tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24298469.post6466263055546549065..comments2023-09-17T01:45:19.982-07:00Comments on Dr. Pamela Chrabieh: Attaques d'une TV israélienne contre Jésus-Christ et Sainte MarieDr. Pamela Chrabieh http://www.blogger.com/profile/04392049818601945418noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24298469.post-39589256995405684482009-03-07T20:22:00.000-08:002009-03-07T20:22:00.000-08:00"The Ultimate Aim is the Transfer of Arab-Israelis..."The Ultimate Aim is the Transfer of Arab-Israelis"<BR/><BR/>By Conn Hallinan<BR/><BR/>Counterpunch - March 3, 2009<BR/><BR/>http://www.counterpunch.org/hallinan03032009.html<BR/><BR/>One of the more disturbing developments in the Middle<BR/>East is a growing consensus among Israelis that it<BR/>would acceptable to expel-in the words of advocates<BR/>'transfer'-its Arab citizens to either a yet as<BR/>unformed Palestinian state or the neighboring countries<BR/>of Jordan and Egypt.<BR/><BR/>Such sentiment is hardly new among Israeli extremists,<BR/>and it has long been advocated by racist Jewish<BR/>organizations like Kach, the party of the late Rabbi<BR/>Meir Kahane, as well as groups like the National Union,<BR/>which doubled its Knesset representation in the last<BR/>election.<BR/><BR/>But 'transfer' is no longer the exclusive policy of<BR/>extremists, as it has increasingly become a part of<BR/>mainstream political dialogue. 'My solution for<BR/>maintaining a Jewish and democratic state of Israel is<BR/>to have two nation-states with certain concessions and<BR/>with clear red lines,' Kadima leader and Israeli<BR/>Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told a group of Tel Aviv<BR/>high school students last December, 'and among other<BR/>things, I will be able to approach the Palestinian<BR/>residents of Israel, those whom we call Israeli Arabs,<BR/>and tell them, ` your national solution lies<BR/>elsewhere."<BR/><BR/>Such talk has consequences.<BR/><BR/>According to the Israeli Association for Civil Rights,<BR/>anti-Arab incidents have risen sharply. 'Israeli<BR/>society is reaching new heights of racism that damages<BR/>freedom of expression and privacy,' says Sami Michael,<BR/>the organization's president. Among the Association's<BR/>findings:<BR/><BR/> * Some 55 percent of Jewish Israelis say that the<BR/> state should encourage Arab emigration;<BR/><BR/> * 78 percent of Jewish Israelis oppose including<BR/> Arab parties in the government;<BR/><BR/> * 56 percent agree with the statement that 'Arabs<BR/> cannot attain the Jewish level of cultural<BR/> development';<BR/><BR/> * 75 percent agree that Arabs are inclined to be<BR/> violent. Among Arab-Israelis, 54 percent feel the<BR/> same way about Jews.<BR/><BR/> * 75 percent of Israeli Jews say they would not<BR/> live in the same building as Arabs.<BR/><BR/>The tension between Israeli democracy and the country's<BR/>Jewish character was the centerpiece of Avigdor<BR/>Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu Party's campaign in the<BR/>recent election. His party increased its Knesset<BR/>membership from 11 to 15, and is now the third largest<BR/>party in the parliament.<BR/><BR/>Lieberman, who lives in a West Bank settlement near<BR/>Bethlehem, calls for a 'loyalty oath' from Arab-<BR/>Israelis, and for either expelling those who refuse or<BR/>denying them citizenship rights. During a Knesset<BR/>debate last March, Lieberman told Arab deputies, 'You<BR/>are only temporarily here. One day we will take care of<BR/>you.'<BR/><BR/>Such views are increasing, particularly among young<BR/>Jewish Israelis, among whom a politicized historical<BR/>education and growing hopelessness about the future has<BR/>fueled a strong rightward shift.<BR/><BR/>In a recent article in Haaretz, Yotam Feldman writes<BR/>about a journey through Israel's high schools, where<BR/>students freely admit to their hatred of Arabs and lack<BR/>of concern about the erosion of democracy.<BR/><BR/>'Sergei Liebliyanich, a senior, draws a connection<BR/>between the preparation for military service in school<BR/>and student support for the Right' Feldman writes, '`<BR/>It gives us motivation against the Arabs. You want to<BR/>enlist in the army so you can stick it to them.I like<BR/>Lieberman's thinking about the Arabs. Bibi [Benjamin<BR/>Netanyahu, leader of the rightwing Likud Party] doesn't<BR/>want to go as far.'<BR/><BR/>Feldman polled 10 high schools and found that Yisrael<BR/>Beiteinu was the most popular party, followed by Likud.<BR/>The left-wing Meretz Party came in dead last.<BR/><BR/>In part, the politicalization of the education system<BR/>is to blame.<BR/><BR/>Mariam Darmoni-Sharviot, a former civics teacher who is<BR/>helping implement the 1995 Kremnitzar Commission's<BR/>recommendations on education and democracy, told<BR/>Feldman, 'When I talk to a civics class about the Arab<BR/>minority, and about its uniqueness in being a majority<BR/>that became a minority, my students argue and say it's<BR/>not true that they [Arabs] were a majority.' She said<BR/>when she confronted teachers and asked why students<BR/>didn't know that Arabs were a majority in 1947, the<BR/>teachers become 'evasive and say it's not part of the<BR/>material.'<BR/><BR/>In part, students reflect the culture that surrounds<BR/>them.<BR/><BR/>'Israeli society is speaking in two voices,' says<BR/>Education Minister Yuli Tamir. 'We see ourselves as a<BR/>democratic society, yet we often neglect things that<BR/>are very basic to democracy.If the students see the<BR/>Knesset disqualifying Arab parties, a move that I've<BR/>adamantly opposed, how can we expect them to absorb<BR/>democratic values?'<BR/><BR/>All the major Israeli parties voted to remove two Arab<BR/>parties, United Arab List-Ta'al and Balad, from the<BR/>ballot because they opposed the Gaza war. Balad also<BR/>calls for equal rights for all Israelis. Kadima<BR/>spokesperson Maya Jacobs said, 'Balad aims to<BR/>exterminate Israel as a Jewish state and turn it into a<BR/>state for all its citizens.' Labor joined in banning<BR/>Balad, but not Ta'al.<BR/><BR/>The Israeli Supreme Court overturned the move and both<BR/>parties ended up electing seven Knesset members in the<BR/>recent election.<BR/><BR/>'The ultimate aim here,' says Dominic Moran, INS<BR/>Security Watch's senior correspondent in the Middle<BR/>East, 'is to sever the limited ties that bind Jews and<BR/>Arabs, to the point that the idea of the transfer of<BR/>the Arab-Israeli population beyond the borders of the<BR/>state, championed by Yisrael Beiteinu, gains increasing<BR/>legitimacy.'<BR/><BR/>This turn toward the Right also reflects an economic<BR/>crisis, where poverty is on the rise and the cost of<BR/>maintaining the settlements in the Occupied Territories<BR/>and Israel's military is a crushing burden. Peace Now<BR/>estimates that the occupation costs $1.4 billion a<BR/>year, not counting the separation wall. Israel's<BR/>military budget is just under $10 billion a year.<BR/>According to Haartez, the Gaza war cost $374 million.<BR/><BR/>Some 16 percent of the Jewish population fall below the<BR/>poverty line, a designation that includes 50 percent of<BR/>Israeli Arabs.<BR/><BR/>'The Israeli reality can no longer hide what it has<BR/>kept hidden up to now-that today no sentient mother can<BR/>honestly say to her child: ` Next year things will be<BR/>better here," says philosophy of education professor,<BR/>Ilan Gur-Ze'ev. 'The young people are replacing hope<BR/>for a better future with a myth of a heroic end. For a<BR/>heroic end, Lieberman fits the bill.'<BR/><BR/>Intercommunity tension manifests itself mainly in the<BR/>Occupied Territories, where the relentless expansion of<BR/>settlements and constant humiliation of hundreds of<BR/>Israeli Army roadblocks fuels Palestinian anger.<BR/><BR/>This past December, settlers in Hebron attacked<BR/>Palestinians after the Israeli government removed a<BR/>group of Jewish families occupying an Arab-owned<BR/>building. In response, the settlers launched 'Operation<BR/>Price Tag' to inflict punishment on Palestinians in the<BR/>event the Tel Aviv government moves against settlers.<BR/>Rioters torched cars, desecrated a Muslim cemetery, and<BR/>gunned down two Arabs.<BR/><BR/>Settler rampages on the West Bank are nothing new, even<BR/>though they receive virtually no coverage in the U.S.<BR/>media. But a disturbing trend is the appearance of<BR/>extremist settlers in Israel. Late last year Baruch<BR/>Marzel, a West bank settler and follower of Kahane,<BR/>threatened to lead a march through Umm al-Fahm, a<BR/>largely Arab-Israeli town near Haifa.<BR/><BR/>'We have a cancer in our body capable of destroying the<BR/>state of Israel,' Marzel told The Forward, 'and these<BR/>people are in the heart of Israel, a force capable of<BR/>destroying Israel from the inside. I am going to tell<BR/>these people that the land of Israel is ours.'<BR/><BR/>Arab-Israelis charge that settlers-some of them<BR/>extremists re-settled from Gaza three years ago- played<BR/>a role in last year's Yom Kippur riots in the mixed<BR/>city of Acre and forced Arab families our of their<BR/>houses in the east part of the city. Arabs make up<BR/>about 14 percent of Acre and 20 percent of Israel.<BR/><BR/>Rabbi Dov Lior, chair of the West Bank Rabbinical<BR/>Council, has decreed, 'It is completely forbidden to<BR/>employ [Arabs] and rent houses to them in Israel.'<BR/><BR/>The Adallah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights is<BR/>urging Israeli Attorney General Mernachem Mazuz to<BR/>investigate 'Wild incitement to racism against Arabs in<BR/>general and the [Arab] residents of Acre in<BR/>particular.'<BR/><BR/>On Oct. 15, three days after the Acre riots, two Arab<BR/>apartments in Tel Aviv were attacked with Molotov<BR/>cocktails. Seven Jewish men were arrested. The Arab<BR/>residents of Lod and Haifa charge that they too are<BR/>being pressured to move.<BR/><BR/>In the case of Lod, municipal authorities are open<BR/>about their intentions. Municipal spokesman Yoram Ben-<BR/>Aroch denied that the city discriminates against Arabs,<BR/>but told The Forward that municipal authorities want<BR/>Lod, to become 'a more Jewish town. We need to<BR/>strengthen the Jewish character of Lod and religious<BR/>people and Zionists have a big part to play in this<BR/>strengthening.'<BR/><BR/>However, the growing lawlessness of West bank settlers<BR/>and Jewish nationalists has begun to unsettle the<BR/>authorities in Tel Aviv. After rightwing extremists<BR/>tried to assassinate Peace Now activist Professor Zeev<BR/>Sternhell, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin said the<BR/>intelligence organization was 'very concerned' about<BR/>the 'extremist right' and its willingness to resort to<BR/>violence.<BR/><BR/>Even Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said 'We are not<BR/>willing to live with a significant group of people that<BR/>has cast off all authority,' and called Operation Price<BR/>Tag a 'pogrom.'<BR/><BR/>So far, however, the government and Shin Bet have done<BR/>little to rein in the rising tide of rightwing terror,<BR/>which is aimed at Jews as well as Arabs.<BR/><BR/>Ahmad Tibi of the Arab Ta'al Party says that while Arab<BR/>Israelis feel threatened by what Ben Gurion University<BR/>political scientist Neve Gordan calls a 'move toward<BR/>xenophobic politics,' Tibi warns that, 'It is the<BR/>Jewish majority that should be afraid of this<BR/>phenomenon.'<BR/><BR/>Readers might want to subscribe to Jewish Peace News at<BR/>jpn@jewishpeacenews.net for a very different picture of<BR/>Israel than most Americans get.<BR/><BR/>[Conn Hallinan is a foreign policy analyst for Foreign<BR/>Policy In Focus (online at www.fpif.org) and a lecturer<BR/>in journalism at the University of California, Santa<BR/>Cruz.<BR/><BR/>Conn Hallinan can be reached at:<BR/>ringoanne@sbcglobal.net]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24298469.post-49625854766841024092009-03-07T20:19:00.000-08:002009-03-07T20:19:00.000-08:00Jewish Peace News: Look to the West Bankhttp://jew...Jewish Peace News: Look to the West Bank<BR/>http://jewishpeacenews.blogspot.com<BR/><BR/>Commentator Ben White writes: 'For a real sense of<BR/>where the conflict is heading, look to the West Bank,<BR/>not just Gaza.' While media attention is focused on<BR/>the Israeli elections and the continuing humanitarian<BR/>crimes in Gaza, White argues that events in the West<BR/>Bank are perhaps of greater political significance.<BR/>These events include Israeli raids and abductions that<BR/>seem to be targeting Palestinian civil resistance<BR/>(second item below -- which includes a video link and<BR/>action alert); further restrictions on Palestinian<BR/>movement and rights in East Jerusalem; and a massive<BR/>increase in settlement activity (third item below).<BR/>Taken together, these represent a firm and confident<BR/>consolidation of the (Israeli military) gains of the<BR/>occupation: and, as White puts it, 'a further reminder<BR/>that the two-state solution has completed its<BR/>progression from worthy (and often disingenuous) aim to<BR/>meaningless slogan.'<BR/><BR/>Judith Norman<BR/><BR/>(1) The real Israel-Palestine story is in the West Bank<BR/><BR/>Ben White<BR/>The Guardian<BR/>http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/20/israelandthepalestinians-israeli-elections-2009<BR/>February 20, 2009Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24298469.post-60365514364556504702009-03-02T10:32:00.000-08:002009-03-02T10:32:00.000-08:00Merci Roland pour votre commentaire.Je suis entrai...Merci Roland pour votre commentaire.<BR/>Je suis entrain de suivre d'ailleurs les résultats de la rencontre de plus de 80 pays au Caire pour soutenir la reconstruction de Gaza - en l'absence du Hamas. <BR/>N'oublions pas que les discours et actions de la part d'israéliens sont rarement 'criticables' en Europe et en Amérique du Nord; donc, il est 'normal' que l'on n'entende pratiquement rien concernant la question de l'irrespect envers les figures les plus importantes au sein du Christianisme. La politique l'emporte ici sur la ferveur religieuse.Dr. Pamela Chrabieh https://www.blogger.com/profile/04392049818601945418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24298469.post-78986480333155773362009-03-02T10:26:00.000-08:002009-03-02T10:26:00.000-08:00C'est malheureux!De plus, ce genre de nouvelles ne...C'est malheureux!<BR/>De plus, ce genre de nouvelles ne fait pas vraiment la une des journaux. La cause palestinienne et le tribunal international pour le meurtre de l'ex-premier ministre libanais Rafic Harir.. si!<BR/><BR/>Merci!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com