Hebron orphanage

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Written by Seth Freedman Seth Freedman

Published: 02 May 2008 02 May 2008

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Punitive measures against orphans will never win the hearts and minds of the Palestinians, and will only strengthen the extremists{josquote}"sociocide - they want to chip away at the Palestinian infrastructure in order to take over the whole area".{/josquote} Supporters of the Israeli authorities love to blame the country's poor reputation as being a result of woeful PR, believing that all that is required to redress the balance is a slick hasbara campaign. However, given the harsh reality of the occupation, to suggest that a superficial gloss job would do the trick is to totally miss the wood for the trees.

I found as much on Sunday, when I went to Hebron as a guest of the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT), who are desperate to highlight the plight of a Palestinian orphanage threatened with closure by the IDF. For nearly a month, the scores of children have been living with a sword of Damocles over their heads, after the army issued an eviction order, claiming that the Islamic Charitable Society (ICS) - which runs the orphanage - is a front for Hamas.

According to an army spokesman, ICS "masquerades as a charity organisation in order to cover its activities of increasing support of the Hamas terror network", and as such any property connected to the charity must be seized in order to maintain the "general order ... and security of the area". To that end, the IDF ordered several facilities on the site to be evacuated, setting April 28 as the final deadline before they would begin the closure. {josquote}"Most of us have got over what happened in 1948 and we are ready for a state based on the 1967 borders. The question is, do the Israelis even want to give us that? I don't think so."{/josquote}Despite a legal challenge in the Israeli high court, "our chances of stopping the eviction are nil", said Rasheed Rasheed, who teaches English at the ICS boys' orphanage up the road. Since the case is terror-related in the eyes of the IDF, the army lawyers aren't required to let the defence see their classified "evidence". Thus there is no way for the ICS legal team to defend themselves against the charges.

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Israel urged to end blockade of Gaza as talks begin in London

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Written by Ian Black, Middle East editor Ian Black, Middle East editor

Published: 01 May 2008 01 May 2008

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· Agencies demand 'highest diplomatic pressure'
· Settlement expansion must stop - Palestinian PM

 

Israel will be urged today to ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip to avert a humanitarian disaster as the Middle East "quartet" meets to consider the state of the faltering peace process.

Oxfam and five other UK aid agencies are calling for the quartet to end its "complacency" by putting the "highest diplomatic pressure" on Israel over its strategy of isolating the Islamist movement Hamas at meetings in London on the Annapolis negotiations and Palestinian economic development in the West Bank.

"The collective complacency of the quartet is putting the future of the people of Gaza on the line," said Oxfam GB director Barbara Stocking. "We need the fuel, humanitarian supplies and essential equipment withheld by Israel for more than nine months to ease this human suffering and avert a disaster.

"It is well within the power of the EU and the US to make this happen ... They should insist on an immediate end to Gaza's suffering."

But there is no sign that the quartet - the US, Russia, the EU and the UN - will drop the principle of boycotting Hamas while Israeli officials and some western diplomats blame the group for attacking the Gaza crossing points and not distributing available fuel. The EU recently noted Hamas's "share" in the crisis.

Salam Fayyad, the western-backed Palestinian prime minister, warned separately yesterday that Israel must freeze all settlement activity and ease restrictions on movement in the West Bank if peace talks are to have any chance of succeeding. Fayyad also called on Israel to alleviate the "catastrophic" crisis in Gaza.

"Unfortunately, in the five months since Annapolis, Israel has done little, most significantly with its continued noncompliance with the obligation to freeze all settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories," Fayyad said. "The language is very clear: it says 'not one more brick,' and we have witnessed expanded settlement activity."

If that did not change quickly the peace process would be "devoid of any meaningful content," Fayyad added.

Israel and the Palestinians pledged at the US-hosted summit last November to reach agreement by the end of 2008. But there is profound and growing scepticism on all sides.

Fayyad's uncharacteristically sharp remarks will add to pressure on Israel. Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, and from Saudi Arabia and other Arab states are expected to urge Israel to ease the Gaza crisis by opening border crossings to food and fuel deliveries.

Egypt is leading intensifying diplomatic activity to bring about a six-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as well as smaller factions such as Islamic Jihad which have been firing rockets across the border. Israel expects any package to include the release of Gilad Shalit, a soldier who was captured by Palestinian fighters nearly two years ago.

Some Israeli officials argue that the siege is working, that Hamas is under pressure and that Israel should not "reward" it. "The situation is catastrophic and everything that can be done should be done," said Fayyad. "The alternative to a ceasefire is 1.5million Palestinians continuing to live in a state of utter despair. The dynamic has to change otherwise we are in the realm of instability that will produce nothing but disaster."

Tony Blair, the quartet's envoy, has tried to reduce the number of Israeli roadblocks and checkpoints in the West Bank but the latest UN figures show Israel has removed just five of nearly 600 obstacles.

Fayyad, a former World Bank economist, is favoured by the west and Israel for his commitment to improve governance and boost the economy with the help of $7.7bn pledged at a Paris conference Blair convened last December. But he said Israeli military incursions were undermining the ability of Palestinian security forces, trained in Jordan, to control the West Bank - as Israel ostensibly wants.

"It's a dreadful situation but there are things we can do to improve the context in which we are operating. The economic leg is hugely important. But this is a political conflict that requires a political solution."

 

Deployment of aircraft carrier a US 'reminder' to Iran, says Gates

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Written by Julian Borger, diplomatic editor, The Guardian Julian Borger, diplomatic editor, The Guardian

Published: 30 April 2008 30 April 2008

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[what would we do if a hostile foreign power put a second aircraft carrier right off our shore?] 

-  Defence secretary denies move is an escalation
-  Tehran insists nuclear programme is peaceful

 

The US defence secretary, Robert Gates, said yesterday the deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf could serve as a "reminder" to Iran of American resolve to defend its interests in the region.

Gates denied the arrival of a new carrier represented an escalation, pointing out that US naval strength in the Gulf rises and falls constantly with routine naval deployments, but it comes at a time of heightened rhetoric from Washington about Iran's role in the Iraqi insurgency.

In the next few days US officers in Baghdad are expected to mount a display of recently-made Iranian arms alleged to have been seized from insurgents.

CBS News reported the Pentagon has ordered commanders to explore new options for attacking Iran and that the state department was formulating an ultimatum calling on Iran to stop arms smuggling into Iraq. The reports were denied by US officials.

In the past few days senior administration officials have made a series of pointed remarks about the Iranian role in Iraq. Gates himself claimed: "What the Iranians are doing is killing American servicemen and women inside Iraq."

During a visit to Mexico the defence secretary was asked if the carrier deployment was coordinated with the rhetoric from Washington. He replied: "I don't see it as an escalation. I think it could be seen, though, as a reminder."

The tough talk on Iran comes just before a meeting of ministers from the permanent five members of the UN security council and Germany to discuss incentives for Iran to suspend its work on uranium enrichment.

The focus on incentives reflects a realisation in London and Washington that there is not sufficient support in the Security Council for more sanctions against Iran. However, the new package is unlikely to differ from the one currently on the table, which includes economic incentives, help with the establishment of a nuclear energy programme based on technology that does not have military applications, and direct talks with the US on a range of strategic issues.

Security Council officials spoke yesterday in terms of the incentives being "refreshed" rather than enhanced. Few diplomatic observers believe they will have any more impact than the sanctions imposed so far.

Tehran insists its nuclear programme is intended for purely peaceful energy generation, and claims it is within its rights to pursue its development. Earlier this month Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signalled his defiance of the Security Council by visiting the country's nuclear facility at Natanz to inspect a new upgraded centrifuge, the IR-2, capable of enriching uranium faster than the earlier model bought from Pakistan.

In official pictures Iran's defence minister, Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar, can be seen taking part in the tour. His participation was highlighted by some western officials, who argued it conflicted with Iran's insistence that the programme is for exclusively peaceful purposes.

Vincent Cannistraro, a former senior CIA official now a security analyst, said the conflicting signals coming from Washington reflected longstanding divisions in the Bush administration, that have not been resolved by the publication of a National Intelligence Estimate last year that Iran's weapons programme had been dormant since 2003. The NIE has been privately disowned by President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney, who still leads the remaining hawks in the administration.

"Cheney believes this administration has to take military action against Iran before it leaves office. Gates echoes the rhetoric publicly but he doesn't support Cheney's position," Cannistraro said.

 

 

We're not celebrating Israel's anniversary

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Written by 105 Jewish Signatories 105 Jewish Signatories

Published: 30 April 2008 30 April 2008

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In May, Jewish organisations will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel. This is understandable in the context of centuries of persecution culminating in the Holocaust. Nevertheless, we are Jews who will not be celebrating. Surely it is now time to acknowledge the narrative of the other, the price paid by another people for European anti-semitism and Hitler's genocidal policies. As Edward Said emphasised, what the Holocaust is to the Jews, the Naqba is to the Palestinians.

In April 1948, the same month as the infamous massacre at Deir Yassin and the mortar attack on Palestinian civilians in Haifa's market square, Plan Dalet was put into operation. This authorised the destruction of Palestinian villages and the expulsion of the indigenous population outside the borders of the state. We will not be celebrating.

In July 1948, 70,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes in Lydda and Ramleh in the heat of the summer with no food or water. Hundreds died. It was known as the Death March. We will not be celebrating.

In all, 750,000 Palestinians became refugees. Some 400 villages were wiped off the map. That did not end the ethnic cleansing. Thousands of Palestinians (Israeli citizens) were expelled from the Galilee in 1956. Many thousands more when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza. Under international law and sanctioned by UN resolution 194, refugees from war have a right to return or compensation. Israel has never accepted that right. We will not be celebrating.

We cannot celebrate the birthday of a state founded on terrorism, massacres and the dispossession of another people from their land. We cannot celebrate the birthday of a state that even now engages in ethnic cleansing, that violates international law, that is inflicting a monstrous collective punishment on the civilian population of Gaza and that continues to deny to Palestinians their human rights and national aspirations.

We will celebrate when Arab and Jew live as equals in a peaceful Middle East.

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