http://www.alternativenews.org/blogs/michael-warschawski/israeli-disgrace-and-thievery-20080804.html

Israeli Disgrace and Thievery
Written by Michael Warschawski, Alternative Information Center (AIC)
Monday, 04 August 2008

Judge Dorner and the recommendations of her commission of inquiry concerning Israel's treatment of Holocaust survivors are being ignored by the Israeli government. Yet again Judge Dorner, chairperson of the governmental investigative commission in the matter of assistance to Holocaust survivors, and the Israeli Prime Minister are located on two sides of the ethical divide. While the Dorner Commission concluded that the allocations given to the survivors must be linked to 75% of the allowance paid by Germany to Israel for each survivor, and that this recommendation should be implemented immediately, the Prime Minister is trying, yet again, to buy time. The disagreement over time is much more important than that over the amount, as time acts to the detriment of the survivors, almost all of whom have reached an advanced age.

Each day that passes decreases the financial debt of Israel to the Holocaust survivors. The government’s decision to postpone discussion of these recommendations to 2009 means delaying implementation by one year, which means disinheriting thousands more survivors from what they deserve, and already today not so many survivors remain. This is not only daylight robbery, but also crass desecration of the memory of the Holocaust and its victims. The State of Israel exists thanks to the Holocaust of European Jewry, and in two ways: firstly, without the destruction of European Jewry and the existence of hundreds of thousands of survivors-refugees whom no state wanted, it is doubtful whether the international community would have given its support to the establishment of Israel, at a time when the world was beginning a process of decolonialisation. Secondly, a majority of the payments were given by Germany to Israel and not to the survivors and families of the victims. Under pressure of the international Jewish committee and the Zionist Histadrut, Germany decided to compensate the Jews collectively, through the State of Israel which presented itself, with absolutely no justification, as the representative body of world Jewry throughout the ages! The initial infrastructure of Israel was built thanks to the hundreds of millions of dollars paid by West Germany in compensation for the Holocaust of European Jewry.

It must be noted that in transforming Israel into the representative of the destroyed communities in Europe there is much bad taste, to say the least. As is known, the Zionist leadership did not overextend itself to attempt and save European Jewry, neither prior to nor during the war, even if it is correct to note that its abilities were limited. Even on the level of empathy toward the victims and survivors, Israel does not receive a good mark – again also to say the least. “The Seventh Million” of Tom Segev brings endless testimonies which document the lack of sensitivity of the Zionist leadership toward the victims of the Holocaust.

So much for history. However, the behaviour back then pales in comparison to that of the current leaders. Their delayed responses to the recommendations of the Dorner Commission transform them into grave robbers, as simple as that. Stealing from those who have nothing, in the light of day and with absolutely no compunction. If not empathy and a sense of honour, then at least the debt owed by Israel to the Holocaust survivors obligates it and its leaders to guarantee them a respectable and comfortable old age. However, this is not the case! In Israel, thousands of survivors subsist on the edge of hunger and endure living conditions difficult to describe.

It is easy to imagine what would happen if one state in the world would treat the Jewish Holocaust survivors with a tenth of the cynicism that Israel demonstrates toward them: Israel and its mouthpieces in the Western press would initiate a huge international campaign against the anti-Semitic state that desecrates the Holocaust victims. However, what is forbidden for Holland, France and of course Germany, is permissible for the state of the Jews. And if this is the way in which the heads of state act toward their survivor relatives, flesh of their flesh, the remainder of European Jewry, how can it be expected that they will demonstrate empathy and justice toward the local Palestinian population?

The violation of Palestinian rights is of course a result of the Zionist enterprise. The treatment of a few thousand elderly Jewish survivors puts the cruelty toward the Palestinians in another light: the Zjonist leaders are evil, close hearted and unfeeling.

And on a more personal note: Two decades ago, Judge Dorner sat on the bench that sentenced me to prison, and she even suggested increasing the sentence imposed on me by the other judges. In light of the holy work she has done for the rights of the Holocaust survivors, and her unwavering stance against the grave robbing government, I forgive her from the bottom of my heart.

The release of all Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel is a key demand of the Palestinian people (photo: Ahmad Jaradat, AIC). When I read in last week’s newspapers that President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) was threatening Israel with dismantlement of the Palestinian Authority if Olmert would release Hamas leaders from detention, my first reaction was that this is no more than a spin, and that there will be an immediate statement by the President's office, denying the Israeli journalist's "information". And, indeed, a few hours later, Fatah leadership in Ramallah denied that such a threat was made and stated that they are demanding the release of all the Palestinian political prisoners, including Hamas activists. So far so good, though Mahmoud Abbas himself did not deny that this was his intention and message to the Israeli authorities.

The very idea of an exchange of prisoners that will not include Hamas detainees is the most absurd scenario one can imagine. First and foremost, because these detainees have never been condemned or even charged for any kind of crime; they are administratively detained by an arbitrary political decision of the Israeli government and its security services. Accepting that a Hamas activist should remain behind bars without any due procedure, including even a military procedure as it is usually the case in the occupied Palestinian territories, implies that being Hamas, or being suspected of connections with Hamas, excludes you from the community of human beings, protected by international law and due procedures. George Bush has already excluded from mankind all al-Qaeda supporters and alleged activists, when he decided to create the category of Guantanamo-detainees. The US Supreme Court obliged him to put an end to such extreme behaviors. The Israeli authorities did the same with the secret interrogation and detention center number 391, which was closed down after Israeli human rights lawyer, Lea Tsemel, discovered its existence and appealed, with several human rights organizations, to the Israeli Supreme Court.

Moreover, Hamas represents the majority of the Palestinian population of Gaza AND the West Bank: excluding Hamas from any kind of political legitimacy means excluding the majority of the Palestinian people from such a legitimacy. What Israeli leaders call, while referring to the Gaza Strip, "a terrorist entity" is actually almost two million men, women and children who have been transferred into an "entity" that should be eradicated, by bombarding civilians and imposing an embargo that provokes hunger and epidemics.

Those who suggested to Abbas to sign a deal without the release of Hamas detainees must be his toughest enemies for, if he would do such a thing, he will definitely lose the remaining support he still maintains among the Palestinian population, as one of the founding fathers of Fatah and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.

Abu Mazen should not forget that he is President of the Palestinian Authority only because Hamas wants it. Without Hamas’ support, he would become no more than a US agent, imposed on the people by the US Security Coordinator, General Keith Dayton. No Palestinian has forgotten that two years ago, Abbas suggested that Israel tighten its criminal siege on Gaza, in order to bring about the fall of Hamas’ democratically elected government. In another political and geographical context, such a leader would have been liquidated as a Quisling.

The fact that the entire Palestinian people are opposed to a civil war explains why neither Hamas nor Fatah are entering the catastrophic path of political assassinations or massive use of arms to impose its leadership. This is why in the Gaza clashes prior to this weekend, which were clearly and loudly denounced by all the Palestinian factions, there exists very little doubt that behind the alleged Fatah aggressions lie the hands of General Dayton, Israeli intelligence offices and a gang of collaborators usurping the name of Fatah.

Syrian Pressident Bashar al-Assad Another defeat for the US neo-conservative strategy: Syrian President Bashar el-Assad was the real guest of honor in the Mediterranean summit initiated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Though Syria is still on Washington’s list of rogue states, it has become a rising power in the Middle East and a key factor in any further global diplomatic initiative for the region. For once, Ehud Olmert understands something and is even ready to defy the US embargo on Syria and to open secret negotiations with Assad’s regime.

In a long interview with French television, the Syrian president very clearly expressed his readiness to normalize relations with Israel and did not get angry when he was put on the bench of the accused, as if Syria was the problem and not, amongst other things, Israel’s 41 years of occupation of the Syrian Golan.

Initially, I interpreted the defensive attitude of Assad in that interview as a position of weakness, a surrender to the aggressive tone of the French journalist. Soon, however, I understood that the Syrian leader was speaking from a position of strength: the warm welcome of Nicolas Sarkozy simply confirmed that Europe has decided to recognize the new leading role of Syria in West Asia and that, sooner or later, Washington will follow.

Syria is the key for any stabilization in Lebanon; Syria can isolate Iran; Syria can substantially weaken the Islamist organizations, like Hezbollah, in closing the border with Lebanon and cutting arm supplies. In short, Syria can change the overall relation of forces in the Middle East and contribute to a substantial strengthening of Western positions in that area. However, all of this is conditional on Washington ending its anti-Syrian attitude. A close reading of the Baker-Hamilton report confirms that this will indeed be the policy of the next American administration, no matter who will wins the race for the US presidency.

In the meantime, the small US neo-conservative gang still in office in the White House will continue to relate to Syria as an enemy, providing additional time to Iran, the Hezbollah and other forces of resistance to the Empire to prepare themselves for the coming US offensive. Such an offensive may well occur in the next few months: in an article published few days ago in New York Times, Israeli neo-conservative analyst Benny Morris is openly calling for a preemptive strike against Iran in the next 10 months. No doubt, Morris was not writing from his own brain only, but reflected the opinion of the US and Israeli war-mongers' faction.

Bush and Olmert are on their way out, the first to the garbage can of history as one of the worst US President ever, the second to jail, as one of the most corrupted politician in the history of Israel. Both are interested in remaining in the collective memory of their respective people as something else than a joke or a crook. War could be the way to do it.

Fuck Jews and Bush.