February 7, 2017 at 15:54 (Corrupt Politics, From The Media, Illegal Settlements, Israel)
Image by Carlos Latuff
Here are the latest reports from today’s Israeli Press
(Click on links to see reports)
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February 7, 2017 at 09:09 (Cartoons, Iran, Refugee Crisis)
In his third week in office, Donald Trump is calling for war with Iran. We explain why Israel and Saudi Arabia are lobbying the US to bomb Iran (which will only create more refugees and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons)
Israel, Washington’s closest ally in the Middle East, is armed to the teeth with the aid and assistance of the United States, and has built its own substantial nuclear arsenal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who bitterly opposed the 2015 nuclear agreement, immediately condemned the Iranian missile test on Monday. He said he would press the Trump administration to renew economic sanctions on Tehran when he visits Washington this month.
Image by Carlos Latuff
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February 6, 2017 at 13:38 (Collective Punishment, Corrupt Politics, Islamophobia, Israel's Shame, Palestine)
We’re experts in bans. We’ve banned Palestinians, who we said didn’t even exist, from returning to their homes, for 7 decades.
Where there is no wall there is a barbed wire fence
Jonathan Ofir FOR
Israel has had a ‘Muslim ban’ from the start.
Sure, we didn’t say ‘Palestinian ban,’ just like Trump didn’t say ‘Muslims’. But it meant what it meant, and it still does. Just like Trump offered a certain preference for the Christians, we tended to prefer them for cynical alliances. In Lebanon we used this alliance to wreak havoc and massacre Palestinians.
Now we’re even on steroids with these bans. Since 2003 our ‘equal citizens’ can’t even marry someone from those occupied or ‘enemy’ territories or states. That family unification ban , which prevents Palestinian citizens from marrying and uniting with people from West Bank, Gaza and other ‘enemy’ states, was also ostensibly about preventing ‘terror’– just like the Trump ban. But in 2005, then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, spilled the beans and said it was just about a preserving a ‘Jewish State’. He said “There is no need to hide behind security arguments. There is a need for the existence of a Jewish state”.
We’re experts in bans. We’ve banned Palestinians, who we said didn’t even exist, from returning to their homes, for 7 decades. We just had to. Jewish State, you know.
And yes, we have the ‘Israeli Arabs’ (2/3 of them already define themselves as Palestinians), just like you have your American Muslims. We’ve tried it all, we know exactly what to say when they question our ‘Jewish democracy’. We even have a ministry of Propaganda to take care of that, I kid you not, the Ministry of Hasbara led by Gilad Erdan. Hardly anyone in the world knows this, because we mostly only call it ‘Ministry of Strategic Affairs’ and omit the Hasbara, but it’s official: Ministry of Strategic affairs and Hasbara. You’ll hardly find this mentioning, but when it does appear in the very odd case, ‘Hasbara’ will be translated as ‘public diplomacy’, and Hasbara put in brackets, as here . When you go to the Israeli Government site and look for government offices, in Hebrew it says ‘Ministry of Strategic affairs and Hasbara’, but the English version just says ‘Minister of Strategic affairs.’ How convenient. The world doesn’t need to know.
There’s so much Trump and USA could still learn from us – and they do. We are masters of deception, and we can turn exclusivist nation-states into ‘enlightened democracies’ by the sheer power of our Hasbara propaganda. So Netanyahu congratulates Trump for the wall: “Great success”, “Great idea”. It’s already success because it’s not an ordinary wall, it’s a racist wall, like ours. It’s a great idea because walls are our thing.
And we call the ‘other’ refugees ‘infiltrators’. Actually, our deputy Defense minister Eli Ben Dahan says that “they don’t need to be extended a helping hand or be pulled out of the sea and saved from drowning.” Yes, he’s an orthodox Jew you see, he knows what Jewish values are.
But now the ‘liberal Zionists’ are protesting against Trump. This doesn’t look good, he’s gone too far. So now J Street, Americans for Peace Now and many other organizations who are ideologically against the Palestinian refugees’ right to return, are shedding crocodile tears.
And across the Atlantic, the head of the UK Jewish Labour Movement Ella Rose tweets straight from the anti-Trump Ban: “we were all refugees once.” How touching. But other times, Ella Rose is not so soft and kind. When Asa Winstanley exposed the fact last year that Rose had stepped into the JLM outfit straight out from her Public Relations office at the Israeli Embassy , Rose wanted him to “die in a hole” and vowed to use “Krav Maga” –Israeli hand-combat techniques– to take down Jackie Walker, a leading critic and member of Labour.
Trump is no wake-up call for ‘liberal Zionists’. They simply exploit the mainstream outrage in order TO BE in the mainstream, in order to whitewash their racism, in order to obscure the fact, that their darling Jewish State is far ahead of Trump in so many ways, and they have been supporting it all along. Maybe they don’t even realize that themselves. And you couldn’t really blame them that much, because, as Israeli former head of Military Intelligence, Major General Shlomo Gazit once said, “The trouble with us Israelis is that we’ve become the victims of our own propaganda.”
February 6, 2017 at 09:44 (Corrupt Politics, Illegal Settlements, Israel, Palestine)
The administration of US President Donald Trump surprised many observers on Thursday by issuing a public warning to Israel over its accelerating construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The latest statement is another signal from the new US president that Israel will not get everything it wants – at least not right away.
The Israeli settlement of Tzofim seen behind amputated olive trees near Qalqilya, in the occupied West Bank, 15 January. Hundreds of olive trees on private Palestinian agricultural land were cut as part of an Israeli plan to build a bypass road for settlers in the area. (Keren Manor) / ActiveStills
The administration of US President Donald Trump surprised many observers on Thursday by issuing a public warning to Israel over its accelerating construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
“The American desire for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians has remained unchanged for 50 years,” the White House said in a statement from press secretary Sean Spicer. “While we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal.”
Spicer reiterated that Trump “hopes to achieve peace throughout the Middle East region.” He added that the “administration has not taken an official position on settlement activity and looks forward to continuing discussions, including with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he visits with President Trump later this month.”
Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to be in Washington on 15 February for what will now be a closely watched meeting for any signs of tension with Trump.
Since Trump took office, Israel has announced plans for some 6,000 new settler housing units in the occupied West Bank.
This includes more than 550 in occupied East Jerusalem, and plans for an entirely new settlement deep in the West Bank.
The new settlement is intended as “compensation” to the settler movement after Israeli police this week implemented the court-ordered removal of settlers from Amona, a colonial outpost built on privately owned Palestinian land north of Ramallah.
But Israel had already promised to move the settlers within the West Bank, replacing one land theft with another.
Taken on its own, the White House statement is weak – although US policy has always been very tolerant of Israeli settlements in practice, rhetorically the previous administration was tougher, dubbing them “illegitimate,” and allowing the passage of December’s UN Security Council Resolution 2334 that confirmed they constitute a “flagrant violation under international law.”
The Trump statement may signal a return to the policy of the George W. Bush administration which approved settlement construction as long as it did not extend beyond existing settlement boundaries.
But context is everything here. As Chemi Shalev, a commentator in the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz observes, “the main importance of the statement is that it was put out at all.”
“Israelis had assumed that Trump would swallow just about anything their government would do, if only to be different from President Barack Obama,” Shalev adds. “The White House statement was a shot across the bow to Netanyahu that there’s a limit to everything.”
Netanyahu and his ministers have not concealed their glee at Trump’s rise to power, with some seeing it as an opportunity to annex most or all of the occupied West Bank outright.
And triumphant settler leaders found a warm welcome at Trump’s inauguration ceremony last month.
But the latest statement is another signal from the new US president that Israel will not get everything it wants – at least not right away.
Despite expectations that he would immediately fulfill a campaign promise to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Trump poured cold water on the idea.
“I don’t want to talk about it, yet,” the president told a Fox News interviewer days after taking office.
The warning about settlements came after Trump met with Jordan’s King Abdullah, on the sidelines of the so-called National Prayer Breakfast in Washington on Thursday morning.
According to The Jordan Times, the pair discussed “the importance of intensifying efforts to revive Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations” and other regional issues.
While he has proven erratic and unpredictable, it would be foolish to expect Trump to do what none of his predecessors have done: make Israel pay a price for its settler-colonization of Palestinian land.
So in the absence of action from the US, might European leaders who have been sounding increasingly urgent warnings about the danger settlements pose to the so-called two-state solution step up?
So far there is no sign of that. On Thursday, Federica Mogherini, the EU’s top foreign policy official, put out a mild statement calling Israel’s latest settlement push “a very worrying trend, posing a direct challenge to the prospects of a viable two-state solution, which is increasingly difficult and risks becoming impossible.”
The EU noted the UN Security Council’s recent confirmation that the settlements are “illegal under international law,” but the pro forma statement gives Israel no cause to worry that it might face any real consequences for its brazen violations.
February 5, 2017 at 15:59 (Activism, Irony, Israel)
The ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ in Israel is finally united in what seems to be their greatest priority …. Considering the mess the whole world is in today it seems very strange to me. See for yourselves ….
Thousands of Israelis, including two lawmakers, demonstrated Saturday night for the full legalization of cannabis, urging the government to go beyond the recently announced measures to decriminalize use of the drug.
Will this soon be the new flag of Israel?
Thousands of Israelis, including two lawmakers, demonstrated Saturday night for the full legalization of cannabis, urging the government to go beyond the recently announced measures to decriminalize use of the drug.
Among the estimated 3,000–5,000 people who gathered in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square were MKs Sharren Haskel of the ruling Likud party and MK Tamar Zandberg from the opposition Meretz party.
Protesters urged Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan to enshrine in law recent changes he approved to hand out fines to offenders rather than prosecute them, and asked him to go further by fully legalizing the use of cannabis. Some called on the government to regulate the marijuana market to prevent sky-high prices.
“At first they laughed at us, then they belittled us, and in the end we won,” Haskel told the crowd, referring to the changes in regulations that Erdan said last month he would adopt. “As long as I am in the Knesset I will continue to push the matter until there is complete decriminalization.”
“This is a health campaign, a campaign for quality of life,” Zandberg declared.
“I call on the government to recognize that using cannabis is not a criminal or administrative offense,” said Oren Leibovich, editor of the Israeli online magazine “Cannabis.”
“There is tobacco everywhere, and Ritalin in every classroom, yet no one considers preventing their use,” he said.
Leibovich called for regulation of the market, which, he suggested, could then be taxed, pulling in billions of shekels to state coffers compared to the millions the state would make from fining users.
In his announcement last month, Erdan said he would be adopting proposals put forward by the Anti-Drug Authority to endorse the “Portugal Model,” in which possession and use of the drug would be decriminalized and treated largely as a health issue.
The new tack will need to clear the cabinet, but with many lawmakers backing decriminalization, the move is seen as likely to gain ministerial approval.
Under the proposal, home use and possession of marijuana would carry no punishment but those caught smoking in public could be subject to a series of punitive measures.
First-time offenders would be charged a NIS 1,000 ($265) fine but would not have a criminal case filed against them. That sum would be doubled on the second offense.
Those caught for a third time could still escape prosecution on condition they accept a number of possible measures, including loss of their gun or driving license and participation in a rehabilitation program. Only those caught smoking in public on a fourth occasion would be subject to automatic indictment.
Erdan also said that minors under the age of 18 would only be prosecuted if they refused a rehabilitation program.
Erdan did not specify the amount of marijuana that would be subject to sanctions but the Anti-Drug Authority has in the past recommended that fines apply only for possession of more than 15 grams of marijuana.
Among Western countries, Israel already has one of the highest per capita rates of legal marijuana use, with over 21,000 people medically licensed to use the drug.
Israel is well-known as a pioneer in medical cannabis. Last summer, the government approved a plan initiated by Health Minister Yaakov Litzman to relax some of the medical cannabis requirements. The plan aims to expand the number of doctors who can issue cannabis prescriptions, remove limits on the number of marijuana growers, make cannabis available at approved pharmacies, and possibly eliminate the requirement for a permit from the Health Ministry so that just a doctor’s prescription will be sufficient.
February 5, 2017 at 08:55 (Cartoons, Corrupt Politics, Iran, Israel)
Image by Carlos Latuff
Trump’s War On Iran / Cartoon by Carlos Latuff For MintPress
German magazine shows Trump beheading Statue of Liberty, draws criticism and support from media and public.
Berlin German news magazine Der Spiegel recently came under fire for publishing an image of US President Donald Trump beheading the Statue of Liberty.
And from the Israeli Press
Some oldies but goodies …
‘Enough, Vanunu!’
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Steve Bell on the release of Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu
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Ask Netanyahu About Mordechai Vanunu & His Silenced Story of Israels Weapons of Mass Destruction
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From the archives of Carlos Latuff
February 3, 2017 at 09:36 (DesertPeace Exclusive, Refugee Crisis)
Simple Solution!
And The Joke of the week ….
February 2, 2017 at 10:42 (Israel, Peace Process)
A political cartoon riffing on the Mideast conflict appeared last week on a global-studies Regents exam — sparking cries of “anti-Israel propaganda” from some lawmakers, teachers and students.
The cartoon depicts three fat, armed Israeli soldiers using an overturned table as a shield, with one saying, “I knew this peace table would come in handy someday.”
February 2, 2017 at 10:38 (Associate Post, Corrupt Politics, Illegal Settlements, Israel, Occupation, Palestine)
If the Israeli Knesset approves the legalisation of Jewish settlements on stolen Palestinian land, then the Zionist concept of a “Greater Israel” is getting closer to becoming a reality. All the more so since Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president will apparently support the Netanyahu government’s unscrupulous ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people as the “final solution” for the judaisation of all Palestine.
by Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, English Translation by Milena Rampoldi
The Zionist concept of a “Greater Israel” can only be achieved by hijacking Judaism and exploiting Biblical narratives to legitimise claims to the “Promised Land” as a state exclusively for Jews. Since its establishment, Israel has in its quest for the Judaisation of the Holy land left a trail of death and destruction in its barbarous wake. Announcements of new settlements are now an almost daily occurrence without there being even a token hypocritical protest from a Trump administration packed with neoconservative Zionists.
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So yet again it is the forgotten Palestinians who suffer while the hypocritical West with its Israel induced Islamophobic obsession remains focussed on the phony “War on Terror” instead of addressing Israel’s irrefutable crimes against humanity.
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It has always been the “White Race” with its racist capacity to articulate that has entrenched the premise of “White Superiority.” What right do Aryans have to wage wars against the Black, Red, and Yellow races; what makes Aryans superior to non-Aryans of different colours and ethnicity; and why should such racist perceptions be fostered and tolerated from childhood, through to adolescence and adulthood? All genocides have stemmed from racist perceptions of superiority – be it by a “master race” or a “chosen people” – that have variously resulted in the mass murder the world over including American Indians, the Herero people in Africa, the victims of the Indian caste system, and Jews during the Holocaust.
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Even if my list is incomplete, I would like stress the importance of remembering a subject that has concerned me for years — and which should not be allowed to descend into oblivion—because it involves almost 70 years of continuous barbarous displacement and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians to make way for an insidiously illegal occupation by Zionist Jewish colonisers.
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This long history of colonisation by the “only democracy in the Middle East” – which outrageously claims to speak for all Jews in diaspora – is appalling especially when supported by the newly elected so-called President of the United States who has wasted no time in undermining all democratic principles and values. Such amoral U.S. presidential support has unleashed an unprecedented acceleration of settlement building with thousands of more apartments.
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One of the very few who people who was happy to welcome the change of occupant in the White House was Benjamin Netanyahu who was also the only Western leader to welcome Trump’s intention of constructing a wall along the border with Mexico and discriminating against Muslims and refugees. Israel’s applause for Trump’s conduct, however, is understandable considering the fact that the “Jewish State” has for many decades been embracing similar policies with equally arrogant impunity.
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When it comes to building separation walls; illegally encroaching on Palestinian land; and segregating Palestinians while expelling refugees and asylum seekers, Israel is second to none and reigns as the undisputed champion of Apartheid.
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Jews fleeing Nazi persecution were given refuge in many countries including the United States which more than any other country became the home of millions of persecuted refugees and immigrants including Donald Trump’s Scottish mother. Have Kushner, and Friedman, and their friends forgotten this fact? While seven Muslim states were included in Trump’s ban, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Pakistan, and Turkey were excluded. Saudi Arabia is an important partner for the real estate Mogul Trump; is involved in several companies and Joint Ventures; and is notorious for exporting terror – like bombing bad Houthi rebels in Yemen — with weaponry generously supplied for the “War on Terror” by Germany and the U.S. who require Saudi oil.
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In the meantime, even the “Jewish State” has initiated a “community of values” with the Saudis, all for the purpose of the war against terror. In a phone call the Saudis convinced Trump to limit a strict implementation of the nuclear deal with Iran. Trump and King Salman absolutely agreed to commonly move against the “destabilizing activities” of Iran.
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Let us see how the friend Netanyahu will react during his forthcoming visit to Washington.
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Now Trump wants to comply with the refugee agreement made with Australia. However, I am asking myself how Trump will distinguish between Christian and Muslim refugees.
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Actually the worst characteristic of Trump seems to be his dangerous unpredictability. In no time at all he has signed “Executive Orders” which do not mean anything positive for the world peace. Trump continues at the point where his predecessor Obama started: and drone flights and assassinations of civilians are the sad result. But in the end “we are the good ones” fighting for our values.
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Trump operates according to the notorious German slogan of all National-Socialists saying “I decide who is Muslim and who is not”.
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What Palestine needs, is an alliance complying with the Declaration of Human Rights. Palestine also needs a broad civil rights movement, able to struggle for new elections for a free Palestine with an undivided capital Jerusalem. Only after that the relocation of the embassies can start, not now as unilateral provocation of US-Christian-Zionist Trump hardliners, guided by Netanyahu’s regime.
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In the end, I would like to refer to an interview in DLF in which the so applauded David Grossman, who in Germany is called “peace activist” exposes more than racist ideas. Grossman stressed on the importance of a strong army to defence Israel. Does he want to defence the occupation? Grossman considers himself as more hungry for peace as the people in Europe because in his life he has not lived one day of real peace. Why does Grossman not ask about the reasons of this absence of peace? Israel could have lived in peace for a long time now, but it did all to promote illegal occupation and wars. Mr Grossman your claim for a normal life can only be achieved if you do not brutally oppress another people! For Grossmann the idea of leaving in a state which is not a “Jewish State” in which he would be part of a minority, is horrifying! He only believes in a Jewish Home and cannot imagine that in a common state they could be a Palestinian as finance minister, as minister of education, as police chief, or as chief of the national secret service Shin Bet. Yeh, what to say about it? Grossman admires Merkel for her refugees’ acceptance, and Germany should stay relaxed. Grossmann does not lose one word about the “Jewish State” and his treatment of refugees. Oh yes, Grossmann would not like to be in a minority among Palestinians.
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This interview showed once against the racist Apartheid mentality of Jewish Israelis! They feel superior and are walled in their Apartheid life. It was a sad and scaring interview, appropriate to new US president Trump and his politics. (1)
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Yes, the “Final Solution (Endlösung)” of the Palestinian Question is coming closer and closer, and it does not mean anything good for Palestine!
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Originally written FOR
February 1, 2017 at 13:18 (Cartoons, Corrupt Politics, DesertPeace Exclusive, Humour)
NEVER TO FORGIVE, NEVER TO FORGET
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February 1, 2017 at 13:17 (Corrupt Politics, Extremism)
“Trump is supporting many of the ideals that we have.”
‘He speaks in the same language as Kahane’
Keep in mind that the group referred to below has been classified a terrorist organisation …
Facebook
The avatar image of a Kahanist Facebook group depicts Meir Kahane wearing a pro-Trump “Make America Great Again” hat.
Earlier this month, about 20 Jews gathered in a rental space above New York City’s Times Square to celebrate the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. Israeli wine, red and white, was poured into plastic cups alongside platters of bagels.
The event’s organizers wore black T-shirts bearing the phrase “Never Again,” the slogan of the Jewish Defense League, a far-right organization angling for a resurgence amid a rise in ethnic pride, and ethnic tension, spurred by Trump’s campaign.
As the new president’s image flashed on the mounted TV monitor, the room erupted in cheers.
“We support him,” Karen Lichtbraun said. “Trump is supporting many of the ideals that we have.” Lichtbraun is a senior organizer in today’s JDL, and wants to propagate its founding principle of fighting anti-Semitism “by any means necessary.”
Founded in 1968 by the firebrand Jewish nationalist Meir Kahane, the JDL is seeking to re-establish itself in the United States after decades of inactivity.
But generational divisions might thwart the group’s ambitions. Members disagree sharply on how they should relate to the so-called “alt-right,” the loosely organized white nationalist movement that championed Trump during the election.
While an older generation, affiliated with the original JDL, denounces the “alt-right” as simple Nazis — younger activists who identify as Kahanists feel differently.
“A lot of our ideology is similar,” Jonathan Stern, a younger Kahanist activist, told the Forward, speaking at Trump’s inauguration event. “I see this as a priority — to reach out to the people in the ‘alt-right’ that are pro-Jewish, pro-Zionist and pro-Israel.”
‘He speaks in the same language as Kahane’
The inauguration celebration in Times Square was an effort of a nascent New York branch of the JDL that, if formally established, would be helmed by Lichtbraun.
Meanwhile, more grassroots activism, outside of the chapters’ official activity, is also taking hold, oftentimes online.
There’s one thing all the activists — older and younger — agree on: Trump is seen as a harbinger of positive change.
“Trump is just making it easer to emerge,” offered Yaniv Baron, a Kahanist activist.
Kahane was an American-Israeli Orthodox rabbi who formed the JDL to “protect Jews from anti-Semitism by whatever means necessary.”
A handful of JDL members and leaders — including Kahane — were convicted in relation to acts of domestic terrorism in the United States. Kahane relocated to Israel, launched a political career and advocated for the transfer of Palestinians out of Israel.
In 1990 an Egyptian-born gunman shot him dead in Manhattan. And in 1994 the Israeli government banned Kahane’s political party, Kach, which means “thus,” under anti-terrorism laws.
Now a new generation of activists looking to Kahane for inspiration sees Trump as its ticket to renewed relevance, said Gennadiy Faybyshenko, a 35-year old Kahanist based in Brooklyn who said that he has already seen an uptick in interest.
Activists do not promote violence, they say, but are inspired by Kahane’s message of hard-line Jewish nationalism.
Faybyshenko, who was born in Ukraine and has been involved with Kahanist activities for a decade, said he had been to several Trump election parties throughout Brooklyn, particularly in Midwood and Brighton Beach, Orthodox and Russian enclaves in which Trump had support. In Trump, Faybyshenko said, some hear echoes of Kahane — a nationalist who speaks bluntly about minorities and has no patience for political correctness.
“Donald Trump brings a lot of similar ideology. He speaks in the same language as Kahane,” Faybyshenko said.
For Baron, another Kahanist who lives in Boston and is running Kahanist activities there, Trump’s language offers a way to connect the Kahanist ideology to a younger generation.
“Trump has the slogan ‘America first,’” Baron said. “We have to take the concept of ‘Jew first,’ which means to take care of ourselves first and then worry about other people.”
Baron is organizing Torah study sessions as a way to introduce potential new recruits to Kahanism, highlighting passages that seem to reinforce Kahane’s brand of Jewish nationalism. “We don’t just straight up give them the ideology,” Baron said. “We try to teach them with Torah.”
‘There are some lessons to learn’
The internet has proved to be a successful organizing tool for the younger wave of Kahane-inspired activists. In addition to a Facebook page, where Stern acts as an administrator, dozens of Kahanist Twitter accounts have popped up in recent weeks.
The lines between the “alt-right” and Kahanists can blur, even though the former is the label preferred by contemporary white supremacists who have a history of hating Jews. Both share a common language and irreverence for sacred cows of the left.
Some see Kahane as a sort of proto-“alt-right” figure himself and an online meme has been circulated of Kahane fashioning a red “Make American Great Again” hat.
A Twitter user known as AltRabbi wrote online, “Closest thing jews have had to alt right was kahane.”
AltRabbi is known online as a religious Jew who is sympathetic to the “alt-right.”
“Secular Jews in US are so severly [sic] SJW that they are lost,” he wrote, using an acronym for “social justice warrior,” a pejorative term for activists.
Hundreds of people watch Torah classes organized by Baron, who admires the ways the “alt-right” has harnessed the internet.
“There are some lessons to learn from them in the way they reach out,” he said.
A recent flare-up in Whitefish, Montana, brought the generational divisions of the movement into sharp relief.
Neo-Nazis pledged to carry out an armed march against local Jews in Whitefish, where Spencer lives part time.
Spencer did not endorse the march, and quietly distanced himself from the anti-Semitic campaign, but the clear ideological links between the “alt-right” and Nazism were laid bare.
This caused members of the older JDL generation to take a stand.
Meir Weinstein, national director of Canada’s JDL, told the Forward he was more than willing to confront Spencer and neo-Nazis in person.
“That guy’s going to get his head kicked in. He’s a Nazi, this guy’s a Nazi,” Weinstein said of Spencer in a phone interview.
But others, like Stern, are taking a more tempered approach: “We’re not going to work with Nazis — God forbid — but there are factions within the ‘alt-right’ where there is a commonality.”
Stern hopes that Spencer might “denounce all forms of Nazism.” Spencer has complicated views on Jews and Israel and does not call himself a Nazi — preferring instead white “identitarian.” Still, it is unlikely that he will “disavow” any of his neo-Nazi supporters.
In an email to the Forward, Stern asked: “Why shouldn’t we associate ourselves with a charismatic and extremely popular rising figure within the MAGA movement who agrees with us on most issues, but has some problematic followers?”
In Stern’s eyes, “white nationalism is not akin to Nazism,” and white nationalists “do not necessarily hate Jews or non-whites.” Sterns message went on: “They simply want the best for their race. And Jews are white too btw, so why should we object to that?”
“We are looking to make an alliance with people on the right, but that doesn’t include people who you would call Nazis,” Baron said, trying to clarify the Kahanist camp’s position. “We do connect to people who have an American nationalist viewpoint.”
While it is unlikely that Spencer will develop a formal alliance with Kahanist elements, both they and the more established JDL movement are part of a swell of nationalist groups angling for revivals, according to researchers who monitor radical groups.
“This time seems to be ripe for extremist movements of all types,” said Oren Segal, a researcher with the Anti-Defamation League. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see this Kahanist ideology grow online.”
Faybyshenko has high hopes for his re-energized movement.
“It’s something being reborn,” he said. “Especially after the election results, we now see that people are waking up.”
February 1, 2017 at 08:23 (Corrupt Politics, Holidays, Humour)
Cloudy or sunny, winter will last at least 4 more years 😦
January 31, 2017 at 14:31 (Canada, Corrupt Politics, DesertPeace Exclusive, Hate crimes, Islamophobia)
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is citing the Sunday attack on Muslims in Quebec City as an example of why his own policies are needed.
“We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. It’s a terrible reminder of why we must remain vigilant, and why the president is taking steps to be proactive, rather than reactive, when it comes to our nation’s safety and security,” press secretary Sean Spicer said at his daily briefing on Monday.
Full Report HERE
And the twist I mention above ….
Alexandre Bissonnette was described by one former classmate as a ‘nerdy outcast’
The French-Canadian student charged in connection with a shooting spree that killed six people at a Quebec City mosque was a supporter Donald Trump and far-right French politician Marine Le Pen.
Described by one former classmate as a “nerdy outcast.” Alexandre Bissonnette, is the sole suspect in the shooting.
The 27-year-old was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder with a restricted weapon. Police said he acted alone.
Bissonnette’s online profiles show a wide variety of interests.
On his Facebook page, he indicated he liked Le Pen, US President Donald Trump, the separatist Parti Quebecois as well as Canada’s left-wing New Democratic Party, the Israeli Defense Forces, heavy metal band Megadeth and pop star Katy Perry.
“I wrote him off as a xenophobe. I didn’t even think of him as totally racist, but he was enthralled by a borderline racist nationalist movement,” Vincent Boissoneault, a fellow Laval University student, told The Globe and Mail newspaper. He said they frequently clashed over Bissonnette’s opinions about refugees and support for Le Pen and Trump.
The University Laval confirmed on Monday that Bissonnette was a social science student there.
January 31, 2017 at 14:29 (Apartheid, Associate Post, Boycott Israel, Cartoons, Entertainment)
January 30, 2017 at 12:33 (Canada)
Proud To Be A Canadian!
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Canadian PM, Immigration Minister, reassure refugees they won’t be stranded.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced Canada will offer temporary residence to refugees refused entry to the US, and said he intends to have a talk with US President Donald Trump about proper refugee policies.
Trump signed an executive order on Friday barring nationals of seven countries from entering the US.
Trudeau on Saturday tweeted, “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.”
He also posted a picture of himself greeting a Syrian child at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport in 2015.
More than 39,000 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada since Trudeau was elected Prime Minister.
Somalian refugee and Canadian Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said, “Let me assure those who may be stranded in Canada that I will use my authority as minister to provide them with temporary residency if they need it, as we have done in the past.”
Co-founder of a Canadian tech company and speaker for Tech Without Borders Jennifer Moss said, “If you’re not interested in keeping people that are extremely talented, intelligent, brilliant minds from all around the world, and turning them away at the borders, we’re happy to take those people in our country.”
Reportedly, Trump’s ban includes immigrants who hold Canadian citizenship as well as citizenship from their native country. However, White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn told Canada’s National Security Adviser that those holding Canadian passports – including dual citizens – would not be affected by the ban.
Canada still has a way to go to eliminate hatred ….
At least six killed as gunmen open fire on Quebec City mosque during evening prayers. Two suspects arrested.
(Click on link to see updated report)
January 30, 2017 at 12:01 (Activism, Civil Liberties, Corrupt Politics, International Solidarity, Israel)
Scores of left-wing demonstrators in Israel gathered outside of the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem to protest against President Donald Trump’s executive action ordering a temporarily halt to the entry of asylum seekers into the United States.
Photos by Tomer Neuberg & Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90
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January 30, 2017 at 11:45 (Activism, Guest Post, International Solidarity, Palestine)
In the following our interview with Richard Martin, President and Founder of Children of Peace. The organisation struggles for children to be safe from criminality and terrorism in the Middle East, in particular in Palestine. Richard talked to us about the history of his organisation, about how to work for peace by challenging all kind of racism, discrimination of all monotheistic religions, by personal contact and dialogue. Dialogue is the magic word to promote peace. Richard told us: “Children of Peace is a UK based non-partisan, conflict resolution organisation, that aims to protect children and build friendship, trust and reconciliation between Israeli and Palestinian children, aged 4 -17 through arts, education, healthcare and sports projects and programmes, so that a future generation and their communities might live in peace, side-by-side.”
By Denise Nanni and Milena Rampoldi
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How do you identify the organizations you cooperate with?
When I founded Children of Peace in 2004, we sent a delegation from the UK to Israel and Palestine on a fact find. We discovered – to our incredulity – that there were over 50,000 NGOs in Israel & Palestine. This is a huge industry and since the early 1950s we estimate that 7 trillion dollars has reached the region from world organisations and donors.
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Yet, despite all this funding, almost nothing has changed. Only six organisations actually made contact with each other. We wanted to change the culture and focus on dialogue – on making contact, of listening to each community’s narrative, respecting each other’s heritage and those things that we all share – a yearning to protect our children, to build a better life, to be in a safe and hopeful place.
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That’s why we established the Coalition of Peace.
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Essentially all groups – CBOs or NGOs – must apply to join us as affiliates or partners. Most groups approach us or are researched by our team. The application is scrutinised by our Compliance Committee to check the group’s track record and connections to protect the children and our work from criminal or terrorist fronts. If accepted, groups go through a monitoring process for two years before applying for funding.
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Today, the Coalition of Peace is now the single, largest peace network across the Middle East with affiliates in Bahrain, Egypt, Gaza, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Turkey and the West Bank.
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Since 2005 we have helped over 120,000 children in Israel and Palestine.
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How has civil society been responsive so far?
Right from the get-go our position has been to welcome a diverse range of religious, secular and political supporters who shared our non-partisan position. As a conflict-resolution organisation we focus on reconciliation, simply refuse to take sides or bring our own agendas into the region. We take our cue from the communities themselves. We are proud of the support we receive from Christians, Jews and Muslims both in the region and worldwide.
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Taking sides says more about you. It does not advance peace one jot.
As part of our backstory – although we are not a religious organisation nor have any connection with faith based groups – we challenge Christianophobia, Antisemitism and Islamophobia – now on the rise throughout Europe right now – often used as a cover to take sides in this conflict.
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Across the region Children of Peace enjoys the respect of communities in Gaza, Israel and the West Bank. We are the go-to organisation if contacts need to be made. We act as a conduit or peace channel for groups or communities who wish to connect across the divide but cannot do so through direct means.
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Our projects and programmes focus on alleviating poverty within disadvantaged communities, bringing children together from Israel and Palestine through the arts, sports, healthcare and education.
Every year – with Israeli affiliate Humans Without Borders – we help bring dozens of sick or disadvantaged Palestinian children and their families to the seaside in Israel from towns and villages in the West Bank. This is one of the cherished dreams of many landlocked West Bank children – just to see the sea.
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We just funded the refurbishment of the Leir Peace Pre-School in Jerusalem where Christian, Jewish and Muslim children learn and play together. Through another affiliate Rabbis for Human Rights we have provided grants to assist the resource centre for the Negev Bedouin. In Gaza, we work with various groups funding clinics, hospitals and education facilities.
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A few months ago, for example Celtic FC contacted us days before playing a match in Israel. As part of their commitment to diversity in soccer they wanted our help in linking them up with Israeli and Palestinian youth sports groups and within hours the Chairman of Celtic FC Foundation met up with three groups in Israel and Palestine in Jerusalem to gift them football kit and other resources.
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None of this would be possible without the commitment of our extraordinary team at Children of Peace from the Board of Trustees to the Regional Representatives to the volunteers.
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This trust is reflected by the support we receive from world leaders including Pope Francis, former US Vice President Biden, French President Hollande, the Palestinian Envoys to the UK and Washington and the last four British Prime Ministers including Theresa May.
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What are, according your experience, the most effective strategies in order to promote tolerance and democratic values among children?
It’s simple……contact, contact, contact. And dialogue. Meeting people face-to-face and developing a relationship with a real person from a “group” or “community” that you have been brought up to distrust or be suspicious of….changes everything.
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I recall a magic moment when some young Palestinians who were staying here in the UK as our guests were busy texting their Jewish friends in Israel, following an incident….concerned for their safety.
Once you break bread together, everything changes.
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Can you tell me more about the researches on children health issues? What were their findings and conclusions?
Richard: In 2007, Israeli-Palestinian Kassim Baddarni and myself completed a huge research study on the impact of conflict and the presence of violence on Israeli and Palestinian children. We looked at the effects of stress and tension on the physical and mental health of children – on their educational attainment, on family life, on relationships, on their own sense of well-being and adjustment. It is too complex to spell out here but the findings confirm that children from all communities are seriously and adversely affected by the dire situation.
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Israeli children have excellent healthcare but suffer from worrying levels of morbidity whilst Palestinian children have poorer healthcare – they have the highest levels of childhood diabetes, for instance – they too suffer from fear and anxiety. Too many children know of someone in their lives who has died or been injured or negatively affected by sudden and unexpected acts of violence.
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Do you cooperate with any local authority or institution? If yes, how?
Children of Peace is a UK based non-partisan, conflict resolution organisation, that aims to protect children and build friendship, trust and reconciliation between Israeli and Palestinian children, aged 4 -17 through arts, education, healthcare and sports projects and programmes, so that a future generation and their communities might live in peace, side-by-side.
As an entirely independent organisation we will cooperate with local government or national governments to further our aims in helping the children, promoting tolerance and building a better place for the next generation.
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Israeli and Palestinian supporters talk about the ‘Children of Peace family’. I like that.
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Original source and more photos HERE
January 29, 2017 at 15:33 (Apartheid, Associate Post, Collective Punishment, Corrupt Politics, Israel, Palestine)
Philosophically and morally, I find walls repugnant. Some who support them
say you have to be realistic and accept our divisive human nature and look
to protect "our country". But history tells us that nationalism and
protectionism lead to catastrophe.
ON WALLS
By Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
Donald Trump in explaining how effective “the wall” between Mexico and the
US would be said to “ask Israel”. This is one liar asking us to ask another
liar! The facts are very clear:
-After most of the residents were ethnically cleansed, a temporary wall of
fences was built around remaining 3500 Palestinians in Al-Majdal to starve
them until they agreed to leave ‘voluntarily’ in 1951 (long after the end
of the 1948 war). The city was renamed Ashqelon
-The wall around Gaza was completed before even the first Palestinian
suicide bombings started and it was a clear failure. Hundreds of tunnels
were dug underneath and used to transport everything from people to camels
to cars.
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-The wall in the West Bank was less than 25% complete when Hamas made a
political decision to stop bombings and run for elections in 2006. Hamas
held to its end of this even though they were not allowed to govern after
being elected.
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-The International Court of Justice ruled the wall illegal since it is
built in the occupied areas (just like the Israeli colonies are illegal and
subject to 4th Geneva convention)
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-Even today in 2017, the wall is actually less than 70% complete; nearly
10,000 Palestinians cross to the Israeli side without Israeli permission to
work DAILY and so any person interested in doing violence could do it
-The wall zigzags in ways clearly intended to capture maximum agricultural
lands and natural resources instead of being more secure straighter lines
in most of its currently built course. (what Zionists call ‘maximum
geography with minimum demography’)
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-The Israeli wall was slated to cost $2.5 billion and be finished in three
years and here we are 14 years later and it cost $8 billion and is not even
finished yet! Imagine the US wall (expected to cost $15-20 billion but will
cost 3-4 times more). US taxpayers are already burdened with $20 trillion
public debt (roughly $60,000 for each of us)
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-There are Palestinians on both sides of the wall (hundreds of thousands on
the so called "Israeli side"). There are also Israelis on both sides of it.
Thus, it cannot be a security issue.
- See also
From The Sunday Times
Philosophically and morally, I find walls repugnant. Some who support them
say you have to be realistic and accept our divisive human nature and look
to protect "our country". But history tells us that nationalism and
protectionism lead to catastrophe. You cannot have it both ways: think of
your-self as morally superior while also thinking of 'countries' and
'nations' as fighting in a zero sum game. Actually the competition itself
maybe the only zero-sum when you are thinking of sates. The latest spat
created by Trump with Mexico will hurt both countries. Trump and his
Zionist handlers are also trying to prop-up India (as a balance to Islamic
countries); see appointment of the only Indian-American in Trump's cabinet
(Nikki Haley, ardent Israeli apologist). This will surely also backfire
hurting India, USA, and Islamic countries (opening more roads to Daesh and
its like minded terror groups to recruit). It is exactly like when
Zionists pushed for the US war on Iraq that damaged Iraq but also damaged
the US ($3 trillion cost and thousands of American lives) and Israel
(because removing Saddam strengthened Lebanon, Hizbollah, Syria, and Iran).
China will come out a winner because it is working to keep good relations
with everyone.
January 29, 2017 at 09:59 (Associate Post, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Collective Punishment, Corrupt Politics, DesertPeace Exclusive, Human Rights, Photography)
Image by Latuff
Trump’s Muslim ban
NO BAN, NO WALL, NEW YORK IS FOR ALL
SAY IT LOUD, SAY IT CLEAR, REFUGEES ARE WELCOME HERE
DON’T GIVE IN TO RACIST FEAR, IMMIGRANTS ARE WELCOME HERE
These words were chanted frequently the evening of January 25th at a rally organized by CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) in Washington Square Park in NYC and attended by many thousands. This was a response to Trump’s executive orders that called for a wall to keep out Mexicans, closing our doors to Syrian refugees, and a suspension of visitors from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Sudan & Somilia. People spoke from many organizations, all expressing outrage. One said his family was on a ship filled with Jews escaping Hitler and they were not allowed to enter the US. The ship went from port-to-port never being allowed in anywhere. It had to return to Germany where many perished.
Several speakers were part of the NYC government. They all urged resistance and said that they would not allow anything to happen to the population here. NYC has been declared a “Sanctuary City” meaning that they will not allow families to be torn apart or children to be left without parents. City personnel will not arrest or detain residents for Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). The only thing the federal government can do is retaliate by withholding federal funds from the city.
It was a beautiful clear, balmy winter night. The park was filled to capacity with a very mixed group of people. The podium was placed under the iconic arch and the voices of the speakers sometimes echoed. The speeches were both emphatic and militant. Immigrants are on the firing line in this administration. At one point everyone raised their arm and made a pledge to support their foreign born friends and neighbors. It is hoped that some went home feeling less alone, less vulnerable.
On his Facebook page Steven Goldstein, Executive Director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect wrote,
“As President Trump prepares orders to wall out Mexicans and shut out refugees from America, today marks one of the most hateful days in our nation’s history, Donald Trump is retracting the promise of freedom to an extent we have not seen from a president since Franklin Roosevelt forced Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II. Today the Statue of Liberty weeps over President Trump’s discrimination.”
Photos © by Bud Korotzer, Report by Chippy Dee
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Finally some Judicial Justice
Total madness going on here. Thousands are demonstrating at airports all over the country and people who were cleared to come into the US are being put on planes to go back to where they came from. And the vicious moron says it is working “nicely”. A judge in Brooklyn just signed an order to stop the deportations. Demo tomorrow @ Battery Park, where it should be freezing by the water, and then a march to border control offices at the new WTC. Everyone’s adrenaline is pumping non-stop.
(Click on link to see NYT Report)
