accessed 11 Jul, dated 10 Jul 2009:
““If there is a territorial compromise, it is one that still leaves Israel on the Golan Heights and deep into the Golan Heights,” said Uzi Arad, considered the closest adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister.
In an interview with the newspaper Haaretz, the former Mossad official said Israel was ready to resume talks with Syria without preconditions.”
accessed 8 Jul, dated 7 Jul 2009:
“The State Department confirmed today that as many as 1,350 Iraqi Palestinians – once the well-treated guests of Saddam Hussein and now at outs with much of Iraqi society – will be resettled in the US, mostly in southern California, starting this fall.
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Given the US’s past reluctance to resettle Palestinians – it accepted just seven Palestinians in 2007 and nine in 2008 – the effort could ruffle some diplomatic feathers.
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While the US generally doesn’t accept Palestinians, Todd Pierce, a spokesman for the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, says that the Iraqi population of Palestinians falls under a different category from those in Gaza and the West Bank. Each applicant will be carefully scrutinized for terrorist ties, he adds.
The US reluctance to accept Palestinians is because it “doesn’t want the refugee program to become an issue in its relationship with Israel,” says a diplomat in the region, who requested anonymity because he is not cleared to talk to the press. But these Palestinians, he says, will be processed as refugees from Iraq.”
accessed and dated 8 Jun 2009:
“A community in northern Israel has changed its bylaws to demand that new residents pledge support for “Zionism, Jewish heritage and settlement of the land” in a thinly veiled attempt to block Arab applicants from gaining admission.
Critics are calling the bylaw, adopted by Manof, home to 170 Jewish families in Galilee, a local “loyalty oath” similar to a national scheme recently proposed by the far-Right party of the government minister Avigdor Lieberman.
Other Jewish communities in the central Galilee – falling under the umbrella of a regional council known as Misgav – are preparing similar bylaws in response to a court petition filed by an Arab couple hoping to build a home in Misgav.
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Traditionally some 700 rural communities in Israel, including 30 in Misgav, have weeded out Arab applicants by issuing automatic rejections through special vetting committees. Arab citizens make up one-fifth of the country’s population.
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However, the vetting system has been under threat since a court ruling in 2000 that required the committees to consider Arab applicants and justify their decisions.
In line with the ruling, the Zbeidats demanded the right to take a suitability test when their application was turned down in 2006. Examiners found Fatina too “individualistic” for life in a small community while her husband lacked “knowledge of sophisticated interpersonal relations”.
The Zbeidats then petitioned the courts against the use of vetting committees, saying they enforced “blatant discrimination” against Arab applicants.
Earlier this year, in an indication that the court was preparing to back them, it demanded that the attorney-general explain why the vetting committees should continue.
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The bylaw, accepted by an overwhelming majority in Manof, stipulates that applicants must share “the values of the Zionist movement, Jewish heritage, settlement of the Land of Israel … and observance of Jewish holidays”.
It also proposes that local children be encouraged to join the Zionist youth movement and the Israeli army.
A similarly worded proposal will come before another Misgav community, Yuvalim, later this month.
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Misgav promotes itself, in the words of its website, as a model of “ethnic pluralism” because it includes 5,000 Bedouin.
However, critics note that Misgav’s Bedouin live in a handful of separate communities deprived of the land available to the Jewish communities.The Bedouin inhabitants are generally denied basic services such as water and electricity, as well as schools and medical clinics. In one, Arab al Naim, the inhabitants are forced to live in tin shacks because permanent structures are demolished by the state.”
accessed 21 Apr 2009:
“Miliband told the British Parliament that all export licenses would be reviewed in light of the war in Gaza, which ended in mid-January.
He said that all future applications to export arms to Israel would also be assessed with the Gaza conflict in mind. Britain supplies less than 1 percent of Israel’s military imports, Miliband said.”
accessed 21 Apr 2009, dated 20 Apr:
“But on March 16, Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court upheld a lower courts’ 2008 ruling that all Egyptians have a right to obtain official documents, such as ID cards and birth certificates, without stating their religion.
The Interior Ministry had appeared not to recognize the 2008 ruling, and Bahais had reported trouble registering their children in schools and universities.
But the ministry issued the new order March 19 complying with the Supreme Administrative Court’s decision, and it went into effect April 15. Authorities say new IDs will be available within two weeks.
Under the new rules, Egyptians can opt to have a dash mark printed in place of a religion.”
accessed 19 Apr 2009, dated 10 Apr:
But what about pressure on Israel? The United States has only rarely put (mild) pressure on Israel in recent decades (and never for very long), even when the Israeli government was engaged in actions (such as building settlements) that the U.S. government opposed. The question is: if the Netanyahu/Lieberman government remains intransigent, what should Obama do? Are there usable sources of leverage that the United States could employ to nudge Israel away from the vision of “Greater Israel” and towards a genuine two-state solution? Here are a few ideas.
1. Cut the aid package? If you add it all up, Israel gets over $3 billion in U.S. economic and military aid each year, which works out to about $500 per Israeli citizen. There’s a lot of potential leverage here, but it’s probably not the best stick to use, at least not at first. Trying to trim or cut the aid package will trigger an open and undoubtedly ugly confrontation in Congress (where the influence of AIPAC and other hard-line groups in the Israel lobby is greatest). So that’s not where I’d start. Instead, I’d consider a few other options, such as:
2. Change the Rhetoric. The Obama administration could begin by using different language to describe certain Israeli policies. While reaffirming America’s commitment to Israel’s existence as a Jewish-majority state, it could stop referring to settlement construction as “unhelpful,” a word that makes U.S. diplomats sound timid and mealy-mouthed. Instead, we could start describing the settlements as “illegal” or as “violations of international law.” The UN Charter forbids acquisition of territory by force and the Fourth Geneva Convention bars states from transfering their populations (even if voluntarily) to areas under belligerent occupation. This is why earlier U.S. administrations described the settlements as illegal, and why the rest of the world has long regarded them in the same way. U.S. officials could even describe Israel’s occupation as “contrary to democracy,” “unwise,” “cruel,” or “unjust.” Altering the rhetoric would send a clear signal to the Israeli government and its citizens that their government’s opposition to a two-state solution was jeopardizing the special relationship.
3. Support a U.N. Resolution Condemning the Occupation. Since 1972, the United States has vetoed forty-three U.N. Security Council resolutions that were critical of Israel (a number greater than the sum of all vetoes cast by the other permanent members). If the Obama administration wanted to send a clear signal that it was unhappy with Israel’s actions, it could sponsor a resolution condemning the occupation and calling for a two-state solution. Taking an active role in drafting such a measure would also ensure that it said exactly what we wanted, and avoided criticisms that we didn’t want included.
4. Downgrade existing arrangements for “strategic cooperation.” There are now a number of institutionalized arrangements for security cooperation between the Pentagon and the Israel Defense Forces and between U.S. and Israeli intelligence. The Obama administration could postpone or suspend some of these meetings, or start sending lower-grade representatives to them. There is in fact a precedent for this step: after negotiating the original agreements for a “strategic partnership,” the Reagan administration suspended them following Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Today, such a step would surely get the attention of Israel’s security establishment.
5. Reduce U.S. purchases of Israeli military equipment. In addition to providing Israel with military assistance (some of which is then used to purchase U.S. arms), the Pentagon also buys millions of dollars of weaponry and other services from Israel’s own defense industry. Obama could instruct Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to slow or decrease these purchases, which would send an unmistakable signal that it was no longer “business-as-usual.” Given the battering Israel’s economy has taken in the current global recession, this step would get noticed too.
6. Get tough with private organizations that support settlement activity. As David Ignatius recently noted in the Washington Post, many private donations to charitable organizations operating in Israel are tax-deductible in the United States, including private donations that support settlement activity. This makes no sense: it means the American taxpayer is indirectly subsidizing activities that are contrary to stated U.S. policy and that actually threaten Israel’s long-term future. Just as the United States has gone after charitable contributions flowing to terrorist organizations, the U.S. Treasury could crack down on charitable organizations (including those of some prominent Christian Zionists) that are supporting these illegal activities.7. Place more limits on U.S. loan guarantees. The United States has provided billions of dollars of loan guarantees to Israel on several occasions, which enabled Israel to borrow money from commercial banks at lower interest rates. Back in 1992, the first Bush administration held up nearly $10 billion in guarantees until Israel agreed to halt settlement construction and attend the Madrid peace conference, and the dispute helped undermine the hard-line Likud government of Yitzhak Shamir and bring Yitzhak Rabin to power, which in turn made the historic Oslo Agreement possible.
8. Encourage other U.S. allies to use their influence too. In the past, the United States has often pressed other states to upgrade their own ties with Israel. If pressure is needed, however, the United States could try a different tack. For example, we could quietly encourage the EU not to upgrade its relations with Israel until it had agreed to end the occupation.”
Can the United States put pressure on Israel?: A user’s guide
accessed 17 Apr 2009, dated 16 Apr:
“Israel’s prime minister has told a visiting US envoy that the Palestinians must recognise Israel as a “Jewish state” before it will discuss establishing an independent Palestinian state.
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Earlier, after meeting Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister, Mitchell had repeated Washington’s support for a Palestinian state.
“I reiterated to the foreign minister that US policy favours, with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a two-state solution which will have a Palestinian state living in peace alongside the Jewish state of Israel,” he said.”
accessed 20 Apr, dated 19 Apr:
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is willing to begin negotiations with the Palestinians without demanding they first recognize Israel as a Jewish state, sources in his office said on Sunday.
However, the sources added that Netanyahu would condition future developments for a peace settlement on this demand.
The U.S. State Department on Sunday rejected as unacceptable the prime minister’s demand last week that Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people as a condition for renewing peace talks. “
Netanyahu: Peace talks can begin before PA recognizes Israel as Jewish
accessed 13 Apr 2009, dated 12 Apr:
“The Kiryat Gat Magistrate’s Court Sunday harshly criticized the detention of rightist activists during the Sderot march earlier in the day. The presiding judge, Nechama Netzer, ordered the immediate release of all seven detainees.
“The use of power and detention authority in order to avert this right of expression, beyond constituting a case of silencing others, indicates the arrival of very dark times across the State of Israel,” the judge said.
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However, Justice Netzer was unconvinced by the police’s logic, stressing that the freedom to protest is a fundamental right.
“Is it imaginable that the accused, whose only sin was being in Sderot or planning to reach Sderot, will be held, arrested, and possibly detained for another night, just because of their desire to protest?” the judge said. “It appears that the answer to that is clear, and woe on us if we reach days where people are scared to legally expresses their views, even through a protest or taking part in a legal protest.”
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The attorney for the seven suspects, David Halevy, also had harsh words for authorities.
“We are witnessing disturbing government conduct that is reminiscent of the conduct of states stuck in the dark ages, where police detain whoever wishes to exercise their fundamental rights without checking what’s going on,” he said. “The police used their powers in an improper and grave manner.”
Justice Netzer added that the information she was presented with made it difficult to understand what prompted the police decision to release some detainees while keeping others in detention.
“It appears that the utilization of the authority to hold up and detain suspects was only meant to ensure the accused won’t be able to exercise their right to demonstrate and express their legal and legitimate protest,” she said. “I regret the fact that at the end of the day, and as result of the way things were done, the police got what they wanted and the accusers were shunned their legal right to protest and express themselves.”
The judge added that the arrests were unreasonable and disproportional, thereby ordering the immediate release of all seven suspects. Meanwhile, National Union Knesset Member Michael Ben Ari turned to Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and demanded that he set up a commission of inquiry that would look into Sunday’s arrests. “
accessed 6 Apr 2009, dated 5 Apr:
“Mr Badarne of the Laborers’ Voice said he has heard similar stories from other Arab workers.
“Laws against discrimination exist in Israel. The problem is that there appears to be no interest in enforcing them.
“If I go to the shopping mall, even the notices in the windows asking for sales assistants require army service from applicants.
“At least in these cases we can prove that it is racism we are dealing with.
“More sinister, however, is the more recent practice of employers telling Arab applicants that a position is already filled to avoid the threat of legal action. There the racism is veiled.”
Large sections of the economy are officially off limits to Arab workers because they fall within what Israel defines as its security industries, especially weapons manufacturers, the airports and national airline, ports and refineries, and the various security agencies.
But he said many large state-owned corporations that are not involved in security fields were also reluctant to employ Arabs, sending a message to smaller firms that discrimination was legitimate.
According to figures provided in 2004 by Nachman Tal, a former deputy head of the Shin Bet, the domestic security service, only six of the 13,000 employees of the Israeli Electricity Corp were Arabs.
Ehud Olmert, Israel’s former prime minister, admitted racial discrimination was rife in a speech to the parliament in December. “It is terrible that there is not even one Arab employee [out of 900] at the Bank of Israel.”
Of the civil service, he added: “There is no arguing that some government ministries did not hire Arabs for years.”
Government statistics show that 12.5 per cent of all Arab college graduates are unemployed, nearly four times the figure for Jewish graduates.
Even those who do work are often forced into low-paying and menial jobs, Mr Badarne said.
Mr Salami, who trained as a schoolteacher, said that, among the 20 guards from his village, four were lawyers.
Mr Badarne pointed out that the long-standing Zionist principle of “Hebrew labour”, or Jews employing only other Jews, still had great influence in Israeli society.
He was especially critical of the country’s trade union federation, the Histadrut, which has traditionally also been one of the country’s largest employers.
It did not allow any admission of Arab workers until a decade after Israel’s creation and even then it set up a separate, and marginal, Arab section within the organisation, he said.”
accessed and dated 19 Apr:
“Israel Railways changed its story Sunday over the dismissal of at least 40 Arab employees, telling a court that mistakes made by the employees prompted it to introduce new employment conditions.
The government company said it made the decision in order to “improve the level of supervision,” the first time such a claim had been made since the workers lost their jobs.”
Israel Railways changes its story over dismissal of Arab employees
accessed 4 Apr 2009, dated 2 Apr, in full:
“Israeli authorities issued orders to confiscate more than one thousand dunums of Palestinian lands of the village of Qaryut south of Nablus, head of the villages and municipal affairs office in Nablus Ghassan Daghlas said on Thursday.
On the land a road will be constructed linking the three illegal settlements, He noted that “this decision aims at to construct a three kilometer road to link the Israeli illegal settlement of Shilo, and the illegal settlement outposts of Hayovel and a second known locally as the “Qaryut” outpost.
Daghlas noted that Israeli bulldozers had been surveying the area for days, and that there seemed to be a coordinated effort between soldiers and settlers, who constructed a road barrier near the village of Der Sharaf, while military crews expanded the Yitzhar road after confiscating Palestinian lands adjacent to it.
The village representative also mentioned that several home demolition orders were served in the past weeks in the nearby villages of Tana and At-Tawila, both south of Nablus.
Head of the village council of Qaryot, Abed An-Naser Badawi, told Ma’an that “the settlers along with the soldiers blocked the southern entrance of the village and began to confiscate the land.” The day before he said settlers distributed written orders saying the land would be confiscated.
Qaryot village has a population of more than 2700 people is surrounded with a number of Israeli settlements.”
Thousands of dunums confiscated for Israeli settler road near Nablus
