News
International Middle East Media Center
Biden: “New Constructions in Jerusalem Undermine Peace Talks”
IMEMC – Wednesday March 10, 2010 – 02:27, U.S. Vice President, Joe Biden, stated that Israel’s Interior Ministry’s decision to build 1600 homes for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem undermines the efforts to restart the Middle East peace process.
Netanyahu Gives Private Talks For The Right Amount
IMEMC – Wednesday March 10, 2010 – 01:40, Directly after finishing his first term as a Prime Minister (1999-2002), Benjamin Netanyahu turned into “an independent figure” who became accustomed to giving lectures and is paid millions of US dollars that are directly deposited in his private bank account.
Abu Rodeina: “By Its New Construction Orders, Israeli Is Foiling Talks Before They Start”
IMEMC – Wednesday March 10, 2010 – 00:12, Nabil Abu Rodeina, spokesperson of the Palestinian Presidency, stated Tuesday that the Israeli decision to build 1600 units for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem is a serious Israeli escalation and an attempt to sabotage the indirect, American mediated talks, before they even start.
Soldiers Attempt to Strip-Search Five Palestinian Women
IMEMC – Tuesday March 09, 2010 – 23:58, Five Palestinians women preferred to go home rather than heading to an Israeli prison to visit their detailed family members after Israeli soldiers stationed at a Roadblock near the central West Bank city of Ramallah demanded to strip-search them.
Palestinians Protest The Israeli Buffer Zone In Northern Gaza Strip
IMEMC – Tuesday March 09, 2010 – 17:41, Palestinians along with international supporters organized on Tuesday a protest at the Eriz crossing at the northern Gaza Strip borders protesting the Israeli army attempts to create a buffer zone.
Palestinian Youth Hurl Molotov —cocktails At Settler Car In Central West Bank
IMEMC – Tuesday March 09, 2010 – 15:29, Palestinian youth hurled on Tuesday two Molotov —cocktails at Israeli settler car near the central West Bank city of Ramallah.
Israel’s Army Takes Over Land In Central West Bank For The Wall Construction
IMEMC – Tuesday March 09, 2010 – 15:17, Israeli troops notified on Tuesday the villagers of Beit liqya, central West Bank, the army intentions to take over part of their land to build the wall.
Imprisoned Qassam Leader Calls For Capturing More Soldiers
IMEMC – Tuesday March 09, 2010 – 12:10, Abdullah Barghouthi, imprisoned leader of the Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, stated that the solution to the issue of thousands of detainees imprisoned by Israel is by capturing more Israeli soldiers to trade them with Palestinian detainees.
Israeli Police Kidnaps Two Children in Hebron
IMEMC – Tuesday March 09, 2010 – 10:35, The Israeli Police kidnapped on Monday evening two brothers, ages 11 and 12, in Tal Romedia neighborhood, in the central of the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
Amidst US Officials visit; Netanyahu’s Government Allocates Millions For Settlements
IMEMC – Tuesday March 09, 2010 – 09:31, “The Marker” Israeli newspaper reported Monday that the Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, decided to allocate dozens of millions of US Dollars for settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.
Witnesses: Israeli official attempts J’lem home takeover
3/9/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an -Israeli Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem David Harari attempted to forcibly enter the Sheikh Jarrah home of Rifqa Al-Kurd on Tuesday morning, but was halted by a number of Jerusalemites, Fatah’s Jerusalem affairs chief Hatem Abdul Qader said. Reports from residents say Harari was in the area on a solidarity visit with the settlers, and was exploring the possibility of taking over part of the Al-Kurd home for an office. Settlers took over one third of the Al-Kurd home last August, setting off a string of home invasions. As of February, nine homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood were occupied by Israeli settlers. When Harari arrived to the home, Abdul Qader and half a dozen Jerusalemites blocked the path to the building. A verbal confrontation and a shoving match between border police and locals ensued, during which Harari was moved into one of the occupied homes, witnesses said.
UN expert Richard Falk: PA told me to quit
3/9/2010 – Chicago – Ma’an – Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said on Monday the Palestinian Authority (PA) urged him to step down after he criticized the PA’s treatment of a UN war crimes report. Falk confirmed reports that the joint PA-PLO mission to the UN in Geneva also delayed consideration in the UN Human Rights Council of his most recent report alleging Israeli abuses of Palestinians’ rights. Arabic-language news reports of the delay surfaced last week. Falk said PA officials formally approached him in February asking him to resign, arguing that he is unable to carry out his responsibilities since Israel detained him at Ben Gurion International Airport and deported him in late 2008. But, he stressed in an interview, “what they [the PA] say formally and what they say informally are quite different. “
Israeli court to hear criminal charges against MK Barakeh
3/9/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – A Tel Aviv court will hold the first hearing of criminal charges against Palestinian member of the Knessent Mohammed Barakeh on Wednesday. Barakeh, the head of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) in the Israeli parliament, was indicted in November 2009 for his involvement in anti-wall and anti-war political protests. Adalah, the legal center for Palestinians in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, whose lawyers represent Barakeh, said in a statement that the charges brought against the MK are based on false evidence and “indicate bad intentions and are politically motivated. ” The Palestinian MK is charged with allegedly assaulting riot police and military officers during demonstrations against the wall and the war on Lebanon, and the lack of accountability. The legal center said the indictment has been “completely refuted and rejected” by MK Barakeh.
Palestinians rally against Gaza buffer zone
3/9/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Hundreds of Palestinians and international solidarity activists joined the weekly challenge to the enforced no-go zone in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, walking out toward the border wall, which has a 150-700meter ‘buffer’ patrolled by the Israeli military. The rally, organized by the popular campaign against the separation fence in Gaza, gathered at the Agricultural College and walked together toward the Erez crossing. Participants chanted slogans opposing the buffer zone, which eats into 15% of the available agricultural land in Gaza, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The march, usually held each week on Mondays, was postponed following International Women’s Day. According to Sabir Za’anin, the campaign’s coordinator, the weekly rally is an expression of refusal for Israel’s decision to create a buffer zone on Gaza’s borders.
PCBS: 15% of women in Palestinian labor force
3/9/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) released a report on indicators of woman’s equality in Palestine on the occasion of International Woman’s Day on Monday. The statistics were presented by Ola Awad, the acting president of PCBS, who spoke of the importance of recognizing the contributions of women in Palestinian life, “as a mother, wife, sister, daughter, worker, and struggler. “The report’s findings were for women in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, for women aged 15 years and above. The marital status of women in 2009 saw 55. 9% married, 6. 1% windowed, 1. 3% divorced, 0. 2% separated, and 36. 5% single. The average age for a woman to marry was 19. 5, while 10% of women over 30 had never been married. Palestinian women were found to have a life expectancy of 73. 2, and make up just under half of the total population. . . .
1 Gaza crossing partially open
3/9/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli authorities opened the Kerem Shalom crossing on Tuesday, transferring two trucks of supplies for the Gaza Power Authority and one truck for PalTel, Palestinian liaison official Raed Fattouh said. Limited humanitarian aid and commercial goods will also enter Gaza through its southern crossing, amounting to 73 to 83 truckloads,Fattouh said. One truck of cut carnations will be transferred out of the Strip under a Dutch government program supporting Gaza farmers, the official added. Restricted quantities of domestic gas and industrial diesel will also enter via the Kerem Shalom crossing, he said. [end]
Gaza: Family injured in kerosene lamp explosion
3/9/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Four Palestinians sustained serious burns before sunrise on Tuesday when a kerosene lamp exploded in a family home in the southern Gaza Strip. The lamp, lit to get the family ready for the day, was used because of continuous rolling blackouts hitting all sectors of Gaza. At 5am, four members of the Abu Fita family from the city’s Al-Qarara neighborhood were taken to the Nasser Hospital for treatment, medics said. Director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in Gaza Muawiya Hassanein said two were admitted in critical condition, and two with light to moderate burns. The accident is the latest in a string of energy-related malfunctions, with at least 10 dead and dozens more injured since January, when extensive blackouts hit the area. Cold weather and improperly stored generators resulted in more than half of the deaths, while poor-quality gas smuggled in from Egypt is believed to be behind the explosion of several gas tanks.
Israeli forces detain 3 teenagers near Bethlehem
3/9/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained three teenagers early Tuesday morning from the village of Husan, west of Bethlehem. Eyewitnesses said the forces raided the village and detained Muntaser Muhammad Za’loul, 17, Hamza Abdullah Shosha, 19, and Laith Shosha, 19. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed that two “wanted” Palestinians were detained in Husan on Tuesday, and had no comment on the third young man. [end]
Hamas detainees mark 18th year in Israeli custody
3/9/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Three prisoners affiliated with Hamas marked 18 years in Israeli detention on Tuesday, the Detainees Support Committee said. Ayman Ash-Shawwa, from Gaza City, was detained in 1993 and sentenced to life, said Riyadh Al-Ashqar, the committee’s spokesman. He added that Saed Muhammad and Atef Al-Masry, detained the same year as Ash-Shawwa, also marked their 18th year in Israeli custody. Al-Ashqar called for the three detainees to be included on a prisoner swap list, as they are considered among the longest serving prisoners. [end]
PA: New settlements could derail talks
3/10/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israel’s plan to build 1,600 new housing units in occupied East Jerusalem is “dangerous” and has the potential to thwart US efforts to restart peace talks, the Office of the President said Tuesday. The Israeli Interior Ministry’s announcement came one day after it approved 112 housing units in the Betar Illit settlement in Bethlehem. Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh issued a stern response to the move, which also came a day after US envoy George Mitchell arrived in the region, saying it could “derail negotiations and ensure the failure of US efforts before they begin. “Abu Rudeineh added: “It is now apparent that the Israeli government does not want negotiations, nor does it want peace. The American administration must respond to this provocation with effective measures. “He said moving forward would “no longer be tolerable” after “these provocations” absent action from the US.
Israel: UN chief, EU official to enter Gaza
3/9/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Israel plans to allow UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton into the besieged Gaza Stripon separate visits, a Monday announcement said. In a statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the authorization came “in response to the special requests. ” On Saturday, Ashton had said she hoped to visit Gaza during a Middle East trip later this month, adding that she planned to go to Israel on 17 March. A spokesman for Ashton cautiously welcomed the announcement. ” It is true that the Israeli government has so far reacted positively to this request,” the spokesman told Agence France-Presse. “We are continuing to work on the final programme for the trip and are continuing to talk with the Israeli government in relation to this,” he was also quoted as saying. Israel has maintained a strict closure of Gaza’s borders since the elected Hamas government took full control of the territory in 2007.
Gaza resistance factions reject indirect talks
3/9/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – De facto Prime Minster Ismail Haniyeh and representatives of Gaza’s resistance factions vowed on Monday to uphold opposition against US-brokered proximity talks with Israel. Alongside advisers and several party leaders in his Gaza City office, Haniyeh outlined ongoing efforts to dissuade the Palestinian Authority from going ahead with talks, calling the idea “absurd,” in the current climate. Hamas denounced the indirect talks on Thursday, with Gaza’s deputy Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) speaker, Ahmad Bahar, calling the move a “waste of the Palestinian cause,” saying the outcomes of any talks would “not meet any standards of legitimacy. ” Representatives at the briefing also agreed on the necessity of national conciliation, government spokesman Taher An-Nunu said. The decisions put resistance factions in line with the Hamas position, which has stated that peace talks. . .
Israel pardons 77 former Fatah fighters
3/9/2010 – Nablus – Ma’an- Israel has agreed to remove 77 former Palestinian fighters from its list of “wanted” men as a continuation of its amnesty program, Palestinian sources said. Palestinian Authority officials were handed a list on Monday night, naming the men who received a pardon, nearly all of them former fighters in the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Brigades in the West Bank. During the past five years, the “wanted” men have signed a pledge renouncing the use of violence and turned in their weapons, agreeing to place themselves into PA police custody in a Nablus-area jail until their amnesty agreements were finalized by Israel. Only 10 of the 77 men received a full pardon, allowing them to live at home and travel freely throughout the West Bank and outside of the country. Nineteen were given a minimal pardon, allowed to move freely in the West Bank during the day but required to sleep in the prison.
Ma’ariv: Israel warns of possible attacks in Seychelles
3/9/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Three Iranians were caught holding stolen Israeli passports as they arrived in the an archipelago nation of Seychelles, northeast of Madagascar, the Israeli daily newspaper Ma’ariv reported on Tuesday. The three were reportedly detained at Seychelles International Airport and were returned to Nairobi where their flight originated. Seychelles authorities informed Israel, who’s authorities allegedlyrevealed that the passports were stolen from Israeli passengers while they were visiting Thailand. ” Israeli security circles believe the Iranians intended to carry out attacks against Israeli tourists in Seychelles especially as the Jewish Passover holiday nears,” Ma’ariv quoted Israeli security sources as saying. . . . .
Fatah rep proposes reconciliation ‘Road Map’
3/9/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – A Palestinian lawmaker representing Fatah in Gaza proposed on Tuesday that Hamas head to Cairo and sign the Egyptian unity plan ahead of the Arab League summit in Tripoli. The trip, according to Ashraf Jum’a, would be the first of four stages allowing Palestinian factions to “climb down from the tree,” Jum’a told Ma’an, in a proposal he termed the “Unity Road Map. ” When the Egyptian document is signed, Jum’a suggested, Egypt will refer it, along with the comments Hamas negotiators had on the plan, to Palestinian factions and to the Arab League. The Arab League will then refer the case to the council of Arab foreign ministers, before the two documents will be held up for discussion in Tripoli for ratification. President Mahmoud Abbas will be invited as president of Palestine, Jum’a proposed, and exiled Hamas leader Khalid Mash’al will be invited as a dignitary.
Egypt allows Kuwaiti aid through Rafah crossing
3/9/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Humanitarian aid for Gaza civilians was transferred through the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, the Union of Arab Doctors (UAD) said. The 18. 5 tons of aid, donated by the Relief and Emergency Committee of the UAD, includes winter clothing, formula milk and blankets for Palestinian children. Muhammad Al-Majdalawi, UAD project manager, said the aid was sent by the Palestine charity committee of the International Islamic Charity Association (IICA) in Kuwait. Al-Majdalawi thanked those who assisted in the donation and transfer of the aid, and praised the work of IICA for its leading role in supporting the Palestinian people. The UAD project manager added that the Relief and Emergency Committee distributed thousands of tins of canned meat to Gaza institutions and charities, to be delivered to the coastal enclave’s residents.
Erekat hesitant in advance of negotiations
3/9/2010 – Jericho – Ma’an – Saeb Erekat, the chief PLO negotiator, on Tuesday expressed reservations on the recently announced indirect negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. “President Abbas wants certain answers to some inquiries he submitted to US Middle East envoy George Mitchell before indirect talks can start,” Erekat told reporters in Jericho. “The required answers are about the Israeli government’s approval of more residential units in settlements and home demolitions. We expect answers within the coming days,” he added. Erekat said the proposed indirect negotiations, expected to begin soon, would be futile if the borders of the future Palestinian state were not agreed upon in advance. Border proposals must include all the Palestinian territories occupied on 4 June 1967, he added. The top PLO official stressed that “indirect talks shouldn’t be traditional, with the US mediator. . . “
No deadline set for Al-Husseini inquiry
3/9/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – No date has been set for the end of government investigations into the corruption and sex scandal allegations against former chief of staff Rafiq Al-Husseini, a presidential representative said Monday. Speaking for the office of the president, Rafiq An-Natsha said investigators preferred not to set a deadline for the Al-Husseini inquiry because it remained unclear how many former officials and businessmen would be involved in the investigation. During a short briefing with Ma’an radio, An-Natsha said the committee started working two weeks ago, but was still undergoing changes to its structure. Only last week, he said, Salleh Ra’fat, the secretary-general of the Fida party, became president of the committee. Ra’fat replaced Abu Maher Ghneim, who was initially appointed by President Mahmoud Abbas to head the committee.
Hamas, Fatah in Ofer prison make steps to unity
3/9/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Hamas-affiliated prisoners at Israel’s Ofer detention center near Ramallah received Fatah detainees on Monday, following a request made by all factions in the prison last week. On 4 March, leaders of the Hamas and Fatah parties inside the prison signed an agreement, mediated by Islamic Jihad affiliates, to halt the segregation of party members in the facility, and made an official request to be joined in the same ward. “Hamas-affiliated prisoners stood in line to receive their brothers from Fatah. They shook hands and embraced as each prisoner greeted the other amidst unprecedented happiness and good atmosphere since rivalry between Hamas and Fatah started,” Ofer Hamas representative Hani Abu As-Siba told the Ahrar Center for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights. ” We share the walls and chains in this jail and we all suffer here for the same cause. “
In photos: Law and order in Tulkarem
3/9/2010 – MaanImages/Mouid Ashqar – A Palestinian security officer checks driver’s licenses as part of a traffic campaign in the West Bank village of Atil, near Tulkarem, on 8 March 2010. [end]
PA police arrest drug dealers, seize forged passports
3/9/2010 – Qalqiliya – Ma’an – Palestinian Authority police arrested two suspected drug dealers on Tuesday and confiscated forged international passports in the northern West Bank city of Qalqiliya. Local police said they received information on hashish dealers operating from a Qalqiliya home; the home was raided and large amounts of the narcotics were seized, a police report said. The report said one of the drug dealers confessed to bringing the narcotics in from Israel and to working with an accomplice. When the second suspect was apprehended, police found and seized forged international documents and pornography, the report said. The suspects were taken for further questioning and will appear before a judge following the end of investigations, police said. . . . .
Gaza union to sue over tax inequality
3/9/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – The Civil Servants Union in the Gaza Strip will bring suit against the West Bank-based insurance and salaries committee over allegedly unfair practices, the union’s top executive said Tuesday. Aref Abu Jarad told Ma’an that the union held several meetings last week with a legal advisor and specialist in labor disputes. He was informed of the complaint and urged the union to file suit against the committee. From 1994 to 2005, according to Abu Jarad, the insurance and salaries committee deducted 10 percent of Gaza workers’ salaries while charging only two percent of those based in the West Bank. The apparent justification was some sectors of Gaza still operate under Egyptian law, which allows for higher tax rates, while the West Bank follows an old Jordanian law that deducts only two percent. In 2005, the Palestinian Legislative Committee passed a bill that would have equalized. . .
Haniyeh to appoint female minister
3/9/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – De facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh announced Tuesday that his government intends to appoint a female minister to head a Women’s Affairs Ministry in the Gaza Strip. “The government is planning to appoint a number of female ministers to better include them in the decision-making process,” Haniyeh told attendees at an event honoring women in the workforce in Gaza City. “We are a national government, based on Islamic principles, and we call on women to be more involved in the parliament, municipalities, and ministries. We are proud of this for this is a woman’s right,” he added, speaking at the Palestinian Legislative Council building. Haniyeh said the Gaza government will place more importance on women’s issues, and giving their concerns more attention. The announcement came a day after Palestinian women marked International Women’s Day, taking part in rallies and other events throughout the occupied Palestinian territories.
Settlement plastic seized near Hebron
3/9/2010 – Hebron – Ma’an – Finance Ministry customs officers seized 51 tons of plastic granules en route to Ramallah on Tuesday, officials said. The head of the customs department, Khaleb Diwan, said the move came after Palestinian Authority cabinet banned goods from Israeli settlements, which includes goods produced in settlements. Diwan urged factory owners not to handle products from Israeli settlements, and to seek alternatives. He warned that customs agents were working 24 hours a day to thwart attempts to smuggle goods from the settlements. [end]
PSE rises: Al-Quds index up .21 points on Tuesday
3/9/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Stocks rose on the Palestine Securities Exchange on Tuesday, with the Al-Quds Index standing at 528. 32, increasing by 0. 21 (0. 04%) at the close of trading. Trading volume was 1,060,399 for a total of US $1,312,841. 26, executed through 364 trades. The shares of 24 companies were traded. The share prices of nine companies rose, while those of eight declined. The top five gainers were AMB (4. 88%), GCOM (4. 35%), ARE (3. 51%), LADAEN (3. 45%), and NSC by (3. 09%). The top five losers were AIB (1. 74%), GMC (1. 37%), PRICO (1. 37%), UCI (1. 32%), and BPC (1. 22%). [end]
Iran maneuvering Israel in a show of nuclear strength
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Iran concluded that the danger of an Israeli strike of nuclear sites has been neutralized.
IDF arrests Palestinian tractor driver who fled West Bank crash
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Three Israelis injured after tractor slammed into their car; IDF believes incident not terror-related.
U.S. urges caution as Israel okays 112 new West Bank homes
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – State Department says move does not violate freeze; Palestinians: Israel trying to sabotage talks.
PA moves to ban Palestinians from working in settlements
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Economics Min. drafting law he hopes will pass this month; PA already moving against settlement-made goods.
Palestinian boy freed from IDF jail without paying bail
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Hebron teenager had been held for nine days for alleged stone-throwing, after family unable to pay NIS 2,000.
Six Palestinians killed in accident with IDF jeep
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Car swerves off course head-on into IDF armed jeep near Ofra settlement in West Bank.
Report: Hamas admits losing control in Gaza
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Gaza in anarchy as extremist groups challenge Hamas regime, military chief tells Damascus leader.
IDF to release new findings defending Gaza war strike
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Army uses reports by Hamas and Islamic Jihad to justify mosque attack during Operation Cast Lead.
Israel treading carefully to avoid war with Syria
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – IDF cancels part of massive combat training exercise to calm tensions along northern border.
Shin Bet’s Hamas spy hires bodyguards after Haaretz story
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – I love my father, but his movement is arrogant and evil, says Hamas leader’s son who spied for Israel.
Respected Danish journalist admits ‘I was a Mossad agent’
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – It’s not uncommon for secret agents to take up a career in journalism as a cover for clandestine work.
IDF calls off West Bank raid due to Facebook leak
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Soldier updated his status with details of the time and place of the West Bank operation.
Jordan jails 6 for plotting to fight Israel during Gaza war
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Five suspects arrested in April, May 2009, with the other, still at large, tried in absentia.
Is Israel really a target for chemical warfare?
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – In their latest blog, Harel and Issacharoff ponder Israel’s decision to distribute gas masks to all citizens.
IDF recording license plates of Israeli anti-fence protesters
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Document lists vehicle registration numbers of Leftists in effort to forbid their entry into West Bank.
Alternative reading of Hamas murder
Uruknet March 9, 2010 – The killing of Palestinian activist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh on January 19 was clearly a well-planned act, committed by Israeli assassins in the supposed safety of a sovereign country, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Yes, Mabhouh was a Palestinian activist. We have no reason to believe otherwise. He spent years of his life in Israeli prisons -…
Totalitarian Democracy?The Crackdown on Israeli Dissidents
Uruknet March 9, 2010 – A heavy-handed crack down on Israeli dissidents is drawing sharp criticism by human rights organizations and at least a mild judicial slap on the wrist for the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. The authorities are targeting such groups as B’Tselem, New Israel Fund (NIF), the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), as well as foreign activists…
Witnesses: Israeli official attempts Sheikh Jarrah home takeover
Uruknet March 9, 2010 — Israeli Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem David Harari attempted to forcibly enter the Sheikh Jarrah home of Rifqa Al-Kurd on Tuesday morning, but was halted by a number of Jerusalemites, Fatah’s Jerusalem affairs chief Hatem Abdul Qader said. Reports from residents say Harari was in the area on a solidarity visit with the settlers, and was exploring…
In Israel, Biden says U.S. dedication to nation’s security is ‘absolute’
Uruknet March 9, 2010 – Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday began an effort to heal strained ties with Israel, pledging a total U.S. commitment to Israel’s security and declaring that the bonds between the nations were “unbreakable.” Opening a day of consultations with Israeli leaders, Biden also promoted indirect peace talks, set to begin soon, saying they offered “a moment…
New suspect named in Dubai assassination
Uruknet March 9, 2010 – The 27th suspect wanted over the assassination of a Hamas leader in his luxury hotel room in Dubai earlier this year has been named by Interpol, which issued arrest notices yesterday for an additional 16 people in connection with the killing. The international police agency issued red notices, its highest-level alert, for a 16-strong team accused…
Q&A:’Israeli Siege Causing De-development of Gaza’David Cronin interviews MAHMOUD ABU RAHMA, Gazan human rights worker
Uruknet March 8, 2010 – …Most people think that the siege of Gaza, the blockade, started in June 2007. But I would say that the blockade started in June 1967. The first Israeli military order after the Six-Day War announced that the Gaza Strip was a unit and the West Bank was another unit and that they were two closed military…
Does Israel hope to spark a new wave of suicide bombing?
Uruknet March 9, 2010 – Here in the civilised West we hate suicide bombers with a passion. We’re taught that the proper way to blow fellow humans to smithereens is to do it from 40,000 feet. Or failing that, send Apache helicopter gun-ships at street level firing their laser-guided missiles and 30mm cannon. Or failing that, turn loose our main battle…
Waterboarding for dummies
Uruknet March 9, 2010 – Self-proclaimed waterboarding fan Dick Cheney called it a no-brainer in a 2006 radio interview: Terror suspects should get a “a dunk in the water.” But recently released internal documents reveal the controversial “enhanced interrogation” practice was far more brutal on detainees than Cheney’s description sounds, and was administered with meticulous cruelty. Interrogators pumped detainees full of…
Palestinian Revolutionaries on International Women’s Day
Uruknet March 8, 2010 – The Palestinian people’s oppression continues primarily due to the financial, diplomatic and military support that the Zionist state receives from the USA, and secondly the acquiescence of pro-Western states in the region. After the fall of the Zionists state’s long lost brother — the Apartheid state of South Africa — the Palestinian struggle remains perhaps the…
Israel’s Apartheid
Uruknet March 8, 2010 – For the first two weeks of March, Palestine’s supporters around the world focus public attention on Israel’s continued brutal occupation of the West Bank and its even more vicious siege of Gaza. They do so through Israeli Apartheid Week and this is the sixth year the public education campaign has taken place. One of the principal…
Life in the Gazan “Buffer Zone”
Uruknet March 8, 2010 – When I wrote last, I was still in Cairo, beginning to lose hope. However, shortly after, a friend at the UN Relief & Works Agency (UNRWA) was miraculously able to get me into Gaza through Israel’s Erez Crossing. In a shockingly quick two days, I was in! Among my first activities was this protest…. The Israelis…
Quiet revolution that is freezing Palestinians out of Jerusalem
Uruknet March 8, 2010 – In the brochure handed out by the mayor’s office in Jerusalem last week, there were pretty sketches illustrating a development that would turn a poor, crowded area into a park, with streams, restaurants and hotels. It talked of reviving the area’s “ancient glory” and returning the site to “an island of green” just outside the walls…
European MEPs call on EU to play greater role in peace process
Brussels, Belgium, March 9, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Six MEPs who participated recently in the largest delegation of European parliamentarians to visit Gaza met this morning with Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, and called on the European Union to play a greater role in the Israel-Palestine peace process. The group met with Buzek in advance of his meeting…
Clashes erupt between Israeli police and Palestinians
West Bank, March 9, 2010 (Pal Telegraph)- A Palestinian was injured when clashes erupted on Tuesday morning between Israeli police and residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Local sources in the neighborhood said: “Deputy Jerusalem Mayor David Hadari raided the neighborhood to establish a chamber at Refqa Al-Kurdi’s house, an old woman whose house had already been confiscated by the…
Israel conducts limited invasion in Al-Burij camp
Gaza, March 9, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli occupation forces invaded today a limited area to the east of Al-Burij camp in central Gaza Strip. According SAFA news agency, a force of two Israeli vehicles, four bulldozers and an infantry unit invaded the border area, where the bulldozers razed agricultural land near the border of 1948 Palestine. The Israeli occupation…
A Pr?©cis of Israeli Violations during February 2010
Palestine, March 9, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – The Department of International Relations /PLO has issued this “Pr?©cis of Israeli Violations during February 2010.” No. Violation Notes 1. Willful Killings 3 Palestinian citizens were killed during Israeli bombardment against the Palestinian civilian communities in Gaza. 2. Wounds 79 Palestinian citizens, including participants in peace demonstrations against the apartheid wall were wounded….
Women celebrate International Women’s Day by…working
Gaza, March 8, 2010 (Pal Telegraph; by Fares Akeram and Sami Ajrami) — Halima Ghaben, 47, doesn’t care about competing with men at a market in Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip. A mother of eight, she sells strawberries to make money for the family. In a challenge to Gaza customs that a woman’s place is in the home,…
Ancient Gaza roadway still a vital resource
The National 9 Mar 2010 – Though it has outlived its usefulness as a trade route and has been restricted by political turmoil, the Salah al Din Road breathes life into Gaza.
White House condemns Israel for latest illegal settlement
The National 9 Mar 2010 – As visiting vice president Biden hails real opportunity’ for progress, Israel embarrasses him with announcement of West Bank project.
Corrie family finally puts Israel in dock over daughter’s death
The National 9 Mar 2010 – Parents take legal action after US peace activist daughter was killed by an army bulldozer in 2003 as she tried to protect Palestinian homes.
Visa Denials Harming Palestinian Economy
The Media Line 8 Mar 2010 – Trade organization says Israel is violating Oslo agreements. Israel’s refusal to issue visas is the main obstacle to foreign investment in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian trade organization has claimed. PalTrade, the…
Israel Will Allow Ban Ki-moon and Ashton Access to the Gaza Strip
The Media Line 8 Mar 2010 – In a reversal of policy which has prevented European leaders from having access to the Gaza Strip, Israel’s administration will allow United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and European Union High Representative of Foreign Affairs Catherine…
Jordan turns to Islamic banking
AlJazeera 8 Mar 2010 – Government in Amman borrows millions of dollars from nation’s Islamic bank.
Lebanon defence talks adjourned
AlJazeera 9 Mar 2010 – Rival political parties adjourn talks on national defence strategy to April 15.
Syria and Israel eye nuclear plants
AlJazeera 9 Mar 2010 – Middle East rivals announce plans to develop nuclear energy to meet energy need.
US condemns Israeli expansion
AlJazeera 9 Mar 2010 – Biden denounces move to build 1,600 illegal homes that could derail talks with Palestinians.
Alternative Information Center
Border Police Critically Injures 14 Year Old in Nabi Saleh Demonstration
Alternative Information Center – Saturday, 06 March 2010, The 14 year old boy was critically injured during a demonstration in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh against creeping land grab by the adjacent Jewish-only settlement of Halamish.
News from Within Videocast: The Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem
Alternative Information Center – Friday, 05 March 2010, The US-based Center for Constitutional Rights is petitioning various United Nations offices, of Palestinian families whose ancestors are buried in the Mamila Cemetery. The cemetery better known as Mamilla, has been a…
Conclusions of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine
Alternative Information Center – Friday, 05 March 2010, These are the conclusions of the Jury pertaining to the Barcelona session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. However, the contents are subject to the normal processes of editing and corrections before…
Joe Biden in Israel to press Middle East peace talks
PNN – Tuesday, 09 March 2010
Latest suspect in Dubai hit shares name with Australian-Israeli
PNN – Tuesday, 09 March 2010
Israel ‘risking peace talks’ with West Bank building
PNN – Monday, 08 March 2010
Palestinian, skeptical, agree to talks with Israel
PNN – Monday, 08 March 2010
Kiryat Gat: Meir Panim breaks ground on nutrition center
Jeruslalem Post 9 Mar 2010 – Nonprofit relief agency starts work on what it says will be largest anti-hunger center in Israel; Gov’t pledges NIS 22m. for food aid NGOs.
US slams new J’lem homes approval
Jeruslalem Post 9 Mar 2010 – Erekat says gov’t plan to build 1,600 east J’lem housing units “destroys” trust.
Analysis: Veep shows Israel some love
Jeruslalem Post 9 Mar 2010 – In Jerusalem, Biden reiterates Washington’s “absolute, total unvarnished commitment to Israel’s security.”
Israel takes 77 Fatah men off wanted list as reward to PA
Jeruslalem Post 9 Mar 2010 – Sources say none of the pardoned men were directly involved in murder.
Deputy mayor wants more Jews in E. J’lem
Jeruslalem Post 9 Mar 2010 – Many Sheikh Jarrah homes will soon be populated with Jews, Hadari says.
Israel sets up trial program to expedite PA export process
Jeruslalem Post 9 Mar 2010 – Palestinians in the West Bank mostly export agricultural goods such as olives, tomatoes and peppers, valued currently at around $50,000 a year.
UNHCR: Eritreans by far largest refugee group in Israel
Jeruslalem Post 9 Mar 2010 – 90% of Eritrean asylum-seekers are men, many of whom fled indefinite compulsory military duty.
Sharansky blasts ‚Äòsneaky’ additions to conversion bill
Jeruslalem Post 9 Mar 2010 – “The last thing Israel needs is to open a front against the many Jews who live in the Diaspora,” JA chairman warns.
1,600 new east J’lem homes okayed
Jeruslalem Post 9 Mar 2010 – PA negotiator says Interior Ministry move “destroys” trust required for peace talks.
MIDEAST: Israeli Left Emerges From Coma Amid Atrocities
IPS SHEIKH JARRAH, Occupied East Jerusalem, Mar 9 (IPS) – Amid the wave of violence that swept through the occupied Palestinian West Bank, including East Jerusalem, over the last few days, there are signs that the Israeli left may be emerging from its collective coma.
Q&A: ‘Israeli Siege Causing De-development of Gaza’
IPS BRUSSELS, Mar 8 (IPS) – For the first time since September 2006, Mahmoud Abu Rahma, a leading figure in the Palestinian human rights group Al Mezan, has been granted permission to travel outside Gaza.
MIDEAST: Palestinians Preparing for Statehood Anyhow
IPS JERUSALEM, Mar 8 (IPS) – Was it Yasser Arafat’s biggest political error? A decade ago, the deadline for the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel as envisaged in the 1993 Oslo peace accords thrust itself into the fruitless Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
MIDEAST: Palestinian Homes on ‘David’s Garden’ Spared for Now
IPS SILWAN, Occupied East Jerusalem, Mar 5 (IPS) – Outside the Bedouin-style protest tent in the heart of this Palestinian neighbourhood, the anger is palpable, but controlled.
PCHR’s Deputy Director Meets with Delegation of British Parliamentarians
PCHR 6 Mar 2010 – Ref : 28 / 2010 On Saturday, 06 March 2010, Mr. Jaber Weshah, Deputy Director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), met with a delegation of British Parliamentarians headed by Stephen Williams. The delegation included Lord David Steel, Former Leader of the Liberal Party, Andy Slaughter, Karen Buck and Graham Bambrough.
House of Member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council Fired at
PCHR 6 Mar 2010 – Field Update On Friday evening, 05 March 2010, unknown persons fired at the house of a member of the Revolutionary Council of Fatah Movement in Gaza City. No casualties were reported.
International Solidarity Movement
Settlers destroy natural spring used by Palestinians for farming near Salfit
3/9/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – International Solidarity Movement, 8 March – A group of Israeli settlers today destroyed a spring by the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan in the Salfit district. The settlers poured sand and cement into the spring, guarded by five armed members of the Israeli military. Palestinians from the village were forced to watch helplessly as events unfolded, prevented by the soldiers from moving close to the spring or from filming what was happening. International Solidarity Movement volunteers were able to secretly film for a short time before the soldiers noticed, and made both Palestinians and Internationals leave, saying that the area was now designated as a Closed Military Zone. Last Friday, a large group of both Palestinians and internationals spent the day clearing the area around the spring to make it more accessible from the village.
Montreal: 500 Artists Against Israeli Apartheid
3/9/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – Tadamon! – February 25 – A call from Montreal artists to support the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid. Today, a broad spectrum of Montreal artists are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and supporting the growing international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the Israeli state. Last winter, the Israeli state launched a violent military assault on the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip, leaving over 1400 Palestinians dead, including over 300 children. Despite the official end of military operations, the blockade continues to this day, with devastating consequences for Gaza’s residents. Over 60 years from the beginning of the ongoing Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) in 1948, in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from historic Palestine through. . .
U.K. honors British Holocaust heroes with new awards
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Gordon Brown: These individuals are true British heroes and a source of national pride for all of us
Jewish lobbying sways EU against support of Goldstone Gaza report
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Christian Democrats block joint motion for resolution demanding report’s implementation.
Netanyahu to Biden: We didn’t seek to embarrass you over East Jerusalem construction
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Israel’s plan to build 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem has created tensions with the U.S.
When Israelis degrade Israel by humiliating Joe Biden
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – There are ostensible super-patriots who revel in shots across the bow of the American ship of state.
Biden: East Jerusalem plan undermines peace talks
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Vice president says timing of plan to build new homes undermines trust ahead of proximity talks.
European group may probe Israel decision to indict Arab MK
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Mohammed Barakeh charged with allegedly attacking policeman during anti-separation fence rally.
Biden: U.S. will always stand by those who take risks for peace
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Vice President pledges commitment to Israel’s security; U.S.: Annapolis understandings non-binding.
Latest suspect in Dubai hit shares name with Australian-Israeli
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Interpol issues arrest notices for total of 27 suspects, lists lastest as Joshua Aaron Krycer.
Egypt to finance renovation of synagogues, Jewish sites
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Culture Minister Farouk Hosny: Jewish sites are as much a part of Egypt’s culture as Muslim mosques.
Report: New Iran destroyer test fires missile
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Jamaran destroyer, the first Iranian-built warship, fires surface to surface type missile.
Israel says Syria talks not imminent, but lauds Turkey offer to mediate
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Turkey PM Erdogan earlier claimed that Israel has accepted offer and that talks could begin ‘any minute’.
Peres calls for ‘total’ world isolation of Ahmadinejad
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Peres to Biden: Israel trusts Obama on Iran, but nobody really knows what they are planning.
Both Israel and Syria declare plans to develop nuclear energy
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Syria looks to meet growing energy needs, while Israel says in Mideast a state can depend only on itself.
Israel cannot abandon military option on Iran
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Our enemy is a vicious madman who seeks to reduce the Mideast to a stretch of Sharia extremism.
Israel must talk to Hamas before it’s too late
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Israel’s abandonment of Shalit is symptomatic of Zionism’s failure, the elevation of pride over wisdom.
Israeli go-ahead for new settlement homes casts cloud over Biden visit
The Guardian 9 Mar 2010 – ‚Ä¢ 1,600 homes to be built in East Jerusalem settlement ‚Ä¢ Vice-president says the deal undermines trust Joe Biden, the US vice-president, condemned a plan by Israel to build 1,600 homes on occupied Palestinian land in…
OECD is ushering Israel in too easily | Seth Freedman
The Guardian 9 Mar 2010 – Economic pressure is a powerful tool when it comes to Israel, and the OECD is undermining the EU’s firm stance Despite all the diplomatic disquiet over Israeli policy towards the Palestinians, actions speak far louder than…
Joe Biden offers Israel full US support
The Guardian 9 Mar 2010 – In talks with Binyamin Netanyahu, US vice-president stresses need to prevent Iran obtaining nuclear weapons The US vice-president, Joe Biden, promised the Israeli government today that it had the strong support of Washington and said the…
Israel approves more construction in West Bank settlement
The Guardian 8 Mar 2010 – Approval to build 112 new flats in Beitar Illit comes despite Israeli government’s partial curbs on settlement construction The Israeli defence ministry today authorised further construction in a Jewish settlement on the occupied West Bank. The…
Joe Biden and George Mitchell arrive to kick-start Israeli-Palestinian talks
The Guardian 8 Mar 2010 – Indirect negotiations mark first return to peace process since Gaza war The US vice-president, Joe Biden, is due in Israel tomorrow for an American diplomatic initiative to start indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The…
Israel to start formally monitoring PA incitement
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Israel is to begin officially monitoring incitement in the Palestinian Authority and will periodically issue a report on it, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee last week. …
Ancient Ashdod bridge restored to former glory
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – The Ad Halom interchange south of Ashdod is known to most Israelis for its heavy traffic jams twice a day. The thousands of vehicles going in and out of Ashdod led the Israel National Road Company to construct a new interchange, inaugurated some weeks ago. But in the publicity surrounding the inauguration, which starred the head of the road company and the minister of transportation, one element of the interchange project was lost: The preservation of the project’s oldest bridge, built 900 years ago by the Mamluks. …
Group calls for left-wing radio to counter new East Jerusalem station
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – The Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc) has asked Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon to create a radio station catering to the political left, several weeks after the station Galei Israel was established in Givat Ze’ev, East Jerusalem to serve the national-religious community. …
Israel’s biggest company to get new CEO after 30 years
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – An era is ending at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and a new one is beginning: The Israeli drug company announced Tuesday that vice chairman Phillip Frost would be succeeding chairman Eli Hurvitz. …
Boisterous Israel may simmer down in face of strict noise regulations
Ha’aretz 9 Mar 2010 – Israel is generally considered a noisy country, blessed with an abundance of car horns, alarms and loud talkers. Should the noise-reduction regulations promoted by Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan be approved, however, Israel may soon enjoy an almost European quiet – at least on paper. …
Ban to visit Israel and occupied Palestinian territories later this month
Relief Web 9 Mar 2010 – Source: UN News Service
Kuwait Red Crescent donates $277,000 for Gaza refugee families
Relief Web 9 Mar 2010 – Source: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
Increased humanitarian aid to Gaza after IDF operation 6 Mar 2010
Relief Web 8 Mar 2010 – Source: Government of Israel
Israel to allow Ashton, Ban into Gaza Strip
Relief Web 8 Mar 2010 – Source: Reuters – AlertNet
PRESS ENCOUNTER BY U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON UPON RETURN FROM CHILE
Relief Web 8 Mar 2010 – Source: UN Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
On International Women’s Day, UNRWA and the EU Celebrate Palestinian Women
Relief Web 8 Mar 2010 – Source: European Commission, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
PM demanded no surprises from Yishai during Biden visit
YNet News 9 Mar 2010 – After approving construction of 1,600 housing units in east J’lem during US vice president’s visit, interior minister claims timing coincidental, but Ynet learns Netanyahu repeatedly demanded Yishai follow matter to prevent any embarrassment
UN team to neutralize unexploded ordnance in Gaza
YNet News 9 Mar 2010 – Chief of Staff permits entry of special bomb disposal unit; operation aimed at preventing further civilian casualties following Operation Cast Lead
White House condemns east Jerusalem building
YNet News 9 Mar 2010 – US angered by Interior Minister Eli Yishai’s decision to approve construction of 1,600 housing units in Ramat Shlomo. Vice President Biden: Move undermines trust
Brazil’s president says Iran sanctions dangerous
YNet News 9 Mar 2010 – President Luiz Inacio da Silva says sanctions could isolate Iran so much that tensions would spiral out of control, lead to war. Says, ‘We don’t want to repeat in Iran what happened in Iraq…In whose interest is a war?’
Gazan hairdressers protest Hamas restrictions
YNet News 9 Mar 2010 – Male coiffeurs in Strip file complaint with human rights group against edict banning them from cutting women’s hair; hope to pressure government to revoke decision
Ice cream truck serves as bedroom
YNet News 9 Mar 2010 – Netanya police discover 14 Palestinians illegally residing in Israel who use truck as sleeping quarters, including youths of 13, 14-years-old
Biden at Yad Vashem: Israel a central bolt in our existence
YNet News 9 Mar 2010 – US vice president visits Holocaust history museum, signs guest book saying he took son to visit German death camp, then to Israel to see how human spirit cannot be destroyed
Abbas: Israel creating provocation
YNet News 9 Mar 2010 – Decision to construct 1,600 housing units in east Jerusalem liable to undermine negotiations, destroy efforts to renew talks, PA president says
PM’s wife to Jill Biden: Peace starts from within
YNet News 9 Mar 2010 – Sarah Netanyahu tours Jerusalem with US vice president’s wife, shows the latter examples of coexistence between Jews, Arabs
Israel approves new settler homes as Biden talks peace
Daily Star 9 Mar 2010 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel on Tuesday approved the construction of 1,600 new settler homes in occupied East Jerusalem, announcing the move as US Vice President Joe Biden met top Israeli officials to boost renewed peace efforts. The move infuriated the Palestinians, who consider settlements to be a major hurdle in long-hobbled attempts
Barak: Israel will hold all of Lebanon responsible for any Hizbullah attack
Daily Star 9 Mar 2010 BEIRUT: Israel will not launch an assault on southern Lebanon but will retaliate indiscriminately should it be provoked, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday. Addressing high school students in northern Israel, Barak dampened previous bellicose rhetoric on future conflicts with Lebanon’s Hizbullah. “We are not looking for confrontations.
Dubai’s police chief accuses Mossad of ‘vast falsification’ of passports
Daily Star 9 Mar 2010 DUBAI: Dubai’s police chief accused Israel on Tuesday of “vast falsification” of travel documents, noting that dozens of false passports were uncovered following a Hamas leader’s murder in the emirate.”I [am raising] the alarm. Israel is falsifying Western passports on a large scale. We discover forged passports on a daily basis,” Dahi Khalfan told AFP.
Ally denies Khatami barred from leaving Iran
Daily Star 9 Mar 2010 TEHRAN: A close ally of Mohammad Khatami denied a report by a semi-official news agency on Tuesday that the reformist former president had been barred from leaving Iran.”No, it is not correct. Mr Khatami has not been barred from leaving the country,” the ally told Reuters.Khatami supported opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in Iran’s disputed presidential election last June,
Defiant Tehran gets backing over sanctions
Daily Star 9 Mar 2010 DOHA: Iran said on Tuesday it can deter attacks over its nuclear drive, as China and Turkey raised doubts about sanctions and the United States reassured Israel of its will to stop Tehran getting atomic arms.Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar made the defiant statement after signing a security agreement in Doha with Qatar
Palestinian Information Center
Hamas report: IOF and Abbas’s militias killed last year 1,090 Palestinians
PIC 9 Mar 2010 – Hamas said that the Israeli occupation forces and Mahmoud Abbas’s militias killed during 2009 a total of 1,090 Palestinians and kidnapped 3,665 others in the context of their security cooperation.
Buzek: Gaza power crisis should be solved
PIC 9 Mar 2010 – President of the European parliament Jerzy Buzek on Tuesday said that the electricity crisis in besieged Gaza Strip should be solved the soonest.
Falk: Ramallah authority asked me to quit
PIC 9 Mar 2010 – Peter Falk, the UN rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian lands, said on Tuesday that the PA in Ramallah had asked him to leave his post.
Masri: No dissension within Hamas
PIC 9 Mar 2010 – Mushir Al-Masri condemned the rumor spread by some pro-Zionist media about the presence of substantial differences between Hamas leaders as the “merchandise of bankrupt people”.
Badawil: US attempts to start peace talks aimed to abort the reconciliation
PIC 9 Mar 2010 – Senior Hamas official Salah Al-Bardawil said on Tuesday that the US efforts to launch indirect Palestinian-Israeli peace talks are frivolous attempts aimed to undermine the national reconciliation.
Mansi: Continued building in settlements a crime
PIC 9 Mar 2010 – Dr. Yousef Mansi on Tuesday denounced the Israeli occupation government’s decision to build 112 housing units in the West Bank despite an alleged construction freeze in those settlements.
IOF soldiers bulldoze land in central Gaza, confiscate land in Ramallah
PIC 9 Mar 2010 – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Tuesday advanced into central Gaza Strip and bulldozed cultivated land lots east of Breij refugee camp, witnesses reported.
Haneyya announces intention to appoint a woman as minister
PIC 9 Mar 2010 – Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya announced on Tuesday that he was planning to appoint a woman for the post of minister of women affairs.
Hammad: The PA will not allow a third Intifada
PIC 9 Mar 2010 – Nimir Hammad, an advisor to Mahmoud Abbas, said Monday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) would not allow the outbreak of a third Intifada (uprising).
Barghouthi demands capture of more IOF soldiers
PIC 9 Mar 2010 – Abdullah Barghouthi, a Hamas commander serving 67 life sentences in Israeli occupation jails, has renewed insistence on resisting occupation of his land until final liberation.
Biden’s Israel visit takes a rocky turn
LA Times 9 Mar 2010 – Hours after he avows U.S. support, officials there announce plans for new housing in a disputed area. In the midst of a high-profile trip by Vice President Joe Biden, Israel unveiled plans for new housing in disputed Jerusalem on Tuesday, a surprise step that embarrassed and angered the highest ranking Obama administration official yet to visit the country.
Letter on Muslim radical roils GOP Senate race
LA Times 9 Mar 2010 – Website posts text contradicting Tom Campbell’s claim of writing on behalf of donor Sami Al-Arian before 9/11. Terrorism and the Middle East are continuing to roil the Republican Senate contest after a letter written by former congressman Tom Campbell emerged that appeared to contradict statements Campbell and his aides had made about his dealings with a radical Muslim professor.
Vice President Biden on goodwill trip to Israel
LA Times 8 Mar 2010 – Biden is set to arrive Monday, with a goal of mending relations between U.S. and Israel after a tough first year in which Obama’s demands in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict alienated many in Israel. Vice President Joe Biden was due to arrive Monday in Israel on a mission to mend relations after a rocky first year for new administrations in both countries.
Israel Intends to Build Civilian Nuclear Plants
New York Times 9 Mar 2010 – Israel, widely believed to have nuclear weapons and possessing no oil, said on Tuesday that it intended to develop civilian nuclear plants for energy.
As Biden Visits, Israel Unveils Plan for New Settlements
New York Times 9 Mar 2010 – The plan to build 1,600 new homes in Jerusalem is likely to complicate relations with the U.S. as Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. tours the region.
Jerusalem Journal: Palestinian Family’s Eviction Stirs Old Ghosts in a Contested City
New York Times 9 Mar 2010 – The removal of a Palestinian family has touched two nerves: the fate of East Jerusalem and the grievances of refugees from the 1948 war.
Israelis Against Israeli Settlements
New York Times 9 Mar 2010 – Plans to move more Israelis into Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem have been met with opposition from Israelis who favor the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in that part of the city.
Iranian Filmmaker Speaks Out on Prisoners
New York Times 9 Mar 2010 – Abbas Kiarostami, a celebrated Iranian filmmaker, published an open letter in a Tehran newspaper on Tuesday calling for the release two directors recently detained by the authorities. The filmmaker provided The Lede with an English translation of his letter.
World Briefing | Middle East: Iran: Budget With Cuts Is Approved by Parliament
New York Times 8 Mar 2010 – Some lawmakers criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s 2010-11 budget, saying planned cuts in subsidies could set off runaway inflation.
Oren, who won’t meet with J Street, says dialogue is essential
Mondoweiss – 9 Mar 2010 – Chagrined Michael Oren says that he wants to go back to UC Irvine , despite being shouted down there a few weeks back. The diplomat said he understood the emotional nature of Middle East politics, but said it was also important to observe the decorum of free…
Lobby’s purchase of Republican Campbell recalls its purchase of Obama
Mondoweiss – 9 Mar 2010 – Alison Weir of If Americans Knew has published a piece on Tom Campbell’s back pages —the former California congressman who is now running for Senate. Note that Campbell obviously had realist bona fides back in the day, but has utterly abandoned his pro-Palestinian position. Campbell’s collapse…
Anywhere but here: IDF protest in NY today gets ink
Mondoweiss – 9 Mar 2010 – The IDF fundraising dinner at the Waldorf tonight and the protest called for 5 outside the hotel is a big story in Israel and Palestine, getting covered in the Jerusalem Post , in right wing Arutz Sheva , on Democracy Now , on Al Bawaba , again in the JPost ,…
J Street says Obama is serious (but Israeli Foreign Ministry shrugs)
Mondoweiss – 9 Mar 2010 – J Street and the Israeli Foreign Ministry offer contrasting reactions to the just announced Israeli-Palestinian “proximity talks” — indirect talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians with the United States serving as the go-between. By summer we should know for certain which organization has a better…
‚ÄòNo one in Washington supports more settlements’ Why then?
Mondoweiss – 9 Mar 2010 – Bit by bit, now in a piece on the “pro-Israel lobby,” Andrew Sullivan works his way toward the crucial understanding of the Israel lobby’s role in nullifying American policy in Israel/Palestine. There is simply no way to explain the policy nullification, with respect to settlements, over…
Italian Professors Denounce Complicity of Israeli Academic Institutions in the Occupation
Alternative Information Center – 9 Mar 2010 – Thursday, 04 March 2010, A group of Italian professors recently published a letter denouncing “university and cultural discrimination of Palestinians.” The document‚Äîcalled “Right to study and academic freedom in Palestine”‚Äîexpressly quotes the AIC bulletin Academic Boycott of Israel and the…
Conclusions of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine
Alternative Information Center – 9 Mar 2010 – Friday, 05 March 2010, These are the conclusions of the Jury pertaining to the Barcelona session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. However, the contents are subject to the normal processes of editing and corrections before a definitive edition is made public.
Protest Against Swedish Clothing Store Chain H&M, Which Plans to Open Outlets in Israel
Alternative Information Center – 9 Mar 2010 – Thursday, 04 March 2010, On 11 March, the Swedish clothes and fashion chain, H&M, will be opening the first of six planned stores in Israel. The familiar red H&M sign will be viewed in the Malcha shopping center in Jeruslaem, a municipality which has to continuously…
News from Within Videocast: The Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem
Alternative Information Center – 9 Mar 2010 – Friday, 05 March 2010, The US-based Center for Constitutional Rights is petitioning various United Nations offices, of Palestinian families whose ancestors are buried in the Mamila Cemetery. The cemetery better known as Mamilla, has been a Muslim burial ground since the 7th century, when companions of…
Border Police Critically Injures 14 Year Old in Nabi Saleh Demonstration
Alternative Information Center – 9 Mar 2010 – Saturday, 06 March 2010, The 14 year old boy was critically injured during a demonstration in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh against creeping land grab by the adjacent Jewish-only settlement of Halamish.
Articles
Israeli Defense Ministry goes on trial for Corrie death
Mya Guarnieri, Ma’an News Agency 3/9/2010
“When we look at the number of cases, and we look at the fact that only six percent yield indictments, it is safe to assume that a soldier in the field today will know that he can get away with pretty much anything,” Yesh Din’s research director Lior Yavne remarked.
Jerusalem – Ma’an – On Wednesday, the Israeli Defense Ministry will go on trial as a court hears a case filed by the parents of an American woman run down by an Israeli military bulldozer in Gaza, in March 2003.
A civil suit seeks to hold Israeli forces responsible for the death of Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old activist who was crushed to death as she protested a Palestinian home from demolition in the Gaza Strip.
“We claim that her assassination was intentional,” or, at the very least, that the army is guilty of “huge negligence,” Hussein Abu Hussein, the attorney who filed the petition on behalf of Corrie’s parents, commented.
Abu Hussein cites the state’s acknowledgment of the fact that Corrie and other members of the International Solidarity Movement‚Äîa Palestinian-led peace organization that advocates non-violent means of resistance to the Israeli occupation‚Äîwere demonstrating in the area for several hours before Corrie was struck by the bulldozer. He also points out that Corrie was wearing a fluorescent orange vest to increase her visibility.
At the time of her death, the Israeli military response was that the driver of the machine did not see Corrie.
“If you see people, you should stop and think of all the needed steps not to harm [them]. Instead of stopping the D9, which weighs 64 tons, they continued. And due to that, [Corrie] was killed,” Abu Hussein said.more..e-mail
Hopeful or hopeless?
Dina Ezzat, Al-Ahram Weekly 3/4/2010
Under American pressure, Abbas has agreed to indirect talks with Israel, with some Arab support and without preconditions.
“So that American efforts to revive the peace process succeed.” This is how top Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat portrayed the decision of the Palestinian Authority to resume indirect talks with Israel despite the latter’s unchecked construction of illegal settlements on Palestinian land.
During two consecutive days of Arab foreign ministers meetings, on Tuesday and Wednesday, a qualified green light was given to President Mahmoud Abbas signalling some collective Arab support for his decision.
The strongest support Abbas received came — predictably — from the camp of Arab moderate states: Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Morocco. Syria, however, declined to lend its support to Abbas. Walid Al-Muallim, Syrian foreign minister, publicly stated that his country is distancing itself from the Palestinian decision to resume talks, even if indirect, with no clear agenda and no specified target.
“We have no other choice. The Americans are not doing what we had expected them to do. They are not pressuring (Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin) Netanyahu and he is putting his hands on more and more Palestinian land every day,” said a Cairo-based Palestinian diplomat. According to this diplomat, Abbas was faced with scepticism from some in the foreign ministers meetings, “But he told them that he has nothing else to do and that he is being pressured from the Americans. He even asked them if they can come up with a better exit, but they had nothing to offer except the old story of going to the UN Security Council to put pressure on Israel.”more..e-mail
Iran in Its Intricacy
Roger Cohen, New York Times 3/4/2010
A year has passed since President Obama’s groundbreaking Nowruz offer to Iran of engagement based on mutual respect. Iran is now a different country, its divided regime weaker and confronted by the Green movement, the strongest expression of people power in the Middle East and a beacon for the region.
Obama’s outreach has achieved this: the unsettling of Iran’s revolutionary power structure. That alone was worth the gambit. But the 31-year gridlock in Iranian-American relations endures. Sarah Palin, no less, is now urging Obama to “declare war on Iran” to save his presidency. She’s not alone. Daniel Pipes, the conservative commentator, called a recent National Review column: “How to save the Obama Presidency: Bomb Iran.”…
But the war option remains unthinkable, a potential disaster for the United States and Israel. It’s therefore worth outlining, before the drumbeat intensifies in the run-up to the mid-term U.S. elections, [some] truths about Iran….
Attacking Iran has known consequences. Saddam Hussein did so in 1980 ‚Äî and thereby cemented Ayatollah Khomeini’s theocratic revolution by uniting diverse factions (socialist, liberal and others) in national defense.
Because the United States and Europe armed Iraq in that war, and Saddam then gassed the Iranians, resentment runs deep: I’ve often been shown war wounds in Tehran on arms and legs as a single word is uttered, “America.” The generation of young officers in that war, like Ahmadinejad, now runs Iran and constitutes the New Right. (Blowback is not limited to Afghanistan.) But most Iranians are under 35 and drawn to the United States.more..e-mail
Interview with Gaza rights defender: “Siege began in 1967”
Electronic Intifada: 9 Mar 2010 – BRUSSELS (IPS) – For the first time since September 2006, Mahmoud Abu Rahma, a leading figure in the Palestinian human rights group Al Mezan, has been granted permission to travel outside Gaza. More than 30 applications to leave the Strip had previously been turned down by the Israeli authorities and it was not until German diplomats made representations on his behalf that he was finally allowed to visit Europe.
Amir, ten years old, abducted by Israeli soldiers from his bed
Electronic Intifada: 8 Mar 2010 – Amir smiled when I asked him to tell me his favorite color. Sitting in his family’s living room last Thursday afternoon in the Old City of Hebron, the ten-year-old softly replied, “green.” Hours after our interview Israeli soldiers would break into the house and snatch Amir from his bed. The Electronic Intifada contributor Nora Barrows-Friedman writes from the occupied West Bank.
“Palestinian cinema is a cause”: an interview with Hany Abu-Assad
Electronic Intifada: 8 Mar 2010 – Nazareth-born filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad is best known internationally for his 2005 film Paradise Now about two young, attractive Palestinian men from Nablus in the occupied West Bank who are drawn into a suicide bombing mission in Tel Aviv. It was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The Electronic Intifada contributor Sabah Haider spoke with Hany Abu Assad about how his films are received, Palestinian cinema and the challenges of filmmaking.
random violence
In Gaza: 7 Mar 2010 – * the destruction begins as far as 700 metres from the border It was senseless, random, gratuitous violence against the farmers and their hopes. Bulldozer treads dug through bean and onion crops, in zigs and zags, seemingly without direction. Swaths of land were eaten by the military bulldozers’ blades, also seemingly randomly: the wheat crop which might mature to waist high if not bulldozed was left to grow, but the calf-high beans and onions were mowed, not fully but insultingly so. The 100 or so olive trees that had escaped the winter 2008-2009 Israeli massacre of Gaza and prior and later military invasions this time went with the 4 towering military bulldozers and 3 tanks. Tracks spat out earth in unwieldy clumps, not to be worked again this year, difficult to calm and smooth next year, in an area (near, but still outside of the Israeli-imposed 300 metre no-go zone,…
Refusal to Surrender: ‘My Father was a Freedom Fighter’ Reviewed
Palestine Chronicle: 9 Mar 2010 – By Robin Yassin-Kassab (An edited version of this review appeared at the Electronic Intifada.) ‘From afar,’ writes Ramzy Baroud (founder of the indispensable Palestine Chronicle), ‘Gaza’s reality, like that of all of Palestine, is often presented without cohesion, without proper context; accounts of real life in Gaza are marred with tired assumptions and misrepresentations that deprive the depicted humans of their names, identities and very dignity.’ Baroud’s “My Father was a Freedom Fighter” is an antidote to the media’s decontextualisation and dehumanisation of Palestinians. It’s also an instant classic, one of the very best books to have examined the Palestinian tragedy. As the title suggests, Baroud relates the life of his father, Mohammed Baroud. Each step in the story is located in a larger familial, social, economic and political context, one distinguished by eyewitness accounts and made concrete by an almost encyclopedic wealth of detail. But neither the book’s detail…more
Palestinian Revolutionaries on International Women’s Day
Palestine Chronicle: 8 Mar 2010 – By Sukant Chandan (Sukant Chandan interviews Palestinian revolutionary Leila Khaled and Palestinian Gaza resident and revolutionary Shireen Said for International Women’s Day 2010) The Palestinian people’s oppression continues primarily due to the financial, diplomatic and military support that the Zionist state receives from the USA, and secondly the acquiescence of pro-Western states in the region. After the fall of the Zionists state’s long lost brother — the Apartheid state of South Africa — the Palestinian struggle remains perhaps the leading and most potent anti-imperialist struggle in the world. Unsurprisingly therefore Palestinian women are a central example of what role women can play in the struggle to free themselves, their families, communities and their nation against imperialism and Zionism. Leila Khaled brought the Palestinian struggle to the world’s attention by means of two dramatic plane hijackings in 1969 and 1970 in which no-one but one of her own comrades was killed,…more
Kairos and Lent in the ‘Holy Land’
Palestine Chronicle: 8 Mar 2010 – By Timothy Seidel Experiencing the Lenten season in Palestine is unique. It carries with it incredible feelings of closeness and concreteness as one visits sites such as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem‚Äîthe site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected. Yet, those feelings of closeness are easily swallowed up by a sense of separation and forsakenness as one considers the current situation. In the recently released “Kairos Document,” Palestinian Christians take this situation as their starting point in challenging theological interpretations of those “who use the Bible to threaten our existence as Christian and Muslim Palestinians,” trying to “attach a biblical and theological legitimacy to the infringement of our rights.” Though Easter and its celebration of resurrection and new life defines Christianity, in a place like Palestine the season of Lent always seems more appropriate. Lent is a time of…more
The New Dark Age 
Leave a comment