What Iran’s Jews Say
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- Written by ROGER COHEN, Esfahan, Iran ROGER COHEN, Esfahan, Iran
- Published: 13 April 2009 13 April 2009
- Hits: 2925 2925
At Palestine Square, opposite a mosque called Al-Aqsa, is a synagogue where Jews of this ancient city gather at dawn. Over the entrance is a banner saying: “Congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution from the Jewish community of Esfahan.”
The Jews of Iran remove their shoes, wind leather straps around their arms to attach phylacteries and take their places. Soon the sinuous murmur of Hebrew prayer courses through the cluttered synagogue with its lovely rugs and unhappy plants. Soleiman Sedighpoor, an antiques dealer with a store full of treasures, leads the service from a podium under a chandelier.
I’d visited the bright-eyed Sedighpoor, 61, the previous day at his dusty little shop. He’d sold me, with some reluctance, a bracelet of mother-of-pearl adorned with Persian miniatures. “The father buys, the son sells,” he muttered, before inviting me to the service.
Accepting, I inquired how he felt about the chants of “Death to Israel” — “Marg bar Esraeel” — that punctuate life in Iran.
“Let them say ‘Death to Israel,’ ” he said. “I’ve been in this store 43 years and never had a problem. I’ve visited my relatives in Israel, but when I see something like the attack on Gaza, I demonstrate, too, as an Iranian.”
Israeli forces reintroduce use of high velocity tear gas projectile against demonstrators in Ni’lin
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- Written by ISM ISM
- Published: 12 April 2009 12 April 2009
- Hits: 2811 2811
Posted on: April 12, 2009 | ShareThis
10 April 2009
The villagers of Ni’lin continued their struggle against the construction of the Apartheid Wall on their land with another weekly Friday demonstration on the 10th of April. After the mid-day prayer, around 100 villagers carried signs against the occupation and marched towards the construction site of the Wall. The nonviolent demonstrators split into two groups, but both groups were stopped by the Israeli army, who had already taken up position on the outskirts of the village. After villagers confronted the soldiers with speeches and chanting, Israeli forces opened fire with tear gas and sound bombs from about 20 meters away. Some of the village youth responded by throwing stones. Due to the large amount of weaponry fired by the soldiers, the demonstrators were forced to return to the village. The army placed snipers on the roof of a Palestinian residence inside the village and one young man was shot in his leg with live ammunition (0.22 caliber).
In addition to shooting live ammunition at the demonstrators , the army restarted firing high-velocity tear gas canisters. This type of tear gas hasn’t been used in Ni’lin since solidarity activist Tristan Anderson was critically injured after being shot in the head with a canister on the 13th of March. Almost a month later, Tristan Anderson is still listed in critical condition in Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv after undergoing three separate brain surgeries. These new high-velocity tear gas canisters have injured other Palestinians during nonviolent demonstrations in the West Bank, including a young man from Ni’lin who had his leg shattered when he was hit with this projectile in January 2009.
At this weeks demonstration, two Palestinians were hit and injured with high-velocity tear gas canisters. One man was hit in his back and had to be taken to the local clinic for treatment. The other villager was hit in his jaw with the canister and also in his hand when he tried to protect his face. He was taken to the hospital in Ramallah. Two medics, one international and one filmmaker were also hit with tear gas canisters, and 18 people suffered from tear gas inhalation and were treated by medics. Eight other demonstrators were also shot by Israeli forces with rubber-coated steel bullets.
US court allows South Africa apartheid cases [Israeli Next?]
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- Written by Al Jazeera Al Jazeera
- Published: 10 April 2009 10 April 2009
- Hits: 3260 3260
US court allows apartheid cases
General Motors is one of the companies set to face legal action [EPA]
A US court has ruled that victims of South Africa's apartheid-era government can sue General Motors, IBM and other corporations accused of complicity in human rights abuses.
A federal judge in New York ruled on Wednesday that joint actions against the corporations under a US law allowing rights claims from abroad should be addressed in a US court.
Car-makers Ford and Daimler and defence firm Rheinmetall are the other companies set to face legal action from South African plaintiffs.
However, Judge Shira Scheindlin also dismissed claims against banks UBS and Barclays but allowed the plaintiffs the opportunity to refile their case against electronics firm Fujitsu.
Michael Hausfeld, one of the lawyers representing the South African plaintiffs, said the verdict was "a major advancement in international law".
Torture claims
The lawsuits argue that the car-makers knew their vehicles were being used by South African forces to violently suppress protests.
"That level of wilful blindness in the face of crimes in violation of the law of nations cannot defeat an otherwise clear showing of knowledge that the assistance IBM provided would directly and substantially support apartheid"
Shira Scheindlin,
US judge
They also claim that IBM and Fujitsu knew their computers were being used by South Africa's white minority government to help strip black citizens of their rights.
Apartheid ended in 1994 when South Africa held its first free elections, bringing Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress to power.
The judge disagreed with arguments made by the companies that it was not their responsibility to tell clients how to use their products.
"That level of wilful blindness in the face of crimes in violation of the law of nations cannot defeat an otherwise clear showing of knowledge that the assistance IBM provided would directly and substantially support apartheid," she said.
Scheindlen allowed lawsuits against IBM for "aiding and abetting arbitrary denationalisation and apartheid".
She said that the plaintiffs could pursue claims against Daimler, GM and Ford "for aiding and abetting torture... extrajudicial killing, and apartheid".
And against Rheinmetall, the German parent company of Swiss-based arms manufacturer Oerlikon, for "aiding and abetting extrajudicial killing and apartheid".
Khulumani, a South African organisation that helps apartheid victims and is one of the plaintiffs in the court action, hailed the court decision.
"We are convinced that this lawsuit, should it be successful, will go a long way in satisfying members' material needs; and that will go a long way in contributing to social reconciliation," said Marjorie Jobson, a Khulumani director.
CIA shuts down its secret prisons
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- Written by BBC News BBC News
- Published: 09 April 2009 09 April 2009
- Hits: 3071 3071
The US has stopped running its global network of secret prisons, CIA director Leon Panetta has announced.
"CIA no longer operates detention facilities or black sites," Mr Panetta said in a letter to staff. Remaining sites would be decommissioned, he said.
The "black sites" were used to detain terrorism suspects, some of whom were subjected to interrogation methods described by many as torture.
President Obama vowed to shut down the facilities shortly after taking office.
The Bush administration allowed the CIA to operate secret prisons on the territory of allied countries in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, according to media reports.
During his first week as president, Mr Obama ordered the closure of the black sites, as well as the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, as part of an overhaul of US detainee policy.
Key issue
In his letter, Mr Panetta also stressed that the CIA no longer employed controversial "harsh interrogation techniques", like "waterboarding", or simulated drowning, which have been widely condemned.
"CIA officers do not tolerate, and will continue to promptly report, any inappropriate behaviour or allegations of abuse," he said.
He also announced that the CIA was no longer allowing outside "contractors" to carry out interrogations.
But the CIA retains the power to detain suspects "on a short-term transitory basis".
The BBC's Kevin Connolly says Mr Panetta's statement has an impressive ring, but the CIA's secret prisons may never have been elaborate affairs in themselves and decommissioning may be straightforward.
The key issue for the Obama administration, our correspondent adds, will be its policy towards suspects who fall into its hands, not the buildings in which they are held.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/in_depth/7993087.stm
Published: 2009/04/09 21:10:25 GMT
© BBC MMIX
Obama team readying for confrontation with Netanyahu
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- Written by Aluf Benn Aluf Benn
- Published: 08 April 2009 08 April 2009
- Hits: 3234 3234
In an unprecedented move, the Obama administration is readying for a possible confrontation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by briefing Democratic congressmen on the peace process and the positions of the new government in Israel regarding a two-state solution.
The Obama administration is expecting a clash with Netanyahu over his refusal to support the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
In recent weeks, American officials have briefed senior Democratic congressmen and prepared the ground for the possibility of disagreements with Israel over the peace process, according to information recently received. The administration's efforts are focused on President Barack Obama's Democratic Party, which now holds a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The preemptive briefing is meant to foil the possibility that Netanyahu may try to bypass the administration by rallying support in Congress.
Read more: Obama team readying for confrontation with Netanyahu