26 October, 2010 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Study Reveals Israel Among the Most Corrupt Countries
IMEMC – 26 Oct 2010 – Tuesday October 26, 2010 – 16:43, A study released by the International Transparency Organization on Tuesday, found Israel to be among the most corrupt countries in the Western World. The 2010 study ranked 178 countries. A score of one was given for the least corrupt. Israel was listed at number 30.
Israeli Troops Kidnap 6 Palestinians in Jerusalem
IMEMC – 26 Oct 2010 – Tuesday October 26, 2010 – 13:03, The Israeli army abducted, on Tuesday morning, six Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem claiming they were hurling stones at Israeli police vehicles. The detainees were taken to al-Maskobeya detention and interrogation center in West Jerusalem.
Israeli army wounds a retarded Palestinian in Gaza Strip
IMEMC – 26 Oct 2010 – Tuesday October 26, 2010 – 11:53, Medical sources reported, onTuesday morning,that a retarded Palestinian was shot by Israeli soldiers when they were stationed in the towers surrounding the military terminal,near Beit Hanoun,in the northern Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu Considering Three Months Freeze On Settlements
IMEMC – 26 Oct 2010 – Tuesday October 26, 2010 – 11:52, The Israeli paper, Maariv, reported Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to weigh the possibility of offering a three-month freeze on settlement activities in order to give peace talks a chance to advance.
Army Kidnaps Five Palestinians from Hebon
IMEMC – 26 Oct 2010 – Tuesday October 26, 2010 – 11:21, Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Tuesday morning, five Palestinians from the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron in the southern part of the West Bank, after first invading and searching several homes.
Palestinian Legislator Sentenced to Six Months
IMEMC – 26 Oct 2010 – Tuesday October 26, 2010 – 11:13, The Israeli Ofer Military Court sentenced Palestinian Legislator Hatem Qfeisha of the Hamas’ Change and Reform Bloc, to six month in administrative detention without presenting any charges against him.
Rightist Settlers Paint Slogans Praising Kahane in Jaffa
IMEMC – 26 Oct 2010 – Tuesday October 26, 2010 – 10:40, On Tuesday morning, the slogan “Kahane Tzadak” (Kahane was right) was found written on the walls of restaurants, stores and on the walls of the Latin church in Jaffa City.
Two Palestinians Killed By Power Surge in Rafah Tunnel
IMEMC – 26 Oct 2010 – Tuesday October 26, 2010 – 10:16, Palestinian medical sources reported that two Palestinians were killed on Monday evening due to a power surge at a siege-busting tunnel in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Medics: Israeli fire injures disabled Gaza man
10/26/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Medics said a Palestinian man with a mental disability was injured by Israeli fire near the northern border in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The unnamed man, from the Ash-Shuj’aiyah neighborhood, sustained a gunshot wound to the leg near the Erez pedestrian crossing. He was taken to the….
Israel expands West Bank settlement
10/27/2010 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israel is expanding a settlement in the northern West Bank district of Nablus, Ma’an has learned. Shvut Rachel Alt. 804, part of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, was built on Palestinian land in the Jalud village. The village’s total area is some 16,000 dunums. Settlers have confiscated….
Village says settlement runoff destroyed olive grove
10/26/2010 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers denied allegations Tuesday that they flooded a Palestinian olive grove with sewage from an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank. Residents of Deir Al-Hatab, a Palestinian village in the Nablus district, said some 660 olive trees were destroyed by runoff from factories connected to the Elon Moreh settlement….
Palestine investment output down 18.1% in 2009
10/26/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A survey conducted by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics on Palestine’s finance and insurance sector in 2009 found that output in the industry dropped by 18. 1% with consumption down 6. 8%The survey covered the Palestinian Monetary Authority, banks, other credit institutions, Palestine Securities Exchange, Stock Market….
Palestinian MP sentenced to administrative detention
10/26/2010 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — An Israeli military court on Monday sentenced a Hamas-affiliated member of the Palestinian Legislative council to six months of administrative detention. Hatem Qafaish, elected to the Palestinian parliament in 2006 with Hamas’ Change and Reform bloc, was detained after Israeli forces ransacked his home last Monday. The PLC member was…. Related: Israel continues political detention campaign
In photos: Aftermath of an Israeli raid
10/26/2010 – MaanImages / Khaleel Reash – The daughter of one of three Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in Qalqiliya on Monday morning holds up a copy of a Qur’an, which the family says troops burned after raiding the family home. An Israeli military spokeswoman told Ma’an that neither the Civil Administration nor the army….
Center calls for release of sick detainee
10/26/2010 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — The Hebron branch of the Palestinian Detainees’ Center called for the release Tuesday of a prisoner on humanitarian grounds “to save his life because he is seriously unwell,” a statement read. The center said Atef Mahmoud Waridat, currently held at the Beer Sheba prison in southern Israel for the past….
Israeli forces detain 5 in Beit Ummar
10/26/2010 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces seized five Palestinians from the southern West Bank town of Beit Ummar in the Hebron district early Tuesday morning, including a minor, the Palestine Solidarity Project said. PSP spokesman Muhammad Awad said troops ransacked several homes in the town, and identified those detained as Hasan Kathim, 20, Yousif Alqam….
Report: Shin Bet seeks to strip citizenship
10/26/2010 – TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Israel’s Shin Bet security service supports revoking the citizenship of anyone convicted of “terror” crimes, an Israeli newspaper reported Tuesday. Haaretz said Interior Minister Eli Yishai’s proposal emerged at a parliament debate on the proposal seen as targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel. Yishai suggests giving….
Hamas warns officials: Israel may booby-trap new cars
10/26/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Hamas-led government in Gaza has warned officials and leaders of Palestinian factions to avoid buying the new cars that have been entering the Strip over the month, according to media reports late Monday.”A note has been circulated to all concerned parties, warning them of the new cars the Israeli….
PA to ‘resist’ Jerusalem national priority bill
10/26/2010 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority cabinet condemned Israel’s decision to approve a draft law classifying Jerusalem as a national priority area, a statement issued after its weekly session in Ramallah read.” The Cabinet considered that this decision absolutely contradicts the international law and international resolutions that recognizes East Jerusalem as a….
Israel opens 1 Gaza crossing
10/26/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities informed Palestinian crossing officials that one Gaza crossing would be open on Tuesday for the transfer of goods, humanitarian aid and fuel. Liaison official Raed Fattouh said Israel would open the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza for the transfer of between 180 and 190 truckloads of goods….
Gaza medics: Man with disability injured by Israeli fire
10/26/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Medics said a Palestinian man with a mental disability was injured by Israeli fire near the northern border in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The unnamed man, from the Ash-Shuj’aiyah neighborhood, sustained a gunshot wound to the leg near the Erez pedestrian crossing was taken to the Kamal…. Related: Medics: Israeli fire injures disabled Gaza man
Israel lifts study ban for 5 jailed students
10/26/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Lawyers for Palestinian detainees at an Israeli prison said Tuesday that five prisoners will be allowed to complete university studies, after they were initially banned. Twenty other prisoners will not be allowed to continue studying. They were prevented from completing coursework on “security” grounds, according to a statement from the detainees….
3 indicted for planning ‘retaliation’ to Silwan killing
10/26/2010 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israel’s general prosecution on Tuesday filed indictments against three Palestinians from the Silwan neighborhood in East Jerusalem, charging [them] with planning a retaliatory attack to the killing of Samir Sarhan in September. Lawyer Rami Othman said defendants 40-year-old Jihad Muhammad Sarhan, Samir’s brother, 30-year-old Ahmad….
Israel says prisoner exchange talks ongoing
10/26/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Talks between Israel and Hamas over the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier are ongoing, a spokesman for Israeli President Shimon Peres said Tuesday. Ofer Gendelman told Ma’an radio that the position of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government had not changed….
PA envoy to UN to meet UNRWA director
10/26/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the UN, said Tuesday that he would meet with the director of UNRWA’s New York office following controversial remarks on the right of return. Andrew Witly came under fire Tuesday after saying Palestinian refugees should abandon the “illusion” of their right….
Hamas: PA detains 3 supporters in West Bank
10/26/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) —Hamas accused the Palestinian Authority’s security services of detaining three party supporters across the West Bank, a statement issued Tuesday read. Hamas said PA forces detained the three in Salfit and Nablus in the northern West Bank….
PA ministry defends settlement permits
10/26/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of National Economy responded to allegations that its minister’s office violated a total boycott of settlement goods on Tuesday by saying it did not describe the Atarot Industrial Area as an illegal Israeli settlement. Initially unavailable for comment when the report surfaced, Abdul….
In photos: Abbas visits Nativity Church in Bethlehem
10/26/2010 – MaanImages / Luay Sababa – President Mahmoud Abbas inspects a project for the renovation of the Church of the Nativity, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on 25 October 2010, following an accord signed by the Palestinian Authority and local Christian leaders to repair the historic church built on the traditional site of Jesus Christ’….
Fearing arrest, Israeli MK cancels trip to Spain
Palestine Note 26 Oct 2010 – Washington – MK Avi Dichter of Kadima was forced to cancel an appearance at an international peace summit in Madrid this past weekend after Spanish authorities denied him immunity from arrest or interrogation. Dichter is looking…
First fuel rods loaded into Bushehr nuclear station
Palestine Note 26 Oct 2010 – Western nations still press for continuation of nuclear negotiations. Washington – Iranian state television is reporting that the first nuclear fuel rods have been loaded into the core of its first nuclear power plant in Bushehr,…
Egypt opposition activists arrested
AlJazeera 26 Oct 2010 – Scores of Muslim Brotherhood members detained in Alexandria for placing “inappropriate” posters ahead of November poll.
Iran begins fueling nuclear plant
AlJazeera 26 Oct 2010 – Nearly 160 fuel rods loaded into core of the country’s first nuclear reactor in a “key stage” towards producing energy.
Israeli Troops Injures Mentally Challenged Teen From Gaza And Arrest 16 Civilians From The West Bank
PNN – Gaza/Bethlehem- PNN — Israeli troops stationed near the Beit Hanon crossing located at the northern Gaza borders were Israeli shot an injured a mentally challenged Palestinian teenager on Tuesday. Doctors at the…
Sabah Denies Ayalon’s Criticism: Vatican Meeting Was Not “Hijacked”
PNN – Jerusalem — PNN – Latin Patriarch Michel Sabah of Jerusalem rebuffed criticism by Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon that a recent meeting of bishops in the Vatican had been “hijacked by…
Five Demolition Orders Given to Jerusalem Residents, Two Homes Leveled In Lod
PNN – Jerusalem — PNN — On Monday night the Israeli Jerusalem municipality handed out demolition orders to five homeowners in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The orders included three private homes that…
Breaking the Silence Release New Photos of Soldiers Abusing Palestinians
PNN – Ramallah — PNN — The Israeli group Breaking the Silence released a new set of photos showing Israeli soldiers abusing Palestinian civilians and damaging property during daily invasions of West Banmk communities….
Documents Describing Gaza Blockade Criteria Released
PNN – Tel Aviv – PNN – The Israeli military released papers on Thursday that describe how it determined the amount of food and supplies allowed into Gaza. The documents were released after the…
Activist Ray Davies Leaves the Green Plains of Wales to Spread Peace and Fight Racism
PNN – Maysa Abu Ghazala — Jerusalem — PNN/Exclusive – From the green plains of Wales comes the activist Ray Davies, 80 years young, to spread ideas about peace and demand the end of…
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
Assad: US creates chaos in every place it enters
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – State Dept.: Syria is destabilizing Lebanon by supplying arms to militants and issuing arrest warrants for Lebanese officials; we believe we’re playing a constructive role in the region, and we believe that Syria is not.
Mahoul espionage charge may be dropped in deal
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – Proposed deal would drop most serious charge for guilty plea in others; Amir Mahoul was arrested and charged with spying for Hizbullah in May.
Espionage charge against Amir Mahoul may be dropped in deal
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – Proposed deal would drop most serious charge for guilty plea in several others; Mahoul was arrested and charged with spying for Hizbullah in May.
Serry slammed for equating Israeli and Palestinian ‘terror’
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – Following UN envoy’s comments in which he compared alleged settler vandalism against olive trees to terrorism, Israel reacts: “Does Serry pretend Israeli suicide bombers attack Palestinian buses?”
1st instance of ‘superbug’ detected in Israel
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – The patient, who recently returned from India, was diagnosed as having the bug that is resistant to antibiotics, doctors said.
Clinton: US has no problem with Bushehr atomic plant
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – US secretary of state says Washington more concerned with Iran’s facilities at Natanz, Qom where they fear weapons program conducted.
Lindenstraus joins list of those probing Galant document
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – State comptroller responds to Barak’s request to investigate the document; appoints Maj.-Gen.(res) Yaakov Or to head probe.
Desmond Tutu urges S. African opera not to tour Israel
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – Nobel laureate says by bringing int’l artists to perform, TA Opera House “advances Israel’s fallacious claim to being a ‘civilized democracy.’”
Netanyahu: Shayetet 13 commandos acted ‘heroically’
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – On visit to Atlit military base, PM “salutes” Navy seals involved in flotilla raid, praises Ashkenazi for four years as IDF chief.
State comptroller opens investigation into Galant Affair
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – Lindenstrauss invites Barak and Ashkenazi for “conversionations,” plans on examining ties between Boaz Harpaz and various defense officials.
Dangot outlines strategy to revive Gaza economy
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – Israeli general see future plan where private builders approved by PA receive building supplies; hopes to further ease blockade restrictions.
Research finds Israel 2nd in world in social network use
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – Marketing Research report shows Israelis spend 9.2 hours a month on social networking sites; Russian users most active; Turkey comes in 3rd.
UN rep.: We support Palestinian state by next year
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – Robert H. Serry tells Fayyad that all int’l players agree that Palestinians are ready for statehood during olive picking.
‘Hizbullah operatives now manufacturing missiles in Syria’
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – French daily ‘Le Figaro’ reveals new information on military structure of Shi’ite guerrilla group, including 10,000 operatives and arsenal of 40,000 rockets some 150km from Israel’s northern border.
Emir of Qatar: ‘The US should re-engage with Iran’
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – In an interview, Emir says US would not be permitted to use Qatari base for an attack on Iran; says Israelis “have the most dangerous weapons.”
Agent leads to arrest of 54 drugs, arms dealers
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – The suspects were arrested in early morning raids, marking the end of an undercover police operation dubbed “Cedar of Lebanon.”
Police searching for leads on two missing people in J’lem
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – Rachel Lebetkin, 28, has not been seen since October 17, while David Herzog, 27, has been missing since October 21.
PA: Reporters in W. Bank via Israeli facilitators unwelcome
Jeruslalem Post 26 Oct 2010 – Move is seen as attempt by PA to prevent journalists from writing stories that may reflect negatively on the Palestinian government’s image.
Another summit failure exemplifies an Arab world in crisis
Jeruslalem Post 25 Oct 2010 – Regional states, which unite readily whenever Israel is the issue, can seldom do so regarding their own internal affairs.
Deadly Indian superbug reported for first time in Israel
Ha’aretz – Tel Aviv hospital quarantines woman infected with NDM-1 bacterium, resistant to antibiotics and the cause of deaths worldwide.
International organization to fight breast cancer brings the battle to Jerusalem
Ha’aretz – Organization launched after Nancy G. Brinker promised her sister Susan, diagnosed with terminal breast cancer, she would do everything to find a cure.
Shin Bet supports revoking citizenship of Israelis convicted of terror
Ha’aretz – Interior Minister Eli Yishai’s proposal has been presented as a method of deterring potential criminals from embarking on terrorist activities, seen as targeting Israeli Arabs in particular.
Israel ranks among Western world’s most corrupt countries
Ha’aretz – Receiving a score of 6.1 out of 10 Israel is in 22nd place out of 33 OECD members; meanwhile, U.S. drops out of top 20 least corrupt countries.
State Comptroller launches probe into forgery at center of row over IDF chief appointment
Ha’aretz – Police recommend charges be brought against Lt. Col. suspected of forging document that aimed to sway appointment in favor of Galant.
Kahane memorial to be held in Jerusalem despite local opposition
Ha’aretz – Memorial event for the right wing extremist to be held under slogan ‘Rabbi Kahane was right’; will be attended by MK Michael Ben Ari, possibly others.
Stipends for yeshiva students included in newly passed budget
Ha’aretz – NIS 111 million for yeshiva students included in budget for next two years, despite Netanyahu’s appointment of a committee to examine controversial yeshiva student bill.
Israeli Arab eyes plea bargain over Hezbollah spying charges
Ha’aretz – Political activist Ameer Makhoul seeks to avoid heavy jail sentence for espionage by admitting to lesser charges.
Netanyahu ‘salutes’ commandos who raided Gaza flotilla
Ha’aretz – PM tours top-security Shayetet 13 base in show of defiance against international censure of raid on Mavi Marmara.
UN envoy demands Israel act against settler attacks
Ha’aretz – UN Mieast peace coordinator ‘appalled at acts of destruction of olive trees and farmlands, desecration of mosques and violence against civilians’.
Poll: Abbas enjoys support of young Palestinians
Ha’aretz – Nearly 40 percent of young Palestinians say they would vote for Palestinian president’s secular Fatah faction, with only 10 percent backing Hamas., Iran begins loading fuel into Bushehr reactor, marking…
‘Syria helped Hezbollah amass some 40,000 missiles’
Ha’aretz – Le Figaro details guerilla group’s military structure, and describes how weapons are transferred from Damascus into Lebanon.
IDF general lays out plan for reviving Gaza economy
Ha’aretz – ‘With a Palestinian Authority deployment in place, Israel would be able to allow more exports from Gaza’, says senior officer
State moves toward legalizing illegally built synagogue in West Bank outpost
Ha’aretz – Following more than a year of legal debate, Defense Ministry agrees to consider license for El Matan building as long as residents keep structure sealed over course of process.
Palestinians, Jews race to plant olive trees in West Bank
Ha’aretz – This year, the stakes have been raised: Palestinians have planted double the number of trees as in past seasons, and Jewish settlers have responded by boosting their own olive production.
Report: Turkish intelligence severed relations with the Mossad
Ha’aretz – Turkish newspaper reports agencies stopped exchanging intelligence and conducting joint operations following Turkish government decision.
IAF training exercises stopped after helicopter hits electric cable
Ha’aretz – Black Hawk helicopter slightly damaged, no one was injured; IAF chief halts all training exercises to refresh safety regulation information.
Israeli army shoots mentaly disabled Gazan
26 Oct 2010 – Gaza, October 26, (Pal Telegraph) Medical sources in Gaza announced today morning the injury of a Gaza due to being shot by the Israeli occupation soldiers stationed near the northern border of the Gaza Strip. Adham Abu Salmiya, Coordinator of the Militant Medical Services, “A. U” is a Gazan citizen who got wounded by a live bullet in his right…
Israeli police detains six Jerusalemites
26 Oct 2010 – Jerusalem, October 26, (Pal Telegraph) Six young Jerusalemites were arrested by Israeli police today from Jerusalem city for allegedly throwing police cars with stones, they were transferred to the Israeli investigation compound. Israeli police alleges that six young Jerusalemites pelted Israeli police cars and Israeli border guards with stones in the neighborhood of “Ras al-Amud” in Jerusalem. Israeli police continues…
Israel opens Abu Salem, keeps Karni closed
26 Oct 2010 – Gaza, October 26, (Pal Telegraph) Israeli occupation authorities partially opened today the Kerem Abu Salem and Karni commercial crossings to the entry of dozens of trucks carrying aid and fuel to the Gaza Strip. Chairman of the Coordinating Committee of Gaza’s Supplies, Raed Fattouh, said that the Israeli occupation authorities allowed the entry of between 180-190 trucks through the Kerem…
Lawyers establish Flotilla Justice Group for Flotilla Victims
Uruknet October 26, 2010 – International legal experts and lawyers representing victims of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla today announced the establishment of the “Flotilla Justice Group.” The announcement came at the conclusion of a two-day meeting held on 23 and 24 October, aimed at coordinating legal actions to hold Israel accountable for its 31 May 2010 attack on the Freedom…
Video: New photo-proofs of Gaza war abuse as Israeli Human Shield trial ‘a show’
Uruknet Ocotber 26, 2010 – An Israeli truth movement, “Breaking the Silence” has posted new photos depicting abuse carried out by soldiers during the Gaza war two years ago. The Israeli Defence Force condemned the group for publishing the pictures on Facebook instead of turning to the Militrary Police. Meanwhile, Two Israeli soldiers are awaiting sentencing after being convicted of…
In photos: Aftermath of an Israeli raid
Uruknet October 26, 2010 – The daughter of one of three Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in Qalqiliya on Monday morning holds up a copy of a Qur’an, which the family says troops burned after raiding the family home. An Israeli military spokeswoman told Ma’an that neither the Civil Administration nor the army had received a complaint about the burning…
IOF soldiers fire at, wound mentally retarded man
Uruknet October 26, 2010 – A mentally retarded Palestinian man was hit with Israeli occupation army bullets near the Beit Hanun (Erez) crossing on Tuesday morning, medical sources reported. Adham Abu Salmiya, the spokesman for medical services, told the PIC that the man was slightly wounded after the Israeli occupation forces shot at him. The man was hit in his…
Anti-Defamation League Demagoguery and Islamophobia
Uruknet October 26, 2010 – Founded by B’nai B’rith in 1913, its stated mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all,” calling itself “the nation’s premier civil rights/human relations agency, (fighting) anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry….” In fact, Abraham Foxman, its national director, uses high-mindedness and unfounded anti-semitism…
Tissue, Skin, Bone and Organ Harvesting at Israel’s National Forensic InstituteBody Parts and Bio-Piracy
Uruknet October 25, 2010 – In July 2009, I was identified as the “whistle-blower” in the arrest by New Jersey FBI agents of a Brooklyn organs trafficker, an orthodox rabbi, Isaac Rosenbaum, whose unorthodox business activities I had uncovered several years earlier while investigating an international network of outlaw transplant surgeons, their brokers, lawyers, kidney hunters, insurance and travel agents,…
Lebanon’s Palestinian Civil Rights Campaign moves into the Christian heartland
Uruknet October 25, 2010 – Even though not even one work permit has been issued to one Palestinian in Lebanon since the August 17, 2010 “right to work” law passed in Parliament and even though Palestinians are still forbidden from owning a home, the cause of Palestine Civil Rights in Lebanon endures. Leila El-Ali, executive director of Najdeh, a Palestinian…
‘The Burning Truth of White Phosphorus’: Responding to the ADL’s ‘Anti-Israel’ List
Uruknet October 25, 2010 – Among the groups on the Anti-Defamation League’s list of the “top ten anti-Israel groups in America” was Students for Justice in Palestine, a nationwide group of organizations on a variety of college campuses working on Palestine solidarity in universities. SJP chapters have been instrumental in moving the cause of Palestinian justice and the boycott, divestment…
Karma Nabulsi on the Palestinian revolution
Uruknet October 25, 2010 – Karma Nabulsi is an academic at Oxford, and used to be a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization. She is giving the 13th Eqbal Ahmad lecture a week from Thursday at Hampshire with Amira Hass (if you’re in the area, go). She is also, as far as I know, the first Palestinian voice to appear…
As Israel fires on activists, BDS movement claims victories
Uruknet October 25, 2010 – At least fifteen Palestinians were injured in the occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on Friday, 22 October, when Israeli forces opened fire at a demonstration against the wall and ongoing land confiscation. Villagers “marched alongside Israeli and international supporters towards the village lands, where Israel is building the wall,” the Palestinian News Network (…
New photos of Israeli soldiers humiliating Palestinian detainees disclosed
Uruknet October 25, 2010 – A Hebrew website unveiled on Sunday new photos showing sadist Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip humiliating and scoffing at blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian prisoners, while Al-Ahrar center for prisoners’ studies revealed a picture for a little girl being surrounded by another group of soldiers. The website Walla said that the images were taken inside…
Israeli army opens investigation into use of 16-year-old girl as human shield
Uruknet October 25, 2010 – On 19 October 2010, the Israeli Military Prosecutor for Operational Matters, Captain Maayan Yaacobi, wrote to Adalah to say that a Military Police investigation has been opened in the case of a 16-year-old girl from Nablus, who reported being used as a human shield by the Israeli army in February 2010. DCI-Palestine and Adalah lodged…
Children the New Target in Silwan Ethnic Cleansing Campaign
Uruknet October 25, 2010 – “I asked them to give me a minute to wake him up. But they didn’t wait, they came in and took him”, said Mahmoud Mansour as he explained how the Israeli police arrested his son. Mahmoud is the father of 12-year-old Imran Mahmoud, the boy who was caught on video being forcefully hit by the…
Karzai Admits His Office Gets Cash From Iran
Uruknet October 25, 2010 ‚Äî President Hamid Karzai acknowledged Monday that he regularly receives bags of cash from the Iranian government containing millions of dollars, saying he uses the off-the-books fund to pay expenses incurred in the course of doing his job…Duing the news conference, Mr. Karzai confirmed a report in The New York Times on Sunday that said his…
Ameer Makhoul to the World Education Forum Palestine
Alternative Information Center – Brothers and sisters in the International Council of the World Social Forum Brothers and sisters in the Palestinian National Committee of the World Education Forum
BDS Action: Protest Conduct of Leiden University Lecture at Hebrew University
Alternative Information Center – The Hebrew University of Jerusalem will host the 2010 Cleveringa Lecture on25 November. It is a yearly event, organised by the oldest university inthe Netherlands, Leiden University.
Iran begins loading fuel rods into Bushehr nuclear reactor
Daily Star 26 Oct 2010 BAGHDAD: The international face of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Tariq Aziz, was sentenced to death by hanging Tuesday for persecuting Shiites just over three months after the Americans transferred him to Iraqi government custody. Iraqi High Tribunal…
Kuwait emir warns against sectarian feuds and chaos
Daily Star 26 Oct 2010 KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s emir opened the new term of parliament Tuesday by issuing a stern warning against political chaos and sectarian tensions that have bedeviled the oil-rich Gulf state. “There are limits that all must comply…
Netanyahu ‘salutes’ commandos who killed 9 on Gaza ship
Daily Star 26 Oct 2010 ATLIT NAVAL BASE, Israel: Saying “I salute you,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Tuesday the headquarters of Israeli naval commandos who killed nine Turkish activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid ship in May.
Iran arrests members of Sunni rebel group – report
Daily Star 26 Oct 2010 TEHRAN: Iran has arrested three members of a Sunni Muslim rebel group who it says had played “a major role” in a deadly mosque explosion in the southeast of the country, the official IRNA news agency…
Credit to Obama for sticking with the Middle East. But it’s gone very wrong | Jonathan Freedland
The Guardian 26 Oct 2010 – A whiff of desperation is evident in US attempts to push Israeli-Palestinian talks. The president must start changing course The august ranks of those who form the conventional wisdom in American politics are as one: Barack…
An end to Bethlehem’s unholy row | Jill Hamilton
The Guardian 26 Oct 2010 – Disputes over ownership of the Church of the Nativity mean it hasn’t been repaired for years. All that may now change This week Mahmoud Abbas confronted yet another impasse in the peace talks with Israel. However,…
Trading beyond the Green Line: the real deal for Palestine | Raja Khalidi
The Guardian 26 Oct 2010 – A Bank of Israel trade report is an eye-opener for anyone who thinks economic peace will create real peace The Bank of Israel earlier this month issued a report on Israeli-Palestinian trade links that should make…
World Bank Grants Palestinian Authority Additional $3 Million in Social Service Support
Relief Web 26 Oct 2010 – Source: World Bank
Palestinians thank Saudi for 100 million dollars in aid
Relief Web 26 Oct 2010 – Source: Agence France-Presse
Exchange of Notes concerning Non-Project Grant Aid to the Palestinian Authority
Relief Web 26 Oct 2010 – Source: Government of Japan
8th Week against the Apartheid Wall, November 9 — 16 2010
Stop The Wall – [
Iran to try 2 people accused of spying for Israel
YNet News – Tehran prosecutor says defendants ‘linked to Zionist regime’s intelligence….
French paper tracks Hezbollah arms trail
YNet News – Le Figaro reveals well oiled machine focused on Syrian weapon deliveries to….
Syria to UN: Stop Israel from stealing Golan water
YNet News – Damascus foreign minister warns UN against ‘disastrous consequences’ of….
State comptroller to look into Galant affair
YNet News – Micha Lindenstrauss to launch official probe following Defense Minister Barak’s….
CPI: Israel among OECD’s most corrupt
YNet News – Corruption Perceptions Index ranks Israel 22 of 33 most corrupt nations among….
US diplomat: Iran affected by sanctions
YNet News – Senior advisor Dennis Ross speaks before AIPAC convention in Florida, says….
Kahane supporters: We’ll destroy ‘Ishmael state’
YNet News – Hundreds of Land of Israel Movement activists and supporters of the radical movement Kach held a memorial service on Tuesday to mark 20 years since Rabbi Meir Kahane’s …….
‘Bound Palestinians’ interrupt Barkat speech
YNet News – Left-wing activists dressed as bound Palestinians interrupted on Tuesday the opening of a gallery displaying the work of students enrolled at Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy …….
Suspicion: Nablus man raped woman on Netanya beach
YNet News – A 45-year-old woman filed a police complaint saying she was raped in the early hours of Tuesday morning on a beach in Netanya. Police arrested a Palestinian suspect, who …….
Clinton: No problem with Iran Bushehr atomic plant
YNet News – The United States has no problem with Iran’s Russian-built Bushehr nuclear reactor plant but with other sites where weapons work may be underway, US Secretary of State …….
Plea bargain in Makhoul spy case?
YNet News – A plea bargain has been taking shape during the last few days in the case of Ameer Makhoul, accused of agreeing to spy against Israel for Hezbollah. The plea bargain …….
Kam affair: Police question Haaretz reporter
YNet News – Haaretz reporter Uri Blau, who received hundreds of stolen classified military documents from former IDF soldier Anat Kam, was questioned for about 11 hours Tuesday at …….
UN envoy demands Israel act against settler attacks
YNet News – A senior UN official condemned attacks by Jewish “settler extremists” on Palestinians’ olive trees in the West Bank and called on Israel to “combat violence and terror by …….
Palestinian Information Center
Bardawil: Developments in Israel confirm Gaza blockade is political
PIC 26 Oct 2010 – Senior Hamas official Salah Bardawil said racist remarks by Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni confirms that the Gaza Strip blockade is political.
Galloway: Lifeline 5 achieved its goals
PIC 26 Oct 2010 – Former British MP George Galloway, the founder and head of the Viva Palestina organization, said on Tuesday that the Lifeline 5 aid convoy to the Gaza Strip had achieved great success.
Rights groups meet to discuss solution for denial of passports to Gaza citizens
PIC 26 Oct 2010 – A council of Palestinian human rights groups denounced Tuesday the Ramallah government for denying a number of Gaza Strip residents passports on security grounds.
Jewish settlers destroy 200 olive trees in Nablus
PIC 26 Oct 2010 – Citizens in Deir Al-Hatab village were stunned at the sight of 200 of their olive trees damaged after Jewish settlers poured sewage water from the nearby Allon Moreh settlement into their land.
Gaza Interior Ministry warns officials against using Israeli car imports
PIC 26 Oct 2010 – Gaza’s Interior Ministry Tuesday alerted resistance faction elements in the Strip of using cars Israel recently allowed to be supplied to the Gaza Strip.
IOA detains six Jerusalemites in Ras Al-Amud
PIC 26 Oct 2010 – The Israeli occupation police detained six Palestinians in Ras Al-Amud suburb in occupied Jerusalem on Tuesday, alleging they threw stones at security forces.
Former Israeli official cancels Spain visit fearing arrest
PIC 26 Oct 2010 – Avi Dichter has called off a visit to Spain fearing arrest on the background of a case charging him and other Israeli officials of committing war crimes against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Police level two homes in Lod
PIC 26 Oct 2010 – A large force of Israeli police demolished Tuesday morning two houses belonging to Hussein Abu Zaid and Dab’ Abu Zaidin the city of Lod in 1948-occupied Palestine.
Jihad: Settlement process futile
PIC 26 Oct 2010 – The Islamic Jihad movement has described the settlement process involving Israel and the PA in Ramallah as “useless”.
New images show Israeli army’s sadism
PIC 26 Oct 2010 – An organization operating inside Israel, revealed a new Israeli army scandal after soldiers released more pictures showing their shameful, brutal, and sadistic behavior against Palestinians.
Iran begins fueling nuclear reactor
LA Times 26 Oct 2010 – The start of the weeks-long process brings the controversial Bushehr plant another step closer to operation. Iran says the facility will generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity, but Western nations fear it is to be used to produce atomic weapons. Iran began loading nuclear fuel rods into the core of its first nuclear power plant Tuesday, bringing the facility a step closer to producing electricity, Iranian state television reported.
Iran Loads Fuel at Nuclear Reactor
New York Times 26 Oct 2010 – Ignoring sanctions, Tehran took a big step toward putting its first nuclear reactor within months of operation.
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 –
Israeli Siege Kept Baby Girl From Leukemia Treatment
Palestine Monitor – Nasma Abu Lasheen died on 16 October, 2010 from treatable leukemia, 155 kilometres from adequate medical facilities. She had spent most of her two years sick, ferried around Gaza and Israel between blood tests, treatments and doctors in six different hospitals. Her family had celebrated her…
Settler network promotes racist comics to bring Meir Kahane to a new generation of Israelis
Mondoweiss – The following comic celebrating the life of Meir Kahane appeared last week on an Israeli website called the Israel News Network , which is associated with Arutz Sheva and the settler movement. Kahane was the founder of the fascist Jewish Defense League and the Kach movement, which…
Pregnant woman injured by settler hit & run, 13-year-old banned from school in Hebron, 15-year-old tortured in Ariel settlement
Mondoweiss – And more news from Today in Palestine: Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing Man and his pregnant wife injured in deliberate settler hit and run accident An Israeli settler deliberately ran into a Palestinian car near Halhul village, Al-Khalil district, on Monday night injuring…
Kufur Qassim, Rachel Corrie and premeditated forgetfulness
Mondoweiss – Hussain Abu-Hussain, the Corries’ lawyer, thought his was a depressing profession. I sought to cheer him up by pointing out the dismal case of the oncology specialty in medicine. It didn’t seem to work; he had spent the whole day trying in vain to trick witnesses…
Me and ‘Nejad’ in Beirut
Mondoweiss – Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s visit to Beirut just over a week ago created hysterical reactions in nearly every quarter of Lebanese society. While half the country went crazy in adulation for the leader of the country that they consider their closest ally (and has backed that commitment up…
Dennis Ross strokes AIPAC on delegitimization and 2-states (‘before it is too late’)
Mondoweiss – Is it election season? Laura Rozen reports that Dennis Ross, the Obama aide at large , and really a representative of the Israel lobby, went to AIPAC in Florida to talk about Iran etc. Read the speech and you will see all the talk about the joint…
Israeli Settler Sewage Ruins Palestinian Olive Grove
Al-Manar 26 Oct 2010 – Thousands of olive trees in a northern West Bank village have been ruined after being flooded with sewage from a nearby Israeli settlement, residents told AFP on Tuesday. The discovery was made when villagers from Deir al-Hatab just west of Nablus, went to harvest their…
Internet Killed Israeli PR VIDEO (Minor Demographic Threat) EXCELLENT!
Palestine Think Tank 26 Oct 2010 – Parody Music Video of The Buggles’ song. Excellent must see video! [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
The First International Rural Tourism Workshop in Palestine
Palestine Think Tank 26 Oct 2010 – Is there a chance for Palestinians to realise their vision of statehood and for rural Palestine to prosper taking into consideration the prevailing circumstances and future scenarios? The context of Palestinian rural tourism will be presented in terms of its potential, sustainability and impact on the…
Lebanon’s Palestinian Civil Rights Campaign moves into the Christian heartland
Palestine Think Tank 26 Oct 2010 – During “Round one” of our campaign we found that most of the international community had no idea about the squalor and lack of civil rights Palestinian refugees are subjected to nor the big gap between what international law requires and what Lebanon prohibits by law, in…
Jeff Blankfort Interview by Kourosh Ziabari
Palestine Think Tank 26 Oct 2010 – Jeffrey Blankfort is an American photojournalist, radio producer and Middle East analyst. He is a well-known pro-Palestinian activist whose articles and writings have appeared on Counter Punch, Voltairenet, Palestine Think Tank, Dissident Voice and many other publications. He currently hosts radio programs on KZYX in Mendocino,…
IOA renews isolation of Saadat despite his illness
Sabr 25 Oct 2010 – [ 25/10/2010 – 06:09 PM ] BEERSHEBA, ( PIC )— An Israeli military court has renewed the solitary confinement of Ahmed Saadat, the secretary general of the popular front of the liberation of Palestine, for the fourth time running despite his illness and the international condemnation campaign against…
Nafha prisoners go on warning hunger strike
Sabr 25 Oct 2010 – [ 24/10/2010 – 04:00 PM ] RAMALLAH / JERUSALEM, ( PIC )— Inmates in the Israeli Nafha prison went on a warning hunger strike on Saturday for one day in cooperation with all of the political persuasions in the prison, rights groups in Palestine said. Sources said the strike…
IOF soldiers detain Omar Barghouthi days after his release from PA jail
Sabr 25 Oct 2010 – [ 24/10/2010 – 02:52 PM ] RAMALLAH, ( PIC )— Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Sunday arrested liberated prisoner Omar Al-Barghouthi, the brother of the longest serving Palestinian prisoner in occupation jails, only few days after his release from PA detention. Local sources told the PIC that IOF…
IOA refuses to release Palestinian prisoner after serving his term
Sabr 25 Oct 2010 – [ 25/10/2010 – 11:40 AM ] RAMALLAH, ( PIC )— The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) is refusing to release Palestinian prisoner Shadi Abul Hussein despite ending his seven-year sentence on 31/8/2010, a Palestinian human rights group said. The prisoners’ center for studies said in a statement on Monday…
Iran fuels first nuclear reactor
BBC 26 Oct 2010 – Iran begins fuelling its first nuclear power station at Bushehr, despite Western unease over its nuclear ambitions.
Settlement boom
BBC 26 Oct 2010 – Palestinian labourers get to work as building resumes
Major rabbi says all we non-Jews are donkeys, created to serve Jews
Sabbah report 26 Oct 2010 – Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual mentor of the religious fundamentalist party, Shas, which represents Middle Eastern Jews, reportedly said during a Sabbath homily earlier this week that “Non-Jews were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world-only to serve the People…
Israel’s US propaganda machine at work
Sabbah report 26 Oct 2010 – Paul J. Balles views one of Israel’s mouthpieces in the United States, the American Jewish Committee, and debunks some of their propaganda lines on peace, Iran, human dignity, energy security and the nature of Israel. Elman’s letter reveals how Harris and the AJC have used their…
(en) US, Chicago, Four Star Anarchist Organization host Anarchists Against the Wall Speaking Tour
A-infos 26 Oct 2010 – Four Star Anarchist Organization is co-sponsoring the Anarchists Against the Wall speaking tour. Come learn more about anarchist resistance to Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people. — Date: Thursday, Oct. 28 — Time: 6 p.m. — Location: Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan Ave., Room 326 -…
(en) Poland, Occupation at Warsaw City Hall – Rent Strike, Direct Actions Continue
A-infos 26 Oct 2010 – Direct actions continue against the city’s housing policy. Members of ZSP*, the Tenants’ Defense Committee and Warsaw Tenants Association paid a surprise visit to City Hall today, planting themselves in the office of the President. A banner reading “Public Housing in the Hands of Tenants” was…
Articles
Israel Is the Most Immediate Threat to the Future of the Planet
Kourosh Ziabari, Dissident Voice10/25/2010
Interview with Jeffrey Blankfort
Jeffrey Blankfort is an American photojournalist, radio producer and Middle East analyst. He is a well-known pro-Palestinian activist whose articles and writings have appeared on many progressivist publications.
He currently hosts radio programs on KZYX in Mendocino, CA and KPOO in San Francisco. Blankfort was formerly the editor of the Middle East Labor Bulletin and co-founder of the Labor Committee of the Middle East. In February 2002, he won a lawsuit against the Zionist organization Anti-Defamation League (ADL) which was found to have been spying on the American citizens critical of Israel and its expansionistic policies.
Jeffrey joined me in an exclusive interview to discuss the influence of the Israeli lobby on the decision-makers of the U.S. government, Israel’s illegal, underground nuclear program, the prospect of Israeli — Palestinian conflict and the imminent threat of an Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Blankfort is quite outspoken in his criticism of the apartheid regime of Israel and believes that Israel is the most immediate threat to the future of our planet.
Kourosh Ziabari: In your article “The Israel Lobby and the Left: Uneasy Questions”, you elaborately explore the dominance of the Israeli lobby over the U.S. administration and cite good examples of the influence of well-off Zionists on the multinational companies and mainstream media in America. My question is what are the root causes of this enormous power and immense wealth which the Zionists have possessed?…. more.. e-mail
Who Profits? — Financing the Israeli Occupation
By Who Profits, Israeli Occupation Archive10/25/2010
Israeli banks provide the financial infrastructure for all activities of companies, governmental agencies and individuals in the continuing occupation of Palestine and the Syrian Golan Heights. The services provided by the banks support and sustain these activities. Additionally, as this report shows, it is evident that the banks are well aware of the types and whereabouts of the activity that is being carried out with their financial assistance.
Our research has identified six categories of involvement of Israeli banks in the occupation. There is solid evidence of the involvement of most of the major Israeli commercial banks in these categories:
1. Providing mortgage loans for homebuyers in settlements
Israeli banks provide mortgages to individuals who wish to buy or build housing units in West Bank settlements. The purchased property is used as collateral for the return of the loan, as is standard with mortgage loans. Thus, the bank that provided the loan is a stakeholder in a real estate property in a settlement and, in cases of foreclosure, the bank may end up fully owning that property.
2. Providing special loans for building projects in settlements
Israeli banks provide loans for various construction firms for the explicit purpose of constructing housing projects in Israeli West Bank settlements. These are loans provided under terms which are regulated through “accompaniment agreements” (Heskemay Livuy), certain aspects of which are regulated under the Sale (Apartments) (Assurance of Investments of Purchasers of Apartments) Law — 1974…. — See also: Full Report (PDF) and Source: Who Profits? more.. e-mail
They’re trying to sell the Brooklyn Bridge again
Robert Fisk, The Independent10/23/2010
Refusing to buy The Wall Street Journal, I sometimes sneak a look at copies that are left behind by other people.
So it was last month when a friendly couple dumped their paper on the train seat opposite me. And bingo, it was as bad as ever. “Defence Officials Predict Slow Afghan Progress.” And the sourcing for this hardly unexpected headline? “Senior US military officials”, “military officials”, “a senior US military official”, “Obama administration officials”, “defence officials”, “the senior military official”, “military leaders”, “the official”, “military officials”, “the officials”, “many in the military”, “military officials” (again), “officials” (again), “military officials” (yet again) and “officials” (yet again).
Why do our scribes write this horseshit? My old mate Alexander Cockburn calls it “selling the Brooklyn Bridge” and claims that Michael Gordon, chief military correspondent of The New York Times, is always ready to buy it. True. In 2002, Mike was banging the gong about aluminium tubes in Iraq being part of Saddam’s nuclear programme. Then in 2007, “American officials” — of course — briefed Mike on how Iran was providing Iraqi insurgents with “explosive formed penetrators” for use against American troops in Iraq; the fact that most of the insurgents killing US forces there were Sunni and wouldn’t have anything to do with Iran failed to make it into Mike’s story. Oh yes, and the Iranians were also supplying their Hizbollah allies in Lebanon with the weapon to use against the Israelis. Well at least the Hizbollah, who are Shia, are armed by Iran, though we’ll have to wait for the next Lebanon war to see if these mysterious “penetrators” make their appearance.
The real problem, of course, is that we are sold the Brooklyn Bridge over and over again. Now here’s a good quote. “Iran is the centre of terrorism, fundamentalism and subversion and is in my view more dangerous than Nazism, because Hitler did not possess a nuclear bomb, where the Iranians are trying to perfect a nuclear option.” This prediction was not made by Benjamin Netanyahu but — and thank God for Roger Cohen who spotted this particular Brooklyn Bridge — by then prime minister Shimon Peres…. more.. e-mail
Will Fatah choose reconciliation or collaboration?
Electronic Intifada: 26 Oct 2010 – Clashes between the main Palestinian movements Hamas and Fatah date back to the late 1980s when Hamas was officially founded and the early 1990s when Fatah took control of the Palestinian Authority, newly established under the 1993 Oslo accords. Raja Abdulhaq comments.more
Israeli Siege Kept Baby Girl From Leukemia Treatment
Palestine Monitor: 26 Oct 2010 – Nasma Abu Lasheen died on 16 October, 2010 from treatable leukemia, 155 kilometres from adequate medical facilities. She had spent most of her two years sick, ferried around Gaza and Israel between blood tests, treatments and doctors in six different hospitals. Her family had celebrated her second birthday in Gaza City, waiting on permission from Israel to continue the chemical treatment. By the time it came, Nasma was too weak to move. Her tragedy is the story of hospitals, doctors, clinics and medicine under siege. Doctors rush two Gazan infants to treatment during Operation Cast Lead (Photo Reuters) UNKNOWN DISEASE Nasma was the fourth child of Neja Abu Lasheen, a police officer with the Palestinian National Authority in Gaza City. She was born on October 8, 2008 in Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest, older than Israel itself. When Nasma was three months old, Israel invaded Gaza in what became known as…more
Weimar in Jerusalem
Palestine Chronicle: 25 Oct 2010 – By Uri Avnery — Israel 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…more
Palestinians Have the Right to Resist Occupation
Palestine Chronicle: 25 Oct 2010 – By Agustin Velloso (A contribution to Ramzy Baroud’s The Violence Debate .) As a Western supporter (non Muslim/Arab) of the Palestinian cause, I have always find it rather difficult to talk (let alone to advocate) about how best Palestinians can resist occupation, especially when this occupation is usually extremely violent and genocidal at times. Ramzy Baroud’s self-restrained criticism of Western and some other willing peace teachers, has prompted me to introduce a different point of view, which probably is much more common amongst Westerners than the Palestinians themselves would believe, although the mainstream media, as it happens with many other issues, have successfully managed to keep under a lid. War in Iraq and Afghanistan are just two outstanding examples. It does not matter how many Westerners speak out and demonstrate against Western intervention (read aggression) in those countries. It does not matter that international law (let alone pure and humble common…more
Life in Palestinian Refugee Camps
Palestine Chronicle: 25 Oct 2010 – By Stephen Lendman Besides mass slaughter and destruction, wars create refugees, millions at times, uprooted, displaced and homeless, on their own somehow to survive. Israel’s “War of Independence” was no different, dispossessing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, a story Western media reports don’t explain or even mention. In his book, ” My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story ,” Ramzy Baroud recounted his father Mohammed’s story. Born in 1938 in Beit Daras village, he saw it conquered, leveled and erased, except from the memory he took to his grave. A captive in his own land, he lived years as a Gaza Nuseirat camp refugee, raising his family including son Ramzy, dreaming always of going home, struggling as a freedom fighter to end decades of conflict, violence, occupation, and oppression, what Edward Said called “a slow death,” shattered hopes, and inexorable toll of its incalculable horror to so many….more
New Scandal Rocks Zionist Federation
Palestine Chronicle: 25 Oct 2010 – By Iqbal Jassat — Pretoria The latest scandal to hit a self-confessed pro-Israeli organization in South Africa, the SA Zionist Federation, [SAZF] is likely to invigorate the ‘Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions’ [BDS] campaign against Israel and its affiliates. This remarkable turn of events involves a Johannesburg-based bag manufacturing company, Saley’s Travel Goods, who refused to supply the SAZF with goods on the grounds that it did not want to “aid and abet” organizations responsible for “crimes against humanity”. The SAZF, known for its links to apartheid Israel, has in the recent past been embroiled in a number of headline grabbing controversies surrounding its defense of Israeli war crimes. Most notable has been its failed attempt to prevent a leading South African jurist, Judge Richard Goldstone from attending his grandson’s barmitzvah. This move was interpreted by many Jewish critics of Israel as a form of punishing Goldstone for his report on…more
Morbid Theater: Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israel
Palestine Chronicle: 25 Oct 2010 – By George Polley Admittedly, I am a relative newcomer to this discussion, which is not the same thing as saying that I am an ignorant one, as one Israeli correspondent has implied, saying that I have ‘a huge anti-Israeli bias.’ If by that he means that I question the honesty and aims of Israel’s government in its reading of history and its dealings with its Palestinian neighbors and citizens, then I stand guilty as charged. I have followed this conflict and discussion about it for years. The difference between ‘then’ and ‘now’ is that I poke around and ask questions, such as: What compelled Netanyahu to quash the recent peace talks with the Palestinians? In spite of what Mr. Netanyahu says in photo ops, his intentions have been quite consistent from the beginning. His address to the United Nations in September 2009 illustrates my point, and illustrates it, as the…more
Israel’s Chief Military Advocate General Not Telling the truth
Palestine Chronicle: 25 Oct 2010 – By Richard Lightbown On 26 August the Turkel Committee took evidence from Israel’s Chief Military Advocate General, General Mandelblit. The morning session was open although a number of documents that the participants referred to do not appear on the website. In the afternoon the Advocate General apparently spoke amongst other matters on the intended IDF policy towards future flotillas. The result of the morning session is 144 pages of transcript which is at times interesting and at other times seems to have lost the plot as the participants spoke of ‘plausible commanders’ and ‘concrete ships’ and other items of jargon. This is not helped by the fact that apparently the Advocate General is speaking Israeli-English, although perhaps the standard of the transcript is also flawed in parts. The result is that occasionally he and some of the committee members are like very intimate friends or family talking in their own…more
First Day of School for the Bedouin Children in the School of Bamboo
Dissident Voice: 26 Oct 2010 – It is first day at school for the Palestinian Bedouin children of the Jahalin community, in the Judean Desert, but this year is different. They resume their studies in a new school building built of bamboo. The new “desert school” of the Wadi Abu Hindi community is the last project of the Italian NGO Vento Di Terra and the group of architects “Arce”. In fact, the story of this school finds its roots longer in the past. The community, displaced by the new born Israeli state from the Negev in 1948, resolved to build a school in 1997 as a response to their dramatic demographic growth. In 1994 the signing of the Interim Oslo Accord placed their community into ‘Zone C’ an area of Israeli civilian and military control. Thereafter, the homes and the school were twice demolished, before the Israeli Court of Justice ruled the demolitions illegal, and granted…more
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