Haaretz 09:47 20/09/2007
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies
Israel Defense Forces began formulating plans to limit services to the civilian population in Gaza Thursday, following the cabinet's decision Wednesday to declare the Gaza Strip a "hostile territory". The security cabinet voted unanimously Wednesday to impose restrictions on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip including limiting the supply of fuel and electricity from Israel to Gaza, the transfer of goods through the crossings, the movement of people to and from the Strip, stopping visits to prisoners, and increased monitoring of funds.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Israel on Wednesday to reconsider its decision to declare the Gaza Strip a hostile territory, warning that any cutoff of vital services would violate international law and punish the already suffering civilian population. In one of his toughest statements aimed at Israel since taking the reins of the UN on January 1, Ban said he was very concerned at the Israeli government's declaration earlier Wednesday and its announced intent to interrupt essential services such as electricity and fuel to the civilian population. "Such a step would be contrary to Israel's obligations towards the civilian population under international humanitarian and human rights law," he said. "I call for Israel to reconsider this decision," the secretary-general said in a statement read by UN spokeswoman Michele Montas.
"The limitations will be implemented in accordance with formal legal position papers and the humanitarian situation in the field," read a statement following the cabinet decision. A senior government official said that two approaches were presented during the meeting. One was to cut off electricity in response to every rocket. This approach was found to be problematic in terms of international law because it would constitute collective punishment. The second approach, which the ministers accepted, was to compromise the ability of Hamas to govern in Gaza as the quality of life deteriorated. "We will reduce the amount of megawattage we provide to the Strip, and Hamas will have to decide whether to provide electricity to hospitals or weapons lathes," the official said. The cabinet also authorized the closure of crossings in response to rocket fire for up to 48 hours.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during the meeting that "the price of a military operation in Gaza is known to all, and in any case conditions are not ripe for this." Defense Minister Ehud Barak echoed this sentiment, adding "We will embark on action at the right time, not on order to let off steam." However, Barak also said that "every day that passes brings us closer to an operation in Gaza; we will decide on the means of an operation and the goals when the time comes."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that Hamas "is indeed a hostile entity. It is a hostile entity to the U.S. as well." Speaking at a news conference following her meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Rice added, "However, we will not abandon the innocent Palestinian in Gaza and indeed will make every effort to deal with their humanitarian needs." Hamas denounces curbs on Gaza as 'declaration of war' Hamas denounced the security cabinet's decision and the sanctions as a "declaration of war."
"They aim to starve our people and force them to accept humiliating formulas that could emerge from the so-called November peace conference," said Hamas spokesman Barhoum, referring to a U.S.-sponsored meeting expected to be held in two months. "It is a declaration of war and continues the criminal, terrorist Zionist actions against our people."
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas condemned Israel's plan, calling it an oppressive decision. "This oppressive decision will only strengthen the choking embargo imposed on 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip, increase their suffering and deepen their tragedy," Abbas' office said in a statement. "It is collective punishment against the people of Gaza, and discourages serious political discussion," said Ashraf Ajrami, a minister in Abbas' government. "We are going to ask the Americans to pressure Israel to refrain from taking such action," added Palestinian Information Minister Riyad al-Malki.
Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu said that he welcomed the decision. "However at the same time the government decided to disengage from Gaza, the prime minister is promoting a diplomatic plan that will bring about the establishment of 'Hamastan' in Judea and Samaria, and to the threat of missiles not only on communities in the south but also on Tel Aviv and the Dan region." Meretz Chairman MK Yossi Beilin, on the other hand, called the cabinet decision "foolish as well as dangerous." Beilin added that the decision would strengthen Hamas, increase distress in Gaza, and damage Israel's image internationally. Sanctions to be imposed on Gaza in stages
The sanctions will be imposed on the Gaza Strip in stages, with Israel responding to rocket fire by disrupting electricity during the first stage. The decision to disrupt Gaza's power supply was in part based on the fact that the electricity is used to power the metal workshops in which Qassam rockets are manufactured. Participants in the security cabinet meeting told The Associated Press, however, that no decision had been made on when to begin cutting electricity.
According to Israeli and Palestinian officials, Gaza's population uses approximately 200 megawatts of electricity, out of which 120 are provided directly from Israeli power lines, 17 are delivered from Egypt and 65 are produced at a plant in Gaza. The disruption of the fuel supply will be delayed until the second stage, as the decision is still subject to the findings of an ongoing legal examination of the contracts between the National Infrastructure Ministry and the Palestinians.
Subject to the legal examination, the ministers decided to completely cut off the fuel supply to the Gaza Strip, with the exception of humanitarian needs. For instance, Israel will continue to supply Gaza hospitals with the necessary fuel to power their generators. In addition, the crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip will further reduce operations. The crossings will only allow in food and medical supplies, and other goods, such as water pipes that are also used to manufacture Qassams, will not be let in. Human traffic at the crossings will be brought to a complete halt. Israel will reduce ties with the Strip to a bare minimum. "This [decision] allows Israel to order a number of administrative sanctions against the Gaza Strip, of course on condition they don't cross the red line in terms of inflicting humanitarian damage," said Public Security Minister Avi Dichter. Meanwhile, Israel Radio reported that deposed Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas met early Wednesday with Islamic Jihad leaders, in an attempt to convince them to halt the rocket fire.
jeudi 20 septembre 2007
lundi 10 septembre 2007
Interior Minister: I'll consider revoking neo-Nazis' citizenship
Haaretz Last update - 03:42 10/09/2007
By Roni Singer-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondent
The Interior Ministry said Sunday that it would consider revoking the citizenship of eight teens suspected of running a neo-Nazi cell in Petah Tikva, if they are convicted. The suspects, aged 17 to 19, confessed to assaulting dozens of people, mainly foreign workers around Tel Aviv's central bus station and Carmel market, causing many of them serious injury. The eight were arrested a month ago, and a gag order on the arrest was lifted Saturday. According to police, the neo-Nazi cell comprised individuals who have distant ties to Judaism and nonetheless immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union under the Law of Return, which grants all Jews the right to immigrate.
Army Radio reported Sunday that Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit instructed the ministry to look into the legal aspects of such a procedure. The law allows the state to strip the citizenship of anyone involved in an act against the state. The Ramle Magistrate's Court extended the remand of seven of the eight suspects on Sunday. The State Prosecution is expected to submit indictments against the seven to the Tel Aviv District Court on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that the neo-Nazi cell is an isolated incident, to be dealt with by the police and the justice system, and not a widespread phenomenon that requires a blanket solution. "Let's not incriminate an entire population and fall into the trap of generalizations. There is no need at this time to look for solutions that would affect entire populations," the statement said. Olmert explained that the suspicions against these teens "indicate that we, as a society, have failed in educating these youths and keeping them away from dangerous and crazy ideologies." He called for harsh punishment in order to deter teens from participating in neo-Nazi activity.
Absorption Minister Ya'akov Edri stressed that this is a marginal phenomenon that doesn't in any way characterize the immigrant youth in Israel. "Most of the immigrant youth is normative and fully incorporated into all aspects of life in this country. Today there are thousands of [immigrant] youths who serve in the army and contribute to the strength of Israel," Edri said. "We mustn't stigmatize an entire group."
Earlier Sunday, MKs from across the political spectrum condemned the incident, and some suggested that the Law of return be amended in order to prevent similar individuals from immigrating. MK Effi Eitam (National Religious Party - Ehud Leumi) stated he will propose a bill that would alter the Law of Return. The Law of Return ensures that any person who has at least one Jewish grandparent can immigrate to Israel and attain citizenship. Eitam stated that Israel has become "a haven for people who hate Israel, hate Jews, and exploit the Law of Return to act on this hatred."
MK Ahmed Tibi of Ra'am Ta'al called on authorities to deal harshly with the cell, saying that it represents a "ludicrous and outrageous phenomenon, where people immigrated to Israel and received automatic citizenship under the Law of Return, while citizens of Nazareth and Taibe are not allowed to visit their own relatives merely due to the fact that they are Arabs." NRP Chairman Zevulun Orlev recommended the Knesset pass a law that would allow the deportation and revocation of citizenship for people found to be neo-Nazis. Orlev stated that the group's violent attacks "are shocking, and must be dealt with harshly," adding that Israel must set an example to the world in how to deal with anti-Semitism.
Police have seized 5 kilograms of explosives, a pistol, and an M-16 assault rifle belonging to the group of neo-Nazi youths. Police believe the group intended to use the weapons against punk rockers in the city, with whom they often clash violently. Six of the eight suspects have confessed to the charges against them, while two reported ringleaders of the group have professed their innocence. One of the reported leaders Eli Boanitov was quoted by police as saying, "I won't ever give up, I was a Nazi and I will stay a Nazi, until we kill them all I will not rest."
Police confirmed that the majority of the suspects were enrolled in Israeli public schools, and at least one was drafted into the army. Police suspect that the youth who was drafted fled the country after giving his army-issue M-16 to a member of the cell. Police uncovered the cell a year ago, while investigating vandalism at the main synagogue in Petah Tikva, where neo-Nazis sprayed swastikas and Adolf Hitler's name on walls and prayer books. Computers seized from two suspects arrested in that case led police to dozens of video files documenting brutal assaults on foreign workers.
Superintendent Revital Almog, who was in charge of the investigation, said that the police learned that a "neo-Nazi cell was being operated in Israel by people living in Israel but believing in Nazi ideology and in Hitler." "We discovered that besides their meetings, at which they praised Nazi ideology, they used to go out to Tel Aviv in a group to perpetrate racist attacks," Almog continued. Almog said that the teens would deliberately select victims who they deemed too weak to complain. Most of them were foreign workers who the teenagers would attack, telling them that because they were not white, they would be harmed. One video shows some of the teens surrounding a young Russian heroin addict, who admits he is Jewish. Later they order him to get down on his knees and beg forgiveness from the Russian people for being Jewish and a junky. They beat him mercilessly, along with another man who comes to his aid. The group was also reportedly planning to celebrate Hitler's birthday at Yad Vashem.
More than 20 people who were in touch with the suspects, mostly via the Internet, were questioned throughout the investigation. Their parents were also questioned, and said they knew nothing of their children's activities. Among those questioned was Rostislav Bogoslavski, who was arrested several months ago on suspicion of killing two people and hundreds of cats in Petah Tikva. Police believe Bogoslavski cooperated with two of the cell members in some acts of vandalism in the city.
The Anti-Defamation League responded to the arrests by urging that the group not be used as a stereotype for Russian immigrants in Israel, and saying that such cases were marginal. In a statement, the group said neo-Nazi behavior was a problem arising from the difficulties faced by immigrants, adding "The youth are angry at Israelis for holding them in contempt and lash out with hatred." The ADL clarified that while the detainees were from the former Soviet Union and religiously identified as Christians, they had immigrated to Israel under the Law of Return which grants "even grandchildren of Jews sanctuary in the Jewish state." "The tragic irony in this is that they would have been chosen for annihilation by the Nazi they strive to emulate," the statement said.
By Roni Singer-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondent
The Interior Ministry said Sunday that it would consider revoking the citizenship of eight teens suspected of running a neo-Nazi cell in Petah Tikva, if they are convicted. The suspects, aged 17 to 19, confessed to assaulting dozens of people, mainly foreign workers around Tel Aviv's central bus station and Carmel market, causing many of them serious injury. The eight were arrested a month ago, and a gag order on the arrest was lifted Saturday. According to police, the neo-Nazi cell comprised individuals who have distant ties to Judaism and nonetheless immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union under the Law of Return, which grants all Jews the right to immigrate.
Army Radio reported Sunday that Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit instructed the ministry to look into the legal aspects of such a procedure. The law allows the state to strip the citizenship of anyone involved in an act against the state. The Ramle Magistrate's Court extended the remand of seven of the eight suspects on Sunday. The State Prosecution is expected to submit indictments against the seven to the Tel Aviv District Court on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that the neo-Nazi cell is an isolated incident, to be dealt with by the police and the justice system, and not a widespread phenomenon that requires a blanket solution. "Let's not incriminate an entire population and fall into the trap of generalizations. There is no need at this time to look for solutions that would affect entire populations," the statement said. Olmert explained that the suspicions against these teens "indicate that we, as a society, have failed in educating these youths and keeping them away from dangerous and crazy ideologies." He called for harsh punishment in order to deter teens from participating in neo-Nazi activity.
Absorption Minister Ya'akov Edri stressed that this is a marginal phenomenon that doesn't in any way characterize the immigrant youth in Israel. "Most of the immigrant youth is normative and fully incorporated into all aspects of life in this country. Today there are thousands of [immigrant] youths who serve in the army and contribute to the strength of Israel," Edri said. "We mustn't stigmatize an entire group."
Earlier Sunday, MKs from across the political spectrum condemned the incident, and some suggested that the Law of return be amended in order to prevent similar individuals from immigrating. MK Effi Eitam (National Religious Party - Ehud Leumi) stated he will propose a bill that would alter the Law of Return. The Law of Return ensures that any person who has at least one Jewish grandparent can immigrate to Israel and attain citizenship. Eitam stated that Israel has become "a haven for people who hate Israel, hate Jews, and exploit the Law of Return to act on this hatred."
MK Ahmed Tibi of Ra'am Ta'al called on authorities to deal harshly with the cell, saying that it represents a "ludicrous and outrageous phenomenon, where people immigrated to Israel and received automatic citizenship under the Law of Return, while citizens of Nazareth and Taibe are not allowed to visit their own relatives merely due to the fact that they are Arabs." NRP Chairman Zevulun Orlev recommended the Knesset pass a law that would allow the deportation and revocation of citizenship for people found to be neo-Nazis. Orlev stated that the group's violent attacks "are shocking, and must be dealt with harshly," adding that Israel must set an example to the world in how to deal with anti-Semitism.
Police have seized 5 kilograms of explosives, a pistol, and an M-16 assault rifle belonging to the group of neo-Nazi youths. Police believe the group intended to use the weapons against punk rockers in the city, with whom they often clash violently. Six of the eight suspects have confessed to the charges against them, while two reported ringleaders of the group have professed their innocence. One of the reported leaders Eli Boanitov was quoted by police as saying, "I won't ever give up, I was a Nazi and I will stay a Nazi, until we kill them all I will not rest."
Police confirmed that the majority of the suspects were enrolled in Israeli public schools, and at least one was drafted into the army. Police suspect that the youth who was drafted fled the country after giving his army-issue M-16 to a member of the cell. Police uncovered the cell a year ago, while investigating vandalism at the main synagogue in Petah Tikva, where neo-Nazis sprayed swastikas and Adolf Hitler's name on walls and prayer books. Computers seized from two suspects arrested in that case led police to dozens of video files documenting brutal assaults on foreign workers.
Superintendent Revital Almog, who was in charge of the investigation, said that the police learned that a "neo-Nazi cell was being operated in Israel by people living in Israel but believing in Nazi ideology and in Hitler." "We discovered that besides their meetings, at which they praised Nazi ideology, they used to go out to Tel Aviv in a group to perpetrate racist attacks," Almog continued. Almog said that the teens would deliberately select victims who they deemed too weak to complain. Most of them were foreign workers who the teenagers would attack, telling them that because they were not white, they would be harmed. One video shows some of the teens surrounding a young Russian heroin addict, who admits he is Jewish. Later they order him to get down on his knees and beg forgiveness from the Russian people for being Jewish and a junky. They beat him mercilessly, along with another man who comes to his aid. The group was also reportedly planning to celebrate Hitler's birthday at Yad Vashem.
More than 20 people who were in touch with the suspects, mostly via the Internet, were questioned throughout the investigation. Their parents were also questioned, and said they knew nothing of their children's activities. Among those questioned was Rostislav Bogoslavski, who was arrested several months ago on suspicion of killing two people and hundreds of cats in Petah Tikva. Police believe Bogoslavski cooperated with two of the cell members in some acts of vandalism in the city.
The Anti-Defamation League responded to the arrests by urging that the group not be used as a stereotype for Russian immigrants in Israel, and saying that such cases were marginal. In a statement, the group said neo-Nazi behavior was a problem arising from the difficulties faced by immigrants, adding "The youth are angry at Israelis for holding them in contempt and lash out with hatred." The ADL clarified that while the detainees were from the former Soviet Union and religiously identified as Christians, they had immigrated to Israel under the Law of Return which grants "even grandchildren of Jews sanctuary in the Jewish state." "The tragic irony in this is that they would have been chosen for annihilation by the Nazi they strive to emulate," the statement said.
jeudi 6 septembre 2007
Draft-dodging among national religious youths growing
More and more religious high school graduates evade army service; IDF officials, rightist leaders attribute drop to ideological crisis caused by disengagement
Yossi Yehoshua Yedioth Ahranoth Published: 09.06.07, 10:45
Draft-dodging among the graduates of national religious high schools has grown by 7% in the last two years, while the number of draft-dodgers among the general public increased by only 4%, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday.
According to new data, more and more religious youths chose to continue studying in higher yeshivot, instead of enlisting in the army.
IDF officials and rightist activists attributed the sharp drop to the deep ideological crisis that followed the disengagement from Gaza in the summer of 2005.
"These figures are not surprising at all," said Rabbi David Stav, head of a hesder yeshiva in Petach Tikva. "We warned before the disengagement that it would push the religious youths to draft-dodging… we warned that many teens would have to do serious soul-searching, but no one listened to us."
This new trend is causing much concern in the army, and IDF officials are working hard to counter it, by meeting with school principals, rabbis and leaders of the national religious public.
Meanwhile, a significant increase was recently registered in the number of religious soldiers who volunteer to elite IDF units or become officers.
Yossi Yehoshua Yedioth Ahranoth Published: 09.06.07, 10:45
Draft-dodging among the graduates of national religious high schools has grown by 7% in the last two years, while the number of draft-dodgers among the general public increased by only 4%, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday.
According to new data, more and more religious youths chose to continue studying in higher yeshivot, instead of enlisting in the army.
IDF officials and rightist activists attributed the sharp drop to the deep ideological crisis that followed the disengagement from Gaza in the summer of 2005.
"These figures are not surprising at all," said Rabbi David Stav, head of a hesder yeshiva in Petach Tikva. "We warned before the disengagement that it would push the religious youths to draft-dodging… we warned that many teens would have to do serious soul-searching, but no one listened to us."
This new trend is causing much concern in the army, and IDF officials are working hard to counter it, by meeting with school principals, rabbis and leaders of the national religious public.
Meanwhile, a significant increase was recently registered in the number of religious soldiers who volunteer to elite IDF units or become officers.
mercredi 5 septembre 2007
Hesder soldiers' service to be extended
IDF chief of staff, chief of Personnel and head rabbi meet with hesder yeshivot board to discuss extending their soldiers' service from 16 to 24 months
Hanan Greenberg Yedioth Ahranoth Published: 09.05.07, 10:37
IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi met with the members of the hesder yeshivot board recently, in an attempt to reach an agreement extending the military service of hesder soldiers by several months.
Safra Ve'Saifa
Besides Ashkenazi, Chief of IDF Personnel, Major General Elazar Stern and Chief Military Rabbi, Brigadier eneral Avi Ronsky, also attended the meeting.
No agreement was reached, but Ashkenazi was able to address several other issues regarding hesder soldiers, such as their integration in mixed military companies (which allow women to serve alongside men) and the sore subject of dodging.
Stern, backed by Ashkenazi, decided recently not to allow the hesder soldiers who joined the service in August, into the prestigious Golani and Paratroopers brigades, in wake of their refusal to serve in mixed companies.
'The people's army'
"The IDF is the people's army and as such all Israelis, be they city or country born, religious or secular, natives or new comers, serve in it, united in the desire to accomplish our security missions," said Stern in a letter to August's recruits.
Both Ashkenazi and Stern explained to the members of the hesder yeshivot board that their soldiers are viewed in the highest regard, and that the desire to extend their service comes from the IDF's overall wish to have all its troops shoulder the burden equally.
The members of the hesder yeshivot board, however, were not impressed. "Extending the service will make our boys rethink joining the army," they told Ashkenazi.
Ashkenazi made it clear that no change will be forced on the hesder yeshivot and asked the rabbis to think things over, in hopes of reaching a mutually agreeable solution.
Rabbi Chaim Drukman, Chairman of the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva Center, told Ynet he and his peers object to the IDF's proposed plan.
Previous attempts to extend the service failed, explained Drukman, and past experience has proven that faced with the choice, hesder student always prefer to return to their studies.
Hanan Greenberg Yedioth Ahranoth Published: 09.05.07, 10:37
IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi met with the members of the hesder yeshivot board recently, in an attempt to reach an agreement extending the military service of hesder soldiers by several months.
Safra Ve'Saifa
Besides Ashkenazi, Chief of IDF Personnel, Major General Elazar Stern and Chief Military Rabbi, Brigadier eneral Avi Ronsky, also attended the meeting.
No agreement was reached, but Ashkenazi was able to address several other issues regarding hesder soldiers, such as their integration in mixed military companies (which allow women to serve alongside men) and the sore subject of dodging.
Stern, backed by Ashkenazi, decided recently not to allow the hesder soldiers who joined the service in August, into the prestigious Golani and Paratroopers brigades, in wake of their refusal to serve in mixed companies.
'The people's army'
"The IDF is the people's army and as such all Israelis, be they city or country born, religious or secular, natives or new comers, serve in it, united in the desire to accomplish our security missions," said Stern in a letter to August's recruits.
Both Ashkenazi and Stern explained to the members of the hesder yeshivot board that their soldiers are viewed in the highest regard, and that the desire to extend their service comes from the IDF's overall wish to have all its troops shoulder the burden equally.
The members of the hesder yeshivot board, however, were not impressed. "Extending the service will make our boys rethink joining the army," they told Ashkenazi.
Ashkenazi made it clear that no change will be forced on the hesder yeshivot and asked the rabbis to think things over, in hopes of reaching a mutually agreeable solution.
Rabbi Chaim Drukman, Chairman of the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva Center, told Ynet he and his peers object to the IDF's proposed plan.
Previous attempts to extend the service failed, explained Drukman, and past experience has proven that faced with the choice, hesder student always prefer to return to their studies.
mercredi 29 août 2007
Rabbinate forces Arab farmers to sell land to non-Jews for sabbatical year
Haaretz Last update - 08:25 29/08/2007
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent
The beginning of the Jewish sabbatical year is just two weeks away, but the kashrut certification bureaucrats are breaking new records for the absurd: Kashrut supervisors from the Chief Rabbinate are forcing Israeli Arabs to sign a document that gives the Israel Lands Administration and the Chief Rabbinate the right to sell the land to a non-Jew as a condition for continued kosher certification for their produce. If they refuse to sign, they were told that the wholesalers to whom they sell their goods will also lose their kashrut certification. The loss of the certificate would mean that the farmers and wholesalers would be unable to sell their produce in Jewish towns and stores. MK Ahmed Tibi (Ra'am-Ta'al) called on Arab farmers not to sign the forms, saying that it was an illegal demand.
Distributors in the wholesale fruit and vegetable market at Tzrifin have recently received the documents they were requested to distribute to every farmer they buy from. The form gives the ILA and the Chief Rabbinate, or their agents, power of attorney to sell the land on which they grow produce to non-Jews during the sabbatical year, which occurs every seven years according to Jewish law and during which the land is required to lie fallow, and which begins on Rosh Hashanah in two weeks. The document is the legal basis for symbolicly selling the land to a non-Jew for the year-long period, known as "Heiter Mechira."
This sale is a legal fiction that allows the land to be farmed and the produce sold to Jews during the sabbatical year. The Chief Rabbinate and the ILA will serve as the go-betweens who will "sell" the land to a non-Jew on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. According to halakha, Jewish religious law, during the sabbatical year Jews may eat produce grown in the Land of Israel only if it was grown on land owned by non-Jews.
However, kashrut supervisors in the center of the country, acting on the orders of Rabbi Avraham Yosef, the Chief Rabbi of Holon, are also demanding that Arab farmers sign the document. One Arab farmer who was given the document said that he was terrified to find out that he was required to sell his land as a condition to continue selling his produce with rabbinical supervision. "For 30 years, I have been in agriculture, and I have seen five or six sabbatical years," he said. "Suddenly, they are telling us that they will remove the kashrut [certification] from our wholesalers if we do not agree to sell the land.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/898515.htmlPeople are scared, since our produce is sold to Jews all over the country." A kashrut supervisor from the rabbinate explained that they wanted "to be sure that all of the land is sold to a non-Jew. The problem is that some of the Arab farmers are [leasing] ILA land, and are farming what is in fact Jewish land. [Any non-Jew who] presents us with a land registry deed that proves that the land is his will be exempted from signing the forms," said the supervisor. The head of the Chief Rabbinate's committee on the sabbatical year, Rabbi Zeev Witman, promised that "All the agricultural produce grown by Arabs will be accepted. They can ignore this document." On the other hand, Rabbi Yosef insisted that "Arab farmers must sign, since there are many go-betweens among Arab farmers and we want to discourage them."
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent
The beginning of the Jewish sabbatical year is just two weeks away, but the kashrut certification bureaucrats are breaking new records for the absurd: Kashrut supervisors from the Chief Rabbinate are forcing Israeli Arabs to sign a document that gives the Israel Lands Administration and the Chief Rabbinate the right to sell the land to a non-Jew as a condition for continued kosher certification for their produce. If they refuse to sign, they were told that the wholesalers to whom they sell their goods will also lose their kashrut certification. The loss of the certificate would mean that the farmers and wholesalers would be unable to sell their produce in Jewish towns and stores. MK Ahmed Tibi (Ra'am-Ta'al) called on Arab farmers not to sign the forms, saying that it was an illegal demand.
Distributors in the wholesale fruit and vegetable market at Tzrifin have recently received the documents they were requested to distribute to every farmer they buy from. The form gives the ILA and the Chief Rabbinate, or their agents, power of attorney to sell the land on which they grow produce to non-Jews during the sabbatical year, which occurs every seven years according to Jewish law and during which the land is required to lie fallow, and which begins on Rosh Hashanah in two weeks. The document is the legal basis for symbolicly selling the land to a non-Jew for the year-long period, known as "Heiter Mechira."
This sale is a legal fiction that allows the land to be farmed and the produce sold to Jews during the sabbatical year. The Chief Rabbinate and the ILA will serve as the go-betweens who will "sell" the land to a non-Jew on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. According to halakha, Jewish religious law, during the sabbatical year Jews may eat produce grown in the Land of Israel only if it was grown on land owned by non-Jews.
However, kashrut supervisors in the center of the country, acting on the orders of Rabbi Avraham Yosef, the Chief Rabbi of Holon, are also demanding that Arab farmers sign the document. One Arab farmer who was given the document said that he was terrified to find out that he was required to sell his land as a condition to continue selling his produce with rabbinical supervision. "For 30 years, I have been in agriculture, and I have seen five or six sabbatical years," he said. "Suddenly, they are telling us that they will remove the kashrut [certification] from our wholesalers if we do not agree to sell the land.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/898515.htmlPeople are scared, since our produce is sold to Jews all over the country." A kashrut supervisor from the rabbinate explained that they wanted "to be sure that all of the land is sold to a non-Jew. The problem is that some of the Arab farmers are [leasing] ILA land, and are farming what is in fact Jewish land. [Any non-Jew who] presents us with a land registry deed that proves that the land is his will be exempted from signing the forms," said the supervisor. The head of the Chief Rabbinate's committee on the sabbatical year, Rabbi Zeev Witman, promised that "All the agricultural produce grown by Arabs will be accepted. They can ignore this document." On the other hand, Rabbi Yosef insisted that "Arab farmers must sign, since there are many go-betweens among Arab farmers and we want to discourage them."
lundi 20 août 2007
ILA leasing Arab-owned land in Jerusalem to Ateret Cohanim
Haaretz 08:57 20/08/2007
By Meron Rapoport, Haaretz Correspondent
The Israel Lands Administration (ILA) is working together with the Ateret Cohanim association to wrest from Palestinian landowners control of 30 dunams (7.5 acres) of land in East Jerusalem and to transfer it to the association without a tender. Such is the claim outlined in a petition submitted two weeks ago to the High Court of Justice, and appearing in documents which Haaretz has received. Ateret Cohanim promotes settlement of Jews in and around the Old City, and at times takes over Palestinian assets in East Jerusalem so as to "Judaize" that area. The land in question, an olive grove called Kerem Hamufti, is in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. From the documents received, it emerges that the ILA has signed a contract with Ateret Cohanim for "the agricultural cultivation" of the land, even though the association has no experience in such work.
The documents indicate that the contract was signed even though the land that the ILA leased apparently does not belong to it and the Interior Ministry recognizes that the Palestinian landowners "have an interest" in it. A senior source at the ILA has said the contract was signed in order "to keep the territory in Jewish hands." In the petition it is claimed that an authorized official at the ILA "acted to advance the interests of Ateret Cohanim," to prevent the Palestinians who claim ownership of the land from developing it. The petitioners define the ILA action as "corrupt" and are asking the attorney general to investigate "the involvement of Ateret Cohanim in governmental decision-making." In March, 40 years after declaring its intentions to do so, the state formally expropriated the land, at the request of the ILA. Former finance minister Abraham Hirchson signed on the plan to expropriate the property under the rubric of "acquisition for public needs." In its petition to the High Court, the Palestinian landowners, the Arab Hotels Company, asks for the expropriation to be prohibited because it was done "for an extraneous, illegitimate, racist and discriminatory purpose ... An illegitimate and corrupt hand has worked hand in glove with the authorities or other elements to harm the petitioner's rights, and to disinherit the petitioner for purposes of leasing the land to Ateret Cohanim." Kerem Hamufti is named for its former owner, Haj Amin al-Husseini, the mufti of Jerusalem. According to Israeli and Jordanian documents, in the 1960s it was purchased by the Arab Hotels Company of East Jerusalem. After the area was annexed to Israel after the Six-Day War, the Finance Ministry stated its intention to expropriate the land "for public purposes," but this was never carried out and the Palestinian owners continued to cultivate it. Several times over the years an Israeli court confirmed that the company is indeed owner of the property. About seven years ago the Palestinian owners submitted to the planning authorities a request to build a hotel, a conference center and a cultural center on the land. Architect Moshe Margalit, who drew up the plan, relates that at the time the District Planning Commission confirmed that the East Jerusalem company has ownership rights to the land. The Interior Ministry confirmed to Haaretz that the company has been allowed to continue the planning as it has been proved that it "has an interest in the land." Municipal blessing From the summaries of meetings concerning the property at the Interior Ministry, it emerges that representatives of the ILA were present, but did not mention they had leased the land to Ateret Cohanim or that it belongs to the ILA. Margalit relates that the Palestinian landowners' plan was presented "to the most senior people at the Jerusalem Municipality" and received their blessing. The petition also states that the mayor of Jerusalem at the time, Ehud Olmert, and his deputy, Yehuda Pollack, the chairman of the Local Planning and Building Committee, supported it. However, at a certain stage, relates Margalit, it seemed that Ateret Cohanim also submitted a plan for this parcel of land: Two years beforehand, the ILA had granted permission to Irving Moskowitz, the American Jewish millionaire who supports Ateret Cohanim, to plan a neighborhood on Kerem Hamufti. A person close to the association aims to build 250 housing units there, and pressured ministers in former prime minister Ariel Sharon's first government to approve it. In June, 2000, immediately after the plan by Moskowitz and Ateret Cohanim was revealed, the landowners' attorneys applied to Jerusalem's Local Planning and Building Committee with a request to dismiss the scheme because "those who submitted it are not the owners of the land." The committee told the attorneys that the plan had been "shelved." A few months ago the Arab Hotels Company received notice from the Magistrates Court, allowing it to evict a Palestinian who was squatting on the land. However, on the day of the eviction, the Amidar company, on behalf of the ILA, filed a demand to stop it. While the ILA and Amidar acknowledge this was indeed a matter of a squatter, a senior source at the ILA has told Haaretz that the Palestinian "was working with Ateret Cohanim." The source explains his presence was necessary "to prevent theft of land by Palestinians." The current petition says the state owns about 20 percent of Kerem Hamufti under the Absentee Property Law, as it belonged to Al-Husseini, who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. However, the Palestinian landowners' lawyers insist that the law does not apply to the property because it was purchased from the Al-Husseini family before Israeli rule began in East Jerusalem in 1967. Attorney Danny Kramer, the representative of the official guardian of absentee property, is also a signatory to the petition, which states that the guardian has no connection to the land, and also that the ILA has been leasing it to Ateret Cohanim "for some years now." In its petition, the Arab Hotels Company argues that the low lease being paid by Ateret Cohanim is proof that this is an "artificial contract." The association is paying NIS 42.5 per dunam (which comes to NIS 1,278 for the entire parcel of land), although it is in a prestigious location. The ILA's official response to Haaretz states that the contract with the Jewish association was signed "more than five years ago"; a senior ILA source says the contract was signed "at the beginning of the 1990s." At the ILA they were not able to explain how the entire plot of land was leased to Ateret Cohanim, despite the fact that even the ILA itself says the state owns only 20 percent of it. The ILA explains the fact that they dealt with the association without a tender by saying "it was the only applicant." Concerning Ateret Cohanim's lack of experience in agriculture, the ILA says: "It is not stipulated anywhere that the minimal condition for submitting an application for cultivation is prior experience." Based on past High Court of Justice rulings saying that if the state does not implement an expropriation order for many years, it's possible to annul it, the Palestinian landowners are asking the court to issue a show cause order, requiring the state to explain why it should not prohibit the expropriation in this case.
By Meron Rapoport, Haaretz Correspondent
The Israel Lands Administration (ILA) is working together with the Ateret Cohanim association to wrest from Palestinian landowners control of 30 dunams (7.5 acres) of land in East Jerusalem and to transfer it to the association without a tender. Such is the claim outlined in a petition submitted two weeks ago to the High Court of Justice, and appearing in documents which Haaretz has received. Ateret Cohanim promotes settlement of Jews in and around the Old City, and at times takes over Palestinian assets in East Jerusalem so as to "Judaize" that area. The land in question, an olive grove called Kerem Hamufti, is in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. From the documents received, it emerges that the ILA has signed a contract with Ateret Cohanim for "the agricultural cultivation" of the land, even though the association has no experience in such work.
The documents indicate that the contract was signed even though the land that the ILA leased apparently does not belong to it and the Interior Ministry recognizes that the Palestinian landowners "have an interest" in it. A senior source at the ILA has said the contract was signed in order "to keep the territory in Jewish hands." In the petition it is claimed that an authorized official at the ILA "acted to advance the interests of Ateret Cohanim," to prevent the Palestinians who claim ownership of the land from developing it. The petitioners define the ILA action as "corrupt" and are asking the attorney general to investigate "the involvement of Ateret Cohanim in governmental decision-making." In March, 40 years after declaring its intentions to do so, the state formally expropriated the land, at the request of the ILA. Former finance minister Abraham Hirchson signed on the plan to expropriate the property under the rubric of "acquisition for public needs." In its petition to the High Court, the Palestinian landowners, the Arab Hotels Company, asks for the expropriation to be prohibited because it was done "for an extraneous, illegitimate, racist and discriminatory purpose ... An illegitimate and corrupt hand has worked hand in glove with the authorities or other elements to harm the petitioner's rights, and to disinherit the petitioner for purposes of leasing the land to Ateret Cohanim." Kerem Hamufti is named for its former owner, Haj Amin al-Husseini, the mufti of Jerusalem. According to Israeli and Jordanian documents, in the 1960s it was purchased by the Arab Hotels Company of East Jerusalem. After the area was annexed to Israel after the Six-Day War, the Finance Ministry stated its intention to expropriate the land "for public purposes," but this was never carried out and the Palestinian owners continued to cultivate it. Several times over the years an Israeli court confirmed that the company is indeed owner of the property. About seven years ago the Palestinian owners submitted to the planning authorities a request to build a hotel, a conference center and a cultural center on the land. Architect Moshe Margalit, who drew up the plan, relates that at the time the District Planning Commission confirmed that the East Jerusalem company has ownership rights to the land. The Interior Ministry confirmed to Haaretz that the company has been allowed to continue the planning as it has been proved that it "has an interest in the land." Municipal blessing From the summaries of meetings concerning the property at the Interior Ministry, it emerges that representatives of the ILA were present, but did not mention they had leased the land to Ateret Cohanim or that it belongs to the ILA. Margalit relates that the Palestinian landowners' plan was presented "to the most senior people at the Jerusalem Municipality" and received their blessing. The petition also states that the mayor of Jerusalem at the time, Ehud Olmert, and his deputy, Yehuda Pollack, the chairman of the Local Planning and Building Committee, supported it. However, at a certain stage, relates Margalit, it seemed that Ateret Cohanim also submitted a plan for this parcel of land: Two years beforehand, the ILA had granted permission to Irving Moskowitz, the American Jewish millionaire who supports Ateret Cohanim, to plan a neighborhood on Kerem Hamufti. A person close to the association aims to build 250 housing units there, and pressured ministers in former prime minister Ariel Sharon's first government to approve it. In June, 2000, immediately after the plan by Moskowitz and Ateret Cohanim was revealed, the landowners' attorneys applied to Jerusalem's Local Planning and Building Committee with a request to dismiss the scheme because "those who submitted it are not the owners of the land." The committee told the attorneys that the plan had been "shelved." A few months ago the Arab Hotels Company received notice from the Magistrates Court, allowing it to evict a Palestinian who was squatting on the land. However, on the day of the eviction, the Amidar company, on behalf of the ILA, filed a demand to stop it. While the ILA and Amidar acknowledge this was indeed a matter of a squatter, a senior source at the ILA has told Haaretz that the Palestinian "was working with Ateret Cohanim." The source explains his presence was necessary "to prevent theft of land by Palestinians." The current petition says the state owns about 20 percent of Kerem Hamufti under the Absentee Property Law, as it belonged to Al-Husseini, who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. However, the Palestinian landowners' lawyers insist that the law does not apply to the property because it was purchased from the Al-Husseini family before Israeli rule began in East Jerusalem in 1967. Attorney Danny Kramer, the representative of the official guardian of absentee property, is also a signatory to the petition, which states that the guardian has no connection to the land, and also that the ILA has been leasing it to Ateret Cohanim "for some years now." In its petition, the Arab Hotels Company argues that the low lease being paid by Ateret Cohanim is proof that this is an "artificial contract." The association is paying NIS 42.5 per dunam (which comes to NIS 1,278 for the entire parcel of land), although it is in a prestigious location. The ILA's official response to Haaretz states that the contract with the Jewish association was signed "more than five years ago"; a senior ILA source says the contract was signed "at the beginning of the 1990s." At the ILA they were not able to explain how the entire plot of land was leased to Ateret Cohanim, despite the fact that even the ILA itself says the state owns only 20 percent of it. The ILA explains the fact that they dealt with the association without a tender by saying "it was the only applicant." Concerning Ateret Cohanim's lack of experience in agriculture, the ILA says: "It is not stipulated anywhere that the minimal condition for submitting an application for cultivation is prior experience." Based on past High Court of Justice rulings saying that if the state does not implement an expropriation order for many years, it's possible to annul it, the Palestinian landowners are asking the court to issue a show cause order, requiring the state to explain why it should not prohibit the expropriation in this case.
Dalia Itzik: State must apologize to Israel's Holocaust survivors
Haaretz 20:47 20/08/2007
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent
Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik said Monday that the State of Israel must apologize to Holocaust survivors for all the funds that the state has withheld from them over the years. Itzik spoke during a special Knesset discussion on the topic of monetary assistance to impoverished survivors. "The State of Israel demanded the reparation money that was transferred from Germany, but wasn't wise enough to channel the funds correctly for the benefit of those who needed and deserved it," Itzik said at the discussion. "Today we are here to repair that mistake, so that we are able to look the survivors in the eye, and with humility, tell them on behalf of the State of Israel, and on behalf of Israeli society, that we are sorry."
Last week, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss published a special report which concluded that the Finance Ministry had delayed and canceled financial support for institutions that assist survivors. The report found that funds that were designated for survivors were not used for that purpose, nor is the primary body charged with coordinating the activities of survivors' organizations funded at all. According to the report, the problem is a result of mismanagement in the Finance Ministry. Lindenstrauss further determined that survivors experience years of delays in processing their claims due to bureaucratic obstacles and the lack of adequate manpower. During Monday's discussion, several MKs criticized Itzik for deferring the discussion until after a deal was struck Sunday between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the survivors' groups over the amount of monthly assistance they would be eligible to receive. Meretz Party Chair Zahava Gal-On criticized Olmert for failing to attend the special discussion. She added that the government mustn't discriminate between types of survivors, referring the distinction the prime minister had made between survivors who endured the camps, and those who escaped the Nazi-controlled areas and ended up in Soviet territories. The agreement reached between the Olmert and the survivors stipulated a monthly stipend for those who had survived the camps, but not the "second circle" survivors. "There is no difference between people who experienced pain, suffering, humiliation, were tortured and fled," Gal-On said. MK Ophir Pines-Paz (Labor) said that "Israel cannot conduct another selection," referring to the selection the survivors underwent on their way to the camps. However, government representative and Pensioners' Minister Rafi Eitan said that the large number of survivors requires such a sub-division. MK Collette Avital (Labor) warned against the possibility that the treasury would undermine the planned assistance by dragging its feet. "Israel's government must take organizational decisions in addition to budgetary decisions. If we don't make the bureaucratic system more efficient, repair those failures the state comptroller referred to in his report, and ensure that the survivors receive appropriate and respectable treatment, the money allocated to them will continue to get stuck in the depths of bureaucracy and one day soon we will discover that the pretty decisions made yesterday (Sunday) won't be worth more than the paper they are written on." MK Sarah Marom Shalev (Pensioners), a Holocaust survivor herself, urged the Knesset not to approve the 2008 budget until the financial aid to survivors is finalized. She said "yesterday I was at the funeral of one of my closest friends, a Holocaust survivor. He died at age 72 with nothing." On Sunday, Olmert agreed, during his meeting with representatives of Holocaust survivors, to allocate NIS 100 million next year for medical and nursing-care benefits to survivors living in Israel. In addition, he said the survivors would enjoy municipal tax discounts, an exemption from the television tax, and NIS 30 million in vacation and convalescence benefits. The funds allotted for convalescence and for medical and nursing-care benefits, which will be distributed by the Holocaust Survivors' Welfare Fund, will double in 2009. Olmert refused, however, to grant benefits to survivors who fled Nazi-controlled territory and were not placed in concentration camps or ghettos, saying that to do so would be to create an "ethnic gap" between European Holocaust survivors and elderly Israelis who fled persecution in other countries, such as Iraq. "I don't doubt for even one moment the distress of those who fled from countries where the Nazis were, and they are survivors of the Nazi occupation," Olmert said, adding, on the other hand, that "I am not disregarding those who fled from the enemies of Israel - the Persians, the Moroccans, the Tunisians and the Syrians." Noah Flug, who heads the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, which represented the survivors in negotiations, told Olmert that two-thirds of Holocaust survivors from Poland managed to flee eastward during the Nazi occupation. He said most international groups and foreign governments - and previously, the Israeli government - recognized such refugees as survivors in every way. The government negotiators were initially leaning toward granting benefits to those who fled Nazi-controlled territory, but changed their position due to the opposition of the Finance Ministry's budget division. The ministry said financial problems relating to such survivors should instead be resolved within the context of a solution for all needy elderly Israelis. The National Economics Council is due to come up with such a solution by the Rosh Hashanah holiday in mid-September. The Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors is aiming to help those who have fallen through the cracks, and who receive little government support in the form of the benefits received by most survivors that were in concentration camps or ghettos. Some 8,000 survivors who have yet to receive a special government allotment for various bureaucratic reasons will be receiving NIS 1,200 a month for the next two years. The government will try to convince Germany to provide the funds for the payout. If it does not succeed, it will increase the benefits paid by Israel to NIS 1,600 a month after the two years have passed. In addition, some 7,000 survivors who receive reparations from a German fund established in the 1990s, and who subsist thanks to income supplements, will receive an annual grant of NIS 3,000. The government will also fund a center that will inform survivors concerning their financial rights and help them receive the money that is due them. The government, whose negotiating team was led by Prime Minister's Office director general Raanan Dinur, also agreed to symbolic gestures such as granting survivors a badge of appreciation on the occasion of Israel's upcoming 60th birthday. It will also establish a committee - half of whose members are survivors, and half ministerial directors - which will meet twice a year to discuss survivors' benefits and any related problems that might arise. The government also committee to promote legislation recognizing the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors as the representative group in any future negotiations with the government.
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent
Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik said Monday that the State of Israel must apologize to Holocaust survivors for all the funds that the state has withheld from them over the years. Itzik spoke during a special Knesset discussion on the topic of monetary assistance to impoverished survivors. "The State of Israel demanded the reparation money that was transferred from Germany, but wasn't wise enough to channel the funds correctly for the benefit of those who needed and deserved it," Itzik said at the discussion. "Today we are here to repair that mistake, so that we are able to look the survivors in the eye, and with humility, tell them on behalf of the State of Israel, and on behalf of Israeli society, that we are sorry."
Last week, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss published a special report which concluded that the Finance Ministry had delayed and canceled financial support for institutions that assist survivors. The report found that funds that were designated for survivors were not used for that purpose, nor is the primary body charged with coordinating the activities of survivors' organizations funded at all. According to the report, the problem is a result of mismanagement in the Finance Ministry. Lindenstrauss further determined that survivors experience years of delays in processing their claims due to bureaucratic obstacles and the lack of adequate manpower. During Monday's discussion, several MKs criticized Itzik for deferring the discussion until after a deal was struck Sunday between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the survivors' groups over the amount of monthly assistance they would be eligible to receive. Meretz Party Chair Zahava Gal-On criticized Olmert for failing to attend the special discussion. She added that the government mustn't discriminate between types of survivors, referring the distinction the prime minister had made between survivors who endured the camps, and those who escaped the Nazi-controlled areas and ended up in Soviet territories. The agreement reached between the Olmert and the survivors stipulated a monthly stipend for those who had survived the camps, but not the "second circle" survivors. "There is no difference between people who experienced pain, suffering, humiliation, were tortured and fled," Gal-On said. MK Ophir Pines-Paz (Labor) said that "Israel cannot conduct another selection," referring to the selection the survivors underwent on their way to the camps. However, government representative and Pensioners' Minister Rafi Eitan said that the large number of survivors requires such a sub-division. MK Collette Avital (Labor) warned against the possibility that the treasury would undermine the planned assistance by dragging its feet. "Israel's government must take organizational decisions in addition to budgetary decisions. If we don't make the bureaucratic system more efficient, repair those failures the state comptroller referred to in his report, and ensure that the survivors receive appropriate and respectable treatment, the money allocated to them will continue to get stuck in the depths of bureaucracy and one day soon we will discover that the pretty decisions made yesterday (Sunday) won't be worth more than the paper they are written on." MK Sarah Marom Shalev (Pensioners), a Holocaust survivor herself, urged the Knesset not to approve the 2008 budget until the financial aid to survivors is finalized. She said "yesterday I was at the funeral of one of my closest friends, a Holocaust survivor. He died at age 72 with nothing." On Sunday, Olmert agreed, during his meeting with representatives of Holocaust survivors, to allocate NIS 100 million next year for medical and nursing-care benefits to survivors living in Israel. In addition, he said the survivors would enjoy municipal tax discounts, an exemption from the television tax, and NIS 30 million in vacation and convalescence benefits. The funds allotted for convalescence and for medical and nursing-care benefits, which will be distributed by the Holocaust Survivors' Welfare Fund, will double in 2009. Olmert refused, however, to grant benefits to survivors who fled Nazi-controlled territory and were not placed in concentration camps or ghettos, saying that to do so would be to create an "ethnic gap" between European Holocaust survivors and elderly Israelis who fled persecution in other countries, such as Iraq. "I don't doubt for even one moment the distress of those who fled from countries where the Nazis were, and they are survivors of the Nazi occupation," Olmert said, adding, on the other hand, that "I am not disregarding those who fled from the enemies of Israel - the Persians, the Moroccans, the Tunisians and the Syrians." Noah Flug, who heads the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, which represented the survivors in negotiations, told Olmert that two-thirds of Holocaust survivors from Poland managed to flee eastward during the Nazi occupation. He said most international groups and foreign governments - and previously, the Israeli government - recognized such refugees as survivors in every way. The government negotiators were initially leaning toward granting benefits to those who fled Nazi-controlled territory, but changed their position due to the opposition of the Finance Ministry's budget division. The ministry said financial problems relating to such survivors should instead be resolved within the context of a solution for all needy elderly Israelis. The National Economics Council is due to come up with such a solution by the Rosh Hashanah holiday in mid-September. The Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors is aiming to help those who have fallen through the cracks, and who receive little government support in the form of the benefits received by most survivors that were in concentration camps or ghettos. Some 8,000 survivors who have yet to receive a special government allotment for various bureaucratic reasons will be receiving NIS 1,200 a month for the next two years. The government will try to convince Germany to provide the funds for the payout. If it does not succeed, it will increase the benefits paid by Israel to NIS 1,600 a month after the two years have passed. In addition, some 7,000 survivors who receive reparations from a German fund established in the 1990s, and who subsist thanks to income supplements, will receive an annual grant of NIS 3,000. The government will also fund a center that will inform survivors concerning their financial rights and help them receive the money that is due them. The government, whose negotiating team was led by Prime Minister's Office director general Raanan Dinur, also agreed to symbolic gestures such as granting survivors a badge of appreciation on the occasion of Israel's upcoming 60th birthday. It will also establish a committee - half of whose members are survivors, and half ministerial directors - which will meet twice a year to discuss survivors' benefits and any related problems that might arise. The government also committee to promote legislation recognizing the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors as the representative group in any future negotiations with the government.
jeudi 16 août 2007
Rights group protests death of Bethlehem teen at checkpoint
Haaretz 01:49 16/08/2007
By Lily Galili
A gigantic inscription stretches across the separation wall behind the roadblock cutting Bethlehem off from Jerusalem. Put up by the Tourism Ministry, it reads "Jerusalem-Bethlehem - love and peace." It's nice to see that the government ministries have a sense of humor, even if a chilling one. Radi Alwahash, 18, died at the roadblock, after a traffic accident, while his body systems failed, and it took an hour and a half to get him from Bethlehem to the hospital in Jerusalem.
Here's a first in the history of deaths at roadblocks: Physicians for Human Rights has filed a criminal complaint with the Tel Aviv police against the Civil Administration's health coordinator, Dalia Basa, accusing her of negligent homicide. In a small room in the Bethlehem Red Crescent offices, Abdelhalim Ja'afra, director of emergency services for the Bethlehem area, pulled out a thick file containing its records of roadblocks and ambulances. Each patient's name and address are inscribed in hand-written columns, along with the time of the call and the time of going to and from the roadblock. The file also records the dichotomy of the occupation, noting that an Israel Defense Forces doctor and Magen David Adom emergency service staff worked tirelessly to save the life of the young Palestinian, who had been run over right after completing his last matriculation exam; an army helicopter was called, before it was decided that an ambulance would be quicker. But Alwahash died in the ambulance, which was denied permission to cross into Israel. The chronology what happened in the hour and a half between the moment Alwahash was run over until he died is also included in a comprehensive report compiled by PHR on the entrance to Israel of ambulances from the West Bank. The incident occurred on June 29. The report states that at around 9 P.M. Mohammed Abu-Ajaima, the Red Crescent liaison officer, was informed of the accident and dispatched an ambulance to the scene, which met the army ambulance and the IDF doctor, who began life-saving procedures on Alwahash. An MDA ambulance also arrived on the scene and and at 9:46 P.M., it began to transport Alwahash to the roadblock on the way to the hospital. According to testimony in the PHR report and conversations with Bethlehem Red Crescent personnel, Basa called the Red Crescent emergency line twice. The first time, the police complaint states, she wanted to know why the injured man had not been evacuated in a Red Crescent ambulance. The second time, she shouted at the liaison officer that she would appoint an investigative committee to find out why the Red Crescent personnel had refused to evacuate Alwahash. Despite the Red Crescent officer's explanations, she is quoted as saying, "My dear Abu-Ajaima, the injured man is prevented for security reasons from entering Israel." Abu-Ajaima responded that Alwahash was being treated by MDA, and Basa would be responsible if anything happened to him. The police complaint states that at this point, Basa answered, "My dear Abu-Ajaima, my name is Dalia Basa and I am not afraid of you or bigger people than you." The police complaint states that Basa claimed she had instructed MDA not to transfer Alwahash to Jerusalem, and had ordered Abu-Ajaima to send a Red Crescent ambulance to pick up the injured man. Mohammed Abu-Riyan, a medic and ambulance driver, set out for the roadblock. "I found the patient in critical condition, with the MDA treating him as best it could," he told Haaretz this week at the Red Crescent offices. "I was told I had to rush him to the trauma unit at Hadassah [University] Hospital in Ein Karem. But the MDA man took me aside and told me that the soldiers and Dalia did not agree, and he could not be brought into Israel." At 10:25 P.M. Alwahash died in the MDA ambulance. The Civil Administration and the Defense Ministry have so far not elucidated the nature of Alwahash's "security past." The Civil Administration responded: "The Civil Administration is unaware at this time of an official complaint against the health coordinator, Dalia Basa. The Civil Administration is aware of the tendentious claims against Basa by the Physicians for Human Rights, both in this and in other cases, and rejects them. The circumstances of the case have been checked following the organization's inquiry of the Civil Administration, and Basa's actions were found to be blameless." The Civil Administration accused PHR of damaging Basa's good name and "releasing false information." An aide to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, attorney Ruth Bar, told Haaretz that the case was still under investigation. A source in the Red Crescent offices in Bethlehem said: "In this work, Dalia is God."
By Lily Galili
A gigantic inscription stretches across the separation wall behind the roadblock cutting Bethlehem off from Jerusalem. Put up by the Tourism Ministry, it reads "Jerusalem-Bethlehem - love and peace." It's nice to see that the government ministries have a sense of humor, even if a chilling one. Radi Alwahash, 18, died at the roadblock, after a traffic accident, while his body systems failed, and it took an hour and a half to get him from Bethlehem to the hospital in Jerusalem.
Here's a first in the history of deaths at roadblocks: Physicians for Human Rights has filed a criminal complaint with the Tel Aviv police against the Civil Administration's health coordinator, Dalia Basa, accusing her of negligent homicide. In a small room in the Bethlehem Red Crescent offices, Abdelhalim Ja'afra, director of emergency services for the Bethlehem area, pulled out a thick file containing its records of roadblocks and ambulances. Each patient's name and address are inscribed in hand-written columns, along with the time of the call and the time of going to and from the roadblock. The file also records the dichotomy of the occupation, noting that an Israel Defense Forces doctor and Magen David Adom emergency service staff worked tirelessly to save the life of the young Palestinian, who had been run over right after completing his last matriculation exam; an army helicopter was called, before it was decided that an ambulance would be quicker. But Alwahash died in the ambulance, which was denied permission to cross into Israel. The chronology what happened in the hour and a half between the moment Alwahash was run over until he died is also included in a comprehensive report compiled by PHR on the entrance to Israel of ambulances from the West Bank. The incident occurred on June 29. The report states that at around 9 P.M. Mohammed Abu-Ajaima, the Red Crescent liaison officer, was informed of the accident and dispatched an ambulance to the scene, which met the army ambulance and the IDF doctor, who began life-saving procedures on Alwahash. An MDA ambulance also arrived on the scene and and at 9:46 P.M., it began to transport Alwahash to the roadblock on the way to the hospital. According to testimony in the PHR report and conversations with Bethlehem Red Crescent personnel, Basa called the Red Crescent emergency line twice. The first time, the police complaint states, she wanted to know why the injured man had not been evacuated in a Red Crescent ambulance. The second time, she shouted at the liaison officer that she would appoint an investigative committee to find out why the Red Crescent personnel had refused to evacuate Alwahash. Despite the Red Crescent officer's explanations, she is quoted as saying, "My dear Abu-Ajaima, the injured man is prevented for security reasons from entering Israel." Abu-Ajaima responded that Alwahash was being treated by MDA, and Basa would be responsible if anything happened to him. The police complaint states that at this point, Basa answered, "My dear Abu-Ajaima, my name is Dalia Basa and I am not afraid of you or bigger people than you." The police complaint states that Basa claimed she had instructed MDA not to transfer Alwahash to Jerusalem, and had ordered Abu-Ajaima to send a Red Crescent ambulance to pick up the injured man. Mohammed Abu-Riyan, a medic and ambulance driver, set out for the roadblock. "I found the patient in critical condition, with the MDA treating him as best it could," he told Haaretz this week at the Red Crescent offices. "I was told I had to rush him to the trauma unit at Hadassah [University] Hospital in Ein Karem. But the MDA man took me aside and told me that the soldiers and Dalia did not agree, and he could not be brought into Israel." At 10:25 P.M. Alwahash died in the MDA ambulance. The Civil Administration and the Defense Ministry have so far not elucidated the nature of Alwahash's "security past." The Civil Administration responded: "The Civil Administration is unaware at this time of an official complaint against the health coordinator, Dalia Basa. The Civil Administration is aware of the tendentious claims against Basa by the Physicians for Human Rights, both in this and in other cases, and rejects them. The circumstances of the case have been checked following the organization's inquiry of the Civil Administration, and Basa's actions were found to be blameless." The Civil Administration accused PHR of damaging Basa's good name and "releasing false information." An aide to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, attorney Ruth Bar, told Haaretz that the case was still under investigation. A source in the Red Crescent offices in Bethlehem said: "In this work, Dalia is God."
Balad MK blames Barak for death of Palestinian at roadblock
Haaretz 21:15 16/08/2007
By Lily Galili and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents
MK Said Nafa (Balad) on Thursday held Defense Minister Ehud Barak personally responsible for the death of Radi Alwahash, an 18-year-old Palestinian who died roughly six weeks ago at an Israel Defense Forces checkpoint. Alwahash was involved in a traffic accident which left him in a critical condition, and it took an hour and a half to transfer him from Bethlehem to hospital in Jerusalem. Physicians for Human Rights filed a criminal complaint on Wednesday with the Tel Aviv police against the Civil Administration's health coordinator, Dalia Basa, accusing her of negligent homicide. This is the first such complaint, though numerous Palestinians have died due to roadblock delays.
After the complaint was reported in Haaretz on Thursday, Nafa sent a letter to Barak stating, "The responsibility for this killing lies solely on your soldiers, as head of the establishment... what happened is not only a criminal crime. It is a crime against humanity." MK Nafa also wrote that he expects the defense minister to provide a response on steps he intends to take to ensure these "crimes" are not repeated. Abdelhalim Ja'afra, director of emergency services for the Bethlehem area, showed Haaretz a thick file containing records of roadblocks and ambulances. Each patient's name and address are inscribed in hand-written columns, along with the time of the call and the time of going to and from the roadblock. The file notes that an Israel Defense Forces doctor and Magen David Adom emergency service staff worked tirelessly to save the life of the young Palestinian, who had been run over right after completing his last matriculation exam. An army helicopter was called, before it was decided that an ambulance would be quicker. But Alwahash died in the ambulance, which was denied permission to cross into Israel.
The chronology what happened in the hour and a half between the moment Alwahash was run over until he died is also included in a comprehensive report compiled by PHR on the entrance to Israel of ambulances from the West Bank. The incident occurred on June 29. The report states that at around 9 P.M., Mohammed Abu-Ajaima, the Red Crescent liaison officer, was informed of the accident and dispatched an ambulance to the scene, which met the army ambulance and the IDF doctor, who began life-saving procedures on Alwahash. An MDA ambulance also arrived on the scene and and at 9:46 P.M., it began to transport Alwahash to the roadblock on the way to the hospital. According to testimony in the PHR report and conversations with Bethlehem Red Crescent personnel, Basa called the Red Crescent emergency line twice. The first time, the police complaint states, she wanted to know why the injured man had not been evacuated in a Red Crescent ambulance. The second time, she shouted at the liaison officer that she would appoint an investigative committee to find out why the Red Crescent personnel had refused to evacuate Alwahash. Despite the Red Crescent officer's explanations, she is quoted as saying, "My dear Abu-Ajaima, the injured man is prevented for security reasons from entering Israel." Abu-Ajaima responded that Alwahash was being treated by MDA, and Basa would be responsible if anything happened to him. The police complaint states that at this point, Basa answered, "My dear Abu-Ajaima, my name is Dalia Basa and I am not afraid of you or bigger people than you." The police complaint states that Basa claimed she had instructed MDA not to transfer Alwahash to Jerusalem, and had ordered Abu-Ajaima to send a Red Crescent ambulance to pick up the injured man. Mohammed Abu-Riyan, a medic and ambulance driver, set out for the roadblock. "I found the patient in critical condition, with the MDA treating him as best it could," he told Haaretz this week at the Red Crescent offices. "I was told I had to rush him to the trauma unit at Hadassah [University] Hospital in Ein Karem. But the MDA man took me aside and told me that the soldiers and Dalia did not agree, and he could not be brought into Israel." At 10:25 P.M., Alwahash died in the MDA ambulance.
The Civil Administration and the Defense Ministry have so far not elucidated the nature of Alwahash's "security past." The Civil Administration responded: "The Civil Administration is unaware at this time of an official complaint against the health coordinator, Dalia Basa. The Civil Administration is aware of the tendentious claims against Basa by the Physicians for Human Rights, both in this and in other cases, and rejects them. The circumstances of the case have been checked following the organization's inquiry of the Civil Administration, and Basa's actions were found to be blameless." The Civil Administration accused PHR of damaging Basa's good name and "releasing false information." An aide to Barak, attorney Ruth Bar, told Haaretz that the case was still under investigation.
By Lily Galili and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents
MK Said Nafa (Balad) on Thursday held Defense Minister Ehud Barak personally responsible for the death of Radi Alwahash, an 18-year-old Palestinian who died roughly six weeks ago at an Israel Defense Forces checkpoint. Alwahash was involved in a traffic accident which left him in a critical condition, and it took an hour and a half to transfer him from Bethlehem to hospital in Jerusalem. Physicians for Human Rights filed a criminal complaint on Wednesday with the Tel Aviv police against the Civil Administration's health coordinator, Dalia Basa, accusing her of negligent homicide. This is the first such complaint, though numerous Palestinians have died due to roadblock delays.
After the complaint was reported in Haaretz on Thursday, Nafa sent a letter to Barak stating, "The responsibility for this killing lies solely on your soldiers, as head of the establishment... what happened is not only a criminal crime. It is a crime against humanity." MK Nafa also wrote that he expects the defense minister to provide a response on steps he intends to take to ensure these "crimes" are not repeated. Abdelhalim Ja'afra, director of emergency services for the Bethlehem area, showed Haaretz a thick file containing records of roadblocks and ambulances. Each patient's name and address are inscribed in hand-written columns, along with the time of the call and the time of going to and from the roadblock. The file notes that an Israel Defense Forces doctor and Magen David Adom emergency service staff worked tirelessly to save the life of the young Palestinian, who had been run over right after completing his last matriculation exam. An army helicopter was called, before it was decided that an ambulance would be quicker. But Alwahash died in the ambulance, which was denied permission to cross into Israel.
The chronology what happened in the hour and a half between the moment Alwahash was run over until he died is also included in a comprehensive report compiled by PHR on the entrance to Israel of ambulances from the West Bank. The incident occurred on June 29. The report states that at around 9 P.M., Mohammed Abu-Ajaima, the Red Crescent liaison officer, was informed of the accident and dispatched an ambulance to the scene, which met the army ambulance and the IDF doctor, who began life-saving procedures on Alwahash. An MDA ambulance also arrived on the scene and and at 9:46 P.M., it began to transport Alwahash to the roadblock on the way to the hospital. According to testimony in the PHR report and conversations with Bethlehem Red Crescent personnel, Basa called the Red Crescent emergency line twice. The first time, the police complaint states, she wanted to know why the injured man had not been evacuated in a Red Crescent ambulance. The second time, she shouted at the liaison officer that she would appoint an investigative committee to find out why the Red Crescent personnel had refused to evacuate Alwahash. Despite the Red Crescent officer's explanations, she is quoted as saying, "My dear Abu-Ajaima, the injured man is prevented for security reasons from entering Israel." Abu-Ajaima responded that Alwahash was being treated by MDA, and Basa would be responsible if anything happened to him. The police complaint states that at this point, Basa answered, "My dear Abu-Ajaima, my name is Dalia Basa and I am not afraid of you or bigger people than you." The police complaint states that Basa claimed she had instructed MDA not to transfer Alwahash to Jerusalem, and had ordered Abu-Ajaima to send a Red Crescent ambulance to pick up the injured man. Mohammed Abu-Riyan, a medic and ambulance driver, set out for the roadblock. "I found the patient in critical condition, with the MDA treating him as best it could," he told Haaretz this week at the Red Crescent offices. "I was told I had to rush him to the trauma unit at Hadassah [University] Hospital in Ein Karem. But the MDA man took me aside and told me that the soldiers and Dalia did not agree, and he could not be brought into Israel." At 10:25 P.M., Alwahash died in the MDA ambulance.
The Civil Administration and the Defense Ministry have so far not elucidated the nature of Alwahash's "security past." The Civil Administration responded: "The Civil Administration is unaware at this time of an official complaint against the health coordinator, Dalia Basa. The Civil Administration is aware of the tendentious claims against Basa by the Physicians for Human Rights, both in this and in other cases, and rejects them. The circumstances of the case have been checked following the organization's inquiry of the Civil Administration, and Basa's actions were found to be blameless." The Civil Administration accused PHR of damaging Basa's good name and "releasing false information." An aide to Barak, attorney Ruth Bar, told Haaretz that the case was still under investigation.
mardi 14 août 2007
Ultra-Orthodox Jews deliver a population boom to the West Bank
Haaretz Last update - 20:18 14/08/2007
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent
The settler population is growing twice as fast as the rest of the country every year, and the ultra-Orthodox community is responsible for approximately half its annual growth, according to Haaretz's analysis of Interior Ministry figures for 2006. In the last year, the settler population has grown by 5.45 percent, from 260,932 to 275,156. Without the ultra-Orthodox community the West Bank settlements' growth is 3.7 percent, only a little more than the natural growth the settlements would see, which stands at 3.5 percent. The growth rate in the ultra-Orthodox Beitar Ilit and Modi'in Ilit is higher than most places in Israel. Modi'in Ilit's population, some 40,000, grows annually by about 11 percent (this year it has grown by 12.5 percent).
Beitar Ilit's population, some 35,000, grows annually by some 10 percent - five to six times more than Jerusalem and Tel Aviv's population growth respectively and twice as much as the growth of many other settlements. By the end of June, 72,106 people - more than a quarter of the West Bank settlers - were concentrated in Beitar Ilit, Modi'in Ilit and Kochav Yaakov, another ultra-Orthodox settlement, according to Interior Ministry figures.
Most of the ultra-Orthodox settlers - young couples or young families with numerous children - do not live in the West Bank for ideological reasons. They moved to the settlements due to the soaring real estate prices in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, which created an acute housing shortage. The local authorities predict that in 10 to 15 years Betar Ilit's population may consist of some 17,500 families totaling some 100,000 residents. Today the town has 5,828 occupied housing units, 1,102 units are under construction and another 5,800 are being planned. Modi'in Ilit has 6,800 occupied housing units and its population is expected to reach 150,000 in the near future.
The ultra-Orthodox rabbis sanctioned living in these settlements in view of the housing shortage, but they also assumed these territories would be annexed to Israel sometime in the future. Yankel, about 30 years old, was born in Jerusalem and lives in Beitar Ilit with his six children. When he reached marrying age, he could not afford an apartment in Jerusalem. A few years ago, with the help of his parents and a mortgage, he purchased a four-room apartment in the town for $115,000. A few months ago his brother also married, left Jerusalem and moved next door to Yankel. Their parents are now considering moving to Beitar Ilit as well. Yankel is a teacher. His wife and sister-in-law found high-tech jobs, as have many ultra-Orthodox women in recent years. His brother found work driving children to school.
Every year 60 new classrooms open in Beitar Ilit, where the children make up 63 percent of the population. In Jerusalem, by comparison, the children make up 45 percent of the population. Some 48 babies are born in Modi'in Ilit weekly - some 2,700 a year - and every year an average of 57 new first-grade classes open. Between the end of June 2006 and June 2007, the number of settlers in the West Bank grew by 5.45 percent. Last year the growth of the ultra-Orthodox population made up 40 percent of the increase in the settlers' numbers, and this year its contribution is bigger.
Beitar Ilit and Modi'in Ilit are in the settlement bloc earmarked to be annexed to Israel, according to this government and the plans of previous ones. Before retiring, former GOC Central Command Yair Naveh signed an order joining Beitar Ilit's area with Jerusalem's municipal area. Ilit, the region's busiest transport company, makes some 400 trips to and from Jerusalem daily. Modi'in Ilit, which is on Highway 443 between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, is also near Highway 6 and will be on the future Tel Aviv-Modi'in-Jerusalem railway line.
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent
The settler population is growing twice as fast as the rest of the country every year, and the ultra-Orthodox community is responsible for approximately half its annual growth, according to Haaretz's analysis of Interior Ministry figures for 2006. In the last year, the settler population has grown by 5.45 percent, from 260,932 to 275,156. Without the ultra-Orthodox community the West Bank settlements' growth is 3.7 percent, only a little more than the natural growth the settlements would see, which stands at 3.5 percent. The growth rate in the ultra-Orthodox Beitar Ilit and Modi'in Ilit is higher than most places in Israel. Modi'in Ilit's population, some 40,000, grows annually by about 11 percent (this year it has grown by 12.5 percent).
Beitar Ilit's population, some 35,000, grows annually by some 10 percent - five to six times more than Jerusalem and Tel Aviv's population growth respectively and twice as much as the growth of many other settlements. By the end of June, 72,106 people - more than a quarter of the West Bank settlers - were concentrated in Beitar Ilit, Modi'in Ilit and Kochav Yaakov, another ultra-Orthodox settlement, according to Interior Ministry figures.
Most of the ultra-Orthodox settlers - young couples or young families with numerous children - do not live in the West Bank for ideological reasons. They moved to the settlements due to the soaring real estate prices in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, which created an acute housing shortage. The local authorities predict that in 10 to 15 years Betar Ilit's population may consist of some 17,500 families totaling some 100,000 residents. Today the town has 5,828 occupied housing units, 1,102 units are under construction and another 5,800 are being planned. Modi'in Ilit has 6,800 occupied housing units and its population is expected to reach 150,000 in the near future.
The ultra-Orthodox rabbis sanctioned living in these settlements in view of the housing shortage, but they also assumed these territories would be annexed to Israel sometime in the future. Yankel, about 30 years old, was born in Jerusalem and lives in Beitar Ilit with his six children. When he reached marrying age, he could not afford an apartment in Jerusalem. A few years ago, with the help of his parents and a mortgage, he purchased a four-room apartment in the town for $115,000. A few months ago his brother also married, left Jerusalem and moved next door to Yankel. Their parents are now considering moving to Beitar Ilit as well. Yankel is a teacher. His wife and sister-in-law found high-tech jobs, as have many ultra-Orthodox women in recent years. His brother found work driving children to school.
Every year 60 new classrooms open in Beitar Ilit, where the children make up 63 percent of the population. In Jerusalem, by comparison, the children make up 45 percent of the population. Some 48 babies are born in Modi'in Ilit weekly - some 2,700 a year - and every year an average of 57 new first-grade classes open. Between the end of June 2006 and June 2007, the number of settlers in the West Bank grew by 5.45 percent. Last year the growth of the ultra-Orthodox population made up 40 percent of the increase in the settlers' numbers, and this year its contribution is bigger.
Beitar Ilit and Modi'in Ilit are in the settlement bloc earmarked to be annexed to Israel, according to this government and the plans of previous ones. Before retiring, former GOC Central Command Yair Naveh signed an order joining Beitar Ilit's area with Jerusalem's municipal area. Ilit, the region's busiest transport company, makes some 400 trips to and from Jerusalem daily. Modi'in Ilit, which is on Highway 443 between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, is also near Highway 6 and will be on the future Tel Aviv-Modi'in-Jerusalem railway line.
For J'lem's mixed Jewish areas, cooperation may be the thing
Haaretz Last update - 02:08 14/08/2007
By Jonathan Lis
One of the most loaded questions about Jerusalem's future revolves around the exodus of the secular and Modern Orthodox communities from the city's neighborhoods. In recent years, ultra-Orthodox communities gained control over a number of neighborhoods in the capital that were once bastions of the secular or Modern Orthodox. Since the construction of the separation fence, we have also seen Arab families move into Jewish neighborhoods, particularly in the northern parts of the city where rents are relatively low.
A new study by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies offers a glimpse into the future of Jerusalem neighborhoods. According to its authors, most people in the capital are not Zionists, being either Arab or ultra-Orthodox. Furthermore, for the first time, there are signs that the city's secular middle class is moving to the suburbs. The study points out that the rapid growth of the Haredi population is pushing the ultra-Orthodox communities into secular neighborhoods of the city.
The study, funded by the Jerusalem Association of Community Centers, seeks to understand if there is a need to alter the character of the community administrations, dispersed throughout the city, due to the expected demographic changes in these communities over the next decade or so. The community administrations are a unique Jerusalem initiative to allow local people to manage their own affairs, and have been in operation for the past 14 years. "The administrations were meant to serve as a tool in the hands of the residents so that they can have a real influence on all aspects of life inside the neighborhood, and on citywide issues, in social as well as urban-economic issues," said Zvika Chernikhovsky, director of the Jerusalem Association of Community Centers.
The report's authors recommend that the city's community administrations be rearranged, especially in neighborhoods where the ultra-Orthodox have settled in recent years. For example, it is recommended that the community administration in Romema, where the ultra-Orthodox are now the majority, be unified with Givat Shaul nearby.
The authors, Israel Kimche and Maya Hushan, believe that only through a parallel administrative structure, Haredi and secular, will it be possible to prevent the massive exodus of secular and Modern Orthodox from the city's neighborhoods.
The report warns that the rapid growth of the Haredi population in the city may result in tensions with the secular communities in Jerusalem. "The more the residents are given the opportunity to affect the events in their neighborhoods, the more they are satisfied and willing to work in favor of the community."
However, the city's Association of Community Centers regards the Haredi and Arab communities as insular and not tolerant of other communities. Secular and Modern Orthodox communities, on the other hand, are considered to be residents who are capable of benefiting together from urban and neighborhood-based services. If the municipality will not allow the operation of two administrations in the same neighborhood, the study warns that the position of the ultra-Orthodox will become more dominant in mixed neighborhoods.
"In certain neighborhoods, if the municipality declares that the administration will shift from being secular to Haredi, the position of the ultra-Orthodox will become more dominant and the secular residents will simply leave," said a source involved in the community administrations project. "The problem is that the Haredi leadership is interested in precisely this type of exodus: The municipality is expected to give in to Haredi pressure and argue there is no justification for holding parallel administrations in the same neighborhood."
By Jonathan Lis
One of the most loaded questions about Jerusalem's future revolves around the exodus of the secular and Modern Orthodox communities from the city's neighborhoods. In recent years, ultra-Orthodox communities gained control over a number of neighborhoods in the capital that were once bastions of the secular or Modern Orthodox. Since the construction of the separation fence, we have also seen Arab families move into Jewish neighborhoods, particularly in the northern parts of the city where rents are relatively low.
A new study by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies offers a glimpse into the future of Jerusalem neighborhoods. According to its authors, most people in the capital are not Zionists, being either Arab or ultra-Orthodox. Furthermore, for the first time, there are signs that the city's secular middle class is moving to the suburbs. The study points out that the rapid growth of the Haredi population is pushing the ultra-Orthodox communities into secular neighborhoods of the city.
The study, funded by the Jerusalem Association of Community Centers, seeks to understand if there is a need to alter the character of the community administrations, dispersed throughout the city, due to the expected demographic changes in these communities over the next decade or so. The community administrations are a unique Jerusalem initiative to allow local people to manage their own affairs, and have been in operation for the past 14 years. "The administrations were meant to serve as a tool in the hands of the residents so that they can have a real influence on all aspects of life inside the neighborhood, and on citywide issues, in social as well as urban-economic issues," said Zvika Chernikhovsky, director of the Jerusalem Association of Community Centers.
The report's authors recommend that the city's community administrations be rearranged, especially in neighborhoods where the ultra-Orthodox have settled in recent years. For example, it is recommended that the community administration in Romema, where the ultra-Orthodox are now the majority, be unified with Givat Shaul nearby.
The authors, Israel Kimche and Maya Hushan, believe that only through a parallel administrative structure, Haredi and secular, will it be possible to prevent the massive exodus of secular and Modern Orthodox from the city's neighborhoods.
The report warns that the rapid growth of the Haredi population in the city may result in tensions with the secular communities in Jerusalem. "The more the residents are given the opportunity to affect the events in their neighborhoods, the more they are satisfied and willing to work in favor of the community."
However, the city's Association of Community Centers regards the Haredi and Arab communities as insular and not tolerant of other communities. Secular and Modern Orthodox communities, on the other hand, are considered to be residents who are capable of benefiting together from urban and neighborhood-based services. If the municipality will not allow the operation of two administrations in the same neighborhood, the study warns that the position of the ultra-Orthodox will become more dominant in mixed neighborhoods.
"In certain neighborhoods, if the municipality declares that the administration will shift from being secular to Haredi, the position of the ultra-Orthodox will become more dominant and the secular residents will simply leave," said a source involved in the community administrations project. "The problem is that the Haredi leadership is interested in precisely this type of exodus: The municipality is expected to give in to Haredi pressure and argue there is no justification for holding parallel administrations in the same neighborhood."
lundi 6 août 2007
AG mulls U.K. call to charge IDF troops with photographer's death
Haaretz 09:03 06/08/2007
By Akiva Eldar and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondents
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz will thoroughly examine the British government's demand that Israeli soldiers be indicted for murder, in the killing of photographer James Miller in Gaza in 2003, Israel promised London over the weekend. However, in his conversation with Mark Lyall Grant, political director of the British Foreign Office, Israeli Ambassador Zvi Hefetz warned that Mazuz may not be able to complete his investigations by Tuesday, as London has demanded. Peter Goldsmith, Britain's attorney general at the time of the incident, wrote Mazuz on June 26 requesting he clarify what he termed new information. He said that if Mazuz did not respond within six weeks, legal proceedings would be launched in Britain against the commander of the force that shot Miller, and who was cleared in a disciplinary hearing, as well as other soldiers and officers. This would necessitate seeking the soldiers' extradition under the Israel-Britain extradition treaty.
The British Foreign Office told Miller's family that Israel thinks the dispute can be resolved by payment of compensation to Miller's widow. However, Lyall Grant told Prosor, the proposed compensation will have to be increased substantially from the sum on offer until now. Miller's brother, John, told Haaretz on Sunday that the sum Israel is currently offering is "insulting," equal to only two years of the slain photographer's earnings. He also said that he doubted Israel would either extradite the soldiers or try them itself, and even if it did try them, he doubted that justice would be done in an Israeli court. In response, the Justice Ministry said that Mazuz thoroughly examined the case when Britain first protested the military advocate general's decision not to indict the soldiers, but has agreed to do so again in response to the new British appeal, and will respond "promptly, according to the Israeli authorities' timetable." Miller was killed while filming a documentary in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt. According to Alrahman Abdallah, a freelance journalist who accompanied Miller as his translator, the photographer was shot as he tried to exit a Rafah house while holding a white flag. A British inquiry, in part based on evidence from the video recording of the incident, showed that Miller was shot in the neck by an IDF patrol. At the time the IDF expressed its sorrow for Miller's death and said that "the entry of photographers into war zones during exchanges of fire endangers both sides." However, according to eyewitnesses, there had been calm in the area at the time of the shooting. Initially, the IDF suggested that Miller had been killed by Palestinians. Ballistic tests carried out on behalf of Miller's family showed that IDF troops killed Miller, and the Military Advocate General ordered an investigation into the killing. Following a lengthy investigation, it was decided in March 2005 not to press criminal charges against those involved because of insufficient evidence. The commander of the Israeli force that shot and killed Miller faced disciplinary proceedings for illegal use of firearms, but was exonerated. Miller's family filed a suit against the State of Israel for murder, and in 2006 a British jury ruled the killing a murder.
By Akiva Eldar and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondents
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz will thoroughly examine the British government's demand that Israeli soldiers be indicted for murder, in the killing of photographer James Miller in Gaza in 2003, Israel promised London over the weekend. However, in his conversation with Mark Lyall Grant, political director of the British Foreign Office, Israeli Ambassador Zvi Hefetz warned that Mazuz may not be able to complete his investigations by Tuesday, as London has demanded. Peter Goldsmith, Britain's attorney general at the time of the incident, wrote Mazuz on June 26 requesting he clarify what he termed new information. He said that if Mazuz did not respond within six weeks, legal proceedings would be launched in Britain against the commander of the force that shot Miller, and who was cleared in a disciplinary hearing, as well as other soldiers and officers. This would necessitate seeking the soldiers' extradition under the Israel-Britain extradition treaty.
The British Foreign Office told Miller's family that Israel thinks the dispute can be resolved by payment of compensation to Miller's widow. However, Lyall Grant told Prosor, the proposed compensation will have to be increased substantially from the sum on offer until now. Miller's brother, John, told Haaretz on Sunday that the sum Israel is currently offering is "insulting," equal to only two years of the slain photographer's earnings. He also said that he doubted Israel would either extradite the soldiers or try them itself, and even if it did try them, he doubted that justice would be done in an Israeli court. In response, the Justice Ministry said that Mazuz thoroughly examined the case when Britain first protested the military advocate general's decision not to indict the soldiers, but has agreed to do so again in response to the new British appeal, and will respond "promptly, according to the Israeli authorities' timetable." Miller was killed while filming a documentary in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt. According to Alrahman Abdallah, a freelance journalist who accompanied Miller as his translator, the photographer was shot as he tried to exit a Rafah house while holding a white flag. A British inquiry, in part based on evidence from the video recording of the incident, showed that Miller was shot in the neck by an IDF patrol. At the time the IDF expressed its sorrow for Miller's death and said that "the entry of photographers into war zones during exchanges of fire endangers both sides." However, according to eyewitnesses, there had been calm in the area at the time of the shooting. Initially, the IDF suggested that Miller had been killed by Palestinians. Ballistic tests carried out on behalf of Miller's family showed that IDF troops killed Miller, and the Military Advocate General ordered an investigation into the killing. Following a lengthy investigation, it was decided in March 2005 not to press criminal charges against those involved because of insufficient evidence. The commander of the Israeli force that shot and killed Miller faced disciplinary proceedings for illegal use of firearms, but was exonerated. Miller's family filed a suit against the State of Israel for murder, and in 2006 a British jury ruled the killing a murder.
Israeli Arab group calls on Abbas to renew dialogue with Hamas
Haaretz 04:11 06/08/2007
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
A top Israeli Arab group on Sunday urged Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement to renew ties with Hamas, severed last June when the Islamic group forcibly took over the Gaza Strip. In a Ramallah meeting with Abbas, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee called on Abbas to create the conditions that will bring about the cessation of open hostilities between Palestinian factions.The committee's chairman, Shawki Khatib, and other members expressed the "pain of the Palestinian public in Israel" over the infighting in the Palestinian territories.
In response, Abbas reiterated his stance that Hamas must first apologize for its actions in Gaza and restore the status quo that existed in the Strip prior to its takeover. The Fatah leader described in detail events in the PA since the last general elections, and emphasized his demand at the time for the international community to respect the choice of the Palestinian electorate that elected Hamas. Those who eventually did not respect the Palestinian voters was Hamas who staged a coup against PA institutions, he said.Chairman of the Arab-Jewish Hadash party, MK Mohammed Barakeh, expressed his support of Abbas and said that the deterioration of relations within Palestinian society must end. "We support those who back a national plan to create a Palestinian state and a solution for the refugee problem," Barakeh said."If someone thinks he must redraw the face of Palestinian society before the creation of a state, he is making a mistake and committing a sin," he added.
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
A top Israeli Arab group on Sunday urged Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement to renew ties with Hamas, severed last June when the Islamic group forcibly took over the Gaza Strip. In a Ramallah meeting with Abbas, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee called on Abbas to create the conditions that will bring about the cessation of open hostilities between Palestinian factions.The committee's chairman, Shawki Khatib, and other members expressed the "pain of the Palestinian public in Israel" over the infighting in the Palestinian territories.
In response, Abbas reiterated his stance that Hamas must first apologize for its actions in Gaza and restore the status quo that existed in the Strip prior to its takeover. The Fatah leader described in detail events in the PA since the last general elections, and emphasized his demand at the time for the international community to respect the choice of the Palestinian electorate that elected Hamas. Those who eventually did not respect the Palestinian voters was Hamas who staged a coup against PA institutions, he said.Chairman of the Arab-Jewish Hadash party, MK Mohammed Barakeh, expressed his support of Abbas and said that the deterioration of relations within Palestinian society must end. "We support those who back a national plan to create a Palestinian state and a solution for the refugee problem," Barakeh said."If someone thinks he must redraw the face of Palestinian society before the creation of a state, he is making a mistake and committing a sin," he added.
jeudi 2 août 2007
IDF to confine soldier who shot innocent Palestinian to his base
Haaretz 21:48 02/08/2007
By Yuval Azoulay and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents
An Israel Defense Forces soldier who apparently shot a Palestinian civilian without justification near Hebron last week will be released to an "open remand" on his base until Tuesday, according to a Jaffa Military Court ruling issued Thursday.The lieutenant who commanded the force, however, will remain in full remand until Tuesday. The other four soldiers involved in the incident, in which they hijacked a Palestinian taxi in the village of Dahariya and shot and seriously wounded an innocent bystander, have already been released.The soldier to be sent to "open remand" on his base is the one suspected of actually pulling the trigger.
On Friday a military court extended the remand of the lieutenant and the soldier suspected of pulling the trigger, while the military police continued its investigation, ordered by GOC Central Command, Major General Gadi Shamni. A central command inquiry is being conducted concurrently. The suspects had originally claimed that one of the platoon's soldiers had sprained his ankle during a morning patrol in the village and was no longer able to walk. According to their testimony, the officer then decided to stop and commandeer a Palestinian taxi. The soldiers, belonging to the Lavi Battalion of the Kfir Infantry Brigade, went on to claim that after they had tied up the driver and taken control of the vehicle, another Palestinian approached the car. The soldiers decided he was acting "suspiciously" and one of them fired shots in his direction, wounding him in the neck. According to the IDF sources, the initial investigation revealed that the soldiers had lied, and that none of them had sprained an ankle. Instead, the platoon had decided on its own accord to carry out an undercover operation, without coordinating the operation with their superiors. They allegedly removed their uniforms, donned civilian clothing and then commandeered the taxi. One of the senior officers conducting the inquiry referred to the soldiers' actions as "stupidity stemming from over-motivation." The investigation into the soldiers' action revealed that they had not stopped to treat the wounded Palestinian, who was reportedly severely hurt, and had in fact left him behind bleeding. The soldiers also failed to report the incident. The affair only came to light after the media reported about the wounded man.
By Yuval Azoulay and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents
An Israel Defense Forces soldier who apparently shot a Palestinian civilian without justification near Hebron last week will be released to an "open remand" on his base until Tuesday, according to a Jaffa Military Court ruling issued Thursday.The lieutenant who commanded the force, however, will remain in full remand until Tuesday. The other four soldiers involved in the incident, in which they hijacked a Palestinian taxi in the village of Dahariya and shot and seriously wounded an innocent bystander, have already been released.The soldier to be sent to "open remand" on his base is the one suspected of actually pulling the trigger.
On Friday a military court extended the remand of the lieutenant and the soldier suspected of pulling the trigger, while the military police continued its investigation, ordered by GOC Central Command, Major General Gadi Shamni. A central command inquiry is being conducted concurrently. The suspects had originally claimed that one of the platoon's soldiers had sprained his ankle during a morning patrol in the village and was no longer able to walk. According to their testimony, the officer then decided to stop and commandeer a Palestinian taxi. The soldiers, belonging to the Lavi Battalion of the Kfir Infantry Brigade, went on to claim that after they had tied up the driver and taken control of the vehicle, another Palestinian approached the car. The soldiers decided he was acting "suspiciously" and one of them fired shots in his direction, wounding him in the neck. According to the IDF sources, the initial investigation revealed that the soldiers had lied, and that none of them had sprained an ankle. Instead, the platoon had decided on its own accord to carry out an undercover operation, without coordinating the operation with their superiors. They allegedly removed their uniforms, donned civilian clothing and then commandeered the taxi. One of the senior officers conducting the inquiry referred to the soldiers' actions as "stupidity stemming from over-motivation." The investigation into the soldiers' action revealed that they had not stopped to treat the wounded Palestinian, who was reportedly severely hurt, and had in fact left him behind bleeding. The soldiers also failed to report the incident. The affair only came to light after the media reported about the wounded man.
jeudi 26 juillet 2007
Attorney Itzhak Bam: "Jewish National Fund lands must be devoted to Jewish settlement"
Haaretz 26.7.2007
A Mazuz bypass law
By Yitzhak Bam
This week, in an attempt to rescue some of the honor of hundreds of thousands of our forefathers who collected their pennies and dreamed of redeeming the land, the Knesset had its say by a significant majority. With sweeping support it passed, at a preliminary reading, the amendment to the Israel Lands Administration Law, which will enable the ILA to administer the lands of the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael) according to the fund's goals, and to lease them for Jewish settlement only. The response among the non-Jewish MKs was bitter, and Meretz voiced criticism as well. The word "racism" sneaked in once again, the same old ugly and immoral accusation. This may be the place to cite what one of our public leaders once said about the JNF's lands: "The lands of the JNF, which were purchased with the money of the Jewish people, are devoted to Jewish settlement, just as the Islamic Waqf is devoted to providing the social needs of the Muslim community." These words were said by Yaakov Hazan, the outstanding, historic leader of Mapam, the left wing of the Zionist labor movement. The amendment to the law only fulfills Hazan's words. The amendment makes it possible to devote JNF lands to the purpose for which Jews throughout the Diaspora collected their meager funds in the "blue box" - Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel. Anyone who claims that this is racism apparently believes that Zionism is racism, or simply does not understand the legal situation and the reason for the legislation.
The JNF purchased lands and administered them independently. It leased them for Jewish settlement. With the establishment of the state, the Israeli government, which was suffering from a lack of cash, sold from 1.25 million to 1.5 million dunams of land to the JNF. This was land belonging to refugees who fled the country with the establishment of the state. The JNF paid genuine compensation for the lands and helped to fill the state's coffers. With the establishment of the state, the JNF was incorporated as a private company, according to the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael Law. The fund administered its lands on its own. In 1960 the Knesset reorganized the land legislation, and passed three laws. According to the law, JNF lands, such as those belonging to the state and the Israel Lands Development Authority, would be defined as "Israel lands," with their administration entrusted to the ILA, which was established according to the Israel Lands Administration Law. This meant that a government authority took over the administration of the lands belonging to the JNF. But the ILA promised to administer the JNF lands in accordance with the JNF's goals. Their main purpose is to settle Jews on purchased lands. This commitment was formalized in an agreement between the JNF and the State of Israel. By dint of this agreement, for over 50 years the ILA dealt with JNF lands in accordance with its goals, and everything was orderly and proper. But in the autumn of 2005, in the wake of an appeal by Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, the attorney general ruled in his reply to the High Court of Justice that the ILA was not permitted to administer JNF lands in the spirit of its goals and must lease all the lands it handles (including JNF lands) to anyone, ignoring the JNF's basic purpose and the agreement signed between the state and the JNF. The bill I formulated while taking part in the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, on the request of MK Uri Ariel and others, tries to restore the former situation and anchor in law what is self-evident: the ILA's moral obligation and authority to administer JNF lands in accordance with the fund's goals, so that lands purchased with Jewish donors' money will be devoted to Jewish settlement. This is not a law that bypasses the High Court, but a law that bypasses Attorney General Menachem Mazuz. Even if the bill is passed, it does not deny the state's obligation to lease lands to anyone who wants them. It only prevents the state from fulfilling this obligation at the expense of the JNF. So it is surprising that Meretz chose to send an Arab as its representative to the JNF directorate, just as the party would not send an Arab representative to the administration of the Jewish Agency. His interests are not among the interests and goals of the fund. The representative would almost certainly support the dismantling of the JNF, and almost certainly his purpose for sitting on the board is to neutralize the JNF's basic purpose. It is doubtful whether the Mapam visionaries dreamed of that. According to the fundamentals of justice and equality, the State of Israel must act for the benefit of all its citizens. The JNF is not obligated to work for non-Jewish settlement. If that is racism, all of Zionism is racism. And its supporters are racists, including Yaakov Hazan and his party, Mapam.
Attorney Yitzhak Bam is a member of the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel. He formulated the amendment to the Israel Lands Administration Law, which passed a preliminary reading in the Knesset.
A Mazuz bypass law
By Yitzhak Bam
This week, in an attempt to rescue some of the honor of hundreds of thousands of our forefathers who collected their pennies and dreamed of redeeming the land, the Knesset had its say by a significant majority. With sweeping support it passed, at a preliminary reading, the amendment to the Israel Lands Administration Law, which will enable the ILA to administer the lands of the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael) according to the fund's goals, and to lease them for Jewish settlement only. The response among the non-Jewish MKs was bitter, and Meretz voiced criticism as well. The word "racism" sneaked in once again, the same old ugly and immoral accusation. This may be the place to cite what one of our public leaders once said about the JNF's lands: "The lands of the JNF, which were purchased with the money of the Jewish people, are devoted to Jewish settlement, just as the Islamic Waqf is devoted to providing the social needs of the Muslim community." These words were said by Yaakov Hazan, the outstanding, historic leader of Mapam, the left wing of the Zionist labor movement. The amendment to the law only fulfills Hazan's words. The amendment makes it possible to devote JNF lands to the purpose for which Jews throughout the Diaspora collected their meager funds in the "blue box" - Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel. Anyone who claims that this is racism apparently believes that Zionism is racism, or simply does not understand the legal situation and the reason for the legislation.
The JNF purchased lands and administered them independently. It leased them for Jewish settlement. With the establishment of the state, the Israeli government, which was suffering from a lack of cash, sold from 1.25 million to 1.5 million dunams of land to the JNF. This was land belonging to refugees who fled the country with the establishment of the state. The JNF paid genuine compensation for the lands and helped to fill the state's coffers. With the establishment of the state, the JNF was incorporated as a private company, according to the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael Law. The fund administered its lands on its own. In 1960 the Knesset reorganized the land legislation, and passed three laws. According to the law, JNF lands, such as those belonging to the state and the Israel Lands Development Authority, would be defined as "Israel lands," with their administration entrusted to the ILA, which was established according to the Israel Lands Administration Law. This meant that a government authority took over the administration of the lands belonging to the JNF. But the ILA promised to administer the JNF lands in accordance with the JNF's goals. Their main purpose is to settle Jews on purchased lands. This commitment was formalized in an agreement between the JNF and the State of Israel. By dint of this agreement, for over 50 years the ILA dealt with JNF lands in accordance with its goals, and everything was orderly and proper. But in the autumn of 2005, in the wake of an appeal by Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, the attorney general ruled in his reply to the High Court of Justice that the ILA was not permitted to administer JNF lands in the spirit of its goals and must lease all the lands it handles (including JNF lands) to anyone, ignoring the JNF's basic purpose and the agreement signed between the state and the JNF. The bill I formulated while taking part in the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, on the request of MK Uri Ariel and others, tries to restore the former situation and anchor in law what is self-evident: the ILA's moral obligation and authority to administer JNF lands in accordance with the fund's goals, so that lands purchased with Jewish donors' money will be devoted to Jewish settlement. This is not a law that bypasses the High Court, but a law that bypasses Attorney General Menachem Mazuz. Even if the bill is passed, it does not deny the state's obligation to lease lands to anyone who wants them. It only prevents the state from fulfilling this obligation at the expense of the JNF. So it is surprising that Meretz chose to send an Arab as its representative to the JNF directorate, just as the party would not send an Arab representative to the administration of the Jewish Agency. His interests are not among the interests and goals of the fund. The representative would almost certainly support the dismantling of the JNF, and almost certainly his purpose for sitting on the board is to neutralize the JNF's basic purpose. It is doubtful whether the Mapam visionaries dreamed of that. According to the fundamentals of justice and equality, the State of Israel must act for the benefit of all its citizens. The JNF is not obligated to work for non-Jewish settlement. If that is racism, all of Zionism is racism. And its supporters are racists, including Yaakov Hazan and his party, Mapam.
Attorney Yitzhak Bam is a member of the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel. He formulated the amendment to the Israel Lands Administration Law, which passed a preliminary reading in the Knesset.
mercredi 25 juillet 2007
'Sweet revenge,' say new Germans - Israelis flock to ask for German nationality
By Ofer Aderet
Haaretz 25.7.2007
Holding her brand-new German passport, Avital Direktor, 29, of Azor, just had to laugh. "What a crazy world," she thought to herself. "Germany's soil is drenched with my family's blood, and in spite of it all, I got German citizenship. I see it as taking revenge on Hitler. Sweet revenge." The past year has seen 4,300 Israelis receive German citizenship, according to data released this week by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The figure represents a 50 percent increase over the previous year.
Avital, who belongs to that growing group of new German citizens, had not been aware that she was entitled to a German passport until three years ago. "Like many Israelis, I was completely unaware that I was entitled to citizenship," she said. Avital's grandparents are Holocaust survivors from Berlin and Stuttgart. When she asked them whether they objected to her applying for German citizenship, they asked whether she intended to go back to Germany to pick up where they "left off." It took Avital three years to get her German citizenship. "It's a long and complex process that stems from the rigid Germanic character," she said, recalling her experiences at the German embassy in Tel Aviv. "They require every possible piece of documentation. They want to see it all. Birth certificate, divorce papers, death certificates, the works." "Now, I will be able to pass it on to my children," she added. Avital said she is not surprised by the sharp rise in demand for German citizenship among Israelis. "Look at what's going on here. Ours is a land that devours its inhabitants. The obtuseness to the needy, the corruption. People are dying to get out of here." Avital hopes to study to be a sound technician in Germany. "Here, it's expensive like you wouldn't believe, but there, I'll get it practically free of charge. I had intended to study it in Israel, but I just can't afford it financially," she explained. According to Avital, most of her friends supported her decision to apply for German citizenship. "They said they wished they could get a German passport, too, and asked me what I was still doing here in Israel." But not all of Avital's friends jumped for joy. In her youth, she was a member of the right-wing Moledet party. She even attended demonstrations opposite the German embassy on Holocaust Memorial Day. "Some of my friends called me a traitor," she confessed.
Haaretz 25.7.2007
Holding her brand-new German passport, Avital Direktor, 29, of Azor, just had to laugh. "What a crazy world," she thought to herself. "Germany's soil is drenched with my family's blood, and in spite of it all, I got German citizenship. I see it as taking revenge on Hitler. Sweet revenge." The past year has seen 4,300 Israelis receive German citizenship, according to data released this week by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The figure represents a 50 percent increase over the previous year.
Avital, who belongs to that growing group of new German citizens, had not been aware that she was entitled to a German passport until three years ago. "Like many Israelis, I was completely unaware that I was entitled to citizenship," she said. Avital's grandparents are Holocaust survivors from Berlin and Stuttgart. When she asked them whether they objected to her applying for German citizenship, they asked whether she intended to go back to Germany to pick up where they "left off." It took Avital three years to get her German citizenship. "It's a long and complex process that stems from the rigid Germanic character," she said, recalling her experiences at the German embassy in Tel Aviv. "They require every possible piece of documentation. They want to see it all. Birth certificate, divorce papers, death certificates, the works." "Now, I will be able to pass it on to my children," she added. Avital said she is not surprised by the sharp rise in demand for German citizenship among Israelis. "Look at what's going on here. Ours is a land that devours its inhabitants. The obtuseness to the needy, the corruption. People are dying to get out of here." Avital hopes to study to be a sound technician in Germany. "Here, it's expensive like you wouldn't believe, but there, I'll get it practically free of charge. I had intended to study it in Israel, but I just can't afford it financially," she explained. According to Avital, most of her friends supported her decision to apply for German citizenship. "They said they wished they could get a German passport, too, and asked me what I was still doing here in Israel." But not all of Avital's friends jumped for joy. In her youth, she was a member of the right-wing Moledet party. She even attended demonstrations opposite the German embassy on Holocaust Memorial Day. "Some of my friends called me a traitor," she confessed.
dimanche 22 juillet 2007
Shifting attention from Yitzhar to Tel Aviv
By Yair Sheleg
Haaretz Last update - 01:29 22/07/2007
The timing of Danny Dayan's election as the new chair of the Yesha Council (which represents the settlements in Judea and Samaria) on Friday, July 13, was a coincidence, but it was symbolic. The election took place close to the date on which the settlers commemorated two years since the disengagement from Gaza (which began the day after the fast of the 9th of Av). The disengagement threw the Yesha Council into the most serious crisis in its history because it symbolized a crushing political failure in the most important struggle the council had ever engaged in. Had it not been for that crisis, it is doubtful whether Dayan, an activist who has until now not stood out in the settlement establishment and the second secular person to head the council since its inception, would have been elected to his new position.
The veteran members of the Yesha Council learned two important lessons from the crisis: One, that they must focus their activity on an ongoing public relations campaign, which will begin long before the next withdrawal plan is announced. And secondly, that they must no longer be portrayed as bearded men wearing skullcaps, with an agenda that differs from that of most of the Israeli public. Instead they have to place the emphasis on people who will not only speak like the general public, but look like them as well. For this task Dayan, a former owner of a high-tech firm, seems very suitable.
Dayan was born in 1955 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in a veteran Revisionist home. His maternal grandfather headed the Herut movement's branch in Argentina, as did his father Moshe. His uncle Mordechai Dayan (father of journalist Ilana Dayan) was active in the Likud -- its liberal branch -- and even headed the Keren Kayemeth leIsrael- Jewish National Fund as a Likud representative. Only his older brother, Haaretz journalist Aryeh Dayan, broke with the family's tradition when as an adult he became a leftist. Aryeh Dayan did not want to be interviewed for this article. Nor was Danny eager to talk about the relations between them, and made do with the statement: "We are brothers in every sense of the word, and because we are both people with heightened political awareness and there are polar differences between us, we try not to get into political discussions."
Dayan immigrated to Israel with his parents early in 1971 and completed high school here. He was drafted during the period of the Yom Kippur War and served in the Israel Defense Forces' computer unit. After his army service and his bachelor's degree studies in computer science he founded a software company, which he sold two years ago. Since then he has been devoting his time to business initiatives and to activity as a teacher of computers and economics at the Academic College of Judea and Samaria in Ariel. Shortly after getting married, Dayan went to live in Ma'ale Shomron, a mixed religious and secular community. Until his present post, his only political activity was in the Tehiya party, which he joined after the Likud, headed by Menachem Begin, signed the Camp David treaty. He is considered very close to Geula Cohen, a co-founder of Tehiya, and in the late 1980s, shortly before the party fell apart, he served as its secretary-general (1989-1991). He even ran for a place on the party's Knesset slate but did not reach a realistic slot.
The election of Dayan is part of a broad move to change the face of the council. Since its establishment in 1979, Yesha has been primarily a body that unites the local council heads in the territories. The council was joined by a small group of public figures, also settlers, which include Elyakim Haetzni, Yoel Bin-Nun and Israel Harel. After the disengagement a steering committee headed by Adi Mintz (the council's former secretary-general) was established, which was tasked with planning a process of rehabilitation and rejuvenation. The main idea was to turn the council from a municipal body into a public one, which would include not only settlers but all the prominent public figures of the rightist camp, with the local council heads constituting only a minority in the council plenum and even in its administration.
Thus Dayan, who was a marginal activist at the time, was invited to become a member of the new plenum. When he received the list of plenum members, he says, "I was angry. The steering committee didn't include a single secular member, and on the list of plenum members I was the only secular person from Judea and Samaria. They even planned a 'steering committee of rabbis' for the council." Dayan responded with an angry public letter. "To their credit it must be said that they responded to the letter quickly and invited me to a discussion with the Yesha local council heads and the members of the steering committee," he says. As a result, Dayan and another secular person, former finance minister Yigal Cohen-Orgad, were invited to join the steering committee. The second result was the election of Dayan as head of the council. The two years that have passed since the disengagement, says Dayan, have helped public relations, "not only because of the outcome of the disengagement, which is now obvious to everyone, but also because of the loss of values and the corruption. It has been proven that anyone who has no ethical backbone regarding the Land of Israel also lacks such a backbone when it comes to other issues." Along with the security argument, it looks as though that will be the main public relations argument. In its attempt to plan a solution to the crisis, the Yesha Council finds itself in a catch-22 situation: In order to attract the secular-bourgeois public (the Kadima and Likud electorates) it must present a moderate policy. In order to bring back those settlers and "orange youth" who were disappointed with the council, it must present an extremist and uncompromising policy.
Dayan, who emphasizes that he does not favor territorial compromise, believes he is suited to fulfill both tasks: "There is no question that my election caters mainly to society in general, but I may also succeed in improving relations with the Gav Hahar ["hump of the mountain"] settlements [a nickname for the extremist settlements, such as Yitzhar and Bracha, Y.S.]. It's possible that they will be willing to accept things from me that they are unwilling to accept from religious leaders." The basis for this assessment is not clear. In the wake of increasing religious extremism among the settlers, there are some who are barely willing to accept orders from "defeatist" rabbis, not to mention from a non-observant council head. It therefore seems that the council has decided to prefer Tel Aviv to Yitzhar. Moreover, the process of consolidating a broad public plenum testifies to the fact that rather than bringing extremists under its wing, Yesha hopes to receive broad public backing in the anticipated confrontation with them.
Haaretz Last update - 01:29 22/07/2007
The timing of Danny Dayan's election as the new chair of the Yesha Council (which represents the settlements in Judea and Samaria) on Friday, July 13, was a coincidence, but it was symbolic. The election took place close to the date on which the settlers commemorated two years since the disengagement from Gaza (which began the day after the fast of the 9th of Av). The disengagement threw the Yesha Council into the most serious crisis in its history because it symbolized a crushing political failure in the most important struggle the council had ever engaged in. Had it not been for that crisis, it is doubtful whether Dayan, an activist who has until now not stood out in the settlement establishment and the second secular person to head the council since its inception, would have been elected to his new position.
The veteran members of the Yesha Council learned two important lessons from the crisis: One, that they must focus their activity on an ongoing public relations campaign, which will begin long before the next withdrawal plan is announced. And secondly, that they must no longer be portrayed as bearded men wearing skullcaps, with an agenda that differs from that of most of the Israeli public. Instead they have to place the emphasis on people who will not only speak like the general public, but look like them as well. For this task Dayan, a former owner of a high-tech firm, seems very suitable.
Dayan was born in 1955 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in a veteran Revisionist home. His maternal grandfather headed the Herut movement's branch in Argentina, as did his father Moshe. His uncle Mordechai Dayan (father of journalist Ilana Dayan) was active in the Likud -- its liberal branch -- and even headed the Keren Kayemeth leIsrael- Jewish National Fund as a Likud representative. Only his older brother, Haaretz journalist Aryeh Dayan, broke with the family's tradition when as an adult he became a leftist. Aryeh Dayan did not want to be interviewed for this article. Nor was Danny eager to talk about the relations between them, and made do with the statement: "We are brothers in every sense of the word, and because we are both people with heightened political awareness and there are polar differences between us, we try not to get into political discussions."
Dayan immigrated to Israel with his parents early in 1971 and completed high school here. He was drafted during the period of the Yom Kippur War and served in the Israel Defense Forces' computer unit. After his army service and his bachelor's degree studies in computer science he founded a software company, which he sold two years ago. Since then he has been devoting his time to business initiatives and to activity as a teacher of computers and economics at the Academic College of Judea and Samaria in Ariel. Shortly after getting married, Dayan went to live in Ma'ale Shomron, a mixed religious and secular community. Until his present post, his only political activity was in the Tehiya party, which he joined after the Likud, headed by Menachem Begin, signed the Camp David treaty. He is considered very close to Geula Cohen, a co-founder of Tehiya, and in the late 1980s, shortly before the party fell apart, he served as its secretary-general (1989-1991). He even ran for a place on the party's Knesset slate but did not reach a realistic slot.
The election of Dayan is part of a broad move to change the face of the council. Since its establishment in 1979, Yesha has been primarily a body that unites the local council heads in the territories. The council was joined by a small group of public figures, also settlers, which include Elyakim Haetzni, Yoel Bin-Nun and Israel Harel. After the disengagement a steering committee headed by Adi Mintz (the council's former secretary-general) was established, which was tasked with planning a process of rehabilitation and rejuvenation. The main idea was to turn the council from a municipal body into a public one, which would include not only settlers but all the prominent public figures of the rightist camp, with the local council heads constituting only a minority in the council plenum and even in its administration.
Thus Dayan, who was a marginal activist at the time, was invited to become a member of the new plenum. When he received the list of plenum members, he says, "I was angry. The steering committee didn't include a single secular member, and on the list of plenum members I was the only secular person from Judea and Samaria. They even planned a 'steering committee of rabbis' for the council." Dayan responded with an angry public letter. "To their credit it must be said that they responded to the letter quickly and invited me to a discussion with the Yesha local council heads and the members of the steering committee," he says. As a result, Dayan and another secular person, former finance minister Yigal Cohen-Orgad, were invited to join the steering committee. The second result was the election of Dayan as head of the council. The two years that have passed since the disengagement, says Dayan, have helped public relations, "not only because of the outcome of the disengagement, which is now obvious to everyone, but also because of the loss of values and the corruption. It has been proven that anyone who has no ethical backbone regarding the Land of Israel also lacks such a backbone when it comes to other issues." Along with the security argument, it looks as though that will be the main public relations argument. In its attempt to plan a solution to the crisis, the Yesha Council finds itself in a catch-22 situation: In order to attract the secular-bourgeois public (the Kadima and Likud electorates) it must present a moderate policy. In order to bring back those settlers and "orange youth" who were disappointed with the council, it must present an extremist and uncompromising policy.
Dayan, who emphasizes that he does not favor territorial compromise, believes he is suited to fulfill both tasks: "There is no question that my election caters mainly to society in general, but I may also succeed in improving relations with the Gav Hahar ["hump of the mountain"] settlements [a nickname for the extremist settlements, such as Yitzhar and Bracha, Y.S.]. It's possible that they will be willing to accept things from me that they are unwilling to accept from religious leaders." The basis for this assessment is not clear. In the wake of increasing religious extremism among the settlers, there are some who are barely willing to accept orders from "defeatist" rabbis, not to mention from a non-observant council head. It therefore seems that the council has decided to prefer Tel Aviv to Yitzhar. Moreover, the process of consolidating a broad public plenum testifies to the fact that rather than bringing extremists under its wing, Yesha hopes to receive broad public backing in the anticipated confrontation with them.
jeudi 19 juillet 2007
Bill allocating JNF land to Jews only passes preliminary reading
Haaretz 07:43 19/07/2007
By Yoav Stern and Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondents
The Knesset plenum approved a bill Wednesday, in its preliminary reading, which calls for all lands under the Jewish National Fund (JNF) to be allocated to Jews only. The bill passed by a massive majority of 64 MKS to 16.The bill, initiated by MK Uri Ariel (National Union-National Religious Party), MK Zeev Elkin (Kadima), and MK Moshe Kahlon (Likud), is geared to bypass a 2004 court ruling which annulled an Israel Lands Administration (ILA) policy that prevented Arabs from participating in bids to purchase land owned by the JNF. As a result of the ruling, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz decided that all land managed by the ILA, including land owned by the Jewish National Fund, will be marketed without discrimination or limits including to non-Jews.
The JNF owns 13 percent of state land, purchased for Jewish settlement.When the bill was discussed in the Knesset presidency, there were demands to nullify it because it was called racist, but Knesset legal advisor Nurit Elstein said a bill should only be rejected if the racism is explicit in the proposal. Hadash Chairman MK Mohammed Barakeh called the bill an "abominable legislation" and added that "the Knesset's face is the face of Uri Ariel, the radical of the settlers." He maintained that, "this is another expression of a series of racist laws that are passed every day in the state of the Jews. The Arab population won't accept the theft of their rights to the lands that have been expropriated from them for years."In response to the bill, MK Ahmed Tibi (Ra`am-Ta`al) said "this is institutionalized Jewish racism and ethnic democracy that is raging against anything Arab." The Meretz faction said that the government's support in the racist bill exposes its real face. "The Knesset is giving an excellent excuse for whoever is asking to represent Israel as an apartheid state which must be destroyed," said the party's statement.MK Wassel Taha (Balad) said, "Only an insane Knesset passes a racist law that perpetuates the 'great land robbery of 1948' and changes it into an only Jewish asset."MK Jamal Zahalka, also of Balad, maintained that the law shows an increase in the level of racism, and a decrease in the level of democracy, and a sprint to the direction of institutionalized apartheid.MK Elkin, however, said that the bill comes to prevent the state of Israel from breaching the basic treaty between the state and the JNF, and to make historical justice.
By Yoav Stern and Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondents
The Knesset plenum approved a bill Wednesday, in its preliminary reading, which calls for all lands under the Jewish National Fund (JNF) to be allocated to Jews only. The bill passed by a massive majority of 64 MKS to 16.The bill, initiated by MK Uri Ariel (National Union-National Religious Party), MK Zeev Elkin (Kadima), and MK Moshe Kahlon (Likud), is geared to bypass a 2004 court ruling which annulled an Israel Lands Administration (ILA) policy that prevented Arabs from participating in bids to purchase land owned by the JNF. As a result of the ruling, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz decided that all land managed by the ILA, including land owned by the Jewish National Fund, will be marketed without discrimination or limits including to non-Jews.
The JNF owns 13 percent of state land, purchased for Jewish settlement.When the bill was discussed in the Knesset presidency, there were demands to nullify it because it was called racist, but Knesset legal advisor Nurit Elstein said a bill should only be rejected if the racism is explicit in the proposal. Hadash Chairman MK Mohammed Barakeh called the bill an "abominable legislation" and added that "the Knesset's face is the face of Uri Ariel, the radical of the settlers." He maintained that, "this is another expression of a series of racist laws that are passed every day in the state of the Jews. The Arab population won't accept the theft of their rights to the lands that have been expropriated from them for years."In response to the bill, MK Ahmed Tibi (Ra`am-Ta`al) said "this is institutionalized Jewish racism and ethnic democracy that is raging against anything Arab." The Meretz faction said that the government's support in the racist bill exposes its real face. "The Knesset is giving an excellent excuse for whoever is asking to represent Israel as an apartheid state which must be destroyed," said the party's statement.MK Wassel Taha (Balad) said, "Only an insane Knesset passes a racist law that perpetuates the 'great land robbery of 1948' and changes it into an only Jewish asset."MK Jamal Zahalka, also of Balad, maintained that the law shows an increase in the level of racism, and a decrease in the level of democracy, and a sprint to the direction of institutionalized apartheid.MK Elkin, however, said that the bill comes to prevent the state of Israel from breaching the basic treaty between the state and the JNF, and to make historical justice.
vendredi 6 juillet 2007
UN expert says U.S., EU, others ignoring rights abuses by Israel
Haaretz 05:20 06/07/2006
By The Associated Press
GENEVA - A UN human rights expert on Wednesday criticized the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations for ignoring countless Israeli violations of human rights, international law and other standards. John Dugard, a South African lawyer responsible for investigating alleged human rights abuses by Israel in Palestinian areas, said the United States and other international powers who make up the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators have done nothing to rein in Israel.
"Israel's conduct is morally indefensible," Dugard told an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council. "I am concerned with the law, and here it is clear that Israel is in violation of the most fundamental norms of humanitarian law and human rights law." Dugard said he had "every sympathy" with Israel Defense Forces Corporal Gilad Shalit, whose kidnapping by Palestinian militants in Gaza sparked the latest IDF reprisals, but he said Israel's response has only increased its violations of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of occupied people.
Dugard was the keynote speaker at the first emergency session of the new UN Human Rights Council, called at the request Friday of Arab countries, who are seeking a resolution that would censure Israel for its behavior. Israel's ambassador to the UN's European headquarters in Geneva called the session "a planned and premeditated" attack on his country, and said it continued the anti-Israel bias set by the discredited UN Human Rights Commission, which was phased out this year. Dugard, an anti-apartheid civil rights lawyer in the 1980s, was appointed by the dissolved commission in 2001 to investigate only violations by the Israeli side, prompting Israel and others to dismiss his reports as one-sided.
"We find ourselves in an absurd situation in which the Human Rights Council, convened into urgent session, ignores the rights of one side and holds a special meeting to defend the rights of the other side," Ambassador Itzhak Levanon told the 47-member body. Levanon also defended Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip, which followed the kidnapping of the IDF soldier in a cross-border raid on May 28. "It was triggered by the attack on our sovereign territory by Palestinian terrorist groups with the aim of sewing death," he said. "These terrorists dug a tunnel under the benevolent eye of the Palestinian authorities to achieve their goal."
Dugard said Israel's response, which has included the detention of Palestinian Cabinet ministers and other Hamas officials, broke the prohibition on collective punishment and on "measures of intimidation and terrorism" in the Fourth Geneva Convention, limiting the conduct of an occupying power. The arrest of Hamas Cabinet ministers and legislators "seems to constitute the taking of hostages," also prohibited by the convention, he added. "In the past week the situation has worsened," Dugard said. "In Gaza people are without water, food is scarce, medicines are running out, 200,000 households are without electricity due to the destruction of power plants," Dugard said. "Over 1,500 rounds of artillery have been showered on Gaza," he said. "Sonic booms terrorize the people. Transport has been seriously disrupted by the destruction of roads and bridges. Sanitation is threatened."
On Sunday, Israel reopened a major crossing point into Gaza to allow basic food products and humanitarian supplies to reach the coastal strip. But it closed the crossing a day later, citing a security threat. The United States and the EU urged Israel to exercise restraint, but they said the Palestinians also had to act for peace and release Shalit. "We call on the Palestinian leadership to bring an end to violence and terrorist activities, including the firing of rockets on Israeli territory," said Finnish Ambassador Vesa Himanen, speaking for the EU. U.S. Ambassador Warren W. Tichenor added: "Hamas cannot claim to govern responsibly while simultaneously calling for the destruction of Israel, sending in militants to carry out terrorist attacks and firing Qassam rockets into Israel from Gaza.
By The Associated Press
GENEVA - A UN human rights expert on Wednesday criticized the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations for ignoring countless Israeli violations of human rights, international law and other standards. John Dugard, a South African lawyer responsible for investigating alleged human rights abuses by Israel in Palestinian areas, said the United States and other international powers who make up the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators have done nothing to rein in Israel.
"Israel's conduct is morally indefensible," Dugard told an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council. "I am concerned with the law, and here it is clear that Israel is in violation of the most fundamental norms of humanitarian law and human rights law." Dugard said he had "every sympathy" with Israel Defense Forces Corporal Gilad Shalit, whose kidnapping by Palestinian militants in Gaza sparked the latest IDF reprisals, but he said Israel's response has only increased its violations of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of occupied people.
Dugard was the keynote speaker at the first emergency session of the new UN Human Rights Council, called at the request Friday of Arab countries, who are seeking a resolution that would censure Israel for its behavior. Israel's ambassador to the UN's European headquarters in Geneva called the session "a planned and premeditated" attack on his country, and said it continued the anti-Israel bias set by the discredited UN Human Rights Commission, which was phased out this year. Dugard, an anti-apartheid civil rights lawyer in the 1980s, was appointed by the dissolved commission in 2001 to investigate only violations by the Israeli side, prompting Israel and others to dismiss his reports as one-sided.
"We find ourselves in an absurd situation in which the Human Rights Council, convened into urgent session, ignores the rights of one side and holds a special meeting to defend the rights of the other side," Ambassador Itzhak Levanon told the 47-member body. Levanon also defended Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip, which followed the kidnapping of the IDF soldier in a cross-border raid on May 28. "It was triggered by the attack on our sovereign territory by Palestinian terrorist groups with the aim of sewing death," he said. "These terrorists dug a tunnel under the benevolent eye of the Palestinian authorities to achieve their goal."
Dugard said Israel's response, which has included the detention of Palestinian Cabinet ministers and other Hamas officials, broke the prohibition on collective punishment and on "measures of intimidation and terrorism" in the Fourth Geneva Convention, limiting the conduct of an occupying power. The arrest of Hamas Cabinet ministers and legislators "seems to constitute the taking of hostages," also prohibited by the convention, he added. "In the past week the situation has worsened," Dugard said. "In Gaza people are without water, food is scarce, medicines are running out, 200,000 households are without electricity due to the destruction of power plants," Dugard said. "Over 1,500 rounds of artillery have been showered on Gaza," he said. "Sonic booms terrorize the people. Transport has been seriously disrupted by the destruction of roads and bridges. Sanitation is threatened."
On Sunday, Israel reopened a major crossing point into Gaza to allow basic food products and humanitarian supplies to reach the coastal strip. But it closed the crossing a day later, citing a security threat. The United States and the EU urged Israel to exercise restraint, but they said the Palestinians also had to act for peace and release Shalit. "We call on the Palestinian leadership to bring an end to violence and terrorist activities, including the firing of rockets on Israeli territory," said Finnish Ambassador Vesa Himanen, speaking for the EU. U.S. Ambassador Warren W. Tichenor added: "Hamas cannot claim to govern responsibly while simultaneously calling for the destruction of Israel, sending in militants to carry out terrorist attacks and firing Qassam rockets into Israel from Gaza.
dimanche 24 juin 2007
Interior Min. increasingly revoking E. J'lem Arabs' residency permits
Haaretz 09:41 24/06/2007
By Shahar Ilan , Haaretz Correspondent
The number of East Jerusalem residents whose permanent residency status has been revoked has surged by more than six times in one year, according to Interior Ministry data made available to the human rights group B'Tselem. The ministry attributes this in part to "growing efficiency." In 2005 the number of residencies revoked stood at 222, while by 2006 the number rose to 1,363. This is the highest number of revoked permanent residency permits since the policy was introduced in 1995. Permanent status grants East Jerusalem residents most of the privileges enjoyed by Israeli citizens. The status can be revoked for taking up residence in the Palestinian Authority or abroad.
The policy of mass revocations has been in place for more than a decade. It began in 1995, toward the end of Eli Suissa's tenure as director of the Jerusalem District at the Interior Ministry. It heightened when he was appointed interior minister in 1996, when his party, Shas, joined the coalition government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Suissa was instrumental in making it harder for East Jerusalem residents to acquire construction permits, causing a serious housing shortage among Arabs in the city. This forced many Jerusalem Arabs to seek housing elsewhere, losing their permanent residency status. The peak years of this policy were 1996 (739 permits revoked), 1997 (1,067 permits) and 1998 (788 permits). When Natan Sharansky was interior minister from 1999 to 2000, the number of revoked residence permits dropped, and has leveled at 200 to 300 per year. The Interior Ministry has based its policy of revoking permanent status on a Supreme Court ruling in 1988 by its former president, Justice Aharon Barak. In the case of Palestinian-American psychologist Mubarak Awad, Barak set the precedent on the argument that permanent status - unlike naturalization - "is an expression of the reality of a permanent stay." Barak also noted that when that reality of permanent residence is no longer applicable, the status "cancels itself." In response to a request by B'Tselem, Shalom Benamo, who is in charge of releasing information to the public at the Interior Ministry, said that "most of the [cases] between 2005 and 2006 involved people who immigrated abroad and acquired foreign citizenship." The rest of the cases are the result of individuals living outside Jerusalem for seven years, Benamo said. He also noted that in 2000, in a document that came to be known as "The Sharansky Declaration," any person who has maintained "links" to the city is recognized as retaining permanent status. A single visit to Israel every three years is considered sufficient to maintain links to the city, and therefore permanent residency status. In a B'Tselem question regarding a possible change in the policy and interpretation of the Sharansky Declaration, Benamo said that "there is no fundamental change in the Interior Ministry's policy on this issue. The rise in the number of revocations stems from growing efficiency at the office, and better supervision of borders." B'Tselem demands that the policy of revoking residency status cease, arguing that it breaches international law
By Shahar Ilan , Haaretz Correspondent
The number of East Jerusalem residents whose permanent residency status has been revoked has surged by more than six times in one year, according to Interior Ministry data made available to the human rights group B'Tselem. The ministry attributes this in part to "growing efficiency." In 2005 the number of residencies revoked stood at 222, while by 2006 the number rose to 1,363. This is the highest number of revoked permanent residency permits since the policy was introduced in 1995. Permanent status grants East Jerusalem residents most of the privileges enjoyed by Israeli citizens. The status can be revoked for taking up residence in the Palestinian Authority or abroad.
The policy of mass revocations has been in place for more than a decade. It began in 1995, toward the end of Eli Suissa's tenure as director of the Jerusalem District at the Interior Ministry. It heightened when he was appointed interior minister in 1996, when his party, Shas, joined the coalition government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Suissa was instrumental in making it harder for East Jerusalem residents to acquire construction permits, causing a serious housing shortage among Arabs in the city. This forced many Jerusalem Arabs to seek housing elsewhere, losing their permanent residency status. The peak years of this policy were 1996 (739 permits revoked), 1997 (1,067 permits) and 1998 (788 permits). When Natan Sharansky was interior minister from 1999 to 2000, the number of revoked residence permits dropped, and has leveled at 200 to 300 per year. The Interior Ministry has based its policy of revoking permanent status on a Supreme Court ruling in 1988 by its former president, Justice Aharon Barak. In the case of Palestinian-American psychologist Mubarak Awad, Barak set the precedent on the argument that permanent status - unlike naturalization - "is an expression of the reality of a permanent stay." Barak also noted that when that reality of permanent residence is no longer applicable, the status "cancels itself." In response to a request by B'Tselem, Shalom Benamo, who is in charge of releasing information to the public at the Interior Ministry, said that "most of the [cases] between 2005 and 2006 involved people who immigrated abroad and acquired foreign citizenship." The rest of the cases are the result of individuals living outside Jerusalem for seven years, Benamo said. He also noted that in 2000, in a document that came to be known as "The Sharansky Declaration," any person who has maintained "links" to the city is recognized as retaining permanent status. A single visit to Israel every three years is considered sufficient to maintain links to the city, and therefore permanent residency status. In a B'Tselem question regarding a possible change in the policy and interpretation of the Sharansky Declaration, Benamo said that "there is no fundamental change in the Interior Ministry's policy on this issue. The rise in the number of revocations stems from growing efficiency at the office, and better supervision of borders." B'Tselem demands that the policy of revoking residency status cease, arguing that it breaches international law
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