US-Truppen nach Israel?

Verschiedene Meldungen berichten, dass mehrere tausend US-Soldaten nach Israel verlegt werden sollen, während gleichzeitig israelisches Militärpersonal nach Deutschland zum EUCOM kommen soll:

In one of the most blacked-out stories in America right now, the US military is preparing to send thousands of US troops, along with US Naval anti-missile ships and accompanying support personnel, to Israel. It took forever to find a second source for confirmation of this story and both relatively mainstream media outlets are in Israel. With one source saying the military deployment and corresponding exercises are to occur in January, the source providing most of the details suggests it will occur later this spring.

Calling it not just an “exercise”, but a “deployment”, the Jerusalem Post quotes US Lt.-Gen Frank Gorenc, Commander of the US Third Air Force based in Germany. The US Commander visited Israel two weeks ago to confirm details for “the deployment of several thousand American soldiers to Israel.” In an effort to respond to recent Iranian threats and counter-threats, Israel announced the largest ever missile defense exercise in its history. Now, it’s reported that the US military, including the US Navy, will be stationed throughout Israel, also taking part.

Also confirming the upcoming US-Israeli military missile exercises is JTA.org – ‘global news service of the Jewish people’. In their account, they report, ‘Last week, plans for Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, to visit Israel in January were leaked to Israeli media; his visit likely will coincide with the largest-ever joint U.S.-Israel anti-missile exercise’.

While American troops will be stationed in Israel for an unspecified amount of time, Israeli military personnel will be added to EUCOM in Germany. EUCOM stands for United States European Command.

Das sieht mehr und mehr nach Kriegsvorbereitungen gegen den Iran aus.

Wie sich aus dem verlinkten Artikel und den Kommentaren (die sind teilweise ausgesprochen lesenswert) ergibt, wird diese Aktion äußerst leise gehandhabt. Dass die JP darüber berichtet, ist erstaunlich, in der amerikanischen Presse soll es nichts geben, in der deutschen ohnehin nicht.

Ich selbst muss mich diesmal bei einem der Blogger im “Freitag” für das Auffinden bedanken.

Teenager mit M16s

Was stellt man sich unter dieser Überschrift vor? Muslimische Jungs, die mit scharfen Waffen auf “Ungläubige” Jagd machen?

Denkste. Junge Israelis, die freiwillig bei der Grenzpolizei Dienst tun und es spaßig finden, “illegal aliens” zu verhaften. Diese illegalen Infiltratoren sind meist – Palästinenser, die eigentlich dort zu Hause sind, aber von der Besatzungsmacht nicht die passenden Papiere bekommen.

“I like catching the Palestinian workers,” says Reut. “Generally we look for them because they scare children. The point is to catch them and return them back where they belong.”

Eran, another member of the group, describes the activities with joy: “It’s a fun feeling – you are filled with adrenaline and energy during such operations. We also feel pride for protecting our home. For instance, one time we went to a construction site and found a few of them there. We saw them hiding and we caught them, took their identification cards, sat them down in the vehicle, and called our commander to come check them.”

Das scheint aber nicht der einzige Fall einer verstärkten Zusammenarbeit mit Zivilisten und Siedlern zu sein, stellt Mya Guarnieri in einem Artikel zum gleichen Thema fest:

Haaretz’s article comes just days after the International Middle East Media Center reported that the Israeli army is also using Israeli settlers to help patrol checkpoints in the West Bank. Taken together, the two suggest that the level of cooperation between the army and Israeli civilains who live in the occupied West Bank, in contravention of international law, could be on the rise.

Gaza vor drei Jahren – Gaza lebt

27. Dezember 2008. Ein sonniger Morgen in Gaza. Doch plötzlich bricht die Hölle los. 22 Tage lang bekämpft Israel die 1,6 Millionen im Gazastreifen eingesperrten Palästinenser mit allem, was ein modernes Kriegsarsenal zu bieten hat, bis hin zu weißem Phosphor.

Ein junger Mann, damals grade 19, beschreibt den Tag und die Folgen:

http://electronicintifada.net/content/three-years-ago-normal-morning-turns-horror-gaza/10738

Everything was completely normal, except that the sky seemed clearer than usual with the absence of the Israeli unmanned drones that would fly and buzz in the sky above. No abnormal signs, no reason to worry, and not a single harbinger of an impending war.

My mom was away for the weekly shopping. My sisters, who had been halfway through their day, were back home from school and were already seated before the television, watching cartoons. I made myself a cup of tea and, as is my habit, started to count the pages I had to finish studying that day. Very soon, I was immersed in my book.

A little while later, and all of a sudden, all hell broke loose. I can’t even remember how it all started. It just happened. There was no beginning, and there was no end.

The bombs rained down from every direction. I felt the floor beneath my feet shake so terribly. The entire building shook back and forth with every falling bomb. It seemed as if all the bombs had been dropped in my neighborhood, just next to where I lived.

The bombing was so horrendously ear-piercing. My heart skipped many a beat. Wide-eyed and petrified, my sisters stood transfixed next to me, tightly clutching my arms. I wanted to calm them down, but not until I calmed down myself first. Not until I could get myself to think clearly, and not until I could understand what was happening in the first place.

Ungefähr 1500 Menschen starben, unzählige wurden verletzt. Unter den Toten waren allein 344 Kinder, einige davon erst weniger Monate alt. 2000 Kinder wurden zu Waisen, inzwischen gibt es ca. 53000 Kinder in Gaza, bei denen beide Eltern oder der Vater nicht mehr leben.

Gazas Kinder – mit welchen Erinnerungen leben sie, wachsen sie auf?

 

Doch Gaza und seine Menschen leben weiter. Vergessen wir sie nicht.

 

Alle Bilder mit freundlicher Erlaubnis der Bloginhaberin von http://nevercastleadagain.wordpress.com/in-pictures/

Weihnachten in Palästina

Für Christen ist heute Bethlehem eigentlich der allerwichtigste Ort – dachte ich. Seit gestern sammeln sich bei mir Photos, Artikel und Tweets an, die ich hier zusammenstelle, auch wenn ich das eigentlich nicht geplant hatte.

Joseph Dana war so nett, mir zu erlauben, dieses Bild des palästinensischen Besatzungsweihnachtsbaums, hergestellt aus leeren Tränengaskanistern, für meinen blog zu verwenden:

Von ihm stammt auch das nächste Bild, heute nachmittag in Bethlehem:

Nur, da muss man erst mal hinkommen. Israel gab damit an, dass 500 Christen aus Gaza eine Reiseerlaubnis bekommen würden – mir verschlug es die Sprache. Nach den Oslo-Verträgen sind Gaza und Westbank ein Land, diese Reisehindernisse sind regelmäßig unrechtmäßig, und die “Erlaubnisse” eher eine Frechheit. Außerdem dürfen nur Menschen unter 16 und über 35 reisen – also entweder man reist oder man feiert mit der ganzen Familie. Für Gaza ist es ohnehin noch schwieriger im Allgemeinen.

For Ramy and the 3,000-strong Christian community in Gaza, festive Christmas celebrations go hand-in-hand with isolation and travel restrictions to Bethlehem, despite Israeli public claims to the contrary.

But this year holds hope for a happier occasion, despite the obstacles that Palestinian Christians in Gaza continue to face.

“Christmas helps children remember they are young,” explained Ramy, describing the traditions of the Greek Orthodox community, which celebrates Christmas on January 7. “On Christmas Day we go to our grandmother’s house and my whole family has lunch together. It is a small Eid (feast) but we celebrate for three days, visiting each others’ homes.”

Jaber El Jelda, a distant relative of Ramy, is the director of the Orthodox Church, one of Gaza’s few churches, along with the Baptist Church and Holy Family Catholic Church. He explained how the Orthodox Christian community marks the occasion.

“We organize a party on the first of January and offer children gifts, celebrating Christmas with songs and folklore and the traditional Palestinian dabka dance. We, and members of the Baptist and Catholic churches celebrate in each others’ celebrations. We’re like one.”

Although Christmas in Gaza bears a resemblance to its portrayal in other countries, the echoes are overwhelmingly superficial, as Ramy explained, “We put up a tree in the home and decorate it with bells. We put candles and holly around the house and children receive gifts of money, called eideyya.”

Ramy considers Christmas in Gaza to be disconnected to festivities outside of the siege. “Christmas in Gaza is different; it is a local celebration, not connected to Christmas outside. We don’t really ‘do’ Santa and it’s not like I’ve seen Christmas celebrated in the movies.”

Die Lage Bethlehems ist ohnehin prekär.

Auf diesem Photo von Joseph Dana sieht man oben am Rand die israelische Siedlung Har Homa liegen. Die Siedlungen drohen, langsam aber sicher Bethlehem endgültig von Jerusalem abzuschneiden.

If Joseph & Mary set off to Bethlehem from Nazareth today, they would have 2 cross 11 Israeli checkpoints, & a 30 foot wall via Karen Beatty—
Rae Abileah (@raeabileah) December 20, 2011

Der Guardian dazu ausführlich und mit Hintergründen:

“This really is the big problem for Palestinians in Bethlehem: what will happen when they close us off completely?”

Bethlehem is the heart of Christian Palestine and it swells with pride every Christmas. Manger Square is transformed into a grotto of lights and stalls crowned by a towering Christmas tree. Strings of illuminated angels, stars and bells festoon the streets. But just a few minutes’ drive to the north, the festive atmosphere stops abruptly.

A strip of Israeli settlements built on 18 sq km of what was once northern Bethlehem threatens to cut the city off from its historic twin, Jerusalem. To the Israeli authorities, these have been neighbourhoods of Jerusalem since 1967. One of the settlements, Har Homa, is built on land where angels are said to have announced the birth of Christ to local shepherds. A narrow corridor of land between Har Homa and another settlement, Gilo, still connects Bethlehem to Jerusalem but the construction of Givat Hamatos, a new settlement announced in October, will fill this in a matter of years.

Joseph Dana fasste seine Gedanken dazu heute in zwei seiner berühmten Tweets:

Difficult to comprehend how the millions of Christians around the world have allowed the situation of occupation to get so bad in Bethlehem—
Joseph Dana (@ibnezra) December 24, 2011

Speaking with people here you can't avoid the feeling that Bethlehem has been left out to dry. At least, this is the sentiment expressed—
Joseph Dana (@ibnezra) December 24, 2011

Wie er eben mitteilt, regnet es in Bethlehem, heute, am 24.12.2011, kurz nach 19 Uhr. Das ist gut, hier lieben wir jeden Regentropfen, der das durstige Land erquickt. Regen ist Rahma, eine Gnade.

Palästinensische Kunst – nein danke?

Das Musée de l’Elysé in Lausanne verleiht jedes Jahr den Lacoste-Preis, gesponsort von der Firma Lacoste. Das sind die mit dem Krokodil. Jetzt wurde die Preisverleihung abgesagt. Was war passiert?

Auf der shortlist fand sich unter acht möglichen Preisträgern auch die Künstlerin Larissa Sansour. Sie ist Palästinenserin und lebt in London und Kopenhagen. Sie hatte eine Photoserie eingereicht, in der unter dem Thema „Nation Estate“ symbolisch die Entstehung des Staates Palästina aus der Asche gezeigt wird.

Sie hatte 4000 $ bekommen, um nach freier Wahl eine Fotoserie für die Endauswahl einzureichen. Im November wurden drei ihrer Bilder ausgewählt, die Veranstalter beglückwünschten sie zu ihrem Werk. Dann wurde ihr Name von der Liste gestrichen – plötzlich waren da nur noch sieben Namen zu sehen.

Der Sponsor hatte darauf bestanden, dass sie vom Wettbewerb ausgeschlossen würde. Nach langem Zögern gab es nun auch von dort eine Erklärung:

„Der Nachrichtenagentur AFP zufolge rechtfertigt die Modemarke Lacoste den Ausschluss der Fotografien Sansours von der Shortlist mit der Begründung, ihre Kunst sei auf problematische Weise „pro-palästinensisch“.“

Das Museum hat ihr angeboten, ihre Bilder anderweitig auszustellen, und nach der Erklärung von Lacoste, die eindeutig auf Zensur durch den Sponsor schließen lässt, wurde die Preisverleihung vorläufig abgesagt.

Heiraten mit Hindernissen

Laut Oslo-Abkommen bilden Gaza und die Westbank eine Einheit. Hat auch Israel unterschrieben. Nur, in der Praxis will Israel bestimmen, wer wann von wo nach wo reisen oder gar umziehen darf. Dabei kommt es immer wieder zu äußerst unschönen Ergebnissen.

Amira Hass schrieb über die Fast-Unmöglichkeit für einen Gazzawi, in der Westbank zu heiraten – am Besten den ganzen Artikel lesen, hier ein Auszug:

Like every Gazan, Ehab knows he needs an Israeli permit to enter the West Bank from Jordan. And so well in advance, even before he landed in Amman on December 10 of this year, he contacted Gisha so the legal advocacy group for freedom of movement could submit the application on his behalf. Here are the steps that followed suit:

1. On November 22, Gisha applied in writing to the army’s Coordination and Liaison Office for Gaza and requested a permit for Ehab. For this is one of the bureaucratic rules of the closure and the separation between Gaza and the West Bank: Everyone who has a Gaza address in his identity card and needs any kind of Israeli permit must apply to the liaison office, even if he resides in Ramallah – or New York. Days passed and no answer came.

2. On December 6 Gisha wrote to the Justice Ministry’s department of petitions to the High Court of Justice, a procedure called a “pre-petition” that sometimes gets the authorities to move more quickly. The pre-petition did indeed get something moving.

3. On the very same day the answer came back: Ehab must direct his request to the Palestinian Civil Affairs Committee in the Gaza Strip, and only after the committee forwards the request to the Israeli side will the Israel authorities consider it. (The civil affairs committee serves as the postman between Palestinians and the Israeli liaison office, which makes the decisions. ) Logical? Not very.

4. The Coordination and Liaison Office knows that the Palestinian Civil Affairs Committee does not accept requests to enter the West Bank from Gazans who are not physically in Gaza. Why not? Because according to the Palestinian committee, the army’s liaison office usually declines to even process them.

5. Nevertheless, on December 8, Ehab’s mother filed a request with the Palestinian Civil Affairs Committee in Gaza (which is subordinate to the Civil Affairs Ministry in the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah ), asking for permission for him to enter the West Bank via the Allenby Bridge in order to become engaged to marry. The civil affairs committee acceded to the pleas of Gisha and sent the request to the military liaison office. Days went by and no answer came.

6. On December 14 Gisha petitioned the High Court of Justice with a request to allow Ehab to enter the West Bank for a defined period, to ask for the hand of the woman he wants to marry, who is slated to join him in the United States.

7. On the same day Gisha received a reply from the liaison office’s center for public applications. It was dated December 13. The name of the person who wrote it was not noted, but that person’s superior officers are Col. Khatib Mansour, the head of the Coordination and Liaison Administration for Gaza, and Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot, coordinator of government activities in the territories.

The reply states: “Firstly, we will note that in accordance with the working procedures agreed upon with the Palestinian Authority, all applications concerning entry of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory must be addressed to the Palestinian Civil Affairs Committee, which constitutes the body responsible for coordination, prioritization and transfer to the Israeli side of applications from Palestinian inhabitants of the Judea and Samaria District and the Gaza Strip. Moreover, it should be noted that at the present time, in light of the current political and security situation, entry of Gaza Strip residents into Israel is not allowed apart from exceptional humanitarian cases with emphasis on urgent medical cases.

“For details of all the criteria … you are invited to enter the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories site on the Internet… Specifically, let it be made clear immediately that after looking into your client’s matter is has been decided to refuse his request [emphasis added].”

Seit 1997 wurden die beiden Gebiete immer mehr voneinander abgeschnitten. Zunächst war ein Gazzawi, der sich ohne israelische Erlaubnis in der Westbank aufhielt, ein Illegaler. Nach neuerer Gesetzeslage gilt er als Eindringling, der ohne weiteres deportiert werden kann. Tolle Autonomie.

Die zensierte Kunst der Kinder Gazas

Kinder aus Gaza, die den Überfall Israels 2008/2009 erlebt hatten, malten Bilder. Diese sollten im September im Museum of Children’s Art in Oakland (MOCHA), ausgestellt werden – doch die Ausstellung kam auf israelischen Druck nicht zustande.

Die Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), die die Bilder ersatzweise an anderer Stelle ausstellte,  hat nun die Bilder in Buchform produziert und das Buch kann man erwerben.

Matthew Cassel

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JustImage

Book of censored Gaza children’s artwork published

Submitted by nora on Sat, 12/03/2011 – 15:48

Artwork made by children in Gaza who lived through Israel’s attacks in the winter of 2008-09 and exhibited by the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) in the Bay Area is now available in book form in order to reach a wider audience.

The collection of original artwork was scheduled to be exhibited in September by the Museum of Children’s Art in Oakland (MOCHA), but due to intimidation and pressure from Israeli lobby groups, the museum canceled the exhibit at the last minute.

MECA immediately sprung into action and arranged for the artwork to be shown at a vacant gallery space around the corner from the children’s museum. Days before the doors opened, MOCHA’s board told MECA’s executive director Barbara Lubin that they could reinstate the exhibit at the original museum space, but that the collection would have to be “modified.”

Lubin and MECA responded:

We at MECA made a commitment to the children of Gaza to share their experiences and perspectives, and consider any modifications to the art exhibit as a form of censorship. Children everywhere deserve to be heard, but we have an even greater responsibility to listen to the stories of children under siege and who survived Israel’s brutal military assault in 2008-2009.

In a press release for the book’s publication, MECA states that the drawings featured in A Child’s View from Gaza: Palestinian Children’s Art and the Fight Against Censorship ”serve as part of the historical record of the horror inflicted on the Palestinian people during Operation Cast Lead as experienced by children. Photos of the aftermath and the recent efforts by pro-Israel groups to censor the children’s art are also highlighted in the book.”

They added:

With beautiful, high-resolution print images of the exhibit, the book also features a special foreword by celebrated author, Alice Walker, as well as an essay by MECA Executive Director, Barbara Lubin, describing the struggle against the censorship.

As we approach the three-year anniversary of Israel’s brutal assault on the Gaza Strip, in which over 1400 civilians were killed including 352 children, the need to support the ones who survived to tell their stories and the trauma they experienced through art is now more crucial than ever.

The book is available for order on the MECA website.

 

Via: electronic intifada

Obamas fragwürdiger Umgang

Ich kann von mir sagen, dass ich mich bei der Obamania außen vor gehalten habe – eigentlich, weil ich fürchtete, dass er als relativer Neuling vom Establishment einfach an die Wand gedrückt werden würde.

Ich hatte nicht mit vielen Dingen gerechnet, die er nun so tut. Auch und schon gar nicht, dass er sich von einem solchen Mann hochjubeln lässt:

Yoffie is a major Obama campaign surrogate, whose endorsement is featured on a pro-Obama website createdby the liberal Zionist Israel lobbying group, J Street.

While Yoffie proclaimed during his introduction of the President, “Our movement stands for openness and embraces pluralism,” he has gone on the record in support of ethnic separation.

Earlier this year, Yoffie published the transcript of an argument he had with a right-wing friend who helped him lobby against the Palestinian Authority’s bid for statehood at the UN. He entitled the piece, “I prefer to live with Jews.”

Yoffie’s argument went as follows:

[Yoffie]: I care about humankind, but I love my own group a bit more. I am more comfortable with them. I care more about them, just as I care more about my family than other families. Without a two-state solution, Israel will not longer be a state for my group; it will be a bi-national state without a clear Jewish identity. That is not the kind of place where I, or most Israeli Jews, will want to live.

[Right-wing friend]: Are you saying you don’t want too many Arabs in the Jewish state?

[Yoffie]: Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying.

Amidst a wave of mosque burnings and racist, anti-democratic laws aimed at driving Palestinian citizens of Israel out of the country, a key Obama surrogate — a self-proclaimed liberal, no less — has declared explicit support for planning and maintaining Israel’s ethnic majority at the expense of its indigenous minority population — something Israeli leaders call “Judaization.” “I don’t apologize for my views because I don’t apologize for Zionism,” Yoffie stated.

Die muslimische Welt hatte teilweise große Hoffnungen in ihn gesetzt. Statt dessen kann Israel machen, was es will – DIESER Präsident wird keinen Palästinenser schützen.

Luxus: Schlafen ohne Angst

Gerade las ich einen Artikel eines jungen Palästinensers aus Ni’lin. Er beschreibt, wie er vor kurzem einige Zeit in Europa verbrachte. Es habe dort viele wundervolle Dinge gegeben. Aber vor allem:

But the most important thing that I have experienced was how it is to sleep in safety and without fear and stress for 3 months. It was the most amazing experience of my life.

Mir kamen die Tränene. Hunderttausende von Kindern, die nicht wissen, wie es ist, schlafen zu gehen in dem Bewusstsein, bis morgens friedlich und ungestört im Bett bleiben zu dürfen.

Der Artikel handelt aber vor allem davon, dass es kurz nach der Rückkehr nach Ni’lin einen nächtlichen Überfall der IOF gab, und der jüngere, 18jährige Bruder heute morgen um 10.30, nach Ofer einbestellt wurde. Bei diesen Vorladungen weiß man nie, wann jemand wiederkommt.

Netanyahu will Israel nicht liberaler als Europa haben – also Verbot von Adhan

Die derzeitige israelische Regierung plant immer mehr Gesetze zur Einschränkung von Rechten insbesondere der nichtjüdischen Einwohner. Nun soll es an die Religionsausübung gehen: der Gebetsruf, der Adhan, soll auf den seit 1948 besetzten Gebieten verboten werden. Begründung: in Europa dürfen die Muslime ja auch den Adhan nicht hörbar rufen.

Laut einem Artikel in der Haaretz hatten wenigstens einige Abgeordnete den Anstand, dagegen zu protestieren.

Am Rande: hier in Jordanien wurde letzten Freitag für eine Moschee gesammelt, die ganz dicht an der Grenze zu Israel gebaut werden soll. Ich hoffe auf viel Ostwind.