ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN NEWSLETTER #10

OMNI

ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS NEWSLETTER #10, April 28, 2014.

Compiled by Dick Bennett FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE AND JUSTICE.   (#1 Feb. 22, 2011; #2 Feb. 16, 2012; #3 March 1, 2012; #4 May 18, 2012; #5 August 13, 2012; #6 October 29, 2012; #7 Dec. 17, 2012; #8 March 29, 2013; #9 Oct. 21, 2013).

These essays express Palestinian perspectives or sympathy for Palestinians.

"...if way to the Better there be,
it exacts a full look at the Worst."
—Thomas Hardy

     With painful irony, Israel has become the oppressor, but we cannot forget the depth of fear that pervades that nation.   The Holocaust was and is ever-present in their hearts and minds.   It would be well for us all to remember what Dag Hammarskjold wrote about fear and its resistance in 1956 following his trip to the Middle East to try to restore adherence to armistice agreements, when attacls and retaliations were increasing.  And of course his words applied to all the Middle Eastern combatant nations, then and today. 

     “Why is war and fear of war in the headlines of every daily paper, if not because man fears man and nation, nation? . . .  Can there be a greater challenge for us to work for such a recognition of the dignity of man as would eliminate the fear which is eating our world like a cancer?”  See the full passage p. 249, Lipsey, Hammarskjold.

    

Here is the link to all OMNI topical newsletters:

http://www.omnicenter.org/newsletter-archive/   For a knowledge-based peace, justice, and ecology movement and an informed citizenry as the foundation for change.   Here is the link to the Index:  http://www.omnicenter.org/omni-newsletter-general-index/

Contents #4-9 at end

Contents #10

Good News, Palestinians Given Protections and Responsibilities of Geneva

      Conventions 

Four Letters from Mazin Qumsiyeh

    The Latest, Packed with Grim and Happy News and Avenues for Action

    Qumsiyeh, Being Positive

    3 Actions and Information

    Prawer Plan, Murder of Palestinian, and more

Federman’s Report on Half-a-Million Settlers

Hedges, Myth of Israel

Chomsky, One or Two States? 

Blumenthal, Goliath

Ali Abunimah, Palestinian Solidarity Movement is Winning

Israel Democracy Institute, Peace Index

Contact Arkansas Senators

Contents Nos. 4-9

PALESTINIANS JOIN GENEVA CONVENTIONS

In a tiny report on a back back, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that the Palestinian Authority signed letters of accession effective April 2, 25 years after making their first bid for membership.  Israel opposed the move because one part of the Conventions prohibits colonizing occupied land.   Here is a much fuller report from Middle East Monitor:  [--Dick]

Middle East Monitor - The Latest from the Middle East

Palestine accepted to Geneva Convention

Saturday, 12 April 2014 15:17

  

The Swiss government said on Friday that Palestine can accede to the Geneva conventions governing the rules of war and military occupations

The UN and the Swiss government have accepted requests from the Palestinian Authority (PA) to join 14 international treaties and conventions.

The Swiss government said on Friday that Palestine can accede to the Geneva conventions governing the rules of war and military occupations.

Spokesman of the Swiss foreign ministry, Pierre-Alain Eltschinger, said that the state of Palestine was acceded to the conventions on 2 April. Eltschinger said that all concerned countries were notified about this measure.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas said that the accession was a "historic day for the Palestinian people."

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Abbas had received a letter signed by the head of the Swiss Federation telling him that Palestine is now a party in the Geneva conventions for 1949 and in the additional protocol for 1977.

According to the letter, Erekat said that Palestine would become a full member in another 11 treaties on 2 May. The treaties include the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, the convention on the rights of children, the convention against torture and an anti-corruption accord.

The State of Palestine would also be a full member of the convention against genocides on 2 July.

Meanwhile, the UN said that the Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon had agreed on the accession of Palestine to 13 treaties.

In wake of serious difficulties facing the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, Abbas decided to turn to international organisations and sign international treaties.

Israeli media have said that Palestinians are mainly interested in the fourth Geneva convention because it defines the duties of occupying powers and acknowledges the occupation of Palestinian territories.

It also prohibits forced transfer and deportation of populations or individuals, as well as the destruction of movable or immovable property, unless it is made "absolutely necessary by military operations."

Israeli authorities said this should not be applied in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip because they are no longer claimed by Egypt or Jordan, who ruled them before 1967. In addition, they claim that the Palestinian state has never existed.

Regarding East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities also said it should not be considered an occupied territory because Israel has extended citizenship rights to its Arab residents.

  

FOUR LETTERS FROM MAZIN QUMSIYEH

[OMNI sponsored Mazin’s visit to Fayetteville several years ago during his “Wheels of Justice” bus tour.  He was a professor in the

Act for human rights  4-27-14

Mazin Qumsiyeh

People asked me about the latest "reconciliation" agreement between Fatah
and Hamas. Most Palestinians here are skeptical of the sincerity of
leadership in Fatah and Hamas and most still think these leaders are driven
by narrow factional and personal interests than by interest of Palestine.
Noticeably absent was the popular Front For the Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP), the largest secular faction after Fatah. Women leaders also
complained about the exclusion of women voices. Youth were also absent as
most of those politicians are my age or older. In my talks (and I give
several every week to visiting delegations and local people), I emphasize
that people must wake up and push politicians to do the right thing. That
is how history changes: via people especially youth and women. Of course,
many wish that politicians show some leadership for positive change but we
the people have to act. Meanwhile, we have an ongoing slow genocide of the
Palestinian people. 7.4 million are refugees/displaced people and that
number keeps growing. Those of us who against all odds remain here are
subjected to unspeakable restrictions and squeezed into ghettos/cantons by
an apartheid regime worse than in Apartheid South Africa and the most
profitable occupation in history (thanks partly to the Oslo accords). But I
do see positive signs of people acting here and there regularly. So
many internationals show so much solidarity because Palestine today is the
lightning rod against western hypocrisy and racism in the same way that
South Africa provided such a beacon in the 1980s.

I am especially encouraged by young people here. We just concluded a
biomedical conference in Nablus where our students excelled in giving
results of their research. The volunteers I work with in nature are
excellent (I spent yesterday classifying butterflies with one such
volunteer for our nascent natural history museum). We work with
undergraduate and graduate students on issues ranging from pollution to
infertility to biodiversity to cancer epidemiology.

I continue to send letters to editors and occasionally some are published.
This one below is significant in that it was published 25 April in the
Wall Street Journal (the most significant Journal for Western business
leaders):

Israel and the Palestinian Christians: As Palestinian Christians we deal
with the Israeli repression daily

Regarding Israel's U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor's "The Middle East War on
Christians" (op-ed, April 17): For brevity, I want to address one aspect,
which is the supposed protection by Israel of Christians. As Palestinian
Christians we deal with the Israeli repression daily. Even with my U.S.
passport I was not allowed to enter Jerusalem for Easter as most
Palestinians continue to be denied their religious freedom. Israel
destroyed 530 Palestinian villages and towns and created the largest
refugee population on earth after World War II. Churches and mosques were
equally targeted for destruction. And in its expansion in the rest of
Palestine, Israel started building colonial settlements after 1967 on our
occupied lands (illegal per international law). Bethlehem is now a ghetto
with a wall around it. Israel has over 50 laws that discriminate against
non-Jewish Israelis and hundreds to discriminate against Palestinians in
the occupied areas. For those interested in information from Christians,
please look up the powerful statement by all Christian denominations here
called "Kairos Palestine" (www.kairospalestine.ps) instead of Mr. Prosor's
attempt to divert attention and mislead readers.
source
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303825604579515892375722808

WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR HUMAN RIGHTS? http://qumsiyeh.org/whatyoucando/

6 year old Palestinian child abducted by occupation soldiers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTxJb-HLp70
http://palsolidarity.org/

Martin Indyk and the moral crisis at heart of Obama's peace
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=692628

Elhaik genetics and the Khazars (shows that most European Jews have no
genetic relationship to the Middle Eastern Jews or Arabs)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3595026/

Stay human and come visit us in the Bethlehem area

Mazin Qumsiyeh
Professor at Bethlehem University
A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home
Join me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/mazin.qumsiyeh.9
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6-year-old child detained on his way to school

HumanRights: Being Positive

Mazin Qumsiyeh mazinsiyeh.org via uark.edu

From now on our posts will have more positive than negative
links/stories. But first an unclassified note (time will tell impact):
Israeli warplanes attacked Syria.  The Palestinian negotiating team
submitted its resignation following Israel’s announcement of building
thousands of new Jewish colonial settler homes on Palestinian lands
and its announcement of thousands of home demolitions for native
Jerusalemites. The significance is unknown since it seems these same
guys keep going back to “negotiations” and have convinced themselves
they have no options (to maintain their salaries).  The definition of
madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a
different result.

Being Positive

Today (Saturday 11-5) we meet in Ramallah for a study day to work and
organize for a positive future: one democratic secular state in
historic Paleatine.  [One instead of two states has become Mazin’s hope, given the relentless growth of Israeli settlements and other subverions of a separate Palestinian state.  –Dick]

 29 Photos That Put All Of Our Struggles In Perspective
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/powerful-photos-life-on-earth_n_4123343.html

An Iraqi child is saved by an Australian women and sings “Imagine” by
John Lennon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrJyzkNg27k

Birth in Nature- Amazing gift of life
http://www.cienfuegoshoy.org/2013/10/10/el-parto-natural-de-simone-rodeada-de-toda-su-familia-por-favor-imagenes-explicitas-por-liber-y-barrueta-martinez/

Forget Survival of the Fittest: It Is Kindness That Counts
A psychologist probes how altruism, Darwinism and neurobiology mean
that we can succeed by not being cutthroat.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=kindness-emotions-psychology&WT.mc_id=SA_sharetool_Facebook

A photographer documents as his wife fades away with breast cancer
http://www.viralnova.com/wifes-cancer/

 [Great new book] Max Blumenthal's Goliath, Life and Loathing in Greater Israel
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10922

Classified Negative

NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide, Snowden
documents say. [ofcourse all shared with Israel thanks to AIPAC]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.html

Was ISRAEL behind the hacking of millions of French phones and NOT the
U.S.? Extraordinary twist in spying saga revealed
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2477013

A Lopsided U.S. Visa-Waiver By YOUSEF MUNAYYER New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/29/opinion/international/a-lopsided-us-visa-waiver.html

Watch how Congress is occupied by Israel: I'd Dump the Israelis
Tomorrow --Ex-CIA Michael Scheuer Tells Congress [as an Israeli
prostitute try to silence him]
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article36629.htm

Stay human (though it is hard)

YouTube - Videos from this email

Mazin Qumsiyeh mazin@qumsiyeh.org via uark.edu

3 ACTIONS and key information

Many items but lots of things happened and we included few key ones in
this weekly message. You can simply pick items of interest and click
and act.

Action 1: Defend free speech and human rights and support the BDS
http://www.change.org/petitions/defend-free-speech-and-human-rights-and-sup
port-the-bds

Action 2: Boycott SodaStream Days of Action Nov. 29-December 10
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/section.php?id=456
(PS Sales of this apartheid company are disappointing and stock price
is shaky, let us push harder)

Action 3 (for USA citizens): The Friends of Wadi Foquin Need Your Help!
http://www.ism-norcal.org/the-friends-of-wadi-foquin-need-your-help/

INFORMATION

Thanks to efforts of activists, the City of St. Louis did not hire
Veolia to manage its Water Division. This is a major Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions victory
 http://www.stl-psc.org/?p=567

 Latin American writers say Israel must abandon “colonial” Zionist ideology
This and other good news and action items at the website of the
Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
http://pacbi.org

Ahmed Kathrada, one of the longest serving political prisoners of the
South African anti-apartheid struggle and current spokesman for the
Mandela family, appeals for the release of Marwan Barghouti and all
other Palestinian political prisoners.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/10/unconditional-release-marwan-barghouti-positive-step-forward-2013103044350485456.html

Swiss forensic report on Arafat's death: The 108-page report by Swiss
scientists who say their data supports the theory that Arafat was
poisoned with polonium.
http://www.aljazeera.com/investigations/killing-arafat/swiss-forensic-report-arafat-death-201311671255163780.html

(on a side note, in 2004 I was at Yale Medical School and presented
this case briefly to a group of hematopathologists/colleagues who all
concluded that such rapid deterioration without any evidence of an
underlying pathology in an otherwise healthy individual is most
consistent with toxic chemical or radiation exposure)

26 pictures of Palestine from 120 years ago in color lithographs
(before Zionist colonization)
http://www.businessinsider.com/palestine-in-the-19th-century-pictures-2013-10

I work with bats (my first book was published in 1985 and was on “The
Bats of Egypt”) and we measure echolocation frequencies as ways of
identfication.  He is a child who went blind from retinoblastoma early
in childhood and who developed echolocation as a way to “see” the
world around him.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLLGbsL7uY0

[Colonialism goes on as the charade goes on…] Abbas promises Kerry not
to pull out of peace talks: Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat
denies threats to resign and cause collapse of talks over new
settlements. “On Thursday, Channel 10 and Palestinian news agency
Ma'an reported Erekat tendered his resignation before Abbas but that
the latter rejected it. What actually transpired was a little
different. According to Israeli officials, Erekat did not deliver a
resignation letter, but instead tossed out a verbal statement at a PLO
meeting.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.555833
see also
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/PA-denies-Palestinian-peace-envoys-quit-over-Israeli-settlement-building-330428

Analysis: What future for the Oslo Model?
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=644460

Note: I will be in Belgium the next few days and so out of reach by
phone but will respond to emails

YouTube - Videos from this email

[HumanRights] Prawer and PA (Shame)

Mazin Qumsiyeh mazin@qumsiyeh.org via uark.edu	12:04 PM (7 hours ago)
to James, Human

from http://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2013/12/prawer.html

On Friday, all demonstrations in many Palestinian villages had the
theme against the Prawer Plan. On Saturday in 30 countries, events
were held to counter this plan to ethnically cleanse 40,000
Palestinians from the Negev in the 65 year colonial Zionist program to
make Palestine a “Jewish state”.  The demonstrations locally in
Palestine were held in Haifa, the Triangle, Jerusalem, AlBireh, and
the Negeb with the same message: Prawer shall not be passed or
implemented and we emphasize the unity of all 12 million Palestinians.
 All local demonstrations were attacked viciously by the apartheid
forces.  I personally noted the absence of the key symbols of the
Palestinian authority which should have joined the demonstration in
Jerusalem (many of the leaders have VIP cards and can travel to
Jerusalem). Will these “leaders” finally listen to the people instead
of listening to the oppressors?

Saturday we had a meeting to evaluate 5 years of our master of
biotechnology program (joint program by Bethlehem University and
Polytechnic University). Sunday, we had Bethlehem tree lighting
ceremony and we welcomes a Gaza child who will be rehabilitated here
(spinal cord cancer that was mostly resolved but that left the 8 year
old child unable to walk). Monday we decorated a tree in the manger
square with spent tear gas canisters and stun grenades (made in
America, used by Israel).  We posted signs that showed our displeasure
at the USAID giving money to the municipality for Christmas
celebrations! Typical hypocrisy of the US funding our starvation and
killing while also giving symbolically to celebrations and roads to
make life under occupation a bit more tolerable. Unfortunately the
“Palestinian police” removed our exhibit. They act as subcontractors
for the Israeli occupation preventing free speech and carry8ing out a
policy of Mahmoud Abbas friendly to US policies (a policy made in Tel
Aviv).

The people of Nablus meantime buried their latest victim of Israeli
racism.  An Israeli simply shot him at point blank range.  The
murderer claimed he was looking for illegal Palestinian workers and
that the Palestinian guy acted aggressively. Family and friends on the
other hand point to the fact that this young worker was two weeks away
from his wedding, had a legal job with Israelis in the area now named
Ramat Gan, and had good friendly relations to Israelis who were
invited to his wedding.  He would have no reason to attack Israelis
two weeks before his wedding.  But let us face it, his killer is free
and he will be added to the list of >70,000 Palestinians killed by
Israel for being a Palestinian in Palestine, a country being
transformed to a Jewish state of Israel. From occupiers we know what
to expect but from the Palestinian authority to work like this is
SHAMEFUL.

Saturday we celebrated the 4th anniversary of the launch of Kairos
Palestine, a moment of truth (see http://www.kairospalestine.ps).  As
Palestinian Christians around the world come to this season of joy and
celebration in December and January, we Palestinian Christians with
help of our fellow Muslim and Jewish human rights activists remind all
to work to end Israeli racist apartheid.  We must end this suffering
that lasted some 65 years and that left 7 million refugees and
displaced people in order to create this monstrosity called the
“Jewish state of Israel”, a racist apartheid state.  We must evolve
towards a secular pluralistic democracy with a clear affirmative
action plan to restore the rights of the native Palestinians.

Meeting this Thursday at 11 AM at Izbet Tabib (Qalqilia district) to
discuss plans to deels with the Israeli military just blocking the
road to the village.

Videos from various locations
Jerusalem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IkZIUcPhLI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inABG6AJo8Y
Negev http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW_6E_cXCYI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GxuDFnqU9I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEMZohuCUEk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcevoYFcOfg
Haifa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRj7FFDyVSk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCNGs8l4jHU
Jaffa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39wN0YokQTM
Nebi Saleh http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx25ItuoIF4
Gaza http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v24gxkdMTrQ
Near Ramallah http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2AaNMCho2o
Roma http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Bm-K1SdfI
London http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGoD_kBj2Ew
Kuwait http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNfpR2O41C8

Pictures from around the world http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek0NTW3LLHE

UNRWA released its archives material including photographs of
Palestinian refugees right after the Nakba
http://archive.unrwa.org/license/home/unrwa.do

[End Qumsiyeh]

JOSEF FEDERMAN (AP).  “Israeli Housing Plan Raises Outcry.”  ADG (10-31-13, 4A).   Subtitle:  “Projects in East Jerusalem, West Bank Imperil Peace Effort.”

TIME/WORLD, Middle East

Israel Plans More Than 1,500 New Settlement Homes

By AP / Josef FedermanOct. 30, 20136 Comments

 Follow @TIMEWorld

(JERUSALEM) — Israel announced plans Wednesday to build more than 1,500 homes in Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, dealing a setback to newly relaunched peace efforts hours after it had freed a group of long-serving Palestinian prisoners.

The construction plans drew angry condemnations from Palestinian officials, who accused Israel of undermining the U.S.-led talks by expanding settlements on the lands where they hope to establish an independent state. U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon also condemned the Israeli decision, and Washington said it would not create a “positive environment” for the negotiations.

Israel had freed the 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a U.S.-brokered agreement to restart the talks. The construction was meant to blunt anger over the release of the prisoners, all of whom had been convicted of murder in the deaths of Israelis.

Israel’s Interior Ministry said 1,500 apartments would be built in Ramat Shlomo, a large settlement in east Jerusalem, the section of the holy city claimed by the Palestinians as their capital. It also announced plans for archaeology and tourism projects near the Old City, home to Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy sites.

Israel first announced the Ramat Shlomo plan in 2010 during a visit to Israel by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, sparking a diplomatic rift with Washington that took months to mend. Wednesday’s decision is the final approval needed, and construction can begin immediately, officials said.

Ofir Akunis, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, said construction also had been approved for several West Bank settlements.

“The building in Judea and Samaria will continue and be intensified,” said Akunis, using the biblical term for the West Bank.

In addition, he told parliament that Netanyahu had given orders to “advance plans” for more than 2,000 homes in a longer list of settlements across the West Bank.

While these projects still need additional bureaucratic approvals, they are especially provocative because several of the settlements are deep inside the West Bank and almost certainly would have to be dismantled as part of a peace deal.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state.

The Palestinians, along with virtually all of the international community, consider the settlements to be illegal or illegitimate.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the settlement plans, saying they were “destructive to the peace efforts and will only lead to more tensions.”

“It’s a message to the international community that Israel is a state that doesn’t abide by international law and continues to put obstacles in the way of peace,” he said.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, “We do not consider continued settlement activity or East Jerusalem construction to be steps that create a positive environment for the negotiations.”

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said the secretary-general “deplores” the Israeli announcement.

“Settlement activity is contrary to international law and constitutes an obstacle to peace,” Nesirky said. “Any measures that prejudge final status issues will not be recognized by the international community.”

The previous round of peace talks broke down in late 2008 and remained frozen for nearly five years, in large part because of Palestinian objections to settlement construction.

The Palestinians say continued expansion of settlements, now home to more than 500,000 Israelis, makes it increasingly difficult to divide the land between Israel and a Palestinian state.   [Masterful understatement surely meant to be ironic.  The reality of half-million illegal settlers  suffocated Mazin’s  hope for a two-state solution.  –Dick]

Under heavy U.S. pressure, the Palestinians dropped a longstanding demand for a settlement freeze over the summer and agreed to resume negotiations with the understanding that Israel would slow construction.

As part of that arrangement, Israel agreed to release 104 of the longest-serving Palestinian prisoners, most of whom had committed their crimes before a landmark interim peace deal was reached in 1993. Wednesday’s release was the second of four groups in the coming months.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been meeting secretly since late July. Under orders from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to keep quiet, they have said little about the discussions, although Palestinian officials say all core issues are being discussed.   [The ADG version ends here. –Dick]

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of Kerry’s orders, said the talks are currently focusing on Israeli security demands and the contours of future borders.

The future of the settlements would fit heavily into those discussions. It remains difficult to see how the U.S. can bridge the wide gaps between the sides.

Netanyahu opposes a full withdrawal from the West Bank, saying Israel would need to keep significant portions of the territory for security needs.

He also has vowed never to divide Jerusalem. Israel has built a series of settlements around east Jerusalem, including Ramat Shlomo, to solidify its control.

Israel considers east Jerusalem settlements to be “neighborhoods” of its capital, but Israel’s annexation of east Jerusalem is not internationally recognized

Danny Danon, a hard-line member of Netanyahu’s party, said the U.S. should focus its energies on stopping Iran’s suspected nuclear program instead of trying to broker a peace deal by next May.

“To finish the conflict with the Palestinians by May 2014 is wishful thinking,” he told foreign journalists in Jerusalem. “I would say let’s finish with the threat coming from Iran by May 2014 and then go to the negotiation table and speak with the Palestinians.”

Israel has a long history of lopsided prisoner exchanges with its Arab adversaries. But this week’s release appeared especially charged because Israel appeared to be receiving little in return except for the opportunity to conduct negotiations that few people believe will succeed.

In the West Bank and Gaza, thousands celebrated long into the night as they welcomed the released prisoners. Abbas greeted them at his West Bank headquarters early Wednesday.

While Israel views the prisoners as terrorists, the Palestinians see them as heroes in a struggle against Israeli occupation.

“There will be no final agreement without the release of all the prisoners,” Abbas told the raucous crowd.

Read more: Israel Plans More Than 1,500 New Settlement Homes | TIME.com http://world.time.com/2013/10/30/israel-plans-more-than-1500-new-settlement-homes/#ixzz2jck6PzJG

Chris Hedges, Imploding the Myth of Israel .  04 November 13,  Reader Supported News Chris Hedges, Truthdig  Hedges writes: "Israel has been poisoned by the psychosis of permanent war."  READ MORE

David D forwarded this article and adds this comment: 

Chris Hedges' article primarily critiques and cites from Max Blumenthal's courageous new book. "Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel" 

Chris Hedges' article can be accessed thru the live link in the article above or directly here:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/imploding_the_myth_of_israel_20131103/#.Ungse7RD0vA.em 

from the article:
"Leibowitz, whom Isaiah Berlin called “the conscience of Israel,” warned that if Israel did not separate church and state it would give rise to a corrupt rabbinate that would warp Judaism into a fascistic cult"
'Uri Avnery, a left-wing politician and journalist, says: “Israel’s very existence is threatened by fascism.” '

Chomsky: Don't Be Distracted by One-State/Two-State 'Debate' on Israel - Something Much More Nefarious Is Going On 
Noam Chomsky, AlterNet, Nov. 5, 2013  Reader Supported News.  Chomsky writes: "The near inevitable outcome, 'one state for two nations,' will pose 'an immediate existential threat of the erasure of the identity of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state,' soon with a Palestinian-Arab majority." 
READ MORE      http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/289-134/20257-chomsky-dont-be-distracted-by-one-statetwo-state-debate-on-israel-something-much-more-nefarious-is-going-on

Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel 

by Max Blumenthal 

In Goliath, New York Times bestselling author Max Blumenthal takes us on a journey through the badlands and high roads of Israel-Palestine, painting a startling portrait of Israeli society under the siege of increasingly authoritarian politics as the occupation of the Palestinians deepens.
Beginning with the national elections carried out during Israel's war on Gaza in 2008-09, which brought into power the country's most right-wing government to date, Blumenthal tells the story of Israel in the wake of the collapse of the Oslo peace process.
As Blumenthal reveals, Israel has become a country where right-wing leaders like Avigdor Lieberman and Bibi Netanyahu are sacrificing democracy on the altar of their power politics; where the loyal opposition largely and passively stands aside and watches the organized assault on civil liberties; where state-funded Orthodox rabbis publish books that provide instructions on how and when to kill Gentiles; where half of Jewish youth declare their refusal to sit in a classroom with an Arab; and where mob violence targets Palestinians and African asylum seekers scapegoated by leading government officials as "demographic threats."
Immersing himself like few other journalists inside the world of hardline political leaders and movements, Blumenthal interviews the demagogues and divas in their homes, in the Knesset, and in the watering holes where their young acolytes hang out, and speaks with those political leaders behind the organized assault on civil liberties. As his journey deepens, he painstakingly reports on the occupied Palestinians challenging schemes of demographic separation through unarmed protest. He talks at length to the leaders and youth of Palestinian society inside Israel now targeted by security service dragnets and legislation suppressing their speech, and provides in-depth reporting on the small band of Jewish Israeli dissidents who have shaken off a conformist mindset that permeates the media, schools, and the military.
Through his far-ranging travels, Blumenthal illuminates the present by uncovering the ghosts of the past—the histories of Palestinian neighborhoods and villages now gone and forgotten; how that history has set the stage for the current crisis of Israeli society; and how the Holocaust has been turned into justification for occupation.

[from Amazon]

ALI ABUNIMAH The Battle for Justice in Palestine.   Haymarket, 2014. BY ALI ABUNIMAH Efforts to achieve a “two-state solution” have finally collapsed; the struggle for justice in Palestine is at a crossroads. As Israel and its advocates lurch toward greater extremism, many ask where the struggle is headed. This book offers a clear analysis of this crossroads moment and looks forward with urgency down the path to a more hopeful future. ALI ABUNIMAH is the author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli Palestinian Impasse, and co-founder and director of the widely acclaimed publication The Electronic Intifada. Based in the United States, he has written hundreds of articles and been an active part of the movement for justice in Palestine for 20 years. He is the recipient of a 2013 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship.views "Every community that stands fast, loving its people and its land, its customs and its ways, will be seen, eventually, as worthy of saving. This is because it is our own humanity we are learning from, our own value. There will also arise a special voice to champion us, one that is brave, trustworthy and true. In The Battle for Justice in Palestine it is the voice of Ali Abunimah, fierce, wise - a warrior for justice and peace - someone whose large heart, one senses, beyond his calm, is constantly on fire. A pragmatist but also a poet. This is the book to read to understand the present bizarre and ongoing complexity of the Palestine/Israel tragedy. And though it is filled with the grim reality of this long and deadly, ugly and dehumanizing, conflict, it also offers hope: that as more people awaken to the shocking reality of what has for decades been going on, we can bring understanding and restitution to the Palestinian people. Their struggle to exist in dignity and peace in their own homeland - and this may be the biggest surprise of Abunimah's book - is mirrored in the struggles for survival and autonomy of more than a few of us." —Alice Walker "This is the best book on Palestine in the last decade. No existing book presents the staggering details and sophistication of analysis that Abunimah’s book offers. Abunimah’s scope includes an analysis of the politics, economics, environmental policies, identity politics, international relations, academic scholarship and activism, global solidarity, and official and unofficial lobbies that have come to bear on Palestine and the Palestinians. The Battle for Justice in Palestine is the most comprehensive treatment of Palestinian suffering under Israeli control and offers the only possible way to end it. It is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the current situation of the Palestinians and Israel." —Joseph Massad, Columbia University The Peace Index December 2013 The Israel Democracy Institute ago) Graph of the month: Do you support or oppose the United States exerting pressure on both sides, Israeli and Palestinian, to push them toward reaching an agreement? (% support, according to self-placement on the right-left spectrum)   תרשים החודש: האם אתה תומך או מתנגד לכך שארצות הברית תפעיל לחץ על שני הצדדים, הישראלי והפלסטיני, כדי לדחוף אותם להגיע להסכם? (% תומכים, לפי שיוך עצמי ימין-שמאל)   The Peace Index: December 2013 מדד השלום: דצמבר 2013 The December Index Data File The Peace Index Home Page מדד חודש דצמבר קובץ הנתונים לאתר מדד השלום Powered by NewsletterWizard 1.5.7 © | Update Profile | Unsubscribe | Forward to a Friend | Subscribe to newsletter ن قمع قوات الأحتلال مسيرة برافر موقع سلام | برافر لن يمر 30\11\2013 القدس النقب | اعتقالات واشتباكات عنيفة، حرق إطارات ورشق حجارة في يوم الغضب لي دار علي برافر لن يمر المهاجمة و المواجهة ل باعتقال متظاهر فلسطيني ضد برافر قرب مستوطنة بيت إيل شمال رام الله No Prawer Plan, No al vertice Italia - Israele Roma, 30 Novembre 2013 prawer day of rage london 30 nov 2013 J-STREET PAC Dear James Bennett, Thank you for your generous contribution.  Your support of pro-Israel, pro-peace candidates is making a difference in our work and we're grateful to have your support. Please feel free to be in touch with us at info@jstreetpac.org if you have any questions about your contribution.  Thanks again,  Jeremy Ben-Ami,  President, JStreetPAC CONTACT ARKANSAS SENATORS Boozman, John - (R - AR) 320 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 (202) 224-4843 Contact: www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me Pryor, Mark L. - (D - AR) 255 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 (202) 224-2353 Contact: www.pryor.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactMe

Contents of #4
Jerusalem March
Palestinian Non-Violence
UN Condemns Settlements
 Americans for Peace Now
Jean Zaru,  Occupied with Nonviolence
Rev. of Two Books  Beinart and Bar-On
Atzmon, The Wandering Who

Contents of #5
APN:  Reject the Levy Report
Qumsiyah’s Newsletter: Gradual Destruction of Indigenous Palestinians

 Qumsiyah, Destruction of Palestinian State   

Palestinian Nonviolent Resistance

Leila Khaled Resistance Fighter

Palestinian Gandhi

Palestinian Nakba

Bedisha, Testimonies of Palestine 2011

3 Films:

 Christian Zionism, With God on Our Side

 Palestinian Child, Miral

 Wall in Binin, 5 Broken Cameras

Contents #6

Shehadeh: The Occupation

Kestler-D’Amours: Israel’s Apartheid Wall Extending

Social Forum in Brazil on the Occupation

Veterans for Peace

APN Call to Jews to Defend Civility and Justice

Rachel Corrie Verdict

Parallel Cases

Bachevich, Israel/US

Safieh:  Israel’s Mistreatment of Its Palestinians

Loewenstein & Moor: One State Solution

Contents #7

Sign J-Street Petition Against Closing Palestinian Mission

Live from Palestine

Breaking the Silence: Israeli Soldiers’ Confessions

U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation

Free Palestine Movement

Contents #8  March 29, 2013

2012 Russell Tribunal on Palestine

UN Welcomes Palestinian State: 3 Views

Film: 5 Broken Cameras, Resistance

Carey, Four Films: Cameras, The Gatekeepers, The Law in These Parts, Towards a Common Archive

Hajjar, Israeli Court System Palestinians, Courting Conflict

Kaufman-Lacusta:  P&I Nonviolent Resistance

Jamiel Rev. of Lerner, Embracing Israel/Palestine (see Newsletter #2, 2-16-12)

Contents #9 Oct. 21, 2013

Qumsiyeh:  Occupation

Lazare:  Palestinians in Hebron

Abulhawa: Novel about Palestinian Refugees

David Swanson on Ruebner’s Shattered Hopes

Bar-Tal, Two New Books:  Effects of Occupation on Israel and Long-Lasting Conflicts

Jebreal, Miral, Book and Film

Just Vision Palestinian-Israeli Documentry Films (Budrus, My Neighbourhood, etc.)

Khalidi, US Deceit in ME

Blumenthal, From David to Goliath

Israel’s Nuclear Bombs

END ISRAEL-PALESTINE NEWSLETTER #10