News
International Middle East Media Center
The Israeli Military Detain 16 Palestinian During Invasions At West Bank Communities
IMEMC – Monday March 15, 2010 – 18:14, Sixteen Palestinian civilians were detained by Israeli troops on Monday during invasions targeting West Bank communities.
Ten Injured As Israeli Troops Open Fire At Students Near Ramallah City, Central West Bank
IMEMC – Monday March 15, 2010 – 18:02, Ten Palestinian university students were injured by Israeli troops fire on Monday during clashes at a military checkpoint near Ramallah city central West Bank.
Clashes Reported in Jerusalem’s Old City
IMEMC – Monday March 15, 2010 – 10:30, The Arabs48 news website reported that violent clashes took place on Sunday at night between Israeli soldiers, policemen and residents of the Old City of Jerusalem. Clashes were also reported in Ras Al Amoud area.
Israeli government allows sale of stolen Palestinian property to Israelis
IMEMC – Monday March 15, 2010 – 10:04, In response to an inquiry by the Palestinian human rights organization Adalah, the Israeli Justice Ministry has clarified its recent revision of Israeli land law, confirming that the revision allows the sale of seized Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to Jewish citizens of Israel, or to private companies.
Israel extends West Bank closure until Tuesday
IMEMC – Sunday March 14, 2010 – 20:25, Israeli security forces announced that a full closure on the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank would be extended until Tuesday, supposedly to protect a group of Israeli settlers as they begin construction of a Jewish synagogue on stolen Palestinian land in the Old City of Jerusalem.
US issues stern warning to Israel due to ongoing settlement expansion
IMEMC – Sunday March 14, 2010 – 10:19, In his latest waver back and forth on the issue of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, US President Barack Obama issued a warning Friday night to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, saying that he wants the Israeli leader to show that he is “serious about peace” by halting settlement construction.
Israeli settlers tear up olive grove, uprooting 40 trees near Nablus
IMEMC – Saturday March 13, 2010 – 10:21, Local municipal officials in the Palestinian Authority reported Friday morning that overnight, a group of Israeli settlers had ambushed a Palestinian olive grove in the town of Qaryut, uprooting and completely destroying 40 trees.
Israeli Police Crackdown On Protesters In East Jerusalem, Eleven Civilians Arrested
IMEMC – Friday March 12, 2010 – 16:45, Eleven protesters were arrested by Israeli officers are they crackdown of a protest organized by Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
Protesters Carry Photos of ISM Activist During Weekly Nil’in Protest One Year On From Injury
IMEMC – Friday March 12, 2010 – 15:27, Dozens of protesters were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation, this Friday, following the weekly demonstration in the central West Bank village of Nil’in, near Ramallah.
Two Injured, Dozens Suffer Effects Of Tear Gas Inhalation At The Bil’in Weekly
IMEMC – Friday March 12, 2010 – 15:13, Two civilians were injured as dozens suffered from the effects of tear gas inhalation when Israeli troops attacked the weekly anti wall protest at the village of Bil’in, central West Bank.
Official: Israel to confiscate land near Bethlehem
3/15/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces distributed land confiscation notices on Saturday to residents of Wadi Rahhal, south of Bethlehem, to amend the separation route’s wall, a popular committee official said. Shadi Fawaghra, a Popular Committee Against the Wall coordinator in the village, told Ma’an that the notices included maps confiscating 70 dunums of Wadi Rahhel land. The latest separation wall route will pass through the main road that connects the village to the city of Bethlehem, he said. Residents said the new Israeli decision is “land theft,” as Israeli forces have already overturned the landoriginally designated for the wall’s construction. The village’s residents marched in protest toward the Israeli Civil Administration office in Kfar Etzion and say they will hire an attorney to bring the case before an Israeli court to suspend the decision.
Masked soldiers post closed zone signs in Bil’in, Ni’lin
3/15/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Dozens of masked soldiers raided the West Bank villages of Bil’in and Nil’in Monday morning to post decrees designating the village’s lands closed military zones on Fridays for a period of six months, residents said. The areas between the wall and built up villages will be declared closed military zones every Friday between 8am and 8pm for six months, the military decrees read. According to a statement issued by Bil’in’s Popular Committee, the move comes one week after the head of the Israeli Shin Bet threatened to step-up action against the Palestinian popular struggle in the two villages that see weekly protests against the separation wall’s construction. The Popular Committee said the decrees went into effect on 17 February, before their distribution, and were signed by Commander of the Israeli Central Command Avi Mizrahi.
Israel raids Al-Aqsa Mosque, expels worshipers
3/15/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – Dozens of Israeli police broke into the Al-Aqsa Mosque after the night prayers on Sunday, forcing some 20 Palestinian worshipers out of the building. The gathered men had lingered in the mosque following the prayer, witnesses said, and 30 minutes after the worship session concluded, soldiers stormed the entrance and demanded to see the identity cards of all present. All of the men had their ID cards seized and were ordered to appear at the Al-Qashla investigation center in the Old City, and the Russian Compound investigation center near the East-West Jerusalem divide. An Israeli police spokesman was not immediately available for comment. [end]
Jersalemites strike, protest Old City synagogue dedication
3/15/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – Jerusalemites were called on to observe a strike between 11 and 1pm on Monday, as Palestinian leaders in the city mobilized residents to gather at the Al-Aqsa Mosque following violent clashes the day before. At least 3,000 Israeli police and border guards were deployed at all the gates outside the Old City and all doors leading into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Witnesses said only Old City residents and Palestinians over 50 were being let into the area, along with tourists and Israelis. Tensions remain high as Israeli officials plan to rededicate a synagogue 330 meters from the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City. The decision to rededicate the building on Monday was condemned as an act of aggression by Palestinian religious officials. On Sunday night, Israeli border guards and police fired tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets at demonstrating teenagers in the Bab Hutta and the Damascus Gate areas.
’Rededication’ of Old City synagogue raises timing questions
3/15/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an -Personal status courts in the West Bank and Jerusalem will strike Monday and Tuesday in protest over the rededication of the Hurva Synagogue, officials announced. The ceremonies at the synagogue, 330 meters away from the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, have been called a “provocation” in the wake of an Israeli raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the declaration of two Palestinian mosques as “Israeli heritage sites” on 21 February. “The synagogue is not located near the Temple Mount compound,” an Israeli government news release replied to the accusations. The statement also highlighted the history of the synagogue, destroyed during the 1948 war and reconstructed in 2005. The statement did not comment on the timing of the rededication. A correction was later issued by the office, “Correction: The name of the Hurva (ruins) Synagogue was acquired in 1721 after the original, unfinished. . . “
Netanyahu: Jerusalem construction to continue unabated
3/15/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the government will continue to build throughout Jerusalem “as we have since the Six Day War,” Israeli media reported. During a Likud party meeting, Netanyahu said following the end of a 10-month settlement freeze in the West Bank”construction in Jerusalem – and anywhere else – will continue as has been the custom during the past 42 years. The cabinet’s decision to end the construction freeze after 10 months remains standing,” the Israeli daily Yedioth Aharanot wrote. The Israeli Ministry of Interior announced a 1,600 home expansion in an East Jerusalem settlement during US Vice President Joe Bidden’s visit, undertaken to reignite peace efforts. Netanyahu said on Sunday that the announcement was “hurtful, and. . . certainly should not have occurred. “
Atara checkpoint violence injures soldier, 10 Palestinians
3/15/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Several Palestinians were injured, along with an Israeli soldier after witnesses reported hearing heavy gunfire at the Atara checkpoint, near Ramallah, following its closure on Monday. Later reports confirmed that dozens of Birzeit University Students students participated in a march against the Israeli attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and threw stones at soldiers. An Israeli military spokesman said Israeli forces were responding with “riot dispersal mechanisms” against Palestinians in the area. He said there were “70 rioters,” though witnesses several meters away from the scene reported no protests, demonstrations or riots. Ten students were injured including three with live bullets, medics at the Ramallah Government Hospital said. One young man was hit in the jaw, and doctors said his condition was stable, while other injuries were described as light to moderate.
Israeli court bans rights lawyer from anti-occupation protests
3/15/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israel’s Ofer military court sentenced a human rights lawyer to two years probation and a 500-shekels fine for allegedly attacking a soldier during a protest in Beit Sahour, court reports said. Conditions of Farid Al-Atrash’sprobation include a ban on attending protests against the Israeli occupation and land confiscation, a violation of which would lead to two years and six months of prison time, officials said. Al-Atrash was detained on 15 May 2008 during a protest in the Oush Ghrab Peace Park in Beit Sahour, just south of Bethlehem. The site, now reoccupied by the army, was evacuated as a military base in 2006, after which Israeli settlers began making claims to the land. Residents of Beit Sahour held intermittent protests in 2008 in an attempt to prevent the land from being re-occupied. Starting in February, residents have held weekly protests in the park, as Israeli soldiers construct a new military post on the site.
Israeli cabinet approves barrier construction in south
3/15/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Israeli cabinet described the planned wall along its border with Egypt as an effort to “protect the State of Israel and its future as a Jewish and democratic state,” a government release said on Sunday. A cabinet communique said the 1. 35 billion shekel (363. 3 million US dollar) barrier is a response to attempts to infiltrate Israel along its Egyptian border, which “has security and demographic consequences. . . Building a fence is a great and important national necessity, and we look forward toward the future of the state of Israel. “The barrier’s construction, the statement said, is designed to prevent “hostile terrorist activity, drug smuggling, the smuggling of goods, illegal infiltrations and human trafficking. “Several African migrants have been shot, as well as detained, by Egyptian forces along the border in recent weeks.
PA cabinet condemns settlement expansion, child detentions
3/15/2010 – Ramallah – Ma’an – During its weekly cabinet meeting on Monday, the Palestinian Authority condemned Israeli settlement expansion in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The cabinet said it welcomed the US, EU and Quartet’s stance against the announcement that 1,600 Israeli-only homes are to be built in occupied East Jerusalem, further calling on Israel to revoke its decision. Moreover, PA ministers denounced Israel’s move to declare areas in Bil’in and Nil’in closed military zones – the sites of weekly anti-wall demonstrations. The decision effectively prohibits international and Israeli activists from participating in the protests. Child detentions – The cabinet called on the international community and the human rights organizations to take action against the Israeli policy of detaining children, noting that 300 are currently in Israeli custody.
Israeli forces detain 8 northwest of Hebron
3/15/2010 – Hebron – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained eight Palestinians early Monday morning during a raid in the town of Surif, northwest of Hebron. Palestinian security sources said Israeli troops entered the town, storming a number of homes. One resident, Ibrahim Barath’ieh, whose son was detained, said his home was raided, and sound grenades were fired nearby, adding that he was told to evacuate his home while soldiers and sniffer dogs searched the premises. Those detained were identified as Ahmad Jamal Hussein Abu Fara, Adham Hamdi Abu Fara, Ahmad Shaker Al Hih, Baha Mazen Ahmedat, Mahmud Musa Al-Masri, Ala Ibrahim Barath’ieh, Mahmud Musa Mustafa Ahmedat, and Mahmud Yousif Mahmud Abu Saleh. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society condemned the detentions, which they said have targeted students and children since the beginning of 2010.
Permit holder in labor denied entry into Israel
3/15/2010 – Qalqiliya – Ma’an – Palestinian Red Crescent medics in Qalqiliya gave emergency treatment to a pregnant woman in labor at checkpoint 109 on Sunday, after the woman was expelled from an Israeli medical vehicle and denied entry into the country for treatment. Ibtisam Al-Abra, 35, went into labor as she and her cousin were on their way from Qalqiliya, where they had been visiting family, to the Palestinian town of At-Tira in Israel. The woman lives with her husband Hasan Al-Abra in Israel, whose citizenship laws mean she is ineligible for an Israeli residency card, She married an Israeli resident 15 years ago, and currently holds a permit to enter Israel that is generally valid at the military terminal, her brother-in-law said. Ibtisam’s family said she was refused entry into Israel because she has a permit and not an identity card.
Gaza terminal partially open
3/15/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – One Gaza crossing will open on Monday for a limited transfer of aid and commercial goods into Gaza, Palestinian liaison official Raed Fattouh said. The single crossing will see the transport of approximately 74 truckloads of goods, as well as limited quantities of domestic gas and industrial diesel for Gaza’s sole power station. The shipment is a slow second day to crossings activity, with the first week of the month seeing only 528 truckloads of goods shipped into the besieged coastal enclave. The number is significantly down from the February average of 741, and only 18% of pre-siege levels, according to statistics from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. . . . .
Balata camp resident detained during home raid
3/15/2010 – Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained a Balata refugee camp teenager early Monday morning and took him to an unknown location, Palestinian security sources said. Local sources identified the man as Thaer Dweikat, detained after Israeli forces broke into his home. [end]
Prisoner released after 7 years of detention
3/15/2010 – Tulkarem – Ma’an -Israeli authorities released a Tulkarem refugee camp resident from custody on Monday, following seven years of detention. Muhammad Hamdan Dahbour, 28, was detained on 14 March 2003 during an Israeli military campaign in the refugee camp, where he was taken from his home. Dahbour was sentenced to seven years for resisting the Israeli occupation. [end]
Gaza detainee marks 21 years in Israeli prison
3/15/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – A Hamas affiliated prisoner from Rafah, southern Gaza, marked 21 years in Israeli custody on Monday, the Supreme National Committee said. Iyad Ahmad Abu Hasnah, 36, was detained on 15 March 1989 and sentenced to 30 years. He was detained when he was 15 for driving into an Israeli military zone on the border between Gaza and Egypt, the committee said. Abu Hasnah spent the last five years of his sentence in solitary confinement, the committee said, adding that the Israeli Prison Service had refused to transfer him to a regular cell. The detainee has been banned from receiving family visits for eight consecutive years, the committee added. His family told the committee that they are afraid for his well being and called on international human rights groups to intervene in the matter. . . . .
EU’s Wallis condemns Ibrahimi Mosque inclusion on Israeli list
3/15/2010 – Hebron- Ma’an – The EU Parliament’s Vice President Diana Wallis condemned Israel’s decision to include the Ibrahimi Mosque on a list of Israeli heritage sites, as she toured the mosque in Hebron on Sunday. “The Israeli government’s decision is very worrying, and came at a time when the mayor of Hebron is working hard to register this site [the Ibrahimi Mosque] on UNESCO’s world heritage list,” Wallis said following a tour lead by Hebron Mayor Khaled Al-E’seili and committee head for rebuilding, Ali Al-Qawasmi. “I believe this site should be kept open for all beliefs, and have it become a place of peace and not of checkpoints, closures, and the barring of the freedom of worship and performing religious rights,” she added. Wallis further met with local residents and merchants in Hebron’s Old City, who spoke of their daily distress at settler violence aimed toward them and procedures carried out by Israeli forces in the city.
Yemen issues stamps, post cards to commemorate Gaza siege
3/15/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Yemen’s central post system announced the launch of a new series of postage stamps and cards highlighting the ongoing siege of Israel against the Gaza Strip, de facto government officials announced. The new series of stamps reportedly mark historical events around the Arab world, and the Gaza edition is meant as a tribute to the “Palestinians and their cause,”de facto Minister of Information Yousef Al-Mansi said. The official said he sent a letter to his Yemeni counterpart, Kamal Hussein Al-Jabri, thanking him for the gesture, and praising Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh for his service to the Palestinian cause. “ We joyfully received your decision to release new postal stamps that represent the suffering of Gaza while being under siege,” the letter said. . . . .
Israeli journalist illegally entering Egypt detained by police
3/15/2010 – Al-Arish – Ma’an – An Israeli journalist allegedly researching for an investigative report on African migrants was arrested alongside a Ghanaian man at the barbed wire fence demarcating the Egyptian border, police reported. Egyptian security sources said police detained the two attempting to steal across the Egypt-Israel border on Monday. Officers processing the men discovered one was in fact an Israeli citizen. He was identified as Yotim Feldman, 30, traveling with a Ghanaian man who was not identified. According to Haaretz, Feldman was working on report about African migrants for Israel’s Channel 10 while on leave from the Israeli daily paper. Egyptian police noted that Feldman said he was a Tel Aviv-based journalist who traveled to the Sinai via the Taba border crossing and located smuggling groups, paying a large sum to ring leaders to be shown the routes taken by migrants seeking illegal entry into Israel for work.
Flyer calls on non-Jews to ‘leave the land’
3/15/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – Right-wing ultra-orthodox Jews handed out Arabic fliers calling on “non-Jews to leave the land of Israel,” in the streets of Jerusalem on Sunday, witnesses reported. The fliers, quoting Torah and Qur’an, used scripture to urge Palestinians living in the city to leave. “The Old Testament says the land of Israel is small and belongs to Jews only. Others are not allowed to stay permanently,” the flier read. Jewish exile from ancient Israel was due to a failure of compliance with divine orders, the paper explained, adding “now, after the Jewish people returned to Israel, the people of Israel have complied with divine orders. “Thus, we ask you to leave the land of Israel in order to guarantee peace in this land. There are verses in the Old Testament and in the Quran that prove this. “The leaflet continued, “After you have seen divine explanations, and as Islam is a religion of manners, you have many countries in which you can live. . . . “ “
First planned Palestinian city receives US grant
3/15/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – The US government signed two grant agreements on Monday in support of Rawabi, the first Palestinian planned city outside Ramallah, and to the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Finance. The grants, offered by the US Trade and Development Agency (TDA) Awards Grants, will go toward two projects for technical assistance to develop an IT master plan for the new city, and a tertiary waste water treatment feasibility study for Rawabi and surrounding communities, a statement said. Signed by TDA’s acting director Leocadia Lee Zak, US Consul General in Jerusalem Daniel Rubinstein, and Bayti Real Estate CEO Bashar Masri, 413,000 US dollars will be designated for the IT project, while 274,000 US dollars for the waste treatment study. Speaking at the signing ceremony, the acting director of TDA and the consul general each stressed the US’s support for the PA’s efforts to address the. . .
2,500 prefab homes to enter Gaza at Rafah, doctors union says
3/15/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – The Egyptian government agreed to allow the entry of 2,500 portable homes into the Gaza Strip for residents whose homes were destroyed during the last Israeli war on Gaza, the Union of Arab Doctors in Palestine said Monday. Dr Munir Al-Barsh, a UAD representative in Egypt, said arrangements were ongoing for the delivery’s final approval into the besieged coastal enclave. Al-Barsh said the union intends to be a partner in the reconstruction of Gaza through funding midterm projects and long-term projects. “The Palestinians are our most valuable people especially in light of the dire economic, social, and political conditions they are suffering. “ Al-Barsh sent the statement as he continued a tour of the Middle East where he is giving presentations about the living conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Qrei’a: Intifada will come if Israeli policy persists
3/15/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – PLO Executive Committee member Ahmad Qrei’a said Monday that if Israeli practices in East Jerusalem continues , a third uprising would ensue. “If matters remain at this level, regardless of whether we take the decision or not, it [an intifada] is coming. If Israel continues these practices, it is coming,” he told reporters during a news conference in his Abu Diss office in East Jerusalem. An intifada, or uprising, he said,”is not a matter of official decision, but rather it arises from the culmination of oppression, injustice, aggression and tyranny. It is something the people decide. This is what happened with the two previous intifadas. “Qrei’a, who also heads the Jerusalem affairs department in the PLO, said successive Israeli governments have attempted to change the city’s demographic nature, threatening Arab Muslim and Christian identity.
Fatah calls on political factions to stand by Abbas
3/15/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Fatah movement, which dominates the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, called on all Palestinian political factions to stand by President Mahmoud Abbas’ political stance vis-a-vis peace talks and elections. Fatah spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi said all parties should enter the “political battle” with an unwavering and strong position, a statement read, citing settlement construction in East Jerusalem as one of the “hardest battles” in Palestinian history. “Palestinian political and national parties and forces should stand by the Palestinian president and the Palestinian position regarding the settlements and Jerusalem. “ Al-Qawasmi called on the Palestinian people to put pressure on Hamas to urge the movement to stand by the PA and their position “for the sake of national interests,” calling on the party to sign the Egyptian document.
Fatah official: Banned by de facto forces from leaving Gaza
3/15/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – A Gaza member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council accused the de facto government security services of preventing him to travel to Jordan for treatment, he said on Monday. Abu Judeh An-Nahhal told Ma’an he wanted to travel to Amman for surgery and obtained the necessary permits to enter Jordan. However, An-Nahhal said the de facto Ministry of Interior denied his request to leave the coastal enclave. The Fatah official said he attempted to leave the Strip through the Erez crossing with Israel to the north, but had his ID card confiscated by Hamas security forces and was denied permission to leave. He added that he headed to the Erez crossing but the de facto security services confiscated his ID card and forbidden him from leaving the Strip. . . . .
The Petraeus briefing: Biden’s embarrassment is not the whole story
3/13/2010 – Foreign Policy – On Jan. 16, two days after a killer earthquake hit Haiti, a team of senior military officers from the U. S. Central Command (responsible for overseeing American security interests in the Middle East), arrived at the Pentagon to brief Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The team had been dispatched by CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus to underline his growing worries at the lack of progress in resolving the issue. The 33-slide, 45-minute PowerPoint briefing stunned Mullen. The briefers reported that there was a growing perception among Arab leaders that the U. S. was incapable of standing up to Israel, that CENTCOM’s mostly Arab constituency was losing faith in American promises, that Israeli intransigence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was jeopardizing U. S. standing in the region, and that Mitchell himself was (as a senior Pentagon officer later bluntly described it) “too old, too slow. “
Final destination Iran?
3/14/2010 – Scotland Sunday Herald – Hundreds of powerful US “bunker-buster” bombs are being shipped from California to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for a possible attack on Iran. The Sunday Herald can reveal that the US government signed a contract in January to transport 10 ammunition containers to the island. According to a cargo manifest from the US navy, this included 387 “Blu” bombs used for blasting hardened or underground structures. Experts say that they are being put in place for an assault on Iran’s controversial nuclear facilities. There has long been speculation that the US military is preparing for such an attack, should diplomacy fail to persuade Iran not to make nuclear weapons. Although Diego Garcia is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, it is used by the US as a military base under an agreement made in 1971.
Spain predicts Israeli annexation of entire West Bank
3/13/2010 – Press TV – Madrid has warned that, if continued at the current rate, the Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian lands would bring about the annexation of the entire occupied territories. Spain’s Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos cautioned that the advancement would claim the entire Palestinian territories in the West Bank, should the current rate of acquisition survive for another two years, AFP reported on Saturday. “ Until now, it’s not too late, but if we wait for more than two years it will be too late,” he said. The comments came after the Israel interior ministry approved the construction of 1,600 housing units for Jewish settlers in Jerusalem (al-Quds). Tel Aviv has been denounced for seeking insidious annexation of the territories under the guise of refurbishing the Jewish residences, resettling the Arab dwellers and promoting tourism among other “self-serving” excuses.
13 Human Rights Organizations Petition the Supreme Court: Israel Should Not Determine Which Parent a Palestinian Child Lives with
3/15/2010 – Gisha – – The organizations are petitioning against a new procedure which almost completely blocks the possibility of relocating from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank. – The procedure determines that parent-child and spousal relationships do not constitute “humanitarian” grounds justifying family unification in the West Bank. – “Humanitarian” according to Israel: An orphaned child in the Gaza Strip would not be allowed to unite with his surviving parent in the West Bank if any relative in Gaza can care for him. – The procedure is another stage in Israel’s policy designed to deepen the separation between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. /// HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual, Gisha ‚Äì Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, and 11 other Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations petitioned the Supreme Court today against the military and the Minister of Defense, demanding the. . . .
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s harsh words stun Israel
3/14/2010 – Los Angeles Times – A spat over the Ramat Shlomo housing project in East Jerusalem becomes a bigger clash as the secretary of State calls it ‘an insult to the United States. ‘ – Beginning as a spat over a single housing project, a dispute this week between the Obama administration and Israel has ballooned into the biggest U. S. -Israeli clash in 20 years, adding to months of strain between Washington and one of its closest allies. Israel’s decision to move ahead with 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem, announced during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden, drew criticism from Washington in language rarely directed at even Iran or North Korea. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Israel’s announcement “was an insult to the United States. “ In a 45-minute telephone call Friday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Clinton upbraided him and demanded that he take more steps to show his nation’s commitment to peace.
ADL: US Criticism of Israel troubling
3/13/2010 – YNetNews – Harsh language directed at Israel over Jerusalem construction unprecedented, ADL says; meanwhile, J Street says Israel’s conduct, beyond a slap in Biden’s face, was a wake-up call – WASHINGTON – The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says it is shocked by the harsh public criticism recently directed at Israel by the US Administration. “We are shocked and stunned at the Administration’s tone and public dressing down of Israel on the issue of future building in Jerusalem,” Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, said in a statement. Israel had been publicly reprimanded in recent days by several US officials, in wake of the announcement that 1,600 new housing units will be built in east Jerusalem. The Americans were especially upset as the announcement coincided with Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel. ‘Gross overreaction’ – However, ADL said the unprecedented criticism leveled by the US was aimed at placating the Palestinians.
Israeli Historian: Israel Could Find Itself Forced To Wipe Out Europe
3/12/2010 – Political Theatrics – Palestinian Information Center – The original article was translated from Arabic thus the name of Mr. Creveld was lost in translation. I thank all the readers who corrected this error. — Noted Israeli military historian Martin van Creveld stated that Israel could find itself one day forced to exterminate the European continent using all kinds of weapons including its nuclear arsenal if it felt its demise neared, stressing that Israel also considers Europe a hostile target. This came in a press interview broadcast by the seventh Hebrew radio and was translated on Wednesday into Arabic by the press information analysis and study center. “We have hundreds of nuclear warheads and missiles that can reach different targets in the heart of the European continent, including beyond the borders of Rome, the Italian capital,” Creveld said, adding that most of the European capitals would become preferred targets for the Israeli air force.
Israel’s Chronological Nuclear Profile
3/15/2010 – Nuclear Threat Initiative – Nuclear Chronology, 1949 – 2009, updated from 2005 through 2009 — Mid 1947: Chairman of the Jewish Agency David Ben Gurion creates a scientific department at the headquarters of Haganah, the semi-official Jewish defense organization, and allocates it a mandatory annual budget of 10,000 pounds. –Cohen, Avner, Israel and the Bomb (New York: Colombia University Press, 1998), 11. / 1948: Israeli scientist Ernst David Bergmann contends that “by developing atomic energy for peaceful uses, you reach the nuclear option. There are no two atomic energies. “ –’Israel to Honor Atom Scientist,” New York Times, 14 May 1966 as cited in Cohen, Avner, Israel and the Bomb (New York: Colombia University Press, 1998), 16. / 1948: Israeli scientist actively explore the Negev Desert for uranium deposits on orders of the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
VIDEO – Axelrod: Israeli settlement plan ‘an insult’
3/14/2010 – The Raw Story – The Obama administration isn’t backing down on criticisms of an Israeli plan to build 1600 new homes in East Jerusalem. Israel announced the plan just as Vice President Joe Biden was visiting the country. President Obama’s chief political adviser condemned the move Sunday. “This was an affront, it was an insult,” David Axelrod told NBC’s Tom Brokaw. “ But most importantly, it undermined this very fragile effort to bring peace to that region,” he said. “We just now have started proximity talks, shuttle diplomacy between the Palestinians and the Israelis. For this announcement to come at that time was very destructive. “ Fox News’ Bill Kristol responded to Axelrod by defending the Israelis. “No one doubts this is part of Israel. This little apartment building is going to be part of Israel. No different from Palestinians building apartment buildings in Ramallah. “
Oslo Jewish community leader slams Israel
3/14/2010 – YNetNews – Jews in Norwegian capital shocked by Anne Sander’s remark that Israelis benefit from settlements like Palestinians benefit from suicide bombings, her criticism against Chabad and Foreign Minister Lieberman – Many Jews in Oslo were shocked over the weekend by remarks made by the leader of the local Jewish community, who criticized haredi Judaism, the Chabad movement, the settlements and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Anne Sander made the remarks in an interview to the Dagbladet newspaper, on the backdrop of the complicated situation between Jews and Muslims in Norway. Only 1,100 Jews live in Norway today, most of them in Oslo, alongside more than 70,000 Muslims. Local Jews were surprised to read Sander’s remarks, as the Scandinavian country is no stranger to anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitic incidents from the past few years include harsh statements made by Norwegian comedian Otto Jespersen,. . . .
Israeli supermarket parodies Dubai assassination in TV advert
3/11/2010 – Times of London – “Mossad mania” continued in Israel this week when a supermarket chain filmed a television commercial inspired by the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai. The commercials for the Mahsaney Kimat Hinam (Almost Free Warehouse) chain shows actors carrying tennis rackets and wearing hats, glasses and wigs – the same disguises worn by the alleged killers in surveillance images released by Dubai police – as they make their way along store aisles. The actors are seen through the supermarket security cameras surreptitiously slipping products into their shopping trolley. One actor wearing a tennis outfit browses the frozen food section while an actress wearing a wide-brimmed floppy hat mimics Israel’s policy of neither confirming nor denying involvement in the assassination, saying she “couldn’t admit to anything”. The advertisement even carries the slogans “Eliminate the prices” and “We offer killer prices”.
Families denied prison visits as West Bank closure continues
Uruknet March 14, 2010 ‚Äì The Israeli Prison Services cancelled all family visits on Sunday to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody until the West Bank’s lockdown is lifted. The International Red Cross said family visits to the Negev and Ashkelon prions in Israel were annulled, while Monday’s visit to HaSharon, Hadarim, Rimonim, as well as Ashkehlon will also be cancelled as…
Video: Israel’s continued settlement expansion
Uruknet March 14, 2010 – Israel has been expanding illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land for decade, and it is now emerging just how far-reaching this policy is. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Jerusalem housing committee is planning to build another 50,000 Jewish homes in occupied East Jerusalem to join the hundreds of thousands already there or in progress….
Israel Lands in Public Relations Nightmare
Uruknet March 14, 2010 – Israeli riot police and soldiers have, since Friday, sealed off the Al Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, restricting entry to women and Palestinian men over 50. Outside the walled Old City, where the Al Aqsa mosque is situated, and in several West Bank villages, clashes were reported between Palestinian protestors, their Israeli and international supporters,…
Israel detains 5 Palestinians without food for 48 hours
Uruknet March 14, 2010 – Palestinian sources revealed today that Israeli occupation forces detained five Palestinians from the village of Nabi Saleh in Ramallah for 48 hours. The IOF handcuffed their hands and did not give the Palestinians any food or drink. The sources said that the five detainees kidnapped from their homes in the early morning, including four brothers, were:…
PFLP: US position on settlements and negotiations is a cover for the crimes of the occupation
Uruknet March 14, 2010 – The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine condemned negotiations of any shape or form with the occupier, saying that what is needed for the Palestinian people is action, not words with the occupier. On March 13, 2010, the PFLP issued a press statement saying that US positions on settlement construction, labeling it as a “negative…
Hizma: A microcosm of a disappearing Palestine
Uruknet March 14, 2010 – Palestinian women clash with Israeli soldiers at the Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and occupied East Jerusalem. To the south, Israeli soldiers clash with youth in Beit Ummar, near Hebron. These are the latest manifestations of boiling tensions in the area, sparked by Israel’s announcement of large-scale settlement expansion in Occupied East Jerusalem. Israel has kept the…
West Bank lockdown extended
Uruknet March 14, 2010 – Israeli authorities extended a closure of the West Bank on Saturday evening as restrictions on Palestinian entry into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound remain in place. The closure, expected to end on Saturday night, was extended until Tuesday “In accordance with the directives of the Minister of Defense, Mr. Ehud Barak, and following additional situation assessments adopted…
Children of Gaza: Scarred, trapped, vengeful
Uruknet March 14, 2010 – Omsyatte adjusts her green school uniform and climbs gingerly on to a desk at the front of the classroom. The shy 12-year-old holds up a brightly coloured picture and begins to explain to her classmates what she has drawn. It is a scene played out in schools all over the world, but for one striking difference:…
Video: Charges on Gaza boy “human shield”
Uruknet March 14, 2010 – Two Israeli soldiers will face charges in an Israeli court for allegedly using a young Palestinian boy as a human shield during the country’s three-week bombardment in Gaza in 2008. Majed Al Rubah, 10, says Israeli troops forcefully took him from his family and made him carry out life-threatening tasks during military operations. Many other Palestinians…
Jail ordeal of hundreds of Palestinian children arrested for throwing stones
Uruknet March 14, 2010 – With more than 300 Palestinian children being held in Israeli prisons, human rights groups and Palestinian officials are increasingly concerned about the actions of the Israeli military. The Israeli group B’Tselem said that security forces had “severely violated” the rights of a number of children, aged between 12 and 15, who had been taken into custody…
Jerusalem burns
Uruknet March 13, 2010 – Once again, Muslim worshipers aged over 50 were not permitted to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the old city of Jerusalem. Palestinian men were obliged to pray on stairs in the large square located in front the Damascus gate, the main access to the Muslim quarter. The whole area was severely restricted to Palestinians. Following the…
Israel Police arrests children aged 12 to 15 in night raids in Silwan, East Jerusalem
Uruknet March 13, 2010 – In recent months there have been many cases in which minors aged 12-15 from Silwan, in East Jerusalem, were arrested in the middle of the night by police officers and Israel Security Agency agents accompanied by armed border policemen. The minors were taken out of their beds and brought to the police station in the Russian…
Eva Bartlett follows in the footsteps of Rachel Corrie
Gaza, March 16, 2010 (Pal Telegraph, by Pam Bailey) – Today is the seventh anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old International Solidarity Movement (ISM) volunteer who was run over by an Israeli army bulldozer while she was trying to stop the demolition of a home in the Gaza Strip. Her parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, are still…
Israel orders destruction of Nablus mosque
West Bank, March 15, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli authorities ordered Sunday the destruction of Salman Al-Farsi, the mosque under construction in the northern West Bank village of Burin, reported Ghassan Daghlas, head of the Palestinian Authority’s settlement portfolio. Daghlas explained that the Israeli Civil Administration ordered a stop on construction work at the mosque, demanding the demolition of what…
Israel detains 15 Palestinians in West Bank
West Bank, March 15, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli occupation forces raided Monday different areas of the West Bank and detained 15 Palestinians. Local sources said that a large force of Israeli army soldiers raided the cities of Bethlehem, Ramallah, Hebron and Nablus, and then began searching houses and tampering with their contents. After that, they detained 15 Palestinians and…
Gaza’s male hairdressers struggle to stay in business
Gaza, March 14, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – “Maybe I will emigrate to Somalia or Afghanistan,” says hairdresser Adnan Barakat with a wry smile. “There’s no life for me in Gaza.” Barakat is one of only five or six male hairdressers in the Gaza Strip who cut women’s hair. He has been serving female clients at his small salon in Gaza…
Gaza children struggle to survive
Gaza, March 14, 2010 (Pal Telegraph, by Rachel Shields) – Omsyatte adjusts her green school uniform and climbs gingerly on to a desk at the front of the classroom. The shy 12-year-old holds up a brightly colored picture and begins to explain to her classmates what she has drawn. It is a scene played out in schools all over the…
Israel admits it has an image problem
The National 15 Mar 2010 – A government initiative aimed at improving the world’s view of the country has been accused of advancing a right-wing agenda.
Egypt’s rate of female mutilation drops to 66%
The National 15 Mar 2010 – Practice was criminalised two years ago but turning point came when television talk shows dared to discuss the deaths of two young girls.
Hamas blames Fatah for arrest
The National 14 Mar 2010 – The arrest by Israeli forces of a senior Hamas commander has political rivals Hamas and Fatah trading heated words, and may undermine recent steps toward reconciliation.
Tension in East Jerusalem is a result of Israeli campaign to destroy Palestinian lives
Palestine Note 15 Mar 2010 – Jerusalem March 15 th 2010 Dimitri Diliani, Fateh Revolutionary Council Member, said that “the political and security tension in Occupied East Jerusalem today is a result of Israeli government sponsored systematic campaign to destroy Palestinian lives…
Winds of a third Intifada
Palestine Note 15 Mar 2010 – For almost a year now, Israeli politicians accused President Mahmoud Abbas, repeatedly, of climbing a high tree by refusing to negotiate with Israel before Benjamin Netenyahu’s Government announces a full freeze of all settlement activities in…
Obama starts rising to the challenge
Palestine Note 15 Mar 2010 – Well, color me stunned. In my most recent article, I described Benjamin Netanyahu as having won his roll of the dice in the wake of the Israeli announcement of new Jerusalem building while Joe Biden was…
1000 days of siege
Palestine Note 15 Mar 2010 – Salamz all, Ayman Mohyledin, AlJazeera English correspondent in Gaza, has written this blog post that describes the very minutiae of Gaza’s situation after 1000 days of siege. ŸåRead here. The statistics speak for themselves; actually sometimes…
US-Israel showdown?
Palestine Note 15 Mar 2010 – The Israel lobby is mobilizing for what might turn into the most significant confrontation between the United States and Israel since, well, the Suez War of 1956, when President Eisenhower told Israel — and its covert…
Israel and the US: ‘The real break came in January’
Palestine Note 15 Mar 2010 – Tongues have been wagging since last week about Israel’s diplomatic gaff with the US and “slap in the face” to Joe Biden over an ill-timed announcement of settlement expansion in East Jerusalem. It has since come…
Israel to Increase EU Economic Ties
The Media Line 14 Mar 2010 – The European Union may be Israel’s largest trading partner but Israel’s Finance Minister says there is still room for improvement. Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz called Monday for stronger economic ties and increased cooperation between Israel…
Internet Clampdown the Blight of MidEast
The Media Line 14 Mar 2010 – Reporters Without Borders lists Middle East countries as ‘enemies of the Internet’ The worst violators of online freedom of expression in the Middle East include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Syria and Tunisia, according to a new…
Hamas Trying to Spark New Intifada in West Bank
The Media Line 14 Mar 2010 – The extended closure imposed by Israel on the territories as well as the extremely heavy deployment of security forces in Jerusalem is reportedly due to intelligence information that Hamas is trying to spark a new Palestinian…
Petraeus Takes Obama Administration to Task Over Lack of Progress
The Media Line 14 Mar 2010 – Popular US general David Petraeus has reportedly warned the Pentagon of severe repercussions for American interests in the Middle East if the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks do not progress. The Washington-published Foreign Policy reported that Gen. Petraeus,…
Israeli Intelligence Report Claims Hamas Used Children as Human Shields
The Media Line 14 Mar 2010 – Hamas used children as human shields during the 2009 Gaza War, according to a report issued today by an Israeli intelligence think tank which based its information on military and security service cooperation. The report by…
Israel extends West Bank closure
AlJazeera 14 Mar 2010 – Lockdown extended and access to the al-Aqsa mosque restricted over fears of clashes.
Egypt clears way for women judges
AlJazeera 15 Mar 2010 – Top constitutional court says internal vote opposing induction was invalid.
Israel to go ahead with settlements
AlJazeera 15 Mar 2010 – Netanyahu defies calls from US to halt plans in Jerusalem that has sparked diplomatic row.
Synagogue opens in Jerusalem
AlJazeera 15 Mar 2010 – Rebuilt Hurva opens its doors as Israeli troops injure Palestinians in West Bank clash.
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…
GOP knocks White House over tension
Jeruslalem Post 15 Mar 2010 – Obama’s congressional opponents concerned by reaction to J’lem construction.
PM: Settlement moratorium will end on time in September
Jeruslalem Post 15 Mar 2010 – Barak blocks Labor rebels from voting on Jerusalem construction freeze.
Groups petition court for Gaza to W. Bank movement
Jeruslalem Post 15 Mar 2010 – 13 human rights organizations say Palestinians’ rights severely restricted.
No need for ‘hysteria’ over crisis with US, says Shoval
Jeruslalem Post 15 Mar 2010 – Israel’s former US ambassadors says Ramat Shlomo criticism is not “a historical development.”
Hurva is again a house of prayer
Jeruslalem Post 15 Mar 2010 – Hundreds gather for rededication of J’lem synagogue after nearly 62-year hiatus.
Foxman: Don’t blame the Jews
Jeruslalem Post 15 Mar 2010 – ADL chairman speaks out against argument that Israel endangers US soldiers.
’All PMs since ‘67 built in J’lem’
Jeruslalem Post 15 Mar 2010 – PM makes carefully worded Knesset speech as Brazilian president begins visit.
Israeli NGO’s Gaza report sent out
Jeruslalem Post 15 Mar 2010 – Foreign Ministry spokesman warns that “battle is one of politics, not fact.”
’All premiers since ‘67 built in J’lem’
Jeruslalem Post 15 Mar 2010 – PM makes carefully worded Knesset speech as Brazilian president begins visit.
Ashton: Resolution of Arab-Israeli Conflict Vital European Interest
WAFA 15 Mar 2010 – CAIRO, March 15, 2010 (WAFA)- EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign and Security Policy Vice-President of the European Commission Affairs Catherine Ashton, said that the
Ending Israeli Occupation Makes Palestine Participate in Endeavors on Global Warming
WAFA 15 Mar 2010 – RAMALLAH, March 15, 2010(WAFA)-Local in a workshop participants agreed that ending the Israeli occupation of will make the future Palestinian state contribute in the international endeavors on
USTDA Awards Grants to Rawabi, PA
WAFA 15 Mar 2010 – RAMALLAH, March 15, 2010 (WAFA)- Acting Director of the U.S. Trade Development Agency Leocadia “Lee” Zak, U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem Daniel Rubinstein, and Bayti Real Estate CEO Bashar Masri
Israeli Army Declares WB Protest Villages Closed Military Area
WAFA 15 Mar 2010 – TEL AVIV, March 15, 2010 (WAFA)- The Israeli army has declared the West Bank villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin a ‘closed military area’ until August 17, it emerged Monday, the Israeli daily Haaretz
Petition: Israel not to Determine Which Parent Palestinian Child Lives with
WAFA 15 Mar 2010 РTEL AVIV, March 15, 2010 (WAFA0- HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual, Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, and 11 other Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations
PSE: Al-Quds Index” Decreases by 0.75 Points
WAFA 15 Mar 2010 – NABLUS, March 14, 2010 (WAFA)- Palestine Security Exchange (PSE) reported that “Al-Quds Index” decreased today by %0.14, a decrease of 0.75 points, ending today’s session at 527.94 points. Today’s
West Bank Closure Extended until Tuesday
WAFA 15 Mar 2010 – TEL AVIV, March 14, 2010 (WAFA)- Israeli Security Minister Ehud Barak on Saturday evening signed an order to extend a security lockdown in the West Bank to prevent Palestinians entering Jerusalem
MDM: Specialist in Orthopedic Surgery Arrives in Gaza to Conduct Arthroscopy Training
WAFA 15 Mar 2010 – GAZA, March 14, 2010 (WAFA)- Dr. Philippe Lemaire, a senior orthopedic surgeon specialist has arrived today in the Gaza Strip to conduct a two-weeks long arthroscopy training, as part of
MIDEAST: An Unlikely Collision Takes Place
IPS JERUSALEM, Mar 15 (IPS) – In the middle of last week, it seemed that the old clich?© about the light at the end of the dark Middle East tunnel was being confirmed: the U.S. had successfully cajoled both Israel and the Palestinian Authority into beginning to talk again.
MIDEAST: Israel Lands in Public Relations Nightmare
IPS JERSUSALEM, Mar 14 (IPS) – Israeli riot police and soldiers have, since Friday, sealed off the Al Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, restricting entry to women and Palestinian men over 50.
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Man Killed and 3 Others Wounded in Armed Family Dispute in Rafah
PCHR 14 Mar 2010 – Field Update On Sunday morning, 14 March 2010, a man was killed and 3 others were wounded in a family dispute, in which firearms were used, in al-Shouka village, northeast of the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah. According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, at approximately 11:00 on Sunday, 14 March 2010, a quarrel erupted….
Hand Grenades Thrown at Two Persons in al-Boreij and Jabalya Camps
PCHR 13 Mar 2010 – Field Update In the past two days, two persons were injured when hand grenades were thrown towards them by unknown militants in two separate attacks in al-Boreij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, and Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip…..
International Solidarity Movement
Israeli Army: Bil’in and Ni’lin a Closed Military Zone for a Six Month Period
3/15/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, 14 March – One week after the head of the Israeli Shin Bet threatened to aggravate the repression of the Palestinian popular struggle, a large military force raided the villages of Bil’in and Ni’ilin at 3:30AM this morning. The sole purpose of the raids was to post decrees designating the land between the Wall and the developed area of the villages as closed military zones between 8AM to 8PM every Friday for a period of half a year. The decrees, which came into effect on February 17th, are signed by the recently appointed commander of the Israeli Central Command, Avi Mizrahi, himself. Closed military zone orders are usually signed by a brigade commander, a much lower rank. Gaby Lasky who represents residents of the villages, said that “This is yet another illegal measure taken by the Army, which makes ill use of its authority in order to suppress. . . .
Bethlehem is on fire. Apartheid is burning.
3/15/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – Two months ago there was one weekly demonstration in the Bethlehem area, this weekend alone there were four. With Al-Ma’sara on Friday, Beit Ummar and Jubbet adh Dhib on Saturday and Beit Jala on Sunday, the third -unarmed- intifada is knocking on our door. The Israeli government knows this and is terrified. They can outgun an armed insurgence but their weapons will only erode global support when used against unarmed, non-violent resistance. New demonstrations seem to be popping up each week with new villages joining the popular struggle against apartheid. ISM activists showed strong support for the popular demonstrations, new and old by joining Palestinians standing in roads, planting trees, and staring down lines of soldiers armed to the teeth. Below is an account of each action. Al-Ma’sara: Friday 12 March 2010-A group of 50 Palestinians, Israelis and internationals challenged. . . .
Netanyahu’s rhetoric over policy is jeopardizing Israel
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – Israel is not America’s strategic asset, but America is the source of Israel’s strength.
Israel envoy: U.S. ties at their worst in 35 years
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – Netanyahu: Israel, U.S. have common interests that require us to change the situation in the country.
Comment / Road to Iran nuclear relief may pass through Brazil
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – Some members of the Brazilian Jewish community view Clara Ant as Queen Esther to da Silva’s King Ahasuerus.
U.S. row shows Jerusalem is cornerstone of peace
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – Obama must pull out his plan for two states with Jerusalem as their capital before it’s too late.
ADL chief: Flawed U.S. policy is undermining Mideast peace
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – ‘The argument that Palestinian-Israeli peace is the key to Mideast peace is an American myth.’
Barak: East Jerusalem announcement was unnecessary, damaging
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – Obama aide Axelrod says approval of 1,600 new East Jerusalem homes seemed meant to thwart talks.
Israeli envoy to Poland deplores vandalism of Holocaust memorial
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – Ambassador condemns vandals who desecrated the Poland memorial with anti-Semitic slogans on Saturday.
Egypt nixes synagogue ceremony citing ‘Israeli aggression’
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – Cancellation of unveiling attributed to Israeli oppression of Muslims in the occupied territories.
Mubarak, Egypt regime change and Israel
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – Given Egyptian president’s advanced age and medical history, his recent operation is no trivial affair.
France FM: UN sanctions on Iran not likely before June
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – EU leaders says consensus ‘emerging’ in bloc on taking unilateral action over Iran’s nuclear program.
Pro-Palestinian groups urge H&M boycott after Israel branch opens
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – Pro-Palestinian group: H&M invests in Israel while UN Goldstone commission reports about Israel’s crimes.
Al-Jazeera airs unseen 1983 footage of abducted IDF soldiers
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – Clip shows soldiers seized during first Lebanon War, who were then released in controversial prison swap.
Netanyahu must choose between ideology and U.S. support
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – Prime Minister faces choice between the need for U.S support and his ideological ties to the Israeli right.
Biden to Israelis: Mideast status quo unsustainable
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – Vice President says that Palestinians, Israelis must decide for themselves if they want peace.
To 120! The secret of Ashkenazi Jews who live past 100
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – Dr. Nir Barzilai of Albert Einstein College of Medicine is studying the lifestyles and genes of centenarians.
US-Israel relations: White House ‘will not shy away’ from pushing for talks
The Guardian 15 Mar 2010 – United States determined to persuade Israel into substantive peace talks with Palestinians, Obama administration source says President Barack Obama and the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, are on a collision course today in a row described…
Britain still doesn’t get Lebanon | Matthew Cassel
The Guardian 15 Mar 2010 – The UK ambassador’s latest foray shows just how little Britain understands the Lebanese people’s relationship with Hezbollah One would think that the British government ‚Äì considering its history in the Middle East of colonising and partitioning…
New voice on the Middle East conflict | Miri Weingarten
The Guardian 15 Mar 2010 – JNews will provide a critical Jewish perspective, but one that arises out of deep empathy for both Israelis and Palestinians The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most destabilising conflicts in the world. Yet consumers of…
Video: Clashes erupt in the West Bank as Jerusalem tension runs high
The Guardian 15 Mar 2010 – Israeli troops wounded at least six Palestinians during a confrontation in the occupied West Bank as tension over the Jerusalem settlements plan runs high
Israel claims Jerusalem settlement plan would not harm Palestinians
The Guardian 15 Mar 2010 – Netanyahu makes comments after ambassador to Washington says ties with US in ‘crisis of historic proportions’ The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, stepped up the row over Jewish settlement plans in East Jerusalem today, saying they…
Israeli-US crisis worst since Sinai withdrawal
The Guardian 15 Mar 2010 – Dispute over East Jerusalem settlements marks a low point in 35 years of rollercoaster relations between Israel and US Israel’s ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, has said the row over new housing in East Jerusalem…
Obama aide calls Israeli settlement announcement an ‘insult’ to the US
The Guardian 14 Mar 2010 – ‚Ä¢ Axelrod brands plans as ‘very destructive’ ‚Ä¢ Netanyahu tries to calm tension with key ally One of President Obama’s most senior aides has described Israel’s sudden announcement of plans to build 1,600 homes in occupied…
Israelis can breathe easy again as record heat wave breaks
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – The last in a series of heat waves over February and March ended Monday, and the next two days should be cool and pleasant, meteorologists said. …
IDF researchers: Sharing water bottles raises pneumonia risk
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – Sharing water bottles and drinking cups increases the likelihood of being infected with the bacteria that most commonly causes acute pneumonia, according to a recent study of Israel Defense Forces soldiers. …
Row with U.S. questions Netanyahu’s fitness to lead
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares at a cabinet meeting that the media exaggerated in describing the grave crisis with the United States and throws in a few more phrases from the “it’ll all be fine” department, it is clear that he has neither learned nor forgotten anything. You didn’t have to read Thomas Friedman’s devastating column in The New York Times to know that there is a limit to the Americans’ patience and their willingness to let us pour mud on their heads and call it rain. …
East Jerusalem plan was supposed to be shelved, so what happened?
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – A Jerusalem municipal engineer recused himself from a District Committee meeting discussing the building plans for Ramat Shlomo due to a conflict of interests. Despite that, the engineer was still able to force his will upon the committee, which approved the plan, at the worst possible time. …
Arab rights group planning visit to Temple Mount, Hebron
Ha’aretz 15 Mar 2010 – A delegation of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee is planning to visit the Temple Mount and Hebron on Tuesday to protest the settlement policies of the Israeli government. …
OPT: Mitchell Mideast travel in flux amid US-Israel row
Relief Web 15 Mar 2010 – Source: Reuters – AlertNet
“A Commitment to Peace: the European Union and the Middle East” ‚Äì Speech by EU HR Ashton
Relief Web 15 Mar 2010 – Source: European Union
OPT: URGENT APPEAL – Illegal detention of children inside Israel
Relief Web 15 Mar 2010 – Source: Defence for Children International/Palestine Section
Evaluation of the DG ECHO’s Action: In Response to the IRAQI Crisis (2007 ‚Äì 2009)
Relief Web 14 Mar 2010 – Source: European Commission Humanitarian Aid department
Republicans slam Obama’s hard line towards Israel
YNet News 15 Mar 2010 – House Republican Whip Eric Cantor says spat with Israel ‘jeopardizes America’s national security’, while another senior party member concerned about administration’s ‘softer approaches’ toward Palestinian Authority, Syria and Iran
Damascus agrees to receive shunned Druze leader
YNet News 15 Mar 2010 – President Assad agrees to meet Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, once one of his harshest critics after he apologizes for past, ‘inappropriate’ remarks
US waiting for ‘formal’ Israeli response
YNet News 15 Mar 2010 – State Department spokesman says Mideast envoy Mitchell may reconsider planned trip to region due to crisis over Israel’s east Jerusalem construction plan. ‘This is a fluid situation,’ Crowley says
Hamas’ al-Zahar: Israel made deal with the devil
YNet News 15 Mar 2010 – In response to rededication of synagogue in Jewish Quarter, senior Hamas figure says Muslims, Christians must ‘protect holy sites from Zionists’ racist onslaught’
Egypt: Opposition wants presidency abolished
YNet News 15 Mar 2010 – Four of Cairo’s opposition parties mull possible change in system of government; urge replacing presidential regime with parliamentary one
Merkel: Iran sanctions needed
YNet News 15 Mar 2010 – Following talks with Lebanese PM, German chancellor says Tehran rejected all ‘constructive offers’
Chief Rabbi: Talk about new temple a lie
YNet News 15 Mar 2010 – Rabbi Yona Metzger inaugurates controversial Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem, urges Muslims to disregard rumors that Israel is eying Temple Mount takeover
Senior PLO member warns building in east J’lem will lead to intifada
YNet News 15 Mar 2010 – After Netanyahu vows to continue east Jerusalem construction, Qureia says, ‘If Israel continues these practices, another uprising will break out’; Egyptian FM calls Israel’s actions ‘attempt to suffocate the Palestinians’. Dozens of Palestinians riot north of Jerusalem
Research center: Goldstone ignored findings
YNet News 15 Mar 2010 – Terrorism Information Center publishes report showing UN Gaza probe ignored Hamas’s cynical use of civilians
Testimony: Schoolhouse still in ruins, a year after Cast Lead
14 Mar 2010 – Beit Lahiya lies near the northern border of the Gaza Strip, where Israel began its invasion in Operation Cast Lead. Pupils of a school in the town that suffered heavy fire are still studying among the ruins, as the Israeli siege is preventing reconstruct
Israeli forces test new weapons on the protestors in Nabi Saleh
Stop The Wall – The villagers of Nabi Saleh today were confronted with a so far unknown highly powerful explosive device the Occupation forces used to intimidate the villagers and deter protests. [
Two young men severely beaten by Israeli soldiers in al-Masara village
Stop The Wall – During the weekly protest today in the village of al Masara, two young men, 24 year old Mahmoud Alaa El Din and 23-year old Ali Zawahra, were severely beaten by Israeli soldiers using the butts of their rifles. [
Israel vows more settlement building despite crisis with Washington
Daily Star 15 Mar 2010 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear on Monday settlement building in occupied East Jerusalem would continue, in a move likely to further heighten tensions with key ally the United States.Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas responded by saying he would not return to peace
UK’s Milliband: Security Council states on same page on Iran
Daily Star 15 Mar 2010 BEIJING: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on a visit to China Monday that the veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council were on the same page on how to tackle Iran.Miliband’s comments came ahead of talks in Beijing with Chinese leaders which he said would focus on efforts to resolve the international standoff over Iran’s nuclear drive.
Tehran bans leading pro-reform political party
Daily Star 15 Mar 2010 TEHRAN: Iran’s hardline government said the country’s largest pro-reform political party has been banned as part of the crackdown on the opposition, on the same day that the home of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi was attacked.Deputy Interior Minister Solat Mortazavi says the party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front, had its authorization to
Iran offers ‘courting’ diplomas in bid to cut divorce rate
Daily Star 15 Mar 2010 TEHRAN: Iranian youths can attend courtship classes and earn a diploma before tying the knot as part of a newly launched government scheme to cut the divorce rate.The National Youth Organization has unveiled an online course to educate the Islamic Republic’s overwhelmingly young population on how to find Mr or Mrs Right, pop the question, and live happily ever after.
A week of fighting for justice in Palestine
Daily Star 15 Mar 2010 Last Saturday saw the end of “Israeli Apartheid Week” held in over 40 cities all over the world. Beirut joined the activity at the American University of Beirut last Thursday. The week started in 2005, but became world renowned and more widespread in 2009, when universities throughout the world showed movies about the Israeli war on Gaza, exhibited
Palestinian Information Center
Palestinian prisoners intend to take steps in protest at Israeli abuses
PIC 15 Mar 2010 – The Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails declared their intention to take a number of steps during next April in protest at the Israeli violations against their rights.
Bahar asks the Arab summit to support the Aqsa
PIC 15 Mar 2010 – Dr. Ahmed Bahar on Monday asked the Arab summit scheduled to be held late March in Libya to adopt firm decisions in support of the Aqsa Mosque.
Resheq: Building ruins synagogue a declaration of war
PIC 15 Mar 2010 – Ezzet Al-Resheq has described the Israeli construction of the so-called ruins synagogue near the Aqsa Mosque as a “declaration of war” because of its direct threat to the holy site.
Dweik renews call on Abbas to allow special PLC session on Aqsa events
PIC 15 Mar 2010 – Dr. Aziz Al-Dweik has renewed his call on Mahmoud Abbas, the PA chief whose term in office expired over a year ago but still rules in the West Bank, to allow the PLC to convene in a special session.
IOA declares Bilin, Nilin closed military zones
PIC 15 Mar 2010 – The IOA informed the inhabitants of Bilin and Nilin villages that both their villages would be declared closed military zones as of next Friday till 17/8/2010.
Netanyahu: Settlement in Jerusalem to continue
PIC 15 Mar 2010 – Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu, in a clear response to the American reservations, on Monday said that construction of buildings in occupied Jerusalem would continue unabated.
Urgent appeal to all Palestinians to defend Aqsa Mosque
PIC 15 Mar 2010 – Sheikh Ikrima Sabri issued an urgent appeal to all Palestinians to be alert to the Israeli preparations to open a synagogue tomorrow and head to the Aqsa Mosque to defend it by all means.
Energy authority: EU participating in Gaza siege
PIC 15 Mar 2010 – The Palestinian energy authority in the Gaza Strip has accused the European Union of giving up its humanitarian responsibility and participating in the siege on the Strip.
Jewish settlers seize Palestinian lands in Yabad
PIC 15 Mar 2010 – Tens of Jewish settlers on Monday seized a large chunk of Palestinian lands in Yabad village, south of Jenin, and installed a fence around it, eyewitnesses reported.
Health ministry: 12 deaths and 25 injuries in Gaza during three months
PIC 15 Mar 2010 – The ministry of health reported that the number of victims who have been killed in Gaza by Israel since the start of 2010 and until March 9th amounted to 12 Palestinians and the injuries to 25 others.
Israel rejects U.S. calls to halt East Jerusalem plan
LA Times 15 Mar 2010 – Prime Minister Netanyahu says the 1,600-unit construction will go ahead, despite a diplomatic flap. A day after trying to ease tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected U.S. demands to end the construction of new housing units in disputed East Jerusalem, leaving the two allies in the middle of an increasingly uncomfortable diplomatic feud.
Israel’s Netanyahu seeks to ease tension after Biden’s Mideast trip
LA Times 15 Mar 2010 – The premier expresses regret over the announcement of a Jewish housing project. The U.S. says the move hurt efforts to restart peace talks with Palestinians and embarrassed the vice president. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried Sunday to move beyond a diplomatic rift with the U.S. even as Obama administration officials reiterated their displeasure with a controversial housing project in East Jerusalem.
How Dubai unraveled a homicide, frame by frame
LA Times 14 Mar 2010 – A mix of old-fashioned legwork and high-tech razzle-dazzle, scouring hundreds of hours of surveillance videos, helped police home in on suspects in a Hamas man’s slaying, blamed on Israel’s Mossad. Lacking witnesses but blessed with hundreds of hours of video, the cops and spooks worked the case of the slain weapons smuggler like a movie in reverse.
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s harsh words stun Israel
LA Times 14 Mar 2010 – A spat over the Ramat Shlomo housing project in East Jerusalem becomes a bigger clash as the secretary of State calls it ‘an insult to the United States.’ Beginning as a spat over a single housing project, a dispute this week between the Obama administration and Israel has ballooned into the biggest U.S.-Israeli clash in 20 years, adding to months of strain between Washington and one of its closest allies.
World Briefing | Middle East: Egypt: Constitutional Court Supports Female Judges
New York Times 15 Mar 2010 – The ruling follows a dispute in the State Council, the top administrative court, over whether women should be appointed to the courts.
Rebuilt Synagogue Is Caught in Disputes Over Jerusalem
New York Times 15 Mar 2010 – Israel officially inaugurated a rebuilt synagogue in Jerusalem’s Old City, entangling what was intended to be a festive event with the diplomatic row over new Israeli construction.
Iran Sentences 6 Protesters to Death
New York Times 15 Mar 2010 – The announcement appeared to be strong warning to the opposition ahead of a traditional annual celebration.
Some Palestinian Jordanians Lose Citizenship
New York Times 14 Mar 2010 – A Human Rights Watch report said 2,700 people lost citizenship from 2004 to 2008 and more were vulnerable.
Rethinking What Happens If Iran Gets Nuclear Weapons
New York Times 13 Mar 2010 – Whatever the U.S. wishes, Iran may get nuclear weapons. A debate is building on whether containment would work.
Clinton Rebukes Israel on Housing Announcement
New York Times 13 Mar 2010 – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Israel’s plans for new housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem “a deeply negative signal” about Israel-American relations.
Comparative Circular Grammar Studies
Mondoweiss – 15 Mar 2010 – An instinct of evasion so profound it would rather talk nonsense than specify: David Axelrod to Jake Tapper, March 14: “I believe that that region and that issue is a flare point throughout the region” Obama to student questioner in Tampa, January 28: “The Middle East…
Podhoretz urges ‘wildly disproportionate’ Jewish donor base to abandon Democrats
Mondoweiss – 15 Mar 2010 – I feel guilty whenever I point out that most of the money in the Democratic Party political process comes from Jews, per the Washington Post. Well John Podhoretz in Commentary is joining me in conveying that “wildly disproportionate” truth, I mean canard. But he’s telling the…
How the western press distorts the Mideast (Part 1)
Mondoweiss – 15 Mar 2010 – Egyptians are justifiably proud that Cairo is one of the safest big cities in the world, but you are rarely going to read that in the mainstream U.S. press. In a democratic Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood would probably be the largest single political party; the Brotherhood…
Spirit of Bil’in travels to London
Mondoweiss – 15 Mar 2010 – Amira Hass of Haaretz reports today that the West Bank villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin have been declared “closed military areas” by Israel in an attempt to further crush the nonviolent resistance carried out by Palestinians and supporters against the illegal separation wall. Mondo has more…
’Stars and Stripes’ picks up Petraeus report
Mondoweiss – 15 Mar 2010 – Even our military newspaper is covering the news that Gen’l Petraeus wants Palestine under his Centcom command, because the Palestinian grievance is damaging the U.S. interest. S&S extends the story. Notice that the Times hasn’t twigged to this important story. Related posts: Of all Places‚Äì’Stars and…
Italian Professors Denounce Complicity of Israeli Academic Institutions in the Occupation
Alternative Information Center – 15 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 – 15 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 – 15 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 – 15 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 – 15 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
Israel Crackdown Puts Liberal Jews on the Spot
Chris Hedges, TruthDig 3/15/2010
The Israeli government, its brutal war crimes in Gaza exposed in detail in the U.N. report by Justice Richard Goldstone, has implemented a series of draconian measures to silence and discredit dissidents, leading intellectuals and human rights organizations inside and outside Israel that are accused–often falsely–of assisting Goldstone’s U.N. investigators. The government of Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to shut down Israel’s premier human rights organizations, including B’Tselem, the New Israel Fund (NIF) and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. It is busy expelling or excluding peace activists and foreign nationals from the Palestinian territories. The campaign, if left unchecked, will be as catastrophic for Palestinians as it will be for Israel.
The Goldstone report, which is over 500 pages, investigated Israel’s 22-day air and ground assault on Gaza that took place from Dec. 27, 2008, to Jan. 18, 2009. The United Nations and the European Parliament have endorsed the report. The report found that Israel used disproportionate military force against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip while failing to take adequate precautions to protect the civilian population against the military assault. The Israeli attack killed 1,434 people, including 960 civilians, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. More than 6,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, leaving behind some $3 billion in destruction in one of the poorest areas on Earth. No Israelis were killed by Hamas rockets fired into Israel during the assault. The report did not limit itself to the 22-day attack; rather, it went on to indict the occupation itself. It examines the beginning of the occupation and condemns Israel for the border closures, the blockade and for the wall or security barrier in the West Bank. It has two references to the right of return, investigates Israeli torture and criticizes the willful destruction of the Palestinian economy.
“The impact of the Goldstone report is tremendous,” the Middle East scholar Norman Finkelstein said when I reached him in New York…..more..e-mail
Olive Oil And Tears
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD, Desert Peace 3/15/2010
“If the olive tree knew the suffering of its owner, its oil would turn into tears”— Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish
The olive young leaves and flower sprouts are denser than ever before. It promises a great season not only of bountiful agricultural harvest but of bountiful harvest on the activism front. It is true that, as the Palestinian poet stated, if the olive tree knew the suffering of its owner, its oil would turn into tears. The Israeli apartheid forces have been uprooting olive trees in Beit Jala the last few days. They have also intensified their repression and attempts at intimidation of activists (with help from Palestinian collaborators). But it is also true that the apartheid system is facing grassroots activists everywhere despite all these tactics. Today we joined the demonstration in Beit Jala as we did not have a competing eventat Ush Ghrab. The lack of an event here in Beit Sahour happened because the popular committee decided collectively (over 15 people) to put the actions before the local forces to decide on how (and if?) to support the popular resistance. Yet, we did go to Ush Ghrab in the morning and an Ashkenazi white man wearing a blue shirt entered as we were meeting and drinking coffee, fiddled with his backpack, for a few minutes, then left. Later, as we were leaving, we notice the Israeli army on the hill and the same man with the blue shirt “briefing” them.
Soldiers uprooting olive trees were confronted in Beit Jala and later landowners with help of other locals and internationals went back and replanted these trees and rebuilt a bulldozed children’s playground in Beit Jala….more..e-mail
Anti-Semitism: Zionism’s indispensable alibi
Maidhc ?ì Cathail, Redress 3/15/2010
Maidhc ?ì Cathail considers the symbiotic relationship between Zionism and anti-Semitism ‚Äì real or imagined ‚Äì and how Israel and other Zionists have at times faked instances of “anti-Semitism” in order to promote their cause.
Although Zionism typically represents itself as the solution to anti-Semitism, the truth is less flattering. In fact, hostility toward Jews is indispensable to the cause of Jewish nationalism. If anti-Semitism didn’t exist, Zionists would have to invent it. And in many cases that is precisely what they have done.
Contrary to the widespread perception that Zionism opposes anti-Semitism, its adherents have occasionally revealed a more ambivalent attitude to Jew-hatred. In 1895, Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, prophetically wrote in his Diaries: “Anti-Semites will become our surest friends, anti-Semitic countries our allies.” Even the suffering inflicted on European Jewry by the Nazi holocaust doesn’t seem to have unduly tempered such cynicism. In 1995, Jay Lefkowitz, an American government official, told the New York Times Magazine: “Deep down, I believe that a little anti-Semitism is a good thing for the Jews– reminds them who they are.”
If Zionist extremists can’t provoke the desired level of anti-Semitism to advance their goals, they are even prepared to fake it. A 1952 article in Davar, the official organ of Mapai, the party of the then Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, suggested sending a team of saboteurs “to help redeem Jews” from the countries where they are “absorbed in sinful self-satisfaction”.more..e-mail
European Union found guilty at first session of Russell Tribunal
Electronic Intifada: 15 Mar 2010 – The first session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RTP) was heard in Barcelona, Spain earlier this month. The RTP is a peoples’ legal initiative designed to systematically try key actors responsible for the perpetuation of human rights violations in Palestine. In the frame this time was the European Union (EU). Two days and 21 expert witness testimonies later, the RTP found individual states and the EU as a whole guilty of persistent violations and misconduct with regards to international and internal EU law. Ewa Jasiewicz and Frank Barat comment for The Electronic Intifada.
Review: Finkelstein’s transformation to victim hero in “American Radical”
Electronic Intifada: 15 Mar 2010 – With unfettered access to Norman Finkelstein during the most dramatic stage of his career, American Radical: the trials of Norman Finkelstein directors David Ridgen and Nicolas Rossier provide a compelling look at one of the most roundly vilified academics in recent American history. Max Blumenthal reviews the new documentary for The Electronic Intifada.
Boycott or censorship?
Electronic Intifada: 15 Mar 2010 – Critics of the movement for the academic and cultural boycott of Israel — including Israeli concert producer Shuki Weiss — have claimed that calling on artists to cancel performances in Israel is a form of censorship. Is the cultural boycott a form of censorship or McCarthyism? Sami Hermez comments for The Electronic Intifada.
PA’s betrayal of human rights defenders the unkindest cut
Electronic Intifada: 14 Mar 2010 – They hail from opposite parts of the globe, but they have much in common: Jewish; experts on and passionate defenders of international law; and pummeling bags for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. And the future of the law of war lies at the heart of the campaigns against them. Nadia Hijab comments how the undermining of Richard Goldstone and Richard Falk.
relations
In Gaza: 12 Mar 2010 – “My grandmother was Jewish,” a voice drifts out from behind the meagre selection of second-hand clothes. The souk al fres , a massive market in Gaza’s old district, Sahaa , carrying just about all one needs used to thrive with second-hand clothes and goods brought through open borders via Israel. It was a thrift-shop-junkies dream. Today, after 1000 days of siege (complete siege, from June 2007, but in reality the siege goes back to Hamas’ election, back to post-Oslo ‘peace years’ when the closures began, denying Palestinians in Gaza of freedom, of work, of medical treatment outside, of imports and exports, and now of all but less than 40 items ) ( painstakingly aquired ), the used-clothes market is bare-bones. Wa’el is sitting in a room devoid of nearly all but some scarves and many empty hangers. “My grandfather was from Jaffa . He fell in love with a Jewish woman. This was in the…
Clashes Spread Through East Jerusalem
Palestine Monitor: 15 Mar 2010 – A heavy police presence faced off with activists and residents around the disputed capital on Friday. The decision to bar access into Jerusalem for all Palestinians, even those with blue IDs, led to angry protests around Damascus Gate, the Al-Aqsa Compound and Sheikh Jarrah. The movement restrictions have now been extended until Thursday, for a record five days. All photos by Lazar Simeonov. IDs being scrutinised by the Damascus Gate. A young boy is arrested by plainclothes officers outside the Al-Aqsa Compound. One of several casualties. Forced to pray on the street under police supervision. International and Israeli activists join Palestinian protestors in Sheikh Jarrah. Read and watch more from Sheikh Jarrah here http://www.israeli-occupation.org/2…
Israeli Settlement Expansions Continue
Palestine Chronicle: 15 Mar 2010 – By Stephen Lendman Currently, around 500,000 Jews reside illegally in over 120 West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements as well as dozens of outposts. Their numbers grow daily despite occasional pledges to curtail or slow them, the latest last November when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a 10 month freeze, calling it a move to “help launch meaningful negotiations to reach a historic peace agreement that would finally end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.” Never mind Israel’s history of past peace process futility because all previous efforts were more pretense than real, or as some Palestinians say – How can they negotiate in good faith without a willing partner? They’ve never had one and don’t in Netanyahu, an extremist hard-right zealot. The same holds for a settlement freeze, just rhetoric with no substance, especially given Israel’s plan to make all Jerusalem a Jewish city, according to Netanyahu. During…more
The New Dark Age 
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