Newswire

For Palestinians, May 15 represents 64 years of Nakba suffering. Survivor testimonies bare witness. No words adequately explain their catastrophe. An unnamed Jew said:

"I am writing through tears. I wept when I saw the photo of the ruined village of al-Sanbariyya because it was my former brother-in-law who helped destroy the village and the lives of those who lived there."

"My now deceased brother-in-law was born in Los Angeles and after World War II decided he wanted to live in Palestine. He met his wife-to-be at a training camp somewhere in the midwest."

"While at the camp many of the people decided they wanted to build a kibbutz in then Palestine. I am not sure that they gave a thought to the fact that they would be taking the lands of others. But then, I don't know. I wasn't there."

"As a Jew who was raised to believe in justice for all peoples, I believe that it is my obligation to speak out about Israel and to try in whatever way possible to bring about a better life in Palestine for the people who belong there... The people who were so cruelly evicted from their lands."

A Palestinian also shared memories, saying:

"I cannot forget three horror-filled days in July of 1948. The pain sears my memory, and I cannot rid myself of it no matter how hard I try."

"First, Israeli soldiers forced thousands of Palestinians from their homes near the Mediterranean coast, even though some families had lived in the same houses for centuries."

"My family had been in the town of Lydda in Palestine at least 1,600 years. Then, without water, we stumbled into the hills and continued for three deadly days."

"The Jewish soldiers followed, occasionally shooting over our heads to scare us and keep us moving. Terror filled my eleven-year-old mind as I wondered what would happen."

"I remembered overhearing my father and his friends express alarm about recent massacres by Jewish terrorists. Would they kill us, too?"

"We did not know what to do, except to follow orders and stumble blindly up the rocky hills. I walked hand in hand with my grandfather, who carried our only remaining possessions-a small tin of sugar and some milk for my aunt's two-year-old son, sick with typhoid."

Survivors remember Deir Yassin. On April 9, 1948, Israeli soldiers entered the village violently. They machine-gunned houses randomly. Many inside were slaughtered.

Remaining villagers were assembled and murdered in cold blood. Among them were children, infants, the elderly and women who were first raped. Estimates place the death toll up to 120.

An eyewitness said:

"I was (there) when the Jews attacked....(They) closed on the village amid exchanges of fire with us. Once they entered the village, fighting became very heavy in the eastern side and later it spread to other parts, to the quarry, to the village center until it reached the western edge."

"The Jews used all sorts of automatic weapons, tanks, missiles, cannons. They enter(ed) houses and kill(ed) women and children indiscriminately. The (village) youths....fought bravely."

The ensuing fighting killed dozens more. Many other villages met the same fate. It was well planned, systematic slaughter. It was about seizing as much land as possible, leaving behind the fewest number of Arabs.

In December 1947, Palestinians outnumbered Jews more than two to one. David Ben-Gurion ordered them removed, saying:

"Every attack has to end with occupation, destruction and expulsion."

He meant slaughter, displace, and depopulate. Erase a proud history. Replace it with a Jewish one.

Mass killing, dispossession, and destruction followed. From Jerusalem, Lifta ruins are visible. Rubble piles only were in Dayr Aban. Except for two houses, Barqa was destroyed.

Jura became Ashqelon. In al-Faluja, only wall fragments and the village mosque foundation remain. Hundreds of other Arab villages met similar fates. Jewish-only development replaced them.

Across Palestine, survivors recounted gruesome horrors. Arabs were shot in cold blood. Women were raped. Hundreds of thousands were displaced. One day they hoped to return. Those alive still wait.

The Nakba's untold story reflects a cultural catastrophe. More on it below.

On May 15, Haaretz called Nakba "part of Israel's history," saying:

Netanyahu doesn't understand that Israel's national anthem "addresses only one people, the Jewish one."

Few Israelis know or remember the Nakba catastrophe. For Palestinians, it reflects "the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of refugees and their millions of relatives, for whom May 15 - the day the establishment of the State of Israel was announced - symbolizes the day they lost their land, property and status."

Israelis never accepted responsibility for Palestinian suffering. "But washing our hands....should not mean revoking the right to remember it. Nor is it supposed to prevent us from empathizing with the suffering of the other nation living in Israel."

The effort put into "wiping out the Nakba's memory is astonishing and outrageous." It's suppressed in textbooks. Israel's Nakba Law bans commemorations.

Enacted as the Budget Foundations Law, Israel's finance minister may reduce or eliminate funding for any institution or entity engaging in activities contrary to Israel's definition as a "Jewish and democratic" state.

It also prohibits mourning Israel's Independence Day. In other words, Arab history, culture, and right to express, teach, or disseminate it freely is violated. Discrimination faces anyone not Jewish.

Palestinians won't forget. Neither should Jews. Something this important can't be swept aside or forgotten. Nor can those with painful memories be denied the right to remember and mourn.

Nakba remains embedded in Palestinian consciousness. Israeli laws and ruthlessness won't erase it.

On May 15, AFP headlined "Palestinians Mark NAKBA with protests, strike," saying:

Early Tuesday, clashes broke out between police and demonstrators. Ramallah held a large rally. Others followed throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

"The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee (representing Israeli Arab communities) called for a general strike and for Arab-Israelis to visit the sites of former Palestinian villages."

Extra Israeli security forces confronted demonstrators. In 2011, clashes caused deaths and injuries.

Maan News followed events throughout the day. Regular updates were posted. In Ramallah's Clock Square, sirens commemorated the day. Thousands throughout the Territories demonstrated and marched. Palestinian flags were prominently displaced.

Israeli extremists clashed with Tel Aviv University students. They held a Nakba day memorial service in commemoration. On Sunday, efforts to stop it failed.

Hamas released a statement, saying:

"Countries which contributed to the Nakba of Palestine, namely Britain, must do penance for their sin by stopping Israeli aggressiveness."

Clashes erupted outside Ofer Prison. Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Over 80 injuries were reported.

Nakba's Untold Story

On May 15, the Palestine News Network published "Nakba - the Untold Story of a Cultural Catastrophe." It remains an unhealed wound. Palestinians lost more than homes, land, and personal possessions. They lost their homeland and way of life.

Collective memory recalls pre-1948 days. Palestine's culture thrived. Its economy was one of the region's most prosperous. Tourism flourished. In 1944 and 1945, the Arab Bank paid shareholders a 24% dividend.

In 1919, Falastin became a daily newspaper. The same year, Miraat Al-Sharq was established. It was published until 1939 when British authorities shut it for printing an "inciting poem." The Palestine Broadcast Service was relied on. By the mid-1940s, Jerusalem had 24 bookshops.

From 1911 to 1948, 161 newspapers, magazines, and other publications covered news, literary topics, the arts, humor, sports and medicine.

In 1914, Palestine had 379 private schools, including 95 elementary and three secondary ones. During the 1919-20 school year, 10,662 Palestinian students were enrolled in public schools. In 1922-23, it was 19,331.

By 1942, Palestine had the second highest regional elementary school enrollment. Lebanon ranked first. In 1947-48, 868 Palestinian schools, staffed by 4,600 teachers, taught 146,883 students.

Except for a law school and teacher's college, Palestine had no universities. Instead, students went abroad for higher education. Thousands took advantage.

In 1927, 23 printing establishments published dozens of books. Topics included literature, history, economics, politics, the sciences, and other fields.

Palestinian musicians and singers performed. So did other regional ones and theater groups. In 1896, the French Lumiere brothers produced a film in Palestine. Other European filmmakers followed them.

In 1937, the Arab Cinema Company offered shares to the public. In 1945, Ibrahim Sirhan founded the Palestine studio. He and Mohamad Kayali established the Arab Film Company.

In 1935, the first Palestinian film was produced. It was a 20-minute documentary about the Saudi Arabian king's visit to Palestine. Other productions followed.

From 1922 - 1948, at least 43 theater companies performed dozens of plays. So did schools. Jerusalem alone had around 30 theater groups.

Palestinian drama, literature, poetry, literary criticism, other writing, and arts productions flourished.

The Nakba catastrophe destroyed a vibrant, prosperous way of life. Besides slaughter, displacement, and destruction, soldiers, militias and civilian volunteers collected books and other culturally significant items.

The National Library of Israel documented them as AP (Abandoned Property). Access to them requires special permission. For Palestinians, it's not easily obtained.

A project called "The Great Book Robbery" sought to include them in a virtual library. A documentary recounted the tragedy. It covered a 100 years from the mid-19th to 20th century. Topics include history, literature, poetry, language, religion, foreign books, technology, medicine, and a government report on the 1947 school curriculum.

For Palestinians, the Nakba reflects an ongoing journey of pain, loss and injustice. Collective memory remains. Fundamental rights weren't restored. Daily life replicates a tortured past.

Assaulting Palestinian culture continues. In March and April 2002, Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 libraries and other information collections. Lost were government archives, public and academic libraries, and others belonging to NGOs and private institutions.

Palestinians once lived in peace with neighbors. Britain and Zionist extremists changed what's so far not restored. A collective dream never died. It won't until fulfilled.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

Hunger Strike Aftermath

Hunger Strike Aftermath

by Stephen Lendman

As they say, it's not over 'till it's over. Palestinian prisoners have been mass hunger striking since April 17. Others began earlier. Some hadn't eaten for two months or longer.

On May 14, a deal was announced. Egypt negotiated one with the Israel Prison Service (IPS) and striker representatives. Palestine Prisoners Society head Qadura Fares confirmed it. So did Israeli authorities.

Independent verification didn't follow. Nor did full clarification of terms. Israel's adept at creating considerable opt out wiggle room. Deals aren't always as they seem. Broken ones reveal charades.

Israel offered concessions. Prisoners agreed to terms. Some remain vague. The devil's in the details. What's ahead remains uncertain. Israel's history reflects promises made and broken. Palestinians know well.

For decades, peace process hypocrisy betrayed them. Oslo was a Palestinian Versailles. Subsequent deals were one-way. Israel alone benefitted. Expecting hunger strikers to fare better is problematic.

Last October, Israel agreed to swap hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for Gilad Shalit. After release, many are repeatedly hounded, monitored, and threatened. Others were rearrested and imprisoned. No one's safe in Occupied Palestine. It's a militarized armed camp.

On May 14, Bilal Diab and Thaer Halehel reached hunger strike day 77. Early reports said they'd continue unless immediately freed. Updates said both agreed to resume eating in return for release when their current detentions end.

For Thaer, it's June 5. Bilal will be freed in August. Both will receive public hospital treatment. It's unclear if all prisoners agreed to terms. Some strikes have been long-term. It's unknown if issues mattering most to everyone are resolved.

It's uncertain if Jamil Khatib was present and agreed to terms. He represents Bilal and Thaer. Israel consistently denied prisoners attorney access. Instead Jawad Boulos represented them. He arranged deals for Khader Adnan and Hana Shalabi.

Khader's free at home in the West Bank. Hana was deported to Gaza. Boulos and PA authorities said she agreed to terms. She and her father challenged official reports. She demanded clarification of issues not explained. She never got them to her satisfaction.

Currently at issue is whether deal terms represent victory or betrayal. Bilal, Thaer, and others vowed to keep striking unless freed. They're still imprisoned with no certainty what awaits them.

Moreover, thousands of Palestinians remain imprisoned. Virtually all are detained for political reasons. Among them are 220 children, seven women, and 27 Palestinian lawmakers.

Israel calls challenging occupation harshness illegal. So is belonging to the wrong political party. Virtually anything can be called terrorism. Life under occupation, in or out of prison, is cruel and unusual punishment.

Israel violates civil and human rights with impunity. Palestinians never got fair treatment, don't now, and won't easily ahead. Israel has contempt for anyone not Jewish. Even many Jews are treated harshly. Imagine how much worse Palestinians fare.

Israel wanted resolution before Nakba Day. Security force violence usually accompanies it. Concern reflected greater public passion if IPS authorities and prisoners remained deadlocked. Whether Israeli concessions match official reports remains very much uncertain.

Addameer was pleased with developments so far. At the same time, it expressed concern that Israel won't implement policy changes.

According to Addameer attorney Ahed Abu Gholmeh, nine hunger strike committee members met Monday. The written agreement contained five main provisions.

Prisoners would resume eating after signing. Long-term isolation will end, including for security reasons. Nineteen isolated prisoners will return to the general prison population within 72 hours. Gazan families will have visitation privileges restored.

Israeli intelligence assures that a committee will be formed to facilitate meetings between the IPS and prisoners. Improving incarceration conditions will be discussed. Details on what this means, if anything, weren't mentioned.

Current administrative detainee terms won't be extended when expire, unless so-called secret evidence is serious. Of course, that's in the eye of the beholder and Israel alone will decide.

"Addameer has observed that Israel has consistently failed to respect the agreements it executes with Palestinians regarding prisoners’ issues."

"For this reason, it will be essential for all supporters of Palestinian political prisoners to actively monitor the events of the next few months to ensure that this agreement is fully implemented."

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) expressed similar relief and concern about whether Israel will follow through as promised.

The fullness of time will determine what mass hunger strikes gained, if anything. Until then, be skeptical.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

US/Israeli Special Relationship

US/Israeli Special Relationship

by Stephen Lendman

Strategic interests largely benefitting Israel, not shared values, are at issue. Washington doesn't provide the Jewish state more aid than all other nations combined because of historic binding ties.

On March 25, 1948, Harry Truman met secretly with Chaim Weizmann (Israel's first president). He pledged support for the future Jewish state. Minutes after midnight on May 15, 1948, America was the first country to extend recognition.

A special relationship began. Thereafter it's grown financially, politically, militarily, diplomatically, and counterproductively. Israel clearly benefits. America loses more than it gains. Serious reassessment is long overdue.

On many issues mattering most, the Israeli tail wags the US dog, whether or not Washington's interests are served.

Both countries threaten world peace. United they endanger humanity. On February 9, 2010, an Intelligence Squared debate resolved: "The US should step back from its special relationship with Israel," saying:

"Israel believes America’s special relationship is vital. It is, certainly, to Israel. But what about for the US? Israel has no oil, enemies in many places, and a tendency to defy Washington when it perceives its own interests to be threatened, which is not infrequently."

Does America's relationship do more harm than good? Is it time to step back and reconsider? These and related issues weren't resolved. Raising them publicly served a purpose.

A packed New York University student union showed people want answers they haven't gotten. Together these pariah states menace humanity. Breaking up is long overdue.

In their book titled "The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy,” John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt argue that Israel is "increasingly a strategic liability....It is time for the United States to treat Israel not as a special case but as a normal state, and to deal with it much as it deals with any other country."

Doing so "means no longer pretending that Israel and America's interests are identical, or acting as if Israel deserves steadfast US support no matter what it does."

James Petras said "(t)he US-Israeli relationship is the first in modern history in which the imperial country covers up a deliberate major military assault by a supposed ally."

He referred to the 1967 USS Liberty attack. Israel bombed and strafed it. Dozens of US seamen were killed. Around 170 were wounded. The vessel was heavily damaged. Israel got away with murder. It wasn't the first or last time.

From then to now, the relationship strengthened. Today more than ever it threatens world peace. Managed news perceptions conceal it from public view. It's time to reveal what's been denied too long. It's time to cut ties and move on.

On May 9, greater cause emerged. The US House passed HR 4133: United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012. It went to the Senate for consideration.

It "express(es) the sense of Congress regarding the United States-Israel strategic relationship, to direct the President to submit to Congress reports on United States actions to enhance this relationship and to assist in the defense of Israel, and for other purposes."

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R. VA) introduced it. He had 304 co-sponsors. It passed 411 - 2. Nine didn't vote. Another nine voted present.

John Dingell (D. MI) voted "Nay." So did Ron Paul. Passage "will lead to war," he said. More on his comments below.

On May 9, US sovereignty lost another round. Netanyahu is a global menace. HR 4133 facilitates his belligerence. Chances for war on Syria and Iran increased.

Israeli weapons aid insurgents against Assad. Its satellite images claim Iran's developing nuclear weapons. Known facts belie contentions. Netanyahu hypes the threat. Congressional allies support him. More ammunition came on May 9.

AIPAC praised the bill's passage. Rising regional threats warrant it was claimed. "America and Israel must further enhance their strong security relationship in this dangerous environment."

"Cooperation with Israel strongly supports American security interests."

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) also "strongly praised" the bill's passage.

"This bipartisan legislation reaffirms and strengthens the deep military and security relationship between the United States and Israel, and reflects the bi-partisan consensus of the US Congress that this relationship must continue to thrive."

"It also reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself against threats and reiterates America’s unshakable commitment to Israel’s security, recognizing that a secure Israel will always be in America’s national interest."

Ron Paul disagreed. On the House floor, he said:

"Mr. Speaker: I rise in opposition to HR 4133, the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act, which unfortunately is another piece of one-sided and counter-productive foreign policy legislation."

"This bill's real intent seems to be more saber-rattling against Iran and Syria, and it undermines US diplomatic efforts by making clear that the US is not an honest broker seeking peace for the Middle East."

"The bill calls for the United States to significantly increase our provision of sophisticated weaponry to Israel, and states that it is to be US policy to 'help Israel preserve its qualitative military edge' in the region."

Sovereign nations should handle their own security issues. US taxpayers shouldn't underwrite others. Neither should America's military.

The bill states US policy "reaffirm(s) the enduring commitment of the United States to the security of the State of Israel as a Jewish state."

America's committed to protect its own security, not "guarantee the religious, ethnic, or cultural composition of a foreign country."

"More than 20 years after" Soviet Russia dissolved, HR 4133 seeks new reasons to maintain NATO's "anachronistic alliance: the defense of Israel."

The bill wants Israel more involved in NATO, "including an enhanced presence at (its) headquarters and exercises."

It's a "dream" act "for interventionists and the military industrial complex." Paul wants NATO "disbanded not expanded."

"This bill will not help the United States, it will not help Israel, and it will not help the Middle East." It facilitates greater regional interventionism at a time there's already too much. "It more likely will lead to war against Syria, Iran or both."

Paul urged House colleagues to vote Nay. Only John Dingell agreed and did so.

The stronger US/Israeli ties bind, the more likely global war approaches. Israel's a strategic liability for America, the region and world.

Neither reflects democratic values. Allied with Israel, the US is more vulnerable to attack and more likely to embroil the world in conflict. Both reflect the worst of the other. With these type allies, who needs enemies.

Each lacks moral standing. Neither respects human rights. Both are the world's main offenders. Pointing fingers elsewhere can't hide truths too glaring to deny.

Successive administrations in both countries have abusive track records enough to make some despots blush. Destructiveness between them made the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

What's in it for America by giving Israel more? How do US people benefit? They've got a right to rage about lavish aid to Israel at a time they're asked to sacrifice.

Middle East polls reflect hostile Arab street US sentiment. When asked how best Washington can improve its standing, responses overwhelmingly say change regional policies and stop supporting Israel.

Growing numbers of Jews oppose Israeli policies. American ones want a relationship this destructive ended.

So do millions of people worldwide. An alliance based on militarism, belligerence, racism, and human rights abuses is crucial to end, not support. Doing it before it's too late matters most.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

Hunger Strike Deal

Hunger Strike Deal

by Stephen Lendman

Palestinian hunger strikers redefined courage. Mass willingness to die for justice is unprecedented.

On May 13, they reiterated their dignity or death steadfastness. More on that below.

Reports about where things stand leave unanswered questions. On Sunday, Haaretz headlined "Israel, Palestinian prisoners on verge of deal to end hunger strike," saying:

A Fatah Central Committee member claims the Israel Prison Service (IPS) will present strikers an agreement on May 14. Egyptian officials are mediating on behalf of Palestinians.

On May 14, the International Middle East Media Center headlined "Israel to Present a Deal on Hunger Striking Prisoners," saying:

The Palestinian Prisoner Association said "Israel will present a deal that will include references to administrative detention, solitary confinement, and visiting permits for Gazan families."

On May 14, Maan News headlined "Egypt brokers deal to end hunger strike," saying:

An unnamed Palestinian source close to ongoing talks said Egypt struck a deal that includes "Israel's acceptance of prisoners' demands in exchange for ending the hunger strike."

Final details were being resolved. An official announcement would follow. Israeli officials didn't comment.

Late Monday, news broke. Strike leaders and IPS officials agreed on terms. They include:

Israel will make specific accusations or release administrative detainees at the end of their terms.

Solitary confinement will end within 72 hours. All detainees are included.

Family visit bans will end. The punitive Shalit Law imposing them will be revoked.

Prison conditions overall will improve. Without details, it's unclear what this means.

Netanyahu's spokesman Ofir Gendelman said all prisoners must end hunger strikes within 72 hours for concessions to hold.

Long-term strikers Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahla refuse to stop unless freed immediately. Addameer said Bilal continues to deteriorate dramatically. He slips in and out of consciousness. His family is being used to pressure him to eat. He's so weak he could go any time.

On May 13, the Samidoun Palestinian Solidarity Network headlined "Statement No. 7 of the Strike Leadership," saying:

Prisoners reasserted their "all of our demands" steadfastness or death. Martyrdom approaches. Partial settlements are unacceptable. Yielding short of "epic humanitarian struggle for justice" fulfillment defeats why this battle was fought.

They "strongly and firmly swear (to) continue (their) battle of the empty stomachs, whatever the costs may be, until we achieve the minimum of our demands."

They named three but have others that matter. They thanked Egypt for not "leav(ing them) to face this battle alone." They "affirm(ed) categorically that (they won't) end (their) strike without promptly achieving (their) demands."

They accept the supreme sacrifice. They're "not amateurs in hunger. Death is easier than disrespect for (their) dignity, so (they) swear (they) will live with dignity or die."

Since strikes began, Israel retaliated harshly. Prisoners have been beaten, isolated, and denied essential rights, including medical care, as well as family and lawyer visits. They've also been transferred to remote detention facilities.

Nearly 5,000 prisoners are held. Hundreds are uncharged. From 2,500 to 3,000 refuse food. Around 1,100 are reported ill. Except for pain medication, medical care is denied. Hundreds suffer from serious diseases. Dozens of children are affected.

On May 11, Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya warned of serious consequences if any hunger striker dies, saying:

"You must realize that the hunger strike is not a party, and we could be surprised by the death of some of the prisoners."

Key international community leaders remain silent or said too little to matter. Obama said nothing. Neither did other administration and congressional members.

According to the Council for European Palestinian Relations (CEPR), over 100 parliamentarians signed a petition calling for ending horrific conditions in Israel's gulag.

Their campaign "address(es) the undemocratic treatment of civilians who are detained without charge or trial for indefinite amounts of time, often secluded in solitary confinement in cramped cells with little to no sunlight or food."

They also called on EU High Representative Catherine Ashton to intervene on behalf of prisoner rights.

America's scoundrel media barely acknowledge what's ongoing. Virtually none did until well into the struggle. It's hard to ignore but they try. Support for Israel alone matters.

Israeli security forces confront hunger strike demonstrators brutally. In early May, arrests outside Ramleh Prison were made.

On May 7, Adalah demanded a criminal investigation into their illegal arrest and abuse, saying:

In custody, "police harassment includ(ed) physical, verbal, and sexual abuse, and violations of the demonstrators' rights under Israeli law. Adalah Attorney Orna Kohn submitted the complaint demanding an urgent criminal investigation."

Police violently attacked them. Tasers were used. Beatings followed. Handcuffed in custody they were brutalized. Women arrested were sexually harassed and threatened with rape.

Police wanted protesters jailed. They faced charges in court. Secret evidence was used. Adalah attorney Orna Kohn said Israel systematically abuses Palestinians and Israeli Arabs who exercise their assembly and free expression rights.

"As on many other occasions," she said, "the police did not hesitate to end a legal demonstration using violence. There is nothing in the law that allows them to do this."

Sixteen-year old Ward Kayal said police attacked her and others. "They put us on the ground and started beating us. I have bruises all over my body. I suffer from a (blood pressure related) medical condition, and am being treated with medicine."

After arrest, "they hand-and leg-cuffed us all, as they continued to use tasers while cursing and humiliating us."

"I told the police, as did my mother who also participated in the protest, that I suffer from a medical condition and to allow me to take the medicine and see a doctor."

While cuffed, "they pushed me down the stairs, beat me with their fists and tasers, and forced me to use the bathroom while the door was open to humiliate me. Four hours later I was too weak to stand on my feet and fainted."

"When they saw that my condition was bad, they took me to a hospital nearby, while hand- and leg-cuffed, and in my medical record it stated that my blood pleasure was 150/122 and that I should take medicine. They kept me under custody and I was deprived any medicine until I was released the following day."

She and others were interrogated until around 3AM. "I find the support of the hunger strikers of national importance....The support should be more active, especially since it has a significant meaning for the strikers (to know) of our support, which gives them hope to go on with their struggle."

Twenty-seven year old Thaira Zoabi also suffered injuries. She was attacked, lifted off the ground with her kuffiyeh (traditional scarf). She couldn't breathe. She was badly bruised.

She saw one protester's mouth forcibly opened and spat into. Police spat on her face. While undergoing a full body search, she was threatened with rape. Despite what happened, she and others won't cease their activism for justice.

On May 14, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) strongly denounced Israel's horrific treatment of Palestinian hunger strikers. It also condemned Israeli prison conditions overall.

It called for the immediate release of "arbitrarily detained" prisoners. Those on protracted hunger strikes are especially at risk. It highlighted the inviolability of fundamental international laws. It stressed that human rights can't be comprised for security concerns, real or contrived.

On May 14, Addameer headlined “International Action for Palestinian Prisoners’ Hunger Strike on Monday, May 14,” saying:

Addameer and the General Federation of Independent Trade Unions in Palestine urged all Palestinians and supporters worldwide to observe a 10 minute activity-free period at 9:00AM GMT (noon in Jerusalem) in solidarity with prisoners striking for justice.

Monday marked Bilal Diab's 77th day without food. On day 75, he wrote his family:

"We will have victory, but only through either martyrdom or immediate release -- not any partial solution as claimed by the prisons administration."

"I am still determined, patient and focused on continuing against conspiracies, threats and solitary confinement by the fascist Israeli prison administration."

He told family members to bury him at ground level according to Islamic teaching. He asked them to distribute sweets at his funeral to celebrate what he struggled and died for.

He requested Khader Adnan's presence to lower him into his grave. He thanked everyone who supported him. As of May 14, he's alive but faces imminent death. So does Thaer Halahla. Both reached day 77. Others refused food for weeks.

On day 75 without food, Thaer Halahel wrote his two-year-old daughter. He explained why he hasn't seen her. He said in part:

"My Beloved Lamar, forgive me because the occupation took me away from you, and took away from me the pleasure of witnessing my first born child that I have always prayed to God to see, to kiss, to be happy with."

"When you grow up you will understand how injustice was brought upon your father and upon thousands of Palestinians whom the occupation has put in prisons and jail cells, shattering their lives and future for no guilt but their pursuit of freedom, dignity and independence, you will know that your father did not tolerate injustice and submission, that he will never accept insult and compromise, and that he is going through a hunger strike to protest against the Jewish state that wants to turn us into humiliated slaves without any rights or patriotic dignity."

"Lamar my love: that day will come, and I will make it up to you for everything, and tell you the whole story, and your days that will follow will be more beautiful, so let your days pass now and wear your prettiest clothes, run and then run again in the gardens of your long life, go forward and forward nothing is behind you but the past, and this is your voice I hear all the time as a melody of freedom."

"(W)e are righteous," he said. "(R)ight will always prevail against injustice and wrong doers."

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

The Left, Labor and Occupy

May 2012

Trotskyism vs. Social Democracy and Anarcho-Liberalism

The Left, Labor and Occupy

Occupy protesters in Portland picket Terminal 6 on December 12. (Photo: Rick Bowmer/AP)

Six months after Occupy Wall Street began – when a few hundred people sparked worldwide protest with a march and sit-in in lower Manhattan against political corruption and corporate greed – OWS was back. And four months after Occupy encampments were brutally evicted around the country, the police were there to greet them. Demonstrators chanted “this is what democracy looks like” as cops dragged scores out of Zuccotti Park in downtown Manhattan. More accurate would have been “this is what a police state looks like.” At the same time, the sharpening internal contradictions within the Occupy movement were also on display.

Israeli and Palestinian Protests

Israeli and Palestinian Protests

by Stephen Lendman

Mass Palestinian prisoner hunger strikes continue. Freedom, dignity, and respect for their rights are at issue. Strikers want horrific Israeli prison abuses ended. More on that below.

On Saturday, thousands of Israelis rallied nationwide for social justice. They picked up where they left off last summer. Major grievances remain unaddressed. They include:

(1) Unaffordable housing.

(2) High food and energy prices.

(3) Low wages and eroding social benefits.

(4) Onerous taxes on working households.

(5) Lack of free education and better healthcare benefits.

(6) Weak labor rights.

(8) A disproportionate amount of construction funding for settlement development. Too little remains for affordable housing in Israel.

(10) The "high cost of raising children" most Israelis face.

In Shapira, Levinsky, Hatikva, and other neighborhoods, marches converged on Tel Aviv's Rabin Square. Demonstrators chanted:

"We want justice, not charity."

"Taking from the poor, giving to the rich, what a country of corruption."

Along with America and Britain, Israel has the greatest wealth disparity and social inequality among developed nations.

Over 20% of Israel's population is poor. In a nation of 7.9 million, over 850,000 children live in poverty. More than two-thirds of them lack nutritional security. Around 75% miss meals. Over 80% lack proper dental care. Some beg, borrow or steal to eat.

Since the 1990s, neoliberal harshness significantly increased poverty, unemployment, homelessness, and hunger. Housing is a major problem. Tel Aviv apartment prices doubled in recent years. In Jerusalem they increased nearly two-thirds. Rents also skyrocketed. Growing numbers of Israelis face intolerable burdens too great to bear.

Last summer they reacted. Netanyahu promised change. Betrayal followed. On Saturday, Israelis reacted.

Tel Aviv rally organizer Orli Barlev said:

"The message is one against the political system that does not count the citizens." Referring to Israel's heavily criticized Fatah/Kadina unity government deal, she added:

"What we saw this week were moves that resulted from personal interests of power and control. This government has greatly deepened social gaps."

Nothing is done to address them. Social inequality festers. Anger filled Israeli cities. Rallies were held in Jerusalem, Haifa, Kiryat Shmona, Nahriya, Pardes Hanna, and Eilat (as well as the largest one in Tel Aviv) under the banner: "Returning the country to the citizens."

Similar protests were held worldwide. "Global May" commemorated the anniversary of Madrid's 2011 mass Puerta del Sol square social justice rally. It inspired others across Europe and America that followed. This year's theme is "We are not alone."

Last summer's Israeli campaign waned but didn't die. Organizing efforts sought more participants. People's Assemblies were formed. A manifesto was written, stating:

"We are living in a world controlled by forces incapable of giving freedom and dignity to the world´s population. (We) condemn the current distribution of economic resources whereby only a tiny minority escape poverty and insecurity."

We demand an economic "system where labour is appreciated by its social utility, not its financial or commercial profit."

"Fully democratic" rights were called for. Last summer's protests swept Israel. Hundreds of thousands participated. Rallies and tent encampments drew world attention. Saturday perhaps launched Act II.

A recent global Gallop poll ranked perceived Israeli corruption on a par with Greece, Slovenia and Sierra Leone. It scored worst among Middle East countries. Around 85% of respondents said Israeli business is corrupt. Israel replicates the worst of major Western nations.

The greater social injustice gets, the more most Israelis suffer. Now they're reacting.

They want more than social justice. Serious issues fester. Since last summer, protests became more common. Where things go from here remains unknown. Sustained critical mass is needed. So far it's absent.

On Saturday, youth participation was high. "All the (political) parties have failed," said one speaker. Police were out in force, this time nonviolently.

Days earlier they reacted harshly. About 1,000 Israelis protested against the Fatah/Kadima unity deal. A "stinking maneuver," they called it. Early elections were cancelled.

Democracy was nowhere in sight. Israel, of course, has none. Police accosted Habima Square demonstrators brutally. Arrests followed, including two journalists. Social activists were detained. So was Tel Aviv city councilman Yoav Goldring.

Police called the rally illegal. Israelis were treated like Palestinians. More demonstrations are planned. Organizers hope for a July 14 "March of the Million."

Expect a long hot summer. Habima Square police brutality may become commonplace. Who knows what's possible before fall. Perhaps Israelis will identify more with Palestinian suffering. That type unity would be significant.

Palestinian Prison Protests for Justice Continue

Major issues remain unresolved. On May 11, hunger strike leaders issued Statement No. 5, saying:

"To the masses of the Palestinian people….you are free before our nation…you are free before the world."

"We have held a lengthy meeting with the leadership of the Prison Services in Nafha prison last night, including all members of the Central Committee of the Leadership of the Strike."

"The Prison Service attempted through prevarication and procrastination to pressure us to break the strike with unverifiable promises."

Prisoners have unequivocal demands. Unity to continue struggling remains strong. "We call on the masses of our people and our nation to act" supportively. We "promise again that we will not retreat without securing our just human rights."

"We are all willing to be martyrs for the sake of our dignity and our rights, and therefore we promise that will will live (in) dignity or die."

Growing Palestinian street protests show support. Activists call the strike "pivotal." It reflects the wider liberation struggle. It's a rallying position across Palestine. Whether a third Intifada follows remains unknown.

On May 11, thousands of Palestinians rallied supportively in West Bank villages. Under the slogan "Friday Anger: Victory for the Prisoners," Israeli security forces confronted them violently. Tear gas, sound bombs, rubber bullets, and water cannon fired "skunk" spray were used. It contains harmful chemicals. Beatings, injuries and arrests followed.

Israeli Arabs participated supportively. Thousands of Galilee residents displayed prisoner photos and Palestinian flags. They chanted slogans voicing solidarity and demanding liberation from Israeli prisons.

Haifa, Umm al-Fahm, and Kfar Kana youths began a three-day supportive hunger strike. Activists and political groups on both sides of the Green Line voiced support.

Hadash, Balad, National Union, the Palestinian People's Party, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and others endorsed a public statement, saying:

"The immediate demand to the Israeli government is the release of all administrative detainees, and all prisoners, those on hunger strikes and those who aren't."

They're all political prisoners locked in Israel's gulag for wanting to live free on their own land.

The manifesto added:

"Also, we are calling for the end of the policy of administrative detention, as a method for arrest without trial, based on secret evidence not shared with prisoners or lawyers. This policy is not in line with basic standards of justice."

The statement pointedly accused the Israel Prison Service (IPS) of ignoring longtime prisoner demands to end extreme harshness. It also said the hunger strike reflects a national liberation struggle.

In Haifa, Palestinian merchants closed shops and displayed banners saying: "The shops are closed because our prisoners are in danger."

Hundreds of Jerusalemites participated. Among them were prisoner families. For the second consecutive day, Palestinians blocked the ICRC's Ramallah headquarters entrance. They demand strong support. On May 10, protests outside a UN building raised the same issue.

One participant said:

"We are targeting those who we believe can help to bring an end to the hunger strike and save the lives of our prisoners."

So far, they offered little more than lip service. EU ministers do little better. Obama said nothing. On May 11, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland was silent on what's ongoing.

During a briefing she was asked to comment on the strike situation. Her dismissive comment said:

"I don't have anything for you on that."

A follow-up question asked about a State Department position on uncharged strikers, especially long-term ones close to death.

She contemptuously remained dismissive, saying:

"....frankly, I don't have anything one way or the other. I don't know if we have a comment on it."

US contempt for Palestinian suffering is longstanding. European nations aren't much better. Lip service substitutes for action.

Israel commits appalling human rights abuses. Courageous hunger strikers confront them. So should everyone. Then challenge their own homegrown injustice. Otherwise it won't end.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

Fabricating Lies to Wage War on Iran

Fabricating Lies to Wage War on Iran

by Stephen Lendman

Turning Iran into a reliable pro-Western puppet state is a long-sought US goal. All options are considered, including war.

Tactics include calling Iran a threat to world peace, falsely accusing Tehran of terrorist attacks, and fabricating lies about an alleged nuclear weapons program despite no corroborating evidence whatever.

Focusing largely on defense and security issues, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) advances US interests "to sustain American prominence and prosperity as a force for good in the world." It's closely connected to high level administration, congressional, and Pentagon officials.

Its trustees include top corporate and former high level political ones. They include Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Brent Scowcroft, Richard Armitage, Harold Brown, William S. Cohen, and William E. Brock.

On May 7, CSIS national security analyst Anthony Cordesman issued a report titled "Rethinking Our Approach to Iran's Search for the Bomb." He chose a road previously traveled, saying:

"We badly need to rethink our approach to Iran’s nuclear programs. We are putting far too much emphasis on Iran’s nuclear efforts without considering how these programs fit into Iran’s over military and strategic objectives."

"At the same time, we are placing too much emphasis on whether Iran has revived its formal nuclear program and the current shape of its nuclear facilities."

Iran has advanced "far beyond the point where it lacked the technology base to produce nuclear weapons...."

"Iran has pursued every major area of nuclear weapons development, has carried out programs that have already given it every component of a weapon except fissile material, and there is strong evidence that it has carried out programs to integrate a nuclear warhead on to its missiles."

"The threat Iran’s nuclear efforts pose" go way beyond its uranium enrichment capability. Its programs "have been examined in depth in recent reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)."

Its unclassified reports "clearly outline just how far Iran may have gotten."

In May 2011, IAEA alleged seven areas of concern, including:

(1) Neutron generator and associated diagnostics experiments.

(2) Uranium conversion and metallurgy capability to produce nuclear device components.

(3) High explosives manufacture and testing.

(4) Exploding bridgewire (EBW) detonator studies with possible nuclear significance.

(5) Experiments related to hemispherical high explosive charges.

(6) High voltage firing equipment tests over long distances and possibly underground.

(7) Missile re-entry vehicle studies pertaining to spherical nuclear payloads.

In November 2011, IAEA claimed:

"The Agency has serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program. After assessing carefully and critically the extensive information available to it, the Agency finds the information to be, overall, credible."

"The information indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device. The information also indicates that prior to the end of 2003, these activities took place under a structured program, and that some activities may still be ongoing."

Cordesman believes Iran maintains an ongoing nuclear weapons program. He cites IAEA reports as evidence. Official Tehran denials are false, he claims. His analysis states:

Despite sanctions and close monitoring, Iran received highly specialized instruments and equipment. Its scientific expertise is well advanced. It's able to conduct nuclear device tests. Preparations were made for them.

Iran is well advanced on multiple nuclear development fronts. IAEA monitoring suggests but hasn't detected them. Attacking its facilities won't prevent continuation of its program. Only multiple strikes perhaps can succeed.

"No assessment of Iran’s military behavior, and its level of interest in nuclear weapons, should however, ignore the fact that nuclear weapons represent a key part of its overall strategic and military goals and force posture."

Tehran won't abandon its efforts. It believes a nuclear capability is its best defense. It may have advanced beyond the point of reversing it. America and Israel must structure their diplomatic and military options with these considerations in mind.

Cordesman bases his analysis on falsified IAEA claims. Previous articles discussed them. They stressed that US intelligence assessments through March 2012 found no evidence of Iranian nuclear weapons development.

Neither did former IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei during his December 1, 1997 - November 30, 2009 tenure. He carefully avoided baseless anti-Iranian charges.

In October 2009, the Agency leaked a document titled "Possible Dimensions of Iran's Nuclear Program" to the New York Times. At issue was circumventing ElBaradei. Allegations in it were spurious. As a result, he refused to endorse it.

Two months later, Washington replaced him with Yukiya Amano. In December 2010, the London Guardian published a leaked US embassy cable saying he's "director general of all states, but in agreement with us." Its title was: "Amano ready for prime time."

A November 2010 Guardian article headlined, "Nuclear Wikileaks: Cables show cosy US relationship with (new) IAEA chief." State Department official Geoffrey Pyatt was quoted, saying:

Amano will "overcome bureaucratic inertia (and) modernize Agency operations...." He's "solidly in the US court on every key strategic decision, from high-level personnel appointments to the handling of Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program."

A July 2010 Pratt cable called replacing ElBaradei "a once-a-decade opportunity.... to position the new director general for strong leadership from the DG's office."

Amano hasn't disappointed. Through conjecture, dubious intelligence, and false allegations, he claims Iran's nuclear program has "possible military dimensions."

Evidence supposedly came from a dubious laptop smuggled out of the country. "Laptop" is code language for suspect unnamed sources. Alleged documents weren't made public.

Amano's reports were based on forged, long ago discredited, discounted, or nonexistent ones. Nothing new in them was revealed. Material from 2004 and earlier was manipulated to look current.

Using identical information, US intelligence and ElBaradei reached opposite conclusions. Amano manipulated, twisted, hyped, and misused material. Other alleged evidence was fabricated to look real.

Cordesman and others bought it. Their analysis is inaccurate and flawed. Doing so plays a dangerous game. CSIS has close ties to top Washington and Pentagon officials.

Cordesman's voice is heard. His report gives war advocates more justification to wage it. Doing so follows a familiar pattern of lies, deception, and hyped fear. This time the potential consequences are devastating.

Besides irradiating widespread areas inside and beyond Iran's borders, embroiling the entire region may result. General war involving China and Russia could follow.

Risks this great should be avoided at all costs. Wars are never the right option. Waging them assures endless violence and destruction.

This one should give Washington's most belligerent hawks pause. If nuclear bunker busters are used, a potential holocaust could follow. Imagine leaders willing to risk it. Imagine the aftermath if they do.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

World Week for the Abolition of Meat: 21-27 May 2012

World Week for the Abolition of Meat:

21-27 May 2012

Hunger Strikes Highlight Israeli Injustice

Hunger Strikes Highlight Israeli Injustice

by Stephen Lendman

Israel treats Palestinian prisoners horrifically. Cruel and unusual punishment is policy. Detention conditions include torture, intimidation, and other abusive practices.

Hunger strikes first began in 1968. Nablus Prison detainees initiated them. Numerous others followed. At issue is abusive treatment and appalling prison conditions.

Medical neglect causes sickness, disease and death. Last summer, the Palestinian Center for Defending Detainees (PCDD) reported hundreds of seriously ill prisoners. They're affected by heart disease, cancer, kidney failure, pleurisy, chronic pain, and other illnesses too grave to ignore.

Prison conditions cause them. Medical neglect exacerbates them. Palestinians complain they lack access to hospitals for tests, treatment and surgery. It's unavailable in prison medical clinics.

The Israel Prison Service (IPS) delays and obstructs until illnesses are too advanced to treat effectively. As a result, Palestinians suffer and die.

Last summer, the European Network to Support the Rights of Palestinian Prisoners (UFree) demanded international bodies enforce international law provisions protecting their rights and health.

Deep concern was expressed following reports of medical neglect causing slow, painful deaths. Sixty-five World Health Organization (WHO) member countries supported a resolution condemning how abusively incarcerated Palestinians are treated. They urged intervention to help them.

Nothing followed. Prison abuses continue unaddressed. This among other issues launched hunger strikes.

On May 10, Addameer said lawyer Mona Neddaf visited four strikers in Ramleh Prison's medical clinic. Thaer Halahleh was among them. May 11 marked his 74th day without food.

Death could be imminent. His vital signs are dangerously weak. He's vomiting blood. His gums and lips are bleeding. His upper body's infected. IPS officials cancelled a scheduled a family visit.

Neddaf also saw strikers Mohammad Taj (on day 55), Jaafar Azzedine (on day 51), and Nidal Shehadeh (on 25).

Strikers are isolated. IPS authorities threaten them. Even if too weak to stand, they're ordered to do so for daily counts. Otherwise lawyer visits are denied.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I) stressed the urgency of transferring prisoners without food for over 40 days to private hospitals for care unavailable at Ramleh.

In a letter to Netanyahu, Israeli health ministry officials, IPS authorities, and the Israeli Medical Association, PHR-I's Anat Litwin, Director, Prisoners and Detainees Department, said prison doctors have conflicts of interest. They yield to "demands of security" over patient needs, health and well-being.

Medical ethics breaches are common. Prison doctors are complicit in abusive treatment. They ignore serious health issues. They deny vital care. Their negligence risks lives.

"There is thus grave concern that irreparable damage to hunger strikers' health and/or life threatening conditions are not addressed."

"PHR-Israel is deeply concerned that the IPS uses its medical system to exert pressure on hunger strikers, violating medical ethics, and endangering their health and lives."

"We are concerned that efforts to prevent visits by independent doctors and lawyers are aimed at isolating hunger strikers and avoiding transparency in prison conditions."

Litwin requested an immediate response "before we turn to legal measures."

Bilal Diab was transfered to Assaf HaRofeh Hospital, then returned to Ramleh on his 71st hunger striking day. He's now on day 74. Denying him vital treatment is criminal and unconscionable. The clinic holds other long-term strikers.

At least eight refused food for 45 or more days. Hassan Safadi reached day 68. Omar Abu Shalal's on day 66. Their health significantly deteriorated. Urgent private hospital care is needed. IPS officials refuse transfers.

On May 11, the International Middle East Media Center headlined "No Deal Reached With Hunger-Striking Detainees," saying:

The Palestinian Center for Defending Detainees (PCDD) refuted media reports about agreement between strikers and IPS officials. The "battle of empty stomachs" continues.

Other reports about Mahmoud Issa and Waleed Khaled removed from isolation are untrue. They remain abusively confined in tiny cells.

Only strike leaders may negotiate and speak on behalf of others. IPS and Shabak officials met with unauthorized detainees. At issue was preventing more strikers joining them. False reports followed. Doing so mocks prisoner rights.

Unverifiable claims harm strikers. PCCD and other organizations hold Israel fully responsible for appalling life-threatening treatment.

Prisoners won't accept cosmetic changes for real ones. They listed demands. All must be addressed. International law supports them. Israel spurns them unaccountably. Weaseling around them is rejected.

Reports suggest from 2,500 to 3,000 prisoners refuse food. Their ranks grow daily. Israeli attempts to stop them failed.

Striker representative Tawfiq Abu Naim said Israel's response to prisoner demands is too demeaning to consider. He stressed that only authorized striker committee members may negotiate on behalf of others.

On May 10, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged that hunger strikers exist. A weak-kneed statement on his behalf said in part:

He "continues to follow with concern the ongoing hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, in particular those held in what is known as administrative detention."

He added that "those detained must be charged and face trial with judicial guarantees, or released without delay. (He) urged all concerned to reach a solution without delay."

He stopped short of denouncing abusive Israeli practices and holding responsible officials fully accountable. He avoided what most needs to do done. His statement lacked teeth and conviction. He did too little too late to matter. He showed whose side he's on.

On May 10, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNWRA) issued a statement quickly removed from its site.

Commissioner General Filippo Grandi "expressed his grave concern about the current medical and health conditions of the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli prisons."

He "appealed to the Israeli government to find an acceptable solution, noting that the hunger strikers’ demands are generally related to the basic rights of prisoners, as stipulated in the Geneva Conventions."

He "reiterated the call of the Secretary-General of the United Nations that those under administrative detention be brought to trial or be set free, noting that two of the administrative detainees are in serious condition after more than 74 days, and are in imminent danger of death."

Again, it was too little, too late, then quickly removed without explanation. Perhaps UNWRA's indifference to Palestinian suffering was affirmed.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also acted largely indifferent. On May 9, he said striker deaths could trigger harsh backlash responses. They could spin out of control. "It is very dangerous," he said.

He's done pathetically little to help. He talks but won't act. So do others who matter. Israel takes full advantage.

Strikers show undaunted courage despite appalling conditions and abuse. They've come too far to yield now. They attracted world attention. Western media acknowledge them. Israel's image is further blackened.

Palestine's elected prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, read aloud their statement at a May 11 demonstration. They vowed to escalate their struggle for justice, saying:

"We swear we will not retreat. We are potential martyrs. Either we live in dignity or die."

Some West Bank strikers refused Gaza deportation for freedom.

Who knows what's needed to break Israel's chokehold on injustice. Perhaps martyrs will hasten the time it comes. Palestinian suffering won't end until then. Liberation is worth the price it costs.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

Hope in Chch rebuilding, ethical human rights despite all attempts to crush human potential.

The following is based on my experience of neo liberalism in New Zealand. It describes an ethical approach to human rights, development and globalization to replace neo liberalism which, in my view, crushes human potential. Whereas the ethical approach, emphasizing a bottom-up development, unleashes human potential, grows knowledge and wealth, with the new/radical ideas necessary to address major social problems (and environmental problems) and better enable humanity’s survival though space exploration and travelling to other planets.

Israel: Profile of a Police State

Israel: Profile of a Police State

by Stephen Lendman

Police states are defined by lawlessness, injustice, and contempt for democratic values.

Merriam Webster calls them "political unit(s) characterized by repressive governmental control of political, economic, and social life usually by an arbitrary exercise of power by police and especially secret police in place of regular operation of administrative and judicial organs of the government according to publicly known legal procedures."

Power trumps rights. Crackdowns enforce social control. Arrests, imprisonment, torture, and abuse are commonplace. Murder is committed with impunity. State terror is policy.

Palestinians understand well. They've suffered horrifically for decades. Legitimate resistance is called terrorism. Nonetheless, they persist.

Courageous prison hunger strikers define them. They vow to keep struggling for justice. On May 9, hundreds of family members, supporters, and human rights activists protested in front of the UN's Ramallah office.

The international body has done nothing to help. Demonstrators chanted "(w)e don't want wheat or bread. We want the liberation of detainees." They demand UN officials intervene for justice.

Released hunger striker Khader Adnan called "surrounding the UN office....a daring move that aims at sending the detainees' message to the world." It's also a "move that sheds light on the suffering of the political prisoners."

After weeks of protest actions, Israel began negotiating. Ahrar Center for Detainees Studies head Fuad Al Khoffash called it "cheap bargaining."

Israel offers easily reversed concessions. Prisoners are released, then harassed and rearrested. Promises are made, then broken. Israel doesn't negotiate. It demands and wants things its way. Since 1967, Palestinians were denied all rights. Militarized occupation assures none.

Al Khoffash called Israel's move a maneuver. At issue is subverting unity and breaking the spirit of detainees. They chose "dignity over food." They won't tolerate manipulation. They've been through this before. Harshness masquerades as concessions. Those made are then broken.

On May 7, Israel's High Court spurned justice. In response to an urgent appeal to save Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh, they ruled let 'em die. On May 10, both men reached hunger strike day 73.

They face imminent death. Neither committed crimes. They're wrongfully imprisoned. So are thousands of other Palestinians.

Israel's High Court won't intervene. Reasons given are spurious. Right-wing justices work cooperatively with Netanyahu hard-liners. Palestinians behind or outside prison walls don't have a chance.

On May 8, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I) established a hunger striker "situation room." Plans call for round the clock operation and cooperative efforts to "to gather and distribute any relevant information and to enable a public campaign for supporting the demands by the prisoners to respect their human rights."

PHR-I will provide information for family members, their attorneys, doctors, and local as well as international human rights organizations and activists. Local and foreign diplomats will be kept informed. So will national and international media, as well as the public.

PHR-I listed prisoner demands. They include:

(1) Ending punitive isolation.

(2) Stopping the practice of imprisoning Palestinians in Israel. Doing so violates international law.

(3) Renewing family visits for Gazan detainees denied them for six years.

(4) Renewing them for West Bank and East Jerusalem prisoners whose families were denied visitation rights.

(5) Providing proper medical care, including access to independent physicians and civilian hospitalization when serious medical conditions exist.

(6) Terminating daily punitive, violent cell and strip searches. Usually done late at night, sleep is disrupted one or more times.

(7) Ending strip searches for visiting family members.

(8) Terminating shackling prisoners during family and attorney visits, as well as when hospitalized for medical care.

(9) Fulfilling prisoners' right to education.

(10) Ending all severe, disproportional punishments.

(11) Ending violations of other basic rights, including attorney visits during ongoing investigations and restricting judicial oversight.

PHR-I "supports the prisoners’ struggle and their demand for a full respect of their human rights. We are acting on several levels in order to make sure that the prisoners’ rights are maintained in the course of the hunger strike."

"PHR is making a significant effort to treat and represent people whose medical condition is the worst, and whose right to health and appropriate treatment is being violated behind prison walls."

Nearly one-third of uncharged Palestinian administrative detainees have been held from six months to a year. Another third endured one to two years of incarceration.

Thirteen have been imprisoned from two to four years, and another two for over four and half years UNCHARGED. Israel can hold them forever in limbo harshness.

Nearly all Israeli prison facilities are within its borders. Incarcerating Palestinians there violates international law. Holding them anywhere spurns it. They're innocent. They committed no crimes. Free societies don't govern this way. Police states do. On issues affecting Palestinians, Israel is one of the worst.

Israel's High Court Affirms State of Emergency Conditions

On May 8, the High Court rejected an Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) petition. At issue is canceling an official state of emergency in force since May 1948 after Israel's war of independence.

In 1992, the Knesset passed Basic Law: The Government which created an outer limit to the state of emergency for one year reserves the right for unlimited renewals.

Each government took full advantage despite no justification whatever. Israel hasn't been attacked for nearly 40 years. Yet a virtual state of war exists.

As a result, authorities maintain unconstitutional police state powers. Draconian harshness is enforced. Freedoms are restricted or denied, including expression, labor and property rights.

The court ruled "Israel is a normal country that isn't normal." The statement defies logic. Falsely, the decision said Israel "essentially fulfills its mandate as a Jewish and democratic state."

Jewish, yes, although 20% of its population is Muslim. Democratic, no. Israel mocks democracy. Arabs have no rights. Even Jewish ones are compromised.

Israel "is not normal," the court held, "in that its existential threats have yet to be quelled....the battle against terror continues, and apparently will continue for the foreseeable future."

Israel's only threats are those it invents to impose occupation harshness, attack neighboring states, and threaten other nonbelligerent ones like Iran.

Stop the Wall Activists Targeted

On May 8 at 1:30AM, Stop the Wall (STW) activists issued an "Action alert: STW office raided by Israeli military," saying:

Ten armored jeeps, dozens of security forces, and intelligence agents surrounded and raided STW's Ramallah offices. Their property was confiscated. Seized were two laptops, three hard drives, and 10 memory cards with files and photos.

Authorities also took "archival material relating to the work that (STW) does in opposition to Israel's apartheid wall and the attack on Palestinian human rights that the wall and" settlements represent.

"This is a renewed attack upon Palestinian civil society and their struggle against the physical and psychological oppression, land confiscation and ethnic cleansing policies of the Israel."

The raid coincided with High Court injustice condemning Bilal and Thaer to death. At issue is quashing resistance before further traction is gained, behind and outside prison walls.

Earlier, STW activists were harassed, raided, and terrorized. Today they say they're stronger than ever. They have global support. Word spreads. STW urges supporters tell others, demand their governments intervene, and "(l)et Israel know that walls cannot isolate anybody!"

A Final Comment

On May 8, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) issued an "Urgent Alert: Imminent Displacement Risk in the Jerusalem Periphery," saying:

Palestinian residences in the West Bank's Area C (east of Jerusalem) face "looming threat of immediate demolition." Those threatened "include EU-funded residential structures provided in response to previous demolitions in the area."

Mostly Bedouin communities are affected. They're targeted for ethnic cleansing to provide land for Israeli residential and commercial development.

Communities were told "they have no option but to leave." It's part of a larger scheme to steal all valued Judea and Samaria land. Total Judaization is planned. Arabs aren't wanted. Those unwilling to leave will be forced out.

Areas most affected include Jerusalem's periphery, the Jordan Valley, and south Hebron Hills. Israel wants Palestinians excluded. Eviction orders are issued. Private property is confiscated. Residents have lived there for decades, some for generations. International law is violated.

Israel's Civil Administration (ICA) falsely claims Palestinian structures were built illegally. It also calls Area C sovereign Israeli territory. It comprises over 60% of the West Bank. It contains valued water resources. Israel wants Palestinians denied them, including on their own private property.

Since 1997, ICAHD courageously resisted lawless Israeli demolitions. It also addresses land theft, settlement expansions, Jews-only by-pass roads, apartheid "closure" and "separation" policies, destroying Palestinian fruit and olive trees, the Separation Wall, besieged Gaza, and other vital issues.

It opposes Israel's lawless occupation and repression of Palestinians wanting to live free, on their own land, in their own country peacefully. It's their sovereign right.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour.

La propagande information

Israel's High Court Spurns Justice

Israel's High Court Rejects Justice

by Stephen Lendman

On May 8, hunger strikers Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh reached day 71.

On May 7, Israel's High Court ruled let 'em die. It rejected an urgent appeal to save them. They're uncharged political prisoners, not criminals.

Virtually all Palestinian prisoners are behind bars for political reasons. They resist to live free on their own land. International law permits it. Israel calls it terrorism.

Its High Court agrees. Justice hasn't a chance. Arab rights don't matter. Let 'em die.

The Court ruled hunger striking "cannot in itself form a factor in the decision regarding the validity of an administrative detention."

"Administrative detention causes unease for any judge, but it is sometimes a necessity when the revealing of intelligence gathered against the petitioner would endanger the people who gave it or the ways of gathering it."

Wrong, and justices know it! Prolonged uncharged arbitrary detention constitutes a serious breach of international law.

Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states:

1. "Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedures as are established by law.

2. Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him.

4. Anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that that court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his detention and order his release if the detention is not lawful."

Although temporarily infringing the law is permitted "in time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation," Israel uses it consistently, abusively, and in violation of Fourth Geneva's Article 78, stating:

"If the Occupying Power considers it necessary, for imperative reasons of security, to take measures concerning protected persons, it may, at the most, subject them to assigned residence or to internment."

"Decisions regarding such assigned residence or internment shall be made according to a regular procedure to be prescribed by the Occupying Power in accordance with the provisions of the present Convention. This procedure shall include the right of appeal (decided on) with the least possible delay. (If it's upheld), it shall be subject to periodical review...."

Administrative detention may never substitute for customary criminal proceedings. It's only permitted as a temporary measure to prevent lawless acts.

Moreover, transferring protected persons to occupying power territory is illegal. For Israel, it's policy.

On May 8, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I) condemned the court ruling, saying:

"The Supreme Court's rejection of court petitions in name of the administrative detainees Diab and Halahlah, each of who are in the their 71st day of hunger strike in protest of their administrative detention, is the effective equivalent of handing down a death sentence."

"By way of this decision, the judges are tightening their hold on administrative detainees, which, due to the absense of concrete evidence, the inability of the detainee to defend himself in court and the unlimited renewal of his/her detention term, constitutes a full negation of liberties and human freedom."

"This is not a stand-alone case. We are talking here about 2 people out of a population of 320 administrative detainees who are currently serving time under identical constraints; their access to a fair trial is blantantly and continuously denied."

"This ruling renders even more evident the enormous costs of the Occupation and Israeli control over Palestinians, which destroys any semblance of justice. The unacceptable standards that were once practiced by military courts alone are gradually becoming the same shameful norm by which the Supreme Court itself issues its own rulings."

"We call upon Israeli leaders at the highest echelons to act swiftly to bring about a solution that will save the lives of the detainees on hunger strike and uphold their rights."

Israel's High Court tilts right. After Dorit Beinisch retired last February, Asher Grunis replaced her as president. His ideology is conservative. He defers to executive and legislative decisions. Right-wing politicians and bureaucrats love him.

Smoothing his way to become court president, Israel's Knesset abolished the rule requiring justices to have at least three years left to serve before mandatory age 70 retirement.

Asher reaches it in 2015, five weeks short of eligibility. That was before the Knesset fast-tracked the so-called "Grunis bill's" passage. Netanyahu wanted him appointed.

In January, Noam Sohlberg became Israel's first settler High Court justice. Controversy surrounds him. His appointment ignored conflicts of interest. Living on stolen land should have disqualified him.

He'll now rule on international law issues. His record is anti-liberal. At age 50, he'll likely become court president. Seniority is the main qualification.

Israel's High Court rarely rules favorably for Palestinians. Monday's ruling highlights what they're up against.

Jawad Boulos represents Balil and Thaer. After Israel conditionally released Khader Adnan and Hana Shalabi, he feared policy henceforth will be let 'em die. Indefinite administrative detentions facilitate it.

Right-wing courts go along. Justices bow to Shin Bet, other security forces, and the Israel Prison Service. One section of their ruling said:

"The supreme court justices aren’t telling the security forces what to do, only pointing out that they could use such-and-such a provision. What we do not see in that verdict is a judiciary that feels it is of equal power to the security forces."

In other words, Israel's highest judicial authority defers to lawless state policy. Palestinian prisoners society head Qaddura Fares accused the court of being politically motivated, saying:

"The court knows the gravity of (the) status and health (of Bilal and Thaer), but it has decided to reject their petition. This court is a tool of" Israel's security services. Justice is sacrificed for them.

Palestinians are harmed most. Bilal, Thaer and other hunger strikers may die. Let 'em, the court ruled.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour.

Palestinian Prisoner Unity

Palestinian Prisoner Unity

by Stephen Lendman

Commentary is a neoconservative publication. Fronting for Israel is policy.

Senior editor Jonathan S. Tobin formerly served as executive editor for the Philadelphia-based Jewish Exponent. At the time, he was called its most right-wing voice. Things haven't changed. He writes often on Israeli/Palestinian issues.

On May 4, his Commentary article headlined "Hunger Strikers' Goal is Not Peace," saying:

"(T)he Palestinian goal is not their own state living in peace beside Israel but the end of the Jewish state and its replacement by one in which Arabs will rule."

"Palestinians view violence against Israelis as not only a legitimate tactic but also something that is integral to their nation identity."

Tobin wears blinders. History isn't his long suit. Before imperial Britain arbitrarily granted Jews a Palestine homeland, generations of majority Arabs and small Jewish populations lived peacefully together as neighbors.

They do now in countries like Lebanon, Syria and Iran. Tobin, however, equates Arabs with confrontation and violence. So do hardline Zionists. "(T)he time is long passed for (hunger striking) stunts whose only purpose is to embarrass or intimidate the Israelis," he claimed. Justice isn't one of his priorities.

In a letter Maan News received, Marwan Barghouti said Palestinian prisoners affiliated with different political factions are united behind hunger strikers.

They're "fighting a battle for freedom and dignity," he said. Late Saturday, reports said Fatah prisoners accepted Israel's compromise to end hunger strikes.

Twelve concessions were demanded. Prisoners accepted six, including:

(1) Gazan families will be able to visit relatives in prisons.

(2) An IPS/prisoner committee will be formed to move detainees from isolation.

(3) Three satellite TV channels will be restored.

(4) 400 NIS per month will be alloted for canteen privileges.

(5) Products there will include items prisoners need, including fruits and vegetables.

(6) Sick or injured prisoners will move by ambulance, not military vehicles.

Discussions continue on other issues. Barghouti's dubious. Only the hunger striker committee is authorized to negotiate on behalf of prisoners, he said.

Its members include:

Abdul-Rahim Abu Holy, Alaa Abu Jazar and Nasser Abu Hmeid from Fatah, Jumaa Tayih and Zeid Bseiso from Islamic Jihad, Jamal al-Hur, Muhannad Shreim and Mahmoud Shreitih from Hamas, Ahid Abu Ghilmi from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and Osamah Abu al-Asal representing the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).

Nafha Prison detainees said Israeli concessions are inadequate. Major issues remain unresolved. Barghouti's letter said:

"We have been on hunger strike for 20 days under the banner of either we live in dignity or die."

Over a dozen prisoners continue extended fasts. More on the two longest below.

On April 17, Palestine Prisoners Day, over 1,000 began hunger striking for justice. Up to 2,500 are now involved. More join them daily. Virtually all are political prisoners. Their crime is wanting to live free on their own land in their own country. Israel calls them terrorists.

Since 1967, over 700,000 Palestinians were imprisoned. Over 20% of the population was affected. For males, it's 40%. For women, it's about 10,000, and for children around 7,000 since 2000 alone.

By any standard, these numbers are appalling. For Palestinians, it's a highly emotive issue. Most families have loved ones unjustly imprisoned or did earlier. Justice is nowhere in sight. Prisoners use their only resistance weapon. Yielding to Israeli pressure assures no chance for redress.

On Sunday, Islamic Jihad leader Mohammad Al-Hindi warned of a third Intifada if any hunger striker dies. He said the "battle of the empty stomachs" remains united.

"This battle will be the gateway for Palestinian unity," he told supporters. He called on Arab League leaders to close Israeli embassies and expel envoys.

On Sunday, a Cairo meeting was held. A prisoner supportive General Assembly resolution was proposed. Passing one is symbolic only but a step in the right direction.

Liberation struggles take time. Palestine's occupation remains unresolved for decades. One day, resistance will bear fruit. Hunger striking may be remembered as an important stepping stone toward it. Hopefully, prisoners will stay the course, united for justice.

On May 7, hunger strikers Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh reached day 70.

On May 6, a joint Addameer/Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I) press release headlined "Concern Mounts for the Lives of Prisoners on Protracted Hunger Strikes, as Bilal Diab, Thaer Halahleh and Hassan Safadi are Subjected to Medical Negligence."

Both men risk imminent death. Nonetheless, repressive Israeli Prison Service (IPS) officials deny independent doctors and human rights groups like Addameer from regular access.

Medical ethics are grievously breached. Emergency situations are ignored. On May 5, PHR-I petitioned in District Court. It demanded its right to visit. It also wants family members given access. Its appeal was rejected until a May 7 or later hearing.

Bilal is held at Assaf Harofeh (public) Hospital. He's in grave condition. Thaer remains in Ramleh Prison's medical clinic. Treatment administered there is appalling. Breaching medical ethics is policy.

Following a May 3 High Court hearing, Judge Eliakim Rubenstein announced a later decision without saying when. He and judges Noam Saulberg and Yuram Dinzinger dismissed the urgency of the situation. As a result, both men may die.

Hassan Safadi may follow. On May 7, he reached day 64 without food. In grave condition, he's also at Ramleh's clinic getting sub-minimal care. He said guards restrain him to let a prison doctor administer an injection in his arm.

What's in it isn't known. Doing so involuntarily violates medical ethics. According to the World Health Organization's Malta declaration:

"Physicians need to satisfy themselves that food or treatment refusal is the individual's voluntary choice. Hunger strikers should be protected from coercion."

"Physicians can often help to achieve this and should be aware that coercion may come from the peer group, the authorities or others, such as family members."

"Physicians or other health care personnel may not apply undue pressure of any sort on the hunger striker to suspend the strike. Treatment or care of the hunger striker must not be conditional upon suspension of the hunger strike."

Hasan also said Ramleh prison guards beat him. He's denied visits from independent doctors. PHR-I petitioned for access. IPS officials rejected it.

Hunger striking for 47 days, PHR-I appealed for Jaafar Azzedine in district court. Its judge said he won't consider hunger strike caused medical emergencies in rendering his decision.

Israel's High Court alone can decide. So far, it abstained. Only Jewish lives matter. Palestinian ones have no worth. Expect little help from judges with these views.

Palestinians are on their own. Sustained resistance is vital. So is continuing the "battle of empty stomachs" and willingness to die for justice. What greater sacrifice than that so one day others can live free.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour.

Solidarity with Palestinian Hunger Strikers

Solidarity with Palestinian Hunger Strikers

by Stephen Lendman

Courage comes in many forms. Perhaps none stand out more than willingness to die for justice.

An estimated 2,500 Palestinian detainees began open-ended hunger strikes on April 17 - Palestine Prisoners Day. Others haven't eaten much longer.

Some are perilously close to death. On May 5, Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh refused food for the 68th day. A previous article described their grave condition. Six others are also imperiled.

On May 4, Al-Haq reported on Hasan Zahi Safadi. He's been imprisoned uncharged since June 29, 2011. May 5 marked his 60th hunger striking day. Family members are denied permission to see him.

His brother Fou'ad said Hasan was held 55 days at al-Jalama interrogation center. Israel Prison Service (IPS) authorities then transferred him to Magiddo Prison. He joined other strikers in protest. IPS moved him from one facility to another. He spent much time in punitive isolation.

Hasan's lawyer said he was physically assaulted and denied proper medical care. His health deteriorated badly. On April 6, he was transferred to Ramla Prison Hospital. Its treatment is appalling. Hasan pledges to keep hunger striking for justice.

Al Haq also discussed Nizar Samir-al Tamimi. He was first arrested in 1993. Last October, he was released as part of Israel's prisoner exchange for Gilad Shalit.

When arrested years ago, he was violently interrogated and abused physically and psychologically. Observers call it torture. Its standard Israeli practice. Even children aren't exempt.

Nizar was forced to sit for hours in one position with his hands and feet painfully shackled and a plastic bag over his head. Weeks later in court, his mother attended his hearing. She was physically assaulted. A female soldier pushed her down and struck her head with her rifle butt.

Severely injured and hospitalized, she died two days later. Soldiers literally get away with murder. Interrogators tried using his mother's death to pressure Nizar to confess to false charges. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Five times he hunger struck. Previous ones lasted no longer than 20 days. Issues always involve better food and medical care, education, family visits, punitive isolation, and other harsh treatment.

They focus on those issues now and more. Always they're for justice Israel denies.

Prison conditions today are appalling. Punitive treatment is harsh and excessive. Detainees deserve better. They use their only available weapon. They refuse food for justice.

An unprecedented number now do it. Others join them daily. Word spreads. On May 4, hundreds protested outside Ramla Prison. Twenty or more arrests followed.

Family, friends, youth groups, peace activists, and political leaders expressed solidarity with strikers and all Palestinian political prisoners. Dozens of other residents, including detainee families, protested in front of a security base. Earlier demonstrators were held there.

Police responded violently. More arrests followed. Those targeted were attacked and tasered. A 16-year old boy was beaten so severely he required hospitalization.

Lawyer Maisa' Ersheed was refused permission to see those held. MK Jamal Zahalka, head of the National Democratic Assembly, said prisoner demands include: family visits (especially for Gazans denied them for six years), and ending lawless detentions uncharged, isolation, and imposed sanctions under the punitive "Shalit Law."

It prohibits family visits for Gazan prisoners. It also hardened their treatment.

Zahalka said Palestinian activism "is the beginning of daily activities in support of the detainees. We will be holding protests and marches on a daily basis. It is our duty to support the legitimate demands of the detainees."

MK Ahmad Tibi, a physician, visited Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh. He examined them. They're in grave condition. They need urgent civilian hospital care.

On May 2, hunger striker Rateb ad-Deek lost his hearing. His eyesight also deteriorated. He vomited blood after prison doctors administered wrong medication. Spurning medical ethics, they're charlatans.

Rateb needs expert treatment. It's not known if his condition is temporary or permanent. Reports say detainees in all prisons in the country's south will join hunger strikers on May 7.

On May 4, Press TV reported that dozens of Gazans supportively began hunger striking. Erecting tents in Gaza City's center, men and women participated. Hundreds of Gazan women also marched in solidarity with strikers. Still weak from her ordeal, Hana Shalabi joined them.

Hassan Abu Hasheesh, Chief of the Government Media office, said:

"The international community and UN agencies (must) take action against Israel for its crimes against Palestinian prisoners, and demand that Israel abide by international law and conventions relating to the treatment of prisoners."

On May 5, IPS spokeswoman Sivan Weizeman said 10 detainees were transferred to Ramla Prison Hospital for medical supervision. She didn't say when or what treatment's involved.

Addameer's Sahar Francis said the men were moved on different days. Those involved have been hunger striking longest. Hamas vowed to retaliate if any die.

On May 4, Khader Adnan told Maan News that hunger striking dangerously jeopardizes prisoners' lives, saying:

"During the first days, I lost appetite and suffered headaches for several hours, especially after the fifth day. The sense of smell became very strong and I could smell food from a long distance."

He explained that from day five to 38, he was stable. However, he then suffered severe vomiting and yellow stomach and liver secretions. On his 58th day, he experienced severe lower abdomen pain. During his final eight days, he felt better.

"During the first seven days, I had basic checkups such as blood pressure, diabetes, temperature, and weight, but after the seventh day I refused to take any checkups until day 43 in an attempt to escalate the situation."

On day 43, civilian hospital doctors discovered his low blood potassium rate. Blood clots can result.

"I was taken to several hospitals, and on day 54, blood tests revealed that my sugar rates were very low, and they gave me glucose." "

"They offered to give me artery feeding, but I refused despite that the Red Cross, the Palestinian minister of health and the Palestinian leadership confirmed it would not mean an end to the hunger strike."

He's much better now. However, six days after again ingesting food, he needed surgery for small intestine trouble. Had he hunger struck much longer, he could have died any time.

On May 5, six West Bank villages had supportive protests. Israelis and international activists joined them. Israeli security forces confronted them violently. Arrests and injuries followed. Many needed treatment for tear gas inhalation.

Witnesses said soldiers assaulted them, invaded their communities, took over roof tops, and fired on protesters below. Tear gas canister detonations in fields burned olive groves. Soldiers did it maliciously.

A Final Comment

Late Saturday, Maan News reported that Fatah prisoners accepted Israel's compromise to end hunger strikes.

Fatah representative Jamal al-Rjoob said IPS authorities met with its detainees in Shatta, Gilboa, Megiddo, and Hadarim prisons.

On May 4, PA prisoners minister Issa Qaraqe said an IPS committee offered 12 concessions. Prisoners accepted six, including:

(1) Gazan families will be able to visit relatives in prisons.

(2) An IPS/prisoner committee will be formed to move detainees from isolation.

(3) Three satellite TV channels will be restored.

(4) 400 NIS per month will be alloted for canteen privileges.

(5) Products there will include items prisoners need, including fruits and vegetables.

(6) Sick or injured prisoners will move by ambulance, not military vehicles.

Detainees also demanded restoration of educational services. It's being discussed. Meetings are scheduled for May 6, 7, as well as one or more others to resolve outstanding issues.

On May 2, Human Rights Watch said Israel should "immediately charge or release people jailed without charge or trial under so-called administrative detention."

On May 4, Amnesty International published an "URGENT ACTION: Palestinian Hunger Strikers' Lives in Danger," saying:

"Two Palestinian hunger strikers' lives are in danger, as the Israeli Supreme Court has delayed ruling on the appeal against their detention without charge or trial. Other administrative detainees on hunger strike are still denied access to independent doctors."

Eight or more others are at risk. Readers were urged to contact Israeli officials to demand their immediate release.

Grievous crimes against humanity are being committed. Global pressure perhaps can help. Israel only understands hardball tactics. It's time it tasted some of its own medicine.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

Settlers destroys dozens of vines in Beit Ummar near Hebron

Two minors arrested by the IOF in Beit Ummar on 4/5

This Friday 4/5 in Bil'in

New York Times Publishes Hate Ad

New York Times Publishes Hate Ad

by Stephen Lendman

The Times notoriously provides one-sided Israel/Palestine coverage. Jewish rights and all things Israel matter. Palestinians don't count.

Times articles, commentaries, and editorials turn a blind eye to egregious violations of international laws, norms and standards. Endorsing wrong over right is policy.

On April 24, a glaring example was published. The Times shares responsibility with David Horowitz's Freedom Center. With apologies to Alan Jay Lerner, his racist ad could make sailors blush.

It accused the Global Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement of promoting hate. It claimed it supports murdering Jewish children.

College professors were also targeted for "us(ing) literature in classes to attack Israel." They endorse BDS. Their names were listed for added emphasis. The ad called for "publicly sham(ing) and condemn(ing them) for the crimes their hatred incites."

It said:

It's "time for supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) to ask themselves what they did to contribute to the atmosphere of hate that spawned" the killing of Jews.

It invoked the Holocaust. It's always used to claim unique Jewish suffering. Others don't count, especially Palestinians under repressive Israeli military occupation for decades.

"The Holocaust," it said, "began with boycotts of Jewish stores and ended with death camps. The calls for a new Holocaust can be heard throughout the Middle East and Europe as well."

Horowitz is a notorious Islamophobe. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) top-featured him in its "Dirty Dozen" Islamophobia list. It called him its "premier promoter." He made himself its "chief publicist."

He's also editor and owner of FrontPage Magazine. It features racist hate and Islamophobia. It calls Occupy Wall Street "the Communist movement reborn." It said planned May Day activities include "terrorism." They intend "violent acts (to) disrupt the US economy."

Its Jihad Watch page might make some racists blush. It's that bad. It's Wall of Truth page runs neck and neck. It calls Brandeis University students for Palestine "stormtroopers." It labels supportive Florida Atlantic University ones "blood libels (and) Israel-hating."

Anything Horowitz writes or says tops everything. His David's Blog is hate-filled. It calls "racial outrage over the tragic death of Trayvon Martin....a national disgrace."

It includes comments like "Muslim countries have no tolerance for others. If you're not Muslim, then they consider you to be a pig or a dog or a monkey. These backward Muslims really are still living in the stone age."

Years ago Horowitz ran ads in college newspapers saying Blacks should be grateful for slavery. More recently, he defended Robert Spencer calling Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik "a man of great courage and decency."

He's off the rails. He menaces free societies. He spews hate in public appearances, print, and on scoundrel TV. He participates as well as promotes. He equates Islam with terrorism. He's not fit for polite company.

The New York Times published his hate ad. Doing so violated its own "Advertising Acceptability Guidelines."

It states in part:

"The Times may decline to accept advertising that is misleading, inaccurate or fraudulent; that makes unfair competitive claims; or that fails to comply with its standards of decency and dignity."

"If an advertisement contains statements or illustrations that are not deemed acceptable, and that The Times thinks should be changed or eliminated, the advertiser will be notified."

"The Times will attempt to negotiate changes with the advertiser; however, if changes cannot be negotiated, the advertisement will be declined by The Times."

Professors Against Hate Ads

The New York Times spurned 148 US college professors. Their April 28 letter to the editor denounced Horowitz's hate ad. The Times wouldn't print it. Why needs explaining. Its full text said:

"We are professors who teach in universities across this country. We are appalled at the advertisement by the David Horowitz Freedom Center (Op-Ed page, April 24, 2012) which compares the international movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel (BDS) to the Holocaust and ancient blood libels. It also asks that professors who support it be 'publicly shamed and condemned.' "

"It grossly distorts the statements of such professors, which are publicly available online and can be verified."

"The Horowitz Center’s advertisement seeks to shut down informed debate. Free speech and thought was a crucial right at stake in 1930s Germany and it remains so today."

"The discussion that took place at the University of Pennsylvania did not use any objectionable language, and included many Jewish participants, including rabbis. Your readers can hear for themselves what was said at www.PennBDS.org."

"It is Horowitz who uses the language of hatred and bigotry. Even those of us who do not support BDS are alarmed at your carrying an advertisement that misinforms and names individuals who do not have the money that Horowtiz has to defend themselves through his chosen medium."

"We hope you will publish this letter to make this point."

They all signed their names. UCLA Professor David Delgado Shorter was among them. His academic freedom's at stake. His department chair rebuked him for posting content criticizing Israel.

So did UCLA Academic Senate chair Professor Andrew Leuchter. Palestinian rights activism is dangerous. Academic and speech freedoms are risked. Careers supporting right over wrong may end.

Shorter signed his name with others. UCLA was well represented. He was joined by Kathleen A. McHugh, Lucy San Pablo Burns, Carole Browner, Michelle Clayton, Nguyen-vo Thu-huong, Shu-mei-Shih, Ismail Poonawala, Gabriel Piterberg, Sondra Hale, and Professor Emerita Karen Brodkin.

Others included Jews. Universities nationwide were represented. They include UC Berkeley, Colombia, Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Duke, Swarthmore, Barnard, NYU, and University of Illinois.

Doing the right thing is easy. Major media journalists trying seldom get second chances. Repeated offenses end academic careers. Target Israel enough times and it's practically certain.

Sensitive truths in America aren't tolerated. Only wealth, power, and Israeli support are welcome. Some learn the hard way. Their honor and integrity remain intact. What's more important than that.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.