BDS | KADAITCHA

March 25, 2011December 11, 2020

Sanctioning Israel for Its Crime of Apartheid

Israel only just discovers the UN Uniting for Peace Resolution 377? very poor intel if so. Francis Boyle drew attention to the relevance of this resolution to the predicament of Palestinian people in January, 2009:

First, we must immediately move for the de facto suspension of Israel throughout the entirety of the United Nations System, including the General Assembly and all U.N. subsidiary organs and bodies. We must do to Israel what the U.N. General Assembly has done to the genocidal rump Yugoslavia and to the criminal apartheid regime in South Africa! Here the legal basis for the de facto suspension of Israel at the U.N. is quite simple:

As a condition for its admission to the United Nations Organization, Israel formally agreed to accept General Assembly Resolution 181 (II) (1947) (partition/Jerusalem trusteeship) and General Assembly Resolution 194 (III) (1948) (Palestinian right of return), inter alia. Nevertheless, the government of Israel has expressly repudiated both Resolution 181 (II) and Resolution 194 (III).

Therefore, Israel has violated its conditions for admission to U.N. membership and thus must be suspended on a de facto basis from any participation throughout the entire United Nations System.

Second, any further negotiations with Israel must be conducted on the basis of Resolution 181 (II) and its borders; Resolution 194 (III); subsequent General Assembly resolutions and Security Council resolutions; the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions of 1949; the 1907 Hague Regulations; and other relevant principles of public international law.

Third, we must abandon the fiction and the fraud that the United States government is an “honest broker.” The United States government has never been an honest broker from well before the very outset of these negotiations in 1991. Rather, the United States has invariably sided with Israel against the Palestinians. We need to establish some type of international framework to sponsor these negotiations where the Palestinian negotiators will not be subjected to the continual bullying, threats, harassment, intimidation and outright lies perpetrated by the United States government.

Fourth, we must move to have the U.N. General Assembly impose economic, diplomatic, and travel sanctions upon Israel pursuant to the terms of the Uniting for Peace Resolution (1950), whose Emergency Special Session on Palestine is now in recess.

Fifth, the Provisional Government of the State of Palestine must sue Israel before the International Court of Justice in The Hague for inflicting acts of genocide against the Palestinian People in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention!

Sixth, An International Criminal Tribunal for Israel (ICTI) can be established by the UN General Assembly as a “subsidiary organ” under article 22 of the UN Charter. Article 22 of the UN Charter states the UN General Assembly may establish such subsidiary organs as it deems necessary for the performance of its functions. The purpose of the ICTI would be to investigate and Prosecute suspected Israeli war criminals for offences against the Palestinian people.

In the JPost story, ex-UN Israeli ambassador Gabriela Shalev says:

If the Palestinians can gain General Assembly recognition for statehood under a “Uniting for Peace” resolution, she warned, “it would be a real obstacle… not just a public relations setback. This would seek to impose on us some kind of Palestinian state.”

It is made clear again that, as the Palestine Papers highlighted, Israel is terrified of the concept of a Palestinian state, despite all its protestations of being a genuine partner in peace processes aimed at producing one, though not the sort of state which Palestinian people would like, nor one with sovereign powers, but rather a tripartite bantustan system.

Neither do zionists want Palestinians to have full equal rights with jews, as has been confirmed this week with the passing of another two horrifically discriminatory laws.

So what do the zionists want? Patently, the default position – to continue expansionism as long as possible while pretending to be honest ‘peace partners’ – expansionism as ever is zionists’ primary strategy, tactic and aim, to take all the land, to drive out and dispossess as many Palestinians as possible while making life discriminatory and uncomfortable for Palestinians who remain on their indigenous land, the same as zionists have been doing for more than 63 years.

Palestine / Israel Links

Israeli Foreign Ministry sent ‘spy’ to report on Gideon Levy speech in Dublin
Israeli airstrikes across Gaza
Israeli soldiers arrest Bassem Tamimi, coordinator of Nabi Saleh Popular Committee
Violence not inevitable, talk to Hamas
No-Fly Zone Needed Over Israel
Israel lying its way into another massacre of the people of Gaza

Now Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak is warning of even tougher action.

“Israel will not tolerate these terror attacks and we will not allow terror to rise once again,” he said.

At a joint press conference in Ashdod with US defence secretary Robert Gates, Mr Barak said Israel had no choice but to respond to the latest violence.

But he is yet to reveal the timing or nature of the response.

Mr Gates says the violence is all the more reason to reopen the peace process which collapsed late last year.

“There is a need and an opportunity for bold action to move toward a two-state solution,” he said.

Israeli fascists import apartheid normalisation to British Universities
Haredi Parents Force 13-Year-Old Daughter To Marry As “Penance” For Flirting
Rocket fire increases; IDF may deploy Iron Dome soon
Zionist Propaganda: Lieberman’s “Battle Bus” At British Universities
Legal expert warns of “ethnic cleansing” in Jerusalem
A Trilogy: The Road to “Independence”
Tell me, who is the terrorist?!
Hamas not likely behind Jerusalem bombing

Despite the escalation, Hamas does not seem to want large-scale clashes yet. The organization actually has good reasons to believe that Israel is the one heating up the southern front. It began with a bombardment a few weeks ago that disrupted the transfer of a large amount of money from Egypt to the Gaza Strip, continued with the interrogation of engineer and Hamas member Dirar Abu Sisi in Israel, and ended with last week’s bombing of a Hamas training base in which two Hamas militants were killed.

It is noteworthy that Hamas has not fired at Israel over the past two days, even after four Palestinian civilians were killed by errant IDF mortar fire on Tuesday.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s office said yesterday that Haniyeh had phoned the secretary general of Islamic Jihad, Abdallah Ramadan Salah, in Damascus. Pundits in Gaza said Haniyeh asked Salah to stop the escalation, for which Islamic Jihad is mainly responsible.

The ‘A-Word’ in Hebron
‘NY Jewish Week’ excommunicates ‘J Street’ for opposing settlement project
Boycotters ‘victory’ as music festival distances itself from Israel
The List of Zionist stooge
New moves to boycott Israeli gems

Libya Links

Opposing Gaddafi’s massacre and foreign intervention in Libya
Marines on ground in Libya – will the US stay forever like they always do?
UAE to send 12 planes to patrol Libya no-fly zone
Libya and the ability to say ‘No’ – Turkey’s stance

Australia Links

Why do we constantly change terminologies for Aboriginal issues in Academia?

Other Links

U.S. doesn’t count civilians killed by drones
US soldier admits killing unarmed Afghans for sport

“Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful & the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. ” Paulo Freire

March 24, 2011December 11, 2020

Don’t Play Apartheid Israel, Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan has donated to the World Food Programme which says ‘Palestinians are experiencing a dramatic decline in their living standards and a regression of the economy due to internal and external movement restrictions, limited control over natural resources, restricted access to local and international markets, low rates of economic production and limited access of Palestinian labourers to their former work in Israel’ yet he’s still planning to play Israel on June 20th. Please, Bob, boycott Israel, which deliberately creates the problems for Palestinians identified by the WFP, whilst practising the three pillars of apartheid.

Dylan last played in Israel in 1993.

Bob Dylan played on the ‘Sun City’ song . “These artists also vowed never to perform at Sun City, because to do so would in their minds seem to be an acceptance of apartheid.” To break the boycott called for by Palestinian civil society and play Israel is to give a regime which has been identified by noted South African anti-apartheid activists as practising even worse apartheid than white South Africa, a propaganda gift.

True, the last time you famously did something about it, the man for whom you went to bat (and whom you got a retrial and an eventual acquittal by reminding the world of how he was railroaded) threatened to sue you for using his life story without permission. But in this case you don’t have to write a song. You don’t even have to sing a song. What you have to do is simply NOT sing – at least not in Israel.

Make a Difference and Join

BOB DYLAN BOYCOTT ISRAEL
Bob Dylan – Please Don’t Play for Apartheid Israel
Bob Dylan’s 70th Birthday: A Virtual Party with a Difference

Palestine / Israel Links

You’ll be sorry, Israeli university tells UJ
JCCs Are a New Front in the Culture War on Israel

The debate, said Stephen Hazan Arnoff, executive director of New York’s 14th Street Y, a community center not targeted by protesters, reflects similar trends in Israel, where tolerance of dissenting views is in decline. Attacks on JCCs and Jewish cultural institutions, he said, “are a sign of weakness” of the community. “If the community cannot accommodate diversity, the community is not healthy.”

Don’t Dress Up Israeli Apartheid: BDS LOreal
UJ cuts ties with Israeli university
Sacramento Co-Op Board Abandons Democratic Principles Won’t Let Members Vote On Proposed Israel Products Boycott
Nutanyahoo and the Neoziocons : out of touch, out of favour, Israel and zionism heading closer to the plughole – The Poisoned Chalice
Israel’s drift ever rightwards – a guide to the laws discriminating against Palestinian citizens
Gaza gets bombed by air at night?
Israel’s Military Escalation in Gaza

In addition to tightening the siege on the Palestinians in Gaza,the Israeli army commenced a new military offensive against the population in mid-March.

On 16 March the Israeli air force attacked a Hamas training base near the former settlement of Netzarim. Two Hamas militants, Adana Eshtaiwi, 27 years old, and Ghassan Abu Amro, 25 years old, were killed in the attack, while a third person was injured.

The Israeli military claimed the strike was in response to a single mortar projectile launched from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel. No Palestinian faction claimed responsibility for the firing, and the Israeli press reported that the projectile was launched by a small, unknown organization.

Since Operation Cast Lead, Hamas has generally abstained from firing into Israeli territory while Israel has refrained from targeting manned Hamas facilities.

Two days later the Israeli military reported that its soldiers were attacked by Gaza fighters while “performing a routine activity”. Again, no Palestinian faction took responsibility for the attack.

Normally Palestinian factions take responsibility and credit for their attacks on Israeli targets. There have also been cases in which Palestinian military factions claimed attacks that never actually occurred.

The next day, on 19 March, Israeli tanks shot at targets in the Gaza Strip. Five people were injured in this attack, while additional shelling destroyed power lines.

In response to Israeli attacks, Hamas fired mortars into Israel on Saturday 20 March. According to the Israeli police, at least 49 mortars exploded within the regional councils bordering Gaza, including Sdot Negev and Eshkol. Two Israelis were lightly hurt by shrapnel.

Israel retaliates for deadly blast, rocket attacks
UJ Israel boycott a ‘landmark moment’
Airport security and Arab citizens: change in sight?
Israel passes laws forbidding remembrance of 1948 takeover of Palestine
IPSC Open Letter to Bob Geldof: Don’t Choose Side of Israeli Oppressor!
“We Are Not Like Them”: Itamar Massacre Activates A Dangerous Israeli-Jewish Ethnocentrism
Interview: Omar Barghouti on the boycott campaign for Palestine
Vilnai: Israel has strategic reason not to use Iron Dome – instead of being used to protect civilians, according to @Didi Remez they are needed for IDF bases #
Palestine and the Egyptian revolution: a view from Gaza
Forum: Israel, a Racist Apartheid State. Uni of Melbourne, Australia 30 March
Stop Israel’s Blood Diamond Trade!
The schism between the jewish diaspora and the zionist illusion of the jewish state of Israel outlined at the Committee for Un-Israeli Activities: Raucous Knesset committee debates J Street
Call for action: Protest against H&M Opening a New Store in Israel
Interview: Omar Barghouti on the boycott campaign for Palestine
The Palestinian narrative has won

What gives us room for optimism is that this running amok has awakened Israeli public opinion against the murky fascistic wave. Perhaps this absurd law will provoke a dialogue about the events that took place in 1948, as a way to reconcile the two peoples.

Israel’s dissidents are saving the country

The government’s ambassadors and its propagandists can barely persuade anyone in the world, except themselves. The destroyers of Israeli democracy can only stoke the fire higher and higher against it. The critical voices still being heard, in commendable freedom, arouse the world’s esteem. The dissidents are now the best explainers of Israel, whose regime is still to its credit.

Israeli-Palestinian tensions: a timeline

Libya Links

More bombs bursting in Libya. What for?
‘Post-Qaddafi Libya’: on the Globalist Road
Libya: Allied air strikes secure Misrata for rebels – rebels show disrespect for the Geneva Conventions :

‘The revolutionary leadership has said that even if there are civilian casualties, they will be a necessary price to prevent even greater loss of life if Gaddafi’s forces had continued their assault on Misrata and exacted revenge against the residents for their support of the uprising.’

There’s nothing moral about Nato’s intervention in Libya
Intervening in Libya : Why Nothing Good Will Come of This

Egypt Links

Egypt govt passes law criminalizing protests and strikes

Syria Links

More than 100 killed in Syrian protest: activists

March 23, 2011December 11, 2020

World Water Day – Justice and Rights for Palestinians Now!

While Bob Geldof reprehensibly plans to accept an honorary degree from Ben Gurion University which collaborates with the Jewish National Fund to thieve land and water resources from Palestinians, the University of Johannesburg is taking a close look at ending its relationship with BGU partly in response to efforts by “the University of Johannesburg’s Student Representative Council, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and more than 300 South African academics”. (NB Update – in a magnificent victory for global BDS, The University of Johannesburg has now severed ties with Ben Gurion University!). Further,

The fact is that access to water and sanitation in Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip is based upon a discriminatory system, which privileges Israeli institutions while denying Palestinians their basic human rights to water and sanitation. Palestinians are not suffering human rights violations due to a lack of technology or scientific advancement. Palestinians are suffering because of the Israeli occupation that will not allow them to enjoy their full rights to their groundwater and surface water, and will not even allow them to construct facilities for treating wastewater. We are committed to taking nonviolent action to bring these and other human rights violations to an end.

Water resources in Palestine and Israel are shared on a vastly inequitable basis – “Israelis consume on average more than 3.5 times as much water per capita than Palestinians”.

The Bedouin village of Al Araqib in the Negev has been demolished 18 times by the Israeli Army, to make way for Jewish National Fund plantations which serve to obliterate visually the indigenous presence on the land as deliberately as the new racist Knesset law to cover up and outlaw acknowledgment of the history of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians – the Nakba . The JNF partners blatantly with Ben Gurion University – if Bob accepts an award from them, he will be complicit directly with ethnic cleansing.

Jordan Valley Blues from Life Source on Vimeo.

Filling Point (by LifeSource and Pietro Bellorini) from Life Source on Vimeo.

Palestine/ Israel Links

Knesset passes ‘Nakba bill’

The “Nakba bill”, proposed by Yisrael Beiteinu, requires the state to fine local authorities and other state-funded bodies for holding events marking the Palestinian Nakba Day by supporting armed resistance or racism against Israel, or desecrating the state flag or national symbols.

On Nakba Day Palestinians mark the “catastrophe” of Israel’s inception in 1948.

The bill, which was reworked before its final passing, states that the finance minister will be charged with deciding when to withdraw funds from various groups after considering the opinions of the attorney general and a professional team comprised of members of the ministries of finance and justice.

Thirty-seven MKs supported the bill in its final form, while 25 opposed it.

..

MK Hanin Zoabi (Balad) was also outraged. “You are creating a monstrous state that will enter the thoughts and emotions of citizens. Is accepting my history considered incitement?” she asked. “The Nakba is a historic truth, not a position or freedom of expression.”

…

The second bill, which passed by a majority of 35 to 20, formalizes the establishment of admission committees to review potential residents of Negev and Galilee communities that have fewer than 400 families. It was passed after 2 am.

After the passing of the bill the Knesset erupted in riots as MK Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List-Ta’al), refusing to limit himself to the comparison of the bill to South Africa’s apartheid,mentioned the Wannsee Conference in which the Nazis decided on the Holocaust’s “final solution” – or the gassing of Jews.

Arab and left-wing MKs claim the bill, which was proposed by MKs from Yisrael Beiteinu and Kadima, is aimed at preventing Arabs from residing in the communities that choose to adopt admission committees.

But its initiators claim in their explanation of the bill that it is “a balanced bill and not racist, and does not intend to harm the Arabs or the weaker members of society”.

MK Taleb El-Sana (United Arab List-Ta’al) said the bill’s initiators should be ashamed. “How can a country determine for its citizens where to live and die?” he asked.

…

MK Hanna Swaid (Hadash) announced “the clinical death of the State of Israel.” He added that although the law prohibits denying anyone residence based on his race, it was still possible to do so on cultural grounds. “We will make sure the towns, local authorities, and communities that adopt the law are boycotted in the world,” he said.

Tibi: Read Jewish history

But the Knesset truly erupted in violence when MK Tibi took the stand. “You must read Jewish history well and learn which laws you suffered from. Do you remember anything about the prohibition of interracial marriage? Do you need an Arab on the stand to remind you of your history?” he asked.

“When 14 representatives gathered in Berlin, they discussed which policy to use against the Jews. It was then they discussed pushing them aside and limiting their living space…”

At this point MKs from other parties interrupted Tibi, yelling at him to leave the podium. MK Uri Ariel (National Union) refused to let him continue, yelling out, “Go back to Ramallah.”

Tibi was eventually allowed to continue, and said Arabs felt as though they were being pushed aside. He said he was not comparing the law to the final solution, but that he had brought it up in order to stress the level of hatred.

Two Grad rockets fired by Gaza militants strike Be’er Sheva
#Israel is well revealed as insincere about peace & gung ho about land theft – any new massacre of #Gaza civilians likely to be even worse PR for it than Cast Lead #
Israel may have to launch fresh operation against Gaza, says Vice Premier
Israel’s killings that ignited the present violence: PCHR condemns killing of Gaza teens :

The death of two Gaza teens on Saturday, killed by Israeli fire 300 meters from the border area was an act of “excessive and lethal force,” a condemnation from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said.

The two, both 17, were killed east of Johur Ad-Dik in the central Gaza Strip. Medics were only permitted to retrieve their bodies more than 12 hours after they had been killed

Hamas calls day of mourning; Abbas demands end to fire
Gene Simmons fails to notice that Palestinians are in revolt against Israeli oppression
Just what is keeping the Peace Process alive? And what will it take to bury it?
Abbas: Jerusalem-Gaza road shortest path to unity

Addressing comments from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said earlier in the week that Abbas could choose between “peace with Israel or Hamas,” the president said “Israel has no right to object to Palestinian conciliation, it has no stake in Palestinian national unity. Netanyahi has always wept in front of the Americans, saying the Palestinians are divided and he can’t negotiate with them like this,” adding that unity would make the prospect of a Palestinian state stronger.

Israel to Charge Abusisi ‘Within Days,’ Ukraine Denies Involvement in Kidnapping, Summons Israeli Ambassador
Likud MK launches Knesset lobby to fight delegitimization
Israel is blind to the Arab revolution
Gaza: Hamas calls for truce
25 injured, 4 seriously in J’lem bus explosion
A small war is starting along Gaza border
Israeli warplanes launch fresh air strikes on Gaza
Inside the minds of Itamar colonists
Australia’s Zionist lobby worried #BDS may be catching
A small war is starting along Gaza border

The current tensions began exactly a week ago when Israel launched an air attack on a Hamas base in the ruins of the settlement of Netzarim, killing two Hamas men. That attack came in response to a Qassam fired from Gaza that landed in an open area. Hamas then responded with a barrage of 50 mortars on communities south of the Gaza Strip. Israel delayed its response so as not to disrupt the Purim festivities in the Sderot area.

But on Monday evening Israel launched a series of air attacks in which a number of Hamas militants were wounded. Things worsened yesterday afternoon. After a round of mortar fire on kibbutzim east of Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces fired its own mortars right back at the source of the firing – at the Sajaiyeh neighborhood east of Gaza City, killing four members of a family, including two children.

Southern Command’s initial investigation indicates that the mortars’ launching point, an olive grove on the edge of a residential quarter, had been clearly identified. It seems that a number of the IDF’s mortars went off course and hit a house in Sajaiyeh, a few dozen meters from the grove.

Israel seeks aid of diplomats to prevent flotilla going to Gaza

Libya Links

Six Libyan villagers shot by US team rescuing pilot
Obama: NATO to join Libya war
Senator McCain is probably regretting this 2009 tweet, about #Gaddafi

Morocco Links

Morocco: The Winds of Change

Bahrain Links

UAE Said To Have Changed View On Libya Deployment Due To Bahrain

Other Links

The Stoner Arms Dealers
EXCLUSIVE: CIA Psychologist’s Notes Reveal True Purpose Behind Bush’s Torture Program
Tomgram: Chris Hellman, $1.2 Trillion for National Security

March 18, 2011December 11, 2020

Father Dave speaks in support of BDS at Marrickville Council

In response to erroneous allegations of anti-semitism and ‘even more insidious’ criticisms that it was none of Council’s business, Father Dave (Rev. David B. Smith) said:

That “it’s none of my business attitude”, I think, is really what allowed the Holocaust to happen,”I’m sorry about what happening to jews in Poland but its none of my business”, “I’m sorry about what’s happening to blacks in South Africa but what’s it got to do with me”, “I’m sorry about what’s happening to Palestinians in Bethlehem but it’s none of the business of Council”, and if we all take that attitude the whole world burns. As Martin Luther King said, injustice anywhere is a threat against justice everywhere and we cannot sit idly by while our sisters and brothers in Bethlehem suffer, not as a country, not as individuals either and again I congratulate our Council for their consistent, courageous stand.

Father Dave was Marrickville Citizen of the Year for 1997 and 2009.

Related Links

The Order of the Fighting Fathers
Fighting Father Dave
A Marrickville councillor has slammed mayor Fiona Byrne for using the Council web site to explain why Israel should be boycotted.
The Q Society and Marrickville Council
Australian Greens candidate faces abuse and lies over backing Israel sanction
What some young Jews do in their spare time; defend occupying Israel
Council defeats attempt to overturn Israel boycott
Navit Shchligel, member of the State Zionist Council of Western Australia and Friends of Israel Western Australia, has a repellently racist hasbara article published by ABC Unleashed. She is a signatory of the shifty Q Society petition.
Fiona Byrne cops a load from the Liberals, where Hartcher repeats the lie that $40,000 was spent on the BDS resolution:

Opposition local government spokesman Chris Hartcher told The Australian yesterday that, if the Coalition won government, he would use his discretionary powers to “call councils to account” over the issue.

and from Labor:

Labor has attacked Ms Byrne, saying she lied and contradicted herself over whether the Greens would push for a state-wide boycott.

“I have no plan or intention to bring the BDS to State Parliament,” Ms Byrne said.

But when asked on radio last month if she would introduce her BDS bill into Parliament, Fiona Byrne said:

“I would suggest that the New South Wales Greens would be looking to bring that forward.”

Her original statement is not surprising.

Boycotting Israel is official Greens policy.

A statement in December declared: “The Greens have decided to support the BDS campaign.”

“It’s up to the party to take that on,” Ms Byrne said today.

“My position is that I have no intention to bring the BDS to State Parliament.”

Greens’ Israel boycott confusion

NSW Greens spokesman Mark Riboldi said Ms Byrne had not made a formal “vow” to introduce GBDS in state parliament. “Also, ‘I would suggest that the NSW Greens would be looking to’ is not the same as ‘I will’,” Mr Riboldi said.

More Oz scuttlebutt: Shameful way with words on display
More Labor scuttlebutt : Lying accusation levelled at key Greens candidate
Marrickville backs ban
Greens deny anti-Israel policy
What a joke! ALP & Libs in disgraceful unison with Fred Nile in support of Israeli apartheid
Fear and Loathing in Marrickville – BDS in Australia

Palestine / Israel Links

Palestinian Bedouins in al-Araqib: “We won’t leave”
Palestine Education is an exciting new initiative from the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Israel To Demolish Six Homes In East Jerusalem For Wall Construction

Libya Links

Clinton Promises to Bomb Libya, Calls Qaddafi ‘Creature’
The Surprisingly Broad Scope of UN Security Council 1973: Not Just a No-Fly Zone, at Least So Long as Gaddafi Is On Offense
Libya: I’ll attack passenger jets, warns Gaddafi, as air strikes loom
Obama on presidential war-making powers – ‘OBAMA: The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.’
@SultanAlQassemi: Al Arabiya: British PM: Britain may move against Libya before the Parliamentary vote on Monday #
RT @AJELive: Koussa announces an end to military operations in #Libya at news conference in #Tripoli http://aje.me/gEqoII
@AJELive: #Libyan government to offer humanitarian aid and respect human rights, Koussa says in #Tripoli: http://aje.me/gEqoII
@avinunu Genius move by Gaddafi. Feels he can’t win but freezes status quo where he in Tripoli. Now rebels will “violate” UNSC res if they advance. #
The U.N.’s High Stakes Gamble in Libya

The Libya intervention is also complicated by the trends in the rest of the region. There is currently a bloody crackdown going on in U.S.-backed Bahrain, with the support of Saudi Arabia and the GCC. The Yemeni regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh is currently carrying out some of its bloodiest repression yet. Will the Responsibility to Protect extend to Bahrain and Yemen? This is not a tangential point. One of the strongest reasons to intervene in Libya is the argument that the course of events there will influence the decisions of other despots about the use of force. If they realize that the international community will not allow the brutalization of their own people, and a robust new norm created, then intervention in Libya will pay off far beyond its borders. But will ignoring Bahrain and Yemen strangle that new norm in its crib?

The Libyan Revolution is Dead: Notes for an Autopsy – Maxmillian Forte tears it up

A great mass of humanitarian social media addicts and self-styled cyberactivists in their hundreds of thousands signed petitions to beg the United Nations to authorize the bombing of Libya. Bearers of good intentions, no doubt, but perhaps less skilled as historians. Many will not even Google their way to the nearest Wikipedia entry that might cause them to ask some basic questions. On the other hand, history does not always repeat itself, and I am not one to make solid predictions, so perhaps this is not a useful basis for discussing the role of “humanitarian concern” in this debacle.

Instead, I have questions.

For example, exactly what kind of global human rights agenda is it that requires substantial military spending, private defense contractors, and a robust air force?

“We can’t stand by and do nothing”–and why not, when it is precisely what you are doing every day when it comes to the slaughter of civilians in Afghanistan (courtesy of our own troops), when it comes to the “secret” war in Yemen, the “secret” war in Somalia, or for that matter, the killing of civilian protesters today in Yemen and Bahrain? How about how we stood by and did nothing, as our allied torture state, Uzbekistan, boiled alive opponents and the detainees sent to them by the CIA? Boiled alive–whisper it, because not even Gaddafi has imagined perpetrating such horrors. Whisper it, so you can forget it again: “Andijan massacre;” “Uzbekistan: Repression Linked to 2005 Massacre Rife;” “500 bodies laid out in Uzbek town;” “‘High death toll’ in Uzbekistan;” “’700 dead’ in Uzbek violence.”

Bahrain Links

Bahrain: Hospitals and health centres targeted in attacks

Other Links

No Dirty Gold

March 15, 2011December 11, 2020

Whodunnit? Fake Phone Poll Pushing Voters in Marrickville

Marrickville Council supports the global BDS movement, and Mayor Fiona Byrne is standing for the Greens for the state legislature, promising to expand BDS against apartheid Israel there if she gains election. A phony push poll has been discovered aimed at undermining her campaign and BDS.

From the SMH:

Residents were asked questions such as “Did you know Fiona Byrne led a boycott against Israel on council recently?”

A council spokeswoman said no such survey had been commissioned and the calls were being investigated. If necessary, they would be referred to the Federal Police.

Cr Byrne said the calls were a clear case of “push polling”. “Push polling is a manipulative dirty trick, an old style political tactic and people are sick of it,” she said. “The Greens support is growing because we campaign positively on issues that matter to people.”

It is the second instance of alleged push polling in a seat held by a Labor minister. The Coalition accused Labor of push polling in John Robertson’s seat, Blacktown, in February after residents were phoned and asked about fake Liberal policies.

…

Marrickville resident Gavin Smith said he became suspicious when the interviewer repeatedly mispronounced the mayor’s surname and referred to the council as “Marrickville City Council”.

“I immediately said to the girl ‘Are you representing the Labor Party?’ and she said ‘No no it’s Marrickville City Council’,” he said.

Deputy premier Carmel Tebbutt, who holds the seat by a 7.5 per cent margin, denied the calls came from Labor.

“We have no knowledge of these phone calls and are not responsible for them,” she said.

One resident traced the call to a telephone research company called Australian Fieldwork Solutions. The company confirmed it was carrying out a survey in Marrickville but would not disclose who commissioned it or what the questions were.

From Crikey:

The Greens candidate for Marrickville is the local mayor Fiona Byrne. Last December, the Greens and Labor-dominated council voted 10-2 to cut links with organisations that support the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. NSW Health Minister Carmel Tebbutt, the current MP for Marrickville, opposes the boycott?—?as does her husband Anthony Albanese, who represents the area at a federal level.

Byrne said: “This is absolutely and obviously push polling, but misrepresenting itself. I think that misrepresentation is quite insidious. It’s old-style political tactics and I think people are tired of it.”

…

She said the survey had misled voters by asking whether they would vote for her given she had “instigated” a boycott against Israel.

“I supported a motion that came to council. I as a councillor did not instigate a boycott,” she said.

And from the Australian, it’s reported that zionist groups have attempted a wedge in Marrickville “booking the local town hall for an AFL “peace team” made up of Israeli and Palestinian footballers.”

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies spokesman Peter Wertheim yesterday branded as “total hypocrisy” tonight’s anticipated decision by the Marrickville council to allow the reception for the team, which is visiting for the AFL World Cup in Melbourne in August, to proceed.

“While the proposal to host the AFL peace team is precisely the sort of project we encourage, it is total hypocrisy for a council that has a boycott in place to allow it to occur in their facility,” Mr Wertheim told The Australian.

Fiona Byrne addressed this shonky tactic clearly:

“There is no issue with a local group hiring a hall to host the AFL peace team. The global boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign has to do with council activities, not with what local community groups do when they hire a hall.”

The peace team is co-sponsored by the Peres Peace Centre in Jerusalem and the Al-Quds Association for Democracy and Dialogue, a Palestinian non-government organisation.

The Aq-Quds Association for Democracy and Dialogue is partnered by the Peres Peace Centre, and helps the Israeli hasbara campaign to normalise the occupation and Israeli apartheid. Both organisations are members of the Palestinian-Israeli Peace NGOs Forum.

UPDATE

Now two push polls?

Fiona Byrne said two push-polls had been reported to her, including one poll which reportedly claims to be from Marrickville Council. Marrickville Council will follow up with Police to see if a crime has been committed by persons pretending to be from Council.

Crikey records the Liberal candidate’s confirmation of dirty poll calls and reiterates the two poll scenario :

Liberal candidate Rosana Tyler, who opposes Marrickville Council’s boycott, says members of her campaign team had received the call.

“The caller gave their name but not the organisation. They just said they were ringing from a Melbourne-based company. They did say they were ringing on behalf of Marrickville Council. The questions did seem to be manipulative.”

Tyler says the boycott issue is turning “ordinary” voters against the Greens: ”There is consternation in Marrickville that this council has just lost the plot.”

Greens spokesman Mark Riboldi says he believes two “push polls” canvassing the boycott issue have been running in the area. In the first, callers identify themselves as employees of polling firm Australian Fieldwork Solutions. He says this poll is “not illegal, but definitely dirty”. In the second, callers claim to be ringing on behalf of Marrickville Council.

St Peters resident Mel McCabe told Crikey she participated in the fake Marrickville Council survey last Friday evening.

“It’s made me angry,” she said. “I’m not aligned with anyone, but I’m really angry that I gave personal insights about my views to give fodder for someone to throw at Fiona. It didn’t sit well.”

She says she was asked whether she would be more or less likely to vote for Byrne given the mayor’s support for the boycott.

…

Petersham retiree Gavin Smith, a well-known local environmentalist, told Crikey he received a call last Tuesday purportedly on behalf of Marrickville City Council. He said the caller asked whether councils should be involved in foreign affairs.

Palestine / Israel Links

Call to Save the History, Culture and Heritage of Lifta Village
Former Israeli PM Olmert to be indicted on bribery charges
Models strut in rare West Bank fashion show
Students Against Israeli Apartheid at the University of Toronto and York University Launch Campus Divestment Campaign
Whitewashing Israeli apartheid with literary finesse
Holding the University of Toronto accountable
Why Palestinians will protest on 15 March
End the Division on 15 March: Demonstrate for Palestinian Solidarity
Unbelievable racism, hate-talk, from Prime Minister Sharon’s son
Israeli forces detain over 300 in Awarta
Israeli troops attack Palestinian worshippers at Aqsa Mosque
Please Send Letters of support for BDS at KPFT Houston to the Pacifica National Board
#BDS: Security Company G4S to ‘partially’ cut ties with Israeli Apartheid
#BDS: Palestinians, Israelis, Allies Oppose Exploitation of LGBT Rights at Berlin’s International Tourism Fair
Foreign Office extremely concerned by Israel’s decision on settlements
Committee to Remove the Pacifica Board – blast from the past
Roger Waters Supports Boycott On Israel
Money before morals – another zionist wailing about the success of BDS
Collective blame, revenge, genocidal mentality and concern trolling
End Palestinian game – Op-ed: Israel should make it clear that Abbas will pay heavy price for his two-faced game : loopy logic setting up Abbas as the next unsuitable ‘peace partner’ as part of the eternal Israeli stall
Gaza revolts! day1
After Itamar: Exploring the cynical logic that makes everyone a target – No viable armed faction has taken credit, and Israeli police are even treating Thai workers as suspects.
Itamar: Already, The Aftermath
you are a scoundrel Dimi Reider
IDF continues mass West Bank arrests in wake of Itamar massacre
: According to reports from Palestinian news agencies, the IDF took all men from the West Bank village of Awarta in for questioning.
Israel begins long-fought deportation of foreign workers’ kids on Yishai’s orders
Israel Apartheid Week’s keynote address with Ali Abunimah
Zio-paranoia – Knesset hears claims of YouTube bias against Israel
Palestinians handcuffed, detained for picking wildflowers
Hundreds pour in for Gaza ‘unity’ rally
Geneva conference on Palestinian prisoners’ rights hears shocking testimonies
Chill regional winds blow across Israel

Israel’s lobbying clout in Washington is formidable, but does it out-clout the generals?

As the head of one Israeli strategy think-tank remarked after the Tahrir Square triumph against the Mubarak regime: “Our whole structure of analysis just collapsed.”

‘Itamar killings carried out by foreign worker’

The Bethlehem-based news agency Ma’an, which is close to the PA leadership, ran a lead news story that claimed that a Thai worker had been arrested by the IDF on suspicion of killing the five members of the Fogel family on Friday night.

The agency did not say how it obtained the information. However, it said that shortly after the killings, Israeli security forces arrested all the Thai workers who were inside the settlement.

Ma’an pointed out that no Palestinian group had claimed responsibility for the attack and that Palestinians were banned from entering settlements.

Another Palestinian news agency, Qudsnet, claimed that an Asian man who used to work for the Fogel family was behind the killings.

Quoting a Palestinian family living in the nearby village of Awarta, the agency said that the family members were slaughtered because the father refused to pay the Asian worker his salary, which is estimated at 10,000 Shekels.

Netanyahu’s exploitation of the murders at Itamar
Netanyahu is ignoring Abbas’ efforts to end Palestinian incitement
Blackshirt ziocolonists : Days and Nights of Rage
Three injured as Israeli army attacks Awarta – Israel engages in fascist reprisals
The writing is on the wall – Ian McEwan’s contemptible collusion with Israeli apartheid
March 21st KEY Date in Human Rights Council for Gaza Conflict Victims

Iraq Links

Monday: 19 Iraqis Killed, 43 Wounded
THE MURDER OF THE IRAQI EDUCATION INDITED INTERNATIONALLY IN GHENT

Japan Links

Worst Nightmare? Nuclear meltdown threat as Fukushima fuel rods ‘fully exposed’
Live Feed from Japan
The Idiocy and Hubris of Engineers: Will GE Get Whacked for the Catastrophic Failure of its Nuk Plants in Fukushira?
Japan Faces Prospect of Nuclear Catastrophe as Workers Leave Plant

Libya Links

Erdo?an discusses alternatives with Gaddafi to end crisis
The clarifying Manning/Crowley controversy

Wikileaks Links

West Asia policy hostage to ‘Muslim vote’ – US imperialism in full view –

‘Communications to Washington from senior American diplomats in the New Delhi Embassy constantly portray India’s West Asia policy as being hostage to the Muslim factor in domestic politics. In its bid not to antagonise Muslim voters, the cables explained, the government was forced to play down its “strategic relationship” with Israel. ‘

The ABC lined up Julian Assange for Gillard on Q & A last night, but denies there was an ambush