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How Israel is Engineering the "Clash of Civilizations"
(Jonathan Cook, Counterpunch, September 23/24, 2006)
The fresh claims about a new anti-Semitism began life in the spring of 2002, with the English-language website of Israel's respected liberal daily newspaper, Haaretz, flagging for many months a special online supplement of articles on the "New anti-Semitism", warning that the "age-old hatred" was being revived in Europe and America. . . . Like its precursors, argued Israel's apologists, the latest wave of anti-Semitism was the responsibility of Western progressive movements -- though with a fresh twist. An ever-present but largely latent Western anti-Semitism was being stoked into frenzy by the growing political and intellectual influence of extremist Muslim immigrants. The implication was that an unholy alliance had been spawned between the left and militant Islam. . . . Netanyahu proposed "lancing the boil" by beginning an aggressive public relations campaign of "self-defence". A month later Israel's president, Moshe Katsav, picked on the softest target of all, warning during a state visit that the fight against anti-Semitism must begin in Germany, where "voices of anti-Semitism can be heard". . . . But, as ever, the main target of the new anti-Semitism campaign were audiences in the US, Israel's generous patron. There, members of the Israel lobby were turning into a chorus of doom. . . . In the early stages of the campaign, the lobby's real motivation was not concealed: it wanted to smother a fledgling debate by American civil society, particularly the churches and universities, to divest -- withdraw their substantial investments -- from Israel in response to Operation Defensive Shield. . . . The first aim, and possibly the best understood, was to stifle all criticism of Israel, particularly in the US. During the course of 2003 it became increasingly apparent to journalists like myself that the American media, and soon much of the European media, was growing shy of printing even the mild criticism of Israel it usually allowed. By the time Israel began stepping up the pace of construction of its monstrous wall across the West Bank in spring 2003, editors were reluctant to touch the story. . . . As the fourth estate fell silent, so did many of the progressive voices in our universities and churches. Divestment was entirely removed from the agenda. McCarthyite organisations like CampusWatch helped enforce the reign of intimidation. . . . Sharon took advantage of the manufactured climate of fear in July 2004 to claim that France was in the grip of "the wildest anti-Semitism", urging French Jews to come to Israel. . . . The third goal, however, had not seen before. It tied the rise of a new anti-Semitism with the increase of Islamic fundamentalism in the West, implying that Muslim extremists were asserting an ideological control over Western thinking. It chimed well with the post 9-11 atmosphere. . . . In this spirit, American Jewish academics like David Goldhagen characterised anti-Semitism as constantly "evolving". . . . This final goal of the proponents of "the new anti-Semitism" was so successful because it could be easily conflated with other ideas associated with America's war on terror, such as the clash of civilisations. If it was "us" versus "them", then the new anti-Semitism posited from the outset that the Jews were on the side of the angels. It fell to the Christian West to decide whether to make a pact with good (Judaism, Israel, civilisation) or evil (Islam, Osama bin Laden, Londonistan). . . . We are far from reaching the end of this treacherous road, both because the White House is bankrupt of policy initiatives apart from its war on terror, and because Israel's place is for the moment assured at the heart of the US administration's neoconservative agenda.

[Click the link above to read the complete article.]

posted by LoZo 8:11 AM

 

Non-Aligned Nations Slam Israel's Aggression
(Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post, September 20, 2006)
A Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) "final document" praising Lebanon for its "heroic resistance to the Israeli aggression" has irked government officials in Jerusalem because some countries with close bilateral ties with Israel are a part of the movement and, as such, ostensibly signed off on the resolution. . . . According to the 143rd clause of the 280-clause final document, "The Heads of State or Government expressed solidarity with and support for the Government and people of Lebanon, hailed their heroic resistance to the Israeli aggression, and emphasized the primordial importance of Lebanon's national unity and stability." . . . Among the NAM members are India, Thailand, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Philippines, Honduras and Guatemala, all countries with which Israel has strong relations. . . . "A document like this is used by all those who want to censure Israel, saying 'look what a 118-country movement has to say,'" the official said. . . . He added that it gave a "kosher certificate" to the most blatantly anti-Israel rhetoric. . . . As expected, other clauses in the document that dealt with Israel and the Palestinians were extremely critical. . . . For instance, clause 135 "strongly condemned Israel's continuation and escalation of its military aggression against the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip" and said that "such unlawful actions by the occupying Power constitute grave breaches of international law, i.e. reported war crimes, for which the perpetrators must be held accountable and brought to justice."

posted by LoZo 5:01 AM

 

General says 'troops died for political spin'
(Ynet News, 14 September 2006)
Former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon continued his attack against the military and political echelons in the aftermath of the war in Lebanon and called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and current Chief of Staff Dan Halutz to resign. . . . In an interview to "Haaretz" magazine, Yaalon slammed the decision to launch a ground operation, during which 33 soldiers were killed. . . . "This move was part of a (political) spin; it had no distinct military purpose," he said. "It was aimed at providing a sense of victory. You cannot act in such a way. You do not send soldiers to carry out a futile mission after the political results have already been determined. To me this is corrupt." . . . Asked specifically whether the soldiers died for the sake of a political spin, Yaalon said "Yes, and this is why people must resign. You do not need a commission of inquiry for this; those who made the decisions should take responsibility and step down." . . . "Olmert cannot say 'I didn’t know.' Even if he does not have military experience and never acted as defense minister, he knows how you go to war; this is not how it’s done. . . . Yaalon didn't spare Halutz either, saying, "He should have resigned as soon as the operation ended. The IDF chief of staff failed in managing the war. He gave the political echelon a feeling it had more ability than it actually did to accomplish a political victory with aggressive military action. . . . He added: "Halutz went into the war without defining it as a war, maybe without realizing it was a war. He didn't understand the significance of the steps he was taking. He didn't recruit the reserves in time, he didn't open the military war reserves store unit in time, and he didn't activate senior command positions. He ran the war from an office."

posted by LoZo 10:26 AM

 

IDF commander: We fired more than a million cluster bombs in Lebanon
(Meron Rappaport, Haaretz, 13 September 2006)
"What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in cluster bombs," the head of an IDF rocket unit in Lebanon said regarding the use of cluster bombs and phosphorous shells during the war. . . . Quoting his battalion commander, the rocket unit head stated that the IDF fired around 1,800 cluster bombs, containing over 1.2 million cluster bomblets. . . . In addition, soldiers in IDF artillery units testified that the army used phosphorous shells during the war, widely forbidden by international law. According to their claims, the vast majority of said explosive ordinance was fired in the final 10 days of the war. . . . The rocket unit commander stated that Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) platforms were heavily used in spite of the fact that they were known to be highly inaccurate. . . . The basic rocket fired by the platform is unguided and imprecise, with a range of about 32 kilometers. The rockets are designed to burst into sub-munitions at a planned altitude in order to blanket enemy army and personnel on the ground with smaller explosive rounds. . . . The use of such weaponry is controversial mainly due to its inaccuracy and ability to wreak great havoc against indeterminate targets over large areas of territory, with a margin of error of as much as 1,200 meters from the intended target to the area hit. . . . The cluster rounds which don't detonate on impact, believed by the United Nations to be around 40% of those fired by the IDF in Lebanon, remain on the ground as unexploded munitions, effectively littering the landscape with thousands of land mines which will continue to claim victims long after the war has ended. . . . Because of their high level of failure to detonate, it is believed that there are around 500,000 unexploded munitions on the ground in Lebanon. To date 12 Lebanese civilians have been killed by these mines since the end of the war. . . . It has come to light that IDF soldiers fired phosphorous rounds in order to cause fires in Lebanon. An artillery commander has admitted to seeing trucks loaded with phosphorous rounds on their way to artillery crews in the north of Israel. . . . A direct hit from a phosphorous shell typically causes severe burns and a slow, painful death. . . . International law forbids the use of weapons that cause "excessive injury and unnecessary suffering", and many experts are of the opinion that phosphorous rounds fall directly in that category. . . . The International Red Cross has determined that international law forbids the use of phosphorous and other types of flammable rounds against personnel, both civilian and military.

posted by LoZo 7:22 AM

 

Russia calls for independent investigation of Israel's cluster bomb use
(RIA Novosti, September 9, 2006)
The Russian foreign minister said Friday that Russia supports an independent investigation into Israel's alleged use of cluster bombs in Lebanon. . . . "I believe that in the interests of everyone and for the sake of turning this page, it is necessary to hold such an investigation, to determine the facts and to not leave any disagreements," Sergei Lavrov said. . . . Israel's military operations in Lebanon began July 12 after the radical Islamic group Hizbollah killed three Israeli servicemen and captured two others in a cross-border raid. . . . Before the August 14 ceasefire, Israeli military operations claimed the lives of about 1,000 Lebanese civilians, forced nearly a quarter of the country's population to flee their homes, and demolished large parts of the country's infrastructure. . . . "In the last days and hours of the Lebanese war, when the UN resolution 1701 was already coordinated, many questions arose concerning how the war was waged and why such intensity was displayed after the resolution had been concluded," Lavrov said. . . . He said Israel claimed that all the weapons it used in Lebanon conformed to international norms and conventions. . . . "An investigation is being held now by request of the Lebanese authorities," the minister said. "I believe it will do no harm if an independent source will help to clarify the situation."

posted by LoZo 6:55 PM