6 November, 2010 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Israeli government documents show deliberate policy to keep Gazans at near-starvation levels
IMEMC – 7 Nov 2010 – Saturday November 06, 2010 – 21:32, Documents whose existence were denied by the Israeli government for over a year have been released after a legal battle led by Israeli human rights group Gisha. The documents reveal a deliberate policy by the Israeli government in which the dietary needs for the population of Gaza are chillingly calculated, and the amounts of food let in by the Israeli government measured to remain just enough to keep the population alive at a near-starvation level. This documents the statement made by a number of Israeli officials that they are “putting the people of Gaza on a diet”.
‘Lonely Planet’ guidebook rates Tel Aviv among world’s ‘top ten cities’ despite boycott calls
IMEMC – 7 Nov 2010 – Saturday November 06, 2010 – 18:45, In the midst of a worldwide boycott campaign urging tourists to refuse to visit Israel until Israeli authorities adhere to international law and signed agreements, the ‘Lonely Planet’ travel guide company has listed Israeli city Tel Aviv as #3 in its ‘top ten cities for 2011’.
Israeli war jets hit southern Gaza targets
11/7/2010 – GAZA CITY (DPA) — Israeli war jets struck two targets in southern Gaza Strip Saturday night in response to an earlier homemade projectile fired from Gaza at southern Israel. No injuries were reported, witnesses and medics said. The witnesses said that F16 war jets hovered over the southern Gaza Strip area and carried out two successive….
PA: Israel raided thousands of homes in October
11/7/2010 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Detainees’ Affairs said Israeli forces detained 403 Palestinians and raided 2148 homes across the West Bank during October. In a report released Saturday, the ministry said Israeli soldiers intimidated and assaulted residents, destroying the contents of homes during the raids. Of those detained, 95 percent….
Inspired, Al-Quds fest goes underground
11/6/2010 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — “We go to really private spaces, to people who have sometimes experienced rough things,” Al-Quds Underground Festival organizer Merlijn Twaalfoven said ahead of the launch of the event’s second year. On the bill for a select number of guests – word of mouth and invitation only – were joint performances between….
VIDEO – Watch: Truth Seekers
11/7/2010 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The latest documentary film produced by Ma’an, in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information, highlights the role of Palestinian journalists covering Israel’s occupation. Five journalists were interviewed for the project, each speaking about the dangers they faced reporting from the field. The documentary features photojournalist….
Union: UNRWA rejected PA mediation
11/6/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Striking UN workers accused UNRWA of obstructing attempts by the Palestinian Authority’s Labor Ministry to resolve the dispute. Workers at the UN refugee agency have been on strike since mid October in protest over the agency’s refusal to pay salaries during the last strike and other issues….
Projectile fire reported from northern Gaza
11/6/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed media reports Saturday morning saying a single homemade projectile was fired from northern Gaza toward Israeli territory. Israel’s English-language news website affiliated with the national newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said there were no reports of injury or damage from the projectile, which was said….
In photos: Vigil for Baghdad church victims
11/6/2010 – MaanImages / Luay Sababa – Christian Palestinians attend a mass to mourn victims of the Catholic Church bombing in Baghdad. Gathering at the Church of Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on 5 November 2010, the members of the minority religion came out in large numbers to show their support to the community in nearby….
Report: PA to make decision on talks late November
11/7/2010 – ABU DHABI, UAE (Ma’an) — US mediators will hand the Arab League peace initiative’s follow up committee details on a deal to bring Palestinian and Israeli negotiators back to the table by 10 November, the Palestinian presidential spokesman told AFP Friday. The parameters of the deal will be used by the committee….
Livni: Netanyahu is damaging Israel’s interests
11/6/2010 – TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni said Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to extend restrictions on illegal settlement building was damaging Israeli interests, Israeli media reported. Livni asked, “Why not comply with the demand to extend the freeze by two months? So certain people can hold….
US denies support for UN statehood bid
11/6/2010 – WASHINGTON (Ma’an) — A US State Department official denied a host of rumors on the progress of the peace process Friday, including reports that Washington would back a bid for a Palestinian state presented to the UN Security Council. Mark Toner, deputy State Department spokesman, told reporters at a daily news conference in Washington….
`Unilateral statehood unwise at this juncture`
11/6/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A limited accord was reached between Israeli and Palestinian leaders discussing the issue of a unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood when the two met on Hard Questions, the Palestinian talk show. Former Palestinian Ambassador to Cairo Nabil Amr debated the issue alongside Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset Jamal Zahalqa with….
Erekat: Talks useless without settlement freeze
11/6/2010 – CAIRO (DPA) — Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says direct talks with Israel are useless unless a construction freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank is renewed, a regional daily reported Saturday.” Yes, we are at the end of the game. It is now the time for decisions. Negotiations are useless. It is now his….
Netanyahu to visit US on Sunday
11/6/2010 – JERUSALEM (DPA) –Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to arrive in the US on Sunday to address a conference of Jewish leaders and meet with US leaders to discuss the Middle East peace process. Netanyahu is scheduled to give a speech at the Annual North American Jewish Conference in New Orleans. Earlier in the….
Abbas meets Abu Dhabi crown prince
11/6/2010 – ABU DHABI (United Arab Emirates) — President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday met Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, to discuss peace negotiations with Israel. Meeting in Abu Dhabi, the two discussed the importance of the peace process to regional stability, the official Emirates news agency WAM reported. Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu….
Islamic Jihad urges national unity
11/6/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Islamic Jihad’s Secretary-General Ramadan Shallah on Friday urged Hamas and Fatah to work quickly to end their rivalry. Shallah was speaking a ceremony in the Syrian capital to mark the 23rd anniversary of the founding of the Islamic Jihad movement. Hamas and Fatah should agree on a national….
Report: Fire destroys Golan Heights lands
11/6/2010 – TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — A fire destroyed at least 6,000 dunums of lands in the occupied Golan Heights on Saturday, Israeli media reported, saying the fire broke out after campers attempted to incinerate waste the night earlier. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said the blaze caught near Umm Al-Kanater, where the remains of what….
Hebron worker dies of electric shock
11/6/2010 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — A 29-year-old Palestinian worker died from an electric shock Saturday in a southern West Bank refugee camp, police said. Locals said Mohammad Warasneh died instantly when he suffered an electric shock from a crane, while working in a building in Al-Arrub camp near Hebron. According to a police report, the….
Neutralizing the Haredi bomb is the key step
Palestine Note 6 Nov 2010 – In my last column I wrote about the need for Israel to focus on its Haredi, Arab and ultra-nationalist population bomb, a bomb that threatens Israel’s economy as well as its internal and external Jewish support:…
Conned by democracy: The Middle East’s stagnant ‘change’
Palestine Note 6 Nov 2010 – Democracy in the Middle East continues to be a hugely popular topic of discussion. Its virtues are tirelessly praised by rulers and oppositions alike, by intellectuals and ordinary people, by political prisoners and their prison guards….
Bush ‘considered’ bombing Syria
AlJazeera 6 Nov 2010 – In memoir to be released soon, former US president says Israel wanted him to bomb suspected Syrian nuclear facility.
Beirut probes tribunal staff attack
AlJazeera 5 Nov 2010 – Lebanon says it is investigating incident that appeared to target officials from UN inquiry into prime minister’s death.
Artists Encourage Actors to Boycott Settlement Arts Center
PNN – Ba’er Seva – PNN – Ba’er Sheva Theater, an Israeli performance group, was asked by many prominent arts figures to boycott the newly built arts center in the Ariel settlement of the…
Israel Gives East Jerusalem Properties to Right Wing Groups Illegally
PNN – Jerusalem – PNN – An investigation Haaretz published today revealed that the Israel Lands Administration has given numerous properties in the Silwan and Old City areas of East Jerusalem to two ultra-conservative…
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (28 Oct. — 03 Nov. 2010)
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Israel to withdraw from village on Lebanon border
Jeruslalem Post 6 Nov 2010 – PM to announce plan in meeting with UN Secretary General on Monday; Ghajar is on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
Israel to withdraw from northern Ghajar
Jeruslalem Post 6 Nov 2010 – PM to announce plan in meeting with UN Secretary General on Monday; village is on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
Diplomat knocks Frankfurt mayor for honoring anti-Zionist
Jeruslalem Post 6 Nov 2010 – French academic Grosser plans to bash Israel during speech at Kristallnacht commemoration.
US: Talk of Palestinian unilateralism unhelpful
Jeruslalem Post 6 Nov 2010 – State Department says only direct talks will bring peace; Netanyahu heads to US for GA, hopes to find way to restart negotiations.
Barak slams Labor leaders seeking chairmanship in letter
Jeruslalem Post 6 Nov 2010 – Current party chairman attacks “party members who seek to put ‘I’ before country,” asks Labor steering committee to reject request to move primaries forward.
Kouchner calls for calm in Beirut over Hariri hit tribunal
Jeruslalem Post 6 Nov 2010 – French foreign minister says it’s paramount for Lebanon that there be “no impunity for such crimes,” tells Hizbullah he “understands their concerns.”
Kouchner calls for calm in Lebanon over Hariri hit tribunal
Jeruslalem Post 6 Nov 2010 – French foreign minister says it is paramount for Lebanese state that there be “no impunity for such crimes,” tells Hizubullah he “understands their concerns.”
Zahar: Jews will soon be expelled from Palestine
Jeruslalem Post 6 Nov 2010 – Hamas leader says Jews were kicked out by France, Britain, Belgium, Russia and Germany “because they betrayed, stole and corrupted these countries;” adds “we will soon pray at Aqsa Mosque.”
Fast train between TA, J’lem to run through West Bank
Jeruslalem Post 6 Nov 2010 – Critics say the long-awaited railway violates int’l law because the construction has seized occupied Palestinian land.
‘Start-up nation’ becomes better place to do business
Jeruslalem Post 6 Nov 2010 – Israel ranked 29 out of 188 economies surveyed by World Bank for having a business-friendly regulatory environment; third in ME.
Ayalon: Interim accord more likely than final status deal
Jeruslalem Post 6 Nov 2010 – Deputy FM says Palestinian approach to final status talks could lead to “an escalation that could destabilize the entire region.”
Erekat: ‘I will not join the Zionist movement’
Jeruslalem Post 6 Nov 2010 – PM Netanyahu must choose between settlements and peace, says Chief Palestinian Negotiatior during visit to Washington.
US: IAEA may take action against Syria if blocks inspection
Jeruslalem Post 6 Nov 2010 – Syria has blocked inspectors from touring Deir al-Zur for over two years; now coming under increased pressure.
Letter calls on Israeli artists not to perform in Ariel
Jeruslalem Post 6 Nov 2010 – Group of Israeli artists say there is no obligation to perform in West Bank settlement because “Ariel is not part of sovereign territory of Israel.”
Rocks thrown at two Israeli ambulances in East Jerusalem
Ha’aretz – Rocks thrown at three vehicles, including two MDA ambulances, in Issawiya neighborhood of East Jerusalem; no injuries in the incident but the vehicles sustained damage.
Eli Yishai to Netanyahu: Push for the release of Jonathan Pollard during U.S. visit
Ha’aretz – Shas chairman says the request is now justified since Israel is asked to make concessions for peace; Netanyahu refuses to take MKs’ letter asking for Pollard’s release to the U.S.
Likud MK: Israeli public fed up with lunatic fringe that controls theater, cinema
Ha’aretz – MK Yariv Levin calls for new criteria to be set for funding of cultural institutions, in the wake of letter sent by theater figures calling on actors to boycott new…
Israeli war film Lebanon nominated for six European ‘Oscars’
Ha’aretz – The film, which tells the story of Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon through soldiers’ eyes, is nominated for Best European Film of 2010.
Computer crash causes delays at Ben-Gurion Airport
Ha’aretz – Border control computer system fails for second time in the past month; backup system allows operations to continue.
Golan Heights bushfire ravages thousands of dunams in nature reserve
Ha’aretz – Fire apparently erupts after tourists burn toilet paper near the archaeology site Umm el-Kanater and throw it away.
Theater figures urge Be’er Sheva actors to boycott West Bank arts center
Ha’aretz – Be’er Sheva theater scheduled to perform in center on its opening night this week; letter says Israel’s policy in occupied territories resembles ‘apartheid nation.’
Ethiopian community in Israel celebrates holiday of Sigd in Jerusalem
Ha’aretz – Participants hold prayers, ceremonies at Armon Hanatziv Promenade.
Netanyahu to inform UN of expected withdrawal from northern Ghajar
Ha’aretz – UN Resolution 1701 requires Israel to cease all operations north of its border with Lebanon, including its withdrawal from the northern side of the disputed village.
Barak: Iran is trying to deceive the world
Ha’aretz – Speaking at an international security forum, Defense Minister Ehud Barak expresses pessimism about proposed nuclear talks between global powers and Iran.
U.S.: Syria risks IAEA action if access to suspected nuclear site is denied
Ha’aretz – It has been over 2 years since UN nuclear watchdog was allowed to visit Dair Alzour site where secret nuclear activity may have taken place before it was bombed in…
Mideast peace still a priority for Obama, U.S. says
Ha’aretz – Republican gains in midterm elections will not reduce pressure on Israelis to strike a peace deal, says State Department., Hezbollah officials claim Lebanon obtained information about posts covering all of…
Palestine: Where Will the Next Leaders Come From?
Uruknet November 6, 2010 – The Palestinian youth are fed up with politics. In a country where 70% of young people described themselves as ‘politically inactive’ in a Sharek youth forum survey, and just 33% professed to have trust in any political party, what has gone wrong? It was a question debated by representatives of all the major parties in…
Rights group: Palestinian female detainees in Talmond denied medical treatment
Uruknet November 6, 2010 – Several ill detainees in the female population of the Israeli Talmond prison have been denied medical treatment, a Palestinian rights group reported, adding that the prison administration has refused to allow a dentist into the facility. The Mandela rights group head Buthaina Duqmaq, in statement she issued Saturday after visiting Israeli prisons, said female detainees…
Firing at workers near the Gaza perimiter fence
Uruknet November 6, 2010 – Over the past year, B’Tselem has documented eleven cases in which soldiers fired at and wounded Palestinian civilians working in areas near the perimeter fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel. In these eleven cases, the gunfire struck civilians who, because of the lack of jobs in the Strip, were compelled to earn a living…
From Balfour to Obama: The dominant imperial power may have changed but treatment of the Palestinians remains much the same.
Uruknet November 6, 2010 – On November 2, 1917, Lord Arthur Balfour, the then British foreign secretary, promised to create a homeland for the Jews in Palestine. Known as the Balfour Declaration, the document became the first stepping stone towards the 1948 establishment of the state of Israel. Palestine was still under Ottoman rule when it was written. But Britain…
Cornerstone of Zionism is to Conquer, Not Negotiate
Uruknet November 6, 2010 – Only through force and sheer violence, not negotiations, an exclusively Jewish state could be established in a country inhabited and owned by another people. It is humanly inconceivable that people surrender their country to strangers thru negotiations. Thus violence against the indigenous Palestinians has been a central component of the Zionist movement since it was…
Israeli war jets hit southern Gaza targets
Uruknet November 6, 2010 – November 6, 2010 — Israeli war jets struck two targets in southern Gaza Strip Saturday night in response to an earlier homemade projectile fired from Gaza at southern Israel. No injuries were reported, witnesses and medics said. The witnesses said that F16 war jets hovered over the southern Gaza Strip area and carried out two…
Thought Crimes
Uruknet November 6, 2010 – Would Meryl Streep, Spike Lee, Tim Robbins or Susan Sarandon be willing to swear an oath of loyalty to the United States and its policies in order to receive public funding for feature films that they star in, direct or produce? In Israel, the far-right Knesset member Michael Ben Ari has proposed a bill that…
Torturer-in-chief: Bush brags about waterboarding
Uruknet November 6, 2010 – In a memoir to be released next week, former US President George W. Bush boasts of having personally given the order to the CIA to employ the torture method of waterboarding. The book, titled Decision Points, includes Bush’s recounting that when asked by the CIA whether it could subject Khalid Sheik Mohammed, an alleged leader…
Engaging the Popular Resistance
Uruknet November 5, 2010 – The Middle East has experienced colonialism, empire, war and history; eons of it. These experiences allow for the region to be a breeding ground of great ironies. Another ironic moment happened this week. On Nov. 2nd, 1917, then British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour declared the intentions of His Majesty’s Government to change the face of…
Al-Walaja demonstration, Zionist French president and more
Uruknet November 5, 2010 – Our son visited us under the occupation and just left. We are grateful and energized by this visit (albeit short). The questioning both on entrance and exit totaling hours shows how callous such a colonial/apartheid systemcan get. At the airport coming in, the apartheid authorities even showed him photos of both me and my mother (…
Video: Iraqis claim abuse by UK soldiers
Uruknet November 5, 2010 – As this is my last report to the General Assembly in my term as Special Rapporteur on the Situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 it seems appropriate to describe some of the special difficulties that have faced the mandate-holder in discharging the functions of the position. The most salient of…
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (28 Oct. — 03 Nov. 2010)
Uruknet November 5, 2010 – Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (28 October — 03 November 2010): Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF killed a Palestinian activist in the Gaza Strip, and wounded 11 civilians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In the Gaza Strip, on 03 November…
Week in Review- Palestinians Delay Negotiation Decision [October 31 – November 6]
Relief Web 6 Nov 2010 – Source: MIFTAH
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (28 Oct. – 03 Nov. 2010)
Relief Web 5 Nov 2010 – Source: Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
8th Week against the Apartheid Wall, November 9 — 16 2010
Stop The Wall – [
Qassam hits Negev; no injuries
YNet News – Relative calm in south disturbed as Palestinian terrorists launch rocket from….
US: Syria risks IAEA action over suspected atom site
YNet News – Washington’s envoy to UN nuclear agency says it is ‘urgent and essential’ that….
IDF bombs Gaza tunnels
YNet News – The Air Force carried out two strikes Saturday night in southern Gaza, wounding one Palestinian, witnesses and Hamas officials said. The first strike occurred near …….
Barak: Iran wants to deceive world
YNet News – Defense Minister Ehud Barak expressed little optimism on Saturday about a proposed round of talks between global powers and Iran, which is under pressure over its nuclear …….
Stones thrown at ambulance treating Palestinian
YNet News – Stones were thrown Saturday at an ambulance and an MDA mobile intensive care unit near the village of Al-Azariya just a day after some young Israelis were attacked as …….
Erekat: US-Israeli decision on freeze in 3 weeks
YNet News – Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinian Authority has given the US “two to three weeks” to persuade Israel to continue a moratorium on construction …….
Moderate earthquake injures 100 in western Iran
YNet News – Iranian state TV reported that a magnitude-4.9 earthquake injured 100 people in western Iran. The quake struck at 7:22 am local time (0308GMT) Saturday in the town of …….
Palestinian Information Center
Rights group: Female detainees in Talmond denied medical treatment
PIC 6 Nov 2010 – Several ill detainees in the female population of the Israeli Talmond prison have been denied medical treatment, a Palestinian rights groups reported.
MK Baraka exposes plan targeting Arab homes in Lod
PIC 6 Nov 2010 – Arab MK Mohammed Baraka offers evidence that NIS 40 million of the NIS 130 million budget set aside to develop the city of Lod will be used to demolish Arab homes allegedly built without permits.
Foreign activists take part in protest rally in JV
PIC 6 Nov 2010 – Inhabitants of Jaftelk village in the Jordan Valley organized a protest sit-in on Saturday with the participation of foreign solidarity activists against Israeli settlement activity.
Hamas: PA security carried out 163 political arrests this month
PIC 6 Nov 2010 – PA security forces arrested this month 163 Palestinians throughout the West Bank, among them 74 ex-detainees released from Israeli jails, Hamas reported Saturday.
MK: Release Shalit regardless of the price
PIC 6 Nov 2010 – Israeli Knesset (parliament) member (Kadima) Yisrael Hasson has said that Israel should pay the price for the release of captured soldier Gilad Shalit if it was unable to determine his location.
Haaretz: The Israeli gov’t helps Zionist groups to seize Jerusalem real estate
PIC 6 Nov 2010 – Haaretz newspaper revealed that Zionist right-wing societies are secretly helped by the Israeli government to take over Palestinian real estate in different parts of the occupied city of Jerusalem.
German FM to visit Gaza on Monday
PIC 6 Nov 2010 – German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is to visit the Gaza Strip on Monday on an official visit, the first by a German official to the Strip since 2006.
Friends of humanity calls on Egypt to facilitate Road to Hope convoy’s mission
PIC 6 Nov 2010 – Friends of humanity appealed to the Egyptian authorities to allow Road to Hope convoy to move from the Egyptian-Libyan borders into Gaza to deliver medical and human assistance.
Protest against Fayyad for excluding Jerusalemite pilgrims from Hajj mission
PIC 6 Nov 2010 – Dozens of Jerusalemite families of prisoners, ex-detainees and martyrs rallied outside the house of Salam Fayyad in protest at excluding them from the pilgrimage mission to Makkah this year.
Resheq: Hamas wants to establish higher security committee in W. Bank and Gaza
PIC 6 Nov 2010 – Ezzat Al-Resheq stated that his Movement is willing to establish a higher security committee to monitor the security policies pursued in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
U.S. hikers’ trial in Iran delayed
LA Times 7 Nov 2010 – Joshua Fattal and Shane Bauer, accused of espionage, were not present at the hearing on Saturday. Sources say authorities want freed American Sarah Shourd to return to Iran to stand trial. The judge, prosecutor and lawyer showed up Saturday, but the defendants didn’t.
New face of terror has Yemenis scratching their heads
LA Times 7 Nov 2010 – Anwar Awlaki, whom U.S. authorities have linked to the Ft. Hood killings, is said to be hiding in the mountains in Yemen. But a sampling of men in Sana say they don’t know who he is, and some call him ‚Äî and his Al Qaeda branch ‚Äî a political invention. “Anwar Awlaki?”
AL KHALIL (HEBRON): Two Palestinians killed, four families made homeless.
Christian Peacemaker Teams – Palestine –
AL-KHALIL (HEBRON): Palestinian family awakens to discover 100 mature grapevines destroyed
Christian Peacemaker Teams – Palestine –
Where Will the Next Leaders Come From?
Palestine Monitor – The Palestinian youth are fed up with politics. In a country where 70% of young people described themselves as ‘politically inactive’ in a Sharek youth forum survey, and just 33% professed to have trust in any political party, what has gone wrong? It was a question…
The Re-unification of My Parents
Palestine Monitor – Yesterday my mother crossed the Allenby bridge, from the West Bank to Jordan, to see my father in Amman. What makes this banal act unusual is that she had to wait almost a year to be finally granted permission to cross the border. Yesterday my mother…
Jewish Federations acknowledge Israel’s ‘paradigm shift,’ then circle the wagons
Mondoweiss – I like to say the fat is in the fire, and the fat is in the fire. This week the Jewish Federations, the leading civic Jewish organizations in American cities, are holding their General Assembly in New Orleans and the big theme of the event looks…
The settlements have been a project of main street Jewish America
Mondoweiss – The ironic part about this Al Jazeera video is that, because it’s Al Jazeera, they have to frame their story as “going undercover” to expose sales in the settlement of Efrat by real estate giant Anglo-Saxon (motto: “have a foothold in Israel”). And yet, there’s nothing…
It’s time to dismantle the PA
Mondoweiss – Salam Fayyad is surviving on borrowed time – or money. By now everyone’s aware that the Netanyahu-engineered “economic miracle” is the predictable result of periodic cash injections into a closed economic space. Pretending that Palestinian growth in the West Bank is viable is like pretending a…
My breakfast with Zizek
Mondoweiss – After very nearly liberating Palestine at the Church of St. Paul and creating worldwide brotherhood and peace between the three religions, we invited Mustafa and Miriam over to brunch on our Brooklyn porch, to discuss why and whether the word “communism” should be dragged back into…
‘Let us out of the box’
Mondoweiss – On Thursday, Palestinian chief negotiatior Saeb Erakat sat down for an hour and half “conversation” with former peace processor Aaron David Miller at the Woodrow Wilson Center in DC. They spoke in a cozy theater on the sixth floor, a setting perfect for peace process theater….
Erekat: “I Will Not Join the Zionist Movement”
Al-Manar 6 Nov 2010 – Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat equates Israel’s request at recognition as a “Jewish state” with a request to join the “Zionist movement,” army radio reported on Saturday. Erekat reportedly made the remark during his visit to Washington where he has met with US Middle East…
Bil’in’s Weekly Demo Drowned in Clouds of Tear-Gas
Joseph Dana 6 Nov 2010 – Protesters were attacked by soldiers as they opened and crossed the first gate in the Wall on their way to village’s lands. Some hundred demonstrators — residents of the villages accompanied by their Israeli and international supporters — marched from the village’s center towards the Wall…
Articles
Colossus: the giant Gazan prison
Larbi Sadiki, Al Jazeera, Axis of Logic11/4/2010
The blockade imposed on Gaza is a powerful psychological device aimed at wringing concessions from Gazans and Hamas.
Gaza “the giant open prison” are not the words of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president. Nor were they scripted by Hamas’ Khaled Mishaal or Fatah’s Mahmoud Abbas. They belong to David Cameron, the young and charismatic British prime minister.
Since the imposition of the Gaza blockade nearly four years ago, no single European leader has voiced moral outrage over the sanctions with such alacrity, simplicity and forcefulness. His words have reverberated widely in Gaza as well as elsewhere in the Arab world.
Like Cameron’s words, the untold misery shatters the international political society’s quasi silence and questions the immorality of indifference and inaction towards the blockade.
Gazans need to reclaim their state of dignity and humanity before reclaiming the seemingly illusionary hope of a Palestinian state. A peek inside the ‘big prison’ reveals the blockade to be multi-layered – affecting economy, polity, diplomacy and security.
For most Arabs, that Israel imposes a de-humanising blockade may be easy to explain, but Egypt’s role in the blockade defies logical explication. The music one hears from the Egyptian regime and other Arab states about adherence to international agreements convinces neither Arabs nor Westerners.
But abiding by sanctions that traumatise, de-humanise and isolate fellow Arabs, as in Iraq (where tens of thousands died as a result) or in Gaza is acceptable in the name of good citizenship in the international arena. more.. e-mail
Tears Of Gaza
Dr. Ashraf Ezzat, Dissident Voice11/4/2010
A bomb dropped by an Israeli air force F-16 jet exploding in Beit Hanoun, north of the Gaza Strip, on January 3, 2009.
When was the last time you thought about death?
Was there a time when you felt you were so close to losing your own life? Have you ever experienced that scary feeling-except maybe in the movie theatres? …have you ever felt like not actually living, you’re still breathing … but you’re living as dead?
Most people live their lives never thinking about nor contemplating death. It is human nature. We were born to live and think about how to best enjoy our life while we are still alive. It is in our genes of survival. Something inside us drive us away not from death but from pondering at death. Maybe because death is the only concrete and dreadful fact we are sure of. But in some places and with some people death sometimes can be seen as their shadow on the ground.
When you can’t eat, drink, move freely, watch TV, have access to internet, have a decent job and home and send your kids to schools then DEATH could be a liberating thought.
…And when the world is celebrating the rescue of 33 Chilean miners trapped underground- whom we all are glad to see brought back to life again- but at the same time the world is playing deaf and blind to the 1.5 million Gazans- virtually buried above ground and besieged like animals- then something is terribly wrong with the morality of the international community.
Gaza, this narrow strip of land – the aching remnant of Palestine – where the orange and olive trees have been growing for hundreds of years has lately turned into death fields and a hunting ground for the people who planted and watered those evergreen trees generation after generation. more.. e-mail
Balance.com: Palestinian Perspectives Released by the Net
Kieron Monks, This Week in Palestine10/30/2010
British comedian Mark Steele famously 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. Steele was referring to the Gaza flotilla massacre and the subsequent cover-up, but ironically, that tragic event marked a tipping point away from Israeli PR hegemony. Today, there is more coverage from the Palestinian perspective than ever before.
No credit can be given to the mainstream media. The BBC refused to cover the flotilla until there was a body count and followed up with a disgracefully biased documentary. Fox News would only show the IDF’s videos. In conventional terms, the disparity in media resources between the sides is even greater than their military means. There are 23 Israeli national daily newspapers in five languages, and its national TV channels are broadcast internationally. Of the three dailies available in the Palestinian territories, two belong to political parties, all are exclusively Arabic language, and the largest individual circulation is 20,000.
Yet international sympathies are shifting, almost entirely due to the internet. The live streams from the flotilla hosted on Witness Gaza (www.witnessgaza.com) and Viva Palestina (www.vivapalestina.org) gave testimonies to millions around the world that could not be confiscated. When Bassem Abu Rahmah was shot dead in Bi’lin, the footage made it to Youtube and the IDF were unable to find themselves innocent. When conventional journalists were barred from entering Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, brave bloggers ensured the massacres did not go unreported.
The attention generated by internet coverage has created a self-perpetuating cycle of international visitors who come to Palestine to learn more, and then publicise their stories-most commonly through the internet. Their testimonies attract the next wave of witnesses. A generation ago it was common for European students to take a year off to work on an Israeli kibbutz; now they volunteer in the West Bank. more.. e-mail
Where Will the Next Leaders Come From?
Palestine Monitor: 6 Nov 2010 – The Palestinian youth are fed up with politics. In a country where 70% of young people described themselves as ‘politically inactive’ in a Sharek youth forum survey, and just 33% professed to have trust in any political party, what has gone wrong? It was a question debated by representatives of all the major parties in a specially convened event at the Sharek Centre on Wednesday. Left to right: Mr. Issam Baker (PPP). Mr. Hasan Faraj (Al Shebebeh, Fatah youth) Mrs. Jihad Abu Znaid, (Fatah). Dialogue moderator: Mr. Bader Zamareh Executive director of Sharek youth forum. Dr. Omar Matar Abdulrazeq (Hamas) Mr. Abdularahem Malooh, (PFLP). Mr.Khalid Kraja (PNI) Mr. Malooh of the PFLP began by asking why the youth of the last generation had been given the opportunity to become leaders and not the current generation. He charged the major parties with undemocratic internal policies, citing the fact that many of…more
The Re-unification of My Parents
Palestine Monitor: 6 Nov 2010 – Yesterday my mother crossed the Allenby bridge, from the West Bank to Jordan, to see my father in Amman. What makes this banal act unusual is that she had to wait almost a year to be finally granted permission to cross the border. Yesterday my mother crossed the Allenby bridge, from the West Bank to Jordan, to see my father in Amman. What makes this banal act unusual is that she had to wait almost a year to be finally granted permission to cross the border. Last year my brother wrote about my family’s series of unfortunate events which began in August 2009 – how we went from being British citizens living in our homeland on my dad’s one year work renewable visas, to plain old brown Palestinians forced to accept our Israeli-issued identity cards in order to be classified as ‘legal’ residents, which resulted our own mini diaspora. My…more
Cornerstone of Zionism is to Conquer, Not Negotiate
Palestine Chronicle: 6 Nov 2010 – By Hasan Afif El-Hasan Only through force and sheer violence, not negotiations, an exclusively Jewish state could be established in a country inhabited and owned by another people. It is humanly inconceivable that people surrender their country to strangers thru negotiations. Thus violence against the indigenous Palestinians has been a central component of the Zionist movement since it was conceived as a colonial enterprise. Violence as an instrument to intimidate the Palestinians has been embedded in the Zionist ideology and in its popular culture. Since they started colonizing Palestine, the Zionists have planted and cultivated a culture loaded with provocative racial themes in the daily life of the Jewish colonizers that dehumanize the Palestinians, like “the Arabs understand only the language of force” and “a good Arab is a dead Arab.” The Zionists’ myth refers to the Jews as superiors, “heroes” and the Arabs as inferiors, “villains” and “cowards” who…more
The Nobleman and the Horse
Palestine Chronicle: 6 Nov 2010 – By Uri Avnery ‘Half and half,’ the late Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol, is said to have answered, when asked whether he wanted tea or coffee. This joke was intended to parody his hesitation on the eve of the Six-day War. (Though secret documents published this week show Eshkol in a very different light.) The American public now resembles the man in the joke. They sent to Washington a large group of Tea Party types, but the coffee drinkers in the White house are still in control. The Israeli leadership did not know how to treat the results of this election. Are they good for the Jews or bad for the Jews? The big winner of the American election is none other than Binyamin Netanyahu. His policy is similar to that of his political mentor, Yitzhak Shamir. It is based on the Jew who had to teach the Polish nobleman’s horse…more
Israeli Settlers Threaten Sheikh Jarrah
Palestine Chronicle: 6 Nov 2010 – By Stephen Lendman Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, including Fourth Geneva’s Article 49 stating: “Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of the motive.” In addition, various UN resolutions (including 446, 452 and 465) condemned Israel’s settlement building, declaring they have “no legal validity” to exist. However, they do and regularly expand, endangering all Palestinian communities, Sheikh Jarrah one of many and their longstanding residents. A predominantly East Jerusalem Arab neighborhood, it’s home to about 2,800 Palestinians as well as diplomatic missions and well-known landmarks. However, because of its strategic location, settlers want it, and have encroached for years. So far, over 60 Palestinian families have been dispossessed. Another 500 are at risk. The UN Office for the Coordination of…more
The Democratic Party Debacle
Palestine Chronicle: 6 Nov 2010 – By James Petras The November 2, 2010 electoral debacle of the Democratic Party in the US cannot be solely ascribed to the failed policies of President Obama, the Congressional leadership or their senior economic advisers. Nor is the demise of what passes for the American “center-left” confined to the US — it is a world-wide pattern, expressed in countries as diverse as Greece, Portugal, Spain, Great Britain and Japan. The central question is why the left-center left governing parties are everywhere in crisis and will be for the foreseeable future? The Left-Center Left: Past Winners, Present Losers In the past leftist parties had been the beneficiaries of capitalist crises: Incumbent conservative regimes, which had presided over economic recessions or had been held responsible for military debacles, were ousted from power by leftist parties prepared to make large-scale, long-term public investments, funded by progressive taxes on wealth and capital, and to…more
Murdoch Drums up “War” Propaganda
Dissident Voice: 6 Nov 2010 – In his recent pep-talk to the Anti-Defamation League, media magnate Rupert Murdoch complains about “an ongoing war against the Jews”. He seems desperate to divert attention from the mounting resentment around the world towards Israel. But his threadbare argument collapses straightaway because no distinction is made between criminal Israelis and Jews generally. The one remains carefully hidden behind the other. And the anti-Semitism label tends to get pinned on anyone and everyone in European society, “from its most élite politicians to its largely Muslim ghettoes”, who speaks against or as much as frowns at the racist regime. The after-dinner audience he was addressing no doubt lapped it up, but unfortunately for Mr Murdoch people are better informed nowadays. I doubt if the wider audience buys it. What they find unacceptable is Israel’s lawlessness and unrestrained killing. The much-hyped religious dimension is only relevant insofar as the perpetrators hide behind religion’s…more
Thought Crimes
Dissident Voice: 6 Nov 2010 – Would Meryl Streep, Spike Lee, Tim Robbins or Susan Sarandon be willing to swear an oath of loyalty to the United States and its policies in order to receive public funding for feature films that they star in, direct or produce? In Israel, the far-right Knesset member Michael Ben Ari has proposed a bill that would require entire film crews to pledge allegiance to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, and to declare loyalty to its laws and symbols, as a condition for receiving public funding. It’s just one of more than ten bills to be discussed during the Knesset’s winter session that several commentators in Ha’aretz have characterised as proto-fascist. As in most democracies, all new Israeli citizens must declare loyalty to the state and its laws, but the cabinet last month decided to support (22 in favour, 8 against) an amendment to Israel’s citizenship law that would…more
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The New Dark Age 
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