36 thoughts on “Israeli Supreme Court Rubber Stamps Shin Bet Impunity – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. If Ms. Krebs had been alive in 1939-1943 she would have willingly walked into the gas chambers singing and defending the rights of the Nazis.

    Some of us have learned. Never Again.

    1. When I read comments like this I wonder precisely how your genetic material was successfully passed down through the generations & why Darwin’s Law didn’t appear to work in your case.

      But I guess even the inane & obtuse may be among the “fittest.”

    2. Libertarian1 wrote; “Some of us have learned. Never Again.

      No, what some of you have learned is that it is better to do it others than to have it done to you. In this respect YOU are the children of the Nazis.

      And, PLEASE stop identifying yourself as a Libertarian. YOU
      ARE NOT! Why are you afraid to use your real name?

      1. Another really appropriate name for your group philosophy is “The Hemlock Society”. As the ostrich Jews said in the ’30s, we are good Germans, it can’t happen here. Well, it did.

        Name one Arab country if given the chance to totally destroy Israel and wipe the country off the face of the map, wouldn’t push that button.

        I gather that wouldn’t bother you as Israel is a police state and doesn’t deserve to exist.

        1. No state anywhere is going to “push the button” because of consequences for all, if for no other reason. None. If Pakistan and India have held a balance on these weapons all these years, so will the rest of mankind.

          Not that Israel is not deserving of some comeuppance, if any state is so deserving. Arab feelings are still raw after decades and decades because Israel was created by imigrants who stold the land and destroyed the indigenous people and culture. That sin will not be forgiven until it is recognized and repaired in some fashion, which I favor.

          It is instructive sometimes to capture the Israeli apologia in its essence: Palestinians (Arabs) made Jews captured 78% of Palestine by resisting the colonialization of their land. Arabs made the Jewish State go to war and expand into the WB. Arabs forced Israel to occupy and settle the WB and annex the Golan. And someday, these same Arab entities will force Israel to annex the WB completely.

          I would say that Arabs are the best friends Israel ever had, forcing the nascent state into militarism and expansion and the policy of extinguishing Palestinian life and culture completely.

          Criminals always say that the victim is the cause of their criminal behavior.

        2. Libertarian1, there is not one Arab country that would destroy Israel if given the chance, at least not if the Arab people have anything to say about it. On the other hand, give Israel a chance and they would wipe out the Arabs in a heartbeat. From what I’ve seen, the animosity of the Jews towards the Arabs is easily 10 times greater than any negativity the Arabs feel toward the Jews. Most have, or have had, Jewish friends and neighbors. But on the other hand, Zionism is strongly condemned. The theft of Palestinian land and water, and the oppression of the Palestinian people, is rightly despised.

    3. The fact is that some hundreds of Nazis were, in fact, tried in open court, providing them “due process”, and evidentiary hearings before the bench. This “libertarian1” is just being sloppy.

  2. I READ, “What about supporting Bradley Manning or Wikileaks? You say no and I say no, but neither of us will be interpreting the law. The Justice Department, just like the Israeli state prosecutor, will be.”

    IS THIS A TYPO? I can’t believe that you actually think
    that Bradley Manning should be punished or Wikileaks shut down.

    YOU, who prides himself on exposing the mechanizations of the Israeli police state, NOW defends the US police state?

    I’m STILL in a state of shock! Please tell me, I misread it.

    1. You misinterpreted the context. What came before was something like “who’s to interpret what’s contributing substantial aid to Al Qaeda? Do Bradley Manning or Wikileaks. You & I say No…”

      Sorry for the confusion.

  3. If I were a judge and a prosecutor refused to share evidence with me for a given case, then I would declare the prosecutor in contempt of court and throw the case out. But if I’m reading this correctly, it seems that most of these judges don’t even bother to ask for the evidence in the first place. Absolutely bizarre.

    1. You know, this responsibility that these judges evidently feel, responsible to people and country, is just sentimentalism, a foible of human life. Abdicating to the security services on the basis of sentiment is unforgivable. If ever ever you need a judiciary to act responsibly, it is in the instance of security services which are all too prone to exaggerated self-interest and the expansion of the power allocated to it. It is the court itself that is in contempt.

    2. you mis-understood

      the judge will see all the evidence in all proceedings except the supreme court where the proscess is being challenged not the evidence, or if there is a plea bargain and agreement in which case the judge might not necessarily feel the need to see the evidence as the defence attorney agees to the prosecution’s request

  4. One gets the impression that the separation of powers in Israel is more slippery slope than it is in the US. Here the Supreme Court made an unpopular decision that public schools needed to be integrated in the name of “equality.” It took, however, the National Guard and the Executive branch to make it happen in Arkansas.

    In Israel, however, the Supreme Court rules and the IDF and probably the security services do what they want, dragging their feet and, in some cases, I believe, not complying at all. Power is not segmented, it is centralized in the military (and its adjunct, the Executive.) It just seems like the judiciary does not challenge the state on these detentions because it hasn’t the power to do so. It is rather like the judiciary is negotiating with the security services for authority. If it risks intervention in these cases, it risks losing more power. Just a thought.

  5. does anyone else wonders how come this blog is about “human rights” but there isnt a single word about the massacre in syria? well, i guess the “massacre” on the marmara was much more horrific.

    1. Does anyone else wonder how a commenter can so fundamentally misunderstand what this blog is about? It is about human rights in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict. Last I checked, the Syria’s massacre of its population wasn’t part of the I-P conflict. So keep your comments on topic, read the comment rules & you’ll do OK here. If you don’t, you won’t.

      BTW folks, I think Hasbara Central has just parachuted in a new “consultant.”

      1. Do you really think that folks like “vova” are paid agents of the government of Israel, what with their poor spelling, grammar and even poorer argumentation? Surely, if such an effort existed, the government could hire better English writers at least, and then provide them with appropriate talking points that they could crib from. There’s no shortage of such people in Israel. Anyhow, I hope you and your family are having a happy and meaningful Shavuot.

          1. The hasbara hires are just normal-seeming people given a set of “talking points.” They’re not highly educated, articulate and well informed unless the recruit is already that way when he or she is hired. They’re showing up on the blogs and on Facebook.

          2. Davey makes a good point, but there are many commenters here whose English language skills are quite good. A not very persuasive argument coupled with badly written English seems “authentic” but what’s the point? Someone like vova is hardly going to sway anyone’s opinion.

            If the MFA is spending tens of millions on Hasbara online initiatives that involve paid shills, I for one haven’t seen any evidence of such either online or here in Jerusalem. It’s a small city. I live a 5 minute bike ride from the MFA. So far I’ve met folks from the IDF spokesperson’s unit, the guy that tweets as @israel (and is employed by the government to do so) and maybe one or two others who dabble online as part of their government employment. Had there been a massive government effort to seed online forums and blogs with paid Hasbara agents, I doubt it would have gotten past me.

            That having been said, Mary seems to have some inside information – if you can expand on that Mary, and maybe even identify a couple of these shills, I would find that both entertaining and edifying.

          3. The articles are widely distributed in the Israeli media outlining these intiatives & how much they cost. I think I read $150 million but you can look it up. And all for online hasbara. You might want to more discreet about exposing the level of your intimacy with paid government hasbarists. It might tend to diminish whatever standing you do have (if any) as an independent observer.

            BTW, Mary surely can do what you suggest because each of these hasbarists has a clearly identifiable nametag which identifies him & his specific government affiliation. Or perhaps Mary has a scorecard issued by the MFA which provides their nicknames, real names, addresses, e mails, etc.

          4. A couple of articles on the organized hasbara. Just let me know if you want more informations. You can even study Hasbara at TAU and at Haifa University, and they’ve Hasbarafellowships all year around for foreign Hasbaradim.
            http://972mag.com/hasbara-why-does-the-world-fail-to-understand-us/27551/
            Job offer for Arabs and gays. I don’t know if being gay and Arab gives a little x-tra (maybe a week-end in Edelstein’s settlement) but I know that they love hijab-wearing women as the student they sent to South Africa recently.
            http://972mag.com/ultra-right-propaganda-minister-looking-for-arabs-gays-to-represent-israel/32106/

          5. Richard, like I said, Jerusalem is like a small town. Whatever “intimacy” I have with paid government hasbarists comes from networking events that are open to the public and take place here with some frequency. The focus at most of these things is more on socializing and tech rather than ideology, so you can meet people that work for the government as well as people who work for progressive NGOs. I don’t have to be discreet, just giving you a glimpse into life in Jerusalem. But I’ll look into this $150 million program and see what’s online about it. I mean if it exists. it seems to me to be a pretty miserable failure don’t you think?

            And yes, if Mary has any specific links, I’d love to see them!

            I’m glad you’re keeping track of me, albeit quite badly Deïr Yassin. I fully live in Jerusalem – been here 8 years already. This doesn’t prevent me from traveling on occasion and that’s where you may have been confused. I read about the $2000 scholarships in exchange for 5 hours a week of online Hasbara, I know about Giyus, the Hasbara Fellowships, Stand With US, The Israel Project etc. etc. I guess my point is that I am unaware of any coordinated and effective Israeli govt. program that hires full time shills or sock puppets to go on web sites and promote particular pro govt. agendas. I remember that gay activist pro-Israel video that was so transparent that it was laughable – if that’s what the $150 million is being spent on, then it’s being spent rather badly.

            Finally, is there not the equivalent of the Hasbarah Brigades on the other side of the ideological spectrum? The way some people make it sound, anyone that advances a “pro-Israel” position online is a Hasbarist, while anyone being critical of Israel is just expressing an honest opinion.

          6. A coordinated, well funded counter to Israel hasbara? Indeed, all of us are swimming in Saudi rials & Iranian (whatever their currency is). In fact, I’m amazed when I find out that anyone of us who do this receive any funding from anyone. I know I don’t. But for those who do (I know for example Electronic Intifada is funded by some EU member states & possibly foundations) I say kol hakavod. In fact, I’m a tad jealous.

          7. @ pea
            “Is there not the equivalent of the Hasbarah Brigades on the other side of the ideological spectrum ?”
            I don’t know what you mean by ‘the other side of the ideological spectrum’: like colonialist ideology vs anti-colonial ideology ?
            The Palestinians don’t need hasbara aka propaganda to state their cause: honest historians, many Israelis included have confirmed the Palestinian narrative, they don’t have to send their ambassadors and diplomats to try to prevent documentaries from being broadcasted on 60 Minutes like Michael-There-S-A-First-Time-To-Everything-Bob-Oren.

            How about this new book by Shlomo Sand: The concept of a Homeland.
            The interview is very long, but I really recommend it:
            http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/author-of-the-invention-of-the-jewish-people-vents-again.premium-1.432371
            Not only does Sand deconstruct the myth of Jews in the galut eternally longing for Eretz Israel as a physical place, he also reveals the generalized torture that he saw during his military service – a secret he’s kept for 40 years and that’s had him traumatized for life, he also dedicates the book to the Palestinian village of Sheikh Muwannis on whose ruins TAU, various museums and Sand’s own neighbourhood are standing today.
            You see, history is enough: Palestine doesn’t need any cheap talking points, thruth and justice is on her side. Amîn.

          8. https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2009/07/10/the-israel-projects-secret-hasbara-handbook-exposed/

            http://www.imemc.org/article/62782

            I definitely met one of these people on Facebook. In one of the ‘peace and reconciliation’ groups I ran across a young Israeli man who was consistently rude, accusatory, and posting outright lies when he wasn’t posting propaganda and Islamophobic YouTube videos. I took a look at his profile and then looked at his comment history. The guy had a total of 8 friends, never posted anything on his Facebook wall, belonged to no other groups and spent all day on that one group page, which was created by a settler living in the West Bank. If he wasn’t a paid hasbarist, I’m Mother Teresa.

    2. vova; I appreciate your concern over “human rights”, generally, however these issues have much less to do with US foreign policy and there are other venues on which to discuss those violations of human rights, as barbaric as they may be.

      As Americans we must be primarily concerned with those
      attrocities for which OUR government is partly or wholly responsible for.

      If we are to be of any value to the cause of freedome, we MUST not use the shotgun approach, but FOCUS on one issue at a time

    1. This is breathtaking hypocrisy. I’ve often thought that the US’s destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan had the latent purpose of providing contracts for reconstruction but that Israeli devastation of Gaza was pure meanness, not economic. Wow.

      1. It is hard to tell if it still qualifies as hypocrisy, or as an example of the legendary Jewish sense of humor (or at least an attempt).

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