Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 07/12 Aktuelles aus israelischen Tageszeitungen 16. April – 30. April 2012 1. Israels Vorgehen gegen pro­palästinensische Protestler Mitglieder pro-palästinensischer Gruppen, die in der Westbank gegen die Besatzung durch Israel protes­tieren wollten, hat die israelische Regierung bereits im Voraus die Einreise verweigert. Viele Fluggesell­schaften stornierten auf diese Ankündigung hin die Flugtickets der TeilnehmerInnen der sogenannten „Flytilla“, einer breit organisierten Protest-Aktion. Die Protestierenden, die es dennoch bis Israel schafften, wurden am Flughafen abgefangen. Das strikte Vor­gehen der israelischen Behörden gegen die friedli­che Protestaktion brachte der Regierung Kritik ein. Bei einer pro-palästinensischen Demonstration nahe Jericho ereignete sich ein ebenfalls heftig diskutier­ter Zwischenfall: Shaul Eisner, Oberstleutnant der israelischen Armee(IDF), schlug einem dänischen Aktivisten bewusst mit dem Gewehrkolben ins Ge­sicht. Die Attacke wurde gefilmt, das Video veröf­fentlicht. Eisner wurde daraufhin vom Dienst sus­pendiert. Losing the media game „After all, this is mostly a media game, and the real question is who would be directing the scene that ultimately makes it to the evening news shows and YouTube? The handful of militant activists who would stir a provocation at Ben-Gurion Airport, or Israel, which would aim to prevent them from even making it to the airport?(...) Allow the arrival of activ­ists, accompany them within Ben-Gurion Airport, ensure that they enter Israel by law, and then bring them to Bethlehem. Indeed, that would have been a headache. Yet we should keep in mind that most activists are generally good people. We should also keep in mind that even among the Israeli public there’s consensus that the occupation should have ended by now – the same occupation the activists wanted to protest against. Prime Minister Netanyahu himself said that he endorses“two states for two peoples.” JED, Yakir Elkariv, 15.4.2012 Flight of fancy „The coordinated arrival at Ben-Gurion Airport of hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists(...) was de­signed to create a provocation.(...) But there also appears to be increasing understanding in the inter­national community that many self-proclaimed pro­Palestinian activists are not so much motivated by the desire to improve the lot of the Palestinian peo­ple as they are to do everything in their power to delegitimize the State of Israel.(...) it would have been downright irresponsible not to take extensive precautionary measures to prevent the likes of(...) hundreds(...)“activists” from staging an unauthor­ized demonstration in Ben Gurion Airport that could have easily deteriorated into violent clashes.“ JPO, Editorial, 15.4.2012 Fight or Flightilla „It is time to wake up. Israel is in the midst of a new kind of war, in which delegitimization has replaced bullets, and provocations have replaced tanks and jets.(...) One day a government appointed investiga­tive committee will conclude that Israel's isolation in the international arena is the work of Israeli leftists. And what now? What should Israel do with these lawbreakers? Here, too, the answer is obvious: pre­vent, arrest, forbid, deport. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was wise to prepare for the flightilla to the extent that he did. We must prevent these peo­ple from setting foot in Israel, we must arrest them if they do arrive, detain every criminal anarchist who tries to act against Israel and permanently expel them. Enough naivete. Enough excuses. Israel must protect itself from every threat, in every arena, by any means. Israel does not have to justify its exist­ence. The"Israeli case," as one of those naive souls tried to present it, is well documented in the annals 1