16 November, 2010 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Palestinians and Arab League likely to reject US proposal
IMEMC – 16 Nov 2010 – Tuesday November 16, 2010 – 16:58, According to Maan News, a proposal from the United States for a 90-day temporary freeze on construction in Israeli West Bank settlements might not be enough to entice the Palestinians into renewing Middle East peace talks.
Meridor: “No cabinet freeze vote until U.S. gives proposal in writing”
IMEMC – 16 Nov 2010 – Tuesday November 16, 2010 – 16:22, In an interview with Israeli Army Radio today, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor said U.S. promises were needed in writing before the Cabinet votes on a 3 month settlement freeze.
Settlers Destroy Trees Near Hebron
IMEMC – 16 Nov 2010 – Tuesday November 16, 2010 – 15:47, Farmers from Surif, north of Hebron, went to their land, on Tuesday, to find that many of their trees had been set on fire by settlers. According to the Palestinian Solidarity Project, based in nearby Beit Ummar, about 85 trees were destroyed.
Belgian Citizens Set To Sue Israel
IMEMC – 16 Nov 2010 – Tuesday November 16, 2010 – 14:07, Four Belgian citizens who were on board the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza when it was attacked by Israeli forces on May 31, 2010 are planning to sue the Israeli government.
Settlement Petitioned Government In 2001 To Avoid Paying Taxes, Saying It Was Not Part Of Israel
IMEMC – 16 Nov 2010 – Tuesday November 16, 2010 – 11:59, In contrast with its claims in recent months that it is part of the state of Israel and should be treated as such, the municipal government of the settlement of Ariel has been shown to have argued the exact opposite, in 2001, in order to avoid paying VAT (value added tax) taxes to the state.
Soldiers Confiscate Company Equipment Of Detained Hamas Leader Believed To Be In Charge Of Finances
IMEMC – 16 Nov 2010 – Monday November 15, 2010 – 16:58, The Israeli military raided the home of a Hamas official, allegedly a finance official of the Hamas movement in the West Bank, the Maan News Agency reported Monday.
VIDEO – Footage contradicts arson allegations
11/17/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — International solidarity activists hit back this week at allegations broadcast in Israeli media that they and Palestinian farmers set fire to “state land” in the occupied West Bank. Ynet news and Arutz Sheva, two Israeli media outlets, reported Sunday that “leftists” and “foreign anarchists” were caught in an arson attempt near…. Related: Residents say settlers behind torched grove and YouTube
Residents say settlers behind torched grove
11/16/2010 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Fires ravaged agricultural lands in the southern West Bank near Hebron on Monday afternoon, destroying 15 dunums of fruit groves and greenhouses. Beit Ummar farmers, whose lands were affected, said they believed residents of the nearby Bat Ayin settlement were behind the arson, which destroyed dozens of fig, olive and pine…. Related: VIDEO – Footage contradicts arson allegations and YouTube
Israel: New planning policy for East Jerusalem
11/16/2010 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat presented a controversial new city planning policy for East Jerusalem to the public on Tuesday morning, as East Jerusalemites celebrated Eid Al-Adha with friends and family. The re-zoning plan, according to a statement from the mayor’s office, would take into account the “current unsatisfactory situation….
3 detained in Hebron
11/16/2010 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces reportedly detained three men from the Hebron region on Monday, during a series of searches targeting homes and mosques around the governorate. Local sources identified the three as Suhaib Abdul Mun’em Ad-Deweik, 21, Ashraf Al-Hashlamon, and Hamza Aj-Ja’bary. They were each detained during a daytime….
Jerusalem archbishop greets Muslims on holiday
11/16/2010 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Archbishop of Jerusalem for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Theodosius Atallah Hanna extended greetings on Tuesday to all Muslims on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha. In his message, he expressed the hope that the celebration would be the last under Israeli occupation, saying, “May the holiday season return with Jerusalem,”and extending….
Israel army chief warns of Hezbollah coup
11/16/2010 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel’s army chief has warned that Hezbollah could stage a coup in Lebanon if an international court targets its members over the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.” There is a real possibility that Hezbollah will take over Lebanon,” Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi said during a visit Monday to Canada, according to….
Lebanese President in Syria amid debate on UN tribunal witnesses
11/16/2010 – DAMASCUS, Syria (DPA) — Lebanese President Michel Suleiman arrived in Damascus Tuesday to hold talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to sources from both sides. Sources told the German Press Agency DPA that the two would discuss regional issues, as well as domestic Lebanese affairs. The meeting comes on the heels of a proposal by….
Israel blames Palestinians for US delay
11/16/2010 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel accused the Palestinians on Tuesday of trying to thwart a plan for a new settlement freeze, with a senior official saying they were complaining about the generous US offers promised in return. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is weighing plans for partial, temporary, one-off restrictions on West Bank settlement building in exchange….
Hamas confirms continuation of unity talks
11/16/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas leader Ismail Al-Ashqar on Monday confirmed earlier reports by Fatah officials that the reconciliation meetings would continue after the Eid holiday in Damascus. Al-Ashqar led a Hamas delegation from the Gaza Strip to the last unity talk meetings in the Syrian capital, which were initially hoped to resolve the….
Haniyeh: Door still open for reconciliation
11/16/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Despite the wind-down that followed the end to the latest round of unity talks, “the door is still open for reconciliation,” Gaza’s Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said during his Eid speech in Gaza City. The announcement came the day after Palestinian factions rejected an American proposal for a….
Lebanon cleric names Hezbollah MP defense attorney
11/16/2010 – BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Radical Islamist preacher Omar Bakri has appointed a Hezbollah legislator as his defense lawyer when he goes on trial, a judicial source said on Tuesday, following his arrest in northern Lebanon.” Omar Bakri has appointed Hezbollah deputy Nawwar Sahili as his lawyer for the retrial,” the date of which has not yet….
US Defense Secretary says sanctions have hit Iran hard
Palestine Note 16 Nov 2010 – Washington – In an address to the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that sanctions on Iran have “bitten much harder” than the Iranian government anticipated and that a military strike on…
Official accuses Palestinians of ‘delaying’ settlement freeze deal
Palestine Note 16 Nov 2010 – Official says the agreement would thwart ambitions for statehood through UN Washington – Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is expected to bring the most recent US proposal for a ninety-day partial settlement freeze, in exchange for…
Iran charges Germans with spying
AlJazeera 16 Nov 2010 – Two German journalists accused of spying after seeking to interview son of Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning.
Israel may give up border village
AlJazeera 16 Nov 2010 – Cabinet to vote on handing northern half of Ghajar to Lebanon, despite the fact that the village is Syrian.
Nigeria reports Iran arms seizure
AlJazeera 16 Nov 2010 – Foreign minister says it has reported Iran to UN Security Council for possible sanctions violation.
Israeli Forces Capture Two in Hebron
PNN – Hebron — PNN – After setting up military checkpoints at the main entrances of Hebron, Israeli forces arrested two Palestinians in the southern West Bank city on Tuesday. According to local sources,…
Israel set to Withdraw from Lebanese Border Town of Ghajar
PNN – Jerusalem — PNN — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon that he will convene a meeting, on Wednesday, with his security cabinet to approve a withdraw…
Pursestrings, and Families, Tighten for Eid al-Adha
PNN – Bethlehem — PNN – To the untrained eye, the sheep is there one moment and gone the next. A leg kicks, knives fly, men shuffle, and then the al-Azza family bags the…
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (04. — 10 November 2010)
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
US concerned over Saudi weapon deal’s impact on Israel
Jeruslalem Post 17 Nov 2010 – House members seek conditions to prevent arms from being used against Jewish state; 198 representatives voice complaints about Saudi policies.
Attach?©’s appointment raises hackles in MFA
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – Foreign Ministry’s deputy director-general threatens to resign after Lieberman involves himself in selection of next cultural attache to Moscow.
Israel, US working to avoid clashes over freeze plan
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – Representatives in Washington conducting serious talks over wording of agreement; MK Edelstein says he doubts the US would ever put pledges in writing; diplomatic sources blame Palestinians for lack of letter.
IDF lifts some roadblocks, scales back ops for Id al-Adha
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – Decision made by Barak following security consultations; hours extended that some crossings in West Bank will be open.
Security cabinet members skeptical over new freeze
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – “Since Israel carried out first freeze, Palestinians have just gotten further away from negotiating table,” MK Tzipi Hotovely says.
When Gabriel Latner turned tables on the Israel-bashers
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – Canadian law student won Cambridge University student union debate for Israel… despite losing it.
Rabbi threatens to support Lieberman as Prime Minister
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – Levanon speaks at emergency conference against the emerging possibility that Netanyahu would extend the building moratorium.
Former Iranian fighter pilot: ‘Ahmadinejad incites war’
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – In Channel 10 interview, Bahazad Masawi says Iranian regime is “world’s biggest terrorism supporter”; says Iran and Israel not enemies.
Palestinians have delayed freeze deal with the US
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – PA is refusing to return to negotiating table even if new 90-day freeze implemented; opposition is responsible for delay in Israel receiving letter outlining terms of deal.
Israel discusses Syrian support for terrorism at UNSC
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – Waxman tells the Council that Damascus hosts headquarters of several terror organizations; finances, supports and trains them on its soil.
Gates: Iran strike wouldn’t stop nuclear program
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – “We have evidence that Khamenei, now, [is] beginning to wonder if Ahmadinejad is lying to him,” says US defense secretary.
Barkat blames Justice Ministry for situation in Silwan
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – J’lem municipality says ministry won’t agree to halt demolition orders as mayor tries to legalize many of neighborhood’s illegally built homes.
UNRWA strike closes schools, clinics in West Bank camps
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – Garbage piles up, too, as labor action enters second month; dispute gets personal; UNRWA criticized by Palestinians and abroad.
‘PA opposition delaying written US freeze proposal’
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – J’lem official claims Palestinians won’t accept proposal because it “prevents them from avoiding direct talks”; PA claims US has not officially provided Abbas with any information on deal.
Russia to provide free military assistance to Lebanon
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – Announcement comes as army aid to Lebanon under scrutiny after US lawmakers demanded assurances that weapons won’t go to Hizbullah.
Lebanon: Hizbullah MP to serve as Muslim cleric’s lawyer
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – Omar Bakri Mohammed to get retrial following life sentence meted out in absentia; appeals to Nasrallah for help with “injustice.”
‘Justice is the only way to ensure stability in Lebanon’
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – Foreign Secretary William Hague says UK to give $1.6m. to support UN’s Hariri tribunal, brings total British contribution to $3.7m.
‘US freeze benefits will lure Israel into political trap’
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – Likud minister Begin says 3-month moratorium will lead to calls for additional freezes in the future; slams Shas for considering abstaining from security cabinet vote; Shas awaiting Ovadia Yosef’s decision.
Heavy fog delays flights from Ben-Gurion Airport
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – Thousands stranded as weather conditions ground flights; arriving planes redirected to Jordan, Cyprus.
Attias: Ovadia Yosef to decide how Shas votes on freeze
Jeruslalem Post 16 Nov 2010 – Construction and housing minister says party will oppose freeze or abstain from vote; want assurances freeze would not include J’lem.
Likud rebels gathering Knesset signatures for anti-freeze protest letter
Ha’aretz – Right-wing Knesset members demand that Netanyahu fulfill promises he made to them that West Bank building will not be frozen again.
Israeli official: Palestinians trying to foil settlement freeze deal
Ha’aretz – Written guarantee regarding incentive package yet to be drafted because Palestinian Authority believes such agreement would lower its leverage and bargaining power, says Jerusalem source.
Jerusalem Mayor: Municipality not allowed to raze homes for political reasons
Ha’aretz – Barkat responds to State Control Committee regarding lax enforcement against illegal construction in the city.
Netanyahu awaiting written offer from Obama on settlement freeze
Ha’aretz – American proposal calls for 90-day extension of West Bank freeze in return for incentives including sale of 20 new fighter jets to Israel., Palestinian territories listed in fifth place on…
Jerusalem council drops debate on contentious construction plan
Ha’aretz – Local council committees drop planned discussions on 1,300 new homes for Gilo neighborhood, which is over the Green Line border.
Arab League ‘likely to reject 90-day settlement freeze plan’
Ha’aretz – Arab League official: Settlement freeze without Jerusalem, eases criticism of Israel won’t be acceptable.
The Obscure Ruination of a Single Human Life
Uruknet November 16, 2010 – Decades before you were born, an invading army occupied your native land. The army of occupation has blighted and repressed your people for generations. You have heard your parents and your grandparents talk of all that they have lost, all that was taken from them, the friends and relatives they have seen killed, how the…
U.S. taxpayers are paying for Israel’s West Bank occupation
Uruknet November 16, 2010 – Travelers along the “original” West Bank roads, the ones enabling drivers to bypass Palestinian villages, can see signs declaring “USAID from the American People.” The roads are one of the initiatives of the United States Agency for International Development for building infrastructure in underdeveloped countries. Israel has already proudly left the club of developing countries…
The myth of American pressure
Uruknet November 16, 2010 – Recent reports that the administration of US President Barack Obama offered Israel a series of incentives to continue its limited ten-month moratorium on settlement building have sparked an outcry among Palestinians and their supporters. Although the concessions for halting the construction of new settlements for only ninety days are unprecedented, Washington’s inability to maintain consistent…
White House Says Child Soldiers Are Ok, if They Fight Terrorists
Uruknet November 16, 2010 – The phenomenon of child soldiers, like genocide, slavery and torture, seems like one of those crimes that no nation could legitimately defend. Yet the Obama administration just decided to leave countless kids stranded on some of the world’s bloodiest battlegrounds. The administration stunned human rights groups last month by sidestepping a commitment to help countries…
Obama’s ‘bribe’ is last hope for peace
Uruknet November 16, 2010 – Neve Gordon, a politics professor at Ben Gurion University in the Negev and author of an important study of the occupation, believes the Israeli prime minister is simply playing the part demanded by Mr Obama. “He is taking the US ‘merchandise’ on offer, but will hold firm on key issues that guarantee the talks’ failure….
In First Interview Since Critical Injury at West Bank Protest, U.S. Peace Activist Tristan Anderson Urges Iran to Free Jailed Hikers
Uruknet November 16, 2010 – The U.S. peace activist Tristan Anderson has given his first interview since being critically injured when Israeli soldiers fired a high-velocity tear gas canister directly at his head in 2009. Anderson was taking part in a weekly nonviolent protest against Israel’s separation wall in the West Bank. On Sunday, he helped unfurl a banner calling…
100-year-old refugee gets new Gaza home in time for Eid
Uruknet November 16, 2010 – The four-member Abu Daher family lived their happiest day yet since Israeli army bulldozers crushed their cement home almost two years ago during Israel’s massive assault on the Gaza Strip. “This is a remarkable day for me, my elderly mother, my handicapped brother and my sister,” Suhaila Abu Daher said, sitting for the first time…
Is the American Public About to Toss Israel?
Uruknet November 16, 2010 – Ever so slowly over the past two decades, and gaining momentum since the April 2002 Israeli destruction of the West Bank town of Jenin, American attitudes toward Israel are changing. The American Public Opinion and U.S. Foreign Policy polling unit, that works on behalf of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations has argued that the…
Egypt police blamed for deathPolice brutality back in focus after dead teenager’s relatives say police in Alexandria tortured him.
Uruknet November 16, 2010 – Police in the Egyptian city of Alexandria have been accused of beating to death an unarmed man, bringing to the fore once again the issue of police brutality two weeks before parliamentary elections in the country. The body of 19-year-old Ahmed Shaaban was discovered in the city’s Mahmoudia Canal last week, and family members say…
Why Obama gave in on Israeli Settlements in Jerusalem: Eric Cantor, Ros-Lehtinen Channel Israeli Right on Usurpation of Holy City, Displacement of Palestinians
Uruknet November 16, 2010 – Why in the world would the Obama administration put forward a proposal to the Israelis that allows them to continue to build illegal new squatter settlements in what the Israelis call the district of Jerusalem on Palestinian land while asking them to refrain from starting new settlements on the West Bank? The Palestinians complain that…
Belgian citizens set to sue Israel
Uruknet November 16, 2010 – Four Belgian citizens who were on board the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza when it was attacked by Israeli forces on May 31, 2010 are planning to sue the Israeli government. The four, Fatima el-Mourabiti, Inge Neefs, Kenza Isnasni and Griet Deknopper, were victims of, and witnesses to, the attack and have applied to the Belgian…
Watch: Footage contradicts arson allegations
Uruknet November 16, 2010 – International solidarity activists hit back this week at allegations broadcast in Israeli media that they and Palestinian farmers set fire to “state land” in the occupied West Bank. Ynet news and Arutz Sheva, two Israeli media outlets, reported Sunday that “leftists” and “foreign anarchists” were caught in an arson attempt near an illegal settlement between…
Washington Backing Indonesian State Terror
Uruknet November 16, 2010 – An earlier article said it was expected. It discussed Indonesia’s National Armed Forces (TNI), especially its thuggish Kopassus Special Forces Command, its red beret unit responsible for political killings, torture, rape, and massacres of hundreds of thousands of civilians in East Timor, Aceh, Papua, and elsewhere in the country. TNI aid was restricted following a…
Israel prevents fair trial of Rachel Corrie lawsuit
Uruknet November 16, 2010 – Israeli authorities are working to prevent a fair trial in the civil suit filed against the state of Israel over the unlawful killing of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old American activist run over by an Israeli bulldozer during a protest action in 2003. Despite this, the suit, brought by Corrie’s family, has exposed something of the…
The Occupation of Bureaucracy Denies Palestinians the Right to Farm in Saffa
Uruknet November 15, 2010 – Five international activists were arrested today and one was injured in the head, when soldiers prevented farmers they escorted from tending to their lands in Saffa Valley, near Beit Ummar….For the third time this week a group of about 10 Palestinian and international activists accompanied Sheikh Mohammed Aady to his land near the Bat Ayn…
What, really, is the Obama-Clinton game plan for Israel/Palestine?
Uruknet November 15, 2010 – On the face of it the package of “incentives” Secretary of State Clinton offered Prime Minister Netanyahu to persuade him to buy and sell to his coalition government a one-time-only freeze of 90 days on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank could be summed up with one “c” word – criminal. Criminal because by…
Israel Accuses Norway of Funding Anti-Israel Incitement
Alternative Information Center – Israel is accusing the Norwegian government of funding and encouraging blatant anti-Israel incitement, according to Israel’s Ynet News.
Five Australian Unions Support BDS of Israel
Alternative Information Center – Five Australian unions have joined the international campaign advocating the boycott of Israeli goods from the occupied West Bank.
SPF Deivers Tonfa Training to 37 Recruits
WAFA – RAMALLAH, October 20, 2010 (WAFA)- The Palestinian Special Police Force (SPF) has successfully delivered a Tonfa training course to 37 new SPF recruits, according to a press release by EUPOL-COPPS,
Abu Rdeineh: All Settlement Forms are Illegal, Rejected
WAFA – RAMALLAH, October 19 (WAFA)- The Presidency spokesperson , Nabil Abu Rdeineh confirmed today that all the forms of settlement (outposts and non-random) in Palestinian lands are illegal. Commenting
Netanyahu Declines Demolishing Settlements’ Random Units
WAFA – TEL AVIV, October 19 (WAFA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided that he wouldn’t demolish the unregulated construction in a various settlements although the government has issued
The Elders Urge Comprehensive Approach to Arab-Israeli Peace
WAFA – DAMASCUS, October 19, 2010 (WAFA)- The Elders have called for a more comprehensive approach to the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks following discussions with officials, civil society, business and
France Provides €4 million for Gaza Wastewater Treatment Plant
WAFA – JERUSALEM, October 19, 2010 (WAFA)- On Sunday 17 of October 2010, at Ministry of Planning, Mr Dov Zerah, CEO of the French Development Agency (AFD), Dr Ali Jarbawi, Minister of Planning and
IOF deploys Ariel Settlement
WAFA – SALFIT, October 19 (WAFA)- The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) deployed, today, the Ariel Settlement that is established by force on the lands of the Salfit, Iskaka, Yasuf and Burkin
Dr. Erakat: Israel Seeks De Facto Recognition of Illegal Practices
WAFA – RAMALLAH, October 19, 2010 (WAFA)- Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization Negotiations Affairs Department Dr. Saeb Erakat said, yesterday, “By hosting the OECD conference in Jerusalem,
Observer: Israeli Government on Division Verge, Netanyahu Negotiates Kadima
WAFA – LONDON, October 17, 2010(WAFA) – The British Newspaper ‚ÄòObserver’ wrote that the Israeli government is facing the division risk because of the deadlock in the negotiations with the Palestinians
Turkish James Bond enters dangerous waters to take on Israeli flotilla raiders
The Guardian 16 Nov 2010 – A film in which a Turkish hero seeks revenge for attack on Gaza aid ships could further strain ties between Turkey and Israel He is known as the Turkish James Bond, a seemingly invincible special forces…
8th Week against the Apartheid Wall, November 9 — 16 2010
Stop The Wall – [
Iran accuses 2 Germans of spying
YNet News – Journalists arrested interviewing son of woman condemned to death by stoning….
Lebanon army to get aid from Russia
YNet News – PM Hariri makes announcement just a few days after two key Congress members….
Iran kicks off air defense war games
YNet News – Five-day exercise aimed at examining air defense system, simulating attack on….
Fog causes delays at Ben-Gurion Airport
YNet News – Hundreds of passengers stranded at Israel’s international airport Monday night….
Prestigious magazine fights Israel
YNet News – Comprehensive study reveals London Review of Books presents ‘starkly one-sided….
3.6 magnitude earthquake felt in north
YNet News – Many residents of Upper Galilee wake up as mild earthquake hits Israel. ‘I felt….
Leftists chant ‘stop Apartheid’ outside Tel Aviv opera
YNet News – Activists denounce Israel as South Africa’s Cape Town Opera performs Porgy and….
Settler protest: Strike and anti-PM clip
YNet News – VIDEO – The decision to renew the settlement construction freeze in the West Bank has still not been taken officially, but in a last-minute attempt to prevent the worst, …….
Nasrallah: We’ll hurt regime if charged with Hariri murder
YNet News – Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah threatened to hurt the regime in Beirut if an international tribunal accuses members of his organization of assassinating …….
Israel demands written US guarantees before freeze
YNet News – Israel has demanded the United States provide written security guarantees before it votes on whether to agree to freeze Jewish settlement building in the West Bank, an …….
Ministry: Iran security agents strike French diplomats
YNet News – Iranian security agents struck French diplomats in scuffles at a Tehran embassy residence, prompting France to summon Iran’s ambassador and complain of “unacceptable …….
Settler convicted of kidnapping, abusing Palestinian teen
YNet News – Zvi Struk from the settlement of Shiloh was convicted Sunday of kidnapping and abusing a bound 15-year-old Palestinian boy. The 28-year-old settler is the son of …….
US says military strike would unite a divided Iran
YNet News – A military strike against Iran would unite the divided country and ensure Tehran’s unwavering commitment to pursuing nuclear weapons, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates …….
Palestinian Information Center
Haneyya renews call for reconciliation and unity
PIC 16 Nov 2010 – The Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haneyya, renewed his call for national unity and the importance of achieving reconciliation and ending the state of division in the Palestinian street.
Happy Eidul Adha to all of you
PIC 16 Nov 2010 – Today, the Eidul Adha occurs as arrogant Israel continues to build more illegitimate colonies on occupied Palestinian land.
Sammak calls for release of political prisoners, PA militia kidnap 4 activists
PIC 16 Nov 2010 – Musa al-Sammak, a Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, called on the Ramallah Palestinian Authority to immediately release all political prisoners in its jails and close the file of political detention.
Occupation pardons 45 Fatah activists who gave up their weapons
PIC 16 Nov 2010 – Yediot Ahranot said on Tuesday that the occupation authority has pardoned 45 Fatah wanted activists within the framework of an agreement reached with the Ramallah authority.
Children of martyrs and captives express solidarity with parents on Eid
PIC 16 Nov 2010 – A group of Palestinian children in Gaza who lost one or of both of their parents or whose parents are imprisoned in Israeli occupation jails lit the candle of “Freedom, Hope and Determination”
Occupation bars Aqsa guard from entering the mosque for a further six months
PIC 16 Nov 2010 – The Israeli occupation authority have renewed the ban on entry of the Aqsa mosque against 30-year-old Majed Ragheb al-Jo’ba, one of the Aqsa guards for a further six months.
IOF troops kidnap three Palestinians and raid two mosques
PIC 16 Nov 2010 – IOF troops on Monday kidnapped three Palestinian residents of al-Khalil city in the southern West Bank, raided two mosques and set up roadblocks at the centre of the city.
Abbas’s militia kidnap seven Palestinians
PIC 16 Nov 2010 – On the eve of Eid al-Adha militias affiliated with the de facto President Mahmoud Abbas continue to kidnap supporters of Hamas in West Bank. They kidnapped seven in the Tulkarem district on Monday.
Zoabi attends Palestinian students’ function at Haifa University despite ban
PIC 16 Nov 2010 – The Haifa university administration banned Arab member of Knesset Haneen al-Zoabi from participating in a students’ function organised by the Palestinian students at the university.
Palestinian Court Allows Gazans to Register as West Bank Residents
The Media Line 23 Oct 2010 – But ruling is not expected to have any bearing concerning Israel, which continues to deport Gazans nabbed in West Bank. Gazans living in the West Bank live in perpetual fear of being arrested and deported back…
PLO Official Threatens to Break Past Agreements with Israel
The Media Line 23 Oct 2010 – The secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, the Palestinians’ umbrella group, told an Arabic-language newspaper on Saturday that the PLO is considering breaking agreements previously reached with Israel if the stalemate continues. The…
Vatican Says Jews Can’t Rely on Biblical Sources Regarding Israel
The Media Line 23 Oct 2010 – Jews cannot rely on Biblical scripture, citing the “chosen people” or “the promised land” in forming their opinions relative to modern Israel according to a statement issued at the conclusion of the Bishops’ synod on the…
Palestinian Security Forces Find Large Arms Cache in Ramallah
The Media Line 23 Oct 2010 – A large cache of weapons including rockets and automatic rifles was discovered by Palestinian security forces in Ramallah on Friday. Officials told the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi that it is believed that the arms were intended to…
Thailand extradites alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout
LA Times 16 Nov 2010 – The Russian dubbed the ‘merchant of death’ faces terrorism charges in the United States. He is suspected of supplying weapons in South America, the Middle East and Africa. An alleged Russian arms trafficker who was dubbed the “merchant of death” and inspired the Nicholas Cage thriller “Lord of War” was extradited to the United States on Tuesday to face terrorism charges, Thailand’s government announced.
Israel Exempts E.U. Pilots From Security Program
New York Times 16 Nov 2010 – Pilots with three United States airlines will still be required to transmit special identification clearance codes before entering Israel’s airspace.
AT-TUWANI: Israeli settlers attack Palestinian boy and internationals in the South Hebron Hills.
Christian Peacemaker Teams – Palestine –
AL KHALIL (HEBRON): Two Palestinians killed, four families made homeless.
Christian Peacemaker Teams – Palestine –
After FBI came to his door in ‘04, AIPAC staffer promptly called Israeli embassy
Mondoweiss – Grant Smith has long argued that AIPAC should have to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Well here is a snippet from Smith’s eyebrow-raising report on depositions in the 2009 lawsuit against AIPAC by former staffer Steve Rosen. You’ll remember that Rosen was indicted in…
Slater says Jewish state is warranted by likelihood of recurrence of anti-Semitism
Mondoweiss – Jerome Slater has a provocative post saying that Israel’s demand that the Palestinians recognize it as a Jewish state is not a deal-breaker. Weiss has pulled out a portion of his analysis, in which he seeks to answer the charge that a Jewish state discriminates racially…
More Shabbos goy
Mondoweiss – Netanyahu wants it in writing from Obama. Insolence without parallel.
Three Silwan youths are sentenced to house arrest— in neighboring towns
Mondoweiss – and other news from Today in Palestine: Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing Sheikh Jarrah: Fighting For Survival, Palestine Monitor Hundreds of people gather every Friday afternoon in the village of Sheikh Jarrah to protest the Israeli evacuation of Palestinian families from their homes….
‚ÄòPalestine, and the livin aint easy’—Israeli boycotters strike Tel Aviv opera
Mondoweiss – The ground really is shifting. Here’s incredible video from Israel of Israeli boycott activists trying to submarine the Cape Town Opera House’s performance of “Porgy and Bess” in Tel Aviv last night. Boycott apartheid! they sing. Note the big turnout of activists, the inspiring songs. Ynet…
Danny Ayalon to Norway: Why can’t you keep your artists under control?
Coteret 16 Nov 2010 – Ayalon The Israeli government reaction to the homegrown cultural boycott of the West Bank settlement of Ariel was forceful and blunt: Threaten funding , establish a ” Zionist Art Prize ” and de-legitimize whoever takes part as fifth-columnists . This should not have been a surprise, coming from…
French envoys ‘attacked in Iran’
BBC 16 Nov 2010 – France accuses Iranian security services of committing “unacceptable acts of violence” on diplomatic personnel at the French ambassador’s residence in Tehran.
Egypt ‘police abuse’ probe urged
BBC 16 Nov 2010 – Rights group Amnesty International demands a full investigation into claims that a second young man was tortured to death at a police station in Egypt.
US defence chief sees Iran rift
BBC 16 Nov 2010 – US defence secretary Robert Gates says hard-hitting UN sanctions have created a rift between the country’s supreme leader and president.
Sectarian violence in south Egypt
BBC 16 Nov 2010 – At least 10 houses have been burnt down in a confrontation between Christians and Muslims in southern Egypt.
Mubarak’s Critics See Hypocrisy in US Support
Antiwar.com 16 Nov 2010 – The Egyptian government’s crackdown on political opponents continues unabated in advance of parliamentary elections Nov. 28, even as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week hailed the “partnership” between the two countries as “a cornerstone of stability and security in the Middle East and beyond.” In…
US Institute of Peace Corrects ‚ÄòIran Primer’ Errors… Sort Of
Antiwar.com 16 Nov 2010 – The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) has now corrected some of the errors I pointed out in my Oct. 24 article, “U.S.-Funded ‚ÄòIran Primer’ Needs Editing.” More can be done. For one thing, they had an impossibly wrong date for an Ahmadinejad speech in their…
What, really, is the Obama-Clinton game plan for Israel/Palestine?
Sabbah report 16 Nov 2010 – On the face of it the package of “incentives” Secretary of State Clinton offered Prime Minister Netanyahu to persuade him to buy and sell to his coalition government a one-time-only freeze of 90 days on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank could be summed up…
The great book robbery of 1948
Sabbah report 16 Nov 2010 – A new documentary reveals a hidden chapter in the history of the Nakba — the Palestinian expulsion and flight at the hands of Zionist militias as Israel was established in 1948 — which saw the systematic looting of more than 60,000 Palestinian books by Israeli forces…
Sheriff Obama strikes a one-sided deal with gang leader Netanyahu
Sabbah report 16 Nov 2010 – Barack Obama has promised to deliver 20 F-35 fighter jets to Israel, a deal worth $3 billion. Moreover, his administration has vowed to curb action by the United Nations on the Goldstone Report, block anti-Israel UN resolutions concerning the Gaza flotilla raid, and defeat resolutions aimed…
(en) Israel, Tel Aviv, Anarchist Against the Wall involved in struggle within 1948 borders too: Media: “Leftists chant ‘stop Apartheid’ outside Tel Aviv opera”
A-infos 16 Nov 2010 – Leftists chant ‘stop Apartheid’ outside Tel Aviv opera Activists denounce Israel as South Africa’s Cape Town Opera performs Porgy and Bess. —- Theater goers arriving at the premiere of the opera Porgy and Bess at the Tel Aviv Opera House on Monday found themselves in the…
Articles
Is the American Public About to Toss Israel?
Franklin Lamb, CounterPunch11/16/2010
A Growing Revulsion
Ever so slowly over the past two decades, and gaining momentum since the April 2002 Israeli destruction of the West Bank town of Jenin, American attitudes toward Israel are changing. The American Public Opinion and U.S. Foreign Policy polling unit, that works on behalf of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations has argued that the American opinion shift accelerates with each Israeli outrage such as the saturation bombing of much of south Lebanon and south Beirut during the July 2006 war, the civilian slaughter, more than one-third women and children, in Gaza during the winter of 2008/9, the May 2010 murders and carnage committed against the Mavi Marmara, including the assassination of 19-year old American Furkan Dogan, and the cumulative effect of a half century of Geneva Convention and international law violations by Israel against occupied Palestine and Lebanon. Some opinion analysts, like the 2009 Zogby International poll of American attitudes toward Israelis and Palestinians, express surprise by what they are learning from the American public and detect significant changes in American public attitudes favoring US disengagement from Israel.
The NYT’s Tom Friedman seemed to concur during meetings in Israel recently: “US support for Israel could shatter like Humpty Dumpty— and it could get ugly…You are losing the American people who believe me, are fed up with the Mideast in general. But they’re also fed up with Israel. When they see their president working hard to try to tee up an opportunity…. And you say ‘No, first pay me — let Jonathon Pollard out of jail, have Abu Mazen sing Hatikva in perfect Yiddish, and then we’ll think about testing.’ It rubs a lot of Americans the wrong way.”
Changes of US citizens attitudes toward Israel are evident in Lebanon also. Hundreds of Americans and other foreigners have visited Shatila and other Palestinian refugee Camps in Beirut in the past few years according to the Sabra Shatila Foundation that conducts tours of the camp. Many visiting Americans have been surveyed. more.. e-mail
Cantor Recants
MJ Rosenberg, Political Correction11/15/2010
Soon-to-be House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) is desperately trying to explain away the promise he made to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last Wednesday.
Cantor huddled with Netanyahu just prior to the prime minister’s meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton was expected to reaffirm the American commitment to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and opposition to Israeli settlement expansion. Cantor wanted Netanyahu to know that he had his back.
Cantor’s office itself put out a statement bragging about his pledge to Netanyahu:
“Eric stressed that the new Republican majority will serve as a check on the Administration and what has been, up until this point, one party rule in Washington,” the readout continued. “He made clear that the Republican majority understands the special relationship between Israel and the United States, and that the security of each nation is reliant upon the other.”
For now, forget Cantor’s ridiculous assertion that the security of Israel and the United States are “reliant upon the other.” No, the United States provides Israel with the security assistance to survive — it is not the other way around.
But lay that aside. It is Cantor’s statement of loyalty to Netanyahu that is the shocker. Specifically, it is his promise that he would ensure that Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives “will serve as a check” on U.S. Middle East policy.
Almost immediately, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s bureau chief in Washington, Ron Kampeas, declared that Cantor’s statement was “extraordinary.”…. more.. e-mail
Hammam El-Ein: The Jinn, Zumurrud, and the Stolen Child
Dr. Ali Qleibo, This Week in Palestine10/30/2010
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 1. Say: I seek refuge with the Lord and Cherisher of Mankind, 2. The King (or Ruler) of Mankind, 3. The Allah (for judge) of Mankind, 4. From the mischief of the Whisperer (of Evil) who withdraws (after his whisper), 5. (The same) who whispers into the hearts of Mankind, 6. Among jinn and among men. Qur’an, Surah 114. An-Nas (Mankind)
It was a time when running water did not reach the houses of the Old City; when electric lamp bulbs were neither strong enough nor evenly distributed to cover all the city’s lanes to dispel the dark shadows of the long winter nights from the labyrinthine streets of Jerusalem; and when the jinn, the afareet, and the amura (mischievous supernatural creatures) still populated the Old City.
Zumurrud turned thirty-five years old and was still childless. Azeez, her fifty-five-year-old husband, did not complain. He was an easy-going man with a happy disposition. His nephews and nieces remembered him fondly. In his cheerful visits he dispensed candies, chocolates and pleasantries to them. Everyone loved him. But he was simple; therefore he believed that his wife, thirteen years after their marriage, had given birth to the baby he found in her arms when he came home. Her face pallid, almost yellow, she had weakly propped herself up in bed as she proudly nursed the newborn boy. His joy barely lasted a few hours. To the rhythm of a drum, the real family searched out his home after having called out his wife’s name in every street, alley, courtyard and smallest nook and cranny within the walls of the Old City. “Zumurrud has stolen our child…Return our child to us…”
Even as an adult I never tired listening over and over again to Mother’s story of Zumurrud, the jinn, and the child stolen from Hammam El-Ein over seventy years ago…. more.. e-mail
StandWithUs member attacks Jewish Voice for Peace activists
Electronic Intifada: 16 Nov 2010 – Wrapped in an Israeli flag, San Francisco Voice for Israel/StandWithUs member Robin Dubner, an Oakland-based attorney, pepper-sprayed two Jewish Voice for Peace members in the eyes and face after they attempted to nonviolently block her ability to aggressively videotape the faces of JVP meeting attendees against their will.more
The myth of American pressure
Electronic Intifada: 16 Nov 2010 – The conventional wisdom is that when Washington has exerted pressure on Israeli governments they have eventually succumbed to American demands. However, a closer reading of the historical record and declassified American archival documents reveals a more complex dynamic between the two allies.more
100-year-old refugee gets new Gaza home in time for Eid
Electronic Intifada: 16 Nov 2010 – The four-member Abu Daher family lived their happiest day yet since Israeli army bulldozers crushed their cement home almost two years ago during Israel’s massive assault on the Gaza Strip. Rami Almeghari reports from Gaza.more
Bush at Large
Palestine Chronicle: 16 Nov 2010 – By Ralph Nader George W. Bush is on a roll—a money roll with a $7 million advance for his book Decision Points and a rehabilitation roll to paint his war crimes as justifiable mass-slaughter and torture. His carefully chosen interviewers—NBC’s Matt Lauer and Oprah Winfrey—agreed to a safe pre-taping to avoid demonstrations and tough questions. Requests for him to speak are pouring in from business conventions and other rich assemblages willing to pay $200,000 for “the Decider’s” banalities. This is “Shrub’s” month in the sun. In his first week of book promotion, he was asked about anything he would have done had he known then what he knew now—especially regarding Iraq and its encircled dictator. Well, he deplored receiving “false intelligence” about Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction which was one of several false claims he fed the American people before invading Iraq in 2003. But he has no…more
Middle East’s Only Democracy Crushes Dissent
Palestine Chronicle: 16 Nov 2010 – By Tammy Obeidallah Ever since becoming an activist on behalf of Palestine some ten years ago, I have found ironic humor in the label, ‘The Middle East’s Only Democracy’ used by American policymakers and media in describing the Jewish State. This statement is erroneous on two counts. Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of a democracy knows that Israelis overwhelmingly shun the values associated with such a system; furthermore quite a few countries in the Middle East hold elections regularly. Most recently, Jordan elected a new parliament. Of course there are those who argue that a democracy simply means “majority rule,” or that government leaders are elected, so technically Israel would qualify. “Democracy” is defined by www.thefreedictionary.com , “government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.” So in the purely political sense, as Israeli leaders are elected, they have democracy. However, the fifth definition of democracy reads “the principles…more
Netanyahu Reigns While Obama’s Away
Palestine Chronicle: 16 Nov 2010 – By James Gundun — Washington, D.C. Should anything else be expected from Benjamin Netanyahu? Fresh off his jet, the Israeli Prime Minister hit New Orleans running with a loaded freight train – plans from the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee for 1,300 settlement units in East Jerusalem. US State Department officials reacted in pseudo-horror. Then plans surfaced for another 800 units in the West Bank settlement of Ariel, with final approval due in several months. Meanwhile incremental construction has broken ground across the West Bank. US and Israeli media reports increased their wonder as to the effects on Netanyahu’s upcoming meetings with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – but why would there be any trouble? This was the plan all along with President Barack Obama out of town. Speaking before a gathering of the Jewish Federations of North America in New Orleans, Netanyahu didn’t even bother hiding the…more
Letter to the British Liberal Democrats
Palestine Chronicle: 16 Nov 2010 – By Stuart Littlewood — London Subject: Protecting war criminals ‘just about the lowest thing anyone could do.’ LibDem leaders know perfectly well that under ‘universal jurisdiction’ all states that are party to the Geneva Conventions are obliged to seek out and prosecute or extradite those suspected of grave breaches of the Conventions and bring them justice, regardless of nationality. “Grave breaches” means willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and other serious violations of the laws of war… the sort of atrocities that have been (and still are) committed wholesale by Israelis against civilians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and on the high seas. In other words, for these vilest of criminals there should be no hiding place. The British Government shirks its solemn duty. Fortunately the law at present allows private applications for arrest warrants. However,…more
Open Letter to Hillary Rodham Clinton
Palestine Chronicle: 16 Nov 2010 – By George S. Hishmeh, Washington, D.C. Dear Secretary Clinton, My apologies for this open letter but I have been worrying that your briefing papers are not providing you with much-needed background for some of your decisions on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, now in its sixty-second year, or that you do not have the time to read all the significant information that may be in your files. To start with, I must confess that I have been dismayed and disappointed since I read in the newspapers that you have offered several deplorable “incentives” to the Israeli prime minister, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, during your nearly eight-hour meeting in New York last week in return for a measly 90-day moratorium on Israeli colonial expansion in the occupied West Bank but not Arab East Jerusalem. Why not the Arab sector of the Holy City and why only 90 days?! We all know that under international…more
One-Sided Deal
Palestine Chronicle: 16 Nov 2010 – By Neve Gordon Imagine a sheriff offering the head of a criminal gang the following deal: ‘If you agree to stop stealing from your neighbours for three months, I’ll give you cutting edge weaponry and block any efforts by other law enforcement authorities to restrain your criminal activities.’ Sounds absurd? Then how about this: in return for a three-month freeze of illegal construction in the occupied West Bank (but not in occupied East Jerusalem, where it may continue), Barack Obama has promised to deliver 20 F-35 fighter jets to Israel, a deal worth $3 billion. Moreover, his administration has vowed to curb action by the United Nations on the Goldstone Report, block anti-Israel UN resolutions concerning the Gaza flotilla raid, and defeat resolutions aimed at exposing Israel’s nuclear programme at the International Atomic Energy Agency. In such situations it’s important to keep in mind that the sheriff (Obama) and not…more
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The New Dark Age 
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