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Israelis leave their land, forced out by a battered economy and years of violence
(Justin Huggler, The Independent, 20 November 2003)
New figures from the Immigration and Absorption Ministry stunned the establishment. Those figures show 760,000 Israeli citizens now live abroad. The ministry says its figures are an informal estimate, based on research by Israeli embassies around the world. . . . Even so, for a country of just 6,600,000, it is a large number. But the big surprise was the growth in the number of Israelis living abroad: in 2000, it was 550,000. That increase has undoubtedly been fuelled by the suicide bombings and other attacks by Palestinian militants over the past three years, and by the severe recession into which the Israeli economy has been plunged. . . . Israel is now said to be as crowded as India: those 6,600,000 people live in a small country. But the Israeli government continues to encourage Jewish immigration, offering generous financial incentives to new arrivals. The reason is that Israelis fear they are sitting on a demographic time bomb. . . . The results of a recent study by Israeli academics unnerved even the right-wing supporters of Mr Sharon. The study found that by the year 2020, in just 17 years, Palestinians will be the majority in the whole area of Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. That raises the possibility of the Israeli right's worst nightmare: that Palestinians might stop demanding a state of their own and start asking for the vote. That could spell the end of Israel's identity as a Jewish state, something most Israelis want to keep. . . . Israelis leave the country for many reasons. Ms Max says she and her family did not decide to go because of the violence. "I'm leaving because I've always wanted to," she says. "I came here as a Zionist but found Israeli culture was very different from what I was used to." . . . Ms Max's neighbours in Jerusalem did leave because of the suicide bombings. "They said they were too frightened for their children to stay here," Ms Max says. "They went back to Australia, where they had come from. But they said it was very difficult to start a new life." . . . Because Ms Max's former husband is American, her children have US citizenship. In Israel's immigrant society, many Israelis have second passports, and can leave the country easily. In the past year, embassies in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary have had long queues of second-generation Israelis claiming their right to their parents' old citizenship. . . . today, more Jewish people from the former Soviet Union are emigrating to Germany than Israel, and some who arrived in the Nineties have left, frustrated by not getting jobs to match their qualifications. In a country full of doctors, a medically qualified migrant from the former Soviet Union can end up a cleaner. . . . A new situation is beginning to emerge in which some Palestinians are suggesting demographics is their greatest weapon, and that they should use it against Israel. "Sharon is building the wall because he wants to squeeze Palestinians into cantons on half of the West Bank," Professor Ali Jirbawi, of the West Bank's Bir Zeit University, says. "They want to call half of the West Bank 'Palestine' so they can squeeze the Palestinians into as small a space as possible and allay their own fears of the demographic effect in the future." . . . Professor Jirbawi is advocating that the Palestinians should set a six-month time limit on negotiations for a two-state solution. "We should say we accept a two-state solution, but that it means going back to the 1967 borders, and a fully independent and sovereign Palestinian state. We should give them six months. If there is no decision, we should say Israel, by its own choice, doesn't want a two-state solution. If Israel wants a one-state solution we accept; but 20 years from now, we're going to ask for one person, one vote." . . . "If you look at all the surveys of public opinion, the one issue that unites the Jewish population of Israel is that more than 90 per cent say they want to retain a Jewish majority. The problem of the right wing is that they want a Greater Israel including the occupied territories, without any withdrawal. The irony is by doing that they invite a bi-national state."

posted by LoZo 10:47 AM

 

Palestinian crusader wins peace prize
(Tony Stephens, The Sydney Moring Herald, August 9, 2003)
Hanan Ashrawi, the outspoken advocate for the Palestinian cause, has won the 2003 Sydney Peace Prize. . . . However, the jury's choice, which was unanimous, has already drawn heated opposition from the Jewish community. . . . The director of the Sydney Peace Foundation, Professor Stuart Rees, said yesterday that the foundation had come under pressure not to confirm Dr Ashrawi as the winner. . . . The announcement was delayed for several months but Dr Ashrawi will give the Sydney Peace Prize Lecture on November 5 and receive the prize from the Premier, Bob Carr, in the NSW Parliament on November 6. . . . Professor Rees said Dr Ashrawi won for "her commitment to human rights, to the peace process in the Middle East and for her courage in speaking against oppression, against corruption and for justice". . . . Dr Ashrawi said from her home in Ramallah that she was honoured to receive the prize, adding: "In the Middle East and elsewhere an award for peace sends an important message. . . . "Women contribute to peace by sustaining life and making it meaningful. Women all over the world have to work against the forces of dehumanisation. . . . "Peace has to be embedded in human rights and can never incorporate injustices and discrimination." . . . Archbishop Tutu said: "No one could be more deserving of this prestigious award. Against daunting odds she has remained committed to finding a peaceful solution to what seems an intractable problem." . . . Stella Cornelius, a member of the peace foundation jury and of the Jewish community, said: "This is a choice which gives an opportunity for wider dialogue on peace and conflict resolutions, social justice and human rights. As such it is a good choice."

posted by LoZo 5:04 PM

 

Jewish settlers wreck fruit of centuries of toil to force out Palestinian villagers
(Chris McGreal, The Guardian, November 14, 2003)
The annual olive harvest in the occupied territories has once again been rocked by Jewish settlers and their now routine assaults on Palestinian pickers to plunder their crop. . . . Rights groups estimate that more than 1,000 trees have been damaged or destroyed in recent weeks, some planted in the Roman era. Among the victims are Mr Yusuf and his neighbours in Sawiya village, south of Nablus. "We used to think they just wanted our olives, but it's about land," he said. "They want to expand their settlement: by cutting the trees, they can say the land is neglected and no one is taking care of it. And it's their excuse for getting their hands on it." . . . The assault on Mr Yusuf's trees came from an outpost of the Jewish settlement of Eli. "It was the first day of picking and we worked for three or four hours," said Mr Yusuf, the head of Sawiya's council. "I myself had picked five sacks when the settlers came down the hill with knives and guns. They slashed open our sacks and emptied the olives on to the ground. They put guns against our heads and made us stand there while they did it. . . . "The settlers have built a road near the bottom of the hill. They told us that we are not allowed to cross the road any more and that all the land the other side, all our olive trees up the hill, are now theirs." . . . The people of Sawiya estimate that 250 trees, the livelihood for 10 extended families, were badly damaged or destroyed. But, as it is too dangerous to climb near the settlement, they cannot count precisely. . . . But, as Yitzhar's spokesman, Yossi Peli, readily admits, the settlers' intent goes beyond security. "The trees grow back and ultimately we hope to harvest them in the place of the unwanted inhabitants of the area," he said. . . . Men from Yitzhar, a religiously militant settlement with a history of violence against Palestinians, have terrorised olive pickers from their land with guns and clubs, and destroyed hundreds of trees. In one incident, the settlers beat a 70-year-old man, stripped him, and forced him to walk back to his village naked. . . . One leftwing Israeli member of parliament, Ephraim Sneh, visited the scene, and blamed the government. "Who did this? The residents of Hilltop 725," he said. "That is a settlement outpost the government of Israel undertook to remove, but didn't; now the army is forced to guard it. We're talking about a group who live at the state's expense, with the state's protection, and do things no Jew can accept." . . . the gangs of olive-tree cutters. They are dangerous because they and their kind will never allow any calm with the Palestinians - and that makes them another terrorist infrastructure."

[COMMENT: These Jewish settlers are beasts, nothing but savage, unclean beasts and should be treated as such. They no longer deserve any protection or sympathy from the world community.]

posted by LoZo 4:16 PM

 

A change in Israli public opinion? Maybe
(By Anat Cygielman, Haaretz, 2 November 2003)
Some 100,000 people gathered Saturday night in Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, to mark the eighth anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, the day after unknown vandals daubed swastikas on a momument at the site and scrawled graffiti across a poster of the slain prime
minister. . . . "Yitzhak was right and his chosen path was right, although it is still blocked by mountains of resistance," said Peres. . . . Rabin was assassinated by right-wing extremist Yigal Amir at the end of a peace rally at the site on November 4, 1995. . . . Despite Peres' words, the anniversary commemoration was not just a memorial service, but possibly the largest left-wing demonstration this country has seen for years. . . . the banners held up were all political, and very specific: "Leave the territories - save the country," "The Geneva Accord - New Hope." . . . The evening was touching and poignant. There were no angry shouts, no atmosphere of a fight. A polite, well-dressed, crowd listened quietly to the speeches and songs and clapped in all the right places but not too much. . . . "The evil beast has once again raised his head," said Levy. "They have returned to here, to the memorial. A reminder for those who may have forgotten... We will come back here, year after year, to say 'yes' to peace, 'no' to violence." . . . Peres, meanwhile, also had praise for the Palestinian prime minister as a partner in peace talks. "I know Ahmed Qureia; he's not an Israeli patriot, he's a Palestinian patriot who believes terror must be fought," he said. "Ahmed Qureia is a man of action, and I am convinced today that there is a partner for talks and for actions." . . . A large picture of Rabin hung behind the stage, with the words "Eight years since the murder." Many of the people in the crowd carried banners saying, "There is no other way." Peace Now, a veteran group of peace activists, hung a large sign, and a handful of people held signs saying, "Sharon go home." . . . Rabin's daughter, Dalia Rabin-Pelossof, told the crowd that the strongest army could not decide the outcome of a battle that could only be won by dialogue and mutual compromise. . . . "The only path of peace is compromise, which will bring prosperity. Without peace, our achievements will be lost," she said.

posted by LoZo 5:45 AM