MAY 2007

***********************

A public debate at Forum Gush-Shalom

TWO STATES
 or
ONE STATE

debate between
former KM URI AVNERY
and Dr. ILAN PAPPE
moderator Prof. ZALMAN AMIT

Tuesday, May 8, 2007 at 8pm

in Beit Hakibutz Ha'artzi
13, Leonardo da Vinci Street, Tel-Aviv-Jaffo
 www.gush-shalom.org
Public debate ONE or TWO STATES with Avnery & Pappe, Gush Shalom Forum, May 8,
Tel-Aviv.
***************

JEWS CHALLENGE TO ISRAEL AND PROPOSE A JEWISH/ARAB STATE AND THE RETURN OF REFUGEES.
excerpt from The Observer Sunday 15th April

The current dispute erupted earlier this year in the United States, home to the world's largest diaspora Jewish community, with an essay published by the American Jewish Committee. The AJC urged the community to 'confront' those Jews who had joined in the 'verbal onslaught against Zionism and the Jewish state'. The essay denounced some critics by name, including prominent historian Tony Judt and Tony Kushner, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the play Angels in America

The heated argument escalated further with a feature on the dispute in the New York Times. Judt, who was criticised in the article for having denounced Israel as 'arrogant, aggressive, anachronistic, infantile... [and] immoral,' told the New York Times he was convinced that leading Jewish voices simply wanted to stifle any harsh criticism of Israel.

But in a separate article, Boston-based sociologist Shulamit Reinharz - wife of the president of America's leading Jewish university, Brandeis - rejected the idea that Jewish left-wingers could question the very existence of Israel without imperilling Jews. 'Most would say they are simply anti-Zionists, not anti-Semites. But I disagree, because in a world where there is only one Jewish state, to oppose it vehemently is to endanger Jews.'

In London, a similar battle has erupted around academic Tony Lerman, head of think-tank the Institute of Jewish Policy Research (JPR). At issue are remarks he made before taking up the post in which he questioned the viability of Israel as a Jewish state. He suggested replacing it with a Jewish-Arab state that would also offer a home for Palestinian refugees. Four JPR directors, and one of its honorary patrons, the Tory peer Lord Kalms, have resigned in protest.

Against this background, a new British group calling itself Independent Jewish Voices is planning to launch tomorrow on Comment Is Free, the Guardian's and Observer's online comment site. The group - including more than 100 writers, academics, doctors, lawyers, actors and others - objects to what it terms the misconception that British Jews 'speak with one voice and that this voice supports the Israeli government's policies'.

Kalms has insisted that he has no problem with criticism of individual Israeli government policies, but has suggested that Lerman's questioning of the Jewish state's existence risks providing cover for extremists who want Israel destroyed. Writing in the Jewish Chronicle on Friday, he said he had been told that he should be 'tolerant of Mr Lerman's views'. But, he argued, 'that is difficult when he proposes the suicide of the state of Israel.'

Echoing Kalms's view, a former Australian Jewish community leader, Isi Leibler, also wrote in the Chronicle: 'How can a person publicly state that Israel should be displaced as a Jewish state... [and] still occupy the role of executive director of Anglo-Jewry's principal think-tank?'

But JPR chairman Peter Levy - who also chairs the Chronicle - voiced strong support for Lerman and denounced the 'deeply disturbing, orchestrated campaign' against him. 'The people responsible do not seem to value independent thinking, and wish to prevent discussion of matters that may be uncomfortable but are essential for us to address. Their campaign demeans our community... and should be brought to an end,' Levy said.

Israel gov.now advocates their charitable inheritance to create a model for their potential "aid" in Darfur, Sudan and Chad...In the past Israel has shown that it can provide much-needed aid to disaster areas throughout the world, demonstrating the Jewish values on which its establishment was based. Assistance to Muslim victims can illustrate much better than any international public relations campaign that the principles by which Israel was established are universal and do not discriminate between humans based on religion or race.

After they destroyed hundreds of dunums of olive trees just read this...........From Ha'aretz:

"Israel, Jordan and PA to plant 4m olive trees
By Amiram Cohen

Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon have established a team to discuss the planting of 4 million olive trees with Jordan and the Palestinian Authority for the production of oil. According to the plan, which was initiated by Peres, the oil will be marketed under a joint brand to the two countries and the PA.

The saplings will be planted mainly in existing olive groves. Peres will raise financing for the project from international sources, and Simhon will supervise implementation(brown envelopes?JB.ed.). At Simhon's request, the Jewish National Fund will participate, supplying olive saplings and preparing land for planting.

It was also agreed in the meeting that Israel and the PA would cooperate in spraying against the olive fly, a pest which causes millions in damages annually and hurts profitability in the sector. Damages caused by the fly are particularly extensive in the PA, estimated at NIS 100 million.

At an olive oil and wine industry exhibition recently in Verona, Israel and the PA set up a joint stall which enjoyed wide coverage in the Italian press."

Rising anti-Semitism in Israel

Fri Apr 20, 1:24 PM

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Rabbi Avraham Levine never imagined that years after immigrating from Russia to Israel he would fall victim to a brutal anti-Semitic attack in the heart of the Jewish state.But less than three months ago, he was beaten up by teenage skinheads as he walked home in the city of Petah Tikva on Tel Aviv's outskirts.

"They jumped on me, beat me and cursed my mother in Russian, then they returned with sticks and beat me up. My arm was broken but only God saved my life," said Levine, 38, who arrived in Israel from Russia in 1995."They shouted 'Zhids leave Russia!' In Russia, I would hit someone if he said 'zhid.' How can someone do it in Israel?" he said."Zhid" is a derogatory term in Russian for a Jew, roughly equivalent to north America's "kike."

The number of incidents with a neo-Nazi, fascist or anti-Semitic streak has increased dramatically over the past 15 years in the Jewish state, which prides itself of being a safe haven for Jews from all over the world, according to the Dmir Centre, which monitors and assists victims of such attacks.Although the Jewish state is no stranger to anti-Israeli attacks, a new trend has developed since the 1990s -- anti-Semitic attacks carried out by "Jewish" citizens, says the centre's chief Zalman Gilichenski.The vast majority of these incidents are thought to have been carried out by Russian nationalists who identify with anti-Semitic ideology, says Gilichenski. He receives reports of anti-Semitic incidents in Israel on a daily basis and he estimates there are some 500 incidents a year in Israel.

The nationalists came to Israel as part of the massive immigration wave from former Soviet states in the 1990s. While they are Jewish under Israel's law of return -- meaning that either they, one of their parents or one of their grandparents are Jewish -- over 300,000 do not consider themselves Jews, according to official figures from the Immigrant and Absorption Ministry. Gilichenski says the authorities turn a blind eye: "Israel is very swift to criticise anti-Semitism abroad but remains silent in the face of anti-Semitism within."There is no law explicitly banning anti-Semitism in Israel, because such a situation was never imagined by the lawmakers, he said. A soldier was indicted for setting up the first neo-Nazi website in Israel, which included links to the text of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf and a photo of him and two other soldiers performing a Nazi salute in uniform. He was sentenced to 200 hours community service.

Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse.

AND..........................
"Soldiers in an IDF base drew swastikas and yelled 'Heil Hitler', hurting a soldier who had emigrated from France to Israel in order to escape anti-Semitism. The affair was exposed after the soldier, age 21, submitted a suit to the Ministry of Defense

THANKS TO ANGRYARAB.BLOGSPOT.COM

South African (Jewish) Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils says Iran's nuclear program 'wise'

Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 07:40:13 +0100

Yaakov Lappin, YNet, 04.17.07 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3389123,00.html

[When SA zionists try to blackball Kasrils they will find themselves in trouble in terms of SA national politics - RB]

South African Minister of Intelligence Services, Ronnie Kasrils, has "praised Iran's wise stand regarding its nuclear program," according a report by the Islamic Republic News Agency. Kasrils, who is Jewish, was in Iran last week as part of an official state visit. Efforts by Ynetnews to reach Kasrils for comment were unsuccessful. The South African government has released an official statement, saying that Kasrils "has had a fruitful meeting with Mr Ali Larijani; Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator. The meeting was held in the spirit of advancing the existing good relations of friendship, co-operation and understanding between the governments and peoples of the two countries. The two Ministers expressed their satisfaction with their meeting which like the rest of Minister Kasrils' visit to Iran has been a positive one," the statement added. Members of South Africa's Jewish community reacted with alarm to news of Kasril's visit. Beth Goldman, of the South African Zionist Federation, told Ynetnews that Kasrils has alienated the Jewish community after a long-running campaign aimed at demonizing Israel. "Kasril's attitude towards Israel has made him an enemy of the Jewish community. He started off comparing actions by the IDF in Palestinian areas with actions by the Nazis," she said. "This is extremely alarming. We are very concerned that the South African government has not come out and condemned Iran for the statements of its president, threatening to destroy Israel. We as Jews are very alarmed," Goldman added. Goldman said that so far, efforts by members of the community to contact the South African government have produced few results. "We don't do very much public protesting, due to concerns for the security of the community. We have a very large, hostile Muslim community in South Africa," she said. Michael Bagaim, Chairman of the South African Board of Deputies, told Ynetnews: "The South African Jewish community strongly supports the international call for the condemnation of Iran building up nuclear capability. We believe that this international call is correct and that support by the Minister of Intelligence for Iran's rogue development is both wrong and out of place. We don't believe that it is in line with the South African government's policy statements. In light of Iran's call for the destruction of Israel, it is extremely insensitive of Minister Kasrils to support the development of Iran's nuclear capability," he added.

Bashing the Jewish community

Michael Kransdorff, author of a leading South African Jewish blog, 'Its almost supernatural,' told Ynetnews, "Kasrils is a non-practicing Jew but a rabid anti-Zionist. It is probably a story in itself. In 2001, at the start of the intifada, he formed an organization called 'not in my name'. It was for people of Jewish descent who opposed Israel's actions. They launched a declaration of conscience hoping to get the mainstream community to condemn Israel. It failed dismally," he added. "The Jewish community responded by shunning him and denouncing him publicly. But given his political status, he was able to bash the community and Israel in the newspapers and on TV and Radio. He uses the sort of anti-Zionist rhetoric you would find in say, Syria," Kransdorff said, adding: "His views have become more and more extreme. Last year after the Lebanon war peaked he wrote in one of South Africa's most intellectual weeklies that Israelis are behaving like Nazis. I am extremely concerned about Mr Kasril's comments in particular and South Africa's foreign policy in general. Anti-Zionism is very common here. While most South African Jews continue to be fierce supports of Israel, the have switched off to this sort of rhetoric," Kransdorff said. He added: 'Minister Kasrils often writes about how his 'Jewish' conscience obligates him to speak out against Israel. But where is his 'Jewish' conscience when it comes to the Islamic Republic of Iran? How could any self respecting Jew, no matter what his position on Israel, call for the strengthening of ties with a nation that is today at the forefront of Holocaust denial?"

Absent from UN vote to condemn Shoah denial

Last month, the leader of the opposition in the South African parliament blasted the government after South Africa failed to vote in favor of a UN motion condemning Holocaust denial. Tony Leon, head of the Democratic Alliance, wrote in a statement: "A further indictment on South Africa's human rights record is its extraordinary decision to be absent when a resolution was adopted by the UN General Assembly in January this year condemning Holocaust denialism. "The resolution was co-sponsored by more than 100 countries but South Africa chose to be among 22 countries who were not in the Assembly when the resolution was passed. In so doing, South Africa stood shoulder to shoulder with some of the worst abusers of human rights in the world, including Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan and Zimbabwe. The government cannot profess a commitment to upholding and protecting human rights when, on the international stage, we go out of our way to temporise with tyranny," Leon added.

From: Rowan Berkeley <rowan.berkeley@googlemail.com>