While Occupation and blockade are business as usual for Israel, there should be no business with Israel

In Occupied Palestine

Zionism in practice

Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Property

(Compiled by Leslie Bravery, Palestine Human Rights Campaign POB 56150, Dominion Rd, Auckland, New Zealand www.palestine.org.nz)

Recent news updates:

New Zealand divests from Israeli arms company Elbit Systems and companies of Israeli settlement-builder Lev Leviev. The New Zealand Superannuation Fund, which invests money on behalf of New Zealand’s government, announced on 12 December last year that it is divesting from Israeli military company Elbit Systems and Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev’s company, Africa Israel, and its construction subsidiary Danya Cebus over their construction of Israeli settlements. http://www.bdsmovement.net/2012/new-zealand-divests-from-companies-of-israeli-settlement-builder-lev-leviev-10180

Take action: vote for Israeli prison contractor G4S in the 'worst company of the year' awards. G4S is up for the Public Eye People’s Award 2013, the ‘name and shame’ award no company wants to win. G4S, the world’s largest private military and security company, is complicit in Israel’s occupation of Palestine and is profiting from conflict and insecurity around the world. Please take a minute to vote for G4S at publiceye.ch/en/vote/g4s/ and then ask your friends to do the same.

Veolia pulls out of bidding on $7.6 billion North London contract under boycott pressure.

Two-state solution' is cover for the real story, annexation of West Bank. By Philip Weiss / The two-state solution has become an important diversion from discussing the true nature of Israeli colonialism. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33518.htm

Grim prospects for the Middle East in 2013. By Patrick Seale / 1 January 2013

January 7: Global solidarity hunger strike to support Samer Issawi: Events and actions - by samidoun . Palestinian and solidarity activists working for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners have called for an international day of action to free Palestinian prisoner and hunger striker Samer Issawi on Monday, 7 January 2013 to mark the 160th day of Samer's hunger strike, demanding his freedom.

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How Israeli ‘democracy’ really works

Israel bars Arab Israeli candidate from running in upcoming election

Israel claims to be a democracy, but its treatment of Hanain Zuabi, a Palestinian Israeli candidate for the Knesset (parliament) reveals how Israel prevents the full and free democratic participation of its Arab minority. The Israeli Election committee (CEC) has voted to disqualify Zuabi from running in the January 22 national election. It claims that Zuabi ‘identifies with terror organisations’ and therefore is in violation of Israel’s Basic Law. With what ‘terror organisations’ has she ‘identified’? Zuabi took part in the May 2010 human rights flotilla that tried to bring aid to Gaza. The voyage ended in the deaths of nine human rights activists when Israeli commandos stormed the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara in international waters and opened fire. Israel later claimed that the flotilla was a ‘violent provocation’ and that the activists had attacked the heavily armed commandos with sticks and knives. Zuabi, for her part, stated that she had not been on the deck where the clashes took place and had not witnessed them.

After being disqualified, Zuabi stated that "a black flag of illegitimacy, tyranny and the crushing of a basic democratic right hovers over this decision. The decision is a result of political vengefulness and a wretched attempt to damage the representation of the Arab public." According to her, "Instead of conducting a public debate, they want to silence me and together with me, an entire public, and we will not co-operate with this silencing."

A verbal and physical scuffle erupted after Israel's Supreme Court heard a petition against Zuabi’s banning from the election. More than two dozen extreme-right Israelis tried to block Zuabi from leaving, pushing her entourage, yelling insults, calling her a ‘terrorist’ and telling her ‘go to Syria or Gaza’. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has rightly warned that disqualifying candidates or party lists "on ideological grounds seriously damages" the country's democracy. Indeed, one must ask: How can Israel call itself a democracy when it blatantly stifles the democratic rights of its minorities?

Adapted from http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/clashes-erupt-as-supreme-court-debates-disqualification-of-israeli-arab-mk.premium-1.490373

Distributed by PAJU (Palestinian and Jewish Unity)

WWW.PAJUMONTREAL.ORG

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Palestinian Farmers' Union (PFU)

Farming injustice:

End all trade with Israeli agricultural companies

Posted on 4 January 2013 by Palestinian agriculture organisations and the Palestinian BDS National Committee

Palestinian agricultural organisations and the Palestinian BDS National Committee call for the launching of worldwide campaigns on 9 February against Israeli agricultural export corporations in light of their deep complicity in Israel’s on-going violations of international law and Palestinian human rights. Following the successful campaign against Israel’s former leading agricultural export corporation Agrexco, and in light of the growing international consensus on the duty to enforce an effective ban on trade with the illegal Israeli settlements, we invite social movements, non-governmental organisations, trade unions and human rights campaigners to take creative and effective action on 9 February in support of Palestinian farmers defending their land and natural resources.

The sale and purchase of goods from Israeli agricultural companies, such as Mehadrin and Hadiklaim, finance and reward the on-going illegal Israeli exploitation and colonisation of Palestinian land and further undermine the chances for a just peace based on international law and respect for universal human rights. As was demonstrated in the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa and the wide international solidarity movement with it, citizens can make a difference by refraining from buying products of complicit companies and by working to convince their supermarkets to stop trading with them. Agriculture is a vital part of the Palestinian economy and national heritage, yet Palestinian farmers are being displaced from their land and prevented from accessing it. Israel systematically exploits Palestinian natural resources in violation of international law and implements a range of restrictions on Palestinian agriculture in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, while allowing Israeli agricultural corporations to profit from Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise.

As Palestinian agricultural organisations have noted, Israeli agricultural export companies are at the heart of Israel’s system of domination over the Palestinian people. They are an integral component of the on-going process of colonisation and environmental destruction of Palestinian land, the destruction of Palestinian agriculture, the theft of water, and the abuse of Palestinian workers’ rights, including child labourers.

Supermarkets should follow the lead of the Co-Operative Group in the UK, which has pledged to end trade with any company exporting goods from illegal Israeli settlements. Governments must meet their legal and moral obligation to take action in support of Palestinian self-determination and ban all forms of trade and co-operation with Israeli agricultural export companies complicit in the illegal settlement enterprise. People of conscience around the world can make sure such measures are taken. We count on your support to end business as usual with Israel’s agricultural companies as a contribution to our struggle for freedom, justice and equality.

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee

General Union of Palestinian Peasants and Cooperatives Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees

Palestinian Farmers Union

Popular Struggle Co-ordination Committee

Stop the Wall Campaign

Union of Agricultural Work Committees

Union of Palestinian Agriculture Engineers

Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to let us know about your planned campaigns and actions or to discuss your ideas.

Ramallah, Ain-Misbah, Al-Rabea Building, 4th Floor

P.O.Box: 1332

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Telephone: 02-2971354

Fax: 02-2971358

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Two-state solution is cover for the real story, annexation of West Bank.

By Philip Weiss / The two-state solution has become an important diversion from discussing the true nature of Israeli colonialism.

Information Clearing House – 3 January 2013

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33518.htm

One of the wiser political observations I've read lately was from Joseph Dana in the National: "the debate about the two-state solution has become an important diversion from discussing the true nature of Israeli colonialism." I've noticed the same thing, from right-wingers and even liberal Zionists: Keep talking about the need for the two-state solution, so that no one talks about land policies that have made it impossible. When the truth is that Israeli governance is moving toward annexation (as Annie Robbins and Allison Deger have repeatedly pointed out). Here are two good treatments of the annexation push in mainstream media. First Dana at the National:

Much to the dismay of the international community and proponents of a two-state solution, Israel recently announced that it would begin planning for settlement creation in the E-1 area east of Jerusalem. Israeli settlements in this area would effectively sever Palestinians from Jerusalem, save for a few access roads carefully controlled by Israeli soldiers. When – not if – Israel begins building in E-1, it will end the two-state solution paradigm as we have come to understand it.

Threatening to cement the further entrenchment of the status quo are the upcoming early elections in Israel. Israel is heading for early elections in January on a platform that confirms the future entrenchment of the status quo. Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, is set to cruise to victory with one of the most openly antagonistic and right-wing coalitions in Israel's history. His coalition will include a collection of right-wing politicians who call for varying degrees of annexation in the West Bank.

"The Israeli election does not signify a chance for change, but the opposite: we are more likely to end up with a government that has the maintenance of the status quo as the centre of its policy," said the Israeli journalist Noam Sheizaf about the upcoming elections. "Probably the only issue all coalition partners can agree on is the status quo."

In the New York Times, Jodi Rudoren writes about American-Israeli Naftali Bennett, 40, of the Jewish Home Party, which has become a right-wing force in the Israeli polity, because it could take as many as 15 seats in the upcoming elections. He wants annexation. At least he's upfront about it:

Mr Bennett has said he does not believe a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is achievable in their lifetime. So, instead of peace, he talks about annexation — as in, Israel should annex the nearly two-thirds of the West Bank known as Area C, which is home to 350,000 Jewish settlers. In his view, the Palestinians who live there — estimates range from Mr Bennett’s 48,000 to the United Nations’ 150,000 — could then apply for Israeli citizenship, akin to those who live within Israel’s 1948 borders. Then he would try to remove checkpoints to ease traffic and movement throughout the region, and, he said in a recent interview, “make a grocery list of 20 things we could do to make life better” for both Jews and Palestinians living in the territory. “Forget whether it’s right or wrong; we’re here to stay, now what can we do about it?” he said. “To strive for perfection brings disaster again and again. It’s time for new thinking.”

So when will our politicians begin to reflect this reality? When will liberal Zionists?

Update. More evidence of the trend, thanks to commenter Mikeo. Guardian:

Prominent members of Israel's ruling Likud Party have proposed the annexation of part of the West Bank as the battle for right-wing votes intensifies before the general election in less than three weeks. Government minister Yuli Edelstein told a conference in Jerusalem that the lack of Israeli sovereignty over Area C – the 60% of the West Bank under full Israeli military control in which all settlements are situated – "strengthens the international community's demand for a withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines."

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Philip Weiss is Founder and Co-Editor of Mondoweiss.net

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Further news sources

Ali Kazak's newsletter Today in Palestine contains many news summaries that include both armed and non-violent methods of resistance to the Occupation. The newsletter also contains much other useful reporting. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

For more news see: Today in Palestine!

www.groups.yahoo.com/group/f_shadi

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Behind the Wall

Rich Wiles is a photographic artist who has been living and working in Palestine for some years. His photographic work has been shown around Europe, the US, Australia and in Palestine itself. Since 2006 he has been writing from Occupied Palestine under the title Behind the Wall. Much of this work is based in and around the refugee camps in Palestine, highlighting daily life and memories of refugees who still live in forced exile for over 60 years since Al Nakba (The Catastrophe). www.richwiles.com

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See this In Occupied Palestine Report at: the PHRC website: www.palestine.org.nz

- and you can check out previous editions by clicking on In Occupied Palestine listed under Contents

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Stop the Violence Coalition

Stop the Violence is a coalition aimed at fighting against Israeli violence and crimes all over the world. The purpose of the coalition is to co-ordinate the efforts of groups and individuals working to protest against the historic and continuing oppression of Palestinian people by the Israeli regime. Our coalition is an independent and non-profit organisation, based in Europe, which was formed as part of a global movement against Israeli apartheid. We can also provide the latest news, articles, photos, events and petitions.

Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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