17 January, 2011 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Nof Zion to Remain in Jewish Hands
IMEMC – Monday January 17, 2011 – 16:47, Israeli supermarket magnate Rami Levy has made made a successful bid to take over development of the Nof Zion settlement project being built near the Palestinan neighbourhood of Jabal Al Mukabber in occupied East Jerusalem.
Rabbis Call for Extermination Camps
IMEMC – Monday January 17, 2011 – 15:38, An article in the Israeli Jewish Orthodox publication “Fountains of Salvation”, which purports to be a ‘family magazine’, suggests that Israel will create death camps for Palestinians in order to wipe them out like Amalek., The terms Amalek or Amalekites is code for the Palestinians (and other perceived enemies of the Jewish people) and originates in the Old Testament. It amounts to a call for genocide
Clashes Erupt in Silwan after Police Raid a Resident’s Home
IMEMC – Monday January 17, 2011 – 14:26, On Sunday, violent clashes erupted in the district of Baten al-Hawa, in Silwan, East Jerusalem following an Israeli police raid on a residential home.
Israeli Think-tank says US Aid Should End
IMEMC – Monday January 17, 2011 – 14:18, The influential Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies (JIMS) has published a study which argues that financial aid to Israel from the United States is a net loss for the country.
Bedouin Village Demolished for Ninth Time
IMEMC – Monday January 17, 2011 – 12:53, Israeli bulldozers demolished 11 structures in the “unrecognized” village of al-Arakib for the ninth time on Sunday.
Palestinian Political Prisoners Punished for Organizing Hunger Strike in Israeli Prison
IMEMC – Monday January 17, 2011 – 12:15, Ahmad Sa’adat, the general secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Jamal Abu Al-Haija , a leader of Hamas in the West Bank, are being punished for organizing a prisoner hunger strike to protest Israeli prison conditions.
Peres Slams Investigation Of NGO’s Funding
IMEMC – Monday January 17, 2011 – 10:34, Israeli President, Shimon Peres, stated during an interview with Israel’s daily, Haaretz, that the formation of a parliamentarian committee to investigate the sources of funding sent to non-governmental Organizations harms democracy in the country.
Barak To Split Party, Form A New Parliamentary Bloc
IMEMC – Monday January 17, 2011 – 10:19, Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, intends to quit the already weakened Labor Party to form a new parliamentary bloc that would run under his command.
Fayyad: “Blackwater Is Not Operating In The West Bank”
IMEMC – Monday January 17, 2011 – 09:51, Palestinian Prime Minister, Dr. Salaam Faayyad, stated Sunday that the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank is not dealing with American security company, Blackwater, and that the United States hired Blackwater to provide protection for senior American figures visting the West Bank and Israel.
Haniyya: “Egypt Interested In Inviting Palestinian Factions To Meet In Cairo”
IMEMC – Monday January 17, 2011 – 08:05, Prime Minister of the dissolved Hamas-led government in Gaza, Ismail Haniyya, stated Sunday that the Egyptian Authorities are interested in inviting Palestinian factions, mainly the rival Fateh and Hamas movements, to meet in Cairo, once again, in an attempt to end the internal divisions.
Israel approves more East Jerusalem settler homes
1/17/2011 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — The city council on Monday approved the building of another 122 Israeli settler homes in occupied East Jerusalem, a councilor said, a move likely to bring fresh censure from the international community. Elisha Peleg, head of the conservative Likud group on the city council, told AFP its planning and construction committee had given….
Displacement risk for Palestinians in East Jerusalem
1/17/2011 – JERUSALEM (IRIN) — UN agencies and EU officials in the occupied Palestinian territory are calling for the implementation of international humanitarian law to protect the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem from forced displacement. UN, Palestinian Authority and EU officials say East Jerusalem is occupied territory, requiring protection of the civilian population by international humanitarian law, a….
A Gaza family’s tragedy
1/17/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) —Nour Salha was 15 years old when he saw an Israeli missile reduce his home to rubble, killing his mother and four siblings. On Jan. 9, 2009, during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, a warplane shelled Nour’s home in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. His….
Gaza rocket hits Israel despite truce
1/17/2011 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — A rocket fired by militants in Gaza landed in southern Israel early on Monday, in the first incidence of firing since armed Palestinian groups there agreed to observe a truce last week. The projectile, a home-built rocket, caused no injuries or damage when it landed in the Shaar HaNegev regional council which flanks….
Limited Israeli incursion into Gaza reported
1/17/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli military vehicles crossed into the central Gaza Strip early Monday, witnesses said. The four vehicles were reported to be operating about 300 meters east of the Al-Breij refugee camp combing the area. There were no reports of injury or damage in the incursion that came shortly after a rocket….
Top UNRWA officials resign
1/17/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – The directors of the UN’s Palestine refugee operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank resigned Monday morning, an UNRWA spokesman said. Adnan Abu Hasna said Barbara Shenstone, the West Bank director, and John Ging, based in the Gaza Strip, were stepping down.”Ging has proved through….
Egyptian forces kill African migrant on Israel border
1/17/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Egyptian police patrolling the borders with Israel shot dead an African woman when she was spotted trying to infiltrate into Israel on Sunday evening, Egyptian security sources said. The sources said police patrolling the borders along the Sinai Peninsula spotted a woman approaching the border fence toward Israel, fired several….
MK praises resolve of Al-Araqib village
1/17/2011 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Knesset Member Talab Al-Sanei on Monday commended the resolve of residents of Al-Araqib, a Bedouin village destroyed nine times by Israeli forces. Israeli forces carried out the latest demolition of the village in southern Israel on Sunday. Al-Sanei said the villagers’ attachment to their land showed “heroic determination and steadfastness….
Crisis-hit Lebanon launches search for new PM
1/17/2011 – BEIRUT (AFP) — Crisis-hit Lebanon on Monday launches arduous consultations on naming a new premier as the prosecutor of a UN court probing the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri is set to submit indictments in the case. President Michel Sleiman was to begin two days of meetings with the country’s fractious parliamentary groups at….
Report: Israel tested Stuxnet on Iran, with US help
1/17/2011 – WASHINGTON (AFP) — US and Israeli intelligence services collaborated to develop a destructive computer worm to sabotage Iran’s efforts to make a nuclear bomb, The New York Times reported Sunday. The newspaper quoted intelligence and military experts as saying Israel has tested the effectiveness of the Stuxnet computer worm, which apparently shut down a….
Hamas: PA detains 26 party members
1/17/2011 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority has recently detained 26 members of Hamas, the party said Wednesday. The Islamist movement said the detainees were from Salfit, Tulkarem, Jenin, Hebron and the Nablus areas. Hamas said in a statement that 12 of the detainees were “school students” in Salfit, but provided no further details….
Israel’s Barak to quit Labor, form new party
1/17/2011 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak was Monday to quit his Labor party, a key member of the ruling coalition, and to announce the creation of a new party, Israeli media reported. Barak and four other Labour MPs, including Agriculture Minister Shalom Simchon and deputy defence minister Matan Vilnai, were expected to set up….
PPP official urges PA to set election date
1/17/2011 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian People’s Party head Bassam As-Salhi on Monday urged the Palestinian Authority to hold local elections.”We in the factions of the left hope the government will decide to hold local elections as soon as possible and set a date,” As-Sahli told Ma’an radio. The PA Minister….
Fayyad: Taxes must rise to reduce aid dependency
1/17/2011 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Sunday that taxes must rise to reduce dependence on donors. Fayyad, a former World Bank economist, faced a barrage of questions on the state of the economy during a meeting with journalists in Ramallah. Reporters asked Fayyad what support his government would offer to….
Jordan coach hails ‘best ever’ Asian Cup
1/17/2011 – DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — The current edition of the Asian Cup is the best ever in terms of quality, Jordan’s respected Iraqi coach Adnan Hamad said Sunday, as the group stages reached their climax. Asian coach of the year in 2004, Hamad, whose unheralded Jordan are in with a good chance of making the….
In Peril: The Arab Status Quo
Palestine Note 17 Jan 2011 – Anthony Shadid, New York Times – The past few weeks have been bad ones for the old Arab order. It started with Egypt, once the dynamic, uncontested leader of the Arab world, whose foreign policy now…
Netanyahu aides: Labor Party split will help advance peace talks with Palestinians
Palestine Note 17 Jan 2011 – Haaretz – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides said Monday that he believes that the Labor Party split will actually help advance the peace process with the Palestinians. According to Netanyahu, now that the Labor ministers left…
Incidents of protesters setting themselves on fire occur across North Africa
Palestine Note 17 Jan 2011 – Los Angeles Times – The depressed fruit seller in Tunisia who set himself on fire and touched off protests that toppled former President Zine el Abidine ben Ali has inspired copycats in recent days in Egypt,…
Islamists in Jordan call for end to authoritarian rule
Palestine Note 17 Jan 2011 – Alert Net – Islamists in Jordan, emboldened by protests in Tunisia that forced out the long-serving president, called on Sunday for an end to what they called authoritarian rule in their country. Nearly one thousand Islamist…
Gulf states, Saudi can withstand Tunisia effect
Palestine Note 17 Jan 2011 – Asma Alsharif and Cynthia Johnston, Alert Net – Saudi Arabia has taken in Tunisia’s fallen strong man, but the oil wealth of the kingdom and its neighbours should ensure the poverty-driven unrest which ousted Zine al-Abidine…
Barak Quits Israel’s Labor Party
Palestine Note 17 Jan 2011 – Wall Street Journal – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced Monday that he was leaving the center-left Labor Party, casting a cloud over the stability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the prospects of restarting…
Lebanon Delays Talks on New Government
Palestine Note 17 Jan 2011 – New York Times – The Lebanese president postponed talks to form a new government on Monday as regional leaders convened in Syria to find a way out of one of Lebanon ‘s worst crises in years….
U.N. prosecutor files sealed indictment in killing of former Lebanese leader
Palestine Note 17 Jan 2011 – Washington Post – A U.N. prosecutor on Monday submitted a sealed indictment against suspects in the 2005 assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister, concluding an investigation that has cast suspicion on top Syrian leaders and…
With Stuxnet, Did The U.S. And Israel Create a New Cyberwar Era?
Palestine Note 17 Jan 2011 – Spencer Ackerman, Wired – Remember the years-long controversy about whether the U.S. or the Israel would bomb Iran’s nuclear program? It appears they just did ‚Äî virtually. And if they did, they also may have expanded…
Tensions in Lebanon, Gaza and Iran put Israel on alert
Palestine Note 17 Jan 2011 – Deutsche Welle – Political instability in Lebanon, increased tensions arising from rocket attacks by militant groups in Gaza and the continuing threat of a nuclear-armed Iran have put Israel on a new state of alert. Lebanon’s…
Lebanon: Another descent into a long crisis
Palestine Note 17 Jan 2011 – Los Angeles Times – Following last week’s decision by Hezbollah to bring down the government of Saad Hariri, Lebanon has likely entered a period of extended crisis with a caretaker government. It will be marked by…
Israel to build more homes on annexed land
Palestine Note 17 Jan 2011 – Alert Net – Israel’s Jerusalem municipality took another step on Monday towards building 124 new apartments on annexed land around East Jerusalem, a move likely to draw international condemnation. Read Full Article Photo: [delayed gratification, Flickr]…
UN panel in Nigeria to probe Iranian arms seizure
Palestine Note 17 Jan 2011 – Alert Net – A United Nations panel of experts on Iran met with Nigeria’s foreign minister on Monday as part of a mission to assess whether an arms shipment seized last year in the West African…
Head of UNRWA in Gaza, John Ging, resigns
Palestine Note 17 Jan 2011 – The outspoken critic of Israel’s blockade to take up UN post in New York Al Jazeera – John Ging, the director of United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s (UNRWA) operations in Gaza, and Barbara Shenstone, the…
Barak quits Israel’s Labour party
AlJazeera 17 Jan 2011 – Defence minister and four senior members leave party to form new faction, casting fresh doubts on stalled peace talks.
UNRWA heads in Palestine quit
AlJazeera 17 Jan 2011 – John Ging, director in Gaza and Barbara Shenstone, his West Bank counterpart resign from their posts.
Erekat Confirms: Draft of Security Council Resolution Condemning Settlements Ready for Wednesday
PNN – Jericho — PNN – Chief Palestinian negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat said on Monday that he had been instructed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to bring the issue of illegal Israeli settlements to…
After Barak Leaves, Labor Ministers Quit Israeli Government
PNN – Tel Aviv — PNN – In a day of political turmoil in Israel, Labor ministers Isaac Herzog, Avishay Braverman, and Benjamin Ben-Eliezer quit the Israeli government after fellow former Labor party member…
British Retailer John Lewis Stops Stocking Ahava Products
PNN – London — PNN – This week, leading British retail business John Lewis is refusing to stock goods from Israeli cosmetics company Ahava. Canadian retailer The Bay also confirmed that it has discontinued…
UNRWA Operations Directors in Gaza and the West Bank Resign from Posts
PNN – Jerusalem — PNN – John Ging, director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, and Barbara Shenstone, Director of UNRWA Operations in the West Bank, both resigned from their posts on Monday. According to…
East Jerusalem Hotel Demolition Halted Temporarily
PNN – Jerusalem — PNN – According to Israeli online newspaper Ha’aretz, demolition operations on the historic Shepherd Hotel were temporarily halted by a legal injunction filed on behalf of the Israeli religious council…
Man Injured by Israeli Police Gunfire, Homemade Shell Hits Negev
PNN – Negev — PNN – A Palestinian worker was injured when an Israeli police officer opened fire on him at the northern Israeli city of Naharya. The young man comes from the city…
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (06-12 January 2011)
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
UNRWA Gaza chief John Ging promoted to senior UN post in NY
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – West Bank UNRWA head Barbara Shenstone also scheduled to leave position; replacements have not yet been chosen.
Medvedev to see Israel — but from afar
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – Foreign Ministry workers’ sanctions leave Jewish state off of Russian president’s Middle East itinerary; will visit Jordan, West Bank.
IDF to protect equipment, arms in mountain bunkers
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – Exclusive: Army studies methods of using topography to safeguard critical supplies against incoming missiles.
Coalition negotiations underway to replace Labor ministers
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – Barak will remain defense minister; Agricultural Minister Shalom Simhon likely to replace Ben-Eliezer as Industry, Trade and Labor minister; Welfare and Social Services portfolio vacated by Herzog to be given to Likud.
Analysis: A split that just might fit
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – Barak’s break off from Labor may have strengthened the coalition and the peace process, but how it helped Labor is a tougher sell.
Hizbullah: US controlled Hariri probe to ‘light a fuse’
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – ICJ tribune filed first indictment in 2005 Lebanese PM assassination, which reportedly names Hizbullah, Ayatollah Khaminei; Hizbullah claims US wants to keep Lebanon gov’t divided.
‘King Abdullah is very nervous’ about Jordanian opposition
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – Opposition groups plan to increase anti-government activity; monarch reportedly set up “special operations room” to prevent anarchy in Jordan.
US ambassador to Lebanon summoned amid tension
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – Lebanese Foreign Ministry alleges that Ambassador Maura Connelly is interfering in internal politics, after meeting with MP.
‘Hariri probe indicts Hizbullah, Ayatollah for murder’
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – Prosecution submits indictments to the International Court of Justice in assassination of former Lebanese prime minister.
MKs reject no-confidence motions on Netanyahu gov’t
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – During Knesset hearing, majority of MKs vote against motions by Kadima, other parties on “Netanyahu isolating Israel,” and “building in Arab towns.”
Dagan backpedals: Iran may have nukes before 2015
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – Outgoing Mossad chief tells Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee: Iranian nuclear threat, global jihad are major challenges to Israel.
The Jewish Palate: Eat like an Egyptian
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – A column about Jewish history and food: The proud Jews of the Second Exodus have brought their culinary traditions out of Egypt.
Erekat to UN: Declare all Israeli settlements illegal
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – Palestinian negotiator requests UN demand to halt all settlement construction; hopes to win support of 14 of 15 council members.
Hariri assassinations to be announced Mon.; blame Hizbullah
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – Hizbullah ministers likely to be indicted by UN probe; Nasrallah has blamed the US, Israel, and Saad Hariri for conspiring against him.
Haniyeh: Egypt to renew Palestinian reconciliation talks
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – Hamas and Fatah to meet in Cairo in near future; Kassam rocket lands in Negev despite promise to maintain ceasefire; no injuries.
PM: Region events show why ironclad security deal necessary
Jeruslalem Post 17 Jan 2011 – Netanyahu discretely alludes to volatile situation in Tunisia at cabinet meeting; MK Ayoub Kara calls Tunisia’s rep. in Ramallah to offer assistance.
PA probes Palestinian officials for financial malfeasance
Jeruslalem Post 16 Jan 2011 – Panel to investigate financial corruption in Palestinian Authority begins studying cases involving 80 senior officials, some in current gov’t.
Letter reveals new information on Galant public land case
Ha’aretz – The letter was written as a response to a request made by the court that is dealing with the petition filed by the Green Party calling for the disqualification of…
Likud, Atzmaut negotiating new coalition agreement
Ha’aretz – Government wants to push forward agreement with Barak’s newly formed faction quickly to replace three Labor ministers who resigned from government on Monday.
Netanyahu helped Barak leave Labor
Ha’aretz – The process of Labor’s split began after senior U.S. officials told Haaretz that the Obama administration was furious with the defense minister for ‘deceiving’ them about his political clout with…
Netanyahu: Barak’s split from Labor strengthens Israel’s government
Ha’aretz – Likud MK: Barak is going to form a Lieberman-like party; right-wing MK Eldad: He should have quit politics altogether; Meretz urges remaining Labor members to join forces in Knesset.
Labor MKs welcome Barak’s departure as ‘chance to rebuild’ party
Ha’aretz – Yachimovich: Barak brought tragedy to the Labor Party, sullied it and broke it apart.
Ehud Barak quits Labor to form ‘centrist, Zionist and democratic’ party
Ha’aretz – Four Labor MKs to join Defense Minister in new Atzmaut (Independence) faction after months of infighting in once powerful party.
Head of Jewish burial service in Haifa shot to death by unknown gunman
Ha’aretz – Director of the Ashkenazi Hevra Kadisha, 67-year-old Benny Hesse, was shot Sunday at the entrance of his Haifa home.
UN prosecutor submits Hariri assassination indictment
Ha’aretz – Contents of international tribunal’s draft indictment over 2005 killing of former Lebanon PM to only be revealed in six to ten weeks; Hezbollah accuses U.S. for using tribunal to undermine…
Home Front Command reduces warning time for incoming missiles to 90 seconds
Ha’aretz – Hamas and Hezbollah possess more missiles than ever before and can launch longer range missiles with heightened precision.
Former Mossad chief: Nuclear Iran must not be neglected like North Korea
Ha’aretz – Meir Dagan tells Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Iran is intent on acquiring nuclear weapons and could expedite that process.
Palestinians to submit UN draft condemning Israeli settlements this week
Ha’aretz – Palestinians hope the United Nations body will pass a resolution condemning Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank., Speaking during weekly cabinet meeting, PM says region-wide unrest and instability highlight Israel’s…
Israel raids Al-Burage camp, no causalities
17 Jan 2011 – Gaza Strip , (Pal Telegraph) – A number of Israeli machines and bulldozers raided the east of AL-Burage refugee camp ,central Gaza strip . Witnesses reported to local sources that four military vehicles advanced about 300 meters toward AL-Burage refugee camp and started firing, leaving no causalities .
Israel intensifies its checkpoints in Hebron
17 Jan 2011 – Hebron, (Pal Telegraph) -Israeli army intensifies Monday its military checkpoints around Hebron town in the south of West Bank, SAFA News Agency reported.
Israeli army shoots worker in Gaza
16 Jan 2011 – Gaza, (Pal Telegraph) — Israeli forces opened fire Sunday morning at a Palestinian citizen in Bait Lahya, northern Gaza strip. Adham Abu Silmya, Medical Emergency Unit spokesman, said that the worker Adham Soboh,21 , was shot in his left leg while he was collecting gravel in that area.
To Exist is To Resist
Uruknet January 17, 2011 – On Tuesday, the Israeli military demolished the dreams of a family of five in the Palestinian village of Azzoun Atma. At 8.30am, on January 11, more than 100 Israeli soldiers surrounded their home, forced them onto the street and then locked them in the neighouring house for the next three and half hours. As “the…
Gaza Diary day 24: visiting the Samounis
Uruknet January 17, 2011 – We oscillate here between outrage and willed calm, “maneu¬?ver¬?ing between numbness and hyper¬?sen¬?si¬?tiv¬?ity,” as a friend put it. You cannot let the anger carry you off like a riptide. For learning how to do that, we have very good examples, almost everyone around us: every mourner’s tent we visit, every young man stonily reciting the…
Seizing the Moment
Uruknet January 17, 2011 – Palestinians are in awe of Tunisia at this very moment. So are just about every other Arab people who have long felt the bite of oppressive regimes that exercise their iron fists on their own while bending like rubber to external parties. This is not lost on these regimes, who are currently sitting in quiet…
A Gaza family’s tragedy
Uruknet January 17, 2011 – Nour Salha was 15 years old when he saw an Israeli missile reduce his home to rubble, killing his mother and four siblings. On Jan. 9, 2009, during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, a warplane shelled Nour’s home in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. His mother Randa, two brothers Diyaa, 14, and Bahaa, 4,…
Tunisia and reshaping the Arab world
Uruknet January 17, 2011 – Here in Palestine, we face a relentless assault not only on us and our lands but on truth, on decency, on nature, on dignity, and, dare I say, on God. Israeli authorities are working overtime to transform the Holy City of Jerusalem from a multi-ethnic and multi-religious city to a distorted vision of what Zionists…
Gaza: Life and death in the buffer zone
Uruknet January 17, 2011 – Death comes quickly at a place like this. On sunny winter days, when the smell of the night’s rain is still in the air, as if it would have brought some hope for the raped, barren land of Gaza, overrun hundreds of times by Israeli tanks and bulldozers. The land between the foothills of the…
Israeli rabbis call for creation of ‘death camps’ for Palestinians
Uruknet January 17, 2011 – A magazine issued by religious Zionists in Israel called for the creation of ‘death camps’ for Palestinians. In a report Saturday, Israeli news site Ynet brought to attention a weekly magazine, distributed in synagogues across Israel, which published a religious decree. The diktat, signed by major rabbis, called for the creation of such death camps,…
Lebanon, the impossible state
Uruknet January 16, 2011 – Since last wednesday Lebanon is without a government, again. 11 ministers representing the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition resigned their Cabinet positions, forcing Prime Minister Saad Hariri out of office. The move was designed to thwart Hariri from working with the US-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) to indict Hezbollah members for their alleged involvement in…
Gaza doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish: ‘”We saved lives,” I told the children. “Your sisters’ blood wasn’t wasted”’
Uruknet January 16, 2011 – Two years ago, Israeli shells fell on Dr Abuelaish’s family home in Gaza, killing three of his young daughters and their cousin. The horror was caught live on Israeli TV when the doctor phoned his broadcaster friend. Amazingly, the loss did not embitter Izzeldin Abuelaish. Instead he decided his girls’ deaths must not be in…
Hezbollah ‘will not back Hariri’
Uruknet Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, has said his party will refuse to back Saad Hariri, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, in forming a new government. Nasrallah’s comments, broadcast on Al-Manar television on Sunday, were his first public comments since Hezbollah ministers and their allies pulled out of Lebanon’s government causing it to collapse. Hezbollah, which has a political bloc in parliament…
Life in Gaza’s no-go zone
Uruknet January 16, 2011 – To some residents of the Gaza Strip, the crippling siege which Israel has imposed for over four years means much more than a lack of food, fuel, clothing, work opportunities, and construction material. Gazan families who live along the border between the coastal enclave and Israel face serious dangers on a daily basis. The gunshots…
“Soldiers, Settlers, and the Police are the Occupation”: Palestinian Life Inside a Settlement
Uruknet January 16, 2011 – Hani Abu Haikal and his family live in Hebron’s H2, which is under Israeli control. They are part of the 30,000 Palestinians that live among 500 settlers in this part of the city. Life for Palestinians inside H2 is extremely difficult, with many of them facing settler harassment, movement constraints, and a large military and…
Latin America Deepens Israeli Isolation
Uruknet January 16, 2011 – Guyana became Thursday the seventh Latin American state to recognise an independent Palestinian state. Although the official recognitions are largely nominal, they have irked the State of Israel as they expose its growing diplomatic isolation in the face of the current peace deadlock. It was the announcement in support of Palestinian statehood by Brazil on…
US appoints first ambassador to Syria in five years
Uruknet January 16, 2011 – The US once again has an ambassador in Damascus, after six years with the post left vacant, ending an era in which Washington sought to politically isolate Syria. Robert Ford, appointed as ambassador last June, arrived in Damascus yesterday afternoon. In a statement to the press, the US embassy said his presence represented “a tangible…
LET JONATHAN KNOW YOU CARE
Uruknet January 16, 2011 – NO ‚Ķ.. I don’t mean Jonathan Pollard! I’m talking about Jonathan Pollak, one of the first (Jewish) victims of Israeli fascism. Riding a bike through the streets of Tel Aviv in protest against the atrocities being committed in Gaza is the ‘crime’ he is guilty of‚Ķ. see BIKE RIDE AGAINST GAZA WAR ENDS IN PRISON….
Palestinians going to Security Council despite US opposition
Uruknet January 16, 2011 – The Palestinians have turned down a US request to avoid seeking a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, the chief PLO negotiator said Sunday. Saeb Erekat told Ma’an that “The Americans don’t want anything to be submitted to the Security Council, but we insist that we consider the Security Council…
Radio: Massive Jerusalem settlement project
Uruknet January 16, 2011 – A massive new construction project of at least 1,400 homes is about to be authorized in a settlement neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli military radio reported Sunday. The homes will be built in the settlement of Gilo, near Bethlehem, and are expected to be given the green light by the district planning commission in…
Video: IDF fires live ammunition at civilians in Nabi Saleh
Uruknet January 16, 2011 – This week the army resumed nighttime raids in Nabi Saleh. During the weekly Friday demonstration, the village was attacked with excessive amounts of live ammunition and tear gas. A curfew was declared prohibiting residents from leaving their homes for a twenty four hour period. Despite the recognition of unarmed demonstrations as a legitimate form of…
Israel Tests on Worm Called Crucial in Iran Nuclear Delay
Uruknet January 16, 2011 – The Dimona complex in the Negev desert is famous as the heavily guarded heart of Israel’s never-acknowledged nuclear arms program, where neat rows of factories make atomic fuel for the arsenal. Over the past two years, according to intelligence and military experts familiar with its operations, Dimona has taken on a new, equally secret role…
Alternative Information Center
PA to Request Declaration from UN Security Council
Alternative Information Center – Following an influx of Israeli building plans approved for East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority plans to ask the United Nations Security Council to declare Israeli settlements illegal and demand that all construction…
Nine Demonstrators Injured during Weekend Protests against Separation Wall
Alternative Information Center – Nine Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators were injured during protests against the Separation Wall this past weekend.
Tunisia’s P.M. appoints opposition figures to new unity government
Daily Star 17 Jan 2011 CAIRO/ALGIERS: The self-immolation that set off the protest wave which toppled Tunisia’s leader has led to apparent copycat protests in other Arab states, with four men setting themselves on fire in Algeria and one each in…
Burning for change: Arabs set selves ablaze in copycat protests
Daily Star 17 Jan 2011 CAIRO/ALGIERS: The self-immolation that set off the protest wave which toppled Tunisia’s leader has led to apparent copycat protests in other Arab states, with four men setting themselves on fire in Algeria and one each in…
Ehud Barak breaks away from Labor, forms new political party
Daily Star 17 Jan 2011 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak broke away from his center-left Labor Party Monday in a move Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said made his government stronger and more stable.
Israel approves 122 new settler homes
Daily Star 17 Jan 2011 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH: The city council Monday approved the building of another 122 Israeli settler homes in occupied East Jerusalem, as Arab ambassadors said they will formally put a resolution to the U.N. Security Council Tuesday demanding…
Barak’s Labour resignation strengthens government, says Netanyahu
The Guardian 17 Jan 2011 – Three Labour ministers quit Israeli cabinet after their leader decides to create new faction and remain in coalition The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, claimed today that his coalition government had been strengthened after a day…
UN director in Gaza quits for new post
The Guardian 17 Jan 2011 – John Ging leaves UNRWA to take senior New York post after years as champion of Gazans’ rights John Ging, the high-profile director of the UN relief agency in Gaza, is to quit his current post to…
Digital Food Offers New Hunger Solution To West Bank
Relief Web 17 Jan 2011 – Source: World Food Programme
Displacement risk for Palestinians in East Jerusalem
Relief Web 17 Jan 2011 – Source: Integrated Regional Information Networks
Alarmed by Surging Construction Activity, Palestinian Rights Committee Supports Call for Israel to Choose between Peace, Settlements
Relief Web 17 Jan 2011 – Source: UN General Assembly
Two years since the Gaza War, Palestinians braced for another conflict
Relief Web 17 Jan 2011 – Source: Islamic Relief
Likud MK: Smaller coalition will be stronger
YNet News – After resignation of three Labor ministers due to Barak’s split from party,….
‘Hariri accused Syria of father’s murder’
YNet News – (Video) Lebanese TV network affiliated with Hezbollah airs tape showing prime….
MKs on Barak: Israeli politics hit new low
YNet News – Defense minister’s split from Labor draws angry, cynical responses from….
Ehud Barak splits from Labor Party
YNet News – Defense minister filed urgent request with Knesset’s House Committee to discuss….
Commander quits over friendly fire death
YNet News – Major Elad Peretz asks to resign his post following Gaza border incident which….
Hariri killing indictment filed; last mediation effort in Damascus
YNet News – The prosecutor of the international Lebanon tribunal issued a draft indictment on Monday over the 2005 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The contents of …….
Dagan backtracks: Iran may have nukes by 2015
YNet News – “It is estimated that Iran will have nuclear capability by the middle of the decade, maybe earlier — by 2014,” outgoing Mossad chief Meir Dagan told the Knesset’s Foreign …….
New info on Galant land affair may delay appointment
YNet News – Will the High Court of Justice delay the appointment of Yoav Galant as the new IDF chief of staff? The State Prosecutor’s Office announced to the High Court on Monday …….
124 apartments beyond Green Line approved
YNet News – Just a week before the Jerusalem Municipality’s local Planning and Construction Committee is set to discuss the construction of 1,400 housing units in the Gilo …….
Palestinians to turn to Security Council this week
YNet News – The Palestinians expect to submit their request for a UN Security Council condemnation of Israeli settlements next week and will not be deterred by a US appeal to abandon …….
Palestinian Information Center
Israel to finish works on wall isolating Jerusalem this year
PIC 17 Jan 2011 – The Israeli army announced construction should be finished on a wall surrounding the city of Jerusalem in a about a year.
Investigators abuse Palestinian MP Omar Abdel Raziq
PIC 17 Jan 2011 – Palestinian MP Omar Abdel Raziq has been facing hard times since his arrest two weeks back.
Israel blocks entry of medical team into Ramle prison hospital
PIC 17 Jan 2011 – The Israeli prison services (IPS) refused to allow an independent medical team to enter the Ramle prison hospital to check on Palestinian sick detainees.
Israeli police shoot Palestinian man during chase
PIC 17 Jan 2011 – A Ramallah man was moderately injured in Acre Sunday after Israeli police shot him during a chase.
IOF deports Palestinian from WB to Gaza
PIC 17 Jan 2011 – The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) deported on Monday Mahmoud Duwaik, 30, from his hometown of Jericho in the West Bank to the Gaza Strip.
Silwan clashes erupt after police raid home; two minors arrested
PIC 17 Jan 2011 – Violent clashes erupted Sunday night in the East Jerusalem Silwan district after Israeli police raided a home there.
UNRWA directors in Gaza, WB resign
PIC 17 Jan 2011 – Both directors of UNRWA operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have resigned on Monday, Adnan Abu Hasana, UNRWA spokesman in Gaza, said.
IOF incursion in central Gaza met with resistance
PIC 17 Jan 2011 – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided central Gaza Strip at dawn Monday backed by tanks and choppers and were confronted by resistance fire, Palestinian sources said.
Shepherd Hotel destruction put on hold after appeals are made
PIC 17 Jan 2011 – Jerusalem’s Planning and Construction Committee has issued an injunction order temporarily freezing demolition and rebuilding works on the site of the Arab-owned Shepherd Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah.
Tourism ministry condemns building of museum over leveled Jerusalem homes
PIC 17 Jan 2011 – The Gaza ministry of tourism and antiquities condemned a recently-launched Israeli project to erect a Jewish museum in Jerusalem, calling the project a new stage in the Judiazation of Jerusalem.
Israel’s Labor Party splits; Ehud Barak forms new faction
LA Times 17 Jan 2011 – The decision by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and others to leave the Labor Party reverberates across the political spectrum. However, the defections won’t threaten Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government. Israel’s beleaguered Labor Party split apart Monday in a partisan realignment that rattled both ends of the nation’s political spectrum and removed from government the faction most willing to make compromises aimed at restarting Palestinian peace talks.
Politically Confident, Iran Cuts Subsidies on Prices
New York Times 17 Jan 2011 – Iran has embarked on a sweeping program of cuts in its inefficient system of subsidies on fuel and other goods that has held back economic progress for years.
Lebanon Delays Talks on New Government
New York Times 17 Jan 2011 – The decision by President Michel Suleiman appears to signal the difficulties that Lebanon’s politicians will face in negotiations to choose a new prime minister.
Iran Says It May Drop Woman’s Stoning Sentence
New York Times 17 Jan 2011 – Officials confirmed that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was convicted of adultery, may face only a prison sentence as an accessory to her husband’s murder.
A Palestinian Protester in Beit Ummar. Picture Credit: Joseph Dana
Popular Struggle Coordination Committee – During the weekly demonstration against the occupation on Saturday, five Israeli army jeeps invaded the village of Beit Ummar and took violent crowd control measures. The army used rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas during clashes with youth inside the civilian areas of the village.
Obama puts peace process in concrete shoes and pushes it off the Staten Island ferry
Mondoweiss – Laura Rozen at Politico reports that Obama administration is seeking “new ideas” on the Middle East “from outside experts on how to advance the peace process.” Can you believe this roster? One of em’s a Bush neocon! Anyone who’s failed or who has street cred with…
Our beloved land is bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue, not dialogue
Mondoweiss – I happened to hear excerpts of Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail this morning and couldn’t help thinking that it could have been written by Abdallah Abu Rahma (or that MLK would have joined the Bil’in demos if he were alive). King wrote it in…
While the world watches Tunisia and Lebanon, Israel steals more land
Mondoweiss – And more news from Today in Palestine: Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing OPT: Displacement risk for Palestinians in East Jerusalem JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH Monday, January 17, 2011 (IRIN) – UN agencies and European Union (EU) officials in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) are calling for…
Another American family, this time the Jilanis, will have to grieve without justice over Israeli killing
Mondoweiss – Ziad Jilani, killed by Israeli police last summer, with his daughters. Emily Henochowicz, Tristan Anderson, Furkan Dogan, Brian Avnery, Rachel Corrie and more —all American citizens killed or severely injured by Israel with no justice served and barely a peep heard from U.S. authorities. Now, add…
Gaza Youth Breaks Out has politics
Mondoweiss – Vera Macht, a peace activist who has been living in Gaza for the last 8 months, met recently with the founders of Gaza Youth Breaks Out . This account was passed along by Dr. Gabriele Weber, a pro-Palestinian activist in Germany. Abu Yazen is nervous, he hasn’t…
Erekat to Ask UNSC to Declare all Settlements Illegal
Al-Manar 17 Jan 2011 – The chief Palestinian negotiator said the Palestinians expect to ask the UN Security Council this week to declare settlements illegal and demand a halt to their construction. Saeb Erekat said the request is likely to be submitted by Wednesday. On that day, the Security Council will…
Police fire sponge bullets at Israeli citizens in al-Araqib
Joseph Dana 17 Jan 2011 – The Bedouin village of Al-Araqib was destroyed for the 9th time on Sunday morning in the wasteland of Israeli democracy. Today police forces were back in Al-Araqib destroying make-shift structures which had been erected over night. Villagers resisting the takeover have been arrested and beaten, with…
Beit Ummar Invaded During Weekly Demonstration Against the Occupation
Joseph Dana 17 Jan 2011 – During the weekly demonstration against the occupation on Saturday, five Israeli army jeeps invaded the village of Beit Ummar and took violent crowd control measures. The army used rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas during clashes with youth inside the civilian areas of the village. A…
Video: IDF fires live ammunition at civilians in Nabi Saleh
Joseph Dana 16 Jan 2011 – This week the army resumed nighttime raids in Nabi Saleh. During the weekly Friday demonstration, the village was attacked with excessive amounts of live ammunition and tear gas. A curfew was declared prohibiting residents from leaving their homes for a twenty four hour period. Despite the…
Hariri tribunal issues indictment
BBC 17 Jan 2011 – The UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon says its prosecutor has submitted an indictment in the 2005 murder of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Barak quits Israel Labour party
BBC 17 Jan 2011 – Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak – a key minister of the coalition government – resigns from the Labour party to form his own faction.
Senior UN official to leave Gaza
BBC 17 Jan 2011 – The UN says that one of its most senior figures in Gaza, John Ging, is leaving his post to take up a new role based in New York.
Hezbollah rebuffs Hariri’s hopes
BBC 16 Jan 2011 – The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah says his group and its allies will not back caretaker Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri.
Articles
Life and death in the buffer zone
Vera Macht, International Solidarity Movement1/17/2011
Death comes quickly at a place like this. On sunny winter days, when the smell of the night’s rain is still in the air, as if it would have brought some hope for the raped, barren land of Gaza, overrun hundreds of times by Israeli tanks and bulldozers. The land between the foothills of the village of Bait Hanoun and the Israeli border, guarded by watchtowers, soldiers, snipers, helicopters and drones is a land in which death is a regular guest.
But despite all that, the 65-year-old Shaban Karmout probably had something like hope when he woke up on that winter morning. His house is in the 300 meter wide strip of land in the so-called buffer zone. He built his house 40 years ago, in 1971, when Gaza was already occupied by Israel, and yet he thought to have a future there for himself and his family. Shaban began to plant fruits, his land was full of palms and trees, lemon, orange, clementine and almond trees were growing there. He had a good life.
But in 2003, just at the time of the almond harvest, the Israeli bulldozers came in the middle of the night. It took them three hours to raze the work of 30 years to the ground. Since the Israeli attack in 2009, he could no longer live there, the buffer zone had become too dangerous, where his home was, which has now been declared a closed combat zone by Israel. He had since lived in a small rented concrete house in the middle of the refugee camp near Bait Hanoun, in Jabalia, cramped in a tiny apartment with his large family.
He went back to his land, every morning, and worked there until the evening. He and his family had to make a living from something, after all. And so this morning, in the morning of the 10th January 2011, he woke up with hope, around 4 o’clock, and left for his fields. Full of hope he was because he and his neighbors had recently received a new well, their old one had been destroyed by an Israeli tank incursion. The Italian NGO GVC had built the well, it was financed by the Italian government. more.. e-mail
Can O’Keefe lick the Palestinian campaign into shape?
Stuart Littlewood, Redress1/15/2011
Find something else to get angry about, I was telling myself.
Yes, I was all set to shunt Palestine into a mental siding because leadership is still lacking and so much time and effort is misdirected, uncoordinated and wasted.
Most importantly of all, there’s no overall strategic plan for meaningful action and communication, although individual groups are doing amazing work in their efforts to break the Gaza blockade.
Then somebody — Debbie Menon — said: “You gotta listen to this Press TV interview, it’s fantastic. Ken fills my heart with pride.”
She was talking about Ken O-Keefe.
After watching his high-octane performance, which hit so many right notes, I’m beginning to think that here’s a man who could take the shambling and ineffectual Palestinian “campaign” (wrong word really) by the scruff of the neck and knock it into shape.
Some of my friends are convinced he’s a plant, or an agent provocateur. It would be hugely disappointing if that turned out to be true. In the meantime he seems to be doing Israeli gangsterdom a lot of damage.
Calling a spade a spade
In the interview he proceeded to give the Israeli government a good tongue-lashing, calling it “not only racist but crazy, insane, psychotic and capable of anything”. He also flayed the European Union governments for doing 25 billion euros of trade with Israel while spouting “pretty words that have no substance at all”…. more.. e-mail
Book Review: Co-memory and Melancholia: Israelis Memorialising the Palestinian Nakba
Yehudit Kirstein Keshet, Alternative Information Center1/13/2011
Co-memory and Melancholia: Israelis Memorialising the Palestinian Nakba, by Ronit Lentin, 2010, Manchester University Press, 172pp, bibliography, index.
The Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948, is decidedly the skeleton of skeletons in Israel’s national cupboard. Ignored in school text-books, its public commemoration disparaged and, latterly, banned by law, it is nevertheless a very present absence, a threatening and taboo topic. Rational discussion of the Nakba with the average Jewish Israeli, including many on the liberal Zionist Left, is almost impossible. Most will cling to the triumphalist myths of 1948: the victory of the few against the many, the purity of Israeli arms versus the allegedly barbarous onslaught of the ‘Arab’ hordes. The emergence of alternative, Israeli, versions of that war by scholars such as Flapan (1987), Morris 1987, 2000, 2008) and Shlaim (1999) among others has done little to shake Israelis from their tenacious beliefs in the righteousness of their history. Israeli-Palestinians too, whether from fear of the authorities or for other internal reasons for years preserved silence around the subject, with notable exceptions, as Lentin points out. (See Chapter 6: Historicizing the Nakba: contested Nakba Narratives as an Ongoing Process). Within Israel the Nakba is notably absent from school history books, even in the separate ‘Arab’ education stream. An experimental text book (Adwan S. And Bar On D. 2005) presenting both narratives side by side with a central space for students’ comments has recently been withdrawn from use in an Israeli high school by order of the Ministry of Education. (Ha’aretz, September 24, 2010)
Commemoration, recording and reviving of this buried history has more recently also been taken up by Jewish-Israelis, notably the Tel-Aviv based NGO Zochrot [Remembering], that describes itself as “a group of Israeli citizens working to raise awareness of the Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948”. It is this co-memory work that is a central topic of Ronit Lentin’s latest book. more.. e-mail
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