OECD votes to admit Israel, "J News" trying to block it


By Jonathan Hoffman
May 10, 2010
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http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-gets-accepted-into-...

Today the 31 members of the OECD reportedly unanimously voted in favor of accepting Israel as a member.

And who is trying to block it?

http://richardmillett.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/whiskey-dips-and-human-ri...

Miri Weingarten of J-News, the IJV/J-Street close relation that was set up in London in March.

Here is the email she sent round today:

Hi all,

You will have already seen that Haaretz has reported a unanimous vote for
Israeli accession to the OECD this morning.

FYI, the Palestinians hope to achieve a small technical delay based on a *legal
argument* (below) by getting the legal advisors of one of the MFAs of a
member country to request a legal opinion on this issue from the OECD legal
department, and asking that the accession process (due to be finalised May
27) be suspended until this legal question is answered.

The bottom line of this argument is that the OECD would itself be breaching
the 4th Geneva convention if it admits Israel under current conditions (i.e
with settlement data, but without data on Palestinians in the OPT). By
including settlement data it has actually forced itself to apply the rules
of occupation (Geneva 4) to Israel, which include responsibility of the
Occupying Power for the welfare of the occupied population. The only way
that accession would be legal is a) if settlement/OPT data is totally
excluded [total disaggregation] or b) if data from both settlements and OPT
Palestinians is included.

A brief based on this argument has been sent to all Ministries of foreign
affairs of member countries.

The legal argument will now be important for press purposes. Please feel
free to send it around as another point of messaging to your lists.

(There follows the legal argument)

*best
Miri

--
Miri Weingarten, Director
JNews
60 Farringdon Road
London EC1R 3GA
Tel. xxxx

This surely puts the lie to any claim that J-News - or its close relations J-Street or IJV - have Israel's best interests in mind.

COMMENTS

Yvetta

10 May, 2010 - 11:25

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I'm worried about J Street's ability to pull the wool over the eyes of people who should know better - trawling Facebook recently, I noticed a suggestion by someone with some influence to establish a version of J Street in Australia.

Jonathan Hoffman

10 May, 2010 - 12:09

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Look who is a Patron of J-News ...

Danny Rich.....

http://www.thejc.com/blogpost/liberal-judaism-hosts-antisemitic-speaker

Jonathan Hoffman

10 May, 2010 - 13:48

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I don't remember Miri Weingarten or the others in J-News trying to block Turkey's accession to the OECD on human rights grounds. Only Israel. To single out Israel is antisemitic, see EUMC Definition.

J-News Roll of Shame:

Patrons:
Prof Zygmunt Bauman
Sir Geoffrey Bindman
Prof Emeritus Leslie Baruch Brent
Prof Stan Cohen
Moris Farhi MBE
June Jacobs CBE
Prof Mary Kaldor
Helena Kennedy QC
Prof Francesca Klug OBE
Ursula Owen OBE
Rabbi Danny Rich
Prof Avi Shlaim
Marina Warner
Rabbi Alexandra Wright
Prof Emeritus John S Yudkin FRCP

Trustees:
Lady Ellen Dahrendorf
Richard Kuper
Antony Lerman
Maurice Naftalin
Prof Lynne Segal

Yvetta

10 May, 2010 - 15:18

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"May contain nuts"?

tomeisner2

10 May, 2010 - 20:30

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Tales of Hoffman please tell me which Israel will be part of the OECD. Israel up to the green line with West Jerusalem, Israel and besieged Gaza, or Israel and the Palestine territories including the 500,000 settlers. Or do we include the Palestinians who just happen to live there. Slightly inconvenient. Not really so straightforward is it?

Jonathan Hoffman

10 May, 2010 - 21:50

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Israel will be in the OECD. Israel which gave back Gaza in 2005 to be rewarded with a missile bombardment. Israel which offered all the land back at Khartoum in 1967. Israel which will return most of Judea and Samaria when there is an assurance of peace - as per UN Resolution 242.

It is extremely straightforward in fact.

The Germany that joined the OECD originally was West Germany. Then with unification east Germany joined too. A country's borders can change - but so what, it is the country that joins the OECD and not a fixed delineated geographic area.

Inconvenient for the Israel bashers, I appreciate. If Arafat had accepted the deal he was offered maybe Palestine would be in the OECD by now, too

Akiva

11 May, 2010 - 07:40

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Let's see, special singling out of the Jewish nation for criticism not leveled to any other nation in existance. There's a word for that. Oh what was it...?

Anti-semitism?

Ketzele

11 May, 2010 - 12:19

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J-News Roll of Shame

With Ersatz Jews like that, who masquerade as friends - who needs enemies?

Abtalyon

11 May, 2010 - 14:37

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Jonathan Hoffman;

There is no connection between the pro-Israel, pro-Zionist JStreet and the anti-Israel, anti-Zionist JNews/IJV.

If you have any intellectual honesty, you will post a retraction here.

Jonathan Hoffman

11 May, 2010 - 15:39

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http://blog.camera.org/archives/2009/08/more_embarassing_news_for_j_st.h...

J-Street? Pro-Israel? Pro-Zionist?

http://blog.camera.org/archives/2009/08/more_embarassing_news_for_j_st.h...

"The J Street political action committee has received tens of thousands of dollars in donations from dozens of Arab and Muslim Americans, as well as from several individuals connected to organizations doing Palestinian and Iranian issues advocacy, according to Federal Election Commission filings."

Why did Michael Oren not go to its Conference?

Sorry but just who is the one lacking intellectual honesty here?

Abtalyon

11 May, 2010 - 20:44

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Jonathan Hoffman;
In your piece above you wrote:
"This surely puts the lie to any claim that J-News - or its close relations J-Street or IJV - have Israel's best interests in mind."

Now, you are avoiding having to admit that JStreet has no such linkage, nor did that organization play any role whatsoever in or agree with JNews' pathetic attempt to influence the OECD acceptance of Israel.

Instead you present the "news"- old hat really, of some funding of JStreet by Arab-Americans as if a few thousand dollars in donations determines the political character and personality of the organization. JStreet's budget is considerably greater than that and comes, as would be expected, from many wealthy American Jews.

http://jstreet.org/page/j-street-myths-and-facts

Ambassador Michael Oren erred badly in failing to welcome JStreet as a partner in the difficult job of improving and maintaining a good US-Israel relationship. He seems to have realized how unproductive that was and he met with JStreet Executive Director Ben-Ami last month.

http://www.jstreet.org/blog/?p=996

Abtalyon

11 May, 2010 - 22:57

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Jonathan Hoffman;

Postscript;

"I don't remember Miri Weingarten or the others in J-News trying to block Turkey's accession to the OECD on human rights grounds....."

Of course, you don't. Turkey was a founder member of the OECD in 1961.

Jonathan Hoffman

13 May, 2010 - 14:33

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So what? The point is that they single out Israel. Which is antisemitic.

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