Israeli activist to be jailed for caring
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- Written by Neve Gordon Neve Gordon
- Published: 06 May 2009 06 May 2009
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Israeli activist to be jailed for caring
Ezra Nawi was ridiculed and arrested for trying to protect people's homes. Only international attention can help him now
Without international intervention, Israeli human rights activist Ezra Nawi will most likely be sent to jail.
Nawi is not a typical rights activist. A member of Ta'ayush Arab-Jewish Partnership he is a Jewish Israeli of Iraqi descent who speaks fluent Arabic. He is a gay man in his fifties and a plumber by trade. Perhaps because he himself comes from the margins, he empathises with others who have been marginalised – often violently.
His "crime" was trying to stop a military bulldozer from destroying the homes of Palestinian Bedouins from Um El Hir in the South Hebron region. These Palestinians have been under Israeli occupation for almost 42 years; they still live without electricity, running water and other basic services and are continuously harassed by Jewish settlers and the military – two groups that have united to expropriate Palestinian land and that clearly have received the government's blessing to do so.
As chance would have it, the demolition and the resistance to it were captured on film and broadcast on Israel's Channel 1. The three-minute film (above) – a must see – shows Nawi, the man dressed in a green jacket, not only courageously protesting against the demolition but, after the bulldozer destroys the buildings, also telling the border policemen what he thinks of their actions. Sitting handcuffed in a military vehicle following his arrest, he exclaims: "Yes, I was also a soldier, but I did not demolish houses … The only thing that will be left here is hatred."
The film then shows the police laughing at Nawi. But in dealing with his audacity, they were not content with mere ridicule and decided also to accuse him of assaulting a policeman. Notwithstanding the very clear evidence (captured on film), an Israeli court recently found Nawi guilty of assault in connection with the incident, which happened in 2007, and this coming July he will be sent to prison. Unless, perhaps, there is a public outcry.
Nawi's case is not only about Nawi. It is also about Israel and Israeli society, if only because one can learn a great deal about a country from the way it treats its human rights and pro-democracy activists.
Most people are not really surprised when they read that human rights activists are routinely arrested, prosecuted, imprisoned and harassed in Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and several other Middle Eastern countries. Indeed, it has become common knowledge that the authoritarian nature of these regimes renders it dangerous for their citizens to actively fight for human rights.
In this sense, Israel is different from most of its neighbours. Unlike their counterparts in Egypt and Syria, Israeli rights activists, particularly Jewish ones, have been able to criticise the policies of their rights-abusive government without fear of incarceration. Up until now, the undemocratic tendencies of Israeli society manifested themselves, for the most part, in the state's relation to its Palestinian citizens, the occupied Palestinian inhabitants and a small group of Jewish conscientious objectors.
People might assume that Nawi's impending imprisonment as well as other alarming developments (like the recent arrest of New Profile and Target 21 activists, who are suspected of abetting draft-dodgers) are due to the establishment of an extreme rightwing government in Israel. If truth be told, however, the rise of the extreme right merely reflects the growing presence of proto-fascist elements in Israeli society, elements that have been gaining ground and legitimacy for many years now.
Nawi's case, for what it symbolises on both an individual and societal level, encapsulates the current reality in Israel. His friends have launched a campaign, and are asking people to write letters to Israeli embassies around the world. At this point, only international attention and intervention can make a difference.
US Afghan strikes 'killed dozens' of civilians, Americans yawn . . .
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- Written by BBC News BBC News
- Published: 06 May 2009 06 May 2009
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[The carnage the new Obama administration is unleashing on Afghan and Pakistani civilians is appalling]
US Afghan strikes 'killed dozens'
US air strikes in Afghanistan on Tuesday killed dozens of civilians including women and children, officials from the Red Cross have said.
Afghan officials in Farah province, in the west of Afghanistan, told the BBC as many as 100 civilians may have died.
The civilians were said to have been hit while sheltering from fighting.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in the US for talks with President Barack Obama and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, has ordered an investigation.
Civilian deaths will be high on the agenda at the White House for Mr Karzai, who has repeatedly urged Western forces in Afghanistan to reduce the number of civilian casualties.
Mr Obama will hold bilateral talks with Mr Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, before all three hold a joint meeting.
And the BBC's Martin Patience, in Kabul, says the Washington talks could be overshadowed if the Red Cross report of dozens of civilian deaths is confirmed.
“ More than 40,000 have migrated from Mingora since Tuesday afternoon ”
Khushhal Khan Chief administration officer, Swat
Mr Zardari arrives in Washington facing a growing crisis in his own country amid a new outbreak of fighting between the army and Taleban rebels in the Swat Valley region.
Thousands of residents there are reported to be fleeing their homes as a peace deal between the government and Taleban militants appears on the verge of collapse.
Fighting flared overnight in Mingora, the main town in Swat, and continued into Wednesday, with reports of helicopter gunships bombarding militant positions.
The government has warned that 500,000 people could try to leave if the peace deal formally breaks down, although the BBC's Mark Dummett, in Islamabad, says the army has not yet launched the offensive most are now expecting.
On Tuesday the US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, told a congressional hearing in Washington that Pakistan must do more to combat the Taleban.
'Sheltering'
Afghan officials said Tuesday's violence broke out after more than 100 Taleban militants attacked a police checkpoint in Farah, in the far west of Afghanistan, killing three police.
The insurgents then reportedly moved to a nearby village where they killed three civilians who they accused of spying for the government.
As the fighting continued, US airstrikes targeted militants thought to be sheltering in nearby houses. At least 25 Taleban fighters were reported to have died.
But a growing number of reports from the area now suggest civilians were also seeking refuge in the buildings.
Our correspondent in Kabul said local officials told him they saw the bodies of about 20 women and children in two trucks.
Officials and police sources in Farah later said they estimated the number of dead at around 100. US, Afghan and Red Cross teams were working to establish the precise number of civilians killed.
A spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross said a team of observers sent to the site of the air strikes saw houses destroyed and dozens of dead bodies, including women and children.
"We can absolutely confirm there were civilian casualties," Jessica Barry said.
"It seemed they were trying to shelter in houses when they were hit."
The governor of Farah province, Rohul Amin, backed the Red Cross verdict that civilians died in the air strikes, but could not confirm numbers.
The US military said coalition troops were called to assist Afghan forces as they attempted to fight off an insurgent attack.
A spokeswoman, Capt Elizabeth Mathias, said she was "extremely concerned" by the reports of high casualties.
"I actually sent an investigation team out to that region this morning and I expect them to be on the ground a little bit later this afternoon, and hopefully have some more information for us at that time," she said.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/8035204.stm
Published: 2009/05/06 12:51:23 GMT
© BBC MMIX
US pro-Israeli group attempts to stop shift in White House Middle East policy
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- Written by Chris McGreal in Washington Chris McGreal in Washington
- Published: 06 May 2009 06 May 2009
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[Call your members of congress! Tell them you support stopping Israel's illegal settlements and a tough stance towards Israel's occupation!]
US pro-Israeli group attempts to stop shift in White House Middle East policy
Aipac urges Congress members to sign letter to Barack Obama calling for Israel to set pace of negotiations with Palestinians
* Chris McGreal in Washington
* guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 6 May 2009 13.55 BST
* http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/06/us-israel-palestinians-middle-east
US congressional leaders and the most powerful pro-Israel lobby group in the US are attempting to forestall a significant shift in the White House's Middle East policy.
The move comes amid growing signs that the US president, Barack Obama, intends to press for urgent efforts to be made towards the creation of a Palestinian state.
The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is visiting Washington later this month amid growing expectations that Obama is preparing to take a tougher line over Israel's reluctance to actively seek a two-state solution to its conflict with the Palestinians.
It will be the first time that Netanyahu and Obama have met since both were elected.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) this week sent hundreds of lobbyists to urge members of Congress to sign a letter to Obama.
The letter, written by two House of Representatives leaders, calls for Israel to be allowed to set the pace of negotiations.
The lobbying came despite critics saying Netanyahu has consistently failed to commit himself to the creation of a Palestinian state.
The letter calls for the maintenance of the status quo, with an emphasis on Palestinian institution-building before there can be an end to Israeli occupation.
It says the US "must be both a trusted mediator and devoted friend of Israel".
Aipac's move to put pressure on members of Congress came at the end of its annual conference in Washington this week.
Read more: US pro-Israeli group attempts to stop shift in White House Middle East policy
U.S. urges Israel to sign anti-nuclear arms treaty
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- Written by Reuters Reuters
- Published: 05 May 2009 05 May 2009
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India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel should join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the global pact meant to limit the spread of atomic weapons, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.
Speaking on the second day of a two-week meeting of the 189 signatories of the pact, Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller also defended a U.S.-India civilian nuclear deal, which developing nations have complained rewards New Delhi for staying outside the NPT.
"Universal adherence to the NPT itself, including by India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea ... remains a fundamental objective of the United States," Gottemoeller told the meeting, which hopes to agree on an agenda and plan to overhaul the treaty at a review conference next year.
Speaking to reporters later, she declined to say whether Washington would take any new steps to press Israel to join the treaty and give up any nuclear weapons it has. Israel neither confirms nor denies whether it has what arms control experts assume to be a sizable atomic arsenal.
"The administration of President Barack Obama was encouraging all holdouts to join the treaty," she said.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have never signed the treaty. North Korea withdrew from it in 2003 and tested a nuclear device in 2006.
At the NPT meeting, developing countries have criticized the endorsement of the U.S.-India nuclear agreement by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, an informal club of the world's top producers of nuclear-related technology.
The group agreed in September to lift a ban on nuclear trade with India, imposed after New Delhi's first nuclear test in 1974.
Delegates from poor nations complain that the endorsement was tantamount to rewarding India for remaining outside the treaty and secretly developing nuclear weapons. In contrast, they say, developing states are denied access to sensitive technology because they are often deemed proliferation risks.
Gottemoeller defended the agreement. "India is coming closer to the non-proliferation regime," she said.
She cited India's willingness to work with Washington in pushing for a binding international treaty that would prohibit the further production of bomb-grade nuclear material and by improving its nuclear export controls.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Ali Hosseini on Monday railed against the United States and what he said was its continued nuclear support for the "Zionist regime" (Israel). Western diplomats called this an attempt to divert attention away from its own nuclear program.
In failing to mention Iran even once in her speech, Gottemoeller broke from a tradition established by the administration of former President George W. Bush, which had used NPT meetings to criticize Iran and North Korea.
Gottemoeller said that Iran came up indirectly in her statement when she spoke of the need for "consequences for those breaking the rules or withdrawing from the treaty."
Obama has offered Iran's leaders direct talks on a wide range of issues, including its nuclear program. Tehran has reacted coolly to the U.S. overtures nearly three decades after Washington severed ties with Tehran during a hostage crisis.
The West suspects Iran is developing weapons under cover of a civilian atomic energy program, a charge Tehran denies.
Gottemoeller also reiterated commitments to disarmament that Obama made in a speech in Prague last month. She said the United States would continue its two-decade long moratorium on testing nuclear explosives and urged others to follow suit.
Pelosi the Hawk
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- Written by Stephen Zunes Stephen Zunes
- Published: 05 May 2009 05 May 2009
- Hits: 3811 3811
Reports by international human rights groups and from within Israel in recent weeks have revealed the massive scale of war-crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law, committed by Israeli forces during their three-week offensive against the Gaza Strip earlier this year. Despite this, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has steadfastly stood by her insistence that the U.S.-backed Israeli government has no legal or moral responsibility for the tragic consequence of the war.
This is just one episode in a long history of efforts by Pelosi to undermine international humanitarian law, in regards to actions by a country she has repeatedly referred to as America’s most important ally in the Middle East. It’s also part of her overall right-wing agenda in the Middle East. As the powerful Speaker of the House, Pelosi could very well undermine efforts by President Barack Obama in the coming years to moderate U.S. policy toward that volatile region.