Ray Cook - As I See It

Israel, Zionism and the Media

Category: Israel and Gaza (Page 13 of 14)

The Good, and possibly the Bad and the Ugly

24/03/2009 / / 0 Comments

With a number of reports coming out of Israel of possible abuses and violations by Israeli soldiers it is interesting to read a couple of reactions from inside Israel.

Firstly Herb Keinon in the Jerusalem post with an excellent article here where he he reports that Alan Baker, former Foreign Ministry legal adviser has said:

it is incumbent on

Israel to investigate the allegations to show the world it is taking the matter seriously 

As I have also stated, it is very important that Israel investigates ALL allegations in an open and thorough way.

“There is no doubt that Israel did not systematically go in and commit war crimes,” Baker said.

He said that in isolated incidents, things may have happened that caused innocent people to be killed, and that it was in Israel’s interest to investigate itself, and prosecute where necessary. 

Exactly right. This is the key issue that makes Israel different from its enemeies and many of the countries who so gloatingly read about Israel’s internal breast-beating over these allegations. Israel is seen as part of the western democracies and is held to account to uphold international law. No other country in the region would be remotely interested in investigating potential crimes in their military. Only truly democratic open societies can do this. Israel has to do it, not to placate foreign media or governments, it must do it to retain its self-respect as a nation, whatever the findings reveal.

The ‘good’ bit in the title comes from yNetnews.com where soldiers who took part in the Gaza conflict rebut claims of immoral conduct.

I don’t believe there were soldiers who were looking to kill (Palestinians) for no reason,” said 21-year-old Givati Brigade soldier Assaf Danziger, who was lightly injured three days before the conclusion of Operation Cast Lead.

 “What happened there was not enjoyable to anyone; we wanted it to end as soon as possible and tried to avoid contact with innocent civilians,” he said.

 According to Danziger, soldiers were given specific orders to open fire only at armed terrorists or people who posed a threat. “There were no incidents of vandalism at any of the buildings we occupied. We did only what was justified and acted out of necessity. No one shot at civilians. People walked by us freely,” he recounted. 

Other stories of  soldiers being berated by colleagues for stealing even a can of drink and being made to put it back, of soldiers who cleaned apartments where they had been billeted and folded sheets and blankets go unreported. *

But please read this article in the JP which offers a firm and fair answer to the concerted attack and demonization of Israel being waged by the Guardian newspaper and also this article referenced in it: a leading article in the Independent which is well balanced apart from the headline – here’s a quote:

It is true that all armies suffer occasional breakdowns in discipline. And we should not make the mistake of holding Israeli soldiers to a higher standard of conduct than we expect from our own. We in Britain should remember that Baha Mousa, an Iraqi hotel receptionist, was beaten to death in the custody of British troops in Basra in 2003 and none of our soldiers was convicted of this killing. American military personnel were guilty of appalling abuses of prisoners in Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison.

We should bear in mind too that this testimony was made public by a concerned Israeli academic. Whatever crimes might be laid at the door of the IDF, it should not be Israeli society on trial here. Indeed, it is a tribute to the openness of Israel’s democracy, that we have learned of these allegations. Nor does the conduct of Israeli troops invalidate the overall objective of Operation Cast Lead, namely to stop Hamas firing rockets into towns in southern Israel.

This is the point. Unless Israel is perfect it is the most appaling state in the world. Ever since its formation Israel has faced an existential threat from its neighbours. It’s hardly surprising that Israel is drifting to the right and its people increasingly brutalised by continuous attacks and fear of attacks. Even so, abuses and crimes cannot be dismissed. They must be investigated and, if proved true, action must be taken against perpetrators. If proved true, Israel must do some serious soul searching about the future conduct of its military.

* 26/03/2009 This was my poorly remembered reading of a YnetNews article which I can now quote:

 

A Paratroopers Brigade soldier who also participated in the war called the claims “nonsense”. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said, “It is true that in war morality can be interpreted in many different ways, and there are always a few idiots who act inappropriately, but most of the soldiers represented Israel honorably and with a high degree of morality.

“For instance, on three separate occasions my company commander checked soldiers’ bags for stolen goods. Those who stole the smallest things, like candy, were severely punished,” he said.

“We were forbidden from sleeping in Palestinians’ beds even when we had no alternate accommodations, and we didn’t touch any of their food even after we hadn’t had enough to eat for two days.”


 

HonestReporting analyses BBC’s ‘biased’ coverage of the Gaza conflict

24/03/2009 / / 0 Comments

HonestReporting.com has released its analysis of what it claims to be the BBC’s biased coverage during the Gaza conflict. Biased against Israel, off course.

The report which can be seen here begins with a telling comparison to the conflict in Sri Lanka between government forces and the Tamil Tiger separatists.

During the conflict, the BBC published, on average, 4.5 articles every day dealing with the fighting. In contrast, BBC coverage of the Sri Lankan government’s campaign against the Tamil Tigers group — a conflict that resulted in an estimated 2,000 civilian deaths in January of 2009 — produced barely one article a day.

According to human rights organizations, the conflict in Sri Lanka includes intentional attacks by both sides on civilians, attacks on hospitals (twenty attacks from December through February alone), and the use of human shields. Yet the BBC gives this conflict, estimated to have resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, less than one quarter the average daily coverage of the Gaza conflict. If the BBC is going to focus this much on  Gaza, it must expect scrutiny of that coverage.

This discrepancy is something that I and many others have pointed out previously and will be the subject of a post I intend to write shortly.

One of the main thrusts of the HonestReporting analysis is the discrepancy between accounts coming from Gaza and those emanating from the Israeli side. The report points out how unsubstantiated claims went either unquestioned or received a token warning of the BBC’s inability to authenticate claims.

Emotive images often accompanied the reports even though these images were often unrelated to the actual events being reported. Unverifiable atrocities were reported unquestioned. 

The reports concluded:

 

The BBC’s coverage of the Gaza conflict painted a picture of an Israeli attack that intentionally targeted civilians and may have included war crimes. Specifically: 

  • The BBC relied upon Palestinians who were given the opportunity to make dubious accusations without any supporting evidence.
  • The BBC published image after image of Palestinians suffering under Israeli attacks while giving readers few views of the impact that the conflict was having on Israeli civilians living under a constant and daily rocket barrage.
  • The most damning Palestinian statements about the Israeli operations were highlighted on the side of the articles, while Israeli statements were almost never treated in the same way.

 

The analysis looked at every report on the BBC and the BBC website during the conflict and various diagrams are produced to back up claims of an extremely skewed coverage which showed Israel in a negative light with little attention given to the hundreds of thousands of Israelis condemned to years of rocket and mortar attacks. Many sources used by the BBC were dubious, to say the least, in that they came directly from or were almost certainly channelled through Hamas or its supporters or those it had most likely intimidated or threatened (although this, too, of course is difficult to prove or assess).

The most egregious ‘lie’ was that of the ‘bombing; of an UNRWA school which made such headlines at the time, especially as John Ging, UNRWA’s head of staff in Gaza first claimed more than 40 civilians had been killed INSIDE the school and later had to recant and admit that the shells fell outside the school. But the damage was done and the BBC continued reporting 40 deaths only for it to be revealed there were ‘only’ 12, of which 9 were Hamas operatives who had used the vicinity of the school to fire at IDF troops. The truth was not reported with the same sensationalism as the initial lie and thus the the smear sticks.

Although the report is an excellent analysis, I must take issue with part of its interpretation of the statistics. Here is a table of the findings I have made:

  Palestinian Israeli    
Eyewitness Accounts 40 18    
  Palestinian Casualties/Destruction Israeli Soldiers Israeli casualties/destruction Hamas Terrorists
Images 215 53 34 11
  Palestinian Position Israeli Position    
Highlighted Quotations 33 3    

Now, I do not want to be an apologist for the BBC but most of the action was taking place in Gaza. And even though rockets were falling on Israel throughout the conflict it is undeniable that it was Gaza where there was a huge battle raging and hundreds of people (almost all Palestinians) dying, not Israel. 

For me the statistics are not the key element of the bias; what is key is the quality of the reporting and the lack of concern, especially by Jeremy Bowen, for proper journalistic norms. Hearsay and dubious sourcing, gullibility and a predisposition against the Israeli position, assumptions of guilt without proof, hectoring of Israeli spokespersons; all these were what characterised the BBC’s coverage.

Even now as terrible stories come out of Israel the BBC and others are still making assumptions about the veracity of the reports simply because they are from Israelis without waiting for the full investigations to be carried out. At least Israel takes the accusations seriously; when Hamas is challenged to respond to accusations of abuses it basically sticks two fingers up – hardly surprising; since when did terrorists ever abide by any international laws or conventions? That’s why they are designated terrorists in the first place.

UN: Israel may not be allowed to defend itself

23/03/2009 / / 0 Comments

It’s official: long-time Israel basher, academic and UN  “special rapporteur” on Human Rights in Palestine Richard Falk is not just accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza but, according to the BBC website, questioning “whether Israel acted lawfully in entering Gaza at all”.

So according to Falk, Israel is unique among the countries of the world in possibly not being allowed to defend itself against a barrage of rocket attacks from a neighbouring territory over a period of many years.

Just to balance things up, “He is calling for an independent inquiry to examine possible war crimes committed by both Israel and Hamas.” With one sentence he equates the actions of a terrorist organisation, whose charter reveals that it is dedicated to the physical destruction of Israel, with the country it is trying to destroy and which, perhaps, may not be allowed to defend itself against that terrorist organisation.

There is no question of “possible war crimes” when it comes to Hamas. Falk only needs to stand on the streets of Sderot for a day (but he can’t as Israel won’t give him a visa) and see what are considered harmless rockets raining down indiscriminately on a civilian population. He only needs to ask Hamas when last Gilad Shalit had a visit from the Red cross.

Here are some of Falk’s bons mots from the past:

it is not an irresponsible overstatement to associate the treatment of Palestinians with the criminalized Nazi record of collective atrocity

After writing an article in June 2007 called “Slouching toward a Palestinian Holocaust” he defended his use of the word “Holocaust” by comparing Israel’s policies to the collective punishments used by the Nazi regime in Germany.

He has also accused Israel of “genocidal tendencies”.

In 2006, Yitchal Levanon, the Israeli ambassador to the UN in Geneva said:

He has taken part in a UN fact-finding mission which determined that suicide bombings were a valid method of ‘struggle’

The BBC alludes to Falk’s previous record as a critic of Israel, who is considered biased by the Israelis, without giving the substance of that criticism.

For Falk, Israel, the arch-criminal, should sit on its hands and allow itself to be destroyed. Then, perhaps, he would be wringing his hands and describing a second Holocaust of the Jewish people and investigating Palestinian war crimes in the ruins of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

We must not fear the truth

20/03/2009 / / 0 Comments

Yesterday Ha’aretz published a story about testimony of IDF soldiers on the Yitzhak Rabin pre-military preparatory course at the Oranim Academic College in Kiryat Tivon.

The course head, Dani Zamir, published conversations in a course newsletter. The testimony purports to be that of a group therapy session where three IDF soldiers related incidents in which civilians were killed by snipers and of wanton destruction of property.

In fact, the actual stories are extremely disturbing. An old woman killed, apparently because she strayed into a fire zone; others killed because they took a wrong turn after being evacuated by the IDF and snipers had been instructed to kill anything  that moved. 

The world’s press has obviously homed in on these stories and the BBC was not slow to comment. However, it must be said, the story was not headlined by the BBC and their reaction was somewhat muted. They did manage to try to suggest that this was a religious war by quoting some rabbis who were involved. Somewhat ironic when it is the other side who are actually conducting a religious war when it’s supposed to be a territorial one.

The anti-Zionists and the Jew-haters will of course say ‘I told you so’ about these reports, and this will confirm them in their beliefs and be used to justify their hatred.

There have, however, been doubts cast on the stories because Zamir has a long history of left-wing agitation and views. Furthermore, those giving testimony may not have witnessed these events but were only reporting heresay. One of the soldiers wasn’t even in Gaza, apparently.

We await the IDF internal investigations. Ha’aretz says it has more to expose.

But let me be quite clear on this: we who support Israel must not try to find excuses or escape into denial. If crimes have been committed the perpetrators must be punished. Any nation claiming to be civilised, especially one that claims to have the most moral army in the world, must investigate, publish and take any necessary action, however painful. It was interesting to read some of the comments posted on the yNet website. So many said that Israel should not was its dirty linen in public and give succour to the enemy.  There is an understandable view in some sections of the Israeli public, and certainly in the Diaspora, that Jews should never criticise Israel because it has plenty of detractors. As Herb Keinon wryly writes in the Jerusalem Post  “The whole world is against us, goes an old Jewish joke, and now we’ve joined in.” It’s this ability for Jews to search their conscience that separates then from many of their enemies.

There have been various stories and reports about abuses, atrocities and petty vandalism since the IDF operation began. The Jewish Chronicle on the 6th March had a piece headlined ‘I don’t feel bad about what we did’. It interviewed six soldiers. The last two soldiers, Arik Dubonov and Amir Marmor expressed reservations:

From the first briefings before going in, it was clear that the army had changed its entire mindset. Instead of getting the usual precautions on not harming civilians, we were told about the need to make a very aggressive entry. We were told ‘any sign of danger, open up with massive fire.’…

Some of us were very uncomfortable with these orders… (Dubonov)

… to me it was like a punishment exercise.. from the enormous extent of the destruction. We were there for a week and despite the fact that no-one fired on us, the firing and the demolitions continued incessantly. (Marmor)

The other soldiers interviewed had a different story but still did not make comfortable reading. Different experiences at different stages and areas of the conflict.

I have never fought as a soldier. I doubt many soldiers have fought under the conditions the IDF fought under. Clearly, the tactic was to go in hard in order to save Israeli soldiers lives against an enemy that had promised much but delivered little. The IDF could not allow Hamas any scope to operate. To achieve this aim against an enemy that hid in hospitals, mosques and schools, that popped out of tunnels in houses and booby-trapped residential buildings, was not going to be anything but a dirty war with civilians in the middle. Despite this, the IDF policy was to do as much as it could to avoid civilian casualties. That may seem ironic in light of the allegations, but it is, nonetheless, the truth. If their was a failure or the rules of engagement were too loose, as some have suggested, that does not mean that every action was reckless or worse.

Israel should carefully examine its tactics: did its forces need to destroy houses just to create sight lines? Is the policy of disproportionate response (Olmert’s words, not mine) justified?  Are all its forces and their commanders properly trained to respect civilian property, let alone their lives? 

So far nothing is proved; no investigations completed, no recommendations made, no prosecutions begun. I can wait. But I also want to see Israel facing up to its responsibilities: no cover-ups, no automatic denials.

I believe Israel is a highly moral country. The debate raging in Israel over these latest reports, the debate which has always raged about its treatment of the Palestinians, its war ethics, its defence policies and tactics, all these are signs of a healthy democracy. No such debate, no such self-examination, no such remorse or self-doubt would enter the minds of Israel’s enemies. 

The anti-Semites and Jew-haters may have their chance to gloat, but that should not weaken the resolve of those who know that Israel faces an increasing existential threat and needs our support more than ever. But that support will be weakened if Israel is not seen by those very supporters to do the right thing: thoroughly investigate ALL allegations from whatever quarter and take any necessary action.

The glory of Galloway

11/03/2009 / / 0 Comments

Well, Viva Palestina finally made it into Gaza and George Galloway and Hamas had their little love-in.

Not before a number of Egyptians showed him and the convoy what they thought of them.

Apparently, in El Arish, the convoy came under attack. It was stoned and anti-Hamas slogans daubed on vehicles.

Several people were injured. 

I will not gloat over the suffering of the Viva Palestina people. They came in peace to bring aid to those in need in Gaza. Galloway and Ridley also came as a propaganda exercise which has hardly been reported in the mainstream media.

Galloway made a speech in which he praised the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyah  as the “the only and legitimate elected leader of the Palestinian people”. 

Galloway’s true motive was that of all demagogues – self-publicity. There he was, in the centre of Gaza City, praising terrorists and would-be perpetrators of genocide against Israel and the Jews. He wore dark sun glasses as he spoke, a true metaphor for the limit of his vision and his blindness to the real truths about Hamas. As long as he has his moment in the limelight. He hasn’t had such a good time since he last praised Saddam Hussein, or was it the Iraqi people? It gets so confusing.

But why did brother Muslims in Egypt attack a convoy sending aid to relieve their fellow Arabs and co-religionists in Gaza?

The answer is simple. Many Egyptians hate Hamas and all they represent. They see Hamas flags flying on the convoy and their gut reaction is violence. But Gorgeous George doesn’t see it that way. He looks foward to the day when the Hamas flag flies over Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. Not a two-state Palestine with Israel, but a one-state Palestine. A day when the Israelis will simply disappear. Disappear like the Jews did in Nazi Europe, because that is their avowed intention, an intention that Galloway and his ilk do not wish to confront.

 Why did the Egyptians stop them for so long at the border and only allow most of the trucks through after lengthy negotiation? Why did Galloway and Ridley have to make the unspeakable compromise of having some vehicles pass through Israeli checkpoints (which they did without incident – no stone-throwing from the Israelis, please note)?  I don’t really know. Maybe the understanding with Israel about what gets into the Strip meant they had to be very wary and consult with their Israeli counterparts. 

So the next time you hear anyone blaming the ‘siege’ on Israel, just point out that Gaza has a border with Egypt and that they are as keen as Israel to contain and curtail the activities of Hamas.

And finally, when did the Nazis allow food, medical equipment and ambulances into the Warsaw Ghetto? (Just in case someone tries to make that comparison too.)

Viva Palestina prevented from entering Gaza – by Egypt

08/03/2009 / / 4 Comments

As I predicted, it is not Israel who has stopped the Viva Palestina aid convoy, as Tony Benn originally tried to imply would be the case, but Egypt.

The convoy has been stopped at Al Arish about 25 miles from Rafah.

One wonders why the world insists that is Israel and Israel alone who is penning in the Gazans when there is a border with Egypt which is rarely mentioned because it does not conform to their preconceptions and prejudices.

It is puzzling why Muslims would prevent aid reaching fellow-Muslims in Gaza. In fact, all along the way as they have passed through North Africa they have been stopped more than once.

But listen to this folks – the Viva Palestina Facebook page is now saying that the Egyptians want the convoy to pass through an Israeli crossing. Wouldn’t that be a great propaganda disaster for George Galloway; having the Israelis allowing in an aid convoy! Unthinkable.

The page reports:

During the day new obstacles have been placed in the path of the convoy passing into Gaza via the Rafar(sic)  crossing – to the amazement and disbelief of everyone involved.

‘Amazement and disbelief’ – so an enlightening time for them into the realpolitik of the region.

So much for genocide

05/03/2009 / / 0 Comments

An uncharacteristically even-handed report on the BBC website What gets into the Gaza Strip reveals what those who cared to investigate knew anyway. Basically everything gets in except fruit juice and sweets, building materials and car parts and agricultural supplies. Previously pasta, lentils and paper were not allowed in since the conflict, but now they are. What is let in and out  has varied over time. The Karni, Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings, for example, were closed on various occasions last year because Hamas attacked them in order deliberately to disrupt the flow of supplies so that they could then accuse Israel of cutting off the Gazan lifeline. Yet another example of how Hamas have cynically and cruelly exploited their own people for propaganda purposes, propaganda which the world and its press have usually swallowed whole.

What is clear is that even during the conflict humanitarian aid was getting through and since the end of the conflict enough passes through the border to ensure the necessities for life.

So why not building materials? The answer is that if these materials were let in, Hamas would do as they always do, that is, commandeer some of these materials to manufacture rockets and rocket launch pads. This policy appears harsh because it delays rebuilding. But why should Israel be an accomplice to the re-arming of those that would destroy it. Hamas still fire their rockets. If the rockets stopped and credible guarantees were given, then building materials could be allowed in.

In contrast to Gaza, in Zimbabwe food has virtually run out and cholera has killed 4,000 people. I don’t hear the world claiming that Mugabe is committing genocide against his own people. Israel is often accused of that crime which, were Hamas to be allowed free rein to  import and build weaponry, including arms from Iran, they would surely embark on against Israel.

And if you still think that Israel wants to kill all Palestinians, here’s an interesting statistic for you that you won’t read on the BBC. Arutz Sheva reports that:

despite the continuing rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel, more than 14,000 tons of aid and more than two million liters of fuel entered Gaza last week. Israel also accepted 1,563 patients from Gaza for medical care

Did you read that last bit? 1563 Gazans taken for treatment to hospitals within Israel. Yes, it is a tragedy that these people cannot receive treatment within Gaza where the BBC also reports on a deteriorating medical situation which it blames on both Israel’s policy of restricting movement and also the chaos caused by Hamas. The BBC couldn’t resist taking a pot at Israel because over 30 out of 60 pregnant women lost their baby whilst being held up at Israeli checkpoints. But it doesn’t occur to them that they would almost certainly have been heading for Israeli hospitals, probably because of complications. 

Delays at checkpoints, delays in reconstruction, deteriorating medical situation – all placed at the door of the Israeli government, not the Hamas government whose continued policy pf aggression against Israel and its own genocidal programme against the Jewish people is barely mentioned and when it is, is excused or dismissed as ‘posturing’. 

If there was an Israeli charter which explicitly stated the intention to kill all Palestinians and all Muslims we’d soon see how swiftly that was dismissed as ‘posturing’.

The Farce of Arab League investigations into Human Rights Abuses and War Crimes in Gaza

02/03/2009 / / 0 Comments

Ha’aretz reports that:

“A committee of jurists hired by the Arab League completed a six-day tour of the Gaza Strip on Friday. The fact-finding mission was meant to investigate alleged war crimes as well as crimes against humanity perpetrated by Israel during its offensive against Hamas earlier this year.

Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa appointed the committee which is expected to submit a detailed report on its findings and conclusions. This report will then serve as the basis for any future legal proceedings the league plans to initiate.“

It might be edifying to examine the human rights records of some the members of the Arab League since they seem so keen on such things.

EGYPT

Their ‘shoot to stop’ policy on the Israel border has been criticised by Human Rights Watch. The Christian Science Monitor reported in November 2008. (http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1113/p06s03-wome.html)

Sadiq Sahour came to Egypt from Darfur in 2004 after government militias burned down his village. He wanted to find a better life for his family, but in Cairo he found no work and little assistance from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). So in July 2007, he and his wife, Hajja Abbas Haroun, made an increasingly popular – and dangerous – decision for refugees and migrants. They resolved to smuggle themselves into Israel.

With their infant daughter in tow and a second child due any day, they traveled to the Sinai town of Al-Arish and paid Egyptian smugglers $250 per person to ferry them to the border area. As they drew near, says Mr. Sahour, Egyptian border police approached the group of 12 adults and several children and opened fire.

Ms. Haroun and her unborn child were killed instantly. Many of the others were arrested, tried, and sentenced to heavy fines and a year in prison.

“The police came and shot us from close up,” Sahour says. “They could see that there were women and children.”

As I previously reported here Israel’s treatment of Muslim refugees is in stark contrast.

Amnesty International (who have strongly criticised Israel and so it seems fair that we should hear what they say about Egypt and other Arab League members) speak of

long-standing… systematic torture, deaths of prisoners in custody, unfair trials, arrests of prisoners of conscience for their political and religious beliefs or for their sexual orientation, wide use of administrative detention and long-term detention without trial and use of the death penalty

The country has been in a State of Emergency since 1981 which is used as a vehicle for abuses under the cover of ‘security concerns’.

Free speech is suppressed with the example of two prominent bloggers being arrested for criticising the President and the government.

Democracy in Egypt is problematical with Hosni Mubarak clamping down on any threat to his power. Critics and activists are subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention and military trials.

Women’s rights are poor and they are subject to discrimination with regard to marriage, divorce, custody and inheritance.

Religious freedom is also a major concern. The Coptic Christian community are restricted with regard to the building of churches or public profession and demonstration of their faith. Baha’is, Shi’a and Sufi Muslims are poorly tolerated and their religions not recognised by the state.

Gays are persecuted and AIDS sufferers considered criminals.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) has been attacked from within the country by those who say that it is a front organisation created by the government to cover up or excuse its own human rights violations. It is the EOHR that is encouraging and supporting the Arab League’s investigation into alleged war crimes and human rights abuses in Gaza.

SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia’s adherence to full Sharia law is well known. Political Freedom is non-existent. Extra judicial exections are common. Religious minorities and political opposition are oppressed as are homosexuals and women. All this is denied by the government.

Although women make up 70% of the student population, only 5% are in the workforce which is the lowest percentage in the world. This situation is improving – slowly. Women’s legal position is highly problematical due to the stringencies of Sharia. This is a difficult area where international norms contrast starkly with Sharia. However, there are many Muslim countries where such stringencies are not observed and a more moderate form of Sharia is employed.

One of the difficulties that women have is vulnerability when it comes to sexual attack or rape where they are ususal presumed to be the guilty party. A recent case is of a woman who was gang-raped but herself sentenced to 6 months imprisonment and 200 lashes because she was in a car with an unrelated male at the time of the attack.

Saudi Arabia is reagrded a ‘Tier 3’ country in terms of its record on slavery and human trafficking. Thi smeans that it fails to comply with the minimum standards and makes no moves towards remedying the situation. Saudis outside the country have  been prosecuted for the effective enslavement and ill-treatment of servants. So although Saudi Arabia is very keen that foreigners observe its laws when in Saudia Arabia, many of its citizens do not seem to feel the same need to comply with the laws of countries they are visiting or are even resident in.

Anything other tha heterosexual relations within marriage is outlawed and punishable by imprisonment, the lash and sometimes execution.

Corporal and capital punishment are common.  The corporal punishment includes amputations of hands and feet or the lash. The latter can be administered over a protracted period of time. The UN considers such punishment as torture. Saudis defend it as an ancient tradition.  Human Rights Watch has concluded that the Saudi legal system “fails to provide minimum due process guarantees and offers myriad opportunities for well-connected individuals to manipulate the system to their advantage”.

Freedom of speech and the press are limited. No-one can freely criticise the government or propose values which are considered against Islamic traditions. There are no political parties in Saudi Arabia or any form of labour union or representation.

Freedom of religion is non-existent. Even other Muslim sects are proscribed if they do not conform to the Saudi’s particular brand of Wahabism. Anyone with an Israeli passport or a stamp of entry or exit from ISrael on their passport is banned.

“fails to provide minimum due process guarantees and offers myriad opportunities for well-connected individuals to manipulate the system to their advantage.”

SYRIA

As with Egypt, Syria too is in a state of emergency, since 1963!  which provides cover for its dictatorship.  Arrests and detentions without trial are common, torture and show trials rife.

There is no freedom of speech, the press or the right to demonstrate.

Human Rights Watch record 17,000 political prisoners who have just disappeared over a period of 30 years.

Syria is one of the least free countries in the world.

Do I need to go on? Other countries in the Arab League include Yemen, Libya, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates. In fact there is not one country in the league which is not tainted by repression or oppression and not one full democracy amongst them. And these are the countries who are going to sit in judgement on Israel.

Sick joke.

Meanwhile today we hear in Kenya’s Daily Nation reports that the Arab League is working with the Sudanese government to AVOID confrontation with the ICC and helping it to stall investigations whilst trying to promote ‘internal’ investigations.

See the full article here

In other words, the Arab League is effectively trying to deflect criticism from a genocidal maniac responsible for the deaths and uprooting of 2 million people whilst vigorously pursuing a case against Israel for killing 1200, most of whom were Hamas members or combatants.

A sick joke indeed.

Pasta Politics

26/02/2009 / / 0 Comments

Israel is being criticised by Hillary Clinton over not allowing pasta across the border into Gaza. It’s in trouble for not allowing other stuff in too, such as building materials.

Today Ha’aratez announces ‘Pasta is not a weapon’ http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1067055.html. But it could be. Do you remember the 7/7 bombers who used ‘innocent’ food products to create bombs. This is Israel’s fear. But is this fear more important than the impression blocking this and other shipments gives to the outside world? 

Israel’s main priority is to protect its own citizens and bring pressure for the release of Gilad Shalit (who I actually doubt to be alive. I hope I’m wrong). But Israel is consistently losing out in the propaganda battle against Hamas. There is no doubt Hamas can use all sorts of stuff to manufacture weaponry. Can Israel really stop this by an embargo? Even if they can, they bring upon themselves accusations of ‘collective punishment’.

Now, for me, ‘collective punishment’ is a close relative of ‘war crime’, two phrases with enormous emotive weight when used against Israel. ‘Collective Punishment’ is what the Nazis did. ‘War Crimes’ is a phrase redolent of Nuremberg. And so Israel is beaten with the stick of its own people’s collective nightmares. These two terms when used against Israel are blunt instruments which fail to distinguish between Israel’s actions and motives and those of true criminal regimes (Sadaam Hussein and President Bashir of Sudan for example). 

Israel has to make careful calculations weighing the appeasing of world opinion against the threat such appeasement brings to its own people. If it eases the embargo to bring some relief to Gazans will this result in more rockets? Maybe it needs to take the risk to demonstrate that this is the case. With a White House now determined to show a more even-handed approach and to seek rapprochement with the Muslim world, Israel may have no choice in the end.

Viva Israelia!

25/02/2009 / / 0 Comments

If you believe that Israelis don’t care about the human misery in Gaza then take a look at the israelity.com website article ‘Victims donating to victims’.

Even though the reporter states that the majority of the population supported its government in its attempt to end the terrorising of its citizens in the South, nevertheless they are not immune to the suffering of their neighbours.

Two activists Lee Ziv and Hadas Balas “decided to collect clothing, bedding, nourishment and other essentials from donors to bring them in to Gaza.”

“There is no connection to politics,” said Ziv. “We don’t represent a side, we just see an immediate need for blankets for people who have nothing to cover them at night and milk for infants who have nothing to eat.

… A woman called who had a mortar fall on her house”

Their efforts have resulted in 10 truckloads of aid being sent across the border with Gaza.

But listen to this: Kibbutz Kfar Aza has “offered up its warehouses as a depot for the donations” even though this Kibbutz is one of the victims of Kassam rocket fire.

It seems that Israelis can distinguish between those intent on destroying them from innocent civilians who are as much the victims of Hamas as they are of Israel, indeed, more so. Sadly, the world does not see this side of Israel. Read it all here http://israelity.com/2009/01/23/victims-donating-to-victims/

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