Anarchists, Anti-Israel Activists Planning Rallies Worldwide
Tammuz 18, 5769, 10 July 09 11:56
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Peace Now vs. Yesha JewsIsrael news (Israelnationalnews.com) International Anarchist groups and anti-Israel activists will be targeting Israeli embassies, consulates and Zionist organizations next week with active street protests. The focus of their demonstrations will be planned Israeli enforcement of construction codes in eastern Jerusalem.
Anti-Israel protest The protests, held under the title "International Day of Actions Against House Evictions and Demolitions in Palestine", are slated for Monday 13th July 2009. Organizers are calling for the construction of tent cities outside Israeli diplomatic offices worldwide, . Among the cities in which such events are expected to be held are London, Paris, San Francisco and Chicago, as well as outside the Israeli embassy in Hellerup, Denmark, and within Israel itself.
According to a senior analyst with the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, who has been following the chatter on next week's protests among Anarchist groups, "the potential for violence hinges on local leadership." As of now, he said, there does not appear to be a threat of serious violence, "although I would be surprised if a rock or two weren't thrown. But I expect less aggression than during the Gaza war."
Demographics
In promotional material for the coming protests, organizers claim that "Israel is attempting to depopulate Palestinian communities to make way for Israeli settlements and public parks." Demolition orders received by Arab families, they say will result in the eviction of "up to 2,000 Palestinians.... part of Israel’s wider policy to ethnically cleanse Jerusalem of its Palestinian population."
In promotional material for the coming protests, organizers claim that "Israel is attempting to depopulate Palestinian communities to make way for Israeli settlements and public parks." Demolition orders received by Arab families, they say will result in the eviction of "up to 2,000 Palestinians.... part of Israel’s wider policy to ethnically cleanse Jerusalem of its Palestinian population."
Statistics from Jerusalem, however, show that since 1967, when Jerusalem was incorporated into sovereign Israel, the city's Arab population has increased by over 250 percent. During the same period, the Jewish population grew by under 150 percent. Under Jordanian rule, from 1948 through 1967, there were no Jews in eastern Jerusalem at all, and the Muslim population increased by less than 40 percent, while the Christian population was halved.
Shimon HaTzaddik as a Test Case
Specifically cited by anti-Israel activists behind the planned protests is the case of the Jewish neighborhood of Shimon HaTzaddik in the eastern part of the capital. The Israeli Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Jewish rights in the neighborhood over the years, most recently in 2008, and some Arab families have been evicted. However, other families have thus far refused to move and face forcible eviction later this month.
Specifically cited by anti-Israel activists behind the planned protests is the case of the Jewish neighborhood of Shimon HaTzaddik in the eastern part of the capital. The Israeli Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Jewish rights in the neighborhood over the years, most recently in 2008, and some Arab families have been evicted. However, other families have thus far refused to move and face forcible eviction later this month.
Known by the Arabs as Sheikh Jarrah, the neighborhood comprises the Nachalat Shimon area, populated throughout the 1940s by individual Jewish families, and the Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood, owned by the Vaad HaEdah HaSfaradit (Sephardic Congregation Council). Jewish residents of the area fled Arab attacks during the War of Independence. The Jewish Jerusalem refugees were taken in by Israel, while Jordanian Arabs took over the abandoned Jewish properties. The latest court ruling recognizes the Jewish ownership of houses there and orders the Arab squatters removed.
The anti-Israel, Islamic and Anarchist organizations promoting next week's protests admit that the Arab families in Sheikh Jarrah have failed in their legal efforts, and that "media attention and international pressure can help stop the evictions taking place."
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PrintPeace Now, Land of Israel Orgs Trade Accusations of Illegality
Tammuz 18, 5769, 10 July 09 11:51
by Maayana Miskin(Israelnationalnews.com) Land of Israel groups traded harsh accusations with Peace Now on Friday morning after Peace Now head Yariv Oppenheimer accused them of criminal activity. Oppenheimer asked Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to investigate Jewish groups in Judea and Samaria that support the construction of new Jewish communities – an activity that according to Oppenheimer is a serious criminal offense.
"The hilltop youth's games of cat and mouse cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of shekels,” Oppenheimer charged, referring to fledgling communities where Jewish activists run from police who come to destroy their homes, only to return and rebuild hours later.
"If the lawbreakers are not forced to bear the consequences of their actions, the 'outpost' phenomenon will only grow,” he continued. He called on Mazuz to charge the Land of Israel Faithful and Youth for the Land of Israel in particular, accusing both groups of encouraging Jews to build new communities in Judea and Samaria without government authorization.
A variety of pro-Yesha (Judea and Samaria) groups responded to Oppenheimer. Two of them, Homesh First and the Yesha Council, said Peace Now should be the one under investigation.
"The Peace Now gang is drunk with power, leading them to confuse the attorney general with a European Union official who they can approach with their spiteful complaints,” said leaders of Homesh First, a group that calls to resettle northern Samaria and other areas from which Jews were forcibly removed in the 2005 “Disengagement.”
"Maybe they are the ones who should be tried, for harassing a senior public official,” they suggested.
The Yesha Council called for a criminal investigation into Peace Now's funding and motivation. “The group 'Peace Now' gets funding from foreign governments, some of which are hostile to the state of Israel, in order to undermine the Zionist settlement project in Judea and Samaria and other Israeli interests,” council members said.
'Their Day will Come'
Other organizations, including the Women in Green, the Committee for a Jewish Shdema, and the Action Committees of Efrat, Gush Etzion, Kiryat Arba and Hevron refrained from suggesting criminal charges against Peace Now, but warned the group that someday they would be called to justice.
Other organizations, including the Women in Green, the Committee for a Jewish Shdema, and the Action Committees of Efrat, Gush Etzion, Kiryat Arba and Hevron refrained from suggesting criminal charges against Peace Now, but warned the group that someday they would be called to justice.
"The traitorous members of Peace Now, who collaborate with the Arab enemy and are funded by international anti-Semites, will not win: We will continue to settle the entire land of Israel, our adults and youth together. The day will come when Peace Now members will be on trial for treason and collaboration with the Arab enemy,” the groups warned.
The message was sent from Shdema, where land of Israel organizations have held weekly Friday events to strengthen the Jewish presence in the area. The Olmert government hoped to turn the strategic Shdema area, which overlooks the Jerusalem-Gush Etzion highway, into a new city for Palestinian Authority Arabs; Jews hope to use the area for a Jewish city instead.
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