I've Heard That Song Before

American Free Press - 04/09/07
by Richard Walker

Soros Warns Of Israeli Influence

Jewish billionaire assailed for comments; says Zionist lobbies stifle Mideast peace

Jewish billionaire George Soros has invited the wrath of the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee by publicly claiming the Israeli lobby silences critics of Israel and has too much influence within America’s two main parties.

In an article in The New York Review of Books, Soros argued that anyone who confronts AIPAC invites its wrath with the result that few people are prepared to question its power over America’s Middle East policy. He feels it is time American Jews “reined in” AIPAC, which has been at the center of a major spying scandal in the past year.

Two of its senior executives were accused of passing U.S. secrets to a Mossad agent within the Israeli embassy in Washington. That fact, however, did not deter many leading Republicans and Democrats, including Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice and the Clintons [ and Nancy Pelosi ], from continuing to support the organization.

AIPAC’s annual meeting in Washington is attended by the high and mighty from Capitol Hill. During this year’s conference, AIPAC lobbied for the United States to stand with Israel and refuse to accept the new Palestinian national unity government -- a stance in opposition to almost all the other countries on Earth.

Soros knew that by standing up to AIPAC he was placing himself in the firing line. That was the fate of former President Jimmy Carter a year ago when he accused Israel of imposing a form of apartheid on Palestinians by continuing to encircle Palestinian territory with a wall that has been condemned by the International Court in The Hague.

In addition, Carter was branded an anti-Semite and has since admitted the level of vitriol directed at him was something he had never before experienced. In his opinion, it was all because he did something most Americans and the American media have been frightened to do: He questioned Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.

It was clear to Carter that the Israeli lobby intimidated and silenced critics of Israel by accusing them of being anti-Semites. Carter quickly found he had few friends in Washington. Bill Clinton, whose wife Hillary needs the Jewish vote in her run for the presidency, distanced himself from Carter’s remarks and some senior figures connected to Carter’s presidential library resigned.

None of that bothered Soros. He was quickly becoming familiar with the tactics of the pro-Israel lobby. In February, Martin Peretz at The New Republic described him as “a cog in the Hitlerite wheel.” It was the type of low-brow, thuggish comment Soros had come to expect from people who could not tolerate genuine debate.

In his New York Review of Books article, Soros made it clear that anyone who challenged AIPAC or Israeli policy was sure to be subjected to a campaign of vilification. He added that Democratic and Republican politicians were well acquainted with the risks of taking on the Jewish lobby and that they were part of a wall of silence surrounding the activities of AIPAC.

As a consequence, AIPAC’s hardline policies destabilized the Middle East,
and it was time for American Jews to speak out against the lobby group.

It is important to see Soros’s political view in a wider context. He is Jewish, but admits he is neither a practicing Jew, nor a Zionist. He is also one of the Democratic Party’s most generous benefactors. Recently he openly supported presidential candidate Barack Obama, but Obama was careful not to alienate the Jewish lobby by insisting he did not subscribe to Soros’s views about the need for debate about Israeli-American relations.

Soros says he cares about his fellow Jews and for that reason believes Israel must rid itself of its innate militarism. In particular, he asserts that belligerent policies, which lead to the killing of 10 Palestinians for every Israeli and the destruction of the civilian infrastructure of Lebanon, cannot be justified. He warns that if Israel continues to silence debate on these issues it will find itself in the same position that America found itself during the lead-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion.

The Bush administration silenced [ some ] critics by accusing them
of being unpatriotic and then launched an invasion that will likely turn
out to be one of the greatest blunders in U.S. history.

Likewise, Israel, through groups like AIPAC, continues to charge that its critics are its enemies.
In so doing, it risks making fatal errors that will bring about its demise.

Soros is not the only one taking heat from the pro-Zionist lobby in the United States and the Israeli media. Pulitzer-Prize-winning columnist Nicholas Kristof was recently blasted by The New York Sun for “spreading a blood libel.” His perceived sin was that he dared to suggest in a New York Times article that American politicians “muzzled themselves” when it came to talking about Israel. He also said there was “no serious political debate among Democrats or Republicans about our policy toward Israelis and Palestinians.”

The Economist, Europe’s largest financial magazine, recently stated that it was time for America to have an open debate about its role in the Middle East and if AIPAC was to remain “such a mighty force” in American politics it had to play a positive role in that debate. Predictably, The Economist came in for a torrent of criticism.

And, finally, the prominent liberal news web site Salon.com joined the fray by recently carrying an article by Gary Kamiya who said it was time for American Jews to say to AIPAC: “Not in my name!” He argued that American Jews had to seriously challenge the myth that AIPAC’s policies reflect the views of the wider Jewish community.

The developing debate about AIPAC, which is being described in some circles as “near nuclear,” because of vehement reactions from the Jewish lobby, may well have its roots in an event last year. In March 2006, two political scientists, John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt of Harvard, were viciously attacked in Jewish outlets for a document they published, showing that Israeli influence pushed America into the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and America’s unquestioning support for Israel was not strategic.

Furthermore, Mearsheimer and Walt wrote that U.S. acquiescence to Israel serves to increase the threat of terrorism to the United States. The Mearsheimer-Walt thesis also exposed the brutality of Israeli military policies and questioned the myth that Israel was David fighting Goliath. The academics thought the opposite was true and Israel was the Goliath in the Middle East. Those assertions placed the two academics in the center of a firestorm of criticism and charges they were anti-Semites. Many fellow academics who agreed with them were much too frightened to come out publicly and say so.

As this latest debate involving Soros rages, AIPAC knows it has unquestioning support in the corridors of power in Washington and within the media. In 1997 when Fortune magazine polled members of Congress about the most powerful lobbying organizations in Washington, AIPAC
came in second. Since then little has changed.

Website: americanfreepress.net

Aljazeera - 04/13/07

Israel in fresh 'human shield' row

Israel has suspended an army commander and launched an investigation into the apparent use of two Palestinians as "human shields".

Videotape of the incident in Nablus has been obtained by Al Jazeera and shows Israeli soldiers seemingly forcing two Palestinian men to stand in front of an armoured jeep to shield them from stones.

The Israeli military on Friday said the commander has been suspended "from all operational activity" and an investigation launched into Wednesday's incident in the West Bank city.

Human shields banned

In 2005 Israel's supreme court ruled that the army's use of human shields was illegal.

However, Palestinian officials and some human rights groups say such incidents have become common practice during the seven-year-old Palestinian uprising and that it endangers the lives of civilians.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said: "The Israeli government must stop such unethical practices immediately."

The Research Journalism Initiative said it filmed the incident in the course of an Israeli raid on the home of a "wanted militant".

During the operation, troops damaged the house, but did not find the man.

Standard practice

Sam Neil, an activist with the Research Journalism Initiative, in a phone call with Al Jazeera from Nablus, said the use of civilians as shields was "extremely common". He said:

I'd go so far as to say they are standard practice ... I've personally witnessed Israeli soldiers using human shields in various capacities nearly a dozen times since 2002.

Last month, Israeli soldiers used an 11-year-old Palestinian girl as a human shield during a raid in Nablus, an Israeli human rights group said.

Mustafa Barghouti, the Palestinian information minister, denounced the officer's suspension as "window-dressing". Ne Said:

They are treating it as an isolated incident. The problem is systematic and ... they [the troops] continue the practice despite the court order.

Website: aljazeera.net

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Israeli police and army forces deployed on Sunday around al-Aqsa mosque's compound in occupied Jerusalem in an attempt to prevent wide access to the site.

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Aljazeera - 02/04/07

Israel restricts access to al-Aqsa

Security forces manned barricades and checked Palestinians' identification, allowing only men over 45 years of age and women near the site.

The Israeli government recently set a date to start demolishing a hill near al-Maghariba gate, one of al-Aqsa's entrances, to build a road for Jewish settlers.

A demonstration was planned for Sunday in the mosque yard after calls by Taysir al-Tamimi, Palestinian chief judge, to protect it from Israeli development plans. He said:

I have appealed to all Palestinians to head on Sunday towards the holy Al-Aqsa mosque to hinder the Israeli order to demolish parts of the western fence of the holy al-Aqsa mosque.

Excavations

"Israel is now carrying out wide excavations under the mosque and is building a synagogue in front of the Dome of the Rock," al-Tamimi said, adding the mosque was seriously threatened and could collapse.

Israel occupied and annexed the compound containing the holy sites after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Annexation of the compound is not recognised by international law.

The al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques sit above the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site.

The al-Aqsa mosque is Islam's third holiest shrine.

The area is referred to by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and by Jews as the Temple Mount.

Al-Tamimi said appeals had been made to Islamic and Arab states, the OIC, the Jerusalem Committee and the Arab League to intervene, but to no effect.

Unfortunately, none [of these nations or bodies] has done anything as it seems that Jerusalem, al-Aqsa mosque and Palestine are not on their agendas.

For his part, Khaled Meshaal, the political bureau chief of Hamas, on Sunday condemned excavations by Israeli archaeologists near Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque, as Israeli security restricted access to the site. At a news conference in Syria, where he lives in exile, he said:

Israel knows what its violation of the holy Aqsa will bring. It is playing with fire.

Inflammatory

Meshaal warned that further Israeli threats to the integrity of the mosque would be considered inflammatory. He said:

Sharon's desecration of the Aqsa sparked the 2000 uprising.

The Israeli leadership must learn from this lesson. We have confidence in our people, its masses, all of its groups and military wings. We are facing a dangerous action.

Jerusalem's Muslim and Christian holy sites are dear to all Palestinians. Israel is trying to take advantage of the Palestinian internal
conflict to commit its crimes.

A visit to al-Aqsa mosque compound in September 2000 by Ariel Sharon, then Israel's opposition leader, led to the second Palestinian intifada.

Website: aljazeera.net

IMEMC - 11/12/06
by Saed Bannoura

Israel plans to annex lands north of Jerusalem for the Wall

Israeli Authorities plan to annex Palestinians lands in Anata town, north of Jerusalem, for the construction of the Annexation Wall and for “military purposes”

The decision states that the lands will be annexed for the construction of a wall north of Maali Adumim settlement.

Head of the Anata village council, Mohammad Hassanen, said that the Israeli authorities did not inform the council of the decision that was issued on November 5; the council new about it when one of its employees headed to the District Coordination Office in Al Ezariyya town, near Jerusalem, for some official paperwork.

Hassanen added that this decision aims at expanding the settlements by annexing lands owned by the local residents of Anata. The lands are used by the villagers for agriculture.

Also, Hassanen said that this decision will block the village all directions, and that the residents will be unable to reach their lands:

The wall will totally suffocate the village. It will make the social and economical life of the residents virtually impossible, even the health sector will be deeply affected.

According to the new decision, the Annexation Wall will extend from the Maali Adumim junction towards the north, and then to the west until the entrance of Antot Military camp.

All of the lands are officially registered under the names of local residents in the area.

Anata town is considered the “eastern gate” that links the West Bank with Jerusalem; it is inhibited by 18.000 residents, its residents depend on agriculture, trade and raising cattle as their main source of livelihood.

Website: imemc.org

IMEMC - 11/09/06
by Ghassan Bannoura

Israeli forces attack protesters in Jerusalem and take prisoners

Israeli police and army officers attacked Palestinian protesters who were protesting peacefully Thursday morning against the massacre in Beit Hanoun, which killed 20 civilians Wednesday.

The protest, organized by the Aqsa Association whose job is to maintain Islamic holy sites, consisted mainly of school students.

Eyewitnesses said that Israeli border police units, who are known for there brutality against Palestinians, and army officers attacked the protesters with batons, rifle buts and tear gas. They also attacked some women who were in the protest; medical sources reported injuries among the protesters.

The organizers said that police managed to take a number of prisoners and now police forces are gathering near the old city area of Jerusalem.

Palestinian residents of Jerusalem announced a three-day mourning for the Israeli army’s massacre of 20 civilians in Beit Hannoun on Wednesday. Schools were closed for the same reason. Sixteen of those massacred were from the same family and more than 40 were injured in the brutal attack.

Israeli radio reported that Israeli police and army officers used force to end a women’s demonstration and added that two police officers were injured doing so.

Website: imemc.org

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A Palestinian priest who is a fierce critic of Israel was honored by an Episcopalian group. The award was presented despite opposition by members of the Israel Lobby here in the United States. -

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Naim Ateek, an Anglican priest and founder and director of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem, received the Episcopalian Peace Fellowship’s 2006 John Nevin Sayre Award last week.

In his acceptance speech, Ateek praised the Episcopal Church for giving him the award despite pressure from “Jewish Zionist organizations in the States” according to a Sabeel press release.

He also called Israel’s West Bank security barrier an illegal land-grab.

Ateek in the past has accused Israel of “crucifying” the Palestinian people and reportedly has expressed support for a one-state solution to the Palestinian-Israel conflict, effectively meaning
the end of a Jewish state.

He also is a major figure behind the push for universities and other groups to divest from companies that do business with Israel.
Website: jta.org

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Almost three months ago, on March 30, 2006, the Israeli High Court struck down Israel’s slavery law that had been on the books since 1952. It would appear that justice has been served -- for now.

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aljazeerah.info 06/16/06
by Genevieve Cora Fraser According to the Israeli Human Rights organization Kav LaOved, “The view of migrant workers in Israel as the employers' property is reflected above all in the "binding arrangement" which makes the worker the employer's slave.”

In 2004, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights of migrant workers, Ms. Gabriela Rodriguez Pizarro, reported to the UN Commission on Human Rights that migrant workers complained about minimum wage violations, poor lodging conditions, use of violence by the employer and passport confiscation not properly acted on by the Police and the Labor Ministry’s enforcement division.

Passport confiscation was punishable by a year's imprisonment; however, despite thousands of alleged complaints and 8,000 passports reported confiscated by the police, nobody has been convicted for this offence. Passports confiscated by the police were reportedly often returned to employers or to embassies, but not directly to the workers.

Included in the UN report was a letter Pizarro had presented the year before concerning the 250,000 migrant workers in Israel who represented approximately 13 per cent of the Israeli labor force at the time. More than 80% of these workers received less than the legally required minimum wage. “Many of them worked very long hours, allegedly up to 250 hours per month, while the average working time for an Israeli worker was 152 hours per month,” she wrote.

In 2004, Kav LaOved Director, Hannah Zohar reported that permits for employing foreign workers in construction, in fact, allowed for their exploitation. The workers were tied down, lied to and beaten to the point where they were turned into frightened animals.

At that time an ex-minister, Knesset member Shlomo Benizry, had been investigated by the police on suspicion of involvement in acceptance of a bribe, corruption and deceit, related to importation of migrant workers. The corruption, deceit and bribe are all connected to giving permits for employment of migrant workers in construction.

"Why is there such a strong desire to obtain these permits? Because they are in fact permits for exploitation," Zohar wrote. "The migrant worker gets tied to the permit holder without a chance for leaving for a fairer employer. That quickly leads to employment under conditions of slavery."

For permission to work in these slavery conditions, the workers paid thousands of dollars in their home countries, after being promised legal work and high salaries. The Chinese, by the way, pay the largest sums of money, between $7,000 and $10,000 per person.

"They arrived at our offices, crushed and beaten by construction repair contractors who did not pay their salaries. When they returned to their employers to demand their salaries, they received checks that bounced, additional months of work without payment and promises that payment would be made the next day."

"We asked the Chinese workers for the names of their employers. They only knew their first names. The phone numbers that were given to them were mostly busy or disconnected. When we succeeded to get through, we received the response: ‘Who? Chang? Never heard of him.’ We were able to help only a few of them to obtain salaries owed to them."

The Immigration Police, who started operating at the beginning of 2003, turned the migrant workers into frightened animals. They were arrested at crossroads, at their employment locations and at the places where they lived and were beaten and humiliated for no reason.

These days each Chinese worker pays up to $12,000 commission fees to mediators and manpower agencies in order to receive a permit to work in Israel. In this way Israel is aiding the trafficking of human beings. Both Israeli law and an international treaty which Israel has signed, prohibit charging workers a commission for finding a work place.

Nevertheless, it is a known fact that all migrant workers who arrive to Israel pay thousands of dollars to mediation agencies. As this commission is illegal under Israeli law, agencies usually charge the fee in the country of origin and the fee is divided between the mediating agency in Israel and its representative agency in the country of origin. In some cases, the Israeli employer also receives a "cut" out of the sum.

Kav LaOved’s complaint was submitted on Oct. 10, 2005 to the legal departments of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Industry, Trade, & Labor. Five months later the High Court acted.

The High Court of Justice waived a requirement by immigration authorities of migrant workers to remain employed by a single employer in order to keep their work permits valid. This ruling struck down Section 6 of the Entry to Israel Law, the Binding Agreement, the de facto slavery law that had been in effect for 54 years, since 1952.

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Perhaps fearing that the High Court ruling might truly be the beginning of the end to Israel’s state sponsored slavery, (which had bolstered Israel’s cash flow over the past five decades) last week Likud chairman, Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he prefers Palestinian workers over Asians.

According to the Ynet, Netanyahu told reporters that “he always preferred Palestinian workers, who at the end of the day return to their homes in the territories, over the Asians, who stay here and become a burden on Israel's social system.” He also dismissed hunger and lack of human rights as the motives for violence and terror, “but rather brainwashing and hatred for the West and its values,” he insisted.

When Bibi Netanyahu talks, I listen, not because I am overwhelmed by his wisdom, but because he is usually trying to sell us something. Today he is selling Palestinian workers over Asians -- Why?

The Israeli-American orchestrated blockades, non-stop assaults and economic boycott are meant to topple Hamas – whom they fear, not because of their violence – but because they demand Palestinian rights guaranteed under international law.

In the meantime, Abbas is not only being armed to the hilt by Israel, he is threatening to dissolve the Hamas led government, according to latest reports.

A starved and subdued Palestinian population, minus a government, except for its all-powerful president (Abbas) would be the perfect prescription for Israel’s economic woes. With no hope for survival other than by taking what Israel has to offer, their “benefactor” Israel might be convinced to allow Palestinians in – provided that their overseers – an Israeli armed Fatah can enforce the peace.

Of course, the alternative might be a Third Palestinian Intifada, but this time Israeli collaborators (who are busy identifying themselves) might be targeted along with the state of Israel. Perhaps Bibi, Olmert, Peretz, their friend Abbas, and the rest of the boys should go back to the drawing room and rethink their options before all hell breaks loose.

Unfortunately, all hell breaking loose seems to be the only option the failed Israeli-American leadership has to offer.

Source: aljazeerah.info

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The call to boycott Israel is spreading. In addition to the boycott of Israel declared by British academics and public workers in Canada last month, now a large workers’ union in South Africa is shunning the Jewish state in protest of its policies towards the Palestinians.

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The Congress of South African Trade Unions, representing 1.2 million workers in the African country, published a letter expressing enthusiastic support for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) boycott of Israel.



In CUPE’s boycott declaration, the organization calls Israel’s separation fence an “apartheid wall” and condemns its continued construction as a violation of international law. They further called for divestment from Israel and demanded the imposition of sanctions.

In his letter, COSAFU president Willie Madisha hailed the Canadian group’s initiative:

With great pride, I congratulate CUPE Ontario for their historic resolution on May 27th in support of the Palestinian people - those living under occupation and those millions of Palestinian refugees living in the Diaspora. We fully support your resolution.

As someone who lived in apartheid South Africa and who has visited Palestine I say with confidence that Israel is an apartheid state. In fact, I believe that some of the atrocities committed against the Palestinians pale in comparison to those committed by the erstwhile apartheid regime in South Africa.

The latest outrage by the apartheid Israeli regime -- the construction of the hideous Apartheid Wall -- condemned by the International Court of Justice -- extends the occupation of Palestinian lands, disrupts the already precarious economic, social, health and education well being of an entire people.

Mr. Madisha points out that Zionsts and their supporters frequently attempt to suppress criticism of Israel by labeling the critic as "anti-Semitic".

He recalls how workers around the world supported the struggle against apartheid in South Africa through boycotts, divestments and sanctions.

It is time for the global workers movement to stand firm and principled against hypocrisy and double standards. We cannot remain silent any longer. There will be no peace in this region and in the world, without justice. In the face of an intransigent, arrogant, racist and brutal Israeli state, this strategy of isolation should be applied to Israel as well. It is a peaceful option.

Mr. Madisha remembers Israel’s support for the South African apartheid regime. He and his fellow union members now call on Israel to respect international law, the right of return for refugees, and the elected Palestinian government. In addition, he lauds the courage and vision of the union workers in Ontario.

Your unwavering resolve inspires us, we who lived through decades of apartheid oppression, as it will undoubtedly inspire and endear you to millions of Palestinian and other freedom loving people throughout the world.

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