23 October, 2010 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Settlers Attack Dozens of Protestors, Spray Them With Wastewater
IMEMC – 23 Oct 2010 – Sunday October 24, 2010 – 00:52, A group of fundamentalist Jewish settlers attacked on Saturday a group of nonviolent protestors who demanded Israel to reopen the Al Shuhada Street, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. The settlers hurled stones at the protestors and sprayed them with waste-water.
Extremists Settlers Assault Arab Students In Safad
IMEMC – 23 Oct 2010 – Saturday October 23, 2010 – 13:10, On Friday midnight, a group of extremist settlers hurled stones at students dorms, at the Academics College of Safad, in the Galilee.
Army Abducts Two Palestinians, Invade Homes In Hebron
IMEMC – 23 Oct 2010 – Saturday October 23, 2010 – 11:22, On Saturday morning, the Israeli army kidnapped two Palestinians in Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron, and broke into houses of members of the National Committee Against Settlements.
Settlers Uproot 40 Olive Trees Near Nablus
IMEMC – 23 Oct 2010 – Saturday October 23, 2010 – 10:48, A group of fundamentalist Israeli settlers uprooted on Saturday at least 40 olive trees in Al Lubban Al Sharqiyya village, south the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Settlers Desecrate Graves Near Nablus
IMEMC – 23 Oct 2010 – Saturday October 23, 2010 – 04:44, Israeli settlers desecrated a number of graves near Kufr Qaddoum village, in the northern West Bank district of Nablus, and wrote graffiti on the walls of a number of Palestinian homes.
Falk: “Settlement Construction Makes Peace Seem Like A Mirage”
IMEMC – 23 Oct 2010 – Saturday October 23, 2010 – 03:22, United Nations Human Rights Rapporteur, Professor Richard Falk, stated that Israel’s ongoing settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem makes the ultimate goal of an independent Palestinian state seem like a mirage.
15 Injured; Homes Burned by Israeli troops in attack on Nabi Saleh Protest
IMEMC – 23 Oct 2010 – Friday October 22, 2010 – 16:47, On Friday, at least 15 civilians were injured and three homes were burned by the Israeli military during the weekly anti wall protest in the village of Nabi Saleh in West Bank, according to reporters on the scene with PNN (Palestinian News Agency).
Three Civilians Injured in Bil’in Anti Wall Protest
IMEMC – 23 Oct 2010 – Friday October 22, 2010 – 16:30, The weekly non-violent anti-wall protest in the West Bank village of Bil’in ended with two adults and one child injured by Israeli forces, who attacked the protesters with so-called ‘non-lethal weapons’.
Man Dies in Gaza After Falling into Smuggling Tunnel
IMEMC – 23 Oct 2010 – Friday October 22, 2010 – 15:33, On Friday, 20-year-old Ahmad Maher Abu Tu’eimah from southern Gaza died after falling into a tunnel, near Salah El-Deen gate in Rafah.
Settlers chop down 40 olive trees
10/23/2010 – Correction appendedNABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers cut down and damaged 40 olive trees on Saturday in the northern West Bank village of Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya, southwest of Nablus city, locals said. Akram Jamil Uweis, whose family owns the trees, said his family headed to the field early Saturday morning to harvest olives, and found 40…. Related: In photos: Settlers cut down 40 olive trees
Settlers chop almond trees in Beit Ummar
10/23/2010 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Dozens of Israeli settlers chopped down almond trees in the Wad Al-Wahadin area of the Beit Ummar village in Hebron, marking the second act of vandalism on Saturday. Palestine Solidarity Project spokesman Mohammad Awad said settlers uprooted dozens of trees belonging to the Baher family near the Karmi Zur settlement and….
Ramallah court gives Gazans right to stay
10/23/2010 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Supreme Court in Ramallah decided Friday that Palestinians from Gaza who are living in the West Bank can transfer their residency status, allowing thousand of previously restricted Palestinians to move freely within the West Bank. Palestinians whose ID card shows an address in Gaza risk being deported to Gaza….
Looted Palestinian books ‘brought back to life’
10/23/2010 – AMSTERDAM (Ma’an) — A unique initiative has been launched to tell the story of, and open access to, tens of thousands Palestinian books that were looted by Israel during the 1948 war. Israeli-Dutch filmmaker Benny Brunner and Dutch-Palestinian member of parliament Arjan El Fassed now intend to bring these looted books back to life….
306 Palestinians denied travel at Rafah crossing
10/23/2010 – GAZA (Ma’an) — Gaza government officials said 306 Gaza residents were denied entry to Egypt through the Rafah crossing last week. Border officials said 1822 Palestinians returned to Gaza through the terminal, while 1611 traveled to Egypt. In its weekly report, the crossings administration said Israel allowed 1092 trucks to enter the besieged Strip….
In photos: Settlers cut down 40 olive trees
10/23/2010 – MaanImages – On Saturday morning, Salima Ewes, 73, and her family found 40 olive trees had been cut down in their field in the northern West Bank village of Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya, southwest of Nablus city. Akram Jamil Uweis said his family headed to their field to harvest olives, and found their trees destroyed. He said the….
PSP: Israel detains 2 from Beit Ummar homes
10/23/2010 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — The Palestine Solidarity project said Saturday that Israel detained two Palestinians and broke into the homes of two popular committee members in the southern West Bank district of Hebron. PSP spokesman Mohammad Ayyad Awad said forces entered the village in the morning and detained 16-year-old Allam Yousef Bader Az-Za’….
1,822 stranded Palestinians enter Gaza over the week
10/23/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Gaza government crossings administration issued its weekly report on Saturday, detailing Palestinian movement in and out of Gaza between 16 and 22 October. Entering during the week were 1,822 stranded Palestinians on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, many of whom were patients who had completed medical treatment….
Palestinian investment forum to be held in Washington
10/23/2010 – WASHINGTON (Ma’an) — The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation will hold a conference in Washington next month to encourage the Palestinian diaspora to invest in the Palestinian state-building initiative. The conference, “Living the Faith: Promoting Peace and Human Security in the Holy Land,” will be held on 5-7 November, and will host an….
Haniyeh: World must act to free prisoners
10/23/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Gaza government Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday called on the international community to act on the issue of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. At a conference in Gaza City, the Hamas leader noted that every visitor to the Gaza Strip talked about captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit but ignored….
Vatican body asks UN to end Israeli occupation
10/23/2010 – VATICAN CITY (Ma’an) — Catholic bishops in the Middle East urged the UN Saturday to end the Israeli occupation of Arab lands at the end of a meeting chaired by Pope Benedict XVI, Agence France-Presse reported. In a final statement of their two-week synod, the bishops and patriarchs of the region’s Catholic….
6 detained at Allenby Bridge
10/23/2010 – JERICHO (Ma’an) — Palestinian Authority police at the Allenby Bridge crossing between the West Bank and Jordan detained six Palestinians wanted on fraud charges attempting to enter Jordan last week, a police report said. Police said the suspects were transferred to prosecution to commence legal proceedings. Israeli forces also barred 83 Palestinians from traveling….
Fatah official denies unity talks collapsing
10/23/2010 – CAIRO (Ma’an) — Senior Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmad on Saturday denied that a recent decision to cancel a visit by a Fatah delegation to Gaza was a sign that unity talks with Hamas were collapsing, Egyptian media reported. Al-Ahmad’s comments follow the postponement on Wednesday of what both parties have described as….
PPP: Obstacles in unity talks will be overcome
10/23/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Member of the leftist Palestinian People’s Party politburo said Saturday that he expected Hamas and Fatah to overcome obstacles placed before unity talks following the postponement of a meeting on Wednesday.”Intensified contacts by Palestinian factions and Arab figures are being held,”Walid Al-Awad said, speaking to Ma….
Hamas: New meeting scheduled with Fatah
10/23/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas announced Saturday that a meeting between the movement and Fatah has been rescheduled for next week, after it was postponed on Wednesday, a party statement read. Hamas leader Salah Al-Bardawil said the location of the meeting will be agreed upon later and that Damascus could still be an option….
Abu Libdeh: Rawabi can absorb settlement workers
10/23/2010 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — PA National Economy Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh said Saturday that the first planned Palestinian city in Ramallah could be “a real opportunity to absorb Palestinian workers employed in settlements,” a statement read. The Rawabi City project, he said, could provide between 8,000 to 10,000 jobs during the construction period and up….
Before wikileaks, Iraq war vets revealed war crimes
Palestine Note 23 Oct 2010 – The massive leak of military documents from the Iraq war is making headlines around the world, even on a usually news-quiet Friday night – and for good reason. The reports reveal, among other things, that U.S….
WikiLeaks Iraq war logs are out. Nothing new! Now what?
Palestine Note 23 Oct 2010 – We all knew it. We all experienced it. We all weren’t surprised by it. And by ‘We’ I mean Iraqis who went through the successive years of mayhem since the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003. The…
Egypt court bars police from campus
AlJazeera 23 Oct 2010 – Verdict ending police presence in universities is hailed, but government may use emergency powers to circumvent it.
Yemen ‘terror’ suspect in new video
AlJazeera 23 Oct 2010 – A new recording featuring wanted Yemeni-US religious scholar Anwar al-Awlaki posted on the internet.
Palestinian Authority To Gain Security Control Over Ramallah
PNN – Ramallah — PNN — The Defense Ministry in Israel has written a preliminary plan to transfer the security control of Ramallah and some West Bank villages to the P.A. The plan to…
Israeli Senior Officers Investigated in Deadly Gaza Air Strike
PNN – Tev Aviv – PNN – Several Israeli army officers are finally being put under investigation for a January 2009 air strike in Gaza that killed 21. It is believed that the officers…
West Bank Cemetery Desecrated by Settlers
PNN – Kfar Kadum – PNN – The Israeli media reported the vandalism of a Palestinian Cemetery yesterday. Three Jewish Settlers were seen spray-painting slogans on graves in Kfar Kadum, a village in the…
Carter Visits Jerusalem, Blasts “Improper Policies” of Israel
PNN – Jerusalem – PNN -A delegation of global leaders visited Jerusalem and Gaza this week as part of an international mission to encourage the acceptance of a just peace settlement between Israel and…
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (14— 20 October 2010)
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
‘Only Israel can uphold freedom at J’lem’s Christian sites’
Jeruslalem Post 23 Oct 2010 – Head of Jewish People Policy Institue explains why “Christians are pleased with Israel providing security,” not Palestinians.
US, Israel conclude four-day Juniper Falcon exercise
Jeruslalem Post 23 Oct 2010 – Simulation tests the level of coordination between the two countries in the event of future conflicts.
General Dynamics to develop Namer APC for IDF
Jeruslalem Post 23 Oct 2010 – Move will increase the survivability of Israeli military forces; Israel in negotiations with several countries over Merkava sale
IDF draws plans to transfer security control to PA
Jeruslalem Post 23 Oct 2010 – Decision to turn over control of some West Bank areas, including Ramallah, to Palestinian security forces requires approval of government and IDF Central Command and likely depends on progress of peace talks.
Barak: Launch investigation into ‘Galant Document’
Jeruslalem Post 23 Oct 2010 – Following police recommendation that Boaz Harpaz be charged with aggravated forgery in affair, defense minister to ask Lindenstrauss for probe.
Herzog, Israel Beiteinu oppose yeshiva student stipends
Jeruslalem Post 23 Oct 2010 – Bill which aims to circumvent Supreme Court ruling that ended funding for full-time students of Torah set to be discussed in legislative c’tee; derided as “discriminatory” and “harmful to Israel’s economy.”
‘Hamas is in contact with most foreign countries’
Jeruslalem Post 23 Oct 2010 – UNRWA official Andrew Whitley calls on Palestinians to prepare refugees for near certainty that they will never return to Israel.
If talks fail, we will renege on Oslo accords, PA warns
Jeruslalem Post 23 Oct 2010 – Netanyahu says Palestinians will have to make ‘fundamental compromises’; PLO’s Abed Rabbo accuses Israel of breaking agreements.
‘PA may break Oslo Accords if peace talks fail’
Jeruslalem Post 23 Oct 2010 – “One party can’t remain committed while the other party has violated the agreements,” says PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo in ‘Al-Hayat’ interview.
‘PLO may break agreements if Israeli violations continue’
Jeruslalem Post 23 Oct 2010 – Senior PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo accuses Netanyahu of making alliance with US right wing to weaken Obama, in ‘Al-Hayat’ interview.
PLO Ambassador: We’re still committed to peace process
Jeruslalem Post 23 Oct 2010 – Maen Areikat tells ‘Post’ Palestinians have not abandoned negotiations, do not have any immediate plans for unilateral steps, are trying to ‘overcome all of the problems, difficulties created by Israeli decision not to continue moratorium.’
International Solidarity Movement
Weekly Demonstration Report
10/23/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – 22 October 2010 – Today in the village of An-Nabi Salah, the weekly non-violent demonstration took place against the illegal settlement Hamish. Unlike other villages taking part in non-violent resistance, many women, young girlsand children participate in the protest. Today, there was a child demonstration. Acommemoration also took place in order to remember the massacre during….
PLO: We will reconsider agreements if Israeli violations continue
Ha’aretz – PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo accuses Israeli PM of ‘making an alliance with the right wing in the US to weaken the Obama administration.’
Abbas discusses UN-approved Palestinian statehood with Saudi King
Ha’aretz – In wake of settlement stalemate, Palestinian Authority president considers requesting UN recognition of statehood status.
Carter: Sheikh Jarrah evictions are against international law
Ha’aretz – Former U.S. President visits weekly demonstration in the East Jerusalem neighborhood; decries ‘injustice’ against Palestinians.
Peres: Mideast peace can help U.S. battle Iran threat
Ha’aretz – Speaking in front of worldwide Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, President says U.S. should allow Arab states to choose for themselves whether or not they want to be democratic.
Gaza toddler died after being denied exit by Israel
23 Oct 2010 – Gaza, October 23, (Pal Telegraph – ISM) October 20th, 2010Nasama Abu Lashin, a two-year old toddler from Gaza died on Saturday October 15, 2010 in the Netzer Hospital in Gaza. Nasama did not receive a permit in time to receive medical care that could save her life in Haemek Hospital in Afula. Nasama Abu Lashin, two years old, suffered from…
Israeli settlers attack olive trees in Nablus
23 Oct 2010 – Nablus, October 23, (Pal Telegraph) Israeli settlers of the “Aleih” settlement, which is built on the territory of “Al Laban” town located to the south of Nablus in the West Bank, attacked dozens of olive trees today morning. Witnesses said that a group of Israeli settlers vandalized more than 40 olive trees this morning. Witnesses added that the Israeli settlers…
Gaza tries today to break record in Guinness Book
23 Oct 2010 – Gaza, October 23, (Pal Telegraph) Race “GAZA 100” began today morning in Gaza which is trying to enter the Guinness Book of Records, organized by Al Jazeera sports club. The race kicked off amid great enthusiasm of the participants who have registered their names in the records of the race in a number order before they started running for a…
Israeli army uprises militant activity in Hebron
23 Oct 2010 – Hebron, October 23, (Pal Telegraph) Israeli occupation army raided at dawn today the homes of several members of the National Committee Against the Apartheid Wall and settlements in the town of “Beit Amer”, north of Hebron in the West Bank, while arrested two boys while they were coming back from their work places located to the east of Hebron, and…
Israel retracts earlier approval to build 8 UNRWA schools in Gaza
Uruknet October 23, 2010 – The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has charged Israel with backtracking on earlier decisions allowing the construction of eight new schools in the Gaza Strip. The Jerusalem Post on Friday said that the Israeli war ministry refused an UNRWA request to build a number of schools in Gaza at the pretext of their proximity…
SMART ISRAELI MISSILES IN GAZA –
Uruknet October 23, 2010 – …We went to Esh-Shifa hospital. It was in the afternoon. In the first room we entered there was Emad Eid Mattar Marzuq. Emad had lost his two legs at the end of July, a few days before my visit. His wife was pregnant at home. His brothers were with him. They offered me tea, coffee,…
‘Even if the Israelis confess, I don’t expect any justice from them’
Uruknet Saturday, 23 October 2010 – Maysa Samouni, whose husband Tawfiq, 21, was killed and baby daughter Jumana, now two, was injured in the building struck by missiles on 5 January, 2009, was unmoved yesterday by the progress of the investigation into the attack. “The court wouldn’t bring back my husband,” she said. “Even if they [the Israelis] confessed that…
Hate-filled Israeli rabbis incite violence against non-Jews
Uruknet October 23, 2010 – Israel appears to be awash with Jewish hate preachers. In the past, rabbis who issued racist edicts or offensive remarks about Palestinians or non-Jews were generally dismissed as radicals and extremists who were no more than a trifling annoyance to be ignored in the hope that they would simply go away. However, it is now…
Israel keeps Silwan under siege and arrests 5 minors
Uruknet October 22, 2010 – Israel has arrested underage Palestinians from the Silwan district in Occupied Jerusalem. Sources in the area say that security forces raided a number of homes at dawn, arresting five minors, the oldest of whom is 17 years. The Israeli occupation authorities are keeping Silwan in the grip of a siege-like situation, and have done for…
Palestinian prisoner Abu Shakhdam almost lost eyesight due to medical neglect
Uruknet October 23, 2010 – The Palestinian prisoner society said that Palestinian prisoner Firas Abu Shakhdam is in serious health condition and almost lost his eyesight as a result of the deliberate medical neglect policy pursued in the Israeli Negev prison and Ramla hospital. The prisoner told the society that he is suffering from serious problems in his eyes and…
In photos: Settlers cut down 40 olive trees
Uruknet October 23, 2010 – On Saturday morning, Salima Ewes, 73, and her family found 40 olive trees had been cut down in their field in the northern West Bank village of Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya, southwest of Nablus city. Akram Jamil Uweis said his family headed to their field to harvest olives, and found their trees destroyed. He said the family…
It was the Gaza assault’s worst atrocity. Now the truth may finally be told
Uruknet October 23, 2010 – Israeli military police are investigating whether an air strike which killed 21 members of the same family sheltering in a building during the Army’s Gaza offensive in 2008-9 was authorised by a senior brigade commander who had been warned of the danger to civilians. The new turn in the enquiry has cast a fresh spotlight…
Israeli settlers desecrate village graveyard
Uruknet October 23, 2010 — Israeli settlers of Kedumim settlement on Friday desecrated the cemetery of Kufr Qaddoum village near Nablus writing anti Palestinian slogans and drawing the Star of David on graves and houses. Locals said that the settlers came from the Kedumim settlement, adding that it was not the first time they acted in this manner. They added…
‘Not One Word of Remorse’ from Driver Who Crushed Rachel CorrieIsraeli soldier in bulldozer ‘did not see her’
Uruknet October 22, 2010 – The Israeli soldier at the controls of the bulldozer that crushed the pro-Palestinian activist Rachel Corrie told a court today that the first time he saw her was when fellow protesters were already tending to her dying body in the dirt. Giving evidence for more than four hours in the civil case brought by Corrie’s…
Palestinian captives at Atzion live on bread and water for the past 10 days
Uruknet October 22, 2010 – Director of the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) in the district of al-Khalil called on all human rights organisations to intervene to put a limit to the suffering of Palestinian captives at the Atzion detention centre, and called on the Red Cross to visit the centre and see for themselves the tragic living conditions of the…
IDF Soldiers Torture PalestiniansWARNING: This Video Contains VERY DISTURBING Images
Uruknet October 22, 2010 – WARNING: The following video contains EXTREMELY GRAPHIC IMAGES! Shot during 1989-1991 – the years of the first Intifada (Palestinian Uprising)….
PRESS RELEASE: Israeli Settlers Attack a Palestinian Boy and Two Internationals in South Hebron Hills
Uruknet October 22, 2010 – On Thursday, 21st October, at around 9.20 am, two Operation Dove volunteers, coming back to the village of At-Tuwani after having visited some Palestinian families in the village of Tuba, were attacked by Israeli settlers from the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on (Hill 833). While walking, the internationals received a phone call by a Palestinian…
Israel Crushes A Palestinian Gandhi: Bil’in Organizer Sentenced to 18 months
Uruknet October 22, 2010 – Judge Lieutenant Colonel Benisho of the Military Court of Appeals accepted the Military prosecution’s appeal in Adeeb Abu Rahmah’s case today, which demanded to harshen the already heavy-handed one-year sentence imposed on him by the prior instance back in July. The court sentenced Abu Rahmah 18 months of imprisonment with bail of 6,000 NIS and…
Four Year Anniversary to Palestinian Popular Struggle in Al-Masara Village
Alternative Information Center – Hundreds of Palestinian, international and Israeli activists participated in a demonstration on Friday 22 October commemorating the four year anniversary of the al-Masara village’s popular struggle against the Separation Wall, land confiscation and settlements.
Settlers Attack Palestinian Boy, Internationals in South Hebron Hills
Alternative Information Center – On Thursday, 21 st October, at around 9.20 am, two Operation Dove volunteers, who were coming back to the village of At-Tuwani after having visited some Palestinian families in the village of Tuba, were attacked by…
EU and Russia prod Iran to hold nuclear talks in November
Daily Star 23 Oct 2010 PARIS: France’s Senate has approved a contested pension reform raising the retirement age to 62 despite months of nationwide protests and strikes. After 140 hours of debate, the Senate approved the reform Friday with a vote…
UN envoy: Israeli settlements block Palestinian state
Daily Star 23 Oct 2010 Israel’s settlement construction in the occupied territories has become an almost insurmountable obstacle to creating an independent Palestinian state, a UN envoy said Friday, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh to…
Israel quizzes colonel over Gaza raid that killed 22 – report
Daily Star 23 Oct 2010 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel’s military police have questioned a senior army officer for approving an air raid that killed 22 members of the same family during the 2008-09 offensive against Gaza, press reports said Friday.
Majority of Afghan insurgents say ‘no hope’ for peace talks
Daily Star 23 Oct 2010 KABUL: Mid-level Taliban insurgency commanders do not believe their leaders have begun tentative peace talks with the Afghan government, with many vowing Friday not to give up the fight after nearly 10 years of war. NATO…
Gaza hardliners launch arson attack on family leisure park
The Guardian 23 Oct 2010 – Hamas government is accused of turning a blind eye to crackdown on behaviour in the city by Islamic extremists Crazy Water Park had already been closed down for two weeks by the Hamas government, over an “…
Press Conference by Special Rapporteur on Situation of Human Rights in Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967
Relief Web 23 Oct 2010 – Source: UN Department of Public Information
ACTED Newsletter #66 October 2010
Relief Web 23 Oct 2010 – Source: Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development
8th Week against the Apartheid Wall, November 9 — 16 2010
Stop The Wall – [
Secret US docs: Iran, Hezbollah trained Iraqi militants
YNet News – Documents made public by WikiLeaks recount Tehran’s role in providing Iraqi….
EU, Russia prod Iran to hold nuclear talks in November
YNet News – Deputy FM Ryabkov urges ‘Iranian friends and colleagues’ to officially respond….
Palestinians: Settlers cut down olive trees
YNet News – Owner of grove in Luban a-Sharkiya ‘shocked’ to see uprooted trees; Palestinians….
US professor’s anti-Israel remarks concern lawmakers
YNet News – Lincoln University’s Kaukab Siddique said Israel must be destroyed, ‘if possible….
IDF stops UN from building Gaza schools
YNet News – The IDF is preventing the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from building schools near Hamas headquarters in Gaza, the UN agency said Saturday. Defense officials …….
Samir Kuntar pushes for more kidnapping
YNet News – Samir Kuntar called Saturday on Palestinian terror organizations to kidnap more Israeli soldiers. The Lebanese terrorist, who was released from Israeli prison in …….
Vatican body asks UN to ‘end Israeli occupation’
YNet News – Israel cannot use the Biblical concept of a promised land or a chosen people to justify new “settlements” in Jerusalem or territorial claims, a Vatican synod on the …….
PLO considers breaking agreements with Israel
YNet News – Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary of the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee, said the Palestinian leadership is considering the possibility of breaking …….
Palestinian Information Center
Lifeline convoy delivers medical assistance to health ministry
PIC 23 Oct 2010 – A delegation of the lifeline 5 aid convoy on Saturday delivered medical equipment and medicines to the tune of five million dollars to the Palestinian health ministry in the Gaza Strip.
Bardawil: Reconciliation meeting next week
PIC 23 Oct 2010 – Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil, a Hamas leader, said on Saturday that his movement has agreed with Fatah faction on holding their reconciliation meeting next week.
Haneyya: Prisoners issue must be made international
PIC 23 Oct 2010 – PM Ismail Haneyya announced he will assume all expenses of an Arab-international tour by families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention aimed at publicizing their cause to the world.
Hamas slams PA officers for visiting Rabin center in Tel Aviv
PIC 23 Oct 2010 – Hamas strongly denounced PA security officers for visiting Rabin center in Tel Aviv, saying the security apparatuses in the West Bank stooped to a serious level in its relations with Israel.
Palestinians in Europe: Abbas should be stripped of powers
PIC 23 Oct 2010 – Palestinians in Europe said Mahmoud Abbas should be stripped of powers over statements he made announcing plans to back down on rights of Palestinians in return for state based on 1967 borders.
Prisoner Abu Shakhdam almost lost eyesight due to medical neglect
PIC 23 Oct 2010 – The Palestinian prisoner society said that Palestinian prisoner Firas Abu Shakhdam is in serious health condition and almost lost his eyesight as a result of the deliberate medical neglect policy.
Qassem: The PA-Israeli talks are only aimed at eliminating the Palestinian cause
PIC 23 Oct 2010 – Professor of political science Abdelsattar Qassem said that the Palestinian Authority’s negotiations with Israel are only part of a long, old process aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause.
Israel retracts earlier approval to build 8 UNRWA schools in Gaza
PIC 23 Oct 2010 – The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has charged Israel with backtracking on earlier decisions allowing the construction of eight new schools in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli settlers desecrate village graveyard
PIC 23 Oct 2010 – Israeli settlers of Kedumim settlement on Friday desecrated the cemetery of Kufr Qaddoum village near Nablus writing anti Palestinian slogans and drawing the Star of David on graves and houses.
Haneyya: The arrival of Lifeline 5 in Gaza is a historic moment
PIC 23 Oct 2010 – Premier Ismail Haneyya hailed the participants in the fifth aid convoy Lifeline for the risks they endured in order to arrive in the Gaza Strip and described their arrival as a historic moment.
AT-TUWANI: Israeli settlers attack Palestinian boy and internationals in the South Hebron Hills.
Christian Peacemaker Teams – Palestine –
AL-KHALIL (HEBRON): Palestinian family awakens to discover 100 mature grapevines destroyed
Christian Peacemaker Teams – Palestine –
AT-TUWANI/ABORIGINAL JUSTICE REFLECTION: Seeking the peace of Palestine by engaging our own settler reality
Christian Peacemaker Teams – Palestine –
AL-KHALIL (HEBRON) REFLECTION: God’s justice, even for the shops
Christian Peacemaker Teams – Palestine –
Breaking The Siege: A Promise
Palestine Monitor – 150 vehicles and $5 million of aid successfully entered Gaza on Thursday, without the tragic cost of the May Flotilla. Viva Palestina’s Amena Saleem told us that organisers are delighted with the outcome, but disappointed with the Egyptian authorities. Saleem was one of 17 passengers, along…
Predawn Raids in Beit Ummar
Palestine Monitor – “They came in five jeeps,” said Mous Abu Maria, the organiser of the Beit Ummar weekly protest. “Then they started to push the door.” The Israeli troops woke Abu Maria up at 3 am this morning. When Abu Maria opened his door, the soldiers demanded the…
What Does Online Media Do For Palestinians?
Palestine Monitor – Comedian Mark Steel said that if the Israeli army blew up a cat’s home, the following day headlines would scream that the unfortunate animals were smuggling semtex for Hamas. Steel was referring to the Gaza flotilla and subsequent cover-up, but ironically that tragedy marked a tipping…
The Courtroom Security Fence
Palestine Monitor – HAIFA: Journalists, lawyers, and human rights activists were blocked from entering the Haifa courtroom yesterday. From behind a “make-shift curtain,” the driver who killed Rachel Corrie repeatedly contradicted his earlier testimony and affidavit. Attorney Hussein Abu Hussein holding the photograph contradicting key witness testimony: “The more…
Israel Crushes A Palestinian Gandhi: Bil’in Organizer Sentenced to 18 months
Mondoweiss – The other day I vowed to show this video of Adeeb Abu Rahma till everyone in America had seen it. And I’m just stupid enough to try. Because if anything can change the American paradigm of Palestinian resistance, it is watching Adeeb Abu Rahma, at a…
Brooklyn rabbis Lippman and Bachman are part of the Am Yisroel Chai crowd
Mondoweiss – Yesterday Weiss did a post expressing surprise that liberal Brooklyn rabbis Ellen Lippman and Andy Bachman are urging Brooklynites to buy products made in the West Bank at an illegal settlement! Barry Weiss, a California activist (and no relation), says Weiss is naive: I do not…
Maybe now Obama can say something?
Mondoweiss – Jerusalem Post : New York Times opinion columnist Thomas Friedman said that many Americans are becoming “fed up” with Israel. Friedman’s comments came in an interview with Channel Two reporter Dana Weiss aired on Saturday…. Friedman derided Israel’s calls for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a…
Pelosi’s ‘progressive,’ antiwar challenger is also… pro-Israel
Mondoweiss – Out here in San Francisco, progressives are furious with Nancy Pelosi for enabling the Bush war machine, Obama’s escalation in Afghanistan, and her utter disdain for (our crappy definition of) democracy, as she has refused to debate her libertarian Republican opponent John Dennis . Although his is…
Nir Rosen on the media’s double standard for Palestine
Mondoweiss – On Thursday night the Nation Institute and the Arthur Carter Journalism Institute at NYU held a “Backstory” panel on foreign reporting with Nir Rosen, Ann Jones and Aram Roston. Jones carried the evening with entertaining tales about how being a woman in the Middle East has…
Palestinians: Settlers Cut down Olive Trees
Al-Manar 23 Oct 2010 – Palestinians said that Israeli settlers from Eli cut down olive trees overnight Saturday at the nearby village of Luban a-Sharkiya, which is located in the northern West Bank. The owner of the grove, Raja Wazaus, said he was “shocked” to see that his trees had…
PLO “Committed to Peace Talks”, Netanyahu Repeats “Jewish State” Demand
Al-Manar 23 Oct 2010 – Despite Israeli continuous violations against Palestinians, PLO’s top representative in the United States said the “Palestinians have not abandoned the peace process and don’t have any immediate plans to take unilateral steps,” as Israeli Prime Minister repeated his demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a…
Viva Palestina Arrives in Gaza with Tons of Aids
Al-Manar 22 Oct 2010 – An aid convoy organized by “Viva Palestina” arrived in the Gaza Strip on Thursday overland from Egypt with tons of medical equipment and food supplies for the residents of the coastal enclave to a warm welcome from the Hamas movement. The convoy, which contains over…
Report from beyond the green line: Al Ma’asara celebrates four years of joint struggle and houses set on fire from tear gas in Nabi Saleh
Joseph Dana 23 Oct 2010 – The unarmed and largely non-violent protests against the occupation returned to the West Bank on Friday. From Al Ma’asara to Sheikh Jarrah to Ni’ilin, Palestinians joined by Israeli and international supporters demonstrated against the occupation and for joint struggle against Israeli repression of non-violence in Palestine….
Egypt police barred from campus
BBC 23 Oct 2010 – Egypt’s high court orders the government to remove police from universities, rejecting a government appeal against an earlier ruling.
Gaza’s Historical Treasures Under Seige
Antiwar.com 23 Oct 2010 – GAZA CITY — Few outside of Gaza would consider its history much beyond the decades of Israeli occupation. But Gaza is a historical treasure house. Many of those treasures are now in Israeli museums, and those that remain are becoming difficult to preserve due to the…
Weimar in Jerusalem: the rise of fascism in Israel
Sabbah report 23 Oct 2010 – Yitzhak Herzog, the minister of welfare in the Netanyahu government, a member of the Labour party, the grandson of a chief rabbi and the son of a president, said a few days ago that “fascism is touching the margins of our society”. He was wrong: fascism…
Hate-filled Israeli rabbis incite violence against non-Jews
Sabbah report 23 Oct 2010 – Israel appears to be awash with Jewish hate preachers. In the past, rabbis who issued racist edicts or offensive remarks about Palestinians or non-Jews were generally dismissed as radicals and extremists who were no more than a trifling annoyance to be ignored in the hope that…
Articles
Weimar in Jerusalem
Uri Avnery, Ma’an News Agency10/23/2010
In Berlin, an exhibition entitled “Hitler and the Germans” has just opened. It examines the factors that caused the German people to bring Adolf Hitler to power and follow him to the very end.
I am too busy with the problems of Israeli democracy to fly to Berlin. Pity. Because since childhood, precisely this question has been troubling me. How did it happen that a civilized nation, which saw itself as the “people of poets and thinkers,” followed this man, much as the children of Hamelin followed the pied piper to their doom.
This troubles me not only as a historical phenomenon, but as a warning for the future. If this happened to the Germans, can it happen to any people? Can it happen here?
As a 9-year old boy I was an eye-witness to the collapse of German democracy and the ascent of the Nazis to power. The pictures are engraved in my memory — the election campaigns following each other, the uniforms in the street, the debates around the table, the teacher who greeted us for the first time with “Heil Hitler.” I resurrected these memories in a book I wrote (in Hebrew) during the Eichmann trial, and which ended with a chapter entitled: “Can it happen here?” I am returning to them these days, as I write my memoirs.
I don’t know if the Berlin exhibition tries to answer these questions. Perhaps not. Even now, 77 years later, there is no final answer to the question: Why did the German republic collapse?
This is an all-important question, because now people in Israel are asking, with growing concern: Is the Israeli republic collapsing?
For the first time, this question is being asked in all seriousness. Throughout the years, we were careful not to mention the word Fascism in public discourse. It raises memories which are too monstrous. Now this taboo has been broken. more.. e-mail
Zionism: Two Deficits
M. Shahid Alam, Pulse10/20/2010
“We do not fit the general pattern of humanity…” – David Ben-Gurion
“…only God could have created a people so special as the Jewish people.” – Gideon Levy
The fecundity of the Zionist project in producing claims of exceptionalism is not in doubt. Anyone who scans the voluminous Zionist literature will be suitably impressed by its repeated resort to claims of Jewish and Israeli exceptionalism. There is scarcely any aspect of Israeli or Jewish history that has not been embellished with some claim to uniqueness.
Israeli exceptionalism has many uses. It defends, obscures, explains away the ‘abnormal’ character of the Zionist nationalist project. When the Irish sought national liberation, their goal was straightforward. They wanted to regain national control over their lives and their country from a foreign power. No one had to convince the Irish that they are descended from the gods; that they possessed a unique essence which set them apart from all other peoples; or that their history, religion, race, language, morality or culture set them above their colonial masters. Occasionally, driven by exuberance or hubris, nationalists have advanced exceptionalist claims, but the success of their movement has not depended on their acceptance. The Irish claimed sovereignty because they knew that they are a nation with their own territory. In order to create their own state, they did not have to establish that they are exceptional.
The Zionists confronted two handicaps that Irish nationalists did not face. The diverse and scattered Jewish communities of Europe — and even more so, the world — did not constitute a single people. Instead, the Jews of the world were loosely united by their religious heritage, but they shared their languages, cultures and genes with their neighboring communities…. more.. e-mail
Legitimizing occupation
Muhammad Shtayyeh, Ma’an News Agency10/21/2010
Last January, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development announced that Israel would host its next Tourism Committee Summit in Jerusalem.
For Palestinians, this was a startling and misguided decision, coming from such a well-respected multilateral player. First, holding this conference in illegally-annexed and Israeli-occupied Jerusalem would appear to lend legitimacy to Israel’s universally unrecognized claims to the city. Second, the conference, including the attention and revenue Israel will garner from it, will serve to reward Israel, despite its continuing occupation and colonization of Palestine, including East Jerusalem.
Most antithetical to this conference’s purposes perhaps, all of this is done while Israel exercises complete control over tourism to the occupied Palestinian territory and while Israel expands its colonial enterprise throughout the occupied territories in brazen defiance of the overwhelming international consensus. Nowhere has Israel’s colonial onslaught been more provocative or sustained than in the Holy City of Jerusalem.
Our original request to move the meeting to another host country, or even to Tel Aviv, was rejected. Instead, the OECD decided to hold the meeting only in “West” Jerusalem, the area of Jerusalem more commonly viewed as part of Israel. Crucially, however, Israel does not differentiate between East and West Jerusalem, but covets all of Jerusalem as its “eternal and undivided capital.” Palestinians could only wonder what areas of occupied Jerusalem Israel would showcase during the meeting, given that most holy sites are located in occupied East Jerusalem, in particular in and around the Old City.
Two weeks ago, a small ray of hope was emitted from Israel’s Ministry of Tourism when it announced that the government of the United Kingdom would not attend the meeting…. more.. e-mail
Breaking The Siege: A Promise
Palestine Monitor: 23 Oct 2010 – 150 vehicles and $5 million of aid successfully entered Gaza on Thursday, without the tragic cost of the May Flotilla. Viva Palestina’s Amena Saleem told us that organisers are delighted with the outcome, but disappointed with the Egyptian authorities. Saleem was one of 17 passengers, along with former MP George Galloway, prevented from travelling to Al-Arish port in Egypt from Syria. Egyptian security claimed the reason for refusal was for the protection of national security, which Saleem does not accept. “They told me I was refused because they believed I had once been married to George Galloway (whose first wife shares her name). They have enough intelligence to know that’s not the case. An 18 year old Jordanian sheikh was also on the list who had never been on any convoy before. Egypt needs to show Israel that they are co-operating with the siege.” Despite the refusals, passage to Gaza…more
Predawn Raids in Beit Ummar
Palestine Monitor: 23 Oct 2010 – “They came in five jeeps,” said Mous Abu Maria, the organiser of the Beit Ummar weekly protest. “Then they started to push the door.” The Israeli troops woke Abu Maria up at 3 am this morning. When Abu Maria opened his door, the soldiers demanded the IDs of him and his wife, and then told the family to evacuate the house. Abu Maria protested in the pre-dawn cold – his seven month old daughter Refe was sick. “We don’t care,” the military commander said. “Get out of the house.” Six soldiers then entered the house as others watched over Abu Maria’s family. They ransacked the house – overturning tables, moving furniture, emptying draws, and throwing clothes on the floor. The soldiers left and gathered around their jeeps while the commander threatened Abu Maria. “We will come here if you do anymore demonstrations,” said the military commander to Abu Maria. “We…more
What Does Online Media Do For Palestinians?
Palestine Monitor: 22 Oct 2010 – Comedian Mark Steel said that if the Israeli army blew up a cat’s home, the following day headlines would scream that the unfortunate animals were smuggling semtex for Hamas. Steel was referring to the Gaza flotilla and subsequent cover-up, but ironically that tragedy marked a tipping point away from Israeli PR hegemony. Today, there is more coverage from a Palestinian perspective than ever before. Little credit can be given to mainstream media. The BBC ignored the flotilla until there was a body count and followed up with a disgracefully biased documentary. Fox News would only show IDF videos. The disparity in media resources between the sides is even greater than their military means, slanting material before it reaches international audiences. There are 23 Israeli national daily newspapers in five languages and its state TV channels are broadcast internationally. Of the three Palestinian dailies, two belong to political parties, all are…more
The Courtroom Security Fence
Palestine Monitor: 22 Oct 2010 – HAIFA: Journalists, lawyers, and human rights activists were blocked from entering the Haifa courtroom yesterday. From behind a “make-shift curtain,” the driver who killed Rachel Corrie repeatedly contradicted his earlier testimony and affidavit. Attorney Hussein Abu Hussein holding the photograph contradicting key witness testimony: “The more we hear their witnesses the more we are getting that someone is trying to white wash what happened.” “He was lying,” Hussein Abu Hussein said. “The more we hear their witnesses the more we are getting that someone is trying to white wash what happened.” Abu Hussein stood on the sixth floor of the Haifa courthouse, in front of his clients Cindy, Sarah and Craig Corrie. Seven years ago, their fourth family member was killed under the blade of a massive military bulldozer in the Gaza Strip. They hired Abu Hussein to represent them in a civil suit to uncover the truth of Rachel…more
Sabotage: Netanyahu’s New Bag of Tricks
Palestine Chronicle: 23 Oct 2010 – By George S. Hishmeh — Washington, D.C. While all the world was watching, silently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has by all measures managed to sabotage the U.S. – sponsored ‘peace talks’ with the Palestinians, led by Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. Although most governments and many international organizations, particularly the United Nations, seemed handcuffed, the right-wing Israeli government has meanwhile lost significant support at home and abroad for its extremist views and subsequent shortsightedness. This disappointing turnaround coincides with another noteworthy milestone, the 15th anniversary of the assassination by an Israeli extremist of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the first Israeli leader to sign a peace agreement, known as the Oslo Peace Accords, with the Palestinian Liberation Organization. (Rabin, the late PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, and Israeli President Shimon Peretz have all received the Nobel Peace Prize for their achievement.) Whatever led the Israeli leader to…more
The Legacy of Mubarak
Palestine Chronicle: 23 Oct 2010 – By Ali Younes Mohammad Hosni Mubarak, former Air Force General became president of Egypt after the assassination of President Mohammad Anwar Al Sadat by Muslim extremists on 6 October 1981. President Mubarak, as a result, became the longest serving president of Egypt since Mohammad Ali Pasha, who ruled Egypt from 1805-1849. Mubarak’s rule, since he assumed power nearly 30 years ago, has been characterized by his authoritarian grip on power and his reliance on Emergency laws to govern Egypt and curtail civil liberties and personal freedoms. Under the “state of emergency” his government has the right to detain and imprison individuals virtually for no reason. This device is used by the government to mainly attack the Muslim Brotherhood and any other political party and deny them to formally participate in the elections. In using the Muslim Brotherhood as a “scarecrow” to counter pressure from the US or the European Union…more
Palestine, I Hear You — A Poem
Palestine Chronicle: 23 Oct 2010 – By Lillian Rosengarten Palestine! You call to me with whispers of pain. You speak of lost poets, children who cry for lost parents, lost teachers lost childhoods, dreams torn from their roots, mangled in a desert gone dry. In this place, water is poisoned, air putrid from the blood belly of war There is no escape, only sleep ravished by nightmares or death. I want to hear your poetry and tell you mine. I want to look into your eyes and see myself in you. Down! Down beneath the graves I hear your cries Muffled in a shroud of deception. You don’t exist. Israel, you are no longer my Israel. You punish those you call Arabs, dirty Arabs. Sad peoples of Palestine spit on and defiled, kept behind a wall. Oh ghetto of Israel, I ache for the reviled proud Palestinians, our brothers and sisters. But most of all I…more
Ending Violent Resistance
Dissident Voice: 23 Oct 2010 – First a given: there can be no resistance unless there is something to resist against. There can be no anti-occupation resistance if there is no occupation, and there can be no resistance against oppression if there is no oppression. It is a simple logic that eludes many people. That it eludes many people (and almost all of the corporate media) is demonstrable by noting the outcry whenever a resistance uses violence: Those evil, soulless terrorists harming other people — and they do it without reason. Well, there is a reason, although the corporate media refuses to divulge it. Occupation/ oppression is violent, and it gives rise to resistance. There would be no violence were it not for the violence of occupation and oppression. There is no chicken and egg here. It ls obvious that the sole target of vehemence should be the occupation/oppression that induces the resistance, for without the…more
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The New Dark Age 
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