Israel 2

Pulitzer prize-winning American Jewish author Michael Chabon has slammed Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories as “the most grievous injustice I have ever seen in my life”.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/may/06/michael-chabon-witnesses-gr...

Chabon is among a group of internationally-known writers travelling to Israel and Palestine to look at conditions after 50 years of occupation. And he says tant pis if some of this fans turn away because of him speaking out against this injustice.

Days of Revolt: The General's Son

Days of Revolt, Chris Hedges interviews Miko Peled, Israeli peace activist and author of The General's Son: The Journey of an Israeli in Palestine

NDPP wrote:

Israel 'Infected By Seeds of Fascism' - Ex PM After Netanyahu's Rightward Shift

https://www.rt.com/news/343866-israel-seeds-fascism-barak/

"Israel is drifting toward fascism under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said former Israeli PM Ehud Barak. He added that the current government 'needs to be brought down'..."

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Other examples Barak cited included a proposal to lift immunity from MPs accused of supporting terrorism and a bill that would impose Israeli law on Israelis living in the occupied West Bank.

"What has happened is a hostile takeover of the Israeli government by dangerous elements. And it's just the beginning," Barak said.

"This government needs to be brought down before it brings all of us down," the former Israeli PM said, adding that foreign officials he speaks to are no longer supportive of the Jewish state. "There are no serious leaders left in the world who believe the Israeli government."

I think Barak just implied that in relation to Israel our Canadian political class are not serious leaders. Who would have thought it?

Israel's secret files - history suppressed:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/israel-blocking-access-archives-16...

It seems that the Israelis themselves are anti-Semitic according to the new definition of that term. I miss the days when I could march in pro-Palestine marches to end the occupation beside sitting MP's like Libby and Bill. The NDP is out to lunch on this human rights issue and is supporting the abusers not  the victims.

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But in the space of two days, new critics emerged from within the highest positions of Israel state power. Moshe Ya'alon -- until recently the Israeli Defence Minister -- and Major General Yair Golan, the Israeli army's deputy chief of staff, confirmed what many of Israel's most vociferous (and vilified) critics have been saying for years: that Israel is heading down the road of extremism and racism.

Golan issued a warning that linked attitudes and actions in pre-war Germany with trends in Israel today. ''It's scary to see horrifying developments that took place in Europe begin to unfold here,'' he said.

Moshe Ya'alon, then the defence minister, defended Golan. Within three weeks, he was pushed from the defence post and resigned rather than accept another role. Ya'alon too offered a warning about ''phenomena of extremism, violence, and racism in Israeli society that threaten its fortitude.''

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2016/06/11/Israel-Worst-Enemy/

Will Israel Be Put on Trial for War Crimes? By Jonathan Cook Global Research, September 05, 2016 Jonathan Cook 4 September 2016 

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An expected visit by ICC delegation could increase the risk of Israeli officials being tried for war crimes 

Israel has agreed to allow the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to send a delegation to Israel and the occupied territories, it was revealed at the weekend, in a step that could dramatically increase the risk of Israeli officials being tried for war crimes.....

...so...with Canadian Parliamentary action to deny criticism of Israeli criminal activities, could Canada be held as complicit?

Israel Starts Home Demolitions in Syrian Golan, Plans Illegal Annexation, Opens “Corridor” for Syrian Al QaedaBy Dr. Christof LehmannGlobal Research, September 09, 2016nsnbc international 9 September 2016Region: Middle East & North AfricaTheme: Crimes against Humanity, Law and JusticeIn-depth Report: PALESTINE, SYRIA: NATO'S NEXT WAR?

Israeli occupation authorities in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, on Wednesday, for the first time demolished a home, claiming it was built without permission. The demolition and claims the house was built without permission violates Israel’s obligations under international law, according to which an occupying power must assure that administration in occupied territories adhere, to the greatest possible degree, to the law of the occupied country’s territory.

Israel has, however, enforced new Hebrew as official administrative language, denies building permits and engages in other violations of international law that aim at oppressing the Arab population and culture and Syrian administration in the occupied Golan.

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it might have committed a separate internationally wrongful act by facilitating the commission of the first.

IANAL, but I would assume the burden of proof for a charge like this would be to show that the first wrongful act would not or could not have happened without the second.

Example:  if I drive the getaway car for some bank robbers I'm clearly complicit in that bank robbery.  If I tweet "People should rob more banks because they're stealing OUR money!!" then I'm really not complicit.  That robbery would happen with or without my support.

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eventually we will be taking the Canadian Government to Federal Court on this one

Please tell me if I'm wrong, but I can't help thinking that you'd be delighted if this were to happen.

Rev Pesky wrote:

Perhaps there's a solution to this. Maybe the Israelis could accept a Palestinian settlement within Israel for every Israeli settlement within Palestine. After all, the Israeli contention is the settlements are not illegal, so why not Palestinians settlements in Israel? How could the Israeli's object to what they themelves feel is both legal and morally acceptable?

Here's the Israeli "solution" ...

Facebook, Israel Seal Deal to Crack Down on Palestinians Online

The plan is to silence the Palestinians and all those who dare to raise their voices against the ongoing Israeli atrocities.

TeleSur wrote:

When Palestinians criticize extrajudicial killings and the Israeli occupation, it's "incitement and terror."

When Israelis suggest killing Arabs and Palestinians, it's just a normal day...

Mr. O has always understood who he works for and they support Israel without reservation.

more...from 21st Century Wire, Vanessa Bealey...

Israel has a history of denying its military losses or downplaying its defeats.  The fact that the Military Command in Syria has made a public statement concerning their air defence reaction against this Israeli incursion into its airspace, particularly over the long disputed Golan Heights, demonstrates that Syria has reached the end of its patience with Israeli aggression and lawlessness.

This is potentially a game-changer.  It is a response to US and Israeli hegemony in the region that cannot be ignored.

Israël violates the cease-fire in Syria and loses two planesVOLTAIRE NETWORK | 17 SEPTEMBER 2016  

On 13 September 2016, at 1 a.m., although the cease-fire had just come into force, the Israëli aviation attempted to destroy a combat position in the South of Syria and certain military installations near Damascus.

The Syrian Arab Army fired at and hit the planes with new generation missiles. One of the planes crashed in jihadist-held territory, the other managed to land in Israël.

Tsahal at first denied the two incidents, then recognised having violated Syrian air space and admitted that Syria had fired on their planes.

The available information does not enable us to know exactly what the Israêli planes were (F-15, F-16, or F-35), nor if the missiles were fired by Hezbollah or by the Syrian Arab Army, nor what type of missiles they were or who built them.

Clearly, however, they were new equipment, much more efficient than the older models, and capable of altering the balance of power.

http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.750715

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer will be accepting an award in New York next month from an American organization identified as an anti-Muslim hate group.The Center for Security Policy (CSP), which will be honoring Dermer, is included in the hate group watch list of The Southern Poverty Law Center, a prominent Alabama-based civil rights group. Dermer will presented with the CSP Freedom Flame Award at a dinner scheduled for December 13. The other recipient of the award this year is Morton Klein, longstanding president of the right-leaning Zionist Organization of America.The CSP was founded in 1988 by Frank Gaffney, a former Reagan administration official. The Southern Policy Law Center notes on its website that the organization "has gone from a respected hawkish think-tank focused on foreign affairs to a conspiracy-oriented mouthpiece for the growing anti-Muslim movement in the United States."

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/08/donald-trump-frank-gaffney-islamopho...

NDPP wrote:

Canada And Palestine  -  by Yves Engler

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/25/canada-and-palestine/

"Under Justin Trudeau, 'Canada is back' to isolating itself from world opinon on Palestinian rights. On Monday, Canada joined the US, Israel, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Federated States of Micronesia and Pelau in opposing a UN Social Humanitarian and Cultural Committee resolution in support of Palestinian self-determination...."

When was Canada aligned with world opinion on Palestinian rights? Canada has always been opposed to Palestinian rights. That has not changed. And to be fair to the Liberal Party, there is no parliamentary party that supports Palestinian rights. If one thinks back, one remembers when the NDP disallowed Paul Manly from running, and summarily tossed any candidate that had expressed at any time, support for Palestinian rights. Even the Green Party, after having voted in favour of BDS, had their leader threaten to quit because of that.

NDPP wrote:

Donald and the Jewish Question  -  by Andrew Levine

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/25/the-donald-and-the-jewish-question/

"...With the Jewish religion a victim of both modernity and ethno-nationalism, it was nearly as inevitable that Jewish identity politics and classical anti-Semitism would effectively hook up. What a revolting development!"

Here is a statement towards the end of Levine's article:

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Trump’s victory empowers scoundrels, and makes bedfellows of Zionist ethnocrats and classical anti-Semites.  But with the Clintons out of the picture, even centrists and liberals can now confront the debilitating consequences of the neoliberal turn head on.

I've seen this sentiment expressed elsewhere, and I can't help but wonder what substance is being used by the writer. Of all the crack-brained idiocy that one reads, this is near the top of the list.

If beating people down was the recipe for leftist uprisings, the whole of Africa, South America, much of Asia and the Middle East would be up in arms as we speak.

Right-wingers winning does not motivate nor energize the left. What it does is convince the left they're finished. What they need more than anything is a victory, a sign that more victories can be won. Where that's going to come from in the USA is a question with no immediate answer.

Israeli ministers disallowed from visiting UK, Spain, Russia
DEBKAfile December 25, 2016, 6:25 PM (IDT)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has ordered his cabinet ministers to suspend any planned visits to the UK, Spain and Russia over their governments’ support for the UNSC resolution condemning Israeli settlements.

US Abstains as UN Passes Toothless Resolution Criticizing Israeli Settlements

it´s somewhat amusing to me this attitude of impotence proclaimed by the left...toothless......only if you think so...clearly the Israeli government doesn´t think so...what is needed is some legal analysis......this resolution, does it mean that Israel is committing violations of the UN Charter, therefore Canada must prosecute any institution in Canada complicit in this violation....

Israeli Police call for criminal probe into Netanyahu Corruption

By Press TV on December 27, 201

.......perfect storm approaching for Israel, what with talk of a resolution to be put forward to declare Palestine a State along the 1967 borders, the condemnation by the Security Council.......not to mention the strengthening of Syria and Hizbollah forces at its borders