The Only Democracy? » Discrimination
About the Secret Empire that has decided to Criminalize Minority Dissent in Israel
No, this story does not come from the Occupied Territories, where residents are under a 43-year military rule and where wee-hour arrest raids are a routine occurrence. This comes from right inside Israel. Dr. Omar Sa’id, A Palestinian citizen of Israel and resident of Kafr Kana near Nazareth, was arrested by Israel’s secret police (known in English as Shin Bet and in Israel as Shabaak) two weeks ago. He is still in custody without access to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
…In Israel, it has been “Arizona” all along!
(by Assaf Oron, crossposted from his DailyKos diary) I am encouraged by the wave of justified indignation, and spontaneous boycott movement, against the new Arizona law. Indeed, requiring citizens and legal resident to carry proof of their status at all times, and encouraging police to profile passersby who “look suspicious”, runs counter to the soul of democracy. The bigots who put together the Arizona law should be made to pay. And hopefully it will be declared … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, Featured
Israel Transferring Goods, Fashionably Late
From Gisha’s Gaza Gateway When the closure was imposed on the Gaza Strip in June 2007, clothes and footwear importers in Gaza found themselves unable to bring goods into the Strip that they had ordered from abroad. For almost three years now, these goods have been sitting in storage containers at Israel’s port in Ashdod or in the West Bank. Each month of storage costs an importer between $300-$500 per container. Recently, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
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
How to Market Gaza as an Israel Success Story
From Gisha’s Gaza Gateway The following guide was inspired by a report by the Government of Israel, summarizing Israel’s humanitarian activities for the Gaza Strip in 2009 and at the start of 2010, which was submitted yesterday to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee. Take things out of context. When you say that, “41 truckloads of equipment for the maintenance of the electricity networks were transferred”, you do not need to mention that … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
A Bedouin Tale
By Rebecca Vilkomerson A few nights ago I had dinner at the home of a dear friend, Ra’ed, the director of the Bedouin-Jewish environmental organization BUSTAN. In the course of the meal, I heard a story that illuminates so many of the overlapping historicaland political factors that contribute to the injustice of the Bedouin story in Israel. It goes like this: A couple of weeks ago, on a Friday afternoon, a few young men from the Bedouin town of Qasr al-Sir went walking on the hills just outside their village. Without warning, shots were fired from the other side of the hills, and one of the young men was killed, another wounded. The shots were fired by Israeli soldiers, who were practicing within a military firing range. A simple, unfortunate tragedy? Not quite. Qasr … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, On The Ground Reports
Expanded Military Powers of Deportation in West Bank; Palestinian Leaders Charge “Ethnic Cleansing”
A military order to take effect April 13th so drastically expands the IDF’s power to deport people from the West Bank that it threatens mass arrests and exile, according to Hamoked Center for the Defense of the Individual in Israel. In a request to the military commander, Hamoked asks that implementation of the order be delayed until there is input from the non-military sector of Israel, including human rights organizations like Hamoked. In order to clarify the extremity of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, Featured
No Such Thing As Israeli Nationality
There are currently over 130 different nationalities that have been recognized by the State of Israel for use in registering for an ID card. “Arab” and “Unknown” are, uniquely in the world, recognized as a form of nationality — but “Israeli” is not. On the other hand, if you are Jewish it matters not what nationality you are –Israel recognizes you as belonging to “the Jewish nation”. Now Jonathan Cook reports on a group of Jews and Arabs who are petitioning the Israeli Supreme Court to be recognized as “Israelis,” in a case that officials fear may threaten the country’s self-declared status as a Jewish state. Israel refused to recognize an Israeli nationality at the country’s establishment in 1948, making an unusual distinction between “citizenship” and “nationality.” Although all Israelis qualify as “citizens of Israel,” the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
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
In West Bank Palestinian Childhood Is Cut Short – It’s the Law
Palestinian Child Being Arrested In the West Bank, there is a two-tiered system of justice, including for minors. For settler children, justice is administered according to Israeli domestic law, with all the due process protections that affords. They cannot be charged as adults until they reach 18, in accordance with the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a signatory. For Palestinian children, military law applies, and that pretty much means due … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Interactive Video
“You have a choice! Israeli Anti-Militarists Speak”
Four Israelis—Dorothy Naor, Sergeiy Sander and Eli Fabrikant, and Ofer Golani—talking about their personal histories, political views and activism in 132 short films.