Are the Brown Shirts making a come back all over the world?

Hudson’s co-founder, the Israeli academic purge and the subversion of US Middle East policy

Taken from 'The Only Democracy' who reposted this item from Didi Remez’s Coteret blog.


Evidence is mounting that the Institute for Zionist Strategies (IZS) — an Israeli NGO at the forefront of an ongoing campaign to purge Israeli Universities of faculty and programs deemed “left-wing” — is a creature of The Hudson Institute, a major Washington based neoconservative think-tank, which played an active role in shaping the Bush administration’s Middle East policies.

Hudson is the primary financial backer of the IZS, providing at least half of the organization’s total reported multi-year funding, but the connection does not end there.

Max Singer, co-founder of the Hudson Institute, its former President and current Senior Fellow, is also the IZS’s Research Director. At least according to his bio on the Hudson website: The IZS site only identifies him as a member of the Advisory Committee. Its 2006 brochure (page 8), however, states that he is a member of the International Board of Governors and as one of the ex-officio members of the Projects Committee, which “as such, are invited to all deliberative sessions and events.” According to the IZS’s verbal report to the Israeli Registrar of Associations for 2008 (the last one filed), Singer’s wife, Suzanne, is one of three members of the NGO’s “Council”, the sovereign decision-making body under Israeli law.

As the IZS’s Research Director, Singer would presumably be responsible for the research that pressured the President of Tel-Aviv University

to take the extraordinary step of examining the syllabi of his institution’s Sociology Department for “left-wing bias”. The introduction to the IZS’s 2006 brochure (page 1), which Singer co-signed, indicates that he saw this type of activity as part of the organization’s strategic purpose:

The IZS will help liberate the public discourse in Israeli society from the self-imposed constraints of the prevalent dogma and internalized notions of the politically correct. Israeli society needs to be freed from the acceptance of double standards so that we can become comfortable asserting our own national purpose as a sovereign Jewish community.

This goal would fit well within the stated purpose of a Hudson Institute project, which was launched at the same time as funding of the IZS began (emphasis in the original):

IZS Brochure 2006
The Future of Zionism. The Center for Middle East Policy is launching a multi-year project to examine the future of Zionism and its implications for the State of Israel. Israel faces an ideological crisis: As the recent Gaza pullout showed, societal divisions between secular and religious Israelis and between left and right wing camps have become so pronounced that they threaten to overpower the Zionist consensus that traditionally unified the nation. [Hudson Institute Form 990 Report to the IRS for 2005, page 23].

For a generation, Singer has been involved in designing and promoting aggressive US foreign policy. In the early 1980′s he was on the board of Friends of the Democratic Center in Central America (PRODEMCA), a controversial organization involved in the Iran-Contras scandal. In 2002, he published The Many Compelling Reasons for War with Iraq.

A Democratic administration is in power in Washington and Singer has moved to Jerusalem, so he has found a new instrument for beltway influence: The government of Israel. From a July 17 policy note published by the Begin Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University (emphasis mine):

To prevent Obama from bringing America behind his different view of the world, Israel needs to help Americans appreciate the way that Obama sees things differently than they do. The views of most Americans, and of most of the American political world, are much closer to Israel’s understanding of Middle Eastern realities than to Obama’s perceptions. Israeli actions can help Americans to recognize the conflicts between what they believe and the premises of Obama’s proposed policies. The critical element in Israel’s policy concerning the US is the degree to which Israel is able to recognize, stimulate, and get the benefit of the parts of the American policy-making system that do not share President Obama’s radically different ideas about the world. Israel does not have to act as if Obama’s views will necessarily determine the policy of the US, and it certainly does not have to assume that Obama’s current views will dominate US policy-making for many years. Israel has the power, if it has the fortitude, to influence the degree to which Obama is able to make the tectonic change in American policy that he would like to make.

Netanyahu’s Senior Diplomatic Adviser, Ron Dermer, seems to have acted on this advice, incurring the wrath of Rahm Emanuel. From Ben Caspit’s August 19 column in Maariv:

Emanuel was angry, he claimed, because Dermer briefed certain Americans, Jewish and non-Jewish, against the President and Emanuel himself.

Boycott called against Israel

Having received several posting over the last few months regarding a boycott of Israeli goods and services, and having lived next to South Africa for much of my childhood and seen the efficacy of boycotts and peaceful activism I share this article from the Only Democracy with you today. Unfortunately by doing so I gather that Israel will probably ban me from entering her borders. Apparently those advocating this boycott are to be banned from visiting Israel. Now how in all logical reasoning does this make Israel a 'democracy?' Only totalitarian states are unable to tolerate political criticism.

"Only a boycott will persuade Israel
by Ayala Shani &Ofer Neiman

“Israel won’t change unless the status quo has a downside” – these words were written by journalist Tony Karon, a Jew from South Africa. This sentence reflects the rationale behind the broad BDS campaign – which includes sanctions, institutional boycott, and divestment – which has begun trickling down into public consciousness in Israel. Instead of a defensive, self-righteous response along the general lines of “the whole world is against us”, it would be best to learn the facts about the campaign and peer into the collective mirror, which reflects grievous and systematic violations of human rights and international law.
The current movement originally started with a call to action issued in 2005, signed by more than 170 organizations from Palestinian society: citizens of Israel, refugees in exile, and Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank and in Gaza. The call to action was published in Hebrew, too, and citizens of Israel are requested to express their support of it. It is for this purpose that the Israeli group “Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from within” was founded.
The BDS movement that has developed in response to the Palestinian call to action does not have any formal, focal leadership. Regular citizens around the world, including many Jews, initiate activities and take part in them. The goal of the movement is to demonstrate to Israel the international community’s disgust and rejection of its actions, so that Israel will act for the immediate termination of the occupation, for the end of discrimination against the Arab citizens of Israel, and for recognition of the refugees’ right of return, as phrased in United Nations Decision 194. Elements of the oppression which the movement wishes to put an end to match the legal definition of the crime of apartheid – systematic and institutionalized racial separation, as practiced in old South Africa.
The movement does not promote any specific political solution (one state or two, the return of any particular number of refugees), but rather, strives to change in a nonviolent way the balance of power that makes it possible for Israel’s governments to violently withhold the basic rights of millions of people, and to renounce their accountability with unfounded statements (“the Arabs are to blame for the refugee problem”, “the settlements are legal”, “there is no siege upon Gaza”.)
It will be stressed here that the boycott is not a personal boycott on Israelis but rather, a boycott of official Israeli institutions and of events taking place under their auspices. Thus, for example, there is no call to deny an Israeli researcher her right to lecture abroad. There is a call to avoid holding international conferences in universities in Israel which proudly proclaim their contacts with the military establishment.
Is Israel being singled out? As was true about white South Africa, the world is justly sensitive to situations where a population that has civil rights determines the fate of a population which has neither civil rights nor the right to vote. Fairness is not always a feature of international relations, but Israel enjoys many international privileges, such as membership in the OECD. The citizens of China, where grievous human rights abuses take place, have never been given the opportunity to express a lack of confidence in the government that forcibly suppressed the student demonstrations in 1989. In contrast, the citizens of Israel cast their votes again and again for parties (including Kadima and the Labor Party) and governments under whose administration settlements are built, people are tortured and arrested for years with no trial, unarmed citizens are shot, and land and water resources are plundered.
Many people around the world ask, therefore, whether there is good reason for a normalization with Israel. Port workers in Sweden and Norway, countries which have historically been very sympathetic to Israel, refuse to unload Israeli container ships. Artists wonder why they must perform here and enhance the sense of “business as usual” when the very fact of their performance will be portrayed as support of Israel’s policy.
A deep-reaching public discussion is needed at this time, not only about the question of whether the boycott is or is not justified but about Israel’s policy. Many Israelis acknowledge the heinous acts being done in our name, under our very noses. It is appropriate for an effective and nonviolent campaign against these actions should have their support.
The authors are active in the Israeli group: “Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from within.”
This article was originally published in Hebrew in Haaretz Online, June 22 2010.
Ofer Neiman (a regular contributor to The Only Democracy?) and Ayala Shani published this article in Hebrew in Haaretz. As is often the case, the most interesting, and cutting-edge discussions, don’t get translated into the English version of the paper, perhaps in fear of offending sensitive Jewish American sensibilities? In any case, the article has been translated by Dena Bugel-Shunra, of Shunra Media. It was originally published in English in Jews Sans Frontieres."
Thank to Wikipedia for the map image of israel and the occupied territories.

GAZA MEETING - CONWAY HALL TONIGHT 9 June 2010

Public rally - hear eyewitness accounts from the Mavi Marmara

Released hostages have returned home to give accounts of Monday's attack that differ greatly from that pushed by Israel in the immediate aftermath of the incident. Contrary to Israel 's claim that its soldiers acted in self-defence, witnesses have described how the Israelis shot to kill, with at least four activists being intentionally shot in the head. It has emerged that the truth behind Israel 's claim that activists on the boat were armed is that some passengers desperately tried to defend themselves with whatever was to hand after the Israelis began firing live rounds. Witnesses also described how the injured were denied medical treatment for several hours, as Israeli soldiers ignored pleas for help.

Come to a public rally to hear first-hand what actually happened aboard the Mavi Marmara and beyond. The meeting will feature several activists from the flotilla.

7pm on Wednesday 9th June in Conway Hall, Red Lion Square . (nearest tube: Holborn).

My comment:

The atrocity committed by Israel deserves international condemnation. Unfortunately our politicians, of all parties, are soft peddaling on this one and it seems Israel may eventually be allowed to investigate its own atrocity.

What happened on the Mavi Mara, seems to any disinterested independent observer is that the IDF (Israeli Defence Force) soldiers arrived toting guns and shooting to kill. When those on the boat turned to 'boat things' to defend themselves they were accused of terrorism and some MPs in this country have been happy to peddle that story.

Defending ones self with 'boat things' in international waters against gun toting soldiers who have boarded illegally is not yet a terrorist offence ... or is it?

Israeli attack on Gaza peace flotilla

The nettle bouquet has to go outside Oakham today. Special award to the Israeli Government for attacking the Gaza Peace Flotilla, then lying through their teeth about what happened. Have the Israeli's been taking lessons from Alf Dewis et al?

Having kept up with news of this peace flotilla by email, the press appear to have ignored the situation until the Israeli's killed several peace activists. I received the following email from the ONLY DEMOCRACY on Sunday, the day before the Israeli's sent Special Forces brutally aboard a Turkish ship of the peace flotilla. This atrocity committeed by the IDF deserved condemnation, however the press appears full of apologists prepared to excuse this Israeli act of piracy in International waters. The real situation in Gaza is clearly illustrated by this writter. This is worth sharing with you - a powerfully written piece by an Israeli:

** An Open Letter by Jeff Halper to the Israeli Jewish Public: Support
the Gaza Flotilla -
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/05/an-open-letter-by-jeff-halper-to-the-
israeli-jewish-public-support-the-gaza-flotilla/


By Jeff Halper

If we were not Israeli Jews, if the nine ships bringing 800 peace-makers
from 40 countries would be sailing with humanitarian aid to an imprisoned
population of a million and a half to, say, Haiti, the flotilla now on
its way to Gaza would be hailed as a monumental event. The government of
Israel would donate another 50 tons of food and materials and a brigade
of army volunteers from the “rescue corps.” But we are Israelis, and
the fact that such an operation is being launched against a siege we
imposed on a civilian population three years ago – actually, the
blockade goes back to the late 1980s – should cause us all to reflect
upon how we and our country have arrived at this sorry state – how the
“light unto the nations” has become one of the most oppressive states
on earth, subject to international protests like this one.

The flotilla is sailing with a number of messages. First and foremost, to
the government of Israel: "Lift the siege on Gaza!" The siege is
absolutely illegal in international law, and for those of us who believe
that the rule of law and human rights is the only recipe for a better
world, it is incumbent upon us to join the flotilla's call to lift the
siege. Civilians cannot be the object of military and political attacks,
as is the case in Gaza (which the Goldstone Report roundly criticized),
nor can they be collectively punished for the policies of their political
leaders. The very idea that people can be brought to their knees and
forced to accept being permanently controlled and dominated, which is the
thrust of Israeli policy, is both unconscionable and counter-productive.
As the situation in Gaza shows, it has only stiffened resistance to the
Occupation.

And then there is the urgency of the flotilla's second message,
"Addressing the humanitarian situation in Gaza!" In a policy
frightening reminiscent of other dark regimes in which Jews suffered from
controlled malnutrition, our government has imposed a regime of
counting calories on the Gaza population“ imposing a minimal
dietary regime on a million and a half people who receive as little as
850 calories a day, less than half the recommended daily intake. (Dov
Weisglass, Sharon's Chief of Staff, made a joke out of this. It's
like a meeting with a dietitian, he said. We need to make the
Palestinians lose weight, but not to starve to death. Instant coffee,
fresh meat, rice, beans, spices, honey, chocolate, jam, bananas,
coriander and pasta, among many others, are considered by Israel
luxury foods for Palestinians. All this might be funny if it
weren't for the fact that, according to the World Health Organization,
more than 10% of Gazan children suffer from chronic malnutrition.
Two-thirds of the Gazan population face hunger on a daily basis.

Gaza is today an unreconstructed war-zone. Israel long ago destroyed the
sewage system, so that people have drowned in periodic floods of sewage
that have engulfed whole communities. Raw sewage flowing into the
Mediterranean has polluted the only waters in which Palestinians are
allowed to fish“ the Israeli navy fires on fishermen who attempt to
reach cleaner waters more than three miles out. Having destroyed Gaza's
only power station, much of the area suffers from blackouts, and Israel
prevents adequate amounts of fuel from entering, with severe effects on
hospitals. Gazans also have nowhere to live. More than 2,400 homes were
destroyed in the invasion of last year and Israel, by prohibiting the
import of raw materials, has prevented their being rebuilt. Thus the
flotilla is bringing to Gaza 10,000 tons of humanitarian materials:
temporary shelters, playgrounds for children, cement, steel and other
construction materials, medical equipment and medicines and school
supplies“ a drop in the bucket of which is actually needed. The list
alone is an indictment of our policies.

We Israeli Jews live in a managed information environment in which
reality is carefully framed for us. Our government's explanation for
everything it does is "security," and we accept that almost without
question. But we have to understand a basic fact of life: four million
Palestinians live under a cruel Occupation that we have nurtured for the
past 43 years and which has deprived them of their fundamental rights
(such as electing their own political leaders), robbed them of their land
and homes (Israeli governments have demolished some 24,000 Palestinian
homes in the Occupied Territories since 1967), reduced them to
impoverishment and has led, in the case of Gaza, to their literal
imprisonment.

Why do I have to repeat facts that seem so self-evident, that everyone
knows? Because, though every informed person abroad knows these things,
we Israeli Jews don't and we don't care. Most Israelis know far
less about what our government is doing in our name, in Gaza and
elsewhere in the Occupied Territories, than the activists on the Free
Gaza ships. We seldom if ever use the term "occupation" in our
everyday speech (in fact, our government denied the very existence of an
occupation), and we minimize the impact that our settlements, our
separate roads, the Wall, hundreds of checkpoints and other facets of the
Occupation have upon the political process, which we no longer believe
in. Living in a prosperous "bubble," we do not see Palestinian
suffering, only ourselves as "victims." (And so our Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman characterizes the Gaza flotillas as "violent
propaganda" against Israel, as if we have nothing to do with conditions
of life in Gaza or the very fact of occupation.) But this is not
reality. For the Palestinians there is no minimizing their suffering or
their yearning for freedom. Why, with our history, is it so difficult for
us to understand resistance to oppression?

And so the third message of the flotilla is directed towards us: "Take
responsibility for your government's policies!" When I entered Gaza
on the first Free Gaza boats in August, 2008, I issued an appeal to the
Israeli public to stand in solidarity with us. I argued that ordinary
people have often played key roles in history, particularly in situations
like this where world governments, who should end the siege, shirk their
responsibilities. We must resist the self-serving and disempowering
statements of our political leaders who would have us believe that there
is no solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, that there is "no
partner for peace," that we are doomed to perpetual war and, therefore,
we must become permanent oppressors. The Palestinians are not our
enemies; our own political leaders are. The very fact that I, an Israeli
Jew, was welcomed by the people of Gaza makes that very point, and it is
the message they asked me to convey to you. But they also insist on their
rights: self-determination.

We of the Israeli peace camp refuse to be enemies with our Palestinian
neighbors. We recognize that as the infinitely stronger party in the
conflict, we Israelis must accept responsibility for our failed and
oppressive policies.

In the meantime, the flotilla to Gaza has already succeeded. If the
Israeli government allows the ships into Gaza, the power of the will have
prevailed once more. If it chooses to stop the flotilla, it will only
highlight the existence of the illegal and inhumane siege and bolster
international efforts to end it. In both cases Israel loses the battle
for legitimacy in the international community. This is the beauty of
non-violent direct action. It is only a matter of time before it will be
forced to relinquish control over the Palestinians and their lands.

Let us, Israeli Jews who aspire to become an integral part of this region
rather than a foreign implant at war with its inhabitants, begin to take
our fate in our own hands. We must side with the people of Gaza and the
activists on the boats against the unjust and immoral policies of our own
government. This is what the good people of the flotilla are trying to
tell us, what people all over the world are trying to tell us: unless we
take responsibility for our actions and end this terrible conflict with
the Palestinians, we will not remain here. And unless we find a way to a
just peace rather than stand on the side of occupation, oppression and
injustice, we may delay that day by force, but our society will not
survive. For our sakes as well as the people of Gaza, let us, the Israeli
Jewish public, board the boats to end the siege of Gaza.

Watch live streaming video from insaniyardim at livestream.com

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Further news also available on the following URL links:

Israeli intervention

http://english. aljazeera. net/
live news coverage of flotilla

http://blogs. aljazeera. net/imperium
excellent analysys of flotilla event from best journalyst and international releations professor of al-jazeera.

http://www.presstv. com/detail. aspx?id=128555