The Only Democracy? » Entries tagged with "Palestinian Citizens of Israel"
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
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
Avigdor Lieberman takes settlement policy to its logical conclusion
by Jesse Bacon Lost in the debate over the settlement phase is its real purpose, to claim Palestinian land for Israel. Even its hardcore defenders like Avigdor Lieberman, know there will come a time when that has reached its end, when all available Palestinian land has been taken, and all Palestinians capable of being forced to leave will have done so. What to do then? Well, then Israel will suddenly become interested in drawing borders after 60+ … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Live from The Only Democracy?: exclusive interview with Huwaida Arraf of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla
By Jesse Bacon I had the privilege of speaking with Huwaida Arraf of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla direct from Ramallah today. I will write up a transcript later of the talk, but for now here’s the interview audio, which takes a few seconds to begin in both clips. I will speak to her again tomorrow and be asking her more about what happened on May 31 itself. Huwaida Arraf Part 1 Huwaida Arraf Part 2 Huwaida Arraf is a pro-Palestinian … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, On The Ground Reports
Harrowing Update from Family of Ameer Makhoul
Ameer Makhoul, Director of Ittijah, a coalition of Palestinian Israeli Community Organizations, was arrested three weeks ago from his home in Haifa. Makhoul was unable to see his lawyer for the first weeks of his arrest and now his lawyers and his family, having seen him, assert that he has been tortured. Makhoul has not yet been charged with any crime, but the Israeli government is clearly paving the way for his indictment soon, and in the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, On The Ground Reports
Israel Arrests its Own Citizen, a Human Rights Director
Ittijah General Director Ameer Makhoul Arrested by Israeli Authorities Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Condemn Arrest as Arbitrary and Seek Immediate International Intervention [Ramallah, 6 May 2010] This morning at 3:10 a.m., Israeli Security Agency (GSS) agents accompanied by Israeli police raided Ameer Makhoul’s family home in Haifa and arrested him. Mr. Makhoul is a human rights defender and serves as the general director of Ittijah – The Union of Arab Community-Based Associations and as the Chairman of … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
Shedding Light on Discrimination Against Arab Citizens of Israel
Some of you may remember the relentless attacks on Jimmy Carter after publication of his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. To deflect some of the criticism, Carter was at pains to distinguish the situation between Arabs in the Occupied Territories and Arab-Israeli citizens. Regarding the latter, he assured his audiences that within Israel proper “democracy prevails and citizens live together and are guaranteed equal status.” Like Carter, many of us are ill-informed or confused about … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Haaretz Condemns Nakba Ban as “Mocking Democracy”
On May 15th, the day marking Independence Day for Israel, many Arabs within Israel and throughout the world commemorate the Nakba (the “catastrophe” in Arabic) when most of the Arab population living within the new-born state were forced to flee in 1948. Much of this population continues to live as refugees to this day, or as internally displaced persons within Israel. But public commemoration of Israel’s independence as a day of mourning could be penalized should a bill approved on Sunday by a ministerial panel be brought to the Knesset and cabinet for vote. In a scathing editorial, Haaretz laments this latest manifestation of the undemocratic agenda of the Netanyahu-Lieberman cabinet. The Knesset yesterday put Israeli democracy to shame when it passed the “Nakba Law” at first reading with a majority of 15 against … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Levy: Palestinian Citizens of Israel “Misbehaving”
By Jesse Bacon In a tongue in cheek article, Gideon Levy accuses the Palestinian Citizens of Israel of such “misbehaviors” as stating they do not feel they belong in Israel (Ajami director Tony Copti) or asking if Israeli Jews who killed civilians were terrorists (Member of the Israeli Parliament Ahmed Tibi, who is one of the reasons Israel can brag about its Palestinian legislators.) He then fakes outrage over these affronts before getting down to the point, of what will be truly required to build democracy inside Israel. If the so-called demographic problem can’t be solved by driving Arabs out, we’ll try to get rid of them another way: destroy their identity, cloud their national memory and turn them into Israelis, not to mention Zionists. It won’t work. We … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Ajami update: Protests Begin
The prospect of a Jewish-Only building in the heart of an Arab neighborhood in Jaffa made famous by Israel’s Best Foreign Film nominee has, as promised, sparked protests, at first with graffiti (you can see a picture at Ynet’s article.) “Local Arab residents were apparently behind the spray-painting of graffiti slogans [in Hebrew] such as “Jaffa is not Hebron,” “Jaffa for Jaffa residents,” “settlers be gone,” and “enough with settlers.” And there is more to come. Neighborhood … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, Featured
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.