PALESTINE sell out!

[fredduckett]

In 1927 British and Empire troops captured Palestine from the Turks. In a return for Jewish help it was arranged that a national home would be found for Jewish settlers and for the Arabs they would receive an Arab state! This was in Palestine, virtually it was to be an Arab homeland with a large Jewish minority. The Arabs were not estatic, but as they had lived cheek by jowl along side the europeans, with some acrimony , with British help, they lived in comparitive harmony! never fully peaceful the two races endured each other's company. Then, there was trouble at mill, the immigrants from Europe flooded in to the middle east and the Arabs began to look askance at the newcomers, even more so they began to listen as the Zionist organisations began to claim free entrance to the Holy Land. After the war the promise was still of a home for jews in an Arab land, but more and more the Zionist organisations, the Likud, claimed their own state, no longer willing to share, even someone's homeland they wanted them out! It was like a Cuckoo and the nest situation!
Eventually the Zionist militants started a reign of terror shooting policemen, bombing British soldiers and terrorising the Arabs. The trouble was the Arabs were not allowed by the British Government to defend themselves or even prepare for a defence. It wasn't that the british were unaware of Arab rights, or the wrongs being done to the arab people, it was that they were pressured by the American Government and their fear of the Jewish Lobby back home in the states. The result was that under pressure from their voters
the british Government did a runner and lin conjunction with the UN, decreed a two state solution, PARTITION! They gave Arab Land away!

As the British left under both Jewish and US pressure, the arabs unarmed, untrained and ill prepared applied to the Arab League for help. It was like asking a blind and deaf football team to play at Wembley! !00 for Israel and 10 for the Palestinians. Apart from the Jordanians, it would have been better if the League armies had stayed at home. The well rained and armed Israelis defeated them with very little trouble! But for all the Jewish experience in the war in Europe, the new Israeli state embarked on a phase of ethnic clearing that lasted some 50yrs on and off. The Arabs, hapless and unorganised either politically or militarily were pushed out of most of what land they had saved from the 1948 debacle. In stead of their own state, they were pushed in to enclaves and about a million Arabs were in exile over the middle east, while Israel got rich and well trained in arms through US help and British political subservience to the dollar!
The United Nations under American Dominance passed resolution after Resolution but the cause of the Arab Palestinians waned like water on a hot plate! The result now, after struggle after struggle is that they are now split between those in Gaza settlements, hemmed in by a huge wall and Israeli forces, who virtually shoot at will and those in the remnant of Palestine driven in to a chequered series of villages overawed and bullied by the State of Israel , its like a Goolag in the Sun.
Now in another attempt at freedom they have applied for their own state to be recognised, America has opposed it, the creep of a president can't afford to offend the Jewish Lobby, the UK Cretins of all parties won't offend the Americans. The latest word on the streets is that there has to be discussions, what about? The discussions were finished, or abrogated by Israel's seizure of Arab Land in 1948 and 1967! What should be done is that the Israeli settlers be cleared off the West Bank and Gaza freed from Israeli siege and the eastern or Arab part of Jerusalem returned to its rightful owners. As for Israel, after 60 odd years of political vandalism they should return to the borders of 1967 after the Arab /Israeli war of that time. Their borders supported by American Strength and dollars.

[fredduckett]

PALESTINE !
Part 2.
One of the truly shameful episodes of this ongoing saga is collapse of the British Establishment with British Politicians, Labour, Conservative and Liberal Parties falling over themselves either to say nowt or compete who can replicate Obama's spineless dribble. Obama, echoed by Cameron claimed to be in favour of Palestinian freedom, but only after it had been discussed by the interested parties, who are they other than the Palestinians and they Israelis? What is there to talk about, if we take the 1967 Border as the norm, the only thing to do is give back the Arabs their land and to recognise Israel as a legitimate state, What is hard about that, it is recognised that some discussion will ensue, even so the sceptics are correct when they voice the fear that what America and Israel want is the surrender of more Palestinian West Bank land and a truncated Palestine.
What can we do about things? Very little as far as I can see, but we should raise the matter with ,'our leadership,' Tell then no action, no more support, money or votes! Stop supporting the nig supermarkets who support Israel, boycot Israeli goods and make a fuss. Get a surge of activity going, if there's movement it can develop. But please don't abandon the Palestinians!

[fred]

HUMAN RIGHTS FOR PALESTINIANS.

Human Rights ForPalestinians
Jerusalem, July 13, 2011) - The Israeli parliament has violated the right to freedom of expression by approving a law that penalizes individuals and organizations that call for boycotting Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Knesset passed the "Bill for Prevention of Damage to the State of Israel Through Boycott - 2011" by a vote of 47 to 38 late in the evening of July 11, 2011. It was proposed by a member of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud party. The law threatens lawsuits and damages, and could strip human rights and civil society groups of their tax-exempt status, forcing them to shut down. That would violate their right to freedom of association and expression, Human Rights Watch said.

"Whatever one thinks of boycotts, a law that punishes peaceful advocacy in opposition to government policies is a bald-faced attempt to muzzle public debate," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "This law attacks Israeli civil society and will turn back the clock on freedom of expression and association."

The law penalizes any person or organization that calls for an "economic, cultural or academic" boycott of "a person or other party" because of its "relation" to Israel, Israeli institutions, or "any area under [Israel's] control," a reference to the occupied Palestinian territories. The law defines boycotts to include "undertakings not to purchase products or services produced or provided in the state of Israel, in any of its institutions or in an area under its control."

[fred]

50 Reasons Israelis Should Say Yes to a Palestinian State



20/09/2011 12:58:00


1. To assure the identity of Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and democratic state in the spirit of its Declaration of Independence.

2. The establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel will fulfill the historic resolution from 1947 of two states for two people.

3. We will be available to nurture social solidarity and rehabilitate Israeli society.

4. Otherwise Israel’s relations with Egypt, Turkey, USA and in fact all the world will continue to deteriorate.

5. The establishment of a Palestinian state will open the door for all of Arab world to recognize Israel and implement the decision of 22 Arab League member states to normalize relations with Israel.

6. Because Social justice does not stop at the Green Line.

7. It will allow serious and equal negotiations between two states, rather than a state and an authority.

8. Jerusalem will be recognized internationally as the capital of Israel and the foreign embassies will return to it.

9. The establishment of a Palestinian state will end the occupation that corrupts us and harms Israel's strength.

10. We should realize that we no longer live in a world that can tolerate injustice, and that all people have a right freedom and self determination.

11. The Palestinian state will allow a dramatic improvement in relations between Jews and Arabs inside Israel, allowing us to engage in processes that will bring equality between Jews and Arabs in Israel.

12. There is interdependency between Israel's security and that of the State of Palestine.

13. It will create clear principles for the border’s physical features which will allow for effective negotiations.

14. Establishing an agreed upon Palestinian state will silence those who are using the Palestinians as a reason for war and boycotts against us.

15. So Israel can determine its borders like any normal state.

16. If we don’t agree to a Palestinian state we will be left with a bi-national state and lose the Zionist dream.

17. A Palestinian nation state will resolve the refugee problem within itself.

18. It will bring an end to the fantasy of one country for two nations between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River.

19. In Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Cairo and Damascus a young, secular, technological generation is growing, that believes in its own power to affect change and despises governments’ falsely injected fears.

20. So Israel will not have to re-occuoccupy Area A and consequently be responsible and finance four million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

21. Only a Palestinian state can prevent us from becoming the next apartheid state.

22. This is the only practical option for Israelis to live in peace in the Middle East.

23. Otherwise we will have to deal with security without cooperation with Palestinian security forces which assist us today in preventing terrorism.

24. Otherwise Israel will have to grant Israeli civil rights to Palestinians in the territories and, ultimately, also the right to vote for the Knesset.

25. The cost for not resolving the conflict is much higher than the price of an agreement today.

26. Establishing a Palestinian state is an act of justice. Palestinians are a people and deserve a state.

27. So that Israel will not be the last country to recognize Palestine.

28. This is the way to prevent Jewish and Palestinian extremists from worsening the situation.

29. A Palestinian state alongside Israel will serve its citizens and allowing Palestinians self determination and national pride.

30. He who cares about our children’s quality of life, has an interest to stop our neighbors suffering and allow them to take responsibility for their fate

31. The two state solution is supported by both Israelis and Palestinians in all surveys in recent years.

32. It will create great economic opportunities for Israelis and the entire Middle East that do not exist today because of the conflict.

33. The groundwater pollution in the West Bank harms the health of Israelis and Palestinians. An independent Palestinian state will tackle this issue thoroughly because it will be in their interest.

34. Only a Palestinian state will allow for a historic reconciliation process between the peoples.

35. This will remove the threat of war and bereavement from our families, who pay the price for the ongoing war.

36. A two state solution will denounce the Palestinian vision of one state

37. The establishment of a Palestinians state will bring an end to the conflict and to all claims against Israel.

38. A Palestinian independent state will cooperate with Israel on proper management of the Mountain Aquifer, the joint source of water for the two countries.

39. Israel is the only thing standing between the Palestinians and independence.

40. If South Sudan can have a state, why not Palestine?

41. It will return our Palestinian neighbors their dignity

42. Because you can not demand rights for Israelis and not recognize Palestinians’ right to a state.

43. This is the way to prove that there is no truth to the saying that there is no partner for peace on the other side.

44. The alternative - a type of Jewish-Palestinian Yugoslavia - is scarier and means the destruction of a Zionist Israel, economically and morally.

45. The future as we see it is only in our hands.

46. We will finally live in a democratic moral country which respects its minorities with equal rights.

47. If the media would tell you the truth about the conflict in a full and balanced way, you would say yes.

48. Because a situation of military occupation and the ‘settlers’ state can not continue forever, it endangers us, and does not correlate with universal humanistic Jewish values.

49. It is now or never, and all other alternatives are far worse.

50. Because it is the only viable solution, and you know it.


The Israeli Peace NGO Forum is launching a campaign in support of Palestinian statehood leading up to the Palestinian Authority's request for recognition in the UN General Assembly, planned for September 20th 2011.



Founded in 2006, the Palestinian-Israeli Peace NGO Forum is a network of over 100 Palestinian and Israeli NGOs working to promote peace and dialogue between peoples. The Forum operates under the assumption that the future of both nations depends on each other, and work together to jointly promote a solution that ensures the future of both peoples. Learn more at: www.peacengo.org




(August 2011)





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[michele cryer]

Thanks again for such informative articles, and for the 50 reasons why Palestinians should be given their own State. I agree with the reasons given in the list..and hope that sometime soon there will be more steps taken to bring peace closer to the Jews and Palestinians.

[fred]

Thanks Michele! Regarding the topic, one really interesting thing is that in spite of the attacks on both sides, there is a large Peace Movement within the Israeli Nation itself. especially amongst the youth and the middle classes. But it would appear that Israel. with large subsidies from America and which has the fourth largest army in the world is a nation governed ultimately by its army! Which is itself in thrall to the USA.

[fred]

Israel Raises Heat With Iran War Talk!
srael's deputy Prime Minister has raised tension in the Middle East by saying his country's air force could successfully strike Iran.

The former armed forces chief Moshe Yaalon says Israel is capable of fighting a war with Iran after modernising its military.
"Technology has improved range and aerial refuelling capabilities and has brought about a massive improvement in accuracy of ordnance and intelligence."
Israel is urging the international community to take more decisive action against Iran going nuclear.
It says military action remains an option to neutralise the threat from Iran.Meanwhile Iran insists its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only.
Mr Yaalon's comments were some of the most aggressive yet on the subject.
He warned: "As far as I am concerned, offence has remained the best defence."
Israel has a track record of launching pre-emptive strikes against fledgling nuclear weapons programmes.
This capability can be used for a war on terror in Gaza, war in the face of rockets from Lebanon, war on the conventional Syrian army, and also for war on a peripheral state like Iran.
Moshe Yaalon.

In 1981 it carried out a long range air strike that destroyed Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor at Osirak.
In 1997 it launched a similar operation against a site in Syria.
Military experts say a strike on Iran's facilities would be far more problematic.Iran has learned from its neighbours' experience and is thought to have buried its nuclear installations deep in reinforced bunkers.
Its distance from Israel is also a major challenge.
Mr Yaalon insists that Israel has overcome those challenges with a military capable of meeting all of the country's many security threats in the region.
"This capability can be used for a war on terror in Gaza, war in the face of rockets from Lebanon, war on the conventional Syrian army, and also for war on a peripheral state like Iran."
Mr Yaalon, who is also minister for strategic affairs, is the most hawkish of the Netanyahu government's cabinet.

Israel considers Iran a serious threat because of its nuclear programme, missiles and references by its leaders to Israel's destruction and its sponsorship of Hizbollah and Hamas.
The US and its allies are pushing for a new round of sanctions on Iran, as punishment for refusing UN Security Council demands to curb parts of its nuclear programme that give Tehran a possible pathway to weapons.

SKY NEWS! SAT.5TH, NOV.

[fred]

MON., 7TH, NOV.Following the decision of the Palestinian people last September,to claim Statehood and in spite of Us & Israeli protests,being allowed full membership within UNESCO , the cultural department of the United Nations. . The US, Has announced that it will cut the funds alloted to the Cultural Arm of the UN. This mean spirited gesture is simply for defying Israelie and American policy. An even greater shame lies on our politicians of all parties, in allowing this matter to go on without protest and certainly without subscribing alternative funds to make up the loss!

[qiwei]

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[langhua]

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[fred]

A growing gulf between Israel's Jewish and Arab communities is highlighted in a critical EU paper which breaks new ground by suggesting that the international community has a role in ensuring "genuinely equal treatment" for the country's Arab minority.

The confidential 27-page draft prepared by European diplomats and seen by The Independent charts a wide range of indicators showing that Israeli Arabs suffer "economic disparities ... unequal access to land and housing ... discriminatory draft legislation and a political climate in which discriminatory rhetoric and practice go unsanctioned."

The paper also levels criticisms at some Israeli Arab leaders, charging that the most extreme feed accusations of disloyalty within the majority Jewish community. And it is careful to praise positive state measures affecting the Arab community, including on policing. But it charges that Israel has addressed "few" of the recommendations on the "socio-conomic causes of Israeli Arab frustration" made by the Or Commission, appointed after 12 Israeli Arabs were killed by police during demonstrations 11 years ago.

The circulation of the paper has irritated Israel's Foreign Ministry, which yesterday accused the EU diplomats of preparing the document "behind our backs" and not seeking the government's views. "We were not informed, consulted or approached about this document allegedly written by EU diplomats," the ministry's spokesman said.

While EU leaders regularly criticise Israel over its activities in occupied territory – including the growth of settlement building – the draft is unusual in tackling a highly sensitive issue within Israel's borders. It warns that the erosion of Israel's founding ethos – as a Jewish homeland but one committed to treating all citizens equally – "will reinforce those who seek to 'delegitimise' Israel and damage [its] international standing".

A detailed list of recommendations for the EU itself – including active lobbying against discriminatory laws, allocating more European scholarships to Arab students, encouraging European high-tech companies to invest in Arab areas, and fostering the teaching of Arabic and co-existence projects in schools – are understood to have been dropped from the paper after objections mainly from the Netherlands. The draft affirms that Israel's treatment of its minorities within its borders should be seen by the international community as a "core issue, not second tier to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict".

The diplomats also highlight a recent spate of Knesset bills which "would have denied some Israelis their citizenship, legalised discrimination in access to housing, and limited freedom of speech". While the paper acknowledges that the "most discriminatory" elements of such legislation have largely been softened or eliminated, such bills "have a chilling effect on Jewish-Arab relations".

It also points out that despite "robust anti-incitement laws" and the fact that the Israeli Prime Minister "eventually" issued a condemnation, no action was taken against 47 state-employed municipal rabbis who called for Jews not to let property to Arabs.

The paper points out that while being up to 20 per cent of the population, Israeli Arabs own only 3 per cent of the land. It says Arab average earnings are only 61 per cent of those in the Jewish community, with 50 per cent of Israeli Arabs living in poverty, according to the OECD.

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[john duthoit]

An energy crisis is currently hitting the Gaza Strip’s public services hard and could lead to a severe humanitarian crisis if a sustainable solution is not found soon.

“If the power plant does not resume its work in the next days, some hospitals will be left without electricity,” said Mahmud Daher, officer-in-charge of the World Health Organization in Gaza. Gaza’s only power plant was forced to shut down on 14 February due to a lack of fuel, which has previously been imported in amounts of up to one million liters a day from Egypt.

“The current crisis is a political problem that started six years ago. The Israeli occupation, the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to provide the Gaza Strip with funds, and the policy of Egypt which is dealing with Gaza out of security calculations, have all contributed to the current situation,” said Hamas government spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

“Ismail Haniyeh, [prime minister of Gaza] is in Egypt at the moment to discuss the crisis and to find a quick solution … But so far … no progress has been made … The whole of Gaza has been without electricity since last night,” he added.

Inadequate supplies

Since the power plant stopped working, public hospitals and clinics have been running on only 20 percent of the 440,000 liters of fuel usually needed per day to supply the health system with electricity, Daher said, adding: “Some hospitals might withstand the crisis for one more week, some others no more than one or two days.”

Some fuel entered the Gaza Strip on 18-19 February via tunnel from Egypt, but the amount was not sufficient for resumption of operations at the power plant, which requires more than 400,000 liters of diesel a day, and produces 80-85 megawatts (MW).

The Gaza Strip also receives around 120 MW of electricity from Israel. With the power plant shut down, the overall electricity deficit has reached more than 60 percent of normal supply.

Hassan Khalaf, Gaza’s deputy health minister, said Gaza had only had six hours of electricity a day for the past two weeks. “The nurseries, the ICUs [intensive care units], the operation rooms are all severely affected by that. The crisis is becoming a danger for the most vulnerable.”

Among the hospitals most severely affected is al-Shifa, which is the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip. According to an as yet unpublished report by the World Health Organization, it had fuel for only 54 hours of full operation at the end of last week. Equally, the al-Aqsa hospital and Gaza’s psychiatric hospital are at high risk, with less than fifty hours of fuel supply left as of 16 February.

Babies at risk

“Theoretically, we could reach point zero at any time soon,” Daher warned, adding: “In the worst case, the crisis could lead to a stop in vital services for about 100 newborn children, could endanger about 60 people currently in intensive care and about 400 patients who are dependent on life-saving dialysis.” In addition, non-urgent operations will have to be cancelled, and laboratory services, the kitchen and laundry services might be affected.

Critical elements such as intensive care units have a double back-up system of large uninterruptible power supply generators. But they can only function for short periods, while the main hospital generators are meant to supply electricity for long-term use. Many of the generators are not suitable for constant use and need frequent repair or replacement.

The situation in hospitals has also been worsened by an unusually cold winter, which has increased energy demand. Forced to reset priorities, many hospitals kept the heating turned off. Only the heating systems in stations with newborn children and immune-compromised and elderly patients, who are at risk of hypothermia, have remained intact.

Water pumps not working

The lack of electricity has also affected water supplies.

“Water pumps have lost 40 percent of their capacity to transport water into the wells,” said Omar Shatat, technical manager at the Gaza Strip’s Coastal Municipalities Water Utility. Before the power plant closed down, pumps delivered about 220,000 liters of water a day. “Now there are hardly able to pump 150,000 per day,” he said.

The situation is further worsened by the 12-18 hour electricity cuts households in the Gaza Strip currently face.

Most households use water pumped by the water utility into tanks. But in order to retrieve the water from there, another pump is needed. “Because they don’t have electricity, the water cannot be delivered into their homes,” Shatat explained.

For now at least, drinking water could be supplied to the entire population. “But if things continue for another three or four days, we could also face a serious problem here,” he added.

Dependent on Egypt

The Gaza Strip began to import fuel from Egypt through underground tunnels after Israel imposed a tight blockade on the Strip in mid-2007, including heavy restrictions on the movement of goods.

“This blockade made us depend on Egyptian fuel for the last years. But the Gaza Strip’s reliance on this single source was a solution of a very complex problem, created by the interruption of Israeli fuel supply in 2009,” said Ahmad Abu al-Amreen, director of public relations at the Gaza Energy Authority.

Despite the partial easing of Israel’s blockade in June 2010, the underground tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza Strip continued to serve as the main channel for importing fuel at a price significantly cheaper than that imported from Israel.

In the weeks prior to the shutdown of the Gaza power plant on 14 February, the level of fuel supplied through the Rafah tunnels from Egypt to the Gaza Strip has declined gradually, falling to on average 100-150,000 liter per day, or 20 percent of the daily amount of fuel that entered into Gaza in the previous weeks, according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The exact reasons for the decline remain unclear. But “there are reportedly distribution problems affecting fuel in Egypt, as well as other issues, which are impeding deliveries to the border with Gaza,” the report explained.

This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the copyright page for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Tags: Gaza siege Mahmud Daher world health organization Gaza power plant Gaza power cuts Hamas Fawzi Barhum Dr. Hassan Khalaf al-Shifa Hospital Omar Shatat Ahmad Abu al-Amreen Gaza Energy Authority tunnels

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[Jack Lee]

REUTERS/Paul Hackett
LONDON (Reuters) - A peer has quit the Liberal Democrat party, which is part of the coalition government, after saying during a heated debate at a university that Israel "is not going to be there forever," party officials said Thursday.
Jenny Tonge, a member of the Lords, has a track record of making controversial comments about Israel and has lost political posts over her views in the past.
She is not a prominent figure in politics, but her comments during a recent debate at Middlesex University drew condemnation from politicians in all three of the major parties.
"Beware Israel. Israel is not going to be there forever ... because one day the United States of America will get sick of giving $70 billion (43.9 billion pounds) a year to what I call America's aircraft carrier in the Middle East, that is, Israel," she said.
"One day the U.S. people are going to say to the Israel lobby in the U.S. 'enough is enough' ... It will not go on forever. Israel will lose its support and then they will reap what they have sown."
Footage available on the Internet shows some people in the audience shouting "that's rubbish" while she was speaking.
Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said Tonge's comments were "wrong and offensive" and did not reflect the values of the party.
"The Liberal Democrats have a proud record of campaigning for the rights of Palestinians, and that will continue, but we are crystal clear in our support for a two-state solution," Clegg said in a statement.
Tonge was an MP from 1997 to 2005. She was then elevated to a peerage and entered the Lords.
She had been forced to resign as her party's spokeswoman on children's issues in 2004 after saying she "might just consider becoming" a suicide bomber if she was a Palestinian.
In 2010, she was sacked as the party's health spokeswoman after saying that Israeli troops sent to Haiti after a major earthquake were trafficking organs.
Tonge, whose party affiliation is now listed on the Lords website as independent, was unapologetic.
"Israel is acting against international law, the Geneva conventions, and human rights. They do this with impunity and if our political parties will not take action then individuals must," she said.
Among politicians who voiced their outrage was the leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, who tweeted "no place in politics for those who question existence of the state of Israel."
(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Karolina Tagaris)

[Fred Emney]

Clegg;s comment about the Lib Dems being in favour of a two state answer in what was Palestine is rubbish! There's only one state and that is Israel and America is subsidising them! As the Baroness said to the tune of 70 Billion Dollars. If you visit Israel there are plenty of Israelis who want not only Arab Palestine but Jordan and parts of Syria as well .
Milliband's intervention is in character for the leader who wants the working class to support him while calling for the working class to pay the price of the bankiers failures.
Israel has a right to its existence, but it must be within the borders of the 1967 treaty! It has no right to Arab Land.