortage of power has placed the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians at risk. If you think Longmont is hot these days, imagine being crowded in the scorching Gaza Strip with little clean water and little electricity for fans, for hospitals or for the refrigeration of food. Also add in occasional attacks thrown in for good measure. Israeli apologists everywhere really have their work cut out for them, trying to absolve Israel of any blame and making it seem that Israel is the (only) victim this time. However, the mainstream American media have been up to the challenge, proclaiming over and over about Israel's right to defend itself.

I fully concur that nations and peoples have a right and a responsibility to defend themselves, but even self-defense has its limits. The Geneva Conventions, designed to prevent a repeat of the Nazi atrocities, spell out that civilians must be protected, that there must be no collective punishment and that any response must be proportionate. Israel signed this agreement and so did the U.S. This agreement also obligates the signers to ensure that the agreement is honored. By our support of the Israeli attacks, which are clearly gross violations of the Conventions, the U.S. also has failed to honor its word. The UN Security Council finally tried to rein in Hamas, Hezbollah and Israel, but the U.S. vetoed the resolution. So if Israel and the U.S. can ignore laws with impunity, why even bother to have laws?

For example, just consider proportionality. In Gaza, one Israeli soldier is captured, some ineffective homemade rockets are fired, and Israel puts the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians at risk. In Lebanon, two soldiers are captured and about one-fifth of the Lebanese population are now refugees. In addition, the Lebanese infrastructure and economy are devastated and the Israeli military has killed well over 540 Lebanese, overwhelmingly civilians. The cowardly Israeli middle-of-the-night massacre of Lebanese civilians, mostly women and children, at Qana is the latest outrage. Over 4600 sorties by the Israeli air force during the first two weeks of fighting have caused most of these deaths. Israelis have suffered too, to be sure. Hezbollah has killed slightly over 50 Israelis, about two-thirds of them soldiers. And tens of thousands of Israelis have had to leave their homes due to over 1200 rockets fired by Hezbollah. It is terrible to compare suffering since the death of one is one too many but, clearly, Israel is not the only victim.

To make matters worse, we now find out that Israel had planned these attacks well in advance and was only waiting for an excuse to hit Lebanon. Make no mistake about it, this was a war of choice for Israel. It could have negotiated a prisoner exchange, but Israel wanted this war. It is an outrage that some still try to spin Israel's brutal attacks as legitimate self-defense. The futures of Gaza and Lebanon hang in the balance as Israel continues its barbaric campaign against civilians and civilian infrastructure. By deliberately allowing the carnage to continue, the Bush administration brings shame on all Americans and has created even more enemies for us around the world. And we wonder why they hate us.

Chronology of the Latest Crisis in the Middle East

Chronology of the Latest Crisis in the Middle East

By SHARAT G. LIN

The Bush administration, Congress, and the press repeatedly echo the Israeli government’s position that the current warfare between Israel versus Palestinians and Lebanese is a consequence of the “kidnapping” of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit by Hamas-led militants on June 25, 2006 and the “abduction” of two more Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah on July 12, 2006. Yet every hostile action in this part of the Middle East is seen by someone as a response to a prior action by the other side. The only logical starting point for objectively examining the sequence of causes and effects is to begin with a watershed event that was clearly independent of any preceding military or political provocation. In 2006 that event was the Palestinian elections of January 25.

A careful examination of the sequence of events reveals that every significant military action by a Palestinian or Lebanese militia was clearly in response to desperate conditions imposed on Palestinians by Israel. While one may not condone many of these actions because they result in the loss of life, they must be understood in the context of the entire crisis in this part of the Middle East and the living conditions of Palestinians, many of whom have been exiled from their ancestral homes since the U.N. partition of Palestine in 1948.

Chronology of Crisis

The following chronology of major events was compiled from Associated Press, New York Times, Financial Times, The Observer, and other established news agencies.

January 20, 2005

Facing mounting criticism of his conduct of the war in Iraq and “the war on terror”, President George W. Bush at his second inaugural address tries to give a positive face to his administration by adding “promotion of democracy” as new cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. He says, “So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.” An outcome of this policy was the encouragement given to Hamas to participate in future Palestinian elections.

mid-January 2006

Public-opinion polls in Palestine continue to suggest that Fatah will win the most seats in the elections for the Palestinian parliament. The polls indicate that Hamas could win more than one-third of the seats.

January 25, 2006

Israel seals off Gaza by closing the Erez border crossing into Gaza in anticipation of security concerns leading up to Palestinian elections. Karni crossing was closed on January 15, 2006, and three other commercial crossings have been opened only intermittently. The impoverished Gaza Strip is critically dependent on imports of food, fuel, medicines, and other essential commodities brought in through Israeli-controlled border crossings. Gaza residents were equally dependent on the border crossings to get to their jobs in Israel before that avenue of employment was cut off by Israeli authorities.

(The entire Gaza Strip is surrounded by concrete walls and high fencing. Israel controls all access into and out of Gaza, including the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Palestinian access to the sea is strictly controlled by the Israeli navy. Palestinian air traffic is banned.)

Palestinians go to the polls to elect a new parliament – the Palestinian Legislative Council.

January 26

The preliminary election results are announced. Hamas wins 76 of the 132 seats, an absolute majority. Fatah wins only 43. International observers declare the elections to be free and fair. The later final tally will be 74 seats for Hamas.

February 12

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, DC, says that democracy should no longer be an immediate goal of U.S. foreign policy. Other think tanks, such as the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, follow suit later in the month by attacking the administration’s commitment to promoting elections.

February 13

Israeli officials and Western diplomats reveal that Israel and the United States are discussing ways to destabilize the newly-elected Palestinian government. The intention is to starve the Palestinian Authority (PA) of money and international connections until President Mahmoud Abbas is compelled to call a new election.

February 18

The new Palestinian parliament is sworn in by President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. With many Palestinian legislators in Gaza banned by Israel from travelling to the West Bank, they have to settle for participating via a video link.

February 19

Israel cuts off approximately $50 million in monthly customs and tax revenues that it collects for the Palestinian Authority. The money is essential to pay the salaries of 160,000 Palestinian government employees, including 58,000 police and security personnel.

The U.S. government backs Israel by announcing that it too is likely to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority until the new Hamas government recognizes Israel and disarms its commandos.

March 5

Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, is sworn in as prime minister to head the next government. Branding it a “terrorist authority”, both the U.S. and Israeli governments refuse to constructively engage a new Palestinian government jointly led by a Fatah president and a Hamas-led cabinet.

March 10

U.S. officials pressure independent “moderate” politicians not to serve in a Hamas-led government. The Bush administration’s strategy is to force Hamas to govern alone, hoping to isolate it politically when its government eventually fails under the cut-off of tax revenues and western aid.

March 14

When British prison monitors were suddenly ordered to leave their posts supervising six high-profile Palestinian detainees in Jericho, Israel besieged the prison compound with tanks, taking the six detainees into their custody. One of those seized was Ahmed Sa’adat of the secular left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who had won a seat in the Palestinian election in January. It is widely believed that the sudden withdrawal of the British prison monitors was calculated to give Israeli forces a pretext to seize the detainees by force from PA custody. The coordinated British and Israeli actions sparked widespread outrage throughout Palestine.

March 19

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh proposes a 24-member cabinet made of Hamas members, Fatah members and independents having been deterred from joining by U.S. pressure.

With the nearly 1.4 million Gaza residents facing severe shortages of bread, milk, and other essential commodities, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators reach a tentative agreement to open one border crossing into Gaza near kibbutz Kerem Shalom to allow humanitarian aid to enter the densely-populated Palestinian enclave from Egypt.

April 7

The U.S. and EU formally cut off all direct aid to the Hamas-led government, demanding that Hamas recognize Israel, honor previous PA agreements, and disarm its commandos. They say that they will redirect some aid to humanitarian projects that bypass the PA. The U.S. decision affects $411 million previously earmarked for the PA to maintain services in the impoverished Palestinian territories, and about $100 million to be redirected to food and medicines delivered through international agencies.

May 7

The PA defaults on two months of salary payments for its 160,000 government employees.

As the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the West Bank continues to deteriorate, the U.S. and EU search for ways to resume international aid while bypassing Hamas. They consider channelling aid through the office of President Mahmoud Abbas in cooperation with the World Bank, IMF, and United Nations.

May 18

Starved of income, facing daily food shortages, and virtually imprisoned within the boundaries of Gaza, residents are becoming desperate for a resolution of the impasse. Amid rising unrest, competing Hamas and Fatah forces attempt to assert their presences by parading around with arms. In the following weeks, Hamas and Fatah militias engage in intermittent shootouts, some bloody.

May 29

Israeli ground troops enter Gaza for the first time since withdrawing eight months ago. They kill four Palestinians, including a policeman.

June 5

President Mahmoud Abbas announces a referendum scheduled for July 26th on a plan that would implicitly recognize Israel. Hamas opposes the referendum.

June 7

After negotiations between Hamas and Fatah aimed at halting weeks of bloody infighting, the Hamas-led government agrees to withdraw controversial private militias from public spaces in Gaza.

June 8

A midnight Israeli missile attack in southern Gaza kills four Palestinian members of the Popular Resistance Committees, including Jamal Abu Samhadana, who had recently been appointed to be inspector general in the Interior Ministry. Israel has blamed Samhadana for attacking a U.S. diplomatic convoy in Gaza in 2003, although his group has denied involvement.

June 9

In response to Israeli missile attacks, Palestinian militants fire small crude Qassam rockets into Israel towards Ashkelon, but no Israelis are hurt.

Israeli artillery shelling, ostensibly aimed at Qassam rocket launch sites, kills 7 civilians on a northern Gaza beach, including a Palestinian family having a picnic with their 3 small children. Israel claims it was an accident. Other Israeli rocket attacks kill another 9 Palestinians, and injure at least 30 in Gaza.

In response, the Hamas government vows to end its official 16-month ceasefire with Israel.

June 10

Hamas forces fire at least 15 Qassam rockets from Gaza into Israel.

June 11

An Israeli air strike kills two Hamas commandos in Gaza. Palestinians respond with more Qassam rockets.

June 12

Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas open fire with small arms on the parliament building and cabinet offices in Ramallah before setting the buildings on fire. The action is a retaliation for an attack by Hamas commandos in Gaza.

June 14

Angry Palestinian government employees, who have not been paid for months, storm their parliament in Ramallah, demanding back pay.

A bit of temporary relief comes when the Palestinian foreign minister, Mahmoud Zahar, returns to Gaza carrying $20 million in cash euros after a trip seeking emergency funds from foreign governments.

Fatah and Hamas reach an agreement to integrate a 3,000-man militia formed by the Hamas-controlled interior ministry into the Fatah-dominated national police.

June 15

Palestinians fire Qassam rockets into the Israeli town of Sederot.

Hamas announces its willingness to reinstate the 16-month ceasefire if Israel will stop all attacks on Gaza and the West Bank. Israel refuses, demanding that the Palestinian rocket attacks stop first.

June 21

At least a dozen more Palestinian civilians are killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza over an 8-day period.

June 25

Palestinian commandos kill two Israeli soldiers and capture Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit after tunnelling 300 yards into Israel from Gaza. Hamas, the Popular Resistance Committees, and the Army of Islam participate in the raid south of kibbutz Kerem Shalom, just north of the Egyptian border.

Shalit is the first Israeli soldier captured by Palestinians since 1994. Hamas government spokesman, Ghazi Hamad, publicly urges the captors to “protect his life and treat him well.”

Israel closes all border crossings into Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert holds the PA fully responsible.

June 26

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warns of military action.

Palestinian captors demand that Israel release all 95 Palestinian women and 313 youths under age 18 held in Israeli prisons in exchange for the release of Corporal Shalit. A total of over 9,500 Palestinians (excluding those who are Israeli citizens) are known to be held in Israeli prisons.

June 27

Fatah and Hamas are compelled into unity in the face of looming full-scale war. They adopt a common political platform that includes an implicit recognition of the state of Israel by Hamas. The so-called Prisoners Document calls for the creation of a Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders, alongside Israel, and asserts the right of Palestinian refugees to return to lands within Israel proper.

Israeli troops and armor move in force into southern Gaza.

June 28

The Popular Resistance Committees kill one Israeli settler near Ramallah.

June 29

Israeli tanks and armored bulldozers roll into northern Gaza. Israeli aircraft bomb three bridges at Deir al-Balah and the former settlement of Netzarim. They also destroy Gaza’s sole power station that supplies half of Gaza’s electricity. Israel begins shelling Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya in Gaza. Israeli missiles target the Islamic University in Gaza City.

Israel arrests Deputy Prime Minister Nasser Shaer, one-third of the Palestinian cabinet, including Labor Minister Mohammed Barghouti and Finance Minister Omar Abdel Razak, and 20 Palestinian legislators in Ramallah, Jenin, East Jerusalem, and other parts of the West Bank. President Mahmoud Abbas appeals to the United Nations for help in obtaining their release. In all, 87 Palestinians are detained in the West Bank.

PA government leaders join in the demand that Israel release all women and children prisoners in exchange for Corporal Shalit.

Israeli Justice Minister, Haim Ramon, suggests that the Hamas leader, Khaled Meshal, exiled in Syria, is a target for assassination. Other Israeli officials suggest that Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh could also be seized in Gaza, or even assassinated if Corporal Shalit is not returned.

June 30

Israeli warplanes strike the Palestinian Interior Ministry building, setting it on fire. Meanwhile, Israeli aircraft and artillery continue to shower southern Gaza.

July 2

Under mounting pressure from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and international aid agencies concerned about the looming humanitarian situation in Gaza, Israel temporarily opened the border crossings at Karni and Kerem Shalom to allow trucks carrying food, fuel, and medical supplies to enter Gaza after being sealed for a week.

July 3

After Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that he intended to make the lives of Gaza residents ever more miserable until Corporal Shalit is returned, Israeli forces intensified their attacks on Gaza. Israeli aircraft bomb Gaza City, hitting the local Fatah party office and the offices of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

July 6

With Israel escalating its rocket attacks and advancing into densely-populated areas of Gaza, 16 Palestinians are killed. One Israeli soldier also dies.

July 7

The European Union, issuing its strongest criticism yet, states; “The EU condemns the loss of lives caused by disproportionate use of force by the Israeli Defence Forces and the humanitarian crisis it has aggravated.”

Facing mounting international criticism for its invasion of Gaza, Israeli Public Security Minister Avi Dichter indicates for the first time that Israel might be willing to free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of Corporal Shalit.

July 8

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh calls for a ceasefire to halt the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Israel rejects the Palestinian offer, demanding that Palestinians first return the captured Israeli soldier and halt rocket attacks into southern Israel.

July 9

The Palestinian death toll due to Israel’s Gaza offensive surpasses 50.

July 12

Responding to the mounting carnage in Gaza, and the Israeli seizure of much of the Palestinian government leadership, the Lebanese Hezbollah militia engages in border skirmishes with Israeli troops. In the ensuing battle, Hezbollah forces kill 3 Israeli soldiers and capture two. With Israeli forces in hot pursuit into Lebanon, another 5 Israeli soldiers die. Hezbollah casualties were not immediately announced.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert responds by saying, “Lebanon is responsible and Lebanon will bear the consequences of its actions.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora calls for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council, appealing for help in preventing the impending Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

July 13

Israel responds with military assaults from the air, land, and sea into southern Lebanon. Its combat operations in southern Lebanon are the first since withdrawing in 2000. Israel launches a aerial bombardment of Beirut International Airport, the surrounding southern suburbs where Hezbollah operates, and the main highway connecting Beirut with Damascus.

Residents of Beirut stream out of the city desperately seeking refuge in the mountains or towards Syria. With the Israeli naval blockade and the country’s only international airport inoperable, nearly all normal means out of the country are blocked.

Hezbollah fires scores of Katyusha rockets into Israel, most falling around the beach town of Nahariya. A single larger missile hits Haifa, some 20 miles south of the Lebanese border, much farther than any previous Hezbollah rocket attacks. Hezbollah rockets also strike Raifa.

President George W. Bush unconditionally defends the Israeli bombing of Lebanon, and goes on to assert that Syria be “held to account” for fostering “terrorism”. He refuses to join international calls for a prompt ceasefire. Meanwhile, at the U.N. Security Council, the United States casts the sole vote (veto) against a resolution that would have demanded that Israel halt its military offensive in Gaza.

July 14

Israel continues pounding southern Lebanon, southern Beirut, and sets fuel tanks ablaze at the Beirut International Airport.

Hezbollah launches a missile attack on an Israeli warship off the coast of Beirut, killing four sailors.

An emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by Lebanon convenes to discuss the possibility of a U.N.-mandated comprehensive ceasefire and lifting of the Israeli air and sea blockades of Lebanon. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton stands alone in refusing to even urge restraint from Israel, and instead blames Syria and Iran for the current crisis. In the shadow of yesterday’s U.S. veto, the session ends without taking any action.

July 15

Israel bombs bridges and roads across Lebanon, dividing the country and stranding civilians desperately fleeing its attacks.

July 16

Fighting continues to escalate over the weekend. Israel strikes throughout Lebanon, including Sour, Nabatiyeh, Ba’albek, and as far north as the port city of Tripoli, killing scores of civilians. Seven Canadians are killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese border town of Aitaroun. In southern Beirut, Israel introduces for the first time the use of U.S.-made GBU-28 guided bunker buster bombs in an attempt to destroy Hezbollah underground bunkers within the city. Several 12 to 15-story buildings completely collapse into mountains of rubble (eerily reminiscent of Ground Zero after September 11th). Large areas of the city are levelled. South of Beirut, Israeli forces bomb the Jiyeh power plant. The cumulative death toll in Lebanon reaches 160, overwhelmingly civilian, since the fighting began four days ago.

A Hezbollah rocket attack in Haifa kills 8 people. Others hit Tiberias, Nazareth, Afula, Givat E’la, and the Sheba’a Farms settlement in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The cumulative death toll in Israel reaches 24, 12 civilian and 12 military.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz signals an escalation in military strategy from trying to secure the release of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah to the aim of permanently removing Hezbollah from southern Lebanon – essentially the area south of the Litani River.

Media commentary widely adopts the notion that Israel is exacting “collective punishment” on Lebanese and Palestinian residents, in effect holding them responsible for the respective actions of Hezbollah and Hamas. The Israeli calculation appears to be that collective punishment through widespread bombing and destruction will intimidate public opinion into opposing Hezbollah and Hamas.

July 17

Israel aircraft bomb the Palestinian Foreign Ministry offices in Gaza. Sustained Israeli bombardments continue in Lebanon.

July 20

U.S. Marines begin evacuating American citizens via amphibious landing craft from a beach north of Beirut before ferrying them to Cyprus.

Diplomatic efforts accelerate to deploy a U.N. or NATO peacekeeping force to introduce a buffer between the Israeli and Hezbollah forces along the Israel-Lebanon border.

July 22

An advanced force of 2,000 Israeli troops with tanks and armored bulldozers move across the Lebanese border under the cover of a fierce barrage of air strikes. This is in anticipation of a massive ground offensive to sweep Hezbollah forces out of the area south of the Litani River.

July 24

Fierce bombardments by both sides continue throughout the week, but there is always an immense military asymmetry between Israel and Hezbollah. The official cumulative death tolls reach 380 in Lebanon, over 100 in Palestine, versus 37 in Israel. The World Health Organization estimates that up to 600,000 people have been displaced by Israeli bombing in Lebanon.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice begins a trip to the Middle East, but without any specific proposals for a ceasefire or diffusing the crisis. Her main preoccupation appears to be limited to finding a way to curb Hezbollah and putting the Lebanese government in control of the area south of the Litani River.

Ten observations

Several significant points emerge from the unfolding events in Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon.

First, the capture of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit on June 25 was not an unprovoked aggression. It was immediately preceded by a series of Israeli shellings, rocket attacks, and commando raids on Gaza that killed over three dozen people, mostly civilians. Even the earlier Palestinian rocket attacks into Israel beginning on June 9th were in response to a series of Israeli assaults on the Palestinian Authority in particular and Palestinian sovereignty in general.

Second, the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah on July 12 was in support of Palestinians trapped and under almost continuous siege in Gaza. It was also a reaction to the virtual dismemberment of the Palestinian government through Israel’s widespread arrests of its elected political leaders. No people would be able to tolerate such a physical assault on their democratic political institutions and society.

Third, all meaningful proposals for ceasefires came from the Palestinian side and the Lebanese government. All Palestinian and Lebanese ceasefire proposals were summarily rejected by the Israeli government, which placed decidedly asymmetric conditions on the acceptance of any ceasefire.

Fourth, both in Gaza and in Lebanon, Israeli attacks deliberately targeted essential infrastructure – roads, bridges, airports, seaports, and power stations. These targets have little military significance to militias like those of Hamas and Hezbollah. Yet they are crucial for the civilian population, for the movement of food and medicines, and for escape routes. The systematic destruction of Lebanon’s transport infrastructure had no more immediate effect than to deny all Lebanese citizens and foreigners routes of escape from the heavy Israeli bombardments.

Fifth, both in Gaza and in Lebanon, Israel’s deliberate policy was to exact collective punishment on all residents in the hopes of putting pressure on the militias from within. The plan is more likely to have the opposite effect of galvanizing a broad range of popular support behind the militias in much the same way that the Israeli assault on the Palestinian government and Gaza brought Hamas and Fatah much closer together.

Sixth, the U.S. government’s unconditional support for Israel, and unwavering rejection of ceasefire proposals, does not even pretend to advocate a peaceful resolution of the crisis. The U.S. government’s prior role as peacemaker, however partial, in the Camp David Accords in 1978 and the Oslo Accords in 1993, has apparently been abandoned. This extreme position will only further galvanize Arab and Muslim public opinion against the U.S. government and exacerbate declining U.S. credibility in the region.

Seventh, the cut-off of Palestinian tax revenues by Israel and the severance of direct aid by the U.S. and European Union in response to the lawful installation of a democratically-elected government in Palestine belie the U.S. and Israeli commitment to democracy. They also reflect an utter disregard for the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people who had already been cut off from their jobs and only means of livelihood in Israel since the beginning of the second Palestinian Intifada in 2000. The potential collapse of the Palestinian Authority would bring complete anarchy to an already chaotic situation, and unleash heretofore unseen forces from inside the Palestinian resistance.

Eighth, the iron-handed control that Israel continues to exercise over the movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza belies the political and economic reality of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in September 2005. Ten months after that withdrawal, Gaza residents are as much at the mercy of Israeli restrictions as ever. Even the movement of people and goods between Gaza and Egypt, which share a common land border, remains under strict Israeli military control.

Ninth, Israel’s repeated suggestions that it might assassinate Palestinian leaders, including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, demonstrate complete disregard for the rule of law and Palestinian national sovereignty. Its arbitrary arrests of Palestinian cabinet ministers and legislators prove that it may act with impunity against any duly-elected Palestinian government not to its liking.

Tenth, the slanted language of war belies the objectivity of U.S. policy as well as the impartiality of news coverage. Israeli soldiers are “kidnapped” or “abducted”, but Palestinian leaders are “arrested” or “apprehended”. Palestinian militants are “terrorists”, but the massive Israeli air strike that left a vast gaping Ground-Zero-like hole in the midst of high-rise residential buildings in southern Beirut is “Israel’s right to defend itself”.

Windows of opportunity to bring about peaceful settlements

A careful examination of the sequence of events over the past six months reveals that Israel is threatened only for reasons that are traceable back to its own disproportionate actions. The traditional Hamas position of refusing to recognize Israel must be re-evaluated in the light of that organization assuming the reins of political power in a democratically-elected government. As events have now proven, on June 27 Hamas signed a document that effectively recognizes the state of Israel, accepting a two-state solution for the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state side-by-side with Israel. Both Israel and the U.S. lost an unprecedented opportunity to politically engage the Hamas government, a government that, unlike the Fatah government, is effectively in a position to implement a lasting peace from the Palestinian side. Former President Yasser Arafat and his successor, Mahmoud Abbas, have been trapped in space and time – in Ramallah and unable to move forward to statehood and a lasting peace with Israel – because of their lack of influence over the militias, including Hamas and the Palestinian guerrilla groups based in Lebanon. Hamas, on the other hand, in a potential peace settlement with Israel is in a position to ask Palestinian militias to lay down their arms and make it happen.

It is time that the U.S. government see that unconditional support for Israel’s current reckless course will neither lead to peace nor stability in the Middle East. As the world’s sole superpower, as Israel’s primary backer, and as an aid provider to Palestine, the U.S. is in a unique political position to broker a ceasefire and diffuse the current crisis. In fact, with Hamas in power in Ramallah, it has an historical opportunity to bring about a two-state solution and a practical final peace in the region. It also has a unique historical opportunity to diffuse the broader risks of mass destruction in the Middle East by offering to broker the mutual denuclearization of Iran and Israel. Whereas Iran may find it difficult for domestic political reasons to halt its nuclear program under unilateral external pressure, it may well be willing to step down from dual-use nuclear technology if Israel does the same and gives up the operational nuclear weapons already in its arsenal. Actually, Israel will be the harder party to convince. But the entire Middle East will become a safer place without nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons programs. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists’ “doomsday clock” will be able to be set back a few more minutes. The choices are clear: reduce the combustibles on all sides while there is a window of opportunity, or let the wildfires burn.

Sharat G. Lin writes on global political economy, India, and the Middle East. He lived in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war, and spent time in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. Captured by a Palestinian militia in 1973, he has first-hand experience of their internal workings.