The bond between the military and the Ministry of Education
High school students march with army cadets during a Memorial Day ceremony in aschool in Haifa (Photo by Activestills)
[An] initiative announced by the Minister of Education in 2009 was a new system of incentives to be operated in Israeli schools. One criterion for schools and even individual teachers to receive additional funding now depends on the percentage of graduates who enlist in the military and into combat units.
(...) New Profile now has the honor of being the only body explicitly and officially banned from entering Israeli schools.
These moves are symptomatic of the intense processes of militarization that are increasingly constricting the space for free civil debate and generally silencing dissent in Israel. Part of a declared government policy to stem a growing non-conscription movement, such educational policies dangerously aim to ensure future conscripts’ uncritical, blind obedience – the same type of blind and uncritical obedience, needless to say, that produces military actions such as witnessed in Gaza in December-January 2009.
Efforts to expel from the Knesset the Arabs who are representing their voters, in addition to racist laws the current Knesset is promoting, are liable to turn Israel into a new model of apartheid state.
During the visit by leaders of the Palestinian community to Libya a few months ago, MK Hanin Zuabi (Balad ) stood out in particular - the only woman in the "Arabs of 1948" delegation invited to visit Muammar Gadhafi. When we met with Gadhafi in his tent in the town of Sert, this remarkable woman showed courage that is rare in these parts.
The leader preached to us and advised us to practice one of the tenets of Islam - marry four women and bring many children into the world to fight the Israelis. Zuabi, who is known for her struggle for the rights of Palestinian women in Israel, did not hesitate and pointed out to Gadhafi that his philosophy was not acceptable to her because it oppresses women. The tent went silent. It's not customary to interrupt the leader, we had been told in the briefing before the meeting. Gadhafi listened and simply went on with his speech.
Rights group Breaking the Silence refutes IDF claim that photos posted by female soldier under the heading 'the time of my life' are an anomaly.
IDF soldiers with a Palestinian detainee.
Photo by: Breaking the Silence
Facebook photos depicting Israel Defense Forces soldiers pictured alongside handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian detainees represent the norm, not the exception, in IDF conduct, an Israeli human rights group said on Tuesday, thus refuting an official army statement claiming the opposite.
Photographs uploaded by Eden Abergil released earlier this week and labeled "IDF – the best time of my life," sparked massive public outrage. The photos depicted Abergil smiling next to Palestinian prisoners with their hands bound and their eyes covered.
A comment attached to one of the photos of the soldier smiling in front of two blindfold men and posted by one of Abergil's friends read "That looks really sexy for you," with Abergil's response reading: "I wonder if he is on Facebook too – I'll have to tag him in the photo."
Écrit par Ilana Hammerman, Annelien Kisch, Esti Tsal, Daphne Banai, Klil Zisapel, Michal Pundak Sagie, Nitza Aminov, Irit Gal, Ofra Yeshua-Lyth, Ronni Eilat, Ronit Marian-Kadishai
Dimanche, 15 Août 2010 18:25
Info-Palestine.net, 26 août 2010
New Profile
De Talila Kosh, animatrice de New Profile, ONG israélienne qui se bat pour une "démilitarisation" de la société civile israélienne. NP soutient notamment les refuzniks, les anarchistes contre le mur et sont très actives dans le collectif israélien "women4peace".
Le vendredi 23 juillet, nous, une douzaine de femmes juives israéliennes sommes sorties de Cisjordanie avec une douzaine de femmes palestiniennes, un bébé, et trois enfants. Nous avons déjeuné au restaurant, nous sommes baignées dans la mer et avons joué sur la plage. Nous sommes reparties en traversant Jérusalem et avons contemplé la Vieille Ville de loin. La plupart de nos amies palestiniennes n’avaient jamais vu la mer, ni, de toute leur vie, jamais prié dans leurs lieux saints. Leurs regards se sont longuement posé sur eux du haut du Mont Scopus.
Aucune d’entre elles n’avait d’autorisation de passage des autorités israéliennes. Nous leur avons fait passer le check-point dans nos voitures privées, violant délibérément la Loi d’Entrée en Israël. Cela, nous l’avons fait dans les traces d’Ilana Hammerman, après que l’Etat ait émis une plainte envers elle, ainsi que la Police israélienne, à la suite d’une sortie équivalente qu’elle avait faite avec trois jeunes femmes palestiniennes. Nous avons décidé d’agir dans l’esprit de Martin Luther King et avons ainsi symbolisé notre refus de lois illégitimes et immorales.
