News
International Middle East Media Center
Israel Kidnaps Lawyer Representing Jordanian Detainees
IMEMC – Monday April 26, 2010 – 01:07, Israeli soldiers kidnapped on Sunday Shereen Al Esawy, a lawyer representing Jordanian Detainees imprisoned in Israel. Al Esawy was kidnapped at a roadblock, near Jabal Al Mokabbir, in East Jerusalem.
Israel Angered By Shalit Animation
IMEMC – Monday April 26, 2010 – 00:26, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, slammed the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, for releasing an a short animating video about the captured soldiers Gilad Shalit, and described it as an irresponsible and “despicable action” by the group.
Al Qassam Releases 3D Video About Shalit
IMEMC – Sunday April 25, 2010 – 14:26, The Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, released a 3D video about the captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, and stated that the video carries several messages to the Israeli people, mainly that Shalit will never be released unless Israel agrees to a prisoner-swap deal.
At Least Five Palestinians Wounded In East Jerusalem
IMEMC – Sunday April 25, 2010 – 11:22, Palestinian medical sources reported Sunday that at least five Palestinians, including a medic, were wounded by rubber-coated bullets fired by the Israeli army at protestors in Al Bustan neighborhood in Silwan town, in East Jerusalem.
Pro-settler groups march on Silwan, dozens injured
4/25/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – On-site medics said at least 30 protesters and two doctors were injured during clashes in the Al-Bustain neighborhood of Silwan, East Jerusalem on Sunday. A series of counter-protests organized by Palestinians and solidarity activists when an Israeli pro-settler rally, scheduled to take place in the neighborhood that day, went ahead despite calls for its cancellation. The protest was given official government permission after being postponed last month. Dozens of Palestinian protesters closed off the entrance to the Al-Bustan neighborhood, the site of the pro-settler march, hurling stones and setting fire to tires as Israeli police attempted to disperse the gathering, Ma’an’s correspondent reported. Some 50 settlers and pro-settler activists, headed by extreme rightists Itamar Ben Gvir and Baruch Marzel, marched from the Old City to the center of Silwan, protesting. . .
Injuries, detentions as Beit Ummar protesters hoist flags
4/25/2010 – Hebron – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained two demonstrators including a mentally disabled man in a non-violent rally in Beit Ummar north of Hebron on Saturday, witnesses said. The demonstration was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Project, whose spokesman Muhammad Awad said dozens of local residents in addition to international and Israeli solidarity activists joined together at a site near the Karmi Tzur settlement. Together, the group called for the release of Ahmed Abu Hashem, detained in a night raid on Thursday in Beit Ummar, and demanded the right to access village lands confiscated by a buffer around the settlement, and those confiscated by the settlement itself. Those detained were identified as PSP member and local leader if Beit Ummar, Eyad Jamil Al-Alami, 23, who witnesses said soldiers lead away to a military jeep as he held a placard calling for the release of Abu Hashem.
Israel expels Beersheba man to Gaza
4/25/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli authorities expelled Ahmad Au’da Abu Shalluf, married to a Palestinian woman from the Israeli city of Beersheba, and deported him to the Gaza Strip on Sunday, witnesses said. Abu Shalluf, born to refugee parents in the Gaza Strip, but living in Israel with is wife for the past several years, was visiting an eye clinic in Jerusalem when Israeli forces entered the building, handcuffed the man and walked him out to a police vehicle, eyewitnesses described. De facto government security officials confirmed that he was taken to the Erez crossing, between Israel and Gaza, and forced to enter the besieged enclave. The security officials said they refused to receive Abu Shalluf, as they refused to accept Ahmad As-Sabah, a Palestinian man freed from Israeli prison and deported to Gaza. As-Sabah’s wife and children live in the West Bank city of Tulkarem.
Hebronites rally to open segregated street, 4 detained
4/25/2010 – Hebron – Ma’an – Four Palestinian protesters were detained on Saturday afternoon in a non-violent rally against the continued closure of Ash-Shuhada Street in the center of Hebron, witnesses said.Approximately 100people, including Israeli and foreign nationals, rallied near the illegal Israeli outpost of Beit Romano, located on the Palestinian Osama Ibn Munqith School, at the entrance of As-Shuhada Street.Protesters demanded the street be reopened to Palestinians, and that settlers be evacuated from the area. The rally prevented settlers living in illegal West Bank settlements in the area from performing a weekly tour of the Old City of Hebron.Human rights activist Issa Amr, 30, Professor Amiel Farady from the Taayush coexistence movement and Jonathan Pollack, of Anarchists Against the Wall, were detained during the rally. An Israeli military spokesman said he would look into the report. Related:Youth Against Settlements
Military court postpones PLC member’s hearing for 70th time
4/25/2010 – Nablus – Ma’an – An Israeli military court postponed the trial of a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council for the 70th time, deciding to hold the hearing in May. Jamal Tirawi’s hearing at the Salem detention center was held in secret on Sunday, his brother Raed said, and only his lawyer was able to attend. The Palestinian lawmaker’s wife was allowed to watch the hearing for 10 minutes, but was then escorted out of the room, his brother added. The Israeli military prosecutor had attempted to prove Tirawi guilty of several charges, but reportedly failed to supply the necessary evidence, and asked for an extension. [end]
After 4 years of detention, lawmaker released
4/25/2010 – Gaza/Bethlehem – Ma’an – Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council with the Hamas bloc Anwar Zboun was released from Israeli prison on Sunday after four years of detention for affiliation with the party. Zboun’s family said they were awaiting Anwar’s release, but said he was obliged to undergo unexplained “release procedures,” prior to his return to the West Bank city of Bethlehem. The PLC member was detained by the Israeli army from his home in Bethlehem on 26 June 2006, days after Gaza militants captured an Israeli soldier who remains captive in the coastal strip. Dozens of other Palestinian lawmakers were similarly abducted following the capture. Sixteen PLC members remain in Israeli detention centers, two of which, according to the International Campaign for the Release of Palestinain Prisoners, were moved from the Ofer to the Negev detention center last week.
Border police beat prote
sters demanding halt to wall
4/25/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Demonstrators participating in a sit-in protest against the continued construction of Israel’s separation wall in Beit Jala and Al-Walaja were beaten with sticks and batons by Israeli border police, witnesses said. Approximately 200 Palestinian, international and Israeli protesters sat in the path of Israeli bulldozers scheduled to tear up olive groves on Sunday, and faced Israeli border police who detained four, including an Israeli man. One of the protesters was identified as Haitam Al-Atrash, and four were reported injured. Organizers said border police dislocated the shoulder of an Israeli man “during the violent arrest,” and say the man is being denied access to medical treatment as he is kept in a police station. Officials said three others, an AP photographer and two demonstrators, were also injured and evacuated to a hospital. Protesters declared the event a victory, after reportedly stalling construction for three hours in Al-Walaja. An Israeli border police spokesman said he was unavailable for comment.
Mother recounts detention of 13-year-old son
4/25/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – “He was shivering and crying hard, he grabbed onto my nightgown and looked at me terrified, as sniffer dogs and armed soldiers scrabbled around me,”the mother of 13-year-old Ahmad Salim As-Sabah described. As-Sabah was taken from his family home in Tuqu, south of Bethlehem, at 2am Thursday morning after invading the home and demanding all of the children wake from sleep and present themselves before armed soldiers, accompanied by dogs.”They knocked violently at the door,” Umm Mohammad recounted, “when we opened the door they asked us about our children, we thought about the, Ahmad our youngest is only 13-years-old, and Mohammad is the oldest and just 17, we wondered if they would be taken, and the soldiers suddenly said ‘bring them to us. ‘” Umm Mohammed said she was terrified, “I could not control my anger,” she said.
Israel imposes travel ban on Al-Aqsa sheikh
4/25/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Al-Aqsa orator Sheikh Ekremah Sabri, and head of the religious scholars committee in Palestine has been prohibited from traveling outside of Israel on orders from the Israeli Ministry of the Interior, handed down on Thursday. Sabri told Ma’an Radio on Sunday that when the order was handed down, he was identified as a threat to Israel’s security, a categorization he described as “unjustified.”The aim of the order is to silence people who oppose Israel’s offensive against the Palestinian people, Sabri said, noting the ban would prevent him from traveling to several symposiums he had been invited to speak at, as well as academic and scientific courses he had planned to attend.”The aim of the decision is to curb voices of oppostion and prevent plans to voice mass descent,” he said.
Report: Indirect talks to begin mid-May
4/25/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Proximity talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will begin no later than mid-May, officials said Saturday, according to Israeli media. Israel’s daily Haaretz newspaper said President Mahmoud Abbas received an official invitation Thursday from US President Barack Obama, who acknowledged that he was unable to “extract” a commitment from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze settlement construction on occupied land in East Jerusalem. The invitation, however, was nonetheless to participate in US-brokered indirect talks. The same day as the invitation was reportedly issued, US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell arrived in the region and met with Abbas and Netanyahu respectively. The daily further suggested that in his message to Abbas, Obama expressed confidence that Israel would refrain from “significant” actions in the eastern part of the city during negotiations.
Israel reopens Bethlehem checkpoint
4/25/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli border police reopened the 300 checkpoint at Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem Sunday morning, after enforcing a brief closure. While a spokesman for the Israeli border police was not immediately available, on 11 March, the last time a closure was enforced, representatives said the shut down was in anticipation of a demonstration at the military terminal. Sources said the military apparently expected a demonstration similar to one held on Palm Sunday, where Christians and supporters demanded rights to access the holy city of Jerusalem for religious rites during Easter. All sides confirmed that the protest was non-violent, and demonstrators riding donkeys proceeded through a steel door in the separation wall only to be detained by soldiers 200 meters on the far side. There was no demonstration on 11 March, as reportedly anticipated. On Sunday, witnesses said they saw several military jeeps stationed at the checkpoint, and several police on motorcycles.
Gaza water services gets equipment as 1 crossing open
4/25/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli authorities partially opened Gaza’s southern Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel to allow limited quantities of food and fuel into the besieged Gaza Strip on Sunday. Palestinian liaison official Raed Fattouh told Ma’an that between 99 to 109 truckloads of humanitarian aid and food stuffs would be transferred into the coastal enclave, including six trucks carrying equipment for the water services in the Gaza Strip. Fattouh added that limited quantities of domestic gas and industrial diesel would be delivered through Kerem Shalom while the Karni crossing, to the north, remained closed. [end]
Give Gaza, ANERA distribute clothes to children
4/25/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Give Gaza in partnership with the ANERA foundation teamed up to implement a major campaign for the distribution of clothing to children on Sunday, a statement read.With funding provided by USAID, the campaign will target children ranging for 6-8 living in one of the poorest and most disadvantaged areas of east Gaza City.Ibrahim Zanaty from Give Gaza, confirmed that the organizations havebeen allocated a distribution center in the heart of the neighborhood of east Gaza to hand out thousands of clothes to disadvantaged children over nine days, the statement read.”All of the distribution is done according to strict rules and regulations placed by Give Gaza’s administrative team and the ANERA staff to ensure that the aid reaches the intended recipients,” the statement said. Mustafa Al-Ghussein from ANERA said that the campaign is part of a humanitarian project in collaborations … Related:Give GazaandANERA
Hamas police prevent concert in Gaza City: Report
4/25/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – De facto government police shut down a performance of B Boy Gaza, a local Palestinian band made up of several young men from the Strip, canceling their Saturday night performance at the Rashad al-Shawa Cultural Center, a report said. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza said its team investigated reports of the closure, and confirmed that a force of the Palestinian police entered the cultural center at 17:40 on Saturday, expelled the audience, and arrested six of the show’s organizers. Hundreds of Gaza residents were waiting for the start of the performance, the report said, which was abruptly canceled. PCHR said the six detained were taken to the Al-Abbas police station in the city cente
r, and at least two were forced to sign pledges swearing they would not organize similar events in the future.
Hamas’ military wing to broadcast message to Israel
4/25/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas speaking on behalf Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit’s captors, announced that it will broadcast a message to the Israeli people on Sunday. The statement released by the armed group did not describe the message’s content, however it is expected that it will provide a response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most recent demand to release Shalit unconditionally, resulting in an easing of the Israeli imposed siege on Gaza. The announcement follows reports of French mediation to break the stalemate reached on swap talks between Israel and Shalit’s captors. The Al-Qassam Brigades said the former German mediator, who took on the role after his predecessor was offered a position in Germany’s intelligence agency, would have come close to finalizing the deal “had the Israeli government not been so stubborn,” the statement read.
Hamas releases animated Shalit video on web
4/25/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – A video produced by Hamas’ armed wing the Al-Qassam Brigades, will broadcast a 3D animated video of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit on Sunday, over the movement’s Al-Aqsa satellite TV station. The video, posted to the Al-Qassam website Sunday morning, contains a voice-over that sounds much like Gilad, in some cases repeating phrases that the captured soldier used in the last recorded video message to his family and country, which was released in mid September proving the young man was in good health. In return the Israeli government released 18 female prisoners into the West Bank and Gaza.”I hope the government led by Netanyahu will not miss the opportunity to finalize a prisoner swap deal so I can realize my dream of being freed after a long period of waiting,” a voice identified as Gilad’s says in Hebrew with Arabic subtitles. The soldier said the same words in his September message. Related:Video
Mitchell to return to region next week
4/25/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – White House spokesman JP Crowley described US Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell’s talks with regional leaders “positive and productive,” on Saturday, following the envoy’s three-day visit. Though Mitchell failed to garner an Israeli promise of a settlement freeze, or convince Palestinian leaders to start up indirect talks, Crowley said Mitchell’s “meetings continued our efforts to improve the atmosphere for peace and for proceeding with proximity talks”Crowley said US Ambassador David Hale will remain in the region and “work with the parties this week to prepare for the Special Envoy’s return to the region next week.”[end]
India delivers $10 million to PA budget
4/25/2010 – Hebron – Ma’an – Fulfilling his promise to President Mahmoud Abbas during the leader’s last trip to India,Indian Prime Minister Manmuhan Seng’s government delivered 10 million US dollars in support of the Palestinian Authority budget. On delivering the contribution, the government of India noted that it was in addition to aid programs and humanitarian relief donated to Palestinians via UNRWA. Over and above the aid programs, India is donating resources for the construction of a Palestinian embassy and a diplomats residence in the capital city of New Delhi. One of the support projects India is funding in the West Bank is the construction of a sports compound in Ramallah, a representative of the Indian government said during the delivery ceremony in Ramallah, noting the recent contribution of 4,100 scholarships from the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation program.
In photos: PA forces green Qalqiliya
4/25/2010 – Palestinian security forces prepare Qalqiliya for the Green festival, on 24 April 2010. The festival is set for Friday 2 May, and will last a week. The festival, which will see streets in the city center blocked off from vehicle traffic, celebrates the start of summer and Qalqiliya as one of the two ‘bread baskets’ of Palestine, second after the rich agricultural area of Jericho. MaanImages / Khaleel Reash [end]
PA: Municipal elections in Gaza to be delayed
4/25/2010 – Ramallah – Ma’an – The Palestinian Authority cabinet decided to retain the 17 June date for municipal elections in the West Bank, and to officially postpone elections in the Gaza Strip, documents from the Sunday proceedings said. Headed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad the weekly cabinet meeting in Ramallah praised the Central elections Commission for what it called their “efforts, including the preparations and needed technical arrangements” ahead of the summer vote, “with all integrity and transparency.” The Elections Commission had been charged with organizing municipal elections in the Gaza Strip, but de facto government officials there had refused the idea, saying unity should come before elections. Hamas officials noted controversy over the internal Fatah elections that took place in Bethlehem in August, saying that if Fatah could not hold transparent party elections, the people could not trust free and fair municipal elections either.
University class back in session Monday
4/25/2010 – Nablus – Ma’an – University classes will go ahead on Monday, head of the union of university workers Amjad Barhem announced Sunday night, saying a deal was close. Calling the move a “goodwill” gesture to the Palestinian Council of Higher Education, Berhem told Ma’an Radio’s Hadith Al-Watah that the strike action was postponed, as “positive signs ” from the council were presented and taken as a sign that an agreement would be reached soon. He said he expected a meeting on Monday afternoon, which he said he hoped would end the series of strikes and bring university life back to normal.
Right-wingers march on Silwan, dozens injured
Palestine Note 25 Apr 2010 – At least 30 protesters and two doctors were injured Sunday during clashes in Silwan neighborhood in East Jerusalem, Ma’an News Agency reports. Silwan Injuries and violence occurred when scheduled pro-settlement marches clashes with counter-protesters in the…
HAMAS RELEASES SHALIT CARTOON
Palestine Note 25 Apr 2010 – HAMAS SENDS ANIMATED VIDEO OF SHALIT’S FATHER TO ISRAELI TV IN AN EFFORT TO SPEED UP PRISONER EXCHANGE NEGOTIATIONS Hamas has sent a new kind of message to the Israeli government regarding the release of captured…
Iran ‘remains open’ to nuclear swap
AlJazeera 25 Apr 2010 – Iranian foreign minister discusses fuel proposal with head of UN nuclear agency.
Clashes as Israeli settlers march
AlJazeera 25 Apr 2010 – Settlers call for Palestinian homes to be demolished as US envoy tries to restart talks.
Iran Guards test fire missiles during Gulf military exercise
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – Iranian media reports that Guards tested a new speedboat Thursday capable of destroying enemy ships.
Iran FM meets UN nuclear chief amid reports of secret deal with Zimbabwe
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – Sunday Telegraph: Iran will trade oil for rights to mine Zimbabwe’s untapped uranium.
Malta protests to Israel over shooting of national in Gaza
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – Bianca Zammit was shot Saturday by IDF; Maltese Foreign Ministry deplores shooting ‘in strongest terms’.
Hamas security forces break up Gaza Strip`s first major hip-hop concert
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – Hamas: Performance closed because organizers did not apply for a police permit for the gathering.
Israel allows Hamas chief’s daughter to leave Gaza for medical treatment
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – Woman in her 20s taken to Israeli hospital and then airlifted to Jordan for emergency medical treatment.
Why should a young Diaspora Jew leave a life of luxury for a life in Israel?
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – ‘You are either part of the problem, or part of trying to find the solution’, says Anton Mark, resident of Israel’s biggest urban kibbutz.
James Jones’ Jewish joke – funny or inappropriate?
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – U.S. National Security adviser opens Washington gala with a joke that left some pealing with laughter, and others perturbed.
Palestinian Authority approves July elections in West Bank
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – Despite opposition from Hamas, Fayyad’s Western-backed government decides to continue preparing for polls.
Netanyahu: Israel and U.S. want peace process to begin immediately
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – U.S. envoy Mitchell says he held ‘positive and productive talks’ with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
Netanyahu: Shalit animation shows true nature of Hamas
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – Animated short released by Hamas compares captive IDF soldier to missing IAF airman Ron Arad.
Israeli arrested after swimming illegally into Egypt waters
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – Man is second Israeli to be arrested over last two days for crossing unofficial border line with Egypt.
U.K. ordered to pay Iran $650m for canceled arms deal
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – 1970s deal for battle tanks and military vehicles fell through after the Shah was deposed in Islamist Revolution.
Gadhafi to Arab MKs: I’m against Zionism, not Jews
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – Delegation describes meeting as ‘wonderful’, calls for inclusion of Israel’s Arab sector in Arab world.
State considers retroactively legalizing West Bank outpost
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – The State Prosecution on Sunday informed the High Court of Justice that it was considering legalizing a West Bank outpost comprising 40 houses initially slated for demolition. …
Police rescue wealthy Jerusalemite kidnapped by gang
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – Police last week arrested three Israeli men suspected of abducting two women from their Jerusalem homes, authorities revealed Sunday after a gag order was lifted in the case. …
Clashes erupt as extreme rightists march through East Jerusalem
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – Hundreds of police officers deployed in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan on Sunday as extreme Israeli rightists set out to march in an attempt to demonstrate Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem. …
Israeli injured during protest against West Bank separation fence
Ha’aretz 25 Apr 2010 – An Israeli protester was injured on Friday after being hit in the forehead with a teargas canister during a weekly protest against Israel’s West Bank separation fence in Bil’in. …
Israeli vehicle runs over Palestinian worker
25 Apr 2010 – Bethlehem, April 25, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) — Israeli vehicle ran over a Palestinian worker in Bir Al-Saba. The Palestinian worker, Mohammed Al-Debs, 31, from Bethlehem works in Bir Al-Saba, in the Palestinian occupied territories of 48, was left in the road after being injured. Palestinian sources reported that an Israeli military jeep chased the worker while he was in his…
IOF shoot 7 Palestinians in Jerusalem
25 Apr 2010 – Jerusalem, April 25, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) — Israeli occupation forces shot seven Palestinian men including a paramedic near the sit-in tent in Al-Bustan neighborhood in Jerusalem. Israeli special border guards troops and Israeli police fired rubber bullets at the young men, injuring three men and a paramedic while he was trying to transfer the injured men to hospital. In addition…
Israel raids villages in Nablus and Hebron
25 Apr 2010 – Nablus, April 25, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) — Israeli occupations forces raided Aserat Al-Shmalia village today in Nablus, in the West Bank. Eyewitnesses said to SAFA news agency said that Israeli occupation forces raided the village by ten military vehicles and broke into many houses. They added that they broke into the houses but no detentions were reported. Also, they erected…
Aides: Abbas may meet with Obama soon, no date set
25 Apr 2010 – RAMALLAH, West Bank, Apr 25, 2010 (Pal Telegraph,Agencies)- Aides to Mahmoud Abbas say the Palestinian leader could meet with President Barack Obama soon. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says the Palestinians requested such a meeting and were told by Obama’s envoy that the U.S. leader would see Abbas in the near future. Erekat said Sunday that no date was set. Another…
Clashes as Israeli settlers march
Uruknet April 25, 2010 – Palestinian protesters and Israeli police have clashed after Jewish settlers marched in the Arab neighbourhood of Silwan in occupied East Jerusale
m. The hardline settlers, who live in illegal housing units on occupied Palestinian land, want Arabs removed from the area and their homes demolished to make way for Israeli construction projects. Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland, reporting…
Palestinian mother recounts detention of 13-year-old son
Uruknet April 25, 2010 – He was shivering and crying hard, he grabbed onto my nightgown and looked at me terrified, as sniffer dogs and armed soldiers scrabbled around me,” the mother of 13-year-old Ahmad Salim As-Sabah described. As-Sabah was taken from his family home in Tuqu, south of Bethlehem, at 2am Thursday morning after invading the home and demanding all…
Hunger Strike by Palestinian Prisoners Cuts No Ice
Uruknet April 24, 2010 – Raed Abu Hammad, 27, was allegedly kicked to death by Israeli prison wardens on Apr. 16. This while Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been on hunger strike since Apr. 7 to press for better treatment. Palestinian minister for prisoner affairs in the United States-backed government in the West Bank, Issa Qaraqi, said at a press…
Spare a thought for a new generation of Palestinian refugees
Uruknet April 24, 2010 – …This latest order is simply a logical and consistent move in the direction of Israel’s fulfilment of its charter. It is chillingly cynical because Israel does not care how its behaviour or policies affect the feelings of the Palestinians, their standard of living or anything at all about them. Israel simply does not care what happens…
Fabricating Terrorism: Victims of UK Injustice
Uruknet April 24, 2010 – Launched in October 2003, Cageprisoners is a human rights organization dedicated to raising the “awareness of the plight of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay” and other War on Terror victims. As a “comprehensive resource,” six words explain its mission: “education, campaign, support, motivation, co-operation (and) prevention” for its efforts to educate the public, campaign for Guantanamo and…
ElBaradei takes his case to America
The National 25 Apr 2010 – The former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a presidential hopeful in Egypt’s 2011 elections, will lecture about nuclear non-proliferation and the future of democracy in Egypt.
Barak defies outpost demolition law
The National 25 Apr 2010 – Critics say his defiance exposes a deep, illegal collusion between settlers and authorities.
Jordan braces for possible influx of up to 50,000 Palestinians
The National 25 Apr 2010 – Jordanian politicians and analysts are concerned a recent Israeli military order facilitating the deportation of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank could lead to another wave of forced migration to the kingdom.
International Solidarity Movement
Malta protests to Israel over shooting of national in Gaza
4/25/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – Ha’aretz – Malta filed an official protest with Israel on Sunday after a Maltese woman was shot and injured by Israel Defense Forces soldiers during a protest in Gaza on Saturday. In a statement, the Maltese Foreign Ministry said it “deplored and condemned in the strongest possible terms” the shooting of Bianca Zammit in Gaza on Saturday. The protest note was sent to the Israeli government via the Maltese Embassy in Israel. Malta said the Israeli soldiers’ attack was “totally unwarranted” and called for a thorough investigation into the incident which took place near a refugee camp. A foreign ministry spokesman said Malta expects a thorough investigation of the incident, which could have led to far more serious consequences. Two others were injured in the incident. Foreign Minister Tonio Borg is expected to raise the issue on Monday during a meeting of European Union foreign ministers.
Israeli Minister of Interior Prevents Ittijah Director Ameer Makhoul from Leaving the Country
Alternative Information Center – Thursday, 22 April 2010, This morning [22 April 2010], the Israeli Border Police prevented Mr. Ameer Makhoul, the Director of Ittijah — Union of Arab Community-Based Associations inside Israel, from leaving the country. Makhoul, who also…
Pathetic Elie Wiesel
Alternative Information Center – Sunday, 25 April 2010, On Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, Haaretz published a letter penned by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, a letter which also appeared in the Washington Post and other media outlets. My personal encounter with…
Sovereign Palestinian State Requires Sovereignty Over Borders
Alternative Information Center – Sunday, 25 April 2010, Israel is ready to recognize a Palestinian state… within the borders it itself will decide, and in accordance with its overall settlement expansion plan. One of the characteristics of this Palestinian state…
MIDEAST: Hunger Strike by Palestinian Prisoners Cuts No Ice
IPS GENEVA, Apr 24 (IPS) – Raed Abu Hammad, 27, was allegedly kicked to death by Israeli prison wardens on Apr. 16. This while Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been on hunger strike since Apr. 7 to press for better treatment.
Wastewater from the Etzion settlement floods 70 dunums of vineyards
Stop The Wall – Rapid and serious action is needed to put an end to these further crimes of the occupation, developed both as a collective punishment for the weekly Friday protests and to simplify the expulsion of the Palestinian indigenous population from where it is not allowed to live anymore. [
Netanyahu urges delay in Likud vote
Jeruslalem Post 26 Apr 2010 – In attempt to postpone party elections. Hawkish opponents: delay will lead to Jerusalem partitioning.
MK vows to ‚Äòraise awareness of Israel’s rights’
Jeruslalem
Post 26 Apr 2010 – As MK Danny Danon (Likud) participates in 90th anniversary of the San Remo Conference.
Hamas’s Schalit film — cynical and smart
Jeruslalem Post 25 Apr 2010 – The animated short film is a cynical attempt by Hamas to jump-start the negotiations with Israel over a prisoner swap.
Hamas hopes film pressures Israel into deal
Jeruslalem Post 25 Apr 2010 – PM spokesman: Cynical manipulation after Gaza. Humanitarian gesture proves the organization’s character.
Offical: Egypt to let Israeli biker go
Jeruslalem Post 25 Apr 2010 – Shahori’s release to be secured as 2nd Israeli crosser arrested.
Iran diplomatic offensive failing
Jeruslalem Post 25 Apr 2010 – Austrian FM: We’re ready to work on sanctions; Uganda noncommittal.
Peres to Druse: No point in delaying peace
Jeruslalem Post 25 Apr 2010 – “Instead of being afraid of the black smoke of Iran, we must begin anew to advance peace.”
Police arrest band of 3 kidnappers
Jeruslalem Post 25 Apr 2010 – Gang held prominent J’lem businesswoman, maid for $3.5m. ransom.
Israeli offical: Egypt to release Israeli who crossed border
Jeruslalem Post 25 Apr 2010 – Israeli diplomats, IDF work with Egyptian Embassy, military to secure biker’s release.
Stability in WNCI, SNCI in February 2010, PCBS Says
RAMALLAH, April 25, 2010 (WAFA) – Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said, today,
Netanyahu Hopes Process Get under Way
TEL AVIV, April 25, 2010(WAFA)- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, briefed at the cabinet the meetings with U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell, Sunday, that “We will know in the coming
Participants Injured in Demo against Wall in Beit Jala
BETHLEHEM, April 25, 2010 (WAFA)- Many participants in a demonstration against the Apartheid Wall in the West Bank town of Beit Jala west of Bethlehem were injured Sunday due to gas
Dilliani: Israel Defeated Today by Non-violent Resistance
JERUSALEM, April 25, 2010 (WAFA)- Member of Fateh’s Revolutionary Council, Dimitri Dilliani, said, today that the Palestinian non-violent resistance has defeated the Israeli occupation, today,
Eight Palestinians Injured in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM, April 25, 2010 (WAFA)- Extremist settlers retreated to the outskirts of the neighborhood of Wadi Helwa in East Jerusalem after the violent clashes that took place this morning
India Supports PA by $10 Million
RAMALLAH, April 25, 2010 (WAFA)- The Government of India has contributed $10 million as budgetary support to
Israel-Palestine conflict: Imposing solutions
The Guardian 25 Apr 2010 – Reason for optimism could be found in hints last week that Palestinian negotiators were considering inducements to start talking Peace talks in the Middle East could be about to resume this week after a gap of…
Increased humanitarian aid to Gaza after IDF operation 17 April 2010
Relief Web 24 Apr 2010 – Source: Government of Israel
State may legalize West Bank outpost
YNet News – Prosecution tells High Court it will check whether Derech Ha’avot was built on….
Israel trying to resolve humanitarian crisis with Libya
YNet News – Rightist MK demands Arab lawmakers visiting Libya be banned from next elections…..
Millionaire kidnapped in J’lem, rescued by police
YNet News – Cleared for publication: Businesswoman and her housekeeper kidnapped two weeks….
3D Hamas video shows Shalit in captivity as father ages
YNet News – (Video) Palestinian organization creates animated propaganda film that threatens….
Iran holds talks with IAEA chief on nuclear issues
YNet News – Foreign Minister Mottaki tells state television before his meeting with Yukiya….
Rightists march in Silwan, Arabs throw stones
YNet News – Some 20 masked men riot in east Jerusalem neighborhood as 30 right-wing….
Iran Guards test 5 missiles in Gulf, Strait of Hormuz
YNet News – Fars news agency says missiles all hit target simultaneously and completely….
IDF finds 3 mines near Gaza border fence
YNet News – An IDF force on Sunday uncovered three mines hidden near the border fence in central Gaza. The mines were meant to explode during army patrols. The mines were …….
Egyptian FM calls Israel ‘enemy’
YNet News – Slip of the tongue? Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit referred to Israel as an “enemy” during a press conference in Beirut on Saturday. Aboul Gheit said …….
Israeli held for swimming into Egypt
YNet News – A 44-year old man crossed the Israel-Egypt border Sunday and was arrested by Egyptian police, just a day after Sagi Schori, of Kadesh Barnea in southern Israel, …….
UK to compensate Iran $650 million
YNet News – An international arbitration court in the Hague ruled that the British government must pay back $650 million to Iran, after a huge arms deal from the 1970s was cancelled, …….
Neturei Karta take Palestinian side in Silwan clashes
YNet News – VIDEO – Members of the anti-Zionist, ult
ra-Orthodox sect Neturei Karta never miss an opportunity to express their antagonism to the State and its symbols. Just last week …….
Report: US leaked warning on Hezbollah Scud possession
YNet News – Officials in the US administration were the ones who leaked suspicions that Hezbollah had acquired Scud missiles from Syria, in order to “lay the groundwork for a …….
HaMoked – A Palestinian was deported yesterday to Gaza
B’tselem 21 Apr 2010 – Yesterday Israel forcibly transferred Ahmad Sayeed Sabah to Gaza with no judicial review. Sabah has resided in the West Bank for the past 15 years and his now separated from his wife and child. The move comes after official promises not to deport anyone f
Abbas invited to Washington as US ramps up peace efforts
Daily Star 25 Apr 2010 RAMALLAH, West Bank: US President Barack Obama has invited Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to Washington in May in a fresh bid to relaunch Middle East peace talks, a Palestinian official said on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile reiterated his desire to launch direct talks with the Palestinians
Iran makes little headway in diplomatic offensive
Daily Star 25 Apr 2010 VIENNA: Iran’s push to avoid new UN sanctions appeared to make little headway Sunday with Austria, with the Security Council member saying the onus was on Tehran to defuse international concerns about its nuclear agenda if it wanted to avoid fresh penalties. Austria and other non-permanent members of the 15-nation UN Security Council
Hamas broadcasts cartoon about captured Israeli soldier
Daily Star 25 Apr 2010 GAZA CITY: The armed wing of the Islamist Hamas movement on Sunday broadcast a grim cartoon warning Israel over the fate of the captured soldier for whom it has demanded hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The three-minute three-dimensional cartoon depicts the father of captured soldier Gilad Shalit visibly ageing as he walks through
British Gas and Israel eyeing Gaza’s natural gas reserves
Daily Star 25 Apr 2010 The massacre in Gaza accomplished nothing more than a death toll of over 1,000 dead and 5,000 wounded Palestinians. World leaders scrambled like headless chickens to find ways to achieve a ceasefire, instead of stripping Israel from its membership at the UN and declaring it an outlaw state, and news media around the world carried daily
UAE reiterates demand for Iran to end ‘occupation’ of Gulf islands
Daily Star 25 Apr 2010 RAMALLAH, West Bank: The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates refused to back down in the face of Iranian anger and repeated on Sunday his call for Tehran to end its “occupation” of three islands in the Gulf. The minister’s use of the word last week and his explicit comparison of the islands claimed by the UAE to Arab lands occupied
France to help Jordan overhaul court system
Daily Star 25 Apr 2010 AMMAN: France is to send legal experts to Jordan to help the kingdom overhaul its court system, French Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said on Sunday after talks with King Abdullah II.Sunday’s talks in Amman focused on ways to enhance legal cooperation between France and Jordan, whose court system is largely based on French law, a palace statement said.
Thousands march in Beirut to promote secularism in politics
Daily Star 25 Apr 2010 BEIRUT: Thousands marched on Lebanon’s Parliament Sunday in a bid to promote secularism in Lebanon’s sectarian political system. Demonstrators closed the main road from Beirut’s seafront as Lebanese of all ages and confessions waved flags, wielded banners and chanted pro-secular messages. Lebanese expatriates also gathered on Sunday
The view from the White House
Daily Star 25 Apr 2010 It is with a sense of dEjA vu that we enter yet another critical period in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Unabated settlement growth, disputes over holy sites in the West Bank and clashes on the Israel-Gaza border have put the conflict firmly on the Obama administration’s radar once more. In a speech to the Washington
Caritas safe house fights for rights of migrant workers
Daily Star 25 Apr 2010 BEIRUT: In December, a landmark for migrant workers’ rights in Lebanon was achieved when Filipino worker Jonalin Malibago won her case against her employer, who physically abused her for years, and who was later sentenced to two weeks of prison. Malibago was assisted by the Caritas Migrant Center and despite the leniency of the abuser’s
Lions Day with the United Nations at Habtoor Grand Hotel
Daily Star 25 Apr 2010 BEIRUT: Walid Bechara, governor of the Lions Clubs in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, hosted a splendid dinner party at the Habtoor Grand Hotel on March 23 in honor of Lions Day with the United Nations, celebrating the links between the two organizations. International Lions Vice President Sid Scruggs was among the several hundreds of guests, along
Palestinian Information Center
Haneyya gov’t warns of returning to negotiations
PIC 25 Apr 2010 – The Palestinian government of Ismail Heneyya has warned of the seriousness of direct or indirect talks with the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) at the present stage.
Pakistani leaders urge Ummah to protect Al-Aqsa, Palestinians
PIC 25 Apr 2010 – The Palestine Foundation Pakistan (PFP) has called for Ummah’s immediate unity for protecting Al-Aqsa and Palestinians Muslims facing imminent extermination at the hands of Israeli Occupation Forces.
Hamas: Silwan events prove failure of negotiations process
PIC 25 Apr 2010 – Hamas said that the provocative march of the Jewish fanatic settlers in the Silwan suburb with the approval of the Israeli interior ministry poi
nted to the failure of the negotiations process.
Abu Zuhri denounces AI for demanding release of Shalit, ignoring Palestinians
PIC 25 Apr 2010 – Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri strongly denounced Amnesty International (AI) for calling on its activists and supporters in the world to demand his Movement to release Shalit.
Mishaal: Abbas’s statement attempts to alter facts
PIC 25 Apr 2010 – Political bureau chairman of Hamas Khaled Mishaal on Saturday described the statements by Mahmoud Abbas, the former PA chief, as an attempt to alter facts.
Al-Qassam: Shalit will face Arad’s fate
PIC 25 Apr 2010 – Al-Qassam Brigades on Sunday warned Israel that its soldier Gilad Shalit could face the same fate of pilot Ron Arad if it persisted in its arrogant attitude towards the prisoner swap deal.
IOA court extends detention of lawyer, IOF army jeep runs over citizen
PIC 25 Apr 2010 – The Israeli magistrate’s court in Jerusalem extended the detention of lawyer Shirin Al-Issawi until next Tuesday on allegations of helping terrorist organizations.
Haaretz: Peace talks between Abbas and Netanyahu next month
PIC 25 Apr 2010 – The Haaretz newspaper said the indirect peace talks between the PA and Israel will kick off in the first half of next May in Washington.
Savage Israeli settlers withdraw from Silwan following provocative march
PIC 25 Apr 2010 – The Israel settlers’ march in Wadi Hilwa neighborhood of Silwan area has ended at a late hour on Sunday morning, while the clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops are still taking place.
IOF soldiers raid southern Gaza, release “unlawful combatant”
PIC 25 Apr 2010 – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided southern Gaza Strip on Sunday east of Khan Younis and bulldozed cultivated land lots.
Israeli MK calls for CEO Salary Cap
The Media Line 24 Apr 2010 – If passed the new law would cap the salaries of public company executives. A member of Israel’s governing coalition has proposed a new that forbid the CEOs of Israeli public companies from earning 50 times more…
Mitchell Fails in Latest Attempt to Jumpstart Talks
The Media Line 24 Apr 2010 – President Obama’s Mideast envoy George Mitchell will leave the region without seeing indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians get underway. But a new target date of mid-May has apparently been set by President Obama for…
Zimbabwe in Secret Nuclear Pact with Iran
The Media Line 24 Apr 2010 – A British newspaper is reporting that Iran and Zimbabwe have entered into a secret agreement that will see Iran mining uranium in Africa in return for oil. The uranium ore Iran will have access to can…
Bullfighter Jose Tomas in critical condition
LA Times 26 Apr 2010 – The acclaimed Spanish matador undergoes three hours of surgery after being gored in the groin by a half-ton bull at an arena in Aguascalientes, Mexico. He is expected to survive. Spanish matador Jose Tomas, one of the world’s most famous and dramatic bullfighters, was severely gored by a half-ton bull in a Mexican arena and is in critical condition, doctors said Sunday.
TV Mystic Awaits Execution in Saudi Arabia
New York Times 25 Apr 2010 – Convicted of sorcery, Ali Hussain Sibat of Lebanon has been awaiting execution in Saudi Arabia.
Checkpoints
Palestine Monitor – “The right to freedom of movement provides that people are entitled to move freely within the borders of the state, to leave any country and to return to their country.” Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 12 of the International Covenant…
Sovereign Palestinian State Requires Sovereignty Over Borders
Alternative Information Center – Sunday, 25 April 2010, Israel is ready to recognize a Palestinian state… within the borders it itself will decide, and in accordance with its overall settlement expansion plan. One of the characteristics of this Palestinian state is that it will have no control over its borders…
Pathetic Elie Wiesel
Alternative Information Center – Sunday, 25 April 2010, On Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, Haaretz published a letter penned by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, a letter which also appeared in the Washington Post and other media outlets. My personal encounter with the reality of the extermination of European Jewry was through…
Israeli Minister of Interior Prevents Ittijah Director Ameer Makhoul from Leaving the Country
Alternative Information Center – Thursday, 22 April 2010, This morning [22 April 2010], the Israeli Border Police prevented Mr. Ameer Makhoul, the Director of Ittijah — Uni
on of Arab Community-Based Associations inside Israel, from leaving the country. Makhoul, who also serves as the head of the Popular Committee for the…
Articles
Sowing hate and reaping death
Rami Elhanan, Occupation Magazine4/18/2010
Shalom and good evening.
My name is Rami Elhanan. Thirteen years ago, on the afternoon of Thursday the fourth of September 1997, I lost my daughter, my Smadar, in a suicide attack on Ben-Yehuda street in Jerusalem. A beautiful sweet joyous 14 year old girl. My Smadar was the granddaughter of the militant for peace, General (Ret.) Matti Peled, one of those who made the breakthrough to Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. And she was murdered because we were not wise enough to preserve her safety in Matti’s way, the only correct and possible way — the way of peace and reconciliation.
I do not need a Remembrance Day in order to remember Smadari. I remember her all the time, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, 60 seconds a minute. Without a pause, without a rest, for 13 long and accursed years now, and time does not heal the wound, and the unbearable lightness of continuing to exist remains a strange and unsolved riddle …
But Israeli society very much needs Remembrance Days. From year to year, like clockwork, in the week after Passover, it is drawn into the annual ritual: from Holocaust to the Rebirth of the nation, a sea of ceremonies, sirens and songs — an entire people is swept into a whirlpool of addictive sweet sorrow, eyes tearful and shrouded; mutual embraces accompanied by `Occupation songs` and sickle and sword songs [1] against the background of images of lives that were cut short and heart-rending stories … and it is hard to avoid the feeling that this refined concentration of bereavement, fed directly into the vein, is intended to fortify our feeling of victimhood, the justice of our path and our struggle, to remind us of our catastrophes, which God forbid we should forget for a single moment. This is the choice of our lives — to be armed and ready, strong and resolute, lest the sword fall from our grasp and our lives be cut short.[2]
And when all this great sorrow is dispersed with the smoke of the barbeques, [3] when Israelis return to their daily routines, I am left enveloped in great sorrow. I miss the old good Land of Israel that never existed, and I have feelings of alienation and estrangement that keep increasing with the passage of years, from war to war, from election to election, from corruption to corruption.more..e-mail
Photostory: ‘Occupied’ Pollution
Palestine Monitor4/22/2010
There are 121 settlements in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem. In many of these, violence against the local Palestinian population is common. In a number, however, it is pollution that is a major problem. Waste-water pollution from settlements destroys crops and trees, pollutes ground and drinking water supplies, and damages land and harms wildlife and the communities dependent on it. Palestine Monitor examines 3 cases.
Elqana – Just north of Route 5, near Qalqiliya in the northern West Bank, downhill from the Israeli settlement of Elqana, a pipe pumps foul-smelling domestic waste-water from the settlement into a Palestinian valley.
The land is owned by farmers from the nearby town of Az Zawiya. The waste water also flows into a river that acts as a water source for the town.
Uphill, two large tanks denote the water clarification plant whose construction is ongoing. The plant’s construction, a venture by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Company of Economy of the Local Administration, should halt the sewage flow. But there is a twist: the sewage plant is being built illegally, not merely under the international law that is roundly ignored in the West Bank, but under Israeli law. It was constructed on two dunams of expropriated land.
Sign in Elqana detailing construction works on water clarification plant. Translation: “The local council of Elqana is pleased to announce that the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Company of Economy of the Local Administration operate upgrading and widening of the sewage plant of Elqana. The construction of the sewage plant is done for the benefit of residents.”
The Land Project of Israeli NGO Yesh Din specialises in serving petitions against constructions in the West Bank that are illegal under Israeli law. In a similar situation over a year ago involving the settlement of Ofra, near Silwad, the project served a petition to the Israeli courts to halt construction of a water treatment plant. The plant was built without permits on illegally expropriated Palestinian land at a cost of 8 or 9 million NIS.more..e-mail
End Israel lobbies’ pervasive and damaging influence in US politics
Debbie Menon, Redress4/23/2010
Debbie Menon argues that Washington’s support for Israel is tragic, immoral and extremely damaging to Americans given that US “congressional representatives continue to put Israel’s interests before the interests of Americans”.
In a recent article in the journal Foreign Policy entitled “Petraeus wasn’t the first”, Mark Perry describes succinctly the opposition to US support for Israel, the rationale for this support and how American publishers cover it up.
The article is extremely valuable reading, recommends Alison Weir, the executive director of the website If Americans Knew. “It corrects misconceptions that so many Americans have on the causation of US support for Israel, including even some who are otherwise well informed on Palestine,” she asserts.
Mark Perry is correct in all respects. He quotes Joe Hoar, who remind him that it’s all old history. “What’s the news here? Hasn’t this been said before?” and hasn’t it all been done before?
Indeed, have humans ever learned from history? I think it says something about the nature of our species when you reflect that Albert Einstein once said that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Key elements of the US government have always opposed the concept of a Zionist Israel, ever since the state and defence departments advised President Harry Truman not to sign up to the Zionist project, which he nevertheless did but with reservations, qualifications and conditions that were immediately ignored.
But none of these key elements of governance has influence over the Zionist-controlled US corporate press, entertainment, academic and public (mis)information media (and the corporate and business advertising budgets that drive them) where the roots of American public opinion are planted….more..e-mail
Earth Day In Israel: Apartheid Showing Through the Greenwash
Palestine Monitor: 24 Apr 2010 – On April 22, as part of
the global Earth Day celebrations, homes, offices and public buildings in 14 Israeli cities turned out the lights for one hour in an effort to “increase awareness of the vital need to reduce energy consumption.” The Earth Day celebrations included scenes of green fields, wind generators and rainbows projected on the walls of the Old City in Jerusalem, the Green Globes Award ceremony recognizing “outstanding contributions to promote the environment” and a concert in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv powered by generators running on vegetable oil as well as volunteers on 48 bikes pedaling away to produce electricity. The irony was not lost on the 1.5 million residents of Gaza who have been living with daily power outages lasting hours on end for nearly three years due to the Israeli siege on the coastal territory. The Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (…
Earth Day in Israel: Apartheid Showing Through the Greenwash
Palestine Chronicle: 24 Apr 2010 – By Stephanie Westbrook On April 22, as part of the global Earth Day celebrations, homes, offices and public buildings in 14 Israeli cities turned out the lights for one hour in an effort to “increase awareness of the vital need to reduce energy consumption.” The Earth Day celebrations included scenes of green fields, wind generators and rainbows projected on the walls of the Old City in Jerusalem, the Green Globes Award ceremony recognizing “outstanding contributions to promote the environment” and a concert in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv powered by generators running on vegetable oil as well as volunteers on 48 bikes pedaling away to produce electricity. The irony was not lost on the 1.5 million residents of Gaza who have been living with daily power outages lasting hours on end for nearly three years due to the Israeli siege on the coastal territory. The Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities…more
The New Dark Age 
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