Allowing hostile activists into Israel

In April 2003, a 22 year-old British photography student, Tom Hurndall, a member of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement (ISM), was shot in Gaza by a soldier of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and subsequently died. Simon Block has made a two-hour feature television film about Hurndall, whom he describes as a peace activist. It tells a sad story.

But it is also tells a controversial story, because it exposes the hostile political activism of foreign nationals who come to Israel. 

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Is Israel's democracy slipping?

Nir Eisikovits, writing in the Christian Science Monitor - a daily newspaper that celebrates its centenary this year and whose influence extends way beyond its 50,000 circulation - draws our attention to recent Israel legislation. 

The first (which still awaits final ratification) exempts the state from compensating Palestinians harmed during Israel Defense Force (IDF) operations in the territories.

The second, aimed at curtailing the travel of Arab members of the Kenesset (MK), states that any Israeli who has visited an "enemy country" shall be considered a supporter of armed struggle against the Jewish state (unless proven otherwise), and will be prevented from running for parliament in the seven years following the visit."

Due to this legislation Eisikovits believes that we need to be concerned about democracy in Israel.  In fact he goes even further in suggesting that Israel's democracy is becoming more like the regimes of its neighboring countries.

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No place for political objectors

Counterpoint to:

Father, forgive me, I will not fight for your Israel 
Recently, Omer Goldman refused to serve in the army, was tried and was sent to prison for 21 days. This week she will be tried again - and again, until the army tires or she tires."

Igal Sarna
The Sunday Times (London)
October 12, 2008

Igal Sarna, writing in The Sunday Times, tells the story of Omer Goldman, a political objector, who is refusing to serve in the IDF. She is currently incarcerated in a military prison. Omer is not a pacifist, - she is not against armies in general; rather she holds strong political views in opposition to Israel's occupation of the West Bank. According to the Sunday Times, Omer is the daughter of a former senior member of the Mossad.

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A very one-sided view

Counterpoint to:

A last chance for peace in Israel? 
"It's a sign of how desensitised Israel has become to the violence committed in its name that the potential indictment for war crimes of Livni's main rival, Shaul Mofaz, was barely an issue."

Johann Hari
The Independent (London)
September 22, 2008

Here are four interesting stories. If you bear with me, I will link them later.

The first story is rooted in the Taba negotiations when, in January 2001, the Palestinians rejected peace proposals from President Clinton and from Israel.  Two years later Yasser Arafat lamented his mistake in offhandedly rejecting the offers, but in the intervening time he and his people had launched one of the worst waves of violence and terror Israel had ever witnessed. It became known as the second intifada. 

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Made-to-measure 'collective punishment'

Counterpoint to:

Israeli collective punishment of people of Gaza must be ended

There is little doubt that Israel's economic strangulation of Gaza, constitutes collective punishment and is illegal under international humanitarian law."

Philip O'Conor
The Irish Times (Dublin)
August 21, 2008

Philip O'Conor, writing in The Irish Times, alleges that Israel is guilty of collective punishment. What picture comes to your mind when you think of collective punishment? George Mason University Law Professor Michael Krauss, responds powerfully:

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An apologist for Hamas TV

Counterpoint to:

Harsh words: but true

People object to the wanton destruction meted out in [Palestinian] villages by the IDF being likened to pogroms - the word having been somehow arrogated by certain Jewish people for their exclusive use."

Seth Freedman
The Guardian (London)
August 21, 2008

At which point do absurd comparisons become blatantly offensive? The Guardian's Seth Freedman recently compared the western media to the Al-Aqsa television station. You need to realize just how perverse this station really is in order to fully grasp the absurdity of Freedman's comparison.

Here's a brief glimpse of Al-Aqsa TV, which was launched by Hamas in 2006 as part of its campaign to counter what it saw as Israeli propaganda in the western media. The station transmits news, documentaries, and children’s programs from Gaza.

Negotiation antics and trickery

Is there trickery afoot in the Israel-Palestinian peace negotiations? It shouldn't surprise us if there is, but if so, are the Palestinians sharing their tactics with a journalist from the New Statesman?  And can we read all about their sophistry while the negotiations are still in progress?

New Statesman columnist Ben White leads us to believe that we can. He has revealed that in May, a former Palestinian Authority official told him that "in private, many officials admit they are just going through the motions of the peace process, while waiting for the right moment to change both strategy and goal."

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An irrational neighbor

CounterPoint to:

Palestinians' self-inflicted wounds

"Israeli oppression has helped fracture Palestinian society and turn some of its groups into desperados who fight one another to maintain a modicum of control over their increasingly restricted and empty lives."

Rami Khouri
The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada)
Wednesday, August 6, 2008

"These are grim days for the Palestinians," writes Lebanese political analyst Rami Khouri, "but not unusual ones for the Arab world as a whole. The sight of clan-based political groups in Gaza killing each other is sadly familiar in many parts of the region."

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