Proportionality: international law and practice, Hamas' behavior, Israeli conduct

"This is the destiny of democracy, as not all means are acceptable to it and not all practices employed by its enemies are open before it. Although a democracy must often fight with one hand tied behind its back, it nonetheless has the upper hand."

Source: O Diplomata (information supplied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel)

On the Issues of Proportionality

International law

A military target remains a legitimate military target, even if it is located in a civilian area.

"Civilians do not enjoy absolute immunity. Their presence will not render military objects immune from attack for the mere reason that it is impossible to bombard them without causing injury to the non-combatants."
Oppenheim's 'International Law'

The use of civilians as shields to try to prevent attacks on military targets is prohibited.

"The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations."
Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 28

The armed forces are not liable where injury to civilians results from unavoidable collateral damage, provided it is proportionate to the military gain expected of the attack.

"Although they are not military objectives, civilians and civilian objects are subject to the general dangers of war in the sense that attacks on military personnel and military objectives may cause incidental damage… Members of the armed forces are not liable for such incidental damage, provided it is proportionate to the military gain expected of the attack."
Major General A.P.V. Rogers, a former Director of the British Army Legal Services

Terrorist organizations that hide behind civilians bear the primary responsibility for civilian casualties.

"Should civilian casualties ensue from an attempt to shield combatants or a military objective, the ultimate responsibility lies with the belligerent placing innocent civilians at risk."
Dinstein,' Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict'

The correct party to assess the proportionality of a military action is the military commander in the field.

"It is unlikely that a human rights lawyer and an experienced combat commander would assign the same relative values to military advantage and to injury to noncombatants.… It is suggested that the determination of relative values must be that of the 'reasonable military commander'."
Committee Established to Review NATO Bombings in Yugoslavia

The security of one's own forces is a relevant consideration in gauging proportionality.

"The concept of military advantage involves a variety of considerations including the security of the attacking force."
Bothe, Partsch and Solf, 'New Rules for Victims of Armed Conflict'

International practice

The above principles of the law of armed conflict have been adopted as the basis of military guidelines by most states. The following examples of military manuals are typical:

Australian Defence Force Manual:
The presence of non-combatants in or around a military objective does not change its nature as a military objective. Non-combatants in the vicinity of a military objective must share the danger to which the military objective is exposed.

Belgian Teaching Manual for Soldiers:
Objects occupied or used by enemy military forces are military objectives even if these objects were civilians at the outset (houses, schools or churches occupied by the enemy).

German Military Manual:
The term "military advantage" refers to the advantage which can be expected of an attack as a whole and not only of isolated or specific parts of the attack.

France's Law of Armed Conflict Manual:
The application of the principle of proportionality does not exclude that collateral damage may be suffered by the civilian population or civilian objects provided they are not excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.

Spain's Law of Armed Conflict Manual:
The principle of proportionality… is based on recognition of the fact that it is difficult to limit the effects of modern weapons and methods of warfare exclusively to military objectives and that it is likely that they will cause collateral damage to civilians and civilian objects.

Israel - IDF Operational Planning and Orders:
In cases where there is doubt as to whether a civilian object has turned into a military objective ... one is to asusme that is not a military objective unless proven otherwise.

Even when it is not possible to isolate the civilians from an assault and there is no other recourse than to attack, the commander is required to refrain from an attack that is expected to inflict harm on the civilian population that is disproportionate to the expected military gain.

Hamas' behaviour

Hamas' modus operandi is characterized not only by deliberate attacks on Israeli civilians, but also its disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians. Making no attempt to comply with the humanitarian obligation to distinguish combatants from civilians, Hamas terrorists wear civilian clothes and hide weapons and fire missiles from the heart of populated civilian areas.

In recent months, the Hamas controlled media in Gaza has publicly called for civilians to act as human shields in an attempt to prevent terrorist leaders and infrastructure from being targeted.
The following are but a few of the documented examples of calls in the Hamas controlled Gaza media for Palestinians civilians to serve as human shields:

- Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV called upon children to form a human shield at the home of a terrorist in the a-Shouqaf quarter of Sajaiyeh in order to protect the building from an anticipated IDF air strike (March 1).

- Al-Aqsa TV News broadcast a story about how a crowd of civilians gathered on the roof of Abu Bilal al-Ja’abeer in the Northern Gaza strip, used for launching terrorist attacks, in order to cause the IDF to abort a threatened air strike against the structure.

- Al-Aqsa TV called upon the Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip to go to the house of terrorist Othman al-Ruziana in order to protect it against an anticipated air strike (February 29, 2008).

- Al-Aqsa TV called upon the residents of Khan Yunis to gather at the house of Ma’amoun Abu ‘Amer due to an anticipated air strike. (February 28, 2008). An hour later dozens of Palestinians from Khan Yunis were reported to have gathered on the roof of Abu ‘Amer’s house to serve as human shields to prevent the house from being hit (Pal-today Website, February 29, 2008).

Israeli conduct

Israel makes significant efforts to avoid or minimize civilian casualties, by ensuring that its attacks are directed against legitimate military targets, and that in conducting its operations incidental injury to civilians is kept to a minimum. Every potential military operation is considered on an individual basis in order to ensure that it meets the test of proportionality.

In practice this means many proposed military operations are rejected when it appears that the likelihood of collateral damage to civilians and their property is too high. As Israel's High Court of Justice has held, in reviewing Israeli security actions:

This is the destiny of democracy, as not all means are acceptable to it and not all practices employed by its enemies are open before it. Although a democracy must often fight with one hand tied behind its back, it nonetheless has the upper hand.

German Chancellor: "Protecting Israel's safety is part of Germany's reason of state"

"German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for an end to right wing extremism on Sunday (November 9) during a memorial service being held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of "Kristallnacht" or the Nazi Pogrom. On November 9, 1938 more than 1,400 synagogues and other Jewish institutions were looted and destroyed across Germany and Austria by the Nazis.

"Racism and anti-Semitism must never be given another chance in Germany and Europe," said Merkel during a speech at the service, which was attended by many important German figures including Charlotte Knobloch, the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

Merkel criticised Iran as well as radical islamic organisations Hamas and Hezbollah. She said that the border for tolerance was being crossed where hate was being preached, prejudices stirred up and violence and terrorism supported. The Chancellor also highlighted Germany's responsibility for the state of Israel.

"There can be no tolerance, for example, if the safety of the state of Israel is threatened by Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. Protecting Israel's safety is part of Germany's reason of state," said Merkel.

Germany marks the anniversary on Sunday of the 1938 pogrom known as "the Night of Broken Glass" after the windows were smashed of thousands of Jewish businesses and synagogues, which were also torched by Adolf Hitler's followers.

At least 91 Jews were killed in the violence whipped up by Nazi storm troopers and about 26,000 were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.

Survivors from the time, like German actor Michael Degen, who was a child in 1938, still speak of the chaos during that night.

"I saw the shops, what they looked like, the havoc and I also saw how the people were stealing and plundering. It was terrible," Degen told Reuters on Friday (November 7).

Degen survived the war in the German capital Berlin. His father died in 1940 after he was badly mistreated at a concentration camp. In his book "Nicht alle waren Mörder" (They weren't all Murderers), Degen describes how he and his mother went into hiding in 1943 and managed to survive the deadly Nazi regime with the help of several Germans.

But even 70 years on, Degen is still worried that the same thing could happen all over again.

"I think things only appear to have changed, but the anti-semitism which is increasing once again is alarming. And it is not just the stupid people this time but intelligent people. They are organising things better. And it is starting to nest again in the minds of the middle class. Or perhaps it was never gone," Degen told Reuters TV.

The so-called "Kristallnacht" was the start of the Nazi's systematic and industrial mass murder of six million Jews, homosexuals, gypsies and members of other minorities."

Source: RTV
Picture (EJP): German Chancellor Angela Merkel with Charlotte Knobloch, head of the Council of Jews in Germany

Belgian PM Yves Leterme: "Israel is linked to the history of Europe"

Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said "we must be wakeful for a new anti-semitism sometimes too easy trivilialized, and for a new anti-Zionism that is a hidden anti-Semitism that in reality has not accepted the existence of the state of Israel even 60 years after its foundation."

Speaking at a dinner Monday night organized in Brussels by the European Jewish Congress (EJC) and CCOJB, the umbrella representative body of Belgian Jewish organisations, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of 'Kristallnacht', the 1938 anti-Jewish pogroms and to promote tolerance throughout Europe, Leterme said unfortunately intolerance is a recurring phenomenon.

"Therefore the lessons of Kristallnacht must be learned again and again. Forgetting paves the way for troops of intolerance to march again."

"Promoting tolerance is one of the core business of education, especially on a continent that is more and more a multicultural and multi-religious society."

The Prime Minister recalled his reaction to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s statements before the United Nations General Assembly in September.

"It is the duty of the political leaders to systematically refuse statements that are outrageous or hateful. The anti-Semitic views expressed by the Iranian President are totally unacceptable and I condemn those vigorously," he said.

Europe cannot turn its back on Israel

He said Europe "cannot turn its back on Israel."

"Israel is linked to the history of Europe, for more than one reason. We cannot speak about the foundation of the Jewish State without mentioning the Holocaust. The dream of a new Eretz Yisrael was born in Europe in the hearts and minds of Theodor Herzl and his followers. Since many centuries, in many thousands of European Jewish households, Pesach, the Jewish feast of Easter, ends with the wish ‘Next Year in Jerusalem.’ "

Source: EJP

EU MPs urged to rethink Palestinian refugee issue and UNRWA policies

Paulo Casaca, a member of the European Parliament from Portugal: "The root of the problem is that these people are refugees because those who are dealing in the industry of hate are misusing them. They are kept on a hate-machine. Instead of helping the refugees we are helping those who want to [use] the refugees against the State of Israel."

"A gathering of hundreds of European parliamentarians who support Israel concluded over the weekend in Paris with a politically loaded discussion on the rehabilitation of Palestinian refugees - one of the most sensitive issues facing Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.

The debate, part of a conference sponsored by the Brussels-based European Friends of Israel, came amid a groundswell of parliamentary activity around the world, including in the US and Canada, to reroute funding from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the mammoth UN body that deals with Palestinian refugees and their descendants, towards the resettlement of some of the refugees and their descendants in third countries.

The session, which was hosted by the Israel Allies Caucus Foundation, the international arm of the Knesset's Christian Allies Caucus, included addresses by European parliamentarians as well as by MK Benny Elon of the National Union-National Religious Party and MK Amira Dotan of Kadima. The two co-chair a new Knesset caucus on the rehabilitation of Palestinian refugees.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians - estimates range from 400,000 to 750,000 - left their homes during the War of Independence in 1948 and 1949. They, along with their millions of descendants, constitute one of the prickliest issues that must be dealt with as part of any resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel flatly rejects the Palestinian demand that these refugees be allowed to return to their ancestral homes within Israel, saying that such a move would indelibly alter the character of the country.

Israel has also pointed to the 850,000 Jews who fled Arab countries after Israel's founding in 1948 and were integrated and absorbed in Israeli society as counterweight to the issue of Palestinian refugees.

Recently, some Israeli parliamentarians have begun to openly advocate dealing tackling the Palestinian refugee issue after decades of avoiding it as a non-starter.

Much of the focus at Friday's discussion centered on the difference between UNRWA and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR), the main UN body that handles all other refugees around the world.

While UNRWA's 25,000-strong almost exclusively Palestinian staff care for 4.5 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants, the UNHCR employs a staff of around 6,300 people to help nearly 33 million people in more than 110 countries.

The event also dwelt on UNRWA's definition of Palestinian refugees, which includes not only the refugees themselves, but also their descendants, which critics say only serves to perpetuate the refugee crisis.

"We are asking why the UNHCR has the mandate to solve the problem of refugees and UNRWA does not," Elon said. "There are cynical political reasons to maintain the status of the refugees."

UNRWA has repeatedly said that the issue of Palestinian refugees can only be resolved in the context of a future peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

UNRWA concedes that the size of the refugee problem is made bigger - but not prolonged - by the UN's inclusion of the descendants of the Palestinian refugees, but insists that this is how the UN deals with refugees all over the world.

"We can learn from the UNHCR how to shift power energies and money to find tools that are already there," said Dotan, who praised UNRWA's humanitarian and educational work for the Palestinians in her address, but suggested following the success of UNHCR.

She noted that UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd is slated to address the Knesset caucus, after a summer event was postponed due to scheduling conflicts.

"The root of the problem is that these people are refugees because those who are dealing in the industry of hate are misusing them," said Paulo Casaca, a member of the European Parliament from Portugal.

"They are kept on a hate-machine," he said. "Instead of helping the refugees we are helping those who want to [use] the refugees against the State of Israel," he said.

"The EU has a moral obligation to examine the root of the problem instead of throwing money at the problem, as we have in the past," said Hannu Takkula, a member of the European Parliament from Finland.

"We have to start this discussion, because the system is not working," he added. "The problem for many is a lack of information."

Source: TJP, article by Etgar Lefkovits

Egyptian-born Magdi Allam's book "Long Live Israel" now in French

Magdi Allam's biography "Viva Israele" (Long Live Israel - From the Ideology of Death to the Civilization of Life: My Story), has now been published in French. Will it come out in English too ?

The Egyptian-born Italian journalist is noted for his criticism of Islam and his articles on the relations between the West and the Islamic world. He converted from Islam to Roman Catholicism in 2008 (Pope Baptizes Prominent Italian Muslim)

Source: Haaretz: "Muslim, Italian and Zionist", by Saviona Man (2007)

"It's not every day that a Muslim intellectual puts his own head on the line to defend Israel's right to exist. But that is exactly what Magdi Allam, an Egyptian-born Italian writer and journalist, has been doing for years. He recently published a book whose name alone is enough to endanger his life: "Long Live Israel - From the Ideology of Death to the Civilization of Life: My Story."

Allam defends Israel even though Hamas condemned him to death in 2003, after he denounced the group's terror attacks. Because of this threat, the Italian government has provided him with round-the-clock bodyguards. But Allam is not afraid. He finds it hard to "live an armored life," but he tells Haaretz in an interview, "I'm willing to pay the price in order to continue to be who I am, to write and speak freely." Those who cut out tongues and slit throats will not subdue him, he writes in the book.

Allam, 55, is the assistant editor of Corriere della Sera and the 2006 Dan David Prize laureate. His new book, which immediately became a best-seller in Italy, is part of his consistent and uncompromising fight against extremist Islam and for Israel's right to exist. In addition, he is trying to convince people that "the culture of hatred and death that the West now attributes to Muslims is not embedded in Islam's DNA."

In "Long Live Israel", Allam directly links the denial of Israel's right to exist to the death cult being nurtured in fundamentalist Islamic circles, and refers to "the ethical erosion that has led to even the denial of the supreme value of the sanctity of life." Allam sees Israel as "an ethical parameter that separates between lovers of civilization and those who preach the ideology of death." The sanctity of life, he writes, "applies to everyone, or to no one." (...)

Allam was not always a defender of the Jewish state. "'Zionism' was a dirty word for me," he admits in his book. For years he considered Israel an aggressive, racist, colonialist, immoral entity, and he accepted the methods of the Palestinian struggle and its leader Yasser Arafat, "without criticizing the fact that Fatah adopted the path of terror extensively inside and outside Israel." After emigrating from Egypt to Italy in 1972, he even enlisted actively for the Palestinian cause, writing, lecturing and participating in demonstrations by the Italian left: "I also shouted 'Long live Palestine! Long live the Palestinian resistance!'" he writes in the book. "My passion for the Palestinian cause was strong, as was my enthusiasm for Arafat's personality."

In his new book he describes his long road from profound admiration for Arafat and "the prophet of pan-Arabism," Gamal Abdel Nasser, and strong support for the Palestinian cause, to his unreserved support for Israel. "I want to tell you about my slow and tortured path from the ideology of lies, tyranny, hatred, violence and death, to the culture of truth, freedom, love, peace and life, until it ripened into absolute certainly that defending the sanctity of life is more than ever in keeping with defending Israel's right to exist," he writes. At the end of this "slow and tortured path" he reached the conclusion that the Arab countries' refusal to recognize Israel during the 1950s and 1960s hurt the Palestinians, and that Arafat was a tyrant, a megalomaniac, corrupt and corrupting, and the worst disaster to befall them.

Regarding the present situation in Gaza, Allam says he never had any illusions about Hamas. "I thought it was a big mistake to allow a terror organization to participate in elections. Condoleezza Rice and Tony Blair deluded themselves in believing that Hamas' very participation in the government would turn the group into a pragmatic political power," he says. "Instead, it turned out that Hamas will never recognize Israel's right to exist, will not relinquish terror and will not honor international agreements signed by the Palestinian Authority. Hamas wants absolute rule in order to impose sharia and to revive the international Islamic caliphate. As it pushes for absolute rule, it does not hesitate to massacre its Palestinian brothers in Gaza. It will try to do the same thing in the West Bank."

Do you believe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be solved before the "ideology of death" is uprooted - that even if Israel returns all the territories it occupied in 1967, it will continue to live by the sword?

"The Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and Gaza demonstrates that the problem is not the need to withdraw from territories occupied in preemptive wars, but rather the Arabs' lack of desire to recognize Israel's right to exist. Israel erred in 1967 when it accepted the formula of territory for peace, and thus placed its very existence up for public auction. Experience teaches that the right to life cannot and should not be a subject for negotiation and bargaining. No negotiations should be held with extremists and terrorists who deny Israel's right to exist." (...)

Regarding the question of the Islamization of Europe, Allam says, "Europe is already a bastion of Islamic extremism. Just look at attack on Mike's Place in Tel Aviv, which was carried out by British suicide bombers drafted by Hamas; the massacre by Islamists in Madrid and in London; the slitting of director Theo Van Gogh's throat in Amsterdam; and the dozens of Islamic terror attacks that were prevented in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Holland."

This bastion exists thanks to a widespread network of mosques, Koran schools, financial bodies and charitable institutions linked to the Muslim Brotherhood; Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian Salfists; Saudi Wahabis; Al-Qaida jihadis and Pakistani groups. This multicultural Europe, which has trampled its values and betrayed its identity, is satisfied with reacting to the obvious terror, which is only the tip of the iceberg, but is afraid to deal with terror's ideological and organizational roots." (...)"

Entente cordiale ... Ségolène Royal and Tzipi Livni writing a book together

The new Franco-Israeli rapprochement ...

Le Nouvel Observateur (Oct. 9) writes that Ségolène Royal, the Socialist party candidate in the 2007 French presidential election, will be producing a joint book with Tzipi Livni, the future Prime Minister of Israel, in which both politicians will be exchanging views on a range of subjects.

Ségolène Royal, who is President of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, has already co-authored two books, one with columnist Marie-Françoise Colombani and the other with sociologist Alain Touraine.

Ségolène Royal is part of a new, younger generation of European politicians who have parted company with their more cynical and calculating predecessors' ways and who are not afraid to show a keen interest and appreciation for Israel's achievements in the midst of a hostile environment.

This landmark initiative by two immensely popular and able female politicians will send a clear signal that things are moving in the right direction. It will greatly improve Israel's image in Europe.
.

See:

- Ignore the rhetoric, Westminster is fizzing with tension, by Matthew d'Ancona, The Daily Telegraph

- Jenny Tonge believes in Jewish conspiracy, by David Hirsh, Engage

- Véronique De Keyser, MEP says she feels like "strangling" Israel's ambassador, EJP

Rioters in France and Israel shout "Allah Akbar"

France: Romans-sur-Isère, October 1st

"Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar!" and "Things will burn."

"A French police officer was shot and wounded during clashes with youths that broke out after a teenager died while fleeing police, authorities said Tuesday.

The officer appeared to have been shot in the leg with a hunting rifle, said the police prefecture in Romans-sur-Isère, a southeastern town located 60 miles from Lyon in the Rhône Valley on the edge of the Alps. The officer's life was not in danger. Dents from bullets and buckshot were also found in police vehicles nearby.

Police used tear gas and rubber pellets to push back some 50 youths during clashes late Monday and early Tuesday. Several cars were burned and about 15 shop windows were smashed.

After nightfall Tuesday, some 300 riot police officers and gendarmes took up positions around the center of town to prevent a second night of clashes. Some teams of officers were brought in from neighboring regions.

The violence broke out after a 16-year-old died by driving a stolen car into a wall while fleeing police. Four other minors in the car were lightly injured.

Accidents involving police and youths have been particularly sensitive in France since riots in 2005 that were sparked by the deaths of two teens electrocuted in a power substation while hiding from police. (...)

Le Monde reports (translation is general): (...) A little later the relatives came out furious from their closed-door meeting with the municipal team. In tears, a young woman told the dozens of worked up youth: "He wants to calm you down. I say to you: burn everything."

This statement was met by cheers and the youth dispersed in small groups, promising the security forces a night of fire. A handful of them started shouting: "Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar!" "Things will burn," said one of the leaders of the group, surrounded by a swarm of teenagers who listened respectfully. "They're fed up with our small brothers dying in our neighborhoods. You dominated our parents. We are the third generation and we won't submit." (...) "

Source: France: Riots after teenager dies while fleeing police, Islam in Europe
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Israel: Acre, October 8

"Kill the Jews," "Allahu Akbar" and "If you come out of your homes, you will die."

"Police said the Yom Kippur disturbances in Acre were sparked deliberately on Wednesday evening when an Arab driver, Tawfik Jamal - a resident of Acre's Old City - made his way to the predominantly Jewish Ben-Gurion neighborhood in the eastern part of the city, blasting loud music from his vehicle as aprovocation on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. (...)

"This was a provocation. An Arab driver arrived in a Jewish neighborhood on Yom Kippur with blaring music, and refused to leave when asked to by local residents. We believe he was intoxicated. This was a deliberate act," Galilee Police spokesman Ch.-Supt. Eran Shaked said.

The verbal confrontation between Jamal and the local residents quickly deteriorated into violence, as rocks and bottles were thrown at Jamal's vehicle.

According to Jamal, he and his two passengers fled the car. The three were taken to hospital where they were treated for light wounds and discharged.

In the meantime, police said, false rumors that Arabs were seriously harmed or killed by Jews reached the Old City, and caused a far more serious andorganized incident in Acre.

Responding to the rumors, hundreds of Arabs set out from the Old City toward the Ben-Gurion neighborhood, walking down a main road, smashing store windows and cars along the way. Reports said the mob shouted "Kill the Jews," "Allahu Akbar," and "If you come out of your homes, you will die. (...)"

Source: Police: Acre disturbances sparked deliberately by Arab driver, TJP

Joseph Biden is a strong supporter of Israel

Source: EJP

.

"Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama choose Delaware Senator Joseph Biden, a politician considered as well-versed in foreign and defense issues, as his running mate.

The choice is widely seen in Washington as shoring up the Democratic Party ticket's foreign policy credentials in the battle against Republican John McCain.

The 65-year-old Biden is currently in his sixth term in the US Senate and is Delaware's longest-serving senator. He is the chairman of the foreign relations committee in the Congress.

He is considered a strong supporter of Israel. In a march 2007 interview with the US-based Jewish cable television network Shalom TV he declared: "I am a Zionist."

He described Israel as "the single greatest strength America has in the Middle East."

He travelled with Barack Obama to Israel in late July, when Obama promised strong support for Israel against the threat from Iran, and said he would strongly support the Mideast peace process soon after he takes office.

In the same interview, Biden revealed that his son is married to a Jewish woman, of the Berger family from Delaware, and that he had participated in a Passover Seder at their house.

He added that "probably my most poignant Seder memory is not with the Bergers, but what happened right after I came back from meeting Golda Meir (in 1973). I had predicted that something was going on in Egypt. And I remember people talking about what it meant to them if Israel were actually defeated."

Like Obama, Biden supports direct talks with Iran. "I believe the United States should agree to directly engage Iran, first in the context of the 'P-5 plus 1', and ultimately country-to-country, just as we did with North Korea," Biden said in an early July press statement.

The 'P-5 plus 1' refers to the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany.

"The net effect of demanding preconditions that Iran rejects is this: We get no results and Iran gets closer to the bomb," he said."

Ex-hostage Ingrid Betancourt calls for Gilad Shalit's release

"Former French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt, who was freed earlier this month along with 14 other hostages after being held by the Farc rebels in Colombia, called Sunday for the release of all those still held hostage in the world and displayed a large photo of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was kidnapped near Gaza by Palestinians two years ago.

Shalit has dual French and Israeli citizenship.

Several thousand people gathered for a concert at the Trocadéro near the Eiffel Tower in Paris to take part in one of a series of demonstrations around the world to protest the kidnappings by the Colombian marxist guerrillas.

During the Paris event, Betancourt spoke out for other prisoners held throughout the world, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest in her native Myanmar, and Gilad Shalit.

She held a large sign with Shalit's photo. The sign read, "Gilad Shalit, kidnapped since June 2006."

"We want freedom for everyone," said Betancourt, drawing loud applause from the crowd, many of whom chanted the Spanish word for freedom "Libertad!"."

Source: EJP

Ingrid Betancourt is freed and praises the Israeli army

On arriving at Bogota airport yesterday, after being freed with 14 other hostages by the Columbian army Ingrid Betancourt, who spent six years of captivity in the jungle at the hands of the marxist guerilla FARC, spoke of her ordeal and described the faultless rescue operation.

She praised the Israeli army:

"There are no precedents for such a perfect operation. Perhaps the Israelis, with the reputation they have for such extraordinary commandos - perhaps only they can come close to the coup that we have seen today."

She added that Colombians should be proud of their army for having carried out a perfect rescue operation.

Sources:
The Times
Le Monde video (8:53-9:22)
El País:
"Esto es un orgullo para todos nosotros colombianos, no hay antecedentes históricos de un rescate tan perfecto. En Israel quizás pueden asemejarse al golpe que se dio hoy."

UK Conservative leaders hail Israel

Jonny Paul @ TJP writes:

"Conservative MP and shadow chancellor George Osbourne [photo] paid tribute to Israel's achievements on Wednesday, saying a trip to the Jewish state in 2004 in which he experienced the aftermath of a suicide-bombing shaped his understanding of the country.

"It's an objective view of what Israel has achieved during its existence and the way it represents freedom and democracy in a part of the world that is not familiar with freedom and democracy," Osbourne also said when asked the source of his views.

Osbourne was speaking with Daniel Finkelstein, columnist and comment editor of the Times, and shadow foreign secretary William Hague, at the Conservative Friends of Israel's annual business lunch at the Dorchester Hotel in central London.

More than 500 guests, including Israel's ambassador to the UK, Ron Prosor, members of Parliament, European Parliament, the House of Lords, and the Greater London Assembly attended the event.

On November 1, 2004, Osbourne saw at first hand the results of a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine attack in Tel Aviv's Carmel Market that killed three people and wounded more than 35. He said it made "a very powerful impression on what Israel is up against."

During that trip, he added, he and four MPs including current-London Mayor Boris Johnson ended up singing patriotic Israeli songs in a Tel Aviv karaoke bar.

Speaking about Iran, Osbourne said: "We should not rule out military options. It's not the same as ruling in military options, but it does mean not ruling them out, and I think we have to be very hard-headed and realistic about the world in which we live."

"We would have like to have seen a more energetic approach by the current [UK] government and we are critical of them," Hague said. "Gordon Brown announced sanctions on Iranian oil and gas last November; he announced it again last week, and still nothing has taken place."

Hague also said that Britain or Israel should not negotiate directly with Hamas."

Boris Johnson is an enemy of politically correct anti-Zionism

Jean Bricmont and The De-Zionization of the American Mind - The anti-US ravings of an arrogant man

Prof. Jean Bricmont of the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, has an ugly paper in Counterpunch (see Counterpunch: A Neo Nazi Magazine) in which he advocates the de-Zionisation of the American mind. He deems this would have a “greatly humanizing effect on American culture” and has the gall to lecture the American people, the American Government, the “unsavory people” of the American Right and even … the American Left! All have superbly ignored the ravings of an unsufferably arrogant man for whom Americans are Zionized brainwashed fools who have relinquished self-determination to the benefit of the Lobby.

Bricmont wants Israeli’s feeling of superiority shattered and believes that “Americans have a great responsibility is doing half of the job, the one concerning kneejerk U.S. support.” One can only guess who should be doing the other half of the job. Another ominous remark: “And that is also why it is easy to dismiss its strength by saying, for instance, that, obviously, Jews don't control America. Sure, but direct control is not the way it works”. There we go!

The Israel Lobby by Walt and Mearsheimer pales in comparison with the violent and contemptuous anti-American (not to mention Jews and Israelis) tone of Bricmont’s paper. His great achievement is that every single sentence smacks of smugness, self-importance and contempt - the give-away words “hate” and “hatred” crop up ten times ...

The Professor also pairs up with Martial Demunter to give sparsely attended “cycles of conferences” in Brussels on “The USA, Zionism and Israel” while Demunter holds forth on “Guilt and Holocaust Manipulation”! A nice pair.

Here are some excerpts from How to Deal with The Lobby, The De-Zionization of the American Mind

“… the level of hatred that leads a large number of people to applaud an event like September 11 is peculiar to the Middle East. Indeed, the main political significance of September 11 did not derive from the number of people killed or even the spectacular achievement of the attackers, but from the fact that the attack was popular in large parts of the Middle East. That much was understood by Americans leaders and infuriated them. Such a level of hatred calls for explanation.

And there can be only one explanation: United States support for Israel. It is indeed Israel that is the main object of hatred, for reasons we shall describe, but since the United States uncritically supports Israel on almost every issue, constantly praises it as “the only democracy in the Middle East” and provides its main financial backing, the result is a “transfer” of hatred.

Why is Israel so hated? (…) the basic cause lies in the very principles on which that state is build. There are basically two arguments that have justified establishing the State of Israel in Palestine: one is that God gave that land to the Jews, and the other is the Holocaust. The first one is deeply insulting to people who are profoundly religious, like most Arabs, but of another creed. And, for the second, it amounts to making people pay for a crime that they did not commit.

Both arguments are deeply racist, with their claim that it is right for Jews, and only Jews, to set up a state in a land that would obviously be Arab, like Jordan or Lebanon, if not for the slow Zionist invasion. This is illustrated by the “law of return”: any Jew, anywhere, having no connection with Palestine whatsoever, and not suffering from the slightest persecution, can, if he so wishes, emigrate to Israel and easily become a citizen, while the inhabitants who fled in 1948, or their children, cannot. Add to that the fact that a city claimed to be Holy by three religions has become the “eternal capital of the Jewish people" (and only them) and one should start to understand the rage that all this provokes throughout the Arab and Muslim world.

It is precisely this racist aspect that infuriates most Arabs, even if they do not have any personal connection to Palestine (if they live, say, in the French banlieues). This situation delegitimizes the Arab regimes that are impotent in the face of the Zionist enemy and, after the defeat of the region's two main secular leaders, Nasser and Saddam Hussein (the latter thanks to the US), leads to the rise of religious fundamentalism. (…)

What protects the Israel lobby is the fact that anyone who would denounce an opponent funded by the Lobby as a quasi-agent of a foreign power would immediately be accused of anti-Semitism. In fact, imagine that Big Business is unhappy with the current U.S. policies (as it well may be) and wants to change them--how could they do it? Any criticism of Lobby influence on U.S. policy would immediately trigger the anti-Zionism-is-anti-Semitism accusation. (…)

Associated with this identification comes a systematically hostile view of the Arab and Muslim world, which both increases the lobby's effectiveness and is in part the result of its propaganda. Despite all the talk about anti-racism and “political correctness”, there is an almost total lack of understanding of the Arab viewpoint on Palestine, and, in particular, of the racist nature of the problem. It is this triple layer of control (selective funding, the anti-Semitism card, or rather canard, and the interiorization) that gives the lobby its peculiar strength. (And that is also why it is easy to dismiss its strength by saying, for instance, that, obviously, Jews don't control America. Sure, but direct control is not the way it works.) (…)

What should the Left do? Well, simple: treat Israel as it did South Africa and attack the Lobby. The reason Israel acts as it does is that it feels strong and that, in turn, is for two reasons: one is its “all-powerful army” (currently being tested in Lebanon, not conclusively yet); the other is the almost complete control over Washington policy-making, specially the Congress. Peace in the Middle East can only come when this feeling of Israeli superiority is shattered, and Americans have a great responsibility is doing half of the job, the one concerning kneejerk U.S. support.

Now, there are, in principle, two ways to do that: one is to appeal to American generosity, the other is to appeal to their self-interest. Both ways should be pursued, but the latter is not enough emphasized by the Left. (…) Also, if the United States were to distance itself from Israel, it would pursue policies opposed to the traditional ones, and far more humane. The other problem is that a large part of the Right (from Buchanan to Brzezinski) correctly sees American interests as being opposed of those of Israel, and the Left (understandably) does not like to make common cause with such people. But if a cause is just (and, in this case, urgent) it does not become less just because unsavory people endorse it (the same argument applies to genuine anti-Semitic hostility to Israel). The worst thing that the Left can do is to leave the monopoly of a just cause to the Right.

The Left cannot expect the American people to change radically overnight, abandon religious fundamentalism, give up oil addiction or embrace socialism. But a change of perspective in the Middle East is possible: the strength of the lobby is also its weakness, namely the naked king effect-everybody fears it, but the only reason to fear it is that everybody around us fears it. Left alone, it is powerless. To change that, one should systematically defend every politician, every columnist, every teacher, who is targeted by the lobby for his or her views or statements, irrespective of their general political outlook (to take an analogy, act as civil libertarians do with respect to free speech). (…)

Rolling back the lobby would necessitate a change of the American mentality with respect to the people of the Middle East, and to Islam, like ending the Vietnam war required a change in the way Asians were looked at. But that alone would have a greatly humanizing effect on American culture. (…)

It is true that a change in the U.S. policy with respect to the Israel-Palestine conflict would change nothing about traditional imperialism-- the United States would still support traditional elites everywhere, and press countries to provide a “favorable investment climate”. But the conflict in the Middle East, involving Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, has all the aspects of a religious war-with Islam on one side and Zionism as a secular Western religion on the other. And wars of religion tend to be the most brutal and uncontrollable of all wars. What is at stake in the de-Zionization of the American mind is not only the fate of the unfortunate inhabitants of Palestine but also unspeakable miseries for the people of that region and maybe of the rest of the world. The ultimate irony in all this is that the fate of much of the world depends of the American people exercizing their right to self-determination, which, of course, they should.”

See:
Israel on trial in Brussels: Iranian and Syrian Ambassadors give standing ovation to judges

Israel: Reality and Perception, by Francisco Gomes

"Ruling another nation is neither an ambition nor is it a policy of Israel. Peace is at the core of Jewish tradition and is also at the centre of Israel’s goals as a state."

Francisco Gomes wrote a remarkable and exceptionally well-researched article on Israel - it is well worth reading in full. It appeared in the May edition of The Brit, a monthly newspaper published in Madeira.

"There is little doubt that the perception that people have of the world they live in and of the actors that shape it is influenced by media coverage as well as by the opinion-makers that are chosen by the major news channels to comment the various events that define life on the planet. In other words, the world, as we know it, is not, for the most part, the result of our direct contact with this or that reality, but the outcome of what we hear and see reported in regional, national and international media. This fact must encourage us to think critically about the news reported to us on an almost-constant basis and to question what is reported by journalist and commentators around the world.

At the present time, very few issues have been more debated, analysed, studied, discussed, revised, described, considered, reported on or commented on than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ever since the 1948 Israeli Declaration of Independence – which we celebrate this month – and the ensuing conflicts between the state of Israel and Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinians and Hezbollah, the unstable relation between Arabs and Jews has dominated international news. However, with the exception of some media channels in the United States and Europe, which have consistently thrived to provide their audience with an objective depiction of Israel, the image that is projected to the international arena of that state is a far cry from reality.

It is a well-known fact that the accuracy of any conclusion – regardless of whether it is taken at the international political level or at the local level – is intrinsically associated to the quality of the information on which it is based. So, it is only fair that we take our time to divulge some interesting facts about the history of Israel, the relation between Jews and Arabs and the impacts of the often-miscalled “Israeli occupation” of the Palestinian territories and its people. We feel such information is necessary in order for the general public to gain a more honest understanding of the human, social and political dynamics that shape that region of the world.

Concerning Israeli history, a theme that is often discussed in that of nationhood. In this regard, it is important to note that the notion of a Jewish nationhood was formed at about 1312 BCE, two thousand years before the rise of Islam. In contrast, Arab refugees in Israel only began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern state of Israel.

Likewise, since the Jewish conquest in 1272 BCE, Jews have had dominion over the land they presently occupy for one thousand years, with a continuous presence in the territory for the past three thousand years. Arabs only have had control of Israel twice, namely from 634 until the Crusader Invasion in June 1099 and from 1292 until 1517, when they were displaced by the Turkish Empire. Moreover, for over three thousand years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. It has never been the capital of any Arab entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied the city, they never sought to make it their capital.

Concerning the relation between Jews and Arabs, one of the critical issues that has opposed both identities is that of refugees. On this topic, it is worth remembering that, in 1948, Arab leaders encouraged Arab refugees to leave Israel with the promise of purging the land of Jews. About six hundred thousand left the territory, sixty percent of which never saw an Israeli soldier. In contrast, Jewish refugees were forced to flee Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.

Also, Arab refugees were intentionally not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. In fact, out of the one hundred million refugees that have been created by events that occurred since World War II, Arab refugees are the only group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own people’s lands. This fact demonstrates a lack of understanding and thoughtfulness that is uncommon among people who basically share the same historical, cultural, racial, religious and ethnic bonds. In contrast, Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no larger than the American state of New Jersey.

Moreover, in the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Arabs have been represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians or Arab extremist organisations. These initiated all five wars that have been fought with the state and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won. Despite this situation, the diplomatic position of Israel has evolved and, in recent times, the Israeli government has embraced a diplomatic strategy that implies the establishment of two separate states, one Arab and one Jewish, living side-by-side. This position has not been reciprocated and, to this day, Article 15 of the Charter of the Palestine Liberation Organization still calls for the destruction of Israel, or, as it is phrased in the document, “the elimination of Zionism in Palestine.”

Furthermore, despite the much-talked international support for the Israeli cause, global response to the goals and needs of the Jewish people has been, in most cases, dismal. For example, of the one hundred and seventy five resolutions passed by the Security Council of the United Nations before 1990, ninety seven were directed against Israel. In addition, of the six hundred and ninety General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, four hundred and twenty nine were directed against Israel. What’s more, the United Nations was silent while fifty eight Jerusalem synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians during their occupation of the territory, while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives and while they enforced an apartheid-like policy that prevented Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

Concerning the impacts of the “Israeli occupation” of the Palestinian territories, the deep contrast of the Palestinian living conditions before and after Israeli administration clearly suggests that it has been beneficial to the Palestinians living in the territory. For example, during twenty years of Arab rule, Palestinian male life expectancy grew from 42 to 44; during the next twenty years of Israeli administration, Palestinian male life expectancy grew from 44 to 63. Also, during twenty years of Arab rule, Palestinian female life expectancy grew from 45 to 46; during the next 20 years of Israeli administration, Palestinian female life expectancy grew from 46 to 67. Moreover, during twenty years of Arab rule, Palestinian infant mortality rate decreased from 200 per thousand to 170 per thousand; during the next twenty years of Israeli administration, Palestinian infant mortality rate decreased from 170 per thousand to 60 per thousand. In addition, during twenty years of Arab rule, Palestinian crude death rate decreased from 21 per thousand to 19 per thousand; during the next twenty years of Israeli administration, Palestinian crude death rate decreased from 19 per thousand to 6 per thousand. Finally, malaria, which existed in the Palestinian territories before 1967, was eliminated during Israeli administration.

At the infrastructural level, Israeli administration has also benefited the lives of many Palestinians. For example, before 1967, when Israel’s rule began, only 113 hospitals had been built in the territories. But, at the present time, that number has more than tripled, to about 400 hospitals. Also, before 1967, only 23 motherhood centres had been established. Today, more than six times as many can be found.

Israeli also more than tripled the number of Palestinian teachers and boosted the Palestinian educational system by establishing a number of universities. Among those universities were the College of Scientists, established in Abu Dis in 1982, the College of Social Welfare, established in El Bira in 1979, the College of Religion, established in Beit Hanina in 1978, and the Islamic College, established in Hebron in 1971. Nonetheless, this was not the only effect Israeli administration has on the Palestinian educational system and the Palestinian people. Before 1967, the percentage of illiterates on average had been 27.8% among men and 65.1% among women. At the present time, Israel has helped reduce illiteracy to less than 13% among men and to less than 35% among women.

In March 2008, in a speech before the Massachusetts state legislature, Tzipi Livni [photo], the Israeli Foreign Minister, stated, “Sometimes, there is a very big difference between Israel’s international image and its realities.” An objective consideration of the historical relation between Jews and Arabs and of the effects of Israeli administration on the Palestinian territories and its people amply confirms this assertion. Ruling another nation is neither an ambition nor is it a policy of Israel. Peace is at the core of Jewish tradition and is also at the centre of Israel’s goals as a state."

Posted with the permission of the author

Despite Sarkozy's good intentions, not much has changed

President Sarkozy's stance on Israel is indeed an improvement on his predecessors, but French media obsession with Israel remains unabated and their negative reporting feeds anti-semitism.

From TJP:

"Anti-Semitism contributed to Mimi Marks's decision to leave France 10 years ago, so it was with mixed feelings that she observed the pomp and ceremony surrounding the Israeli visit of French President Nicholas Sarkozy and his wife this week.

"I left France nearly 10 years ago, and every time I go back [anti-Semitism] gets worse and worse... it did affect my decision to come [to Israel]... We feel the situation [there] is out of control."

Still, Sarkozy's visit struck a chord with many French immigrants like Marks. She is one of 21,000 Jews who have made aliya from France in the last 10 years, according to The Jewish Agency.

In light of France's sometimes fragile relationship with its own Jewry, Sarkozy's support is especially significant.

"Jewish people like Sarkozy in France and also here," said Raphael Aouate, who made aliya from France three years ago. "He said good things about Jews and Israel. It's quite new, because [Jacques] Chirac was not at all like that. He was aggressive with Israel."

Sarkozy's agenda for his three-day trip contrasts significantly from that of his predecessor, whose presidential visit in 1996 was criticized in some quarters for directing its focus on the Arab population.

Many French Jews celebrate Sarkozy as a notable improvement for Israel and for the Jewish people, and are encouraged by his presence in the country.

"We all voted for [Sarkozy] because we thought he was able to bring a change to anti-Semitism and crime," Marks said. "He has a strong opinion against it."

But despite the public support of Sarkozy, many French olim believe it naive to claim that the situation for French Jews has improved since his election. In fact, just hours before Sarkozy's plane touched down at Ben-Gurion International Airport, a Jewish Parisian teenager was left comatose after what was deemed an anti-Semitic assault [Barbarism in Paris, Z-Word blog].

"I'm almost sure it would be an error to think things have changed," said Aouate, "You can't say that one man, even if he is the president of a nation, can change mentalities."

The visit to Israel by Sarkozy, a self-proclaimed friend of Israel, reflects the increasingly positive relationship between Israel and France, something many French Jews are happy about.

"Obviously it's good for France to have a good relationship with Israel," said Marks."

Coexistence: 77% of Arabs say won't replace Israel, by Reuven Weiss

Ynet News reports on findings pointing to peaceful coexistence and mutual respect between Israeli Jews and Arabs:

"Seventy-seven percent of the State of Israel's Arab citizens would rather live in the Jewish state than in any other country in the world, according to a new study titled "Coexistence in Israel".

The survey was conducted by the John Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University with the assistance of researchers from Haifa University.

The study was aimed at examining the relations between Israel's Jewish and Arab citizens on the State's 60th anniversary, and included 1,721 respondents.

The findings also revealed that a great majority of Israel's citizens (73% of the Jews and 94% of the Arabs) want to live in a society in which Arab and Jewish citizens have mutual respect and equal opportunities.

The study went on to show that 68% of Jewish citizens support teaching conversational Arabic in Jewish schools to help bring Arab and Jewish citizens together, and 69% believe contributing to coexistence is a personal responsibility.

Sixty-six percent of Jewish citizens and 84% of Arab citizens believe the Israeli government investments should begin now, and not wait until the end of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

The project's lead researcher, Professor Todd L. Pittinsky, research director of the Harvard Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership (CPL), said in a press release, "These data support what we’ve found in our allophilia research around the world—evidence of interest, comfort, and affection among some, even in communities in conflict."

Pittinsky notes that much media coverage focuses on the divisions between Jewish and Arab citizens in Israel, and not enough on the sincere and concerted efforts to coexist peacefully."

The dangerous naivety of the well-intentioned, by Melanie Phillips

Melanie Phillips finds at last encouraging signs among Europeans, but also a worrying disposition to minimise the existential threats facing Israel:

"The conference in Berlin which I’ve been attending, organised by the Weidenfeld Foundation and the Axel Springer corporation, was about relations between the EU and Israel. It was simultaneously encouraging — touching, even - and dismaying. Encouraging because here was a Europe which – in the form of the German and Czech foreign and interior ministers at least, along with sundry diplomats and business people - had stopped hectoring Israel for its crimes and instead was pledging never to abandon it to its enemies; and it was touching to see the painful awareness of the Germans of their duty to ensure that their own history should never again be repeated elsewhere in the world. (Indeed, on the very day of this meeting the EU-Israel Association Council – the body headed by foreign ministers which conducts the bilateral relations between Israel and European Union member states – announced an upgrade in relations between Israel and the EU.) What a difference from poisonous Britannia. The reason for the change in the European attitude is said to be twofold. First, and most important, the perspective of Europe’s elite has changed under the pressure of its own crisis of Islamist colonisation. As a result, it looks upon Israel, the front line of defence against this attack, in a new and more sympathetic light. Second, it approves of Israel’s apparent determination to hammer out a ‘two-state solution’ with the Palestinians.

But here was the rub. Speaker after speaker extolled Israel’s negotiations with Mahmoud Abbas and spoke of the 'sparks of hope' from such talks that must not be extinguished. But this hope was based on a high level of wishful thinking, not to say historical amnesia. For the two-state solution can hardly be a solution, given that two-states was the original compromise proposition put forward in the 1930s to appease Arab rejectionism of the proposed restored Jewish state – which is still rejected to this day, not just by Hamas but by the ‘moderate’ Holocaust-denier Mahmoud Abbas. Only recently he declared that the Palestinians would never accept Israel as a Jewish state; and yet he is being feted by Israel, America and Europe as a genuine interlocutor for peace. Moreover, as I have noted before, a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza would mean that Iran was at the doorstep of Jordan and Egypt – a fact that causes the ‘two-state solution’ to fill them with undiluted horror. Far from providing ‘sparks of hope’ therefore, the ‘two-state solution’ would more likely spark a conflagration with an Iran whose quest for regional domination poses such a threat to the wider world."

Read the full article.

Open Thread on Tibet and the Middle East, Modernity Blog

From Modernity Blog :

"News from Tibet, unlike other countries, is restricted and what we hear from that country is very limited, snippets about Tibetans being murdered or enforced Chinese rule, but not a great deal and often what comes out has been censored or made such that the Chinese occupation is portrayed in the best possible light.

The BBC highlights the tight grip that China keeps on the Tibetan’s neck:

“China appears to be maintaining a tight grip over Tibetan areas, nearly three months after a series of anti-Beijing protests and riots.

The government suggests life in areas inhabited by Tibetans is returning to normal, but evidence suggests otherwise.

Security is tight, Tibetans face travel restrictions, and monks and nuns have been forced to attend re-education classes.

Chinese tourists are once again being allowed to visit the Himalayan region, but not many are making the trip.

Foreigners are banned. It is difficult to get information about what is going on in Tibet and nearby provinces that are home to large numbers of Tibetans.

Chinese central and local government officials - who keep a tight rein on information at the best of times - are saying little. (...)

There are also roadblocks on highways leading into Tibet.

The Chinese crackdown follows unrest that began in Lhasa on 10 March.

Monks from several monasteries began a series of protests to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

These protest turned into riots, during which Tibetans targeted Han Chinese people who had moved into Lhasa.

Tibetan students living in India hold a rally on 28 May 2008

China says 18 innocent civilians and one police officer died in the riots.

The Tibetan government-in-exile said about 250 died, most of whom were Tibetans killed in the ensuing crackdown.

Over the last couple of months, hundreds of Tibetans have been arrested, with the first batch of 30 tried and jailed earlier this month.

China said they received fair trials, but this is contested by Tibetans abroad and human rights organisations.

Even on this one issue, there is no agreement on the facts of what is currently going on in Tibet.”

But contrast that situation with the Middle East, leaving aside the various quasi-dictatorships and authoritarian regimes which are fairly numerous, there is no shortage of news about conflict in the region. If we were to look at nearly any Israeli newspaper there would be very critical coverage of the Israeli government and the military’s own conduct in the region.

Which is strange, isn’t it? Barely a critical voice against brutal Chinese oppression in Tibet, but the Israelis often scourge themselves over these issues. What a difference?"

European Union states support upgrading relations with Israel - after all...

Compare this article in Haaretz on 11 June:

EU diplomats: We're not ready for major upgrade of Israel ties

with this one two days later in Haaretz too (so much for journalistic coherence):

EU supports boosting ties with Israel, debates linking relations to peace talk progress :

"European Union states support upgrading relations with Israel but some want the move to be linked to progress on Middle East peace, EU diplomats said before talks with Israel on Monday.

Diplomats said all EU member states supported the idea of upgrading relations with Israel in areas such as social policy, regulatory issues and access to the EU single market.

"The point of disagreement has been whether and to what extent to link closer EU ties to progress in the Middle East Peace Process," one EU diplomat said, adding that envoys would seek to overcome differences before EU foreign ministers meet their Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni in Luxembourg.

Last year Israel proposed a range of possible upgrades in relations, including regular summits of EU and Israeli leaders, and meetings with EU sectoral ministers in addition to the current single annual session at foreign minister level.

It also wanted a high-profile joint declaration at the Luxembourg meeting on boosting ties and giving Israel greater access to EU markets, agencies and spending programmes. (...)

Arab League ambassadors in Brussels expressed concern this week that discussions on upgrading EU ties with Israel were going ahead "in the absence of any settlement and establishing permanent and just peace in the Middle East."

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad wrote to Brussels last month urging the EU not to boost relations with Israel, which he accused of "flagrant disregard" of Palestinian rights by continuing to build Jewish settlements.

Diplomats say Egypt has also lobbied the EU against boosting ties with the Jewish state when there was scant progress in the Middle East peace process."

Israel at 60: Herzl's Altneuland

Altneuland: "Wenn Ihr wollt, Ist es kein Märchen."

Via Carlos Botelho @ O cachimbo de Magritte

If Israel is all that's at stake, no doubt a lot of people can live with that

The stand-bys posted by Denis @ A Liberal Defence of Israel blog

"We Westerners have become the stand-bys, the people who protest about everything and never actually do anything useful. (...)

It is a mockery of the international system that Israel, a member state of the UN, has fought wars and terrorist attacks for 60 years, yet not one other member state has come to its aid. Nato was founded on the basis that an attack on any member country was to be considered an attack on everyone, and that retaliation would follow from all member states. That is still true. Similar alliances exist elsewhere. Of course, the UN is not a military alliance; but it still makes no sense to me that there can be no role for the UN when Israel is attacked by wholly illegal entities like Hamas or Hizbullah. It's not even a case of asking the UN to send in fighting troops to go into battle alongside Israelis, simply wondering why the UN chooses not to enforce international law when it is so blatantly broken by a group like Hizbullah that was founded and is backed by a regime who record in human rights or in international relations is consistently black. What do you have to do to get the UN, to which you pay your membership dues, to do what it was set up to do?

It matters hugely to the West that Hizbullah does not set the Middle East alight, that Iran and Syria do not take joint control of Lebanon, that they do not use their alliance with Hamas to engage in another war with Israel, and that Syria does not try to drag Jordan into it. But surely this is the point. It is precisely because the West (like the UN) stood aside during the last war in Lebanon, and put heavy pressure on Israel to end the war prematurely, that Hizbullah was able to come out of the conflict ready to re-arm and re-group. thereby creating the present situation. To be honest, if the West (or the UN) had acted years ago, Hizbullah could have been flattened before they got the missiles they now use. The same with Hamas.

Everyone is afraid - and rightly afraid - of starting a war with Iran. Attacking Hizbullah could lead to that. Taking out Iran's nucleaer installations could lead to it. Iran is a big country with difficult terrain and a large population. A war would be foolish and Western troops would get even more bogged down than they are now in Iraq or Afghanistan. US blunders in Iraq have made life easier for Ahmadinezhad and his generals. I cannot suggest the right course of action. Perhaps no-one in the West really cares: if Israel is all that's at stake, no doubt a lot of people can live with that. We don't reward heroism any longer, not if it ruffles feathers in high places. We are politically correct, which means we hate Israel and love the terrorists masquerading as freedom fighters who want to destroy her body and soul. They want to destroy Israel's spirit, and they know no-one out there has a spirit like it, and that no-one dare trespass the laws of 'do not speak', 'do not call on others to speak', 'do not act', and 'do not urge others to take action'. Let us prove them wrong."