Visualizzazione post con etichetta Sderot. Mostra tutti i post
Visualizzazione post con etichetta Sderot. Mostra tutti i post
venerdì 14 dicembre 2007
PA Rocket Attacks Continue; Sderot Home Suffers Direct Hit
Nissan Ratzlav-Katz, IsraelNationalNews, 14.12.07 5 Tevet 5768. Palestinian Authority terrorists launched six rockets at Jewish communities in the western Negev on Thursday. One rocket slammed into a home in the city of Sderot, moderately wounding a woman. Israel Air Force jets struck back at enemy forces in Gaza. In addition to the injured woman, at least a dozen people suffered the effects of shock as a result of the late afternoon rocket attack. Most were treated at the site of the attack, which was near a local synagogue. The rocket caused extensive damage and almost hit nearby gas canisters. Israel Electric Company workers were dispatched to repair power lines that were exposed as a result of the bombing. PA rockets fired from Gaza damaged several other buildings and cars during the day. Knesset Member Gideon Saar (Likud) responded to the terror attacks by calling on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to stop his talks with the Palestinian Authority. Before working on a final agreement, Saar said, Olmert should provide basic security to residents of Sderot and other western Negev towns.
giovedì 8 novembre 2007
Yediot: 15 % of Sderot residents lift it without return
Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades, 6.11.07. The Zionist newspaper "Yediot Ahronot" issue that 3000 Zionist settlers, which equal 15% of the population of Sderot settlement, had left the settlement without any intention to return in the past six months. The main reason according to the newspaper is the Palestinian homemade rockets. More than 22 thousand people is living in the settlement. .
"Eli Moyial" quoted, head of the municipality, that "Those who left town considered as air and ss to the settlement". She added "They are the businessmen, owners of workshops, factories and the middle class."
The newspaper said that many of the residents of Al "villat" neighborhood lift their homes and the streets of the neighborhood became completely empty. 450 from 4100 students left their school without return. Some of the classes did not exceed 20 students.
According to the newspaper, Sderot exposed since the beginning of Al Aqsa intifada to more than 1500 homemade rockets.
It is noted that all the Palestinian resistance factions fired rockets at Sderot settlement. Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades considered as the biggest faction fired homemade rockets at the settlement and the most accurate rocket. Al Qassam Brigades was responsible for most of the Zionist settlers who died in the settlements since the beginning of Al Aqsa intifada.
lunedì 5 novembre 2007
Sderot & Gaza
M. J. Rosenberg, israelipolicyforum, 2.11.07. The terrorist shelling of Sderot and other towns and villages neighboring Gaza has to stop, but the policies Israel has adopted to achieve that goal will not do the job.
The most significant thing to know about the shelling is that Sderot is in Israel itself—not in the occupied territories. Accordingly, it is ridiculous to refer to the attacks as representing “resistance” unless, of course, the resistance is to the existence of Israel and not the occupation. In the case of Sderot, and neighboring towns, it clearly is.
The fact that Sderot is in Israel proper is critical. In the case of Israeli settlers living in some far-flung settlement or in the midst of Hebron, one can simply ask why they are there in the first place. After all, they knew they were moving into an area where they would be surrounded by unwelcoming Palestinians. They can always return to Israel if they want the security of living in a Jewish state.
The people of Sderot do not have that option. They are in Israel. They are not settlers. They are Israelis, trying to live at home in Israel.
And yet they are under constant assault by terrorists. In fact, the word terrorism cannot be more apt than it is in this situation because it is raw terror, more than death or injury that the endless Kassam firings produce.
Yedioth Achronoth this week reported on the Shakked family who was watching television “when they suddenly heard a sound with which they were already familiar—a mortar being fired in their direction.” The family—including children and infant grandchildren—took shelter in a “reinforced concrete basement, as they had practiced scores of times in the past.” One second later, the house above them was leveled.
Israel not only has the right to end these horrors, it is obligated to do so. Above all else, the prime responsibility of any legitimate government is to protect its own people from external attack.
That being said, it is hard to see that the actions Israel has taken since Hamas took power will ever accomplish that goal. Almost without exception, Israel responds to the shelling of ordinary Israelis by punishing ordinary Palestinians. Some might see justice in that or, at least, parallelism. But it is impossible to believe that the terrorists shelling Israel are going to be dissuaded because of the pain Israel inflicts on the civilians of Gaza. Is some thug aiming a rocket at a school in Israel going to cease and desist out of concern for innocent Palestinians who will pay the price for the attack later? Isn’t that giving terrorists too much credit?
As columnist Calev Ben-David wrote in the Jerusalem Post, the groups firing the Kassams don’t care “if the average Gazan suffers as a result of their activities, something they’ve proven time and again. . . . If anything the Hamas leadership will simply see this as a good opportunity to justify their continuing cross-border attacks.”
The rationale behind making the civilian population of Gaza pay for the crimes of the terrorists is the hope that a suffering population will rise up and overthrow the Hamas government. That is unlikely, especially when Hamas is heavily armed and getting more arms all the time.
Ever since Hamas won the Palestinian election, Israel’s policy toward Gaza has been closure, isolation and intermittent attacks. It is possible that these policies have hurt the terrorists although they have not deterred them. It is certain that they have hurt everyone else.
Take, for example, the case of the eight Palestinian Fulbright scholars. Taghreed El-Khodary, a Gaza-based New York Times journalist, described their situation in the Middle East Bulletin. They won prestigious Fulbright scholarships, allowing them to pursue graduate study in the United States this year. But Israel’s closure policy keeps them locked in Gaza.
El-Khodary writes, “These are the brightest students, with strong undergraduate records; they are generally among the most open-minded too. They want to pursue graduate studies in the United States to continue their education, and come back to work and change society here. They are the ones with the potential to make changes; and they want to better understand the United States . . .” But they can’t get here.
Then there are “the businesspeople who have now really been hurt. . . . Traditionally they have been apart from politics—not Hamas, not Fatah. Through their factories, shops, industries, they give young people jobs and opportunity. With no ability to get goods in or out, they cannot employ people. The young people who worked for them are out on the streets, frustrated, and depressed.”
And now Israel is closing one of the two remaining crossings used to transfer food into Gaza, allowing no more than 55 truckloads of goods to cross daily instead of 120-150. (The United Nations estimates that 175 truckloads daily are necessary to meet minimum needs). Natural gas supplies have been sharply cut and Defense Minister Barak intends to start turning off the electricity once the Minister of Justice says it’s legal to do so.
As an editorial in Ha’aretz put it on Wednesday, “Cutting off the supply of electricity, fuel and baby food is a blatant blow against civilians—and only against them.”
And it won’t stop the shelling of Sderot.
Surely there are better ways for Israel to handle this situation—both military and diplomatic. The IDF is more than capable of going after the perpetrators of rocket attacks and of seizing the areas from which the attacks are launched. If they have to hold on to the territory to keep the terrorists out, so be it. Part of the rationale for removing the settlers from Gaza was to enable the army to act, when necessary, without being encumbered by Israeli civilians who only got in the way.
As for diplomacy, the Annapolis conference is still on the schedule. An agreement between Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas which paves the way toward a Palestinian state will greatly strengthen Abbas and weaken Hamas. A failed conference, or a cancelled one, will bolster Hamas and those firing the rockets at Sderot.
Furthermore, Israel needs to consider ways to open lines of communication with the Gaza authorities. Although the Fatah leadership strongly opposes any contact with Hamas (no matter how indirect), Israel may have no choice but to deal with Hamas in Gaza in order to protect the people of Sderot and nearby towns. (If Israel and Hamas communicate indirectly over the fate of prisoners, why can’t they do the same on other matters?)
The election of Hamas in January 2006 has been a total disaster for the Palestinian people, but the policies of Israel, the United States, and the European Union put in place in response to it have also utterly failed. It’s time for new ones.
The most significant thing to know about the shelling is that Sderot is in Israel itself—not in the occupied territories. Accordingly, it is ridiculous to refer to the attacks as representing “resistance” unless, of course, the resistance is to the existence of Israel and not the occupation. In the case of Sderot, and neighboring towns, it clearly is.
The fact that Sderot is in Israel proper is critical. In the case of Israeli settlers living in some far-flung settlement or in the midst of Hebron, one can simply ask why they are there in the first place. After all, they knew they were moving into an area where they would be surrounded by unwelcoming Palestinians. They can always return to Israel if they want the security of living in a Jewish state.
The people of Sderot do not have that option. They are in Israel. They are not settlers. They are Israelis, trying to live at home in Israel.
And yet they are under constant assault by terrorists. In fact, the word terrorism cannot be more apt than it is in this situation because it is raw terror, more than death or injury that the endless Kassam firings produce.
Yedioth Achronoth this week reported on the Shakked family who was watching television “when they suddenly heard a sound with which they were already familiar—a mortar being fired in their direction.” The family—including children and infant grandchildren—took shelter in a “reinforced concrete basement, as they had practiced scores of times in the past.” One second later, the house above them was leveled.
Israel not only has the right to end these horrors, it is obligated to do so. Above all else, the prime responsibility of any legitimate government is to protect its own people from external attack.
That being said, it is hard to see that the actions Israel has taken since Hamas took power will ever accomplish that goal. Almost without exception, Israel responds to the shelling of ordinary Israelis by punishing ordinary Palestinians. Some might see justice in that or, at least, parallelism. But it is impossible to believe that the terrorists shelling Israel are going to be dissuaded because of the pain Israel inflicts on the civilians of Gaza. Is some thug aiming a rocket at a school in Israel going to cease and desist out of concern for innocent Palestinians who will pay the price for the attack later? Isn’t that giving terrorists too much credit?
As columnist Calev Ben-David wrote in the Jerusalem Post, the groups firing the Kassams don’t care “if the average Gazan suffers as a result of their activities, something they’ve proven time and again. . . . If anything the Hamas leadership will simply see this as a good opportunity to justify their continuing cross-border attacks.”
The rationale behind making the civilian population of Gaza pay for the crimes of the terrorists is the hope that a suffering population will rise up and overthrow the Hamas government. That is unlikely, especially when Hamas is heavily armed and getting more arms all the time.
Ever since Hamas won the Palestinian election, Israel’s policy toward Gaza has been closure, isolation and intermittent attacks. It is possible that these policies have hurt the terrorists although they have not deterred them. It is certain that they have hurt everyone else.
Take, for example, the case of the eight Palestinian Fulbright scholars. Taghreed El-Khodary, a Gaza-based New York Times journalist, described their situation in the Middle East Bulletin. They won prestigious Fulbright scholarships, allowing them to pursue graduate study in the United States this year. But Israel’s closure policy keeps them locked in Gaza.
El-Khodary writes, “These are the brightest students, with strong undergraduate records; they are generally among the most open-minded too. They want to pursue graduate studies in the United States to continue their education, and come back to work and change society here. They are the ones with the potential to make changes; and they want to better understand the United States . . .” But they can’t get here.
Then there are “the businesspeople who have now really been hurt. . . . Traditionally they have been apart from politics—not Hamas, not Fatah. Through their factories, shops, industries, they give young people jobs and opportunity. With no ability to get goods in or out, they cannot employ people. The young people who worked for them are out on the streets, frustrated, and depressed.”
And now Israel is closing one of the two remaining crossings used to transfer food into Gaza, allowing no more than 55 truckloads of goods to cross daily instead of 120-150. (The United Nations estimates that 175 truckloads daily are necessary to meet minimum needs). Natural gas supplies have been sharply cut and Defense Minister Barak intends to start turning off the electricity once the Minister of Justice says it’s legal to do so.
As an editorial in Ha’aretz put it on Wednesday, “Cutting off the supply of electricity, fuel and baby food is a blatant blow against civilians—and only against them.”
And it won’t stop the shelling of Sderot.
Surely there are better ways for Israel to handle this situation—both military and diplomatic. The IDF is more than capable of going after the perpetrators of rocket attacks and of seizing the areas from which the attacks are launched. If they have to hold on to the territory to keep the terrorists out, so be it. Part of the rationale for removing the settlers from Gaza was to enable the army to act, when necessary, without being encumbered by Israeli civilians who only got in the way.
As for diplomacy, the Annapolis conference is still on the schedule. An agreement between Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas which paves the way toward a Palestinian state will greatly strengthen Abbas and weaken Hamas. A failed conference, or a cancelled one, will bolster Hamas and those firing the rockets at Sderot.
Furthermore, Israel needs to consider ways to open lines of communication with the Gaza authorities. Although the Fatah leadership strongly opposes any contact with Hamas (no matter how indirect), Israel may have no choice but to deal with Hamas in Gaza in order to protect the people of Sderot and nearby towns. (If Israel and Hamas communicate indirectly over the fate of prisoners, why can’t they do the same on other matters?)
The election of Hamas in January 2006 has been a total disaster for the Palestinian people, but the policies of Israel, the United States, and the European Union put in place in response to it have also utterly failed. It’s time for new ones.
MJ Rosenberg is the Director of Israel Policy Forum's Washington Policy Center. If you would appreciate receiving this weekly letter via e-mail, send an e-mail, with the subject "subcribe" to: ipfdc@ipforumdc.org
giovedì 13 settembre 2007
Le sud profond et désespéré d’Israël
Daniel Ben Simon, Haaretz, 07/09/07. Les signes de pauvreté sont criants à chaque coin de Sderot. La ville paraît prise dans un processus d’effondrement. A cause des roquettes Qassam certes, mais tout autant du fait de l’abandon, de la saleté et de la puanteur qui se sont répandues partout. Personne ne s’en soucie plus. Les nerfs de la ville, dont les habitants manœuvrent entre détresse économique et peur pour la vie de leurs enfants, sont ébranlés.s à l’égard des localités du sud, les renvoyant aux années 50.
Une demi-heure suffit pour passer de Tel Aviv à un autre Israël. Les effets de « l’économie adéquate » de Benjamin Netanyahou ont sauté cette partie du pays. On ne connaît aucune croissance ici. Pourtant des gares de chemin de fer ont été construites qui ont raccourci les distances avec le centre du pays, mais les voyageurs n’ont pas encore trouvé de raison valable de s’y arrêter, sur la route qui va de Tel Aviv à Beersheva et retour.
C’est le sud israélien, 2007. L’abandon et la pauvreté ressortent avec plus d’intensité quand on voit la prospérité du centre. Dans aucune autre région de l’Etat, les habitants ne sont si nombreux à dépendre des services d’allocations sociales. Quasiment la moitié de la population du sud vit d’allocations mensuelles versées par l’Etat. On ouvre des soupes populaires dans presque toutes les localités, les associations caritatives poussent comme des champignons.
« Depuis que je suis à Ofakim, je ne me rappelle pas une misère pareille », dit un employé de la municipalité qui a requis l’anonymat, « même dans les années 50 et 60, quand il n’y avait pas grand-chose, les gens partageaient le peu qu’il y avait. Aujourd’hui, vous voyez une vraie pauvreté. Des gens qui n’ont rien à manger. C’est un Etat normal ? D’un côté, vous avez un nombre sans cesse croissant de milliardaires et de millionnaires, et de l’autre côté vous avez un nombre sans cesse croissant de gens qui ont faim. En vérité, cette situation devrait éveiller de l’inquiétude dans le pays. »
Anarchie
Les signes de pauvreté sont criants à chaque coin de Sderot. La ville paraît prise dans un processus d’effondrement. A cause des roquettes Qassam certes, mais tout autant du fait de l’abandon, de la saleté et de la puanteur qui se sont répandues partout. Personne ne s’en soucie plus. Les nerfs de la ville, dont les habitants manœuvrent entre détresse économique et peur pour la vie de leurs enfants, sont ébranlés.
Pas de sourires ni de rires. Seulement des regards de colère et de désespoir. L’armée s’est mobilisée pour remonter le moral et a établi, cette semaine, un quartier général au centre de la localité. Des soldats et des soldates se baladent dans les rues de la ville pour essayer de faire baisser l’anxiété. Le commandement du front intérieur a mis sur pied une espèce de poste de commandement avancé pour les pauvres, composé de quelques officiers et soldats. Le poste est protégé comme il faut et entouré de briques de toutes parts.
Le poste de commandement de l’arrière est coincé entre l’espace du marché improvisé et le jardin d’enfants de l’association Na’amat près duquel un Qassam a atterri lundi dernier. Les clients du marché, pour la plupart des personnes âgées et des immigrés qui ne parlent pas l’hébreu, circulent entre les étals et les monceaux de détritus. Quasiment aucune marchandise ne coûte plus de cinq shekels [~ 0,88 €]. Des centaines de familles anciennement établies sont parties, définitivement ou jusqu’à ce que la colère passe.
Il en est qui souhaitent qu’un Qassam atteigne un jardin d’enfants ou une école pour autoriser d’entrer dans Gaza et il en est qui continuent d’espérer qu’on aboutisse à un accord qui ramène la santé de l’esprit dans ce lieu misérable. En attendant, Sderot demeure sans dirigeants.
Cette anarchie a donné naissance à des initiatives sauvages. Une association de parents annonce l’ouverture des jardins d’enfants, une autre la fermeture des écoles. Une troisième appelle à l’ouverture de toutes les institutions et une association de parents qui vient juste de se créer exige la fermeture de toutes les institutions.
Le maire de la ville, Eli Moyal, a abandonné son poste suite à l’enquête dont il fait l’objet pour irrégularités financières. Ces vacances forcées semblent arrivées à temps pour lui, devançant une retraite à laquelle il se préparait à l’approche des nouvelles élections qui doivent se tenir dans la localité d’ici un an. Après deux mandats orageux, ses forces se sont épuisées. Son audience à la télévision ne s’est pas reflétée dans le rapport des habitants à son égard. Au cours des deux dernières années, un fossé s’est créé entre le maire et ses administrés. Il leur a manifesté du mépris pour leurs récriminations et eux du mépris pour son caractère distant et ses départs fréquents pour les bastions de Tel Aviv.
Lundi matin, deux inspecteurs de la police sont arrivés dans les bureaux de la mairie. Il n’y avait personne pour les accueillir. Après avoir longtemps attendu, ils sont entrés dans le bureau de Moyal et ont commencé à le vider. Depuis lors, Moyal n’a pas reparu dans les bureaux de la mairie. Il y a peu de chances que ce personnage haut en couleurs dont l’essentiel de la gloire est venu des Qassam qui volaient sur Sderot depuis Beit Hanoun, revienne à la mairie dans un avenir prévisible.
Révolution
Plus au sud, plus loin encore de la prospérité israélienne, Ofakim a tenté de se remettre de l’offensive de l’Etat. Mardi dernier, les employés municipaux ont été invités au traditionnel cocktail d’avant les fêtes [Nouvel an juif, Kippour, Souccot - NdT]. D’un pas lent et hésitant, ils sont entrés dans la salle de réunion et y ont pris place. Quelques bouteilles et des plateaux de bourekas étaient posés sur la table.
Exactement au même moment, deux hommes revenaient de l’agence de la Banque Hapoalim située non loin de la mairie, et entraient dans le bureau du maire. Ilan Saguy, qui appartient au Ministère de l’Intérieur et qui a été nommé à la tête de la ville, et Ze’ev Recanati, le comptable qui le seconde, sont à partir de maintenant les signataires légalement autorisés pour la ville. La signature du maire, Avi Asraf, qui a été démis de ses fonctions une semaine plus tôt, a été effacée comme si elle n’avait jamais existé.
Au cours du cocktail, les employés se sont présentés à leurs nouveaux patrons et se sont entendu annoncer que la fête était finie à Ofakim. Le Ministère de l’Intérieur a lancé dans la ville une révolution légale, remplissant les habitants d’appréhension. Des centaines de familles vivent d’un salaire versé par la municipalité et de nombreuses autres familles lui sont liées indirectement, par le biais de relations douteuses avec les gens qui ont été élus à sa tête.
Tout de suite après la révocation des autorités élues, Viviane Alfasi, la secrétaire du maire démis, est entrée et a sorti du bureau armoires, dossiers, médailles, coupes et diplômes d’honneur. Sur l’un des murs est restée une photo encadrée d’où vous regarde le chef du gouvernement. Au bas de la photo, celui-ci a écrit : « A Avi Asraf, maire de la ville. Chaleureuses salutations et cordiale poignée de mains. Amicalement, Ehoud Olmert ».
C’est ce bureau qui s’est acquis la réputation dans tout le sud de symbole de la dégénérescence qui a saisi des politiciens avides de pouvoir dans plusieurs villes du sud. Ce bureau qu’au plus fort de la crise économique qui a frappé sa ville il y a huit ans, le maire Yaïr Hazan faisait dessiner comme un bureau de chef d’Etat. L’argent coulait à flot pour faire acquérir par l’occupant de ce bureau le statut qu’il méritait. Aujourd’hui, il ne reste pas grand-chose de la gloire et du style. Plus de jacuzzi, plus de salle d’attente, plus de vestiaire.
Hazan a perdu son fauteuil en grande partie à cause de son penchant pour l’ostentation et c’est Avi Asraf, du même parti que lui, qui en avait hérité. Il y a quelques jours, il a été renvoyé chez lui avec tous les membres du conseil. Viviane Alfasi a beaucoup de difficultés à cacher sa douleur, elle qui espérait que des politiciens prendraient la défense de son patron mais qui a découvert qu’on ne pouvait pas compter sur eux quand on a besoin d’eux. Asraf qui s’attendait à ce que les dirigeants de son parti se mobilisent en sa faveur, a pour sa part découvert que la plupart d’entre eux n’avaient pas même pris la peine de répondre à son appel à l’aide.
Les inspecteurs du Ministère de l’Intérieur qui ont examiné le fonctionnement de la municipalité sont restés abasourdis devant la manière dont la ville était gérée. Un déluge de traitements de faveur à la limite de la légalité, des menaces cachées ou ouvertes, un conseil paralysé par la multitude des intrigues et un maire devenu incapable d’administrer la localité.
C’est la raison pour laquelle la décision a été prise de suspendre la démocratie locale au profit de fonctionnaires nommés, afin de rétablir dans la ville une administration saine et de la transparence. Il est douteux que ce traitement permette de soigner la maladie d’Ofakim. Une ville de 26.000 habitants, dont la moitié se trouve dans l’incapacité de gagner sa vie, qui vivent dans une ville n’offrant pour ainsi dire pas de lieux de travail et où beaucoup parmi ceux qui travaillent ont des emplois temporaires.
Il semble que l’Etat ait abandonné tout ce qui touche au projet concernant les localités du sud. La crise médiatisée qui frappe Sderot, Ofakim et Arad cache la situation effrayante qui sévit dans tout le sud. Exception faite de Netivot qui connaît une prospérité économique grâce au pèlerinage sur la tombe de Sages et à la présence de cours de rabbins, dans la plupart des localités on n’observe pas la moindre croissance. A Arad où, là aussi, les élus de la ville ont été démis de leurs fonctions, le prix des maisons et des appartements a chuté de dizaines de pourcents. Tous ceux qui le peuvent s’en vont. La plupart des vétérans et des fondateurs sont déjà partis depuis un moment.
Panique
Mais le pays porte les yeux sur Sderot. Une ville qui est devenu un symbole de l’impuissance d’Israël face à Gaza, en dépit de l’étranglement imposé à Gaza depuis le désengagement. S’il n’y avait cette atmosphère de guerre, il est à peu près sûr que l’Etat aurait dépêché un comité désigné d’office comme il l’a fait pour Ofakim, Arad et Yerouham. De toutes les localités du sud oubliées des Israéliens, cette ville bombardée pèse sur la conscience nationale comme une blessure qui refuse de cicatriser. C’est peut-être la raison pour laquelle certains esprits fatigués ont proposé de couper le courant à Gaza ou de lui couper l’eau, par intermittence bien sûr.
En tout cas, Sderot a échappé à une catastrophe, cette semaine. Lundi matin, quelques minutes après l’ouverture des classes, les sirènes d’alarme se sont fait entendre. La ville a perdu la tête. Les parents, fous d’inquiétude, ont couru aux jardins d’enfants. La rumeur s’est répandue dans la ville qu’une roquette avait touché le jardin d’enfants de Na’amat, près du centre. Des cris de détresse fendaient l’air chargé de tension.
« Je ne me souviens pas avoir jamais vu ça », dit Shalom Halevy qui vit depuis fort longtemps dans cette ville, « les gens couraient comme des fous, cherchant un abri. Je ne pourrais pas vous décrire la panique que c’était. Vingt mille personnes courant en tous sens. »
La roquette a atterri à un mètre et quelques de la crèche, pulvérisant un arbre dans sa chute et faisant un grand trou dans le sol. Les enfants en pleurs ont été ramenés chez eux dans un accompagnement de cris de panique et de colère. Le lendemain, le trou est devenu un lieu de pèlerinage pour les touristes et les visiteurs. Un groupe de journalistes ukrainiens a contemplé le trou une heure durant pendant qu’une employée de la mairie, russophone, accompagnait cette contemplation d’un commentaire sur le miracle qui s'était produit. Ce jardin d’enfant est fréquenté par les enfants d’immigrants du Caucase arrivés en Israël dans les années 90 et envoyés habiter le quartier de Neveh Eshkol.
L’aspect de ce quartier est à ce point fané et terne qu’il a l’air d’avoir été établi il y a 100 ans. Dans le sud, la plupart des bâtiments publics affectés au logement ont été construits à la hâte et sans soin par des entreprises publiques – Amigour et Amidar – et ont été abandonnés, après peu d’années, par les plus anciens immigrants au profit des nouveaux arrivants. Les immigrants d’Afrique du Nord les ont abandonnés aux immigrants de la Communauté des Etats Indépendants (CEI) qui les abandonnent pour faire de la place aux immigrants d’Ethiopie. Sur de nombreux balcons est fixée une affiche « A vendre ».
Bientôt Sderot mettra ses misères de côté et se plongera jusqu’au cou dans la campagne pour l’élection des autorités locales qui aura lieu dans environ un an. L’expérience du passé nous enseigne que ce sera une campagne acharnée. Déjà maintenant des gens ont surgi, qui profitent de l’ambiance lourde pour se gagner les esprits. A peu près tous ceux qui rêvent de s’asseoir dans le fauteuil du maire se sont montrés aux médias en proposant leur solution au problème de Sderot. En attendant, les habitants courent, terrorisés, dans une ville en train de sombrer pendant que l’Etat manifeste une impuissance épouvantable. On peut vraiment douter que priver Gaza d’eau ou d’électricité puisse aider Sderot alors que l’Etat s’est dégagé de ses responsabilité
www.haaretz.
Version anglaise : Israel's deep, desperate South
www.haaretz.
(Traduction de l'hébreu : Michel Ghys)
Source traduction : Palestine Solidarité
http://www.palestin
This is how the moderates look
Gideon Levy , Haaretz, 13/09/07. Haim Ramon has made a big comeback. As if renewing the Hebrew language, he has coined the term "infrastructural oxygen" - Israel should strike a blow at Gaza's infrastructural oxygen. Faithful to his suggestions in the Second Lebanon War ("It is permissible to destroy everything"), he is now the progenitor of the doctrine advocating cutting off the electricity, fuel and water supply to Gaza. Ramon is very proud of his demonic plan: "It's the first time the government has discussed these types of proposals," he said. In his eyes, the legal aspect is "hallucinatory"; there is no difference between Hamas and Al-Qaida. And what will happen if this cutoff of water and electricity to Gaza is not effective? "Until we try, we'll never know," the minister told an interviewer. That is, we are dealing with an experiment on human beings. As we all know, Ramon is a representative of a centrist party and is considered one of the party's moderates. But, as luck would have it, just as this incitement to commit war crimes was being raised, a report was issued at the end of last week by Human Rights Watch, a reputable and unbiased American organization. The report mentions evidence that Israel Defense Forces officers were responsible for committing war crimes in Lebanon and that Israel seriously violated international law in indiscriminately killing hundreds of citizens. Ramon and Livni's proposals have prepared the ground for the next report. After implementing the Ramon plan, the call will intensify to boycott Israel and bring those responsible for the next crime to trial. | ||
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giovedì 6 settembre 2007
Faced with Sderot and Gaza Cutting off Gaza utilities illegal, counterproductive
Haaretz Editorial, 06/07/09. Communities in the western Negev are now enduring their seventh year of rocket attacks. Israel's inability to halt these attacks stems from fear that the cost of a military operation in the Gaza Strip, which the Israel Defense Forces left two years ago, would be higher than the benefits: Many soldiers would be hurt or killed; there would also be Palestinian casualties; international understanding of Israel's need to defend itself would evaporate; and in the end, the operation would turn out to have produced only a lull before the next battle between Israel and the Palestinian organizations - which use various means against it, and not only rockets.
The distress of Israel's government, which is responsible for defending its citizens, periodically gives rise - and with greater force than usual this week - to desperate ideas. One such idea, which is being advocated by Minister Haim Ramon and, more guardedly, by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, is hitting Gaza's water and electricity networks. Stopping the flow of water and electricity is a painful and punishing step, but ostensibly not a fatal one. Its goal is to cause the Palestinian public to pressure Hamas and Islamic Jihad to stop the fire.
This idea is complete nonsense. Factually speaking, cutting off water and electricity can kill. Moreover, there is no proof that making the Palestinian public suffer would make Hamas take pity on it and embark on a cease-fire. On the contrary: Hamas consistently sabotages the flow of essential goods through Gaza's border terminals. What is being presented as a way to avoid war is counterproductive, immoral and illegal.
This last fact is well-known to proponents, who are careful to append footnotes to their proposals regarding the need to obtain legal advice. It is hard to believe that serious people would mouth off first and consult the lawyers only afterward. In reality, they understand that there is no chance of getting legal approval for deliberate harm to civilians at a time when countries, officers and ministers are facing war crimes charges in The Hague. Barak, who as IDF chief of staff during Operation Accountability, drove the population of south Lebanon to flee northward in order to exert pressure on Beirut, surely noticed that last year, the Bush administration forbade Ehud Olmert's government from damaging Lebanon's national infrastructure.
Just a month ago, the cabinet was in an uproar because the High Court of Justice was considering forcing it to honor its commitment to reinforce schools in Sderot. Now, the politicians want the jurists to save them from themselves.
Public posturing will neither solve the problem of the Qassam rockets nor protect the children of Sderot. The current defense priority is "Syria first." Until the danger of war in the North has passed, and in light of the many vacation days during the upcoming holiday season, the government should transfer classes from communities within Qassam range to those farther from Gaza - something it would have to do anyway in the event of a major military operation against the Qassams. It should also warn Gaza's Hamas government that if it does not exercise its responsibility to stop assaults against Israel from the Strip, Israel - at a time of its choosing, and without taking any steps that would necessarily harm civilians - will wage war against all those who attack it from there.
The distress of Israel's government, which is responsible for defending its citizens, periodically gives rise - and with greater force than usual this week - to desperate ideas. One such idea, which is being advocated by Minister Haim Ramon and, more guardedly, by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, is hitting Gaza's water and electricity networks. Stopping the flow of water and electricity is a painful and punishing step, but ostensibly not a fatal one. Its goal is to cause the Palestinian public to pressure Hamas and Islamic Jihad to stop the fire.
This idea is complete nonsense. Factually speaking, cutting off water and electricity can kill. Moreover, there is no proof that making the Palestinian public suffer would make Hamas take pity on it and embark on a cease-fire. On the contrary: Hamas consistently sabotages the flow of essential goods through Gaza's border terminals. What is being presented as a way to avoid war is counterproductive, immoral and illegal.
This last fact is well-known to proponents, who are careful to append footnotes to their proposals regarding the need to obtain legal advice. It is hard to believe that serious people would mouth off first and consult the lawyers only afterward. In reality, they understand that there is no chance of getting legal approval for deliberate harm to civilians at a time when countries, officers and ministers are facing war crimes charges in The Hague. Barak, who as IDF chief of staff during Operation Accountability, drove the population of south Lebanon to flee northward in order to exert pressure on Beirut, surely noticed that last year, the Bush administration forbade Ehud Olmert's government from damaging Lebanon's national infrastructure.
Just a month ago, the cabinet was in an uproar because the High Court of Justice was considering forcing it to honor its commitment to reinforce schools in Sderot. Now, the politicians want the jurists to save them from themselves.
Public posturing will neither solve the problem of the Qassam rockets nor protect the children of Sderot. The current defense priority is "Syria first." Until the danger of war in the North has passed, and in light of the many vacation days during the upcoming holiday season, the government should transfer classes from communities within Qassam range to those farther from Gaza - something it would have to do anyway in the event of a major military operation against the Qassams. It should also warn Gaza's Hamas government that if it does not exercise its responsibility to stop assaults against Israel from the Strip, Israel - at a time of its choosing, and without taking any steps that would necessarily harm civilians - will wage war against all those who attack it from there.
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