News
International Middle East Media Center
Russia, Turkey Call For Holding Talks With Hamas
IMEMC – 12 May 2010 – Both Russia and Turkey stated Wednesday that that International Community must deal with the Hamas movement as it is a movement that was elected to rule the Palestinian people in fair elections, and cannot be ignored.
U.S Slams Israel’s Decision TO Demolish Palestinian Homes in Jerusalem
IMEMC – 12 May 2010 – The United States denounced a statement by Israel’s Internal Security Minister who said that the government intends to demolish Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem in the coming days, and considered the declaration is a provocative act that affects proximity talks.
Israeli Troops Arrests 15 Palestinian Civilians During West Bank Invasions
IMEMC – 12 May 2010 – The Israeli military arrested on Wednesday 15 Palestinian civilians during pre dawn invasions targeting a number of west Bank communities.
Egyptian Navy Hit A Palestinian Fishing Boat, Fisherman Dies
IMEMC – 12 May 2010 – An Egyptian Navy boat hit a Palestinian fishing boat near the southern shoreline of the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, killing Mohamed Al Bardaweel, 44 years old, witnesses reported.
Vanunu Sentenced To Three Months
IMEMC – 12 May 2010 – Israeli sources reported that Nuclear whistleblower, Mordechai Vanunu, was sentenced, Tuesday, to three months imprisonment after he refused to perform community service in West Jerusalem, fearing harassment from fundamentalist Jews.
Netanyahu: “Jerusalem Is Ours, We Will Build And Develop It”
IMEMC – 12 May 2010 – Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that Israel will always build and develop the city of Jerusalem is order to make it a “viable, developed and advanced city”.
Israel plans Jerusalem expansion over Green Line
5/12/2010 – Ramallah – Ma’an – Plans for Israel’s expansion of Jerusalem’s borders were revealed on Wednesday, which include a 12,000 housing unit complex on land belonging to the West Bank village of Al-Walaja, south of Jerusalem, The Islamic Christian Commission for Support of Jerusalem and the holy Places (ICC). ICC Secretary-General Hasan Khatir said during a news conference….
Gaza fisherman killed off Rafah
5/12/2010 – In photos: Fishing in Gaza – Gaza – Ma’an – A Palestinian fisherman apparently died Wednesday after the Egyptian coast guard chased his boat off Rafah, southern Gaza, medical officials told Ma’an. Muhammad Ibrahim Al-Bardawil, 44, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Abu Yousif An-Najjar Hospital, said Gaza medical official Adham Abu Suleimeh. His boat collided with….
PA official: Settlers bulldoze 30 dunums of land
5/12/2010 – Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli citizens residing on an illegal West Bank outpost bulldozed 30 dunums of land plowed by Palestinian farmers in the Jalud village, south of Nablus, a Palestinian Authority official said Tuesday. Ghassan Doughlas, responsible for monitoring settlement activity in the northern West Bank, said those responsible for the land’s destruction were from the….
Ultra-orthodox convoy enters Al-Aqsa compound
5/12/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – Dozens of ultra-orthodox Jews reportedly entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound on Wednesday morning and performed religious rites in occupied East Jerusalem. Ma’an’s correspondent said Palestinian guards at the compound protested the entry of the visiting convoy, who were escorted by Israeli police officers. According to one guard, approximately 100 people entered and prayed….
Witnesses report limited Israeli incursion into Gaza
5/12/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Witnesses reported Israeli artillery shelling east of Ash-Shuja’iyeh, northern Gaza, on Wednesday and an Israeli incursion into the area. Witnesses said they heard a number of explosions, with army vehicles and bulldozers reportedly entering the area, which is close to the now defunct Nahal Oz fuel pipeline along the Israel-Gaza border. The Al-Quds….
Israeli court extends detentions of Makhoul, Said
5/12/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – The Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court extended the remand of prominent Palestinian leaders in Israel Amir Makhoul and Omar Said by five days, Israeli media reported. Makhoul, who heads the umbrella organization for Palestinian associations in Israel Ittijah, was detained from his home at night on suspicion of espionage and contact with a….
Teenagers detained in Salfit overnight
5/12/2010 – Salfit – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained at least eight Palestinians after raiding the Hares village northwest of Salfit, residents said and Israel’s military confirmed. Locals told Ma’an that soldiers entered the village at 1am, and remained there for another four hours before withdrawing with eight teenagers. They were identified as: Baha Sultan, 19Hasan Salameh, 19Samer Abad….
Report: Israel training to block Freedom Fleet
5/12/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israel’s naval forces are allegedly in training to prepare to seize eight boats scheduled to dock in the Gaza Strip on 24 May from Europe, Arabic-language media reported on Wednesday. “About half of the Israeli naval forces will participate in an operation that was approved by the cabinet. [Israeli] Defense Minister Ehud Barak will supervise… Related:Free Gaza Movement
Hamas-Egypt tensions high after fisherman death
5/12/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Tensions between Hamas and Egypt resurfaced on Wednesday following the death of a Palestinian fisherman off the coast of Rafah. The Gaza government said an Egyptian vessel was responsible for Muhammad Ibrahim Al-Bardawil’s deathHamas leader Salah Al-Bardawil said shortly after the incident that “Egyptian boat 94 killed the fisherman, deliberately running him over….
Khalifa Bin Zayed Foundation adopts Gaza school
5/12/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – A ceremony was held in Gaza on Wednesday to mark the adoption of a school in the northern Gaza Strip by the Abu Dhabi-based charity the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nehayan Foundation. UNRWA Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi presided the ceremony, a statement read, which was attended by media representatives and UN officials. Grandi praised the….
Israeli PM: No nation ever allowed so much freedom to worship
5/12/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Israeli constr
uction across Jerusalem will continue unabated, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday, in spite of reported US guarantees that construction would be slowed for the duration of indirect talks.”The struggle for Jerusalem is a struggle for truth,” Netanyahu said in an address at the Merkaz Harav yeshiva to mark….
Obama confirms intent to hold both sides accountable
5/12/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – US President Barack Obama has congratulated President Mahmoud Abbas on the start of Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks, the White House said Tuesday.”He reiterated his strong support for the establishment of an independent, viable Palestinian state living in peace and security with Israel,” the American presidency said in a statement. Obama and Abbas discussed….
Fayyad meets with Spanish FM in Ramallah
5/12/2010 – Ramallah – Ma’an – Prime Minister Salam Fayyad hosted a Spanish delegation in his Ramallah office, headed by Spain’s Foreign Minister Miguel ?ɬÅngel Moratinos on Wednesday. Fayyad briefed the delegation on recent developments in the occupied Palestinian territories, focusing on the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to realize the prime minster’s two-year plan to end Israel’s occupation and….
Dubai ruler launches 9th Arab Media Forum
5/12/2010 – By Nasser LahhamDubai – Ma’an – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the UAE, inaugurated the ninth annual Arab Media Forum at the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai on Wednesday. Over 2,000 journalists attended the opening ceremony including editors-in-chief, media union representatives, and renowned journalists, all of whom indulged in….
Officials: PA ban on settlement work ‘hasty’
5/12/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – The decision by the Palestinian Authority to prevent all work in settlements by 2011 is a hasty decision that requires a commitment to providing alternative employment to Palestinians, guests on Palestine TV’s No Spin talk show said Tuesday evening. Ahmad Muheisin, a refugee camp popular committee member, and Yousef Abu Maria, an Al-Quds….
Economy minister injured in car accident
5/12/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – A car accident north of Jerusalem on Wednesday injured Hassan Abu Libdeh, minister of national economy in the Ramallah-based Palestinian government. Abu Libdeh was transferred to Ash-Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Ramallah, where he was treated for bruises, medical sources told Ma’an. His condition was described as stable and good. Economy Ministry undersecretary Abdul….
No influential voice in U.S. supporting war on Iran: Peter Feaver
Palestine Note 12 May 2010 – A Harvard University graduate, a current Alexander F. Hehmeyer Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Duke University, and the director of Triangle Institute for Security Studies (TISS), Peter D. Feaver is perhaps best known…
“Jerusalem Day” is celebration for Israel and tragedy for everyone else
Palestine Note 12 May 2010 – Israelis celebrate Jerusalem Day today, declaring that when East Jerusalem was captured during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, it suddenly became an open city. Of course, that is more Israeli fiction. They’re so good at it. In…
The end of (ad hoc) de-Ba’athification in Iraq
Palestine Note 12 May 2010 – Anthony Shadid reports that the Justice and Accountability Commission — the de-Ba’athification commission, which roiled Iraqi politics for months — has finally decided to wrap up its work . “It’s stopped,” President Jalal Talabani said. “There will…
Yediot: After bowing to US pressure on OECD vote, Turkey wants gestures from Israel
Palestine Note 12 May 2010 – Turkish gesture Itamar Eichner, Yediot, May 12 2010 [page 15; Hebrew original here and at bottom of post] Thirty-one countries voted on Monday unanimously to approve Israel’s inclusion in the OECD. It has now become apparent…
Former AIPAC indictee, Steve Rosen, sues mother ship ++ The Jeff Goldberg problem
Palestine Note 12 May 2010 – The Washington Post reports today that Steve Rosen, indicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 for passing US secrets to Israel (the charges were ultimately dropped) is suing AIPAC. They fired me after they heard the…
Tensions running high between Hamas and Egypt
Palestine Note 12 May 2010 – Egyptian vessel kills Gaza fisherman, Hamas police defuse bomb at Egypt embassy Washington – Tensions between the Hamas government and Egypt “resurfaced” after a Palestinian fisherman was killed by an Egyptian boat, Ma’an News Agency reported…
Commentators say settlement work ban was ‘hasty’
Palestine Note 12 May 2010 – Washington – The Palestinian Authority (PA) recently announced its plan to end all Palestinian employment on West Bank settlements by 2011, but some have said it is a “hasty decision,” Ma’an News Agency reported Wednesday. A…
Netanyahu vows never to ‘divide Jerusalem’
Palestine Note 12 May 2010 – Washington – Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu espoused the oneness of Jerusalem as an Israeli, Jewish city in his speech commemorating Jerusalem Day, Haaretz reported Wednesday. Jerusalem has played host of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders [Photo:…
‘Boycott Israel’ fatwa issued in Jordan
Palestine Note 12 May 2010 – Washington – More than 50 Shariah scholars in Jordan issued an advisory opinion ( fatwa ) in support of an economic boycott of Israel, Al-Jazeera reported Wednesday. English-language graffiti supports boycott of Israel in order to end the…
Israeli profs denounce Alan Dershowitz
Palestine Note 12 May 2010 – Washington – Tel Aviv University senior faculty have denounced Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz after his attack on Israeli professors who criticize the state, Haaretz reported Wednesday. Prof. Alan Dershowitz (left) is one of the…
Security and borders to top proximity talks
Palestine Note 12 May 2010 – Washington – Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and US President Barack Obama have agreed to focus the initial indirect negotiations agenda on security and borders, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported Tuesday. A French maps shows…
Israel plans to raze Arab homes in East Jerusalem
Palestine Note 12 May 2010 – Washington – Israeli Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch told the Knesset that municipal plans to demolish Palestinians homes in East Jerusalem will go through despite the renewed peace process, Haaretz reported Wednesday. A Palestinian home demolition is…
Israeli Navy trains to block aid convoy
Palestine Note 12 May 2010 – Washington – The Israeli Navy is allegedly training to seize the eight-boat ” Freedom Flotilla ,” which is scheduled to reach Gaza shores May 24, Ma’an News Agency reported Wednesday. “The boats will be loaded with…
Sheikh Khalifa is rebuilding Gaza education
Palestine Note 12 May 2010 – UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan adopts a Beit Lahia school for boys and girls By Mariam Hamed, special to Palestine Note Gaza – UNRWA Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi presided over a ceremony to mark…
Israeli Hypocrisy: Talking peace while preparing for war and institutionalizing dire conditions in Gaza
Palestine Note 11 May 2010 – On May 8, Haaretz Service and Reuters headlined, “PLO executive committee approves new peace talks with Israel,” saying: “The Palestinian Authority on Saturday got the green light to restart peace talks with Israel after the PLO’s…
Against terror, liberty is America’s best defence
Palestine Note 11 May 2010 – Fremont, California – The arrest of Faisal Shahzad, a 30-year-old US citizen of Pakistani descent and the alleged driver of the vehicle used in the failed New York Times Square bombing a few weeks ago, represents…
Obama’s Cairo speech: one year later
Palestine Note 11 May 2010 – Chicago, Illinois – Pradeep Ramamurthy, a White House official who plays a key role in implementing the vision laid out in US President Barack Obama’s historic June 2009 Cairo speech which talked about dialogue between the…
How one Palestinian village started a movement
Palestine Note 11 May 2010 – New York, New York – Most of the media coverage surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict focuses on stories of violence and despair. Little is known about the growing Palestinian-led non-violent movement that has united rival Palestinian factions,…
North African bloggers get creative to evade censorship
Palestine Note 11 May 2010 – Paris – When confronted with free speech as an act of self-expression, authoritarian powers throughout history have tried to assert their legitimacy and remove threats to their rule through censorship. To achieve this, the censor has…
Medvedev in US-Middle East appeal
AlJazeera 11 May 2010 – Russian leader on trip to Syria says US needs to take more active role on peace talks.
Israeli court acquits Raed Salah
AlJazeera 11 May 2010 – An Islamic Movement leader is acquitted over involvement in a 2007 Jerusalem riot.
Pakistani diplomat attacked in Iran
AlJazeera 11 May 2010 – The Pakistani ambassador to Iran is in hospital after being assaulted by Afghan man.
Netanyahu: We will never divide Jerusalem
Ha’aretz – In response to PM’s speech, MK Ahmed Tibi says that East Jerusalem is a city under ‘foreign occupation’ and that ‘there is no greater lie than the unity of Jerusalem.’
U.S. warns Israel, Palestinians of taking inflammatory actions in Jerusalem
Ha’aretz – Public Security minister tells the Knesset that Israel will raze Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem in the coming days despite the renewal of indirect peace talks.
Four followers of accused cult leader convicted of child abuse
Ha’aretz – Ultra-Orthodox cult leader Elior Chen and his followers allegedly used knives and hammers to abuse children as young as 3 and 4 years old.
After-two month delay, Tel Aviv marathon now threatened by heat-wave
Ha’aretz – Temperatures Friday could to reach 20C, with humidity 90 per cent – even in the early morning hours.
Vice premier vows to rebuild Bedouin soldiers’ club razed by IDF
Ha’aretz – Club provided careers services for demobilized soldiers and hosted lectures for new IDF recruits.
State Comptroller: National service for yeshiva students flawed
Ha’aretz – Investigation finds that the small percentage of yeshiva students who choose to do national service face a range of obstacles.
Comptroller takes police chief to task for nepotism
Ha’aretz – Lindenstrauss’ annual report slams Police Commissioner David Cohen for overseeing brother’s promotion alone, despite attorney general recommendation.
Israel Navy is training to take over ECESG’s Solidarity fleet
12 May 2010 – Gaza, May 12, (Pal Telegraph) The Israeli Navy is conducting heavy training for an operation to capture the eight vessels that are expected to enter into Gaza in the twenty-fourth of this month and called it the “fleet of Freedom”, within the European campaign to break the siege on Gaza. According to their plan, the unit of marine commandos will…
Israel bows to pressure, admits arrest of rights activist
12 May 2010 – Jerusalem, May 12, (Pal Telegraph — By Catrina Stewart) The Israeli authorities finally revealed yesterday that they had been holding a prominent Israeli-Arab human rights activist for several days and had accused him of spying for Lebanon’s Hizbollah guerrillas. Israel appeared to buckle under intense domestic pressure to release details of the case against Amir Makhoul after a gagging order…
Despite warnings: Israeli extremists started “the march of flags”
12 May 2010 – Jerusalem, May 12, (Pal Telegraph) Dozens of Jewish extremists performed rituals and prayers in the vicinity of Al Aqsa Mosque today despite yesterday’s warnings, also ignoring the protests of the guards which they expressed for the Israeli police. A guard confirmed that 95 Jweish extremists wandered in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque protected by the Israeli police, and shortly after…
Shin Bet blackmails al-Quds students
12 May 2010 – Palestine, May 12, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – The Shin Bet is reportedly trying to entice Palestinian medical students to join the Israeli intelligence service by promising entry permits to al-Quds (Jerusalem). The spying agency allegedly tried to blackmail two fifth-year medical students at al-Quds University who are pursuing internships in Palestinian university hospitals in the city, Israel’s English-language Haaretz newspaper…
Israel detains 11 Palestinian boys in Salfit
12 May 2010 – West Bank, May 12, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) -Israeli occupation forces detained today 11 Palestinian from Hares village in the west of Salfit in the West Bank. Palestinian sources said that Israeli occupation forces raided the village this morning and searched nuber of houses and then detained 11 Palestinian. Israeli occupation forces detained Rabea’ Kleeb, 18, Hani Swaf, Qosai Soliman, Mazoz…
Settlers break into Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood
12 May 2010 – Jerusalem, May 12, (Pal Telegraph) Dozens of Jewish extremists broke into the “Sheikh Jarrah” neighborhood in downtown Jerusalem, escorted by Israeli police. According to local sources the Jewish extremists arrived at the Palestinian houses seized from the families of “Kurd”, “Hanoon” and “Ghawi” then turned them into places they own, pointing out that they chanted for the expulsion of Palestinians…
IOF raids Al-Qrara
12 May 2010 – Gaza, May 12, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli occupation forces raided today a limited area in Al-Qrara to the northern east of Khan Younis, in central Gaza Strip. According SAFA news agency, five bulldozers and four tanks invaded 150 meter in Al-Qrara area near the borders with the Palestinian occupied land of 48, near Sofa crossing. The bulldozers razed agricultural…
Israel detains Palestinian and search houses in Hebron
12 May 2010 – Hebron, May 12, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) detained today Palestinian from the West Bank city of Hebron after searching his house, Palestinian sources reported. Security sources said that IOF detained the citizen Aez Al-Rahbi after raiding his house in Abu Sninah neighborhood in Hebron and then transferred him to unknown place. In Krza village south of…
Palestinian killed, 2 injured in boating accident with Egyptian boat
12 May 2010 – Gaza, May 12, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) — The fisherman Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Bardawil, 44, was killed and two of his relatives were wounded early Wednesday when an Egyptian boat hit his boat strongly on the sea border between Rafah and Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip. Eyewitnesses from the relatives of the killed fisherman said that he was fishing in his…
Settlers set a cultivated land on fire in Nablus
12 May 2010 – Nablus, May 12, (Pal Telegraph) Tens of settlers conducted bulldozing and plowing of 30 planted dunums on a land in the village of “Jalud” southeast of Nablus, the northern of West Bank. Ghassan Daglas, chairman of the settlements file in the northern West Bank, confirmed that dozens of settlers had dug and vandalized a number of dunums in a cultivated…
New weapons experimented in Gaza: population risks genetic mutations
Uruknet May 12, 2010 – Toxic and carcinogenic metals, able to produce genetic mutations, have been found in the tissues of people wounded in Gaza during Israeli military operations of 2006 and 2009. The research has been carried out on wounds provoked by weapons that did not leave fragments in the bodies of the victims, a peculiarity that was pointed out…
Farming in Gaza Is “a Kind of Resistance”
Uruknet May 12, 2010 – That Thursday morning was odd weather in Gaza. Gaza is pretty arid. Thick cloud cover is unusual in late April, so is rain. The slate storm-front sliding over the horizon in Farraheen was even weirder. We were in Abasan Kabeera, on the farmland of the Tabash family. Peasant women picked the golden bunches of lentils from…
Aharonovitch: No more delays, we will demolish Arab homes in J’lem
Uruknet May 12, 2010 – Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch revealed during a Knesset session on Wednesday that the police will soon be providing security to inspectors slated to demolish illegal Arab homes in east Jerusalem. The minister’s comments came in response to a query submitted by Knesset Member Yariv Levin (Likud). He claimed the Jerusalem Municipality was not executing demolition…
Irish activists urge divestment at CRH annual meeting
Uruknet May 12, 2010 – Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) activists are pressuring the Ireland-based international building materials group CRH to divest from its Israeli subsidiary Mashav. Last week, IPSC members attended the annual CRH general shareholders meeting as activist shareholders. Their aim was to discuss the involvement of CRH subsidiary Mashav in illegal construction activities in the occupied West Bank….
Palestinian girl (16) used as a human shield while searching her house in the old city of Nablus
Uruknet May 12, 2010 – Dua’a Abboud (16) lives with her family in the old city of Nablus. On 18 February 2010, at around 3:30am, they woke up to the sound of banging on the door. As the door got stuck when trying to open it, the Israeli soldiers who were outside ordered them to step away, broke down the door,…
Gaza fisherman killed
Uruknet May 12, 2010 – A Gazan fisherman was killed early Wednesday morning after an Egyptian patrol boat forcefully collided with the fisherman’s boat on the sea border between Rafah and Egypt. Mohammed Ibrahim al-Bardaweel (44 years) was killed and two of his relatives were seriously wounded. Witnesses said that Al-Bardaweel had been fishing in his engineless boat when the Egyptian…
The Invention of the Jewish People — Book Review
Uruknet May 11, 2010 – Historians living within their own nations develop within the mythology peculiar to their nation, in which “various spheres of memory coalesced into an imagined universe representing the past.” The historian is a combination of his own personal experiences and the larger societal “instilled memories.” Recognizing that, Shlomo Sand very capably steps away from the created mythology…
Dear Ms. Atwood, I Regret to Inform You that You Have Failed the Lie Detector Test
Uruknet May 11, 2010 – By going to Israel to accept the Dan David Prize you have chosen to go over to the Dark Side. If you do make the trip, there is no turning back. Please consider well what people who have appreciated your literary work and heretofore took seriously your vaunted support for human rights have to say. I…
Vanunu Returns To Prison And The End Of Israel’s Nuclear Ambiguity
Uruknet May 11, 2010 – On May 11, 2010, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Mordechai Vanunu, will “serve a three-month jail sentence handed to him by Jerusalem District Court and not community service. ” The ‘justices’ refused Vanunu’s offer to do community service in occupied east Jerusalem, because they do not view that side of town to be a part of…
Report: Israel training to block Freedom Fleet
Uruknet May 12, 2010 — Israel’s naval forces are allegedly in training to prepare to seize eight boats scheduled to dock in the Gaza Strip on 24 May from Europe, Arabic-language media reported on Wednesday. “About half of the Israeli naval forces will participate in an operation that was approved by the cabinet. [Israeli] Defense Minister Ehud Barak will supervise the…
Russia seeks to become regional player in Middle East
Uruknet May 11, 2010 – The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, yesterday criticised the United States for not doing enough to foster peace in the Middle East, warning that the regional situation was “dangerous” and could slip out of control. After two days of talks in Damascus with the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, Mr Medvedev said Moscow was prepared to step in…
ECESG eyewitness report: The tragedy that is Gaza today and the role of the EU
Uruknet May 11, 2010 – In mid January 2010, the European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG) organized a 50-person delegation of MPs, politicians and former ministers into Gaza to witness firsthand the conditions on the ground one year after the 22-day Israeli invasion that laid waste to the Gaza Strip. Our goal was to collect and document the…
Israel seeks to silence dissent
Uruknet May 11, 2010 – Last Thursday, in the early hours of the morning, a Palestinian community leader’s home was raided by Israeli security forces. In front of his family, the wanted man was hauled off to detention without access to a lawyer, while his home and offices were ransacked and property confiscated. While this sounds like an all-too typical occurrence…
Join Us at the Launch to Gaza
Uruknet May 11, 2010 – When: Wednesday, May 12 – Where: Dundalk Docks, 40 Quay Street, Dundalk, Ireland – 10:00-11:00 come to the ship and be introduced to the MV Rachel Corrie and the organizers, donors and high profile passengers. 11:00-12:00 We will rename her with a bottle of Palestinian olive oil as a celebration of Palestinian land rights, and international…
From Shas to HamasThe group behind the South Park controversy
Uruknet May 11, 2010 – …Like the contrived Danish cartoon controversy, the much-hyped Times Square car bomb incident provided an ideal opportunity for those who seek to make Islam look bad in the eyes of the world. Before the arrest of Faisal “The Fizzler” Shahzad tied this latest botched terror plot to the Pakistani Taliban, some initial news reports suggested that…
Hamas explains contents of letters to Obama
Uruknet May 11, 2010 – Hamas officials insisted on Tuesday that letters sent to US President Barack Obama contained nothing but the movement’s official stance on ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Repeating earlier statements by spokesman Mahmoud Az-Zahhar, de facto government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs undersecretary Ahmad Yousef told Ma’an that the letters detailed Hamas’ stance on the return of Palestinian refugees,…
A Tale Of Lies, Deceit, And Terrorism: The Birth Of Israel
Uruknet May 11, 2010 – Thus began in November of 1947 what is euphemistically called the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by the combined forces of the Jewish armies, the Haganah, the Stern, and the Irgun as they drove more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs from their homes leaving them destitute, homeless and abandoned without a country in what is now the largest…
Israeli Hypocrisy: Talking Peace While Preparing for War and Institutionalizing Dire Conditions in Gaza
Uruknet May 11, 2010 – …Obama’s Middle East special envoy, former Senator and Walt Disney chairman, George Mitchell will do the honors, trying to force Palestinian negotiators to accede to Israeli demands and declare success, until inevitable new violence forces a restart of the whole process at some future time. The charade continues. Recurrent negotiations have gone on for decades, always…
Emergency measures a catastrophe’ for Egypt
The National 12 May 2010 – Government says rules keep country safe from terrorism but opposition calls them oppressive.
Neglect and poverty’ — life as a Palestinian in Jer
usalem
The National 12 May 2010 – According to an Israeli civil rights group, nearly 65 per cent of Palestinian families in the city live in dire conditions.
Al Qa’eda claims attack on UK envoy to Yemen
The National 12 May 2010 – Al Qa’eda in the Arabian Peninsula, a Yemen-based wing of the terror group, says it was responsible for the failed suicide bombing on the British ambassador.
International Solidarity Movement
Setter harassment assaults Sheikh Jarrah in preparation for ‘Jerusalem Day’
5/12/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – Sheikh Jarrah witnessed the unwelcome presence of over two hundred settlers Tuesday evening, who sang songs and chanted nationalistic propaganda in the street near the evicted homes. This disruption lasted several hours, included up to ten busloads of settlers, and was guarded by secret service funded by the Ministry of Interior. Neighborhood resident Saleh Diab….
Statistics: Palestinians Population Increased By 8 Times
PNN – Ramallah — PNN- Statistical data by the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics issued today showed that the number of Palestinians by the end of 2009 reached 10.9 million people.c This means that the…
How Sovereign a State?
PNN – By Camille Mansour – Since the 1980s the Palestine Liberation Organization has aimed for a sovereign state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital. But this analysis…
Quartet Welcomes Proximity Talks
PNN – Ghassan Bannoura — PNN- The Middle East Quartet committee welcomed the first round of proximity talks between the Palestinians and Israelis. The talks, mediated by the U.S, kickoff on Sunday; Peace talks…
Egyptian Navy kills AFisherman Off Gaza Shoreline
PNN – Gaza — PNN- Egyptian navy killed on Thursday morning a Palestinian fisherman near the Gaza Strip southern shoreline. Mohamed Al Bardaweel, 44 years old, was killed when an Egyptian Navy vessel rammed…
Troops Arrest 15 Palestinians During West Bank Invasions
PNN – Bethlehem — PNN – The Israeli military arrested on Wednesday 15 Palestinian civilians during pre dawn invasions targeting a number of west Bank communities. The Israeli military announced that all those arrested…
Settlers on provocative tour of East Ramallah district face popular resistance
Stop The Wall – A gang of settlers from Shilo settlement organized a provocative tour on the lands of the villages in East Ramallah district. Such ‘tours’ often mark the beginning of a harassment campaign against the local Palestinian inhabitants and culminate in land theft and further colonization. [
Elior Chen accomplices convicted
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – J’lem court finds four followers guilty of child abuse.
Israel slams Russia’s Hamas stance
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – Govm’t issues an unusually sharp response to Medvedev’s suggestions.
Gazan man: Hamas beat me for affairs
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – Gallery owner allegedly beaten as punishment for extramarital relations.
Flags, parades and lots of police
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – Jerusalem Day passes without major incident.
Moscow to build nuke plant in Turkey.
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – Russia considering Syria as well; Foreign Ministry “not overjoyed,”
Quadriplegic may have to leave Israel
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – World’s oldest was not allowed three caregivers.
NGO petitions High Court over Silwan buildings
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – Regavim documents illegal Arab building in east J’lem.
Twelve given ‘Worthy of Jerusalem’ award
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – Barkat presented award to 12 Jerusalemites
IDF officer allegedly steals arms for criminals
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – Police eavesdropped on an arms deal between the suspects, Israeli Arab underworld figure.
Netanyahu: We will never divide J’lem
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – PM defends Jews’ connection to capital on eve of J’lem Day.
J’lem blasts Russia’s Hamas stance
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – Comes after Medvedev suggests group should join peace process.
Medvedev: End human tragedy in Gaza
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – Russian president begins Turkish leg of Mideast tour.
‘The fight for J’lem is the fight for truth’
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – PM defends Jews’ connection to capital on eve of J’lem Day.
In honor of Jerusalem Day, MKs get to dig into past
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – Land of Israel Lobby members spend a day sifting through more than 2,000 years of history at the Temple Mount.
Salah acquitted in J’lem rioting case
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – Islamic leader slams police, wants all charges against him dropped.
Peres: Syria cannot arm Hizbullah and seek peace with Israel
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – As Medvedev met with Assad in Syria, the Israeli president reiterated comments he’d made to his Russian counterpart the day before.
IAF commander says deterrence effective — for n
ow
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – Hamas and Hizbullah are rational, seek to maintain rule over their populations, and can therefore be deterred.
PM preaches calm to Syria
Jeruslalem Post 12 May 2010 – On northern tour, Netanyahu says Teheran spreading lies to up tensions.
Kuwait Supports Palestinian Reform Process
WAFA – WASHINGTON, May 12, 2010 (WAFA)- The World Bank Managing Director Juan Jose Daboub signed an agreement with the Ambassador of Kuwait in Washington Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al Jaber Al-Sabah to transfer
PES, Fatah Go for Closer Party Cooperation
WAFA – BRUSSELS, May 12, 2010 (WAFA)- Today, PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and Fatah International Commissioner Nabil Shaath met to discuss the current state of affairs in Palestine and ongoing
Abu Rdainah: Israel Continues Creating Obstacles to Peace
WAFA – RAMALLAH, May 12, 2010 (WAFA)- Presidency Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rdainah said, today, the decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on continuing settlement activity in East Jerusalem,
Grandi: UNRWA Suffers Financial Problems
WAFA – GAZA, May 12, 2010 (WAFA) – UNRWA Commissioner-General, Filippo Grandi said, Wednesday that his aid agency suffers from a budgetgap of approximately $175 million. “We have a big
Jerusalem residents attack writer Elie Wiesel over appeal to Barack Obama
The Guardian 12 May 2010 – Holocaust survivor accused of ignoring anti-Arab discrimination in Jerusalem An extraordinary row has broken out between Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor, author and Nobel peace prize winner, and a group of Jewish residents of Jerusalem over…
Arabs have a complex relationship with the Holocaust | Gilbert Achcar
The Guardian 12 May 2010 – Reports of Holocaust denial fail to reflect the many Arabs who believe the genocide bears lessons for all persecuted peoples The issue of Holocaust denial in the Arab world has been widely covered in the media….
Khalifa Bin Zayed Foundation First to Adopt a School in Gaza
Relief Web 12 May 2010 – Source: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
Gaza: Urgent need for aid
Relief Web 12 May 2010 – Source: Norwegian Refugee Council
Following Intervention by Al Mezan and Partners, Israeli National Insurance Institute Agrees to Resume Transferring Allowances to Gazan Disabled Persons
Relief Web 12 May 2010 – Source: Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
Kuwait Supports Palestinian Reform Process with Additional US$50 Million Contribution to the World Bank – Administered Multi-Donor Trust Fund
Relief Web 12 May 2010 – Source: World Bank
Netanyahu: We will never divide Jerusalem
YNet News – Prime minister speaks at ceremony marking 43rd anniversary of reunification of….
Hamas: Egypt tortures Palestinian detainees
YNet News – Islamist movement known for torturing collaborators accuses southern neighbor of….
My Jerusalem: Personal tales of capital
YNet News – Former Knesset speaker isn’t homesick, playwright longs for past, former….
Turkey, Russia see Hamas role in peace process
YNet News – In joint press conference with Dmitry Medvedev, Turkish President Abdullah Gul….
Jews pelted with stones in Shuafat
YNet News – Jerusalem Day celebrations lead to violent incident in Arab neighborhood, as 60….
Ethiopians lost in exodus to Israel memorialized
YNet News – State holds memorial ceremony for 4,000 members of Ethiopian Jewish community….
Hamas dismisses Russian pressure to release Shalit
YNet News – Mashaal tells Medvedev kidnapped Israeli soldier will not be set free without….
Palestinian shot at in Naalin says being persecuted
YNet News – Residents of Bil’in say IDF raid to arrest Ashraf Abu-Rahma was attempt to keep….
Aharonovitch: No more delays, we will demolish Arab homes in J’lem
YNet News – Internal security minister says while there were times in past when political….
‘Russia moving closer to Hezbollah too’
YNet News – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Syria this week and met with Hamas politburo Khaled Mashaal. On Wednesday, he even stated that Hamas should be included in the …….
Hamas: Bomb defused near Egyptian embassy in Strip
YNet News – Tensions between Hamas and Egypt step up a notch. After the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip accused Egypt of killing a Palestinian fisherman and torturing Palestinian …….
Jerusalem Day: Waving flags, torching flags
YNet News – While hundreds of thousands, mainly yeshiva students, carried Israeli flags throughout the Western Wall pavilion and the Old City in celebration of Jerusalem Day on …….
William Hague: I’m a natural friend of Israel
YNet News – William Hague, the foreign secretary in the Conservative shadow cabinet, was officially appointed Wednesday as British foreign secretary. The new appointment can be seen ….
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US warns against Jerusalem house demolitions
YNet News – WASHINGTON — An American administration official on Wednesday responded to an Israeli minister’s declaration that house demolitions in east Jerusalem would be resumed …….
Egypt rebuffs Washington’s criticism of Emergency Law
Daily Star 12 May 2010 Egypt’s foreign minister has dismissed US criticism of Cairo’s decision to extend its three-decade-old emergency law as “overly politicized.” Ahmad Abu al-Gheit says that Washington’s stance reflects an ignorance of the “real situation” in Egypt. He…
Nile nations split on proposed water-sharing pact
Daily Star 12 May 2010 KAMPALA: Seven African nations are expected to push through a new and more equitable deal this week on sharing the waters of the Nile despite strong opposition from Egypt and Sudan.”What we are doing is launching…
Netanyahu defiant on colonies as Russia urges peace
Daily Star 12 May 2010 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday that illegal construction would continue unabated in all of occupied Jerusalem, as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for an active US role in Mideast peace efforts….
UN resolutions on Iran ‘not worth penny’ – Ahmadinejad
Daily Star 12 May 2010 TEHRAN: UN resolutions aimed at increasing sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program “are not worth a penny” and Tehran will give no ground to pressure, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday. He was addressing the…
Gulf leaders meet in Riyadh for informal summit
Daily Star 12 May 2010 RIYADH: Leaders of six Gulf states met for an informal summit in the Saudi capital on Tuesday to discuss the Middle East peace process, relations with Iran and other key issues facing the region.The heads of…
Egypt detains US passenger with weapons in bag
Daily Star 12 May 2010 CAIRO: Egyptian authorities detained a passenger arriving from New York’s JFK airport Wednesday with handguns, ammunition and knives in his bag, but US officials said there had been no security lapse. Mohammad Ibrahim Marei, a US…
Hamas accuses Israel of obstructing prisoner swap
Daily Star 12 May 2010 DAMASCUS: Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal has accused Israel of obstructing a prisoner exchange that would include an Israeli soldier held captive for nearly four years, a senior official of the Palestinian Islamist group said on Wednesday.Meshaal,…
Palestinian Information Center
Resheq: The summit meeting proved failure of attempts to eliminate Hamas
PIC 12 May 2010 – The tripartite summit meeting in Damascus proved failure of attempts to eliminate Hamas from the Arab, Palestinian, and international political scene, Ezzet Al-Resheq said.
Haneyya: Palestinian generations preserved national constants
PIC 12 May 2010 – Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya has affirmed that the Palestinian people managed to withstand the policies of forced emigration and judaization.
UNRWA warns of complete halt to its operations
PIC 12 May 2010 – The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees has warned that its operations would come to a complete halt by the end of September in the event necessary funds were not provided.
IOF troops round up 15 citizens, reinforce presence in OJ
PIC 12 May 2010 – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up 15 Palestinian citizens in the West Bank during their routine daily arrest campaign, Hebrew daily Yediot Arhonot said on its website on Wednesday.
Sultanov: Medvedev-Mishaal meeting highlighted Hamas’s role in the region
PIC 12 May 2010 – Dr. Shamil Sultanov said that Dmitry Medvedev’s meeting with Khaled Mishaal in Damascus further vindicated that Hamas has political weight in the region and must not be ignored.
Al-Qassam: We will not rest unless all prisoners get their freedom
PIC 12 May 2010 – Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said it will not rest unless all Palestinian prisoners are released from Israeli jails, vowing to capture more Israeli soldiers.
Haneyya: We hope Fatah responded positively to reconciliation proposals
PIC 12 May 2010 – Ismail Haneyya hoped that Fatah faction responded positively to the proposals carried by Palestinian businessmen Munib Al-Masri regarding the national reconciliation.
Bardawil: The Palestinian fisherman was killed
PIC 12 May 2010 – Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil accused an Egyptian gunboat with deliberately colliding with a Palestinian fishing boat then passing over the fisherman Mohammed Al-Bardawil to make sure that he was dead.
Palestinian fisherman dies aft
er Egyptian battle cruiser hits his boat
PIC 12 May 2010 – A Palestinian fisherman died and his brother and two sons were injured when an Egyptian battle cruiser collided with their fishing boat on Wednesday morning.
Jewish settlers attack Palestinian villagers in Ramallah
PIC 12 May 2010 – Hundreds of armed Israeli settlers, without prior notice, attacked the villages of East Farm and Sinjil, east of Ramallah city, which caused fierce clashes at noon Tuesday.
Egypt’s Extension of Emergency Law Draws Criticism
The Media Line 12 May 2010 – Egyptian opposition groups bash decision to extend 29-year-old emergency law for another two years. The Egyptian parliament extended the country’s 29-year-old emergency law for another two years on Tuesday.The decision drew immediate criticism from foreign governments,…
Russia Pondering Building Nuclear Reactor in Syria
The Media Line 11 May 2010 – Russia’s energy minister said his country is considering helping Syria build a nuclear reactor for producing energy. The minister made the statements as he accompanied Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on his landmark visit to Damascus. “Cooperation…
President Obama Telephones Abbas
The Media Line 11 May 2010 – President Obama telephoned Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to congratulate him on the decision to start indirect peace talks with Israel. Saying he strongly supported the establishment of an independent, viable Palestinian state, Obama urged Abbas…
World Briefing | Middle East: Iran: Diplomat Is Attacked
New York Times 12 May 2010 – Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran was taken to a hospital in northern Tehran after an Afghan man assaulted him with a knife.
Jeffrey Goldberg vs Nelson Mandela
Mondoweiss – Sasha Polakow-Suransky, Senior Editor at Foreign Affairs and author of The Unspoken Alliance: Israel’s Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa , continues to push back against the Goldstone smear campaign. I like how this is shaping up – Jeffrey Goldberg versus Nelson Mandela. I wonder who people…
NPR report on West Bank expulsion order turns horror into a she-said/she-said debating point
Mondoweiss – Lourdes Garcia-Navarro and NPR have at last reported on the month-old Israeli “military order” that allows the IDF to deport any Palestinian inhabitant of the West Bank it defines as an “infiltrator,” simply for lacking the paperwork that the Israeli government itself refuses to issue. Garcia-Navarro…
Omar Barghouti in Rome
Mondoweiss – Last night I went to hear Omar Barghouti at an event titled “Palestine today. Nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation: academic and cultural boycott,” organised by the Roman network for solidarity with the Palestinian people. There were about 80 people there, and the event included the…
Palestinian issue fuels next cold war, with US as enemy of Arabs
Mondoweiss – Lately I’ve been told that my issue isn’t the burning issue of the Middle East. The Israel/Palestine issue can be put on the back burner, it’s contained, even Lebanon invasion would be a local war, etc. Well here is Syria expert Joshua Landis at Foreign Policy ,…
Israeli gov’t embraces radical settler movement with connection to 6th Avenue fabric store
Mondoweiss – I failed to pick up on this last week, but a high government official in Israel held a public meeting with Itamar Marcus, who is evidently a member of the Marcus family that owns a fabric store on Sixth Avenue in New York that serves as…
Articles
Iran, China and Israel’s Weapons of Mass Disruption
Peter Lee, CounterPunch5/7/2010
China in the Catbird Seat
There were two major nuclear non-proliferation conferences in April, one in Washington (President Barack Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit) and one in Tehran (International Conference on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation). A third, aka the Big One – the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference held in New York City under the auspices of the United Nations – is now taking place in New York.
China has attended all these confabs in its apparently successful efforts to stake out an advantageous and independent position on nuclear weapons policy and the Iran crisis – and counter Russian attempts to create a new, anti-China security condominium in alliance with the United States.
After months of anxiety and uncertainty, China finds itself in the catbird seat – and in a position to profit if Obama’s Iran diplomacy succeeds or, as appears very possible, it fails.
The US apparently approached the 2010 NPT Review Conference with the hope that it would have Moscow in its corner and a deal with Iran, or at least sanctions on Iran, in place to present the suspicious non-aligned nations with a fait accompli of US leadership.
However, in an eerie recapitulation of its difficulties at the climate change conference in Copenhagen, the Obama administration came to the NPT conference with only the Russian element of its intricate, multi-layer geopolitical strategy in place – and is forced to rely on atmospherics, indignant rhetoric, and recycled data and agreements instead.more..e-mail
From Shas to Hamas
Maidhc O’Cathail, Antiwar.com5/11/2010
A closer look at the group behind the South Park controversy
Muslims just can’t seem to take a joke. Or at least that’s what some would have you believe.
Like the contrived Danish cartoon controversy, the much-hyped Times Square car bomb incident provided an ideal opportunity for those who seek to make Islam look bad in the eyes of the world.
Before the arrest of Faisal “The Fizzler” Shahzad tied this latest botched terror plot to the Pakistani
Taliban, some initial news reports suggested that it might have been the work of an Islamist group with a poor sense of humor — and an even poorer sense of direction. The fact that the fertilizer-laden SUV was parked “about one block from” Viacom headquarters led the Washington Post’s pro-Israel staff writers Jerry Markon and Anne Kornblut to speculate that it may have been retribution for a satire on the Prophet Mohammed shown on one of Viacom’s TV networks.
After Comedy Central aired an episode of the satirical cartoon South Park in April that depicted the prophet in a bear costume, its creators received veiled death threats from a New York-based group called Revolution Muslim. The threats were issued on the group’s Web site by Zachary Adam Chesser, who now goes by the name Abu Talhah al-Amrikee.
Within days of the posting on the obscure Web site, Joshua Rhett Miller of FoxNews.com did a story on it, in which he interviewed Chesser. “They’re going to be basically on a list in the back of the minds of a large number of Muslims,” the recent convert told Fox. “It’s just the reality.”
A few days later, Miller did a profile of Chesser, in which he described the 20-year-old as “the boy next door” with a “dark side.” Quoting an anonymous high school classmate, Miller informed Fox readers that Chesser — prior to his career as a humorless fundamentalist Muslim — was a “loner … who frequently drew pictures of Satanic figures in his notebooks.”more..e-mail
The Mossad in South America
Nil Nikandrov, Strategic Culture Foundation5/11/2010
“N”, a correspondent from an Iranian media agency, whom I met in the association of foreign journalists in Caracas, told me that he used to work in Buenos Aires for some time. Things were going well, N’s employer was satisfied with the job he did, and he planned to spend a few more years in Argentine, but eventually had to change his plans. After a while “N” noticed that he was under surveillance and that his mail regularly got stolen. Uninvited guests started to frequent his office. He talked to the local police and counterintelligence service, but both replied they had nothing to do with the problem. They did mention to “N” cautiously that he was in the sphere of interests of ¬´the Zionists¬ª. He told me: ¬´The people in my agency in Tehran knew that Iranian citizens often encounter such problems and concluded that the Mossad was planning a provocation against me. This is why I relocated to Venezuela. It is a country friendly to Iran, one enjoys a certain level of security guarantees here and can expect to be protected in case of need¬ª.
I had a similar conversation with “F”, a journalist from Syria. He told me frankly that he preferred to stay on the alert even in Venezuela because the Israeli intelligence service watches over all Syrians working in Latin America and often attempts to compromise them. Like most of his countrymen, “F” believes that hostile acts by the Mossad ‚Äî drugs put in his pocket, allegations of links to Arab terrorists, the emergence of ¬´documentary evidence¬ª of connections to Columbian guerrillas ‚Äî are likely. “F” said: ¬´I am ready to face whatever happens. I’m not paranoid, I just look at things realistically. I even obtained a gun permit¬ª and showed me a gun he wore under his jacket.
The Mossads’s objectives are listed on its official web site. They include secret collection of operative, political, and strategic information abroad, termination of terrorist activity targeting Israeli and other Jewish installations, prevention of development or acquisition of nuclear weapons by countries hostile to Israel, and covert operations abroad. The January, 2010 killing by the Mossad of the leader of the the paramilitary wing of Hamas Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel gives an idea of what the term ¬´covert operations abroad¬ª refers to.more..e-mail
Irish activists urge divestment at CRH annual meeting
Electronic Intifada: 12 May 2010 – Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) activists are pressuring the Ireland-based international building materials group CRH to divest from its Israeli subsidiary Mashav. Last week, IPSC members attended the annual CRH general shareholders meeting as activist shareholders. Adri Nieuwhof and John Dorman report.
Israel’s Tightening Grip On The Jordan Valley
Palestine Monitor: 12 May 2010 – “Israel will never cede the Jordan Valley”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, March 2010. The Jordan Valley is an area under urgent threat of annexation. During the last few weeks Israel has considerably tightened its grip on its local Palestinian population. On the 11th of April the Israeli Army shut off the main water source to the village of Bardala (Palestinian village in the Tubas Governorate), jeopardising its viability as a farming community. On the 12th of April they declared the area of Al Maleh a closed military zone, preventing shepherds from grazing their animals. Three days later, on the 15th of April, Israeli soldiers raided the community of Al Farisiya and stole four water pumps in a further attempt to control all water resources in the area. / Al Maleh settler tent Courtesy:The Brighton Tubas Region Friendship and Solidarity Group On the 25th of April the harassment of Palestinians increased…
Stop Repression Of Palestinian Civil Society
Palestine Monitor: 12 May 2010 – May 6, 2010 at 3:10am, Israeli Security Agency (ISA) agents accompanied by Israeli police raided Ameer Makhoul’s family home in Haifa and arrested him. Makhoul is a human rights defender and serves as the general director of Ittijah – The Union of Arab Community-Based Associations and as the Chairman of the Public Committee for the Defense of Political Freedom in the framework of the High Follow-up Committee for the Arab Citizens of Israel. The Real News’ Lia Tarachansky realised spoke to Ammer’s wife and to him, prior to his arrest last week. Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Condemn Arrest as Arbitrary and Seek Immediate International Intervention The 16 ISA agents and police officers immediately separated Makhoul from his family, including wife Janan and daughters Hind, 17 and Huda, 12, and conducted an extensive search of the home. According to Janan, the police confiscated items including documents, maps, the family’s four mobile…
Nakba and the Two State Solution: Unrealistic ‘Realism’
Palestine Chronicle: 12 May 2010 – By Dina Jadallah On the surface and viewed from the perspective of dominating powers, their designated minions, and entrenched cohorts, it may appear that the Nakba is diminishing. Several facts corroborate that view: the passage of time, the very dispossession and dislocation of millions, the tendency of official Palestinian “leadership” to accept whatever scraps they are given, the seemingly insurmountable military superiority of Israel and its main backer, the United States, to name a few. Discursively also, talk of the Nakba has been curtailed, especially among official Palestinian Authority o
fficials and Arab governments. It has been increasingly replaced by details and technicalities that avoid dealing with the crux of the Palestinian predicament. Details and technicalities are evident in “negotiations” and “discussions” over the Two State Solution, settlements (stop, don’t stop, temporary freezes, natural growth,…), Jerusalem, municipal control of various services, collection and distribution of taxes, policing and security forces, road…more
Again, Israel Breaking a Promise
Palestine Chronicle: 12 May 2010 – By George S. Hishmeh — Washington, D.C. As Palestinians and Israelis took their first step in the much-delayed peace negotiations, there is strong evidence emerging that the hawkish government of Benjamin Netanyahu is about to break its promise to hold off on its illegal expansionist plans in the Palestinian-occupied territories. The anti-colonialist Israeli watchdog group, Peace Now, revealed that Israeli settlers have begun work on a 14-unit apartment building in an abandoned police station in Ras al-Amoud, an Arab neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem. The Palestinians immediately viewed the project as a violation of the terms of the so-called proximity talks, which began last week just before U.S. Middle East special envoy, George J. Mitchell, returned to Washington to prepare for the second session next week. This is a serious crack in the relaunched U.S.-mediated talks in which Washington had warned both sides not to jeopardize the process. In a…more
Israel is Born: A Tale of Lies, Deceit, and Terrorism
Palestine Chronicle: 12 May 2010 – By William A. Cook (The Untold Story of the Zionist intent to turn Palestine into a Jewish State. Based on classified documents from the Jewish Agency and its affiliated organizations seized by the British Mandate Police, materials that confirm that the Zionist controlled Jewish community intended to remove the Arab inhabitants of Palestine from their land and make the whole of Mandate Palestine a Jewish State, an intent that continues to the present day as the new book, The Plight of the Palestinians: a Long History of Destruction, available at Macmillan.com, demonstrates.) “Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages, and I do not blame you because Geography books no longer exist, not only do the books not exist, the Arab villages are not there either … There is not one single place built in this country…more
Israeli Hypocrisy: Talking Peace, Preparing for War
Palestine Chronicle: 12 May 2010 – By Stephen Lendman On May 8, Haaretz Service and Reuters headlined, ‘PLO executive committee approves new peace talks with Israel,’ saying: “The Palestinian Authority on Saturday got the green light to restart peace talks with Israel after the PLO’s executive voted to approve indirect negotiations,” excluding Hamas – the legitimate government after Palestinians overwhelmingly elected them in January 2006. Instead, coup d’etat leader (whose presidential term expired in January 2009) Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will participate, PLO spokesperson Yasser Abed Rabbo saying that “negotiations will take one form: shuttling between President Abu Mazen (Abbas) and the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.” Talks have now begun. Obama’s Middle East special envoy, former Senator and Walt Disney chairman, George Mitchell will do the honors, trying to force Palestinian negotiators to accede to Israeli demands and declare success, until inevitable new violence forces a restart of the whole process at…more
Defying the Universe — A Poem
Palestine Chronicle: 12 May 2010 – By Samah Sabawi Are your loved ones trapped behind the wall Do they need the army’s permission For their prayers to reach the sky For their love to cross the ocean And touch your thirsty heart Are your loved ones trapped Do you yearn to be in your family home And when you call them Do they always say “we are well, alhamdollelah” Does it surprise you That they are whole But you… you are broken Must they always worry about you Urge you to have faith in your exile Must they pity you For not breathing the air Of your ancestors’ land Must they always comfort you Even when the bombs are falling Do you ever wonder who is walled in Is it you, or is it them And when it finally dawns upon you That their dignity sets them free Do you feel ashamed of your liberty Are…more
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The New Dark Age 