Repairing Israel's Image

Yes, that is the purpose of my newspaper. 

"Israeli Parliament rejects legalizing some West Bank houses; Move clears way for removal of five buildings" by Isabel Kershner  |  New York Times, June 07, 2012

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed headed for a showdown with hard-core Jewish settlers Wednesday, after his ministers followed his instructions to vote against a draft bill that would have retroactively legalized illegally built settler homes in the West Bank.

The bill was defeated, 69 to 22, in the 120-seat Parliament, paving the way for the removal of five apartment buildings in Ulpana Hill, an extension of the settlement of Beit El, that were built on privately owned Palestinian land. Israel’s Supreme Court has ordered the state to demolish the buildings, home to some 30 families, by July 1.

The highly charged issue had pitted Netanyahu against the more right-wing elements within his government coalition and his own Likud Party, even as he pledged to strengthen other points of Jewish settlement.

In the end, though, after intense discussions with ministers who had expressed support for the bill over the past few days, the prime minister prevailed, avoiding entanglement with the Supreme Court and the international condemnation that the bill would inevitably have stirred.  

Why is it every time I read about Israel doing the "right" thing it is always for some ulterior, self-serving motive?

Netanyahu now plans to relocate the five buildings, possibly by slicing them from their foundations through some feat of engineering and moving them to available land elsewhere in Beit El.  

As far as I am concerned now, it's all unavailable because it would all be going back to Palestine. I didn't always feel that way, but my enlightenment regarding Israel's atrocious conduct and past misdeeds have changed my thinking. Return to Eastern Europe and Khazaria if they will have you, land-stealing usurpers.

In addition, he has promised to build housing for 300 more families in the settlement and cited an opinion by Israel’s attorney general stating that the Ulpana case will in no way serve as a precedent for future cases in the West Bank.  

Yeah, because the objective here is to keep Israel from looking bad.  Once attention turns somewhere else they will be resuming bizness as usual!

Addressing those he called his “brothers and sisters’’ in the settler movement in a statement broadcast after the vote, Netanyahu said: “I understand your pain. I share it. I met several of the families. I saw the people. I saw the children. And I would like to tell you what I told them. There is no government that supports, or will support, settlement more than my government.’’

After reminding you that I have stated several times the government itself is an extremist Jew government I will then be heading to the head to puke.

This was Netanyahu’s first major move on the settlement issue since he expanded his power by bringing the centrist Kadima Party into his coalition last month, giving his government a mammoth 94-seat majority in the Parliament.  

That move was done to marginalize the "zettlers."

Settlement construction has been an acute source of friction between the Israeli government, the Obama administration and other international powers, and although the rejection of the outpost bill was partly intended to ward off international criticism, Netanyahu’s plans to expand Beit El were not likely to go down well abroad. 

I noticed it never stops the aid checks from coming.

Nor were Netanyahu’s promises likely to assuage the settlers’ rage. Hundreds converged on Jerusalem on Wednesday to protest in front of the Supreme Court and the Parliament. Some 50 settlers staged a hunger strike here over the past week, while others arrived after a three-day march from Beit El, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem.  

Another under-reported protest mentioned in a paragraph late in the piece. I suppose I should feel "lucky" they mentioned it at all, 'eh?

--more--"

Related: Zionist Guilt Trip

Sorry, I'm not going for it because I never had anything to do with it.

Nor does it give them the right to trample on Palestinians the way they have the last 60 years.

"Status of West Bank university could further muddle peace effort" by Diaa Hadid  |  Associated Press, June 10, 2012

JERUSALEM - In the fraught atmosphere of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, an approaching decision on whether to award coveted university status to a college has taken on powerful political overtones.

For critics of Israel’s policy of settling Jews in the West Bank, the upgrade of the Ariel University Center of Samaria into a permanent university would be a strong signal of what they say is creeping annexation of the hilly territory.  

That's why there is no and will be no peace. Israel wants it all.

For its supporters, upgrading the institution will be a crowning jewel of the government’s commitment to holding the West Bank, the heartland of biblical Judaism, captured by Israel along with East Jerusalem in the 1967 war.

“Most dramatically, this has a symbolic significance that no settlement has,’’ said political scientist Yaron Ezrahi of Hebrew University. “It’s an attempt to legitimize the occupation.’’

***************************

With 19,000 people, Ariel is one of the largest settlements built on occupied territory claimed by the Palestinians. Positioned deep in the West Bank, its removal is seen as essential to the viability of a future Palestinian state, since annexing it to Israel would also take a significant wedge of land with it to connect with Israel proper.

But its huge population and developed infrastructure, including a theater, sports complex and four-lane highway, would make it extraordinarily difficult to uproot. An upgrade to the college would give a symbolic depth to the feeling of permanence.

Related: Israel Intends to Keep All Settlements 

But no preconditions from Palestinians or talks are off. Talk about the definition of chutzpah.

“Ariel is here to stay. There’s no reason to treat it differently from Tel Aviv,’’ said settler leader Naftali Bennett....

The Ariel institution has operated for 30 years in some form, ultimately growing into a college of some 12,500 students. It is open to all Israeli citizens, including Arabs. But like other Israeli universities, it is closed to the 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank....

A petition condemning the upgrade plans drew some 1,000 signatures from Israeli academics, said Nir Gov, associate professor of chemical physics at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, and a sharp critic of Israel’s policies against Palestinians.  

Yes, Virginia, there are some good Jews in the world.

Academics fear tens of millions of dollars of European and US research grants might be at stake if they are compelled to work with a future Ariel University.
  
Oh, so it was a bit $elf-$erving, sigh.

They cite the case of Israeli theater companies that were forced to perform in Ariel’s year-old theater. At that time, hundreds of artists protested against the move, saying they did not agree with Israel’s settlement policy. The culture minister responded by threatening to cut the funds of any theater company that did not comply....

Do you know what the solution is, dear reader?

“the general boycott of Israel’’

It's a start.

--more--"

"Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been meeting quietly in recent weeks, the agenda of the recent talks has been modest, and there is no breakthrough in sight. Nonetheless....  

A piece of image-boosting propaganda is published.

 --more--"    

Can you understand why I'm not reading the rest?

"Hate graffiti sprayed at Israel Holocaust memorial" Associated Press, June 12, 2012

 JERUSALEM - Vandals spray-painted anti-Zionist graffiti at Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, its chairman said Monday, suggesting radical ultra-Orthodox Jews were to blame.

Nothing bit semantics. Both want land, and the government is the ultra-Orthodox. This really has the stinky feel of another Israeli attempt for sympathy.

The anti-Zionist graffiti was painted at 12 spots across the memorial compound, including slogans that read, “Hitler, thank you for the Holocaust,’’ “Jews, wake up, the evil Zionist regime doesn’t protect us, it jeopardizes us,’’ and, “If Hitler hadn’t existed, the Zionists would have invented him.’’

I am trying so hard to forget that guy, but he appears in my paper almost every day. 

I supposed it wouldn't be so bad if past history were not distorted so by my media mouthpieces.

“We are shocked and dazed by this callous expression of burning hatred against the Zionists and Zionism,’’ said Avner Shalev, chairman of Yad Vashem.

He suggested that ultra-Orthodox radicals were responsible, noting the slogans were written in excellent Hebrew handwriting and one was signed “world ultra-Orthodox Jewry.’’

It is unclear how the culprits broke into the memorial, which is guarded 24 hours a day.

Translation: They were LET IN by sympathizers on the INSIDE!! This was ANOTHER DAMN ISRAELI FALSE FLAG, folks.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the case was under investigation but no suspects had been identified.  

Yes, we have COME TO EXPECT THAT!

Many ultra-Orthodox Jews are non-Zionist because they think a Jewish state should not be established before the coming of the Messiah.  

And it is their God-given mission to grab all the land they can before then.

A small number of extremists subscribe to the conspiracy theory that Israel’s founders colluded with Hitler to achieve their goal of establishing a state for Jews.  

Okay, let's get one thing straight: when the newspaper hollers conspiracy theory it is usually because it's the truth, and in this case it is true.  Zionist Jews have also used the sympathy generated by suffering of Jews under the Holocaust to establish Israel.

--more--" 

Related: Zionists Continue Rampage in Palestine

Here is where they are headed next:

"Israeli report faults Netanyahu’s role in deadly flotilla raid" by Isabel Kershner  |  New York Times, June 14, 2012

JERUSALEM - Reports by the state comptroller, elected by Parliament, carry more moral weight here than practical consequence. The findings were probably not going to have much effect politically on Netanyahu, whose governing coalition commands a majority of 94 in the 120-seat Parliament.  

Then it's a piece of public relations repair.

Still, the report may tarnish Netanyahu’s leadership credentials at a time when Israel insists on keeping open the possibility of another preemptive military operation, a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. The defense minister, Ehud Barak, also was criticized in the report.  

Yeah, Israel's leaders need a good image if they are going to commit a war crime and plunge the world into WWIII.

Ex-security chiefs who worked closely with Netanyahu and Barak have criticized their judgment, calling into question their competence to make a decision on whether to launch a strike on Iran....

And now you know why they are trying to repair their image with their public relations apparatus known as the mainstream(?) media.

--more--"  

Also see: Sunday Globe Special: Diskin's Dissent

Some things are just beyond repair:

"Israel offers migrants cash to leave" ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 09, 2012

JERUSALEM - African migrants who entered Israel illegally will be given cash incentives if they leave on their own soon, or they will face expulsion, the Interior Ministry said Friday.

A tent city is being built to hold other migrants, the vast majority of which can stay for now, the ministry said.

About 60,000 Africans have trekked across Egypt and other Muslim countries to reach Israel during the past few years. Many are looking for work, while others seek political asylum.

A Jerusalem court has ruled that 4,500 migrants, mostly from South Sudan, Ivory Coast, and Mali, are to be expelled.

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Hadad said Friday that those who willingly leave within the next week or two will receive cash incentives of $1,200 and a plane ticket. She said that otherwise, they face expulsion.

Interior Minister Eli Yishai told Israel Radio that that a tent city and holding facilities are being built for other migrants who are living in major population centers. He said they will get food and health care.

Yeah, detention camps are like hotels.

Israel is erecting a barrier along the roughly 125-mile border with Egypt. 

See: Israel's Solution to Illegal Immigration

For some reason their walls are not as controversial as others. 

But the migrants continue to arrive at a rate of about 1,000 a month, and some report being raped, tortured, and extorted by the Arab Bedouins who smuggle them through.

--more--"  

It wouldn't have anything to do with them being black, would it?

"Israel begins rounding up African migrants" Associated Press, June 12, 2012

JERUSALEM — Israeli authorities detained dozens of African migrants in predawn raids early Monday, the first major step toward what leaders say will be deportation of 4,500 people who have entered the country illegally.

The arrests were the harshest move yet against migrants, reflecting growing concern about the effect on Israel of tens of thousands of Africans who have sneaked into the country across the porous Egyptian border in recent years.

Israeli leaders have grown increasingly alarmed by the influx, calling it a burden and threat to the country’s Jewish character....

I'm so sick of supremacism being practiced by those that holler loudest against it. 

The crackdown came in the wake of a landmark court decision last week that cleared the way for the expulsion of 4,500 migrants. The order applies only to people who come from nations that have friendly relations with Israel, most of whom are from the newly established state of South Sudan.

And all this time I've been saying the independence vote was to free up the Israeli arms smuggling operation.

These people, however, represent only a small percentage of the estimated 60,000 Africans in Israel. Some claim asylum, while others are simply looking for work in a relatively prosperous country.

Because many are from Sudan, an enemy of Israel, and Eritrea, a country with a flawed human rights record, the line between refugees and economic migrants is blurred. Therefore, Israel has quietly allowed most migrants from those two countries to stay without processing their asylum applications.

The continued arrival of the Africans, and the legal uncertainty, have spurred action. Israel is racing to build a fence along its Egyptian border to halt the influx, and it has begun work on a huge detention center in its southern desert.

The government has begun imposing penalties on businesses that employ unauthorized immigrants, and this week, it announced that in addition to the detention center, it plans to build a tent city to hold 20,000 new arrivals....  

If I didn't know better I'd call it a concentration camp.

--more--" 

Updates: 

"120 African migrants deported from Israel" Associated Press, June 18, 2012

JERUSALEM - Israel sent 120 South Sudanese back to their country on Sunday, starting what could develop into a deportation of thousands of unauthorized African migrants who have poured into the Jewish state.

A delegation from South Sudan did not oppose the repatriation. In all, more than 500 migrants agreed to leave in the past week, and another flight is scheduled for next week.

Israel is offering a monetary incentive to migrants to leave voluntarily. Adults who sign the voluntary departure form will receive $1,300 apiece to help them resettle and minors will be given $650 each, she said.

Some 60,000 impoverished Africans, most from Eritrea and Sudan, have slipped into Israel across its southern border with Egypt since 2005, fleeing repressive regimes and seeking work. The influx has caused friction with Israeli locals, and several incidents have turned violent.

Authorities, alarmed by the swelling numbers, say the migrants are a burden on the economy and threaten to undermine Israel’s Jewish character.  

The only acceptable apartheid state, and imagine how Palestinians feel going through the same thing.

Facing a public uproar, the government launched a campaign last week to round up and expel migrants from South Sudan and other countries that have friendly relations with Israel, and therefore would be expected to treat returning citizens well. In all, it hopes to expel 4,500 Africans.

The operation would make only a small dent in the total number of migrants. Under an international treaty, Israel cannot deport those from Sudan or Eritrea, because they could face harm if they return to their homelands.

In addition, other Africans continue to flood into Israel. Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad said that while Israeli authorities rounded up about 300 people over the past week, some 260 more Africans entered Israel illegally.

--more--"   

Also see: Why the U.S. Media Barely Covered Brutal Right-Wing Race Riots in Tel Aviv

"Militants’ incursion into Israel from Egypt launches more bloodshed" Associated Press, June 19, 2012

JERUSALEM - Militants crossed from Egypt’s turbulent Sinai desert into southern Israel Monday and opened fire, killing an Israeli worker, defense officials said. Two assailants were shot dead in a gun battle with Israeli troops responding to the ambush.

The Israeli was in a crew building a fence along the porous desert border.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which underscored the growing lawlessness in the Sinai desert since Egypt’s longtime president Hosni Mubarak was toppled by a popular uprising last year.

A military spokeswoman, Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich, said the assailants have not been identified but defense officials suspect Palestinian militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip might have been involved. Southern Gaza borders Sinai, and infiltrators can exit Gaza through tunnels under the border.

Several hours after the attack, an Israeli airstrike killed two men on a motorcycle in the northern Gaza Strip near the Israeli border. The Islamic Jihad said the men were members on a reconnaissance mission and vowed revenge.

Hours later, another airstrike killed two more. The Israeli military said the target was a squad of Palestinian rocket launchers.

Israeli military officials said those attacks were not connected to the infiltration from Egypt.

The mountainous Sinai desert harbors an array of militant groups, including Palestinian extremists and Al Qaeda-inspired jihadists, Egyptian and Israeli security officials say. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Army Radio that there has been “a worrisome deterioration of Egyptian control’’ over the Sinai.

--more--"

 "Egypt is mired in its own internal issues and is not going to be attacking Israel. This is a false-flag operation to justify Israel's oft-stated goal of retaking control of the Sinai." -- Wake the Flock Up

More: Mosque arson blamed on radicals from disputed West Bank settlement
 
Hamas fires rocket barrage into Israel

Are you sure it was them (as the Zionist mouthpiece blames the victim for the death of a 2-year-old. Btw, how big a threat can Palestinians be if their rockets fall back and kill themselves?)?