Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forum'Enraged' Israel summons Swedish envoy over FM's remarks
Source: Reuters
'Enraged' Israel summons Swedish envoy over FM's remarks
JERUSALEM/STOCKHOLM | BY DAN WILLIAMS AND ANNA RINGSTROM
Israel summoned the Swedish ambassador on Wednesday to convey what it described as its "rage" at a call by Stockholm's top diplomat for an investigation to determine whether Israeli forces were guilty of extrajudicial killings of Palestinians.
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom's remarks on Tuesday were the latest in a series of statements to stoke Israeli resentment that has simmered since the Scandinavian country recognized Palestinian statehood last year.
The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem said in a statement that it called in Swedish Ambassador Carl Magnus Nesser to reprimand him over what it deemed "another statement by her (Wallstrom) that attests to her biased and even hostile attitude to Israel".
It said Nesser was also told of "the rage of the government and people of Israel at the skewed portrayal of the situation".
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-sweden-idUSKCN0UR2KL20160113
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)The allegations about extrajudicial killings of Palestinians do have merit, and should be investigated.
Pathetic.
shira
(30,109 posts)What's pathetic is Jews are being attacked again, and for defending against those attacks they are condemned more than the terrorists.
That's fucked up.
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)Reliable Human Rights organizations like B'Tselem and Amnesty International has highlighted this issue, which is very serious. This must be investigated thoroughly for Israel's own sake.
Extrajudicial killings and use of excessive force by Israeli security personnel
Source: Wikipedia
On 22 September, Palestinain woman Hadeel al-Hashlamon was killed at a checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron while on her way to school. The official account of the Israeli Defense Forces was that al-Hashlamon had a knife and was shot whilst attempting to stab a soldier. However, eyewitness reports were conflicted as to whether or not she held a knife; the Army has refused to release video recordings of the shooting.[50] Amnesty International published a report stating that evidence showed the shooting of al-Hashlamon was an extrajudicial killing.
During October, at least 68 Palestinians were killed by Israel military and border police forces, 43 of whom were identified by the IDF as attackers in incidents such as stabbing, vehicular and gun attacks, though the interpretation of some of these incidents as 'terrorist' attacks has been questioned. In the same month, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, Israeli operations aimed at suppressing or dispersing demonstrations and protests in many of which stones, rocks and Molotov cocktails are thrown injured an estimated 8,262 Palestinians, 2,617 by gun wounds, 760 by live fire, 1,857 by rubber-coated steel bullets.[88]
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported on November 9 that 3,000+ Palestinians have been injured, of them 1248 Palestinians have been shot with live army rounds and 1,808 have been shot with rubber-coated steel bullets; 1,008 of them required hospitalization and 800 received treatment by field medics.
In a B'Tselem report from 16 December 2015, the human rights' organization listed twelve incidents in which Israeli soldiers and other security forces allegedly used excessive force against Palestinians, by shooting the assailants or suspected assailants even after they no longer posed any danger. B'Tselem has accused Prime Minister Netanyahu of overseeing a "new pseudo-normative reality" in which a "shoot to kill" approach should always be adopted by police officers or armed civilians regarding suspected Palestinian assailants.
In a poll done by the Israel Democracy Institute, a majority of Jewish Israelis (53%) said they agreed with the statement that "any Palestinian who has perpetrated a terror attack against Jews should be killed on the spot.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict_(2015%E2%80%93present)#Extrajudicial_killings_and_use_of_excessive_force_by_Israeli_security_personnel
Unjustified use of lethal force and execution of Palestinians who stabbed or were suspected of attempted stabbings
Source: B'Tselem, 16 Dec 2015
This wave of violent assaults is appalling, and clearly Israels security forces must protect the public and use the force necessary to that end, as determined by the circumstances. The law on this matter is also clear: shooting to kill is permissible only in cases that a person poses mortal danger to others. However, in at least some of the cases, firing at the assailants did not cease even after they no longer posed any danger. Some were injured and lying motionless on the ground when they were shot dead. In other cases, the very use of live gunfire seems excessive. Some cases were summary executions, without the benefit of law or trial.
The large number incidents in the past two months, some of which are described below, reflect the chilling chasm between the normative position which prohibits this type of shooting and the present reality and public mood that considers shooting to kill valid in all cases and circumstances, even when the suspect no longer poses any danger. In this way, soldiers, police and armed civilians become judge, jury and executioner.
This reality is a direct result of inflammatory language used by ministers and elected officials. Admittedly, in an official response the office of Minister Gilad Erdan sent BTselem, the minister conceded that in accordance with the law and open fire regulations, there is no authorization to carry on firing at a person who has been neutralized and no longer poses any danger. Yet the sentiments Erdan voiced in public , whereby every terrorist must know that he will not survive the attack he is about to perpetrate, are the ones that receive publicity and support. The prime minister - by keeping silent in the face of such statements - authorizes the implementation of this policy. BTselem appeal to the prime minister on this matter has received no answer to date, and with the exception of a weak protest by the Attorney General in this regard, authorities have kept silent on this matter in the public sphere.
Below are twelve cases that received much media coverage and whose particulars were examined by BTselem. The information available on these cases paints a grave and alarming picture of excessive and unwarranted use of lethal gunfire, which in some cases was tantamount to the summary execution of assailants or suspected assailants. In two other cases, there is concern that soldiers denied medical care to Palestinians who were shot after assaulting Israelis and were then pronounced dead in hospital, where they were eventually taken.
Read more: http://www.btselem.org/gunfire/20151216_cases_of_unjustified_gunfire_and_executions
Israel/OPT: Investigate apparent extrajudicial execution at Hebron hospital
Source: Amnesty International, 12 November 2015
Eyewitnesses report that a large group of Israeli soldiers and police entered the hospital at 2.43am disguised as Palestinian civilians, with some wearing keffiyehs and fake beards and another being pushed in a wheelchair dressed as a pregnant woman. According to two witnesses Amnesty International spoke to, they entered a room on the third floor of the hospital where 20-year-old Azzam Azmi Shalaldah was a patient, to arrest him on suspicion of stabbing an Israeli civilian on 25 October.
When they entered the room where the patient was in bed, they immediately shot his cousin, Abdullah Azzam Shalaldah, at least three times, including in the head and upper body.
The fact that Abdullah Shalaldah was shot in the head and upper body suggests this was an extrajudicial execution, adding to a disturbing pattern of similar recent incidents by Israeli forces in the West Bank which warrant urgent investigation, said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.
Israeli forces must immediately cease their use of intentional lethal force against people who are not posing an imminent threat to life.
Read more: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/11/israel-opt-investigate-apparent-extrajudicial-execution-at-hebron-hospital/
shira
(30,109 posts)Last edited Sat Jan 16, 2016, 10:54 AM - Edit history (2)
Classy organization there.
Amnesty is no better as they defend their fellow neo-fascist Israel haters at B'tselem. Anyone defending what Ezra Nawi does is a scumbag. Until I see other human rights organizations that are allied with B'tselem calling them out on that vileness, they can all fuck off. No one should take them seriously on Israel.
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)I trust them explicitly, and I've never had any reason to doubt them. Your assertions are completely groundless, to put it nicely.
shira
(30,109 posts)In fact, B'tselem has defended both Ezra Nawi and his friend from B'tselem.
Neo-fascist scumbags motivated and blinded by hate - supported by their Israel hating friends at Amnesty, HRW, etc... - there's really no other explanation other than hatred. It's certainly not about human rights, so let's not play games here.
They can all fuck off.
Similar to UN declarations and resolutions condemning Israel, demanding investigations. These are the same UN scumbags who support UNRWA incitement to murder Jews.
They can fuck off too.
Israeli
(4,159 posts)....calm down .......I am really worried about your blood pressure ....maybe you need some good news to cheer you up ?
Try here .....
http://www.timesofisrael.com/settlers-to-be-indicted-for-attack-on-palestinian-photographer/
what are you talking about?
shira
(30,109 posts)Prominent Israeli Lefties Caught Entrapping Palestinians Trying To Sell Them Land
The story was first reported yesterday by Uvda, a prestigious Israeli television news magazine that is the local equivalent of 60 Minutes. The two activists are Nasser Nawaja, a Palestinian and a prominent field researcher for the human rights group BTselem, and Ezra Nawi, a Jewish resident of Jerusalem and a key figure in the pro-Palestinian, pro-BDS group Taayush. They were secretly recorded by members of another NGO, called Ad Kan, who then delivered the tape to Uvdas reporter Omri Assenheim.
Hes not the first to call me, hes maybe the fourth, Nawi bragged on tape, while speaking of a Palestinian real estate agent who contacted him with offers of land for sale to Israelis. And right away I send their pictures and their phone numbers to the Palestinian security services.
Speaking off camera, an unnamed Ad Kan activist asks Nawi what the PA does then.
They catch these guys and they kill them, Nawi says.
Physically kills them? asks the Ad Kan activist, sounding surprised.
Yes, Nawi replies, grinning widely.
Both Nawi and Nawaja are among the most internationally renowned members of Israels radical left. Earlier this year, Nawaja published an anti-Israeli op-ed in The New York Times, accusing the Jewish state of dispossession and oppression. Nawi is considerably more prominent: when he was arrested, in 2007, for attacking Israeli policemen during a West Bank demonstration, more than 20,000 peopleincluding a long list of prominent Israeli academics as well as progressive American celebrities like Noam Chomsky and Naomi Kleinsigned a petition demanding his release.
Responding to the piece with a statement on its Facebook page, BTselem said that while it opposed tortures and executions, reporting Palestinians interested in selling land to Israelis to the PA was the only legitimate course of action.
http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/196483/prominent-israeli-lefties-caught-entrapping-palestinians-trying-to-sell-them-land
https://www.facebook.com/StandWithUs/videos/10153415555057689/
bemildred
(90,061 posts)(Too far away is it? Well bomb Lebanon or Syria then, or the Sinai, the Sinai is good now, al Sisi says bomb all we want there.)
Who is we? Unless you're assuming Israel is part of the USA?
bemildred
(90,061 posts)King_David
(14,851 posts)azurnoir
(45,850 posts)Israeli
(4,159 posts)Now that would really start a civil war .....so long as its not this week ....they have a sale on right now and my daughter and I are going on a shopping spree this Wednesday .
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Israel has little to look forward to with these whiney deluded egotists in charge.
Edit: I keep thinking of Erdogan and Turkey when these things are talked about for some reason. Has nothing to do with Erdogan, right? Maybe it's the whiney deluded egotists that they have in common.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday called for a reset in relations with the European Union, accusing it of unfairly singling out Israel.
In addition to attacking the EU for its decision to label settlement goods, Netanyahu for the first time publicly accused the EU of building illegal constructions in the West Bank in an alleged bid to create political realities there.
We have to reset our relationship with the EU. I hope we can do this on better terms, the prime minister told foreign journalists in Jerusalem. He added that he had recently discussed the tense bilateral ties with the unions foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini. I said we have to figure out a way to resolve and set things on the right course, he said.
There is a natural tendency in the EU establishment to single out Israel and treat it in ways that other countries are not being dealt with, and especially other democracies, he said. And I think its wrong. I think it should be corrected.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-calls-for-resetting-israels-ties-with-europe/
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)Source: Jerusalem Post
Danny Ayalon contributed an analysis to 'The Jerusalem Post' Hebrew-language sister publication 'Ma'ariv'.
The deceitful and contemptible remarks by Swedens foreign minister, Margot Wallstrom, were not made by her own volition. She received and still receives backing from the Swedish prime minister, and her words represent the thoughts and opinions of the people of Sweden.
Wallstrom is turning the victims into perpetrators. Instead of talking about the Palestinians who are committing stabbing attacks, she blames their victims. Her latest comment regarding Israels supposed excessive use of force is also a lie.
She singles Israel out while refusing to talk about the bloodletting in Afghanistan, Paris, and other places. She mentions nothing about terrorists who were killed by the security forces in those areas. Wallstrom is undermining the unity of the Western world, which is defending itself from threats. This is something that she shouldve understood.
Wallstroms specialty is exercising political and populist skills, and this is her intent here as well. Swedens demographics are changing. Malmo has become almost entirely a Muslim city. The foreign minister knows that the Muslim community in Sweden is a source of support for her.
Read more: http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Time-for-Israel-to-close-its-embassy-in-Sweden-former-deputy-FM-says-441646
King_David
(14,851 posts)More important than almost any other country in the world....
As does just about every human rights organization , every pension fund , every political person on the Internet and DU too.(does any other country get as much attention and replies to threads in latest breaking news - despite having its very own group)
Any other country have as many outsiders ( non Jews and non Muslims) interested in it than Israel has?
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)One doesn't have to be Jewish or Arab to fully appreciate just how crazy the current Israeli leadership is. It's as if they get their cues from "Saturday Night Live"...
shira
(30,109 posts)....the murder of Jews. Defending public money that goes towards terrorism, paying salaries to terrorists depending on the severity of their crimes. Wallstrom portrays the Holocaust denying Abbas as a pacifist who wants peace and she doesn't demand anything from him.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)which is a neo-Nazi hate site, what makes this new fascism so attractive to some is that it focus's on Muslims, Arabs and Africans
shira
(30,109 posts)Last edited Sun Jan 17, 2016, 08:57 AM - Edit history (1)
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)shira
(30,109 posts)azurnoir
(45,850 posts)Ekeroth later invoiced the Swedish newspapers who used the film or stills from the event. For example, Svenska Dagbladet received an invoice of 51,725 Swedish kronor (c. 5,500 Euros). Ekeroth has denied connections to the far-right news site Avpixlat though he has been found to govern the anonymous editorial staff via emails and the site uses his personal bank account for its finances.[16] Avpixlat has been called a "hate site" for its expressions of violence and xenophobia Ekeroth has also denied publishing any articles at the news site, but was quickly found to have published articles as recently as one month before his denial. The tax authorities also found him legally obliged to pay taxes on those donations to Avpixlat, of which 70,000SEK had immediately been further transferred to other private accounts owned by Ekeroth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Ekeroth
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Though, thankfully, that seems to have been retired or at least put on hiatus.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)King_David
(14,851 posts)azurnoir
(45,850 posts)King_David
(14,851 posts)Last edited Tue Jan 19, 2016, 08:08 AM - Edit history (1)
Anti Jewish Bigoted sites such as Mondoweiss, who has trashed Bernie Sanders many times, should not be welcomed here on DU .... It's an insult especially to the American Jews in our group targeted by that website and the other group members should respect that too.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)and disagreement with someone about Israel's current trajectory and the role of support that the US and some American Jews such as Sheldon Adelson play in that does not make one an anti-semite just as support of such things does not make one an Islamophobe
45. In the year we have a Jewish Democratic contender
View profile
Anti Jewish Bigoted sites such as Mondoweiss, who has trashed Bernie Samsers many times, should not be welcomed here on DU .... It's an insult especially to the American Jews in our group targeted by that website and the other group members should respect that too.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1134&pid=123541
King_David
(14,851 posts)I know it when I see it ... I am an American Jew... Think we can't recognize it when we are the targets? Think I need to be told when the group I am a part of is the target?
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)King_David
(14,851 posts)I think in this group the American Jews are quite competent to judge bigotry against American Jews and we have expressed our views .
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)but your difference in opinions with Phil Weiss doesn't make Weiss a bigot either
King_David
(14,851 posts)Especially in our group... And there's only 2 posters here that really dispute it.
Those of us who are part of the group targeted by the bigotry are in total agreement that the website is a hate fest on us American Jews.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)and once again you make assumptions about who is part of what group
King_David
(14,851 posts)azurnoir
(45,850 posts)King_David
(14,851 posts)azurnoir
(45,850 posts)ya know what they say "one in every minyan"
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)but I didn't find anything that tickled my fancy.
However, I did notice that all the articles about Israel at Mondoweiss were in the negative, and there was nothing positive on Israel. I think that's an inaccurate depiction of Israel, and while there are some negative aspects with Israel, it's not all doom and gloom.
I think the guys at Mondoweiss should cheer up a little bit.
shira
(30,109 posts)It's absolutely shameful people here continue to post from Hamas supporting organizations or individuals who incite terror against Jews.
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)Now, when there haven't been any OPs from there, I'm starting to miss them. I do think that OPs from Mondoweiss contribute to a fuller spectrum of POWs on DU. OPs from Mondoweiss also help creating interesting discussions, as there are a some who agree strongly with Mondoweiss and some who strongly disagree. At the same time, the charges of anti-Semitism at Mondoweiss are groundless as far as I'm concerned.
I have no objections at all to OPs from Mondoweiss.
shira
(30,109 posts)Or is there no amount of evidence that would suffice?
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)So far, I've only seen a lot of criticism of Israel on Mondoweiss, and most of it well founded too. You've tried to persuade me before that Mondoweiss is an anti-Semitic site, but as I believe that you have to actually dislike Jews to be an anti-Semite, it didn't stick.
I also know that you sometimes post articles from questionable sites like Jewish Press (a Kahanist site, according to some), so maybe our views of what constitutes a hate site differ slightly.
shira
(30,109 posts)....to convince you it's a hate site?
Examples?
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)Source: Global Research, March 23, 2015
Look carefully, look tenderly, dont turn away. Please dont turn away as all the nations of the world have, for decades, turned away from Palestine.
Hamza is Palestine.
Look carefully at Israels savage violation to his once perfect little body when on the 25th July 2014, Israels soldiers loaded and fired pale blue artillery shells that discharged white incendiary rain on Gaza in hundreds of phosphorous-impregnated felt wedges as Hamza and his family slept.
Imagine the agony Hamza suffered from the moment the white phosphorous struck and burrowed through his soft three year old skin. Phosphorous burns are only contained by blocking off oxygen but the extreme pain and, as you can see, the horrific tissue damage endures.
Hamzas father and two siblings were also burnt but luckily their injuries were less severe. Imagine the wounded familys terrifying walk through the night to the nearest hospital.
Read more: http://www.globalresearch.ca/israels-every-day-terrorism-crimes-against-palestinian-children-for-hamza-arms-sanctions-against-israel/5438212
Warning: Graphic content.
If you can find anti-Semitic crap like this on Mondoweiss, and there's no good explanation for it being there, that would be a good step towards convincing me...
shira
(30,109 posts)Little Tich
(6,171 posts)I don't have a list of critera for what constitutes a hate site, but in general it's about actively promoting incitement against a group of people in one form or the other, in this case in the form of racism.
I'm sorry if I can't be more precise.
shira
(30,109 posts)Here is the full article by Gideon Levy justifying & inciting terror (stabbing & car-rammings) attacks against Jews...
http://www.haaretz.com/misc/iphone-article/.premium-1.680443
How is that not racist incitement against a group of people?
=============================================
Gilad Atzmon incited against Jews when he argued that torching a synagogue is a rational act. I quoted that for you, but you insisted nothing was wrong with that either.
Explain to me please.
shira
(30,109 posts)Little Tich
(6,171 posts)views.
Don't lose your moral compass, and please stop heaping bizarre accusations you can't prove on people and organizations that you don't agree with. Ekroth isn't a nice guy, his hatred for Muslims, Arabs and Africans border on the obsessive, and he's done and said some nasty things in the past. Ekroth is an Israel (right-wing) supporter, which separates him from the majority of Swedes who support his xenophobic views, but don't let that fool you.
Be careful with what you post.
shira
(30,109 posts)Israeli
(4,159 posts)In interview with Der Spiegel, former president rejects accusations that Abbas is inciting to terror: 'Abbas is a very courageous man. He wants peace and he fights terror.'
Daniel Betini
Published: 01.17.16, 10:20 / Israel News
Former President Shimon Peres claimed in an interview with German weekly Der Spiegel that the Palestinian frustration over the freeze in peace talks is part of what's fueling the recent wave of terror attacks against Israelis.
"This terror is a revolt. Many young people in the world today are attracted by the totalitarianism of terror. The situation (in Israel) is part of this development - but at the same time it is different. We should have two states. There is only one. This contributes to the fact that young Palestinians are against us. Israel often does not see the real reasons. Israel does not see this protest. It only sees the killings," Peres said.
The interview was published on Saturday, but conducted before Peres suffered a heart attack last week.
n it, the former president levels harsh criticism against the Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and rejects the accusations that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is inciting to violence.
"Abbas is a very courageous man. I met him many times and negotiated with him directly. He wants peace and he fights terror," he said.
He said the extremists on the Jewish side are only a small group and that Israel was fighting Jewish terrorism, while at the same time expressed concern of the incitement against his successor, President Reuven Rivlin.
"This is unquestionably awful, and we must stand against it," Peres said, noting he does see similarities to the incitement that preceded the murder of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Source : http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4753906,00.html
shira
(30,109 posts)Last edited Sun Jan 17, 2016, 09:35 AM - Edit history (1)
For example, the latest knife attacks.
He hasn't even attempted to condemn them.
Israeli
(4,159 posts)Forgive me for asking ....but ... it would not surprise me if you did not .
shira
(30,109 posts)I take it you're very aware of Abbas' terror activities, but for some reason that doesn't bother you.
I'm wondering why that is.
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)But yes, Margot Wallström is supportive of Abbas and the Palestinian cause. I don't think her views on that particular subject are anything other than what's considered mainstream in Sweden. A regime change in Sweden wouldn't change that either.
shira
(30,109 posts)Actually neo-Nazi.
Wallstrom and those like her cannot be taken seriously.
Israeli
(4,159 posts)shira
(30,109 posts)I want to know.
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)Abbas doesn't "incite, praise, & reward the murder of Jews", he's trying to make it stop. Margot Wallström is trying to do what is morally right, even though I think the Swedish support for the two-state solution is misguided - that train left the station a long time ago. There's nothing "neo-Nazi" or even "neo-fascist" with being a moderate or pro-peace like Abbas and Wallström.
shira
(30,109 posts)Find one example proving how moderate and pro-peace Abbas really is WRT this stabbing intifada.
It's easy to find Abbas encouraging, praising, and rewarding all this carnage.
shira
(30,109 posts)...that all we know about Abbas on the recent stabbing intifada is that he's all for it - and refuses to condemn these knife attacks.
OTOH, you'll find the most rightwing Israeli government officials all condemning in the harshest terms Jewish terror (like Dawabshe).
Try making sense of that. Seriously.
I'm curious - how do you explain that?
Response to Eugene (Original post)
shira This message was self-deleted by its author.