18 December, 2010 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Refugees Committee Slams The “Jordan Is Palestine” Conference
IMEMC – 18 Dec 2010 – Sunday December 19, 2010 – 02:00, The Higher Committee for Defending the Right of Return of the Palestinian Refugees, slammed a Tel Aviv conference that calls for considering Jordan as the alternative homeland of the Palestinian people.
Five Palestinians Killed In An Explosion In Central Gaza
IMEMC – 18 Dec 2010 – Sunday December 19, 2010 – 01:33, Palestinian medical sources in Gaza reported that five Palestinians were killed on Saturday evening during an explosion that took place in Dir Al Balah, in central Gaza.
Medics: 5 dead in Gaza airstrike
12/19/2010 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Palestinian medical officials said late Saturday that an Israeli attack killed five Palestinians east of Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. The bodies of five young men were received at local hospitals, a medical spokesman said. They were identified as residents of Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The….
Farmer: Settlers burned my sheep alive
12/19/2010 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — A farmer said he watched a group of settlers in the northern West Bank gather his sheep and set them on fire Saturday afternoon. When he returned to the area, he told officials, he found 12 sheep burned alive, five with severe burns and two others that were only lightly burned….
Land owners angered over new West Bank road plan
12/19/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) —A plan to construct a more direct road connecting the south and central West Bank has been protested by government officials, but land owners angered by what would be a forced sale said Saturday that they intend to have the plan struck down. With Israel’s separation wall cutting off….
Settlers accused of felling trees near Nablus
12/18/2010 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers from Givat Gilad settlement were accused Saturday of entering the agricultural lands of two farmer and felling fruit trees in a small field. Reporting the incident was Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian Authority official charged with cataloging settler vandalism and violence, who said the farmland was next to the village….
Biet Ummar rally sees internationals detained
12/18/2010 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Four international peace activists were detained, one soldier lightly injured and the roof of a home taken over in Beit Ummar during a weekly protest held at the edge of the town, where demonstrators decried the confiscation of Palestinian lands for the Karmi Ztur settlement. An Israeli military spokeswoman said “three….
PFLP: UN must implement resolutions
12/19/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — “The decision to return to a popular uprising has been taken and is pending implementation,” Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader Khalida Jarrar told Ma’an radio on Friday. During an interview on Hadith Al-Watan (Talking about the Homeland), the leftist party official said the PFLP would continue…. Related: PFLP official: Boycotting PLO is tactical move
Israel releases former Palestinian minister
12/18/2010 – JENIN (Ma’an) — An Israeli military court decided Friday to release former Palestinian minister of prisoners affairs Wasfi Qabaha due to his deteriorating health condition, the Ahrar Center for Prisoner Studies reported after the final hearing. Director of the center Fuad Al-Khafsh said the judge made the decision following a review of Qabaha’….
Egyptian security detains 34 African migrants
12/18/2010 – EL-ARISH (Ma’an) — Egyptian security officials said its officers captured 34 African migrants en route to Israel from the northern Egyptian Sinai in three separate incidents on Friday. Egyptian police patrolling the area south of the Israel border in the central Sinai Peninsula reportedly detained 14 migrants from Eretria, Sudan, and Ethiopia while they….
Lebanon denounces Israel ‘spy’ devices to UN
12/19/2010 – BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Lebanon has complained to the United Nations Security Council about two “espionage devices” it claims Israel placed atop two of the country’s mountains, the foreign ministry said on Saturday. The devices were found on Mount Sannine, northeast of Beirut, and Barouk Mountain, east of the capital, on Wednesday, an army….
Latin patriarch: Christmas message still peace
12/19/2010 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — “We are running after peace, but it keeps evading us,” Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fuad Tawwal told Palestinians on Saturday. Speaking during the opening of a new clinic at the Caritas Children’s Hospital in Bethlehem, Tawwal urged Christians and Palestinians to retain hope.”The world does not want to….
Israeli MK: Unilateral statehood not the answer
12/18/2010 – TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Israeli minister with the centrist Likud party, Yossi Peled said Saturday said that a solution imposed by the world in the form of a recognized unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state would be “without benefit,” Radio Israel reported.” Solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be achieved through direct talks and….
Abbas summons rival Qaddumi for Fatah reconciliation
12/19/2010 – AMMAN, Jordan (Ma’an) — A former top Fatah leader who fell out with current leader Mahmoud Abbas during the lead-up to the last Fatah conference was summoned to Amman by his rival on Thursday for what sources said was a reconciliation effort. The former head of the PLO political department Farouq Qaddumi met with….
PA police detain 15 at Allenby crossing
12/19/2010 – JERICHO (Ma’an) — Palestinian Authority police officers stationed at the Allenby crossing between the West Bank and Jordan detained 15 Palestinians wanted for fraud and other crimes, according to a weekly round-up of activity at the crossing. The 15 were detained from 6,488 who traveled into Jordan during the week, in addition to 91….
Hamas: PA detained 18 supporters across West Bank
12/18/2010 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — Hamas officials in the West Bank accused the Palestinian Authority of detaining 18 of its supporters from areas across the region, a statement said Saturday. The arrests, which could not be confirmed by Ma’an, were carried out in the northern districts of Nablus, Salfit, Qalqiliya, Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas….
Hamas: Fatah asks for unity meeting amid internal row
12/18/2010 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Hamas officials are mulling dates for what Fatah leaders have called the “final round” of unity talks, a report from the Hamas-linked Palestinian Information Center said Saturday. Citing informed Palestinian sources, the news site said the invitation was extended following an internal Fatah argument, with members disagreeing over whether to invite….
UNHCR: Exodus of Iraqi Christians after church attack
12/18/2010 – GENEVA (AFP) — The UN refugee agency said Friday an “exodus” of thousands of Iraqi Christians was taking place following a deadly church attack in Baghdad carried out by Al-Qaeda militants at the end of October.” Since the Baghdad church attack on 31 October, and subsequent targetted attacks, the Christian communities in Baghdad and Mosul have….
Chatting with Joe Manchin on DADT
Palestine Note 18 Dec 2010 – The other evening, I spent some time discussing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell with Senator Joe Manchin and his wife. Democratic super donor Connie Milstein did the same. While these kinds of conversations are privileged, I will…
Understanding Christian Zionism
Palestine Note 18 Dec 2010 – An email arrived today informing me of an excellent group of articles on Christian Zionism: http://www.christianzionism.org/Articles.asp . The list included several articles about what Pastor Hagee thinks, though none of the articles on the list were written…
Insisting on their humanity: ‘The plight of the Palestinians’
Palestine Note 18 Dec 2010 – When a copy of William A. Cook’s latest book, The Plight of the Palestinians arrived in my mailbox, I initially felt a little worried. The volume, featuring the work of over 30 accomplished writers, is the…
Israeli attack kills Gaza fighters
AlJazeera 18 Dec 2010 – Five members of the Islamic Jihad and Popular Resistance Committees are killed in the strike.
PM Fayyad Comes to Beit Sahour to Celebrate Christmas
PNN – Bethlehem — PNN – Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad came to Beit Sahour, the village in which—according to the traditional Christmas story—a group of shepherds were said to have seen the star…
Released Prisoners Minister: I Was Imprisoned to Keep Me from My Village
PNN – Mustafa Sabri — PNN/Exclusive – Former Minister of Prisoners Affairs Wasfi Qabaha, recently released after a week of administrative detention in December and seven years in and out of Israeli prisons, told…
Abbas: Ecuador Will Follow Bolivia in Recognizing Palestine
PNN – London — PNN – In a conversation with London’s Arabic-language publication Al-Sharq al-Awsat (The Middle East), Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he expected a fourth South American country, Ecuador, to follow Bolivia,…
Settlers Destroy Farms and Trees Near Nablus, Unleash Dog on 66-year-old
PNN – Nablus — PNN – In an overnight attack, Israeli settlers destroyed farmland and cut down trees on the outskirts of Tel village, near Nablus in the northern West Bank. The PA official…
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (09 — 15 December. 2010)
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Herzog calls on Red Cross to press Syria on Schalit
Jeruslalem Post 18 Dec 2010 – Welfare Minister asks NGO to take a more aggressive position on kidnapped soldier, help Israel get information.
Gov’t concerned French arms for LAF will go to Hizbullah
Jeruslalem Post 18 Dec 2010 – Israel hopes to use “back channels” to resolve concerns after French PM sends letter confirming sale of 100 missiles to Beirut.
IAF strikes Gaza terrorists attempting to launch rockets
Jeruslalem Post 18 Dec 2010 – Palestinian medical sources say 5 killed in airstrike east of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip; IDF says terror cell trying to fire missiles into Israel.
Fayyad says Palestinian state possible by 2011
Jeruslalem Post 18 Dec 2010 – While PA prime minister optimistic, another official warns if “occupation” continues PA won’t distinguish Haifa from Ramallah.
Massive hunt for US woman feared snatched near J’lem
Jeruslalem Post 18 Dec 2010 – Friend escapes attackers with hands tied and stab wounds, alerting police; helicopters used, military involved in search
Fayyad:’we should not give up’
Jeruslalem Post 18 Dec 2010 – PA Prime minister says “We are looking for a state of Palestine, not a unilateral declaration of statehood.”
Lebanon files UN complaint about ‘Israeli spy devices’
Jeruslalem Post 18 Dec 2010 – Lebanese Foreign Ministry claims espionage equipment planted on Mount Sannine and Mount Barouk “in order to serve as a means of communication between Israeli spies on Lebanese territory.”
International Solidarity Movement
Young man shot in the head by a tear gas projectile at the weekly demonstration in An Nabi Saleh
12/18/2010 – International Solidarity Movement – 17 December – Friday, at the weekly demonstration held in the village of An Nabi Saleh, a young Palestinian was shot by a tear gas canister in the back of his head. Falling down, he was further injured on the front of his head. The military continued to shoot tear gas into the area, without regard….
Israeli woman wounded in stabbing near Jerusalem; police suspect her friend was kidnapped
Ha’aretz – Woman in her 40s says she was attacked by two Arab men while hiking in a valley with her friend; police search after missing companion.
Braverman: Labor party should not deviate too far left
Ha’aretz – Labor minister Avishay Braverman says that Amram Mitzna could not lead a party capable of winning the votes of centrist Israelis.
Israeli high-tech companies outsourcing to Palestinians
Ha’aretz – While many Israeli high-tech firms send work offshore to eastern Europe, India or China, some in recent years have begun to look closer to home – the West Bank.
Israel shuts down all international air traffic for five hours
Ha’aretz – Ben Gurion International Airport conducts scheduled maintenance, rendering Israeli skies off limits to international travelers.
Palestinian PM: Plan to declare statehood by 2011 remains on track
Ha’aretz – In interview with Channel 2, Salam Fayyad urged people not to give up hope for peace and not be discouraged because of failed attempts in the past.
Lebanon submits official complaint to UN over Israeli ‘spy devices’
Ha’aretz – Spy devices bearing Hebrew lettering found in Lebanon last week; Lebanese radio attributes Wednesday’s explosion to IAF covering up espionage.
U.S. military chief: We are ‘very ready’ to counter Iran
Ha’aretz – During visit to Bahrain, Admiral Mike Mullen says that Iran is still trying to build a nuclear bomb.
Ban Ki-moon names settlement freeze a top UN goal for 2011
Ha’aretz – In end of year press conference in New York, UN chief says he will work to improve the quality of life in Gaza., Bolivian President Evo Morales announces his support…
Lebanon prepares official complaint to UN over Israeli ‘spy devices’
Ha’aretz – Voice of Lebanon radio attributes explosion on Wednesday to Israeli Air Force after finding espionage cameras with Hebrew lettering near Beirut.
PLO ‘disappointed’ over U.S. resolution opposing unilateral declaration of Palestinian state
Ha’aretz – General Delegation in U.S. says Palestinians’ right to ‘freedom and self-determination is not contingent on the approval of the state of Israel.’
Israeli settlers uproot trees in Nablus
18 Dec 2010 – Nablus, December 18, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) — Israeli settlers uprooted at Friday night tens of trees belonging to Palestinians in Tal village, in south of Nablus. The official of West Bank settlements file, Ghassan Douglas, said to SAFA news agency that the settlers of Jefat Jelad uprooted tens of olive, grape and almond trees belonging to villagers in Tal village….
Israeli army raids Yata, Bethlehem and erects military checkpoints
18 Dec 2010 – West Bank, December 18, (Pal Telegraph) — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided Saturday Yata town in south of Hebron and erected military checkpoint in one of its entrances. Israeli vehicles raided Yata and roamed its streets for hours, no detentions were reported, local sources said, adding that IOF erected military checkpoint at its entrance and stopped the citizens for hours….
Israeli army raids several towns in Nablus
18 Dec 2010 – Nablus, December 18, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided Saturday several towns in Nablus, no detentions were reported. Eyewitnesses said to SAFA news agency that Israeli forces raided Awarta, Madma and Beta in south of Nablus, adding that they searched number of houses. The witnesses added that the Israeli forces stationed in some historical sites where buses…
Gazan boy drowns after Israeli navy firing
18 Dec 2010 – Gaza, December 18, (Pal Telegraph) -A Palestinian teenager fishing off the coast of Rafah, in south of the Gaza Strip, on Friday drowned after firing by the Israel navy, midical sources and witnesses said. Adham Abu Selmiya, a spokesman for Gaza’s health services, said “Zeyad El-Bardawil, 16, died after Israelis pursued his boat at sea”
Medics: 5 dead in Gaza airstrike
Uruknet December 18, 2010 – Palestinian medical officials said late Saturday that an Israeli attack killed five Palestinians east of Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. The bodies of five young men were received at local hospitals, a medical spokesman said. They were identified as residents of Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza…
Officials: CIA gave waterboarders $5M legal shield
Uruknet December 18, 2010 — When the CIA decided to waterboard suspected terror detainees in overseas prisons, the agency turned to a pair of contractors. The men designed the CIA’s interrogation program and also personally took part in the waterboarding sessions. But to do the job, the CIA had to promise to cover at least $5 million in legal fees…
America’s War on Islam: New Republican Offensive Planned
Uruknet December 18, 2010 – Dozens of previous articles addressed America’s war on Islam, discussing victims of America’s war on terror for political advantage, not for threatening national security or public safety. Repeatedly post-9/11, bogus threats were invented to imprison innocent men and women for their faith, ethnicity, activism, prominence or charity. Clearly, it’s the wrong time to be Muslim…
The delusions of the peace process
Uruknet December 18, 2010 – It is astonishing that despite the huge gaps between the maximum that Israel is willing to concede and the minimum that the Palestine Authority could accept as the basis of a final settlement of the conflict, governmental leaders, especially in Washington, continue to pull every available string to restart inter-governmental negotiations. Is it not enough…
Young man shot in the head by a tear gas projectile at the weekly demonstration in An Nabi Saleh
Uruknet December 18, 2010 – Friday, at the weekly demonstration held in the village of An Nabi Saleh, a young Palestinian was shot by a tear gas canister in the back of his head. Falling down, he was further injured on the front of his head. The military continued to shoot tear gas into the area, without regard for the…
UN: Israel demolished 47 Palestinian structures in one week
Uruknet December 18, 2010 – OCHA, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, issued a report Saturday documenting 47 Palestinian-owned structures that were ripped down in the West Bank’s Area C in one week for allegedly missing building permits. 43 of those structures destroyed in the period Dec. 8 to 14 were erected in housing complexes in areas…
Book review: “Spy Trade” details history of Israel lobby in the US
Uruknet December 18, 2010 – Grant F. Smith, author of the new book Spy Trade, is staggeringly knowledgeable about the Israel lobby. Spy Trade is the latest in a series of books on the lobby published by his organization, the Institute for Research: Middle East Policy. In this volume, Smith offers a richly detailed narrative discussing the how and who…
Palestinian farmer: Settlers burned my sheep alive
Uruknet December 18, 2010 – A farmer said he watched a group of settlers in the northern West Bank gather his sheep and set them on fire Saturday afternoon. When he returned to the area, he told officials, he found 12 sheep burned alive, five with severe burns and two others that were only lightly burned. “I’ve lost at least $…
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (09 — 15 December. 2010)
Uruknet December 17, 2010 – Summary : Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (09 — 15 December 2010): Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF killed two Palestinians, while two children were killed by the explosion of a projectile left by IOF in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, 15 Palestinians, including 3 children,…
Looking back, Ban calls 2010 a big year for the United Nations’
Relief Web 18 Dec 2010 – Source: UN News Service
Weekly Anti-Wall Protest Update
Stop The Wall – Soldiers tear-gassed and shot at Palestinian and international demonstrators in villages across the West Bank. Undercover forces attempted to arrest protestors in the village of Ni’lin, while in an Nabi Saleh one young man was injured when he was struck in the head with a sound bomb. [
Lebanon denounces Israel ‘spy’ devices to UN
YNet News – Army spokesman says two ‘espionage devices’ found on Mount Sannine ‘flagrant….
Top US officer says Iran still driving for a bomb
YNet News – After meeting Bahrain’s king, Adm. Mullen says Washington takes its security….
Iran’s new FM to bolster ties with Saudi, Turkey
YNet News – Salehi officially takes charge at function which was also farewell ceremony for….
Air Force bombs Gaza terror cell
YNet News – The Air Force bombed a cell of rocket launchers in the central Gaza Strip Saturday night, killing five men preparing to fire rockets at Israel. The IDF says direct hits …….
Hamas rejects Holocaust Museum trip
YNet News – Hamas condemned on Saturday the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees for its intention to take excelling Gazan students on a visit to the Holocaust Museum in …….
Fayyad: Plan for state by 2011 on track
YNet News – Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad says his plan to establish a Palestinian state by August 2011 remains on course. In an interview with Channel 2, Fayyad …….
Palestinian Information Center
Asia convoy arrives in Turkey
PIC 18 Dec 2010 РThe Asia aid convoy destined to reach Gaza Strip by 27th December on the second anniversary of the Israeli war on Gaza has arrived in the Turkish city of Ağrı in the Eastern Anatolia region on Friday.
PA militias kidnap 18 Palestinians from Hamas in West Bank
PIC 18 Dec 2010 – The Palestinian Authority’s security militias kidnapped during its latest arrest campaigns 18 citizens affiliated with Hamas in different West Bank areas, according to local sources on Saturday.
Fatah asks Hamas for meeting on national reconciliation in Damascus
PIC 18 Dec 2010 – Informed Palestinian sources said that the leadership of Fatah faction made a request lately for a meeting with Hamas Movement in Damascus later this month to resume reconciliation talks.
Hamas castigates UNRWA for taking students to sightsee holocaust centers
PIC 18 Dec 2010 – Hamas strongly denounced UNRWA for staging trips for Palestinian students to the US, Europe, and South Africa to sightsee Jewish holocaust museums, calling the trips “suspicious”.
3,000 Jewish settlers intrude on Palestinian town to visit alleged holy sites
PIC 18 Dec 2010 – A 3,000-man mob of Jewish settlers guarded by Israeli troops raided Friday morning the town of Kifl Haris near Salfit for a regular visit to shrines alleged to be located there, eyewitnesses reported.
Palestinian fisherman killed after Israeli troops chased down his boat
PIC 18 Dec 2010 – A Palestinian fisherman was killed Friday after Israeli naval troops chased down his boat off the coast of the southern Gaza Strip region of Rafah, medics in Gaza said.
Zahhar: Hamas gets stronger despite the Israeli siege
PIC 18 Dec 2010 – Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahhar said that his Movement is getting stronger despite the Israeli blockade on Gaza and embarking on building civil institutions and resisting the occupation at the same time.
Bahar to Fatah: Stop betting on US illusions
PIC 18 Dec 2010 – Ahmed Bahar said the US Congress’s stand on the PA turning to the UNSC for support in establishing an independent Palestinian state embodies the US’s enmity towards the Palestinian cause.
Maltese foreign minister demands end to Gaza siege with ‘more than just words’
PIC 18 Dec 2010 – Malta’s Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said he was shocked at the humanitarian condition in the Gaza Strip that has resulted from Israel’s four-year blockade on the region.
Hamas condemns Chabahar explosion
PIC 18 Dec 2010 – Hamas on Friday condemned the two “terrorist explosions” in the Iranian port city of Chabahar in Sistan-Baluchestan Province in which tens of innocent people were killed.
Iran fetes new foreign minister ahead of nuclear talks
LA Times 19 Dec 2010 – The caretaker minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, emphasizes improving ties in the Muslim world and with the EU. Meanwhile the U.S. seeks to drum up regional support against Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran and Washington are seeking to expand their regional influence ahead of another round of talks over Iran’s nuclear program, which has become a source of widespread international concern.
Hollywood dramatized ethnic cleansing in India and Pakistan, why not the other I/P?
Mondoweiss – Proof if any more is needed of the existence of a powerful Israel lobby in our country: Tonight over dinner I watched the last 30 minutes of Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982) on Turner Classics. I was staggered to see the 1947 transfer of Muslim and Hindu…
Obama’s failure has served to expose Israeli intransigence here and abroad
Mondoweiss – As the United States sends envoy George Mitchell to grasp at straws in hopes of restarting negotiations to create a Palestinian state after the Israeli government refused to curb settlement construction, Obama’s inability to entice Netanyahu’s coalition to comply with international law has frustrated many who…
Drumroll please
Mondoweiss – ” You are standing on the wrong side of history . That’s why the ground feels shaky beneath your support of Israel. You are standing on the side of a military occupation that daily strips people of their belongings, of their livelihoods, of their dignity and cuts…
Stammering Crowley to Matt Lee: ‘I’m going to leave it at that’
Mondoweiss – More of Matt Lee of A.P. scratching away at the Israel lobby inside American government over our utter indifference to the persecution of Abdallah Abu Rahmah, a leader of nonviolent resistance to occupation in the West Bank now in prison with however other many thousands. Below…
Is the bottom falling out on the special relationship?
Mondoweiss – Israel Today says that nearly a third of American expect US-Israel relations to continue to sour… And Republicans are more supportive of Israel than Democrats. Do you hear that, Barney Frank and Debbie Wasserman Shultz? Come home to liberalism… h/t Jeff Blankfort: It would seem Obama’s…
Italy to Send Second Aid Flotilla to Gaza
Al-Manar 18 Dec 2010 – Italy’s Palestine Forum group is planning a second convoy of aid to Gaza and the West Bank in support of Palestinians. Earlier in 2010, the group organized and sent five trucks of medical and agricultural goods contributed by 38 countries. In previous trips there have…
Israeli Navy Kills Gaza Teenager
Al-Manar 18 Dec 2010 – A Palestinian teenager fishing off the coast of the Gaza Strip drowned after Israeli naval forces opened fire on his boat, a health official and witnesses said. According to eyewitnesses, after Israeli occupation forces pursued and opened fire on fishing boats off the coast of…
US reassures Gulf states on Iran
BBC 18 Dec 2010 – The top US military commander has reassured Persian Gulf nations of Washington’s support in the face of regional concerns about Iran.
Israeli strike kills five in Gaza
BBC 18 Dec 2010 – An Israeli air strike kills five people in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian and Israeli sources say.
Articles
Insisting on humanity
Ramzy Baroud, Ma’an News Agency12/18/2010
When a copy of William A. Cook’s latest book, The Plight of the Palestinians arrived in my mailbox, I initially felt a little worried. The volume, featuring the work of over 30 accomplished writers, is the most articulate treatise on the collective victimization of Palestinians to date. From Cook’s own introduction, ‘The Untold Story of the Zionist Intent to Turn Palestine into a Jewish State’ to Francis Boyle’s summation of ‘Israel’s Crimes against the Palestinians’, it takes the reader through an exhaustive journey, charting the course of Palestinian history prior to and since the Nakba, the Catastrophe of 1947-48.
Still, I feared that something might be missing in this noble and monumental undertaking: Palestinian people’s own responses to the cruelties they’ve suffered. Would Palestinians be presented yet again as merely poster-child victims, eager for handouts?
The photograph on the cover was telling: a kindly old man with a white beard, who could have been any Palestinian or Middle-Eastern grandpa, is lovingly touching the hair of a toddler. The two are crouching before a small, stained tent. The Nakba was still recent, and the two Palestinians, separated by two generations appear tired and haggard as they are caught in this hopeless scene. Yet, somehow the grandfather insists on preserving his right to love his grandson. This insistence on one’s humanity has been the key strength which has allowed the Palestinian people to preserve their struggle and resistance before the wicked arm of occupation and oppression for nearly 63 years.
Do most academics know this? Do they truly comprehend what it is that makes an old man from a West Bank village face the brutality of Jewish settlers, year after year, as he returns to harvest his few remaining olive trees? Or a Palestinian woman from Gaza who keeps coming back to hold a vigil before the Red Cross office with a framed photo of her once-young son, now ailing in some Israeli jail? more.. e-mail
Economic Espionage Haunts AIPAC
Grant Smith, Antiwar.com12/18/2010
Steven J. Rosen’s $20 million defamation lawsuit against his former employer, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has now taken a predictable turn. AIPAC fired Rosen and fellow analyst Keith Weissman over their indictments under the Espionage Act in 2005. The criminal prosecution was ultimately quashed by the Obama administration to the chagrin of prosecutors in early 2009. A November 8, 2010 AIPAC defense filing in Superior Court asked Judge Erik Christian to dismiss the civil suit, alleging that Rosen’s use of company computers to surf pornographic websites and selections from damning depositions proved AIPAC’s statements that he did not comport to company standards were not slander. As predicted, Rosen has now gone for AIPAC’s jugular by deposing Executive Director Howard Kohr (PDF) and legislative deputy director Esther Kurz about their roles in an earlier espionage caper against US industries and workers involving AIPAC’s use of classified information.
In a 44 page response (PDF), Rosen refutes AIPAC’s assertions that classified information gathering was prohibited at AIPAC. On page 12, Rosen refers ominously to a “Confidential Portion” of a sealed deposition of Esther Kurz. While the Kurz confidential deposition responding to questions guided by Rosen is sealed by the court, Rosen has also submitted a recently declassified 1986 FBI interview form of Kurz (PDF) inquiring into how she obtained a classified 300 page USTR document full of trade secrets provided by US industries and worker groups. Rosen has also submitted other declassified documents of the FBI espionage and theft of government property investigation of AIPAC which took place between 1984 and 1987. Rosen ruefully states “Obviously, AIPAC had survived — indeed, flourished — and without loss of staff when it earlier stood by its employees in the face of true public revelations of their having received and disseminated a classified document.” more.. e-mail
The ‘Little Town of Bethlehem’ Still Waits for Its Stolen Democracy
James M. Wall, Wall Writings12/18/2010
A new Palestinian parliament was elected in the Occupied Territories on January 25, 2006. One month from this Christmas, Palestinians should have been celebrating the fifth anniversary of that democratic, internationally-monitored, election.
There will be no celebration in January, 2011. Instead, Bethlehem, the West Bank, and Gaza still wait for the democracy that was stolen from them.
Palestinians remain trapped in a military occupation the Israeli government forced the world to accept because the “wrong” party won.
For one brief shining moment, before the 2006 results were rewritten to fit the Zionist narrative, democracy lived in the land where Christ was born.
In a story of rare candor for a major American news outlet, on January 26, 2006, the Washington Post reported the elections fairly. The Post began its coverage:
“The radical Islamic movement Hamas won a large majority in the new Palestinian parliament, according to official election results announced Thursday, trouncing the governing Fatah party in a contest that could dramatically reshape the Palestinians’ relations with Israel and the rest of the world.
“In Wednesday’s voting, Hamas claimed 76 of the 132 parliamentary seats, giving the party at war with Israel the right to form the next cabinet under the Palestinian Authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah….” more.. e-mail
“We will continue to sing”: DAM’s Suhell Nafar interviewed
Electronic Intifada: 17 Dec 2010 – DAM is a Palestinian hip hop trio from Lod, a mixed Palestinian and Jewish town about 20 kilometers from Jerusalem. The Electronic Intifada contributor Hira Nabi spoke with DAM’s Suhell Nafar by phone while the trio was in the United States for a brief tour.more
Israel’s new wall
Electronic Intifada: 17 Dec 2010 – CAIRO (IPS) – After building a wall in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israel has begun construction on a new wall, this one to keep migrants from Africa out. The new wall is coming up on the Egyptian border, and with Egyptian support.more
Resisting an ideology of inequality: Jody McIntyre interviewed
Electronic Intifada: 17 Dec 2010 – Over the past month, journalist and activist Jody McIntyre has joined a growing number of students, workers, activists and others in the UK protesting a government decision to cut public sector funding, especially to education. Jody, who spent months alongside Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip protesting the Israeli occupation, is now back in London attending and reporting on various student-led actions. The Electronic Intifada’s Matthew Cassel spoke with Jody at his south London home.more
Military Violence in the Hebron Hills
Palestine Monitor: 17 Dec 2010 – The Israeli military demolished three water cisterns and two wells in the Khashem Ad Daraj – Hathaleen region on December 14. The military have given no reason for the destruction. The demolitions follow a pattern of destruction of Palestinian property by the Israeli military in Area C, as defined by the Oslo Accords. Rather than delivering the demolition orders to the residents of the villages in the area, the Israeli army instead left the orders under a stone two days earlier. The demolished cisterns and wells supplied drinking water to the villagers as well as their sheep and goats. The wells were up to 300 meters deep and over 70 years old, pre-dating the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian Territories. International Humanitarian Law and Israeli Military law state that structures created before 1967 are protected and not to be destroyed by the occupying power. The villages are in the southern…more
Israel’s Ship of Fools 2
Palestine Chronicle: 18 Dec 2010 – By Uri Avnery The expression ‘Ship of Fools’ was used by a Swiss theologian 515 years ago as the title of a book harshly criticizing the Catholic church of his day. Its licentiousness, he foresaw, would lead to disaster. And indeed, shortly afterwards a monk named Martin Luther split the church and set in motion the great Reformation. I used this phrase in the 70s to define the era between the two wars — the Six-Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973, six years spent by Israel in a state of foolish euphoria. “We never had it so good”. The present era deserves the title “Ship of Fools 2”. The defining slogan of “Ship of Fools 1” was coined by Moshe Dayan, who served as first officer on its bridge, at the right hand of the captain, Golda Meir. Dayan, then the idol of Israel and…more
What H. Res. 1765 Tells Us About the Peace Camp?
Palestine Chronicle: 18 Dec 2010 – By Sama Adnan As House Resolution 1765, formerly 1731 and 1734, passed in the House by a voice vote enjoining the Obama administration to oppose a unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence, the peace camp looked disheveled and mystified. With every loss in the halls of Congress we reassure ourselves that the tide is changing, that soon members of Congress will see the right of Palestinians to statehood, that the next president will not succumb to the intransigence of Congress. Today there are hundreds of organizations educating the American public about the facts of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They raise the public’s awareness about the plight of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza strip. Some organizations highlight the importance of resolving the refugee crisis and yet others underline Israel’s apartheid regime in the West Bank, undergirded by Jewish-only settlements and Jewish-only infrastructure. Almost all existing organizations focused on a just resolution to the…more
Nazi Crimes as Ideological Cover for Israeli Crimes
Palestine Chronicle: 18 Dec 2010 – By Yves Engler — Ottawa Last week, Canada’s House of Commons unanimously passed a private member’s bill to establish a national Holocaust monument. While it is a good thing to commemorate the suffering of Jews in Europe, it is important to point out that uncritical support for Israel is part of the backdrop. Edmonton Conservative MP Tim Uppal, who introduced the private member’s bill, explained last year: “After I had decided on [accepting Minister Peter Kent’s proposal to put forward An Act to Establish a National Holocaust Monument], I ended up going to Israel with the Canada Israel Committee in July. Being there, and learning what I did about the Holocaust and Israel, just made me feel more reassured that this was the right thing to do and get this bill passed.” Speaking in favour of the bill last week, Winnipeg NDP MP Jim Maloway also connected the planned monument…more
A Doctor in Galilee — Book Review
Palestine Chronicle: 18 Dec 2010 – By George Polley (A Doctor in Galilee: The Life and Struggle of a Palestinian in Israel. Hatim Kanaaneh. Foreword by Jonathan Cook. Pluto Press, 2008) Hatim Kanaaneh is the kind of physician I enjoyed working with in my career as a mental health professional: compassionate, humorous and committed to bringing quality medical services to the people of his community, which in his case, was in spite of incredible odds. The government agencies that ought to have helped him because their help would have contributed to the health of the entire district put up roadblock after roadblock to frustrate his efforts and discourage him. But the guy just never gave up, and that is something I admire. After receiving his medical education at Harvard University (M.D. and a Master’s Degree in Public Health), he returned to his native village of Arrabeh to work as a physician. This is what he has…more
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The New Dark Age 
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