Israel to mass build new Jewish settlement homes after UN Palestine vote
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- Written by Chris McGreal in Jerusalem Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
- Published: 30 November 2012 30 November 2012
- Hits: 5348 5348
Binyamin Netanyahu's plan for mass building on occupied terrorities seen as retaliation for recognition of Palestinian state
The Guardian, Friday 30 November 2012 12.14 EST
Israel's prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu as ordered thousands of new homes to be built on occupied territories after the UN voted to recognise a Palestinian state. Photograph: Jim Hollander/EPA
The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has ordered the construction of thousands of new homes in Jewish settlements in the occupied territories in what will be widely interpreted as retaliation for the United Nations vote to recognise a Palestinian state on Thursday.
Israeli officials said the construction would expand existing West Bank settlements and build more homes for Jews in occupied east Jerusalem, where the government is attempting to diminish the proportion of Arab residents. Netanyahu also ordered the speeding up of planning to link Jerusalem with a Jewish settlement, Ma'aleh Adumim, in a move that would cut deep into a future Palestinian state based on 1967 borders. The US and Europe have long asked the Israeli government not to build there.
The announcement is a reflection of Israel's anger at the vote, and the Palestinian leadership at pushing for it. The Israeli move drew strong criticism from Europe. "If Israel confirms these decisions officially, then it is an exercise in the most cynical, self-obsessed and self destructive policy-making imaginable," said one European diplomat.
Read more: Israel to mass build new Jewish settlement homes after UN Palestine vote
Examining the 3 Palestinian-Punishment Focused Efforts in the Senate
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- Written by Lara Friedman Lara Friedman
- Published: 29 November 2012 29 November 2012
- Hits: 5360 5360
Now that the Palestinian state has been given official non-member status by the UN, we can watch as the US congress introduces bills to punish Palestinians for seeking their right to self determination and to punish the 138 countries that voted to give Palestinians an admittedly small table at the UN.
The noxious nine states voting against Palestinian freedoms where: US, Israel, Canada, Czech Republic, Panama - and 4 small US-dependent island states (Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau). - AUPHR
Examining the 3 Palestinian-Punishment Focused Efforts in the Senate
Read more: Examining the 3 Palestinian-Punishment Focused Efforts in the Senate
A rally in support of recognition of Palestine at the UN, to be held Thursday ( November 29) in Tel Aviv
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- Written by Gush Shalom Gush Shalom
- Published: 28 November 2012 28 November 2012
- Hits: 4369 4369
November 28, 2012 – international release
A rally in support of recognition of Palestine at the UN, to be held Thursday ( November 29) in Tel Aviv - at 6:00 pm opposite "Independence Hall" on 16 Rothschild Blvd, Tel Aviv.
Gush Shalom joins the rally in support of admitting the State of Palestine to the UN, which was initiated by Israel's peace and human rights
"The recognition which the UN General Assembly is about to give to the State of Palestine, to be established alongside Israel within the 1967 borders, should have been a day of celebration for Israelis. The Israeli government should have been the first to support this move, instead of waging a hopeless and pointless struggle to prevent it" said former Knesset Member Uri Avnery, Gush Shalom activist, who will be among the speakers at the rally.
"Ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state is not only in the interest of the Palestinians. It is in Israel's most vital interest. The Occupation is a heavy weight around Israel's neck, dragging us into the depths of brutality, extremism and racism and utterly corrupting our society. Liberating the Palestinians from the yoke of occupation will liberate the State of Israel from being an occupying and oppressive state.
"It would open to the State of Israel the gateway to a life of peace with its neighbors and to integration in the region where it is located. No longer an isolated enclave surrounded by fences and walls, but a neighbor and economic and political partner of Palestine and Jordan, Egypt and Syria and Lebanon and the other Arab and Muslim countries. The vote of the UN member states is a small, but crucial step towards building this future. That is what the rally, held simultaneously in Tel Aviv, is about.
Hereafter: the joint press release
The November 29, 2012 Initiative
Press release, 28 Nov 2012
Tomorrow, Thursday, November 29, 2012, at 6:00 pm, a rally of Israelis supporting the Palestinian political initiative to get recognition at the United Nations will be held outside the Hall of Independence, 16 Rothschild Blvd, Tel Aviv – the site where the State of Israel was proclaimed in 1948.
Former Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General, Dr. Alon Liel:
"Abu Mazen's initiative - a historic event that will change the rules of the game".
"Abu Mazen's initiative is not a diplomatic gimmick. It is the culmination of a consistent and long-term policy by Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, designed to realize historical justice through political means, without bloodshed. A UN recognition of Palestine as a state would enable the Fatah movement to get back to the political and diplomatic arena as a significant player. It would be so, even in light of the gains which Hamas made in the past last year via the Shalit prisoner exchange deal and the ceasefire ending Operation Cloud Pillar" says Dr. Alon Liel, former Director-General of Israel's Foreign Ministry, who is among the initiators of The November 29, 2012 Initiative.
The group's organizers endorse Abbas' initiative to get Palestine recognized as a non-member state by the United Nations. They are calling for a rally of Israeli citizens in support of the Palestinian political initiative at the UN, to be held outside the Hall of Independence, 16 Rothschild Blvd, Tel Aviv – the site where the State of Israel was proclaimed.
The initiative's manifesto states: "We, Israeli citizens, Jewish and Palestinian, support Abu Mazen's initiative to upgrade the status of Palestine at the United Nations, and call for the immediate establishment of a Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders. On this symbolic date of November 29, it is time to realize the vision of two states. This is in the clear interest of both peoples. "
"The long-lasting and bloody conflict cannot be resolved through the use of brute force, weapons and violence, but through negotiations leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state side by side with the state of Israel. Only then can we ensure a better future for our children" says Dr. Nava Sonnenschein, Director of the School of Peace, one of the organizers of tomorrow’s event.
Among groups taking part in the initiative are the School of Peace and the village of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, the Forum of Peace Organizations, Psychoactive, Gush Shalom, One Voice, activists of the Meretz Hadash parties, Peace Now, Machsom Watch, Combatants for Peace, Ir Amim, Friends of the Earth, and the Association of Arab Environmentalists.
Speakers include: Prof. Galia Golan, Dr. Alon Liel, Uri Avnery, Dr. Ron Pundak, Mossi Raz, Nabila Espanioly and Dr. Nava Sonnenschein. Sufian Abu Zaida will deliver a message from the Palestinian Authority.
Artistic performance by Mira Awad and Yonathan Shapira.
Dr. Liel adds: "An Israeli government which refuses to facilitate the peaceful creation of a Palestinian state will find itself facing a political dead end, completely isolated in the Middle East. We have to choose between a diplomatic upgrade of Fatah or the upgrading of Hamas's political position. The advanced technologies of the Iron Dome counter-missiles can defend Israel against Hamas rockets, but not from the political myopia of Israel's own leaders. "
Prof. Galia Golan, an expert in International Relations: "The Palestinian challenge facing Israel must be understood in its full historical context. Abu Mazen wisely chose the date of November 29, which forces Netanyahu to admit the ongoing injustice. On November 29, 1947, the UN decided to established two states, a Jewish one and an Arab one. Netanyahu demands of Abbas recognition of a Jewish state which already exists for 66 years, but refuses a reciprocal recognition of a Palestinian state. He even rejects a limited and symbolic upgrading of Palestine's status in the United Nations. Mahmoud Abbas has called the bluff of Netanyahu's Bar-Ilan Speech, where the PM claimed to support the Two State Solution. Netanyahu's true position has been laid bare."
Contact:
Nava Sonnenschein: +972-(0)50-8557594
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Yifat Solel: +972-(0)50-3777723
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Lior Finkel: +972-(0)54-4449074
lior.Peace.Forum @ gmail.com
Open Letter to Obama: US aid to Israel should be contingent on compliance with the law.
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- Written by Jewish Voice for Peace Jewish Voice for Peace
- Published: 20 November 2012 20 November 2012
- Hits: 5135 5135
Dear friend,
1. *Call the White House
right now
202-456-1414 or
202-456-1111 *
and ask President Obama to act:
Stop the Bombs. Stop the Siege. Stop Payment on the Israeli Military's Blank Check.
2. *Organize or attend a protest in your area [ http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/p/salsa/event/common/public/search.sjs?distributed_event_KEY=702 ]*
3. *Sign the
Open Letter to Obama: [ http://www.obamaletter.org/ ]*
US aid to Israel should be contingent on compliance
with the law.
The news coming out of Gaza and Israel these past few days has been truly horrifying. Drones and F-16s are dropping bombs over densely populated Gaza, which continues to be under Israel's control from infrastructure to border. Twenty Palestinians have been killed. Rockets being launched out of Gaza have killed three Israeli civilians.
This Operation "Pillar of Defense" is being paid for thanks to the blank check the Israeli military receives from the US government. Even as we take to the streets to call for an immediate cessation of the bombings into Gaza, the rocket attacks into civilian communities in Israel, and an end to the ongoing siege of Gaza, we are aware that more is required.
Now is the time to demand Obama take decisive action that honors all the lives being lost.
*Click here: http://www.ObamaLetter.org [ http://www.obamaletter.org/ ]*
Even before Israel's escalation of violence, we were calling for an end to the Israeli military's blank check along with a growing coalition of Jews, Christians, Muslims and human rights and solidarity activists. Together we are asking President Obama to make sure aid to Israel doesn't continue to violate US laws which specifically prohibit assistance to any country which engages in a consistent pattern of human rights violations.
Now is the time to make sure the US stops payment on the Israeli military's blank check. As Hillel the Elder taught: "If not now, when?"
Please join me in *signing this open letter to Obama.* [ http://www.obamaletter.org/ ]
With hope,
Rabbi Alissa Wise
Jewish Voice for Peace
Click here: http://www.ObamaLetter.org
Protest Wednesday Nov 21st: Stop the War on Gaza Pt 2
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- Written by Peter Miller Peter Miller
- Published: 20 November 2012 20 November 2012
- Hits: 5174 5174
*Please Forward Widely*
Stop the War on Gaza Pt 2
Wednesday Nov 21 at 5:30 pm
Pioneer Courthouse Square
As Israel's assault on Gaza continues into its 6th day the Palestinian Death toll has risen to a 115, with over 900 injured.
The threat of a full scale Israeli ground invasion continues to loom even as Israel's airstrikes continue to rain death on Gaza.
As US Politicians continue their shameful political and material complicity in Israel's attack, it is up to people around the world to stand with the people of Gaza and against Israel's criminal attacks!!
JOIN PORTLAND as we continue to mobilize to say Stop the Attacks on Gaza!! Demand Israel end to its illegal policies of war, occupation, and apartheid!
Gaza Fact Sheet
http://gazaunderattack.org/media/pdf/factsheet.pdf
Talking Points from US Campaign
http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=3350
How you can help:
Read more: Protest Wednesday Nov 21st: Stop the War on Gaza Pt 2