The Agonist - Israel and Palestine

Tel Aviv car bomb kills crime kingpin

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:40:51 -0800

Nov 16

AFP - The reputed head of one of Israel's most notorious crime families was killed on Monday when his car blew up in Tel Aviv, sparking fears of an all-out underworld war, police said.

Yaakov Alperon was killed while driving his car in the centre of the coastal city after attending court with his son Dror who was charged with blackmail and extortion.

"This was an extremely serious incident whose consequences are clear to us," Ilan Franco, head of the police Tel Aviv district, told reporters at the site.

Chronic malnutrition in Gaza blamed on Israel

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:41:07 -0800

Donald Macintyre | Gaza | November 15

Independent - Donald Macintyre reveals the contents of an explosive report by the Red Cross on a humanitarian tragedy

The Israeli blockade of Gaza has led to a steady rise in chronic malnutrition among the 1.5 million people living in the strip, according to a leaked report from the Red Cross.

It chronicles the "devastating" effect of the siege that Israel imposed after Hamas seized control in June 2007 and notes that the dramatic fall in living standards has triggered a shift in diet that will damage the long-term health of those living in Gaza and has led to alarming deficiencies in iron, vitamin A and vitamin D.

New mayor offers Jerusalem a secular turn

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:40:58 -0800

Ilene R. Prusher | Jerusalam | Nov 13

CSM - By defeating the ultra-Orthodox Jewish party, Nir Barkat will bring secular politics. But he will likely take a hard line with Palestinians.

A secular Israeli entrepreneur has won the race to serve as mayor of the holy city, wresting control from ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties and emphasizing the growing divide between Israel's secular and religious culture.

Nir Barkat, a high-tech investor, scooped up 52 percent of the vote during municipal elections, the results of which were announced early Wednesday.

Mr. Barkat's supporters heralded his victory as an important move toward returning Jerusalem to a place of diversity and tolerance. But the incoming mayor's hard-line stance against making any concessions to Palestinians about the status of East Jerusalem has many wondering what his ascent will mean for the Middle East peace process, expected to regain momentum early next year.

Secular Defeats Ultra-Orthodox in Jerusalem

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:56:35 -0800

Isabel Kershner | Jerusalem | November 12

NYT - A secular, hawkish entrepreneur on Tuesday defeated an ultra-Orthodox, equally hawkish member of Parliament in a hotly contested race for mayor of Jerusalem, according to results announced early Wednesday.

As usual, the election was largely boycotted by Palestinians, who comprise a third of the city’s population.

Where is our Country Heading?

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:56:49 -0800

I may be disgusted and tired of the current paradigm in Washington and the nation, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to throw in the towel and accept the fact that my government is following the only path available. In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth. The American government is hell-bent on its own world agenda and feels that there is nothing in this world that can stop them from realizing its goals. They are pursuing world hegemony at the expense of all other nations and their own people. “Peace in our time” is an illusion, for the government seeks no peace, only more power that is bought at the end of a gun.

Re-Branding Oppression

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:24:46 -0800

November 11, 2008

RE-BRANDING OPPRESSION

John Chuckman

There has been an ad on television recently, one featuring a young couple walking or drifting into a place of enchantment, a warm and colourful fantasy world, a kind of biblical Disneyland. Every step of their brief journey is met by people smiling warmly, moving slowly, even bowing, greeting them at each turn with Shalom!

It is interesting that all the faces in the ad are the same kind of faces we might see in New York or London, except that here they are all bathed in glowing antique light. We see no harsh fundamentalist types cutting down someone else’s olive groves and cursing anyone, even other Jews, as interlopers. We certainly see no arrogant settlers, strutting around with machine guns, sneering at the camera.

A friendly friendship amongst friends

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:08:48 -0800

Oh yes, change is coming to the Middle East. Israel's friends will see to that. Will they? Livni tells Biden to stay tough on Iran.

Israeli PM blasted for backing return of captured territory

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:40:34 -0800

Matthew Fisher | Jerusalem | November 11

Ottawa Citizen - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert came under fire in the Knesset yesterday for saying that in return for peace with the Palestinians, Israel must return some parts of Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights, which were captured by Israeli forces during the 1967 Six Day War.

"We were wrong; we did not see the big picture," Mr. Olmert said of the challenges that have arisen for Israel since more than 400,000 Jews moved into these areas, usually with government financial and political backing, over the past 40 years.

"We thought we could succeed in having a country which was Jewish, democratic, decent, violence-free, one which welcomed and embraced its neighbours within the borders of our sovereignty. It will not work. It is already not working. It claimed a price from us which we do not have the moral strength to bear -- and it will claim even heavier costs -- which will unravel the fragile bonds which still preserve the social solidarity of Israeli society ...

Jerusalem's Mayoral Race Reflects the City's Troubled Times

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:11:52 -0800

Linda Gradstein | Jerusalem | Nov 10

WaPo - When Jerusalemites go to the polls Tuesday to elect a new mayor, they will choose among a man on trial in France for arms trafficking and money laundering, a self-made millionaire who wants to build thousands of Jewish homes in the heart of an Arab neighborhood, and an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who won't put his picture on his campaign posters.

Monks brawl at Jerusalem shrine

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:32:48 -0800

Nov 10

BBC - Israeli police have had to restore order at one of Christianity's holiest sites after a mass brawl broke out between monks in Jerusalem's Old City.

Fighting erupted between Greek Orthodox and Armenian monks at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional site of Christ's crucifixion.

Two monks from each side were detained as dozens of worshippers traded kicks and punches at the shrine, said police. video at linkl

Massive' rocket attack launched on Israel

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:05:51 -0800

Nidal al-Mughrabi | Nov 5

The Independent - Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip fired more than 35 rockets towards Israel today, the army and the Islamist group said, hours after the Israeli army killed six militants in the coastal territory.

An Israeli police spokesman said the rockets landed in southern Israel, causing no damage or injuries.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attacks, the first such announcement by the Islamist group since an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel went into effect on June 19.

Palestinian officials said they had been informed by Israel that all commercial border crossings with the Gaza Strip would remain closed on Wednesday in response to the rocket attacks.

Some Israelis feel an urgency to attack Iran

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 21:21:10 -0700

Ashraf Khalil & Paul Richter | Washington/Jerusalem | Nov 2

LA Times - Officials say other nations quietly want Israel to act unilaterally against Tehran's nuclear ambitions. But an effective strike would be difficult and could stir up a wider conflict.

With international efforts to increase sanctions against Iran at a standstill, many Israelis believe their nation alone stands in the way of Tehran eventually building nuclear weapons.

But officials and analysts in Jerusalem also acknowledge that a unilateral attack is fraught with danger and might fail to cripple Iran's bomb-making abilities. Much of the international community quietly wants Israel to launch a strike, the officials say, but only if it succeeds.

Holocaust is over, leading Israeli tells Likud

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 03:41:52 -0700

Donald Macintyre | Jerusalem | Nov 1

The Independent - Benjamin Netanyahu, a front-runner for the Israeli premiership, has been severely criticised by a former Speaker of the Knesset and head of the Jewish Agency for comparing the threat posed by Iran to that of pre-war Nazi Germany.

Mr Netanyahu, whose Likud Party is running neck and neck in the polls with Kadima, led by Tzipi Livni, has gone further than his rivals in implying he might authorise a unilateral attack on Iranian nuclear installations.

Avraham Burg, whose new book The Holocaust Is Over: We Must Rise From Its Ashes is out in Britain this weekend, says in an interview with The Independent Magazine that the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is “no doubt a problem”. Mr Burg adds: “He is an issue in the Western world and for Israel’s sense of confidence in particular.” But he continues: “What is [Mr Netanyahu’s] soundbite? ‘It is [19]38 all over again. Do me a favour. Did we have such a powerful state in ’38? Did we have this onmipotent army in ’38? Did we have the most important superpowers siding with us in ’38? Did we have the Catholic church taking a |different attitude in ’38? It’s not ’38, however you look at it. And even Ahmadinejad, when you compare him with Hitler, you diminish Hitler.”

Mr Burg’s book, in part a plea to fellow Israelis more than 60 years after the Holocaust to stop seeing themselves as “a nation of victims”...

Find of ancient city could alter notions of biblical David

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:04:02 -0700

Ethan Bronner | Khirbet Qeiyafa, Israel | Oct 30

IHT - Overlooking the verdant Valley of Elah, where the Bible says David toppled Goliath, archaeologists are unearthing a 3,000-year-old fortified city that could reshape views of the period when David ruled over the Israelites. Five lines on pottery uncovered here appear to be the oldest Hebrew text ever found and are likely to have a major impact on knowledge about the history of literacy and alphabet development.

The five-acre site, with its fortifications, dwellings and multi-chambered entry gate, will also be a weapon in the contentious and often politicized debate over whether David and his capital, Jerusalem, were an important kingdom or a minor tribe, an issue that divides not only scholars but those seeking to support or delegitimize Zionism.

Only a tiny portion of the site has been excavated, and none of the findings have yet been published or fully scrutinized. But the dig, led by Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, is already causing a stir among his colleagues as well as excitement from those who seek to use the Bible as a guide to history and confirmation of their faith.

"This is a new type of site that suddenly opens a window on an area where we have had almost nothing and requires us to rethink what was going on at that period," said Aren Maeir, professor of archaeology at Bar-Ilan University and the director of a major Philistine dig not far from here. "This is not a run-of-the-mill find."

Israel: Everything Up for Grabs

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:18:48 -0700

Well, Livni has failed to form a government, and President Peres has called for elections. There's still technically a chance that another bloc of parties could form a majority coalition government, but in the absence of that unlikely possibility we're looking at elections in February or March. Originally elections were not set to take place until 2010.

Gut instinct would tell me that Livni and Kadima are entering the election campaign in a bad position. With Olmert's scandals, a stalled peace process, and Livni's failure to put together a coalition, Kadima might appear to be stumbling. Also I've been hearing for months either that Likud outperforms Kadima in polls, or that the two parties are tied. But maybe my instincts are wrong: new polls show Livni beating Netanyahu.