717 Israel defines itself as the nation-state of the Jewish people - not for minorities

Israel defines itself as the nation-state of the Jewish people - not for
minorities

Newsletter published on 29 November 2014

(1) Dissident Jews accused of spreading Hatred of Jews, threatened with
attack
(2) Ahmed Loves Jews: racist Hate sweeping Israel, President implicated
(3) Israel defines itself as the nation-state of the Jewish people - not
for minorities
(4) Israel set to make Arabs second-class citizens
(5) Benjamin Netanyahu’s bill fails to accord Arabs social and political
rights
(6) Jewish settlers now control 92% of Palestine, genocidal assault -
Mazin Qumsiyeh
(7) IDF orders to Medic: ‘No need to resuscitate Palestinians’
(8) Druze men serve in Israeli army, but Israel takes 85%of their land

(1) Dissident Jews accused of spreading Hatred of Jews, threatened with
attack

http://mondoweiss.net/2014/11/confronted-gregor-gysi

Why I confronted Gregor Gysi

November 13, 2014

David Sheen

In the last week, the German media has been replete with articles
accusing me and my fellow journalist Max Blumenthal of spreading hatred
of Jews. These baseless accusations are not only defamatory, but also
amount to a real physical threat to myself, as I live in Israel, where
dissidents are branded as “destroyers of Israel” and are often subject
to rape threats and violent physical attacks.

Despite the orchestrated attempt to smear our names and get our Berlin
speaking gigs cancelled, we testified at the Bundestag – the German
Parliament – about the recent Israeli attacks on Gaza and incitement to
racist violence by top Israeli leaders. After giving our testimonies, we
confronted one of the leading legislators who had publicly endorsed the
smear campaign against us. In the wake of that debacle, Max and I might
very well be banned from the Bundestag in the future.

I may not list potentially being banned from the Bundestag on my
curriculum vitae as an accomplishment I am especially proud of, but I am
certainly not ashamed of it, or of my actions that led to it. I trailed
a 66-year-old parliamentarian down his office hallway, following him
into a random room which turned out to be a restroom, and did not
retreat when he sandwiched me into the door jamb. All the while, I
called upon him to engage me and answer for his actions of the previous
days.

I understand why some people without any knowledge of the events that
preceded this incident might find it uncomfortable to watch the video of
me in pursuit of a 66-year-old man in a business suit who clearly is not
interested in exchanging words with me, in any language. But for the
sake of my reputation, for the sake of my safety and the safety of my
family, for the sake of other Jews who dare to criticize the rampant
racism in Israeli society, and for the sake of Palestinian people and
others who do the same – I felt I had to confront this man to his face,
even if for only a moment.

The sequence of events that led to the confrontation began when
Blumenthal and myself were invited by left-wing German lawmakers to come
to Berlin to speak about the recent Israeli attacks on Gaza and
incitement to racist violence by top Israeli leaders.

Of course, I understand well that these left-wing legislators did not
offer to host Max and myself at the Bundestag because we are the only
journalists in the world to report on these issues. Many Palestinian
journalists have long written extensively on these topics and could have
presented at least as competently as we did, if not much more so. No,
let’s be honest – Max and I were specifically selected at least in part
because we are Jews.

Non-Jewish critics of Israel are often accused of being motivated by a
hatred of Jews, whether or not there is any substance to such slurs. By
inviting a Jewish critic of Israel – or even better, a Jewish Israeli
critic of Israel – to speak about Israeli crimes, non-Jewish critics of
Israel may hope to shield themselves from these damaging accusations.

I do not believe that all non-Jewish critics of Israel are motivated by
Jew-hatred. Also, I want people outside of Israel to know about the
horrific racism that pervades Israeli society, so that we might combat
it – because it is clearly not going to end on its own. So while I do
not advertise my Jewishness or Israeliness in order to get invitations
to speak, I will accept such invitations, even if I suspect they are in
part motivated by identity politics. [...]

(2) Ahmed Loves Jews: racist Hate sweeping Israel, President implicated

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2014/11/26/58-of-israelis-support-firing-palestinian-workers-according-to-news-poll/

Ahmed Loves Jews

58% of Israelis Support Firing Palestinian Workers According to News Poll

by Richard Silverstein on November 26, 2014

There are massive waves of racist and hate sweeping the Israeli Jewish
public in the aftermath of the Gaza summer massacre and a series of
tit-for-tat terror attacks in Jerusalem. The response has involved some
truly revolting developments. Among them, the above song written by the
popular Israeli Mizrahi performer, Emir Benayoun. He is an avowed
Judeo-racist who detests Arabs and has previously incited against them
in his songwriting.

He’s uploaded his latest song, Ahmed Loves Jews, to his Facebook account
(listen above). The lyrics dispense with any subtlety or hint of parody.
The “hero” is nothing less than the hook-nosed Jew of Die Sturmer
infamy. Here are the lyrics:

     Hello, they call me Ahmed
     I live in Jerusalem and study a thing or two at the University
     I enjoy the best of both worlds [Jew and Arab]
     Today I’m mild and all smiley
     Tomorrow I’ll fly to the heavens
    And take a Jew or two to Hell with me.

     It’s true that I’m an ungrateful piece of shit
     It’s true but I’m not at fault, I wasn’t raised on love
     It’s true a moment will come when you’ll turn your back
     And I’ll slash you with a sharpened ax.

     I’m Ahmed living in town
     I work next to a kindergarten
     nd am responsible for the gas cylinders…

Israel’s Channel 2 News did a poll that finds 42% of Israeli Jews agree
with the racist sentiments purveyed by the song. This result alone
speaks volumes about the level of hate within Israeli Jews toward their
fellow Palestinian citizens. Keep in mind that the song doesn’t portray
a West Bank Palestinian. It portrays a Palestinian citizen of Israel.
This is one of the many reasons I believe Israeli Jews are simply
incapable alone of reforming their society. It will have to come from
pressure and a mandate enforced from outside, much in the way a UN
protectorate operated Kosovo.

Reuven Rivlin, Israel’s president invited this ‘ungrateful piece of
s(^t’ (quoting his own lyrics) to sing at the official president’s
residence. This is the same politician making nice to Israel’s
Palestinian community about offering apologies for past Israeli sins.
While such apologies are welcome and long overdue, Rivlin and his staff
know who this guy is. He’s been a friggin’ racist for years, dripping
hate for Israel’s Palestinian minority. Why did it take this song for
them to decide to disinvite Beyayoun? It’s because Israeli Jews have a
deliberately short memory. Once the cameras are turned off and reporters
move on to sexier stories, they resume their lazy habits.

israeli jewish racism

Even while cancelling his state concert, the president’s chief of staff
offered praise to Benayoun:

  “Amir Benayoun is a renowned and exceptional artist, and his talent
has greatly contributed to Israeli music. However, his statements made
at this time of conflict and tension, even if uttered out of frustration
and pain, do not, to say the least, help bring calm to the streets, and
are inconsistent with the responsibility required of the President’s
Residence…

In other words, let this thing settle down and we’ll have you back in a
heartbeat. What lesson’s learned here? That Israeli Jews are sensitive
to racism only when the world forces them to be. Otherwise, not so much.

In an interview with Israeli radio, Benayoun threw back critical
questions from the interviewer who asked whether he was inciting
violence against Israeli “Arabs.” He counter-accused her of “murder,”
because she was inciting hate against him and endangering his life. This
is a classic Israeli ultra-right bullying tactic.

israel second class citizen

Israeli Channel 10 TV news aired a segment on the decision by the
right-wing mayor of Ashkelon to outlaw Palestinian laborers to work on
building projects near kindergartens. He claimed that parents were
calling him and refusing to bring their children for fear of a terror
attack. Though many Israeli politicians have denounced the mayor’s
decision and pronounced it illegal, a strong majority (58%) of Israeli
Jews approve it. Only 32% oppose it. H/t Ronnie Barkan.

Young Israeli Palestinians have launched a social media campaign of
their own called: Second-Class Citizen. It features their pictures with
an official Israeli stamp declaring them to be second-class citizens.

(3) Israel defines itself as the nation-state of the Jewish people - not
for minorities

Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 20:40:02 +0000 From: Martin Webster
<martinwebstir@virginmedia.com>

Israeli cabinet approves legislation defining nation-state of Jewish people

Opponents say proposed law would reserve ‘national rights’ for Jews and
not for minorities that make up 20% of population

Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem

The Guardian, Monday 24 November 2014 06.08 AEST

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/23/israeli-cabinet-approves-bill-defining-nation-state-jewish-people

A controversial bill that officially defines Israel as the nation-state
of the Jewish people has been approved by cabinet despite warnings that
the move risks undermining the country's democratic character.

Opponents, including some cabinet ministers, said the new legislation
defined reserved "national rights" for Jews only and not for its
minorities, and rights groups condemned it as racist.

The bill, which is intended to become part of Israel's basic laws, would
recognise Israel's Jewish character, institutionalise Jewish law as an
inspiration for legislation and delist Arabic as a second official language.

Arab Muslims and Christians make up 20% of Israel’s population.

The cabinet passed the bill by a 14-7 majority after reports of
rancorous exchanges during the meeting, including between the prime
minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and his justice minister, Tzipi Livni.

The bill, which still requires the Knesset’s approval to become a law,
comes as tensions between Israelis and Palestinians rise sharply, and
friction within Israel’s Arab minority grows.

Opponents include two of the more centrist parties in Netanyahu’s
fragile coalition - which say the bill is being pushed through with
forthcoming primaries in the prime minster’s rightwing Likud party in
mind - and senior government officials including the attorney general.

According to many critics, the new wording would weaken the wording of
Israel’s declaration of independence, which states that the new state
would “be based on the principles of liberty, justice and freedom
expressed by the prophets of Israel [and] affirm complete social and
political equality for all its citizens, regardless of religion, race or
gender”.

Among those to voice their opposition was the finance minister, Yair
Lapid, who said he had spoken to the family of Zidan Saif, a Druze
policeman killed in last week’s deadly attack on a Jerusalem synagogue.

“What will we tell his family? That he is a second-class citizen in the
state of Israel because someone has primaries in the Likud?” he asked.

Netanyahu argued that the law was necessary because people were
challenging the notion of Israel as a Jewish homeland.

“There are many who are challenging Israel’s character as the national
state of the Jewish people. The Palestinians refuse to recognise this
and there is also opposition from within.

“There are those, including those who deny our national rights, who
would like to establish autonomy in the Galilee and the Negev.

“Neither do I understand those who are calling for two states for two
peoples but who also oppose anchoring this in law. They are pleased to
recognise a Palestinian national state but strongly oppose a Jewish
national state.”

According to reports in the Hebrew media, the attorney general, Yehuda
Weinstein, has also expressed concern, shared by some ministers, that
the new law would effectively give greater emphasis to Israel’s Jewish
character at the expense of its democratic nature. A number of Israeli
basic laws use the term “Jewish and democratic”, giving equal weight to
both. The new law would enshrine only the Jewish character of the state.

Netanyahu appeared to confirm that there would be differential rights
for Israeli Jews and other minorities. He said that while all could
enjoy equal civil rights, “there are national rights only for the Jewish
people - a flag, anthem, the right of every Jew to immigrate to Israel
and other national symbols.”

Cabinet ministers, including Netanyahu, separately proposed stripping
Palestinian attackers of their residency rights in occupied East
Jerusalem in response to a wave of deadly violence.

“It cannot be that those who harm Israel, those who call for the
destruction of the state of Israel, will enjoy rights like social
security,” Netanyahu said, adding that the measure would complement
house demolitions and serve as a deterrent.

Critics, however, have condemned the measures as racist said that they
could further escalate tensions.

The cabinet met as fresh reports of continuing violence emerged. In
Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry said Israeli forces had shot dead
a Palestinian on Sunday, the first such fatality since a 50-day Gaza war
ended in August.

In the West Bank, a Palestinian home was torched on Sunday. No one was
hurt in the fire, which gutted the home in the village of Khirbet Abu
Falah near Ramallah, local residents said.

“The settlers came here and they hit the door, but I refused to open,”
said Huda Hamaiel, who owns the house. She said they then broke a
terrace window and hurled a petrol bomb inside.

“Death to Arabs” and another slogan calling for revenge were also
painted on the walls of Hamaiel’s home, hallmarks of Jewish extremists’
so-called “price tag” attacks against Palestinian dwellings and mosques
and Christian church property.

(4) Israel set to make Arabs second-class citizens

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/article4276167.ece

Gregg Carlstrom Jerusalem

The Times Last updated at 12:01AM, November 24 2014

After an angry debate, the Israeli cabinet endorsed a controversial bill
declaring the country a Jewish state, a move that will alienate the
Palestinian minority further and push the government closer to early
elections.

The bill affirms that Jewish law should inspire the Israeli legal
system, and reserves other “national rights” for Jews, including the
right to immigrate. If passed by the full Knesset, it would become a
“basic law,” akin to a constitutional amendment. [...]

(5) Benjamin Netanyahu’s bill fails to accord Arabs social and political
rights

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/benjamin-netanyahus-bill-fails-to-accord-arabs-social-and-political-rights-9878783.html

by Ben Lynfield

JERUSALEM

The Independent - Monday 24 November 2014

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet yesterday backed draft
legislation aimed at strengthening the Jewish character of the Israeli
state, a move liberals warn will undermine democracy and heighten
discrimination against Arab citizens.

The cabinet voted 14 to six to send two versions of a bill defining
Israel as “the nation state of the Jewish people” to parliament for a
preliminary vote this week. But under an elaborate deal engineered by Mr
Netanyahu, both versions are to be superseded after the vote by an
ostensibly more moderate bill which the premier is currently finalising.

He says his bill will place democratic and Jewish values on an equal
footing.

But Mr Netanyahu’s bill, as published in media reports, does not even
accord Israel’s Arab minority the “equality of social and political
rights” specified in Israel’s Declaration of Independence. Rather, it
says: “The state of Israel ... upholds the individual rights of all its
citizens according to the law.”

Yohanan Plesner, head of the Israel Democracy Institute, said this
omission amounted to “minimising Israel’s democratic essence”, while
Mohammad Barakeh, an Arab member of the Knesset, said the bill, if
passed, would make an existing situation in which Arab citizens face
rampant discrimination, even worse.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet yesterday backed draft
legislation aimed at strengthening the Jewish character of the Israeli
state, a move liberals warn will undermine democracy and heighten
discrimination against Arab citizens.

(6) Jewish settlers now control 92% of Palestine, genocidal assault -
Mazin Qumsiyeh

Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 07:54:54 +0200
From: Mazin Qumsiyeh <mazin@qumsiyeh.org>
Subject: [HumanRights] Theater of the absurd versus reality

http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/john-kerry-conducted-theatre-absurd-amman-1054680592

John Kerry conducted a theatre of the absurd in Amman

Mazin Qumsiyeh

Friday 14 November 2014 21:55 GMT

US Secretary John Kerry met in Amman with King Abdullah, PM Netanyahu,
and PA leader Mahmoud Abbas for the umpteenth episode of the ongoing
theatre saga dubbed the "peace process."

Just across the river in occupied Palestine, a sadly familiar scene
continues to unfold: increased colonial activities; attempts to drive
Jerusalemites out of the occupied city and make it into a Jewish on;
restrictions on millions of Muslims and Christians from reaching their
Holy sites; home demolitions; random and bizarre acts of violence; and
6,000 political prisoners languishing in Israeli gulags/prisons.

Seven million of us Palestinian are refugees or displaced people (out of
a population of 12 million). Land left for us to live on in historic
Palestine is now a mere 8 percent of our historic land (that includes
the cantons left for us in the Galilee, Naqab, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and
the West Bank).

Millions of Jewish settlers from Europe and other parts of the world now
control 92 percent of the land, more than 90 percent of the water, all
border crossings, and all other natural resources in the country.
Israel's latest assault on the besieged people of Gaza this year killed
2,170 and injured 10,900 human beings. About 80 percent of these
casualties were civilians, including 519 children who were killed and
2,114 children who were injured.

During that genocidal assault, Kerry had nothing but praise for the
colonizers.

Zionism started here in the 19th century as a colonial movement to
change a multi-religious flourishing Palestine (3 percent Jewish at the
time) into the Jewish state of Israel in the Levant (JSIL).

The support of western powers was and continues to be critical for
JSIL's establishment and (increasingly more expensive) maintenance.
Kerry's intentions were made clear by his statements that were directed
toward the goal of supporting JSIL. Not one word was mentioned about
Palestinian rights.

The rich, manoeuvring, and conniving politicians can continue their
macabre theatre in places like Amman and Washington and Ramallah and Tel
Aviv, while millions of destitute people suffer and continue to stew
with anger as they try to liberate themselves.

The question remains when will this insanity end and do meetings like
those in Amman merely prolong the agony and give cover to ongoing
atrocities? Most people here understand that the USA cannot be a peace
broker when it continues to fund Israel to the tune of billions of
dollars a year, arm it to the teeth, and shield it from international
law by using its veto power at the UN against the will of the
international community.

The US/Israel-created “Palestinian Authority” (PA) is now dominated by
men more concerned for their jobs than the future of Palestine. This was
the trap that was created in the negotiations in Norway in 1993 (the
Oslo accords). Since then, the number of Israeli colonial settlers in
the West Bank alone rose from 180,000 to 650,000. More and more, life
for us - the remaining Palestinians - has become unbearable.

Maintaining a racist system has meant creating and pushing an Israeli
educational and social system that increasingly forces its population to
the extremes – a development that helps to explains mosque torching,
random attacks on civilians with impunity, and more.

Former Israeli Knesset Member, Avraham Berg, has come to clearly
understand this in his later years, writing recently in Haaretz that:

“Here are Israel's shallow prime minister and the bumbling police, the
masses who cling to futile prayers and not to a moment of human peace.
Here are the country's hypocritical chief rabbis, who just a month ago
demanded promises from the Pope regarding the future of the Jewish
people, but in their daily lives remain silent about the fate of the
people who are our neighbours, trampled beneath the pressure of
occupation and racism under the leadership of rabbis who receive
exorbitant salaries and benefits....we are incapable of understanding
the suffering of a whole society, its cry, and the future of an entire
nation that has been kidnapped by us.”

Declassified documents confirm now the analysis of many writers who have
long argued that starting right after the 1973 war, PLO leadership
including Mahmoud Abbas (of Fatah) and Nayef Hawatmeh (of the Democratic
Front for the Liberation of Palestine or DFLP) were eager for a
resolution that falls short of securing basic Palestinian rights, in
exchange for the promise of self-determination.

There are certain inflexible positions that preclude arriving even at
this sell-out positions of giving up 78 percent of historic Palestine to
settle for what an American official described in 1973 as the “rump
entity” and now commonly referred to as the Palestinian Authority in
(parts of) the West Bank and Gaza. One major obstacle is the “enduring
special relationship” between Israel and the US that Kerry speaks about
and that is shaped for many decades worth of persistent Zionist lobbing
in Washington.

But more and more people outside of the narrow circle of politicians are
speaking out for Palestinian rights. Most people know that negotiations
between occupied and occupier will get us nowhere because the math does
not add-up.

Israel gets $12 bn profit every year from its occupation and that is not
counting the billions from US taxpayers or the billions from arms sales
marketed as “battle tested” (on the guinea pigs in Gaza).

Freedom is never freely given by the privileged oppressor to the
oppressed but it must be extracted and demanded with pain and sacrifice.
Resistance from inside must be complemented by support from outside that
includes topics like the growing campaigns of boycotts, divestment, and
sanctions (BDS).

Many hope that politicians will show some leadership and take steps to
enact positive change but most of us know that we the people must act
first and that is the way history changes.

Many internationals show solidarity because Palestine today is the
lightning rod exposing hypocrisy and racism in the same way that South
Africa provided such a beacon in the 1980s.

Most people also now understand that unless human rights and
international law are observed uniformly, the “Middle East” (Western
Asia) and the whole world risks of continuing down the path of mayhem
and killings, a might makes right approach to existence.

We must all continue and strive to travel the different path of justice
and coexistence. In the meantime, let the political theatre of the
absurd play to empty seats in Amman and elsewhere.

Mazin Qumsiyeh is author of 'Sharing the Land of Canaan' and 'Popular
Resistance in Palestine'. He is a professor at Bethlehem University and
director of the Palestine Museum of Natural History.

(7) IDF orders to Medic: ‘No need to resuscitate Palestinians’

Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 20:40:02 +0000 Subject: IDF trainer: ‘No need to
resuscitate  Palestinians’
From: Martin Webster <martinwebstir@virginmedia.com>

http://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/idf-trainer-no-need-to-resuscitate-palestinians/

IDF trainer: ‘No need to resuscitate Palestinians’

An IDF medic was surprised to hear two new orders given by his
superiors: only Jews are worthy of resuscitation, and that attackers who
pose no threat should be shot dead.

The Ugly Truth blog – Monday 24th November 2014

New orders in the Israeli army?

‘D’, a medic in the infantry, was surprised last week to find out during
training for an operation in the occupied territories that at least two
orders typically given to soldiers have been refreshed.

“During the refresher course the instructor, who works as a medic on the
base, told us that the orders of the IDF are not to give mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation to people we do not know. When asked about it he said that
it basically means that we do not need to resuscitate Palestinians,”
says ‘D’, who took part in the course at the Lakhish base in southern
Israel. ‘D’ has since then left for duty in the West Bank.

“It sounds strange but he repeated it twice, so I have no doubt that
that was what he meant. I was very surprised by the order not to
resuscitate anyone who needs it. Since then I have come to understand
that Magen David Adom (Israel’s national emergency medical, disaster and
ambulance service) came up with the order regarding mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation several years ago. The emphasis on the Palestinians was
probably the instructor ‘thinking ahead’. I assume that he goes these
trainings all the time. That’s worrying.”

Furthermore over the course of the week, ‘D’ participated in a refresher
on the rules of engagement, where he said he was given permission to
kill people who pose no threat. “They told us that the order regarding
someone who stabs, ditches the knife and begins running is shoot to
kill. The company commander said he doesn’t want anyone like that ‘to
see a judge’.”

Did anyone protest or critique these orders?

“The company seemed very bitter over the rules of engagement. The
company commander almost apologized every time he forbade. So when he
finally gave us permission to shoot an unarmed terrorist, most of the
company was okay with that.”

It was only two weeks ago that Public Security Minister Yitzhak
Aharonovich gave a similar order to Israeli Police
<http://972mag.com/minister-demolish-homes-in-response-to-deadly-jlem-attack/98413/>
  in the wake of the vehicular attack in Sheikh Jarrah. Two days later
police shot Kheir Hamdan to death
<http://972mag.com/watch-did-police-kill-an-arab-man-who-posed-no-threat/98508/>
in Kafr Kanna.

The IDF Spokesperson has yet to respond to the above claims.

(8) Druze men serve in Israeli army, but Israel takes 85%of their land

Druze refusal in the Israeli army: Land expropriation (part two)

http://972mag.com/watch-druze-refusal-in-the-israeli-army-land-expropriation-part-two/99315/

According to the mainstream Israeli narrative the Druze population in
Israel is loyal to and maintains an alliance with the state, the most
famous element of which includes mandatory military service. But is that
really the whole story? The second episode in this four-part series
looks at how despite drafting Druze men into the army, the State of
Israel took over 85 percent of their land and settled Jews on it instead.