Hillary Clinton will make a major address in the ancient Polish city of Krakow on Saturday encouraging the global movement for democracy. Her host will be the Community of Democracies, a European NGO created in 2000 by Madeleine Albright and Poland’s then foreign minister to nurture democracies in Eastern Europe and the world. Here is the mission of the group:
We seek a community of nations working together to strengthen democracy…and [we seek] transparency of government processes, sound electoral systems, respect for human rights and the rule of law, active civic education, prevention of official corruption and related core values basic to democratic governance. Our aim is to foster awareness of the importance of democracy both as a central organizing principle of official government foreign policy and as the basis of international alliances of non-governmental organizations devoted to the strengthening of democracy…We are convinced the time has arrived for the democracies of the world to build upon the experience of…[the UN and NATO], a new institutional framework for global cooperation among democratic nations and those who aspire to govern themselves in accordance with democratic principles.
The State Department’s human rights guru, Michael Posner, talked about the opportunity her speech presents for Secretary Clinton:
“It’s a meeting of…governments, representatives of civil society, and…very much in keeping with the President and Secretary Clinton’s commitment to democracy promotion and principled engagement,” he said. “The Secretary’s speech will focus on human rights and, in particular, on the role of civil society.”
This will be an opportunity for us both to articulate in a public context, but also in a setting where governments committed to democracy and civil society gather, to try to strategize and figure out ways to advance promotion of democracy globally.
How, I might ask, will she address the egregious violations of human rights by Israel in the recent Gaza flotilla attack and the latest series of Shin Bet attacks on Israeli Palestinian civil society NGOs in the person of the arrest, torture and prosecution for espionage of Ameer Makhoul? One wonders why in the most recent State Department country report there is no mention of Israel’s systematic violation of the human rights not only of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, but of its own Palestinian citizens.
The latest news from the Makhoul trial is that his attorneys discovered that all seven of the meetings the authorities permitted them to have with their client were illegally bugged by prison authorities. In the Israeli legal system, the accused is allowed to consult with his counsel without interference by the State. This rule was violated by Makhoul’s guards who prevented them from communicating directly and confidentially:
In the letter [of protest] to the AG, the lawyers argued that every detainee is entitled to the right to legal counsel…This right requires that meetings be held in…conditions that enable direct communication between them. This means that they should not be separated, their conversations should not be recorded or listened in on, and it should be possible for lawyers to exchange documents relevant to the legal proceedings with their client.The lawyers argued that…there was no possibility for them to discuss the investigation materials and evidence, that they did not have a chance to explain their legal strategy to Mr. Makhoul, and could not discuss issues related to the defense preparation with him, which by nature should be confidential. These conditions violate provision 45 of the Prisons Ordinance, which states that, “A prisoner is entitled to meet his lawyer in order to receive professional service. A prisoner will meet his lawyer privately, and under conditions that secure the confidentiality of discussions and documents that will be exchanged in the meeting, but in a way that enables supervision of the prisoner’s movements.” The lawyers also argued that the conditions were in breach of the Israel Bar Association Law and to the Evidence Ordinance regarding the confidentiality rules applied to lawyer-client consultations, and that wiretapping of such conversations is a criminal offence under paragraph 2 of the Israeli Wiretapping Law.
I would love to see a few demonstrators outside the elegant old castle where the Krakow meeting will be held raising aloft Ameer Makhoul’s photograph with the legend: “Hillary’s prisoner of conscience.” When will the U.S. apply to Israel standards it is encouraging both at this meeting and among the world’s nascent democracies? When will it demand accountability, transparency and the rule of law for all Israel’s citizens? When will it demand that the security services be reigned in so that they do not run roughshod over the rights of citizens, whether they be Jewish or Arab? When will Michael Posner allow Israel’s country report to tell the truth about conditions there?
Will she be mentioning Gilad?
Whatever the injustice of Shalit’s detention, he at least was a soldier serving in the IDF and maintaining Israel’s Occupation & siege of Gaza. The same can’t be said of Makhoul unless you’re willing to concede that Makhoul was captured and is being held hostage by the Shin Bet.
Talk about seeing the left wing BS coming from a mile away.
1. Israeli had a few months before evacuated all jewish citizens from the Gaza strip a step toward peace.
2. All military presence had been withdrawn to undisputed soverign Israeli territory. Hence no Occupation of Gaza.
2. Gilad Schalit was not in or occupying the Gaza strip at the time of his abduction. Palestinian forces crossed into Israel and abducted him. A clear violation of international law by anyones standards.
The Israelis cross into Gaza regularly and have “abducted” Hamas Parliamentarians as well as civilians.
“A clear violation of international law by anyone’s standards.”
You think withdrawing fr. Gaza, a territory no Israeli wanted was a gift to Palestinians? What did the withdrawal offer Palestinians? Did it end the Occupation? Lead to a withdrawal to 1967 borders? That’s what Palestinians want. They want a state, a return to 67 borders. The Gaza withdrawal was a piecemeal measure which Israel didn’t even negotiate w. the Palestinians. Peace can never be made unilaterally as Sharon attempted.
BTW, despite the withdrawal Israel still controlled Gaza & occupied it under international law. Even then it didn’t allow free movement in or out & certainly didn’t allow Gaza to develop an independent or autonomous entity (cf. the prohibition on building a seaport or airport).
First, Shalit was at an outpost on the border enforcing the Occupation. Besides this he was a soldier. Since the Palestinians believe it is legitimate to resist the Occupation, Gilad Shalit was not an innocent civilian. That being said, I’d like to see him free along with the prisoners that Hamas wants released. The violation of international law begins with the Occupation. The capture of Shalit was a response to a far more egregious & longstanding violation of law.
Gilad Shalit was involved in a combat operation against Gaza at the time of his capture (not kidnapping).
Israel had just fired 10 missiles at a family picnicking on a Gaza public beach and killed 8 out of 9 of them the day before. One little girl left alive was wounded but saw her family slaughtered. 10 missiles is not an accident, yet it was denied until it was proven.
This was after a period of 18 months peace from hamas, and 6 months without any rockets, yet Israel never stopped their incursions.
People with weak nerves should not look at the video of the massacre on a Gaza Beach, but here it is. I couldn’t get this young girl of my mind for a long time. She was the only who survived in her family as she was swimming in the sea at the time of the attack.
“Why do they hate us so much ??”
MAY GOD HAVE MERCY UPON THEIR SOUL.
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfKwW3pkx7g
Gilad Shalit is a prisoner of war captured while he was engaged in combat. True, he deserves to be treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention pertaining to prisoners of war. However, Israelis are hardly entitled to whine about Gilad Shalit given the way they treat those whom they imprison, and especially when they are holding as prisoners hundreds of children, at least some of whom have been and are being tortured, and some of whom were, unlike Giland Shalit, actually kidnapped and are being held hostage pending the capture of their adult relatives. When Israel cleans up its act it will have a right to be indignant over the treatment of Gilad Shalit.
If she mentioned Gilad, she would also have to mention the thousands of Palestinian prisoners rotting in Israeli jails without charges or representation – mostly children. You know she ain’t gonna do that. Only Giora would make such a comparison!
There are approximately 340 children being held in Israeli jails, according to the Israeli legal rights group, Ha-Moked.
I guess that to Hillary and others, some people are more “human” than others.
well,
340 is not mostly
and how many of those 340 are between 16-18m as israel considers anyone over the age of 16 to be legally an adult in the judicial system
and richard, you keep saying that ameer was tortured…they remain allegations of torture, just as he is alleged to have engaged in espionage.
We’re telling you Israel holds CHILDREN in its jails, CHILDREN. And you seek to finesse the issue. Frankly, I could care less whether Israel considers a 16 yr old an adult or not. Everyone reading this blog including you knows that a 16 yr old is a CHILD and NOT an adult. I assume you were 16 once & know that to be a fact.
Ameer Makhoul and his Adalah lawyers are entirely credible individuals & I trust what they say when they say he was tortured. After much experience in this realm, I can’t say the same for the Shin Bet.
Some of those children are as young as eight years old. Very young children have been imprisoned, abused, and tortured by the Israelis.
A Blight Unto The Nations.
The new Israsel fund’s international board convened this week in Tel Aviv. More relevant to ask if *they* mentioned mahoul. There is a long trail of bodies…which the NIF backed before and deserted after. I find that more disturbing the Clinton’s potential silence. I know that you are lenient w/r to israel so called progressive fronts, but look at the nice list of members (especially those from israel), can’t they be asked to demonstrate some backbone before you chellange ms clinton ?
NIF itself has come under vicious attack fr. the thuggish far right in the form of Im Tirtzu. Yes, NIF has some limitation on what it does. And before the attacks began I was willing to be more critgical of NIF esp. in terms of some of its activities here. But I think NIF has far too many enemies to add me to the list.
NIF is also not an organization established in itself to protect the persecuted, though a number of its grantees do.
i agree that one needs to set priorities.
however, pretending that bodies like NIF are helpless and attacked, is misleading and also disempowering Israeli democracy. These are bodies with one big foot (if not two) in the legal system (and high court judiciary) that CAN act effectively to bring about the release of their protege (mahoul). Leaving it up to clinton, imho, is not a healthy move and will not guarantee more freedom and rights to the next mahoul. Bodies that capitalize on “accountability campaigns” need to be held to their words, to some degree. especially when attacked for questions of loyalty vis a vis the USA and Obama’s regime. If clinton intervenes, the attacks will prove to have been justified.
“When will the U.S. apply to Israel standards it is encouraging both at this meeting and among the world’s nascent democracies?”
Nevermind that, when will the U.S. apply those standards to itself?