Statement Attributable To The Spokesperson For The Secretary-General Israeli Settlement Activity
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- Written by UN Secretary-General UN Secretary-General
- Published: 27 September 2010 27 September 2010
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STATEMENT ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
ISRAELI SETTLEMENT ACTIVITY
The Secretary-General recalls the Quartet statement of last week which reflected the united call of the international community urging Israel to extend the settlement restraint policy. He is disappointed that no such decision has yet been taken and concerned at provocative actions taking place on the ground. He reiterates that settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, is illegal under international law, and urges Israel to fulfill its Roadmap obligation to freeze settlement activity. The Secretary-General supports ongoing efforts to find a way to continue peace talks in an environment conducive to progress. This is the only route to a viable Palestinian state living in peace with a secure Israel.
New York, 27 September 2010
Construction restarts at West Bank settlement sites
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- Written by Kevin Flower, CNN Kevin Flower, CNN
- Published: 27 September 2010 27 September 2010
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From Kevin Flower, CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW:There's no immediate decision from Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to break off talks
The construction comes the day after a moratorium ends
Palestinians have threatened to quit peace talks over the issue
Netanyahu calls for Palestinians to "continue on the road towards peace"
Jerusalem (CNN) -- New construction began at settlement sites in the West Bank Monday, just hours after the expiration of a 10-month Israeli government moratorium on building.
CNN filmed new settlement construction in two locations in the West Bank.
Bulldozers and other construction equipment were used at the settlements of Revava and Ariel, and a steady flow of construction equipment and vehicles were transported on tractor trailers on the West Bank highways connecting various settlements.
The new building casts a shadow over the continuation of face-to-face peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians that began this month.
It's likely to add additional pressure on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to stop negotiating.
Palestinian officials have said that if building resumes on territory they consider part of a future Palestinian state, they will walk away from the negotiations.
Yet Abbas has not yet pulled out, indicating that he wants to discuss the issue first with his Fatah party and the Arab League.
That is causing "concern" within Fatah and the Palestine Liberation Organization, Sabri Saidam, the deputy speaker of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, told CNN Monday.
The Arab League is to meet next week.
Abbas, meanwhile, plans to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris Monday to discuss the peace process, Sarkozy's office announced.
The Palestinian leader also plans to talk about the peace process with French Prime Minister Francois Fillion, Abbas's spokesman said.
He met with Jewish leaders in Paris on Sunday to discuss the peace talks, CNN affiliate BFM television reported.
Speaking at the United Nations on Saturday, Abbas said Israel "must choose between peace and the continuation of settlements," but there was no immediate Palestinian response to the resumption of settlement building.
In a statement shortly after the moratorium expired at midnight Sunday (6 p.m. ET Sunday), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Palestinians not to walk away from newly resumed peace talks over the lapsed restrictions.
Israel "is ready to hold continuous contacts in the coming days in order to find a way to continue the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority," Netanyahu said.
He asked Abbas to "stay in the talks and, with me, continue on the road towards peace."
CNN's Kareem Khadder, Winnie Andrews and Mike Schwartz contributed to this report.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/09/27/west.bank.settlement.construction/index.html?hpt=T2
NPR ombudsperson says Israel lobby was ’successful’ in changing coverage
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- Written by Susie Kneedler Susie Kneedler
- Published: 27 September 2010 27 September 2010
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Last week on a local call-in show on WOSU, Ohio, NPR ombudsman Alicia Shepard virtually boasted about NPR’s giving into “pro-Israeli” pressure: “NPR is not as much criticized for its Middle East coverage as it was back in 2002, which it was attacked quite strongly by a pro-Israeli group. And that group was in many ways successful, and as a result NPR went back and re-evaluated the coverage and how things are handled and started doing things a little differently...”
One collapse leads to another. I called in and thanked Shepard for her previous stance of asking that reporters describe Israeli colonies--built on stolen land--as violations of International Law, rather than use the Israeli term “disputed.” I told her, though, that reporters continue to say “disputed.” In a flip-flop, Shepard said, “The reason that it would be ‘disputed’ is that Israelis may feel that this is their land, and they got it fair and square during the war, and then the Palestinians would say, No, this land was stolen from them, --so in that sense, it’s ‘disputed’” (10:26).
The arbiter of ethical reporting violated fairness in her about-face: Donating all of Palestine to Israel—Greater Israel accomplished... No country can legally win land “fair and square [through] war.” ...“Disputed” isn’t a disinterested label, but the Israeli government’s.... Israel’s violation of International Law is crucial context listeners deserve. And Shepard herself had bragged about that “rich” “context” is “NPR’s signature” of “good journalism.”
So Shepard reversed her answer to me from an April 1 call. At that time she said: “The story about Israel intending to build 1600 housing units in East Jerusalem is a big story. Susie, I've brought that up about: ‘Let's not use the term 'disputed.'”
I wanted to probe Shepard’s turnabout last week, but WOSU host Ann Fisher again shielded the ombud by putting me on hold, and Shepard shifted from defense to offense: NPR’s job “isn’t to advocate. Maybe you have more of a vested interest or a personal interest in the story,” she told me, “so you listen to it in a way where you’re picking up on a key word.” Exactly. NPR’s job isn’t to advocate Israel’s interest, which it does when it uses Israeli-government terms, like "disputed."
Shepard asserted that “An NPR story may be fair, but it is also in many ways neutral.” Would NPR give equal time to segregationists applauding Bull Connor’s hoses and dogs? Would NPR suppress news of Rev. Martin Luther King and the marches for Civil Rights? Why not? Because to do so would deceive a 1960s audience about liberation from injustice.
Both times I talked with Shepard, she referred to the evaluations made by hired assessor John Felton; but the problem with his reports is precisely that they merely count how many Israeli and Palestinian stories and spokespeople appear. http://www.npr.org/news/specials/mideast/statements/Mideast_Q2_2010.pdf, http://www.npr.org/news/specials/mideast/statements/Mideast_Q4_2009.pdf
Such tallies are easy, and not journalism. Felton neglects the hard work of comparing the assertions to reality: how much land Israelis steal, how many more people they kill and injure than casualties they suffer, how many children's growth they stunt through malnourishment. The coverage is reduced to the dreadful idea of “competing narratives,” with no referee. Shepard can only proclaim, “bias is in the eye of the beholder,” if NPR discards facts like International Law.
George Orwell warned that “Political language…is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” http://orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit. Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier, say, doesn’t give equal time to the mine owners, but simply depicts miners’ terrible suffering.
NPR functionaries like Alicia Shepard and Ann Fisher are gatekeepers at the U.S. checkpoints: keeping the U.S. in ignorance.
Later Gabrielle, another caller to the Ann Fisher, showed how NPR responds to some progressive demands. (26:10). First, a compliment about what an admirable job Shepard is doing. Then, the suggestion of a “tiny... constructive criticism" that Fisher supports: removing sexist terms like ombudsman from NPR. Hilariously, Shepard at first brushed off the request. The caller responded that language like "fireman" and "firefighter" affect children's aspirations. Fisher chimed in. Gabrielle spoke of the subtlety of saying "one man's x." Shepard agreed it’s an important topic--"This is something that I do care very much about"--and the disparity of male and female voices is an issue she’s studied.
Then she summed up: “How will we ever move on, if we don’t address it?”
How, indeed?
Jewish boat to Gaza sets sail from Cyprus
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- Written by Lillian Rosengarten Lillian Rosengarten
- Published: 26 September 2010 26 September 2010
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AFP reports that the Jewish boat to Gaza set forth from Cyprus some hours ago.
A boat carrying Jewish activists from Israel, Europe and the United States set sail Sunday from Cyprus bound for Gaza, in a bid to run Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory, an AFP reporter said.
The boat, named "Irene," left the port of Famagusta in the Turkish-held north of the divided eastern Mediterranean island in the early afternoon carrying eight activists, three of whom are crew members, and two journalists.
Here is the account we got from passenger Lillian Rosengarten--a New Yorker who escaped Nazi Germany as a little girl-- yesterday, embargoed till now:
The small saılboat wıth engıne saıls under a British flag. Our captaın ıs Glyn Secker, Brıtısh human rıghts actıvıst. 3 crew ıncludıng wonderful Yonatan Shapira. Two other passengers are Israelı: Reuven Moskovıtz, 82 year old camp survıvor, and Ramı Elhanen (husband to to Nurıt Peled-Elhanen), father of Smadar, who was killed by a suıcıde bomber in Jerusalem in 1997. Next ıs Edıth Lutz who ıs a German Jew and co- coordınator of the Jewısh boat, which is also being coordinated by the Brıtısh group Jews For Justıce For Palestıne. I left my computer ın London for securıty reasons. We hope and belıeve there ıs some possıbılıty that we can get to Gaza. We are nonvıolent but wıll practıce passıve resıstance, for we wıll not turn the boat around...
It's a remarkable, small catamaran. I and another woman, and seven men. three crew. Yonatan Shapira is one of the crew with his brother Itamar. All the people are fantastic!
Sun, sea and grit: Israeli and West Bank women risk jail for day at the beach
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- Written by Rachel Shabi in Jerusalem Rachel Shabi in Jerusalem
- Published: 16 September 2010 16 September 2010
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Illegal day trips challenge laws governing the movement of Palestinians
The day starts early, at a petrol station alongside a roaring Jerusalem road. The mood among the 15 Israeli women is a little tense, but it's hardly surprising – they're about to break the law and with it one of the country's taboos. They plan to drive into the occupied West Bank, pick up Palestinian women and children and take them on a day trip to Tel Aviv.
Today's is the second such trip – another group of women went public with a similar action last month. It is hoped that these will become regular outings, designed to create awareness of the laws that govern movement for Palestinians, and to challenge the fears that Israelis have about travelling into the West Bank.
Riki is a 63-year-old from Tel Aviv who, like the other women did not want to give her surname. She said it took her time to sign up to the trips. "I was resistant to breaking the law. But then I realised that civil action is the only way to go forward, that breaking an illegal law becomes legal."
The women take off in a convoy of cars, through an Israeli checkpoint used by settlers and into several villages around Hebron. There are dozens of Palestinian women waiting for them and each Israeli driver is allocated passengers.
As two young Palestinian women climb into the car, they remove hijabs, scarves and floor-length coats to reveal skinny jeans and long hair – a look that ensures they pass through the Israeli settler-only checkpoint without scrutiny. "I am afraid of the soldiers," said 21-year-old Sara, nervously. But she and 19-year-old Sahar, visibly relax as the car breezes past the checkpoint.
They pull CDs out of bags and are soon listening to loud Arabic dabke music as the car heads along a road that joins the main highway to Tel Aviv. "It's like we are using the tools of the occupation," said Irit, one of the drivers. "It just wouldn't occur to the soldiers at the checkpoints that Israeli women would want to do this."
As Tel Aviv nears, the Palestinian passengers silently survey the tall buildings and outdoor cafes and seem especially taken with the ubiquitous motorcycles and mopeds that speed around the city. "I would like to ride on one, like that," said Sara, pointing to a woman in shorts perched on the back of a bike. But all the Palestinian women have just one request: to go to the sea. For most, it's their first trip to the seaside, even though it is a short drive from home.
The passengers join another carload and head to the promenade in Jaffa, the mixed Arab-Israeli city stuck to the tail-end of Tel Aviv, where the Palestinian women race to greet the waves crashing against the bright rocks. "It is so much more beautiful than I thought," said Nawal, watching her gleeful seven-year-old daughter skipping backwards to avoid being sprayed by the waves. "It is more beautiful than on TV, the colour is amazing."
Fatima, 24, gazes out at the horizon. "I didn't know that the sound of the sea is so relaxing," she said. Sara asks for a sheet of paper, speedily folds it into a paper boat and writes her name on it, intending to set it out to sea. "So that it will remember me," she said.
The group convenes at a Jaffa restaurant – about 45 of them in total, including seven children. They are a cheerful party stretched across two long tables. From afar they seem just like any other restaurant party, as the women chat about children, weight gain and health.
But the excursion is far from ordinary. All Palestinians need permits to enter Israel and the penalties for not doing so can involve imprisonment. It is also against the law for Israelis to "smuggle" Palestinians without a permit across the Green Line.
A few months ago Ilana Hammerman, an Israeli journalist, wrote an account of her day trip to Tel Aviv with West Bank Palestinians in Haaretz newspaper. That prompted a criminal investigation against her, for violating Israel's law of entry. But it also inspired a group of women to take the same trip and then take an advertisement in the newspaper to publicise the fact. Since then, there have been hundreds of signatories to a petition of support and many women, on both sides, ready to defy the law.
That's one of the purposes of the action, said Esti, who has been on both trips. "We want more Israelis to realise that there is nothing to be scared of. We want more people to refuse to accept the ideology that keeps us apart – and to just refuse to be enemies."
Restrictions
Before 1991, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza could move freely and restrictions on travel into Israel were the exception.
Then Israel began a permit regime, whereby Palestinians cannot travel without a permit issued by Israel's civil administration, set up by military decree to operate in the West Bank.
The permit system wasn't seriously imposed until the mid-90s, as response to a wave of terrorist attacks inside Israel. Since then, Israel has introduced increasingly restrictive criteria for obtaining a permit and constructed physical barriers – such as the separation wall – that have made enforcement of the system more effective.
West Bank Palestinians granted permits include a quota of workers, who must be over 35 and married; medical patients; students, although under restrictive circumstances; and older persons for religious reasons, such as to pray or to visit family during religious holidays. Some traders and VIPs are also given permits to travel into Israel.
Gisha, the legal centre for freedom of movement, estimates that around 1% of Palestinians are given permits to enter Israel. Some 24,000 Palestinian workers are permitted to enter Israel from the West Bank.
From Gaza, entry for Palestinians to Israel is exceptional and mostly for medical or humanitarian cases.