On Friday, September 7th, the villagers of Bil’in were joined by international and Israeli comrades. Normally they come together every Friday to express their outrage of the unacceptable Apartheid Wall. Normally the day is filled with military violence, tear gas, sound bombs, and billy clubs are common. Once the military begins to fire gas into the crowds, the non-violent protesters tend to back off eventually leaving only the Palestinian children throwing rocks in anger. A mild response in comparison to the rubber coated steel bullets used against them….
Note in the video that Ben Wedeman just can’t help himself, he never fails to present the narrative that Palestinians attack and the Israeli army responds.
Israeli supreme court ruled yesterday that wall must be re-routed around Bilin.
A rare victory to be sure but a victory nonetheless. The success was the result of non-violent resistance of years of joint struggle led by Palestinians who were supported by Israeli and international activists. There have been roughly three such victories out of 120 cases brought to Israeli courts by Palestinians fighting the path of the wall.
The court decision dictates that the military are obliged to plan and implement a new route for the wall. It has been ordered that the new path will allow for all Palestinian agricultural land to be on the Palestinian side. Furthermore, the court has ordered that the state should not take into consideration the area earmarked for Stage B of the planned expansion of Matityahu East.
The most important decision however was made by the International court in 2004 when it ruled that the wall was illegal in it’s planned route thru the West Bank and that it should be removed. The international community ignored the decision.
Palestinians Celebrate.
Dubai TV via Mosaic on LINK TV
Yesterday, trucks and vans carried dozens of singing villagers out to the barrier again where they waved flags and rattled sticks on the metal fence in front of the Israeli soldiers. One villager shouted to the crowd through a loudspeaker: “Your steadfastness brought you here.”
“Because of our protests the world knew about us and that’s why we won,” said Abdul Latif Yassin, 50, a school teacher. “But we still have more land beyond the barrier than has been given back to us today.”
At the same time things get more difficult for Palestinians in other areas like the agriculture village of Jayyous. Jayous also pursued a strategy of non-viloent demostrations and lawsuits.
The number of Jayyous residents who engage in agriculture has decreased for a simple reason: the separation fence. In this area it was completed three years ago and it cuts off the residents of Jayyous from their lands. To reach their farm land, they require a permit from the Civil Administration, and these are given out less and less often. Only 90 of the 4,000 residents of Jayyous are today permitted to work their lands. For three years, Abu Azzam was one of the lucky ones who received a permit. On June 23, he was informed that the permit would no longer be renewed, “because of opposition on the part of security elements.”
I had great hopes for this 6 hour documentary because Christianne Amanpour was doing it. I also had great reservations since this was still CNN. This was still US media, especially US television.
One easy prediction to make was that any exposure of the truth about Israel and it’s US supporters would result in campaigns and a total assault on the program, CNN and Christiane Amanpour. And so it has begun, led by CAMERA, the Zionist lobby’s media arm.
Both proved accurate. Amanpour did an amazing job on many levels. The US audience was allowed to see things generally underreported in the US.
We saw connections between US politicians and illegal Israeli settlements.
We saw US politicians using campaign contributions to send to Israel to support illegal settlements.
We saw Christian zionists in all their glory.
We saw Jewish terrorists.
We saw the power of the Israel lobby, especially AIPAC but including the Christian Zionists, in Washington.
We saw what happens to politicians who place justice or US interests before AIPAC or Israeli interests.
We saw lots more.
But
We saw it all within the context of “response”. We saw it all in the context of “revenge”. The narrative that Israelis, Jews, settlers, terrorists, are all responding to the threat posed by Palestinians in particular and Arabs in general was pervasive.
Although we saw one Palestinian home spared from demolition, we did not see or hear about the thousands of others which are not.
Finally we saw nothing of the daily terror inflicted on Palestinians by the Israeli army every day.
All in all it was fantastic. See for yourself if you missed it. The other two parts will follow.
Several years ago Hannah Mermelstein and Dunya Alwan began a program called Birthright Unplugged. They took Jews who traveled to Israel for the free “birthright” propaganda trip and opened their eyes to a side of the story they were not seeing.
They then created Birthright Replugged, a program to bring Palestinian children from refugee camps to Jerusalem, the sea and to villages their parents fled in 1948.
This Israeli government propaganda broadcast (the Israeli Broadcasting Authority interviewing Miri Eisen, a government spokesperson), from July 17 is quite revealing for a couple of reasons.
Firstly regarding “moderate Arab countries”. This phrase is often used in the Western media, and by Western politicians, but what does it actually mean? This broadcast is a good example of how “moderate” is in fact a codeword for “subservient to our interests”. What is Eisen’s example of a “moderate Arab country”? Saudi Arabia! A country with an absolute monarchy, of fundamentalist religious character which tortures prisoners, forces couples to divorce, silences internal dissent and executes children and women is characterised as “moderate”. Why? One can only assume it has something to do with the fact that the regime is a loyal ally of to Western policy, propped-up by the British and US governments.
Secondly, and more subtly, the mention of “removing illegal outposts” as part of a political agreement with “the Palestinians”, presumably Abbas and his unelected PA cabinet. “Illegal outposts” refers to settlements established in the West Bank which have not been officially approved by the Israeli government (and hence illegal even under Israeli law). What Eisen fails to mention is that the vast majority of settlements are large, built-up, government-funded affairs. The population of the “outposts” consists of a small — but vocal — minority of Jewish religious fundamentalists. It is noteworthy that despite their illegal status under Israeli law, even these outposts are protected by the Israeli military (the settlers themselves are of course armed too). International law, on the other hand, makes no distinction between “outposts” and other settlements. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the occupying power to transfer citizens from its own territory to the occupied territory (Article 49).
In a report airing this morning on CNN, reporter Cal Perry produced a story on the weekly demonstrations in the Palestinian village of Bilin. The demonstrations include large numbers of villagers from Bilin and internationals (including Israelis), who make a statement against Israel’s so called “security fence” which Israel is building on Palestinian land.
He never mentions that the wall/fence
–steals enormous swaths of Palestinian land,
–separates Palestinians from each other
–the wall/fence has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice at the Hague.
The segment was introduced as a piece on “violent vacations”, referring of course to the internationals, especially US residents who travel to the West Bank to support Palestinians in their normally peaceful protests against a policy of ethnic cleansing by the state of Israel. The usual motivating factor as stated by one of the protestors is the fact that Israel is the highest recipient of US foreign aid in the world.
The same demonstration was filmed by the protestors. It shows clearly that there were a large number of Palestinians present which contradicts the impression given by CNN that the protest was organized by internationals looking for a thrill.
It also shows clearly that much of the Israeli fire was unprovoked, contadicting the assertion that the fire was in response to stone throwing. At one point the tear gas lands right in front of the camera.
CNN for its part focused on the internationals and the stone throwers. It has been proven on many occasions that stone throwing is discouraged by the Palestinians and by the internationals. In fact it has also been established that the Israeli army sends in undercover Israeli soldiers or agents of the prison service to provoke Palestinian children to throw stones.
Several masked mistaravim (a Hebrew term meaning ‘those who pretend to be Arabs’), undercover agents belonging to the Israeli Prison Service started to behave aggressively and threw stones at the soldiers. When the Palestinian villagers called on them to stop using violence and to leave the demonstration, they revealed their identity, pulled out their weapons, and arrested two Palestinian and four Israeli demonstrators.
CNN also states that each stone is responded to with a shot of tear gas. In fact the tear gas and the rubber bullets are fired whether stones are thrown or not. As you can see from this video, the Israeli army does not need to be provoked.
Finally, without the presence of internationals, it is highly likely that the bullets used by the army would not be rubber. In fact Israeli novelist Yitzhak Laor, writing in “Counterpunch†the amount of force used by the Israeli army at the beginning of the intifada before any Palestinian picked up a gun.
A month after the Intifada began, four years ago, Major General Amos Malka, by then No. 3 in the military hierarchy, and until 2001 the head of Israeli military Intelligence (MI), asked one of his officers (Major Kuperwasser) how many 5.56 bullets the Central Command had fired during that month (that is, only in the West Bank). Three years later Malka talked about these horrific figures. This is what he said to Ha’aretz’s diplomatic commentator, Akiva Eldar about the first month of the Intifada, 30 days of unrest, no terrorist attacks yet, no Palestinian shooting:
Kuperwasser got back to me with the number, 850,000 bullets. My figure was 1.3 million bullets in the West Bank and Gaza. This is a strategic figure that says that our soldiers are shooting and shooting and shooting. I asked: “Is this what you intended in your preparations?” and he replied in the negative. I said: “Then the significance is that we are determining the height of the flames.” (HaAretz, 11.6.2004).
It was a bullet for every Palestinian child, said one of the officers in that meeting, or at least this is what the Israeli daily Maariv revealed two years ago, when the horrible figures were first leaked.
Approximately 300 Palestinians were killed during those non violent demonstrations. The international community did nothing.
Jul. 5 - A Palestinian camerman is hit by a volley of bullets while filming clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants in Gaza.
The cameraman, Imad Ghanem was filming for Hamas’s al-Aqsa television channel when he was fired upon.
In video filmed by a colleague he can be seen lying on the ground with his camera by his side.
Eyewitnesses said moments before he’d been with a group which included militant gunmen, though he appeared to be unarmed. Ghanem was later treated in hospital where both of his legs were amputated.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said journalists were at risk if they entered a combat zone but soldiers did not deliberately target them. [Emphasis added]
Now watch the video and judge for yourself if journalists are deliberately targeted or not.
This is coverage from Al-Jazeera Arabic that features some more footage from a slightly different angle.
Call for investigation after Hamas TV cameraman badly wounded by Israeli gunfire
Reporters Without Borders condemns the Israeli army’s actions in firing yesterday on a Palestinian cameraman employed by the Hamas-owned satellite TV station Al-Aqsa as he was covering an Israeli incursion into the central part of the Gaza strip. The cameraman was seriously injured and had to have both legs amputated.
“This attack tragically illustrates the dangers to which Palestinian journalists are exposed,†the press freedom organisation said. “The Israeli army’s repeated attacks on media and journalists during military operations are unacceptable and constitute violations of international humanitarian law. A thorough investigation must be quickly carried out to establish why soldiers fired on this journalist after he had been injured and knocked to the ground by the blast of a grenade.â€
An Israeli military source told Agence France-Presse that Al-Aqsa cameramen “could not be regarded as journalists as they are part of Hamas’ armed wing and their films are used for propaganda purposes or instruction.â€
During an interview with Reporters Without Borders representatives last December, Israeli deputy defence minister Efraim Sneh advocated attacking the new Hamas TV station’s premises “if hostilities resumed and if the Islamic party announced the resumption of its terrorist activities.†He added that, “media belonging to terrorist organisations cannot enjoy the same rights as other media since they glorify violence.â€
In the view of Reporters Without Borders, Hamas’ activities cannot be used as an excuse or justification for attack an Al-Aqsa TV employee. “Firstly, journalists enjoy the same status as civilians and are therefore protected as such under international humanitarian law,†the organisation said. “Secondly, Protocol Additional 1 to the Geneva Conventions states that radio and TV installations may only be regarded as legitimate targets if they are used for military purposes and directly contribute to the war effort.â€
Imad Ghanem, 23, was covering yesterday’s Israeli military incursion to the east of the Al-Barij refugee camp in the centre of the Gaza Strip. Although he was not wearing anything that identified him as a member of the press, he was carrying a TV camera and he was with a large number of fellow journalists.
Wounded by the blast of a rocket fired from a helicopter, Ghanem was lying on the ground when Israeli troops fired at him. Footage filmed by his colleagues shows him being hit in the legs by two shots fired in quick succession. He was taken to Deir-al-Balah where both of his legs were amputated. He was then transferred to Al-Shifa hospital where his condition was reported to be stable.
Reporters Without Borders has registered at least nine cases of journalists being wounded by Israeli military fire since the start of the year. For the most part, they were injured by shrapnel from stun or tear grenades or by rubber bullets.
An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson told Reporters Without Borders in May: “The army makes a great effort to avoid injuring civilians and journalists covering fighting in the field. Soldiers are given clear instructions to learn to identify and avoid injuring a journalist. We ask the press to place themselves behind soldiers or at a reasonable distance from demonstrations. Journalists who choose to mingle with demonstrators should be aware of the risks they are taking.â€
The following clips are a a good summary of the several days of siege from CNN, al-Arbiya, al-Jazeera and Democracy Now! which give a fair idea of the Israeli idea of “ceasefire” — i.e. “you ceasefire, while we carry on with impunity.” They kill and kidnap Palestinian civilians while the Western governments — at best — remain silent and the Western mainstream media does not report on Palestinian deaths not caused by infighting.
British Broadcasting Corp. reporter Alan Johnston was held the longest of any foreigner in the Gaza Strip.
— March 12, 2007: Johnston is captured outside his Gaza City apartment street by gunmen. No group takes responsibility.
— April 5: A senior British diplomat and BBC officials meet Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas to push for Johnston’s release, the first of several meetings between British diplomats and Hamas officials about Johnston. It is the first time British officials hold talks with Hamas officials in the Palestinian unity government, despite a Western boycott of the Islamic militant group.
— April 15: A previously unknown Palestinian group called “The Brigades of Tawheed of Jihad” says it killed Johnston. The BBC and Palestinian government say there is no evidence to back up the claim.
— April 17: Palestinian journalists in Gaza demonstrate to demand Palestinian security do more to win Johnston’s release.
— April 19: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says his intelligence services confirmed that Johnston is alive and that he knows which group is holding him.
— May 9: A shadowy militant group calling itself “The Army of Islam” says it is holding Johnston and posts a photo of his identity card on an Al Qaeda-linked Web site. The group demands the release of a militant Islamic cleric linked to Al Qaeda who is held in a U.K. jail.
— June 1: Johnston appears in a video posted on an Islamic militant Web site, saying he has been treated well, and calling for the lifting of international sanctions against the Palestinian government.
— June 14: Hamas routs forces linked to Abbas’ Fatah Party and completes a military takeover of Gaza.
—June 15: Abbas fires Haniyeh. The Hamas rulers in Gaza refuse to relinquish power and pledge to release Johnston.
— June 25: A video shows Johnston wearing what appears to be an explosives belt and warns it will be detonated if an attempt is made to free him by force. He says the “situation is very serious.”
— July 2: Hamas arrests the Army of Islam’s spokesman to put pressure on Johnston’s kidnappers.
— July 3: Hamas forces surround the hideout where Johnston is held.
It might seem counterintuitive that a state that wants to get away from its image of being in constant conflict would choose “Women of the Israeli Defense Forces” as a promotional gimmick. With the army so pervasive in Israeli culture — only North Korea has a higher % of its people under arms — Israelis can’t seem to think outside the box. The slang often used for women in the IDF is “sleeping bags.” Israel’s largest paper used to feature an “IDF babe of the day” in its pages. Young army women are treated as the personal perks of office for men like former Justice Minister Haim Ramon, who was convicted of sticking his tongue down the throat of a 20-year-old soldier. An Israeli court recently decided this wasn’t a “crime of moral turpitude,” and there is talk of Ramon rejoining the cabinet. The former Israeli president — and his brother — are both suspected of rape.
This campaign is part of Israel’s “rebranding” campaign; it currently ranks last in the “National Brands Index”. See also Bill Berkowitz on Israeli rebranding.
CNNI notes helpfully that Israel’s war with Lebanon last summer was “inept” and “ineffective.” One might think of other terms, like “insane and monstrous” — used by an Israeli commander to describe the indiscriminate firing of 1.3 million cluster bomblets at Southern Lebanon.
We all know sex sells, but shamelessly selling its women is hardly the best way for Israel - a country considered among the world’s worst offenders in human trafficking and prostitution, by the way - to boost its public image.
Maxim wonders, “They’re drop dead gorgeous and can take apart an Uzi in seconds. Are the women of the Israeli Defense Forces the world’s sexiest soldiers?” Uzis aren’t all these hotties can handle — some look positively fetching wielding old-fashioned billy-clubs. Take this quote from an Israeli babe in blue in 2004:
Whoever [Arab stopped at a checkpoint] does not act nicely gets beaten. … We have clubs for that. … Sometimes I might just not like his face. … And then he gets one too. Just a way of passing the time.
