Palestinians establish 'facts on the ground'

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Written by Harriet Sherwood Harriet Sherwood

Published: 12 January 2013 12 January 2013

Israeli PM orders eviction of Palestinian activists outside Jerusalem

Move follows creation of village comprising around 20 tents on piece of land earmarked for settlement development

Harriet Sherwood in Bab al-Shams

guardian.co.uk, Saturday 12 January 2013 13.52 EST

The Israeli state has swung into action against a group of Palestinian activists who set up a tent village on a rocky hillside east of Jerusalem, with the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, ordering the military to evict the protesters and impose a closed military zone in the area.

Netanyahu demanded the Israeli supreme court overturn an injunction preventing the removal of the protesters, and ordered the closure of access roads in the area pending a full-scale evacuation.

Around 200 Palestinian activists set up the village, named Bab al-Shams ('gate of the sun') and comprising around 20 tents, early on Friday morning on a highly sensitive swath of land known as E1 which Israel has earmarked for settlement development. The protesters' actions echoed the tactics of radical settlers when establishing wildcat outposts in the West Bank.

In a statement, the protesters said: "We, the sons and daughters of Palestine, declare the founding of the village Bab al-Shams, by order of the people, without permission from the occupation, or any other body, because this land is ours, as is the right to build on it."

The tents were erected on privately-owned Palestinian land, the protesters said, with the full permission of the landowners. The activists sought legal protection from the supreme court, which granted an injunction against eviction and gave the state of Israel up to six days to respond.

The protest was launched six weeks after Netanyahu announced plans to press ahead with the development of E1, triggering strong international condemnation. The area, which is around 12 sq km, lies between Jerusalem and the vast West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Adumim.

The Palestinian Authority and most western diplomats say the development of E1 will damage the prospects of a viable Palestinian state by almost bisecting the West Bank and effectively cutting off the West Bank from east Jerusalem, which is intended to be the future capital of a Palestinian state.

Read more: Palestinians establish 'facts on the ground'

BDS Victory! Veolia Withdraws from California Water Contract Bidding Following Outcry Against its Abuses of Palestinian Rights

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Written by Davis Committee for Palestinian Rights Davis Committee for Palestinian Rights

Published: 11 January 2013 11 January 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 11, 2013

Contact: Mikos Fabersunne, Davis Committee for Palestinian Rights

Veolia Withdraws from California Water Contract Bidding Following Outcry
Against its Abuses of Palestinian Rights

Posted: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=3432

Davis, California – The Davis Committee of Palestinian Rights (DCPR) is happy to report that Veolia Water North America has withdrawn as a prospective bidder on a $325 million dollar project that would provide treated water from the Sacramento River to residents of Woodland and Davis in Yolo County, California.  The announcement came at the December 20, 2012 meeting of the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency (Water Agency), a joint powers authority between the University of California - Davis and the cities of Woodland and Davis. Veolia’s withdrawal followed efforts by citizens of Yolo County to prevent Veolia’s bidding due to the company’s involvement in the violation of Palestinian human rights.

Read more: BDS Victory! Veolia Withdraws from California Water Contract Bidding Following Outcry Against its...

Petition: Hold Israel Accountable for Killing Palestinians with U.S. Weapons

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Written by US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation

Published: 09 January 2013 09 January 2013

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/641/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=12069

From November 14-21, Israel killed at least 182 Palestinians in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip, including 47 children, according to the World Health Organization. In addition, 6 Israelis were killed by Palestinian rockets.

Israel's attacks against the Gaza Strip were committed with U.S. weapons given to Israel as military aid by the U.S. taxpayer. These weapons were misused by Israel in violation of the U.S. Arms Export Control Act to commit grave human rights abuses of Palestinians.

For example, Israel used a U.S.-supplied F-16 fighter jet to kill 4-year-old Mahmoud Sadallah, who died of shrapnel wounds from missiles fired from this aircraft.

Mohammed Omer wrote in The Nation that Mahmoud “was playing on the stoop of his home, well away from the main street” when he was killed.

“With emergency services strained, in a panic the young boy’s mother scooped him up and ran through the smoke-enshrouded streets, dodging dust and flames, screaming hysterically for help as blood poured out of Mahmoud’s head.”

Now the Obama administration is proposing to deliver 6,900 Joint Direct Attack Munitions tail kitsand more than 10,000 bombs--weapons valued at $647 million--to replenish Israel's arsenal for its F-16 fighter jets.

Our taxes should not be funding Israel’s human rights abuses of Palestinians in violation of U.S. law. Sign this petition to the State Department to investigate Israel’s violations of the Arms Export Control Act, hold it accountable for killing Palestinians like Mahmoud in our name, and prevent the delivery of more weapons to Israel.


Dear Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,

Last month, Israel killed at least 182 Palestinians, including 47 children, in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip with U.S. weapons paid for by U.S. taxpayers in violation of U.S. law.

Rather than replenishing Israel's arsenal of Joint Direct Attack Munitions and bombs for its U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, the State Department instead must investigate Israel's violations of the Arms Export Control Act and hold Israel accountable for killing Palestinians in our name by ending U.S. military aid to Israel.

Jewish Foundations Support Islamophobia at Home, Settler Triumphalism Abroad

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Written by Richard Silverstein Richard Silverstein

Published: 06 January 2013 06 January 2013

[Note: The Israel Project listed below has a board of advisers that includes Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, a staunch zionist]

Most Jewish foundations support the equivalent of Bubbeh’s chicken soup: Israel, synagogues, youth groups, Jewish education, Jewish studies programs, etc.  But over the past ten years or so, as the ideological battle within Israel has intensified with a rightward nationalist drift, a number of foundations have led a drive toward the increasing politicization of Jewish philanthropy.  Three of the most radical in their funding objectives are located in the west: the Koret Foundation in San Francisco, which is based on the fortune amassed by a successful Jewish clothing manufacturer, with a reported $473-million in assets and $19-million in grants in its latest IRS filing.  The Fairbrook Foundation, based on the $1-billion technology fortune of Aubrey and Joyce Chernick, is based in Los Angeles and had $50-million in assets and $5-million in grants in its last available 2010 IRS filing. The Irving Moskowitz Foundation, which had assets of $48-million and grants $5-million, supports the radical settler vision of its namesake, whose fortune was made buying and selling hospitals and in running a Southern California bingo-parlor.


[Photo: Irving Moskowitz surrounded by settlers and security as they ethnically cleanse East Jerusalem Palestinian home (Awad Awad/AFP)]

These foundations are major funders of the most extreme of Jewish groups and individuals including David Horowitz, Pam Geller, Robert Spencer, Daniel Pipes, The Israel Project, MEMRI, and many others.  The agenda of these funders is decidedly Islamophobic and contributes enormously to the current hostile atmosphere toward Muslims in the U.S. and Israel.  They funded Geller’s “Ground Zero Mosque” jihad, her NY subway ads. They helped Daniel Pipes create and fund his lawfare campaign called The Legal Project, which provided free legal representation to leading Dutch Islamophobe politician, Geert Wilders; and for MEK official, Hassan Daioeslam, in defense of his libel suit with the National Iranian American Council.

The main problem with Jewish Islamophobia is that it turns the Israeli-Arab conflict into a religious holy war when it’s really a battle over political power.  Injecting religion as these radical ideologues do, makes resolving differences almost impossible.  Finally, in smearing the religion of most of those living in the Middle East, it almost guarantees that no Muslim will be able to tolerate a Jewish presence there as well.

Similarly, these radical philanthropists fund the most extreme of the settler movement.  Those who not just espouse violence and hate against Palestinians, but engage in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.

Because so much of the activism of the radical Jewish right is shrouded in obscurity, I like to debunk this periodically by showing you the money: who has it, where it’s going, and what it’s doing.

* The following is a list, by Foundation, of some of the most radical of these groups and how much they’ve received. I last bloggedabout the Fairbrook Foundation’s 2008 IRS 990. The following is from the 2010 report:

Read more: Jewish Foundations Support Islamophobia at Home, Settler Triumphalism Abroad