Dear Friends,
The initial 2 items furnish news, the remainder commentary, except for the final item, the 8th, ‘Today in Palestine ’ which contains both news and commentary.
Item 1 informs us that Israel killed two more Palestinians in Gaza today, which undoubtedly means retaliation from Gaza , which means that the south of Israel can expect to sit in their shelters (those who have them) and listen for booms, while Gazans can expect also to have a sleepless night. The item is from the Palestinian standpoint. You can read Ynet for the Israeli slanthttp://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4143565,00.html
Item 2 tells us that Israeli doctors neglect to report evidence of torture on Palestinian detainees. So it goes for ethics in Israel .
Item 3 warns that an Israeli attack on Iran would stir regional conflict.
But in item 4, Uri Avnery says with no holds back that Israel is not going to attack Iran —the barking dogs don’t bite theory. May Uri be right.
There are quite a few editorials on Israel today. I’ve found one in the Independent (the link is with item 3), one in Haaretz (item 5 ) and one in the LA Times—none positive. The Haaretz one claims that “ Israel is led by a right-wing , myopic government.” I could not have stated it better myself, except perhaps to add that it is one that cares not a whit for the lives of its people.
Item 6 is the LA Times editorial: “The lopsided vote for Palestinian entry into the UNESCO”—and is highly critical of Israel , as is item 7 on the same subject, Richard Falk’s “Welcome to UNESCO.” Meanwhile, UN president Ban ki-Moon has spent the day telling the Palestinians not to try to apply to other UN agencies—what’s he up to???
The final item, item 8 is, as I have said, ‘Today in Palestine .’
All the best, and may Uri Avnery be right that Israel will not attack Iran . Please, may he be right.
Dorothy
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1. Israel raid kills 2 Palestinians in Gaza
Thu Nov 3, 2011
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/208200.html
Palestinians mourn relatives killed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip, October 31, 2011.Israeli forces have killed two Palestinians in an attack on the northern part of the blockaded Gaza Strip as Tel Aviv steps up attacks against civilians in the besieged territory, Press TV reports.
The incident occurred on Thursday, when armed clashes broke out between Israeli troops and Palestinians in the north of the besieged coastal sliver.
The Israeli army has increased its attacks against the Gazans, vowing to continue to act against Palestinian fighters allegedly poised to fire rockets across the border.
Palestinian groups say they are observing an Egyptian-brokered truce agreement but reserve the right to reply to any Israeli aggression.
On Wednesday, the Israeli regime gave the green light to its military to prepare for a ground offensive against the Gaza Strip, under the pretext of halting rocket fire from the coastal strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said that Tel Aviv would operate “vigorously and resolutely” against those that would “threaten Israel ‘s security.”
“A security philosophy cannot rely on defense alone,” Netanyahu said. “It must also include offensive capabilities, the very foundation of deterrence.”
Israeli warplanes have been pounding the long-blockaded Gaza Strip since Saturday, killing more than 12 Palestinians in the latest attacks.
2. The Guardian Thursday, November 03, 2011 08.53 GMT
Israeli doctors ‘failing to report torture of Palestinian detainees
‘Human rights groups accuse doctors of failing to document signs of torture and returning detainees to interrogators
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/03/israeli-doctors-report-torture-palestinian
Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem
Israeli doctors are ignoring the complaints of Palestinian patients who claim they have been mistreated, according to the report. Photograph : Frank Baron for the Guardian
Medical professionals in Israel are being accused of failing to document and report injuries caused by the ill-treatment and torture of detainees by security personnel in violation of their ethical code.
A report by two Israeli human rights organisations, the Public Committee Against Torture (PCAT) and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), claims that medical staff are also failing to report suspicion of torture and ill-treatment, returning detainees to their interrogators and passing medical information to interrogators.
The report, Doctoring the Evidence, Abandoning the Victim, to be published later this month, is based on 100 cases of Palestinian detainees brought to PCAT since 2007. It says: “This report reveals significant evidence arousing the suspicion that many doctors ignore the complaints of their patients; that they allow Israeli Security Agency interrogators to use torture; approve the use of forbidden interrogation methods and the ill-treatment of helpless detainees; and conceal information, thereby allowing total immunity for the torturers.”
Alleged ill-treatment of detainees, some of whose cases are detailed in the 61-page report, includes beatings, being held for long periods in stress positions, hands being tightly tied with plastic cuffs, sleep deprivation and threats. Israel denies torturing or ill-treating prisoners.
Doctors are failing to keep proper medical records of injuries caused during interrogations. The report cites “countless cases wherein individuals testified to injuries inflicted upon them during detention or in interrogation, and yet the medical record from the hospital or the prison service makes no mention of it.”
Without such evidence, the report says, it is very difficult to obtain legal redress for ill-treatment. “Effective documentation of the injury can be a decisive factor in initiating an investigation, in bringing the perpetrators to trial and in ensuring that justice is carried out.”
A medical report should include a description and photograph of the injury, the victim’s account of events and a record of treatment, the report says.
Among the cases it cites is “BA”, arrested in November 2010. In an affidavit he alleged he was beaten, held in stress positions and deprived of sleep. He said he told doctors of his ill-treatment and said he was suffering from severe arm, leg and back pain. His medical record shows that he was seen by doctors but the only comment noted is that the patient had no complaints and was in good overall condition.
Another, “MA”, arrested in June 2008, claimed in an affidavit that his hands were cuffed with tight plastic ties, he was held in kneeling position resting on his fingertips for hours, and his head was slammed into a bench 20 times causing an eye injury. A medical report the following day included a comment from a doctor: “Overall condition satisfactory, heartbeat regular.” A further examination, two weeks later, resulted in doctor’s comment: “Complains of pain in teeth, eyes”. A few days later, a judge referred MA to an eye doctor for treatment with the comment, “Claims he was beaten in the course of his arrest, complains that he does not feel well and complains of blurring in the eyes”.
The report also accuses medics of returning detainees to interrogators following treatment of injuries. This, it says, is in violation of ethical obligations and “also serves as a stamp of approval for the interrogators, who rely on the doctors’ action as having granted medical permission to continue with their practices”.
Among the PCAT/PHR report’s recommendations are clear guidelines regarding the medical treatment of prisoners, investigations of and disciplinary action against staff who violate rules, and protection for whistleblowers.
Israel prohibits torture or “inhuman treatment” during interrogation, although its high court has ruled that physical means of interrogation could be defensible to save lives.
“In Israel it is illegal to abuse inmates, including security prisoners,” said government spokesman Mark Regev. “Guidelines have been passed to the relevant authorities. If years ago the guidelines were not clear, they are today. And if there are allegations of wrongdoing against people in custody, they are investigated thoroughly.”
ministry of health and prisons service did not respond to requests for comment.
3. Ynet
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Word of Warning
Big mistake. Riedel Photo: Saban Center
‘Attack on Iran would ignite regional conflict’
Former adviser to US administration says Israeli strike on Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities could mean a disaster for both Jerusalem , Washington ; spark regional war ‘from Gaza to Afghanistan ‘
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-4143358,00.html
[see also today’s Independent’s editorial on the subject http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-israels-leaders-adrift-in-a-fastchanging-world-6256158.html ]
Yitzhak Benhorin
WASHINGTON – An Israeli strike in Iran will have disastrous ramifications and place Israel and the United States at risk, Bruce Riedel, the former special assistant to the US president and senior director for near east affairs on the National Security Council, told
“An Israeli attack on Iran could ignite a regional conflict from Afghanistan to the Gaza strip,” warned Riedel, adding that “for the Americans and the Obama administration it will be a disaster.”
Riedel, a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy of the Brookings Institution, noted that such a scenario would lead to an Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel and another possible front with Hezbollah.
“Hezbollah will see an attack on Iran as a threat to their patron and there is a very good chance that they will initiate (another) Lebanon war only this time (with) even more rockets and missiles than in 2006,” said Riedel, adding that an Israeli strike in Iran must include a preemptive strike on Hezbollah.
IAF fighter jet holding drill in Italy (Photo: IDF)
The former CIA analyst said The Brookings Institute made a war game simulating an Israeli attack on Iran , and came to the conclusion that a perfect strike is impossible, and would place Israel in a vulnerable position – and the United States in an even tougher spot.
“We have every reason to believe that the Iranian will see an Israeli attack on their nuclear facilities as a joint American-Israeli attack and they will retaliate not only on Israeli targets but on American targets.
In vulnerable position. US forces in Iraq (Photo: Reuters)
“The Iranian (have the) capacity to retaliate against America not only in the Middle East and the Persian gulf – (but even more so) in Afghanistan where we have 90,000 troops and where the Iranians (have) well-established links to the Taliban,” he said.
‘Media feeds the flames’
Riedel commented on the recent media frenzy in Israeli papers surrounding the possibility of an IDF strike in the Islamic Republic, saying: “I took a look at your papers. It’s crazy. I don’t really understand why now.
“It almost feeds the flames. Either the Netanyahu government has something new that the rest of us don’t know about, or (he is) misreading the events in the region.
“Perhaps the spoiled assassination (attempt) against the Saudi ambassador would make the Obama government more sympathetic to an attack on Iran . If that’s the case, they are making a very big mistake,” Riedel noted, adding that “the Obama administration made it clear from day one that they don’t support an Israeli military strike on Iran .”
Meanwhile on Wednesday, UK-based newspaper The Guardian reported that Britain ‘s armed forces are stepping up their contingency plans for potential military action against Iran amid mounting concern over Tehran ‘s nuclear program.
British defense officials told the newspaper that the “the window (of opportunity) is closing and the UK needs to do some sensible forward planning” by the 2012 US presidential elections.
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4. Hi’
Hope this may interest you.
Shalom, Salamaat,
uri
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4. Uri Avnery
November 5, 2011
http://original.antiwar.com/avnery/2010/04/04/hold-me-back/
“Hold me back!”
EVERYBODY KNOWS the scene from school : a small boy quarrels with a bigger boy. “Hold me back!” he shouts to his comrades, “Before I break his bones!”
Our government seems to be behaving in this way. Every day, via all channels, it shouts that it is going, any minute now, to break the bones of Iran .
Iran is about to produce a nuclear bomb. We cannot allow this. So we shall bomb them to smithereens.
Binyamin Netanyahu says so in every one of his countless speeches, including his opening speech at the winter session of the Knesset. Ditto Ehud Barak. Every self- respecting commentator (has anyone ever seen a non-self- respecting one?) writes about it. The media amplify the sound and the fury.
“Haaretz” splashed its front page with pictures of the seven most important ministers (the “security septet”) showing three in favor of the attack, four against.
A GERMAN proverb says: “Revolutions that are announced in advance do not take place.” Same goes for wars.
Nuclear affairs are subject to very strict military censorship. Very very strict indeed.
Yet the censor seems to be smiling benignly. Let the boys, including the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense (the censor’s ultimate boss) play their games.
The respected former long-serving chief of the Mossad, Meir Dagan , has publicly warned against the attack, describing it as “the most stupid idea” he has ever heard”. He explained that he considers it his duty to warn against it, in view of the plans of Netanyahu and Barak.
On Wednesday, there was a veritable deluge of leaks. Israel tested a missile that can deliver a nuclear bomb more then 5000 km away, beyond you-know-where. And our Air Force has just completed exercises in Sardinia , at a distance larger than you-know-where. And on Thursday, the Home Front Command held training exercises all over Greater Tel Aviv, with sirens screaming away.
All this seems to indicate that the whole hullabaloo is a ploy. Perhaps to frighten and deter the Iranians. Perhaps to push the Americans into more extreme actions. Perhaps coordinated with the Americans in advance. (British sources, too, leaked that the Royal Navy is training to support an American attack on Iran .)
It is an old Israeli tactic to act as if we are going crazy (“The boss has gone mad” is a routine cry in our markets, to suggest that the fruit vendor is selling at a loss.) We shall not listen to the US any more. We shall just bomb and bomb and bomb.
Well, let’s be serious for a moment.
ISRAEL WILL not attack Iran . Period.
Some may think that I am going out on a limb. Shouldn’t I add at least “probably” or “almost certainly”?
No, I won’t. I shall repeat categorically : Israel Will NOT Attack Iran .
Since the 1956 Suez adventure, when President Dwight D.
Eisenhower delivered an ultimatum that stopped the action, Israel has never undertaken any significant military operation without obtaining American consent in advance.
The US is Israel ‘s only dependable supporter in the world (besides, perhaps, Fiji , Micronesia , the Marshall Islands, and Palau .) To destroy this relationship means cutting our lifeline. To do that, you have to be more than just a little crazy. You have to be raving mad.
Furthermore, Israel cannot fight a war without unlimited American support , because our planes and our bombs come from the US . During a war, we need supplies, spare parts, many sorts of equipment. During the Yom Kippur war, Henry Kissinger had an “air train” supplying us around the clock.
And that war would probably look like a picnic compared to a war with Iran .
LET’S LOOK at the map. That, by the way, is always recommended before starting any war.
The first feature that strikes the eye is the narrow Strait of Hormuz , through which every third barrel of the worlds seaborne oil supplies flow. Almost the entire output of Saudi Arabia , the Gulf States , Iraq and Iran has to run the gauntlet through this narrow sea lane.
“Narrow” is an understatement. The entire width of this waterway is some 35 km (or 20 miles ). That’s about the distance from Gaza to Beer Sheva, which was crossed last week by the primitive rockets of the Islamic Jihad.
When the first Israeli plane enters Iranian airspace, the strait will be closed. The Iranian navy has plenty of missile boats, but they will not be needed. Land-based missiles are enough.
The world is already teetering on the verge of an abyss.
Little Greece is threatening to fall and take major chunks of the world economy with her. The elimination of almost a fifth of the industrial nations’ supply of oil would lead to a catastrophe hard even to imagine.
To open the strait by force would require a major military operation (including “putting boots on the ground”) that would overshadow all the US misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan . Can the US afford that? Can NATO? Israel itself is not in the same league.
BUT ISRAEL would be very much involved in the action, if only on the receiving end.
In a rare show of unity, all of Israel ‘s service chiefs, including the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet, are publicly opposing the whole idea. We can only guess why.
I don’t know whether the operation is possible at all. Iran is a very large country, about the size of Alaska , the nuclear installations are widely dispersed and largely underground. Even with the special deep penetration bombs provided by the US , the operation may stall the Iranian efforts – such as they are – only for a few months. The price may be too high for such meager results.
Moreover, it is quite certain that with the beginning of a war, missiles will rain down on Israel – not only from Iran , but also from Hizbollah, and perhaps also from Hamas.
We have no adequate defense for our towns. The amount of death and destruction would be prohibitive.
Suddenly, the media are full of stories about our three submarines, soon to grow to five, or even six, if the Germans are understanding and generous. It is openly said that these give us the capabilities of a nuclear “second strike”, if Iran uses its (still non-existent) nuclear warheads against us. But the Iranians may also use chemical and other weapons of mass destruction.
Then there is the political price. There are a lot of tensions in the Islamic world. Iran is far from popular in many parts of it. But an Israeli assault on a major Muslim country would instantly unite Sunnis and Shiites, from Egypt and Turkey to Pakistan and beyond. Israel could become a villa in a burning jungle.
BUT THE talk about the war serves many purposes, including domestic, political ones.
Last Saturday, the social protest movement sprang to life again. After a pause of two months, a mass of people assembled in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square . This was quite remarkable, because on that very day rockets were falling on the towns near the Gaza Strip. Until now, in such a situation demonstrations have always been canceled.
Security problems trump everything else. Not this time.
Also, many people believed that the euphoria of the Gilad Shalit festival had wiped the protest from the public mind.
It didn’t.
By the way, something remarkable has happened : the media , after siding with the protest movement for months, have had a change of heart. Suddenly all of them, including Haaretz, are sticking knives in its back. As if by order, all newspapers wrote the next day that “more than 20,000” took part. Well I was there, and I do have some idea of these things. There were at least 100,000 people there, most of them young. I could hardly move.
The protest has not spent itself, as the media assert. Far from it. But what better means for taking people’s minds off social justice than talk of the “existential danger”?
Moreover, the reforms demanded by the protesters would need money. In view of the worldwide financial crisis, the government strenuously objects to increasing the state budget, for fear of damaging our credit rating.
So where could the money come from? There are only three plausible sources : the settlements (who would dare?), the Orthodox (ditto!) and the huge military budget.
But on the eve of the most crucial war in our history, who would touch the armed forces? We need every shekel to buy more planes, more bombs, more submarines. Schools and hospitals must, alas, wait.
So God bless Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Where would we be without
him?
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5. Haaretz Editorial
03.11.11
Israel led by a right-wing , myopic government
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-led-by-a-right-wing-myopic-government-1.393406
If Israel had a sober and responsible, peace-seeking leadership, it would welcome the PA’s membership in UNESCO and even its upgraded status in the United Nations.
Haaretz Editorial
Tags: Palestinians UN
A week after Avigdor Lieberman declared Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas an “obstacle to peace,” it turns out the foreign minister is not alone in the campaign to eliminate the Palestinian interlocutor. Shortly after Israel signed the deal to free soldier Gilad Shalit and revealed the PA leadership to be an empty vessel, the forum of eight senior ministers decided on Tuesday to embark on a campaign to punish the PA leadership.
The government took advantage of the PA’s acceptance as a full member of UNESCO – the United Nations cultural organization – as well as its efforts to become a member of other UN agencies, to declare a retaliatory action that will further undermine Abbas’ position. The forum decided to move ahead with the construction of 2,000 housing units in the settlements and in East Jerusalem, and to withhold more than NIS 300 million in taxes that Israel has collected for the PA, money intended to pay the salaries of PA employees ahead of the Muslim feast of Id al-Adha. The forum also decided to begin the process of revoking senior PA officials’ VIP documentation.
The UN envoy to the region, Robert Serry, told Haaretz this week that the perpetuation of the status quo will lead to the dismantling of the PA and to “throwing the keys back to Israel .” This gloomy prediction, which has the army very concerned, doesn’t worry the government. On the contrary, the eight senior ministers’ decision shows that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is following the path of Lieberman, who is calling for the severing of ties with the PA.
The political elimination of Abbas and his partners will lift international pressure on Netanyahu to freeze construction in the settlements, and will release him from the need to begin negotiations based on the 1967 borders. The takeover of the West Bank by terror groups – and the process of turning it into a clone of the Gaza Strip – will allow the government to occupy the territories again and do whatever it wants there. Such a development will amplify the influence of Iran and radical Muslim organizations, and will magnify the threat to Israel ‘s security.
If Israel had a sober and responsible, peace-seeking leadership, it would welcome the PA’s membership in UNESCO and even its upgraded status in the United Nations. Unfortunately, and distressingly, Israel is being led by a right-wing , myopic government.
6. LATimes
Thursday, November 2, 2011
Editorial
Using the United Nations
The lopsided vote for Palestine ‘s entry into UNESCO shows how isolated the U.S. and Israel are.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-unesco-20111102,0,2129467.story
In past decades, Palestinian nationalists thought they had to hijack planes or blow up Israeli civilians in order to attract international attention. Some still do, but moderate leaders are lately discovering that the path to recognition might lie instead through the United Nations. On Monday, they won a key victory when Palestine — a state that doesn’t technically exist — was granted membership in the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. That’s giving the Obama administration fits and angering pro-Israel members of Congress from both U.S. political parties, but regardless of how one feels about the proper borders of Israel , the Palestinian switch to a diplomatic strategy represents progress.
It is also working brilliantly, if the Palestinians’ goal is to bring attention to their cause. The UNESCO vote showed that it is the United States and Israel , not the Palestinians, that are internationally isolated. The U.S. was on the losing side of a 107-14 vote in favor of membership, with 52 countries abstaining, including staunch U.S. ally Britain ; another close European ally, France, voted in favor of the Palestinians. That result came in spite of a fevered campaign by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to shore up support in foreign capitals for the U.S. position.
Because of laws passed in the early 1990s that bar American funding for any U.N. agency that grants membership to Palestinians, Washington must now withhold $80 million from UNESCO, about 22% of its budget. That’s of little immediate consequence. UNESCO, which runs anti-poverty, educational and cultural programs around the world , is a low priority for Washington, which pulled out completely from 1984 to 2003, and other countries will probably step up to fill the agency’s budget hole. But the success is likely to embolden Palestinian leaders to seek membership in agencies with much bigger impacts on U.S. interests, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (which helps protect patents and copyrights and is of great importance to Hollywood and Silicon Valley ), the International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Health Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization. That would force the U.S. to pull its funding from, and eventually lose its membership in and influence over, these bodies.
The anti-Palestine laws should be repealed. What’s needed are policies that would encourage the Israelis and Palestinians to settle their differences at the bargaining table, but these laws exert no such pressure, have little impact on U.N. votes (possibly because the loss of U.S. funding doesn’t pose as big a threat as it once did) and could greatly reduce American influence around the world. Political reality being what it is, we have no expectation that Congress will do the right thing. The likely result will not be a more peaceful Middle East, but a more isolated United States .