IDF using bereavement as fig leaf for settlers
It's very convenient for Barak to turn the Givat Hayovel affair into another self-righteous fig leaf.
By Gideon Levy Tags: Ehud Barak Israel newsWho said Ehud Barak is insensitive? Who falsely accused Gabi Ashkenazi of being the silent type? And who suspects them of not being able to work together? The defense minister and chief of staff stood united at the end of last week to prevent the destruction of illegal homes in the illegal outpost of Givat Hayovel. Some of the houses were built on private Palestinian land; in other words, stolen land, and others were built on "state lands" and "survey lands" - more misleading terms to emerge from Israel's endless supply of tricks.
The Israel Defense Forces even pulled out from storage a particularly ridiculous reason we haven't heard for a while: These houses are "important for security" because they are "controlling points" where the IDF's presence is "important." As if the IDF can't be in a place without such homes.
Barak and Ashkenazi got together for the task because bereaved families live in two of these homes: the family of Maj. Ro'i Klein, who was killed in the Second Lebanon War, and the family of Maj. Eliraz Peretz, who was killed three weeks ago on the Gaza border. It's unclear whether this united front at the top was meant to prevent only the demolition of these two families' homes or the demolition of all 18 homes ordered by the High Court of Justice. Both possibilities raise serious questions. Does the blood of those who die in combat wash away their culpability? How can we discriminate between one illegal settler and another? Why should the Palestinian whose land was taken over care if one of those settlers gets killed in action? Here's the devilish thing: Of all days, on the day Barak and Ashkenazi published an emotional letter to High Court President Dorit Beinisch asking for "consideration and sensitivity," the IDF destroyed other houses. Civil Administration bulldozers crushed a two-story house and two shops in Kafr Hares, while demolishing a home and a factory in Beit Sahur and another home in Al-Khader. Sixteen people are now homeless, among them children and a 1-year-old baby. The people from the Civil Administration took the trouble to stress that this was just the beginning of the demolition operation.
It didn't occur to anyone in the IDF to check whether maybe the Sultan family in Hares or the Musa family in Al-Khader could cite extenuating circumstances justifying "consideration and sensitivity." Might they also have lost a son? And if so, would anyone have thought to stop the demolition because of it? Don't make the IDF, the Civil Administration, Barak, Ashkenazi and all of us laugh. Those are Palestinians, not humans.
The demolition of the homes in Givat Hayovel was decided on in 2001, when everyone in the families was still alive. They built their homes recklessly, without permits, and knew they were stealing land. There are many other settlers like them.
That is the original sin that has been followed by the sin of authorities' foot-dragging, which in this case has gone on for around nine years in terms of implementing the ruling on Peace Now's petition. Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer now says he is giving in on the demolition of the Klein and Peretz homes. One can understand him. It's hard to destroy a home whose inhabitants have just ended their week of mourning.
Indeed, it's not humane. But as usual, we deal with the marginal instead of the important. While the evacuation of the outposts has never been an operative term, while the Sasson report has become a worthless archaeological artifact, why are we bothering with Givat Hayovel, of all places? Do we lack other outposts to evacuate, those without mourning families? Moreover, the whole matter of "illegal" outposts - as if even one settlement is legal - has never been the heart of the problem. It's very convenient for everyone to turn the Givat Hayovel affair into another self-righteous and misleading fig leaf.
The settlers are waving these houses around for their own needs to squeeze out even more public sympathy and increase opposition to any evacuation at all. Barak and Ashkenazi are waving these houses around to show how much they want to enforce the law in the territories but can't. Even the justice system occasionally seeks to prove that it is careful to uphold the law and not discriminate when it comes to the settlers. All this is nothing less than ridiculous.
Those two homes should be left alone - even the entire outpost. As long as the main settlement, Eli, remains, what difference does its offshoot make?
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its looks for every reason to knock down a arab houses down
People around the world are never going to accept Israel's presence in the territories as anything but unlawful a fourteen justice panel has al-ready signed its name to this (unanimously) in 2004 at The Hague. So this is a done deal and those settlers and their children are not sav- ing anyone except proplong this ugly injustice which takes children on both sides... Why be so small and hide this from them and lead them on? It all adds to the shame of it all in my book. Why not be honest and up front and do what's right? That's the noble and honorable thing when all is said and done. There is nothing noble about living a lie and getting killed. Dutch
my dear,nothing to do:true's true.Nice to live in fairy-tale, but come back to reality.If you don't want to be kicked out from your Petach-Tikva, demolete settelements.
Your words always remind us that not all Israelis are evil.
It is Israel that want a PERPETUAL state of War with the Palestinians and the Arabs in general. If only Israel Politicians agreed to negociate an HONEST PEACE with the neighbourly Arabs, they can start it NOW.Just bring the Peace Process/ the Saudi Peace Iniciative Plans at the Peace Table of the EQUALS.
Gideon Levy is on the SIDE OF TRUTH,, just as the Jewish Jurist Richard Goldstone , both calling a SPADE a SPADE, and showing their JEWISH values. Sorry that many cannot.
Ron, totally agree with everything you say. I have always wondered, where is the Palestinian Gideon Levy ?? Surely there must be a journalist who strives for peace, at all costs and total appeasement. Does a Palestinian exist who would dare utter that all their problems and sorrow is all their doing and if the Palestinians would accept 2/3 of the West Bank, everyone would live with champagne and roses. I'm afraid such a journalist would be executed as a self-hating collaborator or would never write such things, fearing for his life. All the more reason why Levy should love and embrace Israel. Just goes to expose the Liberal thoughts. Yikes.
an enlightened human being among many fanatics. he reminds me that we are humans first, then blacks or whites or jews or whatever!
When I read Gideon Levy's article about not carrying out the demolition of the houses of two of our fallen heroes in Givat Hayovel, I could only think of the old saying: "With friends like this, who needs enemies." I would really like to know how a Jew like Gideon Levy can take the Arab side and go against his own people when we are in a state of war with the Palestinians. Does he really believe that if we withdraw from Judea and Samaria (as we did in Gaza)and from Ramat HaGolan, that the Arabs will lay down their arms, begin preaching real peaceful co-existence and cease their campaign of delegitimization? Mr. Levy, you have a fairy-tale mentality, as do many on the extreme Left: "Let's give it all back, and then we will all live happily ever after." It should only be so, but whatever you are dreaming of, your attitude will not bring an end to hostility on the part of the Palestinians. On the contrary, it denies the facts on the ground and only encourages them.
to grieving parents and siblings. Israel has shown that it has a great economy. Do the right thing and by the families a really nice place in West Jerusalem, as a compensation for the loss of their home. You can help them move. Give them every assistance. You can also stop being so childish that you destroy perfectly functioning houses. You behave like a child or a pathological lover: If I cant have it no one ells will either. Leave the houses intact or sell them to the landowners if the like to have them.
Not sensitive? Perhaps. But Levy is saying some important things here (and even joins Peace Now in the sadly "necessary" giving in to emotion about the two houses of our fallen (zichronam livracha) But those who cynically use these two cases to prevent the very necessary evacuation NOW from unauthorized outposts, also have their share of chutzpah.
This is nothing but cheap political exploitation. The death of Klein and Peretz does not change anything in the illegal status of the 'outpost' they lived in. Want to be kind to the bereaved families? Build them a nome within the Green Line at government expense. Of course it won't happen. Precedent and all that. It is easy to see through the cheap political exploitation and won't change one iota in the fact that all houses in GH are built on stolen Palestinian land.
Why should anyone bother to open your posts, they are all the same. Just attacks ad hominem, never anything original or meaningful.
Gideon is stooping so low to besmirch our fallen heroes, men who defend Gideon's way of life and prevent us from being murdered by our enemies while Gideon supports their murderers and their murderers cause. This man has no respect and no decency. Has any real consideration been made to investigate Gideon Levy for treason???
Why does anyone read Gideon Levy articles? They're all the same. He picks some topic about Israel and makes it as negative as possible, every time, for years now.
should we praise dead murdering nazis? I think your latin and logic are flawed, by the way why do you read Haaretz?
Kamm has shown that the IDF does not hesitate to use "targetted assassinations" even when it is illegal to do so. Barak has shown that the death of a settler-soldier is a perfect excuse to delay the evacuation of an outpost. Conclusion: it is now in the IDF's interests to pop off a settler-soldier *here* and an outpost-officer *there* whenever it is ordered to evacuate their outpost. I'd watch my back if I were you, coz' those infamous IDF "friendly fire" incidents may juuuuust start to become (suspiciously) more commonplace......
Naked for all to see how capriciously the security argument is used. Sunshine is the great disinfectant...
That much is clear. Nor is he on the side of human rights or rational thinking.
A particular tasteless article. remember the Roman expression: "De mortuis nil nisi bene". I will translate it for you because you obviously lack the culture and the education: Say nothing about the dead except praise.
You could read the Jerusalem Post for the past twenty years and never know anything about the shamelessness that Gideon Levy exposes here. Read Yaakov Sullivan's talkback to Yair Sheleg's article today on "Israeli greed and the existential threat." It has the same illuminating character as this piece by Gideon Levy.
Nice report by Gideon. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention is quite explicit, and by definition, all Israeli settlements in occupied territory are a violation of International Law - something apparently lost in translation to some Israelis like Barak, Ashkenazi and their foreign sycophants. Givat Heyovel is just such an illegal settlement, and should be either bulldozed, or given over to the Palestinians. If the Israelis want to show some respect for their dead war heroes, then perhaps they should move the bereaved families into homes in Israel proper, rather than exploiting them for political gain.
talk about lack of sensitivity,gideon levy is a prime example.don't understand why such a person should be allowed to print his evil thoughts.where is his concern for his fellow jew?how are his priorities arranged that he could even dare make an issue of a bereaved family? 'something is rotten in the state'...of gideon and its not the praiseworthy soldiers who sacrifice themselves to protect us.