Yitzhak Pundak: 100 Year Old Israeli General “Proud” of his Role in Nakba, Razing Villages

From the “most moral army in the world”: Mr. Pundak believes it wasn’t “unnecessarily cruel” to raze Palestinian villages but he drew the line with Ariel Sharon on “killing enemy fighters” in exchange for “a glass of champagne.” (h/t: Awda)

War crimes anyone?

100-Year-Old General: We Razed Arab Villages, So What?

Brig. Gen. (res.) Yitzhak Pundak is celebrating his hundredth birthday. Pundak was the commander of the 53rd Battalion of the Givati Brigade in the War of Independence and went on to supervise the establishment of the Armored Corps. He was also Ambassador in Tanzania and a founder of Arad.

In an interview on IDF Radio, Pundak confirmed that forces under his command razed Arab villages in 1948. “My conscience is at ease with that, because if we hadn’t done so, then there would be no state by now. There would be a million more Arabs,” he said.

Asked why he still finds it so important to lecture to soldiers, at his advanced age, he explained: “Just like in 1948, the country is in a state of danger – and if the Jews do not fight as we did in the War of Independence, the state is in danger.” He predicted that if a war breaks out again, Jews will be capable of the same kind of self-sacrifice as in 1948.

“When there is a war, people unite,” he explained. “Afterward, they form parties and become divided.”

He spoke with pain of the 145 soldiers who were killed under his command over the years, and said that if they woke up miraculously and saw the divided country of today, “they would run back to their graves.”

And yet, when asked if he feels proud of his country, he said that his pride runs “as high as the rooftop.”

Pundak, who was the governor of Gaza in the early 1970s, said that the credit that is usually given to Ariel Sharon for stopping Arab terror in Gaza in 1971 is mistaken. He said that Sharon was an unnecessarily cruel commander who once said at a meeting with officers that he would offer champagne to whoever killed an enemy fighter – and whoever brings him a wounded enemy “will drink soda.”

He said: “I told him, ‘You are not my commander, I am not coming to your meetings.’”

Russia legislators pass ‘gay propaganda’ ban

Russia’s parliament has passed two bills that impose jail terms for people promoting homosexual “propaganda” to minors and those who offend religious believers.

Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, gay activists staged a kissing protest outside parliament but were outnumbered by several hundred supporters of the bill, some carrying religious icons.

Some threw rotten eggs at the gay protesters. After scuffles in which one man was knocked to the ground and kicked by the anti-gay activists, police began detaining the gay activists and bundling them into waiting buses.

A police spokesman said around 20 people were detained.

The bill against “homosexual propaganda” to minors sailed through the State Duma lower house of parliament in a 436-to-0 vote with one abstention.

The measure is part of an effort to promote traditional Russian values as opposed to Western liberalism, which the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church see as corrupting Russian youth and contributing to the protests against President Vladimir Putin’s rule.

Hefty fines

JENIN (Ma’an) — Settlers torched at least nine Palestinian vehicles and vandalized property in the occupied West Bank overnight Tuesday, locals said.

In the Jericho village of Az-Zubeidat, four cars and a tractor were found burnt by villagers, locals said. Local NGO coordinator Hamza Zbeidat told Ma’an that settlers raided the village at around 3 a.m. and poured gasoline on the vehicles before setting them alight.

Four vehicles were also set on fire in the nearby village of Marj Naja and settlers sprayed ‘price-tag’ graffiti reading “For the anniversary of Evitar” and “Regards from Evitar” in both villages, referring to a settler stabbed to death in Nablus one month ago.

B’Tselem also reported that two cars were set on fire in Rantis, west of Ramallah, and graffiti was found in the area. Israeli police confirmed the reports, according to Israeli news site Ynet.

The tires of three Palestinian vehicles were slashed in Shufat refugee camp in East Jerusalem and four cars were vandalized in Sheikh Jarrah.

Muhammad Abu Taa from Shufat told Ma’an that a security camera in the neighborhood filmed four settlers attacking the vehicles. Graffiti reading “Evitar’s revenge” was also found nearby.

Taa said that residents told Israeli police about the attacks, but they did nothing to help.

Israeli military sources told Ma’an that five burnt vehicles were found in Az-Zubeidat and four in Marj Naja.

An Israeli army spokesman said incidences of “vandalism and graffiti’ were being reviewed.

Settlers routinely attack Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank with impunity. Annual figures compiled by Israeli rights group Yesh Din have repeatedly shown that nine out of 10 police investigations about settler crimes fail to lead to a prosecution.

Oregon Youth Is Accused of Plotting School Attack

By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ

Law enforcement officials in Oregon say they have disrupted a plot by a student to set off explosives at his high school in what one official described on Sunday as a “video-game style of killing people” reminiscent of the Columbine High School massacre.

The suspect, Grant A. Acord, 17, was arrested Thursday at his home in Albany, Ore., said John Haroldson, the district attorney of Benton County. Mr. Haroldson said in an interview that the police had confiscated several explosive devices and that Mr. Acord appeared to be trying to get more weapons.

“We intervened on this before he could get all the materials that he wanted,” Mr. Haroldson said. “The full-blown plan would have involved even more bombs. It would have involved rifles.”

He said Mr. Acord would be formally charged on Tuesday.

Investigators believe that the intended target was West Albany High School, where Mr. Acord is a student. After the arrest, officers searched the school for explosives but found none.

“The initial security search will be followed up by a more extensive school search, which will include the use of an explosives detection K-9 from the Oregon State Police, to ensure that the campus is safe for students’ return to class on Tuesday,” an Albany Police Department statement said.

Albany, a city of about 50,000 people, is 70 miles from Portland.

The police began their investigation after receiving a tip “that associated Grant Acord with manufacturing a destructive device with the intent of detonating it at a school,” the statement said.

As of Sunday, any motives were unclear. Mr. Acord’s family has made no public statements.

The authorities would not say when the attack was to be carried out, but Mr. Haroldson said the police had recovered a detailed checklist and a timeline. He said no single person appeared to be the target.

Mr. Haroldson also said Mr. Acord had taken a “substantial step towards carrying out the crime,” but would give no further details.

Described as a terrorist by the Police officers involved, you can bet your bottom dollar if he were Muslim it would be on an endless loop in the media.

AK-47-Wielding Gunman Fires 37 Times at Shocked Cops During Routine Traffic Stop

Terrifying dash-cam footage captures the moment a crazed motorist opened fire with an AK-47 rifle at police officers who had just pulled him over for a minor traffic violation in Middlefield, Ohio.

James Gilkerson, 42, exited his parked car and then fired 37 shots at the officers and their patrol car, the Cleveland Plain Dealerreported. Officers Erin Thomas and Brandon Savage returned fire, killing Gilkerson.

Police have no idea why Gilkerson opened fire.

“He got of the vehicle, intending to kill my officers. We don’t know why he did it,” said Middlefield Police Chief Arnold Stanko. “He was a scumbag, and a terrorist, and he’s dead.”

n the March 10 video, Gilkerson exits his car–which the officers pulled over for running a stop sign–and sprays the patrol car with rounds of gunfire, cracking the windshield.

Thomas, reportedly outside the patrol car on the driver’s side, is heard shouting as bullets begin flying at them. Stanko said Gilkerson was shot several times, but kept firing; he even shouted, “Kill me.” Savage returns fire through the windshield, after which the officers kill Gilkerson.

Thomas lost a finger in the shootout; Savage sustained minor injuries to his left thigh.

Here’s the dash-cam footage of the shootout (Warning: Graphic imagery):

Stanko said eight 40-round magazines were found inside Gilkerson’s car, as well as some disturbing reading material (e.g., Backyard Rocketry: Converting Model Rockets into Explosive Missiles andHomemade Detonators: How to Make Them).

Officials say the officers’ actions were justified and no grand jury proceedings will be necessary.

(h/t: D. F.)

Right-wing activists try to crash Jewish-Muslim wedding

Police on Thursday prevented a bus with some 50 right-wing activists from entering the wedding of a Jewish woman and a Muslim man.

The woman had converted to Islam before the wedding, which was held in the groom’s hometown of Araba in the Galilee.

Former MK Michael Ben Ari posted his sentiments about the marriage on Facebook hours before the incident. “I’m on my way to this ‘celebration,’ ” he wrote. ”What would Golda Meir think of it? In the Diaspora we had intermarriages, and here?”

Residents of the village confronted the bus and demanded that it not enter the village, Ynet reported. Police called to the scene redirected the activists away from the wedding.

Priests lead Orthodox anti-gays in violent Tbilisi clashes with rights activists, police (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Thousands Orthodox anti-gay activists broke through police cordon and pursued gay rights protesters in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, injuring at least 28 people in the process. The violent brawl marred the May 17 International Day Against Homophobia.

The first sanctioned anti-homophobic rally in Georgia organized by Identity NGO activists had to be moved to a public garden on Tbilisi’s Freedom Square after a 10,000-strong Orthodox crowd gathered at the initial rally spot on Friday.

But heavy police cordons failed to contain furious anti-gay activists led by priests, who rushed to the new gay parade location. Upon breaking into the public garden, the agitated crowd engaged in a violent pursuit, beating and throwing stones at all the people who were thought to be representing and advocating for the minorities.

At least 28 people were injured in clashes, and 14 of them hospitalized, Georgian Minister of Health David Sergeenko said. A journalist suffering blunt force trauma to the head and a passer-by who had his leg broken were among the injured.

The police and special task forces managed to evacuate the rally participants using minibuses, but several vehicles were attacked in the process. Counter-demonstrators blocked the way and smashed the windows of a yellow van, in which minorities were thought to be carried.

Georgian ombudsman Uchya Nanusahvili was also compelled to leave the scene guarded by a dozen police after trying to persuade the Orthodox believers not to obstruct the gay rally, according to Interfax. The angry crowd responded to the rights commissioner plea by shouting insults.

Local media said that acting US Ambassador to Georgia Bridget Brink was caught in the turmoil too. Brink arrived at the scene before the clashes started and left without public comments, but her car was taken for a retreating vehicle of a gay rights defender and pursued, Georgia-Online reported.

The thwarted parade had been allowed by the city authorities, despite the call by the head of Georgia’s Orthodox Church to ban the event. Georgian Patriarch Ilya II on Thursday said it would be “an insult” to Georgian tradition. He also called homosexuality an “anomaly and illness.”

“The people do not want propaganda from minorities,” Orthodox priest Father Ioanne told AFP, as he stood among the jubilant anti-gay crowd in the center of Tbilisi. “When these people want to demonstrate then it becomes a problem,” he said.

Other priests who led the rally told reporters they would not allow “rampant immorality” in Georgia.

Meanwhile, the Georgian parliament voiced its support for the minorities’ rights.

“The constitution assumes freedom of faith and views and no one has the right to go beyond the constitution and law,” Chairman of the Georgian Parliament David Usupashvili said at a Friday plenary session.

One of the parliamentary majority’s leaders, Georgy Gabashvili, has blamed the authorities, saying “the government has not taken sufficient measures to protect the rights of sexual minorities.” The parliamentary minority led by the Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili has also spoken in support of the gay parade, according to Interfax.

Orthodox Christian activists run during clashes with gay rights activists at an International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) rally in Tbilisi, May 17, 2013. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili (GEORGIA – Tags: CIVIL UNREST RELIGION SOCIETY POLITICS) – RTXZQ70

Dying woman denied abortion in El Salvador

San Salvador, El Salvador - Beatriz, a 22-year-old woman known to the world only by a single name, has a simple request.

“I want to live,” she says.

Her life hangs by a thread while the El Salvador’s Supreme Court decides whether her right to life should be protected, or whether the rights of her unborn foetus should prevail.

Beatriz is almost 23 weeks pregnant. She has lupus, an auto-immune disease which causes the body’s immune system to attack its own tissue. Her condition is deteriorating and her doctors say she is at “high risk of death” if the pregnancy continues.

Medics have recommended an abortion in order to save her life, but cannot proceed amid fear of prosecution.

El Salvador is one of three Latin American countries where abortion is illegal in all circumstances – punishable with up to 30 years in prison.

Yet in this case, the foetus is unviable. Several scans have revealed that it is anencephalic – missing a large part of the brain and skull. Almost all babies with anencephaly die before birth, or within a few hours or days after birth. It has no chance of surviving into infancy, experts say.

First pregnancy

Beatriz, from the east of this tiny Central American country, has a 14-month-old son who also suffers various health problems – caused by serious complications she suffered during pregnancy.

At that time, Beatriz suffered an exacerbation of her lupus, but also anaemia, pneumonia, and high blood pressure which led to severe pre-eclampsia. Her son was delivered early using an emergency caesarean section, and spent more than a month in hospital with digestive and respiratory problems.

“I want to live to protect and raise my son,” Beatriz said through her lawyers.

She is currently in hospital suffering from early-stage kidney failure, caused by her lupus. With every day that passes the risk to Beatriz’s life increases, her doctors say.

But the country’s powerful religious campaigners are adamant that there be no exceptions - that the life of the foetus must be protected from the moment of conception. Public opinion is divided.

‘Aggravated homicide’

Her medical team made an application to El Salvadorian legal authorities at the end of March, seeking permission to proceed with a therapeutic abortion in order to safeguard Beatriz’s health. They asked for a guarantee that they would not be prosecuted.

Under Article 133 of the country’s penal code, anyone who provides – or tries to access – abortion services can face lengthy prison sentences. Women and doctors can be charged with aggravated homicide.

The authorities have yet to respond to her doctors’ request.

The attorney general could use his powers to give the doctors and Beatriz protection from prosecution. He has so far refused to do so.

The country’s highest court was therefore presented with the case in mid-April. Lawyers acting for Beatriz asked the Supreme Court to guarantee legal protection for Beatriz and her doctors.

Several international bodies have also intervened.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights took the unprecedented step of ordering the El Salvadorian government to take “precautionary measures” and implement the treatment recommended by the Specialised National Maternity Hospital.

On April 29, the commission gave the government 72 hours to comply with the precautionary measures in order “to safeguard life, personal integrity and health”. It was an attempt by the commission to ensure the case was expedited by the Supreme Court.

Despite that ruling, no decision has yet been made.

“The delays are unconscionable,” Amnesty International’s Esther Major told Al Jazeera.

Last week the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court ordered a range of psychological and physical tests to be carried out on Beatriz by the Institute of Legal Medicine (ILM).

To the shock of campaigners, the ILM opinion contradicted all previous assessments and recommended Beatriz continue with the pregnancy – a “wait and see” approach.

“The opinion was completely biased,” said Sara Garcia from the Citizens’ Group for the Decriminalisation of Therapeutic, Ethical and Eugenic Abortion. ”Four of the doctors that participated had already expressed an opinion against Beatriz being allowed a therapeutic abortion.”

The ILM has publicly rejected accusations of bias, stating that its opinion was supported by various national medical organisations – including the Association of Bioethics, the Association of Rheumatology and the Association of Nephrology and Arterial Hypertension.

‘Political manoeuvring’

In what appears to be Beatriz’s last chance, her lawyers submitted an application to the Supreme Court on May 8, urging them to reject the ILM opinion on the grounds of “bias and flawed process”.

“This is the end, the legal possibilities have been exhausted,” said Victor Hugo, Beatriz’s lawyer.

The case has re-ignited national and international debates about access to abortion and a woman’s right to life.

Abortion was criminalised in El Salvador in 1997 by the then-governing Nationalist Republican Alliance party. Before then, abortion in cases such as Beatriz’s would have been permitted.

Marta Maria Blandon is the regional director of the international abortion rights organisation IPAS. “It was a political manoeuvre in an electoral context, trying to secure votes from conservative groups by showing unconditional support for the Catholic Church,” she told Al Jazeera.

“The reform to the penal code was done in secret without any public consultation.”

Since then, around 600 women have been criminally investigated. Almost 30 have been imprisoned for 30 years, many convicted of infanticide. Six women have subsequently been freed following campaigns by the Citizens’ Group for the Decriminalisation of Therapeutic, Ethical and Eugenic Abortion.

Activists, rights groups, academics and clinicians – including the United Nations representative in El Salvador and UN experts on the rights to health, torture, violence and discrimination against women – are among those urging authorities to grant Beatriz the right to a termination in order to save her life. Amnesty International has launched an online appeal for people to write to Luiz Martinez, the country’s attorney general.

They argue that the failure of the state to act amounts to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.

El Salvador’s Minister of Health, Maria Isabel Rodriguez, and her legal adviser have also written to the Supreme Court supporting the medical and constitutional basis of Beatriz’s case.

Rodriguez is the only government minister so far to speak out in support of Beatriz’s right to life – and has also criticised the IML medical opinion as flawed.

In contrast, the “Sí a la Vida” ["Yes to Life"] Foundation, an anti-abortion religious group, says feminist groups are exploiting and manipulating Beatriz in order to legalise abortion.

In a recent statement of support for anti-abortion groups, El Salvador’s Conference of Catholic Bishops said protecting the unborn child “does not constitute a violation” of Beatriz’s constitutional rights.

A global issue

Parallels are being drawn between this case and the death of Savita Halappanavar in Ireland in October 2012.

Halappanavar, an Indian dentist working in Ireland, was denied a potentially life-saving emergency abortion despite the fact she had suffered a miscarriage – because the foetus’ heart was still faintly beating.

In Ireland, the Catholic Church is vehemently opposing a new parliamentary bill to relax the strict laws and allow abortion to save a mother’s life.

Around 25 per cent of the world’s population live in countries which prohibit or punish women and health professionals for abortion.

World Health Organisation figures suggest almost 70,000 women die annually as a result of unsafe “illegal” abortions – accounting for 13 per cent of all maternal deaths.

Latin America hosts some of the world’s most restrictive abortion laws. In many countries, abortion is permitted only to save the woman’s life, but in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Chile, abortion is prohibited under all circumstances.

Yet the region also has some of the world’s highest rates of abortion, due to the significant unmet need for contraceptives which causes high rates of unplanned pregnancies, according to IPAS.

“We are horrified that government officials in El Salvador are standing by, watching Beatriz suffer pain and anguish, and maybe even die. It is utterly inexcusable of them to deny her life-saving treatment,” said Esther Major, Amnesty International’s El Salvadorian expert.

“Each official and judge who does not do what they can to save her, or prevent her suffering severe health damage, risks having blood on their hands. It is a human rights scandal, and one which has discrimination at its heart. Beatriz is poor, and needs treatment only women and girls need.”

Beatriz’s identity has been hidden amid enormous stigma and strong, divided opinions about her case. But on Sunday May 5, she recorded a plea to the country’s president.

“President Mauricio Funes Cartagena, help me please,” she said.

“This baby inside me cannot survive. I am ill. I want to live… I want to live for my son.”

PA: Settlers exhume graves, spray racist graffiti

NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers on Monday exhumed a number of graves and sprayed racist graffiti in the Sawiya village in Nablus, a Palestinian Authority official said.

Ghassan Daghlas, who heads the PA settlement activity file, said settlers from the Alia settlement were responsible for the damage.

He added that a plant nursery and two tractors, belonging to local Abdel Azziz Nasserallah, were also damaged in the attack.

The attack follows clashes on Saturday in the Burin village in Nablus, when dozens of settlers marched into the village.

One villager in Burin was slightly hurt in the hand by a stone and another passed out from tear gas fired by Israeli troops trying to separate the two groups, an AFP journalist said.

The military said that Israeli soldiers also fired rubber-coated bullets, lightly wounding a Palestinian who was given first aid on the spot.

An Israeli army spokeswoman told AFP that about 50 settlers and 20 Palestinians were involved in the confrontation.

The settlers came from Yizhar, a notorious settlement known for being home to Jewish extremists.

Yitzhar settlers also clashed with Palestinians in another neighboring village, Urif, but no injuries were reported, AFP reported at the time.

Tensions have been high in the northern West Bank following a stabbing attack which killed a settler from Yizhar on April 30.

Settlers started over 50 fires across the West Bank following the stabbing, and attacked a mosque and burned tires at junctions in Nablus.

Israeli forces rarely prosecute settlers for violence against Palestinians and their property, which is routine in the occupied West Bank.

Settler terrorists strike again in their daily assault against the indigenous Palestinian population.

Setters uproot 150 trees near Nablus

NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers on Tuesday uprooted over 150 trees belonging to Palestinians south of Nablus, a local official said.

Settler monitoring official Ghassan Daghlas told Ma’an that several settlers attacked Sbeih mountain area between Beita and Yatma villages and destroyed over 150 olive and fig trees.