News
breaking news via Twitter from freegazaorg 12:41 AM 5/31/2010
- And that the boats are being hauled into Haifa and not Ashdod so that journalists are not there
- Our Israeli attorney in Haifa has said that ten people have been murdered
- Don’t know fate of the other boats
- At about 4:30 am, Israeli commandos dropped from helicopter onto deck of Turkish ship, immediately opened fire on unarmed civilians.
- Haaretz.com: Several casualties in clash between Gaza aid #flotilla, Israel Navy: http://bit.ly/9ArSa0
- IDF soldiers are taking control of the IHH ship, but live stream is still working. #Flotilla
- IDF commandoes descending from an helicopter on the IHH turkish ship. The ship is surrounded by Navy vessels. #Flotilla
- Live images from the IHH ship, wounded civilians: http://www.livestream.com/insaniyardim
- Israeli soldiers shooting unarmed civilians.
- Israeli soldiers shooting at people, all over the Turkish boat. Watch IHH streaming video
- Report from IHH boat..two killed, 31 wounded. No verification but medical emergency can be seen from ship
- the #Flotilla is about 145 Km / 90 miles from #Gaza (straight line)
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International Middle East Media Center
Israeli Navy Approaches A Solidarity Boat
IMEMC – 30 May 2010 – The Al Jazeera reporter, on board one of the ships of the Freedom Flotilla, stated that an Israeli navy boat approached the ship and demanded the captain to identify himself and his boat.
Human Rights activists said they are determined to sail to Gaza and deliver the humanitarian supplies.
Israeli forces launch two airstrikes on destroyed Palestinian airport in southern Gaza Sunday
IMEMC – 30 May 2010 – The Israeli airforce announced Sunday that its warplanes had dropped two missiles on the previously-destroyed Palestinian airport in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, in the early hours of Sunday morning. Israeli government officials said that the airstrikes were in response to Palestinian militant groups firing two homemade shells from the Gaza Strip toward Israel. No casualties were reported.
Gaza humanitarian aid flotilla launches from Cyprus after delay: Report from crewmember
IMEMC – 29 May 2010 – On Sunday morning the Flotilla of humanitarian aid bound for the Gaza Strip finally set off for Gaza, after several delays from the government of Cyprus and technical issues with some of the boats. The flotilla includes thousands of tons of humanitarian aid, and 800 peace activists from a variety of countries including Parliament members and other dignitaries. They plan to arrive in Gaza on Monday, although the Israeli government has warned that its Navy is prepared to forcibly board the ships and seize the humanitarian aid.
Israeli warplanes pound southern Gaza overnight
5/30/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli warplanes struck the defunct Yasser Arafat International Airport near Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, early Sunday morning, marking the second day of air strikes. Locals told Ma’an that F16 planes fired five missiles toward the airport, with no injuries reported. The Israeli army said Saturday that a projectile from Gaza hit the Askelon….
Flotilla: Israel warships surround cargo boat
5/31/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – A Swiss passenger on the Mavi Marmara, the lead vessel on the Freedom Flotilla sailing to Gaza, said Israeli warships had surrounded one of the cargo ships of the fleet as of 2:30am Monday morning. Reporting from some 90 nautical from the Gaza City Port two and a half hours earlier, flotilla….
Jerusalem merchants beaten, detained, witnesses say
5/30/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – Israeli police reportedly detained four Palestinian tradesmen from Jerusalem after assaulting them on Al-Wad Street in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem. The assault apparently followed a tax inspection by Israel’s Jerusalem Municipal Council staff. Witnesses identified the merchants as Ehab Zghayyar, Raed Zghayyar, Hazim Al-Qassas and Jamil Qabbani. Al-Qassas and Qabbani….
Gaza food supplies strangled by 1,000-day blockade
5/30/2010 – Ramallah – IRIN – The amount and quality of food available to the estimated 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip has been severely restricted by more than 1,000 days of a near-complete blockade, states a UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) report. “Sixty-one percent of the Gaza population is food insecure,” said Sarah Leppert, FAO’s communications adviser for the West Bank and Gaza Strip…. Related:Farming without Land, Fishing without Water: Gaza Agriculture Sector Struggles to Survive
German bank divests from Israeli company building wall
5/30/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Germany’s largest bank, Deutsche Bank, has sold all its shares in an Israeli security company implicated in theconstruction of the wall surrounding the West Bank, snaking into occupied lands, on Sunday. The bank has fully divested fromElbit Systems, less than a week after being invited to the company’s investment conference, Israeli media reported….
Report: Israeli navy prepares to stop Freedom Fleet
5/30/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – Israel has deployed a sizable naval force at Haifa Port to “prevent precedent of opening an unsupervised maritime route to Gaza,” Israeli media reported on Sunday, as a fleet of international activists prepare to dock in Gaza to deliver aid. According to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s decision to bar the Freedom….
1 Gaza terminal open; hospital gets construction goods
5/30/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Israel informed Palestinian liaison officials that it would open one crossing into Gaza on Sunday for the transfer of food and fuel, an official said, with one truck expected for a Gaza hospital’s repair. The official, Raed Fattouh, said the southern Kerem Shalom crossing would see approximately 100 truckloads of humanitarian aid and….
Teen detained for alleged stabbing attempt in Hebron
5/30/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – A Palestinian teenager was detained by Israeli forces on Sunday near the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron for allegedly attempting to stab a border guard, Israeli security sources told Ma’an. Islam Mohammad Abu Idheim, 18, from Hebron, was detained as he tried to stab a border guard without causing any injuries, the source said….
Erekat: Time for countries to recognize Palestine
5/30/2010 – Hebron – Ma’an – Countries that have not recognized Palestine and failed to upgrade PLO missions to embassies should do so “instantly, without hesitation,” chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sunday during a number of meetings.”Recognizing Palestine on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital falls in line with international law. Taking such a….
Gaza govt warns of environmental impact of halting fleet
5/30/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – The Gaza government’s Environment Authority chief warned of potential environmental damage that the Israeli army could cause by harming the Freedom Fleet whilst preventing it from docking in Gaza on Monday. A statement issued by Yousef Ibrahim said Sunday that vast amounts of pollution could be released into the sea should the Israeli….
Israeli minister to attend Qatar economic forum
5/30/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Israeli minister of Industry and Commerce David Ben Eliezerwill arrive in Qatar on Sunday with an Israel delegation heading for the International Economic Forum in Doha. The Israeli delegation is set to discuss international and regional cooperation and ways to implement development across the world following the financial crisis, a source said….
Abbas ’seriously considering’ visit to Gaza
5/30/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – President Mahmoud Abbas is considering visiting the Gaza Strip for the first time since 2006, a presidential source told Ma’an on Sunday. Abbas is apparently determined to make the trip to signal that he is committed to ending Palestinian rivalry, the source said, but would not reveal any details on the travel arrangements….
Haniyeh orders
arrest of illegal public land traders
5/30/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – The Gaza government’s Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh gave directives on Sunday to his interior minister to detain all residents found illegally selling public lands in Gaza, a government official said. The government’s secretary-general, Muhammad Awad, said “a portion of public land in Gaza is being traded through illegal contacts from one citizen to….
Rajoub calls on Fatah supporters in Gaza to welcome fleet
5/30/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Fatah supporters and members in the Gaza Strip have been called on to welcome the Freedom Fleet’s “peace messengers” due to arrive in the coastal enclave on Monday, deputy Secretary-General of the movement’s Central Committee Jibril Rajoub told Ma’an Sunday. Rajoub, who also heads the Palestinian Football Federation, said the fleet represented “international….
PSE: PADICO shares drop 0.80%
5/30/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – PADICO was among the biggest fallers on Sunday, as its poultry farming subsidiary AZIZA saw a slight rise in shares at the close of trade, marking a slight recoup since Tulkarem was declared free of bird flu. The Palestine Development and Investment Company was down 0. 80% as only five of the 26….
2,000 financiers to attend Palestine Investment Conference
5/30/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Over 125 projects will be presented to investors attending this year’s Palestine Investment Conference in Bethlehem beginning Wednesday, which will see 2,000 conveners, Palestinian Authority Minister of National Economy Hasan Abu Libdeh said. Each projects’ feasibility will be discussed during PIC, giving investors the chance to “build relations between businesses,” the minister told….
Meshal: US quietly contacting Hamas
Palestine Note 30 May 2010 – New York – The US has been quietly sending a series of officials to speak with Hamas officials, the group’s top leader, Khaled Meshal told The Guardian in a report that appeared Sunday. In the interview,…
Rights group: Israeli officers sexually assaulted children
Palestine Note 30 May 2010 – Washington – The Palestine Section of Defence for Children International (DCI) has submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture 14 cases involving sexual assault or the threat thereof by Israeli authorities against Palestinian children between…
Israeli warships approach Gaza convoy
Palestine Note 30 May 2010 – ‘We’ve already won,’ flotilla group says New York – Israeli warships approached and contacted a convoy of ships in the Mediterranean carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, organizers said on Sunday. Three ships briefly surrounded the…
The undertaker of freedom
Palestine Note 30 May 2010 – As the Freedom Flotilla approaches ever closer to besieged Gaza, the Hasbara campaign continues full speed ahead. While Gaza continues to suffer the most methodical modern-day asphyxiation of modern history, where the most basic rights of…
Israel’s big secret exposed
Palestine Note 30 May 2010 – For decades Israel has jealously guarded the secrets of its nuclear reactor in Dimona and anything to do with its arsenal of nuclear warheads, estimated to be in the hundreds. It had persistently refused to sign…
A crisis of self-confidence in the Arab world
Palestine Note 30 May 2010 – Turkey, Turkey, Turkey…That was the refrain at the Al Jazeera Forum last weekend in Doha, Qatar and a clear indication of who was the new rising star in Middle Eastern politics. In panels and in private…
Israel not yielding to NPT pressure
Palestine Note 30 May 2010 – Israel rejects MidEast nuke resolution Washington – 189 countries have agreed to a declaration that calls for Israel to sign the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the organization of a 2012 Middle East nuclear conference, Al-Jazeera…
Gaza: More airstrikes overnight
Palestine Note 30 May 2010 – Washington – Israeli planes hit the destroyed Yasser Arafat International Airport in southern Gaza again early Sunday morning, Ma’an News Agency reported Sunday. Israeli planes fly overhead. [Photo: Shemer – Flickr] Area residents told Ma’an Israeli…
Blockade choking Gaza food supply
Palestine Note 30 May 2010 – Ramallah – IRIN – The amount and quality of food available to the estimated 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip has been severely restricted by more than 1,000 days of a near-complete blockade, states…
Israel faces child-abuse claims
AlJazeera 30 May 2010 – Al Jazeera speaks to Palestinian child who says he was abused by Israeli interrogators.
Israel flanks Gaza aid fleet
AlJazeera 30 May 2010 – Freedom Flotilla changes course and slows down after Israeli navy ships flank it.
Israel under pressure to join NPT
AlJazeera 30 May 2010 – UN approves declaration calling for 2012 conference on “WMD-free” zone in Middle East.
Prominent politician and left-wing activist Arie Eliav dies at 88
Ha’aretz – Peres: In Eliav’s view, being a leader meant being a pioneer, not superior
Olmert questioned again over Holyland bribery affair
Ha’aretz – Last week Jerusalem District Court resumed its deliberations on Rishon Tours corruption trial against Olmert.
Israeli singer Harel Skaat places 14th in European song contest final
Ha’aretz – German singer Lena sweeps first place followed by Turkey and Romania; the 28-year-old Skaat sings ‘Words’ by Noam Horev.
Suspected violent cult leader commits suicide in prison cell
Ha’aretz – Shai Abramov allegedly beat and starved his and other children in order to gain joy and redemption in the future.
Gaza aid flotilla could hit Turkey tourism
Ha’aretz – Israeli trade unions might renew their explicit boycott of Turkey as a destination for their members, in view of Ankara’s role in organizing the aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip.
Report: Gaza aid flotilla changes course to avoid confrontation with Israeli warships
Ha’aretz – Earlier, Israeli warships reportedly made contact with the six-ship flotilla, which is transporting 10,000 tons of supplies.
Bernard Henri Levy: I have never seen an army as democratic as the IDF
Ha’aretz – French philosopher addresses ‘Democracy and its Challenges’ conference sponsored by the French Embassy in Israel in cooperation with Haaretz.
Sources: Obama promised to bolster Israel’s strategic capabilities
Ha’aretz – Obama offered Netanyahu guarantees that the U.S. would not let any decision made during the recent NPT review conference ‘harm Israel’s vital interests.’
Noam Shalit slams Israel for ‘grave failures’ in talks to free son
Ha’aretz – ‘A country that rescued thousands of earthquake victims in Haiti should be capable of saving a single soldier,’ says father of Gilad Shalit, captured by Hamas in 2006., Trip would…
Freedom Flotilla sets sail for Gaza
Ha’aretz – Israel has said it will prevent the convoy from reaching Hamas-ruled Gaza; Israeli Naval ships await the convoy’s arrival to the area.
Report: Israel to deploy nuclear-armed submarines off Iran coast
Ha’aretz – Sunday Times quotes IDF official saying the 3 German-made long range submarines will gather intelligence, act as deterrent and potentially land Mossad agents.
Recording of Israel spy Eli Cohen unearthed 45 years after his death
Ha’aretz –
N.Y. activists: Siege on Gaza isn’t sweet, boycott Max Brenner
Ha’aretz – Six activists drape banner from Israeli-owned cafe at Union Square; say Israel bans chocolate importation into Gaza.
Obama gets lawmakers’ okay on boosting Israel against rockets
Ha’aretz – U.S. House of Representatives approves Obama request for 205 million dollars to spur production of system to counter short-range rockets like those used by Hamas and Hezbollah.
Clashes erupt in Jenin
30 May 2010 – Jenin, May 30, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided Sunday Romana town in the city of the West Bank of Jenin, and roamed its streets which erupted clashes between the IOF and the citizens. Eyewitnesses said to SAFA news agency that three military vehicles supported with Israeli troop raided the town at 9 a.m. which resulted in…
Israel raids Hebron, no detentions reported
30 May 2010 – Hebron, May 30, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided Sunday the city of the West Bank of Hebron, no detentions were reported. Witnesses said to WAFA news agency that Israeli forces raided the neighborhoods of Hebron and searched the houses of Nedal Al-Natsh and Ibrahem Ghnimat and his brothers’ houses too. IOF raided the camp of Al-Aroub…
Israel bombs Gaza’s airport twice in 48 hours
30 May 2010 – Gaza, May 30, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) — Israeli warplanes launched air strike on Sunday targeted the Gaza’s former International Airport in Rafah, in southern Gaza Strip, no casualties were reported. The Israeli warplanes struck the area of the abandoned Gaza airport at Rafah in the south which fired seven missiles at least, Palestinian sources said, adding that no causalities were…
PFLP salutes Freedom Flotilla to Gaza and demands safe passage
Uruknet May 30, 2010 – The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement on May 29, 2010 condemning the threats, psychological warfare and attacks by the occupation military and political leadership and security services against the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza seeking to intimidate its organizers and prevent it from continuing its progress to break the siege…
Hamas renews offer to end fight if Israel withdraws
Uruknet May 30, 2010 – Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has stated explicitly that the Palestinian Islamist group will end its armed struggle against Israel if the Jewish state withdraws from Palestinian land it occupied in the 1967 Middle East War. Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel, has long maintained that it will enter into a long-term truce if Israel pulls…
Flotilla being approached by Israeli vessel — contact your national leaders to ask them to ensure safety of all
Uruknet May 30, 2010 – At 22:41pm tonight, preparations aboard the Mavi Marmara are extensive. We are 90 miles away from land — 22 miles further than the Israeli decided 68 mile exclusion zone — but are being approached by an Israeli vessel. Triage is set up and various strategies implemented to resist seizure. The Israeli media is reporting that…
The Gaza flotilla and the ironies of history
Uruknet May 30, 2010 – No one can accuse history of not having a sense of irony. Sixty-three years ago in July 1947 a passenger ship destined for Palestine and named The Exodus was stopped and boarded by the British Navy. The ship was crowded with Holocaust survivors determined to make a new life for themselves in British controlled Palestine…
Report: Israel to deploy nuclear submarines of
f Iran coast
Uruknet May 30, 2010 – Israel is to deploy three submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles in the Persian Gulf, the Sunday Times reported on Sunday. Dolphin, Tekuma, and Leviathan, all German-made Dolphin class submarines of the 7th navy Flotilla, have been reported as frequenting the Gulf in the past, however, according to the Sunday Times report, this new deployment…
Gaza govt warns of environmental impact on halting fleet
Uruknet May 30, 2010 — The Gaza government’s Environment Authority chief warned of potential environmental damage that the Israeli army could cause by causing damage to the Freedom Fleet whilst preventing it from docking in Gaza on Monday. A statement issued by Yousef Ibrahim said Sunday that vasts amounts of pollution could be released into the sea should the Israeli…
Israeli Authorities Exploit Indictments to Raid East Jerusalem Village of Issawiya
Uruknet May 30, 2010 – Israeli police began blocking an entrance to the East Jerusalem village of al-Issawiya today (30 May). The entrance, located next to the Hebrew University, is being blockaded with large slabs of concrete. The blockade comes nearly a week after Israeli forces, border police and intelligence officers raided al-Issawiya at 4am Monday morning (24 May). Following…
Video: LIVE from the Gaza Freedom Flotilla
Uruknet May 30, 2010 – Since the Ashura protests on December 27 [2009], no opportunity for oppositional presence of the people on the streets of Tehran has been produced. Although large numbers of citizens poured onto the streets on February 11, 2010 [anniversary of the revolution], the regime was in effect able to hold complete control over the streets. From…
Khiaban No. 70: The Upcoming Anniversary of June Uprising
Uruknet May 30, 2010 – Since the Ashura protests on December 27 [2009], no opportunity for oppositional presence of the people on the streets of Tehran has been produced. Although large numbers of citizens poured onto the streets on February 11, 2010 [anniversary of the revolution], the regime was in effect able to hold complete control over the streets. From…
No-go zones along the perimeter fence in the Gaza Strip
Uruknet May 30, 2010 – The Gaza Strip is narrow, elongated, and densely populated. One of the main agricultural areas in the Gaza Strip runs along the eastern border with Israel, adjacent to the perimeter fence. In recent years, B’Tselem has gathered testimonies indicating that the Israeli security forces have defined broad swaths of these areas as no-go zones, where…
Video: Israel faces child abuse claims
Uruknet May 30, 2010 – An international children’s rights charity has said it has evidence that Palestinian children held in Israeli custody have been subjected to sexual abuse in an effort to extract confessions from them. The Geneva-based Defence for Children International (DCI) has collected 100 sworn affadavits from Palestinian children who said they were mistreated by their Israeli captors….
Gaza food supplies strangled by 1,000-day blockade
Uruknet May 30, 2010 – The amount and quality of food available to the estimated 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip has been severely restricted by more than 1,000 days of a near-complete blockade, states a UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) report. “Sixty-one percent of the Gaza population is food insecure,” said Sarah Leppert, FAO’s communications adviser…
Israeli warplanes pound southern Gaza overnight
Uruknet May 30, 2010 – Israeli warplanes struck the defunct Yasser Arafat International Airport near Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, early Sunday morning, marking the second day of air strikes. Locals told Ma’an that F16 planes fired five missiles toward the airport, with no injuries reported. The Israeli army said Saturday that a projectile from Gaza hit the Askelon shore, with…
Report: Israeli navy prepares to stop Freedom Fleet
Uruknet May 30, 2010 – Israel has deployed a sizable naval force at Haifa Port to “prevent precedent of opening an unsupervised maritime route to Gaza,” Israeli media reported on Sunday, as a fleet of international activists prepare to dock in Gaza to deliver aid…The Israeli naval force reportedly a Hanit warship, one of the navy’s most advanced missile boats,…
Gaza: grace notes
Uruknet May 29, 2010 – It’s been too long since I’ve seen the Abu Leila’s, living in a tent in Gaza’s northern Al Attatra region. The last time I visited, 31 December, the land was drenched with long-needed rain, their tent leaky and sagging beneath the water’s weight. Only the oldest daughter is ‘home’ when I stop in, parents Saleh…
Video – EXCLUSIVE: PSC Interview with Dr Mustafa Barghouthi
Uruknet May 29, 2010 – 2010 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Mustafa Barghouthi, tells Palestine Solidarity Campaign that an international campaign of boycott, sanctions and divestment on Israel is vital if Palestine is ever to be free of occupation. Dr Barghouthi, who heads the Palestinian National Initiative, also describes how the movement of non-violent resistance in the West Bank is challenging…
Israel rejects call to join anti-nuclear treaty
Uruknet May 29, 2010 – Israel on Saturday rejected as “flawed and hypocritical” a declaration by signatories of a global anti-nuclear arms treaty that urged it to sign the pact and make its atomic facilities subject to U.N. inspections. All 189 parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, including the United States, called on Friday in a declaration that singled out Israel…
Hamas leader says group has no problem with US
Uruknet May 29, 2010 ‚Äî Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said his Palestinian group had no problem with the United States, but called Israel “the obstacle” to peace in the Middle East. “We don’t have a problem whatsoever with the United States or with American interests,” Khaled Meshaal told PBS television in an interview. “America is a great state, a superpower,”…
Freedom Flotilla Update: Passenger Ship Will Be Attacked First
Uruknet May 29, 2010 – …It is expected that navy ships will converge on the flotilla once it has breached the exclusion zone 20 miles from the coast. Greta Berlin of the Free Gaza Movement, one of the principle organisations behind the flotilla, believes the plan of attack is well under way and that a Turkish passenger ship has been…
Israeli Army Carries Out Five Airstrikes In Gaza
Uruknet May 29, 2010 – The Israeli Air Force carried out on Saturday at dawn five airstrikes targeting Rafah and Gaza City leading to excessive
damage. Local sources reported that the Israeli air force fired missiles at a workshop located in Al Zeitoun neighborhood, east of Gaza Strip, and completely leveled it causing excessive damage to surrounding homes. Also, the…
Tension rises between political rivals in Lebanon
The National 30 May 2010 – Thousands of troops are deployed in the country’s Christian heartland to prevent an outbreak of violence.
US shields Israel from a nuclear reckoning
The National 30 May 2010 – Israel is not likely to give up on nuclear arsenal despite an Arab-led resolution calling for a 2012 conference on establishing a nuclear-free Middle East.
Israeli Authorities Exploit Indictments to Raid East Jerusalem Village of Issawiya
Alternative Information Center – Israeli police began blocking an entrance to the East Jerusalem village of al-Issawiya today (30 May). The entrance, located next to the Hebrew University, is being blockaded with large…
Updates on the WEF in Palestine
Alternative Information Center – MEETINGS MAY 4 THE AIC HOSTS TWO MEETINGS ABOUT THE WEF IN PALESTINE The Alternative Information Center (AIC) in Beit Sahour hosted two meetings on Tuesday May 4 relating to the World Education Forum (…
Settlers Injure 10 Palestinians In East Jerusalem
PNN – Jerusalem — PNN – Ten Palestinian civilians from the same family were injured as settlers opened fire at them on Saturday night in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. According to sources,…
After Delay Aid Flotilla Set Sail To Gaza
PNN – Ghassan Bannoura — PNN – After three days of delay the eight ship fleet carrying aid set sail on Sunday morning to the Gaza Strip and expected to arrive on Gaza City…
Israeli Jetfighters Attacks Gaza, Six Killed In Tunnel Accident
PNN – Gaza — PNN – Israeli jetfighters bombarded on Sunday at dawn the Gaza International Airport located in Rafah city, southern Gaza Strip. Local sources reported that seven missiles fire from the Israeli…
Two civilians injured during A Protest In Northern West Bank
PNN – Amin Abu Wardeh — Nablus — PNN- A Palestinian journalist and another villager were injured as troops opened fire on Saturday at a protest against settlement construction in the village of Irak…
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Three Palestinians Wounded Due to Misuse of Weapons in the Gaza Strip
Palestinian Center for Human Rights Field Update On Friday, 28 May 2010, two brothers from Jabalya refugee camp were wounded by shrapnel of a bomb’s explosion to different parts of their bodies, as they mishandled the fuse of the bomb. In a separate incident, a Palestinian from Abu Sabet family was wounded by bullet to his leg as his brother mishandled a gun in Rafah,
Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (20— 26 May 2010)
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Sourani Concludes His Visit to Japan by Attending a Ceremony Held in his Honor by the Japanese Bar Association
Palestinian Center for Human Rights Ref: 56/2010 On 29 May 2010, lawyer Raji al-Sourani, Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), concluded his visit to Japan by attending a ceremony organized by the Japanese Bar Association in his honor.
Gaza flotilla changes course
Jeruslalem Post 30 May 2010 – Ships prefer confrontation with Israeli navy take place in daylight.
IDF plans massive ultra-orthodox recruitment
Jeruslalem Post 30 May 2010 – Exclusive: Army to double haredi enlisting by 2012, draft 50% by 2020.
‘Obama gave PM concrete guarantees’
Jeruslalem Post 30 May 2010 – Top J’lem officials say US-Israel ties significantly upgraded.
‘US administration engaging with Hamas’
Jeruslalem Post 30 May 2010 – Abu Marzouk says “several channels” open, but not “mature.”
‘If IDF can save Haiti, why not Schalit?’
Jeruslalem Post 30 May 2010 – Father says government should make deal for kidnapped soldier.
McChrystal: Taliban training in Iran
Jeruslalem Post 30 May 2010 – NATO general cites “clear evidence” of weapons trafficking, aid.
Nasrallah, again
Jeruslalem Post 30 May 2010 – Gov’t needs to show world danger of Hizbullah.
‘We aim to break mind seige’
Jeruslalem Post 30 May 2010 – MK Zoabi speaks from aboard Gaza Flotilla; to arrive Monday.
Report: Abbas plans to visit Gaza
Jeruslalem Post 30 May 2010 – Source tells Ma’an PA head closely following flotilla’s progress.
Obama,Abbas to discuss proximity talk progress next week
Jeruslalem Post 29 May 2010 – US president looks to “advance the aspirations of the Palestinian people.”
PLO Condemns Israeli Piracy against Fleet of Freedom
WAFA – RAMALLH, May 30, 2010 (WAFA)- The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, condemned today, Israeli piracy to cut off a group of solidarity ships and boats carrying
Four Palestinians Wounded by Settlers Fire in Silwan
WAFA – JERUSALEM, May 30, 2010 (WAFA)-Four Palestinians were wounded by Jewish settlers fire Saturday night, in Silwan neighborhood, in East Jerusalem. Sources said, settlers opened fire at a group of
Deutsche Bank Divests from Israel Firm Linked to Apartheid Wall
WAFA – TEL AVIV, May 30, 2010 (WAFA)- Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest bank, had sold its holdings in Israeli arms firm, Haaretz reported Israeli Army Radio saying, today, citing pressure by pro-Palestinian
Hamas leader says American envoys making contact, but not openly
The Guardian 30 May 2010 – ‚Ä¢ Khaled Meshal says US ‘not brave enough to do so openly’ ‚Ä¢ Hamas leader praises Russian president for meeting him The United States is sending a succession of envoys to engage with Hamas but lacks…
RCA project for people with special needs in Palestine unprecedented
Relief Web 30 May 2010 – Source: Emirates News Agency
ISRAEL-OPT: Gaza food supplies strangled by 1,000-day blockade
Relief Web 30 May 2010 – Source: Integrated Regional Information Networks
Workers trained in settlements build new Palestinian suburb
Relief Web 30 May 2010 – Source: Agence France-Presse
Shalit: Terrorists will be freed even if Gilad never returns
YNet News – Father of IDF soldier abducted four years ago declares time for words over,….
Gaza flotilla trying to dupe Israeli Navy?
YNet News – Organizers say ships carrying humanitarian aid, pro-Palestinian activists have….
Olmert questioned for 8 hours over Holyland affair
YNet News – Investigators present former PM with documentation, state witness testimony they….
Navy prepares for Gaza flotilla
YNet News – Large naval forces stationed at Haifa Port to ‘prevent precedent of opening….
Will Abbas visit Gaza?
YNet News – Ma’an reports Hamas minister invited Palestinian president to Strip in attempt….
Report: Israel to station nuclear missile subs off Iran
YNet News – Sunday Times says Jewish state plans to deploy three submarines equipped with….
Following Navy warning, Gaza flotilla takes ‘alternate route’
YNet News – VIDEO – Three Israeli naval craft left a Haifa naval base just after 9 pm and approached the “Freedom Flotilla” after dark on Sunday, according to the Twitter page of …….
Bernard-Henri Levy: Israel secular miracle
YNet News – Referring to the IDF, Jewish-French writer and philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy said, “Much can and should be learned from Israel.” Addressing the French-Israeli …….
State official: Obama provided Israel with historic guarantees
YNet News – State officials are trying to send calming messages following the US’s endorsement of a nuclear-free Middle East resolution advanced by the NPT conference, which named …….
Netanyahu in Canada: Palestinian state must be demilitarized
YNet News – Speaking at the start of a visit to Canada on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a future Palestinian state must be effectively demilitarized to …….
Barak tells Brig.-Gen. Fares he won’t prevent dismissal
YNet News – Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with Brigadier-General Imad Fares on Sunday and notified him he does not intend to challenge IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi’s decision …….
Firing at Palestinians near Gaza-Israel fence
B’tselem 29 May 2010 – The army has classified the area along Gaza’s border with Israel a no-go zone, where anybody entering may be shot. This policy endangers the many farmers who work land there and harms the livelihood of tens of thousands of persons. It has already resultedgram FilesQuickTimeQTSystem
Testimony: Stuck in Gaza, separated from family
B’tselem 29 May 2010 – On 21 April ’10, Israel deported Ahmad Sabah from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip after he completed a 9-year prison sentence. His wife and 9-year-old son did not get to see him. Sabah, who has no family in Gaza, awaits permission to return to his family.
Activist aid ships head to Gaza Strip as Israeli warships gather
Daily Star 30 May 2010 GAZA CITY: A flotilla of ships carrying activists and aid for the blockaded Gaza Strip on Sunday finally steamed south from Cyprus, heading for a fleet of Israeli naval vessels determined to stop them.The ships, carrying…
7 killed as Kurdish rebels step up attacks in Turkey
Daily Star 30 May 2010 DIYARBAKIR, Turkey: Five members of Turkey’s security forces, a civilian and a Kurdish militant were killed in a string of Kurdish separatist attacks Saturday, officials and media reports said.The clashes came as jailed Kurdish rebel leader…
Future Palestinian state must be demilitarized – Netanyahu
Daily Star 30 May 2010 TORONTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that a future Palestinian state must be effectively
demilitarized to prevent Iran setting up a proxy state in the West Bank. “We must ensure that we achieve a…
Rafsanjani boosts pressure on regime before anniversary
Daily Star 30 May 2010 TEHRAN: Opposition sympathizer and powerful cleric Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has ratcheted up the pressure on the Iranian regime ahead of the first anniversary of the disputed presidential election.The former president’s website has again posted scathing…
Egypt Islamists condemn vote ‘corruption’
Daily Star 30 May 2010 CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition group, on Sunday denounced “corruption and irregularities” ahead of Tuesday’s elections for Parliament’s upper house. “When we decided to field candidates in this election, we thought the regime would…
Israeli fraud squad quizzes Olmert for second time over property scandal
Daily Star 30 May 2010 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel’s fraud squad questioned former prime minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday for the second time in a week over his alleged involvement in a huge property scandal, police said.”He was questioned for eight hours…
Israel rejects new drive to ban nukes from Mideast
Daily Star 30 May 2010 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel, thought to be the Middle East’s only nuclear power, has rejected a new UN call to come clean about its secretive nuclear program, calling it a “deeply flawed and hypocritical” act that ignores…
Turkish PM says West unfair, insincere in Iran row
Daily Star 30 May 2010 ANKARA: Turkey’s prime minister Saturday accused Western powers of lacking a “fair and sincere” approach on Iran in a mounting row over a nuclear swap deal with Tehran, Anatolia news agency reported.Speaking to Turkish journalists during…
Palestinian Information Center
IOF command deploys missile gunboats to intercept humanitarian Flotilla
PIC 30 May 2010 – The European campaign asked the world community on Sunday to put an end to the Israeli threats to attack the Freedom Flotilla heading to Gaza with thousands of tons of relief materials.
Radwan: World silence encourages Israel to go ahead in its threats
PIC 30 May 2010 – Dr. Ismail Radwan has said that the international silence towards Israel’s threats against the Freedom Flotilla was encouraging it to go ahead in its practices against the fleet.
European campaign calls for organizing sea marches in solidarity with Flotilla
PIC 30 May 2010 – The European campaign to end the siege called on all advocates of the Palestinian cause around the world to organize marches in solidarity with the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy using boats and yachts.
German deputies denounce Israeli threats
PIC 30 May 2010 – German MPs traveling aboard the Blue Marmara ship heading for Gaza Strip have denounced the Israeli threats to the Freedom Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza people.
National parties intend to take Sabri case to UNCHR
PIC 30 May 2010 – The national campaign to defend teacher Mirvat Sabri decided to take her case to the UN commission on human rights (UNCHR) as she is still imprisoned arbitrarily in Mahmoud Abbas’s jails.
11 Palestinians wounded in violent clashes in Silwan
PIC 30 May 2010 – Violent clashes broke out Saturday evening between Jerusalemite citizens and Israeli soldiers in Silwan district, south of the Aqsa Mosque, leading to the injury of 11 Palestinians and seven Israelis.
IOA escalates actions against Palestinian detainees in Ashkelon prison
PIC 30 May 2010 – Al-Ahrar center reported that the Palestinian prisoners in Ashkelon prison have been living in difficult conditions since the administration decided to escalate its repressive practices against them.
Two families ordered to evacuate homes in Sheikh Jarrah, settlers burn shop
PIC 30 May 2010 – Two Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem were ordered on Saturday to evacuate their homes within 45 days, local sources said.
Resheq appeals for preventing Israel from attacking Freedom Flotilla
PIC 30 May 2010 – Ezzat Al-Resheq appealed to the international community and its institutions to intervene and prevent Israel from intercepting the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy, slated to arrive in Gaza Monday morning.
Mishaal receives a delegation of CNI
PIC 30 May 2010 – Khaled Mishaal, the political bureau chairman of Hamas, received on Saturday a seven-member delegation of the American Council for the National Interest (CNI) in Damascus.
Final Document of NPT Conference Calls for Nuke-Free Middle East; Pressure on Israel
The Media Line 29 May 2010 – The month-long Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference concluded on Friday with a final declaration that am
ong other things calls for a parley in 2012 to discuss making the Middle East a “nuclear-weapons-free zone.” The idea originated…
Netanyahu: Hizbullah Operates Scuds on Syrian Soil; Israel to Deploy Subs in Gulf
The Media Line 29 May 2010 – In Paris to attend the conference of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development where Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was in attendance to accept Israel’s membership into the organization, Netanyahu reiterated to world leaders that…
Pro-Palestinian Group Claims Credit for German Bank Divesting from Israeli Company
The Media Line 29 May 2010 – Two pro-Palestinian groups advocating boycotts of Israeli companies are claiming credit for pressuring Germany’s Deutsche Bank into divesting from Elbit, an Israeli defense company that manufactures surveillance systems used in conjunction with Israel’s security barrier. In…
Israeli filmmaker adopts camel race dream
LA Times 31 May 2010 – Ezry Keydar lives in the desert and wants Bedouins and camels to stay part of the natural and cultural scene. He is helping a dreamer set up a camel race. Besides, he can’t finish his film without it. Ezry Keydar and Nadav Ben Israel, two Israeli filmmakers, began making a documentary last year about a Bedouin man’s dream of restoring camel races and cultural pride. But even before the film has been finished, his dream has become theirs.
Israel rejects nuclear arms treaty nations’ declaration
LA Times 29 May 2010 – The day before, all 189 parties to the treaty, including the U.S., called for a conference in 2012 to discuss banning arms of mass destruction in the Middle East. Their declaration singled out Israel. Israel on Saturday rejected as “flawed and hypocritical” a declaration by signatories of a global anti-nuclear arms treaty that urged it to sign the pact and make its atomic facilities subject to U.N. inspections.
Israeli Navy Approaches Gaza Flotilla
New York Times 30 May 2010 – Israel has vowed not to let the flotilla carrying pro-Palestinian activists and supplies reach the shores of Gaza, putting them on a high-profile public relations collision course.
Israeli Authorities Exploit Indictments to Raid East Jerusalem Village of Issawiya
Alternative Information Center 3 – Israeli police began blocking an entrance to the East Jerusalem village of al-Issawiya today (30 May). The entrance, located next to the Hebrew University, is being blockaded with large…
Updates on the WEF in Palestine
Alternative Information Center 1 – MEETINGS MAY 4 THE AIC HOSTS TWO MEETINGS ABOUT THE WEF IN PALESTINE The Alternative Information Center (AIC) in Beit Sahour hosted two meetings on Tuesday May 4 relating to the World Education Forum (WEF) in Palestine, to be held in October 2010. A…
A message to America about dignity from Khalid Meshaal
Mondoweiss – When Israeli officials are pressed to justify the fact that Israel has prevented the reconstruction of thousands of homes it destroyed during the war on Gaza, they say that if construction materials were allowed into Gaza, these would be commandeered by Hamas and used to fortify…
More on Toronto Pride
Mondoweiss – This year the board of Pride Toronto has decided to ban “Israeli Apartheid” as words appearing in group names or banners at all LGTB events, including the July parade. I don’t know if you know what pride parades are like, but here in Toronto -apart from…
On board Gaza’s ‘freedom flotilla’
Mondoweiss –
Toronto Pride founders protest decision to bar Palestine solidarity
Mondoweiss – Open Letter to the Toronto Pride Committee from founders of Pride in 1981: As founding members of the Toronto Lesbian and Gay Pride Day Committee, and people involved in organizing the first Pride event in Toronto at the end of June in 1981, we stand totally…
NPR, the CIA, and the settlers: a detective story
Mondoweiss – A few weeks back Susie Kneedler highlighted here an National Public Radio report about the recent Israeli military decree allowing the IDF to deport anyone in the West Bank as an “infiltrator” simply for lacking paperwork the Israelis refuse to provide. Kneedler’s critique focused on the…
Flotilla being approached by Israeli vessel — contact your national leaders to ask them to ensure safety of all
Palestine Think Tank – KEVIN OVENDON REPORTS LIVE FROM THE GAZA FLOTILLA! At 22:41pm tonight, preparations aboard the Mavi Marmara are extensive. We are 90 miles away from land — 22 miles further than the Israeli decided 68 mile exclusion zone — but are being approached by an Israeli…
PTT on Press TV’s great programme, “Remember Palestine”
Palestine Think Tank – PTT’s Mary Rizzo talks about the Nakba commemoration, Activism and the mistakes of activists not uniting to fight the common enemy and putting conditions on solidarity. Lots of other great clips and information on a fantastic programme that focuses on the plight of the Palestinian people…
Al Mezan Calls on the International Community to Protect the “Freedom Fleet” and End the Israeli Siege Imposed on the Gaza Strip
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights –
IOF Attacks Gaza Towns; Attacks Fishermen and Workers
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights –
#3 CONTINUING FLOTILLA UPDATES
Irish4Palestine – quick updates, more to be added to this post as I find them so check back here: 20:56
GMT From the IHH ship…3 boats are coming, not two, 3 israeli boats, we are 78 mile from Israel people here put there life jackets, every body preparing…
#2 FLOTILLA UPDATE LATEST NEWS
Irish4Palestine – Still feeling angry that Hedy Epstein the 86 year old holocaust survivor won’t get to Gaza yet again!! Neither will any of our Irish TD’s and many other dignitaries and politicians who were banned from leaving Cyprus!! If you missed that earlier update report it’s here….
FLOTILLA UPDATE SUNDAY 30 MAY
Irish4Palestine – Well, bad news folks. Here’s my prediction;The Zionist have had a major victory already, they have managed to separate the important passengers, the dignitaries, the politicians, the famous people, from the Flotilla. Using Cyprus as their agent. Without these people Israel has more opportunity to be,…
Gaza aid flotilla ‘leaves Cyprus’
BBC – Activists aboard an aid flotilla say they have left Cyprus and will reach Gaza on Monday, but Israel says it will not let them in.
Six die in Gaza tunnel explosion
BBC – Six people die in an explosion in a smuggling tunnel under the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
Fuel Swap Shakes Sanctions Draft, Prods US on New Iran Talks
Antiwar.com – Although the Barack Obama administration continued to dismiss the May 17 Iranian fuel swap agreement Friday, there are indications that Iran’s move has shaken the agreement among U.N. Security Council members on sanctions, and is bringing Russian diplomatic pressure on the United States to participate in…
Articles
Israel’s Ready Media Campaign and Military Action: Targeting the Free Gaza Flotilla
James Marc Leas, CounterPunch5/28/2010
According to an article in the Jerusalem Post on May 25, 2010, the Israeli “Navy is preparing an operational plan to stop the flotilla of nine ships—loaded with hundreds of international activists and thousands of tons of supplies—— which are scheduled to try and break the sea blockade on Gaza by anchoring in the newly-expanded port later this week.” The article describes a military campaign coordinated with a major media campaign.
The web edition of the largest circulation paper in Israel, YNET News.com, reports that “Israel is also preparing for the media blitz certain to follow the flotilla, which many believe will harm the state’s [Israel’s] already floundering reputation.” According to the article, “Foreign Ministry, IDF, and PR spokespersons are preparing interviews for global news agencies in order to explain Israel’s position, mainly that the flotilla serves the terror organization ruling Gaza and not its residents.” The 700 human rights workers on the nine boats of the International Freedom Flotilla come from 40 countries and include 35 members of parliament from 15 different countries . The humanitarian aid includes medical supplies, such as wheel chairs and medicine, toys for children, pencils, and building supplies, ranging from bags of cement to pre-fabricated homes.
According to the Jerusalem Post article, in preparation for the military campaign the Israeli Defense Force “has established a joint taskforce together with the Israel Police, the Foreign Ministry and the Prisons Service to coordinate efforts to stop the flotilla and manage the potential media fallout.”
The Jerusalem Post article also describes the basic elements of the Israeli government media campaign, “to stress that the supplies the ships are carrying are unnecessary and that Israel — together with various international organizations — already transfers these supplies to Gaza via land crossings.”more..e-mail
Letter shows Obama dishonest with Iran
Press TV5/29/2010
There is now conclusive evidence that US President Barack Obama is not honest in dealing with an Iranian nuclear fuel swap declaration brokered by Turkey and Brazil in Tehran almost two weeks ago.
The evidence comes in the form of a letter from President Obama to his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva dated April 20, 2010.
“Washington supported mediation by Brazil and Turkey when it did not expect them to succeed and turned its back when they accomplished exactly what the Obama administration said it sought from Iran”, wrote campaigniran.org.
In the letter, the White House strongly encouraged the intermediaries to negotiate with Iran for a single purpose, namely to persuade the Islamic Republic to send 1200 kg of its low enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for fuel rods for the Tehran Research Reactor, added campaigniran.org.
Brazil’s respected daily O Estado de S. Paulo also quoted Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as revealing that he, too, had received a (presumably similar) letter from Obama.
As the website reports, this initial US stance completely contradicted Washington’s hostile response three weeks later to the Tehran Declaration, in which Iran agreed to precisely such an exchange.
On May 18, a day after the declaration was issued, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton dismissed the Brazil-Iran-Turkey offer and announced instead a draft UN Security Council resolution to impose a new round of sanctions on Iran. The punitive escalation, she said, was “as convincing an answer to the efforts undertaken by Tehran over the last few days as any we could have taken.” — See also:Obama’s Letter to Lula Regarding Brazil-Iran-Turkey Nuclear Negotiationsmore..e-mail
Forgiveness
Rabbi Michael Lerner, Tikkun Magazine5/25/2010
“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude.”— Martin Luther King, Jr.
Every night since the attack on my home by right-wing Zionists, I’ve been saying a prayer of forgiveness for them. While the political meaning of that act, and of the demeaning of critics of Israel, will be explored more fully in the July/August issue of Tikkun, on the spiritual level it is very important to not let negativity, even terrorism or violence, get the upper hand by bringing us down to the same level of anger or hatred that motivates those who act violently or those who demean and attempt to delegitimate the critics of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
If we are to build a world of love, we have to constantly work against the impulse to respond to anger and hatred with our own angry or hateful response. So, every night, I work on for
giving those who have assaulted my home, those who publicly demean me or Tikkun or the NSP, and those who spread hatred against the many people in our world who legitimately critique the policies of the State of Israel toward Palestinians.
It was in this context that I thought I’d post some notes taken by therapist Linda Graham at a recent weekend retreat on forgiveness conducted by Jack Kornfield and Fred Luskin. Fred is the author of Forgive For Good: A Proven Prescription for Health and Happiness and Jack is the author of The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace, and After the Ecstasy, The Laundry (and teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in northern California). Linda Graham, who took these notes, is a marriage and family therapist in San Francisco.
Reflections on Forgiveness….more..e-mail
The Gaza flotilla and the ironies of history
Electronic Intifada: 30 May 2010 – No one can accuse history of not having a sense of irony. Sixty-three years ago in July 1947 a passenger ship destined for Palestine and named The Exodus was stopped and boarded by the British Navy. The ship was crowded with Holocaust survivors determined to make a new life for themselves in British controlled Palestine. Today another small flotilla of ships is making its way to Palestine. Richard Irvine comments for The Electronic Intifada.
waiting for the Flotilla
In Gaza: 30 May 2010 – A demo on the sea today, a day in advance of the anticipated arrival of the Freedom Flotilla , originally comprising 9 boats and 700 people. The Flotilla has been delayed by sudden mechanical failures, international complicity, the pull-out of the Cyprus government’s support—and its banning of boats in Cyprus waters—and more despicable but unsurprising political maneuvring. But despite Israel’s promised threat to forcibly stop the boats (in international or Palestinian waters, as with the 6th Free Gaza boat voyage which was rammed by an Israeli gunboat ) and abduct all their passengers ( as they have already done ), the Flotilla streams forward with the 10,000 tons of humanitarian supplies they are bringing to Gaza. Ibrahim, 10 or so, is the son of one of Gaza’s unrepresented fishermen, numbering now around just 3000 whereas fishing used to employ over 10,000,, reports the UN’s OCHA . The number of reported incidents of Israeli gunboat attacks…
Ironies of History: Exodus and Gaza Aid Flotilla
Palestine Chronicle: 30 May 2010 – Richard Irvine – Belfast No one can accuse History of not having a sense of irony. Sixty-three years ago in July 1947 a passenger ship destined for Palestine and named The Exodus was stopped and boarded by the British Navy. The ship was crowded with Holocaust survivors determined to make a new life for themselves in British controlled Palestine. The British, facing Jewish terrorism and trying to keep promises made to the Palestinian Arabs to limit Jewish immigration, were determined to stop it. Accordingly when the Royal Navy boarded the ship twenty miles out from Haifa a full scale battle ensued. Three of the immigrants were killed and dozens injured as British troops beat the passengers on to three separate prison ships. From there these Holocaust survivors were transported back to Germany and were once again placed in camps. The world was horrified; an American newspaper ran the headline, “Back…more
Israeli Exceptionalism — Book Review
Palestine Chronicle: 30 May 2010 – By Steve Salaita M. Shahid Alam. Israeli Exceptionalism : The Destabilizing Logic of Zionism (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) pp. 274. People have been against both the idea and practice of Zionism since its inception. Zionism is an ideology that has never earned the support of all Jews, and one that has never been accepted by the vast majority of Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims. Zionism has likewise failed to achieve significant support in the so-called Third World, and has been almost uniformly rejected by black nationalists inside the United States. Yet Zionism has been successful insofar as its desire to create a Jewish-majority nation-state has been achieved. Despite its discursive self-image as a liberation movement, Zionist practice is colonialist and brutally violent. In his latest book, Israeli Exceptionalism: The Destabilizing Logic of Zionism (Palgrave Macmillan), M. Shahid Alam explores these paradoxes with great skill and insight. Israeli Exceptionalism takes its place…more
A Day in November: AIPAC Blackmailing Obama
Palestine Chronicle: 30 May 2010 – By Uri Avnery Rahm Emanuel is, so it seems, the American most hated by the leaders of Israel. He is considered the most dangerous opponent of the Netanyahu government in the White House. Behind closed doors, they shower him — if one is to believe the media – with anti-Semitic epithets. “Jewboy” is one of them. In Zionist usage, he is a “self-hating Jew”. And lo and behold, here he is strolling around the Galilee in shorts. He visits the occupied Golan Heights, which foreign diplomats normally take great pains to avoid. The IDF flies him between its installations. He prays at the Western Wall. A good Jewish tourist from America. Emanuel’s son has reached the age of Bar Mitzva; where better to celebrate than the Land of Israel, where his grandfather was a member of the Irgun — an outfit that the US administration would have branded a terrorist…more
‘A Battle for the High Seas. And the High Ground’
Palestine Chronicle: 30 May 2010 – By Lauren Booth If you’re hoping to see news about the extraordinary events taking place in the Med sea around Cyprus on either the BBC or Sky this weekend. Forget it. For now. Despite the fact that almost three dozen Brits are amongst the 700 brave souls heading to Gaza on a fleet of ships laden with essential aid. Or the incredible military and political manoeverings surrounding Israel’s response to the peaceful attempt, major news channels in the West remain silent. This despite the fact their news editors have the direct numbers of spokespeople on board and access to the live news feed. After calls to newsrooms across the UK it is clear to me that the first ever sea bound fleet of international aid to Palestine is not of itself a big enough story for our media – until if fails. On Israel’s terms. The BBC has been taking…more
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The New Dark Age 