31 July, 2010 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Gaza Struck By Air Raid; One Dead, Thirteen Injured
IMEMC – 1 Aug 2010 – Saturday July 31, 2010 – 13:47, Central Gaza has been struck by a pre-dawn Israeli air raid, Saturday morning, resulting in one death and thirteen injuries.
Medics: Israeli forces injure 3 near Erez with live fire
7/31/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Three Gaza workers collecting stone aggregates from rubble near the Erez crossing were hit and injured by Israeli fire in two separate incidents shortly after 9a. m. on Saturday, medics told Ma’an. Officials said the shots were fired from watch towers near the border crossing in the northern Strip, with the number injured….
Israeli airstrikes kill 1, injure 10 in Gaza
7/31/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – An Al-Qassam Brigades fighter was killed and ten other Gaza residents were injured in a series of Israeli airstrikes that hit targets across the Strip on Saturday morning. The Hamas-affiliated military group announced that one of its field leaders, 41-year-old Issa Abdul-Hadi Al-Batran, was killed by one of the strikes near the….
Israel declares village closed to foreigners
7/31/2010 – Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli forces turned away Palestinian medical teams at a checkpoint erected at Iraq Burin on Saturday morning, telling international medical volunteers that the area was a “closed military zone.” Head of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society in Nablus Ghassan Hamdan said the volunteers tried to enter the Nablus-area village where the society had….
Slain Al-Qassam leader marred by Gaza war
7/31/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Hours before he was killed by an Israeli air strike, the Al-Qassam Brigades leader told his second wife “Farewell! Today is departure day. . . I can no longer tolerate life away from my previous family.”The fighter’s first wife, Manal Sha’rawi, was killed along with five of their children, Bilala, Izz Ad-Din, Ihsan, Islam….
Source: 20 Hamas leaders detained, funds seized
7/31/2010 – Nablus – Ma’an – Palestinian Authority security forces detained at least 20 Hamas leaders in Nablus over the past two days, a security source told Ma’an Saturday. Among those detained was Islam Al-Betawi, son of Hamas-affiliated lawmaker Hamed, the source said. Additionally, over 200,000 [euros were] seized by PA forces after locating what the source described as….
UN chief asks Israel to submit to flotilla probe
7/31/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak to submit to a UN investigation of the 31 May aid flotilla incident, and called for a further easing of the siege on Gaza during a New York meeting on Friday. With Israel saying earlier in the day that letters of complaint would….
Youth forum: Settler assaults Hebron resident
7/31/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Soldiers watched as a settler harassed a Palestinian man near the illegal Kiryat Arba settlement on Friday afternoon, Hebron’s Youth Against Settlements group reported. When the man became angry and yelled back at the group, he was assaulted and sustained severe bruises, the report said. The youth group said the man targeted in….
Israeli MK demands end to Allenby travel crisis
7/31/2010 – Jerusalem – Ma’an – Israeli Knesset Member Ronit Tirosh expressed anger over travel delays caused at the Allenby Bridge crossing between the West Bank and Jordan on Saturday, after a staff shortage has left several Palestinian travelers stranded. Responding to a complaint filed by Ma’an, Tirosh said she wrote a letter to the head of Israel’s Coordinator…. Related: Allenby needs humanitarian attention – Daoud Kuttab
Hamas: Airstrikes response to Arab League decision
7/31/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – The renewal of Israeli air strikes on Gaza were a response to the Arab League’s decision to resume direct peace talks, a Hamas official said Saturday. Ismail Radwan said negotiations can only lead to further “judaization” of Jerusalem, and Israeli crimes against Palestinian people, citing Saturday’s air strikes on Gaza as an example….
Police: 5 Hebron men detained by army
7/31/2010 – Hebron – Ma’an – Palestinian security officials recorded five detentions from the Hebron region between Thursday night and Saturday morning, a police report said. Israeli soldiers, accompanied by police, entered the Al-Ja’bari neighborhood in Hebron’s center overnight Thursday, detaining Fadi Bajis Ja’bari, Muhammad Fattouh Ja’bari and Idreis Ja’bari. On Friday morning, an Israeli force raided Dura, south….
Over 45,000 travel via Rafah crossing
7/31/2010 – Gaza – Ma’an – Crossings officials reported Saturday that 20,213 travelers have left Gaza via the Rafah crossing on Egypt’s border, while 25,168 have entered the Strip during the last two months. Since the crossing was opened in early June, Egyptian authorities have refused 4,589 residents permission to cross into Egypt, a statement read. Gaza’s crossings administration….
Palestinian killed in Beer Sheba work accident
7/31/2010 – Hebron – Ma’an – A Palestinian was killed in a work-related accident on Friday, after being crushed by a bulldozer in Beer Sheba, southern Israel, Israeli police said. Locals said Hani Nabil Tawil, 22, from Hebron, was struck down as he worked on repairing a different bulldozer. Tawil was killed upon impact and transferred in an Israeli….
World Bank group appoints new rep in West Bank, Gaza
7/31/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, a member of the World Bank Group, announced the appointment a new local representative for the agency in the West Bank and Gaza on Thursday, a statement read. Layali Abdeen will be the point of contact for MIGA’s West Bank Gaza Guarantee Trust Fund. She will also focus….
Erekat denies date set for direct talks
7/31/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat denied reports on Saturday that direct talks will resume after the holy month of Ramadan, which ends in September.”I say that right now the issue is not the date for direct talks,” Erekat told Ma’an Radio Network.”We want to resume talks but the key is in….
PA police destroy 119 illegal vehicles, arrest 9 residents
8/1/2010 – Ramallah – Ma’an – Palestinian Authority police destroyed 119 vehicles in Nablus and arrested 9 residents for fighting in Hebron. A police statement said that the vehicles, including 14 motorcycles, were impounded in police headquarters as they were unregistered. Meanwhile, five residents were arrested for fighting in Beit Kahil near Hebron, and were suspected of kidnapping a….
Nablus: Hamas says PA security detained 2 supporters
7/31/2010 – Bethlehem – Ma’an – Hamas officials in the West Bank accused the Palestinian Authority security services of detaining two of the party’s supporters from areas in the north, a statement released on Saturday said. The two detained were said to have been an elementary school teacher from the city of Nablus, and an An-Najah University student from….
Israel bombs Gaza for 2nd night
Palestine Note 31 Jul 2010 – Israeli jets hit Rafah tunnels New York – Israel’s air force bombed the Gaza Strip for the second time in two days early on Sunday morning, this time targeting smuggling tunnels underneath the Gaza-Egypt border. The…
UN calls for Israel to freeze J’lem settler construction
Palestine Note 31 Jul 2010 – Washington – In a meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called on Israel to extend its settlement construction freeze to East Jerusalem. The current building moratorium excludes areas Israel administratively deems…
Report: US to cut ties unless PA resumes direct talks
Palestine Note 31 Jul 2010 – Washington – Palestinian Legislative Council member Hanan Ashrawi said Saturday that the US has threatened to break its ties with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas unless he resumes direct negotiations with Israel. Abbas (right) with Obama (…
Israel closes village to non-Palestinians
Palestine Note 31 Jul 2010 – Washington – International medical volunteers were held back at an Iraq Burin checkpoint Saturday morning, as Israeli forces told them the area is now a “closed military zone,” Ma’an News Agency reported . Checkpoint [Vadim Lavrusik -…
Israeli air raids kill 1 in Gaza
Palestine Note 30 Jul 2010 – 10 injured in apparent escalation New York – At least 10 Palestinians were wounded and one killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip overnight, medics in Gaza reported. Hamas-affiliated Al-Qassam Brigades fighter…
Rights groups to Clinton: Free imprisoned Palestinian activist
Palestine Note 30 Jul 2010 – Washington — An array of legal and human rights groups have sent a joint letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to advocate for American support to release Palestinian human rights activist Ameer Makhoul, Electronic…
ADL sides with Sarah Palin on NYC Muslim center
Palestine Note 30 Jul 2010 – Washington – Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin came under fire last week when she beseeched the Cordoba Initiative and the wider Muslim community in the US to ” refudiate ” its decision to build…
US Rep. Brian Baird: US on the side of injustice in Palestine
Palestine Note 30 Jul 2010 – Washington — The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation held its ninth annual National Organizers’ Conference in Kansas City, Missouri last week. Keynote speaker US Representative Brian Baird (D—WA) spoke about his own experiences visiting…
Hamas rocket maker killed in raid
AlJazeera 31 Jul 2010 – Israel launches air strikes in Gaza “in response” to rocket attack on Ashkelon.
Emir of Qatar tours south Lebanon
AlJazeera 31 Jul 2010 – Sheikh Hamad visits towns that Qatar helped rebuild after the 2006 Israeli bombardment.
‘Hundreds injured’ in Iran quakes
AlJazeera 31 Jul 2010 – Buildings reduced to rubble and extensive damage caused in the quakes-hit regions.
Only One Road to Peace And Prosperity
PNN – By Mitri I. Musleh – Many options have been tried over the past sixty years to settle the Palestinian/Israeli conflict; however, for one reason or another, they all ended in total failure….
Gaza Children Score New World Record
PNN – Gaza — PNN/UNifeed – Fresh from their last week’s basketball record, this week, thousands of children in Gaza attending UNRWA’s Summer Games smashed their own world record for the number of kites…
U.S. Companies Likely To Have Funded Dubai Assassination
PNN – Bethlehem — PNN — U.S. internet companies have been exploited to fund the assassination of a top Palestinian leader in Dubai last January, the Wall Street Journal reported today. American investigators identified…
CPJ Condemns Prison Sentence Handed To Journalist In The West Bank
PNN – New York — PNN – the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Palestinian authorities in the West Bank to release Amer Abu Arfa, a correspondent for the Shihab news agency, who was…
First Of 5 Homes To Be Re-Built by ICAHD’s Summer Camp
PNN – Jerusalem – PNN – As part of its annual summer camp the Israeli human right group ICHAD fished re-building one house of the five homes it plan to so this summer. On…
Hamas commander killed in Ashkelon rocket retaliation. Witnesses say 1 dead, 8 injured in airstrikes
PNN – Gaza – PNN – A top Palestinian fighter was killed in a series of air strikes by the Israeli Air Force targeting a number of locations in the Gaza Strip late on…
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (22-28 July 2010)
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
IAF targets tunnels in Gaza
Jeruslalem Post 1 Aug 2010 – Second air strike in as many days in response to Gaza rockets.
Cultural reawakening aims to rebrand Jenin
Jeruslalem Post 31 Jul 2010 – The West Bank city is remembered for some of the Second Intifada’s worst violence. Fahkri Hamid, the manager of Cinema Jenin, hopes to change its image through theater.
As envoy heads to Russia, Israel Radio misreports itself
Jeruslalem Post 31 Jul 2010 – Yaron Dekel falsely refers to Dorit Golender as the manager of Radio Reka.
Livni meets Ramon amid report he tried to derail talks
Jeruslalem Post 31 Jul 2010 – Ramon reiterated his denials of last week’s report that he told the PA’s chief negotiator Saeb Erekat not to enter into direct talks.
Kassam damages building in Negev
Jeruslalem Post 31 Jul 2010 – Attack comes after IAF retaliatory strike kills Hamas rocket maker.
‘I welcome US public’s support’
Jeruslalem Post 31 Jul 2010 – PM says Americans favorable views of Israel reflects shared concerns.
‘Assad wants Hariri tribunal closed’
Jeruslalem Post 31 Jul 2010 – Report: Syria tells Saudi king UN tribunal threatens stability.
China invests $40b. in Iran oil and gas
Jeruslalem Post 31 Jul 2010 – Signs contracts in petrochemicals, refineries, oil, gas pipelines.
IAF strikes in Gaza; 1 killed
Jeruslalem Post 31 Jul 2010 – 8 Palestinians wounded in three attacks in various areas of the Strip.
UN: Extend freeze to east J’lem
Jeruslalem Post 30 Jul 2010 – Ban urges Israel to extend settlement freeze in meeting with Barak.
International Solidarity Movement
British student injured by Israeli army illegally firing tear gas canisters at protesters
7/31/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – An Nabi Saleh, West Bank – A British student was injured yesterday (30 July 2010) when she was hit in the leg by a tear gas projectile fired directly at her, when Israeli soldiers violently repressed a peaceful protest in the West Bank. Ellie Kidd, 23, from North London, is currently unable to walk due to….
Wadi Qana farmland being polluted by settlement sewage
7/31/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – ISM and IWPS (International Women’s Peace Service) – Wadi Qana is a valley south west of Nablus where numerous springs supply water to the surrounding Palestinian villages. Approximately 60 people live in the valley itself, and many more own land in the area in which they farm animals and cultivate both citrus and olive trees. The….
Israel bombs central Gaza City: seventeen injured
7/31/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – Gaza City, Gaza Strip – At around 11:30pm last night (Friday 30 July 2010), ‘The Arafat Compound’ Police College in central Gaza City was bombed by Israeli F-16s, in the area of Al Montada injuring seventeen people, three of them seriously. Three children were also among the injured. Those first at the scene described….
Thousands head to beaches to escape the heat
Ha’aretz – The high temperatures and heavy humidity are expected to continue until Tuesday at least. The Electric Company is calling upon the public to reduce their consumption during peak hours.
Israeli paraglider killed in Peru
Ha’aretz – Doron Lugassi, 39, dies in accident during competition in city of Huancayo.
National Geographic ranks Tel Aviv among world’s top beach cities
Ha’aretz – ‘Call it Miami Beach on the Med. Tel Aviv is the Dionysian counterpart to religious Jerusalem.’
IAF strikes Gaza smuggling tunnels after Qassam hits Negev
Ha’aretz – Israel strikes Gaza targets for second time, after Gaza militants fire two rockets in 36 hours; Hamas vows revenge over militant’s death in earlier strike.
Noam Shalit appeals to Palestinian public for Shalit deal
Ha’aretz – Father of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit to hold East Jerusalem press conference urging parents of Palestinian prisoners to pressure Hamas into exchange deal.
U.S.: PLO claim of threat to cut PA ties borders on ‘absurdity’
Ha’aretz – Senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi says Obama administration threatened to cut PA ties if direct negotiations with Netanayhu don’t resume, Arab media reports.
Report: U.S. companies transferred funds to suspects in Dubai hit
Ha’aretz – Assassins of Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh may have exploited U.S. internet firms to mask funding for hit, Wall Street Journal reports., Palestinian witnesses report one dead and 13 injured in…
Israeli family ‘breaks into’ Jerusalem home centered in ownership controversy
Ha’aretz – The group of Jews have documents proving they purchased the building and were the rightful owners, but Palestinians claim it is their own.
IOF suppresses weekly march in Beit Amer, 4 injured
31 Jul 2010 – Hebron, July 31, (Pal Telegraph) Journalists and citizens were Injured today in the suppression of the Israeli occupation forces of the path of the weekly march which started from the northern governorate of Hebron in the West Bank. The spokesman of the Palestine Solidarity Project, Mohamed Ayad, said that photojournalist Amer Abdeen was injured when targeted by three gas grenades…
IOF imposes complete closure on Iraq Burin village
31 Jul 2010 – Nablus, July 31, (Pal Telegraph) Israeli occupation forces imposed today morning a full closure on the village of ‘Iraq Burin’, south of Nablus in the northern of the West Bank, blocking entry to journalists and international activists and medical staff. Witnesses said that the Israeli forces erected a checkpoint at the entrance of the village and prevented medical personnel, journalists…
IOF gives demolition notices to a mosque and houses in Jenin
31 Jul 2010 – Jenin, July 31, (Pal Telegraph) Israeli occupation forces raided ‘Khirbet Irza’ east of Tubas in the West Bank and stormed the houses there handing owners warrants of demolition including a mosque and a number of housing units. The head of the village’s council, Mokhlis Massaeid, said that the demolition notices included a mosque built on an area of 100 square…
IOF erects 3 new checkpoints in Hebron
31 Jul 2010 – Hebron, July 31, (Pal Telegraph) Israeli occupation forces erected today morning three new militant checkpoints at three intersections of the northern province of Hebron in the West Bank. Security sources said that the Israeli occupation forces erected a checkpoint on the bridge of ‘Halhul’ located at the north of Hebron, and another checkpoint under a bridge in “Beit Kahil”, in…
IOF shoots 2 Palestinian workers in Gaza
31 Jul 2010 – Gaza, July 31, (Pal Telegraph) Two Palestinian workers were Wounded today morning after they were shot by Israeli occupation forces at the northern town of “Beit Hanoun” in the northern to the Gaza Strip. The Director of Emergency unit in Gaza’s Ministry of Health, Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, said that Khalid Mahdi Alhmadden (16 years) and Mohamed Shalabi (25 years) were…
IOF detains a college student in Hebron
31 Jul 2010 – Hebron, July 31, (Pal Telegraph) Israeli occupation forces arrested at dawn today a college student from the city of Hebron in the West Bank, after raiding his home. Local sources said that the Israeli occupation forces arrested Shadi Akram Shaheen (23 years), after raiding his home in the ‘Hawouz’ village in Hebron city. Same sources added that the Israeli occupation…
Israel raids Gaza by air, 1 dead and 17 injured
31 Jul 2010 – Gaza, July 31, (Pal Telegraph) A leader of the Qassam Brigades was killed last night and seventeen other civilians were wounded – including children – during a series of raids carried out by Israeli warplanes on targets across the Gaza Strip, the heaviest was the shelling of a security headquarter in Gaza City. The director of the Emergency Unit in…
Israel Classifies its Past as Top Secret: An Analysis
Uruknet July 31, 2010 — Israel is a land built on myths. It is, of course, not unique in this. Indeed in this way Israel is very much like its patron, the United States. In order to build and maintain a mythical status a nation must create a picture of itself from its very inception and pass that picture down…
Israeli Media Allow Army To Whitewash Another Murder
Uruknet July 31, 2010 – Bilal Abu Libdeh was shot outside the Barkan settlement in the West Bank when soldiers wrongly thought they saw a weapon. In the aftermath, the Israeli media readily reproduced the military’s excuses, reducing Bilal’s final moments to the redundant media stereotypes of the ’suspected terrorist’ and ’settlement infiltrator’. But whilst the truth of their son’s…
The “Summer Camp Of Destruction:” Israeli High Schoolers Assist The Razing Of A Bedouin Town
Uruknet July 31, 2010 – On July 26, Israeli police demolished 45 buildings in the unrecognized Bedouin village of al-Arakib, razing the entire village to the ground to make way for a Jewish National Fund forest. The destruction was part of a larger project to force the Bedouin community of the Negev away from their ancestral lands and into seven…
Occupied Palestine: Home Demolitions, Dispossessions and Residency Rights Revoked
Uruknet July 31, 2010 – Daily, Israeli oppression continues – demolishing homes, dispossessing occupants, and revoking residency rights, three of its many crimes under international law, Israel spurning it with impunity. On July 22, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) reported mass Jordan Valley Al Farisyie village demolitions, displacing 107 people, including 52 children. Targeted were 26 residential tents,…
Medics: Israeli forces injure 3 near Erez with live fire
Uruknet July 31, 2010 — Three Gaza workers collecting stone aggregates from rubble near the Erez crossing were hit and injured by Israeli fire in two separate incidents shortly after 9a.m. on Saturday, medics told Ma’an. Officials said the shots were fired from watch towers near the border crossing in the northern Strip, with the number injured by Israeli fire…
Israeli airstrikes kill 1, injure 10 in Gaza
Uruknet July 31, 2010 – An Al-Qassam Brigades fighter was killed and ten other Gaza residents were injured in a series of Israeli airstrikes that hit targets across the Strip on Saturday morning. The Hamas-affiliated military group announced that one of its field leaders, 41-year-old Issa Abdul-Hadi Al-Batran, was killed by one of the strikes near the Nuseirat refugee camp…
The Closing of the Zionist Mind
Uruknet July 30, 2010 – It finally happened. The Jerusalem Post has declared archeology itself anti-Semitic. To tell you the truth, I am frankly worried about some of my colleagues who are committed Zionists having difficulty in dealing with reality in the wake of the severe difficulties facing the Zionist project in historical Palestine…
Middle East history buff Hague whitewashes Israel’s villainy on the high seas
Uruknet July 30, 2010 – My MP, a Foreign Office minister in the shiny new coalition government, has written to me saying he believes the Foreign Secretary was “extremely fair, tough and statesmanlike” in his reaction to Israel’s murderous assault on the vessel Mavi Marmara and the rest of the Free Gaza flotilla. So I re-read William Hague’s statement to…
Jerusalem: Evicted families spend first night outdoors
Uruknet July 30, 2010 – Nine Palestinian families spent their first night in the open air on Thursday, after being forced out of their homes by Israeli settlers before sunrise the same morning. Sami Qeresh head of a household of six dependents, said women and children “spent a night in the open air waiting for Israeli forces to carry out…
Bullying Abbas into talks
Uruknet July 30, 2010 – The Obama administration is exerting intense pressure on Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to move “sooner than later” to direct talks with Israel. The European Union is also pressing Abbas to do the same thing. Both the US and EU are considered chief bankrollers of the PA, which nearly completely depends on foreign aid…
Saudi praised for Lebanon initiative
The National 31 Jul 2010 – Ending his tour of the region in Jordan, King Abdullah furthered discussion on co-ordinating the push resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with a two-state solution, seen as key to achieving normalcy in region.
Qatar’s Emir visits south Lebanon
The National 31 Jul 2010 – Qatar, which had pledged massive aid to help rebuild the south after Israel’s devastating war with Hizbollah, also played a key role in ending the 2008 crisis.
Hamas vows revenge over Israeli airstrikes
The National 31 Jul 2010 – The overnight Israeli raids came after a rocket fired from the strip hit the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon.
AIC Upgrades Website Infrastructure
Alternative Information Center – The Alternative Information Center (AIC) is currently upgrading its website infrastructure. We will be back online by Tuesday 22 June 2010.
Massive Bomb Hits Central Gaza City, Injuring 17
WAFA – GAZA, July 31, 2010 (WAFA)- At around 11:30pm last night, Friday 30 July 2010, ‘The Arafat Compound’
Palestinian Killed, Two Injured in Israeli Bombardment on Gaza Strip
WAFA – GAZA, July 31, 2010 (WAFA)- A Palestinian citizen was killed, today, in Israeli air raids against Al-Nseirat camp in the center of the Gaza Strip, as two were wounded in Israeli bombardment east of
OCHA: Israeli Demolished 17 Structures Last Week
WAFA –
Israelis and Palestinians unite for peace – and theatre | Combatants for Peace
The Guardian 31 Jul 2010 – Theatre troupe Combatants for Peace use their participatory theatre approach to find out what UK audiences would do in their shoes Nour Shehadah and Chen Alon are both shaven-headed fathers in their forties. Shehadah is Palestinian…
‘Senior Hamas man killed in Gaza strike’
YNet News – Movement’s military wing says man killed in Friday’s attack on Strip was….
Iran: Cigarettes tainted with pig blood
YNet News – Official from Islamic Republic’s anti-smoking society says company ‘led by….
Report: Mabhouh probe leads to money transfers
YNet News – Wall Street Journal reports US investigators suspect Hamas man’s assassins….
UN diplomat: UN and Israel discuss flotilla probe
YNet News – Defense minister, UN chief also discuss peace talks with Palestinians, situation….
Palestinians: IDF bombs Gaza targets; 1 killed
YNet News – Palestinian witnesses say Air Force jets bombed targets in Gaza City, Rafah in….
Peres: Direct talks may bring coalition change
YNet News – Despite the pressure, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is not backing down. International pressure on the Palestinian Authority to begin direct negotiations with …….
Noam Shalit urges Gazans to pressure leaders
YNet News – Noam Shalit, the father of captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “stop abusing” his son. During a rally in Rishon Lezion on …….
Gaza rocket damages public building
YNet News – A Qassam rocket fired from northern Gaza Saturday night hit the roof of a building in an educational institution located in the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council, outside of …….
Obama warns Abbas against failure to resume direct talks
YNet News – US President Barack Obama has warned Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that failure to resume direct peace talks with Israel could undermine US-Palestinian ties, …….
Body of missing Gaza child found
YNet News – Gaza police discovered a body of an 11-year-old child who disappeared on Thursday. It appears he was raped and murdered near Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. The …….
Assad on Hariri probe: We’ll stand by Hezbollah
YNet News – Bashar Assad sent a firm message to the international tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The Syrian president warned …….
Palestinian Information Center
Hamas: Obama’s letter contained threats, no guarantees
PIC 31 Jul 2010 – Hamas confirmed that Obama’s letter to Mahmoud Abbas reflects the fact that the Arab decision to start direct negotiations had deceived the majority of Palestinian-Arab street.
Hebrew press reports IOF preparations for new war on Gaza
PIC 31 Jul 2010 – The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have completed preparations for launching a new war on the Gaza Strip, according to Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot on Saturday.
IOF troops suppress march in Beit Ummar, injure journalists and citizens
PIC 31 Jul 2010 – The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) suppressed a march in Beit Ummar, north of al-Khalil, Saturday afternoon, injuring four participants including journalists, local sources said.
IOA summons wife of detained Hamas leader
PIC 31 Jul 2010 – The Ahrar center has denounced the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) for summoning Ikhlas Al-Suwais, the wife of detained Hamas leader Abbas Al-Sayyed, for questioning.
UNRWA slams Israeli seizure of 9 houses in Old City, J’lem
PIC 31 Jul 2010 – UNRWA condemned on Saturday a group of Israeli settlers who by force of arms and under Israeli military protection seized a building which houses 9 Palestinian families in Old City, Jerusalem.
UNCHR demands Israel to lift Gaza siege, let probe into its attack on Flotilla
PIC 31 Jul 2010 – The UN commission for human rights demanded Israel to lift its blockade on Gaza and invite an independent committee to investigate its deadly raid on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla aid convoy.
Hamas: Arabs’ approval of talks with Israel yielded military action against Gaza
PIC 31 Jul 2010 – The Hamas Movement said that that the Israeli military escalation which started Friday night was a natural result of the Arab decision to give Mahmoud Abbas a green light for his talks with Israelis.
Israeli troops wound two youths in Beit Hanoun, settlers try to demolish house
PIC 31 Jul 2010 – The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) wounded two Palestinian young men Saturday morning east of Beit Hanoun town as they were collecting aggregate used in construction.
Palestinian family holding vigil outside their home, Serry protests takeover
PIC 31 Jul 2010 – A Jerusalemite family refused to move away from their home taken by force from them by Jewish settlers in occupied Jerusalem and are holding a 24-hour vigil on the pavement facing their home.
Israel razes Christian ancient site in O. Jerusalem
PIC 31 Jul 2010 – Father Atallah Hanna said the Israeli municipal council in the holy city demolished and obliterated Christian ancient monuments dating from the Byzantine era in Ein Kerem area.
Lebanon better able to catch alleged Israeli spies
LA Times 31 Jul 2010 – A strengthening Lebanese government is helping the militant group Hezbollah bust alleged spy cells, sometimes using tools and tradecraft acquired from Western nations. The chief of Lebanon’s domestic security forces had a warning for the Hezbollah commander: “You’ve been infiltrated.”
Mistaken as an Iranian Martyr, Then Hounded
New York Times 31 Jul 2010 – Wrongly identified as Neda Agha-Soltan, whose death in 2009 became a symbol for the opposition, Zahra Soltani fled Iran.
Israeli Airstrike Kills Hamas Official in Gaza
New York Times 31 Jul 2010 – The Israeli military said its warplanes had struck several sites in northern, central and southern Gaza.
Israeli Media Allow Army To Whitewash Another Murder
Palestine Monitor – Another Palestinian life was ended by Israeli gunfire last week. Again it was dismissed by military spokesmen as a case of mistaken identity, again it was presented in the Israeli press as a successful security operation. Written and photographed by Aaron Dearborn. Barkan industrial area Bilal…
The back-of-the-envelope history of the Anti-Defamation League
Mondoweiss – The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was formed by B’nai B’rith in 1913 to be the leading Jewish defense agency in the wake of the conviction of Leo Frank, an officer of the National Pencil Co. of Atlanta,Georgia,, for the murder of 13 year old Mary Phagan, a…
Does Israelo-fascism exist?
Mondoweiss – Robert O. Paxton, the distinguished emeritus professor at Columbia University, is perhaps the world’s leading authority on fascism. His book Vichy France (1972) has become a classic, not least in France itself, for telling truths about the collaborationist regime that the French themselves had been too…
‘And along come the Israelis and knock their house down’
Mondoweiss – I honestly don’t know how you can be a Zionist and see this kind of report without screaming— from Al Jazeera, about the destruction of 20,000 Palestinian houses in “Occupied East Jerusalem,” some of them repeat demolitions of individual families’ houses. From reporter Jacky Rowland, with…
Foxman plays Holocaust card
Mondoweiss – Joe Klein says Abe Foxman should be fired now , and points to Foxman’s long disgraceful record, including calling Klein anti-Semitic for saying that Jewish neocons had pushed the Iraq war (and now Iran war) without disclosing their true concern. During the high-tide of anti-semitism, and then…
The children whose spirit a siege couldn’t break
Mondoweiss – Haaretz has the story on the latest record set by the children of Gaza. They’ve broken their own record from last year’s UNRWA Summer Games for the number of kites being flown at one time. The UN website has the video : SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Palestinian Girl No…
US Threatens to Cut Ties unless Abbas Returns to Direct Talks
Al-Manar 31 Jul 2010 – The United States has threatened to break off ties with the Palestinian Authority unless its leader, Mahmoud Abbas agrees to return to face-to-face peace negotiations with Israel, a top Palestinian official said Saturday. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said the administration…
One Martyred, 8 Others Injured in Israeli Strikes; Hamas Vows Revenge
Al-Manar 31 Jul 2010 – A series of Israeli air strikes bombed the Gaza Strip Friday night killing one Palestinian and injured 8 others, Palestinian witnesses reported. Al-Jazeera reported that among the targets bombed were Tel al-Hawa neighborhood and the Ansar compound, both in Gaza City, as well as targets…
Hamas fighter dies in air strikes
BBC 31 Jul 2010 – A Hamas militant is killed and several people hurt in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, hours after a Palestinian rocket hit the Israeli city of Ashkelon.
The Real Aim of Israel’s Bomb Iran Campaign
Antiwar.com 1 Aug 2010 – Reuel Marc Gerecht’s screed justifying an Israeli bombing attack on Iran coincides with the opening of the new Israel lobby campaign marked by the introduction of House Resolution 1553 expressing full support for such an Israeli attack. What is important to understand about this campaign is…
Sanctions Give China an Advantage in Iran
Antiwar.com 31 Jul 2010 – LONDON ‚Äî The European Union’s new sanctions against Iran appear to open a new space for eager Chinese companies to expand their investments in a country viewed as a rogue player by much of the western world. With China recently coming to light as Iran’s largest…
Articles
What happened in Cairo
Nasser Lahham, Ma’an News Agency7/31/2010
Arab media has not paid enough attention, either deliberately or out of ignorance, to what could be described as a “tough political raid” in Cairo on Arab countries’ attitude toward Israel over the past few days.
Palestinians have fought fierce battles against Arab countries to defend the independence of Palestinian decisions. In 1970, there was Black September in Jordan. In 1976, there was the Tel Az-Za’tar battle against the Syrian army in Lebanon, then the 1978 civil war in Lebanon and Maghdouche in 1983, among others. Despite all these battles to secure the independence of Palestinian political decisions, President Mahmoud Abbas decided to put the ball in the Arab countries’ court regarding the resumption of direct negotiations with Israel.
In fact, the Arab public — including leftists, moderates and rightists — knew that their leaders would never disappoint the US, and that they would ask Abbas to resume direct talks with Israel. However, the more optimistic among them expected a little hesitation before the leaders announced their decision, and were surprised that Qatar, Syria and other countries rushed to urge Abbas to agree to US demands so quickly.
Last Tuesday, Abbas attended a meeting in Cairo with a committee of foreign ministers from 13 Arab countries, authorized to follow up with the Arab Peace Initiative adopted in the Beirut Summit of 2002. Arab League chief Amr Mousa attended the meeting, which was dedicated to discussing the peace process and the ongoing indirect proximity talks.
The follow-up committee concluded their Cairo meetings with Abbas on Thursday, and agreed “in principle” that the president should resume direct talks with Israel, but with conditions. A message was sent to the US president following the meeting to notify him of the Arab countries’ position. more.. e-mail
All quiet on the eastern front
Uri Avnery, Ma’an News Agency7/31/2010
People endowed with sensitive political ears were startled this week by two words, which, so it seemed, escaped from the mouth of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by accident: “Eastern front.”
Once upon a time these words were part of the everyday vocabulary of the occupation. In recent years they have been gathering dust in the political junkyard.
The verbal couple “Eastern front” was born after the Six-day War. It served to buttress the strategic doctrine that the Jordan River is Israel’s “security border.”
The theory: there is a possibility for three Arab armies — those of Iraq, Syria and Jordan — to gather east of the Jordan, cross the river and endanger the existence of Israel. We must stop them before they enter the country. Therefore, the Jordan Valley must serve as a permanent base for the Israeli army, our troops must stay there.
This was a doubtful theory to start with.
In order to take part in such an offensive, the Iraqi army would have to assemble, cross the desert and deploy in Jordan, a lengthy and complex logistical operation that would give the Israeli army ample time to hit the Iraqis long before they reached the bank of the Jordan. As for the Syrians, it would be much easier for them to attack Israel on the Golan Heights than to move their army south and attack from the east. And Jordan has always been a secret — but loyal — partner of Israel (except for the short episode of the Six-day War.)
In recent years, the theory has become manifestly ridiculous. more.. e-mail
Collaboration
Ma’an News Agency7/31/2010
The term “collaborator” refers to individuals who supply information, or in some cases land, to Israel, or anyone considered an “enemy state,” either voluntarily or by coercion.
The term became familiar to the international community during the First and Second Intifadas, when known and suspected collaborators were publicly executed and in some cases lynched in highly publicized events. Treatment of suspected collaborators by Palestinian police and justice systems came under intense scrutiny from international media and human rights groups.
Types of collaboration include providing one-time bits of information on leading Palestinian figures to Israeli intelligence officers, the sale of land to Israeli interest groups, ongoing information sharing, and spying for Israeli intelligence.
Forms of collaboration
Low level informants provide intelligence on specific persons of interest, like family, friends of work associates, often comprising information on daily routines, places frequented, etc. The small pieces of information provide for Israel what amounts to detailed analysis of the workings of a community.
Infiltrators are active members of a political party, popular committee, or other organization of interest, recruited by Israeli intelligence to provide detailed and wide-ranging information. The individual is often detained by Israeli forces and recruited during interrogation or prison terms, with targets expected to provide information on an on-going basis once they are released. Release is often conditioned on the promise to provide information. more.. e-mail
Israeli Media Allow Army To Whitewash Another Murder
Palestine Monitor: 31 Jul 2010 – Another Palestinian life was ended by Israeli gunfire last week. Again it was dismissed by military spokesmen as a case of mistaken identity, again it was presented in the Israeli press as a successful security operation. Written and photographed by Aaron Dearborn. Barkan industrial area Bilal Abu Libdeh was shot outside the Barkan settlement in the West Bank when soldiers wrongly thought they saw a weapon. In the aftermath, the Israeli media readily reproduced the military’s excuses, reducing Bilal’s final moments to the redundant media stereotypes of the ‘suspected terrorist’ and ‘settlement infiltrator’. But whilst the truth of their son’s death becomes another political casualty, Ibrahim and Intihad Libdeh are left to mourn the human being now missing from their lives. The day after he was killed, the family was joined by hundreds of mourners in their home city of Qalqilya, to carry Bilal to his final resting place. Too…more
Palestine Takes Center Stage in the Antiwar Movement
Palestine Chronicle: 31 Jul 2010 – By Andrew Pollack — New York The United National Antiwar Conference, attended by 850 people from July 23 to 25, 2010 in Albany, New York, marked a sea change in the attitude of the antiwar movement toward Palestine. For the first time a broadly representative, democratic national conference of peace activists adopted the demand “End All US Aid to Israel.” UNAC also endorsed the global BDS movement, committed itself to joining Palestine solidarity efforts around future flotillas, emergency responses to Zionist attacks, etc., and expressed its opposition to the US’s many-faceted complicity in Zionism’s various crimes. All of these positions were adopted in near-unanimous votes and in the face of attempts by a handful of delegates to water down or obstruct them. This huge success follows on the heels of a similarly significant step forward at the US Social Forum. The resolutions passed at the USSF, which mirrored the positions…more
Hague Whitewashes Israeli Crimes on the High Seas
Palestine Chronicle: 31 Jul 2010 – By Stuart Littlewood — London ‘We have to be steeped in the Middle East, way back to historical matters. Because you can’t understand it without the history.’ My MP, a Foreign Office minister in the shiny new coalition government, has written to me saying he believes the Foreign Secretary was “extremely fair, tough and statesmanlike” in his reaction to Israel’s murderous assault on the vessel Mavi Marmara and the rest of the Free Gaza flotilla. So I re-read William Hague’s statement to the House of Commons on 2 June, and it struck me as something the Israeli government spin doctor Mark Regev might have penned. Here are some extracts: ‚Ä¢ “Our clear advice to British nationals is not to travel to Gaza.” Just what Israel wants to hear. This “advice” serves to legitimize Israel’s illegal sea blockade and use of lethal force against unarmed British citizens and other nationals peacefully…more
In Palestine, Demolitions and Dispossessions
Palestine Chronicle: 31 Jul 2010 – By Stephen Lendman Daily, Israeli oppression continues – demolishing homes, dispossessing occupants, and revoking residency rights, three of its many crimes under international law, Israel spurning it with impunity. On July 22, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) reported mass Jordan Valley Al Farisyie village demolitions, displacing 107 people, including 52 children. Targeted were 26 residential tents, 22 animal shelters, seven taboun clay ovens, eight kitchens, 10 bathrooms, four water tanks, and an agricultural equipment shed – in all, 74 structures illegally bulldozed, family homes and belongings destroyed along with large quantities of food and animal fodder. Many families weren’t warned or present, so lost everything under rubble, Israel displacing Palestinians to make way for Judaization, area residents on their own, abandoned and unaided. In July, three other communities were affected: — Fasayile al Fuga where a family home of nine, including seven children and a 10-month old infant,…more
Why Muslims Should Rethink Palestine
Dissident Voice: 31 Jul 2010 – Thousands of faithful assiduously listened as I outlined the challenges facing Palestine and its people. Cries of ‘Allahu Akbar’ — God is Great — occasionally resounded from a corner of the giant South African mosque. Many whimpered as I described the tragedy that had befallen Gaza as a result of the Israeli siege. They cheered, smiled and nodded as I emphasized how the will of the Palestinian people would not be defeated. A few older people at the front simply wept throughout my talk, which preceded a Friday sermon in Durban a few months ago. If passion and kindness were powerful in and of themselves, then the compassion that poured from those Muslim faithful could surely better the world in a myriad ways. The sheer love and concern displayed by men and women of different races, age groups, class affiliation and languages was most uplifting and validating. As a collective,…more
More material available from Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel – www.vtjp.org
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The New Dark Age 
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