P10K Founder Beaten in Israeli Jail

by reader - of history long and unecessarily bloodied with the best of intentions. Thu Jun 17, 2004 17:38

That conditions in the Occupied territories are uancceptable to the World Community and that the conflict in the Occupied territories merits and requires the postive attention and probably intervention of the international community not least the European Union is
"common knowledge and common priority".

That the search for a peaceful and just resolution to the continuing problems in the Occupied territories is hampered by the continuing attempts of international entities, some governments and opinion formers to find link with the problems suffered by the Iraqi and Kurdish peoples, is also
"common knowledge".

That one of the main features of both the Occupation by the Isreali state of the Palestinian territories and the prolonged terrorist campaign carried out in the name of Islam against the Isreali and other states which causes deep concern, revulsion and confusion is the presence of Martyrs.

I suggest we do not need more Martyrs.

An Irish woman, a real utterly butterly Irish woman, with a real passport, and a real bit of Israeli Defence Forces bullet in her leg, is currently on a real fast to attract Irish opinion to the humanitarian disaster which is daily life in both the Occupied territories and the Palestinian refugee camps in neighbouring Jrodan, and the illegality of the continuiung occupation and the immorality of the Isreali defence strategy which properly is a War strategy under the present Sharon Administration.

Maybe, oh maybe, someone could go ask her what she thinks of P10k?

MEanwhile, I must write "with respect born of ignorance of the nitty gritty details of your case", Mr O' Keefe, you have rejected US citizenship publically by burning your passport on two seperate occasions, the last of which was in Baghdad. You have declared publically your status as "a world citizen" despite the non-accredation of that status by any member state of the United Nation.

It is thus not surprising, that having travelled from Iraq to the border with Egypt, in the same period that the international community argues the non terrorist involvement of ordinary Palestinians in that small area, that you were arrested.

You are a former US Marine, and are decorated as such, You are a founder of a peace volunteer movement of which there are many, You have consistently claimed you were victim of a US militarised drug program.
You have claimed to have contact with the leadership of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and have appeared to have proven a land route suspected to be used by similar entities.

And you expect the casual reader of indymedia to now afford you "Irish nationality"?
And you expect the casual reader, perhaps one who is not so familiar with the very complex situation in the Levant and Europe relating to fundemantalist Islamic Terrorism, the continuing occupation of Iraq by your former employers, to now take what is issued in your name with
the proverbial pinch of salt?

I don't want to see anyone beaten up by the IDF or anyone blown up by the Islamic fundamentalists.
I want to see peace Shalom Saleem in the Middle East and a resolution of these problems on Europe's doorstep.

But I am not always sure who to believe.

by pc Thu Jun 17, 2004 17:54

how whats the highest number of international observers there has been in palestine before and the one time

by pc Thu Jun 17, 2004 17:54

how whats the highest number of international observers there has been in palestine before and the one time

by dunno Thu Jun 17, 2004 22:40

we know that international observers come and go in all forms. We know they are highly valued for their work in the harvest of olives in the ever increasing no-go zones. Olives and strawberries and oranges being the main crops grown by the Palestinians.
We also know they are sorely resented by the IDF, we know they have been targetted, Caoimhe our own utterly butterly was a victim of IDF, and 23yr old Rachel Corrie was killed only a few days before the last Iraqi war was declared "hot".
I've listened to various Palestinians beg for "a hundred thousand" observers, believing that the apartheid could be ended merely at the sight of such numbers of foreigners.
But I have not been convinced it would end the conflict. It would certainly internationalise it, but it is "internationalised", and much of the protraction is due to internationalisation.

go give Caoimhe support and ask her.

I for the moment think that the right way to go forward is from within the Israeli state, I think heightening awareness of the unpopularity of Sharon's coalition and war strategy and the increased numbers of IDF who are disobedient and refuse to serve in the occupied territories avoids the "Islamic Jihad can be sat down and rationalised with" trap, which I honestly believe will only stoke more anti-European anti-US and Anti-semite feeling and resulting "utter confusion" between here there and everywhere.

go ask God. He made the place.
I have his fax somewhere...


Pax Saleem Shalom

by kokomero Fri Jun 18, 2004 13:57

An official Israeli report has acknowledged for the first time that the Israeli security service tortured detainees during the Palestinian uprising, the Intifada, between 1988 and 1992.

The report, written five years ago but kept secret until now, said the leadership of the security service Shin Bet knew about the torture but did nothing to stop it.

The report did not detail the torture methods used, but human rights organisations say some detainees died or were left paralysed.


Most of the violations were not caused by lack of knowledge of the line between what was permitted and what was forbidden, but were committed knowingly
Israeli torture report
Security agents were also accused of lying to the courts about their actions.

The release of the report in Israel was authorised by a parliamentary committee after the Supreme Court recommended it no longer be kept secret.

The Israeli Government has, in the past, denied that it used any interrogation methods that amounted to torture.

Israel 'broke own rules'

But the report says the Shin Bet routinely went beyond the "moderate physical pressure" authorised by a 1987 commission headed by then-Supreme Court Justice Moshe Landau.

Human rights groups in Israel maintain that the practices authorised by the Landau commission - keeping prisoners in excruciatingly uncomfortable postures, covering their heads with filthy and malodorous sacks and depriving them of sleep - amount to torture.

Human rights groups say many authorised techniques amount to torture
The report, however, written by former State Comptroller Miriam Ben-Porat, says the agents systematically overstepped even these limits, especially at the interrogation facility in the Gaza Strip.

"Most of the violations were not caused by lack of knowledge of the line between what was permitted and what was forbidden, but were committed knowingly," the report said.

"At the Gaza facility, veteran and even senior investigators committed very grave and systematic violations."

The report accuses the entire leadership of the Shin Bet of knowing what was going on but doing nothing to stop it. It says that the agents lied about their activities in court, to other investigating agencies and in their reports to superiors.

"The assurances of senior Shin Bet officials to the Landau Commission that truth-telling inside the organisation is enforced ... were found to have no basis in reality," it noted.

'Holy work'

The report acknowledged that the security issues faced by the agents at the time were unprecedented, and that they succeeded in preventing a number of guerilla attacks.

The report describes this activity as "holy work" but criticises the methods used and recommends measures to ensure that they be stopped.

Two years after the report was written, the Supreme Court banned the use of physical force in interrogations, even within the limits set by the Landau Commission.

The Ben-Porat report was submitted to an intelligence subcommittee of the Parliamentary State Audit Committee in 1997, but the subcommittee decided to keep it under wraps. It was made public on Wednesday in response to a recommendation by the Supreme Court.