Rebel without a state: Evgeny Lebedev meets Ismail Haniyeh, Prime Minister of Gaza 

 Evgeny Lebedev (left) with Saed Ibrahim Abdullah, a 55-year-old unemployed fisherman, and his wife, and (right) Ismail Haniyeh, Prime Minister of Gaza

Evgeny Alexandrovich Lebedev is the chairman of both Evening Standard Ltd, which owns the Evening Standard and Independent Print Ltd which owns the Independent newspapers.

He is the son of Russian tycoon, Alexander Lebedev, referred to as one of the Russian oligarchs, who in 2008, was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the richest Russians and as the 358th richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of $3.1 billion.

Rebel without a state: Evgeny Lebedev meets Ismail Haniyeh, Prime Minister of Gaza

NOT 

Owner of Independent Newsapapers Kidnapped for ranson by terrrorist, HAMAS!!!

(Source: usahypocrisy)

Casualties of the Gaza War

Gaza War Dead estimates made by Human Rights NGOs and by the involved combatants

Other casualties

The World Health Organization reported that sixteen health personnel were killed and that 22 health personnel were injured over the course of the offensive.^[9] In response, the Israeli Defense Ministry stated that nine of the sixteen medical personnel killed were Hamas operatives, referring to publications on Hamas affiliated Web sites.^[10] The UNRWA reported that five of its staff members were killed and that eleven staff members were injured.^[9] The World Food Programme reported that one of its contractors was killed and that two were injured.^[9]

B’Tselem 2008 deaths per month.

(Source: paxamericana, via aamir-javed-deactivated20120126)

madeinnablus:

Anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism are two separate issues. Don’t mix them.

This is a very black-and-white and obvious straw man argument. Of course, calling Jews sum of the earth is anti-Semitic, and reasonably so, saying Israel should be “brought to justice for brutality” could be seen, at the outset, to be a criticism of Israel (ignoring of course, that this first statement is so ambiguous - e.g., what is justice - that it means nothing).

April Rosenblaum tackles this problem head on:

…You’re antisemitic!” If you work to support Palestinian self-determination, you’ve heard this sort of thing countless times. Sometimes it comes from Right-wing ideologues whose aim is to shut down debate about Palestinian rights. Other times it comes from Jews who are so scared of real antisemitism that they can’t tell when a criticism of Israel is not driven by hatred of Jews. Either way, it’s insulting to activists and - above all - to Palestinians.

Yet instances of anti-Jewish behavior do come up in Palestine workmore than many parts of the Left: Why? It’s not because Palestinian or Arab activists are more anti-Jewish than other people. In fact, they often have a sharper eye than others for catching and interrupting anti-Jewish thinking.

One reason is simple: Any issue where Jews are very visible will bring out the antisemitism that already exists in the world. Another is more complex: In an issue where some Jews do have real power; it can get hard to tell what’s an accurate observation of unjust actions they have done, and what’s antisemitic thinking. For instance, if Israel gets continually allowed to flout international law; if pro-Palestine activists suffer censorship or are ruled out for funding or jobs because of controversy this issue raises, some activists start to mistake Jews for a vast powerful network, or a conspiracy that calls all the shots.

A third problem arises from normal activist tactics. We often fight campaigns by making our opponents look as bad as possible. The Left doesn’t have tons of money, or muscle on Capitol Hill. One of the strengths we do have is moral power to make the other side look bad enough that the world shames them into reversing their policy. In campaigns for AIDS funding, fair housing, prison rights, you name it, one of our main tactics is to make our opponents out to be cold, cruel and inhuman.

But when you use tactics like that on a group that’s historically been portrayed as evil and inhuman, where that image has been used for centuries as a tool to incite mass violence against them, you tap into a larger historical power. A power that’s bigger than the Left, and has its own momentum.

At the very birth of the Palestinians’ catastrophe lies antisemitism, the force that created the Jewish search for a modern state. And building a world that fights the oppression of Jews, and all humans, is the ultimate solution to today’s condition, in which Jews cling so hard to a tiny place of safety for themselves at the cost of oppressing Palestinians. Yet Palestinians don’t have the luxury of waiting for antisemitism to be eradicated to struggle for their own freedom. So let’s guarantee the short-term battle supports the long-term goals, by consciously building safeguards to Jews into tactics for Palestinian liberation.

It’s absolutely possible to critique Israel without being antisemitic - but it’s not automatic. You keep things clear when you describe accurately and specifically what you oppose, and critique actions and policy as unjust — not people or nations as evil. And when people suggest that they see targeting of Jews in something you’re saying or doing, don’t shoot them down; seek out useful information in what they’re saying that might help you give your message even more clarity and impact.

(via lurey)

memonite: Since 2000 close to 7,000 Palestinians have been killed, and 70,000 injured. Your government has demolished 25,000 Palestinian homes. Your government has set-up check points throughout PALESTINE and made life a living hell for us. Your government is currently occupying our land. Your government does not allow aid to reach my people. Your government continues to terrorize and wage war against my people and does not discriminate when it comes to killing men, women or children, because to them all of my people deserve to die. 

So I’m sorry if my people fighting for their right to exist is getting you all butt hurt. 

Btw, I’m not Palestinian, but they’re still my people, and Insha’Allah they’re going to get our land back from your government

foreverpalestine: 

You don’t have live in Israel to know that what Israel is doing to the children (and may I say the future of Palestine) is wrong. Every time Israel breaks International laws, they always come up the the same half- assed excuse ” we were just protecting ourself”. Such bs. (EG, the flotilla attack, the attack on Gaza in 08/09)  

No-one should make children go through what the Palestinian children go through. I don’t deny that there are not “child suicide bombers”, it does not give Israel the right in hell to humiliate the children like that. Was Iman Al-Hamas carrying a bomb when she was shot twice in the head and 18 times in the rest of her body by the IDF? Was Faris Odeh carrying a bomb when he was shot in the neck by the IDF? Was Khalil Al- Mughrabi carrying a bomb when he was shot in the head an Israeli tank? Nope, he was not, instead he was playing football. The list goes on and on and on. If Israel is worried about suicide bomber killing their civilians, they should get the hell out of Palestine, the solution is freaking simple! I am going to leave you with a quote from Ken Livingstone :

“The Palestinians don’t have jets and bombs, they only have their bodies to use as weapons” I do not agree with suicide bombing. 

rjh…
If those with jets and bombs are going to kill you anyway, then I’d agree with dying my YOUR chosen method, except a child! 

(via foreverpalestine-deactivated201)

“Out of the mouths of babes”

(via foreverpalestine-deactivated201)

My my, Netanyahu had an interesting day yesterday:

In an attack Tuesday — which an Israeli official termed an act of Jewish terrorism — around 50 right-wing Israeli extremists infiltrated and attacked the Ephraim Regional Division Headquarters, an Israel Defense Forces military base in the West Bank.

The activists entered the base, damaged property, set tires on fire, threw stones and damaged vehicles according to a statement released by the IDF.

The right-wing extremists also tried to attack the commander of the area, Col. Ran Kahana, by throwing stones at his vehicle.

“I intend to fight this phenomenon with all the force available to me as prime minister of Israel,” Netanyahu said. “No person can raise his hand against IDF soldiers and police.”

In a separate incident around 50 right-wing activists arrived Monday night at the closed military area on the Israeli Jordanian border. They cut the security fence and occupied a structure near the Qasr el Yahud baptism site.

Haaretz reports that he calls this situation “intolerable” and that “we must take care of these rioters with a firm hand”. Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni (Kadima), also took the opportunity to speak out:

The prime minister treats the incidents as matters of law enforcement rather than ideology, because “he feels uncomfortable confronting his natural allies.”

Yossi Gurvitz, a blogger for 972Mag, says the government has not been treating self-described acts of “Jewish terrorism” serious at all, and the military-police is complicent:

“I assume, Carmela, that you wouldn’t expect the brigade commander to open fire at a Jew standing in front of him, I am certain you didn’t mean that.”

Central Command Chief, General Mizrahi said that “I’ve never seen such hatred against soldiers”:

“I have yet to hear any harsh condemnation from the settler leadership, which is mostly normative and Zionist,” he added. “In my 30 years in the IDF I have yet to see such Jewish hatred like the one directed at our soldiers.”

Mizrahi continued to say that the violence was “planned, not sporadic,” adding that it had erupted “in light of the government’s order to evict West Bank outposts by the end of the year, in accordance with its pledge to the High Court of Justice.”

The Central Command chief said Ephraim Brigade commander Ran Kahana was injured when a settler hit him with a stone at close range.Mizrahi said the settler called Kahana a “Nazi.”   “The brigade commander’s grandmother is a Holocaust survivor,” Mizrahi told the press conference. Red lines have been crossed.

The religious community also chimed in, with mixed messages. Former IDF Chief Rabbi (and head of the extremist Itamar settlement) strongly condemned the attack:

“We must stop this thing at once, we cannot carry on as normal. I am calling on educators in Judea and Samaria, and on heads of settlements, to meet and see what they should do, it is impossible to continue like this… I am telling you something from my gut. If this reality will govern here, then I have no more place here, I will not stay in this place”

“The Brigade Commander described an appalling incident to me – they opened the door of the jeep and threw a concrete block that passed between the brigade commander and the driver, it could have killed him,” he said.

National Union party member MK Katz, however, said the attackers were “planted” by the government to discredit the settler movement.

We will wait and see what Netanyahu’s decision is, but the IDF is mulling evicting all the attackers from the West Bank, permanently:

Defense officials were critical Tuesday of the legal system in Israel that has until now only prosecuted a small number of those involved in so-called “price tag” attacks against IDF soldiers and Palestinians.

On Tuesday, for example, the IDF failed to arrest even a single attacker involved in the infiltration and vandalizing of the Efriam Regional Brigade base near Kedumim.

IDF officers have held talks recently with judges from courts throughout the country in an effort to explain the difficulty in collecting evidence that can be used against the perpetrators and how the light punishments, which those arrested received, was not deterring future attacks.

Even JPost’s editorial team took these attacks harshly.

(Source: israelfacts)

Oct 13, 2008