22 September, 2010 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Abbas, Settlement Resumption Doesn’t Necessarily Mean End Of Talks
IMEMC – 22 Sep 2010 – Wednesday September 22, 2010 – 17:42, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signalled, on Wednesday, that renewed settlement construction would not end talks. Abbas’s comments came during a dinner with Jewish leaders in New York.
One Killed, another wounded by Private Security Guard in East Jerusalem
IMEMC – 22 Sep 2010 – Wednesday September 22, 2010 – 13:59, Riots have erupted in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem, on Wednesday, following the killing of a Palestinian man by an Israeli private security guard.
Israeli Military kidnapped Two Palestinians
IMEMC – 22 Sep 2010 – Wednesday September 22, 2010 – 12:23, Israeli military kidnapped two Palestinian civilians from the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem and the nearby village of Hussan, Wednesday morning.
2 confirmed dead in Silwan shooting
9/22/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Officials in Israel confirmed reports Wednesday that two Palestinians were killed after an Israeli settler guard opened fire in a flashpoint neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem. Officials at the Abu Kabeir forensic center said their teams received two corpses, but they have yet to identify the second Palestinian killed in the….
Israel razes East Jerusalem home
9/22/2010 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces razed a home and small animal shelter in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of At-Tur on Tuesday, after the owner was told the home was built without a license. Wael Darwish Da’na, father of ten, said he had been served with a warning notice two months earlier, but….
PA says settlers bulldozed land in Bethlehem village
9/22/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Agriculture’s anti-wall and settlement unit on Wednesday toured land in the Al-Khader village that was overturned by settlers. Unit coordinator Awad Abu Suwiey said settlers bulldozed a 30-by-10-meter part of the plot and uprooted 30 grapevines and several almond trees. Abu….
Clashes in Silwan after guard kills Palestinian
9/22/2010 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Palestinians clashed with Israeli security forces in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Wednesday, following the shooting death of a Palestinian man in the morning by an Israeli settler security guard, officials said. Israeli border guards deployed riot dispersal means, including rubber bullets, sound grenades and tear gas, against residents….
Israeli army raids school, detains 2 pupils
9/22/2010 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces raided a school in Hebron’s Old City on Wednesday and detained two ninth grade students, the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education said in a statement. The PA ministry said forces raided the Al-Ibrahimmiyee School after surrounding it for over an hour, searched classes and detained Anas Jabber….
Syrian aid boat docks in Egypt
9/22/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A Syrian-sponsored aid boat carrying goods for Gaza docked in the Egyptian port of Al-Arish on Wednesday, a statement issued by the Syrian Red Crescent read. Head of the Syrian Red Crescent Marwan Abdallah said a delegation arrived in Egypt on Wednesday to accompany the transfer of goods into Gaza….
Galloway to Egypt: Don’t exile me from Palestine
9/22/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Former British MP George Galloway appealed to Egypt on Wednesday to reconsider the government’s decision to deny him entry to the country as he leads the fifth Viva Palestina convoy heading for Gaza. Despite the ban, Galloway said he will continue to head the convoy, which aims to enter….
US food co-op rejects Israel boycott proposal
9/22/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A US food co-op on Tuesday voted down a plan put forward by the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement to ban Israeli goods in a move that drew the attention of Israeli diplomats. The six-member board voted 4-2 against the proposal, saying that it was not consistent with its boycott….
Member of Israel’s flotilla commission dies
9/22/2010 – TEL AVIV (Ma’an) — A member of Israel’s civil panel charged with investigating the nine deaths aboard the Freedom Flotilla bound for Gaza died on Wednesday, Israel’s daily news site Ynet reported. The death came three months after high-ranking US officials reportedly expressed resentment and disappointment over the choice of….
Union leader: Israeli forces raid stone factory
9/22/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A union leader said Israeli forces raided a marble factory in Beit Fajjar in the southern West Bank district of Bethlehem on Tuesday, confiscated machinery and equipment. Chairman of the Board of Stone and Marble Industry Union Subhi Thawabta said the raid “aimed at striking the Palestinian economy’s infrastructure….
Old City calms as Jerusalem clashes radiate
9/22/2010 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — The aftermath of the slaying of two Palestinian men by a settlement guard in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan on Wednesday continued to escalate throughout the evening. By 9 p. m. Israeli media said calm had returned to the Old City, while Palestinians reported fresh clashes in the Jerusalem neighborhoods….
PFLP men sentenced for revenge assassination plot
9/22/2010 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — Four Palestinian students were sentenced to 4-to-8-year prison terms Tuesday after they were found guilty plotting to kill an Israeli judge, advocates for the young men said. The four, all between 22-24 years old and members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, were detained….
PLO: Settlers used to carry out Israeli attacks
9/22/2010 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israel is enacting its ethnic cleansing policy on Jerusalem through the work of settlers as leaders talk peace, Head of Jerusalem affairs at the PLO Ahmad Qrei’ a said Wednesday. Earlier in the day two men were killed and two others wounded by a settler guard in the Palestinian neighborhood….
Palestinian killed in Silwan shooting attack
9/22/2010 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — A Palestinian was killed on Wednesday and three others were injured when Israeli security guarding settlers in the flashpoint neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem opened fire at their car. Guards opened fire at the car at 5 a. m. as the Palestinians drove through the Wad Hilwa area of Silwan….
1 Gaza crossing partially open
9/22/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities will partially open the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza for the transfer of goods on Wednesday, a Palestinian liaison officer said. Raed Fattouh said 100 truckloads of humanitarian aid and goods were scheduled for transfer into Gaza, as well as limited quantities of cooking gas and industrial….
Israeli army detains 6 Nablus residents
9/22/2010 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — The Israeli army detained six Palestinians from the northern West Bank city of Nablus after armoured vehicles raided the area early Wednesday morning, a Palestinian security source told Ma’an. The source said forces entered the eastern area of the city at 2 a. m. and raided Amman Street, An-Najah….
Israel releases 5 Palestinian prisoners
9/22/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israel released five Palestinian detainees on Tuesday evening after each had completed sentences ascribed to them by Israeli courts, the Detainees’ Center in Gaza City said in a statement. The center noted that several of those released had spent over a decade in Israeli custody and identified the prisoners….
Quartet urges Israel to extend settlement freeze
9/22/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Quartet on the Middle East urged Israel on Tuesday to extend its partial freeze on illegal settlement construction in the West Bank, a statement issued Tuesday read.”The Quartet noted that the commendable Israeli settlement moratorium instituted last November has had a positive impact and urged its continuation,” the statement….
PA condemns ‘destructive’ Jerusalem shootings
9/22/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday condemned the shooting deaths of two Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, describing the act as a “violent escalation” that could threaten the peace process.” This violent escalation by the Israeli occupying forces represents destructive measures that defeat the peace building agenda,” Ghassan Al-Khatib, a PA spokesman….
Leftists call on Abbas to cancel US visit
9/22/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on Wednesday called on President Mahmoud Abbas and the PLO negotiations team to call off their visit to the US in light of Israel’s “assassination” in East Jerusalem. The leftist movement said in a statement that the “terror practiced by the….
Government, media discuss partisanship in Nablus
9/22/2010 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — A research unit from the Ma’an News Network briefed journalists and government officials in Nablus on the policies of its members on impartiality and aims of using media to promote good governance. Held Monday in the northern West Bank city, the seminar addressed representatives of rights organizations and Palestinian….
Fatah denies Hamas claim that Egypt will force unity
9/22/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — An imminent reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah ending four years of rivalry is not likely soon, Fatah member Azzam Al-Ahmad said Wednesday. Al-Ahmad denied remarks by Hamas and independent officials who had expressed hopes for an amendment to an Egyptian unity deal brokered but never signed by Hamas following accusations….
Al-Masri optimistic after latest Gaza unity talks
9/22/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Palestinian National Coalition leader Munib Al-Masri said “national conciliation is on the right track” after meeting with Gaza government premier Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters, Al-Masri said talks with Hamas over coming to a unity deal with rival movement Fatah were based on “articles of….
Palestine Note co-hosting Prime Minister Fayyad, Thursday
Palestine Note 22 Sep 2010 – Washington – Palestine Note in conjunction with the New America Foundation will be hosting Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad for a talk entitled “Building Palestine Under Occupation.” Prime Minister Fayyad will candidly discuss many key…
UN Human Rights Council: Israel attack on flotilla illegal
Palestine Note 22 Sep 2010 – Washington – A report issued by United Nations human rights experts stated that the raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla on May 31 resulting in the death of 9 Turkish activists violated international law, Haaretz reported Wednesday….
Egyptians rally for democracy both on the streets and online
Palestine Note 22 Sep 2010 – Washington – Egyptians have turned to sites such as Twitter and Facebook to continue their outcries against the current regime of President Hosni Mubarak, AOLnews reported Tuesday. The internet has created a venue for protesters to…
Tension in Gaza over Hamas’ campaign to detain spies
Palestine Note 22 Sep 2010 – Washington – A heightened sense of paranoia has spread throughout Gaza as Hamas continues its campaign to seek out Palestinian collaborators for Israel, Haaretz reported Wednesday. Though this is not a new policy enacted by Hamas,…
Israeli guard shoots Palestinian dead, sparking riots
Palestine Note 22 Sep 2010 – Washington – An Israeli security guard opened fire and killed 32-year-old Samar Sarchan while driving through Silwan, a section of East Jerusalem, after his car was blocked and stoned by dozens of Palestinians on Wednesday, Haaretz…
Abbas: Settlement construction won’t end talks
Palestine Note 22 Sep 2010 – “I cannot say I will leave the negotiations” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has stated several times throughout the process of the current negotiations that he will walk away from the talks should the Israeli settlement freeze…
Palestinians must toughen up strategically to win freedom
Palestine Note 22 Sep 2010 – Critics of the peace talks always ask the question, why should the Palestinian people who have lost so much give up the right to fight to get it back? The answer is simple. Do they want…
How legitimate is the Palestinian negotiator?
Palestine Note 22 Sep 2010 – President Mahmoud Abbas’ leadership of the Palestinian people is often taken for granted, when in fact his legitimacy and that of his government are very much in question. His rule is described, by Western observers, autocratic…
Israel makes meeting another Arab a crime
Palestine Note 22 Sep 2010 – ‘Vague’ law used to lock up activists A vague security offence of “contact with a foreign agent” is being used by Israel’s secret police, the Shin Bet, to lock up Arab political activists in Israel without…
Peretz, Thomas, and the Middle East double standard
Palestine Note 22 Sep 2010 – LAST JUNE, veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas was fired for telling Jews to “get the hell out of Palestine.” While many were deeply and rightly offended by Thomas’s remarks, it was a sad end to…
‘Israel flotilla raid was unlawful’
AlJazeera 22 Sep 2010 – UN Gaza aid probe says the raid of Israeli forces on flotilla was in violation of international law.
Russia bans Iran missile delivery
AlJazeera 22 Sep 2010 – Russia cancels its delivery of S-300 defence missile sytem to Iran, but its deal to sell cruise missiles to Syria holds.
East Jerusalem clash turns deadly
AlJazeera 22 Sep 2010 – One Palestinian killed and five others wounded in clash with Jewish settlers in Silwan neighbourhood.
Iran says US captives can be freed
AlJazeera 22 Sep 2010 – President Ahmadinejad says the two US detainees in Iran can be released but it is up to the court to decide.
The House Of A Gaza-Based Journalist Get raided; Equipment Stolen
PNN – Gaza ‚Äì PNN ‚Äì the house of Alhayat Aljadedah newspaper correspondent Nufouth Al Bakri located in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, was raided on Tuesday night. Al Bakri said that the police…
Oldest Turkel Committee Member Shabtai Rosenne Dies Of Cardiac Arrest
PNN – Jerusalem ‚Äì PNN – The oldest member of the Turkel commission, Shabtai Roseene died on Tuesday night at the age of 93 of Cardiac arrest at his home in Jerusalem. The Turkel…
Mr. Zoughbi Zoughbi Receives World Vision International Peace Building Award
PNN – By: Roula Salman – Wi’am – On a Beautiful bright Sunday, a shining spotless Peace building award (a harmony flame) was waiting on a counter to be given to Mr. Zoughbi Zoughbi (…
Hebron: Israeli Settlers And Soldiers Surround A School, Arrest Two Children
PNN – Hebron ‚Äì PNN ‚Äì Two Palestinian children were arrested on Wednesday after Israeli settlers and soldiers surrounded their school in Hebron old city, southern West Bank. Saleh Abu Sliyma, the headmaster of…
Israel’s Military Arrests 13 civilians During Raids To West Bank Communities
PNN – Ramallah – PNN ‚Äì The Israeli military invaded on Wednesday morning a number of West Bank communities and arrested 13 Palestinian civilians. Israeli raids were reported in the cities of Nablus and…
Israel Subsidizes Obstacles to Peace
PNN – By Shir Hever – Alternative Information Center (AIC) – The current round of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians is taking place in the shadow of Israel’s blatant disregard of international law,…
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Unknown Persons Rob Office of Journalist Nofouz al-Bakri
Palestinian Center for Human Rights Field Update Today at dawn, Unknown persons raided the office of Nofouz al-Bakri, a journalist working for al-Hayat al-Jadida newspaper. They robbed the contents of the office, including communication devices and private documents.
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (08-15 September 2010)
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Sourani Meets with French Consul General, Vice Consul in Gaza, and He and Civil Society’s Representatives Meet with Minister of Interior in Gaza Government
Palestinian Center for Human Rights Ref: 70/2010 On Tuesday, 21 September 2010, Mr. Raji Sourani, Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), met with the French Consul General in Jerusalem, Mr. Fr?©d?©ric Desagneaux, and Vice Consul in the Gaza Strip, Mr. Majdi Shaqqoura.
Molotovs, stones still thrown as J’lem violence quietens
Jeruslalem Post 22 Sep 2010 – East Jerusalem resident shot by security said to be affiliated with Fatah movement; Palestinians throw Molotov cocktails at police, Jewish targets.
MK Zoabi lauds UN panel report accusing IDF of criminality
Jeruslalem Post 22 Sep 2010 – Balad politician calls for soldiers’ indictment after fact finding mission concludes Gaza naval blockade unlawful due to humanitarian crisis; Foreign Ministry slams report saying council had “biased, politicized, extremist approach.”
UN human rights experts say flotilla raid broke int’l law
Jeruslalem Post 22 Sep 2010 – Fact finding mission concludes Gaza naval blockade unlawful due to humanitarian crisis; military raid “brutal and disproportionate”; Foreign Ministry slams claims saying council had “biased, politicized and extremist approach.”
Palestinians say Netanyahu responsible for Silwan killing
Jeruslalem Post 22 Sep 2010 – PA spokesperson blames PM for incident; says another one of Netanyahu’s “trust wrecking moves,” crime added to series of crimes of occupation.
Barak to Abbas: ‘We can’t miss breakthrough opportunity’
Jeruslalem Post 22 Sep 2010 – Defense minister meets with PA president in New York in “friendly atmosphere,” says time for both sides to take responsibility.
Gaza residents detained by Hamas under suspicion of spying
Jeruslalem Post 22 Sep 2010 – Hamas refuses to say who has been arrested since the arrests began earlier in September.
Riots erupt in Silwan after man killed by security guard
Jeruslalem Post 22 Sep 2010 – A 32-year-old east J’lem resident was shot and killed by a security guard after residents threw rocks at him and blocked streets with trash cans; police officer lightly injured as security forces try to disperse crowds.
Turkel C’tee’s Prof. Shabtai Rosen, 93, dies in J’lem home
Jeruslalem Post 22 Sep 2010 – Accomplished professor of international law and recipient of Israel Prize for jurisprudence to be laid to rest in Jerusalem.
Analysis: Under Ashkenazi, IDF takes itself more seriously
Jeruslalem Post 21 Sep 2010 – The chief of General Staff has shifted the army’s focus from anti-terror activities to fighting a war.
Livni to ‘Post:’ Gov’t is alienating Diaspora Jews
Jeruslalem Post 21 Sep 2010 – Opposition leader to tour N. America addressing conversion, civil marriage, peace process and deterioration of Israel’s image internationally.
Ashkenazi: Hamas will pay if it fires rockets on Eilat
Jeruslalem Post 21 Sep 2010 – IDF chief says sale of Russian missile to Syria disturbing but can be dealt with; hints at possibility of Iron Dome presence in North.
Shir Hadash: A new community center in Jerusalem
Jeruslalem Post 21 Sep 2010 – Sharansky to be guest speaker at cornerstone laying ceremony this month.
Spreading the good word
Jeruslalem Post 21 Sep 2010 – Swedish pastor Ulf Ekman explains why he supports Israel, and why all Christians should.
Feeding the ‘Anglo’ poor
Jeruslalem Post 21 Sep 2010 – With poverty rates in Israel rising, so too are the numbers of hungry English-speaking immigrants relying on food aid organizations, especially during holidays like Succot.
International Solidarity Movement
Two Silwan residents shot dead by settlement guards
9/22/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – Wadi Hilweh Information Center ‚Äì Silwan – Massive army presence as clashes continue in Baten el-Hawa, next to Beit Yonathan settlement. – Very early this morning in Silwan Village, a patrol of private armed guards stopped near a group of unarmed Palestinian men who were on the Wadi Hilweh Street. According to eyewitness reports, the guards spoke….
Turkel committee member Shabtai Rosenne dies at 93
Ha’aretz – The Israel Prize laureate and top expert in international law will be laid to rest on Wednesday in Jerusalem.
Archaeologists find theater box at Herod’s palace in Judean desert
Ha’aretz – Archaeologists at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University say the room provides further evidence of King Herod’s famed taste for extravagance.
UN Human Rights Council: Israel flotilla raid broke international law
Ha’aretz – UN appointed experts say that the military raid on the flotilla was ‘brutal and disproportionate’.
Norway: Deputy FM Ayalon ‘distorted the facts’ about meeting with Palestinian PM
Ha’aretz – Norway’s Foreign Minister rejects Daniel Ayalon’s claims that Tuesday meeting with Palestinian PM was tense, ended abruptly.
U.S. and Iran trying to set up covert diplomatic channel
Ha’aretz – Diplomats from the two countries meet in New York to discuss the establishment of unofficial diplomatic relations.
Bill Clinton’s ‘Russian immigrants are obstacle to peace’ comment draws fire in Israel
Ha’aretz – Former U.S. President tells press that Russian immigrants and settlers are those least interested in peace in Israel., At least 10 Israelis wounded in riots near Temple Mount, Western Wall…
Egypt hits back at Israel at tense UN meeting on nukes
Ha’aretz – Delegate at IAEA conference lashes out at Israel for questioning Egypt’s commitment to nuclear non-proliferation.
Riots in Temple Mount, Western Wall area after Palestinian shot dead by Israeli guard
Ha’aretz – At least 10 Israelis wounded in clashes which broke out following funeral of man shot dead in Silwan earlier in the day.
Hamas action to catch spies spreads panic in Gaza
Ha’aretz – Hamas refuses to say who it has arrested, a policy that has sparked a furious rumor mill since the arrests began earlier in September.
Abbas signals renewed settlement construction won’t end talks
Ha’aretz – Abbas has repeatedly threatened to walk away from peace talks, launched this month in Washington, if Israel resumes building in its West Bank settlements.
Palestinian shot dead by Israeli guard in East Jerusalem, sparking riots
Ha’aretz – Dozens of Silwan residents hurl rocks at police forces stationed at the scene; one policeman lightly wounded.
U.S. won’t comment on reports of Pollard release deal
Ha’aretz – Obtaining the release of convicted Israeli spy would give Netanyahu political cover if he extends the settlement building freeze.
Iran: Bomb kills 11 during military parade
Uruknet September 22, 2010 – At least eleven people were killed in a bomb blast during a military parade in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province, on Wednesday morning, 22 September 2010, according to various state and opposition news outlets. The Arabic-language Al Alam news channel, a subsidiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, was one of the first sources to…
Video: Intifada In Silwan
Uruknet The streets of Silwan were on fire Wednesday morning, as residents of the East Jerusalem neighbourhood expressed their anger in light of the shooting death of a member of their community. 30-year-old Palestinian man Samir Solhan was shot and killed by an Israeli settler guard at approximately 4:30 a.m. Wednesday…
Human rights centre claims that Israeli prisons “are worse than Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib”
Uruknet September 20, 2010 – A Palestinian human rights group has branded the treatment of Palestinians in Israeli prisons as “worse than Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib”. According to the Prisoners’ Studies Centre, Israeli soldiers have forced dozens of Palestinian prisoners to strip naked at gunpoint before being searched, despite complaints from the prisoners. One of the 120 prisoners transferred from…
Ahmadinejad optimistic on dialogue
Uruknet September 22, 2010 – Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad stated on Tuesday that he was optimistic about the renewal of dialogue between the United States and Iran. “We are ready for dialogue. I think it is probable that the talks will begin in the near future,” Ahmadinejad told a small group of United States reporters at a breakfast meeting…Responding to…
Silwan: Settlers Open Fire at Funeral Procession, Police Cars Burning
Uruknet September 22, 2010 – Around 2 PM settlers were firing live ammunition from the settlements at the funeral procession of one of the martyrs killed this morning by the private settler security guards here in Silwan. As a result clashes have broken out between Palestinians and armed Israeli military forces, empty Israeli buses have also been stoned. On the…
Two Silwan residents shot dead by settlement guards
Uruknet September 22, 2010 – Massive army presence as clashes continue in Baten el-Hawa, next to Beit Yonathan settlement. Very early this morning in Silwan Village, a patrol of private armed guards stopped near a group of unarmed Palestinian men who were on the Wadi Hilweh Street. According to eyewitness reports, the guards spoke provocatively to the Palestinians, and an…
Israel Rules Out Signing Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Uruknet September 21, 2010 – Israeli officials today scorned a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) calling on them to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), insisting it was unfair to single Israel out when they aren’t the only nation on the planet that has refused to sign it. Israel is however the only country in the Middle…
Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Bedouin
Uruknet September 21, 2010 – …According to Adalah, the Legal Centre for the Arab Minority in Israel, “the [Israeli] government refuses to allow any physical infrastructure development in these villages, thus prohibiting the building and repairing of homes and the construction of paved roads and proper sewage facilities in these communities. New construction requires a permit from the government; however,…
Are Israel’s supporters really “banking on the Green Revolution”?
Uruknet September 21, 2010 – … I think the propagandists, naives, or apologists of IR who claim that “Israeli government is banking on the Green Revolution” meaning that it welcomes justice and democracy in Iran need to hide such evidences, like Ghazal Omid passionately omitting nationalistic emotions in A’nejad Kabab party, so that we believe them that IR and Israeli government…
Israel jails Arab activists for vague ‘contact with a foreign agent’
Uruknet September 21, 2010 – A vague security offence of “contact with a foreign agent” is being used by Israel’s secret police, the Shin Bet, to lock up Arab political activists in Israel without evidence that a crime has been committed, human rights lawyers alleged this week. The lawyers said the Shin Bet was exploiting the law to characterise innocent…
Video:Celebrities cultural boycotting Israel
Uruknet September 21, 2010 – The issue of Israeli settlements has captured attention far beyond the arena of international politics. Several celebrities have now thrown their weight behind what is being termed a “cultural boycott” against further building on Palestinian land. But with Israel’s construction freeze due to expire at the end of the month, there are doubts that these…
Gaza medical sector facing crisis
Uruknet September 21, 2010 – The organization Medecin Sans Frontieres [Doctors Without Borders] has emphasised that the continued Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip which has lasted for several years has had a negative impact on the health sector and provision of medical services to the sick and wounded. During a press conference in Gaza on Tuesday, 21 September, the…
The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat demands the release of all Palestinian Authority political prisoners and an end to the policy of security cooperation
Uruknet September 21, 2010 – The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat demands that the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and its security services to end its policy of political arrests and persecution, free all political prisoners from its jails, and respect the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people. The Palestinian Authority continues to adhere to the policy of security cooperation…
Children of Catastrophe – Book Review
Uruknet September 21, 2010 – Children of Catastrophe is a work of courage, love – of family, friends, and country – persistence, grief, sorrow, joy, anger, bravery, fear, and frustration – in short it encompasses all the emotions that not only are part of life, but a large part of life for a child born and raised in a refugee…
There Is No Freeze
Uruknet September 21, 2010 – With eleven days left until the end of the settlement freeze, the construction company Naot Pisgah decided to jump the gun. Despite the current peace talks hinging critically on the issue of continued illegal construction in Palestinian territory, the company started construction 14 September in Modi’in Illit. Naot Pisgah saw themselves with little financial options….
Freedom Flotilla Survivors Lead New Convoy
Uruknet September 21, 2010 – Two survivors from the Israeli assault on the Mavi Marmara are leading the Viva Palestina convoy to break the siege of Gaza. Nicci Enchmarch and Kevin Ovenden were both aboard the Mavi Marmara when it was attacked by Israeli military navy in the early hours of 31st May. The Viva Palestina Lifeline 5 convoy carries…
Who Are the Two Guant?°namo Prisoners Freed in Germany?
Uruknet September 21, 2010 – On Thursday, two Guant?°namo prisoners were released, to start new lives in Germany, bringing the prison’s population to 174. Announcing their arrival, Interior Minister Thomas de Maizi?®re stated that, by taking them in, Germany had “made its humanitarian contribution to closing the detention center.” He also noted that the two men had asked for their…
Israel Turns its Guns on Internationals
Uruknet September 21, 2010 – With every day that passes Israel further establishes itself as one of the world’s leading violators of human rights. To its British and American allies this may be seen as a gross overstatement; after all there are plenty of despotic, third world countries that arguably have worse human rights records. The question is – how…
Israel seeks release of spy in exchange for extending settlement freeze
Uruknet September 20, 2010 – Israel is seeking the release of an American jailed for life for spying for the Jewish state in return for concessions in the renewed peace process with the Palestinians, including the extension of a partial freeze on the expansion of settlements in the occupied territories. According to Israel’s army radio, the prime minister’s office has…
Israel police raid Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem funeral riot
The National 22 Sep 2010 – A funeral procession for a Palestinian man shot dead in a flashpoint area of East Jerusalem erupts into full-scale rioting and bloody clashes.
IOF Arrests 16 Citizens in West Bank
WAFA РWEST BANK, September 22, 2010 (WAFA) – The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested late night and early morning 16 citizens from the West Bankcities of Nablus, Bethlehem
Quartet Urges For Continuation Israeli Settlement Moratorium
WAFA – NEW York, September 22, 2010 (WAFA)- The Middle East Quartet (United Nations, Russian Federation, United States, and European Union) noted that the commendable Israeli settlement moratorium
Abbas Stresses on Complete Cessation of Settlement Activities
WAFA – NEW YORK, September 22, 2010 (WAFA)- President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated last night, the requirements of achieving a just peace in the region, and confirmedit is represented by the establishment
President Emphasizes Need to Stop Settlements if Negotiations Were to Continue
WAFA – NEW YORK, September 22, 2010 (WAFA)- President Mahmoud Abbas, emphasized the need to stop Israeli settlement activities in Palestinian territory if the peace negotiations were to continue and
Masked Israelis Kill Palestinian in Silwan
WAFA – JERUSALEM, September,22,2010 (WAFA)- Masked Israeli forces assassinated Wednesday dawn Samer Serhan, at his early thirties in Silwan town south Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, as they
AHLC Calls for Supporting PA’s Program, Peace Negotiations
WAFA – NEW YORK,September 22, 2010 (WAFA( – Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), reaffirmed Tuesday its pledge to assist in implementing the second year of the PA’s program for building a viable
Fashion Week Soiree Hosted by Settlement Builder Draws Protest
WAFA – NEW YORK, September 22, 2010 (WAFA)- More than a dozen human rights activists surprised an end of New York Fashion Week shindig hosted at the Madison Avenue diamond boutique of the notorious Israeli
Clashes erupt in Jerusalem after Jewish settlement guard kills Palestinian
Daily Star 22 Sep 2010 REGGIO DI CALABRIA, Italy: Italian authorities have seized 7 tons of powerful RDX explosive being shipped from Iran to Syria, police said on Wednesday.Anti-mafia police found the cargo in a shipping container on a Liberian-registered ship…
Italy seizes seven tons of Iranian explosives being shipped to Syria
Daily Star 22 Sep 2010 REGGIO DI CALABRIA, Italy: Italian authorities have seized 7 tons of powerful RDX explosive being shipped from Iran to Syria, police said on Wednesday.Anti-mafia police found the cargo in a shipping container on a Liberian-registered ship…
Bomb attack in western Iran kills 10, wounds dozens
Daily Star 22 Sep 2010 TEHRAN: A bomb exploded at a military parade in northwestern Iran on Wednesday, killing 10 spectators in an attack that one official blamed on Kurdish separatists who have fought Iranian forces in the area for decades.
PKK: Israelis helping Turks to destroy Kurds
Daily Star 22 Sep 2010 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM : The leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) accused Israel of helping Turkey destroy the Kurdish people, in an interview published on Wednesday.”Once we were friends,” Murat Karayilan told an Israeli reporter, adding though…
Quartet keeps pressure on over illegal Jewish settlements
Daily Star 22 Sep 2010 The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators urged Israel on Tuesday to extend its settlement moratorium and called on Palestinian and Israeli officials to ensure their nascent direct peace talks continue.The statement issued by the United…
Conservative Switzerland gets majority female cabinet
Daily Star 22 Sep 2010 GENEVA: Switzerland’s Parliament on Wednesday gave women a majority of Cabinet posts for the first time in the history of one Europe’s most conservative countries. Women only gained the vote at national level in 1971 and…
Clinton, Taha meet amid pressure on Sudan to hold vote
Daily Star 22 Sep 2010 NEW YORK: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Sudan’s Vice President Ali Osman Taha late on Tuesday, as international pressure mounted on Khartoum to hold two planned referendums next year that could lead to the…
UN panel accuses Israel of war crimes for ‘unlawful’ assault on Gaza flotilla
The Guardian 22 Sep 2010 – Israel dismisses report of ‘unnecessary and incredibly violent’ attack as ‘politicised and extremist’ A United Nations panel of human rights experts has accused Israel of war crimes through willful killing, unnecessary brutality and torture in its “…
Gaza flotilla attack: UN report condemns Israeli ‘brutality’
The Guardian 22 Sep 2010 – UN Human Rights Council accuses Israel of a ‘disproportionate’ response to Gaza blockade-breakers, nine of whom died A UN-appointed panel said today that Israeli forces violated international law, “including international humanitarian and human rights law”, during…
Israeli security guard shoots dead Palestinian man
The Guardian 22 Sep 2010 – Residents in East Jerusalem dispute Israeli police claim guard shot two men after car was blocked and stoned An Israeli security guard shot dead a Palestinian man thismorning during clashes in a contested East Jerusalem neighbourhood….
Israel’s unreasonable demand | Omar Rahman
The Guardian 22 Sep 2010 – Asking Palestinians to recognise Israel as a Jewish state is like urging the IRA to see Northern Ireland as a Protestant entity “The Palestinians must recognise Israel as a Jewish state.” This is the mantra of…
Ban discusses Middle East developments with top Russian official
Relief Web 22 Sep 2010 – Source: UN News Service
UNRWA and UNICEF distribute back-to-school kits to Palestinian students in Lebanon
Relief Web 22 Sep 2010 – Source: UN Children’s Fund, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
Back to a Beautiful Preschool in Gaza
Relief Web 22 Sep 2010 – Source: American Near East Refugee Aid
Israel responds to report by the HRC Committee of Independent Experts
Relief Web 22 Sep 2010 – Source: Government of Israel
8th Week against the Apartheid Wall, November 9 – 16 2010
Stop The Wall – [
Al-Ma’sara honours the victims of the Sabra and Shatila massacre
Stop The Wall – Dozens of demonstrators were tear gassed by the IOF as they attempted to shut down the weekly protest in Al-Ma’sara. The protest marked on the 28th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre. It was also being held with deputy Khaleda Jarrar who was prevented from travelling by the IOF. [
Russian general confirms Iran missile deal frozen
YNet News – Allaying Israeli, American concerns, armed forces chief of staff confirms Moscow….
Hamas action to catch spies spreads panic in Gaza
YNet News – Gaza-based political scientist says terror group feels its government has been….
Russia says may sell more arms to Syria
YNet News – Defense Minister Serdyukov tells Bloomberg Moscow conducting ‘serious….
Iran: Bomb attack during military parade kills 10
YNet News – Most victims women gathered to watch parade marking anniversary of Iran-Iraq….
Israel is aging
YNet News – New data show some 742,000 citizens aged 65 or above ‚Äì figure expected to double….
Settlers: Damage caused by construction freeze is long term
YNet News – Leaders of Jewish communities in West Bank say only a few hundred housing units….
Turkel committee member Shabtai Rosenne dies at 93
YNet News – Oldest member of Turkel commission investigating IDF raid on Gaza-bound flotilla….
Bill Clinton: Russian immigrants ‘obstacle to peace’
YNet News – Russian immigrants to Israel are one of the main obstacles to reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians, former US President Bill Clinton said Tuesday to reporters …….
Academicians: Bill Clinton stuck in 1990s
YNet News – Are Russians really against a land exchange? Do native Israelis and Ashkenazim believe in peace? Are Moroccans undecided? Israeli academicians believe former US President …….
J’lem riots resume; police back shooter
YNet News – Jerusalem District Police Commander Aharon Franco on Wednesday evening backed an Israeli security guard who shot Silwan resident Samar Sarchan to death early Wednesday in …….
Barak asks Abbas to ‘show responsibility’
YNet News – Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday in New York, where the two are holding meetings with senior American officials, on …….
Riots erupt after Silwan man shot to death
YNet News – A Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem’s Silwan neighborhood was shot dead by a Jewish security guard in the early hours of Friday morning. Two other Palestinians were …….
PA: Silwan killing – another Netanyahu crime
YNet News – The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday harshly condemned the killing of Samar Sarchan, who was shot to death by a security guard in the east Jerusalem village of Silwan. …….
Prohibited mining of minerals in West Bank to be reduced
B’tselem 21 Sep 2010 – Following Yesh Din’s petition to the High Court in March 2009, Israel decided to stop Israeli quarrying activity in the West Bank. Since 1967, Israeli quarrying there has been used mainly for construction in Israel and the settlements, in breach of interngram FilesQ
Palestinian Information Center
FIP condemns PA kidnap of MP Zeidan
PIC 22 Sep 2010 – The international Forum for Islamic Parliamentarians (FIP) has condemned the PA security militia in the West Bank for abducting Palestinian deputy Abdulrahman Zeidan after violently storming his home.
Swiss NGOs demand cancellation of Defense Minister’s visit to Israel
PIC 22 Sep 2010 – A group of NGOs in Switzerland filed a petition against Swiss Defense Minister Ueli Maurer, who announced he would make an official visit to Israel to meet with Israeli war minister Ehud Barak.
Fatah delegation to discuss reconciliation with Hamas leaders in Syria
PIC 22 Sep 2010 – A delegation of Fatah movement leaders will land Thursday in the Syrian capital of Damascus to meet Hamas leaders and discuss national reconciliation and Palestinian-Egyptian efforts in that regard.
Israeli occupation police storm Aqsa Mosque
PIC 22 Sep 2010 – Israeli security forces stormed the holy Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday at the pretext of chasing young Palestinian men who threw stones at those forces.
Ynet: 2,000 settlement units to be built after freeze ends this month
PIC 22 Sep 2010 – Israeli settlers expect the government will stick to its decision to allow free building for settlers throughout the entire West Bank after the Israeli settlement freeze ends this month.
Turkey : beware of Israeli snake
PIC 22 Sep 2010 – instead of apologizing to Turkey for the murderous piracy in which 9 Turkish citizens were murdered, the Israeli propaganda machine resorted to sheer lies in a desperate effort to evade the truth.
Hamas urges West Bankers to confront Israeli settlers
PIC 22 Sep 2010 – The Hamas Movement called on the Palestinian people in the West Bank to stand up in the face of Israeli settlers and protect their lands and holy sites.
Khreisha condemns PA’s abduction of Zeidan as a violation of law
PIC 22 Sep 2010 – Second deputy speaker of the PLC Hassan Khreisha condemned the PA hour-long abduction of MP Abdel Rahman Zeidan, calling the move an unprecedented violation of democratic values.
Hamas: Silwan events prove peace talks used as a cover for Israel’s crimes
PIC 22 Sep 2010 – The Hamas Movement stated that Silwan events reflect that Israel uses its talks with the Palestinian Authority to cover its intended crimes and violence against the Palestinian people.
IOF soldiers cordon off 1967-occupied Palestinian lands for Jewish festival
PIC 22 Sep 2010 – The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) imposed on Tuesday a tight security cordon throughout the 1967-occupied Palestinian lands at the pretext of Jewish holidays.
Iran is far from united behind Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
LA Times 22 Sep 2010 – Opposition figures, moderate politicians and even hard-liners openly criticize the divisive Iranian president. In New York, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can boast that he’s the talk of the town, appearing on television shows with the likes of Christiane Amanpour and Larry King, hobnobbing with fellow heads of state and addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.
Fatal shooting sets off violent clashes in East Jerusalem
LA Times 23 Sep 2010 – With peace talks at an impasse, the killing of a Palestinian man by an Israeli security guard leads to rioting in an Arab-dominated area. Rock-throwing attacks spread to the Old City. With U.S.-brokered peace talks hanging by a thread, clashes erupted in East Jerusalem on Wednesday after a private Israeli security guard, working for Jewish residents of an Arab-dominated area, shot to death a Palestinian man during an early-morning altercation.
World powers say Iran nuclear talks could resume soon
LA Times 22 Sep 2010 – Diplomats say recent signs indicate Tehran is willing to return to the negotiating table. Six world powers may resume talks with Iran over its disputed nuclear program as early as this fall, officials said Wednesday.
Bombing at parade in Iran kills 12, including a child
LA Times 23 Sep 2010 – The wives of two top Iranian military leaders are among those killed. The blast, which comes on a nationalist holiday in the restive Kurdish region, also injures 75. A bombing at a martial parade in western Iran on Wednesday killed at least 12 people, including a 5-year-old and the wives of two Iranian military commanders. The explosion struck amid a large crowd attending the event, which was intended to underscore the nation’s battle readiness.
Clashes in Jerusalem as Talks Snag
New York Times 22 Sep 2010 – Negotiators were seeking an elusive formula with a freeze on settlements due to end this weekend.
Russia Ends Talk of Missile Sale to Iran
New York Times 22 Sep 2010 – The announcement signaled a deeper commitment by Russia to the Security Council’s fourth round of sanctions against Iran, passed in June.
Bomb Hits Parade in Kurdish-Majority City in Iran
New York Times 22 Sep 2010 – A bomb exploded at a military parade in Iran, killing at least ten people, mostly women and children.
HEBRON REFLECTION: “Captain, Where Is Your Sense of Decency?”
Christian Peacemaker Teams – Palestine – I wondered what was going on in your heart. I had often encountered you on the streets before this day, and most often I observed you as a decent policeman trying to do your job. This day I saw something so different in you.
HEBRON: Israeli Military and Policemen Shut Three Palestinian Shops
Christian Peacemaker Teams – Palestine – Israeli soldiers and police weld shut three Palestinian shops near a regular “Open Shuhada Street” demonstration site, leaving one injured, one expelled, four imprisoned (and thousands still under military occupation).
Intifada In Silwan
Palestine Monitor – The streets of Silwan were on fire Wednesday morning, as residents of the East Jerusalem neighbourhood expressed their anger in light of the shooting death of a member of their community. Jillian Kestler-D’Amours reporting from Silwan. 30-year-old Palestinian man Samir Solhan was shot and killed by…
In grief-stricken Silwan–contempt for politicians, and talk of a third intifadah
Mondoweiss – Palestinians riotedthis afternoon in Silwan, a village right outside the Old City of Jerusalem, following the killing earlier in the dayof aPalestinianman by an armed guard at a Jewish settlement in the occupied neighborhood. Joseph Dana postedpictures of the “revolt” here. An activist friend in West…
Will liberal Jews take responsibility for their role in American policy and the suffering of the Palestinian people?
Mondoweiss – The following is a Yom Kippur sermon on American Jews and Israel that I gave at Tikkun v’Or in Ithaca New York. I want to start my sermon with a kavvanah (spiritual intention) of two quotes, one from the Psalms and the other from Arundhati Roy…
On second thought: Abbas signals renewed settlement construction won’t end talks
Mondoweiss – And other news from Today in Palestine: Land and Property Theft and Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing Abbas signals renewed settlement construction won’t end talks Abbas has repeatedly threatened to walk away from peace talks, launched this month in Washington, if Israel resumes building in its West Bank settlements….
What is Israel’s goal in the peace talks ‚Äì three states for two peoples?
Mondoweiss – The following article originally appeared in NRG , the website of the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv: Who among us who continue to follow the current affairs in this country, are again wondering, with the opening of the current round of talks, what does Israel really want? I…
Contrary to reports, Peretz will address Harvard social studies gathering
Mondoweiss – It has been widely reported that Marty Peretz was dropped as a speaker from this weekend’s 50th Anniversary of Social Studies gathering at Harvard University. This appears to be incorrect. The Harvard Crimson reports on the official statement of thethe Standing Committee on Degrees in Social…
Israeli Occupation Forces Kill Palestinian in Al-Quds
Al-Manar 22 Sep 2010 – Israeli occupation forces shot dead a Palestinian in al-Quds Wednesday amid clashes between Israeli settlers and Palestinians. The martyr was identified as 32-year old Samer Serhan, according to the Associated Press. Occupation forces opened fire at Palestinians in the Silwan neighborhood as they retaliated to…
Palestinians to call for boycott of Israeli goods in front of settlement supermarket
Joseph Dana 22 Sep 2010 – Where the Wall Meets the Fence in Nil’in. Photo by Joseph Dana. With settlement construction freeze possibly ending soon, protesters will hold a vigil reasserting their continued objection to Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and will call on other Palestinians to not…
Hamas prisoners: Violations in Israeli jails rise with every round of peace talk
Sabr 22 Sep 2010 – [ 21/09/2010 – 03:25 PM ] WEST BANK, ( PIC )— The Hamas senior leadership committee of prisoners in Israeli jails said Tuesday that recent cell raids in Israeli jails recur with every new round of negotiations between PA chief Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu….
Egyptian writer: Arresting Debabesh meant to pressure Hamas to sign document
Sabr 22 Sep 2010 – [ 21/09/2010 – 03:20 PM ] CAIRO, ( PIC )— An Egyptian writer has opined that the Egyptian authorities’ detention of Hamas leader Mohammed Debabesh on his way back home from performing Umra was meant as a pressure card on Hamas to sign the Egyptian document for Palestinian…
Israel flotilla raid ‘broke law’
BBC 22 Sep 2010 – Israel’s military broke international law and showed “unacceptable” brutality in a raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, a UN human rights team says.
Jerusalem clashes after man shot
BBC 22 Sep 2010 – Violent clashes erupt in parts of East Jerusalem after a Palestinian man is shot and killed by an Israeli security guard.
Iran military march bomb kills 12
BBC 22 Sep 2010 – Twelve people are killed and at least 35 wounded in a bomb attack on a military parade in north-western Iran, officials say.
Russia bans missile sale to Iran
BBC 22 Sep 2010 – The Kremlin formally bans the sale of S-300 air defence missile systems to Iran three months after new UN sanctions.
The Pollard Principle
Antiwar.com 22 Sep 2010 – On July 13 of this year, the municipal government of Jerusalem honored one of Israel’s most popular national heroes, a man who had suffered and sacrificed his all for the Jewish state, and is recognized by practically everyone as not only a hero but a modern…
US Could Be Alone as Europe Turns Inward
Antiwar.com 22 Sep 2010 – The relationship between Western Europe and the colonies that became the United States was complicated from the beginning, when the North American settlements were mere appendages of the European powers, and were drawn into their conflicts ‚Äì King William III’s and Queen Anne’s wars, the French…
Articles
VIDEO – As Israel Slides Toward Fascism, Citizens and Supporters Swear Their Loyalty
Max Blumenthal and Joseph Dana, AlterNet9/20/2010
Swearing a loyalty oath to Israel as an ethnic state is gaining legitimacy; a video produced by the authors shows the willingness of Israeli residents to pledge allegiance.
September 20, 2010 “Alternet” – – The Israeli Knesset is debating a bill proposed by David Rotem of the extreme right Yisrael Beiteinu party that would require all Israeli citizens to swear loyalty to Israel as a “Jewish and democratic state.” This bill is targeted at increasing pressure on the 20 percent of Israelis who are Palestinian citizens, while forcing the ultra-Orthodox Jewish minority who reject the legitimacy of any state not based on Jewish biblical law to accept Zionism. If passed in its proposed form, citizens unwilling to take the loyalty oath would be at risk of losing citizenship.
Israeli leaders committed to a classic secular political Zionist platform have always fought at all costs to guard Israel’s “Jewish character,” even while they reveal their inability to properly define exactly what it is. The loyalty oath and the push for a two-state solution are the most profound examples of the insecurity that has roiled beneath the surface in Jewish Israeli society since the state’s inception. Without a Jewish majority exhibiting clear legal and political dominance over the non-Jewish or non-Zionist minority, the Zionist movement becomes meaningless. So as the Palestinian-Israeli minority actively resists its dispossession and the ultra-Orthodox stubbornly reject the concept of a Jewish state, the Israeli establishment feels increasingly compelled to seek draconian measures to salvage its vision of Zionism.
The loyalty oath was one of the main platform issues for Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s far-right Yisrael Beitenu party when it campaigned in 2009. “No citizenship without loyalty,” was among Lieberman’s most effective campaign slogans. (His other slogan was “Only Lieberman speaks Arabic.”)…. — See also: Watch the video: Feeling the Loyalty to the Jewish State of Israel more.. e-mail
Amiri Told CIA Iran Has No Nuclear Bomb Program
Gareth Porter, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs9/18/2010
Contrary to a news media narrative that Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri has provided intelligence on covert Iranian nuclear weapons work, CIA sources familiar with the Amiri case say he told his CIA handlers that there is no such Iranian nuclear weapons program, according to a former CIA officer.
Philip Giraldi, a former CIA counterterrorism official, told Inter Press Service (IPS) that his sources are CIA officials with direct knowledge of the entire Amiri operation.
The CIA contacts say that Amiri had been reporting to the CIA for some time before being brought to the U.S. during hajj last year, Giraldi told IPS, initially using satellite-based communication. But the contacts also say Amiri was a radiation safety specialist who was “absolutely peripheral” to Iran’s nuclear program, according to Giraldi.
Amiri provided “almost no information” about Iran’s nuclear program, said Giraldi, but had picked up “scuttlebutt” from other nuclear scientists with whom he was acquainted that the Iranians have no active nuclear weapon program.
Giraldi said information from Amiri’s debriefings was only a minor contribution to the intelligence community’s reaffirmation in the latest assessment of Iran’s nuclear program of the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate’s (NIE) finding that work on a nuclear weapon has not been resumed after being halted in 2003.
Amiri’s confirmation is cited in one or more footnotes to the new intelligence assessment of Iran’s nuclear program, called a “Memorandum to Holders,” according to Giraldi, but it is now being reviewed, in light of Amiri’s “re-defection” to Iran. more.. e-mail
Democracy in Arab Eyes
Bouthaina Shaaban, CounterPunch9/21/2010
Tools of the Other
On International Democracy Day last week, satellite TV channels across our region focused on the type of democracy imported, together with details of the bloodbaths, disasters, wars and American invasions driven by hatred for Muslims. Democracy was invoked as an ideal, regardless of people’s living standards, the disasters befalling them and the gutters they are thrown into under the pretext of raising the standard of political action to the level of ‘democracy’.
In Iraq, a fifth of the population has become illiterate after ‘democratic’ invaders have killed a million people, including thousands of scientists and intellectuals. Mesopotamian memory is full of millions of tragic stories about widows, orphans, poverty, killing and violence brought about by Americans. No one in the Western media writes about the life of these people or tries to assess the actual destruction of the quality of these people’s lives. The same applies to Afghanistan and Pakistan which have been torn by violence and war and daily killing by American drones. American talk about ‘democracy’ is completely divorced from issues such as provision of water, electricity, schools, work, security and dignity. So, what is this democracy, and what are its objectives if it does not aim at improving people’s lives?
No one tried to link this International Day of Democracy to what has happened in Turkey, where an Islamic democracy is growing, based on an unprecedented popular mandate. The constitution has been amended in accordance with the results of a referendum based on national needs not the narrow private interests, as the custom is in Western democracies.
Media coverage of 9/11, International Democracy Day and the referendum in Turkey mostly consisted of spreading hatred against Islam, spreading fanatic concepts against Islam and linking Islam to increasing violence in the world, while ignoring all forms of violence, oppression, killing and wars which Muslims are subjected to at the hands of non-Muslims. more.. e-mail
Palestinians take to Jerusalem streets after killing
Electronic Intifada: 22 Sep 2010 – Protests erupted in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan today after a guard at an Israeli settlement opened fire at Palestinian residents, killing at least one. Joseph Dana reports from the scene of the revolt.more
Copenhagen city council set to vote on divestment
Electronic Intifada: 22 Sep 2010 – Denmark’s Social Democrat party will have a decisive influence on a Copenhagen city council vote tomorrow on whether the municipality should divest $2.3 million from companies involved in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.more
Activists face broad PA crackdown in West Bank
Electronic Intifada: 22 Sep 2010 – As direct negotiations are underway between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, activists with dissenting political parties are being arrested and worse in the occupied West Bank. Nora Barrows-Friedman reports from Dehiesheh refugee camp.more
Intifada In Silwan
Palestine Monitor: 22 Sep 2010 – The streets of Silwan were on fire Wednesday morning, as residents of the East Jerusalem neighbourhood expressed their anger in light of the shooting death of a member of their community. Jillian Kestler-D’Amours reporting from Silwan. 30-year-old Palestinian man Samir Solhan was shot and killed by an Israeli settler guard at approximately 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. According to Silwan residents, another man, Halid Abbasi, was also injured in the incident, but his condition remains unknown. Silwan residents clashed with Israeli riot police and soldiers all morning while police helicopters circled overhead. With scarves and masks covering their faces, young Palestinian men hurled rocks at police, who were guarding the illegal Israeli settlements in the neighbourhood. Police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and sound grenades directly at homes, the residents and their Israeli and international supporters, in blatant disregard of the many women and children walking through the streets. In fact, schoolchildren…more
Iraq Surge in Neo-Con Imagination: The Myth That Kills
Palestine Chronicle: 22 Sep 2010 – By Steve Breyman If you’re like me, you can barely make it through a David Brooks column. Should you arrive at the bitter end, your face is screwed up—like you were sucking lemons or whiffing a fetid odor—in a painful mix of disbelief, consternation, and sadness at the waste of prime op-ed real estate. Most days you quickly move on to whatever’s next, and your face slowly relaxes to normal. I no longer partake of television, so I haven’t had to suffer through Brooks’ banal performances on Jim Lehrer’s show for a couple of years. My recollection is of someone unable to master the obvious. I’ve never had the courage to read one of Brooks’ regular exchanges with his Times colleague Gail Collins in what the paper modestly calls “The Conversation.” Brooks affects a cloying meta-analytical air in his columns, taking on big questions about culture and civilization. The opening…more
Israel Makes Meeting Another Arab a Crime
Palestine Chronicle: 22 Sep 2010 – By Jonathan Cook – Nazareth A vague security offence of ‘contact with a foreign agent’ is being used by Israel’s secret police, the Shin Bet, to lock up Arab political activists in Israel without evidence that a crime has been committed, human rights lawyers alleged this week. The lawyers said the Shin Bet was exploiting the law to characterise innocent or accidental meetings between members of Israel’s large Arab minority and Arab foreign nationals as criminal activity. The chances of such contacts have increased rapidly with advances in new technology and opportunities for Israel’s Arab citizens to travel to the wider Arab world, said Hussein Abu Hussein, a lawyer who represents security detainees. The lawyers’ criticisms come at a particularly sensitive moment, as Israel has been widely accused of hounding two prominent political activists. Both were arrested on the grounds that they spied for the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah. One,…more
BDS: Boycotting Apartheid
Dissident Voice: 22 Sep 2010 – In July, in Rachel Corrie’s hometown of Olympia, Washington state, the popular Food Co-op announced that no Israeli products would be sold at its two grocery stores. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a principal endorser of this new Israel Divestment Campaign, issued a statement endorsing the boycott. “The Olympia Food Co-op has joined a growing worldwide movement on the part of citizens and the private sector to support by non-violent tangible acts the Palestinian struggle for justice and self-determination.” In a surprise move in August, Harvard University divested itself of all its Israel investments, almost $40m worth of shares, including Pharmaceutical Industries, NICE Systems, Check Point Software Technologies, Cellcom Israel and Partner Communications. Initially, Harvard gave no explanation for its actions to the SEC. John Longbrake, spokesman for Harvard, maintained that Harvard has not divested from Israel, that these changes were routine and did not represent a change in policy. But was…more
Should Physicians be Activists?
Dissident Voice: 22 Sep 2010 – Dr. Roland Wong is under threat of losing his license to practice medicine. He didn’t harm anyone. He helped people on social assistance get extra money for food. The average Ontario welfare recipient gets $500 per month. The special dietary allowance program provided extra benefits of up to $250 per month to enable those with medical conditions to purchase more healthful food. An estimated 20 percent of people on social assistance rely on these extra benefits. Wong, who specializes in occupation and community medicine, admits to completing about 15,000 special dietary allowance forms in one year. He not only signed forms for his own patients, he also signed them for people attending mass clinics arranged by anti-poverty activists. Between 2001/02 and 2009/10, the cost of funding the special dietary allowance program rose from $6 million to $220 million. Claiming that the program was being “abused,” the province scrapped it and…more
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The New Dark Age 
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