Following my previous post on Biden’s trip to Jerusalem, I’m glad to see self-professed “friends of Israel” who are still willing to see reality for what it is. Welcome to intellectual honesty, Andrew Sullivan:
I cannot read Netanyahu’s mind. But I can observe Israel’s actions. They intend to occupy and colonize the entire West Bank for ever. They may allow some parceled enclaves for Palestinians, but they will maintain a big military presence on the Eastern border of West Bank, and they will sustain this with raw military power and force. I certainly cannot see any other rationale for their actions these past few years that makes any sense at all. Many Israeli politicians now use the term “apartheid” for this future.
Now take the next step in that line of thinking, which is that the US must make a decision on whether it accepts this self-evident truth, choose a policy accordingly, and be prepared for consequences.
And Sullivan also gets it right here.
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When Hillary Clinton spoke at Dar Al-Hikmah college in Saudi Arabia, this brave female Saudi student attended. I cite with her permission (although I will not cite her name lest she be beheaded): “?????? ????? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ???? “???? ??? ??????” ??? ?????? ?????? ??????? ? ?? ?????? ?????? ????? ???????? ??? ?? ???????? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ??? ????? ?????? ? ??? ???????? ????. ????? ????? ?? ??????!
???????? 16 ?????? – ???
???? ??? ?????? ?????? 11 ? ????? ? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???? ???? ????????. ????? ?? ???? ??? ??? ???? ??????? ????? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ? ?????? ???? ????????? ??????? ???????. ???? ??? ???? ???? ????? ? ??? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ????? ???? ?? ???? ???? ??? ??? ?? ??????? ??? ? ????? ?? ??????? ????? ????? ?????????? ????? ????? ??? ???? ?? ????? ?? ????????. ? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ?????? ?????! ????? ?????? ?? ?????? ??????? ? ?? 12 ???? ????? ????????! ???? ?? ??? ? ????? ?? ????? ??? ?????? ?????. ? ????? ???? ???????! ???? ??????? ??? ????? ? ????? ????? ???? ??? ????: ?? ????? ??????? ?? ????? ??????! ???? ??????? ???????? ???? ?????? ?????? ??????? ? ?????? ? ?? ?? ????? ????? ??????? ???????? ????? ????? ?? ???? ??????? ????? ?? ????? ???? ???? ???????: ???? ?????… ????? ??? ????? ??????? ??: ????? ???! ???? ??????? ? ???? ??? ?????? ?????? ????? ???? ????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ?? ???????? ? ??????? ? ????????… ????? ???????.. ? ????? ??? ?????? ??????? ?? ???? ????? ??? ??? ????? ?????????? ????? ??????? ???? ?? ?? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ???? ??? ?? ????? ? ?? ???? ????? ?? ???????! ??? ?? ????? ??????? ?? ????? ?????? ???? ??? ?? ??? ???? ???? ??? ???? ???????: “???? ??? ??????? ? ??? ????? ??? ???? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ??????? ????? ?? ……” ?????? ????? ??????? ? ???????? ?? ??? ???. ????? ????? ????? ? ???? ?????? ????? ?? ??????? ?????? ??? ??????? ??? ?????? ????? ???????? ????? ?? ??????? ?? ????? ??????! ????? ???? ?? ??????? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ?? ???? ???????.. ? ?? ?? ???? ??? ???? ????? ??? ????? ??????? ?? ???? ? ????? ??? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ??????? ????? ????????.. ? ???? ??? ?????? ? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ? ???:Mrs. Clinton
We do not respect you for supporting Israel
We do not respect you for occupying Iraq
We do not respect you for occupying Afghanistan
We do not respect you for attacking Pakistan
? ???? ??? ???????? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ??????? ? ???:
It is a shame to have your signature
? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ? ????:
I’m sorry you’re feeling that way, we could have discussed it
????? ????? ? ???:
I object
?????? ??????? ???? ? ?? ????? ???????
?????:
This is not a dialogue, this is an end of a dialogue
???? ? ??????? ??????:
We still object
?????? ?? ?????? ? ??? ???? ?????.. ????? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ??? ?????? ????? ?? ??? ??? ??????? ? ??? ??????? ??? ???? ????? ?? ????? ????? ????? ???? ??? ???? ??? ?? ????? ? ?? ???????? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ??????? ?? ??? ???? ???? ????? ??????? ? ????? ?? ??????.. ?????? ???? ????!”
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“The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a recent spate of press freedom violations in the West Bank, including detentions, censorship, harassment, and physical attacks by Israeli soldiers. We ask that you ensure that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) examine the cases outlined below and discipline any individuals who are found to have committed violations.Since the beginning of February, CPJ has documented seven cases and spoken directly to the journalists involved. A request for comment from the IDF on the cases was not immediately returned.” (thanks Lilia)
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“It’s much worse than before. If I want to go as a lawyer to Ramallah and I have a court session at say 10am, in ‘normal life’ I would leave Bethlehem at 9, and I’d be in Ramallah at 10. But now you have to leave at 7am and you never know. You could arrive at 10am or at 2pm. It depends on the checkpoints. We know that there are two permanent checkpoints, but usually there are what we call ‘flying’ checkpoints, and the young soldiers, kids really, decide if they want to let you go through. Sometimes they keep you for two or three hours. And they have all kinds of blacklists for Palestinians: those not allowed to leave the country; those not allowed to enter Israel or Jerusalem; those who have to be arrested wherever they might be; those who have to be kept for hours and then let go. The aim of all this is just to make you leave the country and there are special organisations in Israel to help people emigrate.” (thanks Ryan)
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I’ve been cribbing a lot lately from Issandr El Amrani at The Arabist, but he finds a lot of great stuff, especially on Egypt. He’s been mining the ElBaradei Facebook sites for political art and has a post called “ElBaradei Fan Art”. There’s something distinctly familiar about these two:
Hey, it worked once . . .
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If this story (via Laura Rozen from Yediot Aharanot) is true, Joe Biden was a lot more pointed with Netanyahu than his public response to Israel’s provocative act on his arrival:
People who heard what Biden said were stunned. “This is starting to get dangerous for us,” Biden castigated his interlocutors. “What you’re doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace.”
The vice president told his Israeli hosts that since many people in the Muslim world perceived a connection between Israel’s actions and US policy, any decision about construction that undermines Palestinian rights in East Jerusalem could have an impact on the personal safety of American troops fighting against Islamic terrorism.
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Categories: Arab News Tags: Afghanistan, Aharanot, east Jerusalem, Iraq, Israel, Joe Biden, Laura Rozen, Pakistan, story, US, Yediot
Kudos to the 16 student organizations at Harvard who co-sponsored an op-ed in the Harvard Crimson highly critical of the call that Martin Kramer issued recently for the U.S. government to halt its support for the U.N.’s provision of food and other humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees, based on the claimed “pro-natalist” effects of this aid upon the size of Palestinian refugee families.
The op-ed also criticized the leadership of Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, where Kramer is a Visiting Scholar, noting that WCFIA leaders described Kramer’s statements only as “controversial”. The op-ed writers described this as,
an alarming position since less than a century ago similar remarks were made against African Americans and Jews. The characterization of his statements as merely “controversial” is offensive and dismisses their deeply racist nature.
Since the Weatherhead Center provides Mr. Kramer with a legitimizing and prominent public platform, we wonder whether it views any policy call as ethically disgraceful. We are troubled that the center has presented little to no diversity of viewpoints on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The only notable statements on the conflict emerging from the center are Mr. Kramer’s.
They made the following requests of the WCFIA:
First, we ask that the Weatherhead Center not renew Mr. Kramer’s fellowship or affiliation… Second, we call on the center to establish a committee of faculty and students to recommend the adoption of a set of vetting practices for incoming fellows that uphold a set of principles unified on non-racism, in concert with Harvard University’s own commitment to non-discriminatory practices and diversity of viewpoints.
Personally, I think the second request could have been better framed. I’m not sure about “vetting practices” in this context, and the proposal to “establish a committee… to recommend the adoption” of a set of such practices seems clunky and cumbersome. How about asking WCFIA to establish a committee of faculty and students to explore ways it can more effectively push forward the principles of non-racism, inclusivity, and wide-ranging intellectual exploration to which the university is committed? … Something like that.
Well, that’s my quibble. But the main point is that this is a magnificent coalition of student groups that has signed onto the op-ed. May their strength increase and their labors become ever more fruitful!
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“Abdulrahman Zietoun in the New Orleans Greyhound bus station where he was held after being arrested”
In the Guardian/ here
“…. Zeitoun takes us on a guided tour of the route that he negotiated in his canoe in the days after the storm. He begins by pointing to a pillar at the front of his house. “That’s where I kept the canoe tied, like you’d tie up your horse.”
We set off by car along the maze of streets around his neighbourhood. On every street corner he has a tale to tell. The first stop we make is at a house of grey clapboard standing on stilts. In the hurricane, the flood waters reached almost up to its windows. As he paddled by, Zeitoun explains, he heard a voice faintly crying “Help!”. He swam to the front door and inside found a woman in her 70s hovering above him. In one of the most memorable phrases of the book, Eggers writes: “Her patterned dress was spread out on the surface of the water like a great floating flower.”……
……. Zeitoun was on the phone to his brother in Syria when six unidentified police officers and National Guardsmen burst through the front door dressed in military fatigues and bullet-proof vests and carrying M16s and pistols. ……
“Why are we here?” they asked a passing soldier. “You guys are al-Qaida,” came the reply. Another soldier said as he passed: “Taliban.”
It was like a dagger blow for Zeitoun, for himself personally and for his vision of America, the country where he had come to live as a young merchant seaman from Syria and which he had always believed was a land of fairness and opportunity. He had come initially in search of work, never expecting to stay, but he then met Kathy, a local Louisiana woman who had converted to Islam four years previously. They had built a life together, grown their construction business and had children. And now here he was being called a terrorist. “I felt very bad. It was very hurtful. These guys wanted revenge on us, no matter what.”…..
(more here)
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… and the servitude continues …
The CABLE/ here
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be the keynote speaker at this month’s annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, The Cable has confirmed.
Clinton will speak on the morning of Monday, March 22, the second day of a conference that will bring together a star studded roster of American, British, and Israeli leaders in downtown Washington, DC. Monday is shaping up to be the biggest day of the three day event, with opposition leader Tzipi Livni giving the next major speech after Clinton and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking Monday night.
A host of U.S. lawmakers will also convene on the conference Monday, including U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., as well as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-MD, and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-VA. Retiring Indiana Senator Evan Bayh will speak to the group Sunday, March 21, as will Israel’s Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren and the head of Google Israel Meir Brand. An interesting roundtable that day will feature Foreign Policy Initiative’s Bob Kagan, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Richard Satloff, and former Bush administration spokesman / soon-to-be Senate candidate Dan Senor.
Tuesday morning, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will address the conference,….
One conference speaker who isn’t as famous but should make for a lively discussion is Colonel Richard Kemp, the former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, who has disputed that Israel committed any war crimes during 2008 and 2009 operations in Gaza. “I don’t think there has ever been a time in the history of warfare when any army has made more efforts to reduce civilian casualties and deaths of innocent people than the IDF is doing today in Gaza,” Kemp told the BBC in this video.
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Categories: Arab Blogs Tags: Afghanistan, Benjamin Netanyahu, Bob Kagan, brand, Chuck Schumer, Clinton, Colonel Richard Kemp, conference, Dan Senor, day, DC, East Policy, Eric Cantor, Evan Bayh, Hillary Clinton, Indiana, indiana senator evan bayh, Israel, Lindsey Graham, minister benjamin netanyahu, Monday, N.Y., Oren, Prime, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Richard Satloff, S.C., senator evan bayh, U.S., Washington
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