13-02-12 FATCA, Stanley Fischer: Request for clarifications by Bank HaPoalim regarding its lawless conduct

Stanley Fischer, Governor of the Bank of Israel, permits Israeli banks to enact, adjudicate, and enforce the law under the color of FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act).  Effectively, Fischer established Israel as a lawless US corporate province.

   [pics]

Bank HaPoalim's Chief Internal Auditor Jacob Orbach;Stanley Fischer, Governor of Bank of Israel, showing off his newly acquired Israeli ID in 2005. Petition in the Israeli High Court of Justice alleged that Stanley Fischer exchanged his loyalty to the State of Israel and its laws with loyalty to another nation and its laws and/or loyalty to financial institutions and their interests. FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) is a US law, which fancies to subject any bank, worldwide, to the US government, force banks the to report any financial transactions by any "US Person", and serve as the US government's tax collector under threat of serious sanctions.

Jerusalem, February 12 - in a letter to Bank HaPoalim's Chief Internal Auditor Jacob Orbach, Joseph Zernik, PhD, a Human Rights activist/computer science writer, asks Mr Orbach to provide clarifications regarding the status of Dr Zernik's bank accounts today.

On or about January 1, 2012, Dr Zernik's bank accounts with Bank HaPoalim, BM, were frozen.  On or about January 31, 2013, his banks accounts were unfrozen, after a meeting with the German Consul in Israel to request protection against abuse of the Human Rights of a Human Rights activist/computer science writer in Jerusalem.

A recent letter from Bank of Israel-Banking Regulation, on behalf of Governor Stanley Fischer, makes it clear: first - that conduct of Bank HaPoalim, BM, in Dr Zernik's case had no basis in the law of the State of Israel, and second - that Bank of Israel-Banking Regulation had no intention of according Dr Zernik equal protection under the law of the State of Israel. [[1]]

A recent opinion letter by Attorney James Jatras, of the Washington, DC, law firm Squire Sanders, LLP, makes it clear that conduct of Bank HaPoalim, BM, in Dr Zernik's case had no basis in the law of the United States, either. [[2]]

Correspondence with Mr Orbach's office makes it clear that the FATCA-related "New Policy" of Bank HaPoalim, which was purported as the basis for the Bank's conduct, is a non-existing document.  Moreover, to this date, Bank HaPoalim refuses to issue any written record, documenting the freezing, or unfreezing of Dr Zernik's accounts. [[3,4]]

Therefore, given the arbitrary and capricious nature of the Bank's conduct, Dr Zernik wrote to request further explanation by Mr Orbach, regarding the status of Dr Zernik's accounts with Bank HaPoalim, BM, today.  

The questions raised by Dr Zernik were:

1)   Was the restoration of access to his own funds in Bank HaPoalim's accounts temporary or permanent?  If temporary, under what circumstances would the Bank decide to freeze his accounts again?

2)   Dr Zernik permitted, like other citizens and residents of the State of Israel to buy and sell securities, or is he barred by Bank HaPoalim from executing such transactions in his accounts, as he had been previously advised by the Private Banking clerk?

3)   On January 14, 2013, Dr Zernik completed his duties, pursuant to the law of the United States, to renounce my US citizenship. On the same date, he provided the relevant documents to Bank HaPoalim's Branch, Kikar Zion, Jerusalem, and asked to open a non-"US Person" account, alternatively, to remove the "US Person" designation from his existing accounts. Bank HaPoalim refused to do either.  Based on what standards would the Bank remove the "US Person" designation from Dr Zernik's accounts? Or is the "US Person" designation permanent and non-removable, according to Bank HaPoalim?

The letter notes that the questions pertain to Dr Zernik's fundamental Human Rights for possession and for protection against taking of his possessions with no due process of law.  Likewise, these questions directly pertain to integrity, or lack thereof, in Bank HaPoalim's operations.

Copies of the letter were forwarded to Bank of Israel's Stanley Fischer and to the German Federal Republic's Consul in Israel.

LINKS:

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[1]

[a] 12-08-25 Dr Zernik's complaint, filed with Israeli banking regulation against Bank HaPoalim - for attempting to extort compliance with US IRS regulations in Jerusalem

http://www.scribd.com/doc/103922991/

[b] 12-09-05 Addendum to Complaint, filed with Bank of Israel against Bank HaPoalim, and a Demand, filed with Bank HaPoalim, for a Written Statement of Interest Gained in Client's Accounts in 2011

 http://www.scribd.com/doc/104993753/

[c] 12-09-12 Dr Zernik's Notice and Demand for the issuance of valid banking/legal communication by BANK HAPOALIM, BM, Israel, its subsidiaries and/or affiliates of their demands and threats against Dr Joseph Zernik, and for response within 10 days, with fax transmission report

http://www.scribd.com/doc/105706636/

[d] 12-09-13 More Evidence of Fraud and Extortion by BANK HAPOALIM, BM, Israel, Subsidiaries and or Affiliates

http://www.scribd.com/doc/105825087/

[e] 12-09-14 Demand for Action by Bank HaPoalim, BM, Chief Internal Auditor Jacob Orbach, re: FATCA related extortionist conduct by the Bank

http://www.scribd.com/doc/113463251/  

[f] 12-11-04 Bank HaPoalim, BM, response re: FACTCA demands and threats with Appendices A. Demand and threat letter, B. customer agreement

http://www.scribd.com/doc/113460859/  

[2] 13-01-27 Stanley Fischer, Bank of Israel Response re: FATCA, Bank HaPoalim, BM

http://www.scribd.com/doc/123951835/

[3] 13-02-06 Attorney James Jatras opinion in re: Bank of Israel's Stanley Fischer's January 27, 2013 FATCA Response Letter

http://www.scribd.com/doc/124247597/

[4] 13-01-28 FATCA, Stanley Fischer: Letter to Chief Internal Auditor Jacob Orbach, re: Phone calls by Bank HaPoalim

http://www.scribd.com/doc/122570341/

13-02-12 Facebook Art: 9/11

Janet Wolfman shared Occupy Wall St.'s photo.

Not being insensitive about 9/11, it's just that the official story was so terribly unbelievable. Almost feels like they wanted us to find out.

13-02-12 US: ongoing talk about an upcoming Civil War

From: Linda Hepworth
Subject: Fwd: MUST MUST MUST READ: Armed citizens force officials to back down
Date: Sunday, February 10, 2013, 7:10 PM 

Subject: Fw: MUST MUST MUST READ: Armed citizens force officials to back down
 There is a pretty large Naval base at Oak Harbor.  Obviously, they don't take kindly to anti gunners.  Won't find this in the news.  Haven't heard a thing about it up here.
 MUST MUST MUST READ: Armed citizens force officials to back down
 The peaceful Second American Revolution (or perhaps the Second American Civil War) continues to grow….

______________________________________________________________
http://www.examiner.com/article/armed-citizens-force-officials-to-back-downArmed citizens force officials to back downFebruary 7, 2013
By: Anthony Martin <http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-national/anthony-martin>
Citizens are increasingly defiant of anti-gun moves on the part of government, demanding that elected officials respect their rights and buying firearms in record numbers.
A group of 160 citizens, many if not most of whom were armed, confronted government officials Tuesday who had attempted to have a wounded Army veteran kicked out of a meeting due to the fact that he carried a gun. The veteran has a state license for concealed carry, which means that he was carrying the gun to the meeting within the boundaries of the law.
The story of the incident, which occurred at a city council meeting in Oak Harbor, Wash., made national news <http://mynorthwest.com/?sid=2186281&nid=646>  three weeks ago.
But Tuesday evening the citizens of Oak Harbor, Wash <http://mynorthwest.com/11/2195317/Crowd-packs-heat-Oak-Harbor-backs-down> . showed up to confront its city council and demand that the council rescind a local ordinance prohibiting guns <http://www.examiner.com/topic/guns>  from being carried on public property. The citizens also wished to show their support for Lucas Yonkman, the Army veteran who showed up at the previous meeting armed.
One citizen told the council that if the fact that citizens who are merely exercising their right to keep and bear arms intimidates city officials, then they need to look within to determine why the rights of the people are so intimidating to them.
Another citizen addressed the council and stated that his mother was a Jew and that his parents had died in Hitler's gas chambers. "I will not go into the night quietly while these two ask me to board the train," he said.
The man was carrying an M-1 rifle on his shoulder.
Lucas Yonkman, the wounded Army veteran whom the council wished to kick out of the previous meeting, also addressed the gathering:

"I come to you tonight with a heavy heart," Yonkman said.! "I see a beautiful country divided and conflicted. I see a constitution being eroded, and the rights so many have fought and died for totally lost. I see men and woman who are elected leaders pushing personal agendas."

Apparently the display of force by the citizens and the passion with which they spoke of their Constitutional rights paid off. The council voted to remove the ban on guns in public parks and other public areas.
One gun rights <http://www.examiner.com/topic/gun-rights>  activist who became aware of the incident today stated that perhaps the show of force by the citizens of Oak Harbor needs to be replayed over and over again in towns and cities across America, even Washington, D.C.
"Government entities need to know that the 100 million citizens who own 300 million guns are not going to back down and that we will hammer them every chance we get to prove our resolve," he said.
(Hat tip to WRSA <http://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/> ).
Also check out: "I'll see you in the war -- Civil War II: Notes on the coming calamity to restore the Constitution. <http://thelibertysphere.blogspot.com/2013/01/ill-see-you-in-war-civil-war-ii-notes.html> "

13-02-12 Facebook Art: Debt

Occupy Wall St. added a new photo.

13-02-12 Facebook Art: Occupy 2013

13-02-11 Radical Resistance Tour: Tuscon, AZ

The Occupy movement sounds sleepy, but it looks like enormous efforts are invested in organizing and ground work!  Keep going! jz
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February 11, 2013 07:00 AM

Radical Resistance Tour: Tucson, AZ

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By Diane Sweet

Episode 06: Tucson from Radical Resistance Tour on Vimeo.
Get a closer look at localized resistance based around ethnic studies, badass kids, border deaths, racist laws and the Derechos Humanos coalition.
The Radical Resistance Tour is an autonomous project by a group of Occupy Wall Street organizers. We're touring the United States and interviewing activists, people participating in direct actions, and people working to create a dual power model. We want to show people who aren't on the ground how people are being directly affected by decisions being made by corporations and governments that put profits over people and the environment. We want to inspire more people to fight back by featuring people who are already fighting back, and hopefully gain some shared wisdom by listening to how others are resisting.
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Tags: #OWS, Arizona, derechos humanos, hb2281, La Raza, Occupy Wall Street, radical resistance tour,resistance, SB1070, tucson

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About Diane Sweet

Administrator, Senior Editor. Email:occupyamerica@crooksandliars.com.

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13-02-12 US and the banks - who is in control?

Obviously, the banks! jz

 

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A Choice For Corporate America: Are You With America, Or The Cayman Islands Posted: 11 Feb 2013 04:50 PM PST Senator Bernie Sanders: When the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street drove this country into the deepest recession since the 1930s, the largest financial institutions in the United States took every advantage of being American. They just loved their country - and the willingness of the American people to provide them with the largest bailout in world history. In 2008, Congress approved a $700 billion gift to Wall Street. Another $16 trillion in virtually zero interest loans and other financial assistance came from the Federal Reserve. America. What a great country. But just two years later, as soon as these giant financial institutions started making record-breaking profits again, they suddenly lost their love for their native country. At a time when the nation was suffering from a huge deficit, largely created by the recession that Wall Street caused, the major financial institutions did everything they could to avoid paying American taxes by establishing shell corporations in the Cayman Islands and other tax havens. In 2010, Bank of America set up more than 200 subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands (which has a corporate tax rate of 0.0 percent) to avoid paying U.S. taxes. It worked. Not only did Bank of America pay nothing in federal income taxes, but it received a rebate from the IRS worth $1.9 billion that year. They are not alone. In 2010, JP Morgan Chase operated 83 subsidiaries incorporated in offshore tax havens to avoid paying some $4.9 billion in U.S. taxes. That same year Goldman Sachs operated 39 subsidiaries in offshore tax havens to avoid an estimated $3.3 billion in U.S. taxes. Citigroup has paid no federal income taxes for the last four years after receiving a total of $2.5 trillion in financial assistance from the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis. READ MORE: http://crooksandliars.com/diane-sweet/choice-corporate-america-are-you-ameri

13-02-12 Independence for Scotland!

The right to peacefully secede from cooperative nationhood constructs is becoming more prominent issue with the setting in of the Medieval-Digital Era.  It becomes apparent that small nations (Iceland), cities or locations which hold unique privileges in international law (Hong Kong, Macao, Jerusalem) are likely to fare better than most, and possibly remain beacons of liberty in a world that is largely subjugated.  Chartered Hansa cities and Free Cities were bastions of knowledge and liberty during the late European Middle Ages.
Likewise, the fact that the right for peaceful secession was established by Quebec, is likely to reign in abuses by the Canadian federal government.
Raising the issue of peaceful secession in the United States is likely to establish what is already apparent regarding the nature of the current regime in the United States.
jz
____________
New York Times

Scotland Faces More Hurdles if It Approves Independence

By STEPHEN CASTLE

Published: February 11, 2013

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LONDON — Scotland would have to renegotiate membership in theEuropean Union and other international organizations if it votes for independence in a referendum next year, according to legal advice published on Monday by the British government.

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The unusual decision to make public an official legal opinion rekindled and intensified the debate over the terms under which Scotland might achieve a divorce from the rest of Britain — a discussion being watched closely in other parts of Europe where separatism is on the rise.

The authors of the legal brief reached conclusions that are in line with arguments already made by the British government. Still, the document drew a prickly response from advocates of Scottish independence, who have treated the question of European Union membership for an independent Scotland as essentially a technical issue.

The European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, said last year that an independent Scotland would have to apply for membership. That raised the possibility that Scotland would, like other newly admitted members, be obliged to adopt the euro currency, an unpopular prospect in Scotland. Britain, which was a member of the union before the euro was created, has no such obligation and has formally opted out.

The legal advice suggests that if Scotland becomes independent, it will be a “new state,” while the “remainder of the United Kingdom” would be considered a “continuing state,” according to a summary of the 57-page document that was released ahead of the full publication. The continuing state would automatically keep the rights, obligations, memberships, treaty relationships and powers under international law that the United Kingdom currently has, while the new state would have to start from scratch.

“For the U.K. government to argue that the U.K. will be a ‘continuing state’ and that an independent Scotland would have no rights betrays a near colonial attitude to Scotland’s position as a nation and gives lie to any suggestion that they see Scotland as an equal partner in the U.K.,” Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s pro-independence deputy first minister, told the BBC.

She added: “I do think this is an incredibly arrogant attitude for the U.K. government to take, that somehow they keep all the rights of the U.K. and Scotland gets nothing.”

“The reality is that the status of Scotland and the rest of the U.K. following a ‘yes’ vote in autumn 2014 and before Scotland became independent in 2016 will be determined not by assertions of law, but by negotiation and agreement,” she said.

Ms. Sturgeon had said on Sunday that Mr. Cameron’s attitude reminded Scots that he led a government that they did not vote into power. In the 2010 general election, Mr. Cameron’s Conservative Party won only one of Scotland’s 59 seats in Parliament, and his coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, only 11.

The debate on how Scotland might achieve independence has implications throughout Europe, particularly in Spain, where separatist sentiment is strong in Catalonia.

Spain’s Basques have a high degree of autonomy, as do the Flemish, Walloon and much smaller German-speaking communities in Belgium. Activists in those and other regions across the Continent are closely watching the constitutional debate in Britain, which comes at a time when pressure on public finances, following the debt crisis in the euro zone, has tended to inflame old grievances.

The British government’s legal opinion was written by two experts on international law, Prof. James Crawford of the University of Cambridge and Prof. Alan Boyle of the University of Edinburgh.

Their opinion said the only way that both Scotland and the rest of Britain would become “new states” in the legal sense would be if the rest of Britain agreed to adopt such a status — something that the British government has ruled out.

The document rejected the idea that an independence vote would create two such new states, and also rejects suggestions that an independent Scotland would revert to its status before the 1707 Acts of Union, which united Scotland and England. Before those acts, the two were separate states with separate parliaments under the same monarch.

Last week, Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond, who is campaigning for independence, outlined transitional arrangements if Scotland voted “yes” next year. Under this blueprint, Independence Day would probably be in March 2016, with the first elections to a parliament for a fully independent Scotland taking place two months later.

On Sunday, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said: “I have no time for those who say there is no way Scotland could go it alone. I know firsthand the contribution Scotland and Scots make to Britain’s success — so for me there’s no question about whether Scotland could be an independent nation.”

“The real question is whether it should — whether Scotland is stronger, safer, richer and fairer within our United Kingdom or outside it.”

Alan Cowell contributed reporting.  

13-02-12 Two Silmans in Tel Aviv

Silman is not a common last name in Israel.
Therefore, the question comes up: Is there any relationship between  Kadish and Esther Silman, listed among the founders of Tel Aviv on the 40the anniversary memorial, and self-immolated Moshe Silman?
Any information would be gratefully received.
JZ
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Kadish and Esther Silman, among the Founders of Tel Aviv in 1919.

Moshe Silman, self-immolated in Tel Aviv, July 2012

13-02-09 LAPD shooting of two latino women in the Dorner's case...

Quintessential LAPD in action.

LAPD officers fired on this car with clear intent to kill (check out the bullet holes behind the driver-seat position). Trouble was, it was the wrong make and wrong color, and instead of Dorner, it was two Latino women, one of whom is now in serious condition from her wounds. No warning was given before the barrage.