Saturday 4th of May 2024
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shouting at the void .....

shouting at the void .....

The Australian Jewish News (AJN) was outraged. Its editorial in late July condemned the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) for a resolution calling on Australians to boycott Israeli goods made in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The AJN wrote that the move contributed to a global campaign to 'delegitimise' Israel and lent 'credence to the perception of an apartheid state.'

Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Robert Goot, in a letter to the National Council of Churches' general secretary, alluded to the Churches' alleged complicity in the Holocaust. The motion 'revived painful memories for Jews in Australia of earlier times in Europe when churches allowed themselves to be swept up in the tide of popular prejudices against the Jewish people.' Any moves to end West Bank settlements, illegal under international law, were framed as unbalanced and biased against Israel and Jews.

Relations between the Jewish and Christian establishment remain strained despite meetings with representatives to calm the atmosphere.

The Zionist establishment was equally offended by the resolution calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and cessation of terrorist acts on all sides.

The NCCA's move is in fact remarkably level-headed and fits comfortably with a growing global movement to increase civil pressure on Israel to reverse its colonisation program.

The boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign is a loosely-connected collection of church groups, activists, Jews, Christians and Muslims determined to act where political leaders have failed. There is no united vision, no definite prescription to solve the conflict and no hierarchy or leadership. Its overall goal is to bring justice for the Palestinians who have been living under occupation for decades.

Susanne Hoder, a member of a 'divestment task force'' set up by the Lawrence-based New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, recently told the Boston Globe that after first visiting Palestine in 2004, 'I was shocked. I came back with a clear sense that as churches, we shouldn't be sitting on the sidelines.'

It should be noted that the NCCA is only calling for a boycott of goods produced in the illegal Jewish colonies, not a wholesale boycott of Israel itself. It is a position supported by the US-backed Palestinian Authority and is already having a noticeable effect on the settlers' bottom line.

The response from the organised Jewish community in Australia and beyond has been apoplectic, accusing pro-boycott groups of anti-Semitism and spreading 'anti-Israel propaganda'. However, as explained by American Zionist leader Mitchell Plitnick:

'The pro-Israel, pro-peace movement should be embracing the boycott of settlement products. The reasons are both ideological and practical. Ideologically, we need to draw a distinction between Israel and the settlements, and we need to make opposition to the latter as uncompromising as support of the former... Boycotting settlement products and civil action to divorce Israeli businesses from the settlements are acts that are very much in Israel's interests and can effectively promote peace. But if we leave such actions only in the hands of those who do not care or are openly hostile to Israel, we are abdicating a powerful tool.'

Increasingly the NCCA is joined by churches across the world. In particular the British Methodist Church agreed this year to a resolution that called for a boycott of goods from Israeli settlements. Christine Elliott, the Church's Secretary for External Relationships, said in an official press release that, 'The goal of the boycott is to put an end to the existing injustice. It reflects the challenge that settlements present to a lasting peace in the region.'

Dr Stephen Leah, a Methodist preacher and member of the churches conference, told the Electronic Intifada that Israeli restrictions on Palestinian movement render impossible the sort of inter-faith meetings that critics of the Methodist motion say they support. It is a view shared by growing number of key unions in Australia who just this year resolved to boycott Israeli goods from settlements. The Australian Jewish Democratic Society has been condemned for similar moves but has defended itself in a recent statement.

Opponents of any kind of BDS remain in denial about the current state of Israeli politics. This includes threats to institute laws to pressure all citizens to pledge loyalty to a Jewish state, fascist leanings of the Netanyahu government, the ongoing siege on Gaza and expansion of West Bank settlements.

BDS is growing, like the surge against apartheid South Africa decades ago, because Western leaders refuse to acknowledge what they are backing. Being 'pro-Israel',  understood as in the declarations of Barack Obama, Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott, is simply code for doing nothing.

Antony Loewenstein is a Sydney based independent journalist and author of My Israel Question and The Blogging Revolution.

 

victims of asymmetry .....

Neither Israel's mounting isolation nor its reliance on US assistance has jeopardised its ability to make autonomous choices, whereas the Palestinian leadership's decision-making capacity has shrivelled. Most recent Palestinian decisions have been made in accordance with international demands, against the leadership's instinctive desires and in clear opposition to popular aspirations. Despite such deference, Palestinian leaders cannot count on international support. They feel betrayed by Arab allies and let down by Washington. In contrast, Israel has defied the Obama administration without endangering close ties to Washington. Palestinians will have to take into account the views of Arab and Muslim states; Israel can negotiate by and for itself, without reference to an outside party.

What happens should negotiations fail? The status quo, though sub-optimal, presents no imminent danger to Israel. What Israelis want from an agreement is something they have learned either to live without (Palestinian recognition) or to provide for themselves (security). The demographic threat many invoke as a reason to act - the possibility that Arabs soon might outnumber Jews, forcing Israel to choose between remaining Jewish or democratic - is exaggerated. Israel already has separated itself from Gaza. In the future, it could unilaterally relinquish areas of the West Bank, further diminishing prospects of an eventual Arab majority. Because Israelis have a suitable alternative, they lack a sense of urgency. The Palestinians, by contrast, have limited options and desperately need an agreement.

In any event, Abbas will return to a fractured, fractious society. If he reaches a deal, many will ask in whose name he was bartering away Palestinian rights. If negotiations fail, most will accuse him of once more having been duped. If Netanyahu comes back with an accord, he will be hailed as a historic leader. His constituency will largely fall in line; the left will have no choice but to salute. If the talks collapse, his followers will thank him for standing firm while his critics are likely in due course to blame the Palestinians. Abbas will be damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. Netanyahu will thrive if he does and survive if he doesn't. One loses even if he wins, the other wins even if he loses. There is no greater asymmetry than that.

The skewed Middle East peace talks

the zionist progrom continues .....

In a little noticed article on page 19 of the September 1 edition of Maariv, the Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Reuven Rivlin, assailed the actors and artists who have refused to perform at the theater in the Jewish settlement of Ariel. As a proud advocate of Greater Israel and professed friend of even the most fanatical members of the settlement enterprise (see his remarks at the recent funeral of murdered settlers in Kiryat Arba), Rivlin's attack would not have been significant if he hadn't revealed some uncomfortable facts in the process.

Seemingly lost in his anger at the lefty artists, Rivlin conceded that the founders of Israel, the cream of the kibbutznikim, had carried out a campaign of ethnic cleansing to a massive degree. "I say to those who want to boycott - Deer Balkum ['beware' in Arabic]," Rivlin said to Maariv. "Those who expelled Arabs from En-Karem, from Jaffa, and from Katamon [in 1948..] lost the moral right to boycott Ariel."

So according to one of the most powerful politicians in Israel, the official story of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which denies that Palestinians were forced from their homes in 1948 (they "abandoned their homes...at the request of Arab leaders," the ministry's website claims), is false. The Nakba happened after all. But in Rivlin's view, those who carried out the Nakba no "moral right" to oppose settlement activity because they stole more from the Palestinians than the settlers intend to steal.

As it is said, there is no honor among thieves.

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin's admission: Israel "expelled Arabs" across Palestine in 1948

meanwhile, the theft continues apace, with the full blessing of the great satan .....

In Washington, the Israelis and Palestinians are discussing peace, but in the Jewish settlements in the West Bank, construction is proceeding at full speed. A legal ban is being ignored and the government is looking away. The thousands of new homes could hinder reconciliation.

Officially, at least, this is the hour of diplomacy. For the first time in two years, Israelis and Palestinians are meeting for direct peace talks. United States President Barack Obama has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Washington. Settlement construction is one of the most sensitive issues at the talks.

It's also an issue where the fronts are growing increasingly tense. "As far as we are concerned, we will continue building after we have buried our dead," Naftali Bennett, the general director of the settlers' association Yesha said hours before the start of peace talks. Just a short time after his announcement, the settlers began erecting several symbolic settlements in the West Bank. In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, Bennett had threatening words. "It is not good enough that the moratorium will end on Sept. 26," he said. "Ehud Barak needs to act to approve 3,000 new housing units - 1,500 of them right now."

Israeli Settlement Construction Booms Despite Ban

a call to support palestine .....

There is a site on GetUp calling for a national campaign called Support human rights for Palestine  

You can go there and add your vote! The more votes the more likely there will be a GetUp campaign on Palestine.

------------------------------------

The Australian Friends of Palestine Association

Postal: PO Box 322, Kensington Park SA 5068

PH: 0414 773 918

Email: secretary@afopa.com.au

Web: www.afopa.com.au  

wolves in sheep's clothing .....

Better Place Australia has just launched its first battery re-charge point in Canberra.

The company has big plans. It will expand these points across Canberra. Electric cars will go on sale in bulk in 2012. Then there will be re-charge points set up along the Highway between Canberra and Sydney.

'First we take Canberra, then we take Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane' seems to be its approach.

Better Place would not be able to do this without local Labor minority Government support. That minority Government survives through an agreement with the Greens and their votes.

BPA is working with Renault-Nissan on electric cars. 

Electric cars are a good idea, aren't they?

No, not when they are built on the bones of Palestinians.

Better Place Australia (BPA) appears to have close links with Better Place Israel (BPI).

Because BPA is a private company it is difficult to get ownership information for free, but its website acknowledges BPI as an important link in the expansion plans of Better Places.

As it says, 'Better Place Australia is part of a global company dedicated to zero emissions driving.'

Certainly Israel is a testing ground for Better Place globally. For example Israel is the first nation where there will be a full roll out of battery re-charge points across a country.

Electric cars in Canberra and the genocide in Palestine

standing for nothing .....

Below is an article from yesterday’s Australian about the brave stance of the ALP against those shocking & principled Greens MPs & members who actually think about the Middle East without the only frame the blind can see, Israel.

When history is written, and it’s happening right now, these hacks will be clearly seen on the side of apartheid and loyalty to a state that doesn’t even admit it’s actually occupying Palestine. That’s ALP “values” for you:

Senior figures in the NSW Labor Right have explicitly linked action against the Greens at the ALP state conference with the party’s support for the anti-Israeli Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

Former state treasurer and ALP general secretary Eric Roozendaal and fellow Legislative Councillor Walt Secord, an adviser to premiers Bob Carr and Kristina Keneally, linked the successful conference motion to deny the Greens automatic preferences to the local party’s support for the BDS movement.

“The Greens will carry forever the stain of their support for the BDS campaign and their attempts to delegitimise Israel and the Jewish community – and this is one of the reasons why we must stand strong against the Greens,” the pair said in a statement.

BDS activists compare the Jewish state with apartheid-era South Africa and demand an end to dealings with Israeli businesses and institutions.

The NSW Greens backed away from formal commitment to the BDS movement last December, but their previous support is believed to have shattered the party’s chances of winning the inner-Sydney seat of Marrickville at the March 2011 state poll and divided Greens on the local council. Influential figures in the NSW party are understood to still support the policy.

Greens federal leader Christine Milne has said the party did not support the BDS campaign, but the NSW party defied her predecessor Bob Brown on the issue.

“The NSW Greens were terribly damaged by their support for BDS in 2010 and backtracked at their annual conference in 2011,” said Executive Council of Australian Jewry director Peter Wertheim.

He said three of the party’s six NSW parliamentarians had repudiated BDS in public statements and Greens MLC Jeremy Buckingham had been welcomed into the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel earlier this year.

“Only a minority faction of the Greens currently supports BDS, the so-called ‘watermelons’ faction’, led nationally by senator Lee Rhiannon and in NSW by MLCs John Kaye and David Shoebridge,” Mr Wertheim said.

“There continue to be deep divisions within the Greens on this issue.”

Antony Loewenstein