Whenever peace activists devise a new means of challenging Israel’s Occupation, whether it be BDS, Nakba protests, the Gaza Flotilla, the September UN vote on Palestinian statehood, or the Flight of Return, the primary response from Israel seems something verging on outright or barely controlled hysteria. Bibi Netanyahu said recently that this Friday’s Ben Gurion protest is an attempt to undermine “Israel’s right to exist.” Excuse me? A few hundred peace activists converging non-violently on Ben Gurion airport in order to affirm their right to travel to Palestine is an existential threat to the “Jewish state?”
Ynet published a story today (and in English) which characterized the prevailing emotion within the government regarding the upcoming protest as “complete hysteria:”
Undercover officers will patrol the airport. All flights from Europe will disembark at an isolated spot at the airport [fearing terrorism are we?]. Departures will be delayed and all passengers will be searched before boarding. Israel approaches the protest at fever pitch. “Everyone is in a state of hysteria,” said one government source after a meeting hosted by Internal Security minister Yitzhak Aharonovitz and attended by Netanyahu, senior police officials and the relevant authorities at Ben Gurion, all of whom detailed the steps there were taking to confront the hundreds of expected protesters.
…The prime minister listened to presentations about the plans for each agency and how they would adhere to international law [after all, it might be a tad embarrassing to see the blood of peaceful protesters splattered on the walls of Israel’s international airport–that’s something expected more of tyrants like Lukashenko].
It’s a bit like the old May Day parades in Red Square in which the Soviet military used to proudly showcase its new military hardware before a beaming Fearless Leader. The problem with this paranoid thought process is that ANY sign of support for Palestine becomes automatically a threat to Israel’s existence. When you turn everything into such a zero sum game, you leave practically no room for compromise, which is precisely as Bibi prefers it.
Another interesting feature of the government’s plans is the expectation that airlines will obey Israeli instructions to prevent specific passengers from boarding flights, which places these international companies in the position of enforcing Israel’s Occupation policies. Israeli authorities are especially concerned that the protesters will “misbehave,” attempt to wave placards, shout slogans, attack at the check in counter, and otherwise delegitimize the “Jewish state.” There is a generalized fear of those who wish to engage in unspecified “provocations.”
Each arriving flight will be met by a team of police officers and flights will be staggered so as not to allow the intruders to mass themselves in the airport at any particular time. In no uncertain terms, the authorities will refuse to allow order to be disturbed at the airport. They aver however that the treatment the activists will receive is reserved for those who disturb the peace, but such treatment does not mean they’re considered terrorists, God forbid:
It’s important not to forget that we’re not talking here about armed activists.
But are we really sure of that? Have they checked with Danny Ayalon to see whether he’s put his finger to the wind to detect the presence of gun powder or sulfur on the persons of these wicked no-goodniks?
One genius from the government even had this flash of insight:
The interest of the foreign airlines is first and foremost that there not be pictures of Israeli police beating protesters, something that would affect the number of tourists who plan to spend the summer in Israel. And so these companies interest is aligned with that of Israel.
There was an implicit warning from Israeli sources that some airlines might refuse to return some of the travelers to their home country for fear of the potential for violence. It wasn’t clear whether they were talking about the potential for violence on the Israeli side or the passengers’ side. But we can infer it was the latter. And as usual absolutely no proof is offered that any passenger intends to engage in violence or even that the airlines would contemplate refusing to fly someone home from Israel.
An official of the Internal Security ministry did note that it’s possible that the infiltrators have already entered the body politic, where they may be passing their ideas and even bodily fluids directly into the minds and bodies of Israelis.
The same level of paranoid fear characterizes an impending decision by the IDF to refuse to identify by name any senior officers either in the media or any public forum. Maariv reports the new regulations are meant to address a fear of exposing them to legal prosecution after wars like Cast Lead and Lebanon II. Officers’ pictures will also be pixellated to prevent their further identification. Israel already does this with its intelligence personnel, who may not be named during active service or even after they leave the service. But the new rules would place IDF officers under deep cover as well, and further shield the military from the gaze of NGOs and “Israeli left-wing extremists” seeking to ensure that Israel adheres to standards of international law in its treatment of Palestinians. In fact, one important feature of this blog is revealing the identity of individuals (such as Doron Zahavi/Captain George) who may have committed specific acts which would qualify as crimes or war crimes. Since Israel and Israelis can no longer do this for themselves in most cases, someone has to do it.
The IDF attributes the new policy to the “Goldstone Effect” and links it as well to efforts by Palestinian activists to bring Israeli officials and officers to justice outside Israel.
You could be forgiven for imagining that Israel is beginning to sound like Geena Davis’ character in The Fly when she warns: “Be afraid, be very afraid.”
Well, they did that – but also spent the entire night (Israel time) in air strikes on Gaza, which I read as retaliation for the audacity of hope, as expressed in the Audacity of Hope.
Bozo, if you actually cared about the Israeli civilians around Gaza, you’d know that a number of rockets have been fired in the past weeks, including one this weekend. The air strikes were in response to the rockets.
Sam Smith, did you read what Shunra said? She said “which I read as”, in other words her own opinion. Not unjustified, if you say the rockets were fired in the past weeks.
Israeli air strike kills two in Gaza Strip
Israeli fighter planes have opened fire on the Palestinian town of Deir al-Balah, in the Gaza Strip, killing two people and wounding one other.
Israel’s military said the two men were attempting to fire rockets into Israel, while sources told the Reuters news agency that the pair were members of Tawhid, an Islamist group which has challenged the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip.
But relatives of the men, identified as Kamal Hamdan Muammar and Mohammed Said Abu Jazar, both 28, said they were civilians, the Associated News agency reported.
“A squad of terrorists preparing to launch rockets at Israeli territory from the central Gaza Strip were identified by an Israeli Air force aircraft that thwarted the attempt by firing at them. A hit was confirmed,” an Israeli army statement said about Tuesday’s attack.
The Israeli military held Hamas responsible, saying the group are “not enforcing a policy of restraint over the terrorist organisations operating in the Gaza Strip.”
Ongoing border fighting
Several Islamist groups, who consider Hamas to be too moderate, have sprouted up in Gaza in recent years.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/07/20117519560507916.html
@ Sam
no, Bozo, the rockets were in response to the air strikes, as they always are, and not nearly proportionate to Israeli attacks which doesn’t seem to care much if it hits so-called militants or grandmothers.
What air strikes occurred *before* the rockets, let’s say in the last week last? Please do share. And what grandmothers did the airstrikes hit?
And what grandmothers did the Gazan missiles hit?? And shall we compare how many Israeli civilians have been killed by such missiles compared to Palestinian civlians killed by the IDF?? Shall we?
And you’re presuming the missiles were fired by Hamas, which is almost certainly wrong. So you’d have to ask what motivated the militant group which fired them to do so. Very much like having to figure out what motivated the Stern Gang to kill British soldiers when the Haganah had an almost completely opposite strategy.
We don’t address fellow readers with “Bozo.” Since you seem to have raised by wolves or in a barn, you’ll be moderated until we can be sure you’re properly housebroken.
But the new rules would place IDF officers under deep cover as well, and further shield the military from the gaze of NGOs and “Israeli left-wing extremists”
I don’t think any Israeli “left wing extremist” has ever been held for murder. Compare that to the moral bankruptcy coming from the extreme right. Yygal Amir has the dubious honour of killing his President.
I wonder if Greece has released the IDF captain, Yonaton Shapira on board the flotilla?
Chayma,
the captain of the U.S. boat was John Klusmire, who also piloted the FREE GAZA on which I sailed to break the blockade three years ago. John has been released. I don’t believe Yonaton was arrested.
@Mary,
Yes, but detaining is little different from an official arrest in this case, if you consider the circumstances. It was meant to intimidate and harrass. I’m sure the Greek authorities didn’t intend to charge John Klusmire with anything, but arrested him anyway, and they had no grounds to hold Shapira either,
A little rattling in the cage, was what it was.
The name of the July 8 Mission is “Bienvenue en Palestine” [Welcome to Palestine]. An anecdote concerning the name of the mission:
Back in 2002 a war nearly broke out between France and Israel (a joke). On a July 5th flight Paris-Tel Aviv, either a steward or the co-pilot – we never really knew – called out “In 40 minutes we’ll be landing in Israël/Palestine”. Huge protests on board, a kind of riot broke out, people insisted on entering the cockpit, complaints were filed and many Israeli newspapers afterwards called for a boycott of Air France who of course apologied.
An Italian pilot was even more specific some months later on a Rome-Tel Aviv Alitalia flight. He wished a “Welcome to Palestine” on the micro :-))
These kinds of happenings are of course deeply traumatic to Israelis who have to live with the occupation, the water stealing, the check points etc.
The activists are hoping for violence. That’s the only way they can make a big splash.
Same as the Gaza Flotilla. Who would have heard of it if the militants on that one ship had not deliberately planned to resist arrest violently. It wd not have been a blip.
Now there are tons of reporters on the follow up which is sure to be a flop unless they are committed to attack soldiers.
Well, as my parents told me many many years ago, I think when I was four years old, “If someone tries to provoke you, just don’t get into it.”
I have very few good things to say about the Greek govt.’s complicity in the Israeli attempt to stop the Gaza Flotilla 2011, but I noticed that when the Greek Coast Guard stopped the ships, they sent a single boat to each vessel, in full daylight. It did not act in the dead of night, did not surround the flotilla vessels with warships, did not use helicopters to land commandos and to fire on the vessels, and did not jam the electronic communications. Somehow, not a single Greek serviceman was hurt (and apparently not a single passenger too). If Israel adopted the same tactics a year ago, it would be much better for everyone.
And you know this how??
You mean the IDF only shot nine unarmed Turks at point blank range because they somehow “resisted violently?”
Actually, when I read the headline I never thought of Geena Davis, but of Elmer Fudd.
Two UN-reports on Israel within the last 24 hours:
Israel used UNNECESSARY FORCE against protesters on Nakba Day:
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/un-israel-used-unnecessary-force-against-protesters-on-nakba-day-1.371640
The IDF used EXCESSIVE FORCE against the Gaza Flotilla:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/gaza-flotilla-probe-idf-used-excessive-force-but-naval-blockade-legal-1.371821
With all that ‘force’ I wonder why Israel never wins any sport competitions !
Are you f*ing serious? Read until the end of the second headline. What does it say? What does that mean? If you still need help with your reading comprehension, let us know.
One thing we don’t need is yr snark. So can it or you’ll be canned.
@ Sam Smith
You’re NOT at ‘972mag’ here so keep back the insults, will you !
Do you think I posted an article withoout reading it first ? I’m not a paid Hasbarista.
Whether the naval blockade is legal or not according to international law – and I point out that I’ve never pronounced myself on that topic. I’m NOT a lawyer contrary to most pro-Israelis here who apparently all have a PhD in naval law – the UN has still judged that Israel used EXCESSIVE FORCE in the intervention, and also blamed Israel for intervening in international water too far from the limit of the naval blockade. Nothing to say about that ?
What I found most important in that article was the use of excessive force just as the otherarticle about Youm al-Nakba.
Twice within 24 hours, The-Only-Democracy-In-The-Middle-East has been found guilty of using EXCESSIVE or UNNECESSARY FORCE. Nothing to say about that ??
I know very well that you and your peers (and navel-gazing ‘humanist’ like Daniel) are only going to stick to ‘the naval blockade is legal’-stuff and forget about the EXCESSIVE FORCE. Well, we’ll remind you every time it’s necessary !
By the way, since when do a right-wing extremist like you care about the UN and it’s rulings ?
Personally, I consider this blockade morally illegal, UN or not but that’s another topic.
Here’s a simple question: if the blockade is legal, what exactly is the flotilla protesting against?
BTW, I’m no right-wing extremist. I can’t stand Bibi and his silly government. That doesn’t mean I tolerate pointless extremism on the other side, though.
I’m terribly sorry. I thought you were the same Sam Smith – certailny a right-wing extremist according to international standards – that comments at ‘972 mag’.
All my apologies …
Considering that “Sam’s” putative e mail address includes the word “undercova” he may have an identity crisis and not know WHO he is.
I’m the same Sam Smith. I sometimes like to say things just to tick off extremists on both sides, so not every comment should be taken too seriously. Nor should my email address.
Anyway, just because I don’t accept a Palestinian RoR into Israel you would probably call me a “right-wing extremist”.
.
Deir YassinI’m NOT a lawyer contrary to most pro-Israelis here who apparently all have a PhD in naval law –
LOL
and you’d think they’d be underground somewhere in submarines, instead of sharing their “expertise” on the internet 🙂
@ Deïr Yassin
“The IDF used EXCESSIVE FORCE”…..aannd…. please continue…
….. the “Israeli naval blockade on Gaza is LEGAL AND IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL LAW”
@Richard,
You are correct in your assessment when you write:
Whenever peace activists devise a new means of challenging Israel’s Occupation, whether it be BDS, Nakba protests, the Gaza Flotilla, the September UN vote on Palestinian statehood, or the Flight of Return, the primary response from Israel seems something verging on outright or barely controlled hysteria. Bibi Netanyahu said recently that this Friday’s Ben Gurion protest is an attempt to undermine “Israel’s right to exist.” Excuse me? A few hundred peace activists converging non-violently on Ben Gurion airport in order to affirm their right to travel to Palestine is an existential threat to the “Jewish state?”
So:
1. By always saying/writing “Gaza, Palestine” instead of just “Gaza”.
2. Do the same when you refer to any other Palestinian town/city, e.g., always say “Ramallah, Palestine.”
3. When you refer to any Israeli West Bank settlement, refer to it by its name and the Palestinian town upon which the settlement was built, e.g, (to come later. perhaps someone could help here with an example). IsraeliSettlementName/NearbyPalestinianTownName.
4. I can go on further but let’s see first whether someone picks up on that.
Givat Ze’ev (Al-Jib), Kiryat Arba (Al-Khalil), Jerusalem (Al-Quds)
TYPO CORRECTION TO MY PREVIOUS POST:
@Richard,
You are correct in your assessment when you write:
Whenever peace activists devise a new means of challenging Israel’s Occupation, whether it be BDS, Nakba protests, the Gaza Flotilla, the September UN vote on Palestinian statehood, or the Flight of Return, the primary response from Israel seems something verging on outright or barely controlled hysteria. Bibi Netanyahu said recently that this Friday’s Ben Gurion protest is an attempt to undermine “Israel’s right to exist.” Excuse me? A few hundred peace activists converging non-violently on Ben Gurion airport in order to affirm their right to travel to Palestine is an existential threat to the “Jewish state?”
So:
CONTINUE THE CHALLENGE TO THE SOVEREIGNTY OF ISRAEL ON PALESTINIAN LAND:
1. By always saying/writing “Gaza, Palestine” instead of just “Gaza”.
2. Do the same when you refer to any other Palestinian town/city, e.g., always say “Ramallah, Palestine.”
3. When you refer to any Israeli West Bank settlement, refer to it by its name and the Palestinian town upon which the settlement was built, e.g, (to come later. perhaps someone could help here with an actual example). Format: IsraeliSettlementName / NearbyPalestinianTownName.
4. I can go on further but let’s see first whether someone picks up on that.
Reply
Why only stick to the West Bank ? There are hundreds of villages within the ’48-borders that were eradicated, or even worse, as Ain Hawd, who was made into the artist village Ein Hod where people come from all over the world to admire the ‘humanistic spirit’ and the architecture while the original Palestinian residents live nearby in a new village also called Ein Hawd (waiting more than 50 years to have access to electricity) or in refugee camps in Jenine. The mosque of Ain Hawd was converted into a bar/restaurant. The newcomers apparently thought the architectural style went along with ‘gefillte fisch’ and borscht.
Or al-Shajara [tree] between Tabariyya [Tiberiade] and al-Nâsira [Nazareth] the village where the famous cartoonist and father of eternal 10-years old Handala, Naji al-Ali was born.
Al-Shajara’s land is today covered by the Israeli moshav Ilaniyya. They not only took the land but also hebraized the original name. Nearby Hittin known from the time of Saladdin is covered by the moshavim Arbel and Kfar Zeitim, Lubya gave way to the kibbuth Lavi.
Under Tel Aviv University we have Sheikh Muwannis etc etc.
Ilan Halevi, the Jewish (former ?) Israeli member of the PLO and former vice minister of Foreigh Affairs wrote a book: “Under Israel, Palestine”. Highly recommendable if it’s translated.
When I meet Israelis I always try to know where they live to tell them what was there before ’48.’Tell me where you live, and I tell you on whose ruins your house was built”
http://www.palestineremembered.com
RE: “The problem with this paranoid thought process is that ANY sign of support for Palestine becomes automatically a threat to Israel’s existence.” – R.S.
MY SNARK: So many “infiltrators”, so little time! One “existential threat” after another.
Israel gears for pro-Palestinian fly-in.
But what if the activists don’t show, will Israel deport US & European tourists who look like activists? What do activists actually look like, do they look lke Hedy Epstein, Yonatan Shapira or Alice Walker?
And what if the activists show up a few weeks/months later, unannounced?
Apparently some activists made it through while others and their supporters got detained by the Police. Great coverage by Joseph Dana at 972 Mag:
http://972mag.com/dozens-deported-from-tlv-airport-5-israeli-activists-arrested/
Speaking of hysterics and paranoid behavior. Have you seen the latest “flotilla” video to come out of Israel?
There are two possible angles from which to view it: on the surface it appears to show a woman representing Israel who suffers from “justified” hysteria and paranoia consulting her psychiatrist.
HOWEVER, from the intimate camera angles, the woman’s provocative movements, the plunging neckline of her red dress this could easily pass for the intro to a porn flick depicting a “hooker” and her psychiatrist “john” or pimp.
Either way, “Israel” appears to be aptly representing herself.
http://972mag.com/hasbara3/
Is this how Israel wants to depict itself on the global stage? I mean, it’s pretty trashy. What will they think of next?
it saddens me to no end to see A WHOLE GOVERNMENT dedicating so much money and time on ONE TINY ISSUE.
There is SO MUCH left undone on account of this that it boggles the mind
A whole country is trying to redress the gouging going on with the food prices.
A whole country (at least a good part) is waiting for this bunch of leaders to hatch an egg that will extricate them from the UN approaching september debacle
and on and on
why why is warmongering against a hapless bunch of “warriors” so dramatic that it overtakes the fact of the elderly going hungry amongst other social issues, just to mention
Mr. Richard, i beg drop the issue of the boat saga at this moment it plays into the hands of the incompetents.
Please use your blog to uncover the deeds that this bunch of incompetents don’t want us to know
I am more afraid of these lunatics launching something against Iran than a hundred people landing at ben gurion just to piss some underpaid army kid parading as security guard, it is unbecoming of you to further propagandize their idiocies.
I’ll certainly be devoting much attention to the prospective Iran attack. Of that you can be sure.
At least one UN rapporteur slams the UN report on the legality of the Israeli Gaza blockade and the Israeli intervention:
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403308
Just as Israel has given the dirty work to Greece with the Flotilla II, so has it concerning the “Welcome to Palestine” Mission. Nine French activists were denied boarding a flight Paris-Budapest yesterday, with a further flight Budapest-Tel Aviv this morning with the Hungarian air company Malev at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle.
Agents from Malev showed a list with the blacklisted names, AND a letter from the Israeli Ministry of Interior stating that if Malev boarded the listed passengers, the plane would not be allowed to ‘normal access’ at Ben Gourion air port.
As one of the activists said: “The Israeli check points are even at Roissy”
Amira Hass has an absolutely great article in Haaretz that I encourage all Israelis to read. She’s mentioning Israel as doing everything to confirm an old antisemitc libel.
She also writes:
“A Greek police officer did not beat around the bush. We wanted to save you from the Israeli army”
“The sympathy of the Greek soldiers who arrested the Tahrir-passengers and of the bureaucrats who delayed them was with the Flotilla and with Gaza, not with the government orders. That’s all we need, another country whose government gets along with Israel, in complete opposition to popular sentiments”
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/in-dealing-with-flotilla-israel-is-anything-but-smart-1.371879