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The deputy assassin

By Rela Mazali In the second piece below, Israeli activist Nurit Peled-Elhanan comments on the recent appointment of a new Deputy Chief of Staff, Yair Naveh, who orchestrated (at least some of) Israel’s summary executions widely wordwashed as “targeted assassinations.” Peled-Elhanan claims the appointment is, in fact, apt and fitting to the deeds and spirit of Israel’s army. In response to these and to the appointment, she says, it is the parents and educators of Israel who bear responsibility for taking action. She writes, We must gather up our courage and teach our children to refuse. Refuse to take part in an organization that is led by war criminals, murderers of children. An organization like that cannot be anything but a crime organization. … There are so many possibilities, children, to contribute to … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination

What “looks and acts like a banana republic? “

What “looks and acts like a banana republic? “

By Rela Mazali Two recently published items present what I see as telling, if limited and even evasive, probes into the extent and depth of Israel’s militarization, each revealing a different manifestation of it. The first (truncated in the English version which omitted the passages of personal testimony from soldiers and police, included in the Hebrew original) looks at the confusing, contradictory maze of authorities in charge of the checkpoints that monitor the passage of West Bank … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination

Works in progress: the partitions of Iraq and Palestine

Works in progress: the partitions of Iraq and Palestine

By Rela Mazali Works in Progress: – The partition of Palestine (most recently into Gaza Strip; East Jerusalem; West Bank) – The partition of Iraq In Iraq, the occupation is attempting “ethnic” partition. See: Statement issued this week (October 10, 2010) by the BRussels Tribunal, stating among other things, that, From the first day of the US-UK occupation of Iraq, the occupation began to undertake a series of measures, directly or through its local allies, to … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination

No positive evidence supporting accusations against Ameer Makhoul

No positive evidence supporting accusations against Ameer Makhoul

By Rela Mazali On May 8th, Jewish Peace News posted news of the arrest or, more precisely, abduction, of human rights defender Ameer Makhoul, “Director of Ittijah – The Union of Arab Community-Based Associations – … in the dead of night, while he and his family slept in their home in Haifa.” The arrest of this “Israeli citizen [and] … high-profile activist … [was] placed under a gag order … Israeli reporters, news … Read entire article »

Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs

The Minister of Education rides again

The Minister of Education rides again

By Rela Mazali The ongoing militarization of state (read: Jewish, non-orthodox) education in Israel has been among the major civic issues addressed by New Profile from the outset. Israel’s current minister of education, Gideon Sa’ar, provides an extremely blatant example of this ongoing process. Not hesitating in the least to openly defy democratic principles such as freedom of speech, he banned New Profile speakers from schools several months ago. This is and was part of his … Read entire article »

Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs

Participant Citizen Repressed: Rela Mazali on Ameer Makhoul’s letter

Participant Citizen Repressed: Rela Mazali on Ameer Makhoul’s letter

By Rela Mazali The letter from human rights defender, Ameer Makhoul, released and distributed by his family and friends, was written on May 30th, after Makhoul had spent 3 weeks in prison without access to even pen and paper, not to speak of lawyers, family visits, due process, humane and legal conditions. It made its way to his home by snailmail and then the original Arabic was translated into English. I first met … Read entire article »

Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs

A Bailout For Arms Dealers: US Aid and the Israeli Budget

A Bailout For Arms Dealers: US Aid and the Israeli Budget

By Rela Mazali and Jesse Bacon The US Congress has shamefully abdicated its oversight role in US foreign policy and has become an apologist for the worst policies of the Israeli Government, all the while sending Israel billions of dollars in aid. Fortunately activists are not waiting for the US Congress to act. They are staging their own investigation, a first of its kind event. The Chicago Hearing is modeled after a Congressional hearing and will … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination

Israel’s Nukes Are Off Limits, UPDATED with comment from Gideon Spiro

Israel’s Nukes Are Off Limits, UPDATED with comment from Gideon Spiro

By Rela Mazali In an extensive, research-based 2009 position paper titled: On Nuclear Weapons: A Feminist Perspective, Edna Gorney and Hedva Eyal of the Isha L’Isha Haifa Feminist Center wrote, “the Israeli public remains excluded from the [nuclear] debate. The public does not ask questions, does not demand that the state takes responsibility, nor does it demand to be involved in decision making; it accepts and is … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination

Israeli Schoolchildren Learn to Count with Tanks

Israeli Schoolchildren Learn to Count with Tanks

By Sergeiy Sandler In January 2010, an official UN body determined for the first time that the militarization of Israel’s government-run school system was in violation of the International Convention of the Rights of the Child and, in particular, of Israel’s implementation of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC), to which it is a signatory. Unprecedented … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination

New Profile, European Union Urge UN to Hold Israel Accountable

New Profile, European Union Urge UN to Hold Israel Accountable

By Rela Mazali. On January 28th 2010, New Profile, a feminist movement working to demilitarize society and state in Israel, dispatched a letter to a list of top U.N. officials urging the U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. Security Council to intervene to ensure implementation of the recommendations made by the U.N. Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict. “If the United Nations and wider international community are to meet their responsibilities in upholding the rule of … Read entire article »

Filed under: On The Ground Reports