Thousands March Against Loyalty Oath Bill

Finally the Israeli Left is making some noise...

Thousands march in Tel Aviv against loyalty oath bill

Hadash MK Dov Khenin warns concept of a population transfer of Israel's Arab citizens has turned from a nightmare into an operational plan.

Thousands marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening in a joint Jewish-Arab protest against the cabinet's approval of a controversial amendment to the citizenship bill, requiring non-Jews seeking citizenship to pledge allegiance to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

The demonstrators marched carrying signs reading "Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies" and "Together we will protect the democratic space". Among the organizers of the protests were Hadash, Meretz, The Green Movement, and Gush Shalom parties and many social and human rights organizations.

Top political figures delivered speeches during the demonstration, among them Hadash MK Dov Khenin, Meretz MK Haim Oron, Hadash MK Mohammed Barakeh, and journalist Merav Michaeli.

Khenin warned that the idea of a population transfer of Israel's Arab citizens to a Palestinian state started as a nightmare, but has since transformed into a practical plan.

Jonathan Cook elaborated on that nightmare scenario...

Israeli forces test ethnic cleansing scenario

Israel has secretly staged a training exercise to test its ability to quell any civil unrest that might result from a peace deal with the Palestinian Authority requiring the forcible transfer of many Arab citizens, the Israeli media has reported.

The drill was intended to evaluate the readiness of the civil defence units, police, army and prison service to contain large-scale riots by Israel's Arab minority in response to such a deal. [...]

Dov Chenin, a member of the Israeli parliament representing the joint Jewish-Arab Communist Party, on 12 October called for more details of the exercise from the government during a speech in the chamber, although officials offered no immediate response.

Chenin said the drill was a sign Israel was heading in an “extremely dangerous direction”.

“A few years ago, only the extreme right-wing parties talked about transferring Arab citizens, but now we see that even the security forces are preparing concrete plans for carrying out such a scenario.”

The same alarm was raised by all the Palestinians...

Palestinian factions meet in Gaza City

Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, met in Gaza City on Saturday to discuss the rise in extremist Israeli policies, Palestinian People's Party member Walid Al-Awad said.

Al-Awad said the meeting was held in the offices of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, where delegations from various parties discussed the escalation in Israeli violations of Palestinian rights. The Israeli Cabinet's recent approval of a bill requiring non-Jews applying for citizenship to swear loyalty to Israel as a Jewish state was discussed, he said.

The factions talked about the impact of the bill on Palestinians living inside Israel, and the threats it carried for Palestinian national identity. The crisis in negotiations with Israel, and Israeli settlement activity, were also on the agenda, the PPP official said.

Now, lets look at the latest maneuvers in the Peace Farce...

First, the Arab League handed Obama a one month reprieve...

Waiting on America

The Arab "alternative" to negotiations is to wait for the United States to come up with a new policy...

Less than a month after it was revived the Israel-Palestinian peace process is dead. The challenge now is how to defer the burial until after the mid-term US Congressional elections on 2 November.

This, in effect, was the meaning of the Arab League meeting in Libya on 8 October. Foreign ministers from 13 Arab states endorsed the Palestinian position of not continuing direct negotiations with Israel without an end to new settlement building in the West Bank. But they also bowed to American pressure to allow another month of diplomacy to try to resolve the issue.

The PLO is standing firm...

PLO: No talks while settlements continue

The PLO's Executive Committee reiterated Saturday its refusal to resume negotiations with Israeli leaders while settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories continues.

Committee member Salih Rafaat told Ma'an that the PLO met in Ramallah to discuss the political situation, as well as the outcome of the Arab League summit's extraordinary session in Sirtre, Libya.

"The Palestinian decision is there will be no negotiations as long as settlement expansion continues, even if it is only one house," Rafaat said, insisting on a complete halt.

Subsequently, the next planned meeting was postponed...

Paris peace summit postponed over settlement construction
Sarkozy's invitation to Netanyahu and Abbas to hold direct talks in France will not be taken up in late October as originally planned due to Israeli-Palestinian disagreement over settlement construction.

..."Following joint consultations it has been agreed to set a new date for the preparatory meeting," a statement from Netanyahu's office said, adding there was no chance of holding it on October 21, which was previously thought to be possible.

"We are looking for a new date that works for everybody, although there is nothing firm scheduled yet," an Israeli government official told Reuters.

However, it would seem that is not exactly true...

Israel preparing for Abbas-Netanyahu meeting

Israeli official sources disclosed that a meeting between de facto Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu was possible on the sidelines of the Mediterranean countries forum scheduled to be held in Barcelona, Spain.

Sources in Netanyahu's office told the press on Sunday that efforts to bring the two together were underway especially after a summit in Paris on 21/10 grouping them with French president Nicolas Sarkozy and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was cancelled.

Hamas spokesman Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri said that the summit in Paris revealed the true position of Abbas's authority, which claims rejection of negotiations but covertly rushes for such talks.

So which is it, Abu Mazen, are you going to talk and continue the farce, or aren't you...?

Now, in an interesting twist of fate, our Election Day happens to fall on the infamous Balfour Day. In 1917, the Earl of Balfour handed Baron Rothschild a single piece of paper...

Foreign Office,
November 2nd, 1917.

Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet:
"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country".
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours sincerely
Arthur James Balfour

It would seem that the Israelis have ignored that emphasized part, along the way...!

*gah*

The Anti-Defamation League Releases Top Ten List Of Anti-Israel Groups In U.S.

ADL lists top 10 anti-Israel groups in U.S.

The Anti-Defamation League on Thursday published its list of the 10 most influential and active anti-Israel groups in the United States, a compilation including one organization led by American Jews.

“While there are hundreds of groups that organize and participate in various anti-Israel activities, we have identified the largest and most well-coordinated anti-Israel groups,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.

“These groups are not promoting peace, they are spreading propaganda to assault Israel’s legitimacy. We want to Americans to know who these groups are and what it is they really stand for, which is to delegitimize the Jewish state,” he said. [...]

“These groups demonize Israel through various public campaigns. Their messages are one-sided and fail to take the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into account,” said Foxman. “They unfairly attack Israel while ignoring Palestinian terrorism and incitement. They apply a different standard to Israel than other countries, condemning it for implementing policies to protect its citizens.”

Now, before I list the the top ten, let's look at who the ADL had just awarded their annual ADL International Leadership Award to...

Accepting ADL award, Murdoch decries 'ongoing war against Jews'

Media magnate accuses Leftists of spurring anti-Semitism under the guise of legitimate criticism of Israel.

Media mogul K. Robert Murdoch on Thursday decried the "ongoing war against the Jews" and demanded an end to efforts to isolate Israel.

Accepting an award from the Anti-Defamation League for his support of Israel, Murdoch described the phenomenon of delegitimizing Israel as a "soft war" which he said has now entered a "new phase."

“This is the soft war that seeks to isolate Israel by delegitimizing it," Murdoch told attendees at the New York dinner where he was bestowed the ADL International Leadership Award. "The battle ground is everywhere – the media, multinational organizations, NGOs. In this war, the aim is to make Israel a pariah.”

Can you believe it...? Rupert Murdoch...! *gah*

I find it a highly hypocritical choice, in light of the ADL's own masthead proclamation: ADL: Fighting Anti-Semitism, Bigotry and Extremism...

But, I digress...

Here's the Top Ten...

1. Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER)

2. Al-Awda (The Palestine Right to Return Coalition)

3. Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

4. Friends of Sabeel-North America (Voice of Palestinian Christians)

5. If Americans Knew

6. International Solidarity Movement

7. Jewish Voice for Peace

8. Muslim American Society

9. Students for Justice in Palestine (wiki link)

10. US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation



Congratulations to Us--We Made ADL's List! Wear those badges of honor with pride, ya'll...!

Keep up the great work...!

Lather, Rinse, Repeat...

That above clip was filmed during one of the recent demolitions of Al Arakib, since July...!

As Al Jazeera's, Mya Guarnieri, had recently reported...

...Israeli forces have razed the village five times since late July, sparking cries of ethnic cleansing and leaving more than 300 Bedouin homeless. But the equally determined residents, along with a handful of Jewish activists, continue to rebuild.

The government claims that Al Arakib was abandoned and, as such, belongs to the state. Israel calls the Bedouin squatters who "infiltrate" the area and settle it illegally. According to the state, these people must be removed to make way for a forest to be planted by the Jewish National Fund.

Villagers, some of whom hold Ottoman-era deeds to the property, say that the Israeli army asked them to leave temporarily in 1951. Believing they would be able to move back, they left. It was then, they say, that the state declared Al Arakib abandoned and expropriated it. [...]

Abu Mudegem, a member of the al-Turi family, adds: "We have a purchase agreement from Ottoman times. The British came after that and, now, our government."

"They say that we're squatters, but it's not true," he continues. "Squatters are people who sit on the state's land. [Al Arakib] isn't the state's land. It's ours."

Well, they razed it again yesterday...

Al-Arakib Destroyed a Sixth Time Wednesday

Al-Arakib, the Bedouin village in Negev, was demolished for a sixth time Wednesday morning. Haya Noah, leader of the Forum for co-existence in the Negev, was hit by police officers and arrested following her request to see a court warrant.

That is but one example of the 'ethnic cleansing' that is happening right now on the ground, inside the Israeli '48 borders...!

Here's a realistic look at the Peace Farce by an Arab...

Why Not Just Submit to Netanyahu?

...Netanyahu is cheating, he is speaking with more than one tongue, to satisfy his extreme right-wing base internally, and also to hide the truth when addressing the outside world. Therefore, anyone who wants to understand his real intentions in the negotiations, and his insistence to obtain Arab recognition of Israel as a Jewish state should look to the statements of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who needs no introduction with respect to his explicit program to expel Arabs from Israel. Both men have exchanged roles, to manipulate the world stage, and the Obama administration has become disorientated by this. For example, Lieberman will come out and deliver a poisoned, extremist speech in front of the United Nations. The world will then criticize the speech, and the U.S. delegate to the United Nations, Susan Rice, will reprimand the Israeli Minister for his ill-advised words, which threaten the negotiations with the Palestinians. Even the ‘office’ of Netanyahu will issue a statement distancing him from the speech, which he considers to be a personal opinion, and not government policy. However, after all this commotion, we will find that Netanyahu has proposed to his government the same opinions announced by the Foreign Minister.

I suppose Bibi finally told Avi to cool it...

FM: Israel willing to resume talks sans conditions

After ruffling French, Spanish foreign ministers feathers, Avigdor Lieberman takes mellow tone when meeting with German counterpart. Israel wants peace, but Palestinians must show good faith as well, he says

Now, Al Jazeera's, Mark LeVine, offers up an excellent macro level analysis...

Drunken diplomacy: new settlements

Barack Obama should demand an end to settlement expansions in the West Bank, putting Israel on the road to redemption.

...So why can’t Barack Obama, by all accounts a fairly sober fellow, see that "friends don't let friends drive drunk," never mind allow them to rob the corner liquor store over and over again?

If you read the mainstream press in the US and many European countries, Israel comes off as the semi-reformed alcoholic: determined to throw away months of sobriety to chase a dream that can only end in ruin. And the US, well, no one even thinks to question why the US is standing by frozen in place, allowing for alcohol to be poured down Israel's metaphoric gullet with reckless abandon. [...]


It could - and should - declare that as a good friend and a party to the conflict whose very security is threatened by Israel's actions, it will suspend its support until Israel decides to sober up. [...]

European leaders like France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Britain's Foreign Minister William Hague have "deplored the decision to resume settlement construction" and declared how "very disappointed" they are at the decision. But neither is threatening any consequences for Israel's actions, so why should it stop?

And we're still enabling the town drunk...!

Naturally, Abbas remains 'hopeful'...!

Just say No, already...!

*gah*