The Only Democracy? » Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Rise of a New Israeli Left
By Udi Aloni and Ofer Neiman This article was originally published in Hebrew on March 2nd in YNet, the website of the mass circulation daily Yediot Achronot. It seems that for the first time in many years the Israeli peace camp is reaping the fruits of its labor. Alarmed by the success of the struggle, which exposes Israel as an apartheid state, the state’s powerful players have begun a smear, counter-campaign, wasteful and vile, which seeks to … Read entire article »
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Ezra Nawi goes to court tomorrow
Ezra Nawi goes to court once more. Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 3, the District Court will hear his case. There will be a solidarity protest outside the courtroom, starting at 1 pm (Israel time). You may recall that last year, Ezra was found guilty by judge Eilata Ziskind of the Jerusalem Magistrate’s (Peace) Court of assaulting two policemen and participating in a riot back in 2007. On July 22, 2007, Ezra tried to stop a military bulldozer from … Read entire article »
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Hass: IDF Preventing Cars of Israeli Activists From Entering West Bank Villages
We have been posting articles about the participation of Israeli human rights activists in protests against the Wall in villages such as Bi’lin and Nai’lin. Today, Amira Hass reports that Israeli Defense Forces have recorded the license plates of these protesters, and are using the information to bar their entry through checkpoints. A document was presented to a number of left-wing activists during the last three demonstrations. The activists were forbidden from crossing the Rantis checkpoint on their way to the two villages. In the document entitled “Data of vehicles used by left-wing Israeli activists and anarchists to reach demonstrations in Na’alin and Bil’in,” registration numbers of 11 vehicles are listed. Advertisement The activists assume that the details were sent to the IDF by police who were present at recent demonstrations. Shai Gorsky, one … Read entire article »
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Palestinian Organizer Assaulted at an Israeli Checkpoint
By the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee 02 March 2010 Mahmoud Zwahre, a prominent member of the Al-Ma’asara Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, was brutally assaulted at the Israeli Container Checkpoint near Bethlehem this morning. Zwahre was on his way to a Ramallah meeting when his car was stopped. Zwahre was detained after a Border Police officer positioned at the checkpoint recognized him from the weekly demonstrations held in Al-Ma’asara … Read entire article »
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Letter from New Profile
February 25, 2010 Dear friends and supporters, We would like to begin by letting you know, once again, that we truly appreciate your continuing interest and support. They have been crucial in enabling us at New Profile to withstand extended harassment and to keep up our work. Over the last two years, we have faced a series of direct challenges to our longtime efforts towards demilitarizing state and society in Israel. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, Victories for Democracy
Abdallah Abu Rahmah’s Letter from Ofer Jail
The Popular Struggle Coordination Committee released this letter from Bil’in protest leader Abdallah Abu Rahmah. This letter from Abu Rahmah was conveyed from his prison cell by his lawyers. For information on his case and actions to take for his release see here Dear Friends and Supporters, It has been two months now since I was handcuffed, blindfolded and taken from my home. Today news has reached Ofer Military Prison that the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, On The Ground Reports
Bridget Chappell: “Iron Fist Against Nonviolent Resisters”
Bridget Chappell, whose own arrest was reported in our earlier post, has another account of Israel’s crackdown on nonviolent resisters. Wael al-Faqeeh has been held without charge by the Israeli military since his arrest on 9 December 2009. The 28 January hearing that lasted approximately three minutes here in Salem court resulted in the extension of his detention by a further ten days. It was presided over by three military officers who constitute the panel of … Read entire article »
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Hamas detains British journalist
One of the stories that inspired this blog was the detention of Jared Maslin, a Jewish-American journalist for Ma’an News Agency, covered here on our sisterblog Muzzlewatch. Well, unfortunately Hamas seems to be learning from its adversary with its own detention of freelance filmmaker and journalist Paul Martin. Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Ehab Ghussein said in a statement that Martin is suspected of breaking Palestinian law, but did not elaborate. He said Martin … Read entire article »
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Israeli Think Tank Says Global Anti-Occupation Movement Is The Problem; Sabotage Is The Cure
Reut Institute, a leading Israeli national security and socioeconomic policy think tank, has released its preliminary report on “The Delegitimization Challenge: Creating a Political Firewall” In an extraordinary exercise in doublethink, Reut scratches its head over Israel’s declining diplomatic status in the aftermath of its assault on Gaza and the Goldstone Report, and concludes that, yet again, it is the victim. The culprits here are twofold: The Resistance Network – which operates on the basis of Islamist ideology and includes Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas; and the Delegitimization Network – which operates in the international arena in order to negate Israel’s right to exist and includes individuals and organizations in the West, which are catalyzed by the radical left. The Report’s analysis is drenched in the language of victimization: the Resistance Network is “rooted in, … Read entire article »
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Proposed Legislation Targets Israeli Human Rights NGOs
Jeremiah Haber of the Magnes Zionist reports on proposed legislation endorsed by the Israeli government that would place onerous reporting burdens on human rights non-governmental organizations within Israel, and strip them of their status as public institutions. If passed, Haber warns, “it will be a black day for what is left of Israeli democracy.” Indeed, if anything it makes “the only democracy” in the Middle East fit in with other governments in the region: civil society NGOS are subjected to similar reporting requirements in Iran, and are harassed in Egypt. Why Bomb Iran When You Can Be Iran? That seems to be the thinking behind the Israeli government’s endorsement of legislation that will require human rights NGOs in Israel (e.g., B’Tselem, Machsomwatch, Breaking the Silence, Adalah, etc.) to publicize contributions from foreign governments, … Read entire article »
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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.