Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav gets 7 years for rape

[scandal 951]

Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav gets 7 years for rape

JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the rape conviction of former President Moshe Katsav and ordered him to begin serving a seven-year prison term next month, a landmark decision that culminated a sordid five-year saga.

The rape conviction for the former head of state was hailed as a victory for women's rights and equality under the law, particularly at a sensitive time when Israel's liberal democracy has come under assault from extreme nationalists and the burgeoning ultra-religious minority.

"From this day on, let nobody dare claim that these are women who tried to conspire against the president. Rather they are brave women who must empower all harassed women who are afraid to complain," said Tzipi Livni, Israel's opposition leader and the nation's most prominent female politician.

It also completed the tragic ending for a man whose rag-to-riches story had served as a symbol of success for Mizrahi Jews, those of Middle Eastern descent who for decades were an underclass in Israel. Ordered to report to prison on Dec. 7, Katsav becomes the highest-ranking Israeli official to serve time.

The Iranian-born Katsav, 65, was convicted last December of raping a former employee when he was a Cabinet minister and of sexually harassing two other women during his term as president from 2000 to 2007. He received a seven-year prison sentence in March, but remained free pending his appeal.

Katsav has vociferously professed his innocence since the accusations against him first emerged five years ago, claiming he was the victim of a political witchhunt. And the case against him depended entirely on testimony, fueling a debate in Israel on the difficulties of prosecuting sex crimes.

But in a decisive ruling Thursday, the judges said his testimony had not been credible and accused him of exploiting his status as a high public official.

The former president "fell from the loftiest heights to the deepest depths," Judge Salim Joubran told the hushed court. "Such a senior official should be a role model to his subordinates. Every woman has a right to her own body. A right to dignity. A right to freedom. No one has the liberty to take any of those from her."

Katsav sat stone-faced throughout the session, briefly smiling wryly as it became clear his appeal was being rejected.

Katsav's attorney, Avigdor Feldman, faulted the judges for believing the rape victim despite serious holes in her testimony. "They would have believed her if she said the rape occurred on Venus," Feldman said.

Noya Rimalt, an expert on criminal law and feminist legal theory at Haifa University, said the prosecution prevailed in because of strong witness testimony. "Different women who didn't know each other told similar stories about the way he treated female subordinates. That is what the conviction was based on," she said.

Israel's presidency is a largely ceremonial office, typically filled by a respected elder statesman expected to rise above politics and serve as a moral compass.

The case against Katsav, which broke in 2006 after he told police one of his accusers was trying to extort money from him, shocked Israelis by portraying a man widely seen as a bland functionary as a predatory boss who repeatedly used authority to force sexual favors.

Katsav reluctantly resigned two weeks before his seven-year term was to expire in 2007 under a plea bargain that would have allowed him to escape jail time.

He was replaced by Nobel peace laureate and former prime minister Shimon Peres, whom he had bested in the 2000 presidential race, decided by parliament. But he then rejected the plea bargain, vowing to prove his innocence in court.

The lurid details of the case riveted Israelis. In one memorable moment, Katsav held a news conference in which he accused prosecutors and the media of plotting his demise because he didn't belong to the European-descended elite.

The Iranian-born Katsav moved to Israel as a child, spent time in an immigrant tent camp and grew up in the impoverished southern development town of Kiryat Malachi. Katsav became mayor of the town at the age of 24, and continues to live there.

Prosecutors and women's rights groups proclaimed the verdict a victory in a decades-long struggle to chip away at the nation's macho culture, which once permitted political and military leaders great liberties.

Yet observers noted the country — torn between a generally liberal judiciary, conservative religious currents and lingering gaps between men and women in the workplace — still has a long way to go.

Particularly in Jerusalem, Jewish ultra-Orthodox have tried to impose their social mores on the city. Posters depicting women are a rarity, and advertisers freely admit that they expect billboards with women's faces to be defaced or destroyed by religious vandals. Some buses and health clinics have been gender-separated, and recently, women were shunted onto separate sidewalks in one neighborhood.

In the military, traditionally an important melting pot, officials have considered reassigning some female combat soldiers because religious men don't want to serve with them.

Naomi Chazan, a leading women's rights advocate, called the Katsav ruling a "great victory," but said the issue of gender equality is an "ongoing struggle."

Chazan, president of the New Israel Fund, which supports progressive causes in Israel, pointed to "the ultrareligious extremists who are bent on imposing a very gender-segregated approach" on the public.

"That's the duality of Israeli society: a very liberal strain and a very retrogressive strain," she said.

Who is Salim Joubran, the Supreme Court Judge who rendered the ruling today on Katzav's appeal?

Salim Joubran

Salim Joubran (born 1947) is an Israeli Arab judge on the Israeli Supreme Court. He has served as a supreme court justice since 2003, and became a permanent member on May 2004. Joubran is the first Arab to receive a permanent appointment in the Supreme Court. He is the second Arab judge to hold a supreme court appointment, preceded by Abdel Rahman Zuabi, who held a fixed nine month appointment in 1999.

Biography

Salim Joubran was born in the German Colony neighborhood of Haifa to a Christian Arab family descended from Lebanese Maronites. He graduated from the Terra Santa School of the Franciscan Order in Acre. He earned a law degree from Jerusalem's Hebrew University, and entered private practice as a lawyer in 1970.

In 1982, Joubran left private practice after 12 years to accept an appointment as a judge on Haifa's Magistrate's Court, where he served for 11 years. In 1993, he was appointed to Haifa's district court, and served in that capacity for another 10 years, following which he was elevated to the Supreme Court first as a temporary and then as a permanent judge.

Joubran served in the past as governor of Israel Rotary (dist. 2490). In addition, he served as the chairman of the Zeltner Fund for legal research sponsored by Rotary Israel and Tel Aviv University.

Joubran also served as a lecturer at the Law Faculty at the University of Haifa.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Who is Salim Joubran, the Supreme Court Judge who rendered the ruling today on Katzav's appeal?

He's the token that Jewish Israeli's point to when they want others to think there's equal opportunity for all in Israel.

The politics of tokenism

Hillel covers Israel's faults with a false face of conviviality.

By Alaa Milbes and Dina Zbeidy

Published April 7, 2011

Last month, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (C-SJP) sponsored Israeli Apartheid Week. In response, Hillel groups organized a campaign titled “Separating Fact From Apartheid.” To achieve this end, Hillel employed racist tactics to put a convivial face to Israel’s military and colonial occupation of Palestinian land. Hillel’s tokenistic rhetoric manifested itself in the Faces of Israel project (initiated by the Consulate General of Israel in New York in 2008), when an Ethiopian Jew, a Palestinian Israeli, and a gay Israeli were invited to our campus to present the “real face” of Israeli society.

This phenomenon is, of course, familiar to American history. During segregation, the US government sent black artists on international tours in a PR campaign to blur the harsh reality of Jim Crow laws and to create an illusion of American inclusiveness and multiplicity. Today, think of any instance when you’ve heard a peer attempt to downplay a racist statement by retorting: “I have a black friend.” In the simplest terms, Hillel was importing its various “black friends” in order to hide the reality of Israeli apartheid and its Jim Crow-like legislations. To illustrate Israel’s “diversity,” Hillel set up a display of large poster boards of Israel’s token successful minorities.

The first board featured Rana Raslan, who in 1999 became the first Arab to win a Miss Israel contest. Three years later, Raslan was quoted as saying, “Till today, I am treated like trash at the airport. I haven’t visited Israel for three months because of what I had gone through during security checks. I was asked questions in a vulgar manner, held for hours. They also searched me; I have no problem being treated like any other civilian, but there is a way to do so, with delicacy.”

Another poster featured Salim Joubran, a lawyer born in Haifa, who was elected in 2004 to become the first Arab to hold a permanent appointment as a Supreme Court Justice. A piece published in Spectator by LionPAC’s director of public relations, Jonathan Huberman, claimed that having a Palestinian-Israeli on Israel’s Supreme Court is evidence that Israel is “a democratic, multi-ethnic country that upholds equal rights for all of its citizens.” Huberman believes that the appointment of the first and only permanent Palestinian Israeli judge to Israel’s Supreme Court in its 56 years of existence is evidence of its “equal rights” and “democratic” nature. According to Sikkuy’s data, at the end of 2008 only 42 of 589 judges in Israel were Arabs—seven percent of the judiciary. A 2008 report about fair representation of the Arab population in the civil service, which was published by the Civil Service Commission in June of this year, indicates that of 3,763 employees in the courts administration, only 119 are Arabs—3.16 percent of all employees. Palestinian citizens of Israel constitute nearly 20 percent of the overall population.

The use of tokenistic arguments to defend Israel’s violations is an outstanding feature in the rhetoric of Hillel members. In a recent article, Matthew Jacobs calls C-SJP’s reference to Israel as an apartheid state an “antiquated label.” In fact, the 2004 U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for Israel and the Occupied Territories stated that the Israeli government had done “little to reduce institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country’s Arab citizens.” Continued land confiscation, home and village demolitions, and institutionalized social, legal, and economic discrimination facing Palestinian citizens of Israel are facets of Israel’s apartheid system and occupation of Palestine.

Israel’s policies are an outdated form of colonialism. Fortunately, the international community is becoming more outspoken in its support for the indigenous Palestinian population. The international outrage caused by Israel’s attack on Gaza has garnered extensive global support for the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement. People are becoming more aware of the discrimination Palestinians inside Israel face, especially after the passing of two laws by the Israeli Knesset that target its Palestinian population: the Nakba Law and the Admission Committee Law. We call on Hillel groups to join us in spreading awareness and truth surrounding this issue instead of defending colonial occupation and apartheid.

Alaa Milbes is a student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in the department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies. Dina Zbeidy is a student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in the department of anthropology. She is a Palestinian citizen of Israel.

[Danno 1,228]

He's the token that Jewish Israeli's point to when they want others to think there's equal opportunity for all in Israel.

If he is, thats a pretty big token.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

If he is, thats a pretty big token.

When the brown people take over the USA, promise that you and Pat won't complain about White folks as pretty big tokens

Edited November 11, 2011 by Sofiyya

[웃 910]

Who is Salim Joubran, the Supreme Court Judge who rendered the ruling today on Katzav's appeal?

"He's the token that Jewish Israeli's point to when they want others to think there's equal opportunity for all in Israel."

-----

"

The politics of tokenism

Hillel covers Israel's faults with a false face of conviviality.

By Alaa Milbes and Dina Zbeidy

Published April 7, 2011

Last month, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (C-SJP) sponsored Israeli Apartheid Week. In response, Hillel groups organized a campaign titled "Separating Fact From Apartheid." To achieve this end, Hillel employed racist tactics to put a convivial face to Israel's military and colonial occupation of Palestinian land. Hillel's tokenistic rhetoric manifested itself in the Faces of Israel project (initiated by the Consulate General of Israel in New York in 2008), when an Ethiopian Jew, a Palestinian Israeli, and a gay Israeli were invited to our campus to present the "real face" of Israeli society.

This phenomenon is, of course, familiar to American history. During segregation, the US government sent black artists on international tours in a PR campaign to blur the harsh reality of Jim Crow laws and to create an illusion of American inclusiveness and multiplicity. Today, think of any instance when you've heard a peer attempt to downplay a racist statement by retorting: "I have a black friend." In the simplest terms, Hillel was importing its various "black friends" in order to hide the reality of Israeli apartheid and its Jim Crow-like legislations. To illustrate Israel's "diversity," Hillel set up a display of large poster boards of Israel's token successful minorities.

The first board featured Rana Raslan, who in 1999 became the first Arab to win a Miss Israel contest. Three years later, Raslan was quoted as saying, "Till today, I am treated like trash at the airport. I haven't visited Israel for three months because of what I had gone through during security checks. I was asked questions in a vulgar manner, held for hours. They also searched me; I have no problem being treated like any other civilian, but there is a way to do so, with delicacy."

Another poster featured Salim Joubran, a lawyer born in Haifa, who was elected in 2004 to become the first Arab to hold a permanent appointment as a Supreme Court Justice. A piece published in Spectator by LionPAC's director of public relations, Jonathan Huberman, claimed that having a Palestinian-Israeli on Israel's Supreme Court is evidence that Israel is "a democratic, multi-ethnic country that upholds equal rights for all of its citizens." Huberman believes that the appointment of the first and only permanent Palestinian Israeli judge to Israel's Supreme Court in its 56 years of existence is evidence of its "equal rights" and "democratic" nature. According to Sikkuy's data, at the end of 2008 only 42 of 589 judges in Israel were Arabs—seven percent of the judiciary. A 2008 report about fair representation of the Arab population in the civil service, which was published by the Civil Service Commission in June of this year, indicates that of 3,763 employees in the courts administration, only 119 are Arabs—3.16 percent of all employees. Palestinian citizens of Israel constitute nearly 20 percent of the overall population.

The use of tokenistic arguments to defend Israel's violations is an outstanding feature in the rhetoric of Hillel members. In a recent article, Matthew Jacobs calls C-SJP's reference to Israel as an apartheid state an "antiquated label." In fact, the 2004 U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for Israel and the Occupied Territories stated that the Israeli government had done "little to reduce institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country's Arab citizens." Continued land confiscation, home and village demolitions, and institutionalized social, legal, and economic discrimination facing Palestinian citizens of Israel are facets of Israel's apartheid system and occupation of Palestine.

Israel's policies are an outdated form of colonialism. Fortunately, the international community is becoming more outspoken in its support for the indigenous Palestinian population. The international outrage caused by Israel's attack on Gaza has garnered extensive global support for the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement. People are becoming more aware of the discrimination Palestinians inside Israel face, especially after the passing of two laws by the Israeli Knesset that target its Palestinian population: the Nakba Law and the Admission Committee Law. We call on Hillel groups to join us in spreading awareness and truth surrounding this issue instead of defending colonial occupation and apartheid.

Alaa Milbes is a student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in the department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies. Dina Zbeidy is a student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in the department of anthropology. She is a Palestinian citizen of Israel."

Edited November 11, 2011 by Lord Infamous

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Ok, Nathan. I got a laugh out of the new addition to your siggy

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

LCD > Plasma

[웃 910]

LCD > Plasma

OK - I will be honest.

They are both incredible. Especially recent models built this year.

They have dramatically improved and now 3D, SD slots, USB ports, wi-fi, are all common on any TV you get.

The LCD is the technology of a calculator screen.

Plasma technology "utilizes small cells containing electrically charged ionized gases".

They "create a picture from a gas (plasma) filled with xenon and neon atoms and millions of electrically charged atoms and electrons, that collide when you turn the power on. The energy the collision releases increases the energy level in the plasma and the neon and xenon release photons of light"

You tell me which sounds like more advanced technology!

Ok, Nathan. I got a laugh out of the new addition to your siggy

Edited November 11, 2011 by Lord Infamous

[scandal 951]

"He's the token that Jewish Israeli's point to when they want others to think there's equal opportunity for all in Israel."

I wonder if Joubran feels he is a token? Or what he thinks of those who call him that? I suspect not much.

I would compare him to Louis Brandeis (first Jew on US Supreme Court), or Thurgood Marshall (first black on SCOTUS), Sandra Day O'Connor (first woman on SCOTUS), or Sonia Sotomayor (first Hispanic). Are they all tokens? Or are they pioneers? The first to represent their communities, but by no means the last. For the record, Israel has an Arab justice on its Supreme Court before the US does.

I, for one, don't suggest that there is equal opportunity for all in Israel. Like any society, Israel has its share of injustice and unfairness. That's true in the US and elsewhere, why would anyone expect Israel to somehow be perfectly equal? What a man like Joubran represents is an aspiration to an ideal of meritocracy - not its actual achievement.

This very case of Katsav is illuminating: it's about sexism, violence against women, the preying by a powerful man upon women he felt he could use his power to take advantage of. And, the man himself came from an underprivileged community to rise to the heights of power, only to be humbled by his own crimes. It's a story that is all about oppression and discrimination and imperfection in society, and yet embodies the concept that justice ultimately triumphs and that all are equal before the law. The fact that the final decision in this case before Katsav goes to prison was handed down by an Arab Judge upon a Jewish President I think is particularly fitting to end this saga.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

He's the token that Jewish Israeli's point to when they want others to think there's equal opportunity for all in Israel.

"He's the token that Jewish Israeli's point to when they want others to think there's equal opportunity for all in Israel."/quote]

Does anyone else get the irony of how scandal ignores me, but responds to LI's reproduction of my post if he was responding to LI, but he's really responding to me?

This is scandal's attempt to brag about about how Israelis love their Palestinian Israelis, yet, even as he brags, he can't bring himself respond to the only Palestinian Israeli on the P&R board.

What strange tactics are required to get the liberal, peace-loving, bleeding-heart Israeli Jew to acknowledge the views of the the critical Israeli Palestinian disguised as LI, as he waxes on about how he feels about the ability of people like me to advance in Israeli society.

This Israeli loves Palestinian Israelis, as long as he doesn't have to talk with them

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Someone please ask scandal:

Did you even bother to read the article that Nathan and I posted? Imagine how many more like Joubran there would be if Israel was truly interested in leveling the playing field for Palestinians. If they didn't discriminate against them in housing, immigration, travel and education. Apparently, in the years following the establishment of Israel in 1948, one of anything Arab is all that's needed to feel good about how wonderful Israel is to Arabs.

I wonder if Joubran feels he is a token? Or what he thinks of those who call him that? I suspect not much.

I would compare him to Louis Brandeis (first Jew on US Supreme Court), or Thurgood Marshall (first black on SCOTUS), Sandra Day O'Connor (first woman on SCOTUS), or Sonia Sotomayor (first Hispanic). Are they all tokens? Or are they pioneers? The first to represent their communities, but by no means the last. For the record, Israel has an Arab justice on its Supreme Court before the US does.

I, for one, don't suggest that there is equal opportunity for all in Israel. Like any society, Israel has its share of injustice and unfairness. That's true in the US and elsewhere, why would anyone expect Israel to somehow be perfectly equal? What a man like Joubran represents is an aspiration to an ideal of meritocracy - not its actual achievement.

This very case of Katsav is illuminating: it's about sexism, violence against women, the preying by a powerful man upon women he felt he could use his power to take advantage of. And, the man himself came from an underprivileged community to rise to the heights of power, only to be humbled by his own crimes. It's a story that is all about oppression and discrimination and imperfection in society, and yet embodies the concept that justice ultimately triumphs and that all are equal before the law. The fact that the final decision in this case before Katsav goes to prison was handed down by an Arab Judge upon a Jewish President I think is particularly fitting to end this saga.

[luckytxn 2,265]

Wow. Here is the U.S. you rape a woman and we reelect you.