I've heard of guys in wheelchairs being assaulted by sadistic thugs on the streets, but never before of emaciated hunger-strikers in wheelchairs being assaulted by sadistic thugs in uniform, in a courtroom, in the presence of a judge.
Is this, the latest twist in the saga of Palestinian hunger striker Samer Al-Issawi, another first for Israel's cutting edge thuggery?
You can read all about it, and more, in this report* from Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network:
"Today [11/1/13] is Palestinian political prisoner Samer Al-Issawi's 160th day on hunger strike. His fellow prisoner, Ayman Sharawna, who had been on hunger strike for nearly 6 months before suspending his strike for a week, is once again fasting for his freedom. Both are held in an Israeli jail without charge or trial. According to the internationally brokered deal to release captured Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit, Issawi and Sharawna should today be free men but Israel reneged on its agreement and rearrested both after Shalit's release.
"So, in light of the BBC's stated mission to 'inform' and 'educate', and its claim to provide 'trusted World news', you might think they'd have covered the story of Issawi and Sharawna and updated it as it's developed over the last 6 months. However, despite Google currently listing over 21 million items for the BBC, among all of those 21 million there is no reference whatever to either man, although both are nearing death after nearly 6 months without food.
"If, on the other hand, we Google the BBC for 'Gilad Shalit', we get around 1,120 items, including around 50 from 2012 alone. Despite being released over a year ago, in October 2011, Shalit is still as newsworthy as ever for the broadcaster. The last item, from October 18, 2012, came on the anniversary of his release. It reported on how he has had to 'cope with the psychological effects of his ordeal at the same time as trying to come to terms with his fame'; on how the Israeli media simply couldn't 'resist showing his first bicycle ride after he returned home' or reporting on his meetings with French President Nicholas Sarkozy and New York Mayor Michael Bloomburg; on how, 'at a concert of the popular singer, Shlomo Artzi', he had 'a song dedicated to him'; and on his presence 'at various sports events and on the set of the US television drama series, Homeland...'
"Contrast Shalit's 'ordeal', still so newsworthy for the BBC, with that of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners, Issawi and Sharawna TODAY. Just 2 weeks ago, Samer Al-Issawi, a wheelchair-bound skeleton of a man, barely breathing after 140 days without food, was brutally attacked by Israeli guards in court in front of an Israeli judge, who didn't intervene as they punched the dying man in the head and chest, breaking his ribs. They then went on to attack his mother and sister. These assaults were captured on camera for any news channel to use, but the BBC has shown no interest. Apparently, their mission to 'inform' and 'educate' doesn't extend to Palestinians. While the plight of a dog, which had lost half its bodyweight after being abandoned by its owner, had been covered by the BBC, the plight of Samer Al-Issawi, who had lost half his weight after 160 days without food, has received not a mention." [*edited by MERC]
Showing posts with label Gilad Shalit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gilad Shalit. Show all posts
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Julia the Insubstantial
Questions about the real Julia Gillard seem to me to be based on a false premise, namely that, somewhere out there, there really is a real Julia.
There isn't.
And if I had to come up with an example of just how lacking in substance the Australian prime minister is, it'd be this:
"All of us rejoice in marking Gilad Shalit's year of freedom, and his reunification with his family and friends. I trust that the warm embrace of the people of Israel, and the support Gilad engendered around the world, is helping to heal the wounds of his brutal imprisonment. Gilad's ordeal was a lesson for all of us in the unconscionable inhumanity inflicted by his captors in Gaza. But it has also underscored the urgent need to find a way to achieve, at long last, a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. We must redouble our efforts to find the path from the darkness of Gilad's cell to the light of peace for Israelis and Palestinians." (A lesson & an inspiration for us all, Julia Gillard, The Australian Jewish News, 19/10/12)
That the above is merely a statement on paper designed primarily for the readers of The AJN is immaterial. These words are as much Gillard's as anything she says in parliament, scripted or otherwise. You can see the strings, the moving, wooden parts. You can hear the robotic, droning, valium-penetrating voice.
However, the dawning realisation that maybe no one's home comes when one contrasts her propaganda cliches - "the wounds of his brutal imprisonment"; "the unconscionable inhumanity inflicted by his captors"; and "the darkness of Gilad's cell" - with Shalit's own words:
"'There was a common denominator between us, sport,' he said of his captors. 'During the day I would play all kinds of games with them. Chess, dominoes. There were moments when a kind of emotion would arise, a kind of laughter, when we watched a good (football) game on television or a movie,' he said, relating their surprise on seeing an impressive Israeli goal during a Champions League soccer match." (Shalit seeks solace in sport, The Australian, 19/10/12)
The full realisation, however, that the Prime Minister is more of an absence than a presence surely has to be the knowledge that, when it comes to the 730,000 occupied Palestinian men, women and children estimated to have served time in Israeli prisons since 1967, many subjected to regimes of ill-treatment and torture, Gillard has said nothing.
There isn't.
And if I had to come up with an example of just how lacking in substance the Australian prime minister is, it'd be this:
"All of us rejoice in marking Gilad Shalit's year of freedom, and his reunification with his family and friends. I trust that the warm embrace of the people of Israel, and the support Gilad engendered around the world, is helping to heal the wounds of his brutal imprisonment. Gilad's ordeal was a lesson for all of us in the unconscionable inhumanity inflicted by his captors in Gaza. But it has also underscored the urgent need to find a way to achieve, at long last, a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. We must redouble our efforts to find the path from the darkness of Gilad's cell to the light of peace for Israelis and Palestinians." (A lesson & an inspiration for us all, Julia Gillard, The Australian Jewish News, 19/10/12)
That the above is merely a statement on paper designed primarily for the readers of The AJN is immaterial. These words are as much Gillard's as anything she says in parliament, scripted or otherwise. You can see the strings, the moving, wooden parts. You can hear the robotic, droning, valium-penetrating voice.
However, the dawning realisation that maybe no one's home comes when one contrasts her propaganda cliches - "the wounds of his brutal imprisonment"; "the unconscionable inhumanity inflicted by his captors"; and "the darkness of Gilad's cell" - with Shalit's own words:
"'There was a common denominator between us, sport,' he said of his captors. 'During the day I would play all kinds of games with them. Chess, dominoes. There were moments when a kind of emotion would arise, a kind of laughter, when we watched a good (football) game on television or a movie,' he said, relating their surprise on seeing an impressive Israeli goal during a Champions League soccer match." (Shalit seeks solace in sport, The Australian, 19/10/12)
The full realisation, however, that the Prime Minister is more of an absence than a presence surely has to be the knowledge that, when it comes to the 730,000 occupied Palestinian men, women and children estimated to have served time in Israeli prisons since 1967, many subjected to regimes of ill-treatment and torture, Gillard has said nothing.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Stolen Lives
We've been hearing a lot about Israel's Palestinian prisoners lately - but only as bit players in the much-hyped Gilad Shalit Show. With no international propaganda machine behind it, and virtually zero ms media focus (not even on the Palestinian hunger strike currently underway in Israeli prisons), their story is as mysterious to us as the dark side of the moon. Thankfully, however, at last there's a book out which focuses exclusively on the circumstances and experiences of the Palestinians - men, women and even children - who inhabit Israel's Gulag. Here's a slice of the preface:
"The 'security prisoner' rubric has become a code of identification for Palestinian prisoners in general... Applied in a blind, categorical manner, without distinction, it transforms thousands of Palestinians as they are seized, interrogated, detained and imprisoned in Israel into a single group that poses, as such, an identical level of danger which justifies special treatment: brutal arrest, prohibition from meeting a lawyer, torture and illegal interrogation methods, arrest without trial, lack of due process, disproportional sentencing, stricter living conditions, isolation, and also poor prospects of early release and parole. In contrast to the general approach towards prisoners, which is based on an individual assessment of a person and the extent of the danger he or she presents, the attitude of the State of Israel toward these 'security prisoners' is based on their group identification as 'threats'. This is true of Palestinians - of all ages, including children - arrested and incarcerated in Israeli jails, independently of their alleged offence or their sentence. Administrative detainees and prisoners serving life sentences, prisoners sentenced for organizing or participating in demonstrations, for being active in political movements declared 'illegal' by the occupying forces, for possessing ammunition, and for planning suicide bombing: all are categorized, en bloc, as 'security prisoners', as threats.
"What is resounding in its absence from this 'security' discourse is its background: the long years of occupation of the Palestinian Territories, the prevention of livelihood, of freedom of movement, of personal and community development, of education, of autonomous economy; in short, of self-determination and national independence. It is inconceivable to examine the issue of Palestinian prisoners without keeping this background constantly in mind." (Threat: Palestinian Political Prisoners in Israel, Edited by Abeer Baker & Anat Matar, 2011, p viii)
And yet, it is precisely this background that is missing in the ms media's coverage of the latest Israel-Palestinian prisoner swap.
In today's typically clueless Israel-centric Sydney Morning Herald editorial, Palestine's political prisoners, all of whom have been thrown into Israeli dungeons for resisting in one way or another the incursions and depredations of an illegal and utterly ruthless occupying power, are essentially just criminals: "1027 Palestinian prisoners convicted for specific crimes including multiple murders." (Israel's joy, and foreboding)
Needless to say, Murdoch's dyed-in-the-wool Zionist rag, The Australian reliably smears them as "notorious terrorists" and "villains," while concluding on this nauseating note: "We hope, perhaps in vain, that this [Israeli] lesson in the sanctity of life is not lost on the Palestinian prisoners as they, too, return home to their families." (Israel places high price on life)
But, where Israel and its chosen are concerned, The Australian just keeps on giving. Hilariously, Israel's release of the Palestinian hordes had one particular letter writer on the edge of his nineteenth nervous breakdown:
"What have we learned from the return of Gilad Shalit, imprisoned for 5 years in contravention of international agreements? We learn that Palestinians treat prisoners with disregard for conventions of humane behaviour. Is there any chance they would have made any concession to Israel to save the life of one of their own? They have shown that they care nothing for the lives of their people. They murder their own political opponents. They detonate themselves in missions to kill innocent Israelis. They place no value on life as they are fixated on hatred of Israel and its supporters. What the world has seen for more than 60 years is the struggle of a nation under siege. Israel is a fair and civilised nation. There would be no problem if Palestine was also. Please keep my name and address confidential because I no longer feel safe writing about Israel. I no longer have faith in Australians accepting views opposing their own. I have, at least temporarily, lost my nerve. Name and address supplied"
Priceless!
"The 'security prisoner' rubric has become a code of identification for Palestinian prisoners in general... Applied in a blind, categorical manner, without distinction, it transforms thousands of Palestinians as they are seized, interrogated, detained and imprisoned in Israel into a single group that poses, as such, an identical level of danger which justifies special treatment: brutal arrest, prohibition from meeting a lawyer, torture and illegal interrogation methods, arrest without trial, lack of due process, disproportional sentencing, stricter living conditions, isolation, and also poor prospects of early release and parole. In contrast to the general approach towards prisoners, which is based on an individual assessment of a person and the extent of the danger he or she presents, the attitude of the State of Israel toward these 'security prisoners' is based on their group identification as 'threats'. This is true of Palestinians - of all ages, including children - arrested and incarcerated in Israeli jails, independently of their alleged offence or their sentence. Administrative detainees and prisoners serving life sentences, prisoners sentenced for organizing or participating in demonstrations, for being active in political movements declared 'illegal' by the occupying forces, for possessing ammunition, and for planning suicide bombing: all are categorized, en bloc, as 'security prisoners', as threats.
"What is resounding in its absence from this 'security' discourse is its background: the long years of occupation of the Palestinian Territories, the prevention of livelihood, of freedom of movement, of personal and community development, of education, of autonomous economy; in short, of self-determination and national independence. It is inconceivable to examine the issue of Palestinian prisoners without keeping this background constantly in mind." (Threat: Palestinian Political Prisoners in Israel, Edited by Abeer Baker & Anat Matar, 2011, p viii)
And yet, it is precisely this background that is missing in the ms media's coverage of the latest Israel-Palestinian prisoner swap.
In today's typically clueless Israel-centric Sydney Morning Herald editorial, Palestine's political prisoners, all of whom have been thrown into Israeli dungeons for resisting in one way or another the incursions and depredations of an illegal and utterly ruthless occupying power, are essentially just criminals: "1027 Palestinian prisoners convicted for specific crimes including multiple murders." (Israel's joy, and foreboding)
Needless to say, Murdoch's dyed-in-the-wool Zionist rag, The Australian reliably smears them as "notorious terrorists" and "villains," while concluding on this nauseating note: "We hope, perhaps in vain, that this [Israeli] lesson in the sanctity of life is not lost on the Palestinian prisoners as they, too, return home to their families." (Israel places high price on life)
But, where Israel and its chosen are concerned, The Australian just keeps on giving. Hilariously, Israel's release of the Palestinian hordes had one particular letter writer on the edge of his nineteenth nervous breakdown:
"What have we learned from the return of Gilad Shalit, imprisoned for 5 years in contravention of international agreements? We learn that Palestinians treat prisoners with disregard for conventions of humane behaviour. Is there any chance they would have made any concession to Israel to save the life of one of their own? They have shown that they care nothing for the lives of their people. They murder their own political opponents. They detonate themselves in missions to kill innocent Israelis. They place no value on life as they are fixated on hatred of Israel and its supporters. What the world has seen for more than 60 years is the struggle of a nation under siege. Israel is a fair and civilised nation. There would be no problem if Palestine was also. Please keep my name and address confidential because I no longer feel safe writing about Israel. I no longer have faith in Australians accepting views opposing their own. I have, at least temporarily, lost my nerve. Name and address supplied"
Priceless!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Text & Subtext
"Shalit's five-year ordeal at an end," reads the headline on the front page of today's Australian.
The Palestinian people's 94-year ordeal still going strong.
"A young man taken prisoner by militants while protecting a country he loves, and two ordinary, devoted parents who never gave up fighting for his release - for 5 long years, the Gilad Shalit story has been etched deeply into the Israeli consciousness," reads the opening paragraph of One family's joy is heartache for victims of terrorism by the Herald's Middle East correspondent Ruth Pollard.
Thousands of young Palestinian men and women taken prisoner by a brutal and heavily-armed occupation force while resisting the invasion and colonisation of their homeland, and tens of thousands of ordinary, devoted grandparents, parents, wives, husbands, siblings and children who never gave up hoping for their release (despite having no international PR campaign at their disposal*), the story of Palestine's political prisoners has been etched deeply into the Palestinian consciousness (but is all but ignored by our deeply racist, colonialist and thoroughly Zionist news media).
[*See Massive publicity campaign helped secure Israeli soldier's release, The Washington Post, 18/10/11]
The Palestinian people's 94-year ordeal still going strong.
"A young man taken prisoner by militants while protecting a country he loves, and two ordinary, devoted parents who never gave up fighting for his release - for 5 long years, the Gilad Shalit story has been etched deeply into the Israeli consciousness," reads the opening paragraph of One family's joy is heartache for victims of terrorism by the Herald's Middle East correspondent Ruth Pollard.
Thousands of young Palestinian men and women taken prisoner by a brutal and heavily-armed occupation force while resisting the invasion and colonisation of their homeland, and tens of thousands of ordinary, devoted grandparents, parents, wives, husbands, siblings and children who never gave up hoping for their release (despite having no international PR campaign at their disposal*), the story of Palestine's political prisoners has been etched deeply into the Palestinian consciousness (but is all but ignored by our deeply racist, colonialist and thoroughly Zionist news media).
[*See Massive publicity campaign helped secure Israeli soldier's release, The Washington Post, 18/10/11]
This Festival of Western Racism
That the freeing of a mere cog in the vast terror machine of the Israeli Offence Forces, the iron fist of Zionist colonisation since its beginnings as a Zionist militia in 1920's Palestine, should so dominate today's Radio National Breakfast program and elicit in today's Sydney Morning Herald such partisan and frankly sickening headlines as Thin, pale but unhurt, a soldier makes his way home and One family's joy is heartache for victims of terrorism, reveals like nothing else what can only be described as the hegemonic hold of political Zionism over coverage of this issue in the mainstream media, and, by extension, the latter's criminal complicity in the now 94-year Zionist crime of wiping Palestine - and Palestinians - off the map.
One can only describe the media's coverage of Shalit's release to date (and I imagine this will remain true in the coming days) as revelry. I, therefore, fully endorse the outrage and sentiments of The Angry Arab:
"I almost did not want to blog today. I was too disgusted by the blatantly racist Western media coverage of the prisoner swap deal: and I'm not just talking about the typically racist New York Times, but even the French and British media. It was all about that one Israeli terrorist in Palestinian custody. The racism was everywhere: nowhere were Palestinians presented as human beings. We are never victims, just terrorists. Our grandparents are terrorists (an 80-year old was released today), our parents are terrorists, we are terrorists, our children are terrorists, and our unborn will be terrorists. This festival of Western racism coincided with the 50th anniversary of the massacre of 300 Algerian antiwar demonstrators by the French police. It was a fitting anniversary for those partaking in the festival of Western racism. Look at how many articles appeared that spoke of 'bereaved' Israeli families. As if Israeli terrorist soldiers don't kill far more of our civilians than any accused Arab terrorist. There is no comparison. You don't even have to go back to the origins of the conflict and the sole criminal responsibility of the terrorist Zionist movement. Just look at that typical racist newspaper, The New York Times: it has 2 pictures in today's hard copy about the prisoner release. One shows a frowning Hamas man with a gun, and the other shows Israeli children playing. Who needs words when you can use such images to make a point about the humaneness of one side and the backwardness of the other? The message is that the blood of the other side is spillable. That was the point and language of Netanyahu today when he spoke about 'blood on their heads'. Call this deal what ever you want in your racist media, which does not even try to feign objectivity any more, I will call it by the names of every one of our prisoners." (angryarab.blogspot.com, 18/9/11)
One can only describe the media's coverage of Shalit's release to date (and I imagine this will remain true in the coming days) as revelry. I, therefore, fully endorse the outrage and sentiments of The Angry Arab:
"I almost did not want to blog today. I was too disgusted by the blatantly racist Western media coverage of the prisoner swap deal: and I'm not just talking about the typically racist New York Times, but even the French and British media. It was all about that one Israeli terrorist in Palestinian custody. The racism was everywhere: nowhere were Palestinians presented as human beings. We are never victims, just terrorists. Our grandparents are terrorists (an 80-year old was released today), our parents are terrorists, we are terrorists, our children are terrorists, and our unborn will be terrorists. This festival of Western racism coincided with the 50th anniversary of the massacre of 300 Algerian antiwar demonstrators by the French police. It was a fitting anniversary for those partaking in the festival of Western racism. Look at how many articles appeared that spoke of 'bereaved' Israeli families. As if Israeli terrorist soldiers don't kill far more of our civilians than any accused Arab terrorist. There is no comparison. You don't even have to go back to the origins of the conflict and the sole criminal responsibility of the terrorist Zionist movement. Just look at that typical racist newspaper, The New York Times: it has 2 pictures in today's hard copy about the prisoner release. One shows a frowning Hamas man with a gun, and the other shows Israeli children playing. Who needs words when you can use such images to make a point about the humaneness of one side and the backwardness of the other? The message is that the blood of the other side is spillable. That was the point and language of Netanyahu today when he spoke about 'blood on their heads'. Call this deal what ever you want in your racist media, which does not even try to feign objectivity any more, I will call it by the names of every one of our prisoners." (angryarab.blogspot.com, 18/9/11)
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Shared Pain?
"There is pain on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide today, as the names of the 477 prisoners set to be released in the first stage of the deal for Gilad Shalit's freedom were revealed on the Israeli Prison Services website. For many in Israel it is inconceivable that men and women sentenced to multiple life sentences for terrorist attacks such as the 2001 bombing of a Tel-Aviv night club that killed 21, and a suicide bombing of a restaurant in Haifa in 2002 in which 14 people died, could be released.." (Anger in Israel over price paid for Shalit's freedom, Ruth Pollard, Sydney Morning Herald, 17/10/11)
A night club and a restaurant. Thirty-five Israeli deaths*. Ouch!
What about the Palestinian side of the divide?
Although so many Palestinian structures have disappeared under Israeli bombs, shells, missiles and bulldozers that Pollard wouldn't have had the space to list even a fraction of them - even had she been so inclined - none are mentioned. Neither are Palestinian deaths, which number 6,540 between 29/9/00 and 30/9/11, according to B'tselem.
Give me Israeli pain any day.
[*1,095, 9/00-9/11]
A night club and a restaurant. Thirty-five Israeli deaths*. Ouch!
What about the Palestinian side of the divide?
Although so many Palestinian structures have disappeared under Israeli bombs, shells, missiles and bulldozers that Pollard wouldn't have had the space to list even a fraction of them - even had she been so inclined - none are mentioned. Neither are Palestinian deaths, which number 6,540 between 29/9/00 and 30/9/11, according to B'tselem.
Give me Israeli pain any day.
[*1,095, 9/00-9/11]
Friday, October 14, 2011
The Gilad Shalit Show
If the prisoner is an Israeli soldier, he gets the corporate media's undivided and wholly sympathetic attention. Instead of being portrayed for what he is - just another mindless cog in the murderous military machine that's strangling Gaza and putting the boot into the West Bank - we get the following:
"His father described Gilad Shalit's ordeal as '1935 difficult days and 1935 difficult nights'. Held somewhere in Gaza for the past 5 years without any contact with international human rights organisations or his family, the young soldier has suffered as a pawn in the conflict between Hamas and Israel." (The price is high for the pawn in the Hamas Israel fight, Ruth Pollard, Sydney Morning Herald, 13/10/11)
And just so you know Shalit's the corporate media's pin-up boy here, he gets not one, but 3 photos: a solo shot, one of Dad standing beside cardboard cutouts of his son, and one of "relieved Shalit supporters." Oh, and there's a "Diary of a hostage" covering the years 2006-2011.
Israel's thousands of Palestinian political prisoners, of course, remain faceless - but for this brief reference:
"Key among [Palestinian prisoners] is whether Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti is on the list of those to be released. Serving 5 life sentences for his involvement in the murder of Israeli citizens, his release has long been Hamas's key condition for the release of Shalit." (ibid)
Just how many sleepless nights Barghouti's wife and children have had since his incarceration in 2002 is of no interest to the media whatever. And, needless to say, there are neither photos nor diary for this freedom fighter, no doubt because the Israeli version - 5 life sentences for involvement in the murder of Israeli citizens - is gospel for the corporates.
Sadly, even if all of the Herald's monkeys were put to work tapping away on their keyboards from now until the end of recorded time, there's no way they'd ever come up with the following:
"Barghouti contended that the Israeli authorities had no legal authority to arrest him (sighting the Oslo II agreement of September 1995 which gave PLC members parliamentary immunity from arrest by Israel), and no legal right to try him in Israel (sighting the 49th Article of the 4th Geneva Convention which prohibits the transfer of a protected individual or individuals from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power). He insisted from the outset that his was a show trial whose result was a forgone conclusion, held at the behest of Israeli political leaders who wanted to criminalise and blame the Palestinians (and ultimately PA president Arafat) for 'terrorism', while ignoring their own 36-year- old policies of occupation and illegal settlement that underlay the violence in the first place. 'My show trial says more about the sorry state of Israeli morality than it does about me. I pity the state of Israel - the Middle East's 'only democracy' stooping to fabricating charges in a show trial aimed not at truth and justice but rather to appease the Israeli masses who refuse to see any connection between their own brutal policies and the cycle of violence Israelis and Palestinians are now experiencing. Like President Arafat, I have become a scapegoat - my trial simply a public relations event by a morally bankrupt and visionless Israeli leadership desperate to cover up its own inadequacies. And I pity the Israeli people, lied to and misled by a Prime Minister promising peace and security and who has failed miserably in delivering either. I categorically reject the authority of this criminal court of occupation and I will not dignify the ludicrous claims against me by responding to them. If my trial were truly a search for truth and justice, it would be Sharon and the Israeli army behind bars - it would be the criminals of occupation who have perpetrated war crimes against the men, women and children of Palestine over the decades, who continue to violate UN Resolutions and the 4th Geneva Convention with impunity'. (It is not I who is on trial in Israel, 3/10/02) 'We have been suffering under your sinister military occupation for over 36 years during which you killed us, tortured us, destroyed our homes and usurped our land. You made our life an enduring hell. We have an inherent moral and legal right to resist your occupation of our country. If you were in our shoes, you most certainly would do the same as we are doing. You would resist'. (Denouncing a show trial, Al-Ahram Weekly, 2/10/03) So from the beginning of his trial on 5 September 2002, Barghouti refused to recognise the authority of the court to try him, dismissed his defence counsel, and declined to plead on or contest the charges against him. Instead he issued his own 54-count indictment, charging the state of Israel with gross human rights violations on behalf of the Palestinian people, including violations of numerous UN resolutions, and took every opportunity to turn his trial into a trial of Israel and its occupation of the Palestinian territories." (Palestinian Biographies: Marwan Barghouti, lawrenceofcyberia.blogs.com)
And another thing:
"[Israel] is also battling diplomatic isolation after... its decision to continue with its expansions of settlements - considered illegal under international law." (ibid)
Is it just me or do you too get the impression here that Pollard's phrasing - considered illegal under international law - allows enough wriggle room for a certain other point of view such as 'God says it's OK, OK?'.
Why didn't Pollard simply put it this way: '... its decision to continue with its expansions of illegal settlements'?
Or is the Herald under someone's thumb? Stupid question.
"His father described Gilad Shalit's ordeal as '1935 difficult days and 1935 difficult nights'. Held somewhere in Gaza for the past 5 years without any contact with international human rights organisations or his family, the young soldier has suffered as a pawn in the conflict between Hamas and Israel." (The price is high for the pawn in the Hamas Israel fight, Ruth Pollard, Sydney Morning Herald, 13/10/11)
And just so you know Shalit's the corporate media's pin-up boy here, he gets not one, but 3 photos: a solo shot, one of Dad standing beside cardboard cutouts of his son, and one of "relieved Shalit supporters." Oh, and there's a "Diary of a hostage" covering the years 2006-2011.
Israel's thousands of Palestinian political prisoners, of course, remain faceless - but for this brief reference:
"Key among [Palestinian prisoners] is whether Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti is on the list of those to be released. Serving 5 life sentences for his involvement in the murder of Israeli citizens, his release has long been Hamas's key condition for the release of Shalit." (ibid)
Just how many sleepless nights Barghouti's wife and children have had since his incarceration in 2002 is of no interest to the media whatever. And, needless to say, there are neither photos nor diary for this freedom fighter, no doubt because the Israeli version - 5 life sentences for involvement in the murder of Israeli citizens - is gospel for the corporates.
Sadly, even if all of the Herald's monkeys were put to work tapping away on their keyboards from now until the end of recorded time, there's no way they'd ever come up with the following:
"Barghouti contended that the Israeli authorities had no legal authority to arrest him (sighting the Oslo II agreement of September 1995 which gave PLC members parliamentary immunity from arrest by Israel), and no legal right to try him in Israel (sighting the 49th Article of the 4th Geneva Convention which prohibits the transfer of a protected individual or individuals from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power). He insisted from the outset that his was a show trial whose result was a forgone conclusion, held at the behest of Israeli political leaders who wanted to criminalise and blame the Palestinians (and ultimately PA president Arafat) for 'terrorism', while ignoring their own 36-year- old policies of occupation and illegal settlement that underlay the violence in the first place. 'My show trial says more about the sorry state of Israeli morality than it does about me. I pity the state of Israel - the Middle East's 'only democracy' stooping to fabricating charges in a show trial aimed not at truth and justice but rather to appease the Israeli masses who refuse to see any connection between their own brutal policies and the cycle of violence Israelis and Palestinians are now experiencing. Like President Arafat, I have become a scapegoat - my trial simply a public relations event by a morally bankrupt and visionless Israeli leadership desperate to cover up its own inadequacies. And I pity the Israeli people, lied to and misled by a Prime Minister promising peace and security and who has failed miserably in delivering either. I categorically reject the authority of this criminal court of occupation and I will not dignify the ludicrous claims against me by responding to them. If my trial were truly a search for truth and justice, it would be Sharon and the Israeli army behind bars - it would be the criminals of occupation who have perpetrated war crimes against the men, women and children of Palestine over the decades, who continue to violate UN Resolutions and the 4th Geneva Convention with impunity'. (It is not I who is on trial in Israel, 3/10/02) 'We have been suffering under your sinister military occupation for over 36 years during which you killed us, tortured us, destroyed our homes and usurped our land. You made our life an enduring hell. We have an inherent moral and legal right to resist your occupation of our country. If you were in our shoes, you most certainly would do the same as we are doing. You would resist'. (Denouncing a show trial, Al-Ahram Weekly, 2/10/03) So from the beginning of his trial on 5 September 2002, Barghouti refused to recognise the authority of the court to try him, dismissed his defence counsel, and declined to plead on or contest the charges against him. Instead he issued his own 54-count indictment, charging the state of Israel with gross human rights violations on behalf of the Palestinian people, including violations of numerous UN resolutions, and took every opportunity to turn his trial into a trial of Israel and its occupation of the Palestinian territories." (Palestinian Biographies: Marwan Barghouti, lawrenceofcyberia.blogs.com)
And another thing:
"[Israel] is also battling diplomatic isolation after... its decision to continue with its expansions of settlements - considered illegal under international law." (ibid)
Is it just me or do you too get the impression here that Pollard's phrasing - considered illegal under international law - allows enough wriggle room for a certain other point of view such as 'God says it's OK, OK?'.
Why didn't Pollard simply put it this way: '... its decision to continue with its expansions of illegal settlements'?
Or is the Herald under someone's thumb? Stupid question.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Their Prisoner & Ours
George Newhouse, "a human rights lawyer practising with Surry Partners in Sydney," writes in The Australian Jewish News on Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured by Palestinian resistance fighters while blockading Gaza in 2006:
"There is evidence that Shalit is being held in close confinement and in unhealthy places. He is being denied letters and packages from his family. His captors are refusing to allow the Red Cross to visit him. There is no independent assessment of his wellbeing and he is being used as a hostage to compel the Israeli Government to meet Hamas demands... [T]he Geneva Conventions prohibit physical or mental torture and require that prisoners are treated humanely..." (Gilad: a victim of war crimes, 24/6/11)
Zvi Sela, a former senior Israeli police intelligence officer, speaks to Haaretz about the near-blind, quadraplegic Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, imprisoned from 1989-1997 for leading the Islamic resistance to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories:
"We held him in Hadarim prison... on the third floor in harsh conditions. We gave him a very hard time. He was not allowed visits and we kept him tightly locked up for almost 5 years. He was held in a narrow room where the temperature was 45 degrees [Celsius] in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. His blankets were dirty and smelled. That's how he lived. I found him to be a very smart man, and also very decent." ('Israel could have made peace with Hamas under Yassin', Kobi Ben-Simhon, 16/4/09)
"There is evidence that Shalit is being held in close confinement and in unhealthy places. He is being denied letters and packages from his family. His captors are refusing to allow the Red Cross to visit him. There is no independent assessment of his wellbeing and he is being used as a hostage to compel the Israeli Government to meet Hamas demands... [T]he Geneva Conventions prohibit physical or mental torture and require that prisoners are treated humanely..." (Gilad: a victim of war crimes, 24/6/11)
Zvi Sela, a former senior Israeli police intelligence officer, speaks to Haaretz about the near-blind, quadraplegic Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, imprisoned from 1989-1997 for leading the Islamic resistance to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories:
"We held him in Hadarim prison... on the third floor in harsh conditions. We gave him a very hard time. He was not allowed visits and we kept him tightly locked up for almost 5 years. He was held in a narrow room where the temperature was 45 degrees [Celsius] in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. His blankets were dirty and smelled. That's how he lived. I found him to be a very smart man, and also very decent." ('Israel could have made peace with Hamas under Yassin', Kobi Ben-Simhon, 16/4/09)
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Not Happy, Steve!
There's just no pleasing some people.
The Australian Jewish News goes into campaign mode, urging its readers to call on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to "demand [the] immediate release" of Israeli "hostage" Gilad Shalit.
Australia's soft touch Foreign Minister Stephen Smith duly obliges with:
"This week marks the fourth anniversary of the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid into Israel by the armed wing of Hamas and has been held in captivity in the Gaza Strip by Hamas since that time. Australia joins other members of the international community in calling for his immediate release. Australia firmly believes that ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is not in the interest of either party, the Middle East region or the international community. Australia has consistently made clear our view that a long-term solution must be a just and enduring peace in the Middle East, where both Israelis and Palestinians live in peace in their own states. In support of the peace process, Australia has substantially increased humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people and is contributing to the development of institutions necessary for statehood. Australia recently welcomed the Israeli Government's announcement of a significant easing of restrictions on the entry of civilian goods into Gaza, which should ease the humanitarian situation and help ensure Israel's security." (Last word for Gilad, jwire.com.au, 25/6/10)
But, for at least one of the usual suspects, it's a case of Not happy, Steve!
"I refer to the statement concerning Gilad Shalit, issued by you on 25 June 2010, the fourth anniversary of his capture and detention by Hamas. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) welcomes your announcement that 'Australia joins other members of the international community in calling for his immediate release' and thanks the government for making that call. The remainder of the announcement, however, was disconcertingly lacking in substance and tepid in its tone. To say, as you did, that Gilad Shalit 'has been held in captivity in the Gaza strip by Hamas' is to gloss over the most heinous aspect of his captivity - the fact that he has been held incommunicado for 4 long years. Gilad Shalit, as you would know, was abducted from Israeli soil by Hamas, after Israel had evacuated its troops and citizens from Gaza. His treatment by Hamas is in clear violation of the rules of customary international law which proscribe the taking or detaining of a hostage in order to compel a State to do or abstain from doing any act, and which require prisoners of war to be allowed contact with their families and access to the Red Cross. Gilad Shalit's captors even deny him letters from his family. As a parent, I cannot begin to imagine the anguish and heartbreak that he, his parents and family continue to suffer. You may be interested to know that at the time of your statement, your colleague, Franco Frattini, the Foreign minister of Italy, is reported as stating 'that the conditions of Gilad's captivity breached all international rules and showed the terrorist nature of Hamas'. Meanwhile, Rome's City council made Gilad Shalit an honorary citizen of the eternal City. I also draw your attention to the statement issued by the New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch, an organization which could never be accused of being a partisan supporter of Israel. It said that 'Hamas authorities are violating the laws of war by refusing to allow Shalit to correspond with his family', and concluded that Shalit's prolonged incommunicado detention 'may amount to torture'. Unlike your own announcement, the statement by Human Rights Watch concluded: 'Regardless of Hamas' grievances against Israel, there are no grounds to cut Shalit off completely from his family'. The eloquent articulation of similar arguments in Parliament by both Mark Dreyfus MP and Christopher Pyne MP, strongly suggests that there is a bipartisan consensus in support of the relevant humanitarian principles and the way those principles apply in the case of Gilad Shalit. There can be no justification at all for the ongoing inhumane treatment of Gilad Shalit or his continued captivity. His is a burning humanitarian issue which must be considered in its own right and divorced from the issues in contention between Israel and Hamas. It is regrettable that your announcement omitted to make this distinction. It is an omission that is especially troubling to Australian Jewry, in light of the general tenor and positive outcome of our recent discussions at The Lodge. Whilst my community is grateful to the Government for calling for Gillad Shalit's release, we cannot help feeling let down by the inexplicable failure of your announcement to make the clear statement of principle, and send the strong message of support, which the occasion required." (Robert Goot, Not enough, Minister, jwire.com.au, 28/6/10)
To which a spokesman for the minister can only respond with the following disconcertingly insubstantial and tepid excuse:
"Australia was one of only a handful of countries to make a formal statement urging Shalit's release, reflecting the strength and sincerity of Australia's views. Sadly, many others have remained silent in the face of his deplorable detention." (Smith's Shalit statement slated, Australian Jewish News, 2/7/10)
Pray for the soul of Stephen Smith.
The Australian Jewish News goes into campaign mode, urging its readers to call on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to "demand [the] immediate release" of Israeli "hostage" Gilad Shalit.
Australia's soft touch Foreign Minister Stephen Smith duly obliges with:
"This week marks the fourth anniversary of the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid into Israel by the armed wing of Hamas and has been held in captivity in the Gaza Strip by Hamas since that time. Australia joins other members of the international community in calling for his immediate release. Australia firmly believes that ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is not in the interest of either party, the Middle East region or the international community. Australia has consistently made clear our view that a long-term solution must be a just and enduring peace in the Middle East, where both Israelis and Palestinians live in peace in their own states. In support of the peace process, Australia has substantially increased humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people and is contributing to the development of institutions necessary for statehood. Australia recently welcomed the Israeli Government's announcement of a significant easing of restrictions on the entry of civilian goods into Gaza, which should ease the humanitarian situation and help ensure Israel's security." (Last word for Gilad, jwire.com.au, 25/6/10)
But, for at least one of the usual suspects, it's a case of Not happy, Steve!
"I refer to the statement concerning Gilad Shalit, issued by you on 25 June 2010, the fourth anniversary of his capture and detention by Hamas. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) welcomes your announcement that 'Australia joins other members of the international community in calling for his immediate release' and thanks the government for making that call. The remainder of the announcement, however, was disconcertingly lacking in substance and tepid in its tone. To say, as you did, that Gilad Shalit 'has been held in captivity in the Gaza strip by Hamas' is to gloss over the most heinous aspect of his captivity - the fact that he has been held incommunicado for 4 long years. Gilad Shalit, as you would know, was abducted from Israeli soil by Hamas, after Israel had evacuated its troops and citizens from Gaza. His treatment by Hamas is in clear violation of the rules of customary international law which proscribe the taking or detaining of a hostage in order to compel a State to do or abstain from doing any act, and which require prisoners of war to be allowed contact with their families and access to the Red Cross. Gilad Shalit's captors even deny him letters from his family. As a parent, I cannot begin to imagine the anguish and heartbreak that he, his parents and family continue to suffer. You may be interested to know that at the time of your statement, your colleague, Franco Frattini, the Foreign minister of Italy, is reported as stating 'that the conditions of Gilad's captivity breached all international rules and showed the terrorist nature of Hamas'. Meanwhile, Rome's City council made Gilad Shalit an honorary citizen of the eternal City. I also draw your attention to the statement issued by the New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch, an organization which could never be accused of being a partisan supporter of Israel. It said that 'Hamas authorities are violating the laws of war by refusing to allow Shalit to correspond with his family', and concluded that Shalit's prolonged incommunicado detention 'may amount to torture'. Unlike your own announcement, the statement by Human Rights Watch concluded: 'Regardless of Hamas' grievances against Israel, there are no grounds to cut Shalit off completely from his family'. The eloquent articulation of similar arguments in Parliament by both Mark Dreyfus MP and Christopher Pyne MP, strongly suggests that there is a bipartisan consensus in support of the relevant humanitarian principles and the way those principles apply in the case of Gilad Shalit. There can be no justification at all for the ongoing inhumane treatment of Gilad Shalit or his continued captivity. His is a burning humanitarian issue which must be considered in its own right and divorced from the issues in contention between Israel and Hamas. It is regrettable that your announcement omitted to make this distinction. It is an omission that is especially troubling to Australian Jewry, in light of the general tenor and positive outcome of our recent discussions at The Lodge. Whilst my community is grateful to the Government for calling for Gillad Shalit's release, we cannot help feeling let down by the inexplicable failure of your announcement to make the clear statement of principle, and send the strong message of support, which the occasion required." (Robert Goot, Not enough, Minister, jwire.com.au, 28/6/10)
To which a spokesman for the minister can only respond with the following disconcertingly insubstantial and tepid excuse:
"Australia was one of only a handful of countries to make a formal statement urging Shalit's release, reflecting the strength and sincerity of Australia's views. Sadly, many others have remained silent in the face of his deplorable detention." (Smith's Shalit statement slated, Australian Jewish News, 2/7/10)
Pray for the soul of Stephen Smith.
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