Category Archives: Apartheid

The world is trying to save Israel from itself. Will we listen? | +972 Magazine

On this issue one must repeat today what was true yesterday, the day before, and every day since 1967: the idea of settling for the purpose of marking territory — based on a worldview based on belligerence and supremacy — while placing a civilian population under military rule, is ugly and unsustainable. This worldview has been held by decent, realistic Israelis for 50 years. There is no chance for the apartheid model as embodied by the settlements, which grant their Jewish residents excessive privileges over the Palestinians.The greatest harm caused by the settlements is vis-a-vis Israelis and Judaism: they force the state to constantly deepen its hatred and fear of Arabs. Anger and fear, after all, are what raise a generation of soldiers and settlers who will maintain the mechanisms of settlement and occupation. Without anger and fear, there is nothing.Beyond the issue itself, there is the story of the settlements and the coalition of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, which decided in the past few years to break the rules of the game when it comes to the occupied territories. No longer does Israel tread lightly and form alliances to ensure a facade of the status quo. This approach, one of the defining characteristics of the Zionist movement since its inception, has been replaced with arrogant ranting and biblical quotes, all while showing the world exactly how powerful we are.

Source: The world is trying to save Israel from itself. Will we listen? | +972 Magazine

Israeli judges order grandchildren out of Jerusalem family’s home – How can anyone defend this shameful act?

The Ghaith-Sub Laban family’s six-year legal battle to remain in their home of six decades has come to an end, as the Israeli high court made a final ruling in the family’s eviction case on Wednesday.After Jewish settlers rejected the court’s proposed compromise on Tuesday, the Israeli judges returned a more favorable verdict to the settlers: allowing the Ghaith-Sub Laban family to remain in their home for only 10 more years, and at that point terminating their protected tenancy.Without protected tenancy, the settler organization that owns the building can evict the family.But the court has ordered the descendants of Mustafa Sub Laban and Nora Ghaith, whose mother first moved into their house in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City in East Jerusalem in 1953, to leave their home.Nora and Mustafa currently live in the house with a daughter, two sons, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren aged 4 and 9.

Source: Israeli judges order grandchildren out of Jerusalem family’s home | The Electronic Intifada

Man Caught On Video Punching Another Man At Hollywood Metro Station Arrested: LAist

The oft-repeated “if you see something, say something” mantra appears to have worked out in the case of an alleged attack at a Metro Red Line station that was observed and recorded by a bystander.Witness Lake Cunningham recorded a video of an alleged assault on Tuesday morning at about 1 a.m. at the Hollywood and Vine station. The video depicts a younger white man punching an older black man in the head on the station platform. Cunningham also claimed that the younger man kicked the older man in the face, though it is not seen on the video. Though police had been called at the time of the alleged attack, all involved parties had departed the station by the time they arrived.Cunningham’s video was widely distributed via social media and various news outlets, and authorities say they subsequently received numerous tips, CBS Los Angeles reports. One of those tips involved a 32-year-old Culver City man named James A. Hanson, who police say confessed to being the younger man in the video. Hanson was arrested Thursday afternoon at about 1 p.m. He is currently being held in lieu of a $50,000 bail, according to Fox 11.”Hanson has admitted to his role in the assault and has been booked at the sheriff’s Century Regional Detention Facility,” L.A. County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Ramon Montenegro said.The victim in Cunningham’s video also came forward following news reports about the incident and was treated for injuries suffered during the assault.

Source: Man Caught On Video Punching Another Man At Hollywood Metro Station Arrested: LAist

Video: Google exposes Israeli settlement expansion – PNN

Google allows for looking back at maps in time line, thus enabling us to see changes to earth in a given time span. This brought an added value of tracking the ongoing Israeli settlement expansion on stolen Palestinian land.Some settlements added whole new neighborhoods that extended on additional stolen Palestinian land, and some have doubled in size. Others didn’t even exist during the last 10 years!

Source: Video: Google exposes Israeli settlement expansion – PNN

Anti-Black Racism is Still the Fulcrum of White Supremacy | Race Files

 

Scot Nakagawa

Lifelong political activist, community organizer, organization builder, and trouble-maker.

“I continue to view anti-black racism as the nut of American racism. Poor black people continue be miner’s canaries and prophets of destruction, their experiences of oppression and exclusion still the tip of the spear of threats to democracy, the security of our citizenship, the stability and security of our economy.The condition of the black community should be viewed as a lens through which we can better understand the state of capitalism as it quickly morphs into something new, something even more threatening. Black lives matter, both as a moral necessity, and as a matter of mutual self-interest.As our great vulnerabilities are being exposed by a regime that will displace many of us, we should remember this. Our survival may depend on this understanding.I refer you to Zora Neale Hurston –“I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background.”That sharp white background is coming into focus for all of us. But, lest we forget, for some the blinding whiteness of that background has never been beyond view, never anything but the very paper on which the stories of lives of those most targeted by the fulcrum of white supremacy are written.”

Source: Anti-Black Racism is Still the Fulcrum of White Supremacy | Race Files

Man, 73, Shot Dead by Officer Had a Crucifix, Not a Gun, Police Say – The New York Times

“Explains everything – a non-Hispanic calls police and claims he thinks there is a Mexican with a gun across the street – so of course – when police arrive he is shot and killed – no questions asked…” So this is not new, happens dozens of times a year. It is a shame and should not be the automatic but it is. When will whole community say – NO MORE!

According to the police, a woman who lives across the street from Mr. Serna was removing items from a vehicle outside her home when she noticed a man standing behind her. He turned out to be Mr. Serna. She said he asked if he could get in the car. He was allowed only to look into the vehicle, and the woman went inside her house, the chief said.The woman later said she had believed that Mr. Serna had a firearm because his hand was in his jacket, and she saw an object with a handle, the chief said. She told her husband about the encounter, and he called the police to report a man outside with a gun.“He is brandishing a firearm,” the husband said, according to a recording of the 911 call, which was published by KERO television station. He said the man was an “older Mexican gentleman” and that it looked like the firearm was a revolver. “He could be the neighbor across the street or a visitor; I am not for sure.”When officers arrived, the woman pointed out Mr. Serna as he left his house, Chief Martin said. The police said they shouted to Mr. Serna to take his hands out of his jacket and to stop walking toward them. But he continued and entered the woman’s driveway, officials said.

Israel officials snub Swedish foreign minister – The Local

No Israeli officials will meet Sweden’s foreign minister during her trip to the region, a spokesman has said.Erik Wirkensjö, spokesperson for Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström, told the AFP news agency she had wanted to meet both Israeli and Palestinian officials during her visit from Thursday to Saturday.“This time it was not possible to visit Israel,” said Wirkensjö.Asked why there were no meetings planned, he said such questions must be “asked to the Israelis”.Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon blamed “schedule problems” and declined to provide further details.Earlier, Wallström told Swedish news agency TT: “I would have gladly seen myself travel to Israel as well, but unfortunately they do not welcome it.”There is no international airport in the Palestinian territories. Wirkensjö declined to comment on whether Wallström would fly to an Israeli airport and then travel to occupied West Bank or go via Jordan. She was not denied entry to Israel, he said.

Source: Israel officials snub Swedish foreign minister – The Local

How to whitewash the killing of two Palestinian teens | +972 Magazine

The Israeli state prosecutor will shortly sign a plea bargain with Border Police officer Ben Deri, who is on trial for killing Palestinian teenager Nadim Nawara in the West Bank town of Beitunia in May 2014. According to the deal, Deri will be charged with causing death by negligence, rather than manslaughter. As such his punishment will likely be symbolic, perhaps even just community service. Under the terms of the plea bargain, the indictment will say that the live bullet which killed Nawara “worked its way” into Deri’s rifle magazine, which was not supposed to have contained any bullet casings.

Source: How to whitewash the killing of two Palestinian teens | +972 Magazine

Hunger strikers lose their eyesight as Israel refuses to free them | The Electronic Intifada

The Palestinian Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs reports that Shadid, 19, has almost completely lost his sight and ability to speak and Abu Fara, 29, has completely lost sight in his right eye.The two men have refused all food since 25 September, to protest their indefinite detention without charge or evidence. They were arrested at the beginning of August.

Source: Hunger strikers lose their eyesight as Israel refuses to free them | The Electronic Intifada

‘Rebel’ Saudi Arabia woman who posted photo without head scarf is arrested | World news | The Guardian

After a fierce backlash from ultra-conservative critics online, Shehri took down the picture and deleted her Twitter account. Other Twitter users came out in support, with one comparing her to Rosa Parks.Thousands of Saudis signed a petition in September that demanded the government abolish the guardianship system, which prevents women from engaging in fundamental tasks without the permission of a male relative.

Source: ‘Rebel’ Saudi Arabia woman who posted photo without head scarf is arrested | World news | The Guardian