The Only Democracy? » Archive
PHR-Israel: Delayed Exit of a Toddler from Gaza Results in Death
By Jesse Bacon Saturday, a child the same age as my daughter was killed in Gaza. She was not killed by a missile, or a suicide bomber, or any of the other dramatic ways children die in the Middle East. She was killed by an Israeli policy, that the people of Gaza are to be imprisoned as punishment for who the adults voted for. While many children have been killed by this policy, this case sounds … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Mike Leigh joins the growing Israeli boycott festival
By Jesse Bacon You could already have a quite a film festival with the stars supporting the Ariel settlement boycott. Now one of my favorite directors Mike Leigh, has refused to come to Israel at all. On the same weekend that I heard JVP advisory board member Udi Aloni speak about artists who let themselves be used by the government versus those who don’t, Leigh gives us a good example. He had already refused to come … Read entire article »
Filed under: Victories for Democracy
Settler-style thugs operating inside Israel
by Jesse Bacon One after another, the parallels to fascism pile up in Israel, like the sticks (which is what the root of Fascism means) on a fire. Now a town in Israel has adopted perhaps the most visible feature of many a dictatorship: paramilitary police. The settlers have long functioned in this role in the Occupied Territories, but in the borderless Israeli occupation such methods do not stay contained. What’s more the mission of the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Premiere of a Film Documenting Relationships between Israelis and the People of Palestinian Susiya
Tuesday, September 28th, brought us at the Villages Group great satisfaction. On that day, we and many of our friends in Susiya had the pleasure of attending the world premiere of the film “The Human Turbine” at the Haifa International Film Festival. Over a period of two years from 2008 to 2010, a film crew headed by director Danny Verete and producer Yehuda Bitton documented the evolving ties between the people of Susiya and the Israelis … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports, Victories for Democracy
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
“We will not be citizens of a fascist state purporting to be Israel” say hundreds of Israeli academics and public figures.
From Gush Shalom October 10, 2010 A protest rally against the government’s “Loyalty Oath Bill” was held outside the Tel Aviv house where Ben-Gurion read the 1948 the Declaration of Independence. There, today, the “Declaration of Independence from Fascism” was signed. “We are citizens of the Israel which was depicted in the Declaration of Independence, a peace-seeking country based on the principles of equality and civil liberties. We do not intend to be the citizens of a state purporting to be Israel which stops being democratic and enbarks on becoming a fascist state,” proclaimed intellectuals, public figures, and Israel Prize laureates who gathered this afternoon for a protest rally against the “Loyalty Oath Bill” approved by the government. A protest rally was held on Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard, in front of the museum … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
Abdallah Abu Rahmah gets one year in prison despite international outcry
from the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee Bil’in protest organizer Abdallah Abu Rahmah was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment today, for his involvement in his village’s unarmed struggle against the wall. Abdallah Abu Rahmah was sentenced today to 12 months in prison, plus 6 months suspended sentence for 3 years and a fine of 5,000 NIS. In the sentencing, the judge cited the non-implementation of an Israeli High Court ruling which declared … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
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
Audrey Farber responds to proposed loyalty oaths; UPDATED with NIF response
by Audrey Farber A part of me wants to give at least a hesitant nod of acknowledgement to the less-extreme-right in the Knesset who recognize that there is something less-than-savory in Lieberman’s loyalty oath. In Lieberman-land, all naturalized citizens will swear loyalty to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. (Ah, the hypocrisy!) As much as Netanyahu may be frustrating the hell out of those of us who – dare we say it – hope for better, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Their First and Last Day of School
A school in Omer asks two Bedouin students not to come back after their first day of school. Omer is a suburban community near Be’er Sheva, an elite escape in Israel’s destitute south. Of course the golden quote cannot be found in the English Haaretz article, only in the Hebrew one. In the past I have allowed Bedouin students to study at my school with a presumption that if I give them the best possible education they … 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.