Israel Labeled as Third Most Violent & Dangerous Place to Live In

Only Sudan and Iraq were described as worse in the annual survey, which listed 121 countries according to how peaceful each country is, based on levels of violence and organised crime within the country, as well as levels of military expenditure.

A report by the Economist Intelligence Unit has labeled Israel as the third most violent and dangerous place in the world to live.

Israel ranked at number 119 amongst the most peaceful and tranquil countries out of 121 included in the report, as a result of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and the high expenses on military. Scandinavian countries fared well as the most peaceful places in the world, with both Norway (1) and Denmark (3) in the top three.

The report highlights that the US invasion of Iraq, and the high level of criminal acts conducted with firearms caused Iraq to be the rated as the most dangerous place. Jordan came 63rd in terms of tranquility, Egypt 73rd, Syria 77th and Lebanon 114th of the 121 countries surveyed.

The United States of America was rated 96th, sandwiched between Yemen and Iran, due to huge domestic gun crime, homicide rates, prison population as percentage of citizenry and military spending which is greater than most of the rest of the world combined. The United Kingdom was ranked 49th, primarily due to its involvement in the war on Iraq.

The Economist Intelligence Unit explained that they used 24 points for the evaluation and measurement in their classification, which included street violence, violence in prisons, organized crime, military expenditure and number of law enforcement officers. The level of tranquility also took into account average income and the level of education, "in addition to the ability to assimilate in the area".

Majority of Israeli Jews in Favor of Apartheid

Opinion poll: A majority of Israeli Jews are in favour of the Apartheid

According to a survey conducted for the Center for the Campaign Against Racism and published on March 20th, 2007:

Culture: 37 % of the Israeli Jews polled think that the Arabic culture is inferior to the Jewish one.
Arabophobia: Each time overhearing someone speaking Arabic, 50 % of Israeli Jews feel fear and 31 % feel hatred.
Security: 56 % of the Israeli Jews think that Israeli Arabs pose a security problem to the State of Israel.
Segregation: 55 % of the Israeli Jews wish that the Jews and Arabs are kept apart in the places of leisure.
Citizenship: 40 % of the Israeli Jews think that Israeli Arabs should be deprived of their right to vote.

Study Shows - "Israel" is at the bottom in each area

.The Israeli Brand by considerable margin the most negative ever measured

A survey published in the US in five months ago ( late November 2006) says that "Israel" suffer from the worst public image among all countries of the world.

The Index surveyed 25,903 online consumers across 35 countries about their perceptions of those countries across six areas of national competence: Investment and Immigration, Exports, Culture and Heritage, People, Governance and Tourism. The NBI is the first analytical ranking of the world's nation brands.

"Israel's brand is by a considerable margin the most negative we have ever measured in the NBI, and comes at the bottom of the ranking on almost every question," states report the author of the survey Simon Anholt.

Anholt draw the conclusion that the politics of a nation is affecting every single aspect of a person's perception about a country.

In the light of the recent announcement the Israeli Foreign Ministry has taken upon itself to "re-brand Israel", Anholt comments that to succeed in permanently changing the image - a country with so negative to image must be prepared to change its behavior.Anhold believes that a reputation cannot be constructed: it has to be earned.

"If Israel's intention is to promote itself as a desirable place to live and invest in, the challenge appears to be a steep one," Anholt concluded.

The survey also indicated that "Israel" is at the bottom in each area by a long margin, including the fact that of the 36 countries ranked, there is nowhere that respondents would like to visit less than "Israel" - the survey also indicates that Israel’s people were also voted the most unwelcoming in the world.

Another unpleasant surprise - the index indicated that the Americans has ranked Israel just slightly above China in terms of its conduct in the areas of international peace and security.

The 35 countries polled for the study were: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, and the USA.

The study, called the National Brands Index was conducted by the government advisor Simon Anholt and powered by global market intelligence solutions provider GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.)

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God Bless Palestine
Palestine will live - Palestine will be free

© Hiyam Noir

World Split in Torture " Etics " - Israelis Top 43 % Endorse Torture

Poll4Palestine Mars 8 2007 - 10.23 am

Torture Of Prisoners

Muslims in Israel, who represent 16% of the total number polled, are overwhelmingly against any use of torture.

All of the countries surveyed have signed up to the Geneva Conventions which prohibit the use of torture and cruel and degrading behaviour.

"We are judged by how we treat our enemies rather than how we treat our friends"Jay Kandy, London

Countries that face political violence are more likely to accept the idea that some degree of torture is permissible because of the here>extreme threat posed by terrorists.

The Israelis has the largest percentage of those polled endorsing the use of a degree of torture on prisoners, with 43% saying they agreed that torture should be allowed.

The question

Most countries have agreed to rules prohibiting torturing prisoners. Which position is closer to yours?

**Here>Terrorists pose such an extreme threat that governments should now be allowed to use some degree of torture if it may gain information that saves innocent lives
Clear rules against torture should be maintained because any use of torture is immoral and will weaken international human rights

World split on torture ethics

Other countries that polled higher levels of acceptance of the use of torture include Iraq (42%), the Philippines (40%), Indonesia (40%), Russia (37%) and China (37%).

The Israeli figure conceals a stark difference in attitude within the country, split along religious lines.

A majority of Jewish respondents in Israel, 53%, favour allowing governments to use some degree of torture to obtain information from those in custody, while 39% want clear rules against it.

Meanwhile opposition to the practise is highest in Italy, where 81% of those questioned think torture is never justified.

Australia, France, Canada, the UK and Germany also registered high levels of opposition to any use of torture.

Views on torturing prisoners

Country Against all torture * Some degree permissible * Neither/Don't Know
Australia 75% 22% 3%
Brazil 61% 32% 8%
Canada 74% 22% 4%
Chile 62% 22% 16%
China 49% 37% 13%
Egypt 65% 25% 9%
France 75% 19% 6%
Germany 71% 21% 7%
Gt Britain 72% 24% 4%
India 23% 32% 45%
Indonesia 51% 40% 8%
Iraq 55% 42% 1%
Israel 48% 43% 9%
Italy 81% 14% 6%
Kenya 53% 38% 9%
Mexico 50% 24% 27%
Nigeria 49% 39% 12%
Philippines 56% 40% 5%
Poland 62% 27% 12%
Russia 43% 37% 19%
S Korea 66% 31% 3%
Spain 65% 16% 19%
Turkey 62% 24% 14%
Ukraine 54% 29% 18%
US 58% 36% 7%
Average 59% 29% 12%

*27,000 respondents in 25 countries were asked which position was closer to their own views:

* Clear rules against torture should be maintained because any use of torture is immoral and will weaken international human rights standards against torture.

* Terrorists pose such an extreme threat that governments should now be allowed to use some degree of torture if it may gain information that saves innocent lives.

The survey was carried out for the BBC World Service by polling firm Globescan and the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA).

All of the countries surveyed have signed up to the Geneva Conventions which prohibit the use of torture and cruel and degrading behaviour.

Source: BBC/Globescan/PIPA

Israel’s Attorney General receives 40 torture complaints in past year, investigates none

Twenty-four hours before the abduction of Corporal Gilad Shalit, Israel Defense Forces soldiers broke into the home of Mustafa Abu Ma'amar in Rafah. Special Israeli terror unites arrested Mustafa and his brother in their respective homes.Abu Ma'amar two weeks later told an attorney for the Public Committee Against Torture: "One or two days later (I discovered afterward that it was the same morning that the Israeli colonel Shalit had been kidnapped), three interrogators came to where I was held at 6 A.M. [approx. one hour after the abduction - N.H.].( Hitting and kicking and trottle the victim) They didn't ask me anything, just started kicking and hitting me while an interrogator named Moti grabbed me by the neck and throttled me until I thought I was going to die. The other two grabbed me and forcibly removed me."

The interrogators later used the "exercise technique," as Abu Ma'amar calls it. "They forced me to hold my legs to the chair legs, with the back of the chair to my right and nothing supporting my back. They pushed my back backwards and told me to 'exercise.' It made my stomach muscles cramp up and caused unbearable pain," Abu Ma'amar explained.

The interrogators asked about the tunnels that he had helped dig:"while cursing me and my mother and father an threatening to demolish my house if I didn't cooperate. They also told me they had arrested my brother and were torturing him."

The Shin Bet who interrogated them told him to stand on his toes and then "bend my legs and bring the lower part of my body downward .... It's very difficult and painful. They forced me to stand like that for hours on end, and each time I brought my foot to the floor or moved up or down I got hit," Abu Ma'amar wrote in his statement.

Abu Ma'amar's statement is one of many complaints of torture made by Palestinian detainees against Shin Bet agents. The PCAT claims the security agency's techniques are creeping back toward those used before 1999, when the High Court of Justice banned torture.

In Abu Ma'amar's case, the Shin Bet might be able to claim that he was a clear case of a "ticking bomb," since according to his indictment he had a (very small) part in planning the abduction, and his interrogation might have helpful for locating Shalit. Abu Ma'amar claims his torture began before the abduction and continued after it was obvious he had no information about Shalit's location.
According to attorney Leah Tsemel, whose clients include Abu Ma'amar, Shin Bet agents use torture in about 20 percent of their cases. In the remainder, more sophisticated interrogation techniques are employed, involving use of stool pigeons, rewards and threats.
In the past year alone, about 40 allegations of serious torture of Palestinians have been submitted to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz. The Executive Director of PCAT, Hannah Friedman, stresses that the organization thoroughly examines the credibility of each complaint, often interviewing the detainees three times. However Mazuz has not deemed any of the complaints as warranting a criminal investigation against the interrogators.

Each complaint is handled the same way. It is passed on to a Shin Bet employee who works in concert with the State Prosecutor's Office, and who eventually issues a letter stating that he met with both the detainee and the interrogators. After that, one of two possible responses to the complaint are issued.

The first is that the complaint was shown to be unsubstantiated. The second does not deny the facts of the case but justifies the actions with a standard formula: "An examination showed that Mr. ... was detained for questioning due to a serious suspicion, based on credible information, that he was ostensibly involved in or was an accessory to carrying out major terror activities that were liable to have been carried out in a very short time frame and which could have hurt or threatened human life." In plain English, a "ticking bomb."

PCAT officials say the Shin Bet should emulate the police and make the Justice Ministry's Police Investigations Department (PID) responsible for investigating its conduct, and are considering a High Court petition on the matter.

The Shin Bet confirmed that no criminal investigation has been launched against one of its agents for 18 months, but officials say that the complaints have resulted in disciplinary action against a number of agents.

Among the interrogation techniques described by recent detainees are being forced to maintain painful, cramped positions for long periods of time, positions whose regular use prior to 1999 earned them nicknames such as the "banana," "half-banana" and "frog." Detainees also complained about the use of painful wrist restraints, sleep deprivation and severe shaking as well as of being slapped and punched.

In one extreme case, a detainee claimed that an interrogator known to him as Captain Daniel Ba- ron used various objects to rape him anally while the detainee was in restraints.

The Shin Bet issued the following response, in part: "It is regrettable that the Public Committee Against Torture misses no opportunity to attack the Shin Bet's investigators, who work day and night to prevent terror and save lives, using claims that in most cases are baseless. Every complaint related to terror investigations is examined and checked thoroughly under the supervision of the State Prosecutor. In more than a few cases, the complaints submitted via the committee were not confirmed by those in whose names they were ostensibly submitted."

The attorney general's office responded as follows: "All complaints are examined very thoroughly by the [Shin Bet complaint handler] before being submitted, with no exceptions, to a thorough examination on the part of the senior prosecutor who is in charge of that handler. Some of the complaints are found to be baseless and others refer to events covered by the necessity defense. In certain cases, the examination leads to a change in procedures. In a few cases, when it is determined that a violation of procedures has taken place, a decision is taken to initiate a disciplinary or criminal procedure."

Haaretz November 8 2006

Israelis Anxious to Strike Iran - Actually Enjoy War

Hiyam Noir Poll4Palestine February 26 2007

The Israeli Warmongers Wage a New War

The Israeli Mossad presume that Iran through its nuclear enrichment program, are in late state of development of a nuclear warheads by 2009.
However Iran insist that their nuclear development program is solely for the purpose of peaceful nuclear technology, rather than the development of weapons.

The Israeli information gathering intelligence - Mossad said that the Israelis should make an attempt to an a unilateral strike on Iran's nuclear bases.The preparations are under way and the planning came in response to Mossad's, assessment.The Israelis are in negotiations with the United States to create an "air war corridor", over the occupied Iraq - the Israelis must fly over Iraq to be able to attack in unilateral strikes on the Iranian nuclear bases.

	Should the Israelis if responsible for a possible war on Iran have to pay for it with warmonger tax
	Should assets of newsmedia and politicians who pushed for war be confiscated sold the $ to victims

POLL 4 Palestine - Implementation of Democracy Without Interference ?

Is implementation of principals of democracy without interference essential on the Occupied Palestine Territories ?
	A free nation would tolerate competing organizations to be recognized as official agency of foreign policy
	Who need to be persuaded to grant recognition to a free nation,the fools rather then the people
	Paramount objective of foreign policy of a free nation must ensure that the nation remains free

75% of Palestinians do not think that [in principle] Israel has the right to exist !

Zionist and Stern-gang terrorist leader Ariel Sharon
the "Butcher" & "Bulldozer" on "his' farmland
stolen "confiscated" from a Palestinian landowner

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Poll4Palestine February 25 2007

22% Have (Most) Trust in Ismael Hanyieh
While 19% (Most) Trust in Mahmoud Abbas.

Near Eastern Consulting's Ram'allah Palestine
Bulletin # II-2 - Main Findings, February 2007

75% of Palestinians do not think that [in principle] Israel has the right to exist, 70% support One State
In the period 12-15 February, 2007, Near East Consulting (NEC) conducted a phone survey of over 1200 randomly selected Palestinians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem of which 806 were successfully completed. It is worth noting that the margin of error is +/- 3.4% with a 95% confidence level.

# 51% of Palestinians feel less secure since the January 2006 elections, as compared to 48% last month, and 44% in December 2006

# The majority of Palestinians (85%) of the Palestinians continue to be either extremely concerned (55%) or somewhat concerned (30%) about the current situation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This constitutes a decrease of 6% since NEC's January 2007 survey

# 19% are concerned because of the economic hardship that their household is facing (+1% since January), 31% are concerned because of the general absence of security for their families (+5% since January), while 29% remain concerned because of the internal power struggle (-13% since January)

# Despite the recent Mecca agreement, 75% continue to feel insecure with respect to themselves, their family, and their property (+1% since NEC's January 2007 survey)

# 82% of the Palestinians believe that the Executive Force should be integrated within the other security forces (+3% since January)

# While in NEC's January 2007 survey, 43% of Palestinians believed that a civil war was likely, since the Mecca agreement 77% think that this likelihood has decreased, 8% believe that the likelihood of a civil war since the Mecca agreement has increased, and 15% feel that it remained the same.

The Mecca agreement and the future developments

# The overwhelming majority of Palestinians (94%) support the Mecca agreement.

# 79% believe that the Mecca agreement will hold. Equally, 79% believe that the envisaged Unity government in the Mecca agreement will succeed.

# 63% believe that the embargo against the PA will be lifted as a result of the Mecca agreement.

# 20% believe that Fateh most benefited from the Mecca agreement, 19% feel that Hamas most benefited from the Mecca agreement, while 38% believe that both benefited equally. Although originally not an option to answer in the survey, 23% of the respondents insisted that the Palestinian people most benefited from the Mecca agreement.

# Despite the optimism surrounding the potential of the Mecca agreement, an exact equal percentage of Palestinians as last month (76%) believe that the crisis between Fateh and Hamas will end. In other words, the Mecca agreement did not further influence Palestinian perceptions on this issue.

Factions and leaders

# Between trust in Abu Mazen and trust in Ismael Hanieh, 51% most trust the former, while 49% most trust the latter. However, when - more generally - Palestinians are queried about their trust in Palestinian personalities, 22% most trust Ismael Haniyeh, while 19% most trust Abu Mazen. Some of the other personalities who receive trust from a proportion of the Palestinian people include: Marwan Barghouti (16%), Khaled Masha'al (9%), Mustafa Barghouti (8%), and Mohammad Dahlan (6%). Although his name was not included in the list of Palestinian personalities, 9% of the respondents still insisted that they most trust the late President Yasser Arafat.

# Very similar to NEC's January 2007 results, 43% believe that the people in their neighbourhood mainly trust Fateh, 33% believe that they mainly trust Hamas, while 21% believe that the people in their neighbourhood do not trust any faction.

# Personally, 34% of the respondents place their trust in Fateh (a drop of 6% in comparison with NEC's January results), 28% most trust Hamas (compared to 26% in January), while 33% do not trust any faction (an increase of 6% since last month). In other words, last month's high level of trust in Fateh has receded as an increasing percentage of respondents again opt not to trust any of the existing factions.

The Palestinian-Israeli context

# 70% support a peace settlement with Israel, compared to 72% in January 2007 and 77% in December 2006.

# 51% believe that Hamas should change its position towards the elimination of Israel (a drop of 5% since January 2007, and a 10% drop since December 2006).

# 63% of Palestinians believe that Hamas should use all its efforts to reach a peace agreement with Israel.

# 85% of Palestinians believe that there is a Palestinian peace partner. This indicates an increase of 8% since December 2006, and is the most positive answer since NEC began asking this question in its May 2006 survey.

# Meanwhile, 26% believe that Palestinians have a peace partner in Israel. This indicates a downward trend as in December 2006 still 30% believed that there was a peace partner in Israel, while this was this the case for 36% of Palestinians in November 2006. The current results consist of the least pronounced belief that there is a peace partner for Palestinians in Israel since August 2006 (at the height of Israel's war against Hezbollah).

# 62% of Palestinians support[ed] the planned meeting on 19 February between Abu Mazen, Ehud Olmert, and Condaleeza Rice.

# While principally 75% of Palestinians do not think that Israel has the right to exist, 70% support a one-state solution in historic Palestine where Muslims, Christians and Jews live together with equal rights and responsibilities.

Poverty conditions

# The percentage of Palestinians who live under the poverty line is lower than previous months and it stands now at 64% (32% are hardship cases and 32% are below the poverty line).

# Supporters of Fateh seem to be less privileged than other respondents. While the national rate for those below the poverty line is 64%, the percentage is 67% for Fateh supporters and 62% for Hamas supporters. This tendency has been rather consistent every month since March 2006.

# Poverty level is higher in the Gaza Strip (72%) than in the West Bank (59%).