The Obama Administration has responded critically to the decision from an Israeli court to give an Israeli border police officer just community service for his entirely unjustified attack on an American teenager. Tariq Khdeir, 15, a Palestinian-American, was beaten by the officer, whose name has been withheld by the courts to avoid any further repercussions for him or his family. The beating was filmed after the officer caught the teenager near a riot in East Jerusalem in July 2014. Despite this evidence (and no evidence of just cause) the Israeli court gave the officer just 45 days of community service and a suspended prison term of four months.
Here is the video showing the officer stomping on the teenager and hitting him despite his being on the ground and apparently immobilized. Indeed, he appears unconscious as they carry him to the road but he is again attacked by the officer:
State prosecutors requested a seven-month jail term for the beating after international outrage over the video.
The Court however noted the officer’s remorse and his service to the state security forces as mitigating circumstances.
Tariq, who was 15 at the time, was spending the summer with relatives in East Jerusalem when violence broke out over the gruesome killing of his cousin Muhammad Abu Khdeir, 16, by Jewish extremists. The killers reportedly acted to avenge the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli youths by Palestinian militants in the West Bank. Police said that Tariq was masked and holding a wooden slingshot when the officer chased him.
The State Department has sharply criticized the Israeli handling of the case in the following statement from Spokesperson John Kirby:
We were disappointed to learn that the Israeli police officer who severely beat American teenager Tariq Abu Khdeir in July of 2014 was spared prison time by an Israeli court yesterday. Given the clear evidence captured on videotape of the excessive use of force, it is difficult to see how this sentence would promote full accountability for the actions of the police officer in this case. We understand there is a possibility for the Israeli state prosecutor to appeal the decision, and we’re going to continue to follow that closely, as you might expect.
I’ll just state again, the safety, security, and protection of American citizens overseas is of paramount importance for this Administration, and we have demonstrated repeatedly – we’ve demonstrated that repeatedly in cases all over the globe.
Here is a statement from the family of Tariq Abu Khdeir:
“To hear that the officer responsible for the inhumane beating of our young son, Tariq, was only sentenced to one-and-a-half months of community service is a shameful slap on the wrist and sends the wrong message that Israel tolerates the violent, extrajudicial beating of children. We continue to demand that justice be served, for the officers that participated in his cruel beating to be held accountable in a transparent manner, and for assurances that such treatment of Palestinian minors by Israeli forces will end.”
I cannot imagine how a court could justify community service in the face of this videotape evidence. Even if the teenager was guilty of some crime (for which he was not charged), the beating was clearly excessive and unjustified. Community service is hardly a commensurate punishment for the beating received by this American teenager.
What do you think?
As Is aid above, ISrael is the biggest killer of Palestinian women, where is your outrage at that? Nowhere because you feel those murders justified.
Where is your outrage at the illegal imprisonment and torture of Palestinian women by israel?
It is thanks to women like you and their selective support of women in danger that misogyny and the murder rates of women keep rising around the world.
Thanks for letting your gender down and supporting men’s oppression of women.
And were you not the one who supported ad justified the slamming of the 16 year old girl by the cop? I am a better supporter of women’s right than you are. What a shame.
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Highest number of Palestinian women prisoners in Israeli jails since 2011.
The largest number of Palestinian women political prisoners since the Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange in 2011 is currently imprisoned in Israeli jails. They are from the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Palestinians from occupied Palestine ’48 (citizens of Israel.)
Hasharon prison, which imprisons most women prisoners is now “overcrowded;” three Palestinian girls – Jihan Ereikat, Marah Bakri and Istabraq Nour – are now being held in Asqelan prison, which is primarily a men’s prison; some Palestinian boys are held there as well. They have demanded their immediate transfer to a women’s prison.
Six of the Palestinian women prisoners are injured by Israeli soldier and settler bullets: Shurouq Dwayyat, Hilweh Darwish Hamamreh, Israa Ja’abis, Marah Bakri, Istabraq Nour and Amal Taqatqa.
Two Palestinian women are being held under administrative detention, arbitrarily imprisoned without charge or trial. They are among over 400 administrative detainees, Palestinians imprisoned under secret evidence. Jurin Qadah from Ramallah and Asmaa Hamdan from Nazareth – a Palestinian citizen of Israel – are both held in administrative detention.
Khalida Jarrar, the imprisoned Palestinian parliamentarian, feminist, leftist and advocate for prisoners, had been held in administrative detention; an international outcry pushed her case to Israeli military courts (which are no more just than administrative detention) where she faces 12 purely political charges against her for speaking, writing, talking to the media and attending events. Jarrar’s case has been postponed repeatedly as the military prosecution fail to produce witnesses to support their charges.
There is a long history of the imprisonment and resistance of Palestinian women from the earliest days of Palestinian organizing and resistance. The film “Women in Struggle” by director Buthaina Canaan Khoury and “Une Vie Suspendue,” a photographic exhibition by Algerian-Belgian photographer Asmaa Seba are two of the artistic projects based on expressing the stories of Palestinian women political prisoners over the years.
Nahla Abdo, Arab feminist scholar, has released a new book, Captive Revolution, on the struggles of Palestinian women political prisoners in Israeli jails. Read an article by Abdo here. Reham Alhelsi, a Palestinian writer, has written about the lives of Palestinian political prisoners: read her article at this link.
Addameer reported that “they are held in overcrowded cells, with lack of access to basic human needs such as hygiene, nutritious food and proper clothing and blankets. Furthermore, female prisoners are subjected to harsh conditions during their interrogation, including beatings, insults, threats, sexual harassment and humiliation by Israeli interrogators. Often they must undergo degrading and intrusive body searches during transfers to court hearings and sometimes during the middle of the night as a punitive measure.”
G4S, a British-Danish security company – the largest in the world – and the target of a massive international boycott campaign for its involvement in human rights violations, provides the security system at HaSharon prison.
It is also important in this context to note the case of Rasmea Odeh, former Palestinian political prisoner in Israeli jailsin Israeli jails and torture survivor, who is currently subject to persecution in the United States on the basis of her former imprisonment by the Israeli occupation regime. She has been convicted of immigration violations and faces imprisonment and deportation; her case is currently on appeal. Rasmea’s case is also that of a Palestinian women political prisoner, continuing to struggle for justice against oppression.
Profiles of Palestinian Women Prisoners:
1. Lina Jarbouni, 41, from Akka, is a Palestinian citizen of Israel who worked in sewing workshops and was arrested in 2002. She is ill and suffers from a number of diseases. Lina is often the spokesperson and representative of women prisoners in HaSharon; sentenced to 17 years, she has five years remaining in her sentence. She received this lengthy sentence for “aiding the enemy” – Palestinian resistance.
She has been subjected to medical neglect and mistreatment and was denied essential surgery until women prisoners launched a hunger strike for her medical treatment. She has applied for compassionate release due to her medical situation, which has been denied. In 2011, when the other women Palestinian political prisoners were released in the Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange, the Israeli state refused to release her, saying that as an Israeli citizen, she wss not eligible to be released in the exchange. Click here to download Samidoun’s Lina Jarbouni poster.
2. Mona Qa’adan, 43, was sentenced to 70 months (nearly six years) imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 NIS (approximately 7,500 USD), convicted of membership in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement and running a women’s organization allegedly associated with the movement.
Qa’adan has been detained since November 13, 2012, and her trial was postponed repeatedly, over twenty times. She has been denied family visits continually since her arrest, for two and one-half years. Both her brother and her fiance are also held in Israeli prisons.
3. Khalida Jarrar, 52, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council for the Abu Ali Mustafa Bloc, a prominent leftist, feminist and advocate for Palestinian prisoners – a board member of Addameer – was arrested by the Israeli occupation military in her home on 2 April. This arrest came following her rejection – and defeat – of an attempt to forcibly displace her from her Ramallah home to Jericho by the Israeli military in August 2014.
Jarrar was initially held under administrative detention without charge or trial; following an international outcry, she was then charged in an Israeli military court with 12 charges, all of which are entirely political in nature and many of which directly pertain to her advocacy to free Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Her trial has been repeatedly delayed as the military prosecution have been unable to present witnesses speaking to the accusations against her. Click here to visit Samidoun’s Khalida Jarrar resource page, visit the Free Khalida Jarrar campaigncampaign, or download a poster for her case.
4. Hala Musallam Abu Sal, 18, from Al-Arroub refugee camp near Hebron, was arrested on 28 November 2014 because she refused to be searched at a military checkpoint set up in Hebron’s Old City. When she was forcibly searched after being threatened with guns, she was accused of possessing a small knife. It should be noted that illegal Israeli settlers regularly walk around Hebron, where they have occupied and expelled Palestinians, carrying large guns and other weapons.
5. Maysoun Moussa, 19, a university student from Shawawra village near Bethlehem, was arrested on 30 June 2015 and accused of carrying out a resistance action against an occupation soldier at a checkpoint in Bethlehem. Maysoun’s wedding was coming up within two months and she had upcoming appointments to look at wedding dresses the day she was arrested. Her family has discussed the raid on their home and their experience of their home being ransacked .
6. Asmaa Hamdan, 19, is a Palestinian citizen of Israel who is being held under administrative detention without charge or trial for sending a text message to her family expressing her wish to struggle and die for Jerusalem and Palestine, saying “I want to defend Jerusalem. I prefer to stand beside my people.” She is the first Palestinian woman citizen of Israel in fifteen years to be placed under administrative detention.
7. Amal Saadeh, of Halhoul, was arrested on 18 November 2014, accused of attempting to smuggle a mobile phone to her imprisoned brother Mohammed, who is serving a 17 year sentence in Iraeli occupation prison. She was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment on 18 July.
8. Shurouq Dwayyat, 18, a first year university student at Bethlehem University, from Sur Bahir south of occupied Jerusalem, was shot with live bullets on 7 October by an illegal Israeli settler colonist. Israeli occupation forces raided her home and detained her gfather and sister; she was cuffed to the bed in her hospital room and denied family visits. As she walked towards Al-Aqsa Mosque, a settler taunting Palestinians attempted to remove her hijab, she pushed him away in self-defense and he then shot her and accused her of attempting to stab him. Shurouq now remains injured and imprisoned. Shurouq’s brother has been issued an order to demolish his home by the Israeli occupation, under the pretext of building without a permit.
9. Haniyeh Nasser, 25, is a Palestinian political prisoner who was released in 2011 as part of the Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange with the Palestinian resistance. She was rearrested on 10 December 2014 as part of large-scale raids targeting former prisoners and releasees. Israeli Military Order 1651 allows former prisoners to be reimprisoned on previous charges on the basis of secret evidence. Her original sentence was reimposed upon her on 30 April 2015.
10. Ihsan Dababseh, 29, a former Palestinian prisoner who was arrested on 15 October 2014 2014 after she refused to report for interrogation. Her computer was seized. Riham Alhelsi reported,reported, “Israeli occupation soldiers raided her house several times, sent her 4 summons and threatened to blow up her house of she didn’t come to interrogation center. She went with her mother to detention center and was detained and her personal computer was confiscated, while her mother told to leave. ”
During her prior arrest from 2007 to 2009, the Israeli occupation soldiers who had arrested and blindfolded her made this video of themselves dancing around her as she was blindfolded and against the wall:
11. Jurin Qadah, 19, of Shiqba, near Ramallah, is the second Palestinian woman subject to administrative detention without charge or trial. A second-year media student at Bir Zeit University, Qadah was ordered by an Israeli occupation military court to three months imprisonment without charge or trial on 4 November. Her home was invaded by Israeli occupation forces on 28 October; Jurin was injured by Israeli soldiers taken away and sent almost immediately to administrative detention.
12. Nurhan Awad, 14, was shot and severely injured by Israeli occupation forces on 23 November, while her cousin Hadeel was killed by occupation forces. Nurhan and Hadeel were accused of attempting to stab Israeli settlers with scissors, and running away, after which they were shot by Israeli occupation forces. Video clearly shows Nurhan being shot as she lay motionless on the ground, the occupation forces above her. Nurhan is currently being detained while hospitalized for her severe injuries:
13. Sabreen Abu Sharar, 25, a doctor, has been imprisoned by Israeli occupation forces since 7 June. Abu Sharar graduated with her medical degree from Kasr al-Aini medical school in Cairo in 2014 and was working an the Al-Khalil public hospital; her home in al-Khalil was raided by 15-20 soldiers in the middle of the night and she was taken by occupation forces. Sabreen’s mother is an American citizen, but Sabreen renounced her U.S. citizenship in protest of U.S. support for the occupation. She has spoken about being subject to physical and psychological torture and abuse in prison, including being imprisoned in a cell one and a half meters by one and a half meters, given only a dirty mattress, denied sleep, threatened and attacked by her interrogators.
14. Filastin Nijm, 28, from Nablus, was arrested on 27 November 2013. A former prisoner who served 16 months in Israeli prisons, she was again arrested by Israeli occupation soldiers at a checkpoint under charges of possessing a small knife and sentenced to four years imprisonment and fined. Reham Alhelsi quoted Filastin discussing the conditions in Israeli prisons:
It is a journey of slow death; an iron structure with iron chairs and walls, smell of vomit is everywhere, and there is no toilet or ventilation despite the fact that the journey in the “bosta” lasts hours and the weekly “journey” for some prisoners… It is very cold, seats are very close to each other to the point of causing pain to the knee, joints and back. The prisoner cannot sit in a comfortable position, because of the restrictions and hand and leg shackles. She also remembers the waiting rooms at the Ofer prison before the court session: “My court session ends in the morning hours, but they keep me held in the dirty waiting rooms until the end of all trials, i.e. at around 17:00, to send me back to Hasharon…. These rooms are as dirty as a dumpsite; there are insects and cockroaches, the smell of humidity is stark, there is lack of air and sun, you cannot use the toilet, even if you need it urgently, because of its dirtiness and the filth is beyond description.”
15. Wiam ‘Aseeda, 23, 22, a student at Al-Najah University from Tel village near Nablus, was beaten to the ground by Israeli soldiers at Zaatara checkpoint ouside Nablus on 11 November 2013, then handcuffed and taken away in a police car, accused of possessing a knife. She is now held in HaSharon prison, sentenced to 32 months imprisonment. Wiam’s brother Asem was killed by Israeli occupation forces.
16. Alia Abbasi, 50, of Jerusalem, the mother of Palestinian political prisoner Issa Daoud Abbasi, is serving a 26-month prison sentence, accused of attempting to stab an Israeli occupation soldier at a checkpoint in Shuafat in 2012. She spent two years under house arrest and was sentenced in June 2014.
17. Shifa Obeid Shallodi, 35, was arrested with her 11-year-old child and other young relatives in Silwan on 21 October, when their home was stormed by Israeli occupation forces. Her detention has been extended repeatedly; on 20 November, she was ordered released subject to house arrest and 10,000 NIS bail, but the occupation military continues to hold her and is appealing the order of her release.
18. Najwan Odeh works in the Qatar Charity Palestine Office in Al-Bireh, and presents a women’s radio program on Ramallah FM Radio. She was arrested by Israeli occupation forces after a dawn raid on her home on 7 September. She was arrested along with two other employees of the foundation, Jawdah al-Jamal and Fadi Manasra, accused of transferring funds to “hostile organizations.” When she came to court, she delivered a number of messages from other women prisoners, urging they be broadcast on the radio to reach their families.
19. Shireen Issawi, 32, is a Palestinian lawyer who has been imprisoned since 6 March 2014, along with her brother Medha. Her other brother, Samer Issawi,, is also imprisoned and was previously freed due to a 260+ day hunger strike. He has now had his former sentence reimposed under an Israeli military order that provides for sentence reimposition under secret evidence.
Shireen and Medhat are being accused of providing extra funds to imprisoned Palestinians to spend at the canteen (prison commissary) from their friends and supporters. There is an international campaign for the release of Shireen, who was awarded the Al-Karama Human Rights Award in Geneva, Switzerland on 10 December 2014.
20. Ibtisam Hamarsheh, 60, from Yaboud near Jenin, was sentenced to six months imprisonment by an Israeli occupation military court on 25 July, after being accused of attempting to smuggle a mobile phone to her imprisoned son.
She had been under house arrest in her sister’s home in Umm al-Fahm since 25 May.
21. Fathiyeh Khanfar, 61, from Jenin, is serving an 11-month sentence in Israeli occupation prisons after years of house arrest and hearings accusing her of sending a SIM card to her imprisoned son. She is suffering from poor health, including high blood pressure, and had several recent surgeries. She has been denied access to proper ventilation or clean water and is suffering heavily.
22. Nisrin Hassan, 40, a Palestinian citizen of Israel married to a Palestinian from Gaza, was arrested by Israeli occupation forces on 5 November and accused of photographing Israeli military sites in order to benefit the Palestinian resistance.
23. Dunia Waked, 36, from Tulkarem refugee camp, was arrested from her home in a night-time raid by Israeli occupation forces on 27 May 2013. She was denied lawyer visits until 16 June 2013. She is engaged to Palestinian political prisoner Mohammed Waked, who has served 11 years of a 29 year sentence. She has been sentenced to 42 months in prison, accused of attempting to provide imprisoned Palestinians additional funds in their canteen accounts on behalf of their political organization, Hamas. Two of Dunya’s brothers were killed by Israeli occupation forces. The Palestine Prisoners Center for Studies denounced the sentence as arbitrary and based on little evidence. She has developed diabetes only since her arrest and suffers from asthma.
24. Amal Taqatqa, 23, of Beit Fajjar near Bethlehem, was shot and arrested on 1 December 2014 near Gush Etzion illegal settlement south of Bethlehem after a settler approached Israeli occupation soldiers in the area and accused her of attempting to stab him. Despite sensationalistic media reporting, the settler in question was in fact uninjured and required no medical treatment, and Amal denies even touching the settler. She was shot with live ammunition and seriously injured and hospitalized. She was charged on 19 December with “attempted murder” despite the clear lack of evidence. Amal’s family was harrassed, interrogated and abused by Israeli soldiers following her shooting, with testimony provided to Al-Haq.
25. Thurayya Taha, 21, is a student in media and technology at Al-Quds Open University. From Beit Ilu in Ramallah area, she was arrested on 26 July 2014 in the Old City of Jerusalem; she was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment on 12 February 2015.
26. Rawan Abu Matar, 17, was arrested on 16 July 2015, accused of engaging in a resistance action of stabbing an occupation soldier at a military checkpoint outside the illegal Nahliel settlement northwest of Ramallah. Rawan is from Beit Ilu in Ramallah area.
27. Marah al-Bakri, 17, was shot up to ten times by an illegal Israeli settler on 14 October as she and her friend walked from the Abdullah Ben Hussein Girls School in Jerusalem. She was then accused of attempting to stab an occupation border police officer. She remains imprisoned following hospitalization for her wounds.
28. Jihan Ereikat, 17, from Eizariyya east of Jerusalem, was taken by Israeli occupation forces from outside the Ibrahimi Mosque on 27 October. She and her sister Nour were passing in front of the mosque when occupation soldiers stopped and demanded to search them. They refused and were arrested, accused of possessing knives in their bags. Two guards of the mosque, Salah Jabari and Jehad Jabari, were also arrested when they intervened and prevented the occupation soldiers from shooting the girls.
29. Hilweh Darwish Hamamreh, 25, from Husam village near Bethlehem, was shot and severely injured by Israeli occupation forces outside the settlement of Beitar Illit near Bethlehem on 8 November. She remains hospitalized and her detention has been extended repeatedly; she has been in a coma, is married and a mother. She is accused of attempting to stab a settlement security guard in a Palestinian resistance action, who was lightly injured.
30. Istabraq Noor, 15, from Madama, south of Nablus, was shot on 21 October by Israeli occupation forces near the illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar built on occupied and confiscated Palestinian land. Israeli forces claimed that she was attempting to sneak into and attack the settlement. She remains imprisoned after hospitalization for her wounds. “The Yizhar settlement where Noor was shot overnight has gained notoriety among both Israelis and Palestinians as a bastion of extremists and its Israeli residents regularly carry out attacks on Palestinians and their property.”
31. Israa Jaabes, 31, of Jabal Mukaber, living in Al-Tur, is hospitalized with severe burns after a fire in her car near Al-Zayem checkpoint near Jerusalem on 12 October. Her car stopped before the checkpoint; there was a fire in the car, her airbag exploded and she was injured and hospitalized. Israeli occupation forces are accusing her of attempting to engage in a resistance operation and exploding her car; the car did not explode and Israa was the only person injured in the fire inside the car. Witnesses have stated that it looked as if the car suffered an electrical fault.
32. Donya Musleh, 19, Palestinian refugee and university student living in Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem, was arrested by Israeli occupation forces invading the camp on 16 November, who invaded her home and took her away. Donya is an activist with the Progressive Student Labor Front, a leftist Palestinian university students’ organization.
33. Samiya Mahahreh, 30, was arrested on 9 November as she entered Eshel prison to visit her imprisoned husband Fahmi, accused of attempting to smuggle a mobile phone to her husband. Her detention has been repeatedly extended.
34. Leen al-Hih, 18, of Surif, was arrested by Israeli occupation forces on 19 November at the Container checkpoint near blocked-off Shuhada street, accused of trying to cross the roadblock there.
35. Abeer al-Qadi, 45, was taken from her home in Surif near al-Khalil on 17 November in a late-night raid by Israeli occupation forces. Her husband, Ahmad, said that Israeli forces ransacked the home and took 65,000 NIS ($20,000).
36. Hiba Jubran, 16, a student, was arrested near Beit Sahour east of Bethlehem as she walked to school, along with Hadeel Qalbiya and Nour Salama. The three were arrested by Israeli occupation forces on 19 November and are being accused of “possessing knives.”
37. Hadeel Qalbiya, 16, a student, was arrested near Beit Sahour east of Bethlehem as she walked to school, along with Hiba Jubran and Nour Salama. The three were arrested by Israeli occupation forces on 19 November and are being accused of “possessing knives.”
38. Nour Nidal Salama, 16, a student, was arrested near Beit Sahour east of Bethlehem as she walked to school, along with Hiba Jubran and Hadeel Qalbiya. The three were arrested by Israeli occupation forces on 19 November and are being accused of “possessing knives.”
karen, let me offer again my response to your falsehoods early, which you gloss over as usual, instead, raising some straw men and red herrings.
I disproved every single one of your claims, will you address them?
And how can you claim to care for Muslim women when the BIGGEST KILLER of Palestinian women is Israel?
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Karen S
1, November 23, 2015 at 11:42 pm
If any non-Muslim tried to lay claim to Mecca, Muslims the world over would go insane.
uh, who made that argument? Who is laying claim to Jerusalem? Palestinians are ok with their half, which is the part israel is trying to claim.
And yet, Israel suffers terrorist attacks every day.
uh, who made that argument? Palestinians are under occupation, their children killed daily, unable to move around their own land, their olive groves uprooted, their land and homes taken over and demolished…
Most Palestinians actually are descended from migrant Arabs who came in order to take advantage of the jobs that Great Britain offered, building Israel. It was sparsely populated, according to census from the Ottoman Empire. In fact, the Arab portion of the region that was known as Palestine is now Jordan. Israel is the teeny tiny portion left over that encompasses the “Mecca” to the Jews, its holy land held sacred for thousands of years. Its religious significance to Muslims pales by comparison in relation to Mecca or Medina.
uh, that’s the biggest BS you have made that far!!!! Actually, native Jews (no, not the white Russian and Americans who have more right to a land they never lived in than the Palestinians who have always been there) share the same dna as those native Palestinians.
Who do you think you are, karen, P aul? Rewriting history does not work, you do not have the leisure of fact-making, karen
Israel has the right to exist. It is a tiny country that could fit inside the state of CA almost 20 times. If it keeps losing land, it will leave it more open to missile attacks.
uh, who made that argument? Losing land? Are you serious? Israel keeps losing land? Maybe all along, karen, you mistook Israel for Palestine!!! no wonder we were all so confused by your silly arguments
http://www.jvpchicago.org/resources/brief-history
I used to consider the option to make Israel some kind of international park, a global historical site. Govern it by a non-religious, neutral third party, and allow people just to visit and not live there at all. Like Disneyland. Allow people of all faiths or none to visit. But since the Middle East’s main objection is that they will never tolerate or accept a non-Muslim country in the region, this would make no difference. The interminable wars and terrorist attacks would just keep grinding on. When is it going to be enough? They have a right to exist. The Palestinian Authority has vowed never to accept that. How do you compromise with an organization or movement that demands your complete destruction? You can’t. It’s unreasonable. And it’s enough.
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uh, interesting, that is actually what Jerusalem is supposed to be, per international laws, owned by neither party and open to everyone, an international city, if you will. ..which is what it WAS before the creation of Israel…:)))))))))).
Israel is recognized by… its neighbors Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, UEA, even the Palestinian authority…
Now guess who says there will NEVER be a Palestinian state? The Likud party, and most of the Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu.
“Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday said that the Palestinian people recognize Israel’s right to exist and they hope the Israeli government will respond by “recognizing the Palestinian state on the borders of the land occupied in 1967.” The PA president’s comments came in a speech to the Dutch parliament in the Hague.”
Karen, karen, karen, why keep talking about something you know little about? Why take sides for a country that keeps murdering defenseless women and children, that keeps blowing children playing on the beach, that supports people who light aflame a sleeping family, causing the death of a baby, a toddler and of their mother…and lets the guy out, celebrated publicly, after 3 months in “prison”?
Where is your so called support for women’s rights and the plight of children? Or is it only reserved for the Israelis, no one else? Thank you for clarifying your stance!
Po:
“Let it be noted, karen, that while you claim to support the rights and welfare of women and children everywhere, you, karen, support the ongoing murder and massacre of Palestinians women and children.” That is the most clumsy falsehood I’ve ever read, disproved by this very post in which I condemned both the beating of this teenager and the light sentence.
Another falsehood you knowingly posted was that Palestinians are just fine letting Israel exist, quite content with what they believe should be their portion of land. This is disproved by your multiple posts on the topic of Israel, as well as this direct quote about the excision of the parts of their charter that specifically calls for ethnic cleansing of Jews:
The only manner in which I have ever criticized Islam is when it is violent and extremist. Every time I have done so, instead of nodding along with me, as a supposed moderate, saying of course extremists are bad, you spend a lot of acreage online insulting me. Such a failure to address anything I’ve actually said, such as killing gays in the name of Islam is wrong, for example, speaks volumes about you, as does insulting someone personally because you cannot discuss the issues.
And this constantly declaring that I want women and kids to die is so absurd. No one who’s actually read any of my posts would believe you. In fact, that is one of my main problems with extremist Islam – women do not have equal rights, their testimony is not equal, and women and kids are kidnapped, sold into sexual slavery, or murdered in the name of extremist Islam.
Most people, like me, have no problem with anyone peaceably practicing Islam, side by side with their neighbor, here in America.
Let it be noted, karen, that while you claim to support the rights and welfare of women and children everywhere, you, karen, support the ongoing murder and massacre of Palestinians women and children.
Thank God, karen, many Israelis, soldiers, officers, civilians, journalists, many more outside Israel fight very hard to insure Israel ceases oppressing the Palestinians.
Such a shame to see that you are on the wrong side of history, and when palestine is forever free from oppression, you will be of those whom we will point out as the ones, like the nazis who supported the holocaust, who supported the oppression of humanity.
No. Palestinians are not “okay” with their half. The Palestinian National Charter deemed the creation of Israel illegal, urges the ethnic cleansing of Jews, and opposes Zionism.
It’s literally written in their charter from 1964, and its updates, that they are not “okay” with Israel existing at all. In fact, in 1996, some sections were nullified because they did not meet the requirements of the Oslo Accords.
There is quite severe anti-semitism endemic in the Middle East, as well as a constant stream of misinformation. Many in the Middle East still believe that Israel perpetrated 9/11, while paradoxically praising the Muslim “martyrs” who committed this terrorist act. They will not believe that Jews died regardless of how many death lists you provide them. They think they “stayed home” because a Jewish newspaper remarked on all the Jews who were missing, when it was actually referring to all he people who got vaporized or crushed by jet fuel and a falling building.
You can’t compromise with anyone who demands your destruction. You cannot reason with the unreasonable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_National_Covenant
Karen, when will you ever cease distorting the discussion by raising red herrings ans straw men, by obfuscating and dishonest rhetoric?
When will you, karen?
Is this how you raised your children? To lie and disguise the truth?
What do you tell your grandchildren when they act this way?
1- You are quoting a charter from 1964 IN RESPONSE TO MY CHALLENGE TO YOU THAT THE PA RECOGNIZES ISRAEL, SO DO OTHER ARAB NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES.The full content of the 1964 charter is found right here http://www.pac-usa.org/the_palestinian_charter.htm
Let me however quote a couple of points from it:
Article 6:
Jews who were living permanently in Palestine until the beginning of the Zionist invasion will be considered Palestinians. (For the Zionist invasion is considered to have begun in 19171.)
Article 16:
The liberation of Palestine from a spiritual view point will prepare an atmosphere of tranquillity and peace for the Holy Land in the shade of which all the holy places, will be safeguarded, and freedom of worship and free access to all will be guaranteed without distinction or discrimination of race, color, language or, religion. For this reason the people of Palestine looks for the support of all spiritual forces in the world.
Article 17:
The – liberation of Palestinian from a human point of view will restore to the Palestinian human being dignity, glory and freedom. For this the Palestinian Arab people looks for the support of those in the world who believe in dignity and freedom for mankind.
Article 18:
The liberation of Palestine from an international view point, is a defensive act necessitated by the requirements of self-defense. For this reason the Arab people of Palestine are desiring to befriend all peoples, and looks for the support of the states that love freedom , justice and peace in restoring the legal situation in Palestine, establishing security and peace in its territory, and enabling its people to exercise national sovereignty and freedom
2- The Palestinians are okay with their state existing alongside Israel, the Likud party and other rabbis and settlers and the IDF, alongside netanyahu, have clearly said there will be no Palestinian state, and they are making sure of that by partitioning the land like swiss cheese against ALL INTERNATIONAL LAWS!
3- Your diversion of claiming antisemitism is noted and dismissed. That is your default position. According to your (il)logic, anti-arab sentiments in Israel justifies hams lobbing rockets into Israel? Interesting to see that you think that Hamas is justified.
4- And yes, you are right, you can’t compromise with someone who demands your destruction, and right now, guess who is calling for the destruction of Arabs/Palestinians?
A- A day before Palestinian teenager Muhammad Abu Khudair was kidnapped and burned alive allegedly by six Israeli Jewish youths, Israeli lawmaker Ayelet Shaked published on Facebook a call for genocide of the Palestinians.
B- 1. “We came here to a country that was populated by Arabs and we are building here a Hebrew, a Jewish state; instead of the Arab villages, Jewish villages were established. You even do not know the names of those villages, and I do not blame you because these villages no longer exist. There is not a single Jewish settlement that was not established in the place of a former Arab Village.” Moshe Dyan, March 19, 1969, speech at the Technion in Haifa, quoted in Ha’aretz, April 4, 1969.
C- More quotes:
* “The Palestinians are like crocodiles, the more you give them meat, they want more”…. Ehud Barak, Prime Minister of Israel at the time – August 28, 2000. Reported in the Jerusalem Post August 30, 2000.
* ” (The Palestinians are) beasts walking on two legs.” Menahim Begin, speech to the Knesset, quoted in Amnon Kapeliouk, “Begin and the Beasts”. New Statesman, 25 June 1982.
* “The Palestinians” would be crushed like grasshoppers … heads smashed against the boulders and walls.” ” Isreali Prime Minister (at the time) in a speech to Jewish settlers New York Times April 1, 1988.
* “When we have settled the land, all the Arabs will be able to do about it will be to scurry around like drugged cockroaches in a bottle.” Raphael Eitan, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defence Forces, New York Times, 14 April 1983.
* “How can we return the occupied territories? There is nobody to return them to.” Golda Maier, March 8, 1969.
* “There was no such thing as Palestinians, they never existed.” Golda Maier Israeli Prime Minister June 15, 1969.
* “The thesis that the danger of genocide was hanging over us in June 1967 and that Israel was fighting for its physical existence is only bluff, which was born and developed after the war.” Israeli General Matityahu Peled, Ha’aretz, 19 March 1972.
* Ben Gurion also warned in 1948 : “We must do everything to insure they ( the Palestinians) never do return.” Assuring his fellow Zionists that Palestinians will never come back to their homes. “The old will die and the young will forget.”
* “We declare openly that the Arabs have no right to settle on even one centimeter of Eretz Israel… Force is all they do or ever will understand. We shall use the ultimate force until the Palestinians come crawling to us on all fours.” Rafael Eitan, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces – Gad Becker, Yediot Ahronot 13 April 1983, New York Times 14 April 1983.
* “We must do everything to ensure they (the Palestinian refugees) never do return” David Ben-Gurion, in his diary, 18 July 1948, quoted in Michael Bar Zohar’s Ben-Gurion: the Armed Prophet, Prentice-Hall, 1967, p. 157.
* “We should prepare to go over to the offensive. Our aim is to smash Lebanon, Trans-Jordan, and Syria. The weak point is Lebanon, for the Moslem regime is artificial and easy for us to undermine. We shall establish a Christian state there, and then we will smash the Arab Legion, eliminate Trans-Jordan; Syria will fall to us. We then bomb and move on and take Port Said, Alexandria and Sinai.” David Ben-Gurion, May 1948, to the General Staff. From Ben-Gurion, A Biography, by Michael Ben-Zohar, Delacorte, New York 1978.
* “We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation, and the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab population.” Israel Koenig, “The Koenig Memorandum.”
* “Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages, and I do not blame you because geography books no longer exist… There is not a single place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population.” Moshe Dayan, address to the Technion, Haifa, reported in Haaretz, April 4, 1969.
* “We walked outside, Ben-Gurion accompanying us. Allon repeated his question, What is to be done with the Palestinian population?’ Ben-Gurion waved his hand in a gesture which said ‘Drive them out!'” Yitzhak Rabin, leaked censored version of Rabin memoirs, published in the New York Times, 23 October 1979.
* Rabin’s description of the conquest of Lydda, after the completion of Plan Dalet. “We shall reduce the Arab population to a community of woodcutters and waiters” Uri Lubrani, PM Ben-Gurion’s special adviser on Arab Affairs, 1960. From “The Arabs in Israel” by Sabri Jiryas.
* “There are some who believe that the non-Jewish population, even in a high percentage, within our borders will be more effectively under our surveillance; and there are some who believe the contrary, i.e., that it is easier to carry out surveillance over the activities of a neighbor than over those of a tenant. [I] tend to support the latter view and have an additional argument:…the need to sustain the character of the state which will henceforth be Jewish…with a non-Jewish minority limited to 15 percent. I had already reached this fundamental position as early as 1940 [and] it is entered in my diary.” Joseph Weitz, head of the Jewish Agency’s Colonization Department. From Israel: an Apartheid State by Uri Davis, p.5.
* “Everybody has to move, run and grab as many hilltops as they can to enlarge the settlements because everything we take now will stay ours… Everything we don’t grab will go to them.” Ariel Sharon, Israeli Foreign Minister, addressing a meeting of militants from the extreme right-wing Tsomet Party, Agence France Presse, November 15, 1998.
* “It is the duty of Israeli leaders to explain to public opinion, clearly and courageously, a certain number of facts that are forgotten with time. The first of these is that there is no Zionism,colonialization or Jewish State without the eviction of the Arabs and the expropriation of their lands.” Yoram Bar Porath, Yediot Aahronot, of 14 July 1972.
* “Spirit the penniless population across the frontier by denying it employment… Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly.” Theodore Herzl, founder of the World Zionist Organization, speaking of the Arabs of Palestine,Complete Diaries, June 12, 1895 entry.
* “One million Arabs are not worth a Jewish fingernail.” — Rabbi Yaacov Perrin, Feb. 27, 1994 (Source: N.Y. Times, Feb. 28, 1994, p. 1).
* “We will establish ourselves in Palestine whether you like it or not…You can hasten our arrival or you can equally retard it. It is however better for you to help us so as to avoid our constructive powers being turned into a destructive power which will overthrow the world.” (Chaim Weizmann, Published in “Judische Rundschau,” No. 4, 1920).
And then this:
THE ONGOING GENOCIDE ON PALESTINE | AN OVERVIEW
The following list of massacres is by no means exclusive, but they reflect the nature of the Zionist occupation of Palestine and Lebanon and show that massacres and expulsions were not aberrations that happen in any war, but organized atrocities with only one aim, that is to have a Zionist state which is ‘goyim rein’.
The King David Massacre
The Massacre at Baldat al-Shaikh
Yehida Massacre
Khisas Massacre
QAZAZA MASSACRE
The Semiramis Hotel Massacre
The Massacre at Dair Yasin
NASER AL-DIN MASSACRE
THE TANTURA MASSACRE
BEIT DARAS MASSACRE
THE DAHMASH MOSQUE MASSACRE
DAWAYMA MASSACRE
HOULA MASSACRE
SHARAFAT MASSACRE
Salha Massacre
The Massacre at Qibya
KAFR QASEM MASSACRE
Khan Yunis Massacre
The Massacre in Gaza City
Al-Sammou’ Massacre
Aitharoun Massacre
Kawnin Massacre
Hanin Massacre
Bint Jbeil Massacre
Abbasieh Massacre
Adloun Massacre
Saida Massacre
Fakhani Massacre
Beirut Massacre Sabra And Shatila Massacre
Jibsheet Massacre
Sohmor Massacre
Seer Al Garbiah
Maaraka Massacres
Zrariah Massacre
Homeen Al-Tahta Massacre
Jibaa Massacre
Yohmor Massacre
Tiri massacre
Al-Naher Al-Bared Massacre
Ain Al-Hilweh Massacre
Oyoun Qara Massacre
Siddiqine Massacre
A-Aqsa Mosqie Massacre
The Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre
The Jabalia Massacre
Aramta Massacre
Eretz Checkpoint Massacre
Deir Al-Zahrani Massacre
Nabatiyeh (school bus) Massacre
Mnsuriah Massacre
The Sohmor Second Massacre
Nabatyaih Massacre
Qana Massacre
Trqumia Massacr
Janta Massacre
24 Of June 1999 Massacres
Western Bekaa villages Massacre:
The Gaza Cast Lead Massacre (2008-2009)
The Mavi Marmara Massacre May 31, 2010
The Nakba Day Massacre May 15, 2011
The ongoing Silent or Silenced Massacre
The June 5 2011 Naksa Day Massacre
And finally, I quote randyjet:
“I am appalled that there are some people here who are outright Nazis when discussing the Palestinians. It is like the slogan during the Vietnam war, Kill them all and let God sort them out. These people would have no problem pushing Palestinians into concentration camps and the gas chambers. Simply murdering all of one people or race is called genocide, and I am proud that the UN executed those types after WWII. “
Velo, I do understand you are backwards in your view of women, but as the video shows, and as a survey of the 80% of Islam that isn’t Arab would reveal, most Muslim women outside of Arabia do not fit that narrative. In Senegal, 92% Muslim (Pew center the most tolerant country in the world), they are ministers, CEO’s, businesswomen…
The airbrushing women out of pictures, and the limiting their right to worship at the wall, adding to the covering them and even the having-sex -under-sheets things are all your side.
Be proud.
And Karen, this applies to you, though it is about Hillary
Gideon Levy:
“Whether Clinton believes what she wrote or simply wanted once again to sell her soul for a fistful of dollars from Haim Saban and other Jewish donors, the result is extremely embarrassing. A love letter to Israel, the likes of which no U.S. statesman would ever write to another country. Americans believe “Israel is more than a country – it’s a dream,” she states. Most of the world calls it a nightmare, yet Clinton says a dream. What dream exactly? The dream of tyrannical control over another people? Racism? Nationalism? The killing of women and children in Gaza?
What happened to the Hillary Rodham Clinton who in her youth fought for civil rights and against the Vietnam War, and as a lawyer specialized in children’s rights? Did she not hear what her dream state is doing to Palestinian children? What happened to the glorious career woman who was considered liberal and justice-seeking on her way up? Did she forget it all? Does money buy everything? Or, when it comes to Israel, do all principles suddenly change?
Did the former secretary of state not hear about the Israeli occupation? After all, she didn’t mention it once in her article. This is not the time or place to anger Saban. To Clinton, Israel is a “thriving democracy” and to hell with the violent and totalitarian regime in its backyard. And so Clinton is also an enemy of peace and justice. She doesn’t believe there has been the slightest damage to Palestinian rights. Israelis being stabbed in Jerusalem “appalls” Clinton. Palestinians being unjustifiably shot to death, meanwhile, fails to register with her. They will love her for that on Fifth Avenue. Religious figures who encourage killing are, of course, only Muslim; only Israeli security must be vouchsafed. The synagogues of Manhattan will love that, too. Clinton pledges to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during her first month in office. Also, that she will send a delegation of the U.S. Army’s Joint Chiefs of Staff to Israel. What for, exactly?
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.684711?v=267FC1202664E6BC39FA21A071C4CFD8
Po, I am appalled at the prurient display of skin in your video of pre-Zionism Palestine. Women as we all know, are supposed to be covered from head to toe. The sight of wrists, elbows, knees, and certainly the faces and coiffed hair or women are known to be disastrous for the attempt of the souls of any male viewing them to enter Paradise.
Po, In the article it states quite clearly, “Police said that Tariq was masked and holding a wooden slingshot when the officer chased him.” So in what way did I, or anybody else who read and understood that sentence, lie? Words have meanings. Perhaps you should learn some before you engage others in discussion. Next time try reading with understanding just as your 9th grade English teacher asked you to do.
This was Palestine before Zionism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jxTseoru6g
couldn’t have said it better, joseph…
The same strawmen are offered in lieu of arguments every single time.
This is the karen I was expecting, and she did not disappoint:
——————————————
Karen S
1, November 23, 2015 at 11:42 pm
If any non-Muslim tried to lay claim to Mecca, Muslims the world over would go insane.
uh, who made that argument? Who is laying claim to Jerusalem? Palestinians are ok with their half, which is the part israel is trying to claim.
And yet, Israel suffers terrorist attacks every day.
uh, who made that argument? Palestinians are under occupation, their children killed daily, unable to move around their own land, their olive groves uprooted, their land and homes taken over and demolished…
Most Palestinians actually are descended from migrant Arabs who came in order to take advantage of the jobs that Great Britain offered, building Israel. It was sparsely populated, according to census from the Ottoman Empire. In fact, the Arab portion of the region that was known as Palestine is now Jordan. Israel is the teeny tiny portion left over that encompasses the “Mecca” to the Jews, its holy land held sacred for thousands of years. Its religious significance to Muslims pales by comparison in relation to Mecca or Medina.
uh, that’s the biggest BS you have made that far!!!! Actually, native Jews (no, not the white Russian and Americans who have more right to a land they never lived in than the Palestinians who have always been there) share the same dna as those native Palestinians.
Who do you think you are, karen, P aul? Rewriting history does not work, you do not have the leisure of fact-making, karen
Israel has the right to exist. It is a tiny country that could fit inside the state of CA almost 20 times. If it keeps losing land, it will leave it more open to missile attacks.
uh, who made that argument? Losing land? Are you serious? Israel keeps losing land? Maybe all along, karen, you mistook Israel for Palestine!!! no wonder we were all so confused by your silly arguments
http://www.jvpchicago.org/resources/brief-history
I used to consider the option to make Israel some kind of international park, a global historical site. Govern it by a non-religious, neutral third party, and allow people just to visit and not live there at all. Like Disneyland. Allow people of all faiths or none to visit. But since the Middle East’s main objection is that they will never tolerate or accept a non-Muslim country in the region, this would make no difference. The interminable wars and terrorist attacks would just keep grinding on. When is it going to be enough? They have a right to exist. The Palestinian Authority has vowed never to accept that. How do you compromise with an organization or movement that demands your complete destruction? You can’t. It’s unreasonable. And it’s enough.
.
uh, interesting, that is actually what Jerusalem is supposed to be, per international laws, owned by neither party and open to everyone, an international city, if you will. ..which is what it WAS before the creation of Israel…:)))))))))).
Israel is recognized by… its neighbors Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, UEA, even the Palestinian authority…
Now guess who says there will NEVER be a Palestinian state? The Likud party, and most of the Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu.
“Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday said that the Palestinian people recognize Israel’s right to exist and they hope the Israeli government will respond by “recognizing the Palestinian state on the borders of the land occupied in 1967.” The PA president’s comments came in a speech to the Dutch parliament in the Hague.”
Karen, karen, karen, why keep talking about something you know little about? Why take sides for a country that keeps murdering defenseless women and children, that keeps blowing children playing on the beach, that supports people who light aflame a sleeping family, causing the death of a baby, a toddler and of their mother…and lets the guy out, celebrated publicly, after 3 months in “prison”?
Where is your so called support for women’s rights and the plight of children? Or is it only reserved for the Israelis, no one else? Thank you for clarifying your stance!
No nation, including Israel, has a “right” to exist. What and where is this “right?” It’s just as true to say the world has a “right” to move Israel’s occupants somewhere else.
Israel’s leaders such as Golda Meir and others stated to the world they would annihilate the earth if their land was threatened.
Does Israel have a “right” to end life on planet earth rather than give up Israeli territory and move somewhere else? One might more rightly say the world’s other 99.999% has a “right” to live without constant threat of annihilation.
Joseph Jones – the first goal of any country is its continued existence. If Israel thinks that they way to do that is to lay waste to the rest of the Earth, so be it.
Paul C. Shulte: Your straw man is fail. I never said G. Washington was omniscient. Re. GW’s opinions relating to the USA’s relationship with Israel: I’ll take GW’s opinions over those of dual-citizens and Israel-firsters who contradict GW.
“All foreign entanglements are temporary” because if they are permanent (Obama and Hilary say the USA has “unbreakable bond” w/Israel) then by definition they are abusive and prone to cause problems for us, witness OBL’s declaration of war against the West for that very same relationship.
Besides, Mershmeir and his co-author proved convincingly years ago the USA’s relationship w/Israel is a net negative, not a net positive. The “only democracy in the ME” is beyond imbecilic. It’s a self-described “Jewish” racial/religious nation, the opposite of a democracy for non-Jews. A Palestinian male is barred from citizenship even if he marries an Israeli. They test now a law that REQUIRES every single citizen to sign support for Israel as only a “Jewish” state.
How ’bout if I bar everyone with DNA racial marks like yours from US citizenship, starting with you? How’s that “democracy” for you?
The USA’s current NATO relationship requires the USA to risk WW3 if Russia invades nations as tiny as Latvia. If you think it’s fair to risk earth’s annihilation for such a tiny act of aggression, raise your hand!
Joseph Jones – one thing you are supposed to learn as a historian is to take history in its time. When George Washington was speaking we were barely on our feet. We could not defend ourselves. Taken today, Washington probably would not be elected and would not be able to give that speech.
If any non-Muslim tried to lay claim to Mecca, Muslims the world over would go insane.
And yet, Israel suffers terrorist attacks every day. Most Palestinians actually are descended from migrant Arabs who came in order to take advantage of the jobs that Great Britain offered, building Israel. It was sparsely populated, according to census from the Ottoman Empire. In fact, the Arab portion of the region that was known as Palestine is now Jordan. Israel is the teeny tiny portion left over that encompasses the “Mecca” to the Jews, its holy land held sacred for thousands of years. Its religious significance to Muslims pales by comparison in relation to Mecca or Medina.
Israel has the right to exist. It is a tiny country that could fit inside the state of CA almost 20 times. If it keeps losing land, it will leave it more open to missile attacks.
I used to consider the option to make Israel some kind of international park, a global historical site. Govern it by a non-religious, neutral third party, and allow people just to visit and not live there at all. Like Disneyland. Allow people of all faiths or none to visit. But since the Middle East’s main objection is that they will never tolerate or accept a non-Muslim country in the region, this would make no difference. The interminable wars and terrorist attacks would just keep grinding on. When is it going to be enough? They have a right to exist. The Palestinian Authority has vowed never to accept that. How do you compromise with an organization or movement that demands your complete destruction? You can’t. It’s unreasonable. And it’s enough.
I predict that Americans would be SO DONE if we experienced terrorist attacks on the same scale, per 100,000 people, that Israel does.
You see, bambam, I quote from Jewish scholars to make my case, religious scholars, educational scholars, people who agree with the world about Israel.
And speaking of David and Goliath, Paul…
———————————————-
“Why Palestinian Davids will defeat the Zionist Goliath
Truth is the ultimate force multiplier
Max Blumenthal isn’t the only one noticing which side is the bully and which is the underdog. In this case, bet on the underdog.
By Kevin Barrett, Veterans Today Editor
I was recently interviewed by the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network about the new intifada in Occupied Palestine. Below is a link and transcript.
Gradually different dimensions of the Palestinian uprising are revealing themselves. What are the roots of the recent developments in Palestine?
The current outbreak of what looks to become the Third Intifada is rooted in the belligerent, uncompromising, expansionist and genocidal policies of the state of Israel, which have continued regardless of what the Palestinians do. We’ve seen the Israelis “mowing the lawn in Gaza” every few years, killing thousands of innocent civilians. We see ongoing brutalization of the Palestinian population that is clearly designed to make life unlivable for the Palestinians. And this amounts to genocide, as professor Lawrence Davidson of West Chester University has said. He is from a Jewish background himself. And he is far from the only person from a Jewish background who recognizes that the current policies of the Israeli government amount to genocide. So given that there has been absolutely no progress on the political front, and given that the Zionist leadership is under the domination of a certified psychopath, Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the principle authors of the September 11th Zionist coup d’état in the United States, it is clear that the only way the Palestinians have any hope of maintaining their struggle over the long term, which is what is required, is to admit that negotiations currently are not possible – and to opt for military resistance.
The third intifada is supported by Palestinian political groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. How do you evaluate this convergence?
The policies of the Israeli government under Netanyahu and some even more extremist psychopathic elements is so unreasonable that essentially no Palestinian who cares about the interests of the Palestinian people could possibly take any other route. So the Zionists have brought this on themselves, just as they have brought virtually unanimous international condemnation on themselves. They are losing their reputation in the West and around the world. And they are losing their ability to prevent Palestinians from turning to military resistance. So this is a situation in which virtually all Palestinians are going to be coming together and supporting the struggle.
Al- Zahar, one of the leaders of Palestinian intifada, believes that the uprising must enter the military operation phase against Zionist regime. What are the reasons behind such an approach? And to what extent military operation will lead to realization of Palestinian people rights?
The Zionist leadership is dedicated to suppressing the Palestinian people in every possible way. And they do have military superiority in the conventional arena. But if one studies historical conflicts between two groups in which one side has conventional military superiority, or any kind of superiority – one can extend this to sporting contests and other kinds of struggles – the underdog, that is the group that is less likely to win, based on an analysis of conventional military strength, does win about one third of the time. And when they win they always win by refusing to play by the same rules as their opponents. They don’t engage on the conventional military battlefield if they are disadvantaged there. Instead, they would use various unconventional means.
And that is what the Palestinians have been forced to do – with rather great success militarily. Many objective American military analysts have remarked that the Palestinians have actually won the last several conflicts (in which thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed) because they have demonstrated their ability to persist. And the Zionist regime has continued to accelerate its process of discrediting itself. So today we’re seeing a kind of unconventional military resistance, in which rather than organizing an army, which of course is impossible in Occupied Palestine – meaning a conventional army that would have a chance against the Israelis – Palestinians are resorting to a kind of individual armed resistance. And this requires tremendous courage. It requires willingness to sacrifice oneself for a just cause. And this is something that the Palestinians have and the Israelis do not. The Zionists recognize, unconsciously at least, that their cause is unjust. And therefore they have very little willingness to sacrifice themselves in their unjust cause; while the Palestinians know that their cause is just, and therefore they have that willingness to sacrifice themselves.
Ultimately this is the level or dimension of this conflict that is going to lead to a Palestinian victory in the foreseeable future. And by using this kind of completely unconventional military resistance, the Palestinians are demonstrating that they will not go away, they will not surrender. And they are forcing the Zionists into an uncomfortable position in which their increasing brutality is going to backfire in the court of world public opinion. So even though the Zionists control the media today, and therefore dominate the narrative that reaches global public opinion, an ever-growing segment of that public opinion is turning to the alternative media and learning about this conflict between David and Goliath. And they are increasingly sympathizing with David.
The heroic operation of Palestinian young man in Beersheba shaken the Zionist circles and security sectors of this regime to the extent that Netanyahu may cancel his travel to Germany. Why this operation is so significant?
Netanyahu is a quintessential narcissistic psychopath who believes the world revolves around him. And he is a clever politician, let’s grant him that. And clearly when he is forced to cancel his trip to Germany due to the Palestinian resistance, there is a wave of fear in Israel that events are spiraling out of control, and that he is going to have to try to figure out an answer to this. So it is a sign that this heroic resistance of people who are willing to sacrifice themselves in a just cause is shaking the Zionists’ confidence.
The Zionist regime has lost $2.5 billion since the beginning of the Palestinian Intifada. What will be the consequences of continuation of this uprising?
The cost of the Zionist occupation of Palestine is getting higher and higher. Here in the United States, more and more Americans are waking up and realizing that since the coup of September 11th, which about one-third of Americans realize was an inside job, the United States has spent trillions of dollars – as much as four or five trillion dollars according to some counts – in wars designed to destabilize Israel’s enemies, and to ultimately work for the interests of Israel, not the United States. So the costs of the Zionist project have reached a ridiculous level. The economy of the United States has been crippled by the 9/11 wars for Israel. This (asymmetry) is perhaps the most important dimension of the asymmetric struggle between the Palestinians and the Zionists. The Zionists have to spend millions of millions of dollars to try to defend against what the Palestinians can do with a two dollar knife or a ten dollar per month internet connection.
The truth is the ultimate force multiplier here. And I think it’s the truth, more than any kind of weapon of violence, that is going to ensure the triumph of the Palestinians.
Sorry, Darren, typing fast and laughing hard, was not meant as a slight to KCF.
So bam, if you claim that Islamists are a danger to the world and are evil, yet Israel supports them when convenient (including supporting the Druze in Lebanon, Kurds against Turkey, MEK in Iran…)
so according to your logic, though not Islamist, Israel is a terrorist country a la Iran, and therefore should be wiped off the map?
—————————————————
“Should Israel be classified as a state sponsor of terrorism? That question is being debated in the wake of a story that NBC News broke late last week.
Citing unnamed US officials, NBC reported that Israel has used an Iranian opposition group to carry out those much-publicized assassinations of Iranian scientists. The group in question is the M.E.K. (Mojahedin-e Khalq, or People’s Mujahedin of Iran), which since 1997 has been designated a terrorist group by the United States because of its alleged assassinations of US citizens.
The argument for considering Israel a supporter of terrorism comes in two varieties:
1) According to NBC, Israel gives the M.E.K. the funding, training, and weapons to carry out the assassinations–and that would seem to constitute support for a terrorist group.
2) Leaving aside the M.E.K. involvement, there’s the argument that the assassinations inherently constitute terrorism. Andrew Sullivan and Kevin Drum had previously suggested that whoever is behind the assassinations is committing terrorism, but this NBC story is the first mainstream media corroboration of the widespread suspicion that Israel is behind them.
After the NBC story broke, Paul Pillar, a former CIA official who teaches at Georgetown, dusted off the definition of terrorism used by the US government for purposes of keeping statistics: “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents.” That, says Pillar, is what these assassinations are.
The counter-arguments have tended not to be big on legalisms. There is the “Look who’s talking” argument. “Isn’t Iran itself the leading exporter of terrorism in the world?” asks The New York Post. And there’s the argument that Iran is an existential threat to Israel and therefore all is fair. “Israel is entirely justified in using whatever means it has to prevent Khameini’s government from achieving its genocidal ends,” writes Jonathan Tobin in Commentary.
Daniel Larison, writing in The American Conservative, was aghast at Tobin’s argument: “In other words, Israeli state sponsorship of a terrorist group is acceptable because it’s in a good cause.”
The Atantic
From the NYT article linked in JT’s article above, The Israeli authorities said that Tariq was masked and holding a wooden slingshot when the officer chased him. Tariq, who said he had only been watching the clashes, was taken to a hospital and returned to the United States about two weeks later.”
I have not looked for, or found, an actual police report indicating he was masked with a slingshot, so I do not know if this was accurate. But that is the allegation. I do not know if an investigation supported or disproved this. Apparently, the implication is that he took part in throwing rocks at cops, and he claimed he didn’t. What matters is if the beating was justified. If he was not a threat, and not resisting, at the time of his arrest, then it was not justified.
This reminds me of that famous mother in the yellow shirt who dragged her son, literally, out of the riots, to keep him from harm.
I do not know if this was the case with this young man, but I am saddened that there are parents out there that encourage their children to do violence. Some mothers of suicide bombers are actually proud of their sons. I just cannot comprehend a parent that would encourage their child to kill themselves, or kill civilians on purpose.
I remember that revenge killing. It was utterly and completely wrong, sickening to kill a child. I recall the Jewish extremists were arrested, but they have not finished their court case yet, have they?
It was my understanding that people at the funeral were throwing stones at the police, and calling for more violence. My suspicion is that Khdeir, with his slingshot, participated in throwing stones. Regardless, he was no longer a threat at the time the police arrested him. I cannot watch the video, but if it was true that they beat him while he did not resist, then that was utterly and completely wrong. It sounds like the investigation was complete for the officer to have been found guilty. If that is the case, then I completely disagree with such a light sentence.
I also have a problem with those at the funeral calling for violence, as well. Palestinians had just killed Israeli teenagers. Which was hideously wrong. Jewish extremists retaliated by killing a Palestinian teenager, which was also hideously wrong. Throwing rocks at the police was wrong. Trying to destroy the nation of Israel through constant terrorist attacks was wrong. Calling for violence at the funeral was wrong. Allowing children to throw rocks at police was wrong. Beating a child who may or may not have thrown rocks at the police, while he was not resisting arrest, was wrong. Even if he had thrown a rock 5 seconds before, it is immaterial, IF he was not resisting or fighting while he was arrested. They should have arrested him and let the courts handle it.
There was a lot wrong that day.
http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Major-development-in-kidnapping-murder-case-of-Arab-teen-in-Jerusalem-361639
Located in, not in located.
Palestinian physicians, not Palestinians physicians.