Assad says his government’s duty is to ‘eliminate terrorists’

President Bashar al-Assad said he did not believe the crisis would result in military action in Syria.

Syrian President Bashar al Assad said in a rare interview broadcast on Thursday that his government had a duty to “eliminate terrorists” to protect its people and ruled out any solution to the crisis imposed from outside the country.

The one-hour interview coincides with a marked escalation of violence inside Syria and a flurry of diplomatic activity ahead of a planned meeting in Geneva in an effort to end spiraling violence.

Diplomats said the talks involving U.N. Security Council members and key regional countries would focus on a proposed transition plan to open the way for a unity government.

“The responsibility of the Syrian government is to protect all of our residents. You have a responsibility to eliminate terrorists in any corner of the country,” Assad told Iranian state television.

“When you eliminate a terrorist, it’s possible that you are saving the lives of tens, hundreds, or even thousands.”

The besieged Syrian leader rejected any solution imposed from outside the country.

“We will not accept any non-Syrian, non-national model, whether it comes from big countries or friendly countries. No one knows how to solve Syria’s problems as well as we do.”

Assad said he did not believe the crisis would result in military action in Syria, saying that what took place in Libya was “not a solution to be copied because it took Libya from one situation into a much worse one. We all now see how the Libyan people are paying the price”

Assad also criticized Syria’s neighbor Turkey, relations with which have worsened following the shooting down of one of its military planes by Syrian forces last Friday.

“What we see now shows the stance of some Turkish officials but not all,” he said. “The policies of the Turkish officials lead to the killing and bloodshed of the Syrian people.”

While the United States and its allies have called for Assad to step aside, Iran and Russia have continued to support the Syrian leader and criticized what they say is foreign interference the country.

In recent years Iran’s Shiite theocracy has strengthened its alignment with Syria’s nationalist secular government to further its opposition to Israel and as a counterweight against Sunni powers in the region such as Saudi Arabia.

Western diplomats say that in recent months Tehran has boosted its support for Assad through training, weapons and communications expertise to assist Syrian forces in fighting rebel groups.

Assad was scornful of such reports that Iranian forces and fighters from Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah resistance movement were helping to direct Syrian army operations.

“This is a joke that we hear many times in order to show that a rift has been created within the army and that therefore there is not an army.”

The Syrian leader thanked Iran for being such a loyal friend and said Damascus would repay such loyalty.

“We are on the same front and the name of this front is being independent and making national decisions.”

(english.alarabiya.net / 28.06.2012)

Group: 25 prisoners start hunger strike in Israel jail

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Two dozen prisoners in an Israeli detention facility in the occupied West Bank have launched a hunger strike against their living conditions, the Palestinian prisoners society said Thursday.

The 25 detainees in the Etzion detention facility near Bethlehem started refusing food over two weeks ago, said Jaclyn Fararjeh, a lawyer for the prisoners rights group.

The prisoners say Etzion is crowded and for that reason, breaks have been reduced from an hour to only 30 minutes. Additionally, there is not enough food for the number of prisoners, they say.

Some of the prisoners accused the Israel Prison Service of placing them in solitary confinement without justification and beating them.

Before the 25 in Etzion, there were three prisoners remaining on hunger strike.

The prisoners rights group Addameer said Thursday that one of them, Akram al-Rekhawi, faces “an imminent threat to his life,” while independent doctors have been denied access to him.

Al-Rekhawi, a diabetic prisoner who has been on hunger strike for over two months, has been briefly hospitalized several times and returned to Ramle prison clinic, where he is only consuming water, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Another detainee, Samer al-Barq, entered his 38th day of hunger strike and his health too is deteriorating, Addameer said after a lawyer for the group, Mona Neddaf, visited him in Ramle.

“Due to the length of his hunger strike since April, with only one week in which he was receiving nourishment, Samer’s condition is now worsening,” the group said in a statement.

“He has a very low heart rate and prison doctors have warned against possible ramifications of the hunger strike on his brain. He is currently drinking only water with glucose.”

Administrative detainee Hassan Safadi is also on his 8th day of renewed hunger strike, after his detention was renewed this week despite an agreement by Israel that he would be released upon the expiration of his current order, Addameer said.

Meanwhile the prisoners rights group said that the health of Palestinian soccer player Mahmoud al-Sarsak, who ended a hunger strike of over 90 days earlier this month, was improving.

He now weighs approximately 58 kilos and has been transferred regularly for check-ups to Assaf Harofeh hospital, Addameer said. However, he is still detained in Ramle clinic.

“Though he still has a long road to recovery ahead and suffers from feelings of dizziness when he wakes up each morning, his health is improving,” the group said.

(www.maannews.net / 28.06.2012)

Expats toch dubbele nationaliteit

Nederlands paspoort 

VVD, CDA en D66 willen dat Nederlandse expats toch een tweede nationaliteit mogen hebben. VVD en CDA steunen een amendement van D66 om dit te regelen.

Zij komen hiermee deels terug van hun afspraken met de PVV in het regeer- en gedoogakkoord. Daarin was opgenomen dat mensen moeten kiezen voor het Nederlanderschap. Buitenlanders die de Nederlandse nationaliteit willen, moeten eerst afstand doen van hun eigen nationaliteit. En Nederlanders die een tweede nationaliteit willen aannemen, moeten verplicht afstand doen van het Nederlanderschap.

Door dit voorstel hoeven Nederlanders die ook de nationaliteit van hun tweede land willen hebben, niet meer te kiezen. Dat geldt ook voor hun kinderen die daar worden geboren. “Wij zijn juist trots op die Nederlanders die onze kennis en kunde naar andere landen exporteren”, zegt Mirjam Sterk van het CDA. Maar de regels voor buitenlanders die Nederlander willen worden, blijven bestaan. “Als iemand naar Nederland komt, vinden wij dat hij zijn andere nationaliteit moet afstaan”, aldus VVD-Kamerlid Cora van Nieuwenhuizen.

Protest

Het kabinet wil in de wet vastleggen dat alle Nederlanders maar één nationaliteit mogen hebben, tenzij dat juridisch niet kan. Zo zou de betrokkenheid bij Nederland gestimuleerd worden en de integratie beter verlopen. Ook zou één nationaliteit helderheid geven over de rechten en verplichtingen die tussen staat en individu bestaan. Voor expats wil het kabinet geen uitzondering maken. Maar veel Nederlanders die langdurig in het buitenland wonen en werken, hebben heftig geprotesteerd tegen het plan.

De Raad van State adviseerde het kabinet in maart van het voorstel af te zien. Volgens de Raad van State heeft het kabinet onvoldoende onderbouwd dat nationaliteit en loyaliteit samengaan.

(nos.nl / 28.06.2012)

Upgrade of Palestinian Representation in Sweden

Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt and Palestinian Ambassador Hala Husni Fariz today signed a host country agreement. The agreement gives the Palestinian Representation in Sweden a position equivalent to that of an embassy in Stockholm.

“The Palestinian government has made significant progress in the work of laying the foundations for a Palestinian state. Sweden has a leading role in the international support for Palestinian state-building. It is therefore natural for us to take this step,” says Mr Bildt.

Since Sweden has not recognised Palestine as a state, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations is not directly applicable, and immunities and privileges must be regulated in a special host country agreement. In formal terms, the host country agreement is being signed with the PLO, acting on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. Since a legislative amendment is required for the agreement to enter into force, a bill will be presented to the Riksdag in the autumn.

The Palestinian Representation in Stockholm was upgraded in 2011 from the General Delegation of Palestine to the Mission of Palestine. As of 2010, the head of mission has the title of Ambassador.

A growing number of EU countries have upgraded the formal position of Palestinian Representations and given them the same immunities and privileges as embassies.

(www.sweden.gov.se / 28.06.2012)

EU Report on Israel: Saving the Two State Solution?

Nazareth – Already-strained relations between Israel and Europe hit an all-time low this week after a leaked internal European report on the so-called peace process criticised Israel in unprecedented terms.

The document, which warned that the chances of a two-state solution were rapidly fading, appeared to reflect mounting exasperation among the 27 European member states at Israel’s refusal to revive talks with the Palestinians.

Israeli newspapers, reporting on the developing crisis, have led with headlines such as “Israel vs Europe.” One, Israel Today, known to be close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recently announced “Europe becomes irrelevant,” in an echo of a rebuff to the Europeans issued by Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s far-right foreign minister.

Israeli observers have warned that a falling-out with Europe is the last thing Israel needs, following its recent fallout with key strategic allies in the region, such as Turkey and Egypt.

The tensions have been provoked by the emergence of what appears to be an increasingly independent European approach towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, suggesting a possible break with the EU’s traditional submissiveness towards the United States’ Middle East agenda.

European powers appear to be balking at the prospect that the two-state solution is about to slip out of grasp, as Netanyahu’s rightwing government refuses to make meaningful concessions and speeds up the pace of settlement-building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. That would end the framework of the Oslo accords, a diplomatic process that Europe has invested in heavily and which has dictated the West’s approach to peace-making for nearly two decades.

The EU’s critical stance has been expressed most clearly in two internal documents that were leaked separately to the Israeli media over the past weeks. Both suggest that European states are seeking to become actively involved in areas of Palestinian life under Israeli rule, possibly taking on a stewardship role, even if – as seems certain – it would risk angering Israel.

In particular, the EU appears to be considering radical moves to push its own agenda in relation both to the large Palestinian minority living inside Israel and to the Palestinians in the so-called “Area C” of the West Bank, which covers nearly two-thirds of the occupied territory and was placed under full Israeli control by the Oslo accords.

Until now, Europe had mainly restricted its criticisms to Israeli activities in occupied East Jerusalem.

Europe’s reluctance to go public with either document indicates the great sensitivity of its proposed more activist role. In the report on Israel’s Palestinian minority, a copy of which has been seen by Al-Akhbar, European embassies warn that “we need to be sensitive about perceptions of foreign interference in issues which Israel sees as a strictly internal question.”

An Israeli official quoted by the Jerusalem Post newspaper on Friday was dismissive that the reports would have any impact on the ground, suggesting it would not affect the official positions adopted in Brussels.

However, the documents do indicate that pressure is mounting on European states, which collectively have been the largest donor to the Palestinians during the Oslo period, to take a firmer line against Israeli intransigence. Public opinion in many leading European countries has become far more critical of Israeli policies than their governments. 

In addition, the demise of the Oslo process threatens to provoke further conflict in a region already undergoing political upheavals that Europe fears may spill over on to its own shores.

The paper leaked this week, on Israel’s control of the largest area of the West Bank, uses particularly confrontational language, arguing that Israel has “continuously undermined” a Palestinian presence there and is “rapidly closing the window” on a two-state solution.

Using phrases that imply Israel is conducting a policy of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Area C, the report notes the Palestinian population has shrunk dramatically to only 150,000, compared to as many as twice that number in the Jordan Valley alone in 1967. The Jewish population in the settlements, meanwhile, has grown to 310,000, tripling in less than 20 years.

The 16-page report, which was written by European heads of mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah, was leaked to Israel’s popular Ynet website this week and has been seen by Al-Akhbar too.

A diplomat told the Israeli media that all the European governments backed the document: “What’s special about this report is that we are all partners in it and agree on the wording.”

The paper blames a raft of Israeli policies for what is termed “forced transfer of the native population.” These include home demolitions, severe prohibitions on construction, settlement expansion, movement restrictions, and denial of access to land and water.

The result of Palestinian migration to other parts of the West Bank is that less than 6 percent of the territory’s Palestinians now reside in an area that is expected to comprise the majority of any future Palestinian state. Area C, the paper notes, includes “crucial natural resources and land for the future demographic and economic growth of a viable Palestinian state.”

A European official in Israel, who wished to remain anonymous, said the report highlighted growing concerns in Europe that the viability and territorial contiguity of a Palestinian state was being undermined by Israel’s policies in Area C and East Jerusalem, leading to a series of “ghettoes.”

The report recommends that the EU take an active role in promoting Palestinian economic development and backing infrastructure projects related to roads, water, schools and medical clinics to “support the Palestinian people and help maintain their presence [in the area].” No mention is made of Israeli involvement or cooperation. 

In a sign of the mounting concern about the loss of direction in the so-called process, another added: “The continuation of settlement construction will lead to one state for two peoples. We don’t know where this government is leading [Israel] to or what its position is regarding the peace process.” 

The report, which was completed in July 2011, may have been one of the reasons for an unexpectedly harsh statement from Britain, France, Germany and Portugal last month at the United Nations, expressing “dismay” at Israel’s settlement policy.

The four EU states, all currently members of the Security Council, condemned Israeli plans to speed up settlement construction in the West Bank. They also castigated Israel for failure to control extremist groups among the settlers, who have grown increasingly bold in launching violent attacks on Palestinians, including burning crops and torching mosques. 

The UN action coincided with the submission, by Andrew Standley, the EU ambassador to Israel, of a formal protest to Israel’s foreign ministry over the growing number of house demolitions in Area C and the economic distress of its Palestinian inhabitants. The statement was reportedly agreed to after the EU’s foreign ministers received the Area C report.

Standley’s letter also highlighted EU concerns about a plan for the so-called E1 zone, between Jerusalem and the settlement of Maale Adumim in the West Bank. Israel is currently threatening to clear out 2,500 Bedouin living at the site to prepare for the construction of a new settlement called Mevasseret Adumim, which would connect with Maale Adumin, increasing Israel’s hold on East Jerusalem and cutting the West Bank in two.

Two weeks earlier similar fears were expressed in a letter to Ehud Barak, Israel’s defense minister, by Kristalina Georgieva, the European commissioner for international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response.

Lieberman, Israel’s far-right foreign minister, responded to the rebukes by accusing the Europeans of “interfering” in an internal Israeli issue and of “losing their credibility and making themselves irrelevant.” He also advised Europe to concentrate instead on “peacemaking in bloodshed hotspots” such as Syria.

Tzipi Livni, leader of the opposition Kadima party, warned that Israel was “starting a war against its closest friends in Europe.” Meanwhile, the liberal Haaretz newspaper argued that, with the loss of Europe, Washington was now “the only barrier between Israel and international isolation – which borders on strategic danger.”

Last month Lieberman also expressed outrage at another secret EU report, this one a draft by European embassies in Israel on an even more sensitive subject – Israel’s Palestinian minority. The paper, which was completed in November, was leaked to Haaretz late last month. The Israeli foreign ministry accused the EU of drafting it “behind our backs”.

The 27-page report breaks new ground in proposing that the EU play a central part in protecting the interests of Palestinians within Israel’s borders rather than only in the occupied territories. 

It catalogues widespread discrimination in education, employment, housing and access to land, notes a surge in legislative proposals targeting the Palestinian minority and “a political climate in which discriminatory rhetoric and practice go unsanctioned.” 

It suggests that Israel’s treatment of its Palestinian citizens should move from being “second tier to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” to a “core issue.” It adds that Israel’s obligation to “ensure the equality of all its citizens” cannot wait on a revival of the stalled peace process. Tackling inequality, it concludes, “is integral to Israel’s long-term stability.”

A long list of recommendations for the EU to implement include lobbying against discriminatory laws, encouraging greater investment by European hi-tech firms in Arab areas, ensuring each European state “adopts” an Arab community, and awarding more scholarships for Arab students.

According to the Israeli media, several EU states, including the Netherlands, objected to these recommendations, but appear to have the backing of many key states.

The proposal to step up EU involvement inside Israel is particularly controversial given that Israel has vehemently objected in recent months to European funding of local human rights groups that assist Palestinians inside both Israel and the occupied territories. 

The cabinet has given its support to legislation that would severely limit foreign donations – chiefly from the EU – to such groups and heavily tax any remaining funding. Netanyahu put the bills on hold last month after coming under fierce criticism from Washington and Europe.

The crisis in relations with Europe was one of the main topics under discussion at Israel’s annual ambassadors’ meeting in Jerusalem, held over the Christmas break when Western capitals go into brief hibernation. More than 100 senior diplomats attended, with ambassadors to Europe reporting that they felt “hated and unwanted,” and as isolated as at any time as they could remember in Israel’s history.

The pessimistic, consensual forecast at the meeting was that developments in the region, especially the Arab Spring, have ruled out any progress in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians for at least the coming year.

Netanyahu’s advisers offered their own warnings that the diplomatic impasse would not let up and Israel’s international standing, especially in Europe, was likely to erode yet further.

(www.jkcook.net / 28.06.2012)

CPR calls for an international investigation into death of Palestinian prisoners

NAZARETH,(PIC)– Human rights organization said that the Palestinian detainees in occupation prisons are suffering from physical and psychological torture, where they face more than seventy-five methods of torture used by the occupation under inhumane conditions in the detention centers. The Congregation for Palestinian Rights (CPR) said in its statement that Israel is still practicing systematic torture with legal cover from the Israeli judiciary which takes no measure to stop or control those practices, by contrast the Israeli Supreme Court, the highest judicial body, has legitimized the use of torture despite its signing and ratification of the International Convention against Torture. CPR confirmed that all the Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons have been subjected to psychological and physical torture where they have been exposed to the most heinous methods of torture in interrogation centres, as a recent study reported, including shabh (tying hands and feet together from the back for prolonged periods) of all kinds, beatings with cables, suspension from the ceiling, flogging, kicking, cursing, in addition to the threat of house demolitions. The committee called for an international investigation over the death of 70 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons under torture, stressing on the need to press on the occupation state to fulfill the UN and human rights conventions and to bring lawsuits against Israeli occupation officers and soldiers accused of using torture against Palestinian detainees in Israeli occupation prisons. (www.palestine-info.co.uk / 28.06.2012)

Armed rebels abduct 14 Palestinian Liberation Army members in Syria

File photo shows anti-government gangs in Qusayr, 15 km from the ‎western Syrian city of Homs.‎

Fourteen members of the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) have been kidnapped in northern Syria by anti-government armed groups.

The incident occurred on Thursday in the city of Aleppo, where gunmen seized and took away the PLA members at gunpoint.

There were not immediately any reports about the destination the kidnapped men where transported to.

The PLA, considered as the military wing of the Palestine Liberation Organization, was established at the 1964 Arab League summit in Alexandria, with the mission of countering the Israel regime.

Syria has always been deemed as in the frontline of the anti-Israeli resistance and has been praised by Palestinians and the Lebanese for its unflagging support for the resistance in the passage of years.

The country has been plagued by more than a year of rampant violence and bloodshed, which Damascus blames on terrorist elements funded and masterminded from abroad.

In May, Syrian militants abducted 13 Lebanese nationals near the town of Aazaz, which is on the border with Turkey.

The Lebanese were returning to Lebanon after visiting Shia shrines in Iran when the militants reportedly hijacked their bus, then kidnapped the men onboard the vehicle.

( www.presstv.ir / 28.06.2012)

Verbod op het verbieden van de hoofddoek

Wel of geen hoofddoek dragen? Moet het verboden worden of mogen hoofddoekdraagsters hun gang gaan? Een discussie die al jaren wordt gevoerd. Een strijd die nog niet gestreden is.

Een katholieke school in Volendam verbiedt in 2011 een 14-jarig meisje om met haar hoofddoek om op school te verschijnen. Wat is de onderbouwing van de directeur?

“Omdat ik dat vind. Wij zijn een katholieke school en daar horen geen moslimsuitingen bij zoals een hoofddoek”.

Strijd is geen strijd
Een strijd die vroeger geen strijd was. We hebben er tegenwoordig een strijd van gemaakt: een gevecht, een onderlinge oorlog en dat is helemaal onterecht! Het dragen van een hoofddoek is helemaal niet zo negatief. Veel mensen zien het dragen van een hoofddoek tegenwoordig wel negatief. De media, de openbare discussies, de politiek en de strijd tussen religieuze culturen hebben het allemaal anders doen lijken.

Hoofddoek is normaal
Het dragen van de hoofddoek is in de christelijke religie al eeuwen normaal. De hoofddoek verscheen eerder bij de christenen dan bij de moslims. Wie kent niet de hoofddoekdragende nonnen? Zij zijn een voorbeeld van christelijke hoofddoekdraagsters binnen de westerse wereld. Zij dragen de hoofddoek op precies dezelfde manier als moslima’s dat doen. En laten we niet vergeten, ook de heilige maagd Maria, de moeder van Jezus Christus, droeg een hoofddoek. Jaren na en jaren voor de geboorte van Christus was de hoofddoek een normaal kledingstuk binnen de verschillende culturen en religies. Tot niet zo ver terug in de tijd werd er ook in Europa, ook in Nederland het dragen van een hoofddoek als normaal gezien en droegen vrouwen een hoofddoek.

Nonnen
De hoofddoek van nonnen heeft nooit ter discussie gestaan. Zou dat niet moeten? Als we vrouwen verbieden om een hoofddoek te dragen dan moeten we niet generaliseren, discrimineren, mensen in een hokje duwen en alleen op één religie aanspreken omdat die ene religie ons niet aanstaat. We moeten dit dan niet per religie verbieden zoals we dat nu doen, nee, we zouden alle vrouwen moeten verbieden om een hoofddoek te dragen, ongeacht de religie , dus ook de nonnen! Elke vorm van het dragen van een hoofddoek van een religieuze of niet- religieuze volgeling zou verboden moeten worden. We zouden moeten oordelen op daden van een individu.

Dat christenen geen hoofddoek dragen is iets van de moderne tijd en van de westerse wereld. In sommige landen, zoals in Christelijk Arabische gebieden, wordt er nog steeds een hoofddoek gedragen door christelijke vrouwen. Ook het beeld dat moslimse vrouwen gedwongen een hoofddoek dragen is niet correct, de meerderheid van de moderne moslima draagt vrijwillig een hoofddoek, voor dit column sprak ik er een aantal, de uitkomst was verbazend anders dan het beeld dat de media schetst.

Laten we stoppen met deze zinloze discussie, met de ander te verwijten dat zij iets niet mogen doen wat we zelf ook doen en gedaan hebben, laten we stoppen met het zaaien van haat, met het wijzen met een vinger naar de ander.

De hoofddoek bewijst juist dat er overeenkomst is tussen religies!

(George Arakel / voorbeeld-allochtoon.nl / 28.06.2012)

Can Zionism fool all of the people all of the time?

By Tariq Shadid - The Israeli colonization of Palestine continues unabated, and the political show that protects and enables it has become a boring and repetitive charade. At the same time, it serves to feed the agendas, wallets and speeches of politicians and others who like to pretend that they believe in a ‘negotiated solution’. It doesn’t take a genius to see how this deceptive game works, but it may be helpful to those whose eyes are filled with the sand that routinely gets sprinkled into them by Zionist spin doctors and their supporters around the world, to have the scenario spelled out in a clear and unambiguous way. First of all, let us have a look at the cast, as well as the audience, in this theater of deceit. Of course, first of all there are Israelis and Palestinians; then there is the Arab world, the United States, the so-called ‘Quartet’ and the International Community. Each of these play their own role in making sure that the charade continues, effectively resulting in the continuing theft and colonization of more and more Palestinian land. This is what we have seen, and this is what we will continue to see if nothing changes. Nowadays, the ‘debate’ centers around ‘settlements’ and ‘settlers’. Let’s have a look at what this is really about. ‘Settlers’: ‘Israel”s trained and armed terrorist militia The first deception that needs to be exposed for what it is, is the fake distinction between ‘Israelis’ on the one hand, and ‘settlers’ on the other. If you follow mainstream media, you would be tempted to believe that Israelis are ordinary citizens in a democracy that is similar to the democracies of Europe or the American continent, while settlers are religious extremist fanatics who often are at odds with the Israeli establishment. If you believe this, you are actually wrong twice, since the Israelis are not ordinary citizens but themselves settlers or their offspring, who all – men and women – have served their mandatory time in the military for training. Those who are called ‘settlers’ are Israelis from that same population, who are further armed, financed and trained by that same Israeli establishment, and showered in luxury in order to tempt them to populate the new Zionist colonies on stolen Palestinian land. Those they call ‘Israeli citizens’ live in the older Zionist colonies, that were established by the expulsion of the indigenous Palestinians and the destruction of their villages and cities in 1948. The so-called ‘settlers’ live in the newer colonies, established in a similar way on lands occupied in 1967. If you wish to be confused and misled, go ahead and fall for that deceptive distinction, and you will fail to see that the settlements are the outposts of the Israeli colonization of Palestine, populated by their armed terrorist militia that works closely with the Israeli army. This cooperation is illustrated most clearly by the way that the Israeli army protects the settlers when they conduct their destructive rampages through Palestinian villages and farmlands. Financing disunity As for the Palestinians, they are tied down by the harsh circumstances of the occupation, as well as by their own flaws. One of the reasons for the complexity of their situation is of their own doing, namely their faction-inspired disunity. It lays the perfect groundwork for the Israelis to practice ‘divide and conquer’. Being dependent on money from the West is the main factor that keeps the Palestinian Authority toeing the line in this sordid game. It is to be hoped that they realize what staying in the game means for the future of the Palestinians, but their lamenting ritual usually steers away from criticizing the most essential deceptions of the charade.  On June 8th, the PA complained about Israel’s settlement policies with the following words: “This Israeli government’s priority is to appease the settlers, not to resolve the conflict.” Keeping what was commented on previously in mind, they have it all wrong; Israel’s priority is to tighten their grip on Palestinian land which they plan to never return. The ‘settlers’ are the armed terrorist militia that they have deployed for this goal. Settlement debates, even in Israeli parliament, are just part of the show. Good cop, bad cop: they need to condemn, we need to build This leads us to one of the main actors that enable this show to keep its Palestinian-land-devouring momentum: the United States of America. Under the deceptive layers of theatrical grime and costumes, it basically boils down to a ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine, with the USA posing as the ‘good cop’. A quick overview of almost two decades of ‘Oslo’ negotiations clearly displays that the United States support Israel’s settlement policies as much as they support the Israeli occupation itself, in spite of their efforts at claiming the opposite. The USA ‘condemns’ Israeli settlement expansion in words, while at the same time funding it with millions of American taxpayers’ dollars. Even in this ‘era of communication’, action still speaks louder than words. On June 7th, Ariel Attias, Israeli Housing Minister, summed up the US-Israeli charade on settlement expansion.”They need to condemn. We need to build.” Does it come any clearer than that? Crocodile tears in the audience No show is any good without an audience, and even that is something that has been well-provided for. Since the beginning of this century, the world has been introduced to a new player at the table, namely the ‘Quartet’. This basically non-existent entity is said to be comprised of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, and supposedly plays the role of a more objective force that has the capability of representing the International Community. In fact, what it truly serves as is a neutralizing chip that is meant to create a semblance of this representation, with as its main objective to render the International Community passive and inactive. This is why this so-called Quartet is barely ever mentioned, unless there is an issue that seems to require the opinion of the ‘outside world’.  When the ‘Quartet’ does speak, all it does is shed a few crocodile tears about the ‘tragedy of the ongoing conflict’. This should be no surprise, since at least 50 % of this group entails two main pro-Israeli forces: Europe, birthplace, trading partner and moral hostage of ‘Israel’, and the United States, the big bulldog that is sworn to protect Israel’s interests at whatever financial, military or strategic cost. If the idea was to have this balanced into impartiality by the presence of the United Nations (which has both these forces strongly represented in it as well, including American veto power) and by Russia, which has lost all interest in the Israeli question ever since it threw off Communism, we only deserve the title of gullible fools if we buy into this. You would think no one would, but the sad fact is that many in the International Community do, even while knowing better than to do so. Arabs: no fingers to make a fist Motivated by selfishness, lack of principle, and a cocktail of moral, economical and strategic weakness, this last group is most visibly represented by the Arab nations. We can’t even blame the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ for this, since all these factors have been rendering the Arab voice – and even more so the Arab fist – impotent in the face of Zionism at least since the 70′s. What we do see however, is how ‘Israel’ plays its cards comfortably to the backdrop of increased Arab disarray in this period of revolution. At times it appeals to the West for sympathy when it depicts potentially successful Arab revolutions as a threat to its existence. At other times it uses human rights violations in Arab states in revolutionary turmoil as an excuse to boost its own deceitful image as ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’, while making gestures of benevolence (like its fake utterances of sympathy for Syrian civilian victims) that attempt to mask its deeply and inherently racist anti-Arab ideology. Will we be fooled all of the time? Having seen all of this, the question remains: isn’t there anyone who sees through this ridiculously dirty setup? Why has this deceitful theater show been allowed to continue for two decades, resulting in nothing but a tightened Israeli grip on territories it occupies in violation of International Law and United Nations resolutions? The answer to this question is not as far-fetched as it may seem at first sight. In a world run by governments that manage to confuse their citizens by instigating as much bickering as possible over domestic issues, while drawing unwarranted mandates from these populations to manage their foreign policies in any way they please to, it is not to be marveled at that governments and main stream media are doing everything they can to keep up appearances. In other words, it is not because they themselves fail to see through the charade, but because they have a stake in it. And the rest of us? Ordinary citizens, with an inquisitive mind of our own, who do not enjoy being taken for fools? We see through it, and we search for tools to unmask it, to oppose it, and to defuse it. Keeping in mind that many Palestinian family incomes depend directly upon the existence of a Palestinian Authority, there are not many Palestinians who truly believe that the words used in those charades actually have any meaning. The same goes for many of those who inhabit the Arab World and other ex-colonies of the West, many of them recognizing the patterns of these deceptive political games. As for the populations of the United States and Europe, awareness of the situation is on a steady increase thanks to the courageous efforts of pro-Palestinian activists and writers, despite desperate attempts by Zionist ‘sayanim’ and other (often paid) protagonists of Zionism to flood social media with their propaganda. The words of Abraham Lincoln spring to mind: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” Two decades is quite a lot of time, and the hour is nearing when we must prove that Lincoln was right. Soon enough, the curtain on this political charade must fall, and the show must be over. (www.docjazz.com / 28.06.2012)

Uprooting olive trees: Nature or politics?

Palestinian farmers say discrimination, not a concern for the land, are at the root of an order to uproot olive trees in a northern nature reserve.

Deir Istya council head Nazmi Salman, right, says Israel’s order to remove 1,400 olive trees is discriminatory.

An armed Israeli settler aims a rifle at a Palestinian in the West Bank village of Assira al-Kibliya on May 19, 2012.Photo by Settler aims a rifle at a Palestinian

One of the most complex challenges facing the Israel Nature and Parks Authority is finding the balance between protecting the nature in its reserves and allowing agriculture to flourish. This has become a particularly complicated issue in the Wadi Kana nature reserve in the northern West Bank, where the debate is not only focused on land, nature and the environment, but as is often the case in this country, it has become a question of politics.

Last week, residents of the Palestinian village of Deir Istya, including village council head Nazmi Salman, asked the High Court of Justice to halt an order to remove 1,400 olive trees from the nature reserve. In response to their petition, submitted through Attorney Alaa Mahajna, the court ordered that the removal be put on hold until justices have a chance to discuss the petition.

The Wadi Kana Nature Reserve, one of the largest reserves in the region, features typical Mediterranean woodlands, unique habitats centered on natural pools and privately-owned Palestinian farmland on which Palestinians have worked for generations. According to the bylaws of the reserve, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority must allow the continuation of all farming that was practiced on the site before it was declared a nature reserve in 1983.

Despite this, two months ago, the INPA and the Civil Administration ordered the Palestinians to remove their trees, because the authority said the trees represent a creeping expansion of cultivation at the expense of natural growth, which is being destroyed. In addition, the authority claimed that the Palestinians have built farming terraces and water diverting ditches.

“This type of damage, to the tune of millions of shekels, is being financed by special interest groups in the area,” wrote Yossi Wurtzberger, an aide to the director general of the INPA, in a letter addressed to Mahajna. He did not specify which interest groups were funding the work, but it seems he was likely referring to the Palestinian Authority.

The Civil Administration, in its response to Mahajna’s request to halt the removal order, claimed that the planting of the olive trees caused heavy damage to the reserve, as it entailed clearing the ground for farming and installing irrigation systems. “The rules of conduct for nature reserves state that one cannot bring any plant into reserves that is likely to propagate, in order to protect existing natural values.” The director general also said that INPA inspectors do not keep owners of agricultural land from farming species that existed in the reserve prior to 1983. “This arrangement is not unique to Judea and Samaria. It is the law of every nature reserve in Israel where there is privately owned land,” he added.

In the petition he submitted to the High Court after receiving these official responses, Mahajna notes that the INPA failed to provide any factual basis that proved the olive trees had caused environmental damage. According to him, installing irrigation systems and constructing terraces have nothing to do with planting olive trees.

“Throughout the reserve there are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of acres of orchards and cultivated land preserving the authentic landscape of the wadi and the natural values of this place,” Mahajna wrote in the petition. “The only reason that the olive trees were ordered removed and other cultivated species were not is that these are relatively new and their owners decided to reassign usage of their farmland from one species to another. “In other words, the heavy damage to the reserve is not the least bit heavy.” On the other hand, according to Mahajna, uprooting the trees represents unwarranted harm to private Palestinian property.

The High Court of Justice will have to address the political aspect of managing the reserve, since it was brought up by both sides. The INPA referred to it when it hinted that special interest groups connected to the Palestinian Authority were funding the planting, whereas Mahajna’s petition accused the Civil Administration and the INPA of discriminating against Palestinians.

“Within the Wadi Kana Nature Reserve there are dozens of permanent structures built without permits, not to mention other encroachments on reserve land perpetrated by settlers on a daily basis, and no steps are taken against them,” the petition stated. “The order issued represents illegitimate discrimination on the grounds of nationality. When compared to the Jewish settlers living in the settlements and outposts near the reserve, there is no equality in the application of various means of enforcement against Palestinians.”

In addition to the olive tree issue, there is a seemingly symbolic matter that has yet to be addressed by the Civil Administration and the INPA, which prompts questions about their claim that the Wadi Kana Nature Reserve is meant to be “a meeting place in the midst of nature for the whole population, both Jews and Arabs.” The sign at the entrance to the reserve is written in Hebrew and English, but not in Arabic.

In response to a query about the sign posed by Haaretz about six months ago, the Civil Administration promised that Arabic would be added. Since then, administration personnel and INPA inspectors have found plenty of time to monitor Palestinian plantings closely, but they still have not managed to keep their pledge to add Arabic to the sign.

“This was a mistake, and we will fix it,” promised Moti Shefer of the INPA this week. “All the nature reserves in Judea and Samaria having signs in all three languages.”

(www.haaretz.com / 28.06.2012)