18 February, 2010
News
International Middle East Media Center
Nine German Physicians Arrive In the West Bank To Perform Sensitive Surgeries
IMEMC – Friday February 19, 2010 – 00:42, Palestinian sources reported Thursday that nine physicians, including a professor in medicine, arrived in the central West Bank city of Ramallah to perform sensitive surgeries.
Nablus Fighter Dies on Wounds Suffered In 2002
IMEMC – Friday February 19, 2010 – 00:22, Palestinian sources reported Thursday that a fighter died at hospital in Berlin – Germany of wounds suffered during an attack targeting Alon Moreh settlement near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, in 2002.
The Israeli military detains 11 Palestinian civilians form the West Bank
IMEMC – Thursday February 18, 2010 – 17:44, Eleven Palestinian civilians were detained on Thursday by Israeli troops during military invasions targeting West Bank communities.
Israeli tanks and bulldozers level two homes and uproot farm lands in central Gaza
IMEMC – Thursday February 18, 2010 – 17:22, Israeli tanks and a number of bulldozers leveled on Thursday two Palestinian homes and uprooted farm lands at central Gaza Strip.
Bedouin Youth Killed During Scuffle With Russian Jews In The Negev
IMEMC – Thursday February 18, 2010 – 12:51, A Bedouin youth was killed on Wednesday at night and another youth was seriously wounded during a scuffle that took place between Bedouins and a group of Russian Jews in Be’er Sheva, south of the country.
3.5 Tons Of Explosives Located Near Gaza Border
IMEMC – Thursday February 18, 2010 – 11:24, A senior Egyptian security source reported on Thursday evening that the Egyptian Border Police located and confiscated 3.5 Tons of explosives near the border area in Rafah.
New Excavations Under the Walls Of Jerusalem’s Old City
IMEMC – Thursday February 18, 2010 – 06:07, The Al Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage reported that the Israeli authorities started new excavations under the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem., The foundation stated that most of the digging is now concentrated in Bad Al Amoud (Damascus Gate) and Bab Al Sahera (also known as Herod’s Gate), in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Palestinian Child Wounded By Settlers in Hebron
IMEMC – Thursday February 18, 2010 – 02:13, A group of fundamentalist settlers attacked on Wednesday a Palestinian child in the southern West Bank city of Hebron causing concussions and bruises that required hospitalization.
Soldiers Invade Salfit village, Break Into Municipality Building
IMEMC – Thursday February 18, 2010 – 02:02, Israeli soldiers invaded on Wednesday afternoon the village of Kufr Ad Deek village, near the central West Bank city of Salfit, and broke into its local council building.
Awad: “Reconstruction Donations Never Reached Gaza”
IMEMC – Thursday February 18, 2010 – 01:47, Dr. Mohammad Awad, secretary-general of the Council of Ministers at the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, stated that the promised Arab and international aid donations, allocated for rebuilding the Gaza Strip, never made it to the coastal region.
Nine more demolition orders bring village total to 26
2/19/2010 – Jenin – Ma’an – Bringing the number of homes and agricultural structures to be demolished in Barta’a Ash-Sharqiya to 26, Israeli forces invaded the village at noon on Thursday to deliver eight orders for home destructions and one for a chicken coup, residents said. Member of the village council Tawfiq Qabaha said the families affected by the orders include: Rami Saleh Qabaha, Nael Ibrahim Yousef Qabaha, Mohammad Taysir Ash- Sheikh Ali, Muhanad Yousef Qabaha, A’yesh Mustafa Qabaha, Mohammad Hatem Ahmad Qabaha, Ala Hatem Ahmad Qabaha, Yahya Yousef Qabaha, Ahmad Saleh Qabaha. The orders follow one week after a pre-dawn raid saw Israeli soldiers hand five families demolition orders. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHAR) noted that already in 2010, 37 Palestinian owned structures in Area C have been demolished, displacing 109 Palestinians, compared to the 2009 monthly average of 16 structures demolished and 27 persons displaced.
Gaza health system fails children despite success
2/19/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – The chief of Pediatric Surgery at the European Hospital in Gaza Dr Jihad Abu Dayyah lead a team of Palestinian physicians in an eight-hour surgery that saw the successful transplant of an esophagus in a child. One month earlier, however, a two-year-old boy died from congenital heart failure that could not be treated in Gaza. According to a report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) the boy’s death occurred while he waited to the day of his appointment at the Wolfson Medical Center in Israel, which was set up on 19 January, after being previously postponed. As the General Director of the hospital, Abdul Latif Al-Hajj, praised the team of doctors and noted the success of the rare operation “even though the economical situation is deteriorating and the siege on the strip,” not all patients are lucky enough to receive treatment at home or at all.
PA jails journalist for ’undermining authority’
2/18/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – A Palestinian Authority military court sentenced a Nablus journalist to a year and a half in prison on Tuesday, in a move condemned by rights groups. Tariq Abu Zaid, 35, was charged with “undermining the status of the [Palestinian] Authority and resisting [its] public policy. “The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) called the sentence “an assault on the freedom of opinion and expression and press freedoms. ” PCHR reported that a special military court in Nablus, chaired by Brigadier Abdul Karim Al-Masri, also found Abu Zaid guilty of “resisting the public policy of the Palestinian Authority” in violation of article 179 of the Palestine Liberation Organization Revolutionary Penal Code of 1979. Abu Zaid is a correspondent for Hamas-linked Al-Aqsa television. He was arrested by the PA’s Military Intelligence Service on 15 August 2009.
Israeli forces cross into Gaza Strip
2/19/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli forces entered the Gaza Strip on Thursday after a soldier was injured by a bomb planted at the border, the military said, confirming reports of an incursion following a blast hours earlier. “This morning, an IDF soldier was lightly injured when an explosive device was detonated against a force patrolling the Israeli side of the central Gaza Strip’s security fence,” a military spokesman told Ma’an. “While searching the area, IDF soldiers discovered a second explosive device, which was detonated in a controlled manner by IDF sappers,” the spokesman added. “The IDF holds Hamas responsible for maintaining the peace and quiet in the Gaza Strip. ” Bulldozers demolished two homes belonging to Ali and Salem Suleiman Ibn Said northeast of Deir Al-Balah, both on the outskirts of Al-Masaddar, and large swaths of olive groves, relatives said by phone.
Mayor: Israeli forces raid municipality building
2/18/2010 – Salfit – Ma’an – Israeli forces raided a village municipality building near the northern West Bank town of Salfit on Wednesday, an official said, searching for part of an iron gate erected by the army that had gone missing. In a statement, the mayor of the Salfit-area village of Kafr Ad-Dik said soldiers threatened him personally over the iron structure, which was set up at a military checkpoint between his village and Deir Ballout. Mayor Jamal Ad-Dik said the army made unspecified threats of reprisals were the gate not immediately returned. He condemned “this attack” on the municipality building, “supposedly to look for that gate,” and also the hostile remarks allegedly made to him by soldiers operating in the area. An Israeli military spokesman said he was not familiar with the incident. . . . .
Friday: Thousands to mark 5 years of protest in Bil’in
2/18/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Organizers of Bil’in’s weekly anti-wall protest expect thousands to turn out on Friday and mark the fifth year of popular action against the continued confiscation of village land by Israel’s separation wall. Caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and leaders of all political factions will be among the demonstrators, a statement from the Bil’in Popular Committee said. The anniversary will also be a cause to celebrate, coming just one week after an Israeli court ordered that the route of the wall be rerouted. The changes should see Palestinians from the area granted better access to their lands. Over its five years of protest, Bil’in has seen a sharp increase in violence and repression, with regular night raids targeting protest organizers, thousands injured by riot-dispersal equipment alongside real bullets, and the death of a Palestinian man last year after a tear-gas canister was shot at him from a high-velocity gun. Basem Ibrahim Abu Rahmeh was 29 years old when he was. killed.
Gaza: Karni crossing re-opens after sudden shut-down
2/19/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Two Gaza crossings are expected to partially open on Thursday, for the transport of limited aid, fuel and exports, crossings liaison officer Raed Fattouh said. The bulk goods crossing at Karni is expected to allow the transport of 114 truckloads ofwheat and animal feed following its sudden closure on Wednesday, when Israeli forces announced a security threat and shut down the area. Last week, Israeli media predicted the total closure of the crossing, citing the proximity to the densely populated Gaza City as part of a series of threats to the area. One projectile was fired at a military station near the terminal late last year. At the southern crossing, Kerem Shalom, 118 to 128 truckloads of aid and commercial goods were expected to make their way into Gaza, while one to two truckloads of cut carnations will be exported under a Dutch government program supporting Gaza farmers.
Gaza crossings report on weekly civilian traffic
2/19/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an -The Gaza Crossings Monitoring Committee said Egyptian officials will likely open the Rafah crossing Friday for travelers moving in and out of the coastal region. The body issued its crossings report, compiled by observers with the organization each day the civilian terminals in the north and south of the Strip are opened. Information from the last three weeks indicates: 17-18 February, Erez: 112 enter, 137 exit, Rafah: 162 enter, 25 exit / 10-11 February, Erez: 155 enter, 135 exit, Rafah: 161 enter, 28 exit / 3-4 February, Erez: 135 enter, 198 exit, Rafah: 123 enter, 23 exit. The 137 who left Gaza Wednesday include 102 Gaza residents, 34 international passport holders and one Palestinian citizen of Israel. Egyptian officials noted that most of those returning to Gaza via Rafah were patients referred for medical treatment who had finished their hospital stays and were heading home.
IN PHOTOS: Palestine’s sole woman cab driver
2/19/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Sabreen Manasra is the first Palestinian woman known to make a living driving a public taxi. This photo essay by Ma’an photographer Haytham Othman shows Mansara at work and with her family at home. On Monday a Palestinian company announced plans to bring women-only taxis – a phenomenon already popular in Beirut and elsewhere – to the conservative West Bank city of Hebron. Hazem At-Takrawi, the director of the Ishraqat training and development firm, said on Monday that his company is already training women to drive the female-only cabs. As in Beirut, the cars would be pink, he told anchor Adel Eghraieb on the television show “On the Table. “Asked whether Hebron and Palestinians in general would accept the idea, At-Takrawi said the company already commissioned a survey that found that 95% of Palestinians would accept the new cabs.
Salah Ad-Din fighter sentenced to 25-year jail term
2/18/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – ABeersheba court sentenced Gaza resident and member of the Popular Resistance Committees’ An-Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades on Wednesday to 25 years in prison for his role in an attack on the Erez checkpoint. The accused, Mamdouh At-Tanany, is from the Jabaliya refugee camp. He stood trial in an Israeli military court and was found guilty of participating in an attack on the terminal, the only civilian crossing between Gaza and Israel, during which forces penetrated into Israel and clashed with troops for three hours near the Natif Hatsarah settlement north of the crossing. A statement from the Salah Ad-Din Brigades said the sentence would not deter their fighters from continuing their resistance activities. . . . .
In photos: Church of Jacob`s Well in Nablus
2/18/2010 – MaanImages /Rami Swidan: 1-2 — A view of the Church of Jacob`s Well near the northern West Bank city of Nablus on 18 February 2010. Traditionally associated with the religious figure Jacob, the church sits atop a deep well. In Christian tradition, it marks the site where Jesus offered a Samaritan woman water from its spring. 3-7 — The church, an Eastern Orthodox monastery, lies on the edge of the Balata refugee camp, the most populated such camp in the occupied Palestinian territories. Once neglected, the monastery underwent a major restoration overseen by the Palestinian Authority shortly after its establishment in 1994. 8-10 — A view of stained glass windows inside the church. Its Christian iconography has been the subject of disputes between the local Christian minority and Israeli settlers, who also consider the site holy. Abuna Philoumenos, the monastery`s late priest, was hacked to death by axe-wielding settlers in 1979.
Cartoonists in Israel take aim at Mossad
2/19/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – Political cartoonists working for Israeli newspapers this week turned their attention away from Rafiq Husseini, the Palestinian Authority official who disgraced by a sex tape. The new target of the cartoonists is a subject that is usually off-limits: Mossad. The shift in focus took place as suspicion mounted that the spy agency was involved in the assassination in January of Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in Dubai. The details of the plot itself provided ample fare for satire: CCTV footage showed the assassins were dressed as tennis players. Dubai police said the operatives used wigs and false beards. In keeping with its policy of “ambiguity” on the matter, Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the killing. But the cartoons, like Israeli press at large, simply assume that Mossad was behind the hit.
Al-Aqsa fighter succumbs to injuries in Berlin
2/19/2010 – Nablus – Ma’an – A Palestinian operative affiliated with Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades died in Berlin on Thursday, sources said. Dia Faeq Salawda, 23, was seriously injured during an attack on the illegal Elon Moreh settlement south of Nablus in 2002. Salawda was treated at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, before being transferred to Jordan, and finally Germany, where he died. [end]
Deibes: PA will include Area C in plans
2/19/2010 – Jericho – Ma’an – The Palestinian Authority plans to include Area C in it strategic planning in an effort to lay the groundwork for a future state, Tourism Minister Khouloud Deibes said on Thursday. Deibes made this remark following a meeting in Jericho with a visiting delegation from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She also said her ministry is committed to attracting private sector investment to tourism-related projects in the West bank, particularly north of the Dead Sea, and also attract more tourists to the area. The minister led the delegation on a tour of archaeological sites in the Jericho area, including Tel As-Sultan, and Hisham’s Palace, which is under renovation. She said the PA is working to have Jericho, a 10,000-year-old city, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Oslo Peace agreements of the 1990s ceded certain parts of the West Bank to the PA.
Interpol issues alert over Dubai suspects
2/19/2010 – Washington – Ma’an – The international police agency Interpol placed 11 members of the alleged hit team that killed Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh on its most wanted list on Thursday. Interpol said it issued the “red notices” for individuals at the request of police in Dubai, which released the names and photos of the suspects on Monday. “Since INTERPOL has reason to believe that the suspects linked to this murder have stolen the identities of real people, the Red Notices specify that the names used were aliases used to commit murder,” the agency said on its website. Interpol’s “red notices” are not arrest warrants, but are intended to help national authorities locate and extradite wanted criminals. Mabhouh was found dead in his Dubai hotel room on 20 January. This week Dubai authorities issued arrest warrants for 11 suspects they said traveled to the emirate on European passports that now appear to be false.
PA minister urges Italy to boycott settlement goods
2/18/2010 – Ramallah – Ma’an – Palestinian Authority Economy Minister Dr Hassan Abu Libda on Wednesday brainstormed ways to educate the Italian pubic about Israeli settlement products and strategies to boycott them in the country. A delegation, visiting the Ramallah Ministry of the National Economy headquarters, was lead by a deputy from the Italian foreign minister’s office, a statement said Wednesday. The group met with an agenda to strengthen Italian-Palestinian relations, and directly addressed the issue of a boycott of settlement goods, a statement said. The cabinet of the Ramallah-based Palestinian government voted on Monday to approve a law prohibiting the entrance of settlement goods into areas controlled by the PA. During the weekly cabinet meeting in Ramallah, ministers said they approved the legislation as settlements amount. . .
PA customs agents continue to enforce settlement goods ban
2/18/2010 – Ramallah – Ma’an – Approximately one and a half tonnes of cardboard two tons of processed pastry dough produced in settlements built on Palestinian lands in the West Bank were seized by Palestinian police said customs officers on Thursday. The public relations and information office said it was waiting for the go-ahead from the Internal Market Organizing Committee for the destruction of the goods. During the raids, officers also found 28 gallons of oils marketed as olive oil but not meeting minimum health or quality standards, officers said. [end]
UN envoy: Quartet to back PA autonomy
2/18/2010 – Hebron – Ma’an – Robert Serry, the UN special envoy to the Middle East peace process, hinted on Thursday that the international community would pressure Israel to cede parts of the occupied West Bank to Palestinian Authority control. Serry said the International Quartet, made up of the UN, EU, US and Russia, will express support for PA demands on the Israeli government to transfer Areas B and of the West Bank C into A, under full Palestinian control, on the road to establishing statehood. Speaking during a visit to the West Bank city of Hebron, which is divided between PA security autonomy and Israeli military control, Serry told Ma’an, “if Israel is serious about the peace process, and the two-state solution, and wants to see an end to the occupation, we should back Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s successful program. “
PFLP, Hamas discuss unity in Beirut
2/18/2010 – Beirut – Ma’an – Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine officials welcomed a delegation of Hamas leaders into their Beirut headquarters on Wednesday, for discussions on the re-initiation of factional talks on Palestinian unity. Marwan Abdul Al, a PFLP politburo member, headed up the discussions, while the Hamas delegation was fronted by Ali Barakeh, a statement from the Palestinian Authority representative office in Lebanon said. The political leaders sat to discuss a PFLP proposal to reunify Palestinian factions, which the statement described only as a plan that would “activate the Palestinian political framework and encourage cooperation and understanding. “Abdul Al wrote in the statement that the PFLP effort was the result of an urgent need to find grounds for party negotiations and to work on reasonable and achievable expectations.
‘Syria site bombed by Israel in 2007 likely to have been a nuclear reactor’
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – New IAEA report includes clearer language than previously used in its analysis of the bombed site.
Son of Palestinian peace activist admits to attempted terror attack
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Mohanned Abu-Awwad says he was acting on behalf of Fatah, and the attack was filmed with a B’Tselem camera.
IDF commander: Settler leaders ‘losing control’ to rioting youths
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Army furious after three hurt when settlers mistook a military exercise for eviction.
3 hurt as West Bank settlers mistake IDF drill for eviction
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Rioters throw stones, damage vehicles in attack on soldiers and border guards training in West Bank.
‘Illegal’ Gaza tunnel owners suffer as Hamas economy grows
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Merchandise overflow caused by Hamas-run tunnels, which puts ‘illegal’ tunnel owners out of work.
High Court orders Israel to speed up outpost demolitions
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – 16 homes in unauthorized West Bank outposts Hayovel, Harsha have been considered ilegal since 2005.
Barak signals thaw in tensions with army chief Ashkenazi
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Defense Minister praises chief of staff, signaling end to row over extending Ashkenazi’s term to fifth year.
Nasrallah: ‘If you hit Beirut airport, we’ll hit Ben Gurion’
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Hezbollah leader threatens to attack Tel Aviv in future conflict; says group still seeks to avenge Mughniyeh.
Who are the new Hamas recruits in Gaza?
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Many of 15,000 applicants have no interest in police work or in politics – they just are looking for jobs.
Israelis warned of Hezbollah threat abroad
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Counterterrorism Bureau: Israelis could be target for revenge attacks over Mughniyeh, Iran scientist killings.
Ex-IDF chief: Israel can’t handle nuclear Iran alone
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Dan Halutz says Israel should not take it upon itself to be the flag-bearer of the West against Tehran.
Egypt official: Israel assassination policy inflaming entire Mideast
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – PA source to London Times: Other countries won’t agree to turn into Israel-Palestinian killing field.
Gaza sources: Sole power plant to halt over Israel fuel blockade
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Ma’an report: Strip’s officials appeal international groups, Arab nations to end ongoing electricity deficit.
IDF thwarts knife attack on soldier in Hebron
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Palestinians: IDF kills two militants near Gaza; IDF soldiers on alert for Hamas kidnap attempts.
Hamas: Next war with Israel will be regional conflict
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Political leader Meshal accuses Israel of making threats against Gaza, Syria and Lebanon.
Is Israeli society strong enough to face the future?
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – At the base of Netanyahu’s worldview is profound anxiety over Israel’s fortitude in the face of external threats.
Hundreds attend funeral of IDF officer killed in West Bank Attack
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Ihad Khatib, stabbed to death by a member of PA security, laid to rest in Druze community of Maghar.
Shin Bet: We foiled Hamas attempt to abduct and kill Israeli soldier
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Israel arrested two Hamas men in Dec. who allegedly tried to murder soldier, perform terror attacks.
IDF says jihadi terrorist killed in Gaza air strike
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Air force targets terror squad allegedly planning attack near Karni humanitarian aid crossing.
Work starts to reroute West Bank security fence at Bil’in
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Newly routed barrier will hand 700,000 square meters of agricultural land back to Bil’in village.
Mossad Agents with Fake Pass in Malta
Uruknet February 18, 2010 – The assassination of Mohammed Mabhouh in Dubai was not the first International crime which Mossad death squads committed by using the fake or stolen European passports. There is a long record full of assassinations which were carried out by the Israeli death squads in Europe and in many other countries. The latest crime, the assassination of…
Israeli Abusive Administrative Detentions
Uruknet February 18, 2010 – …Israel uses administrative detentions repressively, in violation of the letter and spirit of international law. In all cases, security considerations must be balanced against individuals’ rights to due process and judicial fairness. Detentions based on secret evidence without trial or meaningful judicial review are “the most extreme measure that an occupying state may use against residents…
Gaza: A dark comedyAt first the Goldstone Report seemed a breakthrough. Now most hopes for justice have been dissipated
Uruknet February 18, 2010 – When Israel attacked Gaza just over a year ago, the Israeli government undoubtedly believed it could get away with murder with little damage to its reputation. The way that this would happen, however, was probably not envisioned. Neither the Israeli generals who ordered the attacks on civilians, civilian infrastructure, and whatever else was within sight, nor…
Israeli assassinations: passports to killOur government seems to be fine with letting the Israeli secret service wage its war with Hamas under a British flag
Uruknet February 18, 2010 – British passports are the property of the British government. When that government says and does nothing for six days after it was given evidence that Mossad agents stole the identity of six British citizens to assassinate a Hamas commander in Dubai, it starts to seem as if Israel was right to think it could get away…
Interpol releases ‘wanted’ notices for Israeli secret agents
Uruknet February 18, 2010 – Official “wanted” notices for a suspected team of Israeli secret agents accused of participating in the assassination of a Palestinian militant were released today. The faces of an 11-strong alleged hit squad appeared on the Interpol website this morning, some 48 hours after authorities in the United Arab Emirates issued arrest warrants for the killing last…
Construction continues in a quarter of West Bank settlements despite “freeze”
Uruknet February 18, 2010 – Israel’s Ministry of Construction and Housing had allowed contractors who had won the bid for new construction in the Betar Illit settlement
Israeli bulldozers raze private lands in Gaza
Uruknet February 18, 2010 – Israeli military vehicles breached the Gaza border Thursday morning, reaching 200 meters inside the central Gaza region near the Deir Al-Balah neighborhood. Witnesses said the vehicles were bulldozing private lands. The limited incursion followed local reports of of an explosion, allegedly an anti-tank shell launched at an Israeli jeep…
How did the assassins obtain British Passports?
Uruknet February 17, 2010 – The involvement of six British passport holders in the killing of senior Hamas official, Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, last month in Dubai was described in the Guardian today as “an extraordinary tale of modern-day espionage.” The Brits in question have denied any part in the assassination and have proclaimed their innocence stating that their passports must have been…
Jerusalem’s Battle of the Graves
Uruknet February 17, 2010 – I carried a handful of ashes from my father’s cremates into the occupied Palestinian territories a few years ago, hoping to take them to his hometown, Nablus. At the border, the only available taxi was driven by an Israeli Moroccan Jew. Delighted I was an Arab, he immediately plunged into conversation and pointed out various landmarks…
The Long Arm of Israel better be amputated
Uruknet February 17, 2010 – We have learned in the last few days that the Dubai assassins were Mossad agents who stole identities of six UK citizens and faked at least five other European passports. Dubai Police yesterday presented footage of some of the 11 ‘Europeans’ suspected of killing Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.According to the Guardian, “Official sources said UK authorities…
PACBI: Intellectual responsibility and the voice of the colonized
Uruknet February 17, 2010 – The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) has recently encountered a number of projects that while intending to empower the colonized Palestinians, in essence end up undermining their will and choice of method of struggle for freedom, justice and self-determination. The publication of a new book entitled The Power of Inclusive…
Chalabi and Al-Lami work for Iran – That is news for you? .. ??? ??? ???
Uruknet February 17, 2010 –
Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
World, February 19, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) IOF killed two Palestinians, including a civilian who was killed in cold blood in Hebron. Five civilians were wounded in the Gaza Strip, including 4 children. IOF fired bullets and projectiles from the…
Egypt police seize explosives destined for Gaza
Gaza Strip, February 19, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Security officers found the TNT on Tuesday concealed in 79 large bags in Sarsuriya district near the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, the official said. Residents had tipped off police about the 3.5-tonne cache, which had been prepared for smuggling through one of the many underground tunnels linking Gaza with Egypt. Cairo…
Robert Fisk: Britain’s explanation is riddled with inconsistencies. It’s time to come clean
World, February 18, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Collusion. That’s what it’s all about. The United Arab Emirates suspect – only suspect, mark you – that Europe’s “security collaboration” with Israel has crossed a line into illegality, where British passports (and those of other other EU nations) can now be used to send Israeli agents into the Gulf to kill Israel’s…
Israel detains 5 Palestinians and sets up checkpoints in Jenin
West Bank, February 17, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli occupation forces kidnapped 5 Palestinians early Wednesday after an operation of raids launched in different villages, towns and neighborhoods of Hebron in the southern of the West Bank. Security sources said that occupation forces detained two brothers Majdi and Fawzi Jaradat, in the twenties of age, after raiding their house, also…
Palestinians collaborate with Israel on permit scam
Nablus, West Bank, February 16, 2010 (Pala Telegraph) – Thousands of Palestinians hoping to gain work and higher wages in Israel were duped over the last three years by a gang of Israelis and Palestinians selling forged permits, Secretary-General of the Palestinian Trade Union Shahir Sa’d said Tuesday. The scam was routed Sunday when Israeli police detained dozens of alleged…
Beqaa valley leader: Hizbollah wasted its opportunity to improve Lebanon’
The National 18 Feb 2010 – Despite his role as a spiritual leader, around the northern and eastern Beqaa Valley Sheikh Tufayli is a tough man who does not take kindly to injustices.
Region evasive over Iran sanctions
The National 18 Feb 2010 – Analysts split on whether Hillary Clinton’s visit to the Gulf this week to push for sanctions against Iran will be enough to win support.
Protesters judge ruling as a setback for Egyptian women
The National 18 Feb 2010 – The State Council’s vote to bar female justices from serving in Egypt’s administrative courts could be overturned by Supreme Council.
Egypt to Double Export Value in 4 Years
The Media Line 16 Feb 2010 – Egypt plans to double the value of its exports in four years by investing in its infrastructure, transportation and energy sectors. Egyptian Prime Minster Ahmed Nazif has announced that Egypt plans to increase the value of…
Israeli Leader: ‘Here I Come, Arrest Me’
The Media Line 16 Feb 2010 – Former Israeli Foreign Minister plans trip to London to get arrested. Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni has announced she is willing to face arrest as a “test case” to pressure the British government to fulfill a…
Israel Facing Diplomatic Fallout Following Dubai Assassination
The Media Line 17 Feb 2010 – Increasing evidence that Israel’s national intelligence agency (Mossad) was behind the assassination of Hamas terrorist mastermind Mahmoud al-Mabhouh has led to diplomatic fallout between Israel and Britain and Ireland. Dublin and London have summoned the local…
Clinton: US Has No Plan for Military Action Against Iran
The Media Line 17 Feb 2010 – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during a visit to the Gulf that America currently has no plan for military action against Iran over its nuclear program. “We don’t want Iran to become a nuclear…
France Expanding Military and Arms Presence in Middle East
The Media Line 17 Feb 2010 – As top French defense officials are in Saudi Arabia to push increased arms sales there, reports have surfaced in Israel of enhanced military cooperation between Israel and France. The reports say that joint exercises have been…
US names new envoy to Syria
AlJazeera 17 Feb 2010 – Nomination of ambassador to Damascus ends five-year break in ties with Washington.
Interpol alert over Dubai suspects
AlJazeera 18 Feb 2010 – Dubai police chief “99 per cent certain” of Israeli spy agency’s role in Hamas leader’s murder.
Alternative Information Center
Continued Harassment of Journalists in the West Bank
Alternative Information Center – Thursday, 18 February 2010, The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns continued harassment of journalists in the West Bank, which constitutes an assault on the freedom of opinion and expression and press freedoms. PCHR is…
The Personal is the Most Political: Bedouin Women in the Negev
Alternative Information Center – Tuesday, 16 February 2010, Many women in the West perceived the women of the East as a woman of the noble savage, an obedient woman who sits at home. Their perception of Arab women in the…
War of the Colorful City
Alternative Information Center – Monday, 15 February 2010, Some hear the words “Tel Aviv” and think of left-wing yuppies drinking macchiato on Rothschild Boulevard. However, one who has walked south of the unseen border drawn by the roads Jaffa, Begin…
Israel makes life very hard for Palestinians, says ICRC
PNN – Thursday, 18 February 2010
U.K., Ireland to Israel envoys: Explain identity theft in Dubai killing
PNN – Thursday, 18 February 2010
Dubai killers used fake EU passports
PNN – Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Zionist Organization Calls for Jewish Boycott of UC Irvine
PNN – Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Fayyad tells US Jewish leaders: IDF incursions undermine us
Jeruslalem Post 18 Feb 2010 – Palestinians now ‘have security, hope, unity of purpose,’ PA prime minister says at meeting in Jenin.
Israel: Nothing links us to Mabhouh
Jeruslalem Post 18 Feb 2010 – UK, Ireland envoys have “nothing to add”; France, Germany demand explanations.
Israel to set up $1.5m. school for 1,000 kids in Haiti
Jeruslalem Post 18 Feb 2010 – Amid the rubble, community institutions will be set up in the heart of Port-au-Prince.
Lebanese man sentenced to death for link to Mossad hit
Jeruslalem Post 18 Feb 2010 – Retired police officer convicted of working on 2006 car bombing that killed 2 Palestinian terrorists.
Daily video news wrap
Jeruslalem Post 18 Feb 2010 – Watch 4-minute wrap of today’s events from Israel’s Channel 2.
IAEA: Teheran may be working on nukes
Jeruslalem Post 18 Feb 2010 – UN nuclear agency expresses concern over Iran’s intentions for first time.
‘Hamas would lose PA elections’
Jeruslalem Post 18 Feb 2010 – Survey finds Fatah to be 33 percent more popular than Hamas.
‘Hamas man arrested in Dubai killing’
Jeruslalem Post 18 Feb 2010 – Guardian report claims Nahro Massoud, wanted by Israel, detained in Syria.
Palestinian rocket launcher sentenced to 25 years
Jeruslalem Post 18 Feb 2010 – Convicted man helped carry out attack against IDF soldiers at Erez Crossing.
MIDEAST: Scandals, Assassination Plan Rock Palestinian Authority
IPS RAMALLAH, Feb 17 (IPS) – The Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah is fighting a tidal wave of fresh allegations, including sexual harassment, an internal power struggle and embezzlement.
US-YEMEN: Clinton Hails Ceasefire, But Aid Concerns Remain
IPS WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (IPS) – The ceasefire announced late last week between Yemen’s government and Houthi rebels in the northern part of the country is being greeted here as an important initial step toward stabilising the Arab world’s poorest country and reversing advances by al Qaeda’s affiliate there.
MIDEAST: Gaza’s Female Scribes Face Worse Than Discrimination
IPS RAMALLAH, Feb 15 (IPS) – Female journalists worldwide complain about discrimination on the grounds of gender. However, their colleagues in Gaza also face death threats, the dangers of working in a war zone and the struggle for daily necessities as the Israeli siege on Gaza drags on.
MIDEAST: Telling Film Floats Between Art and the Actual
IPS JERUSALEM, Feb 15 (IPS) – An Oscar nominee for best foreign-language film, Israel’s ‘Ajami’, is a tragic, yet realistic, pointer to the multi-layered conflict of Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians.
Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
PCHR Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)
International Solidarity Movement
IDF Raids 5 Apartments in Nablus
2/18/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – International Solidarity Movement – Last night at around 2. 30am, the Israeli army illegally stormed into 5 apartments in the Ashref Building on Suki Street in Nablus. The city is located in “Area A”, which is under full Palestinian Authority control under the Oslo II Agreement, making this raid illegal under international law. Without any warning, IDF soldiers forced their entry by blowing open all five apartment doors as it left visible dents on the metal door frame, deformed metals doors and cracked walls. Residents described the device to have been pushed against both sides of the door frame, as the dents on all the door frames indicate, with a control box in the middle, making a loud explosive sound as the doors blew open. After hearing the description of this device, two former IDF soldiers have recognized it as a “Fox”, an IDF military device loaded with two fingers of TNT to blow open doors.
IAEA report: Iran may be developing atom bomb
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Covert report also confirms Iran produced its first, small batch of uranium enriched to 20 percent.
Shalit’s father: ‘U.S. not interested in striking prisoner exchange deal’
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Noam Shalit says a deal to release his son was drafted 2 months ago, passed over to Hamas for approval.
ADL: U.S. Jews mustn’t boycott university for heckling of Israel envoy
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – B’nai B’rith director says attack on Michael Oren’s speech was clear manifestation of anti-Semitism.
Spain sculpture offensive to Jews, Israel says
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Art piece ‘Stairway to Heaven’ displays a crouching Muslim, topped by Christian, topped by praying Jew.
Germany, France also request Israeli answers on Dubai fake passports
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Report: Suspected killers of Hamas commander in Dubai used U.S.-issued credit cards during operation.
Interpol adds suspected Dubai assassins to most wanted list
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Dubai police chief: Mossad head should be arrested if Israel behind killing of top Hamas man.
Iran in the cross-hairs
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – In their first post, senior Haaretz correspondents take a look at the brewing storm over Iran’s nuclear program.
I envy the people who hate Israel
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – We should have expected the Dubai hit. Israel’s drive to delegitimize itself was going too slowly.
Livni: This is not the time to boycott Israel’s allies
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Opposition leader says after meeting with U.S. congressmen that differences of opinion can be overcome.
Ahmadinejad: Israel will be destroyed if it attacks Hezbollah
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Region should be delivered from Israel’s ‘evil ways’ forever, Iranian president tells Nasrallah.
Dissident Iranian diplomat granted asylum in Norway
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Mohammed Reza Heydari quit last month to protest the crackdown on anti-government demonstrators in Iran.
Israeli Shahar Peer advances to Dubai Championship semifinals
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Peer continues winning streak by beating 10th seed Na Li in the quarterfinal match.
Drive safely and pay bills, Hezbollah leader tells Lebanon
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Militant group is trying to reinvent itself as a more conventional political movement.
Mossad is supposed to gather intelligence, not sow death
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – How we love winking at each other and feeling proud of the Mossad, whose long arm can reach any hotel.
Iran threat is too much for the Mossad to handle
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Israel’s intelligence agencies operate brilliantly, but they can’t tackle historic challenges single-handedly.
Letters: Questions for Mossad over Dubai hit
The Guardian 18 Feb 2010 – The government is right to be concerned about the doctored British passports used by the assassins of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh ( UK calls in Israeli ambassador as Dubai killing row escalates , 18 February). And this is not the…
The truth about the Mossad
The Guardian 18 Feb 2010 – The recent, outlandish assassination in Dubai may prove the most damaging yet in the Mossad’s history of high-profile, bungled operations. How did it squander its reputation for ruthless brilliance? Last November, a sharp-eyed Israeli woman named…
Israeli embassy raises eyebrows with tennis tweet
The Guardian 18 Feb 2010 – Message boasts of Israeli player’s ‘hit on Dubai target’ amid mounting row over Hamas chief’s killing Amid the mounting diplomatic row over Mossad’s alleged assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai, the Israeli embassy has turned…
Dubai police call on Interpol to help arrest Mossad head
The Guardian 18 Feb 2010 – • Emirate ‘99% sure’ Israeli spies were behind Mabhouh death • Israeli ambassador told to explain use of fake British passports Interpol should help arrest the head of Mossad if Israel’s spy agency was responsible for…
Interpol releases ‘wanted’ notices for Dubai murder suspects
The Guardian 18 Feb 2010 – Faces of alleged hit squad appear on Interpol website in connection with killing of Hamas operative Official “wanted” notices were released today for a suspected team of Israeli secret agents accused of participating in the assassination…
Julian Borger on the Israeli ambassador’s Foreign Office summons over al-Mabhouh killing
The Guardian 18 Feb 2010 – Julian Borger on the Israeli ambassador’s visit to the Foreign Office over Dubai killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh When Israel’s ambassador to London, Ron Prosor, was called in to the Foreign Office this morning he was on…
Response: Tony Blair is determined to help bring peace to Gaza
The Guardian 18 Feb 2010 – Good relations with both Israelis and Palestinians make Blair a highly effective asset Avi Shlaim’s attack on Tony Blair was unjustified and unbalanced ( Gaza’s great betrayer , 3 February). Tony Blair is committed to helping bring about…
Hamas official accused of helping Mossad hit squad
The Guardian 17 Feb 2010 – • Palestinian ‘defectors’ suspected of involvement in murder • Police hunt six new suspects as more details of plot emerge A key security operative of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas was under arrest in Syria tonight…
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh’s murky world | Brian Whitaker
The Guardian 18 Feb 2010 – Details of the Hamas official’s murder resemble a movie script, but there’s unlikely to be a neat Hollywood ending Murder is a serious matter but amid tales of forged passports , not to mention the suspects’ use…
Hit squad suspected of killing Mahmoud al-Mabhouh
The Guardian 17 Feb 2010 – 16 February 2010: A hit squad carrying British and other European passports was responsible for killing Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas commander, in his hotel room in Dubai, according to the Dubai police chief
AG calls for state inquiry of abuse claims against Rabbi Elon
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein ordered police on Thursday to check the sexual abuse allegations raised earlier this week against the prominent religious Zionist Rabbi Mordechai Elon. …
The crucial role Rabbi Elon played in my life
Ha’aretz 18 Feb 2010 – It is almost impossible to put in words what Rabbi Mordechai (Moti) Elon meant to me and still means for thousands of youngsters and grown-ups who learned from him and took his advice at every step of their personal lives. …
Rabbi Elon accused of ‘long-term’ sexual relationship with student
Ha’aretz 17 Feb 2010 – Takana, the group that published allegations against Rabbi Mordechai Elon of sexually exploiting his students, said it did so because of “a long-term relationship that was clearly of a sexual nature.” …
Jerusalem to turn Sheikh Jarrah land into parking lot near Jewish tomb
Ha’aretz 17 Feb 2010 – The Jerusalem municipality will appropriate a plot of land in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood to build a public parking lot near the tomb of a Second Temple-era high priest, despite arguments that the move is intended to benefit Jewish pilgrims and expand the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem. …
Doctors threaten strike in row with Deputy Health Minister
Ha’aretz 17 Feb 2010 – The Israel Medical Association is threatening to take action, and strike if necessary, in its escalating battle with Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman should its Scientific Council be transferred to the ministry. The heads of various medical associations held an emergency meet Wednesday, and the president of the IMA, Dr. Leonid Eidelman, said the organization would not hesitate to carry out its threat. …
OPT: Protection of Civilians Weekly Report, 10 – 16 Feb 2010
Relief Web 18 Feb 2010 – Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
OPT: City of Mud
Relief Web 18 Feb 2010 – Source: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
Palestinian students in the North better equipped for better opportunities
Relief Web 18 Feb 2010 – Source: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
Under-Secretary-General, Briefing Security Council, Urges Israeli-Palestinian Embrace of Proposed Negotiations under United States Mediation
Relief Web 18 Feb 2010 – Source: UN Security Council
Position Paper: On the Call for Local Elections in Palestinian Authority Territories in July 2010
Relief Web 18 Feb 2010 – Source: Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
No peace without solution for Palestinian refugees: UN
Relief Web 18 Feb 2010 – Source: Agence France-Presse
Senior official: Everyone uses similar methods in war on terror
YNet News 18 Feb 2010 – Officials in Jerusalem confident Western criticism over Dubai assassination will soon die down; All Western countries threatened by terror use similar methods, international cooperation must continue, senior source says
Barak due in US to discuss Iran, Goldstone
YNet News 18 Feb 2010 – Defense minister to meet senior figures in Obama administration, UN secretay-general. Focus of meetings: Goldstone Report, Iran threat
Noam Shalit: US hindering deal for my son
YNet News 18 Feb 2010 – Abducted soldier’s father criticizes Obama Administration, says US hinting that Israel should not finalize prisoner swap; in speech before US Jewish leaders, Noam Shalit urges PM Netanyahu to make tough decision, approve deal
France, Germany seek explanations on Dubai assassination
YNet News 18 Feb 2010 – Europeans summon Israeli ambassadors to Paris, Berlin, ask them to answer questions about possible links to killing of senior Hamas man in Dubai
IAEA: Iran may be working on nuclear warhead
YNet News 18 Feb 2010 – IAEA changes course: First report under new Chief Amano uses unusually blunt language; information available to agency is extensive, raises concerns about undisclosed Iranian activities, confidential document says
Palestinian teen caught with bombs
YNet News 18 Feb 2010 – For second time in two days, forces uncover pipe bombs in possession of Palestinian boy
Soldier lightly wounded in explosion at Gaza fence
YNet News 18 Feb 2010 – Remote-controlled device detonated by IDF patrol near Kibbutz Kisufim in third Gaza border incident this week
IDF welcomes ‘super-drone’
YNet News 18 Feb 2010 – New unmanned aircraft can fly higher, stay in air longer than other drones
Jerusalem police arrests minors in the middle of the night
15 Feb 2010 – An investigation by B’Tselem has revealed a few cases in which minors aged 12-15, residents of Silwan, East Jerusalem, were unlawfully arrested in the middle of the night and taken, their hands cuffed, for interrogation on suspicion of stone throwing. Tes
Top American counterterrorism official has ‘productive talks’ in Syria
Daily Star 18 Feb 2010 DAMASCUS: Daniel Benjamin, the US State Department’s coordinator for counterterrorism, met with a group of Syrian officials on Thursday for “productive and detailed” talks, the US Embassy said. The two sides discussed “shared counterterrorism concerns and threats,” it said, adding that “we believe Syria can play a constructive role in mitigating these and other threats in cooperation with regional states and the US.”
Dubai directly accuses Mossad of Hamas hit
Daily Star 18 Feb 2010 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Dubai police on Thursday directly accused Israel’s Mossad spy agency of orchestrating the hit squad slaying of a Hamas commander as four European countries whose passports were implicated in the killing piled pressure on Israel. Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim was quoted as saying he was “99 percent, if not 100 percent” certain that Mossad was behind last month’s slaying.
China likely to agree to new Iran sanctions: think tank
Daily Star 18 Feb 2010 BEIRUT: While China resists tougher UN Security Council sanctions on Iran, it is likely to ultimately come on board but will seek to delay and weaken the West’s desired measures, according to a new report by the Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group (ICC). “The Iran Nuclear Issue: The View from Beijing,” the latest ICC briefing, examines China’s perspective on the nuclear impasse.
Egypt set to ban gatherings for ElBaradei’s return
Daily Star 18 Feb 2010 CAIRO: Egypt is poised to ban any gatherings in Cairo to mark the planned return on Friday of former UN nuclear watchdog chief and potential presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei, security sources said. The 2005 Nobel laureate, who is expected to fly home on Friday afternoon, has repeatedly called for democratic change in Egypt since stepping down as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency in November.
US ambassador accuses Iran of role in Iraq poll ban
Daily Star 18 Feb 2010 WASHINGTON: Reiterating accusations of Iranian interference in Iraq’s internal affairs, the US ambassador to Iraq said Wednesday that he was in “100 percent agreement” with remarks by the top US commander in Iraq regarding Iran’s involvement in a highly controversial decision that eventually barred over 140 candidates from running in Iraq’s parliamentary elections next month.
Palestinian Information Center
Big aid convoy to head from Turkey to Gaza in April
PIC 18 Feb 2010 – The Turkish humanitarian relief foundation IHH said it is making big preparations for sending an aid convoy composed of 20 ships from Istanbul port to the besieged Gaza Strip next month.
Health unions warn of blockade impacts on lives of Gaza patients
PIC 18 Feb 2010 – The assembly of health unions warned of the serious impacts of the Israeli blockade and the power crisis on the health sector and pointed out that the siege led to the death of 386 Gazans so far.
IOF troops round up West Bankers, IOA sentences Gazan to life in jail
PIC 18 Feb 2010 – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Thursday rounded up 11 Palestinians in the districts of Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin at the pretext they were wanted for interrogation, local sources reported.
British Independent: The Mossad is behind the assassination of Mabhouh
PIC 18 Feb 2010 – The British Independent newspaper said Wednesday that all information confirmed that the Mossad was behind the assassination of senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in Dubai last month.
Arab MPs promise series of visits to Gaza
PIC 18 Feb 2010 – MP Jamal Al-Khudari, the head of the popular anti siege committee, has said that the Arab parliamentarians who concluded a visit to Gaza on Wednesday promised him that it would not be the last.
Mishaal: It is time to retaliate to the assassination of Mabhouh
PIC 18 Feb 2010 – Khaled Mishaal stressed that it is time to respond to the assassination of martyr Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh and expressed his confidence in the ability of Al-Qassam Brigades to fulfil its promise.
AFEH: New IOA diggings under the Aqsa
PIC 18 Feb 2010 – The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage (AFEH) has disclosed that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) had started a new wave of diggings underneath the Old City of occupied Jerusalem.
Egyptian paper: Cairo opposes inviting Hamas to the Arab summit
PIC 18 Feb 2010 – An Egyptian newspaper has said that Cairo informed the Libyan authorities its objection to the presence of a delegation of the Hamas Movement in the upcoming Arab summit in Tripoli.
IPA threatens liberated prisoners with liquidation
PIC 18 Feb 2010 – The Israeli prisons authority (IPA) threatened the liquidation of released Palestinian prisoners if they engage in anti-occupation activity after their release from prison.
Bardawil: Hamas did not receive any message on prisoners swap deal
PIC 18 Feb 2010 – Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil, the spokesman of Hamas’s parliamentary bloc, has denied that his Movement had received any message from Russia concerning the prisoners’ exchange deal.
A bumbling Mossad hand suspected in Dubai assassination
LA Times 19 Feb 2010 – Israel has refused to comment on whether it sent the team that killed Mahmoud Mabhouh, a Hamas military commander, but as evidence mounts and Interpol issues warrants, questions are multiplying. To its planners, the assassination of senior Hamas figure Mahmoud Mabhouh must have first seemed like the perfect spy operation.
U.N. nuclear agency expresses concern on Iran
LA Times 19 Feb 2010 – The IAEA’s latest report says new information raises concerns that Iran may have hidden activities related to developing a nuclear bomb. The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog for the first time Thursday explicitly voiced concern that Iran is trying to make a nuclear bomb, amid signs of fraying relations between the agency’s inspectors and authorities in the Islamic Republic.
King Tut’s mundane death
LA Times 17 Feb 2010 – Malaria and a broken leg, not murder, probably led to the demise of Egypt’s famed boy king. New testing also shows that he had a cleft palate, clubfoot and degenerative bone disease. Archaeologists have weaved elaborate tales of intrigue and deceit about the death at age 19 of Egypt’s fabled boy king Tutankhamen, with theories that include poisoning by his regent, Aye, and a blow to the head by thugs hired by Aye, but new research indicates his cause of death was probably more mundane — complications from a broken leg and malaria.
I.A.E.A. Suspects Iranian Nuclear Weapons Activity
New York Times 18 Feb 2010 – The U.N.’s nuclear inspectors declared for the first time that information it has collected raised concern of “past or current undisclosed activities” by Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.
Task Force Warns Anew on Terrorist Funding From Iran
New York Times 18 Feb 2010 – Iran leads the list of countries that have failed to crack down on money laundering and terrorist financing, a global task force said.
World Briefing | Middle East: Syria: Talks Held With U.S. Official
New York Times 18 Feb 2010 – The highest-ranking American official to visit Syria in five years held talks with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, part of a U.S. effort to mend ties with Syria.
Positive Views of Israel, Brought to You by Israelis
New York Times 18 Feb 2010 – A government campaign to improve Israel’s image abroad addresses the Palestinian conflict but also includes an emphasis on food, culture and technology.
Israelis Share Suspicions in Hamas Leader’s Killing
New York Times 18 Feb 2010 – After an assassination investigation revealed a world of bumbling spies and assassins, Israelis are questioning what role their intelligence agency might have played.
Diplomatic Memo: Iran Policy Now More in Sync With Clinton’s Views
New York Times 17 Feb 2010 – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has relished taking the lead in seeking support for U.N. sanctions.
dual loyalty again…
Mondoweiss – 18 Feb 2010 – Greenwald on Gary Ackerman : whatever else is true, once one listens to this, it’s simply impossible to deny that this highly influential American Congressman, devoted to pushing the U.S. to war with Iran, is driven, at least in substantial part, by his fervent devotion to Israel….
Canadian minister: attack on Israel is an attack on Canada
Mondoweiss – 18 Feb 2010 – From the Globe and Mail in Canada , a piece on Peter Kent, junior Foreign Affairs Minister: In an interview published in Shalom Life, dated Feb. 12, Mr. Kent said: “Prime Minister Harper has made it quite clear for some time now and has regularly stated that…
Steve (Nightflower) Rosen gives AIPAC seal to Obama
Mondoweiss – 18 Feb 2010 – When Steve Rosen is comfortable writing a long posting at Foreign Policy in praise of Barack Obama’s Israeli and Mideast policies (“Is Barack Obama More AIPAC than J Street?” [Yes]) it’s time to admit that banking on this Administration is counter-productive. (I hate to say I…
Hubris: Israeli gov’t flips off 6 congresspeople visiting with J Street
Mondoweiss – 18 Feb 2010 – MJ Rosenberg picks up an inciden t I’ve failed to note: the Israeli gov’t refusing to meet six congresspeople who visited Israel at the behest of J Street, and calling J Street “anti-Israel.” Anyway, at about the same time [deputy Foreign Minister Danny] Ayalon attacked J…
US once threatened sanctions/tax deductions when Israel occupied land by force
Mondoweiss – 18 Feb 2010 – Henry Norr urges Obama to study the Suez war , when an American President and Sec’y of State actually used the UN General Assembly as a bully pulpit, and threatened sanctions, and took on the lobby too, to force Israel out of Gaza. At the end of…
The Rising Phoenix of Israel’s Assassination Policy
Alternative Information Center – 18 Feb 2010 – Monday, 15 February 2010, The assassination of Hamas leader Mahmud Abdel Rauf al-Mabhuh in Dubai on 20 January raised concerns in the region about Israeli efforts to neutralize Palestinian activists. According to reports in the press, al-Mabhuh was injected with a drug to induce heart failure. Smadar…
Displaced Persons: Arab-Jews, Arab-Palestinians, Mizrahis and Palestinian Refugees
Alternative Information Center – 18 Feb 2010 – Monday, 15 February 2010, Documentation of the fourth meeting in the series “Meetings from the Dark Perspective,” the headline of which was “1948 Refugees: Mizrahi Perspectives.” A panel discussion with Ilan Halevi, Kochavi Shemesh, Nizar Hassan and Shiko Behar*. The meeting was conducted in Tel Aviv,…
War of the Colorful City
Alternative Information Center – 18 Feb 2010 – Monday, 15 February 2010, Some hear the words “Tel Aviv” and think of left-wing yuppies drinking macchiato on Rothschild Boulevard. However, one who has walked south of the unseen border drawn by the roads Jaffa, Begin and Hashalom knows that this image is far from reality…
The Personal is the Most Political: Bedouin Women in the Negev
Alternative Information Center – 18 Feb 2010 – Tuesday, 16 February 2010, Many women in the West perceived the women of the East as a woman of the noble savage, an obedient woman who sits at home. Their perception of Arab women in the East was a colonial one, and over the years the…
Continued Harassment of Journalists in the West Bank
Alternative Information Center – 18 Feb 2010 – Thursday, 18 February 2010, The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns continued harassment of journalists in the West Bank, which constitutes an assault on the freedom of opinion and expression and press freedoms. PCHR is particularly concerned over an imprisonment sentence issued by a military…
Articles
A Museum of Tolerance we don’t need
Saree Makdisi, Los Angeles Times 2/12/2010
The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s plan to construct an outpost of Los Angeles’ Museum of Tolerance atop the most important Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem is temporarily in disarray. This presents an opportunity to call on the center to abandon this outrageous project once and for all.
The site in question is Ma’man Allah, or the Mamilla Cemetery, which had been in continuous use for centuries until 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled or driven into flight and their private property, including Ma’man Allah, was handed over to Jewish users.
Like Muslim and Christian sites throughout Israel — which, as a 2009 State Department report pointed out, implements protections only for Jewish holy sites — the cemetery has long been threatened. Parts of it have been used as a roadway, parking lots, building sites and Israel’s Independence Park. Among the trees in the park, Palestinian tombstones can still be seen, eerily and all too appropriately.
In 2002, the Wiesenthal Center — which had been given part of the cemetery by the city of Jerusalem — announced that architect Frank Gehry would design a complex to be called the Center for Human Dignity-Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem. Ground was broken in 2004. Palestinian and Muslim concerns were ignored until a lawsuit led to the suspension of excavation in 2006. In 2008, the Israeli Supreme Court — dismissing the appeals not only of Palestinians with relatives buried there but also the protests of Jews appalled by desecration of any cemetery — cleared the way for the project.
The center claims to see nothing wrong with erecting what its leader, Rabbi Marvin Hier, calls “a great landmark promoting the principles of mutual respect and social responsibility” on top of what remains of another people’s cemetery. It has resorted to endless dodges to support its claim. more.. e-mail
The uninvited ghosts that populate Israel’s art history
Robert Fisk, The Belfast Telegraph 2/8/2010
The Palestinians celebrate their lost land with poetry and art, but always it is a place of lost oranges and olive trees and snug village houses; of Arab men, leaning on ancient wells beside classical ruins, proving that Palestine was not, as the popular Zionist narrative would have us believe, a land without people.
So — on the principle that I always try to consume one art gallery in every town in the world in which I set foot — I stepped into the Tel Aviv Museum of Art this week to take a look at how the Jews of Palestine saw their would-be homeland before the 1947-48 Arab exodus.
The Tel Aviv art museum is a blessed relief, an inquiry, amid the propaganda of Zionist super-virtue, into the Jewish dream and the Jewish nightmare — and one which even acknowledges the Arabs of Palestine, albeit sometimes unconsciously.
Historical parallels are obviously dangerous. The Arabs of Palestine did not undergo the pogroms of eastern Europe or the Nazi Holocaust, but their calamity is no less real; and their ghosts — uninvited, no doubt — move persistently through the museum’s galleries, the finest collection of which is David Azrieli’s, the Canadian-Israeli designer and philanthropist. Azreili was himself a refugee — from Poland in 1939. He arrived in Palestine just in time to fight in Israel’s war of independence, the very struggle which created the tragedy of the Palestinian refugees.
There’s a chilling moment in Ziva Koort’s introduction to the collection when she remarks that paintings by Moshe Castel, Sionah Tagger, Marcel Janco and Ludwig Blum “portray the Arab as native to the place, deeply rooted in its landscape… the artists of the 1920s — viewing Arabs as exemplifying a local, indigenous way of life — presented them as picturesque… in environments that could also usually be readily identifiable as local landscapes with oriental characteristics”. more.. e-mail
Talk to Hamas
Arik Diamant and David Zonsheine, The Guardian, The Guardian 2/15/2010
The Israeli media marked the one-year anniversary of Operation Cast Lead, the war on Gaza, almost as a celebration. The operation is recognised almost unanimously in Israel as a military triumph, a combat victory over one of Israel’s deadliest enemies: Hamas.
As combat soldiers of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), we have serious doubts about this conclusion, primarily because hardly any combat against Hamas took place during the operation. As soon as the operation started, Hamas went underground.
Most casualties were inflicted on Palestinians by air strikes, artillery fire, and snipers from afar. Combat victory? Shooting fish in a barrel is more like it. Operation Cast Lead consisted essentially of bombing one of the most crowded places on earth, striking civilian targets such as homes, schools and mosques, and ultimately leaving a trail of more than 1,300 casualties, mostly civilians, over 300 of whom were children. As soldiers of the IDF reserves, we bow our heads in shame against this hideous attack on a civilian population.
As for the goals of the operation, these too are questionable. Allegedly, operation Cast Lead was intended to stop the firing of missiles by Hamas. But the Qassam missile problem had been solved before the operation started. The ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel in place from 19 June 2008 had resulted in a drastic reduction of missiles fired from Gaza from a few hundreds per month to about a dozen for a period of five months. It was Israel that never lived up to its end of the bargain to end the siege of Gaza, breached the ceasefire in November 2008 by attacking targets in the Strip, essentially ignored Hamas’s proposal to renew the ceasefire, and eventually began operation Cast Lead a few weeks later. more.. e-mail
PACBI: Intellectual responsibility and the voice of the colonized
Electronic Intifada: 17 Feb 2010 – The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) has recently encountered a number of projects that while intending to empower the colonized Palestinians, in essence end up undermining their will and choice of method of struggle for freedom, justice and self-determination. The publication of a new book entitled The Power of Inclusive Exclusion: Anatomy of Israeli Rule in the Occupied Palestinian Territories belongs to this category.
Review: A (happily) partial memoir of the second intifada
Electronic Intifada: 17 Feb 2010 – Emma Williams is a doctor who worked in Britain, Pakistan, Afghanistan, New York and South Africa before accompanying her husband, a UN official, to Jerusalem in October 2000. This account of their three years in Palestine, It’s easier to reach heaven than the end of the street – a Jerusalem memoir , was originally published in the UK in 2006 and now appears in a revised and updated US edition. Raymond Deane reviews for The Electronic Intifada
Poland tightens military alliance with Israel
Electronic Intifada: 17 Feb 2010 – Poland’s military has embarked on a “Polonization of Israeli technology” drive, coupling Israeli weapons-manufacturing technology with Polish manpower and raw materials. Poland’s Bumar Group has a 10-year offset deal worth $400 million with Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to produce Spike missiles for drones and helicopter gunships. Ewa Jasiewicz comments.
“At least there’s food in prison!”
Electronic Intifada: 17 Feb 2010 – “This morning,” my neighbor Mona explained to me, “I told my husband that since the kids are out of school and he didn’t need to go into town, I would cook something special and we would have a party.” Mona has a wry sense of humor and I started to wonder what the punch line would be. Joy Ellison writes from al-Tuwani, occupied West Bank.
from the farmers themselves
In Gaza: 17 Feb 2010 – testimonies of farmers’ losses under Israeli aggressions and Zionist policies of land and water annexation.
A History Lesson for Obama
Palestine Chronicle: 17 Feb 2010 – By Henry Norr With President Obama’s Middle East peace plans so completely — and humiliatingly — shipwrecked on the rocks of Israeli intransigence, it’s time for him to consider a new approach, at least if he’s serious about his announced objectives. In the spirit of bipartisanship that he’s so dedicated to, I suggest he look to the way Dwight D. Eisenhower handled a similar predicament a half-century ago. First, a quick review of the goals Obama staked out last year and how much progress his efforts have produced. In his speech in Cairo last June, he noted that the Palestinian people have “for more than 60 years … endured the pain of dislocation” and “the daily humiliations — large and small — that come with occupation.” “Let there be no doubt,” he proclaimed, “the situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. And America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own.” Israel, he went on, “must live up to its obligation to ensure that Palestinians can live and work and develop their society.” Specifically, on the key issue of Israeli colonization of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, he reaffirmed the policy Washington has subscribed to, at least on paper, since 1967: “The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop.” As to the devastated Gaza Strip, Obama…
The Unstated Script of the Wiesel Open Letter to President Obama
Palestine Chronicle: 17 Feb 2010 – By William A. Cook Earlier this month, the Wiesel Foundation for Humanity published, as an advertisement, an open letter to the President of the United States and the leaders of France, Russia, Britain and Germany, a letter carried by the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune. The issue eliciting the need for such a public letter, essentially a letter written to the world, stood boldly as a heading: “How Long Can We Stand Idly By And Watch The Scandal In Iran Unfold?” It occurred to me as I read this piece, signed by a bevy of Nobel Prize winners, that something was missing, some subtext that was not enunciated, some “second prayer” as Mark Twain noted in his satire “The War Prayer,” penned in 1904-5, a second prayer unuttered that accompanies the first. Twain’s satire castigated the government of his day for the needless wars they inflicted on defenseless people as it began America’s quest for empire. He chastised the “sheeples” of his day who drank in the sacred words of their ministers of war who joined the government in its “holy” quest to bring enlightenment to the pagan hordes that lived in distant lands across the seas. That second prayer Twain delivered through an emissary of “the Throne—a message from Almighty God.” Apparently Elie Wiesel has taken it upon himself to direct the governments of the world in his quest for domination of the mid-east, especially the “cruel and oppressive, irresponsible and senseless, the shameless” regime that…
Western Media, Not Israeli Hasbara
Palestine Chronicle: 17 Feb 2010 – By Ramzy Baroud With the dreadful threat of yet another Israeli war in the Middle East looming, Israeli propaganda machine is likely to go into full gear. In fact, trial balloons have already been sent out bearing supposedly unrehearsed comments by former Israeli Army general and current Minister Yossi Peled, suggesting that another war is on its way. More recently, Israel’s ultra-right and unabashedly racist Foreign Minister Avigador Lieberman threatened to topple the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad in case of a war. And so it begins. Historically, Israel has, with one understandable exception, determined the time and place of all of its wars with the Arabs. The only time Israeli forces were attacked in 1973 involved an Arab attempt to regain territories that were captured by Israel in 1967. When Lieberman uttered his “message that should go out to the ruler of Syria from Israel” to an audience at Bar Ilan University, he was effectively saying that Israel will topple the Syrian government when it decides the time was ripe for war. And considering Peled’s earlier statement that war was imminent, the only possible conclusion would be that a “regime change” in Syria is high on the Israeli agenda. It also perhaps represents the last chance of fulfilling the US neoconservative vision – that of “A New Strategy for Securing the Realm”. This inference should have been evident and thus sent shockwaves throughout the world, and especially through the US media which now know fully the price of…
The New Dark Age 
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