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Sunday, October 29, 2006

Hamas evil, Israeli fascists ok


Hmmm, the Palestinian Government is being financially suffocated because of Hamas, yet the Israeli Government have just taken in the far far far far far far right Yisrael Beitenu party into their coalition without any problem.

In a frightening but long expected move, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has brought the Yisrael Beitenu party into his coalition government. The party's leader, Avigdor Lieberman, is to be vice prime minister and, as "Minister for Strategic Threats," a key member of Israel's "security cabinet" in charge of the Iran portfolio.

Yisrael Beitenu is a dangerous extremist party with fascist tendencies that has openly advocated the "transfer" of Palestinians, including the transfer of Arab towns within Israel to a Bantustan-like future Palestinian entity. It has made clear that a Jewish supremacist state is more important than a democratic one. The party, whose strongest base is among Russian immigrants brought to Israel in the 1990s, surged at the Israeli election earlier this year, taking eleven seats in Israel's 120 seat Knesset.

In an interview with an Israeli newspaper in September, Yisrael Beitenu leader Lieberman said: "The vision I would like to see here is the entrenching of the Jewish and the Zionist state...I very much favour democracy, but when there is a contradiction between democratic and Jewish values, the Jewish and Zionist values are more important." (Scotsman, October 23, 2006)

In addition to espousing ethnic cleansing, Lieberman has a long history of inciting discrimination, hatred and violence against Palestinians within the Jewish state and living under Israeli military occupation in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. When he served as minister of transport in a previous government, Lieberman called for all Palestinian prisoners held by the Israeli occupation authorities to be drowned in the Dead Sea and offered to provide the buses ("Lieberman blasted for suggesting drowning Palestinian prisoners," Ha'aretz, July 11, 2002). He has proposed to strip the citizenship of, and expel any Palestinian citizen of Israel who refuses to sign a loyalty oath to the Jewish Zionist state ("A Jewish demographic state," Ha'aretz, June 28, 2002).

In 2002, Lieberman declared, "I would not hesitate to send the Israeli army into all of Area A [the area of the West Bank ostensibly under Palestinian Authority control] for 48 hours. Destroy the foundation of all the authority's military infrastructure, all of the police buildings, the arsenals, all the posts of the security forces... not leave one stone on another. Destroy everything." He also suggested to the Israeli cabinet that the air force systematically bomb all the commercial centers, gas stations and banks in the occupied territories (The Independent, March 7, 2002). And, he has proposed bombing Egypt's Aswan Dam, despite that country's peace treaty with Israel since 1979. What will he propose to do to Iran?

7 Comments:

At 30/10/06 5:14 pm, Blogger karlos said...

All I can do about issues like this is urge people to write to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister:

* Requesting that the NZ government condemn the inclusion of an extremist racist movement in the Israeli government.

* Demand that Israel renounce violence and recognise the right of a Palestinian state to exist. This is demanded of Hamas as a condition to restoration of aid and lifting of sanctions. The same should be applied to Israel.

* Request that NZ sever relations with Israel until it renounces violence and recognises the right of a Palestinian state to exist.

* Request that NZ sever relations with Israel until Israel takes steps to implement UN Security Council Resolutions 252, 262, 267, 271, 298.

* Urge the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Israel until it renounces violence and recognises the Palestinians right to an independent State.


Why would you write such a preposterous letter? What difference will it make?
Probably little, but if NZ does take such a harsh stand, as it did during the passport fraud scandal, it sends a message to the rest of the world:
"If the little country can, so can we".

 
At 30/10/06 5:20 pm, Blogger karlos said...

Also add UN Security Council Resolutions 446, 452, 465, 471, 484, 487, 497, 573, 592, 605, 607, 799, 904, 1073, 1322, 1402, 1435...

 
At 30/10/06 9:27 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Like the 'left-wing' governments of Israel did any good for the Israeli people, let alone the Palestinians. But that's just my cynical take on it. This recent move comes as no surprise. Olmert needs to appease the crazed ring-wingers to make up for the Lebanon disaster. Guess this is one way of doing it. Moreover, the aftermath of the Lebanon fiasco exposed Israel's vulnerability and weaknesses. Israeli society tends to seek comfort in its extreme elements at such times of 'crisis'-where its historical insecurity rears its ugly head.

-Anti-Flag.

 
At 1/11/06 7:48 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"the aftermath of the Lebanon fiasco exposed Israel's vulnerability and weaknesses. Israeli society tends to seek comfort in its extreme elements at such times of 'crisis'-where its historical insecurity rears its ugly head."

This is the tragedy of it all.
Israel is a military superpower in the Middle East.
Israel is geographically secure. It isn't going anywhere.
Now if they could get over this collective insecurity, and engage constructively with it's neighbours, perhaps there could be a modicum of peace and stability in the region.

 
At 1/11/06 9:46 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I once heard a quote that was interesting in relation to the this issue. "If the Arabs put down their arms tomorrow there would be peace. If the Israelis put down their arms tomorrow there would be war".
I agree with the above in that Israel isn't going anywhere, but can they really move beyond their 'collective insecurity"? If history is an indicator the future is not bright for this region.

 
At 1/11/06 11:39 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous 1/11/06 9:46 AM said...

If the Arabs put down their arms tomorrow there would be peace.

Yes, do keep telling the Arabs, the easiest way to stop a war of invasion is to surrender unconditionally. Oh why won't they listen?

If the Israelis put down their arms tomorrow there would be war.

Yes, if Israel disarms then those they have invaded will take the opportunity to kick them out again. I wonder why that is.

- Nobody.

 
At 1/11/06 5:36 pm, Blogger karlos said...

‘Nobody’ is straight on the money there.

“If the Arabs put down their arms tomorrow there would be peace.”

That’s brilliant. What arms exactly? The homemade rockets that the Palestinians use? Or the Soviet era rockets that Hezbollah have?

If these two groups put down their arms tomorrow, Israel would occupy and annex Gaza, West Bank and as much of Lebanon as it could get away with.
Israel has never declared it’s borders and is constantly encroaching on it’s neighbours territory. Many Israelis believe that God has given them all the land from the from the Nile to the Euphrates, and that they can take it by force.

 

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