The Australian Jewish Democratic Society considers the Occupation of the West Bank to be a significant obstacle to the achievement of a lasting peace, and the settlements to be one of its worst manifestations.
Its effects are numerous:
*Israel’s youth must risk their lives in policing a hostile aggrieved Palestinian population, and risk becoming brutalised by the experience;
* Jewish settlers and their Palestinian neighbours have an understandably impossible relationship which often results in openly violent and destructive behaviour;
*It breaches international law, the very system that actually made possible the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948;
*Development of Palestinian civil society and its economy, which are the prerequisites of prospects for peace, is stifled.
Many Israelis share this view. The AJDS has decided that it does not wish to give financial support to those who produce and export from the settlements, and wishes to discourage others from doing so. We are taking this stand because we hope that it will encourage people to think about the question of the Occupation, and, at a more fundamental level, because we don’t wish to be supportive of people who breach International law, with or without the approval of the Israeli Government…(more follows)
Month: August 2010
This information is taken from http://www.israeli-occupation.org/about-us/, and it is very good piece of text for people who wonder ‘is it really all that bad’?
It is worth reading and thinking about.
Adam Keller, editor of The Other Israel – August 1, 2010. Originally published here
Googling for “Israel singled out” + “anti-Semitism” would immediately get you many thousands of results. All over the world, supporters of the policies enacted by the government of Israel are busily churning out article after article, repeating with minor variations the same message – Israel is being unfairly singled out, harshly criticized for the kind of acts which others are allowed to get away with, and the motive is anti-Semitism.
In a way, this is a second line of defense. There had been a time when this kind of people took the line that Israel can do no wrong. That it is an utterly wonderful place, little short of an utopia, a vibrant democracy and the only one in the Middle East, the home of tireless and dauntless pioneers who made the desert bloom. But this way of looking at things had become increasingly difficult to sustain. There have been too many unsavory TV footages of Israeli soldiers broadcast into every home around the globe, too many nasty revelations, quite a few of them by Israel’s own dissident citizens…
There is an excellent commentary the hysteria being whipped up about Iran in the US (and in the Australian Jewish community)
“Who needs AIPAC when all it takes is a few interviews with Israeli “sources” to scare the hell out of the Jews — courtesy of Israel’s spokespeople in the American media?
The Australian Jewish Democratic Society has become the first Australian community-affiliated Jewish organisation to adopt the view that some boycotts of Israel may indeed be justified. The decision culminated a 16-month process of discussion and expression of a wide range of views in its Newsletter.
The resolution (full text below) rejected the Palestinian civil society version of Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS): “The AJDS is opposed to any Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign aimed at the breadth of Israeli economic, cultural or intellectual activity”. The AJDS only supports “selected BDS actions designed to bring about an end to the Israeli occupation, blockade and settlement on Palestinian lands lying outside of the June 1967 Israeli borders.”
The Australian Jewish Democratic Society has become the first Australian community-affiliated Jewish organisation to adopt the view that some boycotts of Israel may indeed be justified. The decision culminated a 16-month process of discussion and expression of a wide range of views in its Newsletter.
The resolution (full text below) rejected the Palestinian civil society version of Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS): “The AJDS is opposed to any Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign aimed at the breadth of Israeli economic, cultural or intellectual activity”. The AJDS only supports “selected BDS actions designed to bring about an end to the Israeli occupation, blockade and settlement on Palestinian lands lying outside of the June 1967 Israeli borders.”
An opinion piece for Galusaustralis.
In July, Coteret, an Israeli news site, reported that Australian young people were taken on a tour of central Hebron by Birthright/Talglit, a program that has brought hundreds of thousands of young Jews to Israel. The video featured interviews with some of the participants and an Orthodox, American organiser. The tour was run by Chabad, who have a long history in Hebron, in conjunction with Israel Express and the Zionist Federation of Australia.
The video, which is still available on Coteret even though it was removed from it’s original source at WeJew.com, probably when it twigged that the visit was controversial, is particularly scary because of the naïveté of the young people – who think they are in Israel. The interviewer and organiser share a pumped up view of eternal rights in Hebron, despite the reality of extraordinary injustice to others to achieve this. I’d love my son to go on ‘Birthright’, but not on such propaganda tours that dehumanize Palestinians.
More…
Haaretz reports that settlers associated with Kiryat Arba, the Jewish area above Hebron set fire to local Palestinian lands after the Israel authorities removed one of their tiny outposts in the area.
Once again, Palestinians have been victimized and in this case, instead of olive trees being destoyed, arson has been found to be a useful tool. In such dry and hot conditions in mid-summer, this is environmental terrorism as well.
25 rabbis in south Tel Aviv have issued a prohibition forbidding residents to rent apartments to foreign workers. The document (pictured) uses quotations from scripture and commentaries to justify this and is supported by a councillor from the Shas party.
This scandal has nothing to do with Palestinians, nothing to do with terror, though they claim immigrants cause crime (the usual excuse crime, as in Australia, is to blame immigrants). They also don’t want ahem, girls associating with them.
[Middle East News Service comments: The uprooting of the Bedouin village has been covered around the globe. However, an appalling coverage by the Israeli media has meant very little background has been provided. This has been particularly missed in countries like Australia where public consciousness of native title is high. Professor Oren Yiftachel submitted a background article to Haaretz which published on the web only. As agreed with Prof Yiftachel, I forward the translation of the Hebrew article to him. He has tweaked the article by providing additional information as well several new paragraphs.
Prof Oren Yiftachel is a researcher and human rights activist. He teaches political geography and urban planning at Ben-Gurion University, Beersheba. He also represents Bedouin communities in courts and planning forums, and has recently been elected as co-chair of B’Tselem, the Israeli information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.
Absolutely recommended reading – Sol Salbe.]