Israel Crackdown Puts Liberal Jews on the Spot
OPS_admin | Mar 16, 2010 | Comments 0
Chris Hedges -
The Israeli government, its brutal war crimes in Gaza exposed in detail in the U.N. report by Justice Richard Goldstone, has implemented a series of draconian measures to silence and discredit dissidents, leading intellectuals and human rights organizations inside and outside Israel that are accused—often falsely—of assisting Goldstone’s U.N. investigators. The government of Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to shut down Israel’s premier human rights organizations, including B’Tselem, the New Israel Fund (NIF) and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. It is busy expelling or excluding peace activists and foreign nationals from the Palestinian territories. The campaign, if left unchecked, will be as catastrophic for Palestinians as it will be for Israel.
The Goldstone report, which is over 500 pages, investigated Israel’s 22-day air and ground assault on Gaza that took place from Dec. 27, 2008, to Jan. 18, 2009. The United Nations and the European Parliament have endorsed the report. The report found that Israel used disproportionate military force against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip while failing to take adequate precautions to protect the civilian population against the military assault. The Israeli attack killed 1,434 people, including 960 civilians, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. More than 6,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, leaving behind some $3 billion in destruction in one of the poorest areas on Earth. No Israelis were killed by Hamas rockets fired into Israel during the assault. The report did not limit itself to the 22-day attack; rather, it went on to indict the occupation itself. It examines the beginning of the occupation and condemns Israel for the border closures, the blockade and for the wall or security barrier in the West Bank. It has two references to the right of return, investigates Israeli torture and criticizes the willful destruction of the Palestinian economy.
Full Story: Chris Hedges: Israel Crackdown Puts Liberal Jews on the Spot – Chris Hedges’ Columns – Truthdig.
Filed Under: Mid East
Comments (0)
-
The oligarchs openly talking about a coup d'état in America?
Multi-millionaire lobbyist Grover Norquist is calling for the impeachment of President Obama. In an interview with the right-wing National Journal - Norquist warned that if President Obama wins re-election and decides to let the Bush tax cuts for the top 2% expire at the end of the year - then Republicans will "have enough votes in the Senate in 2014 to impeach [him]."What does that mean? It means that the super rich in America - and their political operatives like Norquist in Washington, DC - have now compared a tiny tax increase on the wealthy to high crimes and treason - the only Constitutional basis Congress can use to impeach a President. It sounds like the oligarchs are now openly talking about a coup d'état in America.-Thom(Do you think will try it? Tell us here.) -
LEGALIZE Democracy
" We the corporations" On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government. __________
MOVE to AMEND
a project of the CAMPAIGN TO LEGALIZE Democracy
Help end Corporate personhood
-
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. 
