Israel - closed

Defying Israel, Pope Prays at 'Apartheid Wall'

During his historic trip to Bethlehem on Sunday, Pope Francis made waves after taking a surprise detour to pray at the wall separating Palestine from the state of Israel.

The stop at the barrier, also known as the "apartheid wall," was made on the second day of the pontiff's Middle East visit after touring Jordan on Saturday.

Describing the detour, the Guardian reports:

His route had been planned to pass close by the separation wall. Palestinian officials had hoped he might stop briefly to contemplate the Israeli-built structure, which weaves through the occupied West Bank, but instead the pope stopped his cavalcade, stepped out of the white, glass covered pick-up truck and made his way up to the wall, where he was quickly surrounded by children from the nearby Aida refugee camp.

Approaching the wall, which is close to the main Israeli checkpoint by Rachel's Tomb, the pope put his palm to the towering concrete structure, covered with graffiti appeals to the Palestinian cause, and bowed his head in prayer, flanked by two girls with Palestinian flags. The heads of Israeli soldiers were visible at the window of a nearby watchtower.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said that the Pope's act of touching the wall was particularly notable.

"It was not a kiss or a blessing, it was a sign of contact and I think it was very significant way to demonstrate his participation in suffering," Lombardi said, adding, "it was done in a silent praying way, but without words. It was a profound spiritual moment in front of a symbol of division.".....

https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/05/25-0

Roi Tov: Operation Return Brothers Shatters Ramadam

http://www.roitov.com/articles/shatter.htm

"...On June 17, Yediot Ahronet quoted Member of the Knesset and former IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz: 'It is time to shatter the Hamas.'

Honorable and brilliant Lieutenant-General Gantz, IDF Chief of Staff, I do not understand. Since you blame the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who do you punish the Hamas and the PLO?..."

Israeli Army Enacts Curfew Near Nablus and Raids Eight Major West Bank Cities

http://mondoweiss.net/2014/06/israeli-curfew-cities.html

"In a major escalation of force not seen since the Second Intifada, tonight Israeli military vehicles are inside cities across the West Bank...An Israeli Army commander has said the overnight incursions underway will be bigger than Operation Defensive Shield in Jenin in 2002..."

as always the world simply watches or doesn't even...

Lieberman Calls For Full-Scale War on Gazans (and vid)

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/07/01/369435/lieberman-calls-for-allo...

"Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman has called for major air and ground military operations in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The latest war threats come after the body of three missing Israeli teenagers were found in the West Bank

However, the resistance movement Hamas rejects any involvment in the teens' disappearance..."

Israel Can't Force-Feed Occupation to Those Who Hunger for Freedom  -  by Jonathan Cook

http://mondoweiss.net/2014/06/occupation-hunger-freedom.html

"Israel's torture cells are back in business.

Israel has yet to realize the dam is soon to burst..."

Israeli Settler Violence Against Palestinians Rising: Analyst (and vid)

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/07/03/369661/extremist-israeli-settle...

"Press TV has conducted an interview with Joe Catron, a human rights activist from Gaza, about the three missing Israeli teens whose bodies were found 19 days after their disappearance, while Israeli forces collectively punished the West Bank..."

'I was a Zionist until I was 64 .I want to hit myself.' (and vid)

http://mondoweiss.net/2014/06/zionist-believe-myself.html

"Yesterday there was a demonstration in Union Square, New York, to protest the Israeli 'rampage' in the West Bank. One of the organizers was an Israeli American named Tzvia Thier. I interview her as she passed out flyers, above..."

Roi Tov: Netanyahu Announces Ground Attack on Gaza

http://www.roitov.com/articles/gaza.htm

"Prime Minister Netanyahu and Major General Amos Yadlin, Head of The Institute for National Security Studies announced a ground attack on Gaza.

Sunday, July 6, 2014 was the announcement day. Considering that they are unlikely to allow Gaza time to prepare itself to the violation, the attack will materialize soon or not at all..."

Land Grab Shows Netanyahu Unbowed After Gaza

http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2014/09/land-grab-shows-netanyahu-unbo...

Israel's biggest land grab in three decades

Israel Steals Gaza's Offshore Natural Gas: $15 Billion Deal with Jordan

http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2014/09/israel-steals-gazas-offshore-n...

"In addition to confiscating Palestine's energy resources, Israel has destroyed Gaza's only power station in its latest military offensive."

The Occupation's Dark Underbelly Exposed  -  by Jonathan Cook

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/09/23/the-occupations-dark-underbelly-e...

"...According to the refuseniks, much Israeli intelligence gathering targets 'innocent people.' The information is used for 'political persecution', 'recruiting collaborators' and 'driving parts of Palestinian society against itself.'

The surveillance powers of 8200 extend far beyond security measures. They seek out the private weaknesses of Palestinians - their sex lives, monetary troubles and illnesses - to force them into conspiracy in their own oppression. 'If you required urgent medical care in Israel, the West Bank or abroad, we looked for you, admits one..."

Message From the President of the State of Israel

http://www.cija.ca/cooperation/rh-message-rivlin/

"Brothers and sisters,

Leaders of the Jewish community and the Diaspora and their friends,

...On the threshold of the New Year, I want to thank you, leaders and members of the Jewish communities, for your support of Israel's soldiers and its homefront..."

It is estimated that there are approximately 150 Canadians currently serving in the IDF. As well, a Security Agreement, ensures that Canada will share any and all 'pertinent' information with the relevent Israeli authorities. There is also a Free Trade Agreement. Not to mention our own resident Israeli Defence Attache. Zionism has formidable influence, powers, and funding here. These continue to grow not diminish. More must be done to arrest and reverse these alarming tendencies...

Noam Chomsky UNGA, October 14, 2014 (Full Speech and vid)

http://youtu.be/FboVW3bHid4

365th Meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

Link for the Q&A following:

http://youtu.be/4ufjldC28Cg

Shouldn't the supporters of Palestine in Canada push the NDP to push the House of Commons to follow the British House and recognize the State of Palestine?  Counterpunch.org has a good article on this.

Israeli Society 'Sick With Violence' - Country's President

http://rt.com/news/197352-israel-sick-society-president/

"Israel is suffering from an epidemic of violence that must be treated, or the country's President Reuven Rivlin said. After the latest bloody conflict in Gaza, Jews and Arabs seem to have lost the capacity for dialogue, as relations have reached a new low.

'It is time to honestly admit that Israeli society is sick - and it is our duty to treat this disease,' Rivlin told the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities at a Xenophobia conference on Sunday in Jerusalem.

'The tension between Jews and Arabs within the state of Israel has risen to record heights, and the relationship between all parties has reached a new low...The epidemic of violence is not limited to one sector or another, it permeates every area..."

CrossTalk: Recognizing Palestine (and vid)

http://rt.com/shows/crosstalk/197292-palestine-state-west-israel/

"Why have Western countries now decided to vote to recognize the state of Palestine? Is an Israeli-Palestinian pleace plan a dead end?

CrossTalking with Norman Finkelstein and Amir Oren

They May Say What I May Not (and vid)

http://cannonfire.blogspot.ca/2014/10/they-may-say-what-i-may-not.html

"I am aware of living in one of the most racist societies in the western world..."

Jerusalem in Danger While the World Sleeps  -  by Tariq Shadid

http://www.palestinechronicle.com/jerusalem-in-danger-while-the-world-sl...

"The Judaization of Jerusalem is an integral part of Israeli occupation, and has always been so. The Israelis are igniting the powder-keg, because they trust that they will have things their way when they do..."

the planned seizure of Al Aqsa

I've been waiting ages to join this. NDPP why no mondoweiss or #JSIL? jk

The most recent news is ofcourse the Al Aqsa third intifada. But also Sweden recognition of Palestine. Sound like a good thing right?

Electronic Ali said it best: dont recognize Sweden's recognition of a bantustan!  A nation is different than a state. If i remember it correctly, a state has defined borders (if even its self declared one) But Israel wont say where her borders are.

Rikardo wrote:

I have difficulty in seeing the parallel between Israel and South Africa.

The Europeans that went to SA, like my ancestors who came to North America were settling in a somewhat low density area.  In both cases the native North Americans and South Africans were eventually placed on reserves except that in SA the native:European ratio was at least 5 to one.  The Boers had the ideas that God gave them the land but so did my forbearers.

Zionists were part of the large Jewish religious community that had for 2000 years been a minority in Christian and Muslim countries and wanted a state where they (the Zionists-not all Jews) would be a majority or have a majority of the power.  They got it with the UN General Assembly partition of Palestine into two states in 1948.

Did Mandela compare the Palestinians to the native South African (Zulu, Xhosa, etc.) majority? 

Making Palestine into one unitary state will put Jewish-Israelis back into a minority, like in Christian Russia or Poland.  Muslims and Christians have so many states. Can’t Jews have one ?

Canada could follow Sweden and recognize the Palestinian state.

Rikardo, I have three words for you: Settler Colonial Project.

Netanyahu's cabinet backs bill to jail stone-throwers up to 10-20 years.

 http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.624039?utm_content=buffer90ba4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer#!

Explosions as Palestine Erupts in 'Day of Rage' Against Israel Al-Aqsa Mosque Restrictions

http://rt.com/news/203247-day-rage-israel-palestine/

"Clashes broke out after Palestinian protesters took to the streets in a 'Day of Rage' against Israel on Friday, after Israel imposed entry restrictions on the Al Aqsa mosque - the third holiest site in Islam, and the holiest place in Judaisim..."

George Galloway's Comment: Is Israel Getting Away With Murder? (and vid)

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/11/07/385095/is-israel-getting-away-w...

"On May 32, 2010, Israeli commandos attacked the Freedom Flotilla...'Not only are they never punished, they are endlessly rewarded and a red carpet wherever their leaders go...'

US and Israel 'Founded on Terrorism, Genocide' (and vid)

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/11/08/385277/us-israel-founded-on-ter...

"General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that Israel went to 'extraordinary lengths' to limit civilian casualties in the recent Israeli invasion of Gaza.

'They've both been founded on terrorism and genocide and these actions continue to this day,' Sepahpour Ulrich told Press TV on Saturday."

Israel, A Bulwark Against World War: The Tar Baby and China  -  by John V Walsh

http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/11/israel-a-bulwark-against-world-war-the...

"Why has the US not committed more forces to East Asia since the 'threat' is greatest there? The answer lies right in front of us, out in the open. US forces are committed elsewhere - specifically in the Middle East.

And why is that? The principal reason is Israel..."

Jailed Palestinian Leader Urges Anti-Israel Armed Reistance (and vid)

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/11/11/385643/jailed-pa-leader-urges-a...

"It is imperative to reconsider our choice of resistance as a way of defeating the occupier,' Marwan Barghouti wrote..."

Israeli Government To Refuse Entry to UN Team Investigating War Crimes in Gaza

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/11/13/israeli-government-refuse-en...

"In a Wednesday evening statement reported by numerous media outlets, Israel's foreign ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon announced that Israel will not cooperate with the rights council's commission, which is headed by [Canadian] international law professor William Schabas.

In his statement, Nahson accused the rights council of 'obsessive hostility toward Israel' echoing Israel's previous condemnation of the investigation as a 'kangaroo court.'

Meet the Warmongering Billionaires Who Will Spend A Fortune to Influence the Next President

http://www.alternet.org/meet-warmongering-billionaires-who-will-spend-fo...

"On Nov 9, the face of America's money-saturated election process owas put on full display. 'There's no right or left when it comes to Israel' Haim Saban said in what news reports call a joking reference to the moguls' seating positions at the conference where they spoke.

But the quip was more than just a joke. It was a nod to how the Democratic and Republican parties are united in singing Israel's praise, backing its military actions and voting to give the country $3.1 Billion in US military aid annually.

If Adelson's and Saban's chosen candidates in 2016 get their way, that unity will shine through during the presidential campaign with the debate being reduced to who would support Israel the most..."

RE/MAX Cashes in on Israel’s Illegal Settlements by MEDEA BENJAMIN

The Israeli government’s recent announcement that it had authorized the building of another 1,000 settlement homes in East Jerusalem left the US government seeing red, with State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki calling the settlement activity “illegitimate” and “incompatible with the pursuit of peace.” But the announcement must have left the US-based real estate giant RE/MAX “seeing green,” ready to cash in on the sale and rental of more illegal settlement homes.

Look around your neighborhood at homes for sale and you will undoubtedly see RE/MAX’s ubiquitous signs sporting red, white and blue hot air balloons. What started out as a mom-and-pop office in Denver, Colorado in 1973 is now a corporate giant, with some 100,000 sales agents in over 90 countries. RE/MAX claims to have “the largest business volume in the world,” adding an average of 1.6 new franchises each day. Its yearly revenues surpass $150 million, derived from fees from its franchisee, annual dues from agents, broker fees, and franchise sales.

Among the 90 countries with RE/MAX franchises is in Israel. Since its entry into the Israeli market in 1995, RE/MAX has become the largest network of real estate agencies in Israel, boasting 100 branches and over 900 real estate agents in this small country roughly the size of New Jersey.

But here is the problem. RE/MAX Israel sells properties that are not only in Israel proper, but are also in occupied Palestinian lands of the West Bank. While Palestinian homes and olive groves are bulldozed to make way for new settlements, Israeli RE/MAX agents are doing business in all the major West Bank settlements, including Adam, Beit Arye, Beit El, Giva’at Ze’ev, Ma’ale Adumim, Oranit, Salit, Sha’arei Tikva and Zufim. In occupied East Jerusalem, the company markets and rents properties in the settlement neighborhoods of Gilo, Har Homa, Ramot, French Hill and Pisgat Ze’ev.

RE/MAX Israel even has an office in Ma’ale Adumim, a settlement strategically located between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank, breaking up the territorial continuity of any possible future Palestinian state. A UN Commission on Human Rights report stated that Ma’ale Adumim, along with the settlements Gush Etzion and Ariel, will effectively divide Palestinian territory into “cantons or Bantustans.”

The Fourth Geneva Convention (Article 49) prohibits an occupying power from transferring citizens from its own territory to occupied territory. There are now over 500,000 Jewish settlers living the West Bank in violation of international law. Many are Jewish immigrants from around the world who take advantage of Israel’s 1950 Law of Return that grants automatic citizenship rights to Jews from anywhere in the world upon request, while  denying that same right to Palestinians.

The settlements cater to young Israeli couples, first-time buyers who have been priced out of the expensive urban market and are enticed by subsidized settlement housing. RE/MAX Israel also caters to wealthy diaspora Jews wanting to relocate to Israel, or to have a second home there. Perusing  its website, you can find—for a cool $1 million—a 4,000 square-foot villa just minutes from Jerusalem, “at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac” in the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. It comes with 6 bedrooms (including a 500 square-foot master bedroom suite with balcony), 2 kitchens, and a 2-car garage. Outside, the photos show a huge tiled patio and wooden deck with a breathtaking view, including beautifully landscaped gardens with waterfalls, fruit and olive trees.

Too expensive? Try a $300,000 condo in an East Jerusalem settlement (French Hill), boasting a designer kitchen with Italian granite. It’s on a high floor in a fully secured building, complete with a Shabbat elevator. Still too much? How about a $180,000 bargain studio apartment within walking distance of Hebrew University and Hadassa in a community of English-speaking immigrants?

While Palestinians slip even deeper into poverty, Israel’s real estate industry is booming. But Bernard Raskin, a Zimbabwe-born former academic from South Africa who sits atop RE/MAX Israel’s empire, laments the limited supply of land in this small country. He says that Israel’s real estate market is suffering from a severe shortage of housing stock available for purchase. That’s where the further expansion of illegal settlements comes in.

According to a report by UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk, by selling properties on Palestinian land, RE/MAX International is “directly contributing to adverse human rights impacts, such as the restrictions on freedom of movement that obstruct Palestinians’ access to land, which is often used for agricultural purposes, and arbitrary and unlawful interference with Palestinians’ privacy, family and home.” Selling property in settlements, the report concludes, “contributes to the commission of the international crime of transferring citizens of the Occupying Power onto occupied territory.”

RE/MAX International’s code of ethics states that its affiliates “shall undertake to eliminate any practice by real estate professionals in their community which could be damaging to the public”. The establishment of settlements is clearly damaging to the Palestinian sector of the public  and enables the continued violation of Palestinian human rights.

In November, the US-based peace group CODEPINK launched a campaign “Boycott RE/MAX: No Open Homes on Stolen Land”, asking the company to cut its ties with franchises involved in the sale or rental of settlement properties. The RE/MAX campaign is part of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, a call by Palestinian civil society to engage in non-violent activism to end these injustices by boycotting companies and institutions that are complicit in Israel’s occupation and its discriminatory practices against Palestinians.

CODEPINK sent a letter to RE/MAX CEO board chair David Liniger but got no response. So it encouraged its 200,000 supporters to call and email the Denver-based headquarters, which tried to distance itself from the practices of its Israeli franchises. “You wouldn’t call the head office of McDonalds if you didn’t like the hamburger you got at your local restaurant,” one RE/MAX telephone operator quipped, “so I don’t think you can hold us responsible for what someone is doing in Israel.”

But RE/MAX International does not just tolerate the actions of its Israeli affiliate, it directly profits from the the sale of homes in the occupied Palestinian territories. RE/MAX International lends its name, gives the stamp of approval, and provides start-up and ongoing training, technological resources, and advertising and marketing support to its franchisees. In return, it receives one percent of the revenue of sales and a flat fee per associate.

CODEPINK is also encouraging RE/MAX shareholders to contact the company. Peter Crow from Investor Relations told me that the RE/MAX office in the settlement was a “rogue office” that they were trying to shut down. But activists are not just concerned about the location of one office; their concern is RE/MAX complicity in the sale of Jewish-only settlement homes  and its relation to the larger reality of displacement, dispossession and oppression of Palestinians.

CODEPINK organizer Sophia Armen is planning the next phase of the Boycott RE/MAX: No Open House on Stolen Land campaign. “Since RE/MAX has offices all over the world, we’ll be organizing globally. Already, pro-Palestinian groups from India to South Africa are building efforts to picket RE/MAX offices and open houses until RE/MAX complies with international law,” says Armen. “As international people of conscience, we must harness our global power to ensure human rights for all.”

Authors note: Since the original publication of this article, RE/MAX has issued a press statement distancing the International RE/MAX from autonomous franchisees. It acknowledges “there is only one RE/MAX office remaining in the West Bank, and RE/MAX LLC is exploring possible options for this office.” It claims UN Report on the Palestinian territories distributed in 2013 contained factual errors, and that “there is only one RE/MAX office remaining in the West Bank, and RE/MAX LLC is exploring possible options for this office.”

To petition RE/MAX, sign here.

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of the peace group www.CODEPINK.org. 

George Galloway's Comment: Are People Ignorant of Israeli Crimes in al Quds and WB? (and vid)

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/11/21/386903/are-people-ignorant-of-i...

"Israeli forces continue their aggression against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem)..."

Free Palestine: Stop the JNF!

http://www.change.org/p/martin-short-we-request-you-reject-the-invitatio...

"The Jewish National Fund (JNF) is widely known as an organization that practices brutal land theft, racial discimination and is complicit in war crimes..."

Down with support for Israeli ethnic cleansing!

58% of Israelis Support Firing Palestinian Workers According to News Poll  -  by Richard Silverstein

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2014/11/26/58-of-israelis-support-firi...

"There are massive waves of racism and hate sweeping the Israeli Jewish public in the aftermath of the Gaza summer massacre and a series of tit-for-tat terror attacks in Jerusalem. The response has involved some truly revolting developments..."

Shlomo Sand to Secular Jews: I'm Not Jewish and Neither Are You  - by Anshel Pfeffer

http://www.haaretz.com/mobile/.premium-1.626312?v=026A89510E1121BC919983...

"This time most of the fury has been directed at his characterization of Israel as 'one of the most racist societies in the Western world' in a shortened version of the book that appeared in The Guardian.

But while that is only to be expected, the new non-Jewish Sand poses little threat to the right wing; it is Jewish secular leftists he is challenging, particularly the anti-Zionist ones..."