News
International Middle East Media Center
Israeli military on trial in Rachel Corrie case
IMEMC – Thursday March 11, 2010 – 01:19, A civil suit filed by the parents of slain activist Rachel Corrie against the state of Israel began today in the northern Israeli city of Haifa.
Palestinians Protest The Israeli Wall Surrounding The Gaza Strip
IMEMC – Wednesday March 10, 2010 – 16:20, Palestinians organized a nonviolent protest Wednesday in central Gaza the Israeli built wall around the costal enclave.
Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Village Northern West Bank And Set A Car On Fire
IMEMC – Wednesday March 10, 2010 – 16:06, A group of armed Israeli settlers attack on Wednesday the village of Bureen northern West Bank and destroyed a car there.
The Israeli Army Shells Residents’ Homes In Eastern Gaza Strip
IMEMC – Wednesday March 10, 2010 – 15:52, Israeli tanks opened fire on Wednesday afternoon at residents’ homes and farm lands located close to the eastern Gaza Strip boarders.
Ban Ki-moon Condemns Israeli New Settlers’ Houses In Jerusalem
IMEMC – Wednesday March 10, 2010 – 15:10, The United Nation secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, condemned the latest Israeli decision to build 1,600 new settlers homes in East Jerusalem.
Israel To Deport Ukrainian Detainee
IMEMC – Wednesday March 10, 2010 – 13:09, Palestinian Minister of Detainees, Issa Qaraqe’, stated that detainee Irena Sarahna from Ukraine, and married to a Palestinian from the Duheisha refugee camp in Bethlehem, was officially informed by the Israeli Authorities that she will be deported to her country within a month.
Barghouthi: ‘Indirect Talks Should Stop’
IMEMC – Wednesday March 10, 2010 – 12:43, Palestinian Legislator, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, called on the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank to void its approval for holding talks with the Israeli government on Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel ‘Pardons’ Ten Fateh Fighters
IMEMC – Wednesday March 10, 2010 – 09:38, The Israeli Authorities decided to pardon ten fighters of the Al Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fateh movement. A list containing the names of the fighters was handed to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
Interpol Identifies 27th Suspect in Dubai Assassination
IMEMC – Wednesday March 10, 2010 – 08:47, The International Police Agency, Interpol, managed to identify suspect number 27, believed to be involved in the assassination of Hamas leader, Mahmoud Al Madbouh, in his hotel room in Dubai in January.
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.
Clashes erupt in Beit Ummar
3/10/2010 – Hebron – Ma’an – Clashes erupted in Beit Ummar Wednesday afternoon when soldiers invaded the town after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a military checkpoint, witnesses said. Mohammed Ayyad Awad, a spokesman for the local Palestinian solidarity project, said soldiers used tear gas and opened fire at homes. An Israeli military spokeswoman said Palestinians tossed an explosive intended to target soldiers in the area. Israeli forces fired in the direction of the alleged attacker, she added, without confirming whether or not troops actually entered the town. Clashes were ongoing at press time, concentrated in the Asida neighborhood, witnesses said. Beit Ummar has been a clashpoint in recent weeks, with residents staging weekly protests against the expansion of the Karmi Zur settlement, which occupies 19 dunums of privately owned Palestinian land, according to the Israeli group Peace Now.
Gaza group escalates test of Israeli no-go area
3/10/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an -Palestinians and international solidarity activists in Gaza joined the challenge to Israel’s enforced no-go zone in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday for the second day in a row. The rally, organized by the popular campaign against the separation fence in Gaza, gathered on Baghdad Street in the Ash-Shujaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza City, and walked as a group toward the border wall. On Tuesday, a group walked north toward the Erez crossing, where groups gather every Monday to test the Israeli no-go policy. The buffer zone takes up a large percentage of Gaza’s Agricultural area, prohibiting access to farmers. Zakaria Al-Agha, member of the Fatah Central Committee, gave a speech as the group as it approached the eastern no-go zone, demanding the right of farmers to cultivate their land, and denouncing the near 20% of arable lands in the coastal enclave.
Witnesses: Undercover Israeli forces raid Silwan
3/10/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – Undercover Israeli security agents assaulted two Palestinian activists and detained several others in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Wednesday evening, onlookers said. According to Palestinians in the Bustan area of Silwan, Israeli operatives “disguised as Arabs” attacked Mousa Odeh, 50, and Muhammad Odeh, 48. Both men are members of a local committee that organizes protests against Israeli house demolitions. Several Palestinian residents were also detained by undercover Israeli troops operating in the neighborhood, local sources said. Israeli municipal authorities have plans to bulldoze some 89 houses in Bustan, a densely-packed neighborhood in a valley adjacent to Jerusalem’s Old City. Last week Israeli mayor Nir Barkat held off on a plan to enforce the demolition orders in order to make way for a park.
Gaza war injured still lack prosthetics
3/10/2010 – Gaza City – IRIN – A half-finished two-story building in central Gaza City is one of the few places providing support to amputees, most of them civilian victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as they try and come to terms with their injuries. Ten patients were waiting to see Dr Hazem Ash-Shawwa, the director of the Artificial Limb and Polio Centre, when IRIN visited. Mostly young, they had been caught in the violence of Israel’s 23-day assault on Gaza at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009, and were still learning to use their new prosthetic limbs. “We have 250 new amputees following the Israeli war to add to the 5,000 cases we had before the war,” said Ash-Shawwa. “Some of the injured from the Gaza war are still having problems with their amputated limbs as they were not treated properly at the time due to the hectic situation; initial treatments focused on saving lives. “
EU parliament backs Goldstone report
3/10/2010 – New York – Ma’an – The European Parliament voted on Wednesday to monitor Israeli and Palestinian investigations into alleged war crimes in Gaza and to support the recommendations of a UN investigation into the matter. The motion passed 325 to 287 with 43 abstentions. According to the resolution, the parliament “urges both sides to conduct investigations within five months that meet international standards of independence, impartiality, transparency, promptness and effectiveness. “The parliament also called on the EU’s 27 member states to monitor the investigations. It also asked the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Catherine Ashton, to report back to the body on the issue. Significantly, the motion also endorsed the report of a UN fact-finding mission led by judge Richard Goldstone, which found evidence of war crimes in the aftermath of Israel’s three-week attack on Gaza in 2008 and 2009.
PA official: Israeli settlers set fire to car near Nablus
3/10/2010 – Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli settlers set fire to a Palestinian car in the northern West Bank on Wednesday, a Palestinian Authority official said. Ghassan Daghlas, who holds the PA’s northern settlements portfolio, said Civil Defense forces were investigating an arson in the village of Burin, south of Nablus, allegedly set by residents of the illegal Yitzhar settlement. Daghlas identified the vehicle’s owner as Khader An-Najjar, who parked his car at the entrance of the village. The PA official demanded that the US put pressure on Israel “to stop the daily and repeated settler attacks. “An Israeli security source told Ma’an that a complaint was filed with the Civil Administration, a branch of the country’s Defense Ministry in the occupied Palestinian territories. A Civil Administration spokesman did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
2 Gaza crossings partially open
3/10/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli authorities opened both goods crossings into Gaza on Wednesday, allowing the transfer of humanitarian aid, Palestinian liaison official Raed Fattouh said. Approximately 71 truckloads of aid will be allowed through the Kerem Shalom crossing, Gaza’s southernmost crossing with Israel, Fattouh said. Limited quantities of domestic gas and industrial diesel will also enter Gaza through the same crossing, Fattouh added. The Karni crossing will be opened to allow the transfer of 122 truckloads of wheat and animal feed, the official said. The northern crossing with Israel, Karni, is opened sporadically for the transfer of goods into the costal enclave, as Kerem Shalom remains the main terminal for the entry of aid. On Tuesday, Israeli authorities closed the Karni crossing. . . . .
Israeli authorities release Gaza businessman
3/10/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli authorities releaseda Gaza businessman on Wednesday, detained by Israeli forces at the Erez crossing one week earlier. Ahmad Salim Abu Eida was detained on 4 March, and was interrogated by Israeli intelligence who failed to secure an indictment to continue his detention, security sources told Ma’an. Palestinian Authority officials appealed to Israeli authorities to end what they termed an “Israeli intelligence campaign against Gaza businessmen aimed at crippling the business sector. ” The campaign, they said, harmed the Palestinian economy, which has been stalled as a result of the ongoing Israeli imposed siege on the Gaza Strip. Abu Eida was detained at the northern checkpoint with Israel, in spite of possessing the necessary travel permits to transit, the sources said. . . . .
Qaraqe: Israel to deport Ukrainian prisoner
3/10/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Israeli Prison Service in Hasharon prison informed a Ukrainian detainee that she will be deported within a month, Minister of Prisoners Affairs Issa Qaraqe said Wednesday. Irena Sarahna, was born in the Ukraine and is married Ibrahim Sarahna from the Duheisha refugee camp in Bethlehem. Her husband is serving a concurrent sentence of six life terms plus 45 years. The couple was detained in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv, charged with transporting a Palestinian who detonated a bomb strapped to his chest in Rishon Letzion in 2002. The explosion killed two Israelis and injured 50. The Israeli intelligence service Shabak, also known as the Shin Bet, claimed both suspects admitted that they transferred Issa Bdair from West Bank city of Beit Jala, as well as another Palestinian girl, from Beit Sahour, both in Bethlehem, who intended to undertake another operation.
In photos: Baking for a cause in Gaza
3/10/2010 – MaanImages / Hatem Omar – Palestinian women prepare sweets for kindergartens at a bakery in the Gaza Strip town of Deir Al-Balah on 10 March 2010. About 25 women, most of them divorced or widowed, joined the jobs program implemented by Mercy Corps. [end]
Bible college to host ‘Christ at the Checkpoint’ conference
3/10/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will open the first international conference on the theology of peace, justice and reconciliation in a Palestinain context, hosted by the Bethlehem Bible College and Holly Land Trust, organizers said. The conference, titled,Christ at the Checkpoint: Theology in the Service of Peace and Justice, is set to run 12-17 March,and”aims to equip the global church to understand Scripture as it relates to the Palestinian context,” a news brief about the conference said. Conference representative Awni Jubran said theologians and Christian leaders from around the world were registered to participate. He noted a central theme in the conference would be the support of some Zionist Christians for Israel and its expansionist policies, and how other Christian groups can respond to the position in line with Christian teachings.
PA refers Nativity Church deportees’ appeal to Erekat
3/10/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – An appeal by the Nativity Church deportees to include their return to Palestine as a condition of peace talks was referred on Tuesday to the PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department. The appeal was tendered by the Palestinian President’s office, in a letter to PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat, requesting that the issue be followed up. “We hereby refer the appeal, which the Nativity Church deportees made through the Ma’an News Agency, and ask for your help to end their suffering away from their families,” the letter read. On 4 March, the Nativity Church deportees called on President Mahmoud Abbas to do more to alleviate the plight of Palestinians who were sent into exile during the Second Intifada, a spokesman for a group of exiles said. Fahmi Kan’an, speaking on behalf of the Nativity Church deportees, said Abbas and other Fatah leaders must intervene.
Fayyad: Jerusalem announcement ‘damaging’
3/10/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Wednesday that Israel’s plan to build 1,600 new settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem contradicted America’s vision for Middle East peace. “This is a moment of great challenge to the effort by the United States to get the political process going again,” Fayyad told visiting US Vice President Joe Biden at a news conference in Ramallah, Reuters reported. The announcement was “damaging for sure,” and “definitely undermines confidence in the prospects for peace,” Fayyad was quoted as saying, a day after Biden denounced the plan. ” I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units,” Biden said in a statement, issued after he arrived 90 minutes late for a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Abbas to Biden: Settlements could derail peace
3/10/2010 – Ramallah – Ma’an – President Mahmoud Abbas called Israel’s expansion of West Bank settlements a “blast to confidence” and a move that “threatens efforts to resume peace talks,” during a news conference alongside US Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday. Following a meeting with the American official, who on Tuesday told reporters that “Israel captured his heart,” Biden spoke out against the Israeli announcement of further settlement expansion publicly for the second time. ” The Israeli government’s decision undermines the trust that is needed in the negotiations, the United States will not be subjected to any statements or resolutions that fuel tension,” Biden told reporters at the presidential compound in Ramallah. Israel’s Interior Ministry announced ambitious new plans on Tuesday to expand Israeli settlements built on land taken from Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
Islamic Jihad women march in Gaza for Jerusalem
3/10/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Gaza’s Islamic Jihad movement organized a women’s march in Gaza City on Wednesday, in an effort to show solidarity with Palestinians living in Jerusalem. The group gathered in Omar Al-Mukhtar Street in Central Gaza City, where women officers and fighters from Islamic Jihad demonstrated military maneuvers for the gathered demonstrators. Party leader Muhammad Al-Hindi called for a halt to all kinds of negotiations with Israel as settlements continue to expand and Jerusalem remains under attack. He called Arab states to make extra efforts to improve the living conditions in Gaza, and condemned the silence of the international community on the home demolitions in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. . . . .
PA customs agents destroy ‘unfit’ goods
3/10/2010 – Hebron – Ma’an – Palestinain Authority customs officials on Wednesday confiscated and destroyed a number of goods from the Hebron market deemed unfit for human consumption. Chief customs official Captain Hussam Khalayla said the sequestered goods did not meet the required Palestinian standards and posed a threat to consumers. The confiscated goods included 28 containers of bottled mineral water, two tons of soft drinks, and 147 large boxes of scented tissues. Additionally, customs officials removed large amounts of plastic beads, expired cosmetics, and other juices and crisps unfit for use. The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Economy oversaw the destruction of the goods, Khalayla said. The shop owners will be transferred to general prosecution for legal proceedings, he added. . . . .
Lebanon Fatah leader appointed as refugee advisor
3/10/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – President Mahmoud Abbas has appointed Lebanon-based Fatah leader Sultan Abul Enayn as his advisor on refugee affairs. Abbas issued a presidential decree on Wednesday announcing Abul Enayn’s new title, as a minister without portfolio. In February, Abul Enayn resigned from his post as Fatah’s Lebanon secretary-general, citing a failure of the Ramallah-based leadership to heed his warnings of increasingly grim circumstances faced by Palestinian refugees. “I submitted my resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas in protest over the dire situation in the refugee camps, as a result of negligence,” Abul Enayn said at the time, in an interview. “My deputy, Fathi Abu Al-Aradat, has been appointed [Fatah’s] new secretary in Lebanon,” he added. According to UNWRA, the UN organization for Palestine refugees, there are 227,776 registered Palestinian refugees in Lebanon’s camps, with an additional 10,246 refugees distributed throughout the camps.
Civil servant strike called off after PA meets demands
3/10/2010 – Ramallah – Ma’an – The Civil Servants Union in the West Bank called off a strike set for Thursday, after caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad responded to its demands, union head Basam Zakarneh said Wednesday. Zakarneh called on all employees to attend work as normal, praising Fayyad’s positive response, a statement said. Unionists urged strike action over claims that a pay raise announced by the Palestinian Authority had not yet been implemented, and over a pension dispute. On Tuesday, the Civil Servants Union in the Gaza Strip said it would bring a suit against the West Bank-based insurance and salaries committee over allegedly unfair practices, the union’s top executive said. Aref Abu Jarad said 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.
UN bomb disposal unit to enter Gaza to neutralize ordnance
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – IDF authorizes UN sapper unit’s entry into Gaza to deal with unexploded arms from Operation Cast Lead.
IDF Chief of Staff: All options on Iran should remain open
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – Ashkenazi spoke at Friends of IDF dinner; Protestors outside held signs condemning ‘Israeli war crimes.’
Iran maneuvering Israel in a show of nuclear strength
Ha’aretz 10 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 10 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 10 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 10 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 10 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 10 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 10 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 10 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 10 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 10 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 10 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 10 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 10 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 10 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 10 Mar 2010 – Document lists vehicle registration numbers of Leftists in effort to forbid their entry into West Bank.
Palestinian Women Imprisoned
Uruknet March 10, 2010 – Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association marks International Women’s Day 2010 by honoring, commemorating and saluting Palestinian women political prisoners and detainees in their steadfast resistance against Israeli colonial occupation and struggle towards securing the right of Palestinians to self-determination. An estimated 10,000 Palestinian women have been arrested and detained since 1967 under Israeli military…
US: Israel undermining peace effort
Uruknet March 10, 2010 – Joe Biden, the US vice president, has said that Israel’s decision to expand settlement activity in occupied East Jerusalem “undermines” the trust needed for peace talks. The news that Israel planned to build 1,600 new housing units came the same day Biden was in Israel to emphasise the US president’s committment to Israel’s security in the…
Rachel Corrie Family Finally Puts Israel in Dock
Uruknet March 10, 2010 – Seven years after Rachel Corrie, a US peace activist, was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza, her family was to put the Israeli government in the dock today. A judge in the northern Israeli city of Haifa was due to be presented with evidence that 23-year-old Corrie was killed unlawfully as she stood in…
Rachel Corrie’s family seeks Israeli damages
Uruknet March 10, 2010 – The family of a US student activist killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza has launched a case against the Israeli government. Rachel Corrie, whose family is seeking $324,000 in damages from the defence ministry, was one of several foreign activists killed in confrontations with Israel in occupied territory in the past decade. She was…
Strawberry Fields Forever: A Struggle For Farming
Uruknet March 9, 2010 – Trying to make a living as a farmer in Gaza these days is taking a toll on the family ties so integral to the Palestinian culture. Traditionally, occupations are passed from father to son for generations, and their tie to the land is particularly strong. Before Israel imposed a suffocating blockade on the 14-kilometer-long Gaza Strip…
Israel tells the PA, suppress protests or we increase incursions
Uruknet March 9, 2010 – Reports in the Israeli media claim that the Israeli security forces have threatened to increase their incursions into the West Bank unless the Palestinian Authority (PA) suppresses popular protests against settlements and Judaisation policies. According to the head of Shin Bet (Israel’s internal security service chief), Yuval Diskin, he has conveyed several messages to the PA…
Israel’s Army Takes Over Land In Central West Bank For The Wall Construction
Uruknet March 9, 2010 – 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. Beit liqya, a small Palestinian village located near Ramallah city, will lose up to 2.5 Acers of land, according to the military order. The army says the lands will…
NY Firm’s Credit Cards Used In Hamas Leader Hit
Uruknet March 9, 2010 – As expected, the investigation into a Hamas leader’s assassination in Dubai now involves U.S.-based credit card companies. One of those companies is Payoneer, a firm on Park Avenue which has a research and development center in Tel Aviv. The AP reports that it called Payoneer’s Tel Aviv office and “got a recording listing extensions, but when…
Kairos and Lent in the ‘Holy Land’
Uruknet March 9, 2010 – 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—the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected. Yet, those feelings of closeness are easily swallowed up…
Video: Settlers pouring cement into spring
Uruknet March 9, 2010 – A group of Israeli settlers destroy a spring by the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan in the Salfit district of the occupied West Bank. Palestinian villagers were forced to watch helplessly as settlers poured sand and cement into the spring, guarded by five armed members of the Israeli military…
#Gaza1000: 1000 Days of The Israeli Siege on Gaza
Uruknet March 9, 2010 – Today, Gaza completes the day No. 1000 of the Israeli siege and the disaster is eating the land and the citizens of Gaza. All of that was because they didn’t want to leave their lands, they didn’t give up to the settlers who wants to occupy their land, they said loudly, NO for Israel and no…
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 -…
EU Parliament votes to monitor Israeli probe into war crimes
Brussels, March 10, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – The European Parliament on Wednesday urged its 27-member states to monitor the Israeli and Palestinian probes into alleged war crimes committed during last year’s late-winter conflict in Gaza. The resolution backed the findings of a UN-appointed expert panel chaired by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, which concluded that both sides committed war crimes…
Israel kidnaps Palestinian in Jenin
Jenin, March 10, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli occupation force detained today a Palestinian citizen from Rumana village west of Jenin. Security sources said to WAFA news agency that Israeli occupation force detained Mohammed Kamel Igbarieh, 25 years, at a military checkpoint at the entrance of the village. They added that Israeli occupation forces have stepped up today their patrols…
Biden to visit Ramallah
Ramallah, March 10, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will visit Ramallah today to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Biden is expected to discuss with Abbas on a strategy for ensuring the Israeli surrender of the West Bank and East Jerusalem to the PA. The settlement issue is certain to dominate the meeting in Ramallah,…
Palestinian fears arrest upon return to West Bank
US, March 10, 2010 (Pal Telegraph; commentary by Mazin Qumsiyeh) -This week, when I return to my village in the occupied West Bank, I face possible arrest by Israel for engaging in nonviolent protests against abusive Israeli policies opposed by our own government. This prospect is difficult after 29 years of living in the United States, where such activities are…
UN joins Biden in condemning Israel
World, March 10, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – The UN secretary-general on Tuesday condemned Israeli plans to build 1,600 homes on the West Bank, where Palestinians seek to own their own state. Ban Ki-moon repeated comments made earlier by Barack Obama’s deputy Joe Biden. “The secretary-general condemns the approval of plans for the building of 1,600 new housing units in East…
Biden in West Bank to salvage peace talks
The National 10 Mar 2010 – Settlements dominate US vice president’s agenda with Palestinian leaders as indirect talks with Israel thrown into doubt.
Israel and Syria to renew talks’ says Turkey
The National 10 Mar 2010 – Ankara says it is close to bringing Israel and Syria together again, more than a year after the breakdown of indirect peace talks.
Sunni leader Sheikh Tantawi dies at 81
The National 10 Mar 2010 – Grand Imam of Al Azhar mosque in Egypt suffers a heart attack at Riyadh Airport
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…
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 family seeks Israeli damages
AlJazeera 10 Mar 2010 – Case concerns Rachel Corrie’s death during protest against Palestinian home demolitions.
US: Israel undermining peace effort
AlJazeera 10 Mar 2010 – Vice-president condemns Israel for plan to construct 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem.
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…
Rachel Corrie civil action to open in Israel
PNN – Wednesday, 10 March 2010
US condemns Israeli expansion
PNN – Wednesday, 10 March 2010
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
Campaign planned against Israel boycott
Jeruslalem Post 10 Mar 2010 – Group working on actionable recommendations for Jewish groups and Israeli gov’t.
Gov’t to discuss Palestinian incitement
Jeruslalem Post 10 Mar 2010 – PA reportedly cancels ceremony to name public square after terrorist.
Gates keeps up pressure on Iran
Jeruslalem Post 10 Mar 2010 – US defense secretary visits Gulf, seeks Saudi backing for economic sanctions.
‘R. Shlomo plan’s timing regrettable’
Jeruslalem Post 10 Mar 2010 – Yishai says aim wasn’t to insult Biden; Barak: Announcement was “damaging.”
Corrie family lawyer demands new IDF criminal probe
Jeruslalem Post 10 Mar 2010 –
IBA program schedules return to normal as sanctions lifted
Jeruslalem Post 10 Mar 2010 – During the sanctions, news and talk-show anchors from Israel Radio and Channel One could not take telephone calls on air.
Ashkenazi raises over $20m. at IDF fundraiser in NY
Jeruslalem Post 10 Mar 2010 – Hundreds of protestors march outside the $1000-a-plate gala at the Waldorf-Astoria.
Editorial: The Spanish disease
Jeruslalem Post 10 Mar 2010 – How is Israel to cope with the Spanish challenge? Obviously, Ambassador Shotz cannot brave it alone.
‘US determined to prevent nuclear Iran’
Jeruslalem Post 10 Mar 2010 – Biden tells Netanyahu he is certain Israel will take bold steps for peace.
MIDEAST: Iran, Israel Spoiling for a Fight?
IPS RAMALLAH, Mar 10 (IPS) – Iran and Israel appear to be spoiling for a fight, going by recent belligerent statements emanating from several regional capitals.
RIGHTS: Middle East Women Ahead But Not Home
IPS UNITED NATIONS, Mar 9 (IPS) РMale leaders fail to break the Mideast impasse. Enter women from Israel and the Palestinian territories working together. And… it would have been nice to say they succeeded where the men failed.
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.
PCHR Receives International Delegations and Partner
PCHR 9 Mar 2010 – Ref: 30 / 2010 On Tuesday morning, 10 March 2010, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) received Dr. Franziska Hagedorn, First Secretary of the Representative Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, in its head office in Gaza City.
PCHR Organizes Two Panel Discussions on the Right to Peaceful Assembly in al-Maghazi and al-Qarara
PCHR 9 Mar 2010 – Ref: 29 / 2010 The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights’ (PCHR) Democratic Development Unit (DDU) organized two panel discussions in cooperation with local civil society organizations on the right to peaceful assembly. These two panel discussions are part of PCHR’s activities aimed at promoting democracy in the Palestinian society.
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. . .
How did U.S. groups react to Biden’s condemnation of Israel?
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – U.S. VP slammed Israeli decision to approve East Jerusalem construction ahead of indirect peace talks.
Arab League reconsiders support for indirect Mideast peace talks
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – Emergency session called following international condemnation of Israel’s approval of 1,600 housing units.
European Parliament endorses Goldstone Gaza report
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – Jewish leaders ‘deeply disappointed’ by endorsement, which passed with 335 votes in favor versus 287 against.
MKs to Biden: Show kindness and mercy for Jonathan Pollard
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – A group of Knesset faction chairs request clemency for convicted spy in letter to visiting U.S. VP.
Noam Shalit urges EU Parliament chief: Help secure Gilad’s release
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – Meeting comes ahead of expected Thursday vote on resolution calling for release of captured IDF soldier.
Trial over death of U.S. activist Rachel Corrie begins
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – Family meets with members of Biden entourage; U.S. wants Israel to hold a more thorough investigation.
PA cancels ceremony honoring leader of 1978 terror attack in Israel
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – Dalal al-Mughrabi died while carrying out 1978 attack on Haifa-Tel Aviv highway in which 35 were killed.
Are peace talks doomed to fail before they start?
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – There is a deep reason the majority of Israelis and Palestinians can’t move toward the two-state solution.
Holocaust deniers face jail under new Hungarian law
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – Many Hungarian Jews thought to have perished at hands of Nazi backed fascist party during World War II.
A warning to Mr. Biden: We negotiate like we drive
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – Everything you need to know about Israelis, you’ll see from your motorcade window.
Egypt’s top Muslim cleric dies of heart attack at age 81
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – The Moderate Sheik came under pressure to resign after shaking the hand of Shimon Peres in 2008.
Yishai: Sorry for distress over East Jerusalem plan
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – Israel plans to build 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem; U.S., UN condemn move.
Jewish lobbying sways EU against support of Goldstone Gaza report
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – Christian Democrats block joint motion for resolution demanding report’s implementation.
When Israelis degrade Israel by humiliating Joe Biden
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – There are ostensible super-patriots who revel in shots across the bow of the American ship of state.
U.K. honors British Holocaust heroes with new awards
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – Gordon Brown: These individuals are true British heroes and a source of national pride for all of us
Palestinians snub peace talks because of Israeli homes expansion
The Guardian 10 Mar 2010 – Mahmoud Abbas ‘not ready to negotiate’ after Israel announces 1,600 new homes for East Jerusalem Rory McCarthy Jerusalem The Palestinians pulled out of a new round of indirect peace talks last night, even before they had…
David Kimche obituary
The Guardian 10 Mar 2010 – Israeli spymaster with a key role in Africa and the Middle East Known as “the man with the suitcase” and a master of disguise, the British-born Israeli spy-master and diplomat David Kimche, who has died aged…
Bibi’s snub to Biden may backfire | Simon Tisdall
The Guardian 10 Mar 2010 – Intentional or not, the announcement of new settlements in East Jerusalem may push the US into a tougher stance towards Israel It’s not the first time that Israel has stiffed Barack Obama over his attempts to…
The Hebronisation of Jerusalem | Mick Dumper
The Guardian 10 Mar 2010 – Growing Israeli and settler control has set Jerusalem on the same path as the West Bank’s most divided city The recent escalation of tensions in Jerusalem with clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police in and…
Biden calls for ‘viable’ Palestinian state
The Guardian 10 Mar 2010 – Visiting vice-president seeks to keep peace process on rails after Israel says it will expand East Jerusalem settlement The US vice-president, Joe Biden, has said the Palestinians deserve a “viable” independent state with contiguous territory, hoping…
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 10 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…
Spate of road accidents across Israel kills 5, including 2 children
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – Five people died in car accidents throughout Israel on Wednesday, including an eight-year-old boy who was hit by a car in Jisr az-Zarqa. Around the same time, a tractor overturned in an olive grove in Jadeidi-Makr, killing the driver. …
Israeli supermarket ad campaign spoofs Dubai hit video footage
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – An Israeli supermarket is looking to cash in on the infamous surveillance video of an assassination team suspected of killing a Hamas commander in Dubai with a new commercial inspired by the footage. …
Woman arrested for allegedly trying to strangle son to death
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – A 53-year-old mother was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly trying to strangle her son to death while he lay in his hospital bed. …
They should be thankful
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – The Israeli left does not have an agenda. It has Arabs. The more hallucinatory the Arab spokesman, the more extreme he is and the more he hates Jews, the greater the enthusiasm with which leftists will adopt his words. Every youngster who hurls stones stands before the cameras and gives the speech of his life, which immediately, in a cut-and-paste process, becomes the moral purists’ next slogan. …
Study: Thousands of Israeli kids incorrectly prescribed Ritalin
Ha’aretz 10 Mar 2010 – Thousands of Israeli children are prescribed Ritalin for attention disorders, but actually have undiagnosed psychological problems that necessitate different treatment, according to a study released this month. …
Le Conseil des droits de l’homme ouvre sa r?©union annuelle sur les droits de l’enfant
Relief Web 10 Mar 2010 – Source: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Human Rights Council starts annual meeting on rights of child with discussion on manifestations of sexual violence against boys and girls
Relief Web 10 Mar 2010 – Source: UN Human Rights Council
Secretary-General Condemns Israel’s Settlement Plans, Reiterating Their Illegality
Relief Web 10 Mar 2010 – Source: UN Secretary-General
OPT: Uphill battle to supply prosthetics to Gaza war injured
Relief Web 10 Mar 2010 – Source: Integrated Regional Information Networks
UN sapper unit to enter Gazaunder IDF coordination
Relief Web 10 Mar 2010 – Source: Government of Israel
UN joins Biden in condemning Israel settlement plan
Relief Web 10 Mar 2010 – Source: Reuters – AlertNet
Arab League reconsiders support for peace talks
YNet News 10 Mar 2010 – Ambassadors convene in Cairo to discuss Israel’s decision to build 1,600 new housing units in east Jerusalem; Qatari PM condemns decision, demands ‘immediate peaceful resolution’
Shell stops selling gasoline to Iran
YNet News 10 Mar 2010 – ‘We do not currently sell any gasoline to Iran,’ says Shell spokesman in The Hague
PA won’t honor terrorist, for now
YNet News 10 Mar 2010 – Biden’s visit assumed reason for delay in naming Ramallah square after female perpetrator of 1978 attack
Gaza evacuees file class action against State
YNet News 10 Mar 2010 – Settlers demand NIS 12 million for interest payments owed to them by Tnufa administration
Army chief: Israel faces unprecedented threats
YNet News 10 Mar 2010 – IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi urges international community to ‘keep all options on table’ vis-?-vis Iran, says Israel faces unprecedented combination of threats; Army chief speaks at NY function, raises $20 million dollars for IDF soldiers
European Parliament backs Goldstone report
YNet News 10 Mar 2010 – EU endorses UN report on Gaza war, calls for probe into alleged war crimes, removal of Israeli imposed blockade on Strip
Students to visit east Jerusalem sites
YNet News 10 Mar 2010 – Education minister convinces defense officials to allow students to visit Jewish sites formerly off-limits
Biden says Palestinians deserve ‘viable’ state
YNet News 10 Mar 2010 – During joint Ramallah press conference with Abbas, American vice president says Israel’s east Jerusalem construction plan ‘undermines trust needed for negotiations’; calls on both sides to refrain from ‘inflaming’ tensions. Yishai apologizes for ‘real embarrassment’ caused to Biden
Biden condemns Israel’s move to build more settlements
Daily Star 10 Mar 2010 RAMALLAH, Occupied West Bank: Vice President Joe Biden’s displeasure over an Israeli plan to enlarge an East Jerusalem settlement was on display Wednesday as he warned against actions that “inflame tensions” and reassured his Palestinian hosts that they deserve a sustainable, independent state.The Israeli plans have overshadowed
Gates in Riyadh to discuss bolstering Saudi air defense, Iran’s nuclear program
Daily Star 10 Mar 2010 RIYADH: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates flew into the Saudi capital on Wednesday for talks expected to focus on Iran’s nuclear program and Washington’s push for tough sanctions against Tehran.Gates was due to meet King Abdullah as the Obama administration kept up a concerted effort to rally international support for punitive
EU Parliament backs UN report on Gaza war
Daily Star 10 Mar 2010 BRUSSELS: In a move likely to worsen EU ties with Israel, the European Parliament urged its 27 member states Wednesday to monitor the Israeli and Palestinian probes into alleged war crimes in Gaza.It also called on Israel to immediately open border crossings with the Gaza Strip, saying its blockade is worsening the humanitarian crisis there.
Prize signals Saudi nod for Erdogan as Mideast force
Daily Star 10 Mar 2010 RIYADH: Turkey’s role as a key player in Middle East and Arab affairs was set in cement when the Saudis honored Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a prestigious prize for his “service to Islam.” With its own efforts to advance Palestinian-Israeli peace talks flagging, and arch-rival Iran shrugging off pressure to halt its nuclear drive,
PA scraps tribute to woman who hijacked Israeli bus in 1978
Daily Star 10 Mar 2010 RAMALLAH, Occupied West Bank: The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday cancelled a ceremony to honor a woman who led a 1978 hijacking of a civilian bus in Israel in which 35 people were killed.The cancellation of Thursday’s ceremony coincided with a visit to the occupied West Bank by US Vice President Joe Biden, who met with Palestinian
Jordan bans reporting on oil bribery case
Daily Star 10 Mar 2010 AMMAN: Jordan’s military court has banned all news reports on a case of alleged graft at the country’s sole oil refinery, Petra news agency said on Wednesday.”State security court attorney general Yousef Faouri issued a decision on Tuesday banning the media from publishing news or commentaries about the refinery issue without his personal approval
East Sudan, a first step for Eritrea’s Europe-bound migrants
Daily Star 10 Mar 2010 SHEGERAB, Sudan: Fleeing from a military regime, thousands of young Eritreans stream into neighboring east Sudan, the first stage of their long migration to Europe, Israel – or even Khartoum.For four decades refugees from Eritrea have flowed into eastern Sudan, a dirt-poor region enriched only by golden, sun-beaten plains that unfurl until they hit the rocky
Top Sunni cleric Tantawi dies of heart attack
Daily Star 10 Mar 2010 CAIRO: Sunni Islam’s top cleric Sheikh Mohammad Sayed Tantawi, a controversial figure in Egypt, died on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia of a heart attack suffered while boarding a plane, state media said.Tantawi, the grand imam of Al-Azhar – Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning – had been in Riyadh to attend the King Faisal awards ceremony, the official MENA news agency said.
Palestinian Information Center
Is the PA capitulating to Israel?
PIC 10 Mar 2010 – No sooner had the Obama administration announced the resumption of ‘indirect’ talks between Israel and the PA than Israel announced new plans to expand Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem
Palestinian families hold Cairo responsible for lives of their sons in its jails
PIC 10 Mar 2010 – The families of Palestinian prisoners in Egyptian jails on Wednesday held the government in Cairo fully responsible for the lives of their sons and called for releasing them immediately.
Israel pondering establishment of new nuclear reactor
PIC 10 Mar 2010 – Israeli minister of infrastructure Uzi Landau is to announce during an energy forum in Paris this week his government’s plan to establish a new nuclear reactor, media sources revealed.
Haneyya: Settlement drive accelerated due to resumption of negotiations
PIC 10 Mar 2010 – Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya said that the Arab decision endorsing resumption of negotiations between the PA in Ramallah and the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) was wrong.
Ex-preacher of Aqsa: Makka and Medina holy sites are also not immune from danger
PIC 10 Mar 2010 – Yousuf Salama warned that Makkah and Medina holy sites would not be immune from the Zionist danger if the Muslim Nation persisted in its passivity towards Israel’s moves to Judaize Palestine mosques.
IOA decides to banish detainee to Ukraine
PIC 10 Mar 2010 – The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) has decided to deport detainee Irina Sarahne, who is serving a 20-year jail term, to her original country the Ukraine.
MPs appeal for saving the life of a cancer patient held in IOA jail
PIC 10 Mar 2010 – Hamas MPs in Nablus on Wednesday appealed to human rights groups and official institutions to immediately intervene to save the life of Tarek Al-Asy, who is held in IOA jails.
Ihsanoglu warns of Israel’s intents to turn Aqsa into Jewish site
PIC 10 Mar 2010 – Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu warned of the serious consequences of the declared Israeli intention to turn the Aqsa Mosque from a holy site for Muslims into a Jewish shrine.
Israel planning to change Arab landmarks in O. Jerusalem
PIC 10 Mar 2010 – Informed sources revealed an Israeli scheme aimed to change the Arab landmarks of the occupied holy city of Jerusalem especially its main entrance extending from Bab Al-Amud Gate to Bab Al-Khalil.
Israeli occupation police escalate campaign against Palestinian minors in OJ
PIC 10 Mar 2010 – Israeli occupation police have been escalating arrests in lines of Palestinian minors in the Silwan suburb in occupied Jerusalem on suspicion of throwing stones at settlers’ vehicles and houses.
Biden tells Palestinians U.S. won’t be deterred
LA Times 11 Mar 2010 – Despite the row with Israel over its housing plan, brokering peace talks is still a key priority, he declares. Vice President Joe Biden told Palestinians on Wednesday that the United States intends to push ahead with its Mideast peacemaking effort, despite a diplomatic blow-up this week over Israel’s plans to build 1,600 housing units in disputed East Jerusalem.
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.
U.S. changing focus of Iran policy
LA Times 9 Mar 2010 – With the apparent failure of Obama’s initiative to open negotiations, the administration turns toward support of the opposition and a focus on sanctions targeting the powerful Revolutionary Guard. After keeping a careful distance for the last year, the Obama administration has concluded that the Iranian opposition movement has staying power and has embraced it as a central element in the U.S.-led campaign to pressure the country’s clerical government.
Clash of the media titans in Israel
LA Times 10 Mar 2010 – Israel’s three big newspaper barons are in a cutthroat feud. No matter who wins, some say, readers lose. Media Titan to Rivals: Drop Dead! That’s tabloid shorthand for the Darwinian clash unfolding between Israel’s three biggest newspaper barons.
David Kimche dies at 82; Israeli spy played key role in Iran-Contra
LA Times 10 Mar 2010 – He rose through the ranks of the Mossad intelligence agency in the 1950s and later served as director-general of the Foreign Ministry. He was Israel’s point man in the Iran-Contra scandal. David Kimche, the Israeli spy-turned-diplomat who played a key role in the Iran-Contra scandal that rocked President Ronald Reagan’s administration, has died. He was 82.
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.
Palestinians Hold to Plan for Indirect Talks With Israel
New York Times 10 Mar 2010 – Palestinian leaders meeting with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. condemned a decision by Israel on new housing, but still spoke of participating in peace talks.
Gates in Saudi Arabia to Discuss Iran
New York Times 10 Mar 2010 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will discuss military cooperation and Iran’s nuclear program, officials said.
Iran and U.S. Trade Barbs in Kabul Visit
New York Times 10 Mar 2010 – As his visit overlapped with that of the U.S. defense secretary, the Iranian president said the U.S. occupation was doomed to fail.
Shell and Ingersoll-Rand Curb Business in Iran
New York Times 10 Mar 2010 – The announcements by Ingersoll-Rand and Royal Dutch Shell come as the U.S. is pressing for new sanctions.
Jerusalem Journal: Palestinian Family’s Eviction Stirs Old Ghosts in a Contested City
New York Times 10 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.
World Briefing | Middle East: Iran: Trial in Torture Deaths Begins
New York Times 10 Mar 2010 – Iran’s judiciary last year charged 12 officials at the Kahrizak detention center in Tehran for involvement in the deaths of three protesters held there in July.
Lord almighty, MSM covers dissing of Biden
Mondoweiss – 10 Mar 2010 – Notice how the mainstream press (Time Magazine) dissed the Israeli government and Bibi. This is new. Change that we can believe in (We hope): Guardian: It doesn’t seem to realise it, but Israel cannot afford to keep on behaving in this disobliging manner towards its friends….
‘Sandbox’ neocon persists in epic battle against Palestinian womb
Mondoweiss – 10 Mar 2010 – What was God doing when Martin Kramer decided to name his blog “Sandbox”? Was He laughing or weeping, or just out of town? Kramer doubles down, amplifying and extending his criticism of Palestinians for having too many children so as to push the Jews into the…
‘Life changed’ by Gaza, Congressman Baird seeks to testify in Corrie lawsuit in Israel
Mondoweiss – 10 Mar 2010 – Astonishing interview of the Corrie family, mom Cindy, dad Craig, and sister Sarah Corrie Simpson, by Amy Goodman , just before they left for the civil suit trial that’s taking place in Israel this week. Baird portion is halfway down. Also Craig’s meeting with Obama in Iowa….
BDS is tied to… 9/11!
Mondoweiss – 10 Mar 2010 – People are talking excitedly about a big new paper on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, coming out of the “Global Forum on Anti-Semitism,” a conference organized by the Israeli government . The paper is evidently authored by Israel lobbyists Mitchell Bard and Gil Troy, here it…
‘Clean and tidy’ campaign targets non-Jewish foreigners in Israel
Mondoweiss – 10 Mar 2010 – Pesach is right around the corner. And while Israel will go through the motions of the holiday, it won’t reach the spirit of Passover. Why? Israel has lost its moral compass. I’m not talking about Gaza, the Occupation, or 1948, although the expulsion of the Palestinians…
Italian Professors Denounce Complicity of Israeli Academic Institutions in the Occupation
Alternative Information Center – 10 Mar 2010 – Thursday, 04 March 2010, A group of Italian professors recently published a letter denouncing ‘university and cultural discrimination of Palestinians.’ The document—called ‘Right to study and academic freedom in Palestine’—expressly quotes the AIC bulletin Academic Boycott of Israel and the…
Conclusions of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine
Alternative Information Center – 10 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 – 10 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 – 10 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 – 10 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
The Crackdown on Israeli Dissidents
Conn Hallinan, CounterPunch 3/9/2010
Totalitarian Democracy?
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 in the occupied West Bank.
‘There is an attempt to silence and crack down on dissent,’ B’Tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli told the Tobias Buck of the Financial Times. ‘Since [the Gaza war], the political climate in Israel has become extremely polarized. And this polarization has reached a level where anyone who is critical is presented as a traitor.’
The Netanyanu government has endorsed a bill that, if passed, will apply onerous registration conditions on NGOs and subject violators to up to a year in prison.
‘These are classic McCarthy techniques, portraying our organizations as enemies of the state and suggesting we are aiding Hamas and terror groups,’ ACRI head Hagai Elad told the Nazareth-based journalist Jonathan Cook.
On Jan. 15, police broke up a peaceful ARCI demonstration in East Jerusalem, arresting 16 people. The rally was protesting the eviction of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and their replacement with settlers. Demonstrators were held for 36 hours until a judge from the Jerusalem Magistrates Court released them without charge. The judge also refused a police request to ban the demonstrators from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.more..e-mail
Possibilities of war: Iran
Azmi Bishara, Al-Ahram Weekly 3/4/2010
Despite how alarming the prospect of a nuclear Iran might be to Washington, enhancing sanctions or authorising pre-emptive strikes could lead to an all-out war the US might lose.
The Obama administration’s reappointment of the Bush administration’s secretary of defence, Robert Gates, reflects the growing involvement of the US military establishment in decision-making processes on matters of war and peace, and hence in US foreign policy in general. The primary catalyst in this development has been the dismal results of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan leading to attempts to reform the military establishment’s modus operandi, which isn’t directly affected by elections, a couple of years before the end of Bush’s tenure. The new programming was scripted to a considerable extent in the Baker- Hamilton Report, submitted to Bush in December 2006. The most important recommendations of this report were, first, its call for a dialogue with countries neighbouring Iraq, including Syria and Iran, in order to persuade them to help promote stability in order to extricate the US from the Iraqi quagmire it created after having invaded that country and demolished its existing governing infrastructures, and second its call to renew efforts towards a political solution to the Palestinian cause, which is to say to revive the so-called “peace process”.
Against this backdrop, the appointment of Gates as secretary of defence, instead of Rumsfeld, was a manifestation of the military establishment’s rejection of the latter and of the neoconservatives’ adventurism. Gates is now the military establishment’s man in the White House and his influence has increased under Obama. He epitomises that conjunction between the refusal to allow Iran to arm itself with nuclear weapons and the desire to avert an all-out war with Iran. This is the current position of the establishment in the West, regardless of the Tony Blair-like histrionics that only a handful of Arab officials buy.more..e-mail
Resistance and discord
Saleh Al-Naami, Al-Ahram Weekly 3/4/2010
When everyone knows that Israel’s occupation cannot be ended when Palestinians are disunited, why does division continue?
The anger was very clear on the old man’s face as he marched in a demonstration in Gaza to protest against the Israeli government’s decision to annex several historic and religious Palestinian sites in the West Bank. But Haj Ammar, 82, was directing his anger at Fatah and Hamas whom he holds responsible for Israel’s continued antagonism and hostilities against the Palestinians. “If there was national unity, we wouldn’t be here,” Haj Ammar complained to Al-Ahram Weekly. “It is time to close ranks and end divisions. What are they waiting for before they come together against the occupation?”
Most Palestinians agree with the old man, blaming internal divisions for the wretched lives they are leading in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. But there are no indicators that the time has come to end discord. Both sides remain obstinate in their positions. Even as people took to the streets en masse in Palestinian cities to protest against Israeli measures, a war of words erupted once more between Fatah and Hamas. It was triggered by the call of Parliament Speaker Aziz Al-Dweik to hold an emergency parliamentary session to discuss national reconciliation and Israel’s violation of Islamic holy sites.
In reaction, the leader of the Fatah bloc in parliament, Azzam Al-Ahmed, accused Al-Dweik of conspiring against the Palestinian Authority (PA), insisting that Al-Dweik had lost his mandate as parliament speaker. The outburst crushed any hopes stirred by a recent visit by Nabil Shaath, member of Fatah’s Central Committee, to Gaza and his meetings with deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders.more..e-mail
Rachel Corrie’s family takes Israel to court
Electronic Intifada: 10 Mar 2010 – Seven years after Rachel Corrie, a US peace activist, was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza, her family was to put the Israeli government in the dock today. A judge in the northern Israeli city of Haifa was due to be presented with evidence that 23-year-old Corrie was killed unlawfully as she stood in the path of the bulldozer, trying to prevent it from demolishing Palestinian homes in Rafah. Jonathan Cook reports.
Truth in labeling: EU court challenges “Made in Israel”
Electronic Intifada: 10 Mar 2010 – On 25 February, the European Court of Justice ruled that imports manufactured in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank shouldn’t benefit from a trade agreement between Israel and the European Union. The ruling follows protests of Israel’s export of products from the illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) to the EU and Switzerland labeled as “Made in Israel.” Products labeled as such benefit from favorable import taxes under the EU-Israel Association Agreement of 2000. Phon van den Biesen and Adri Nieuwhof comment for The Electronic Intifada.
Interview: “Anything you want, we can bring to the Gaza Strip”
Electronic Intifada: 10 Mar 2010 – The siege on Gaza is tightening as the Egyptian government continues construction of an underground steel wall at the Rafah border with Gaza to block the tunnel trade. The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre spoke with Abu Hanin, a Palestinian laborer from Gaza who works in one of the tunnels at the border with Egypt.
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.
fish qanoon, fi oud
In Gaza: 10 Mar 2010 – I’m sitting talking with a Palestinian friend about Israeli violations of international law, international human rights law, norms and standards‚Ķ and he sums it up: ‘ fish qanoon‚Ķ fi oud ‘, ‘there’s no (respect for) law‚Ķ there’s oud .’ qanoon has two meanings: law‚Ķ and a classical stringed instument played table-top. so he jokes: there’s no law, just oud (the lute-like instrument). a typical a tongue in cheek sample of Palestinian humour, and of dealing with the brutal reality. earlier, i’m sitting with an ngo-worker and he is victorious on their find: paper, standard blank office paper. sure, there’s paper from the tunnels, but a siege-abiding ngoer, as much as he/she doesn’t want to, must play by the zionist rules: no using tunnel products. he’s spent half a day just trying to find ‘legal’ paper. but the story gets more ridiculous. i learn of the process of reciving ‘legal’ goods…
Rachel Corrie Family Finally Puts Israel in Dock
Palestine Chronicle: 10 Mar 2010 – By Jonathan Cook – Nazareth Seven years after Rachel Corrie, a US peace activist, was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza, her family was to put the Israeli government in the dock today. A judge in the northern Israeli city of Haifa was due to be presented with evidence that 23-year-old Corrie was killed unlawfully as she stood in the path of the bulldozer, trying to prevent it from demolishing Palestinian homes in Rafah. Corrie’s parents, Craig and Cindy, who arrived in Israel on Saturday, said they hoped their civil action would shed new light on their daughter’s killing and finally lead to Israel’s being held responsible for her death. They are also seeking damages that could amount to millions of dollars if the court finds in their favour. An internal army investigation was closed shortly after Corrie’s death, exonerating both the bulldozer driver and the commanders who…more
Is PA Guilty of Undermining BDS Campaign?
Palestine Chronicle: 10 Mar 2010 – By Samah Sabawi In 2008 Netanyahu announced during his election campaign that he plans to ‘weave an economic peace alongside the political process which will give a stake in peace for the moderate elements in the Palestinian society’. (1) Since its election, the Netanyahu government has made ‘economic peace’ central to its policies in the West Bank. This is not a coincidence. At a time when Palestinian civil society and grass roots solidarity groups are calling for an economic war on Israel, the Apartheid State has waged economic peace in order to undermine its efforts by seeking normalization with Palestinian and Arab businesses as well as Palestinian and Arab leaders. In order to understand what Israel is offering and the kind of trapping that has been laid out for Arab and Palestinian investors, we must first take a look at Israel’s history of economic manipulation. Contrary to all the hype…more
Which One is the Real Joe Biden
Palestine Chronicle: 10 Mar 2010 – By Ali Younes During his current visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Vice President Joe Biden spoke to the Israelis of how the US and Israel are ‘inseparable’ and that ‘there is no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel’s security.’ Biden’s comments in Israel confirmed what has been a long standing Arab grievance against the US that it is in fact ‘partial’ third party, when brokering negotiations which favor Israel against the Palestinians. This is, moreover, when the US is currently setting the stage for ‘proximity talks’ between Israel and the Palestinians. The proximity talks mean that US envoy George Mitchell will act as an impartial third party, will be completely in charge of the talks, and will carry messages and draft the agreements between the two parties until an agreement is reached. Biden’s statement seems to have angered leaders in the Arab…more
The New Dark Age 
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