Des Druzes attaquent une ambulance de l’armée
▻http://fr.timesofisrael.com/des-druzes-attaquent-une-ambulance-de-larmee-transportant-des-bles
Les assaillants pensaient que le véhicule transportait des rebelles syriens blessés...
Alors que le véhicule ne transportait que...
... des victimes des retombées de la guerre civile syrienne...
Les assaillants du véhicule avaient bien pensé, les « victimes des retombées » étaient bien des « rebelles »
One Syrian killed in Druze attack on Israeli military ambulance carrying wounded rebels - Israel - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel/.premium-1.662498
One Syrian militant was beaten to death after Druze protesters attacked Monday night an Israel Defense Forces ambulance in northern Israel carrying Syrian members of armed militias wounded in the civil war there. The other Syrian was seriously wounded in the incident and two Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded.
This is the second time in 24 hours that protesters have struck an ambulance carrying wounded Syrians. Early Monday, Druze residents from the village of Horfish in northern Israel attacked a military ambulance carrying wounded Syrians, demanding to check whether the passengers on board belonged to a rebel organization that has been targeting Druze in the civil war across the border.
Most of the Druze in the Golan Heights do not enlist in the army, though their brethren in the Galilee and the Carmel do serve, and the situation of the Druze community in Syria often raises questions of loyalty among the community in Israel.
Une ambulance israélienne attaquée par des druzes au Golan : un Syrien tué
▻http://www.romandie.com/news/Une-ambulance-israelienne-attaquee-par-des-druzes-au-Golan--un-Syrien-tue/605025.rom
Jérusalem - Un blessé syrien transporté en Israël dans une ambulance militaire israélienne a été tué lundi par des druzes qui ont attaqué à coups de pierres le véhicule sur le plateau du Golan, a indiqué la police.
Une foule a attaqué à coups de pierres une ambulance militaire près de Majdal Shams dans le Golan et blessé ses occupants (...). L’un des blessés syriens qui s’y trouvait est mort des suites de l’attaque, a expliqué un porte-parole de la police israélienne dans un communiqué.
L’autre blessé syrien transporté par l’armée israélienne est blessé grièvement, selon ce communiqué.
Les deux soldats qui conduisaient l’ambulance ont été blessés légèrement dans cette attaque.
selon les médias israéliens, prés de 200 habitants du village druze de Majdal Shams ont participé à cette attaque.
Dans la matinée, un véhicule militaire avait déjà été bloqué dans le nord d’Israël par des druzes qui pensaient qu’il transportait des rebelles syriens blessés, selon la police israélienne.
Comme certains le remarquent sur twitter, AQ en Syrie n’est pas composée que de Syriens.
Syrian Killed in Attack by Golani Druze Was Islamist Fighter, Not Civilian as IDF Claimed
▻http://seenthis.net/messages/385046
Michael Oren: New book meant to enlist American Jews to fight Iran deal -
Former envoy to U.S. says non-Orthodox and intermarried Jews in Obama administration ’have a hard time understanding the Israeli character.’
By Chemi Shalev | Jun. 22, 2015 Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.662374
Former Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren says he pressured Random House to publish his controversial new book “Ally” now, rather than during book season in September or October, because “Israel is at a fateful juncture” before the deadline of the Iran talks and the vote on the French initiative on Palestine in the Security Council. He said that one of his main objectives was to “motivate, animate and inspire my readers” in advance of these challenges “to do more than just stand there”.
“It’s about saying no” to an Iran deal that “everybody in the Knesset agrees is emphatically bad,” Oren said. He compared “this critical moment” to the Holocaust era, when American Jews had an opportunity to “intercede and perhaps save millions of Jews”.
Oren appeared on Sunday night at Manhattan’s 92nd Street Y before a warmly supportive audience for the launch of the PR tour for his book “Ally”, which is harshly critical of President Obama. The book has garnered widespread praise in America’s right wing media and harsh scorn on its left. On Saturday, the Anti-Defamation League’s Abe Foxman dismissed some of the claims made by Oren in his book and in an article in Foreign Policy, labeling them “conspiracy theories with an element of amateur psychoanalysis.”
But there were no such reservations at the 92nd Street Y. Oren was introduced by Susan Engels as expressing “the best of the ideals” of the 92nd Street Y Talks that she directs “to stand in solidarity with Israel and to take pride in our Jewish heritage.” And in a soft interview which often bordered on fawning, Jonathan Rosen, renowned author and editor of the Nextbook/Schocken Jewish Encounters series, described Oren and his book as “gripping”, “terrific” and “powerfully persuasive”.
Oren stated that “Obama is not anti-Israel” but reiterated his position, widely challenged, that the Obama administration has departed from the hitherto “sacrosanct” principles of “no daylight and no surprises” in U.S. relations with Israel. Oren said that both the Cairo speech in June 2009 and Obama’s speech on the 1967 borders were major policy shifts that caught Israel by surprise.
Oren, who has ascribed Obama’s wish to engage with the Muslim world to his abandonment by “two Muslim father figures” called on the U.S. to “stop the ad hominem attacks” against Netanyahu. “We shouldn’t be treated this way,” he said.
Oren discussed what he described as the unprecedented predominance of American Jews in the Obama administration – “there were discussions in the White House in which there were six Jews – 3 Americans and 3 Israelis, discussing a Palestinian state - and the only non-Jewish person in the room was the President or the Vice President.” He said that the non-Orthodox and the intermarried American Jews in the administration – “have a hard time understanding the Israeli character.”
Oren claimed that part of Israeli hesitation in attacking Iran is its doubts about American support for any campaign to neutralize Hezbollah rockets that might be fired at Israel in retaliation from Lebanon. Oren said these doubts were raised after the Obama administration’s “strident criticism” of Israel during last summer’s Gaza War, the FAA decision to steer clear of Ben Gurion Airport and its decision to delay rearmaments of certain ammunition. “Can we rely on our ally to back us on that?” Oren asked.
Recounting his academic experience in America, Oren said that “1968 revolutionaries” had taken over the Middle East and international relations departments of American universities and that unless one published their “neo-Marxist ideas”, one would not get tenured or published. When he came to Washington in 2009, he encountered the same ideas in his talks with Obama administration officials in the White House and the State Department: “I could tell what professors they had.” Oren went on to claim that the term “Israel Lobby”, which was condemned when it was used by Professor Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, is now an accepted term in Washington discourse.
Oren : Si Obama tend la main à l’islam, c’est parce que deux figures paternelles musulmanes l’ont abandonné
Dans son 3e édito de la semaine, l’ancien ambassadeur et député affirme que l’Histoire pourrait juger la politique du président sur l’islam comme naïve et détachée de la réalité
Times of Israel Staff 21 juin 2015,
▻http://fr.timesofisrael.com/oren-si-obama-tend-la-main-a-lislam-cest-parce-que-deux-figures-pa
Wikileaks: Saudi top secret memo says Iran bombed South Sudan -
Another top secret memo says Gulf countries were prepared to pay $10 billion to secure freedom of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak.
By The Associated Press | Jun. 20, 2015
Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.662155
One of the most inflammatory memos carries the claim that Gulf countries were prepared to pay $10 billion to secure the freedom of Egypt’s deposed strongman, Hosni Mubarak. The memo, written on a letterhead bearing only a single palm tree and crossed scimitars above the words “top secret,” quotes an unnamed Egyptian official as saying that the Muslim Brotherhood would agree to release Mubarak in exchange for the cash “since the Egyptian people will not benefit from his imprisonment.”
Although the document is undated, the political situation it describes suggests it was drafted in 2012, when the Muslim Brotherhood appeared poised to take power. Senior Brotherhood official Mohammed Morsi served as Egypt’s president from June 2012 to July 2013, before being ousted by the military.
But it’s not clear the idea of paying the Brotherhood to secure Mubarak’s release ever coalesced into a firm offer. A handwritten note at the top left of the document says the ransom “is not a good idea.”
“Even if it is paid the Muslim Brotherhood will not be able to do anything regarding releasing Mubarak,” the unknown author writes. “It seems there are no alternatives for the president but to enter prison.”
Still, the memo’s existence adds credence to the claim made in 2012 by senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat el-Shater that Saudi Arabia had offered billions of dollars in return for Mubarak’s freedom — something Saudi officials hotly denied at the time.
Palestinian bravery vs. the Israeli army - Opinion - - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.661513
Punis pour avoir fait démentir la farce de l’armée la plus morale au monde.
The mistake made by the armed soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda battalion was that they allowed cameras to document their bestiality and cowardice while attacking a brave Palestinian civilian, armed with a visor cap and T-shirt, last Friday. For this error, their commanders punished them this week by meting out negligible disciplinary punishments. Their commanders couldn’t punish them for their crude assault, their loss of control, their arrogance or their abuse; you don’t punish a person for something that is the social norm, as well as a metaphor for the balance of power between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israeli officer : Shelling Gaza clinic raised soldiers’ morale - Diplomacy and Defense - - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.661631
An Israel Defense Forces officer who fired shells at a clinic in Gaza during last summer’s war said in a radio interview that the action had served to “raised morale” of the battalion. Maj. (res.) Amihai Harach told Galei Yisrael radio on Tuesday that the structure had to be destroyed because a Hamas position was operating from it, but that the action was also an act of revenge for the killing of one of the battalion’s officers. Harach, who is the reserve deputy brigade commander in an armored corps battalion, also said that revenge firing was not unusual during Operation Protective Edge.
[...]
Another unusual element, Harach said, was that soldiers documented the shelling of the clinic “so we could distribute it to the whole battalion.”
A recent report by the NGO Breaking the Silence contains testimony by an Armored Corps soldier from the same brigade about firing in revenge. According to the soldier, his company commander ordered him to fire shells at Palestinian homes in memory of a comrade from the company who had been killed. “To me it seemed not right at all, very problematic…they fired like they do at funerals, just with a shell at houses. It wasn’t in the air. The tank commander said ‘pick a house that’s farthest away, so that it hurts them as much as possible.’ A sort of revenge,” the soldier said.
Traduction française ▻http://seenthis.net/messages/382212
You live in Ramallah? Do you want me to help get you out? -
Amira Hass received an unusual phone call on her Palestinian cellphone the other day.
By Amira Hass | Jun. 16, 2015 |Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel/.premium-1.661145
Last Tuesday, my Palestinian cell phone rings. Caller ID shows it’s from an Israeli number. “Hello, this is Yad L’achim,” the young voice on the other end says. Excuse me? I respond.
I’m speaking from Yad L’achim. We’ve heard that you live in Ramallah. Is that true? Are you interested in our assistance?
Assistance with what? I say. If you want to leave, comes the response. Why would I want to leave? I ask. Just asking, the caller says. Just asking if everything is OK. If everything is OK, then stay there.
His name is Yitzhak, and I ask him: And if I do want to leave, how will you get me out of Ramallah? Do you go into Ramallah? Or set a place to meet?
“I’m just a volunteer,” he says diplomatically, “but the minute that you say you need to get out, I will tell the call center, the management at the office. They will know what to do.”
No, he has not yet had the chance to get someone out of the West Bank, but he has prepared for it. He hasn’t been volunteering for very long, he explains, but he “tries to help, just volunteering here for his national civilian service. Anything that Jews and Arabs need help with, I try to help.”
“You also help Arabs?” I ask.
“I help everyone. I try. I am not officially doing national service. It’s like picking up hitchhikers at every hitchhiking post.”
Thousands of Syrians flee into Turkey as ISIS, Kurds clash near border - Middle East - - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.661169
via ISS sur FB - il faudrait que penses à faire un transfert automatique chez seenthis à défaut d’en faire ta base :)
Thousands of Syrians cut through a border fence and crossed over into Turkey on Sunday, fleeing intense fighting in northern Syria between Kurdish fighters and jihadis.
The flow of refugees came as Syrian Kurdish fighters closed in on the outskirts of a strategic Islamic State-held town on the Turkish border, Kurdish officials and an activist group said, potentially cutting off a key supply line for the extremists’ nearby de facto capital.
Israeli report on Gaza war: Ineffective PR
An Israeli diplomatic initiative to rehabilitate the Gaza Strip in cooperation with the international community would have worked better than any report.
By Barak Ravid 02:00 15.06.15- Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.661197#
Hundreds of hours of work by attorneys, diplomats and officers were invested in the 270-page Israeli report on Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip. The result was a comprehensive, detailed and well-formulated document. And yet, the report’s efficacy is dubious. It would be no exaggeration to say that its impact on Israel’s international standing, its legal position and its public image will barely be felt.
The Israeli report was published on Sunday, so as to come out ahead of the UN Human Rights Council report on the war in Gaza, which may be released on Monday. One of the main aims of the Israeli report was to try to influence the way the UNHRC report will be covered in the international media over the next few days. It is unlikely this goal will be achieved.
Few Israeli or international correspondents attended Sunday’s press conference at the Foreign Ministry, where the main points of the report were presented. Despite the serious work invested in it, the report provided no new information. Moreover, the three jurists selected to be the report’s “presenters” had trouble piquing anyone’s interest or summing up the report in sound bites that would lead media coverage.
Un fonds norvégien se retire de deux multinationales opérant en Cisjordanie | i24news - Publié 13 Juin 2015 -
▻http://www.i24news.tv/fr/actu/israel/diplomatie-defense/74715-150613-un-fonds-norvegien-se-retire-de-deux-multinationales-operant-en
En cause, « l’exploitation de ressources naturelles en territoire occupé » par des partenaires israéliens
La société norvégienne d’assurance, KLP, a retiré son capital de multinationales spécialisées dans l’exportation de matériaux de construction, Simex et Helberg Siment, en raison de leur participation à des projets israéliens dans les implantations de Cisjordanie, a indiqué vendredi le quotidien Haaretz.
« KLP exclut Simex et Helberg Siment parce qu’elles exploitent des ressources naturelles dans les territoires occupés de Cisjordanie », a annoncé KLP jeudi, voyant en cette activité « un risque inacceptable de violer des normes éthiques fondamentales ».
KLP est la première société d’assurance-vie en Norvège et gère 470 milliards de couronnes (54 milliards d’euros) d’actifs au profit de fonctionnaires et employés du secteur public
Israel’s High Court is sponsoring anti-Palestinian discrimination - Opinion - - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.661022
The High Court of Justice rejected a petition on Tuesday from the Palestinian village of Dirat-Rafiah, Rabbis for Human Rights and other organizations, which sought to restore authority over planning in the West Bank’s Area C to Palestinian councils, something that was revoked in 1971. At that time, local and district Palestinian planning councils, created by Jordanian law, were disbanded by the Israel Defense Forces, which created a special planning system for the Palestinians run by the Civil Administration.
Despite being presented with studies showing the various methods in which planning policy in the West Bank negatively affects Palestinians and the development of their villages and towns – as opposed to Israeli settlements, which have a different system for planning – Justice Elyakim Rubinstein ruled that no information was presented indicating discrimination.
This follows a previous ruling Rubinstein handed down last month, which stated there was no discrimination in evacuating the unrecognized Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran to make way for a Jewish settlement. Rubinstein justified that Supreme Court ruling by noting that Hiran will not be for Jews only but open to all.
Denial of discrimination in both these cases reflects a narrow, extremely formalist position on equality. In adopting such a position, the courts have shirked their responsibility to guarantee equality for all – Jews and Palestinians alike.
No less troubling is the High Court declaration that it must not intervene because of the political nature of the issue, and possible ramifications to the “sensitive relationship between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.” This ruling negates the court’s role in protecting human rights for all, including the Palestinian population in the occupied territories.
This ruling also allows the High Court to refrain from safeguarding human rights at all in similar contexts. It joins previous cases in which the court used similar excuses in order to remain uninvolved – like the ruling on freedom of movement for Gaza residents, or the ruling allowing Israeli quarries to be built in the West Bank. This constitutes blatant disregard of the fact that under humanitarian and human rights law, the rights of civilians under military occupation are not limited, nor are they dependent on political concerns or agreements.
The lack of proper planning for Palestinians in the West Bank leads to constant unauthorized construction, and the regular demolition of such structures. The Israeli government stubbornly ignores the fact that the Palestinians need a solution and cannot wait for a comprehensive agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, which is not on the horizon anyway. It is disappointing that the High Court has backed this abuse and perpetuates the current planning system, which does not favor the local population and flies in the face of the laws of occupation.
A rajouter au dossier du boycott universitaire : l’armée israélienne embauche des étudiants...
IDF to hire civilian students in part-time jobs
Yossi Yehoshua, Ynet, le 12 juin 2015
▻http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4667848,00.html
Les universités israéliennes collaborent activement avec le Shin Bet
Jeudi, 11 Juin 2015
▻http://www.pourlapalestine.be/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2017:les-universites-is
Les universités israéliennes fournissent au Shin Bet - une des trois principales branches des services de renseignement israéliens, avec la sécurité militaire et le Mossad - des listes d’étudiants diplômés, destinées à aider le service de renseignements à les recruter, affirme le quotidien israélien Haaretz.
Il y a quelques mois, un certain nombre d’activistes engagés dans les luttes sociales en Israël ont reçu - comme des milliers d’autres citoyens - une lettre du Shin Bet dans laquelle ils ont pu lire que « …selon les données en notre possession… » ils avaient été considérés comme aptes à être engagés dans différentes fonctions afin de participer aux activivtés du service de renseignements.
Le député Tamar Zandberg (Meretz) écrivit au Premier Ministre Netanyahou, dont le Shin Bet dépend, afin de lui demander « pour quelle raisons des renseignements sont collectés à propos de citoyens israéliens qui ne sont pas suspectés d’avoir des activités mettant en cause la sécurité ? ». Le député demandait aussi si ces informations étaient systématiquement collectées à propos de tous les citoyens, ou si certaines catégories, telles que par exemple les activistes, étaient particulièrement ciblées. Quelle informations sont collectées, et de quelle manière ?
Le député Zandberg a reçu il y a quelques jours une réponse émanant de Perah Lerner, qui assure la liaison entre le premier ministre et le parlement, qui indique que « le Shin Bet approche une grande variété de candidats potentiels appartenant à toutes les catégories de la société israélienne. Il va sans dire que le Shin Bet n’exerce pas une surveillance et ne collecte pas de renseignements sur les activistes sociaux ou toute autre population en tant que telle dans le but de recuter des personnes dans ses rangs ».
Perah Lerner précisait également que le Shin Bet reçoit directement ses informations des universités. Une source universitaire a indiqué à Haaretz que le Shin Bet lui a fait une demande formelle pour recevoir des listes de leurs diplômés. Les listes comprennent les noms, numéro d’identité, adresse, etc…, mais pas les informations concernant les dipômes obtenus.
En Israël, le Shin Bet, tout comme le Mossad, la police et le Renseignement militaire, est exempté du respect des règles légales concernant la protection de la vie privée, et donc - précise Haaretz - les universités n’ont pas d’autre choix que de satisfaire la demande. La loi permet explicitement au Shin Bet d’obtenir « l’information utile à la réalisation de sa mission », ce qui inclut apparemment les informations lui permettant de faire de nouvelles recrues.
Les jeunes diplômés sont immédiatement « au parfum » et l’objet de toute l’attention des services…
Les universités israéliennes fournissent au Shin Bet des données sur les diplômés
11 juin | Chaim Levinson pour Haaretz |Traduction JPP pour l’AURDIP
▻http://www.aurdip.fr/les-universites-israeliennes-1381.html
Il n’y a plus de place pour les « bons Arabes » dans l’Etat juif…
Jeudi, 11 Juin 2015 13:43 Gideon Levy (Haaretz) | Traduction : Luc Delval
►http://www.pourlapalestine.be/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2015:il-ny-a-plus-de-pl
Il était une fois ce qu’on appelait « les bons Arabes », et ils ont disparu. Israël a éliminé le genre.
Norman Issa, un homme de théâtre qui a osé boycotter les colons vient de s’en rendre compte.
Norman Issa a fait pratiquement tout ce qu’il était possible de faire pour être un bon Arabe. Il est né chrétien (pas musulman, comme tous les terroristes, et Israël aime les Arabes chrétiens). Il a étudié à l’école Beit Zvi des Arts du spectacle, il a épousé Gidona, a participé à « Master Chef VIP » où il a cuit des boulettes et a ajouté des grenades [la grenade est le fruit du grenadier de la famille des Lythracées - NDLR] pour donner une note rafraîchissante. Il a joué sur scène en hébreu, il a joué le rôle de Amjad, un bon Arabe, bien entendu, dans la série télévisée « Travail d’Arabe », qui a été écrite par un autre bon Arabe, Sayed Kashua, et que les Israéliens aiment tant.
Si seulement il y avait plus de gens comme Norman et comme Sayed, sûr qu’il y aurait la paix depuis longtemps. C’est ainsi qu’on les aime, les Arabes, quand ils nous font rire en hébreu. Humous, chips, salades et comédies sur « Channel 2 ».
traduction de l’article signalé par @alaingresh
▻http://seenthis.net/messages/379917
Norwegian insurance giant divests from multinational firms operating in West Bank settlements - Companies excluded for exploiting resources in occupied territory, KLP says, in unusual ’tertiary’ boycott; meanwhile, Orange CEO meets Netanyahu, apologizes for ’misunderstanding.’
By Barak Ravid | Jun. 12, 2015 | Haaretz Daily Newspaper |
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.660901#
Norwegian insurance giant KLP Kapitalforvaltning has excluded two multinational building material companies from its investment portfolio because of their operations in the West Bank.
“KLP is excluding Heidelberg Cement and Cemex on the grounds of their exploitation of natural resources in occupied territory on the West Bank,” the company announced Thursday. “In KLP’s opinion this activity constitutes an unacceptable risk of violating fundamental ethical norms.”
KLP divested of its shares in these companies effective June 1, citing international law as set in the Hague and Geneva conventions. The Norwegian firm insures all municipal workers in the Scandinavian nation and holds 35 billion dollars worth of assets.
The decision is relatively unusual for divesting from companies operating in the West Bank because it constitutes a tertiary boycott – not on acquiring a product made in the West Bank or from an Israeli company producing it but rather a multinational company involved in a financial relationship with an Israeli company operating over the Green Line.
Both Heidelberg Cement, a German company, and Cemex, a Mexican firm, acquired smaller companies with Israeli subsidiaries operating quarries in parts of the West Bank known as Area C, under complete Israeli civilian and military control as defined by the Oslo accords.
Earlier this month, KLP wrote that “no such agreement can override the rules relating to occupation set out in the Hague Regulations and the Fourth Geneva Convention.”
Heidelberg, one of the biggest construction material companies in the world, operating in over 40 countries bought British firm Hanson, which in turn owns Hanson Quarry Products Israel. Cemex, a Mexican company supplying construction materials to over 50 countries acquired in 2005 RMC Group, owner of Readymix Industries Israel.
“From the perspective of international law, an assessment of this case has proved more difficult than similar assessments with respect to Western Sahara,” said Jeanett Bergan, head of responsible investment at KLP, about its divestment from Heidelberg and Cemex. “Nevertheless, the international legal principle that occupation should be temporary has carried the most weight. New exploitation of natural resources in occupied territory offers a strong incentive to prolong a conflict.”
The United Nations has condemned Israel for “depleting natural resources” from the West Bank. KLP noted that the subsidiaries of Heidelberg and Cemex “pay license fees and royalties to the state of Israel,” and that the “products deriving from the quarries are sold primarily for use in Israel’s domestic construction market.”
The move is part of KLP’s half-yearly review of companies in its portfolio. KLP announced that it was excluding, effective June, eight other companies – five because of their income from coal-based operations, one for corruption, one for severe environmental damage and one for production of tobacco.
KLP said was in contact with the two companies and asked for clarifications about their West Bank operations. Heidelberg confirmed that one of its subsidiaries operated quarries in the West Bank and was aware of the criticism about this operation. The company stressed that it had no intention to stop operating in the West Bank and remarked that although Israel controlled the quarries, most of the workers in them were Palestinians.
Cemex asserted that most of the workers at its West Bank quarry were Palestinians, and that they received the same conditions as their Israeli colleagues. Cemex also asserted that its operation in the West Bank was legal because the Oslo Accords allow Israel to maintain full control of Area C pending a permanent settlement.
KLP rejected these arguments.
“KLP considers that the ethical arguments carry the heaviest weight in this case,” the company announced. “The extraction of non-renewable resources in occupied territory may weaken the future income potential of the local population, including the Palestinian residents. Moreover, when this is undertaken in a way that is difficult to justify within the requirements of the law of belligerent occupation, KLP considers that this activity represents an unacceptable risk of violating fundamental ethical norms."
Orange apologizes
Meanwhile, the CEO of Orange met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to clarify his company’s position on Friday, after he made a controversial comment last week that he would drop his company’s relationship with an Israeli firm “tomorrow” if he could.
The comment caused an international storm.
Netanyahu met with Richard, who arrived in Israel on Thursday to smoothen relations and apologize for his remarks, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. The prime minister said at the opening of the meeting with Richard that many understood the latter’s comments as an attack on Israel.
“Your visit here is an opportunity to set the record straight,” Netanyahu said. “Israel is the one country in the Middle East that guarantees full civic rights, the one country in the Middle East where everyone is protected under the law equally.
“We seek a genuine and secure peace with our Palestinian neighbors, but that can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties without preconditions. It will not be achieved through boycotts and through threats of boycotts.”
Richard responded that his statements had been misunderstood, and that he regretted the controversy that was created.
“I regret deeply this controversy, and I want to make totally clear that Orange as a company has never supported and will never support any kind of boycott against Israel,” Mr. Richard told Mr. Netanyahu. “We are doing
We are doing business. We are doing communication. We are here to connect people, certainly not to participate in any kind of boycott.”
Gilad Erdan handed the anti-BDS mantle
Israeli officials note that while the boycott movement has inflicted little damage so far, it is picking up steam.
By Ora Coren | Jun. 11, 2015 | Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.660635
Gilad Erdan, who in addition to being information minister and public security minister is also strategic affairs minister, is creating a unit in the latter ministry to combat foreign efforts to boycott Israel. Erdan has been formally given the green light to handle the issue, as well as a budget, according to diplomatic sources.
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has increased its public profile recently, notably over the European Union’s move to require origin labeling for products from West Bank Jewish settlements. BDS activists are also leading efforts to get United States colleges and universities to divest from companies that have business ties with Israel, including firms with a presence in West Bank settlements or that do business with the Israel Defense Forces.
Israeli officials say that while the BDS movement has had only a marginal impact so far, it seems to be gathering support over a feeling in many Western countries that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government is unlikely to vigorously pursue peace talks with the Palestinians. If not a present threat, BDS is seen as a potential future strategic threat.
The boycott has been around in various forms for decades, and in earlier years centered on a refusal in the Arab world to do business with companies that conduct business in Israel. Confronted with the choice of Arab business or the benefit of a presence in a Jewish state that had a small, generally poor population at the time, for some companies the decision was to opt for commerce with the Arab world. That boycott faded by the 1990s, particularly after Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization signed the first Oslo Accords in 1993.
The newer incarnation of the boycott is the BDS movement, which has also resulted in raucous demonstrations in front of Israeli offices and stores selling merchandise made in the settlements.
The Europeans have excluded products produced in West Bank settlements, which are outside the sovereign territory of the State of Israel, from liberalized trade provisions that commerce between EU countries and Israel normally enjoy. In addition, the settlement labeling provision is expected to come into force in the coming months so that consumers can identify such products more easily. Nonetheless, a spokesperson in Israel for the European Commission told TheMarker that the EU is officially opposed to boycotts of any kind, including anti-Israeli boycotts.
The most recent controversy over the prospect of overseas businesses pulling out of Israel came with comments made in Cairo last week by Stephane Richard (see further coverage below), CEO of Orange S.A., the firm that used to be known as France Telecom. He reportedly said that he would pull the use of the Orange brand by Israel cellular service provider Partner Communications “tomorrow” if it wouldn’t cost the company major sums in legal damages. Richard later apologized for any offense caused, and his company explained that he was referring to a corporate decision that the Orange brand not be used by firms that Orange S.A. doesn’t own, rather than any anti-Israel animosity.
In response to the flap, however, an emergency anti-boycott summit was convened in the American Jewish community by Las Vegas gambling magnate Sheldon Adelson, a major supporter of Republican candidates in the U.S. and the Netanyahu government, and by Israeli-American entertainment mogul Haim Saban, a Democratic party supporter who has a controlling interest in Partner Communications.
European Jewry has also mobilized. The Europe Israel Press Association is organizing a mission to Israel for about 15 senior business reporters and editors from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland, with the aim of making it clear to Europeans what they stand to lose by boycotting Israel.
Rabbi Menachem Margolin, who founded the EIPA and also serves as director of the European Jewish Association, said that in his opinion anti-Israeli sentiment has long ago been transformed into the new form of anti-Semitism that European Jewry is confronting. In recent years, the advocacy efforts have included dialogue sessions with hundreds of editors, reporters, bloggers and commentators from leading European media outlets. The effort has been funded by European Jews, Margolin said, adding that he thinks the time has come for the Israeli government to provide funding for it. He suggested that the funding be drawn from the defense budget, since he said it affects the security of Europe’s Jews and Israel.
Economists and business people in Israel are still voicing the opinion that the effects of the boycott have been marginal, involving mostly damage to Israel’s image. Most of the companies making concessions to the boycott are European, along with a few American firms. The high-tech sector seems immune to the pressures – the technology sector here includes global giants such as Google, Facebook, Apple and Intel.
European companies involved in the infrastructure and defense sectors, however, seem more sensitive to pro-Palestinian campaigning. Someone who was involved in the purchase of training aircraft from Italy for the Israel Air Force in a transaction signed about six months ago recounted: “When we put the transaction together, we were careful not to put British components into the planes because Britain bans the export of military equipment parts that could be used for an attack.”
The boycott has also affected investment in Israel, as is apparent from the fact that the major global energy companies have not sought to explore for natural gas in Israel’s economic waters. (Instead a consortium that includes a smaller U.S. firm, Noble Energy, has.) Economic sources say the absence of the energy giants is the result of the boycott rather than any Israeli government regulatory policy.
On the other hand, a Dutch infrastructure company that does business in the Arab world recently submitted a bid to build a new privately-run port in Ashdod, “We haven’t encountered any negative aspect on the part of major Dutch companies operating in Israel,” Henriette Fuchs, an international tax lawyer with the Pearl Cohen law firm, noted this week. “On the contrary, they relate to business with Israel in a very professional manner.”
The companies know how to split their operations between Israel and the Arab world, she added, so as not to alienate Arab customers.
On the other hand, Norman Menachem Feder of the Caspi & Co. law firm noted negative political consequences on foreign business transactions after Israel built the West Bank separation barrier, a project that started more than a decade ago, which he said caused some infrastructure firms to leave Israel unexpectedly. But Feder also noted that legislative efforts have been gaining traction in the U.S. to combat the anti-Israel boycott.
#BDS
International Criminal Court planning to send delegation to examine complaints against Israel - Diplomacy and Defense - - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.660633
A delegation from the prosecutor’s office of the International Criminal Court at The Hague is due to arrive in Israel on June 27 as part of the prosecution’s preliminary examination into whether war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in the occupied Palestinian territories, according to senior Palestinian sources.
The sources said Palestinian political leaders had been informed of the delegation’s planned arrival by the court recently. The purpose of the preliminary examination is to determine if there is a reasonable basis to the claim that crimes have been committed that are within the court’s authority to investigate. If the prosecution does decide to launch an investigation, it is possible they will not just investigate allegations of Israeli war crimes, but also actions committed by the Palestinians.
[…]
On June 25, meanwhile, the Palestinians will give the prosecution two files containing detailed information about Israeli activities in the West Bank settlements, including in East Jerusalem, and about Israeli military attacks in the Gaza Strip over the past year. A Palestinian delegation headed by Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki will be traveling to The Hague to deliver the files to prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
De son côté Israël réfléchit à la suite à donner à la demande de visite. Vu les arguments développés, une pleine et entière collaboration ne semble pas vraiment à l’ordre du jour.
Israel has yet to respond to the prosecution request and will hold discussions about it over the next few days. “We will examine every request for a visit while taking into account all the relevant considerations, including Israel’s position that Palestine is not a state and therefore the court has no authority to consider the Palestinian complaint.”
The false arrest of Khalida Jarrar: Israeli ’justice’ put to shame - Opinion - - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
By Gideon Levy | Jun. 1, 2015
▻http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.659008
The charge sheet against the Palestinian legislator - in jail now for two months - ought to be studied in every law school: This is how you slap together false accusations and fabricate an indictment.
Here’s a case after which nobody will seriously be able to make any of the following five claims anymore: one, that Israel is a state of law; two, that the regime in its occupied territories isn’t a military dictatorship; three, that Israel has no political prisoners; four, that the military court system in the territories has any kind of connection, however weak, to law and justice; and five, in light of all of the above – that Israel is a democracy.
Does that sound overblown? Sometimes, one case suffices to prove a point.
Khalida Jarrar, a member of the Palestinian parliament, has been under arrest for two months already, yet virtually no one has uttered a peep. At first, Israel said it would deport her to Jericho for six months, but Jarrar refused to recognize the legitimacy of the one deporting her. The Israel Defense Forces folded.
Then she was put under administrative detention, as punishment for her refusal to be deported. But the IDF was frightened by the wave of international protests over its detention without trial of a legislator. So it decided to put her on trial.
The indictment, comprised of no fewer than 12 counts, ought to be studied in every law school: This is how you slap together false accusations and fabricate an indictment. This is how the system that dares to call itself a “legal system,” with “judges” and “prosecutors,” “verdicts” and “hearings,” actually behaves. Everyone plays along with this ridiculous costume party and takes their senseless roles seriously. And this is the result.
Jarrar, a veteran political activist who has no criminal history even according to the occupation authorities, who was elected in democratic elections and who fights for the rights of women and the release of prisoners, is accused of a plethora of crimes for which the words “grotesque,” “parody” or “farce” would be far too kind. Of what is she not accused? The fact that she opposed the occupation, visited a released prisoner and called for the release of the leader of her movement (the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine); that she participated in a book fair and even “asked about the welfare of the activists and the success of the books at the fair”; that she gave interviews, speeches and lectures; that she participated in marches; and that maybe – it’s doubtful even according to the indictment – she once incited to the kidnapping of soldiers in order to bring about the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Twelve counts of shame for the authors of this indictment – one of the most ridiculous legal documents ever written here, even by the military legal system. A system where the judge salutes the prosecutor, who outranks him militarily, and both are skullcap-wearing Orthodox Jews, perhaps even settlers – purely by chance, of course; it would never influence their worldview, never affect their conduct. A legal system that doesn’t even bother to translate the judge’s words for the defendant, and in which the judge delays his decision to free her for 72 hours, which somehow turns into another week (!) of detention. But who’s counting?
So Jarrar passed this weekend, too, in prison. After even the military judge recognized the hollowness of this indictment and ordered her released on bail, the prosecutor appealed. The appellate court accepted his appeal and ordered her kept in prison until the end of the trial. The court knows why it overturned the decision of the trial judge, Maj. Haim Balilty: The IDF had announced that if the court ordered her freed, she would be put under administrative detention. The rule of law.
A feminist parliamentarian, a brave, determined and patriotic lawmaker, is being kept under false arrest – and it’s as if nothing had happened. A handful of Knesset members from the true left took the trouble to visit her and speak out on her behalf, but aside from that, there has been complete silence and apathy. The Knesset speaker didn’t raise an outcry; the Supreme Court president didn’t utter a word; the head of the Israel Bar Association kept mum. So did women’s organizations and most of the media.
One day, they will (perhaps) be asked: Where were you when Jarrar was rotting in jail? What did you do then? Did you understand that by your shameful silence, you contributed to turning Israel into a state of political prisoners – today Jarrar, and tomorrow yourselves?
#Israël a fabriqué des « bombes sales » | #Moyen-Orient
▻http://www.lapresse.ca/international/moyen-orient/201506/08/01-4876353-israel-a-fabrique-des-bombes-sales.php
Le journal israélien, qui a aussi présenté des images du projet, affirme que le gouvernement a organisé 20 déflagrations avec des explosifs diffusant des matières radioactives. Des drones miniatures auraient enregistré les niveaux de radiation et des détecteurs auraient évalué la force de l’explosion.
Des chercheurs interrogés par Haaretz ont témoigné que les tests avaient été menés pour des objectifs défensifs seulement. Des taux élevés de radiation ont été détectés au centre des explosions. De petites particules se sont envolées plus loin, mais elles ne représentent pas un danger pour la population - qui subirait plutôt les effets psychologiques d’une telle attaque.
Le projet surnommé « Green Field » (zone d’espace vert) a été conduit par des employés d’un réacteur nucléaire du sud du pays, à Dimona, et a cessé ses activités en 2014 - après quatre ans d’expérimentation. La plupart des tests ont été effectués dans le désert de Negev et dans une installation qui est maintenant fermée, a-t-on ajouté dans l’article.
Les « bombes sales » ne poseraient aucun danger substantiel | The Times of Israël
▻http://fr.timesofisrael.com/les-bombes-sales-ne-posent-aucun-danger-substantiel-etude
Si une bombe sale devait exploser dans un espace clos, la zone devra être bouclée pendant une longue période jusqu’à ce que les effets aient diminué.
Israël teste des « bombes sales » dans le désert (médias)
▻http://french.xinhuanet.com/monde/2015-06/09/c_134308969.htm
En 2013, le ministre israélien de la Défense Moshé Yaalon a mis en garde le secrétaire américain à la Défense de l’époque Chuck Hagel sur le fait que l’Iran travaillait à un projet pour lancer une bombe sale dans différents lieux en Occident.
La Cour suprême américaine rejette une proposition d’obliger le président à reconnaître Jérusalem comme capitale d’Israël
U.S. Supreme Court decision : Small step for presidency, big blow for Jerusalem - West of Eden
The massive effort to use Zivotofsky’s passport petition for recognition of Israel’s capital only made things worse.
By Chemi Shalev | Jun. 9, 2015
Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/west-of-eden/.premium-1.660323#
The U.S. Constitution gave the president the authority “to receive ambassadors and other public ministers.” Ever since the Founding Fathers first thrashed it out in 1793 over George Washington’s wish to muzzle an irksome envoy of revolutionary France, the so-called “reception clause” has been interpreted as giving the President wide powers in making foreign policy. Monday’s Supreme Court decision further cemented his (or her) exclusive authority over recognition of foreign countries and their sovereignty over geographical areas, or, in this case, lack thereof.
By a 6-3 majority, the Court decided, that this presidential prerogative encompasses American-issued passports and their contents. Therefore, the judges noted, a clause in a 2002 Congressional bill that sought to compel the administration to allow Jerusalem-born Americans to have “Israel” registered in their passports as their country of birth was unconstitutional. The court rejected the petition brought by Benjamin Zivotofsky, born shortly after the law was enacted, ruling that his passport would continue to list a country-less Jerusalem as his place of birth.
The decision had nothing to do with the specific legal status of Jerusalem or with the consistent refusal of successive U.S. administrations – from Harry Truman through Ronald Reagan and George Bush all the way to Barack Obama – to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the city. Rather, the judges dealt with the eternal dilemmas of the American constitutional regime, including separation of powers and the conduct of foreign affairs: Where the constitution doesn’t grant it a foothold, the judges ruled, Congress cannot barge in.
It was not a victory for Barack Obama, but for the office of the presidency, and a limited one at that: The Court did not rule, as administration lawyers had suggested, that the president has exclusive control of the country’s entire foreign policy. Thus, for example, the decision has little legal bearing on the upcoming battle over the Iran nuclear deal: First, because the Constitution gives Congress considerable say about foreign treaties and second, because that issue was dealt with in the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act legislated last month.
Legalities and technicalities aside, however, the decision was nonetheless a considerable public relations blow for Israel and for perceptions of its status in Jerusalem. Together with myriad Jewish organizations fighting for the cause, Israel had sought to exploit Zivotofsky’s understandable request to have his country of birth registered in his passport, conducting a legal battle that lasted over a decade, consumed millions of dollars, raised hopes sky high and ended in a thundering crash. The world’s media are bound to dwell less on the debates between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton over the conduct of America’s foreign policy and more on the ruling’s bottom line. If you hadn’t known until now that Israel’s greatest ally refuses to recognize its sovereignty over its capital in either East or West Jerusalem, you’re certainly aware of it now.
Israel and the Jewish groups who turned the Zivotofsky case into a cause celebre turned out to be too clever by half. They thought that by combining strong Congressional support, persuasive amicus briefs submitted by well-respected Jewish groups and a personal story bound to spark sympathy they might circumvent long standing U.S. policy and get in through the back door. A clear majority of the judges – including all the liberal ones, whose positions may have been colored, for all we know, by their attitude towards current Israeli policies – decided to slam the door on their toes.
Most observers believe that Israel has already lost the battle over a nuclear agreement with Iran as well, if and when one is signed – it just doesn’t know it yet, or at least is unwilling to concede. It’s been a recurring theme in recent years, especially in the government’s ties with America: Why try to cut your losses when you can emerge from the fight not only bloodied and beaten, but tarred and feathered as well?
Tel Aviv U. academics hold first-ever discussion about BDS - Israel - - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel/.premium-1.660328#
About 30 Tel Aviv University students, mostly graduates and Ph.D. candidates, took part on Monday in a discussion about the boycott movement against Israel, particularly the academic boycott. The very fact that a discussion was held that did not completely condemn the BDS movement and included some expressions of support, is considered unusual.
The discussion was held under the auspices of the university’s sociology and anthropology department. It was the first such event held by the department, and apparently the first at Tel Aviv University.
One of the speakers was Dr. Hila Dayan of Amsterdam University College in Amsterdam, one of a group of about 40 anthropologists who oppose the attempt by the Israeli Anthropological Association to ban discussion on Israel at an upcoming international conference. The association is due to discuss the issue on Thursday.
Dayan drew a connection between what she said was the failure of Israel’s universities to deal with inequality in education and “their indifference to what is happening in the occupied territories.” She said that she did not support an academic boycott “because I think that Israel will be saved from itself only thanks to the enlightened world.” But she said she supported an “inner boycott.”
According to Dayan, “sanctimoniousness reigns” among leftists who oppose a boycott. “Many of them think that an economic boycott, like the pressure on Orange and boycotting the settlements is legitimate, but an academic boycott is not. Why, though?” Dayan criticized the universities for “on the one hand claiming that they are for dialogue and an exchange of views and on the other, vehemently opposing any demand to take a stand on the occupation. So what kind of an exchange of opinions is that?” she asked.
Professor Dan Rabinowitz of the university’s sociology department and head of its Porter School of Environmental Studies pointed to a petition signed by some 1,300 anthropologists worldwide calling on universities in Israel to persuade the government to withdraw from the territories as one of the conditions for lifting the boycott.
“That is a condition that cannot be met,” he said. “The universities are not in a position to make an institutional stand on political issues. We don’t know the opinion of Tel Aviv University on the occupation and refugees, just as we don’t know the opinion of UCLA Berkeley on climate change, Guantanamo or the war on terror.”
According to Rabinovitz, BDS is led by people who “never believed in a two-state solution, or who gave up on it,” while in the Israeli academic world there are still many people who believe in Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. For people who believe that it is better for Israel as a political entity to stop existing, “the presence of Israelis who can show an enlightened face and arouse empathy is an obstacle. Therefore Israeli academic and cultural institutions are a nuisance. The universities are more dangerous to the post-Zionist vision than Netanyahu, Bennett, and Shaked,” he added.
Just outside Gaza, but light years away: limp ’peace concert’ was a sorry show - Music & Theater - - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/life/music-theater/.premium-1.660104
As the darkness fell last Thursday, it seemed that Gaza was getting closer and closer. The pale lights, glinting feebly over the soccer field at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, located just two kilometers from the Gaza border, got brighter and brighter as the sun was going down and the “Cross Borders Concert” began with the sounds of Mozart’s Requiem at around 8:30 in the evening. Hope for peace seemed to be beating in the hearts of the crowd that gathered for the special concert, and the lack of peace was that much more present, so close to the border.
#israel #gaza #concert #musique et donc #sorry_show (new tag)
Israel’s odd partnership with Hamas in the face of Salafist escalation - Officially, Israel regards Hamas as an enemy, holds it entirely responsible for every attack from Gaza and responds harshly to every instance of fire. But practically speaking, its policy is the opposite.
By Amos Harel | Jun. 8, 2015 Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.660093
The firing of rockets at the Negev from the Gaza Strip, which happened twice in three days last week, is still a localized problem. The rockets were launched by an extremist Salafi faction in the context of a local conflict with the Hamas government in the Strip, after Hamas arrested some of its activists and killed one of them. Hamas is working to stop the firing on Israel and Israel is giving it time to deal with it.
In the meantime, there is still hope in Israel that the regime in Gaza can overcome the internal threat and ensure that it does not escalate to the point of renewed conflict with the Israel Defense Forces, as the Salafis are threatening to do.
In the coverage of the escalation in the Israeli media, the organization that fired the rockets was prominently branded as Islamic State. That is a somewhat dubious claim. ISIS’ successes in Syria and Iraq in recent months have prompted various jihadist groups throughout the Arab world to position themselves as branches of the worldwide brand. In some places, like Sinai, a connection has been created between a local faction (Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, which has now changed its name to Sinai Province) and ISIS, and apparently money was also sent. In other places, such as Gaza, the connection seems to be symbolic.
But the description of the Gaza group as ISIS by the Israeli security establishment serves two goals. It strengthens Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s line, which depicts extremist Islamist terror at the fences on all of Israel’s borders, and it provides an excuse for Israeli conduct. If the choice is between Hamas and ISIS (contrary to Netanyahu’s claim at the end of last summer’s war that “Hamas is ISIS” ) then there is a reason that Israel is in no hurry to topple the Hamas government.
Meanwhile, neither Hamas nor Israel is dealing robustly with the Salafi groups. Hamas is having a hard time challenging the Salafis, although they are far fewer in number than Islamic Jihad, on which the regime in Gaza has forced it will with relative ease. It seems that the Salafis play by their own rules and are more insistent on having their way. Israel, for its part, has so far avoided direct attack on leaders of the Salafi groups.
The worry over the recent nighttime sirens in Negev communities is completely understandable, given the events of last summer. What is not being discussed is the large gap between public declarations by Israel’s government and its actions. Officially, Israel regards Hamas as an enemy, holds it entirely responsible for every attack from Gaza, responds harshly against Hamas installations in response to every instance of fire and threatens to escalate its actions. But practically speaking, its policy is the opposite. It takes great care that its punitive attacks on Hamas do not harm anyone, seeks to strengthen Hamas control in the Strip (as long as it maintains the cease-fire) and operates new channels of mediation, much to Egypt’s displeasure.
Egypt today is Israel’s closest regional partner. The two countries are joining forces in dealing with the local ISIS faction in Sinai and other Salafi organizations operating in the area, and they coordinate their positions on many activities. But on the question of Gaza, they do not agree. Egypt has a complete lack of faith regarding Hamas’ intentions and continues to enforce a tight siege on the Gaza Strip by keeping the Rafah border shut. It is also trying to push for greater involvement of the Palestinian Authority in the crossings.
Israel suspects that the PA does not really want to accept any responsibility for Gaza. What is more, ties between Jerusalem and Ramallah are tense in any case in light of the dependence of the new Netanyahu government on a narrow right-wing coalition.
For these reasons, it might be more convenient for Israel to reach indirect, general understandings with Hamas, which will not bind Netanyahu to political concessions (as long as he does not publicly concede that he has, de facto, recognized Hamas as a partner.) This is the background for the increased activity in the area by Qatari representatives, who are not dealing only with the economic rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip.
The Egyptians also suspect that Turkey, an opponent of the generals’ regime in Cairo and partner of the Muslim Brotherhood axis in the Middle East, is increasing its involvement in the Gaza Strip. Only last summer, at the height of the war, Israel adamently refused to involve Qatar and the Turks in mediation with Hamas and faced off against the United States because of the latter’s willingness to consider a compromise proposal by those two countries. Now, it seems that Israel’s approach has changed.
There are many players in the Gaza arena and many more that are active behind the scenes. At the moment, it seems that the Salafi rebellion against Hamas is putting at risk the relative stability attained between Gaza and Israel, though at some later stage the risk could come from the Hamas military wing, which is conducting an independent policy separate from that of the organization’s political leadership. Above all, there is the economic distress in the Strip, with unemployment at 50 percent, scarce potable water and inhabitants living with a sense of continual siege. It is hard to expect long-term stability, even if Israel has so far done more than Egypt to make possible the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip after last summer’s war.
Israel in drive to stop or delay EU labeling settlement products - Intensive diplomatic efforts underway to halt or at least postpone planned EU directive to label Israeli goods made in West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights.
By Barak Ravid | Jun. 7, 2015 Haaretz Daily Newspaper |
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.659946
Israel has launched intensive diplomatic efforts to try and stop, or at least postpone, a planned European Union directive to label goods that originate in West Bank settlements, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, senior officials told Haaretz.
The three officials, who asked not to be identified because of the diplomatic sensitivity, said the Foreign Ministry was leading the efforts through Israeli embassies in Europe, and especially through its mission to the EU in Brussels. According to the officials, the labeling of the products has been the main issue on the Foreign Ministry’s agenda over recent weeks.
The diplomatic efforts began after the most recent meeting of the EU foreign ministers on May 18. After the meeting, the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem received information that the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, had told EU ministers she intended to press ahead on the process of labeling goods produced in the settlements and would publish directives soon.
Although Mogherini did not say when she was going to publish the directives, the Foreign Ministry assessment was that it would happen within a few weeks of the meeting.
“There is a reasonable possibility that the decision will be made even before summer vacation starts in Europe, in August,” one of the senior officials said.
After the directives have been formulated, they will be presented to the European Commission – which is the executive body of the EU – for a vote, to give the document political weight.
Over the past two weeks, Israel’s ambassador to the EU, David Walzer, and his deputy, Ronen Gil-Or, have been in contact with the 28 European commissioners who will apparently vote on labeling the products that are marketed in European grocery chains. Walzer and Gil-Or are focusing their efforts in particular on seven commissioners within whose purview the issue of labeling the products also falls.
The Israeli diplomats are trying to persuade the commissioners to vote against the decision, or at least to postpone it as much as possible, arguing that the current timing is not suitable for such a decision.
The Foreign Ministry hopes that if it is able to persuade at least four out of the seven relevant commissioners, the decision will at least be postponed.
However, the Foreign Ministry believes it will be difficult, if not impossible, to stop or even delay the decision.
A senior Israeli official said that during the talks in Brussels with Mogherini’s advisers, the latter made clear that the only way to delay a decision on labeling the products from the settlements would be if the peace process with the Palestinians was renewed, which is not on the horizon. “We are f***ed,” the senior officials said. “We will try to do all we can, but a miracle will have to happen.”
A few days ago, Gil-Or spoke to the European Commission’s legal adviser to get a sense of how binding the new directives would be, if they are indeed published. The European official said the directives were not binding legislation, but would leave room for interpretation. However, the adviser added that the European Commission believed the directives would have a “high degree of impact” on the member states, and all 28 member states would toe the line.
The concerns in Israel over the directives to label the products originating in the settlements are both economic and diplomatic. Economically, products produced in the settlements constitute only a small fraction of Israel’s exports to Europe. However, it is feared that many European grocery chains will find it difficult to differentiate between goods manufactured within the 1967 borders and those manufactured over the Green Line, and will therefore prefer to avoid selling Israeli products altogether.
On the diplomatic level, there is concern over another serious blow to Israel’s status in Europe, and increased international pressure with regard to the settlements.
In addition to the matter of labeling products from the settlements, the EU is taking steps also that would mean a complete boycott on some products from the settlements.
Since the beginning of 2015, the EU has withdrawn its recognition of the Agriculture Ministry’s veterinary services across the Green Line. This has meant that, over recent months, the import of chicken and milk products from the settlements to Europe has been banned completely, because they are no longer approved as meeting European standards.
And at the end of June, the EU will stop recognizing the Agriculture Ministry’s authority over the Green Line with regard to products that are defined as organic, such as eggs and produce. A senior Israeli official said that by the end of 2015, this ban could expand to products such as wine and cosmetics that are produced over the Green Line.
Brazilian university seeks to list Israelis on campus, at behest of pro-Palestinian groups - World - - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
►http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/.premium-1.659860
The deputy dean of a Brazilian university asked faculty to provide a list of Israelis working or studying on campus, acting at the request of pro-Palestinian groups.
Jose Fernando Schlosser, deputy dean of the Federal University of Santa Maria in Brazil’s south posted a memorandum on May 15 requesting "urgent dispatch of information on the possible presence of Israeli students or teachers” in post-graduate programs, the online edition of the O Globo daily reported Wednesday.
The memorandum explains the request came from several groups, including the Santa Maria Committee of Solidarity with Palestinian People. According to the university, the request is based on Brazil’s 2012 law on freedom of information, which orders public institutions to provide information to interested citizens.
Reproduction of the memorandum that surfaced on social media and carried the text “Freedom for Palestine, Boycott Israel” were forgeries of the original, which did not contain that text, the university said in a statement to local media. The university said it would file its own complaint for forgery.
Parties offended by the memorandum filed a criminal complaint against Schlosser for allegedly inciting discrimination on race, color, ethnicity, religion or national affiliation, O Globo reported. But in a statement to media, the university’s dean, Paulo Afonso Burmann, insisted that the memorandum, which he said was issued at the request last year of five groups, was “in compliance with the law on freedom of information.”
CONIB, the umbrella group of Brazil’s Jewish communities, rejected the university’s explanations and said in a statement that it “received the university’s actions with repudiation.”
Schlosser’s memorandum “was a clearly discriminatory measure, done by a high-ranking official in the federal education system, and it should be dealt with the severity it merits,” CONIB President Fernando Lottenberg wrote in a statement posted Thursday on CONIB’s website.
Brazilian university seeks to list Israelis on campus, at behest of pro-Palestinian groups
Request for list of names by five activist groups is in compliance with freedom of information law, dean insists.
By JTA | Jun. 5, 2015 Haaretz Daily Newspaper |
►http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/.premium-1.659860
The deputy dean of a Brazilian university asked faculty to provide a list of Israelis working or studying on campus, acting at the request of pro-Palestinian groups.
Jose Fernando Schlosser, deputy dean of the Federal University of Santa Maria in Brazil’s south posted a memorandum on May 15 requesting "urgent dispatch of information on the possible presence of Israeli students or teachers” in post-graduate programs, the online edition of the O Globo daily reported Wednesday.
The memorandum explains the request came from several groups, including the Santa Maria Committee of Solidarity with Palestinian People. According to the university, the request is based on Brazil’s 2012 law on freedom of information, which orders public institutions to provide information to interested citizens.
Reproduction of the memorandum that surfaced on social media and carried the text “Freedom for Palestine, Boycott Israel” were forgeries of the original, which did not contain that text, the university said in a statement to local media. The university said it would file its own complaint for forgery.
Parties offended by the memorandum filed a criminal complaint against Schlosser for allegedly inciting discrimination on race, color, ethnicity, religion or national affiliation, O Globo reported. But in a statement to media, the university’s dean, Paulo Afonso Burmann, insisted that the memorandum, which he said was issued at the request last year of five groups, was “in compliance with the law on freedom of information.”
CONIB, the umbrella group of Brazil’s Jewish communities, rejected the university’s explanations and said in a statement that it “received the university’s actions with repudiation.”
Schlosser’s memorandum “was a clearly discriminatory measure, done by a high-ranking official in the federal education system, and it should be dealt with the severity it merits,” CONIB President Fernando Lottenberg wrote in a statement posted Thursday on CONIB’s website.
Boycott académique d’Israël : au-delà des mots d’ordre…
▻http://www.pourlapalestine.be/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2001:boycott-disrael-au
Des invitations qui se raréfient, davantage d’articles rejetés par des revues réputées, des recommandations qui se font attendre… Selon Judith Maltz, de Haaretz, les universitaires israéliens se sentent de plus en plus mis au ban de la communauté scientifique internationale. Et les dirigeants des universités israéliennes s’attendent à ce que le phénomène s’intensifie.
Les dirigeants des universités israéliennes se disent inquiets de constater de plus en plus d’indices d’un boycott officieux des universitaires israéliens par leurs homologues étrangers. Ces signes sont multiples : des collègues étrangers qui déclinent de plus en plus souvent les invitations à assister à une conférence organisée en Israël, l’absence de réponse aux demandes de lettres de recommandations en faveur de chercheurs israéliens qui souhaitent une promotion, le rejet d’articles scientifiques soumis par des chercheurs israéliens à une évaluation par leurs pairs étrangers,… L’hostilité envers Israël est rarement exprimée ouvertement, mais la multiplication des cas inquiète les dirigeants universitaires israéliens.
Toutefois, ils ont affirmé à la journalistes de Haaretz que le phénomène n’est pas extrêmement répandu, mais si on considère qu’il y a quelques années encore ils n’existait virtuellement pas, il a pris une ampleur qui les oblige à réflechir à la réponse adéquate. Ce « boycott latent » s’additionne en effet aux boycott « officiel », déclaré par d’importantes organisations universitaires et des syndicats étudiants aux Etats-Unis et en Europe (voir par exemple ici). « C’est une pente glissante », dit Peretz Lavie, président de l’institut des sciences et de la technologie du « Technion » *, et président de l’association des dirigeants des universités israéliennes.
« Nous pourrions nous retrouver dans dix ans totalement isolés du monde universitaire, mais l’impact ne se limite pas à la sphère académique. C’est aussi d’économie et de haute technologie qu’il s’agit, et il est temps de réfléchir à ce que nous allons faire », dit-il.
#BDS