FEBRUARY/MARCH 2006

european news

Fearing arrest, IDF officer cancels studies in U.K.

By Amos Harel, Haaretz
The commander of the Israel Defense Forces division along the Gaza border, Brigadier General Aviv Kochavi, was forced to cancel his planned trip to the United Kingdom after the Military Advocacy instructed that he refrain from commencing studies at the Royal College of Defense Studies this summer, fearing that he would be arrested on charges of war crimes.

During the implementation of the disengagement from Gaza and in the months preceding it, Kochavi served as the commander of IDF troops in the Strip. He was the last soldier to leave the Gaza Strip, and he closed the gate behind him. During Operation Defensive Shield, in 2002, he was deployed as a senior commander in the paratroopers. During the operation, some 52 Palestinians and 23 IDF soldiers were killed in Jenin.

Consultations on Kochavi were held recently in the State Prosecution's international department, as well as in the Military Advocacy.

Military Advocate General Brigadier-General Avichai Mendelblit instructed Kochavi to abandon plans to study at the RCDS, in light of an arrest warrant issued some six months ago against former GOC Southern Command Doron Almog.

Last year, Almog had to cancel a visit to the U.K. and return to Israel without disembarking the plane, after learning that a criminal complaint had been filed for his alleged involvement in war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Because he had not passed border control, he was not considered to have entered Great Britain and therefore could not be handed an arrest warrant.

British law allows citizens to file private criminal complaints against military personnel because of war crimes, even if they are citizens of foreign countries, and even if the alleged crimes were not committed on British soil. Under these circumstances, the suspect can be arrested upon his or her arrival in the U.K.

The request for Almog's arrest was issued by Judge Timothy Workman in London, at the request of the firm of Hickman and Rose, which specializes in human rights law. Almog was apparently suspected by the London authorities of gravely violating the Geneva Convention, a criminal violation according to British law.

Senior military officials seemed concerned by recent developments surrounding Kochavi, saying similar scenarios are likely in additional countries in western Europe, including France and Spain. According to the officials, Mendelblit may recommend that senior officers who served during the intifada not visit these countries.

New Profile  Movement for the Civil-ization of Israeli Society
www.newprofile.org  

In Support of My Mayor by Gilad Atzmon

Ken Livingstone was suspended on full salary as London mayor for a month as of yesterday for likening a Jewish newspaper reporter to a Nazi concentration camp guard. Once again, some basic human elementary liberties are sacrificed in defence of Jewish dignity. And the question to be asked is why do we surrender our elementary rights so easily? Why did a UK governmental watchdog suspend the adorable Mayor of London just for hurting the feelings of a journalist, who happens to be a Jew?

Indeed the Mayor was absolutely correct when expressing his outrage, "This decision strikes at the heart of democracy. Elected politicians should only be able to be removed by the voters or for breaking the law," and went on to say, “Three members of a body that no-one has ever elected should not be allowed to overturn the votes of millions of Londoners." My dearest Mayor, you are probably right, those three individuals do not express the will of the people. British Democracy indeed suffered a massive slam. Yet, as you should have learned by now, Jewish interests and sensitivities are extra-judicial. Moreover, they stand far above any recognised democratic order.

Seemingly, the Mayor was pretty good in his job. Londoners love their Mayor, they re-elected him for a second term and probably will do the same for a third. Not only that, the Mayor is absolutely great at his job, as well as being a fabulous educator. At a tine when PM Blair does his utmost to advance the so-called ‘cultural clash’ into a state of a world war, it is Mayor Livingstone who spreads a message of peace and hope. A few months back, when London was hit by a devastating wave of terror, it was Livingstone who stood up, spreading a message of reconciliation and love. Seemingly, it is Ken Livingstone, the one and only UK politician who has managed to internalise the real meaning of multi-ethnicity and cultural pluralism. Being who he is, and saying what he says, the Mayor indeed made very many enemies for himself within the rapidly darkening world of British politics.

Yet, the Mayor enjoys the support of the people. I am totally convinced that Londoners will raise the necessary questions: Why exactly has our Mayor been suspended? Did he commit a crime? If he did, what exactly was that crime? Those Londoners who are still capable of critical ideological thinking may wonder why we are trashing our so-called democratic values for one idiotic rude journalist who happened to be a Jew.

While some of my intellectual allies would claim that the late undemocratic act in the heart of British democracy proves beyond doubt that ‘Jewish power’ is winning over, I am left doubtful. I am not convinced that Britain is run by Jews, at least not for the time being. However, I do believe that defending Jews and Jewish interests is something the British establishment imposes upon itself.

I tend to believe that the pro-Jewish acts we had witnessed yesterday in London, as well as last week in Austria, are not exactly a manifestation of some genuine pro-Jewish feelings. In fact, it may very well be the complete opposite. These acts are there to cover up some severe antagonism. The more that ordinary Westerners disapprove of the Jewish state colonising Palestine, the more they feel contempt towards Zionism, the more they suspect the official Zionist historical narrative, the more they feel guilty about their scorn. To a certain extent, the more we hate inwardly, the more we support and empathise outwardly. Supporting Jewish interests is there to cover up a growing discomfort. This very pattern was rather apparent in pre-Nazi Germany. In case one insists on learning from the past, this is a clear historical lesson.

While British Jewish leaders complain about the emerging anti-Semitism within the kingdom, in general, I would suggest to them to be twice as concerned about their latest victory.
gilad@gilad.co.uk

Syria switches currency transactions to euros

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria has switched all of the state's foreign currency transactions to euros from dollars amid a political confrontation with the United States, the head of state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria said on Monday.

"This is a precaution. We are talking about billions of dollars," Duraid Durgham told Reuters.

The bank, which still dominates the Syrian market although private banks have been allowed to set up in the last few years, has also stopped dealing with dollars in the international foreign exchange flows of private clients.

The United States has been at the forefront of international pressure on Syria for its alleged role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri a year ago. Damascus denies involvement in the killing.

"It looks like a kind of pre-emptive action aimed at making their foreign assets safer, preventing them from getting frozen in case of any conflict," said a Middle East economist who requested anonymity.

MEPs compromise on services law crumbles

13.02.2006 - 09:48 CET | By Mark Beunderman

Days before a crucial vote on the services directive in the European Parliament, a deal clinched by conservative and socialist factions last week has come under fire from German MEPs in both political groups. The conservative EPP and socialist PES leaderships last week after a series of tough negotiations reached agreement over the controversial bill, aimed at opening up the bloc's heavily-protected services sector.

But German conservative and socialist MEPs over the weekend threatened to vote against the compromise in the parliament's plenary session on Thursday (16 February), according to German daily Handelsblatt. The christian democrat MEP Andreas Schwab said that the exemption of social services and consumer protection from liberalisation, as foreseen in the deal, would "open the door" for red tape and undermine the directive. "The directive in that case doesnt make sense anymore. The compromise would not be acceptable for the EPP anymore."

Last week's EPP-PES deal includes a reformulated "country of origin" principle, which represents the most controversial aspect of the bill. Whereas the initial proposal for the services law by the European Commission stated that cross-border service providers could work according to the rules of their country of origin, the conservative-socialist version is more protectionist. The compromise states that while member states must remove all current obstacles foreign service providers might encounter, they still have the right to impose their regulation when public security, the environment, social policy or health and consumer protection are at stake.

The reduced scope of the directive has raised doubts among both centre-right and centre-left MEPs as to whether the aim of removing obstacles for cross-border companies can still be achieved.German socialist MEP Dagmar Roth-Behrendt said according to Handelsblatt "I don’t know if I can approve this…I can’t see what the added value of the directive should be now."
Swedish and new member states' deputies had earlier voiced similar criticism on the allegedly protectionist nature of the EPP-PES compromise.

Protests in Berlin and Strasbourg
But trade unions over the weekend protested against too much rather than too little liberalisation in the services bill, German media report. Some 35,000 protesters marched in Berlin on Saturday against the "Bolkestein directive", as the bill was named after its author, the former internal market commissioner Frits Bolkestein."Europe yes – social dumping no!" said the slogan carried by protesters in the German capital, expressing fear of job losses and the undermining of labour standards through cheap competition from the East. Strasbourg also saw around 10,000 trade unionists protest against the bill over the weekend, with more protests planned ahead of Thursday’s vote. The EU's federation of trade unions (ETUC) has called for a major demonstration in Strasbourg on Tuesday (14 February) when MEPs will debate the directive.

British Companies selling Port Authorities to Dubai:

WASHINGTON — A company in the United Arab Emirates is poised to take over significant operations at six American ports as part of a corporate sale, leaving a country with ties to the Sept. 11 hijackers with influence over a maritime industry considered vulnerable to terrorism.

The Bush administration considers the UAE an important ally in the fight against terrorism since the suicide hijackings and is not objecting to Dubai Ports World’s purchase of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. The $6.8 billion sale is expected to be approved Monday.

The British company is the fourth largest ports company in the world, and its sale would affect commercial U.S. port operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.

Critics of the proposed purchase said a port operator complicit in smuggling or terrorism could manipulate manifests and other records to frustrate Homeland Security’s already limited scrutiny of shipping containers and slip contraband past U.S. Customs inspectors.

Shipping experts noted that many of the world’s largest port companies are not based in the United States, and they pointed to DP World’s strong economic interest in operating ports securely and efficiently.

DP World said it won approval from a secretive U.S. government panel that considers security risks of foreign companies buying or investing in American industry.

Forty palestinian film-makers petition to EuropeAid, Brussels, goes unanswered

Feb. 7th, 2006

Last month, forty Palestinian filmmakers and cultural workers signed a letter addressed to Ms. Catherine Colomb-Nancy at the Europeaid Office in Brussels regarding their concerns about the Euromed Audiovisual II Project and suggested a meeting in which they could exchange views about the proposal. The letter was sent via fax, email and a hard copy via regular mail.  Alarmingly, no one from Euromed responded to the letter, let alone even acknowledged it.

The major concerns outlined in the letter were twofold:

1) That this entity calling itself the Ramallah Film Institute is in fact not registered in Palestine: Euromed lists the partners of the project to be the New Foundation for Cinema and Television (Israel) and the Ramallah Film Institute (Palestinian Authority). Attached is an official  letter from the Palestinian Ministry itself stating that the Ramallah Film Institute is not registered anywhere within the Palestinian Authority. The Ramallah Film Institute, aside from having no relationship with the local Palestinian cultural community is, in fact, an Israeli-registered organization.

2) The fact that the Israeli partner is a government organization (established by the Ministry of Education, Culture & Sport with the assistance of The Israel Film Council) -  a government that continues its illegal and harsh occupation of Palestine and continues to deny Palestinians their rights. In addition, the New Foundation for Cinema and Television has refused to openly reject occupation nor work actively for its removal.  (Our objections are not with individual Israelis nor with organizations that work towards Palestinian freedom but rather with government organizations such as the New Foundation for Cinema & Television who refuse to recognize our rights).

A follow up letter was sent to the E.U office three weeks later and was also subsequently ignored. Clearly the concerns of forty of Palestines preeminent artists,  including those we have defined Palestinian cinema itself internationally including Elia Suleiman, Hany Abu Assad, Rashid Masharawi, and Mai Masri mean nothing to the Euromed Project. Clearly the fact that the former board members of the Ramallah Film Festival, like George Khleifi, who quit because financial reports were not given to the board when requested, appears to be meaningless to Euromed. And the interest and concerns of Palestines numerous community and cultural organizations have no value.

Two months ago, in December, when rumors first emerged that this project was forming, Adam Zuabi himself was requested to provide more information about the project  to an e-mail list of filmmakers. He chose not to respond and to this day has not addressed us nor provided any information about the project, including its upcoming launch at the Berlinale.

The question is, why was this letter disregarded? Why were the concerns of Palestinian individuals working in the cultural scene, many who have previous experience working with the Ramallah Film Festival in the past, thrown to the side?

We are forty Palestinians we are from here, we live here, we work here, we part of this community. We refuse to be ignored. We do not want well-funded projects imposed upon us from the outside without any regard for our concerns. It is a slap in the face of Palestinian filmmakers, intellectuals and cultural workers who have been working for decades to be seen as independent, respected artists. We have contacted Euromed professionally and openly. We demand acknowledgement.

Adam Zoabi (and his Ramallah Film Institute) is free to do whatever he wants.  That is his right. And Euromed is free to support whoever they choose. And we are very aware that joint Israeli-Palestinian projects are sexy and lucrative, especially in Europe.

However Palestine is not a jungle and there are people in this community who are working very hard to better our situation. Financial transparency and accountability is vital to this. We are working against organizations who believe that financial records are private rather than public. We ask organizations who claim to serve the community to actually have a relationship with that community. And organizations who wish to publicly claim they are registered within the Palestinian Authority to actually be registered.  Throwing funding and/or projects at less wealthy countries who are struggling with corruption and supporting projects that are not rooted within the community nor take into consideration the concerns of the local community they purport to be helping hurt the Palestinian community considerably.

We demand that Euromed immediately correct its statement and all publicity and other materials which falsely claim that this project (Greenhouse) is a partnership between Israel and the Palestinian Authority before the grand launch at the Berlinale in Germany.  This is not a partnership between an Israeli organization and a Palestinian Authority organization. Euromeds Greenhouse Project is a partnership between two Israeli-registered organizations and we demand that this be amended in their publications and that the name of Palestine is not used to promote a partnership which actually does not exist and which only serves to benefit a few individuals rather than the community it claims to be serving.

We challenge  David Fisher and the New Foundation for Cinema and Television to openly reject occupation and the illegal actions of their government and come out in support of the full rights of Palestinian to be free and equal. We call on those who can pressure Israel from within, especially artists and cultural institutions, who have mostly stood silent for years in the face of wanton destruction, oppression and injustice, and perhaps even benefited from occupation, to make their voices heard. We ask that Israelis no longer stand silent in the face of terrible injustices taking place. We believe that it is high time that Israeli institutions wake up to realities and fulfill their moral obligation to resist occupation, and begin to protest the actions of their state.  It is time that the international and Israeli communities wake up to the challenge.

And we ask the international community and fellow artists to consider carefully the implications of participating in the Greenhouse Project (Euromed Audiovisual II, proposal Nr. 15). We would hope that, considering that we live under a harsh military occupation and an apartheid system, that it is understandable why we would not want to work with organizations that are part of the same government that imposes this system on us.

Cultural support cannot come in the form of charity or to make oneself feel better without addressing the root causes of the problems and ignoring the concerns of the Palestinian community. To us, this is not only un-desirable, but also objectionable. We have worked and will continue to work with those that have struggled with us to change political realities, to help us improve our lives and who have been mutually respectful.

Attached:
-Original Letter to Europeaid Office
-Follow up letter to Europeaid Office
-Official Letter from the Palestinian Ministry of Interior & Civil Affairs stating that the Ramallah Film Institute is not registered
-Translation of letter from Ministry of Interior & Civil Affairs

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(Original letter to Europeaid Office)

Jan. 2, 2006


Catherine COLOMB-NANCY
Europeaid Office de Cooopération A
Rue de la Loi, 200
B-1049 Bruxelles
Belgique


Dear Ms. Catherine Colomb-Nancy

We, the undersigned, a group of Palestinian filmmakers and cultural workers, are writing to you to kindly request your attention to a matter of some importance.

We have just learned of your Short List for the Euromed Audiovisual II, for the development of documentary film.  Among the short-listed recipients are the Ramallah Film Institute (Palestinian Authority) & The New Foundation for Cinema and Television (Israel) (proposal Nr. 15).

We realize how important this funding can be for the development of documentary film practices in the region and especially in Palestine. However, in order for Palestinian filmmakers to benefit from such an opportunity to develop their film careers, we believe this funding must be channeled in an acceptable framework, that is transparent, trusted, and rooted in the community.

We have two major concerns about this proposal. First, we would hope that the Euromed funding would be directed to a reputable and trustworthy Palestinian institution. This is not how most who work in the Palestinian film and arts community feel towards what is termed the Ramallah Film Institute, a project administered by Mr. Adam Zuabi. Second, we have great many reservations regarding the partnership of the aforementioned institute with the New Foundation in Israel, a government-funded organization.

On the latter issue, we would like to note that partnering or collaborating with Israeli government sponsored institutions is a very sensitive issue here in Palestine due to such a partnership assuming an equal relationship between two such partners when in fact one is supported by a government that occupies the other.  A great many promising projects have failed to achieve their goals because they failed to take into consideration the complexities involved and thus alienated the majority of the communities targeted. We wish not to see the Euromed project end as a failure. On the contrary, we believe that such an opportunity for funding can play a major rule in nurturing documentary film practices in Palestine but money alone cannot achieve this. In order for this to happen we need the community of filmmakers to believe in the project and to trust in it enough to participate in it.

The main issue at hand is that we Palestinian filmmakers, many of us based in Ramallah, have never even heard of the Ramallah Film Institute. We do not know who they are, what their purpose is, and seriously question the legitimacy of such an institution as it seems not to be registered in Palestine, either as a school, an organization, or a company.

We also have many reservations stemming from previous activities carried out by Mr. Zuabi in the name of Palestinian cinema and Palestinian filmmakers. In particular, his work as the director of the Ramallah Film Festival has significantly alienated the local community and many cultural organizations in Palestine. One example is that after requesting of him to provide financial reports following last years Ramallah Film Festival, his entire board of directors resigned as they were never provided with this important data involving the project.  Therefore, we would like to raise these concerns and to signal the reservations of a great many established cultural figures here towards any project involving Mr. Zuabi, before the Euromed fund decisions are finalized.

We are writing to you kindly asking that you take these concerns into account before you arrive at a decision. We would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with you or any other official in charge of this project in the organization. We believe such a meeting or exchange of views and concerns can greatly assist in ensuring that the Euromed project will succeed in achieving its goals.

Sincerely yours,

1.  Sobhi al-Zobaidi, Filmmaker & Academic. Ramallah, Palestine
2.  Annemarie Jacir, Filmmaker & Curator, Ramallah, Palestine
3.  Najwa Najjar, Filmmaker, Ramallah, Palestine
4.  Elia  Sulieman, Filmmaker, Paris/Nazareth, Palestine
5.  Hany Abu Assad, Director, Netherlands/Nazareth, Palestine
6.  Rashid Masharawi, Palestinian Filmmaker
7.  Mai Masri, Filmmaker, Nablus/Beirut
9.  Raed Al-Helou, Filmmaker, Ramallah
10. Ismail Habbash, Filmmaker, Ramallah
11.  Rowan Faqih, Filmmaker, Ramallah
12.  Ahmad Habash, Director/Animator, Ramallah
13.  Nizar Hasan, Filmmaker, Nazareth
14.  Raed Andoni, Producer, Ramallah
15.  Hanna Elias, Director, Los Angeles /Ramallah
16.  Dr. Alia Arasoughly, Filmmaker, Sociologist of Culture (Cinema)
17.  Hanna Atallah,Filmmaker, Ramallah,Palestine
18.  Abdel Salam Shehada, Filmmaker, Gaza
19.  Emily Jacir, Artist, Rome/Ramallah
20.  Dima Abu Ghoush, Filmmaker, Ramallah
21.  Fatin Farhat, Director, Sakakini Cultural Center, Ramallah
22.  Adania Shibli, Writer,  London/Jerusalem
23.  Shadi Zmorrod,  Theater actor and Director, Palestine
24.  Liana Badr, Minstry of Culture, Palestine
25.  Hicham Kayed, Filmmaker, Lebanon
26.  Khaled Katamish, Director, El-Funon Dance Troupe
27.  Noora Baker, Activity Coordinator, Popular Art Center, Palestine
28.  Mohammed Atta, Director, Wishah Dance Troupe, Palestine
29.  Iman Hammouri, Director, Popular Art Center, Palestine
30.  Tareq Abu-Lughod, Filmmaker, Amman
31. Issa Freij, D.P., Filmmaker, Jerusalem
32. Azza Al Hassan, Filmmaker, Amman, Jordan
33. Nahed Awwad, Filmmaker, Ramallah
34. Saed Andoni, Producer/Director, Ramallah
35. Ghada Terawi, Filmmaker, Palestine
36. Rawan Sharaf, Production Designer, Jerusalem, Palestine
37. George Khleifi, Filmmaker & Academic, Ramallah
38. Kamal Aljafari, Cologne/Ramle, Palestine
39. Reem Fadda, Director, Palestinian Association for Contemporary Art (PACA)
40. Khaled Elayyan, Alkasaba Theater, Ramallah

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(follow up letter to EU)

Jan. 29th, 2006

Dear Ms. Carla Montesi
 
We sent a letter to Ms. Catherine Colomb-Nancy three weeks ago but did not receive any response nor acknowledgement of our letter.  We have also tried calling her office but received no answer.
 
The attached letter is a petition from 40 Palestinian filmmakers who are very concerned of the short listing of a partnership proposal between the Ramallah Film Institute and the New Foundation for Cinema and Television (Israel).
 
We have voiced our reasons for our concerns in addition to the fact that the Ramallah Film Institute is only an Israeli-registered Institution in Jerusalem and is not registered in the Palestinian Authority as is noted in the Euromed proposal. Aside from meaning that it is therfore not eligible for funds allocated to the Palestinian territories, it is also misleading on the part of both the Ramallah Film Institute and Euromed.
 
We would very much like to further discuss this matter with you. Our letter of three weeks ago was sent to Ms. Catherine Colomb-Nancy via fax, email, and regular mail. We would be very appreciative if there was some kind of acknowledgement of our correspondence.
 
Looking forward to hearing from you.
 
Sincerely,
 
Najwa Najjar, Annemarie Jacir and Sobi Zobaidi
on behalf of the Filmmakers and Cultural Institutions

ccd: Catherine Colomb-Nancy

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translation of  official document


Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestinian National Authority
Ministry of Interior & Civil Affairs

(December 31st, 2005)


To : Mr. Falah Abu Al-Rob
Director of Licensing Department - Ministry of Culture

Subject: Ramallah Film Institute

Regarding the above-mentioned subject, we inform you that the Ramallah Film Institute is not officially registered in the Ministry of Interior & Civil Affairs, and we support that you will not deal with the Institute until they officially register.

With thanks,

Fadwa Al-Shaar
General Administrator for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
Palestinian National Authority