OPINION AND ANALYSIS

Week Ending 1 October 2014

1. A betrayal of international law

Mordechai Kremnitzer, Jerusalem Post, 28 September 2014

The body that established a committee to investigate suspected war crimes – the UN Human Rights Council – has a reputation for singling out Israel. The committee it appointed is suspected in advance of not having the pursuit of truth as its goal. What is more, even the resolution that set up the committee was worded in a way that suggests “sentence first, verdict afterwards.”

This suspicion is only augmented by the fact that its members do not include a single citizen of the country whose military conduct is the focus of its inquiry – even though Israel has no shortage of retired judges and jurists of international repute. The damage to the inquiry is redoubled when its chair has already declared his desire to see the prime minister of Israel in the dock at the International Court of Justice – that is, the committee’s chair has already formed a negative judgment about the head of the political system that oversees the military whose conduct is to be investigated. He cannot be perceived as an unbiased investigator.

2. Abbas incites and we’re to blame?

Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom, 28 September 2014

According to Abbas, the moderate partner, the State of Israel, is a “terrorist state” and a “breeding ground for incitement, tension, and hatred,” and is actually more dangerous than the beheading Islamists. This sentiment is present throughout his  entire speech to the UN.

3. Palestinians and the death-boat scandal

Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, 27 September 2014

As the past few weeks have, shown, hundreds, if not thousands, of Palestinians would rather risk their lives at sea than live under Palestinian governments and leaders whose only goal is to enrich their bank accounts.

Instead of creating job opportunities for young men and women, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority [PA] have spent the past 7 years fighting over money and power. They are now busy planning how to lay their hands on the millions of dollars that are supposed to go to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Hamas wants to use the PA as a tool through which the international community channels funds to he Gaza Strip — a move that would ultimately empower Hamas to tighten its grip over the Palestinian population there.

4. Israel is put on trial for war crimes

Max Blumenthal, AlterNet, 26 September 2014

On September 25, in Brussels, Belgium, the Russell Tribunal gathered to examine allegations of war crimes and genocidal intent by the Israeli military against residents of the Gaza Strip during Operation Protective Edge. I was among those invited to provide testimony before a jury that included Michael Mansfield, John Dugard, Roger Waters, Ken Loach, Vandana Shiva, Richard Falk, Ahdaf Soueif, and Ronnie Kasrils. The following day, I presented testimony in the European Parliament alongside Israeli journalist David Sheen and Mohammed Omer, a journalist from the Gaza Strip.

5. An Israel equal for all – Jewish or not

Patricia Marks Greenfield, Washington Post, 26 September 2014

Israel is out of step with much of the world. Over time, nations have become more ethnically and religiously diverse; populations have become more urban and educated; and economies have become more commercial. In response to these social and economic changes, many nations have left behind the notion of a favoured state religion.  It is time for Israel to do the same. It must be a fully secular state.

6. How Israel silences dissent

Mairav Zonszein, NY Times, 26 September 2014

The aggressive silencing of anyone who voices disapproval of Israeli policies or expresses empathy with Palestinians is the latest manifestation of an us-versus-them mentality that has been simmering for decades. It is based on the narrative that Palestinians are enemies who threaten Jewish sovereignty and are solely to blame for the failure to achieve peace. The Israeli peace camp — which remains obsessively focused on stopping settlement expansion and pursuing the ever-elusive two-state solution while ignoring Israel’s failure to separate religion and state and guarantee equal rights for Arab citizens — has been incapable of challenging this mentality.

7. Stop denying the obvious: Islam is the problem

Geert Wilders, Gatestone Institute, 26 September 2014

To defeat IS we should do more than just bomb its strongholds in the Middle East; we should no longer turn a blind eye to the violent nature of Islam. We should demand that those who settle in our countries cast aside values incompatible with ours. There is a huge problem — also in our countries – cause by the violent exhortations of Islam. Only when we face this truth will we be able to win this war we are in.

Although the majority of Muslims are moderate, thousands of innocent civilians all over the West have fallen victim to terrorists inspired by Islam. IS has announced that every citizen of the West is a target.

8. Arab Israeli priest to the UN: Israel is the only safe haven for Christians in the Middle East

Algemeiner, 23 September 2014

“Israel is the only place in the Middle East where Christians are safe,” declared Nadaf, who has been sharply criticized by many Israeli Arabs for his staunch public calls for enlistment of Israeli Christian Arabs into the IDF.

9. The Existential Roots of the Gaza War

Robert Lieber, National Interest, 6 September 2014

At root, the conflict is not about borders, blockades or “occupation.” It is existential. One side, Israel, in its official policies since the Oslo Agreements of 1994, is formally committed to a two-state solution that ends the conflict and does not jeopardize the country’s security. Though there is growing opposition and scepticism about the possibility of achieving agreement, a majority of Israel’s population agrees.

10. Time for a Revolution in Israel’s Global Engagement

Gidi Grinstein and Daphna Kaufman, Fathom, 2 June 2014

While this current era of unprecedented decentralisation poses new challenges to the security of all nations, for Israel, it is a strategic priority. Israel is no exception in facing trends that affect all developed and democratic nations. However, Israel is unique among these nations in also facing two monumental challenges: its proximity to the so-called ‘Arab Spring’, and the assault being waged on its fundamental legitimacy, fuelled in part by a massive, hostile campaign of propaganda.