News
International Middle East Media Center
US General in charge of Israel-Palestine issue may retire
IMEMC – 26 May 2010 – The U-S general advising Palestinian security forces may retire after five years in the post. Lieutenant General Keith Dayton has put in a request to retire, according to a confidential military source in Washington.
Arab Women In Israel, Join The Army Rescue Units
IMEMC – 26 May 2010 – Israeli Ynet news reported that several young women, even wearing Hijab, from Kufr Qassem and Kufur Bara, have joined the Home Front Command of the Israeli army and enlisted in its rescue units. They will be part of the drill that would be conducted by the Home Front.
Abbas To Washington Soon
IMEMC – 26 May 2010 – The White House reported Wednesday that Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, will be visiting the White House soon to hold a meeting with President Barack Obama.
Nasrallah: “Israel-bound Ships Will Be Attacked In War Takes Place”
IMEMC – 26 May 2010 – Sheikh Hasan Nasrallah, secretary-general of the Hezbollah party in Lebanon, stated that should Israel declare war on Lebanon, or besiege its coats, all ships heading to the country will targeted by Hezbollah fighters.
Three Farmers Wounded By Military Fire In Northern Gaza
IMEMC – 26 May 2010 – Three Palestinian farmers were injured on Wednesday afternoon by Israeli army fire while working on their lands near the northern the Gaza Strip borders with Israel.
The Israeli Military Detain 12 During Home Raids In the West Bank
IMEMC – 26 May 2010 – Israeli troops detained on Wednesday 12 Palestinian civilians during morning invasions targeting west Bank communities.
Israeli Army Raids Bil’in and Burns Olive Tree
IMEMC – 26 May 2010 – Early Tuesday morning Israeli soldiers raided the town of Bil’in in the central West Bank. Soldiers fired tear gas, sound bombs, and live ammunition at villagers, detained three journalists attempting to document the raid, and set fire to an ancient olive tree. Bil’in has been at the forefront of the non-violent resistance movement against the Israeli occupation.
Gaza Government Rejects West Bank Elections
IMEMC – 26 May 2010 – The dissolved Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip stated that the municipal elections slated to take place in the West Bank July are illegitimate. The Gazan government says that there should be no elections without first achieving national unity.
At Least 16 Wounded in Israeli Airstrikes In Gaza
IMEMC – 26 May 2010 – Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported Wednesday morning that at least Gaza sixteen residents, mostly women and children, were wounded in a series of Israeli airstrikes over northern and southern Gaza.
Turkey Demands that Israel Not Intercept Freedom Flotilla
IMEMC – 26 May 2010 – The Turkish government officially demanded that Israel not intercept or obstruct the Freedom Flotilla, a convoy of ships attempting to bring humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip. Turkey is requesting that Israel stop its threats against the Flotilla and the activists on board.
Gaza: 15 injured in Israeli airstrikes
5/26/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Fifteen Palestinians were injured on Wednesday morning as Israeli F16 warplanes bombarded a training base belonging to Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. Palestinian medical sources confirmed that some of the victims sustained critical wounds, with media coordinator for Gaza medical servicesAdham Abu Selmiyya saying….
Aid fleet bound for Gaza
5/26/2010 – Ramallah – Amman – IRIN – Eight cargo ships with more than 10,000 metric tons of humanitarian aid, mostly building materials, medical equipment and medicines, will set sail for the Gaza Strip on 27 May in a symbolic attempt by activists to break the three-year Israeli blockade, says the Turkish NGO, Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), local Palestinian NGOs and authorities in Gaza. Related:IHH: We are taking aid to Palestine
3 injured by Israeli fire in Gaza
5/26/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Three Palestinians were injured by Israeli fire in two separate incidents on Wednesday, medics told Ma’an. Two Palestinian workers were shot at by Israeli forces as they collected small stones east of Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, near the no-go zone, Gaza medical services’ media coordinator Adham Abu Selmeiya said. The workers, identified as….
Border guard charged for killing Palestinian child
5/26/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – An Israeli Border Guard officer who shot a Palestinian boy in July 2008 during a demonstration in Ni’lin was indicted with negligent manslaughter on Tuesday evening. The boy, Ahmed Moussa,10, of the village of Ni’ilin, west of Ramallah, was killed after clashes erupted between Israeli security forces and residents who protested against….
Gaza prepares for flotilla; Israel says fleet ’provocative’
5/26/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – As the Freedom Flotilla prepares to weigh anchor in Gaza City’s port, Gaza authorities said they were making arrangements for the arrival of the nine-vessel convoy expected on Thursday. The Gaza government’s Transport Ministry said Tuesday that several improvements were made to the port to receive the international convoy, bringing with them tons….
Huwwara detainees threaten hunger strike
5/26/2010 – Salfit – Ma’an – Nineteen Palestinian prisoners held by Israel in the Huwwara detention center in Nablus threatened to go on a hunger strike if the Israel Prison Service failed to provide them with adequate food rations, a Detainees Center lawyer said Wednesday. The lawyer said the sub-par and inadequate provisions given by the IPS reflect a….
Egypt declares state of emergency to allow UAE aid into Gaza
5/26/2010 – Al-Arish – Ma’an – Egyptian authorities declared a state of emergency along the Gaza border in preparation for the entry of a UAE aid convoy on Wednesday, security sources told Ma’an. The aid, consisting of food supplies donated by the UAE, arrived in the Egyptian port city of Al-Arish on Wednesday and was received by the Red….
Report: Nasrallah threatens Israel with shower of rockets
5/26/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – As Lebanon’s premier continues his US trip to preside over a UN Securi
ty Council meeting, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gave an address Tuesday night to mark the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon. The Hezbollah leader, appearing on a large screen before an audience in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh….
Police hunt for 2 allegedly attempting bus attack in Tel Aviv
5/26/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Israeli police are coordinating an ongoing manhunt Wednesday for a man and a woman who were reportedly attempting to carry out a bus attack in Tel Aviv, Israeli media reported. Passengers on a number 5 bus on Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Street called Israeli police after reporting that a man, who was sitting….
Child killed as mound collapses in Jericho
5/26/2010 – Jericho – Ma’an – A child was killed on Tuesday after a mound of earth collapsed in the Aqbat Jaber refugee camp in the West Bank governorate of Jericho, police said. A report said police were informed that Muhanad Abu Ikteifa, 6, was discovered under a collapsed mound of earth and security forces, civil defense crews, and….
Israeli army detains 4 teenagers in Beit Ummar
5/26/2010 – Hebron- Ma’an – Israeli forces detained four Palestinian teenagers overnight Tuesday from the Beit Ummar village, and one man from the Nuba village, both in the West Bank governorate of Hebron. Palestine Solidarity Project spokesman Mohammad Awad said clashes had erupted earlier on Tuesday night in Beit Ummar’s village center, after Israel forces entered the village….
In photos: Waiting at the Qalqiliya checkpoint
5/26/2010 – Some 5,000 Palestinian workers wait to cross the northern Qalqiliya on 26 May 2010. Mostly construction workers and laborers, the men arrive at the checkpoint before dawn from cities and villages in the northern West Bank, often as far away as Nablus. With only selective checkpoints between the West Bank and Israeli areas open for….
4 injured in East Jerusalem clan brawl
5/26/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – Three Palestinians sustained gunshot wounds on Tuesday evening, and one other sustained injuries following a clan clash that broke out in the Sur Bahir neighborhood of East Jerusalem, witnesses said. The altercation erupted after a bus driver reportedly parked his vehicle near a home, witnesses said. After noticing the vehicle, the homeowners apparently….
UN peace envoy: 2-state solution urgent
5/26/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry spoke Tuesday of the urgency of achieving the two state solution at a UN International Meeting in Turkey. Serry attended the UN International Meeting in Support of the Israeli Palestinian Peace Process in Istanbul where he read a message from Secretary-General Ban….
Israel allows further UNRWA construction goods into Gaza
5/26/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Israel permitted the entry of construction materials for UNRWA projects into Gaza for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, a Palestinian liaison official said. The official, Raed Fattouh, said 140 truckloads of aid would enter the coastal enclave through its southernmost crossing, Kerem Shalom, including four trucks loaded with 160 tuns of cement….
Brazilian senator calls on Israel to let fleet into Gaza
5/26/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – A Brazilian senator has called on Israel to facilitate the entry of the Freedom Flotilla into Gaza, and the immediate implementation of UN and human rights’ bodies demand that the siege imposed on the Strip should be immediately lifted. Eduardo Suplicy, representing the State of S?ɬ£o Paulo, addressed the Brazilian Senate in….
Abbas arrives in Kuala Lumpur
5/26/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday for the second leg of his Asia tour, accompanied by Palestinian Authority officials. Abbas was received upon his arrival by Malaysia’s acting Foreign Minister Ismail Sabri and Palestinian Ambassador to Malaysia Abdul-Aziz Abu Ghoush, the PA’s official news agency WAFA reported….
Islam governs Shalit’s condition: Hamas
5/26/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Hamas lawmaker in Gaza Jamal Nassar said his movement treats captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in accordance with Islam and “not according to reactions,” referring to the passing of a law that would bar Hamas prisoners from family visits. Nassar’s comments were made during a question and answer session in the southern Gaza….
Sha’ath: Obama preparing to put real pressure on Israel
5/26/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Fatah Central Committee member Nabil Sha’ath called US President Barack Obama’s sudden invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu part of the American framework to put pressure on Israel. Netanyahu will be “satisfied with gifts” from the American administration, Sha’ath told Ma’an radio on Wednesday, referring to a recent promise to fund an….
Salafi leaders: Rulers must be obeyed unconditionally
5/26/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Salafi leaders do not preach violence, but rather a comprehensive perspective on Islam, the Muslim denominations’ sheikhs told Palestine TV’s No Spin talk show on Tuesday evening. Among the leaders hosted on the show were Sheikh Shaker Ibn Khadr Al-Alim, an editor for the Salafi magazine and Sheikh Yassin Al-Astal, head of the….
70% of PA security forces under 30
5/26/2010 – Nablus – Ma’an – Seventy percent of Palestinian Authority security officers are under the age of 30, and700 hold an undergraduate law degree, PA security adviser Adnan Dmeiri told reporters Wednesday. Every year, Dmeiri said, 45 new recruits join the security services after complete their graduate degrees in either law or police science in neighboring countries, he….
Gaza police chief: Executions will continue
5/26/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Executions in the Gaza Strip will continue as a means to deter criminals and foster efforts to maintain security and order, Gaza’s Chief of Police Abu Ubayda Al-Jarrah said Wednesday. Speaking to a local radio station, Al-Jarrah said the de facto government’s police forces were successful in preserving security and protecting the Strip’s….
Man detained for planting marijuana in Nablus
5/26/2010 – Nablus – Ma’an – Palestinian Authority police detained a man on Wednesday found in possession of several marijuana plants and seedlings, a police statement read. Police received information that the a man had been planting marijuana crops in his Garden in Nablus. Police responded to the scene, detained the suspect, and confiscated the plants in question. Nablus….
PSE: Al-Quds Index closes at 494.74 points
5/26/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Al-Quds Index was down for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, dropping 0. 06% on the Palestine Securities Exchange, which saw 1,725,185 shares traded for a total value of 2,016,592. 91 US dollarsOf the 28 companies trading on Wednesday, 10 saw shares rise while 11 declined. Construction company Union Construction and Investment….
Monty Python comes to Gaza
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – I wonder how many of you remember that classic scene from Monty Python’s The Life of Brian. Set two thousand years ago in the Holy Land, rebellious residents are rising up against the Roman Empire -…
New: Israel’s ties to apartheid South Africa
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – Now that I have read the definitive book on the relationship between Israel and the apartheid regime, I understand why Israel is going to such ridiculous lengths to demonize Justice Richard Goldstone. He was, as Nelson…
Hariri’s first visit to Washington as Prime Minister: Scuds, Hizballah and Iran
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, for the first time since his election, meets with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office on May 24, 2010. For basically as long as Lebanon has existed as a modern…
The Taliban return to Marja, to nobody’s surprise
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – Apologies for my non-existent blogging over the last few days! I’ve been swamped with work — blogging/interviewing people at the Al-Jazeera forum here in Doha, and brainstorming on a new project we’re launching in the next…
The new frontiers of Israeli diplomacy, ctd: GPO sends sarcastic ‚Äòjoke e-mail’ on Gaza
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – Below is an e-mail sent out today by Israel’s official Government Press Office (GPO) to international correspondents. Unfortunately, I received it without the links and attachments. Funny? Dignified? Professional? We report, you decide. From: Andy Lutterman…
Limbaugh bio written by Israeli Likudnik admirer of Christian right
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – My colleagues at Media Matters (I’m at the Media Matters Action Network) are doing a terrific job ripping apart the valentine of a biography of Rush Limbaugh by Zev Chafets. Check out this Media Mattters research…
Mark Perry on Israel-Palestine, Hamas, Hizballah, and the Taliban
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – (Please visit the site to view this media) This is an interesting short discussion between writer Mark Perry who broke the story on General Petraeus asking that the West Bank and Gaza be part of the…
Israeli judge slams state after it defies court order
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – Washington – Israeli Supreme Court president Dorit Beinisch is demanding an explanation after the Israeli government defied a supreme court ruling to halt the building of a settlement roadway across private Palestinian land, Haaretz reported Wednesday….
Israel to intercept Gaza flotilla
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – New York – Israel’s navy will stop a flotilla carrying 10,000 tons of supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip, Israeli officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. According to the report, the unnamed officials said if…
Israeli forces shoot Gaza man
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – Upsurge in Gaza border violence New York – Israeli troops shot a Palestinian man who approached the Gaza Strip’s border with Israel, the military confirmed. A military spokeswoman told AFP that soldiers fired warning shots in…
Israel to allow Arab investors into WB for conference
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – Washington – Israeli officials announced Tuesday that it will permit the entry of “an exceptional” 815 Arab investors into the West Bank for the second Palestine Investment Conference (PIC) in Bethlehem this June, Ma’an News Agency…
Report: Dayton to step down
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – New York – The US government’s special security coordinator in charge of training Palestinian security forces, Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton , will step down from his post in the fall, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Wednesday….
AFP: Ramallah boom belies weakness of Palestinian economy
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – New York – The much-celebrated economic boom in the West Bank city of Ramallah “does not in any way reflect the state of the economy in the occupied West Bank or the impoverished Gaza Strip,” an…
Settler sexism reigns in West Bank
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – Washington – Elyakim Levanon, the chief rabbi of the Elon Moreh settlement near Nablus, has forbidden women from running in community elections, Ynet News reported Wednesday. According to the report, Rabbi Levanon said women lack the…
Gaza residents denied UAE entry
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – Washington – 200 Gaza residents have been stranded on Iran’s Kish Island in the Persian Gulf after being denied reentry to the United Arab Emirates, Ma’an News Agency reported Monday. The Burj Al-Arab towers over Dubai […
Gaza’s refugees live a perpetual Nakba
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – By Mariam Hamed, special to Palestine Note Gaza – More than 1.5 million people are crammed into the Gaza Strip, and three-quarters of the population are Palestinians registered with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees,…
‘Loyalty bill’ clears Knesset hurdle
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – New York – Israel’s parliament gave initial approval to a bill that would revoke the citizenship or permanent resident status of any person convicted on terrorism or espionage charges. The bill was proposed by Foreign Minister…
Hamas makes arrests in UN Gaza summer camp attack
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – New York – The Hamas-run government of Gaza said Tuesday that it arrested a group of suspects in connection with an arson attack on a UN children’s summer camp over the weekend. Children splash around at…
Israel’s bomb out of the shadows
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – Nazareth – Israel faces unprecedented pressure to abandon its official policy of “ambiguity” on its possession of nuclear weapons as the international community meets at the United Nations in New York this week to consider banning…
Abbas: 2nd intifada was one of our worst mistakes
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – ‘Peace is possible within a week’ if Israel wants it, president says New York – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Egyptian television on Tuesday, “The second intifada was one of our worst mistakes.” “Arafat didn’t want…
Executions to continue in Gaza
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – Washington – Gaza Chief of Police Abu Ubayda Al-Jarrah announced executions will continue “as a means to deter criminals and foster efforts to maintain security and order,” Ma’an News Agency reported Wednesday. His announcement came on…
Communicating Palestine
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – The history of communicating the “conflict” in Palestine has for decades been controlled by the Israeli regime and its supporters, yielding coverage that is undeniably more sympathetic to the Israeli side than to the Palestinians. However,…
Report: Obama, Netanyahu to meet next week
Palestine Note 26 May 2010 – New York – US President Barack Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington next Tuesday, Israeli officials told the newspaper Haaretz in a report published on Wednesday. The unexpected visit to Washington…
West Bank teacher wages peace through poetry
Palestine Note 25 May 2010 – Washington – Karen AbuZant is an American living with the “love of her life” and their five children in the West Bank city of Tulkarem. Karen is a Seeds of Peace delegation leader, a former nurse…
Police hunt two suspected of attempted Tel Aviv bus attack
Ha’aretz – Passengers on number 5 bus report man sitting in back, wearing heavy coat, yelling ‘itbach al yahud’ (slaughter the Jews).
Top Israeli judge slams state for building West Bank road against court order
Ha’aretz – Dorit Beinisch demands explanation after government ignores Supreme Court ruling to halt link between settlements across private Palestinian land.
Controversial ‘loyalty’ bill clears first Knesset hurdle
Ha’aretz – MKs vote in favor of Yisrael Beiteinu bid to strip espionage and terrorism convicts of citizenship.
Man turns himself in for alleged involvement in Tel Aviv nightclub murder
Ha’aretz – 36-year-old man with police record for violent offenses killed after being hit in the head with a heavy object during brawl outside of nightclub.
New bill could limit police powers to gag press in Israel
Ha’aretz – Proposed legislation would end indefinite news blackouts, forcing police to apply to courts for renewal and granting journalists right of appeal.
Home Front defense drill hits peak as sirens sound across Israel
Ha’aretz – Local authorities simulate missile attacks on Israel in massive drill code-named ‘Turning Point 4’; further sirens expected throughout the day.
Right-wing activist expelled from two Jerusalem neighborhoods
Ha’aretz – IDF, under the powers of a seldom-used British Mandate ordinance, orders Neria Ofen not to enter Pisgat Ze’ev and Neve Ya’akov for three months.
IAF conducting joint exercise with Greek Air Force
Ha’aretz – According to Greek media reports, the exercise includes training for aerial battles, long-range missions and mid-air refueling.
IDF vows to block ‘Freedom Flotilla’ aid convoy to Gaza
Ha’aretz – Navy to enforce 20-mile exclusion zone but will offer to deliver activists’ cargo to Hamas-ruled territory.
Abbas: Second intifada was one of our worst mistakes
Ha’aretz – Palestinian President tells Egyptian television station that if Israel was ‘willing’ peace could be achieved in no more than one week.
U.S. Senate to postpone Iran sanctions bill in view of UN progress
Ha’aretz – Secretary of State Clinton dismisses newly brokered uranium swap deal as a ‘ploy’ to avoid new UN sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program.
Obama warns Hariri of growing Hezbollah weapons threat
Ha’aretz – In Washington talks, U.S. voices hope that Lebanon will play a role in building peace in an ‘increasingly volatile and dangerous’ Middle East.
Israel considers Gaza’s fleet of freedom as “provocative step”
26 May 2010 – Gaza, May 26, (Pal Telegraph) The head of Coordinat
ion and Liaison in the Beit Hanoun crossing on the border between Gaza and the territory of the 1948, Moshe Louis, said today that the fleet of “freedom” to break the siege of Gaza is just a provocative step only. The daily published website of the Israeli the newspaper of “Yediot Ahronot”…
IOF shoots three civilian farmers in Gaza
26 May 2010 – Gaza, May 26, (Pal Telegraph) Three Palestinian farmers were wounded today by the Israeli occupation forces east of northern Gaza Strip. The Director of the Emergency sector in Al Shefa Hospital, Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, confirmed that the three injured were all transferred to Kamal Adwan Hospital northern Gaza Strip, describing their condition as moderate.
Calshes take place in Hebron
26 May 2010 – Hebron, May 26, (Pal Telegraph) An Israeli militant vehicle was Burned by Palestinian youths early today, during a raid executed by the Israeli occupation forces on the town of “Beit Amer”, which is located in north of Hebron in the West Bank and arrested two young men.
Egypt allows Emirati humanitarian convoy to access Gaza
26 May 2010 – Gaza, May 26, (Pal Telegraph) Security sources said that the Egyptian authorities and the Egyptian Red Crescent both lifted the state of emergency in preparation for receiving a massive convoy of food and aid granted by United Arab Emirates to the Palestinian people.
IOF detains 3 Palestinians in Hebron
26 May 2010 – Hebron, May 26, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) detained today three Palestinians in Bait Omar and Nuba towns in Hebron. According to security sources, the IOF detained Bilal Shrof, 25, from Ezna town, Ibrahem Mokbvel, 17, and Ameen Bhar, 19, from Bait Omar town. They also raided and searched the houses of Hassan Al-Shrof and Abed Al-Hafez…
Break the Israeli siege of Gaza or attack at sea, detention camps and deportation
Uruknet May 26, 2010 – …As our 8 ship flotilla prepares to depart Greece and Turkey to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza, the Israeli military is preparing a detention camp for the flotilla’s 700 delegates from 20 countries who are passengers on four of the ships. Those passengers include Hedy Epstein, an 85 year old holocaust survivor, Parliamentarians…
Demands of Trials for Journalist Murders
Uruknet May 26, 2010 – “All the Journalist Unions should move from statements of solidarity with the Palestinian journalists to real actions and measures, as going to the international courts to try the Israeli officials who are responsible for horrific crimes and murders of Palestinian Journalists” stated the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate “PJS” delegation during the World Congress of the International…
NATO’s other member state
Uruknet May 26, 2010 – Israel’s worst-kept secret has finally been revealed. Documents published in recent days show that Israel not only has nuclear weapons — something it has never officially acknowledged — but that it considered selling them to South Africa’s white minority government in 1975. The evidence — contained in Sasha Polakow-Suransky’s new book The Unspoken Alliance: Israel’s…
Move to Gaza, where the living is easy
Uruknet May 26, 2010 – According to the Israeli government, life in Gaza is pretty luxurious. On the same morning that the air force bombed Gaza, wounding 22 people (who were probably all Hamas voters, which means they totally deserved whatever happened to them), the army, the Government Press Office (GPO) and the Foreign Ministry launched a three-pronged propaganda attack,…
Three Farmers Wounded By Military Fire In Northern Gaza
Uruknet May 26, 2010 – Three Palestinian farmers were injured on Wednesday afternoon by Israeli army fire while working on their lands near the northern the Gaza Strip borders with Israel. Witnesses said that the famers were harvesting crops near the town of Biet Lahyia when troops opened fire at them without any warning. The three injure men were moved…
Vilifying Justice Goldstone
Uruknet May 26, 2010 – …Unsurprisingly, the Commission concluded “that the Israeli military operation was directed at the people of Gaza as a whole, in furtherance of an overall and continuing policy aimed at punishing the Gaza population, and in a deliberate policy of disproportionate force aimed at the civilian population. The destruction of food supply installations, water sanitation systems,…
Gaza’s refugees live a perpetual Nakba
Uruknet May 26, 2010 – More than 1.5 million people are crammed into the Gaza Strip, and three-quarters of the population are Palestinians registered with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. More than half of those refugees live in eight camps across Gaza. 25-year-old Hanan Alfesis a refugee whose family was forced out of the coastal city of…
Gaza: 15 injured in Israeli airstrikes
Uruknet May 26, 2010 — Fifteen Palestinians were injured on Wednesday morning as Israeli F16 warplanes bombarded a training base belonging to Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. Palestinian medical sources confirmed that some of the victims sustained critical wounds, with media coordinator for Gaza medical services Adham Abu Selmiyya saying injured…
Freedom Flotilla – Day 1 (Video)
Uruknet May 25, 2010 – Ismail Patel is the chair of UK human rights NGO friends of Al-Aqsa. He is one of the 700 activists from more than 40 countries preparing to embark on the Freedom Flotilla sailing from Turkey to Gaza with much-needed humanitarian aid for the beleaguered territory now approaching the end of three years of a siege…
Hamas cries foul over PA’s West Bank police regime’
The National 26 May 2010 – More than 100 charitable agencies shut as group says it is being unfairly targeted by Palestinian Authority after 2007 Fatah ouster.
Hizbollah threatens to hit Israeli ships if Lebanon is blockaded
The National 26 May 2010 – Top official Nasrallah warns that any attempt to blockade Lebanon by sea will result in Israeli ships being targeted in their home ports.
International Solidarity Movement
Palestine: Israeli crackdown exposes its aims
5/26/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – Bridget Chappell, GreenLeft – Australian activist Bridget Chappell was arrested by Israeli security forces in February along with Spanish activist Ariadna Marti, in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank. Chappell and Marti were working for the International Solidarity Movement supporting peaceful Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation. Below, Chappell details the increased repression by Israel…. Related:Source: Green Left Weekly
So What Hasn’t Been Done for the Arabs of Israel?
Alternative Information Center – MK Zeev Bielski, in your article you wished to advise me due to concern about my actions and opinions, and particularly in the matter of my participation in the international aid flotilla to Gaza. Instead,…
Human Right Group Condemns New Detainees Law
PNN – Gaza — PNN – Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights Condemned the Israeli Approval of the ‘Gilad Shalit Law” Bill and Called for Intensifying International Efforts to Abolish this Racist Law. Gilad…
Loyalty Bill Pass First Israeli Parliament Reading
PNN – Jerusalem — PNN – Rightwing “loyalty” bill passed on Wednesday it first reading at the Israeli Knesset (parliament). Hardliner right wing Yisrael Beiteinu, headed by the Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, proposed…
PA Embassy In Athens Cancels Gaza Mayor Speech
PNN – Athens — PNN — the Palestinian embassy in the Greek capital, Athens, canceled a speech by the Mayer of the Gaza Strip Khan Younis, Dr. Mohammed Al Farra. Dr. Al Farra was…
Three Farmers Wounded By Military Fire In Northern Gaza
PNN – Gaza – PNN – Three Palestinian farmers were injured on Wednesday afternoon by Israeli army fire while working on their lands near the northern the Gaza Strip borders with Israel. Witnesses said…
The Israeli Military Arrests 12 During Home Raids In the W.B
PNN – Ramallah — PNN – Israeli troops attested on Wednesday 12 Palestinian civilians during morning invasions targeting west Bank communities. Local sources reported military invasions and home raids in the cities of Ramallah,…
Israel Takes Small Steps Against Settlers
PNN – Jerusalem – PNN – Israeli officials have banned right wing settler Nerieh Ofen from the West Bank and two Jerusalem neighborhoods and upheld a court decision ordering settlers to leave a building…
MIDEAST: Hamas’ Turn to Demolish Palestinian Homes
IPS RAMALLAH, May 25 (IPS) – On Sunday approximately 150 Palestinians from 20 families were driven out of their homes in Rafah, in the southern Gaza strip, by heavily armed police and soldiers who menaced them with clubs.
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (13 — 19 May 2010)
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Summit on nuke-free Mideast in 2012?
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – Resolution would pressure Israel to become signatory of NPT.
NPT signatories mull 2012 conference on nuke-free Mideast
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – Resolution would pressure Israel to become a signatory to the nonproliferation treaty.
Distribution of gas masks goes smoothly in nationwide drill
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – Hizbullah says it will target Israeli shipping if there’s war.
‚ÄòSchalit bill’ easily passes first reading
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – Future of legislation, aimed at putting pressure on Hamas, still uncertain.
GPO advises foreign journalists on luxurious Gaza restaurant
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – Move part of bid to stir awareness of anti-Israeli slant.
Israeli officials not to meet MEPs planning to visit Gaza
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – European Parliamentarians canceled meetings with Israeli NGOs.
Hamas: Schalit law — Nazi racism
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – Minister of Prisoner Affairs: This “new crime” against Hamas prisoners will fail.
East, W. Bank unity raised in Jordan
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – Issue mentioned for 1st time since 1988 renouncement of territory.
Jordanian official talks of ‘Jordan on both sides of river’
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – Senate head raises issue for 1st time since 1988 W. Bank renouncement.
Syrian economy liberalized, but citizens still live in fear
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – Bashar Assad has transformed the Syrian economy but the political system remains oppressive.
Reforms transform Syrian economy, but not politics
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – Bashar Assad has transformed the Syrian economy but the political system remains oppressive.
Court again rules against residents of Beit Yehonatan
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – Jerusalem municipality to seal 7 story illegal structure erected in Silwan.
Obama to Hariri: Hizbullah must be disarmed
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – Lebanese prime minister Hariri’s pro-Western
faction has increasingly made statements supportive of Hizbullah.
Peretz’s populist minimum wage bill
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – Israel educate and train its workforce.
Abbas: Second Intefada a ‘huge mistake’
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – PA President: “Peace could be achieved in a week if Israel wanted it.”
PA rounds up Hamas men
Jeruslalem Post 26 May 2010 – Arrests come in response to Islamists’ election boycott threat.
International Meeting on Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process Opens in Istanbul
WAFA – ISTANBUL, May 26, 2010 (WAFA)- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday reiterated his support for the revived Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks, saying it was necessary that they lead
UAE RCA to Deliver Humanitarian Aid to Gaza
WAFA – ABU DHABI, May 26, 2010 (WAFA) – The UAE Red Crescent Authority (RCA) will carry out two shipments of humanitarian assistance to Gaza Strip in the coming two days via The Rafah Border Crossing in
EU Launches Third Annual ‘Study in Europe’ Days from Gaza
WAFA – GAZA, May 26, 2010 (WAFA)- Today the office of the European Union Representative and the Consulates-general of a number of EU Member States launched from Gaza City the 3rd annual ‘Study in
Oppenheimer in Ma’ariv: Palestinians Justified in Boycotting Settlements
WAFA – TEL AVIV, May 26, 2010 (WAFA)- Israeli Peace Now Secretary General Yariv Oppenheimer, wrote in an article in Ma’ariv that Palestinians are justified in boycotting settlements. The article
Israeli Soldiers Continue to Attack Palestinian Journalists in West Bank
WAFA – PARIS, May 26, 2010 (WAFA)- At least three Palestinian journalists have been physically attacked by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank in the past 10 days while a Palestinian journalist and an Israeli
The dig dividing Jerusalem
The Guardian 26 May 2010 – The search for the City of David may offer tourists a reminder of Jerusalem’s ancient past. But for the Palestinians whose homes are threatened by the excavations, archaeology is merely the latest weapon being used against…
Roy Greenslade: Fisk – journalists are ‘prisoners of the language of power’
The Guardian 26 May 2010 – “Journalists have become prisoners of the language of power”, said Robert Fisk during a stern lecture delivered at Al Jazeera’s annual forum on Sunday. To illustrate his point, The Independent’s Middle East correspondent started off by…
When musicians boycott countries there are no clear winners
The Guardian 26 May 2010 – Elvis Costello is the latest pop star to pull performances in Israel. But can a boycott do more harm than good? Last week, Elvis Costello became the latest, though probably not the last, musician to pull…
Boycott gives Israel a taste of its own medicine | Rachel Shabi
The Guardian 26 May 2010 – The Palestinian boycott of Jewish settlement goods outrages Israel but is nothing compared with Israel’s undeclared embargo Things are heating up with the Palestinian boycott of Jewish settlement products. The Palestinian Authority has recently passed a…
REPORT 2010: GLOBAL JUSTICE GAP CONDEMNS MILLIONS TO ABUSE
Relief Web 26 May 2010 – Source: Amnesty
Israeli troops shoot Palestinian on tense Gaza border
Relief Web 26 May 2010 – Source: Agence France-Presse
International Meeting on Israeli-Palestinian Peace Stresses Need to Build Consensus for Establishing Palestinian State
Relief Web 26 May 2010 – Source: UN General Assembly
Intercultural Dialogue Crucial in Preventing, Resolving Conflicts, Secretary-General Tells Security Council Thematic Debate
Relief Web 26 May 2010 – Source: UN Security Council
Jordanian official speaks of ‘State of two banks’
YNet News – While Amman is sensitive to claims that ‘Jordan is the Palestinian state’, head….
Lebanon deploys army in response to Israel’s security drill
YNet News – Sources in Beirut say Lebanese soldiers deployed along southern border while….
High Court slams State over West Bank road
YNet News – Judges criticize State for paving road connecting settlement, illegal outpost….
Abbas: 2nd intifada was a mistake
YNet News – In interview with Egyptian TV, Palestinian president says, ‘Arafat did not want….
Arrow 3: The new generation
YNet News – Arrow 3, the next generation in advanced interception systems was presented on Wednesday by the Israel Aerospace Industries. The new model’s main improvement is its …….
Qassam lands in Ashkelon; none injured
YNet News – Unrest in south continues. After an IDF strike the previous night, which came in response to mortar shells fired at Israel, Palestinians fired a Qassam rocket from the …….
Haredim riot in Bnei Brak, J’lem: We’ll fill up prisons
YNet News – After two days of calm — riots resume in the capital. Hundreds of haredim from Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighborhood on Wednesday clashed with police and blocked roads, …….
Makhoul’s family: Shin Bet should be indicted
YNet News – A day before an indictment is slated to be filed again
st Ameer Makhoul, the Israeli Arab suspected of espionage and contact with a Hezbollah agent, his family on …….
IDF says will stop flotilla, but transfer supplies to Gaza
YNet News – The IDF on Wednesday announced its plan of action vis-a-vis the “break the siege” flotilla making its way to the Gaza Strip. The convoy, organized by activists from …….
Gazan who fired rocket at Sderot gets 28 years
YNet News – The Beersheba District Court sentenced 25-year-old Gaza resident Dafaa Abu Adra to 28 years in prison on Wednesday after he was convicted of several counts of attempted …….
Border Police officer who killed boy charged
B’tselem 25 May 2010 – Following Yesh Din and B’Tselem’s complaint, an indictment for negligent manslaughter was filed on May 25th, 2010, against the border police officer who shot 10 year old Ahmed Musa in the West Bank village of Ni’lin in July 2008
Tehran, Moscow clash in worst row for years
Daily Star 26 May 2010 TEHRAN/MOSCOW: Iran and Russia clashed on Wednesday over Kremlin support for draft UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic, in one of the worst rows between the two powers since the Cold War. The public clash indicates…
Netanyahu, Abbas to pay separate visits to White House
Daily Star 26 May 2010 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: President Barack Obama’s chief of staff on Wednesday invited the Israeli prime minister to the White House next week, in a sign that strained relations between the two allies are beginning to thaw. The…
Israel calls Gaza blockade-busting flotilla provocation
Daily Star 26 May 2010 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel claimed on Wednesday that a flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists seeking to bust the Gaza blockade is a provocation and that the aid it was carrying is “unnecessary.” “I don’t see the need for…
Ahmadinejad lacks legitimacy – Karroubi
Daily Star 26 May 2010 TEHRAN: Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi has reiterated that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lacks “legitimacy,” months after changing his stance and saying he recognized the hardline president, a reformist website reported on Wednesday. Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution…
Sirens wail across Israel as military drill hits climax
Daily Star 26 May 2010 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Air raid sirens wailed across Israel on Wednesday at the peak of a five-day civil defense exercise to test the country’s defenses in the event of war, the army said. The sirens sounded at…
Palestinian Information Center
Hamas: Kidnapping Tawil an act of “security piracy”
PIC 26 May 2010 – Hamas said that the kidnap of Kamal Al-Tawil, the elected mayor of El-Bireh, at the hands of Abbas’s intelligence in his office and insulting him in front of his employees was “security piracy”.
Ghoul: IOA exposed its ugly image
PIC 26 May 2010 – Minister of prisoners in Gaza Mohammed Faraj Al-Ghoul on Wednesday charged that the IOA had signed on its “Nazism and racist fascism” when it approved the so-called Shalit law.
IOF soldiers wound 3 Palestinian farmers, detain 12 in WB
PIC 26 May 2010 – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened intensive fire at Palestinian farms and homes east of Jabalia, northern Gaza, wounding three farmers in the process, medical sources reported.
European ships arrive in Rhodes port
PIC 26 May 2010 – The European cargo ship, one of the Freedom Flotilla group of ships, is expected to arrive at the Greek port of Rhodes on Wednesday night and before it three passenger boats.
Freedom Flotilla turns down Israeli offer to enter Gaza via land route
PIC 26 May 2010 – The Israeli government has proposed to the Freedom Flotilla to deliver its aid shipment to Gaza Strip via land route, Rami Abdo said on Tuesday.
PA embassy in Athens blocks Farra meeting with Palestinian community
PIC 26 May 2010 – Staff members of the Fatah-controlled PA embassy in Athens blocked a meeting for Dr. Mohammed Al-Farra, the mayor of Khan Younis, with the Palestinian community in Greece, Greek sources said.
IOA murders prisoners with the policy of medical neglect
PIC 26 May 2010 – Palestinian prisoners said in a message to the Ahrar center for prisoners’ studies that they were suffering from the IOA medical neglect that turned into a deliberate and systematic policy.
AFEH: IOA conducting new excavations in the vicinity of the Aqsa
PIC 26 May 2010 – The Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage (AFEH) has said that the IOA was conducting new excavations west of the Aqsa Mosque in the area known as the Pool of the Sultan.
Turkey asks Israel not to intercept the Freedom Flotilla
PIC 26 May 2010 – Turkey officially asked Israel on Tuesday to allow the freedom Flotilla heading to the Gaza Strip to continue with its trip to the besieged enclave with its h
umanitarian aid cargo.
Israeli aerial raids wound 15 citizens
PIC 26 May 2010 – Israeli warplanes launched a series of air raids on southern and northern Gaza Strip at dawn Wednesday leaving 15 citizens including women and children wounded, Palestinian sources reported.
Iran and Syria to set up joint bank
The Media Line 25 May 2010 – Joint bank is latest endeavor as Iran and Syria agree to boost economic cooperation Iran and Syria have reached an agreement to form a joint bank that will boost economic ties, aid investors and provide services…
Israeli Army Undermining Hamas Through Palestinian Authority Projects in Gaza
The Media Line 25 May 2010 – Gestures include backing efforts to rebuild flour mill, sewage systems and allow 100 Gaza businessmen into West Bank As it maintains its isolation of the Hamas rulers, Israel has been working to boost the Palestinian Authority…
Hizbullah Marks 10 Years Since Israeli Pullout from South Lebanon
The Media Line 25 May 2010 – Hizbullah on Tuesday celebrated the tenth anniversary of Israel’s pullout from south Lebanon. Delivering the keynote address, Hizbullah chief Sheikh Sayyid Hasan Na’srallah used the occasion to issue threats about a possible new round of hostilities…
Report: General Dayton Stepping Down
The Media Line 25 May 2010 – An Israeli newspaper says that U.S. Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton will leave his position this fall. For the past five years, Dayton has headed the American unit training Palestinian security forces in Jordan. The Israeli daily…
Ahmadinejad Rebukes Kremlin on Sanctions
New York Times 26 May 2010 – Russia and Iran clashed over Russian support for American-backed sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program.
So What Hasn’t Been Done for the Arabs of Israel?
Alternative Information Center 3 – MK Zeev Bielski, in your article you wished to advise me due to concern about my actions and opinions, and particularly in the matter of my participation in the international aid flotilla to Gaza. Instead,…
Israel to Freedom Flotilla: No pasaran!
Palestine Monitor – Whilst the humanitarian aid convoy Freedom Flotilla is en route to Gaza, Israel has announced severe measures to counter the activists. The Ashdod port is expected to be turned into a “giant interrogation room”, where activists will be interrogated before being expelled. Freedom Flotilla en route…
Even Picnics In Israel Are Political
Palestine Monitor – Written by Neve Gordon. Our farewell picnic to Ezra Nawi before his prison term for peaceful protest carried a new message to most Israeli picnics Picnics, like almost everything else in Israel, are often political. Oz Shelach underlines this point in his collection of short stories…
Child Killing Officer Faces Criminal Charges
Palestine Monitor – In July 2008, Ahmed Moussa, 10, was fatally shot during a demonstration against the separation wall in the West Bank village of Ni’lin. Today the prosecution indicted an unnamed border police officer on charges of manslaughter by gross negligence. Ahmed Moussa, far left, before the demonstration…
We Accuse!: Press Statement by the Family of Ameer Makhoul
Mondoweiss – 26 May 2010 Today is the 21st day since the arrest of Ameer Makhoul at his home in Haifa, Israel, under the cover of darkness, by the International Crimes Investigation Unit and General Security Service (GSS or Shabak) officers. The arrest was conducted in a brutal…
Teaneck harassment case ends with apology & forgiveness
Mondoweiss – Yesterday we reported that a leader in the U.S. arm of the settler movement was going to trial in Teaneck today for allegedly tailgating/harassing another New Jersey man who sported pro-Palestinian bumper stickers on his car. Well Bernie Thau, the settler-supporter, and Rich Siegel , the complainant,…
The thrilla in the Mediterranean won’t be coopted
Mondoweiss – As the Freedom Flotilla sails towards Gaza, the Israeli propaganda machine is working at full bore. In its frenzied effort, message discipline seems to have gone out of the window. 10,000 tons of supplies being carried in the nine-ship flotilla are, the Israelis suggest, superfluous to…
Beinart’s influence: ‚ÄòTablet’ author says Israel is a bully and Zionism is toxic subject
Mondoweiss – More Beinart repercussions; he’s opened up the space, and given the timorous encouragement. Tablet has run a great piece by parenting columnist Marjorie Ingall saying she’s never written about Israel, because she doesn’t buy the program and her children look on Zionism as toxic. The piece…
Wawro traces history of ‚Äòdomestic considerations’ back to Balfour and Eddie Jacobson
Mondoweiss – Here’s Jeff Blankfort’s interview today with Geoff Wawro , whose book Quicksand was promoted on this site the other day. The idea of a Jewish state, Wawro says, was endorsed by American presidents for domestic political reasons from the Wilson administration on— “Wilson the proponent of national…
Demands of Trials for Journalist Murders
Palestine Think Tank – “All the Journalist Unions should move from statements of solidarity with the Palestinian journalists to real actions and measures, as going to the international courts to try the Israeli officials who are responsible for horrific crimes and murders of Palestinian Journalists” stated the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate…
Forget Dialogue
Palestine Think Tank – WRITTEN by Mary Rizzo For quite a while, people involved in activism (as advoca
tes of Palestinian nationalism and the Palestinian cause) have been part of a “dialogue movement”. This follows an extended period of time wasted in the failed “peace movement”. Once we figured out it…
CRAZY NEWS ROUNDUP
Irish4Palestine – What is “terrorism,” And how to spot one, Israel has the handy dandy answer:link TEL AVIV — Israeli police today mounted a large-scale manhunt for a pair of suspected terrorists, fearing that they might have intended to blow up a bus in Tel Aviv. A man…
EXCELLENT READ ON STATUS OF GAZA
Irish4Palestine – And Israel’s playing loose with propaganda and words are now exposed:link What is Gaza’s legal status? Canadian-Palestinian lawyer Diana Buttu, a former legal adviser to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, said Israel “confuses” occupation with colonisation While Israel withdrew its troops and colonies from the Gaza Strip…
Egypt rockslide officials jailed
BBC – A deputy Cairo governor and seven other officials are jailed over a rockslide in a slum that left 119 people dead.
Rabbi bans women from elections
BBC – The chief rabbi of a West Bank settlement prohibits women from a local election, saying their husbands must speak for them.
Israel bombs Gaza in night raid
BBC – Israeli jets launch a night time bombing raid on the Gaza strip injuring several people, medical sources say.
Hamas Demolishes Palestinian Homes
Antiwar.com – RAMALLAH — On Sunday approximately 150 Palestinians from 20 families were driven out of their homes in Rafah, in the southern Gaza strip, by heavily armed police and soldiers who menaced them with clubs. The difference this time was that it was not the Israeli Defense…
Congress Slows Unilateral Sanctions Drive Against Iran
Antiwar.com – President Barack Obama’s efforts to gain greater flexibility in dealing with Iran received a small but potentially important boost Tuesday when a key congressional committee announced that the deadline for a unilateral U.S. sanctions package will be put off until next month. The Democratic co-chairs of…
Settlement Policy Wrong, Say European Jews
Antiwar.com – PARIS — Prominent Jewish intellectuals living in Europe have begun denouncing the Israeli policy of allowing settlements to come up on Palestinian territories as “morally and politically wrong.” In a collective declaration, presented in the Belgian capital Brussels on May 3, hundreds of prominent European Jews…
Abraham, Israel, Palestine
Sabbah report – By Don Emmerich | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz Writing in National Review , Dennis Prager explains why conservatives like himself are “virtually unanimous in supporting Israel”: The reason is based on a verse in Genesis in which God, referring to the Jewish people, says to Abraham: “I will bless…
Articles
Response to Israel’s Threats: ‘Not a step back!’
The Foundation For Human Rights And Freedoms And Humanitarian Relief, IHH.org5/26/2010
While Israel has been making statements aiming at increasing the tension in order to stop the flotilla campaign that will carry humanitarian aid to Palestine, the organizers of the flotilla held a press conference in response to these statements. Bulent Yildirim, President of IHH (The Foundation For Human Rights And Freedoms And Humanitarian Relief) said “We will not step back. These ships will embark on their journey and arrive in Gaza” on behalf of the organizers.
While Israel has been making statements aiming at increasing the tension in order to stop the flotilla campaign that will carry humanitarian aid to Palestine, the organizers of the flotilla held a press conference to respond these statements. Bulent Yildirim, President of IHH (The Foundation For Human Rights And Freedoms And Humanitarian Relief) said “We will not step back. These ships will embark on their journey and arrive in Gaza” on behalf of the organizers.
Haneenn Zuabi, Israel Democratic Party MP, Capucci, Archbishop of Vatican who is of Palestinian origin, Lubna Masaova, representative of England-based Free Gaza Movement, Dimitris, representative of Ship to Gaza from Greece, Mattias, representative of Ship to Gaza Sweden, Ahmet Faruk Unsal, Head of Mazlumder (The Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed People) attended the press conference which was held in Kepez Sports Hall. A number of national and international press members were also present at the press meeting. Turkish and international passengers of Gaza flotilla have also demonstrated their determination by attending the press conference.
Bulent Yildirim, President of IHH, in his speech at the press meeting, said “We have announced two months ago that we would launch this campaign. Allah helped us and we are on our way now. Soon, we will be reaching our destination. People from all over the world have been supporting this campaign, as this flotilla will take the common aid given by all people with conscience. This convoy is a humanitarian aid convoy and it has no other agenda….more..e-mail
Palestine: Israeli crackdown exposes its aims
Bridget Chappell, Green Left Weekly5/26/2010
Australian activist Bridget Chappell was arrested by Israeli security forces in February along with Spanish activist Ariadna Marti, in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank. Chappell and Marti were working for the International Solidarity Movement supporting peaceful Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation. Below, Chappell details the increased repression by Israel against all forms of resistance in the occupied territories.
Israel has exposed the extent of its crackdown on resistance to its occupation in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on April 29. It claimed the Israeli Shin Bet intelligence agency has been conducting surveillance on myself, a non-violent activist and Australian citizen, in Area A of the West Bank.
The affidavit claimed my arrest on February 7 and the ongoing surveillance of my activities was justified on account of various Israeli military orders. This highlights the Israel’s overall authority in the implementation of apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territories and its total disregard for the sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority and the Oslo peace accords.
On May 2, the Israeli state submitted a response to our appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court regarding my illeg
al abduction from the West Bank, including a statement from the Shin Bet Israeli intelligence agency claiming that I had broken the conditions placed on me by the Israeli courts since my arrest.
A Shin Bet agent said: “The facts detailed are known to me due to my examination. From information in our possession, it appears that Ms. Chappell is at this time in Nablus.”
The question of what the Shin Bet was doing in Area A of the West Bank (under full Palestinian civilian and military control, as stipulated by the 1993 Oslo accords) is not even addressed….more..e-mail
All eyes on Israel as UN considers Mideast nuclear ban
Jonathan Cook, Ma’an News Agency5/26/2010
Nazareth – Israel faces unprecedented pressure to abandon its official policy of “ambiguity” on its possession of nuclear weapons as the international community meets at the United Nations in New York this week to consider banning such arsenals from the Middle East.
Israel’s equivocal stance on its atomic status was shattered by reports on Monday that it offered to sell nuclear-armed Jericho missiles to South Africa’s apartheid regime back in 1975.
The revelations are deeply embarrassing to Israel given its long-standing opposition to signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, arguing instead that it is a “responsible power” that would never misuse nuclear weapons technologies if it acquired them.
Reports of Israel’s nuclear dealings with apartheid South Africa will also energize a draft proposal from Egypt to the UN non-proliferation review conference that Israel — as the only nuclear power in the region — be required to sign the treaty.
Israeli officials are already said to be discomfited by Washington’s decision earlier this month to agree a statement with other UN Security Council members calling for the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear arms.
The policy is chiefly aimed at Iran, which is believed by the US and Israel to be secretly developing a nuclear bomb, but would also risk ensnaring Israel. The US has supported Israel’s ambiguity policy since the late 1960s.
Oversight of Israel’s program is also due to be debated at a meeting of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, in Vienna next month.
The administration of US President Barack Obama is reported to have held high-level discussions with Israel at the weekend to persuade it to consent to proposals for a 2012 conference to outlaw weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.more..e-mail
Pressure mounts on nuclear Israel
Electronic Intifada: 26 May 2010 – Israel faces unprecedented pressure to abandon its official policy of “ambiguity” on its possession of nuclear weapons as the international community meets at the United Nations in New York this week to consider banning such arsenals from the Middle East. Jonathan Cook analyzes.
Ameer Makhoul’s arrest is an assault on all Palestinians in Israel
Electronic Intifada: 26 May 2010 – Today is the 21st day since the arrest of Ameer Makhoul at his home in Haifa, Israel, under the cover of darkness, by officers of the International Crimes Investigation Unit and General Security Service (GSS or Shabak). On this day we, Ameer’s family, announce that we are extremely worried about what is happening to him and the conditions of his detention. Janan Abdu and Issam Makhoul comment.
NATO’s other member state
Electronic Intifada: 26 May 2010 – Will recent revelations that Israel not only possesses nuclear weapons, but actually considered selling them to apartheid South Africa, cause Europe and America to rethink their relationship with Israel? The truth is that Israel already enjoys such a privileged level of access to their key institutions that any rethink is improbable — at least in the short-term. One of the most important aspects of this relationship relates to how Israel interacts with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). David Cronin analyzes for The Electronic Intifada.
Italian supermarkets suspend sales of Israeli settlement products
Electronic Intifada: 26 May 2010 – Following lobbying efforts by the Italian Coalition Against Carmel-Agrexco, two major Italian supermarket chains, COOP and Nordiconad, announced the suspension of sales of products from Agrexco, the principal exporter of produce from Israel and the illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Israel to Freedom Flotilla: No pasaran!
Palestine Monitor: 26 May 2010 – Whilst the humanitarian aid convoy Freedom Flotilla is en route to Gaza, Israel has announced severe measures to counter the activists. The Ashdod port is expected to be turned into a “giant interrogation room”, where activists will be interrogated before being expelled. Freedom Flotilla en route to Gaza Three cargo ships. Ten thousand tons of reconstruction materials, medical and school supplies. Over eight-hundred passengers, fifty nationalities and one aim: breaking the siege on Gaza. This is the nine-vessel Freedom Flotilla: another action as part of “the blockade busting ”. It is a multinational grassroots effort to deliver humanitarian relief aid to the besieged Gaza and to raise awareness of Israeli policies. What is Israel’s response? Israeli authorities have declared that they will not allow the Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza with its cargo. Israel is using both diplomatic pressure and the threat of military force to try to block the…
Even Picnics In Israel Are Political
Palestine Monitor: 26 May 2010 – Written by Neve Gordon. Our farewell picnic to Ezra Nawi before his prison term for peaceful protest carried a new message to most Israeli picnics Picnics, like almost everything else in Israel, are often political. Oz Shelach underlines this point in his collection of short stories Picnic Grounds, where he describes how a history professor takes his family on a picnic in the pine forest near Givat Shaul, a Jerusalem neighborhood. The professor teaches his son some of the camping skills he learned while serving in the Israeli military, using old stones to block the wind and to protect the newly-lit fire. The stones, we are told, are the remains of a village known as Deir Yassin. Although Shelach does not say as much, Deir Yassin was a Palestinian village located on the outskirts of Jerusalem. The Jewish neighborhood, which now stands in its place, was built not long after…
Child Killing Officer Faces Criminal Charges
Palestine Monitor: 26 May 2010 – In Jul
y 2008, Ahmed Moussa, 10, was fatally shot during a demonstration against the separation wall in the West Bank village of Ni’lin. Today the prosecution indicted an unnamed border police officer on charges of manslaughter by gross negligence. Ahmed Moussa, far left, before the demonstration Ahmed Moussa was shot in the forehead with 5.56 mm caliber live ammunition, and pronounced clinically dead upon arrival at Ramallah hospital. He had joined a protest in the West Bank village of Ni’lin, which was eventually broken up by an Israeli border police jeep, which fired rubber-coated bullets to disperse the protesters. While escaping towards the village, Ahmad fell down in the rocky terrain and lost one of his shoes. When he turned back to pick it up, witnesses reported a border policeman aimed his M-16 rifle towards him and fired a single shot of live ammunition. Ahmad was taken to the Ramallah…
Even Picnics in Israel Are Political
Palestine Chronicle: 26 May 2010 – By Neve Gordon Our farewell picnic to Ezra Nawi before his prison term for peaceful protest carried a new message to most Israeli picnics Picnics like almost everything else in Israel are often political. Oz Shelach underscores this point in his collection of short stories Picnic Grounds, where he describes how a history professor takes his family on a picnic in the pine forest near Givat Shaul, a Jerusalem neighborhood. The professor teaches his son some of the camping skills he learned while serving in the Israeli military, using old stones to block the wind and to protect the newly-lit fire. The stones, we are told, are the remains of a village known as Deir Yassin. Although Shelach does not say as much, Deir Yassin was a Palestinian village located on the outskirts of Jerusalem. The Jewish neighborhood, which now stands in its place, was built not long after Israeli…more
The Iranian Dilemma
Palestine Chronicle: 26 May 2010 – By George S. Hishmeh — Washington, D.C. The ‘diplomatic coup’ – as Iran’s success in winning over the sponsorship of Turkey and Brazil, two upcoming international players, of its new nuclear offer to the UN nuclear watchdog – has to date seemingly rankled the big powers and may have even split the western community on this subject. Most importantly, the reaction of the Big 5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) appears to have punctured President Barack Obama’s historic declaration to the Muslim world in Cairo nearly a year ago, in which he pledged a radical change in U.S. foreign policy when he promised an appreciative audience that “while America in the past has focused on oil and gas when it comes to this part of the world, we now seek a broader engagement.” The Iranian offer to swap some of its low-enriched uranium (LEU)…more
Israel’s Bomb out of the Shadows
Palestine Chronicle: 26 May 2010 – By Jonathan Cook – Nazareth Israel faces unprecedented pressure to abandon its official policy of ‘ambiguity’ on its possession of nuclear weapons as the international community meets at the United Nations in New York this week to consider banning such arsenals from the Middle East. Israel’s equivocal stance on its atomic status was shattered by reports on Monday that it offered to sell nuclear-armed Jericho missiles to South Africa’s apartheid regime back in 1975. The revelations are deeply embarrassing to Israel given its long-standing opposition to signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, arguing instead that it is a “responsible power” that would never misuse nuclear weapons technologies if it acquired them. Reports of Israel’s nuclear dealings with apartheid South Africa will also energise a draft proposal from Egypt to the UN non-proliferation review conference that Israel — as the only nuclear power in the region — be required to sign the…more
Vilifying Goldstone
Palestine Chronicle: 26 May 2010 – By Stephen Lendman This writer’s September 21, 2009 article titled “Goldstone Commission Gaza Conflict Findings and Reactions” explained the following: On April 3, 2009, a UN press release stated: “The Human Rights Council (HRC) today announced the appointment of Richard J. Goldstone….to lead an independent (four-person) fact-finding mission to investigate international human rights and humanitarian law violations related to the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip….The team will be supported by staff of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights….Today’s appointment comes following the adoption of a resolution by the Human Rights Council….to address ‘the grave violations of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly due to the recent Israeli military attacks against the occupied Gaza Strip.” Established by the UN General Assembly on March 15, 2006, the HRC’s 47 member states are “responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe.” As…more
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