Israel bans Palestinian flags
West Jerusalem’s new national security chief has ordered the removal of “terror flags” from public places [From the loony bin:] 💬 “It is inconceivable that lawbreakers will wave terror flags, incite and encourage terrorism,” Ben-Gvir said on Sunday night in a statement cited by the Jerusalem Post. “I have issued instructions for the removal of the flags, which support terrorism, from the public space and to stop incitement against the state of Israel.” ● The nationalist official, who already stirred controversy shortly after taking office by visiting the Temple Mount compound last week, dismissed concern that his flag order would infringe on civil liberties, arguing that freedom of expression “does not extend to identifying with a terrorist” and those who seek to harm Israeli soldiers. ● The move came after Palestinian flags were flown at an anti-government protest on Saturday night in Tel Aviv. Concerns also were raised after the release of Israel’s longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, Karim Younis, who was convicted in 1983 of kidnapping and murdering an Israeli soldier. Younis waved a Palestinian flag as he returned home to a celebration in northern Israel’s Ara village. ● Netanyahu’s government also has announced a series of punishments of the Palestinian Authority (PA) for seeking a legal opinion from the UN’s International Court of Justice on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki discovered on Sunday that those sanctions apparently included rescinding his travel pass.
■ Israel: MP says time to 'subdue Palestinians once and for all' in the 'last war' (01/05/23)
■ Operation Cast Lead and the Dismembering of a People (Vincent Di Stefano)(12/29/10)
■ Slouching Towards Gaza. Operation Cast Lead and the Dismembering of a People WEBAMP Sound: Two days after Christmas in 2008, the isolated and densely populated city of Gaza was visited by volley upon volley of deadly missile and mortar fire. The intense bombardment of what has been described by the United Nations Development Programme as "one of the most densely populated places on earth" continued unabated for a period of three weeks. By the end of the assault, over 1,400 Palestinians had been killed and more than 5,000 wounded, many seriously. Between three and four hundred of the dead were children. A total of 13 Israelis were killed during the same time, four of them by the action of their own troops. This post offers a fifth anniversary commemoration of this tragic and highly destructive assault which commenced on the 27th December 2008 and ended on the 18th January 2009. It offers an account of pivotal events in the history of Israel/Palestine from 1947 to the present through the reflections of a number of informed and articulate commentators.