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Israeli exports hit by European boycotts after attacks on Gaza

Details: Written by Rachel Shabi, in Tel Aviv Rachel Shabi, in Tel Aviv; Published: 03 April 2009 03 April 2009; Hits: 3160 3160

A fifth of Israeli exporters report drop in demand as footage of Gaza attacks changes behaviour of consumers and investors

Israeli companies are feeling the impact of boycott moves in Europe, according to surveys, amid growing concern within the Israeli business sector over organised campaigns following the recent attack on Gaza.

Last week, the Israel Manufacturers Association reported that 21% of 90 local exporters who were questioned had felt a drop in demand due to boycotts, mostly from the UK and Scandinavian countries. Last month, a report from the Israel Export Institute reported that 10% of 400 polled exporters received order cancellation notices this year, because of Israel's assault on Gaza.

"There is no doubt that a red light has been switched on," Dan Katrivas, head of the foreign trade department at the Israel Manufacturers Association, told Maariv newspaper this week. "We are closely following what's happening with exporters who are running into problems with boycotts." He added that in Britain there exists "a special problem regarding the export of agricultural produce from Israel".

The problem, said Katrivas, is in part the discussion in the UK over how to label goods that come from Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Last week British government officials met with food industry representatives to discuss the issue.

In recent months, the Israeli financial press has reported the impact of mounting calls to boycott goods from the Jewish state. Writing in the daily finance paper, the Marker, economics journalist Nehemia Stressler berated then trade and industry minister Eli Yishai for telling the Israeli army to "destroy one hundred homes" in Gaza for every rocket fired into Israel.

The minister, wrote Stressler, did not understand "how much the operation in Gaza is hurting the economy".

Stressler added: "The horrific images on TV and the statements of politicians in Europe and Turkey are changing the behaviour of consumers, businessmen and potential investors. Many European consumers boycott Israeli products in practice."

He quoted a pepper grower who spoke of "a concealed boycott of Israeli products in Europe".

In February, another article in the Marker, titled "Now heads are lowered as we wait for the storm to blow over", reported that Israelis with major business interests in Turkey hoped to remain anonymous to avoid arousing the attention of pro-boycott groups.

The paper said that, while trade difficulties with Turkey during the Gaza assault received more media attention, Britain was in reality of greater concern.

Gil Erez, Israel's commercial attache in London, told the paper: "Organisations are bombarding [British] retailers with letters, asking that they remove Israeli merchandise from the shelves."

Finance journalists have reported that Israeli hi-tech, food and agribusiness companies suffered adverse consequences following Israel's three-week assault on Gaza, and called for government intervention to protect businesses from a growing boycott.

However, analysts stressed that the impact of a boycott on local exporters was difficult to discern amidst a global economic crisis and that such effects could be exaggerated.

"If there was something serious, I would have heard about it," said Avi Tempkin, from Globes, the Israeli business daily.

Israeli companies are thought to be wary of giving credence to boycott efforts by talking openly about their effect, preferring to resolve problems through diplomatic channels.

Consumer boycotts in Europe have targeted food produce such as Israeli oranges, avocados and herbs, while in Turkey the focus has been on agribusiness products such as pesticides and fertilisers.

The bulk of Israeli export is in components, especially hi-tech products such as Intel chips and flashcards for mobile phones. It is thought that the consumer goods targeted by boycott campaigns represent around 3% to 5% of the Israeli export economy.

Portland AIPAC crowd sees Iran threat [but no Palestinians]

Details: Written by AMY R KAUFMAN AMY R KAUFMAN; Published: 02 April 2009 02 April 2009; Hits: 3628 3628

AIPAC crowd sees Iran threat

By AMY R KAUFMAN

http://www.jewishreview.org/local/AIPAC-crowd-sees-Iran-threat

article created on: 2009-04-01T00:00:00

A sellout crowd of more than 350 attended the Oregon AIPAC Community Dinner at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center March 29.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski; Secretary of State Kate Brown; Attorney Gen. John Kroger; U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D.-Ore.); Sen. Richard Devlin, Senate Majority Leader; and 22 other elected officials attended or were represented at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee dinner. The audience included Portland rabbis; pastors and other representatives of the Christian community; students from Oregon State University, Portland State University, University of Oregon, Lewis and Clark and Willamette University; and about 40 soldiers and friends of the Israel Defense Force.

Award-winning columnist Peter Beinart, a senior fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations and editor-at-large of the New Republic, said in his keynote address, “The central work for AIPAC is to make sure Obama and Netanyahu both succeed in their goal of preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons.”

Although he said Iran “is at the top of both their agendas,” he described the leaders in terms of a typical movie theme: “two guys, complete opposites, who don’t like each other and have limited time to catch a bad guy together.”

“Potentially, Obama and Netanyahu can be great allies in this effort,” he said.

Beinart said one reason Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu “worked so hard” to achieve a partnership with Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s Labor party is that, “given what Israel may have to do in the future, he needs a stronger base of support.”

According to Beinart, “Netanyahu is preparing for the day he goes to the Oval Office and says to Obama, ‘Israel needs to take military action against Iran, and we need your support.’ … Obama knows that military conflict can lead to terrorist acts against the United States, and he hopes Netanyahu never has to have that conversation because he can resolve it diplomatically.”

He said Israelis are “increasingly pessimistic about Iran, more so than (are Jews) in the U.S. The clock in Jerusalem is ticking faster than in Washington.”

Beinart said Obama “has a keen interest in putting Iran at the center of Middle East diplomacy.”

He said he believes the president “made an appeal to the people of Iran in the belief that having done that gives the U.S. a greater ability to ask for another round of sanctions.”

“Obama sees a grave threat in the domino effect … with unstable governments like Iraq getting nuclear weapons,” he said. “Were Obama to preside over Iran getting nuclear weapons, it would threaten him because he would seem weak.”

He said at this point the best hope of containing Iran’s nuclear capability is to “freeze” its nuclear program in the short term through intrusive inspections and try “to outlive this government,” which may be replaced in the June elections. He said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is “very unpopular with his own people, who are fairly Westernized.”

Zack Bodner, Pacific Northwest regional director of AIPAC, depicted the composite threats to Israel.

“Hamas is running things like the Taliban. To the north, Hezbollah has four times more arms than it had, and now it

Gush Shalom Ad in Israeli Paper

Details: Written by GUSH SHALOM GUSH SHALOM; Published: 02 April 2009 02 April 2009; Hits: 3555 3555

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Ad published in Haaretz

April 3, 2009

The Lieberman leaning: Israel's right wing forces

Details: Written by Seth Freedman Seth Freedman; Published: 02 April 2009 02 April 2009; Hits: 3054 3054

If Israelis think their foreign minister's ascent is an aberration, they're being disingenuous about the nation's rightwing forces

Yesterday's tub-thumping tirade by Israel's new foreign minister and deputy prime minister sent tremors through political circles, both internally and internationally. Politicians and pundits alike scrambled to distance themselves from Avigdor Lieberman's vitriol, implying that his views are utterly at odds with mainstream Israeli thinking, as though he and his ideology simply sprang out of a vacuum.

If they are to be believed, Lieberman represents no one but those on the outermost fringes of Israeli society, in the mould of racist demagogues such as Kahane and Marzel, and is therefore no more potent a threat to Israel's future than the rest of the extremist outcasts. They claim that only a small minority of voters backed him in the booth, that he has registered stunningly low approval ratings on his appointment, and that he is simply benefiting from a fortuitous set of circumstances that eased his passage into power.

But so what? The fact is, regardless of the way in which he ascended the political ladder, he is still Israel's foreign minister – responsible for presenting Israel's diplomatic face to the rest of the world and imbued with an extraordinary amount of responsibility on behalf of the seven million citizens of his country.

Yesterday's speech was an opportunity for him to pull back from some of the more obscene statements he'd made during his election campaign, now that he had the ministry in the bag and was speaking on behalf of the entire government; but – of course – his worm was not for turning. Instead, he spat out yet more taunts to the Palestinians and, by extension, the world at large, thumbing his nose at previous peace efforts and rattling his sabre as mockingly and menacingly as he could.

Mortified by his stance, Tzipi Livni decried Lieberman's outburst in no uncertain terms. Speaking to Army Radio, she said that the foreign minister had "showed the world that we are not a partner [for peace]." According to the Jerusalem Post, she said Israel was always complaining that there was no partner for peace on the Palestinian side, but that Lieberman's position would in fact make the international community perceive Israel as the main obstacle.

However, by taking such a stance, Livni implied that – Lieberman aside – Israel ought to be considered a "partner for peace", despite decades of evidence to the contrary. Israel has a fantastic record for talking the talk when it comes to concessions to the Palestinians, yet it never walks the walk if that can be avoided; brinksmanship, procrastination, or outright lies always turning out to be the preferred method of engagement.

The Gaza "withdrawal" pulled the wool over the eyes of none but the most ardent members of the "Israel right or wrong" brigade. Annapolis was rendered all but obsolete as soon as Olmert signed the agreement with one hand while concurrently rubberstamping settlement expansion with the other. The treadmill effect – where Israeli leaders act as though they're forever breathlessly running towards peace while never actually moving from the spot to which they're rooted – means that those backing the two-state solution are no nearer to realising their ambitions now than they ever have been.

Yet, if the polls are to be believed, the Israeli public are crying out for peace based on the 1967 borders, and are sick to death of war, occupation and eternal conflict with their neighbours. For a people so desperate to change the reality, we've got a funny way of showing it at the ballot box. "The government fits the people", as the saying goes – and since Lieberman's is one of the hands at the tiller, we are all guilty by association.

The signs that Israelis aren't so keen on unshackling the Palestinians anytime soon are everywhere; not just in the far-flung outposts of Judea and Samaria, as some would have the world believe. On the eve of the elections, I walked through a Jerusalem underpass plastered with dozens of posters emblazoned with photos of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe (whom many of his disciples believe to be the Messiah) which proclaimed: "The Messiah warns: A Palestinian state is dangerous for the Jews." I asked a religious man in the tunnel whether he agreed with the slogan. "Yes, of course", he replied casually. "If the Rebbe says so, then it is [so]." I asked him why it was dangerous to grant them their independence: "Because they'll use it to attack us", he responded, "and anyway, why should we fund them in the first place?"

That casual, careless approach towards an entire people's national aspirations and dreams of freedom, can be found almost everywhere in Israel. If there was not sufficient support for such actions at street level, there would be no way that the likes of Lieberman, Netanyahu, or even Livni would be given carte blanche to perpetuate the occupation and the oppression year after year.

The incumbent foreign minister is merely the latest manifestation of a 60-year-old malaise, and to pretend otherwise is to lead observers up the garden path. Israeli voters have been making our bed for decades, plumping up the pillows and smoothing out the sheets at every electoral opportunity: now we get to lie in it alongside Lieberman. That speaks volumes about the entire country, not just one politican and his master-plan.

A book of Seth Freedman's columns, Can I Bring My Own Gun?, is now available to Guardian readers for £6.99 (RRP £8.99)

American Lawyers in Gaza: Evidence that Israel Violated International Law, U.S. Domestic Law

Details: Written by National Lawyers Guild National Lawyers Guild; Published: 02 April 2009 02 April 2009; Hits: 3160 3160

For Immediate Release – April 2, 2009

Contact: Paige Cram, NLG Communications Coordinator, 212-679-5100, ext.15

American Lawyers in Gaza: Evidence that Israel Violated International Law, U.S. Domestic Law Implicated

New York – Israel violated international law by targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, misusing weapons, deliberately denying medical care to the wounded and attacking medical personnel, the National Lawyers Guild Delegation to Gaza said today upon releasing a 37 page report containing new evidence on the facts surrounding Israel’s 22 day military offensive in Gaza. The full report can be viewed at www.nlg.org. Photos are also available upon request.

“Our findings join a growing chorus of voices—which include Israeli soldiers themselves—asserting that Israeli forces deliberately targeted civilians during the Gaza offensive,” said Radhika Sainath, one of the attorneys who initiated the seven-day fact-finding delegation to Gaza. “On a number of occasions, Israeli soldiers shot and killed young children as well as unarmed civilians holding white flags—both violations of the laws of war.”

The Delegation also uncovered evidence of Israeli soldiers using Palestinians as human shields, acts that constitute war crimes, as well as evidence that the Israeli military targeted civilian infrastructure and grossly misused weapons. Further, Israel denied the wounded access to medical care and routinely fired on emergency medical teams attempting to reach those in need of help. Paramedics and doctors reported to the Delegation that many civilians could have been saved if the Israeli army allowed Palestinian medical services access to the wounded. “On one occasion, when Israeli forces did allow Palestinian medical services to enter an area after four days, soldiers prohibited their ambulances from approaching and paramedics were forced to pile the injured on donkey carts,” reported Reem Salahi, a California-based civil rights attorney. “Medical workers were then forced to pull the carts to their ambulances two kilometers away.”

The Delegation is calling on the Obama Administration and Congress to investigate the possible misuse of U.S. defense articles by Israel during the Gaza offensive. The Delegation is also calling for the Obama Administration to immediately suspend military aid to Israel until protocols are in place to assure compliance with international humanitarian law. “The United States must take action to ensure that its U.S. foreign assistance is not used in violation of international law,” said Thomas Nelson, an Oregon-based attorney specializing in national security law.

A National Lawyers Guild delegation of seven attorneys and one law student traveled to the Gaza Strip from February 2-8, 2009, to investigate the 22 day Israeli military offensive into Gaza that began on December 27, 2009. The objective of the Delegation was to investigate the circumstances that led to the massive Palestinian casualties, to determine what, if any, violations of international law occurred, and whether U.S. domestic law was implicated as a consequence.

Founded in 1937, the National Lawyers Guild is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York, and it has chapters in every state.

Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights

Israeli exports hit by European boycotts after attacks on Gaza

Portland AIPAC crowd sees Iran threat [but no Palestinians]

Gush Shalom Ad in Israeli Paper

The Lieberman leaning: Israel's right wing forces

American Lawyers in Gaza: Evidence that Israel Violated International Law, U.S. Domestic Law

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