News
International Middle East Media Center
Five More Suspects Named In Dubai Assassination Of Hamas Leader
IMEMC – 7 May 2010 – The police in Dubai managed to name five more persons suspected of involvement in the assassination of a senior Hamas leader, Mahmoud Al Madbouh, who was killed at his hotel room in Dubai on January 20, the Al-Arabiyya TV reported Friday.
Soldiers Use Tear Gas To suppress the Weekly Nonviolent Protest In Nil’in
IMEMC – 7 May 2010 – Many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation as the villagers of Nil’in, central West Bank, protested on Friday Israeli wall built on their lands.
One Injured, Six Detained During The Anti Wall Weekly Bil’in Protest
IMEMC – 7 May 2010 – One resident was injured; Six others detained, on Friday by the army during the weekly anti wall protest at the village of Bil’in, central West Bank.
Villagers Near Bethlehem Protest The Israeli Wall
IMEMC – 7 May 2010 – International and Israeli supporters joined the villagers of Al Ma’ssara, Al Walaja and, for the first time, Wad Rahal near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, in the weekly protests against the Israeli apartheid wall on Friday.
Israel To Impose Further Sanctions On Detainees
IMEMC – 7 May 2010 – Israeli paper, Maariv, reported that Israeli Internal Security Minister, Yitzhak Aharonovitch, retracted his opposition to imposing further sanctions and restrictions on the detainees in an attempt to push Hamas movement to change its stances on prisoner-swap.
PCHR Weekly Report: 7 civilians wounded, 40 abducted in 24 Israeli invasions this week
IMEMC Р7 May 2010 РIn its Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory for the week of 29 April – 05 May 2010, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) found that 7 Palestinian civilians, including two children and a journalist, were wounded by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
FBI Director In Israel For Talks On Cooperation
IMEMC – 7 May 2010 – Israeli sources reported Thursday that FBI director, Robert Mueller, arrived in Israel and held a meeting with Israel’s Police Chief, David Cohen, on cooperation against what was described as international crime, and the joint U.S-Israeli efforts to counter “terrorism”.
Obama Will Not Allow Unilateral Palestinian Steps
IMEMC – 7 May 2010 – Diplomatic sources in Washington reported that U.S. President, Barack Obama, gave Israel verbal and written guarantees that the United States will not allow the Palestinians to conduct any unilateral steps during indirect talks, or in the case of failure of such talks.
Family say assaulted in Old City by ‘settler’
5/7/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – A Jewish settler assaulted a 30-year-old Jerusalemite woman and her daughter in front of their Old City home in the Aqbat Al-Khaledia neighborhood on Thursday night, the family reported. Abu Ammar Abu Asab told Ma’an that his wife and two of his daughters were on their way….
1 hurt, 6 detained at West Bank rally
5/7/2010 – Ramallah – Ma’an – One Palestinian was injured and six others were detained amid clashes in the Bil’in village west of Ramallah on Friday. A young man identified as Haitham was transferred to a hospital in Ramallah after he was struck in the chest by a tear-gas canister. Six others were arrested….
Researchers warn of ramped up prisoners laws
5/7/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Palestinian prisoners of war, detained for resisting the occupation of Palestinian lands will be treated like violent and dangerous criminals, thugs, under the proposed Israeli bill that will pass before the country’s cabinet on Sunday, Prisoners Sudies officials warned. Director of the studies center Rafat Hamdouna issued a….
Settler aggression reported in Nablus
5/7/2010 – Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli settlers pelted stones at Palestinian cars on the Nablus-Qalqiliya road Thursday night, victims of the incident reported, telling Ma’an that cars were damaged by the stones. One driver, Jaber Al-Batta said that while he was driving near the Qadumim junction on the Nablus-Qalqiliya road, four young men….
Israel admits existence of list banning Gaza goods
5/7/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israel conceded Friday that it maintains a list of goods permitted to enter the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported. A suit, filed in the Tel Aviv administrative court by Gisha: Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, sought to clarify the criteria and procedures the authorities use to determine….
Nativity deportees: PA salary stopped 5 months ago
5/7/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – On the 9th anniversary of their deportation from Bethlehem, Nativity Church deportees say they are on the verge of being evicted from their apartments, following five months of non-payment by the Palestinian Authority. Under their negotiated releases from the 2002 siege on the Nativity Church where they were….
Prison service refuses to release detainee
5/7/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – A Gaza man who completed his term of detention in Israeli jails on 22 March has yet to be released, the Husam Prisoners Society in Gaza announced on Friday. The detainee, identified by the society as Muhammad Ramadan Abu Daba from Gaza, served 11 years in Israel, and….
Gaza crossings closed; debate over goods continues
5/7/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Imports into Gaza remained below need last week, a UN report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The report, released as crossings were sealed on Friday, noted a 31% increase in permitted imports over the previous week, with a total of 625 truckloads….
Europe conference to draft declaration on right of return
5/7/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Palestinians across Europe will gather in Berlin on Saturday, for the 8th annual Palestinians in Europe conference, to remind the international community that millions of Palestinians exist outside of the holy land, and that the refugee problem is ubiquitous. Organized by The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), the Secretariat….
Protesters cross barbed wire to reach lands
5/7/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Protestors in Al-Ma’sara reached lands that they had been prevented from entering for two two years during the weekly rally after Friday prayers attended by dozens of residents of the village and international peace activists. The rally marked the 62nd anniversary of the Nakba, an Arabic word meaning….
PFLP rep denies latest VP rumors
5/7/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – A PLO Executive Committee member denied Israeli news reports saying President Mahmoud Abbas had requested he take on the role of vice-president of the PA. Abdul Rahim Mallouh’s statement came late on Thursday, following the publication of reports that the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP….
Poll: 60% of Palestinians favor indirect talks
5/7/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO) released the findings of its most recent poll on Wednesday, which revealed surprising results, including that 60% of Palestinians support the current effort at peace talks. The poll, carried out between 15-28 April, asked a random sample of 1,153 respondents….
PA: Mitchell will not get answers Friday
5/7/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Special US Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell will “not get any answers from the Palestinian leadership” when he meets with President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh said. In a Thursday statement, the spokesman said Mitchell would have to wait until the PLO….
Erekat to EU: Israel must abide by commitments
5/7/2010 – Jericho – Ma’an – Negotiations affairs chief Saeb Erekat told EU leaders to urge Israel to stick to its commitments around the Roadmap plan and halt settlement construction across the West Bank including East Jerusalem. In a statement summing up a series of meetings with consuls and representatives of the EU, Erekat….
Hamas warns PLO against returning to talks
5/7/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Hamas warned the PLO on Friday against returning to negotiations with Israel, calling the proposal to enter into so-called proximity talks “absurd, giving the occupation an umbrella to commit more crimes against the Palestinians.”In a statement calling on the PLO Executive Committee, the Islamic movement added that….
Cabinet shuffle expected; Fatah numbers to get boost
5/7/2010 – Nablus – Ma’an – The coming week will see a long rumored cabinet shuffle in the Palestinian Authority, informed government sources told Ma’an on Friday, noting the new cabinet list was already completed. The changes reportedly follow an agreement between the Fatah Central Committee, President Mahmud Abbas, and the Prime Minister Salam….
In photos: Farming zucchini in Gaza
5/7/2010 – Palestinian farmers harvest zucchini for local markets in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on 7 May 2010. – MaanImages / Hatem Omar….
Erekat: Israel wants talks to fail
Palestine Note 7 May 2010 – Washington – Israel wants proposed indirect peace talks to fail before they begin, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters in Ramallah on Friday following a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and US Mideast envoy…
Report: Cover-up alleged in Rachel Corrie trial
Palestine Note 7 May 2010 – Evidence has surfaced that an Israeli general attempted to suppress testimony about Corrie’s killing Washington – Evidence has emerged in the Rachel Corrie trial that a decorated Israeli military officer attempted to cover up details of…
Report: OECD ‘bends rules for Israel’
Palestine Note 7 May 2010 – New York – The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an elite international organization, may be loosening its own rules in allowing Israel to become a member, Palestinian analyst Nadia Hijab wrote on Friday on the…
Israeli defense analyst: Gov’t has bungled freeze
Palestine Note 7 May 2010 – Washington – Once Israel’s 10-month partial settlement freeze ends in September, settlement construction will skyrocket, dooming the peace process, Israeli defense analyst Alex Fishman wagered Thursday. A bulldozer readies for construction outside a settlement on the…
The Answer Is Jon Stewart
Palestine Note 7 May 2010 – The New York Times has just published another major piece on the declining support for Israeli policies among American Jews . It is excellent reporting (replete with poll numbers) that confirms something most of us know: American…
Poll shows Hamas support slipping
Palestine Note 7 May 2010 – Washington – Support for Hamas has declined in the West Bank and Gaza, but Palestinians’ confidence in both top parties is waning, an opinion poll released this week shows. A child sports a Hamas al-Qassam Martyrs’…
Six arrested, one injured in Bil’in
Palestine Note 7 May 2010 – New York – Israeli forces arrested six demonstrators, including Palestinian, Israeli and US nationals, and injured a seventh in the West Bank village of Bil’in during a weekly protest against Israel’s separation wall, the Palestinian news…
Livni: Peace will preserve Israel
Palestine Note 7 May 2010 – Washington – Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni met with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell Friday and shared her desire to secure a peace agreement with the Palestinians, Ynet reported . Opposition leader Tzipi Livni speaks at…
Haifa rights defender seized by Israeli government
Palestine Note 7 May 2010 – New York – Palestinian human rights groups denounced on Thursday the arrest of a prominent rights defender in Haifa, in northern Israel. Haifa, Israel is an often contentious mix of Arabs and Israelis [Photo: Eye of…
UN: Nine violent settler incidents this week
Palestine Note 7 May 2010 – New York – Israeli settlers were involved in nine separate attacks that injured Palestinians or damaged their property, a United Nations agency said on Thursday. Olive trees like the one above were damaged in a settler…
Preparations still underway for indirect talks
Palestine Note 7 May 2010 – Washington – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that indirect talks with the Israeli government would not last longer than four months, Al-Jazeera English reported Thursday. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (…
Iran hosts dinner for Security Council members
Palestine Note 7 May 2010 – Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki hosted a dinner in New York for the 15 members of the UN Security Council Thursday night. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad making an address in an undated file photo [Photo: Daniella…
New York car bomb incident: Another false flag?
Palestine Note 6 May 2010 – On May 1, New York Times writers Al Baker and William Rashbaum headlined, “Police Find Car Bomb in Times Square,” saying: “A crude car bomb of propane, gasoline and fireworks was discovered in a ‘smoking’ Nissan…
The price of courage: On Goldstone’s bar Mitzvah and Finkelstein’s book
Palestine Note 6 May 2010 – In his report on Gaza issued late last year, prominent South African jurist Richard Goldstone accused Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes. His language also showed awareness of the fact that the former is an…
Iran steps up diplomatic offensive
AlJazeera 7 May 2010 – US and other security council members attend dinner at Iranian ambassasdor’s residence.
More suspects named in Dubai murder
AlJazeera 7 May 2010 – Police link five more people to the murder of senior Hamas commander at a hotel.
State to High Court: We’ll authorize illegal West Bank outpost
Ha’aretz – Move follows Barak’s request to delay demolition of the Kiryat Hayovel structures, home to Maj. Eliraz Peretz who was killed in Gaza.
Elderly man shot and killed by robber at Tel Aviv home
Ha’aretz – Police believe that the robbers opened fire after the man and his wife began screaming for help.
Palestinian Authority: Israel must choose – peace or settlements
Ha’aretz – U.S. Mide
ast envoy George Mitchell meets Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
Peres to Mitchell: Israel’s security must top agenda of peace talks
Ha’aretz – President tells U.S. envoy that Israel is committed to two-state solution, but increase in rocket fire following IDF pullout from Gaza must be taken into account.
Report: IAEA to discuss Israel’s nuclear activities for first time
Ha’aretz – Israeli nuclear capabilities are on the provisional agenda for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s June 7 meeting.
U.S. official: Iran defiant on nuclear program to UN diplomats
Ha’aretz – Foreign Minister Mottaki said at Thursday’s dinner that Iran will not stop enriching uranium, has right to pursue atomic technology.
Israel envoy to New Zealand greeted by pro-Palestinian jeers
Ha’aretz – Shemi Tzur is the first resident ambassador in Wellington since 2002 when Israel withdrew its envoy because of financial restraints, leaving relations in the hands of its senior diplomat in Australia., ‘We must distinguish between the Israeli people and the Israeli government,’ says the Liberal Democrat leader ahead of U.K. election.
U.S. diplomats attend Iran dinner in New York
Ha’aretz – Obama administration accuses Tehran of trying to buy time by accepting Brazil’s offer to mediate nuclear standoff between Iran and the West.
Netanyahu meets Mitchell for second time in two days
Ha’aretz – U.S. Mideast envoy meets with the Prime Minister ahead of expected resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
The language of Zionism
Uruknet May 7, 2010 – “Colonialism is peace; anti-colonialism is war.” This is the unalterable equation that successive Israeli governments insist must determine the basis of all current and future relations between Israeli Jews and the Palestinians. Indeed, the deployment of the rhetoric of peace between Palestinians and Israeli Jews since the 1970s has been contingent on whether the Palestinians would…
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (29 April – 05 May 2010)
Uruknet May 7, 2010 – Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law continued in the OPT during the reporting period (29 April ‚Äì 05 May 2010): Shooting: During the reporting period, 7 Palestinian civilians, including two children and a journalist, were wounded by IOF in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, IOF used force against…
Gareth Peirce’s Statement in Support of Aafia Siddiqui
Uruknet May 7, 2010 – I recently watched (for the first time, I concede), the film “In the Name of the Father,” about the Guildford Four, in which Emma Thompson plays the part of Gareth Peirce, who exposed the abhorrent miscarriage of justice in that dreadful case of torture and false confessions, which was only overturned after Gerry Conlon, Paul Hill,…
Israel admits existence of list banning Gaza goods
Uruknet May 7, 2010 – Israel conceded Friday that it maintains a list of goods permitted to enter the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported. A suit, filed in the Tel Aviv administrative court by Gisha: Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, sought to clarify the criteria and procedures the authorities use to determine what goods to allow into Gaza, the Israeli…
The Israel lobby wants to retain freedom of speech for itself, on its own terms
Uruknet May 6, 2010 – In an interview with the Times (6 May), Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Ron Prosor, is reported to have “complained about “extremism in British universities” which caused his deputy “to flee anti-Israel activists after she gave a talk at Manchester University”. According to Mr. Prosor, “We have a serious situation where Israel is being delegitimised and…
Israel plans to build a rail network serving settlers in the occupied West Bank
Uruknet May 6, 2010 – Israel’s Transportation Minister, Yisrael Katz, has unveiled a plan to build a railway network in the occupied West Bank to serve Israeli settlers. He claims that the plan aims to make it easier to transport goods and passengers and that this will “advance the peace process”. International bodies will, he added, help to implement the project….
Gazans cut through Egypt’s border barrier
Uruknet May 6, 2010 – “Every problem has a solution. The Egyptian steel barrier was a problem but we found a solution,” says Mohammed, a grimy-faced Gazan tunnel digger who didn’t want to give his real name. Mohammed, covered in dust and dirt, is in the process of digging a 750m (2,460ft) smuggling tunnel from Gaza into Egypt. He says he’s…
General ‘tried to cover up truth about death of Rachel Corrie’
Uruknet May 6, 2010 – Seven years after the American activist Rachel Corrie was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza, evidence has emerged which appears to implicate Israel’s Gaza commander at the time, in an attempt to obstruct the official investigation into her death. The alleged intervention of Major-General Doron Almog, then head of Israel’s southern command, is documented…
Israeli Security Services Defeat Terrorist Clown Threat
Uruknet May 6, 2010 – Ivan Prado, the most famous clown in Spain, did not expect to be put on a return flight back to Madrid soon after arriving at Ben-Gurion International Airport late last month, after spending six hours with officials from the Shin Bet security service and the Interior Ministry. The officials accused Prado of having ties to Palestinian…
Israel’s repression of its Palestinian citizens unites us in struggle
Uruknet May 6, 2010 -. Last month, when I traveled from Haifa to the land border between Jordan and Israel, the Israeli border police prevented me from leaving my country. The police handed me an order issued by the Israeli Minister of the Interior Eli Yishai prohibiting me to leave Israel for two months. The travel ban imposed on me is…
Demonstrators succeed in delaying illegal wall construction; brutal military violence hospitalizes three
Uruknet May 6, 2010 – Sitting peacefully in front of the formidable D9 Caterpillar bulldozer, demonstrators were successful today in temporarily halting construction of Israel’s illegal annexation wall. In the village of Al Walaja, approximately 20 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists disrupted work on the wall for nearly 30 minutes. Highlighting the systematic racism of Israeli apartheid, soldiers specifically targeted Palestinian…
Environmentalists issue stark warning on River Jordan
Uruknet May 6, 2010 – Two recent reports by a coalition of Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian environmentalists paint a grim picture of the state of the River Jordan, and urge swift action. “If immediate action is not taken the River Jordan will run dry by 2011,” Baha Afaneh, Jordanian coordinator for the Jordan River Project of Friends of the Earth Middle…
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition Welcomes UNRWA Gaza Director’s Call to Send Ships to Gaza
Uruknet May 6, 2010 – John Ging, the Director of Operations of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza, has called upon the international community to break the siege on the Gaza Strip by sending ships loaded with desperately needed supplies to the beleaguered territory. “We believe that Israel will not intercept these vessels because the…
International Solidarity Movement
Israel’s tightening grip on the Jordan Valley
5/7/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – Israel will never cede the Jordan Valley” – Benjamin Netanyahu, March 2010 – The Jordan Valley is an area under urgent threat of annexation, and during the last few weeks Israel has considerably tightened its grip on the indigenous Palestinian population. On the 11th of April the Israeli military shut of the….
Soldiers Use Tear Gas To Suppress Nil’in Protest
PNN – Many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation as the villagers of Nil’in, central West Bank, protested on Friday Israeli wall built on their lands. Israeli and international protesters joined…
One injured, Six Arrested During The Anti Wall Weekly Bil’in Protest
PNN – Ramallah – PNN – One resident was injured; Six others arrested, on Friday by the army during the weekly anti wall protest at the village of Bil’in, central West Bank. The villagers…
Villagers Near Bethlehem Protest The Israeli Wall
PNN – Ghassan Bannoura- PNN – International and Israeli supporters joined the villagers of Al Ma’ssara, Al Walaja and, for the first time, Wad Rahal near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, in…
Egyptian Restrictions Renders Hamas Gov. Short of Money
PNN – Gaza-PNN- The Hamas run government in the Gaza Strip announced on Friday that it will not be able to pay its employees their full salaries this month. Isma’el Mahfouth, from the Finance…
PCHR: 7 Civilians Wounded By Military Fire This Week
PNN – Ghassan Bannoura ‚Äì PNN- Seven Palestinian civilians, including two children and a journalist, were injured by Israeli military fire during attacks targeting Gaza and the West Bank; the Palestinian Center for Human…
Mazin Qumsiyeh and 2 others arrested, 3 wounded in al-Walaja
Stop The Wall – This morning, May 6, Israeli occupation forces arrested the coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Apartheid Wall and Settlements in Beit Sahour, Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh. Two other Palestinians and one international were arrested also. [
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (29 April – 05 May 2010)
PCHR 5 May 2010 – A mosque that was burnt by Israeli settlers in al-Lubban al-Sharqi village near Nablus, 04 May 2010 Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)….
‘Choose between settlements, peace’
Jeruslalem Post 7 May 2010 – Erekat comments on talks as Mitchell meets Peres, FM.
‘Choose between settlements and peace’
Jeruslalem Post 7 May 2010 – Erekat comments on talks as Mitchell meets Peres, FM.
‘Iran defiant on nukes to diplomats’
Jeruslalem Post 7 May 2010 – Source tells Associated Press about Mottaki’s private dinner.
Uncomfortable connections
Jeruslalem Post 7 May 2010 – JCall raises question about Diaspora Jews’ fascination with Israel.
Looming specter of conflict
Jeruslalem Post 7 May 2010 – Iran is transforming the strategic balance.
Abbas Meets Mitchell
WAFA – RAMALLAH, May 7, 2010 (WAFA)- Head of PLO Negotiation Affairs Department, Dr Saeb Erakat said that the U.S. Administration would announce within two days its stance regarding the guarantees
Six Demonstrators Arrested in Bil’in Today during Al-Nakba Commemoration
WAFA – RAMALLAH, May 7, 2010 (WAFA)- Six demonstrator were arrested, another was injured and dozens suffered teargas inhalation during a protest to commemorate the 62th Al-Nakba anniversary in
Arab-European Relations: Bridging the Gap in Mutual Understanding
WAFA – MADRID, May 7, 2010 (WAFA)- A major international conference on “Europe and the Arab Countries: Views, Opinions and Perspectives” concluded today in Casa Arabe Headquarters in Madrid.
Saturday: Mother’s Day Protest at Lev Leviev’s Store to Oppose Settlements
WAFA РNEW YORK, May 7, 2010 (WAFA)– New Yorkers will gather outside of I
sraeli diamond magnate Lev Leviev’s New York store this Saturday, on a weekend in which many New Yorkers shop for Mother’s Day gifts,
Dubai ‘identifies more suspects’ in Hamas assassination
The Guardian 7 May 2010 – Latest suspects bring to 32 the total alleged to have been involved in killing of military commander Mahmoud alMabhouh Dubai police have identified up to five more suspects in the alleged assassination of a senior Hamas…
Put conditions on Israel’s OECD entry | Avi Shlaim and Simon Mohun
The Guardian 7 May 2010 – Israeli accession to this group of nations must be contingent on a commitment to embark on a credible peace process In the absence of any last-minute objections , Israel will be welcomed as a member of the…
OPT: Murder in the name of family honour
Relief Web 7 May 2010 – Source: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Lebanon: Mar Elias Camp Joins WHO’s Global Movement – 1,000 Lives, 1,000 Cities
Relief Web 7 May 2010 – Source: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
MCC helps Palestinian refugee children succeed academically
Relief Web 7 May 2010 – Source: Mennonite Central Committee
CIDA and UNDP Sign a $7 Million Agreement In Support of the Justice System in the oPt
Relief Web 7 May 2010 – Source: UN Development Programme
Iran detains 80 youth for illegal ‘pleasure seeking’
YNet News – News agency reports, ‘dozens of boys and girls in inappropriate outfits and….
Twice in one day: Fire at Hebron’s Jewish cemetery
YNet News – Site catches fire over night, then again Friday morning. Police rule out claims….
Iran hosts dinner seeking to avert UN sanctions
YNet News – Japan’s UN ambassador says after rare meeting, ‘We had very frank exchange of….
US photo exhibit: Israel blocks Palestinian access to water
YNet News – WASHINGTON- Israel is stealing water from Syria and is blocking Palestinian access to water resources, this according to a National Geographic photo exhibit in Los …….
Rabbis for Human Rights demand mosque fire probe
YNet News – Dozens of Israeli peace activists on Friday visited the mosque that was allegedly torched by settlers in the Palestinian village of Lubban al-Sharqiya earlier this week. …….
Palestinians: Israel will make every effort to thwart talks
YNet News – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with special US envoy George Mitchell in Ramallah Friday evening to discuss the efforts to jumpstart indirect peace talks. …….
Sources say UN on target for Iran sanctions by mid-June
YNet News – A new round of UN sanctions against Iran is set to be ready by mid-June, European diplomatic sources said on Friday, adding that a draft proposal could go before the …….
Lebanon charges army colonel with spying for Israel
YNet News – A Lebanese prosecutor on Friday charged an army colonel with spying for Israel and referred him to a military court. Security sources said Colonel Gazwan Shahin, the …….
State says may legalize construction at West Bank outpost
YNet News – Structures in the West Bank outpost Givat Hayovel will be legalized if it is determined that they had been built on state-owned land, this according to the response of …….
‘Hebron settlers realize violent phase over’
YNet News – Hebron Brigade Commander Col. Udi Ben Moha breathed a sigh of relief when Purim, usually a time of heightened tensions in the West Bank city, passed by with only a few …….
Mubarak challenges opposition, warns of ‘chaos’
Daily Star 7 May 2010 CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak challenged Egypt’s opposition Thursday to spell out their political programs, warning against “chaos,” in his first speech since returning to Cairo.Mubarak, 82, arrived in Cairo this week from Sharm el-Sheikh, where he…
I wish my people would learn
Daily Star 7 May 2010 When Israel assassinated Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, it was revealed that intelligence agencies from about 15 countries collaborated with it in providing Israeli death squads with fake passports and crossing points in their airports. Nevertheless, after…
Iran defiant on nukes to UN diplomats
Daily Star 7 May 2010 WASHINGTON: Iran will not stop enriching uranium and has a right to pursue atomic technology, the country’s foreign minister told UN Security Council diplomats at a private dinner.A US official familiar with Thursday night’s meeting in…
Dubai names five more suspects in Hamas killing
Daily Star 7 May 2010 DUBAI: Dubai police have named five new suspects in the killing of a senior Hamas leader at a luxury hotel in the Gulf emirate, bringing the total number to 32, Al-Arabiya news channel reported on Friday….
Russia’s Medvedev to make landmark visit to Syria
Daily Star 7 May 2010 MOSCOW: President Dmitry Medvedev will travel to Syria on Monday to tighten ties with the Soviet-era ally on the first ever visit to the country by a Russian or Soviet head of state. Accompanied by a…
US envoy meets Palestinian president in peace push
Daily Star 7 May 2010 RAMALLAH, Occupied West Bank: Visiting US
envoy George Mitchell met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday ahead of a key Palestinian decision on starting indirect peace talks with Israel. Officials said no statements were expected after…
Palestinian Information Center
Abbas’s obsequious behavior
PIC 7 May 2010 – PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is already conducting negotiations with Israel with utmost irresponsibility. Even inexperienced hagglers in a wholesale bazaar would display more caution.
Aqsa Imam likens return to negotiations to chasing a mirage
PIC 7 May 2010 – Sheikh Yusuf Abu Sneinah criticised Abbas’s Ramallah Authority for returning to the negotiating table with the Israeli side despite continued Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people..
Abu Shaar warns of 100 new settlement units in Jerusalem
PIC 7 May 2010 – Taleb Abu Shaar warned of the implementation of a Zionist plan to build a hundred settlement units in occupied Jerusalem, announcement of which was made to coincide with Mitchel-Netanyahu meeting.
IOF troops target Gaza farmers
PIC 7 May 2010 – Local sources in the southern Gaza Strip district of Khan Younis stated that IOF troops manning Israeli occupation military watchtowers opened fire at Palestinian farmers..
Abbas’s militia train to rescue possible Israeli captives
PIC 7 May 2010 – Mahmoud Abbas’s militia on Thursday conducted manoeuvres in Jericho. The militia exercised on how to rescue Israeli soldiers captured by the Palestinian resistance in the West Bank.
Barhoum: no one has the authority to relinquish right of return
PIC 7 May 2010 – Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, stressed that the right of return was not only a political and an individual right but that it was a fundamental right that no one has the right to relinquish.
Qasem: security coordination reduced security challenges to occupation
PIC 7 May 2010 – Dr. Abdel-Sattar Qasem said that the Palestinians’ 62-year experience proved that negotiations were useless and stressed that “what has been taken by force, can only be retrieved by force.”
Mural commemorating Nakba revealed in Gaza
PIC 7 May 2010 – The High Commission to Commemorate the 62nd Anniversary of the Nakba on Thursday unveiled a mural depicting the Nakba and the entrenched belief that return of refugees is inevitable.
Efforts to ease the burdens on Gaza students
PIC 7 May 2010 – Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Islamic University and lawmaker, Jamal al-Khudari, said the international tour he made aimed to improve conditions and academic standards for students.
Iranians’ trip to U.N. falls short
LA Times 7 May 2010 – Ahmadinejad’s fiery speech undercut nuclear arguments, analysts say. A top-level Iranian delegation garnered worldwide attention this week with appearances at the United Nations aimed at winning international support for its position on nuclear issues. But the effort instead underscored many of the challenges Tehran faces in its quest.
Moviegoers Celebrate a Return of Iraqi Culture
New York Times 7 May 2010 – At the premiere for “Son of Babylon,” excitement and relief that culture could defy occupation, war, government neglect and occasional hostility to signal its survival.
Head of Atomic Agency Asserts Right to Scrutinize Iran
New York Times 6 May 2010 – Yukiya Amano said that Iran would not be able to satisfy the world that its nuclear program was peaceful unless it answered a series of questions.
World Briefing | Middle East: 5 More Suspects Identified in Dubai Killing
New York Times 6 May 2010 – The Dubai police have identified more suspects in the killing of a Hamas operative in Dubai in January, bringing the total number of suspects to 32, a person familiar with the investigation said.
My Holocaust education
Mondoweiss – I’m writing my Senior Research Paper (at Cal State Northridge) on the Palestinian Right of Return, and my professor suggested I examine the precedents of compensation and repatriation set by the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. I started investigating the Claims Conference stuff, and I decided…
The 2 brothers from Al-Walaja can only enter Jerusalem when they are arrested
Mondoweiss – Yesterday we picked up a report on the arrest of Mazin Qumsiyeh, geneticist and human-rights activist, in a small village south of Jerusalem where he was protesting Israel’s gobbling of more Palestinian land for Jewish settlements. Here is Qumisyeh’s report on his day: Our ten-hour ordeal…
Yes! WaPo says Israel’s gobbling of Jerusalem goes well beyond Biden insult
Mondoweiss – Surprise, s
urprise. Excellent reporting by Janine Zacharia in the Washington Post describing the colonization of East Jerusalem and explaining what an obstacle this new Jewish geography presents to the possibility of a “viable Palestinian state.” A battle for sovereignty and international legitimacy is playing out on…
JJ Goldberg: American Jewish community adopts Jerusalem line ‚Äòas holy writ’
Mondoweiss – Wonderful piece in Haaretz by JJ Goldberg saying that the American Jewish community is shaming itself through its reflexive orthodoxy in support of Israel. [W]hatever word comes forth from Jerusalem, we adopt it as holy writ. You’d think somebody would be embarrassed by now, but that…
Dumbing down the Jews: No free speech on this issue
Mondoweiss – Here’s an important story about red lines in the Jewish community—and why Norman Finkelstein can’t get arrested on the Upper West Side but Michael Oren is speaking at Brandeis. Steve Horn is with a student group at the University of Wisconsin/Madison called Kavanah that is under…
Articles
Like a plane without a pilot
Amira Hass, Ha’aretz5/4/2010
Even if not one more Jewish home is built in the occupied territories (including East Jerusalem), the enormous apparatus of domination continues to operate there with an inner logic of many years’ duration.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unjustifiably draws fire for policies that move ahead without his involvement. The Jewish intellectuals, who suddenly saw the darkness and were terrified, should know: Even if not one more Jewish home is built in the occupied territories (including East Jerusalem?), the enormous apparatus of domination continues to operate there with an inner logic of many years’ duration. It moves along by itself, like some huge aircraft without a pilot.
Prime ministers come and go, negotiations stop and start, new coalitions form, and this apparatus has a life of its own. It preserves and develops the privileges of the Jews in Greater Israel. It sets the boundaries of the Indian reservations. When it wants, it links them; when it doesn’t, it cuts them off. Its will is done: unemployment of 52 percent or 19 percent, population density of villages and cities, diameter of water pipes, the number of days that one must wait before receiving lifesaving medical treatment. If the natives want to, they can go on living in the reservations; if they don’t … let them leave.
Take, for example, the demolition order that was posted on April 26 on a structure in the community of Umm al-Kheir in the South Hebron Hills. The standardardized form was signed by the inspection subcommittee of the Civil Administration’s higher planning council. The order informs us that it was posted by one “Carlo” in the presence of the “Operations Officer of the Hebron D.C.O.”. We can guess that they were accompanied by soldiers. We know that sharp-eyed inspectors have located the offending structure. The head of the Civil Administration, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, probably doesn’t know that the assembly line he is in charge of produced this order for the demolition of “a concrete toilet structure of about 3 square meters.” Netanyahu certainly has no idea at all….more..e-mail
Jenny Tonge: A ‘Woman of Substance’
Felicity Arbuthnot, Palestine Telegraph5/5/2010
Politicians with backbone are a rarity. (UK) Liberal Democrat M.P., Jenny Tonge (The Rt. Hon., The Baroness Tonge of Kew) has one. Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg, does not.
Jenny Tonge is a doctor by training, married to a consultant neuroradiologist. Her positions have included Senior Medical Officer for Women’s Services in the large, multi-racial, London Borough of Ealing. In politics, she has been the Party’s spokeswoman for children and for health.
After her daughter was killed in a electrical accident, in 2004, she retired as an M.P., in order to help care for her two young grandchildren. However, made a Peer in 2005, entitled her to address issues of concern in the House of Lords.
Background.
In January 2004, she was sacked as children’s’ champion, by the then leader of the Party, Charles Kennedy, for saying of Palestine suicide bombers, in the hopelessness of the remnants of their land: “If I had to live in that situation – and I say that advisedly – I might just consider becoming one myself.” Refusing to apologize, she pointed out that: ” …having seen the violence, humiliation and provocation that the Palestinian people live under every day and have done since their land was occupied by Israel, I could understand …”
Her statement echoed the haunting words of the late Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish. In his “State of Siege”, he poignantly tiptoes between despair and what Western and Israeli governments label “terrorism.” Darwish walks in the shoes of one with only his being remaining….more..e-mail
Yediot’s defense analyst: Settlement construction spree in September dooms negotiations
Alex Fishman, Coteret5/6/2010
Explosive charge at the end of the pipeline
The opening was supposed to be a bit more festive. After all, the negotiations with the Palestinians are being renewed after a year and a half of a breakdown of communication. True, these are only proximity talks, a kind of indirect negotiations, but we are finally returning to the table. Both sides, however, are behaving as if the talks were forced upon them, as if they are doing the Americans a favor, despite the fact that for both Netanyahu and Abu Mazen, the renewal of the talks is a political oxygen balloon. So the Palestinians do not know when they are coming, and Netanyahu wants to talk about water rather than borders — in brief, we are starting off limply, which bodes ill for the future.
If the proximity talks are beginning in a cloudy atmosphere of uncertainty, their end — paradoxically enough — is much clearer. In four months, what lies in wait for us is an explosive charge that no one is thinking about how to start to disarm: Towards the end of September, the period of the construction freeze in the territories will end. But the government is burying its head in the sand and waiting for a miracle.
Anyone who believes that fear of the government has suddenly befallen the Jewish settlers in the West Bank, and therefore they have been maintaining relative quiet until now in the face of the construction freeze — is somewhere between a dupe and a fool. It is not the firm hand of the police, or even the diligence of the Civil Administration inspectors. This quiet has only one reason: The council chairmen in Judea and Samaria and the residents are convinced that at the end of September, a
ll the dams will be broken down and thousands of new buildings will rise on every hilltop. This is what they have been promised. It was neither hinted nor implied, this is what cabinet ministers said to them explicitly. No one is preparing them for the possibility that the situation could be different.
The battle against the freeze started with very strident tones. Three months before the freeze, local construction committees already met for days on end, approving plans….more..e-mail
Groups: Amitav Ghosh, don’t accept Dan David prize
Electronic Intifada: 7 May 2010 – We wish to express our deep disappointment in your decision to accept the Dan David prize, administered by Tel Aviv University and to be awarded by the President of Israel. As a writer whose work has dwelled consistently on histories of colonialism and displacement, your refusal to take stance on the colonial question in the case of Israel and the occupation of Palestine has provoked deep dismay, frustration and puzzlement among readers and fans of your work around the world.
Artists thank Gil Scott-Heron for heeding boycott call
Electronic Intifada: 7 May 2010 – More than 50 organizations and artists from eight countries have written to legendary political singer and poet Gil Scott-Heron to thank him for his decision to drop Israel from his current tour. The letter, facilitated by Adalah-NY, highlighted the parallels between the South African apartheid that Scott-Heron crusaded against decades ago and the Israeli system that currently subjugates Palestinians.
New Israeli order allows for mass expulsion from West Bank
Electronic Intifada: 7 May 2010 – RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) – Several Palestinians have set up a protest tent in no-man’s land in the northern Gaza Strip, near the Erez border crossing into Israel, as they protest their deportation from the Israeli occupied West Bank into Gaza where Hamas authorities have refused them entry.
The pretext of “security” along Gaza’s buffer zone
In Gaza: 7 May 2010 – Ahmed Deeb after he was fatally shot by an Israeli soldier at a protest in the occupied Gaza Strip. (Hatem Omar/ MaanImages ) The Electronic Intifada “There was a single shot without any warning, and a young man was carried away,” Adie Mormech explained. Mormech, currently in Gaza, is a British activist with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). He was an eyewitness at the 28 April demonstration at Nahal Oz, east of Gaza City, when Ahmed Deeb was fatally shot by an Israeli soldier . “I could see the bullet had blown apart a large section of the top his leg, with a large amount of blood. He was carried about 100 meters with blood pouring down his leg before a waiting ambulance drove him away.” Hours after being shot in the femoral artery by an Israeli soldier, Deeb died of blood loss. Deeb, 21, was the ninth protester shot by Israeli…
Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
Palestine Chronicle: 7 May 2010 – By Stephen Lendman Established in 1998, the Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights (BRC) “defend(s) and promote(s) the rights of Palestinian refugees and IDPs (to) advance (their) collective rights.” In January 2010, BRC published a report titled, “Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, 2008 – 2009.” Its web site explains the problem: — Palestinian refugees and IDPs are “the largest and longest-standing case of forced displacement in the world today;” — in 2007, of a global 9.8 million Palestinians, about seven million are refugees and another 450,000 internally displaced; — they include 1948 Nakba victims, more from the 1967 Six Day War, new ones from continuous dispossessions for settlement expansions, and land seizures inside Israel; — many thousands were displaced from the Jordan Valley, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and within Israel to cleanse Arab neighborhoods for Jewish only development; — Palestinians in host countries…more
Time Square Bomber, Sleeping Cell or a Time Bomb?
Palestine Chronicle: 7 May 2010 – By Ali Younes The failed car-bombing attempt last week in New York Time square is an important reminder that terrorism is not simply going away with just tighter security measures by this country or any other. What we know so far about the personal life of the suspect, Faisal Shahzad, is rather a grim reminder of what future would-be terrorists look like. We might not see terrorism on the scale of September 11 attacks anymore, what we might see, rather, is more of the lone operator type such as Shahzad. Shahzad might not be a card-carrying member of the Taliban or Al Qaida, but certainly shares its anti-American rational and is inspired by its extensive propaganda operations in the cyberspace. The question is was shahzad a sleeping cell waiting to be activated or was he later turned into one, or he just simply acted alone thus becoming a time bomb…more
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The New Dark Age 
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