The Other Israel is a weekly publication of Occupation Magazine, which is run by Israelis to provide information and alternative commentary on the ongoing developments in the Occupied Territories - the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It is published in Hebrew, English, and Russian. The editors of the Magazine indicate that the need for such information arises because "the ongoing devastation of the Palestinian land and people in the Occupied Territories is misrepresented in the Israeli and US media as a "fight against terror" and a "just struggle for Israel's very existence and security". The Editors represent a range of opinions as to the optimal solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but are united in the belief that a viable solution must be based on the unconditional end to the Israeli military occupation, and on principles of equality, justice and mutual respect."
The Other Israel often provides news not heard outside of Israel and alternate perspectives on what is read in the US and Israeli media. The Occupation Magazine site can be reached here, where free subscriptions of The Other Israel can be obtained: http://www.kibush.co.il/...
Selections of this week’s issue of The Other Israel are as follows:
Left wing activists block Tel Aviv street with part of separation fence
Roni Singer-Haruti- Haaretz-"About 20 activists from the Anarchists Against the Fence organization on Thursday briefly blocked Basel Street in north Tel Aviv with a piece of barbed wire fence taken from the separation fence." (The picture below shows a barbwire fence put up by Anarchists members in downtown Tel Aviv.)
The Hamas factor
Robert Malley and Henry Siegman - International Herald Tribune - "There is an alternative, and though it, too, is uncertain, it is far less risky or bloody, and hardly has been given a chance. Hamas wants to govern effectively — that is, without a crippling international siege and Israeli military operations. Although it is not willing to formally renounce violence, it is prepared to abide by a comprehensive cease- fire, and has proved its ability to implement it when Israel fully reciprocates."
The temples of the occupation
Meron Benvenisti - Haaretz - "Anyone who seriously desires to stop this march of folly - when even its limited usefulness for security is in doubt, and its damage clear to everyone - must order the dismantling of all the roadblocks that are not deployed on the borders of sovereign Israel, and must not surrender to the army officers` wheeling-and-dealing"
Israeli roadblock pledge derided
Conal Urquhart - The Guardian - "Hanan Ashrawi, a moderate Palestinian MP, said that Israeli promises often did not translate into action. If the restrictions were relaxed, she said, they were so insignificant as to make a joke of Mr Abbas. "We are justifiably sceptical. Nothing has happened yet and we do not know if these roadblocks are important or peripheral... If it is true then it will be too little too late. The only thing that will help Mahmoud Abbas is serious substantive measures accompanied by a serious and substantive peace process," she said." [NB: this is from before Olmert canceled his promises re dismantling roadblocks or releasing prisoners as a goodwill gesture - less than a week after the face to face meeting with Abbas, in which he made the pledges.]
U.S. Scolds Israel on Plan for West Bank Settlement
Helene Cooper - New York Times - "" In a rare public rebuke to Israel, the Bush administration said Wednesday that an Israeli plan to construct a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank for the first time in 10 years could violate the terms of an American-backed peace proposal."
Petition: Fence route forcing `transfer`
Dan Izenberg - Jerusalem Post - "But the state did not take the court`s advice."
The new refugees
Amira Hass - Haaretz - "They thought up the Citizenship Law, which crassly expanded the discrimination against Israeli Arabs and intervenes in their right to have a family life."
The Embarrassment of the Wretched
Ran HaCohen - EI - "Is the proposed boycott really the greatest evil on earth? Well, I haven`t heard of a single human injured, killed, or even suffering because of it."
IDF opposes Olmert plan to dismantle West Bank checkpoints
Aluf Benn -- Haaretz -- "Defense Forces came out against Olmert`s promise to remove some checkpoints in the West Bank and Defense Minister Amir Peretz rejected a specific plan to remove 27 of the approximately 400 roadblocks"
We the Arabs, the Holocaust, and Palestine
Fawwaz Traboulsi - as-Safir/Zmag - While Nazi theories of the master race ranked the Jews among the lowest racial groups, one group they considered still inferior to the Jews were ... the Arabs!
The Livni Plan
Ari Shavit - Haaretz - "I`m disturbed by the process of turning national conflicts into religious ones. And the Iranian issue is, of course, a problem. But my main commitment is to the Israeli-Palestinian issue. I think that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is a keg of gunpowder that we`re sitting on and for which we have to find a solution. Time is not on the side of the moderates on both sides. Time is working against a solution of two nation-states."
Longer stays possible, but two visas required
Aljazeerah - [A possible relief for holders of foreign passports denied (re)entry into the West Bank - but actual results of announced new bureacratic measure need to be seen. A.K.]
200 new trailers placed in West Bank settlements since June
Amos Harel - Haaretz - "The Yesha Council of settlements says the number is lower than the 200 stated by the Civil Administration and that most of the buildings spotted in the latest aerial survey were simply never identified before [sic!].
Umm Salamuna Villagers face the bulldozers
Najib Farag - PNN (Bethlehem) - "Twenty Israeli military vehicles stormed Umm Salamuna Village south of Bethlehem to protect four military bulldozers involved in building the Wall. Hundreds of farmers rushed to the area, with people coming also from surrounding villages. A group of people created a human chain, holding hands and facing the bulldozers.
Palestinian reactions to Saddam Hussein`s execution
Ali Samoudi - PNN (Jenin) - "The decision of the American client government in Iraq to execute the Iraqi President is unfair and part of the American and Zionist conspiracy against Arab and Islamic countries," said Jenin resident Faris Yousef.
Is a history of Jerusalem or Al-Quds possible?
Al-Quds University - Is a history of Jerusalem or Al-Quds possible? How many of the hundreds of books and tourist guides really inform us? The real accumulation of humanity in Jerusalem over millennia, the diversity of its life and the variety of its architecture, are constantly being overshadowed by single narratives. [Editor`s note: the account given here is also clearly a single narrative, but well-written and researched, and relatively open-minded to other narratives. A.K.]
Crossposted at Eternal Hope: http://eternalhope.blog-city.com/