Farewell to the chickens

An outbreak of Avian flu was discovered in a kibbutz near the city of Hadera, some 45 minutes north of Tel Aviv.
 
The head of veterinary services in the ministry of agriculture ordered immediate culling of some 43,000 chickens and is conducting tests at nearby hen houses to ensure that the outbreak has not spread beyond the Kibbutz.
 
In january 2008 , another outbreak of avian flu was discovered in Israel and contained, in March 2006 , the first outbreak of Avian flu was discovered in Israel south and tens of thousands of poultry were culled and the flu contained.
 
according to MOH , no casualties were reported of Avian flu in past outbreaks.

Israel’s Supreme court rules against Apartheid road

This was a good day in court, after more than 9 years Palestinians may get to use the 443 route – in five months time and providing the IDF adheres to the ruling.
 
Israel supreme court(Bagatz) accepted the plea of  25 Palestinian villages along route 443  to Jerusalem and ordered that they will be allowed to use it alongside Israelis.
 
Palestinians have been barred from using this major route since October 2000 due to what Israel called ‘security reasons’.
Route 443 links Jerusalem and the greater  Tel Aviv area, running partially through the West Bank.
 
Half of its length, the 14 kilometer stretch from the ‘Atarot checkpoint, north of Jerusalem, to the Maccabim checkpoint next to Maccabim-Reut, formerly was the main Palestinian traffic artery in the southern Ramallah District, passed through the centers of villages lying southwest of the city and served tens of thousands of Palestinians on their way between Ramallah and the villages.
 
The effect on  the villagers lives , according to Bagatz, was significant, and the IDF must find a solution to this situation in  5 months time. 

Using the 443 is crucial to the villagers. For many of them, this is the main roadway taking them to their farmland, which lies on both sides of the road, and is the primary access road to Ramallah, the commercial center on which the villagers rely for their livelihood, emergency services, social services, hospitals, and schools.
 

As a result of the prohibition, more than 100 small shops in villages along its route have closed, among them floor-tile establishments, flower shops, furniture stores, and restaurants further effecting the struggling livelihoods of the villagers

Immigration officers wreck African Church in Tel Aviv

Immigration Authority (OZ) officers wrecked an African church in Tel Aviv in search of illegal migrants.
 
Om Monday, 21 December, the OZ unit officers broke into the Church as part of a large scale detention and deportation operation that began in July 2009 as part  of the GOI agenda to deport illegal migrant workers.
 
Estimates presented by the MOI speak of some 300,000 illegal migrants who overstayed their work visas or arrived on tourist visas.
 
The African church, ran by pastor George, is a well known church for over the past 2 decades in the African migrants and asylum seeking community in Israel, yet the OZ team commander Eran Kehat told reporters it is ” an apartment and not a church” he also disputed claims of his unit wrecking the church. 
 
The church serves as  prayer and gathering center and also homes some of the homeless asylum seekers upon their arrival in Tel Aviv.
 
Moked (hotline for migrant workers) spokesperson , Romm Levkovitz, told reporters ” the churches have always been off limits, the immigration police( operated until June 2009 - than responsibilities were transferred to the immigration authority under the MOI and the Immigration police was dissembled) instructed its officers not to conduct arrests in churches(chapter 2 in the memo attached) hospitals, schools and humanitarian NGOs., this is an outrage, a blunt violation of former obligations. The OZ unit is  crossing the  red lines – threatening asylum seekers, arresting children and now operating on sacred grounds”
 
Sources in the church confirmed that major damage was done when the officers took apart  the ceiling of the church in search of hiding illegal migrants.

 6 foreign citizens were detained, the MOI response describes them as Ghana citizens and adds that the church is not formally recognized by the MOI.

GHG and the Holy land- are we dirty or what?

Israel is expected to double its GHG emissions by 2030- reports 

A report filed by McKinsey and Co. in November 2009 at the request of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and intended to prepare Israel for the 2009 UNFCCC Conference in Copenhagen reveals Israel GHG emissions are expected to double by the year 2030 from 71 MtCO2e in 2005 to 142 MtCO2e in 2030, a higher growth rate than growth is higher than other developed countries and is primarily due to Israel’s relatively high growth in population and GDP per capita.

In per capita terms, this represents growth in emissions from 10.2 tonnes per person in 2005 to ~14.3 tonnes per person in 2030.

For comparison, under a ‘business as usual’ scenario, 2030 emissions per capita would be 23 tCO2e in the U.S., 10.7 tCO2e in Western Europe, and 11.3 tCO2e in China.

The report states that Israel could reduce this expected rise in emission if a set of behavioral and technical measures are adopted.

Technical measures offered in the report include:

High penetration of solar PV (photo voltaic) power generation, Improved fuel efficiency of internal combustion engine vehicles, Increased energy efficiency in new buildings by improved planning and

insulation, Use of efficient lighting (LED, CFL – compact fluorescent) and lighting

control systems, Retrofit of residential buildings with improved insulation in order to improve

heating and cooling efficiency, Industry fuel transition – fuel oil to gas,Use of landfill gas for electricity generation, Increased penetration of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids (assuming low

carbon power fuel mix), Use of wind turbines for power generation.

 Behavioral changes offered include reduced use of lighting, increased

use of public transport, increased use of bicycles, increased average building

temperature, and reduced meat consumption a series of steps never implemented before in Israel.

McKinsey report is echoed in the state comptroller’s report published on 6 December. (in Hebrew only)

http://www.mevaker.gov.il/serve/showHtml.asp?bookid=557&id=157&frompage=5&contentid=10664&parentcid=10663&bctype=1&startpage=0&direction=1&sw=1280&hw=730&cn=ממצאי%20הדוח

The report slams various offices and authorities in the GOI, saying that despite the GOI decisions from 1996 and 2001, no actual plan has been approved by the GOI to reduce GHG emissions. The work of the inter-ministerial committee has ceased in 2004 before a feasible plan has been approved. The comptroller called the Ministry of Environmental Protection planning ” ineffective”. ” The fact that a decade the office has yet to formulate a plane shows that procedures and planning were  not effective”.

 The state comptroller labels the 21^st century ” the green century” and clearly states that Israel must examine ways of reducing GHG emissions  not only as a formal obligation but from the aspect of social and economic benefits.

Israel is signatory to the 1996 UN convention and the 2004 Kyoto convention.

 Israel has sent representatives to the 2009 UNFCCC Conference in Copenhagen.

Giving the finger- activists stop Biometric law

 Decision on the controversial  Biometric Law in Israel will be postponed for another two years -17 November 2009

The proposed  law empowers the Interior Ministry to set up a database that would include biometric identification information on every Israeli citizen.

All citizens would be required to submit fingerprints and a facial profile to authorized government agents; those who refuse to do so could face jail time.

The information would be stored in a special chip in ID cards, licenses, passports, and other identification documents, and citizens would be required to present the appropriate document when crossing borders, entering government buildings where identification is required, etc. In addition, the individual information would be saved in the Interior Ministry database.

According to the new  ’deal’  concocted by members of  PM Nethanyahu’s  team  the law will be re-examined for the next two years by various experts.

But during this time, the Interior Ministry will  ask Israeli citizens to volunteer and  submit face scans and fingerprints  to a pilot database……….

This last-minute compromise comes indeed  at the  very last-minute as the Knesset  was due to vote on the law on Monday. The Vote was held off and the new deal proposed, at the end of the trial  period the Knesset will examine the law based on the trial database.

The compromise was reached after nearly a year of civic struggle to stop the Biometric law, bloggers, video artists, lawyers and activists, as well as members of Knesset and database experts voiced concerns over this issue , the breach of the right to privacy of Israeli citizens and the prospects of the database being broken into. According to most, the consequences, security wise, to israeli citizens  would be unbearable.

 MK Michael Eitan even called it ‘ 10 times worth than Chernobil”

 

 

 

You just have to wonder……..

Israel transfers calves into Gaza for ‘humanitarian’ reasons?

Israel defense ministry accepted Agriculture minister Shalom Simchon request to transfer some 7500 calves into Gaza for the upcoming Eid.

Calves will be transferred in 4 stages.

Simchon referred to the transfer saying ” this is a humanitarian gesture but it will also stop smuggling of cattle into Gaza from Egypt which might be infected with diseases that will infect Israeli herds”.

 Beef is considered a luxury by Israel’s defense ministry( according to COGAT - coordinator of GOI activities in the territories ) and therefore is not allowed into Gaza on a regular basis as part of the sanctions Israel applies, but Israeli cattle farmers who will be the main beneficiaries from this transfer apply pressure on GOI to allow these transfers.

All 7500 calves were grown in Israel. 

Gisha – the legal center for freedom of movement filed a Petition Under the Freedom of Information Act claiming Lack of Public Oversight Raises Questions of Impropriety in Transfer of Goods to Gaza,The petition was filed after 6 months of attempts to obtain information relating to the entry of food and goods into Gaza .  Now you really have to wonder what are these elusive Humanitarian goods?

a quick reminder  by Amira Hass, things have changed since but there is no defined criteria. None that I or my colleagues can figure out.

COGAT response as to what are the humanitarian standards on which entry of goods is decided could not be obtained.

(The cow in the picture has nothing to do with GOI policy)

Promoting Human rights- Moked celebrates 10th anniversary

Asylum seekers demonstrate against deportation

It’s not everyday that the workers and volunteers of the Moked, hotline for migrant workers based in Tel Aviv can be found away from their offices, but Monday morning found nearly all of them at the Gay community center in Tel Aviv celebrating their 10th annual report and ten years of promoting human rights in Israel. A well deserved celebration.

If everyone who received help from the Moked in the past 10 years would have shown up, the Gardens around the center, several acres of  them. would have been packed by tens of thousands of people who received legal and physical assistance and  hundreds of campaigns and petitions.

It is hard to imagine one NGO that has touched the lives of so many of Israel’s less fortunate in the past decade.

As we sat through the press conference and presentation, over 100 journalists, volunteers, diplomats and migrant community leaders, I ran in my head the past 5 years I have been involved and following, sometimes covering, the Moked’s activities. Than later on as we sat outside, a colleague asked me what I considered to be Moked’s greatest achievement. I had many but perhaps the one I admire most is the significant ( not to say crucial) part they played in cutting down on human trafficking for prostitution into Israel.

In  early 2002, it was the Moked who alerted the USA state department to the ongoing trafficking of women into prostitution in Israel, Israel was placed on Tier 3 in the Department’s annual report on trafficked persons and warned of economic sanctions if 
immediate action was not taken to improve the horrid situation, Israel gave in. Police were suddenly doing the work, a shelter for trafficked women was opened and some traffickers were even arrested.

Darfuree refugees at' Yad Vashem' Holocaust memorial

 

In 2006 Israel was put on the US State Department’s Tier 2 watch list and has been described as a “prime destination for trafficking” by both the State Department and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). in 2008 an entire ring of traffickers was discovered and prosecuted.
Women are still being trafficked into Israel but it is nothing like the masses brought in the 1990′s  and abused like commodities, not human beings. I am grateful that the GOI has done its duty but I know it wold never have happened without the Moked.

The Moked has a long list of struggles and success, looking at the publications list  and pictures I can’t help but remember things I’ve tried to forget and  put aside.

It is  not easy to come to terms with the gaps between Israel as I, a white  Israeli woman, experience it and the hell that  many times falls in part of the migrant workers, trafficked persons, asylum seekers and refugees living  only meters away from the trendy coffee shop I now it in.

Moked received its share of harassment on behalf of the Israeli public and the GOI over the past years but slowly I can feel the winds of change blowing (in this beautiful weather in Tel Aviv) and I hope I’m not just being over optimistic.

Once the small party was over and Moked’s staff was done clearing the dishes( yes, they did that) they rushed back to their HQ to try and fight this new unbelievable proposal:

An infiltration law passed first draft at the Knesset is up for approval in the next weeks despite efforts by NGOs to stop it, if approved, the law will regard any infiltrator as a criminal regardless of his background, will allow a sentence of up to 7 years on any asylum seeker who is a resident of an enemy country(Sudan,Somalia, Iraq) and incriminate assisting NGOs and volunteers.

 All in a day, or decade’s, work.

 

Israeli farmers want ‘slave labor’-where does salad comes from?

While Israeli farmers are demonstrating today against GOI decision to cut down their permits for foreign Thai workers, Ma’an, an Israeli NGO assisting local workers slams the farmers saying ” they (the farmers) want slaves, while thousands of Israeli arab women and men are eager to work(in agriculture), but the farmers want to reap the profits of cheap labor along with the manpower companies”

The story follows last week’s report by another NGO, Kav LaOved , describing the harsh treatment of foreign migrant workers in Israel, I named it ‘ where does your salad comes from?’

  Do you know where your salad comes from? Some shoppers in the EU might be surprised to find that their vegetables and flowers are imported from Israel and even more surprised to learn how these are produced there.

 According to a report published on 28 October by Kav LaOved , an Israeli NGO protecting the rights of disadvantaged workers employed in Israel and by Israelis in the Occupied Territories and destined for members of the Israeli Knesset – Migrant workers employed in agriculture are the most exploited segment of workers in Israel, 90% of the workers are employed more hours than the law allows without being paid for overtime. 

The report, summarizing hundreds of complaints by agriculture workers and dozens of inspections by Kav LaOved volunteers at work sites around the country, exposes a very grim picture of systematic exploitation and severe violations of the rights of workers in the agricultural sector, along with complete inaction by the state authorities.

Hanna Zohar, Kav LaOved director, said ” the workers, mostly Thai, are completely unaware of their rights , having paid amounts of 8-10,000 dollars to work in Israel, they are prime material for abuse by the farmers, as they are afraid to lose their jobs and not be able to pay off the loans taken to cover these payments to the middlemen”

The report is going to Members of Knesset precisely at a time when the farmers are fighting for additional permits to receive more migrant workers, in the interest of showing the decision-makers a full picture of the situation.

Farmers have been demonstrating for more permits in past weeks and some have clashed violently with police during these demonstrations.

 Some 30,000 migrant workers are presently employed in agriculture, mostly from Thailand , Nepal, Sri Lanka and some from the Palestinian Authority.

 The Thai workers come from rural areas after paying middlemen in Thailand and Israel fees running from $8000-10,000. Most work in remote and isolated locations in Israel, without any knowledge of their legal rights.

 Over 90% of the workers who were in contact with the organization are employed more hours than the law allows, which is a criminal offense by the employers.

 The report adds that it is common practice in many places the agriculture industry to take vacation days away from workers without financial compensation, and there are employers (including kibbutzim) who give their workers only one day of rest a month.

Employers withholding passports, an act that was strongly condemned by the legal authorities, is still commonplace in this industry.

 Harsh living conditions and demeaning treatment are routine sights in the organization’s inspections of the workers. Another shocking finding revealed by the report is that since the beginning of 2009, 10% of the agriculture workers have been injured(2950 workers).

New Library for migrant workers opens in TA

In the midst of the GOI deportation campaign,  A new library for migrant workers, asylum seekers and their children opened in Tel Aviv Levinsky garden, some 3000 books in 16 languages including Amharic, Nepalese and Arabic are available for the migrant community. The library was built and is operated by NGOs and volunteers.

But  while projects to help migrant workers are becoming more frequent , Israel’s interior minister is adamant ”we will not grant legal status to migrant workers children”

Eli Yishai, Israel’s Interior Minister told reporters on 15 October he will not grant legal status to some 1200 children of migrant workers who were not included in former GOI schemes that granted status to over 600 children of migrant workers in former years.

This is despite a clause in most migrant workers contracts forbidding them from having children in Israel and stating that pregnant women must leave the country, a clause many NGOs call in human and Draconian.

Despite these strict regulations , nearly 2,000 children were born in the past decade in Israel.

In 2006 Israel granted legal residency status to over 600 children of migrant workers born in Israel out of some 860 requests filed.

Some 250 families were not granted this status as they failed to meet the required standards set by the GOI, now these 250 families face deportation along with hundreds of children born in the past 3 years in Israel in the GOI attempt to deport some 300,000 illegal migrant workers and visa violators in an extensive operation involving a new immigration unit, OZ.

Criticism from Mks and other community and religious leaders in Israel forced PM Benjamin Netanyahu to postpone deportation of families of migrant foreign workers with children.

Deportation of families was due to begin on 1 August 2009 but was re-examined for a further 3 months.

On October 12^th, the migrant workers forum in the Knesset decided to commence deportation of children by the end of the 2009-2010 school year.

Despite A massive campaign against deportation of families and children led by several NGOs and aid organizations , including the Moked(hotline for migrant workers) and Israeli children- a volunteer group aimed at resisting these deportations, Minister Yishai told reporters these children will leave the country

” their parents are using them to gain legal status in Israel, they instruct their children what to say( to the press) if we do not deport them , migrant workers will continue to exploit the kindness of the state of Israel and ‘launder’ their work permits”(gain legal status again thru the children)

Karen Tal, manager of the Bialik -Rogozin public school in southern Tel Aviv told reporters some 302 of the children in the school(out of 784) are up for deportation if Yishai does not change his mind. Tal expressed the hardships and the insecurity of the children in the past months since June, when the intention to deport children was revealed.

Sources in the immigration authority and OZ unit said they have no intention of operating within the school despite the relative ease of detaining children and parents there.

Nearly all of the children were born in Israel, NGOs and volunteers claim that deportation of those who are in fact Israeli children who were either born in the country or spent most of their lives in it and who know no other culture or language is cruel and questions the values of humanity of the state of Israel.

Israel denies links to ‘blood diamonds’

Israel denies trading in ‘blood diamonds’ , objects to being included in UN report

The report. filed on 27 October by a UN investigative team names Israel as one of the countries still involved in dealing in conflict or ‘blood diamonds’ with the Ivory Coast, alongside Guinea, Lebanon, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates and advises Israel it must step up its efforts to stop this illegal trade.

The report deals with the UN arms embargo being violated by the Government and rebels in the Ivory Coast and reveals the ban on diamond exports from the country is being violated by some countries.

 Israel Diamond Controller Shmuel Mordechai told press in response to the report : “We categorically deny recent reports according to which Israel deals in conflict diamonds. Israel has never dealt in diamond trade with the Ivory Coast.”

Mordechai added that Israel’s diamond industry strictly abides by the Kimberley process( a joint governments, industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds – rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments).

”The Team visited Israel twice in the past 2 years, we complied with their investigation and provided prove beyond doubt that no diamonds enter Israel without the Kimberley process certificates, not form the Ivory Coast or any other country that is not a member of this process, We are shocked by these false accusations and completely refute them. Israel has been a member of the Kimberley Process, which was established to eradicate illegal trade in rough diamonds, since the day of its inception. We enforce a strict supervisory and enforcement system as is fitting for a world leader of the diamond trade.”

Israel diamond industry is considered to be one of the world’s top refining industries, and an international trade center, with rough diamonds being imported from several countries, the trade has been going strong in Israel since the early 1940′s with periods of great success and times of recession.

Today there are several establishments in the trade, including the diamond Bursa and the Institute of Technology.

According to the diamond Bursa data, Israel exports some 10 Billion Dollars of diamonds a year and imports 5 billion dollar worth of rough diamonds each year, some 40% of the entire rough diamonds quantity produced yearly world wide. 

 Israel will lodge an official complaint against its inclusion in a list of countries that allegedly deal in conflict diamonds at the international Kimberley Process plenum on November 2