Palestine Update 640
Comment
Israel’s perplexing political norms versus Palestinian arduous fight-back
By any given standards, Israel would easily rank as a hugely confused State with a generally large number of mystified people. Imagine now wanting a Constitution 75 years since its birth but struggling to figure out what choices the Constitution will pose. It would be far more than rocket science to decide the difference between a normal democratic State which uniformly distributes its rights among all- an egalitarian State- as opposed to a state that privileges Jewish citizens over and above the rest. Catch 22 is what it is! Who else but Israelis could bring this on themselves? They wonder how to overcome disentangle themselves from a policy whose effect is the opposite of what was intended. Those who wonder why Palestinians are not challenged or enthused by the massive Israeli protests understand that regardless of the outcome of these protests, a state that considers equality an existential threat, can never be a democracy.
Israel must also contend with its ‘karma’. Israel’s National Cyber Directorate had on Friday, announced that it had identified and blocked several attacks on websites of Israeli banks. Earlier, hundreds of anti-Israel marches took place Friday across Iran. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi led the Tehran march…Israeli authorities had actually predicted attacks by pro-Palestinian hackers on that day. On yet another front, Israeli is sparring with Jordan over access to Jerusalem’s holy sites, ahead of the Greek Orthodox Easter and the Muslim holiday of Ramadan next week. While Israel assigns culpability on Jordan for fanning the flames over incidents last week at the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif compound, Jordan condemned Israeli restrictions on Christians’ access to the Jerusalem Holy Sepulcher Church for the Holy Light celebrations this coming Saturday.
Meanwhile another fear-terror tactic emerges. Israeli Police Commissioner has called on licensed gun owners to start carrying their weapons to respond to potential attacks by Palestinians just hours before the Tel Aviv beach incident. A citizen from Kafr Qasim city was shot by a police officer who said he thought the man was carrying a gun. Police and the internal security agency Shin Bet claimed they were examining the possibility that it was not a terror attack…But the family of the driver of the car disputes the police’s version of events, claiming that it was a car accident and not an attack…”We saw how a barrage of shots were fired at him while he lay on the floor.”
For the Palestinian fighting back is a huge challenge. Bisan Executive Director Ubai] al-Aboudi sums it up best aptly when he outlines what the occupation and the PA share in common: They don’t want accountability and hence resort to using extreme measures to suppress dissent.”
On behalf of MLN Palestine Updates
Ranjan Solomon
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Why Palestinians Aren’t Joining Israel’s Protests
“The very Supreme Court that Israeli Jews is protesting to save has been the state’s most loyal partner in enabling this sort of violent repression and abuse against Palestinians. It was this court that approved the military’s use of live fire against protesters in Gaza in 2018. This court has enabled the use of torture by the Israeli state and has never denied a request by Israel to hold Palestinians without trial or charge, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel told Haaretz. Some of its decisions from the past decade allowed the state to carry out the ethnic cleansing of the occupied West Bank area of Masafer Yatta, confiscate Palestinian property in East Jerusalem, revoke citizenship from those it deems disloyal, deny citizenship to Palestinian spouses of Israelis, segregate Jewish and Palestinian communities within Israel, and permit the state to hold the bodies of alleged Palestinian attackers as political bargaining chips…Whatever the outcome of these protests, a state that considers equality an existential threat can never be a democracy. The reason Palestinians are not participating is because we have known this all along.”
Read more in Foreign Policy
Cyber attacks strike Israeli banks as Iran celebrates Quds Day
“Israel’s National Cyber Directorate announced Friday afternoon that it had identified and blocked several attacks on websites of Israeli banks. The directorate explained the attackers tried to overwhelm the sites and make them crash…The cyberattack against the banks coincides with Quds (Jerusalem) Day, which is observed in Iran and other Shiite communities such as Syria and Lebanon with anti-Israel demonstrations. Hundreds of anti-Israel marches took place Friday across Iran. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi led the Tehran march…Israeli authorities had reportedly anticipated attacks by pro-Palestinian hackers on that day.”
Read more details in Al-Monitor
Jordan, Israel spar over access to Christian holy sites in Jerusalem
“Israeli-Jordanian relations have taken a turn for the worse with accusations from both sides over access to Jerusalem’s holy sites, ahead of the Greek Orthodox Easter this Sunday, and the Muslim holiday of Ramadan next week. The Israeli news outlet Walla reported Thursday that Israel is blaming Jordan for fanning the flames over incidents last week at the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif compound, when Israeli officers raided Al-Aqsa mosque, and clashed with worshippers that they claimed are barricading themselves at the site. On Thursday, Jordan condemned Israeli restrictions on Christians’ access to the Jerusalem Holy Sepulcher Church for the Holy Light celebrations this coming Saturday.”
Read more in Al-Monitor
Israel: Contradictory accounts raise questions over Tel Aviv ‘car-ramming’
“The family of a Palestinian citizen of Israel, who was shot dead by police after allegedly carrying out a “car ramming” are raising doubts over the authorities’ justification for killing him after law enforcement and medics made contradictory claims over what happened. Israeli police initially labelled the incident, which took place on Friday and left one person dead, as a “terror attack” involving a “shooting and a car-ramming”. A car had crashed into a crowd of people after speeding towards Tel Aviv’s beach promenade before overturning. An Italian citizen, Alessandro Parini, was killed and seven others were wounded. After the vehicle flipped, the driver – later identified as Yousef Abu Jaber from Kafr Qasim city – was shot by a police officer who said he thought Abu Jaber was carrying a gun…Police and the internal security agency Shin Bet then said they were looking into the possibility that it was not a terror attack…But Abu Jaber’s family is disputing the police’s version of events, claiming that it was a car accident and not an attack…”We saw how a barrage of shots were fired at him while he lay on the floor,” Omar Abu Jaber said. “They could have taken him into custody without killing him. Logically speaking, three armed men could have arrested him alive.” According to Omar: “The policemen who shot and killed him took on the role of prosecutor and judge, and tried him right there in the field.”…Israeli Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai had called on licensed gun owners to start carrying their weapons to respond to potential attacks by Palestinians just hours before the Tel Aviv beach incident.”
Read more in Middle East Eye
Under the Radar, a U.S. Group Is Grooming Right-wing Judges Who Will Reshape Israel
Six U.S. Supreme Court justices were cultivated for their role by the same organization. Now it’s Israeli counterpart, financed by the New York-based Tikvah Fund, is operating along similar lines
“The Federalist Society also initiated and encouraged the establishment of a similar organization in Israel. The Israel Law and Liberty Forum, established in 2019 with the aid of then-future MK Simcha Rothman, has branches on four campuses: the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University and Reichman University (formerly the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya). Enjoying substantial funding from the New York-based Tikvah Fund, a conservative U.S. nonprofit foundation, the Law and Liberty Forum provides students with a parallel, in some cases quite different sort of legal education from what is offered in the usual law school curriculum, by means of courses, conferences and other activities…The Tikvah Fund, financed by the estate of the American investment manager Zalman C. Bernstein, was founded with the express purpose of inculcating conservative and Jewish values in Israel and the United States, by means of educational and other activities. However, after many years of philanthropic work – supporting institutions such as Beit Avi Chai and the Shalem Center (now Shalem College) in Jerusalem – the organization’s activity has taken a different tack in recent years. In addition to underwriting scholarships, conferences and research institutes, the Tikvah Fund now also supports groups, such as the Kohelet Policy Forum, that want to revamp society, by way of implanting American-style conservatism in Israel.”
Read full story in Haaretz
‘From Every Side in Palestine, You Are Under Attack.’ NGO Director Ubai Al-Aboudi on Reforming Palestinian Politics
“In a pre-dawn raid last year; Israeli soldiers stormed the Ramallah office of the Bisan Center for Research and Development, confiscating files and other office material from the Palestinian NGO. After leaving behind a military order declaring the Bisan Center unlawful, the soldiers welded its office door shut. Israeli forces conducted simultaneous raids on six other Palestinian civil society organizations in Ramallah: Addameer, al-Haq, Defense for Children International-Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, the Health Work Committees, and the Union of Palestinian Women Committees…But the Bisan Center continues to face repression not just from Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank but also the Palestinian Authority, which has tried to restrict the Bisan Center’s activities, in an attempt to shut down criticism of the Palestinian leadership and demands for free elections. “Sometimes you feel that from every side in Palestine, you are under attack,” [Bisan Executive Director Ubai] al-Aboudi says. “What the occupation and the PA share is that they don’t want accountability. And because they do not want any accountability, they are using more and more extreme measures to suppress dissent.” In an interview with Democracy in Exile, al-Aboudi outlines the steps needed to reform the Palestine Liberation Organization, bringing democratic change to Palestinian politics.”
Read more from Dawn/MENA
Also read from Human Rights Watch
16 April 2023
Source: nakbaliberation.com