Archiv: ungeschriebene / keine Verfassung / unwritten / no constitution


11.02.2025 - 19:28 [ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) ]

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: STATE/ENTITY – United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

04 Dec 2024
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
JAL
GBR 15/2024
– terrorism
– freedom of opinion and expression
– freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
– privacy
Information received concerning the potentially inappropriate use of provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000, the Terrorism Act 2006, and the Anti-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019. These provisions appear to have been employed to investigate, detain, collect data, and prosecute political activists and journalists, raising concerns about potential infringements of their fundamental
rights.

Alleged victims: 6

(…)

According to the information received:
Powers under counter-terrorism legislation have been used on multiple occasions to examine, detain, and arrest journalists and activists, particularly at the UK border. It is alleged that journalists and activists who are critical of Western foreign policy in the context of the conflict in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war are especially affected by the reported misuse of these powers. In particular, schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, and schedule 3 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, have been used to examine and obtain data from journalists and activists, including Johanna Ross (Ganyukova), John Laughland, Kit Klarenberg, Craig Murray and Richard Medhurst in circumstances where they appear to have no credible connection to “terrorist” or “hostile” activity. Furthermore, section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 has been used to charge journalists and activists, including Richard Barnard and Richard Medhurst, for allegedly expressing support for a “proscribed organisation” in the course of activism and media reporting.

Without having knowledge of the material that may have substantiated the investigations or charges, we raise concern about an alleged pattern of overuse, or other misuse, of counter-terrorism legislation to target legitimate freedom of expression and opinion, including public interest media reporting, and related freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, and political
dissent or activism.

(…)

Ben Saul
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism

Irene Khan
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression

Gina Romero
Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association

Ana Brian Nougrères
Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy

11.02.2025 - 19:24 [ Craig Murray ]

United Nations Censures UK Over Abuse of Terrorism Act Against Journalists and Activists

(February 6, 2025)

Four UN Special Rapporteurs have written jointly to the UK government demanding explanation of its inappropriate persecution of journalists and political activists under the Terrorism Act. They state that those persecuted:

appear to have no credible connection to “terrorist” or “hostile” activity

The cases taken up by the United Nations are those of Johanna Ross (Ganyukova), John Laughland, Kit Klarenberg, Craig Murray (yes, me), Richard Barnard and Richard Medhurst.

09.02.2025 - 17:35 [ Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) ]

CCIA Responds to Reports of UK Demand for Worldwide Apple iCloud Access

The following can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Matt Schruers:

“As the recent Salt Typhoon breach makes clear, end-to-end encryption may be the only safeguard standing between Americans’ sensitive personal and business data and foreign adversaries.

“Reports that Apple has been secretly ordered by the UK Government to weaken its encryption, including in the United States, are a troubling development, if accurate. Decisions about Americans’ privacy and security should be made in America, in an open and transparent fashion, not through secret orders from abroad requiring keys be left under doormats.”

09.02.2025 - 17:30 [ Forbes ]

Apple’s ‘Dangerous’ iPhone Update Is Much Worse Than You Think

So, why is this worse than you think. In my view — and no one can officially comment, so “views” will be all we can share — any such government action would not stop with Apple. Not to over-simplify matters, but a bad actor would simply run Google’s helpful switch to Android software. If the U.K is going after Apple, it’s also going after Google and Meta and others. Why would they not? But Soviet-style, none of these other parties can comment or answer questions or confirm or deny.

08.02.2025 - 17:46 [ Washington Post ]

U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts

(February 7, 2025)

The law, known by critics as the Snoopers’ Charter, makes it a criminal offense to reveal that the government has even made such a demand. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

Apple can appeal the U.K. capability notice to a secret technical panel, which would consider arguments about the expense of the requirement, and to a judge who would weigh whether the request was in proportion to the government’s needs. But the law does not permit Apple to delay complying during an appeal.

08.02.2025 - 17:26 [ theVerge.com ]

Apple ordered to open encrypted user accounts globally to UK spying

Apple’s iCloud backups aren’t encrypted by default, but the Advanced Data Protection option was added in 2022, and must be enabled manually. It uses end-to-end encryption so that not even Apple can access encrypted files. In response to the order, Apple is expected to simply stop offering Advanced Data Protection in the UK. This wouldn’t meet the UK’s demand for access to files shared by global users, however.

08.02.2025 - 17:21 [ TKP.at ]

UK verlangt Zugriff auf verschlüsselte Daten aller Apple-Nutzer weltweit

(today)

Hintertüren, wie die von den Briten geforderte, sind von Natur aus gefährlich. Beim Hack der US-Kommunikationssysteme im Jahr 2024, der angeblich von chinesischen Akteuren durchgeführt wurde, wurde eine Hintertür verwendet, die die USA und andere Regierungen gefordert hatten:

„Dies ist nicht das erste Mal, dass Hacker die von CALEA vorgeschriebenen Abhör-Backdoors ausnutzen. Wie der Computersicherheitsexperte Nicholas Weaver 2015 gegenüber Lawfare betonte, „muss jede in den USA verkaufte Telefonanlage die Möglichkeit bieten, eine große Anzahl von Anrufen effizient abzuhören. Und da die USA einen so großen Markt darstellen, bedeutet dies, dass praktisch jede weltweit verkaufte Telefonanlage die Funktion ‚Lawful Intercept‘ enthält.“

Vor zwei Jahrzehnten wurde diese obligatorische Abhörfunktion von Hackern, die es auf Vodafone Griechenland abgesehen hatten, unterwandert. Sie fingen Telefongespräche des Premierministers des Landes und hochrangiger politischer, polizeilicher und militärischer Beamter ab.“

20.12.2024 - 22:04 [ Adalah ]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Arab Leadership in Israel Appeals to Supreme Court Against Law Allowing Education Ministry to Dismiss Teachers and Cut Funding to Palestinian Schools Over Alleged “Support of Terrorism”

(December 17, 2024)

In the petition, Adalah Attorney Salam Irsheid argued that the law is clearly racist in intent, especially given the widespread persecution and criminalization of hundreds of Palestinian citizens by Israeli authorities and other entities since the outbreak of the war 7 October 2023, for merely expressing entirely lawful opinions. The law’s deliberate vagueness, and the fact that it only addresses “incitement to terrorism”—which is used almost exclusively to target Palestinians—while excluding incitement to violence or racism, highlights its discriminatory purpose. By granting broad, unchecked powers to political and administrative authorities, the law enables punitive actions to be taken against Palestinian educators for expressing views that fall outside the mainstream consensus, thereby severely undermining their basic right to freedom of expression. Adalah further argued that the law breaches the principle of the separation of powers, as it grants the Education Ministry the authority to infringe on teachers’ rights to freedom of expression and occupation, effectively requiring a determination of whether they have committed a criminal offense, even if no charges have been filed against them.

20.12.2024 - 21:48 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Petition to Supreme Court; Far-Right Govt Consider Bill Banning Left and Arab Campus Groups

Hadash MKs opposed the proposed legislation, calling it “dime-store fascist populism and McCarthyism.” According to Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman, “The Knesset is advancing two bills targeting critical students and professors, aimed primarily at Palestinian and leftist voices in academia. These bills seek to silence any remaining voices resisting the government’s policies of occupation and war. This marks another step in the fascist agenda to suppress any real opposition to the extreme right. Heads of universities, professors, and students recognize the danger of such legislation and are voicing their opposition.

On past week, the Knesset plenum, in a preliminary reading, passed a proposed law that would amend the Students Rights Law, allowing most Israeli higher education institutions to implement gender separation. MK Son Har-Melech proposed the law, which 55 members of the Knesset (MKs) supported and 45 MKs opposed.

13.12.2024 - 20:49 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Racist Minister Ben Gvir Wants to Deport Hadash MK Ayman Odeh

Calling Odeh the “representative of the terrorists in the Knesset,” Ben Gvir posts a video of the lawmaker’s remarks and quips that soon legislation allowing for the deportation of the families of terrorists “will soon also apply to you.”

Latterly, Odeh published on X, “Ben Gvir, you are a disgusting liar. The only convicted supporter of terrorism in the Knesset is you. My terrible shock and condemnation of the murder of innocent people on October 7 was sharp and clear, and unlike you, I also support the families of the hostages in Gaza and their demand to put an end to the war. These are my positions throughout the war. And unlike you, I do not differentiate between blood and blood, between child and child, and do not support the supremacy of a people, but equality between peoples. So, to the question of which of us represents the interests of all citizens in the country, the answer seems to be clear.”

03.12.2024 - 04:06 [ Ofer Cassif / Guardian ]

I was suspended from Israel’s Knesset for highlighting the tyranny of Netanyahu. Help us to oppose him

(November 29, 2024)

I am not alone in opposing his tyranny. The consistent political opposition inside Israel itself, made up of democratic Jews and Arab citizens, finds the notion of democracy in Israel under Netanyahu absurd too. Democracy in Israel never really existed, owing to the state of Israel’s definition as an ethnic concept, antithetical to political egalitarianism.

A state that under its basic laws declares one group politically superior to the other cannot be regarded as a democracy, but as an ethnocracy. Since its formation, Israel has been pursuing discriminatory policies towards its own Palestinian citizens in all spheres of life – housing, employment, welfare and education. Even the supposed Israeli bill of rights, the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, doesn’t dare to mention the right to equality.

25.11.2024 - 00:50 [ Times of Israel ]

Ministers back bill to privatize Kan public broadcaster, call for Haaretz boycott

Only hours after the cabinet voted unanimously on Sunday to support a boycott of the left-wing Haaretz daily, the Ministerial Committee on Legislation gave its backing to a bill mandating the privatization of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation within two years, effectively closing down the public broadcaster.

The private member’s bill, sponsored by Likud MK Tally Gotliv, would require the government to issue a tender for the purchase of the television and radio networks controlled by the IPBC, which operates the Kan public broadcaster and Reshet Bet radio, among others.

25.11.2024 - 00:28 [ Associated Press ]

Israel cracks down on Palestinian citizens who speak out against the war in Gaza

Ahmed Khalefa’s life turned upside down after he was charged with inciting terrorism for chanting in solidarity with Gaza at an anti-war protest in October 2023.

The lawyer and city counselor from central Israel says he spent three difficult months in jail followed by six months detained in an apartment. It’s unclear when he’ll get a final verdict on his guilt or innocence. Until then, he’s forbidden from leaving his home from dusk to dawn.

16.11.2024 - 12:00 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Arab-Bedouin Village in Negev Razed to Make Way for New Jewish Community

Amid war in Gaza and Lebanon, Umm al-Hiran, an “unrecognized” Arab-Bedouin village in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, was demolished early Thursday, November 14, to make way for a planned new Orthodox Jewish community called Dror. Earlier, cops arrested three members of Umm al-Hiran’s leadership at their home.

According the Regional Council for the Unrecognized Bedouin Villages in the Negev, which represents the impoverished southern communities, some 9,000 Arab-Bedouins are at risk of losing their homes as 14 of the villages will be replaced with a similar number of Jewish ones.

08.11.2024 - 21:02 [ Association for Civil Rights in Israel ]

Deportation of Families of Terrorists: Questions and Answers – On the night of November 7, 2024 the Knesset approved the Deportation of Families of Terrorists Law, 5785-2024.

The Knesset held a series of discussions about the proposed law. Professionals representing government ministries and the Knesset‘s legal counsel stated clearly that this is unconstitutional legislation that cannot be implemented, and if it reaches judicial review it will be revoked. Knesset members from right-wing parties nonetheless decided to advance it, though they are well aware that it is a populist bill not worth the paper it is written on, in order to set the stage for a confrontation between the Knesset, professional groups, and the Supreme Court.

What are the problems with the law? This is not a law at all: it is a populist pamphlet, which, like many other things this terrible Knesset is doing, is intended to mark Arab citizens and residents as disloyal, whose presence is contingent on containment.

08.11.2024 - 20:12 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Knesset Passes McCarthyistic Law Allowing Far-Right Government to Fire Teachers

The bill was attacked during the debate in the plenum by Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi, who retweeted a statement by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) arguing that its purpose was “to regulate the discourse in schools and to harm teachers whose statements and worldview do not coincide with those of the education minister and the political parties controlling the Education Ministry.”

“The purpose of the law is to threaten teachers and principals of Arab schools, to mark them and make them a target for surveillance and persecution,” the rights group stated, arguing that the tools already at its disposal before the current law were “adequate and sufficient.” “The law severely violates the rights to expression, employment and pedagogical autonomy of teachers and administrators,” it added. The teachers’ unions also opposed the bill.

02.11.2024 - 21:21 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Witch Hunt in Israel Against Peace Activists and Haaretz Editor

Israel’s Justice Minister Yariv Levin has announced Thursday, October 31, he’s pushing a bill to impose 20-year prison sentences on Israelis who advocate for sanctions against the country or its leaders. In other words: 20-year prison sentence for exercising freedom of speech in Israel.

The far-right government craziness in Israel is intensifying after a “Call for International Pressure,” initiated by Academy for Equality activists, was wide-world published last week and signed by over three thousands petitioners, including a group of leading Israeli academics, among them: Anat Matar, Smadar Ben-Natan, Moshé Behar, Tamir Sorek, Rafi Greenberg, Shira Klein, Lior Sternfeld, Ophira Gamliel, Hilla Dayan, Regev Nathansohn, Uri Hadar, Snait Gissis, Amalia Saar, Avishai Ehrlich, Efraim Davidi, Maya Rosenfeld, Avraham Oz, Ronnen Ben-Arie, Yael Berda, Anat Biletzki, Sivan Rajuan Shtang, Hannan Hever, Orly Lubin, Raz Chen-Morris, Hannah Safran, Revital Madar, Ilana Hairston, Amos Goldberg, Tamar Hager and Miriam Eliav-Feldon.

The petition stated, “We, Israeli citizens, living in Israel and abroad, are calling on the international community – the United Nations and its institutions, the United States, the European Union, the Arab League and all the countries of the world – to intervene immediately and apply every possible sanction… put real pressure on Israel for an immediate ceasefire.”

02.11.2024 - 20:58 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Knesset Advances Legislation to Disqualify Hadash and Arab Lawmakers

Among the acts that would be construed as support for terror would be visiting the family of an attack suspect.

According to the proposal sponsored by Likud MK Ofir Katz, a candidate can be banned by the Central Election Committee without needing the final approval of the High Court of Justice, as is currently required. The proposed law is at base to ban Hadash and Arab parties from participating in the election, as well as weaken the Supreme Court’s power to overturn the decision. Furthermore, since left-wing and Arab voters do not belong to the right-wing camp, blocking participation of Hadash and Arab parties will also benefit the current far-right governing coalition electorally and increase its chances to win the next election.

31.10.2024 - 12:12 [ Times of India / Youtube ]

Israel Parliament Fight: Ben-Gvir, Other Israeli Knesset Members Clash Over Deportation Bill

A Knesset committee session on a controversial bill that proposes deporting relatives of terrorists erupted into a heated altercation, involving shouting and personal insults. The session escalated after MK Ofer Cassif opposed the bill, leading to a tense exchange with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who labeled Cassif a “terrorist.”

31.10.2024 - 12:05 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Following Stormy Debate, Knesset Advances Bill to Expel Family Members of ‘Terrorists’

The bill would give authority to the interior minister, after holding an arraignment, to expel the family member “to the territory of the Gaza Strip, or a different expulsion destination, depending on the circumstances.” The expulsion would apply for seven to 15 years for an Israeli citizen and 10 to 20 years for a noncitizen. According to the bill, the Israel Police has “all of the authorities given to it by law, including the authority to enter any place, remove from it any person, and use reasonable force to do so.”

The debate before the vote was heated, as far-right MKs who supported the bill accused MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash), who opposed the bill, of being a “terrorism supporter.” At one point, Knesset ushers had to physically stand between Cassif and MK Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit) who brutally attacked the Communist lawmaker.

As Cassif entered the hearing, a woman told the Cassif that he should be “ashamed of his position,” and far-right lawmakers began shouting at Cassif, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calling him a “terrorist.” As Cassif addressed the committee, which he called a “gathering of fascists,” lawmakers screamed at him to leave and called on chairman Ofir Katz (Likud) to have him removed from the room. “Lucky you didn’t bring your pager,” one MK quipped, referring to the mass attack attributed to Israel that saw thousands of Hezbollah pagers explode on the men carrying them.”

08.04.2024 - 19:15 [ Times of Israel ]

Netanyahu’s judicial ‘reform’ threatens to bulldoze the Declaration of Independence

(21 February 2023)

Our Declaration of Independence promises that the State of Israel “will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture…”

As of today, those foundational commitments and guarantees are under direct and tangible threat, from the very government charged with upholding them.

08.04.2024 - 18:59 [ law.Yale.edu ]

Declaration of Israel‘s Independence 1948

WE DECLARE that, with effect from the moment of the termination of the Mandate being tonight, the eve of Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948), until the establishment of the elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the Constitution which shall be adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than the 1st October 1948, the People‘s Council shall act as a Provisional Council of State, and its executive organ, the People‘s Administration, shall be the Provisional Government of the Jewish State, to be called „Israel“.

THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

08.04.2024 - 18:53 [ sites.Google.com ]

Philosophy for Palestine

(November 1, 2023)

To focus, as we do here, on the actions of the Israeli state and the unflagging support it receives from the US and its allies, is neither to celebrate violence, nor to equivocate on the value of innocent lives. Civilian deaths, regardless of nationality, are tragic and unacceptable. Yet to act as though the history of violence began with Hamas’s attacks on October 7, 2023 is to display a reckless indifference to history as well as to both Palestinian and Israeli lives. In order for violence to stop, the conditions that produce violence must stop.

The blockade of Gaza has lasted 16 years; the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza has lasted 56 years; the dispossession of Palestinians of their lands and homes across historic Palestine has lasted three-quarters of a century, since the 1948 establishment of Israel as an ethno-supremacist state. It is not without reason that observers—including both international and Israeli human rights groups—now characterize Israel’s control over the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea as a system of apartheid.

08.04.2024 - 18:49 [ Junge Welt ]

Akademischer Boykott

(06.04.2024)

Wegen ihrer Unterschrift unter eine Solidaritätserklärung mit Palästina ist die US-Philosophin Nancy Fraser eine Gastprofessur los. Die Universität zu Köln teilte am Freitag mit, alle Veranstaltungen der Albertus-Magnus-Professur 2024 abzusagen. Fraser habe im November 2023 den offenen Brief »Philosophy for Palestine« unterzeichnet, in dem »das Existenzrecht Israels als ›ethno-suprematistischer Staat‹ seit seiner Gründung 1948 faktisch in Frage gestellt« und der Terrorangriff palästinensischer Militanter vom 7. Oktober 2023 »relativiert« werde.

29.03.2024 - 20:51 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

“Wir können, also lasst es uns tun”: Über die Mentalität im elektronischen Polizeistaat

(12. November 2016)

Aus Interviews mit AussteigerInnen der mutmaßlich eng mit den Mitgliedern und Mitgliedern der “Technischen Aufklärung” des Bundesnachrichtendienstes eingebetteten israelischen Einheit 8200, veröffentlicht im “Guardian” im September 2014:

“Ich nahm eine Funktion an, in der Leute ´Ziele´ genannt wurden, und diese Leute die uns wirklich interessieren sind in keinem Sinne Terroristen, sondern eher generell normale Menschen – die uns interessieren wegen ihrer Funktionen, so dass wir mehr Geheimdienstinformationen über sie bekommen können und mehr Zugang erzielen. Wir nutzen unsere Möglichkeiten über diese Menschen zu unserem Vorteil, um es uns leicht zu machen. Wir nutzen die Einwirkung / die Wucht (“impact) die wir auf deren Leben haben. Manchmal beinhaltet dies das Leben, oder die Seele einer Person wirklich zu verletzen. Ich meine Erpressung, bei Dingen die sie vor Leuten um sich herum verbergen müssen. Ich kann Menschen wirklich das Leben zerstören. Es gab mir das Gefühl omnipotent zu sein.

Als ich diesen Job begann, war ich überrascht von dem Ausmaß meiner Verantwortung. Ich hatte das Gefühl über wichtige Dinge ein Mitspracherecht zu haben. Ich konnte Dinge in Gang setzen, die das Leben (Anm.: es folgt die Bezeichnung der ausspionierten Ortsansässigen) betrafen – ich konnte meine Einheit dazu bringen alle möglichen Maßnahmen zu ergreifen. Die Einstellung war ´Warum nicht? Wir können, also lasst es uns tun.´ Ich dachte, dass das, was ich tun konnte verrückt war. Wir waren die Chefs.”

Ein ex-Spion von 8200 berichtet, wie Soldaten unter seiner Ausbildung systematisch moralisch korrumpiert wurden, um sie zu “vergiften” und die Skrupellosigkeit im Apparat weiter auf Standard zu halten. Bei Razzien “beschlagnahmte” persönliche Gegenstände von Individuen – “Photos von Kindern, Uhren, Familienfotos, Fussballtrophäen, Bücher”, bis hin zu Juwelen – wurden nicht nur zur Mitnahme angeboten, sondern in den Ausbildungsräumen zur Schau gestellt.

“Die Idee war die Auszubildenden (“students”) zu vergiften.“

(…)

“Die einzige Schlussfolgerung die gezogen wurde, dass es in dieser Einheit so etwas wie einen illegalen Befehl nicht gibt. Es sind nicht wir, die entscheiden was moralisch ist und was nicht. Heute erkenne ich, dass dies das ist, was auch der Bomberpilot sagt: `Es ist nicht an mir zu sagen was moralisch ist und was nicht.` Jeder reicht die Verantwortung an Andere weiter.”

29.03.2024 - 20:34 [ The Guardian / Twitter ]

‘Any Palestinian is exposed to monitoring by the Israeli Big Brother’

(Sep 12, 2014)

23.01.2024 - 14:00 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

DER MOLOCH

(7. Februar 2010)

Aus Brüssel heraus vollzieht sich die epochale Transformation von Staatsgebilden eines Kontinents zu einer sich selbst begründenden Plutokratie, in einer wunderbaren Welt der Supranationalisten. Über einen Baustein in diesem epischen, imperialen Konstrukt, berät derzeit das deutsche Bundesverfassungsgericht. Anlässlich dieser Entscheidung über die “Vorratsdatenspeicherung”, beleuchtet Radio Utopie in einer Artikelreihe Aufbau, Entwicklung und Struktur der sogenannten “Europäischen Union”.

(…)

Das Konstrukt “Europäische Union” ist folgendermaßen aufgebaut: an der Spitze eines pyramidal aufgebauten Apparates stehen Entscheidungsgremien, sogenannte “Räte”. Diese Räte haben, entgegen allen fundamentalen Prinzipien der Gewaltenteilung und Demokratie, sowohl legislative, als auch exekutive Befugnis. Des Weiteren sind diese Gremien nie gewählt worden. Selbst ihre einzelnen Teilnehmer sind nur teilweise direkt vom Volk gewählt, zumeist wurden sie (wie z.B. die deutsche Kanzlerin) indirekt gewählt, durch ein Parlament. Ein nicht unerheblicher Teil der Mitglieder in den EU-Räten jedoch ist nie gewählt, sondern lediglich ernannt worden.

Nach wie vor ist der exakte Aufbau dieses Apparates den wenigsten Bürgern in den Mitgliedsstaaten der “Europäischen Union” geläufig.

18.01.2024 - 07:01 [ Middle East Eye ]

Civil rights groups in Israel file petition demanding authorisation for anti-war protests

The petition was filed after the police refused on Tuesday to approve the protest, for the third time.

The petition states that the police‘s refusal to approve the protest „joins the systematic oppression of protests, even small demonstrations, that criticise the combat, its results, and demand a diplomatic solution“.

18.01.2024 - 06:20 [ Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) / Twitter ]

Last night‘s events in Tel Aviv paint a disturbing picture: the Tel Aviv police are becoming highly influenced by Ben Gvir‘s sentiments regarding protestors. From the accounts of demonstrators, including videos and testimonies, it is evident that severe violence, dismantling of signs, political persecution, and incitement against protesters are becoming disturbingly routine.

We urge the Attorney General not to remain silent when the police transform into a political tool, targeting those who dissent from the government‘s stance.

Particularly in times of war, it is crucial to safeguard freedom of expression and the right to protest.

18.01.2024 - 02:21 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

“Wir können, also lasst es uns tun”: Über die Mentalität im elektronischen Polizeistaat

(12. November 2016)

Aus Interviews mit AussteigerInnen der mutmaßlich eng mit den Mitgliedern und Mitgliedern der “Technischen Aufklärung” des Bundesnachrichtendienstes eingebetteten israelischen Einheit 8200, veröffentlicht im “Guardian” im September 2014:

“Ich nahm eine Funktion an, in der Leute ´Ziele´ genannt wurden, und diese Leute die uns wirklich interessieren sind in keinem Sinne Terroristen, sondern eher generell normale Menschen – die uns interessieren wegen ihrer Funktionen, so dass wir mehr Geheimdienstinformationen über sie bekommen können und mehr Zugang erzielen. Wir nutzen unsere Möglichkeiten über diese Menschen zu unserem Vorteil, um es uns leicht zu machen. Wir nutzen die Einwirkung / die Wucht (“impact) die wir auf deren Leben haben. Manchmal beinhaltet dies das Leben, oder die Seele einer Person wirklich zu verletzen. Ich meine Erpressung, bei Dingen die sie vor Leuten um sich herum verbergen müssen. Ich kann Menschen wirklich das Leben zerstören. Es gab mir das Gefühl omnipotent zu sein.

Als ich diesen Job begann, war ich überrascht von dem Ausmaß meiner Verantwortung. Ich hatte das Gefühl über wichtige Dinge ein Mitspracherecht zu haben. Ich konnte Dinge in Gang setzen, die das Leben (Anm.: es folgt die Bezeichnung der ausspionierten Ortsansässigen) betrafen – ich konnte meine Einheit dazu bringen alle möglichen Maßnahmen zu ergreifen. Die Einstellung war ´Warum nicht? Wir können, also lasst es uns tun.´ Ich dachte, dass das, was ich tun konnte verrückt war. Wir waren die Chefs.”

Ein ex-Spion von 8200 berichtet, wie Soldaten unter seiner Ausbildung systematisch moralisch korrumpiert wurden, um sie zu “vergiften” und die Skrupellosigkeit im Apparat weiter auf Standard zu halten. Bei Razzien “beschlagnahmte” persönliche Gegenstände von Individuen – “Photos von Kindern, Uhren, Familienfotos, Fussballtrophäen, Bücher”, bis hin zu Juwelen – wurden nicht nur zur Mitnahme angeboten, sondern in den Ausbildungsräumen zur Schau gestellt.

“Die Idee war die Auszubildenden (“students”) zu vergiften.“

(…)

“Die einzige Schlussfolgerung die gezogen wurde, dass es in dieser Einheit so etwas wie einen illegalen Befehl nicht gibt. Es sind nicht wir, die entscheiden was moralisch ist und was nicht. Heute erkenne ich, dass dies das ist, was auch der Bomberpilot sagt: `Es ist nicht an mir zu sagen was moralisch ist und was nicht.` Jeder reicht die Verantwortung an Andere weiter.”

18.01.2024 - 01:17 [ The Guardian / Twitter ]

‘Any Palestinian is exposed to monitoring by the Israeli Big Brother’

(Sep 12, 2014)

17.01.2024 - 22:44 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Hadash MK Cassif: ‘They Want to Silence Us’

MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash) is being threatened with expulsion from Israel’s parliament after he signed a petition supporting South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, accusing it of acts of genocide. Cassif says the impeachment is based on an antidemocratic law that suppresses free speech. “They want me and my friends to shut up,” he says of the far-right government’s persecution of dissenting legislators in an interview to Amy Goodman broadcasted by Democracy Now! “We’ve been against the war from the beginning because we are against bloodshed.”

01.01.2024 - 19:46 [ Tagesschau.de ]

Israel: Oberstes Gericht kippt Kernelement von Justizreform

Die von der Regierung seit ihrer Vereidigung vor einem Jahr massiv vorangetriebene Justizreform hatte die israelische Gesellschaft tief gespalten. Über Monate gingen immer wieder Hunderttausende von Menschen auf die Straße, um dagegen zu protestieren – sie sahen im Vorgehen der Regierung eine Gefahr für Israels Demokratie.

Netanyahus Regierung argumentierte dagegen, das Gericht sei in Israel zu mächtig, man wolle lediglich ein Gleichgewicht wiederherstellen.

01.01.2024 - 18:28 [ i24news.tv ]

Israel: High Court strikes down law repealing the ‚reasonableness standard,‘ a key plank of the govt‘s judicial reform

The reasonableness law, an amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary, prohibits courts, including the High Court, from reviewing government and ministerial decisions using the „reasonableness“ standard. This standard permits the court to annul decisions based on substantive issues with the considerations behind them.

It was passed last year amid furious protests that saw hundreds of thousands Israelis take to rallies in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and elsewhere across Israel.

01.01.2024 - 18:11 [ Axios.com ]

Israeli Supreme Court strikes down Bibi‘s controversial judicial overhaul law

– Twelve out of 15 Supreme Court judges ruled that the court has the authority to conduct judicial oversight on basic laws and intervene in extreme cases when the Knesset oversteps its legislative authority.

– The law was the first piece of legislation of Netanyahu‘s judicial overhaul — a plan that destabilized Israel‘s economy, military and foreign relations.

The Supreme Court struck down the law in an 8-7 vote.

01.01.2024 - 18:04 [ Times of Israel ]

In historic 1st, High Court strikes down Basic Law amendment, voiding reasonableness law

Twelve of the 15 justices agree the court does have the authority to strike down Basic Laws.

01.01.2024 - 17:33 [ Noga Tarnopolsky נגה טרנופולסקי نوغا ترنوبولسكي / Twitter ]

Strap in, everybody: Israel‘s Supreme Court announces it will issue its ruling on Netanyahu‘s cancellation of the Reasonableness Law at 18:45, in less than an hour.

(38 min ago)

01.01.2024 - 17:15 [ Times of Israel ]

High Court to strike down reasonableness law in ruling tonight, reports say

Hebrew media outlets report that the High Court of Justice will publish its ruling on the government’s “reasonableness law” this evening and that it will strike down the controversial legislation, which is an amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary.

This would be the first time the court strikes down any aspect of one of Israel’s Basic Laws, which have quasi-constitutional status.

01.01.2024 - 17:07 [ Times of Israel ]

Shas set to push law allowing High Court to delay reasonableness ruling

Lawmakers from the Shas coalition party are reportedly seeking to advance a bill that would temporarily extend the time in which High Court justices can publish rulings on petitions, allowing the bench to postpone a decision that is widely expected to strike down a piece of the government’s judicial overhaul.

In an unprecedented leak, a draft ruling published last week previewed the court’s intention to strike down, by an 8-7 vote, a law limiting the court’s ability to reverse government and ministerial decisions based on the doctrine of reasonableness.

29.12.2023 - 04:12 [ DailyBeast.com ]

Israeli Court Decries ‘Leaks’ of Ruling on Netanyahu’s Legal Overhaul

“The judiciary views very severely the leak of parts of draft rulings that have not been completed,” acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman said of the leak. “The attempt to influence pending proceedings and to harm public trust in the judiciary and its dedicated judges and employees will not succeed.” The final ruling is expected to arrive midway through January.

28.12.2023 - 16:52 [ Times of Israel ]

Bombshell leaked draft ruling shows High Court set to nix key judicial overhaul law

The report drew immediate, heated reactions, with coalition members chastising the expected decision and casting it as undermining the national unity being displayed during the ongoing war against Hamas. The group that petitioned for the law to be nullified claimed the leak was an attempt to intimidate the justices and push them to change their ruling and not void the legislation.

28.12.2023 - 16:41 [ i24news.tv ]

Israeli High Court poised to strike down judicial ‚reasonableness‘ clause

The leaked draft revealed an apparent 8-7 split among the 15-justice panel, indicating eight justices in favor of annulling the law and seven against

28.12.2023 - 16:29 [ Haaretz ]

Report: Israeli High Court Justices Poised to Nullify Key Judicial Coup Law Passed Last Summer

The justices who reportedly support the nullification are: former president Esther Hayut, current care-taker president Uzi Vogelman, Isaac Amit, Anat Baron, Ofer Grosskopf, Chaled Kabub, Daphne Barak-Erez and Ruth Ronnen.

The opponents are reported to be Noam Sohlberg, Yechiel Meir Kasher, Yosef Elron, Alex Stein, Yael Willner, David Mintz and Gila Canfy Steinitz.

28.12.2023 - 16:00 [ JNS.org ]

Israeli High Court prepares to strike down Basic Law

Each judge will now read the opinions of the other justices before a final decision is reached. There is a chance, though slim, that the result will be different if a justice changes his or her mind after reading the other verdicts, Channel 12 reported.

23.11.2023 - 15:50 [ NLTimes.nl ]

PVV most polarizing of the large parties, but half of voters can tolerate Wilders as PM

According to the Hart van Nederland poll, a right-wing coalition of PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB has the most support among voters. 61 percent support this coalition, which has 88 of the 150 seats in parliament, according to the latest forecast. The same coalition without the BBB can count on support from 56 percent of voters. The PVV, VVD, and NSC coalition would have 81 seats, still a majority.

23.11.2023 - 15:28 [ NLTimes.nl ]

Wilders impresses Europe’s far-right; Draws scorn from others

Far-right politicians across Europe across Europe celebrated Geert Wilders’ election victory in the Netherlands. His PVV stands at 37 seats in parliament – clearly the largest party, according to ANP’s latest projections. Liberal and progressive politicians in the Netherlands and abroad are looking at the future with trepidation.

“The winds of change are here! Congratulations Geert Wilders on winning the Dutch elections!” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote on X. “The Hungarian model works! Many people in Western Europe would give half their lives if they could have a country without illegal migrants again.”

07.11.2023 - 17:03 [ Haaretz ]

With Netanyahu‘s Coup in Full Swing, His Trial Is Stuttering. Not by Accident

(05.03.2023)

The trial and the coup are now simultaneously underway, but while the first is lumbering along, the second is galloping forward. The hearings in the Jerusalem District Court will resume only after Passover. Until the judges return from their hiatus, the wings of the High Court of Justice might be clipped, the Judicial Appointments Committee might be under full control of the politicians, or Israel might be in the throes of a historic constitutional crisis.

07.11.2023 - 16:40 [ Haaretz ]

Mendelblit, Don’t Delay

(14.02.2018)

The police announcement Tuesday – that the investigations into two cases involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been completed – came 13 months after Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit decided that a “preliminary examination” of the allegations, which itself took six months, should become full-fledged criminal investigations.

16.10.2023 - 12:40 [ Haaretz ]

Likud Minister Formulates Emergency Regulations to Imprison Citizens Who ‚Harm National Morale‘

Communications Minister Karhi is promoting regulations that would allow him to direct police to arrest civilians, remove them from their homes, or seize their property if he believes they have spread information that could harm national morale or served as the basis for enemy propaganda

26.09.2023 - 10:15 [ Glenn Greenwald / threadreaderapp.com ]

Not only is corporate media like @AP predictably running hit pieces on Rumble for its crime of not obeying censorship orders of the neoliberal establishment, but British media outlets are explicitly threatening that Rumble will be banned from the UK under its repressive new law:

26.09.2023 - 09:15 [ ORF.at ]

„Five Eyes“ hinter den Entschlüsselungsplänen des EU-Ministerrats

(29.11.2020)

Gemeint ist ein erster Schritt zu einer EU-weiten Regulation, die Plattformbetreiber de facto verpflichten wird, Ende-zu-Ende-Verschlüsselung mit einem Generalschlüssel auszuhebeln. Dass diese vom britischen Geheimdienst GCHQ vorgeschlagene Methode favorisiert wird, bestätigte de Kerchove ganz nebenbei in einem am Freitag von der Nachrichtenagentur AFP verbreiteten Interview. Ein frisch geleaktes Dokument des Rats dokumentiert die tiefe Involvierung der Spionageallianz „Five Eyes“ in die Entschlüsselungspläne.

(…)

Was de Kerchove, der auch die Gaming-Websites als überwachungspflichtig ins Spiel gebracht hatte, geflissentlich verschwieg, ist, wozu dies in jedem EU-Staat unweigerlich führen wird, dessen Gesetze den Geheimdiensten ein Mandat zum Anzapfen der Glasfaserleitungen zum Zwecke der „Gefahrenverhütung“ bzw. der „Nachrichtenaufklärung“ verleihen.

26.09.2023 - 08:47 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

May, Macron und Merkel: Kriegskoalition gegen das World Wide Web

(14.Juni 2017)

Die entsprechenden Pläne von Terror-Theresa, lange vor ihrer Wahlniederlage entworfen, lasen wir bereits vor. Schlüssel dabei ist die praktisch und naturgemäß von allen Regierungen angestrebte Infiltration, Untermininierung und damit das faktische Verbot für 3,7 Milliarden Menschen im Internet – zum überwältigenden Anteil im öffentlich zugänglichen World Wide Web – ihre Telekommunikation, ihren Geschäftsbetrieb, ihr Privatleben, ihre Interaktionen im World Wide Web zu verschlüsseln. (…)

Für meine PappenheimerInnen von Genösschen – wie ich bereits mehrfach bemerkt habe: die dümmsten, miesesten und verlogensten der Welt – gilt diesbezüglich, wie immer: Kopf einziehen und versuchen nicht aufzufallen.

Helfen wird der Nomenklatura, ob international oder in diesem Saftladen von Republik, nichts von alledem. Sie ist fällig.

Und ihre Ehrenlogen vorneweg.

10.09.2023 - 15:42 [ Times of Israel ]

Judiciary vs executive: Israel’s branches of government set for unprecedented clash

Although the High Court has heard petitions against Basic Laws before, it has never heard a case against a law specifically designed to limit the High Court’s own powers, and the powers of the judiciary more broadly, nor has it done so amid such internal political turmoil over the balance of power between the branches of government.

Because of the extremely sensitive nature of the case and the highly explosive impact the court’s ruling may have, the entire bench of 15 High Court justices will hear the petitions, a judicial panel unprecedented in size in Israel’s history.

09.09.2023 - 18:22 [ Times of Israel ]

Masses expected at 36th week of anti-overhaul protests ahead of key court showdown

An unprecedented full 15-justice panel of the High Court is slated to hear the petitions against the law on September 12. A variety of government ministers and other figures have warned of the potential for chaos if the court strikes down the law passed by the Knesset to curb the court’s authority, setting up a potential constitutional crisis.

Demonstrations are to be held at dozens of locations across the country. The Tel Aviv protest begins with a march from Habima Square to the central rally at Kaplan Street at 8 p.m.

06.09.2023 - 23:55 [ Haaretz ]

„Know the Limits of Your Power“: Knesset Speaker Threatens Israel‘s High Court Ahead of Dramatic Judicial Coup Hearing

Israel‘s Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana warned Supreme Court justices on Wednesday that the parliament „will not acquiesce to its trampling,“ less than a week before the court is set to hear petitions against a key law in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s judicial coup.

06.09.2023 - 21:44 [ Times of Israel ]

Knesset speaker warns High Court voiding of Basic Laws may ‘plunge us into the abyss’

“Israel is democratic, and in a democracy, the sovereign is the people. In a democratic state, the justice system respects the sovereign, the people and its elected officials, and this respect is mutual. There is no debate, and there cannot be one, over the question of whether the Knesset has authorized the court to nullify Basic Laws,” he says, arguing that the court possesses no such power.

22.08.2023 - 16:02 [ Ynetnews.com ]

Israeli children ask Germany’s Scholz about judicial reform – this was his response

„We have all already expressed our opinion, I‘ve talked with Israel’s prime minister and also with Israel’s president. I‘ve clearly stated that I think a majority cannot decide things for a minority, and that in a proper democracy, a minority should always be able to live without fear.“

He added, „That‘s how we decided to do it in the German constitution, in many ways following the terrible experience we had. There‘s a constitution that can only be changed with a two-thirds majority. When we elect judges, we do it with a large majority – not just a regular majority.“

04.08.2023 - 09:14 [ Haaretz ]

Crisis, Coup, Dictatorship? Netanyahu‘s Assault on Israel‘s Democracy, the Protest Movement and What’s Next

Suiting the unprecedented times, all 15 justices of the Supreme Court will sit in September to decide the fate of the law. All eyes will be on the court in Jerusalem, not least those of Israel’s extraordinary pro-democracy protest movement, which has vowed to protect the rule of law, while the prime minister serially refuses to state for the record that he will commit to the court’s ruling.

Beyond Israel’s borders, the world is watching this momentous battle against illiberalism and autocracy, whether as inspiration or as a portent for their own societies.

29.07.2023 - 06:45 [ i24news.tv ]

Netanyahu: Supreme Court striking down Reasonableness bill ‚uncharted territory‘

„We had to put Israeli democracy back on an equal footing with other democracies. The essence of democracy is the balance between the will of the majority and the rights of the minority. This balance has been violated over the last 20 years, because we have the most activist court on the planet,“ Netanyahu declared.

He also referred to the „internal debate going on right now in the United States about the powers of the Supreme Court, about whether it‘s abusing its powers, whether they should be curtailed.“

29.07.2023 - 06:38 [ CNN ]

Netanyahu won’t commit to abiding by ruling if Supreme Court blocks controversial law

(Fri July 28)

“What you’re talking about is a situation, or potential situation, where in American terms, the United States’ Supreme Court would take a constitutional amendment and say that it’s unconstitutional, Netanyahu said. “That’s the kind of the kind of spiral that you’re talking about, and I hope we don’t get to that.”

The so-called “reasonableness” law is an amendment to one of Israel’s Basic Laws, which exist in place of a formal constitution.

26.07.2023 - 09:53 [ Haaretz ]

The True Goal of Israel‘s Judicial Coup Has Been Revealed

They are simply trying to obscure the legal overhaul’s goals until they gain control of the Judicial Appointments Committee and pass a law enabling the Knesset to override Supreme Court rulings – the only thing they need to run wild constitutionally. I

25.07.2023 - 22:31 [ Times of Israel ]

Attorney general asks High Court to strike down law shielding Netanyahu from recusal

The bill, she pointed out, was submitted to the Knesset just days after the petitions were filed against Netanyahu, and observed that just hours after the legislation was passed into law the prime minister announced he was directly involving himself in the judicial overhaul agenda.

As such, it was designed specifically to allow Netanyahu to evade the conflict of interests agreement he signed back in 2020 which was authorized by the High Court, in order to allow him to continue serving as prime minister.

25.07.2023 - 21:51 [ Haaretz ]

Israel‘s AG Objects to Law Preventing Netanyahu From Being Declared Unfit for Office

The conflict of interest agreement, signed in 2020, states that Netanyahu has conflicts of interest concerning appointments in the law enforcement system, given his trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. This means Netanyahu is barred from making judicial appointments, or getting involved in legislative matters that may impact his ongoing trial. Netanyahu signed the arrangement three years ago when then-attorney general Avichai Mandelblit drew up the arrangement to prevent Netanyahu from being declared unfit for office.

After passing the law, Netanyahu publicly stated that he would not stop his judicial overhaul and would be directly involved in the process despite the conflict of interest agreement.

25.07.2023 - 21:43 [ Haaretz ]

High Court Must Decide if It Will Defend the Last Embers of Israeli Democracy or Help It Commit Suicide

Such a nightmarish spectacle had never been seen in Israel: The president, the prime minister, the chairman of the opposition and the head of the country‘s largest labor federation were trading proposals on the issue of judicial review as if they were cryptocurrency.

24.07.2023 - 21:12 [ Times of Israel ]

Top enforcement official tells TV: Country lost democracy due to PM’s trial

Today, 8:33 pm

A top law enforcement official tells Channel 12 he believes the government’s aim in eliminating the reasonableness standard is now to appoint “a general prosecutor who is ‘one of ours.‘”

“It’s all about who will close [Netanyahu’s] criminal case,” the unnamed official says.

“This is what the country has lost its democracy for. Awful.”

24.07.2023 - 20:10 [ Haaretz ]

Israel‘s Democratic Crisis: Can Israel‘s Supreme Court Disqualify the First Law of Netanyahu‘s Judicial Coup?

Until now, the High Court has never invalidated any Basic Law. Only “regular laws” that violate Basic Laws have been disqualified. Therefore, striking down the legislation passed Monday would be an unprecedented move.

24.07.2023 - 20:02 [ Jurist.org ]

Israel Bar Association petitioning Supreme Court to cancel reasonableness law if passed in Knesset

Bechar also announced that the Bar Association may cease providing services to its members as an act of protest against the “anti-democratic legislative process.” Bechar said that “a desire to harm the ability of the Court’s use of the reasonableness standard is a serious danger to Israeli democracy. The public has unequivocally directed us to act against attacks on democracy, and that is exactly what we intend to do.”

24.07.2023 - 19:39 [ Washington Post ]

Israel faces an ongoing constitutional crisis — without a constitution

In practice, constitutions can: achieve near-unalterable status, as in the United States; be frequently rewritten, as in many other countries in the Western hemisphere; be used to justify authoritarian forms of rule; or come to be entirely disregarded.

Israel, Britain and New Zealand are outliers, as they do not have constitutions, said Hanna Lerner, the author of “Making Constitutions in Deeply Divided Societies.” The United Kingdom and New Zealand rely on common law, bodies of legal thinking and precedent developed over centuries, which serve a de facto constitutional role.

23.07.2023 - 21:29 [ Times of Israel ]

Far-right minister says coalition to push for more judicial change: We demand reform

“We have 64 mandates that aren’t willing to give up on the judicial system. We have 64 mandates that demand judicial reform,” he says, referring to the number of seats the coalition holds in the 120-member parliament.

“We say to the High Court of Justice political party… we don’t want your reasonableness,” adds Eliyahu, a member of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party.