15 February, 2011 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Palestinian Youth Injured By Settlers Fire Near Nablus
IMEMC – Tuesday February 15, 2011 – 20:59, Palestinian medical sources reported, on Tuesday evening, that a Palestinian youth was shot and wounded by settlers fire near Jaloud village, south of Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank.
Israeli BDS Activists Call on Artists to Boycott Music Festival
IMEMC – Tuesday February 15, 2011 – 14:19, Israeli Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists have urged international artists who are slated to perform in the International Red Sea Chamber Music Festival in Eilat, Israel next month to cancel their appearances.
120 New Settlement Homes Approved In East Jerusalem
IMEMC – Tuesday February 15, 2011 – 13:25, Plans to build 120 new settlement homes in East Jerusalem were approved on Monday.
Israeli Soldiers Abducted Two Palestinians In Hebron
IMEMC – Tuesday February 15, 2011 – 11:47, The Israeli military abducted, on Tuesday morning, two young Palestinians after invading their houses in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron.
Settlers shoot Palestinian teen near Nablus
2/15/2011 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — Settlers on Tuesday shot and injured a Palestinian teenager near the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian Authority officials said. Residents of the illegal Kida settlement shot Wa’el Mahmud Ayed, 17, in his abdomen as he plowed his land near Jalud village, said Ghassan Doughlas, who monitors settlement activity…. Related: ISM: Settlers shoot teenager south-west of Nablus
Report: Israel planning police college in West Bank
2/15/2011 – TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Israel’s Defense Ministry is looking at the possibility of moving an Israeli military college from central Israel into the occupied West Bank near Jerusalem, Israeli media reported. The new area under consideration is beyond the Green Line, in territory recognized internationally as occupied, and a zone that….
Witnesses: Israeli forces raid Jericho refugee camp
2/15/2011 – JERICHO (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Tuesday ransacked four homes in the Aqbat Jaber refugee camp near Jericho, witnesses said. Nael Abu Al-Asal said Israeli soldiers destroyed his home under the pretext of searching for weapons.” They intended to smash the house, not search for weapons,” he said, adding that forces deliberately frightened his….
Israeli forces detain 18 Palestinians overnight
2/15/2011 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) – Israeli forces detained 18 Palestinians from across the West Bank overnight Monday, an army spokeswoman said. Palestinian Authority police reported that soldiers raided Beituniya village near Ramallah and detained Akram Al-Hafi and Ramiz Dyab. Police reported that Israeli troops raided Ya’bod village near Jenin and detained Jihad Amarneh, Bassam….
Gaza: Gunfire reported east of Khan Younis
2/15/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli military patrols operating inside the Gaza Strip opened fire on a farming area east of Khan Younis in the southern end of the coastal enclave, witnesses said. Residents of the village of Al-Fukhkhari said troops entered into the outskirts of village lands about a kilometer away from the border….
NGOs call for press freedom in Palestine
2/15/2011 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — A group of 17 Palestinian non-profit and civil society groups announced the formation of a “coalition to defend freedom of expression” in Palestinian areas, a statement said Monday. Press freedoms were at the “top of the agenda,” and would be strengthened through a series of “initiatives to achieve its goals,” according….
4 detained in Hebron raids overnight
2/15/2011 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli troops conducting night raids in the West Bank detained four men from the Hebron area, local sources said. Beit Ummar popular committee spokesman Muhammed Awad said Israeli forces entered the town north of Hebron and detained two, including one teenager. He identified the detained as Muhammad Za’akik, 15….
Report: Hosni Mubarak is in Israel
2/15/2011 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak is in a luxury hotel in the Israeli city of Eilat, the Israel-based news site Al-Arab reported Tuesday. Locals said there was a huge presence of Israeli security forces surrounding the hotel, and airplanes were hovering above monitoring activity in the area, the Arabic-language report said….
Israeli forces detain Palestinian at Erez crossing
2/15/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli security forces on Tuesday detained a Palestinian from an ambulance at the Erez crossing on the Israel-Gaza border, Palestinian sources said. Muhammad Mussa Zu’rub, 38, was traveling with his brother, who suffers from cancer, to the Israeli Bilson Hospital, local sources said. Israeli security officials detained Zu….
Hamas: 7 supporters detained by PA
2/15/2011 – BEHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas officials in the West Bank accused PA security forces of arresting seven party members for political reasons, the Islamistmovement said in a statement Tuesday. The arrests were carried out in the West Bank districts of Jenin, Nablus and Tubas, the statement said….
Peace talks on hold following leaks crisis
2/15/2011 – JERUSALEM(AFP) — The Palestine Liberation Organization has decided to wind up its Negotiations Support Unit after damaging leaks about the concessions it was prepared to make to Israel, an official told AFP on Monday. The decision by the PLO Executive Committee will take effect next month, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Committee….
PLO to press on with settlement vote at UN
2/15/2011 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Palestinian representatives at the UN will push forward with a draft resolution calling on the Security Council to condemn settlement construction, PLO Executive Committee member Saleh Raafat said Tuesday. A vote will be held on the resolution “[d]espite all of the pressure exerted on the Palestinians and the Arab-state supporters….
EU targets Palestinian state by September
2/15/2011 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Tuesday said the international community still sought to achieve a peace deal and a Palestinian state by September, despite the region’s political turmoil. Despite the impasse in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and the resignation of the Palestinian Authority cabinet as well as Saab Erekat, their….
Hamas: Elections are response to regional crisis
2/15/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority’s cabinet reshuffle and the call for elections are attempts to show the international community that regional uprisings have not affected the PA, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Tuesday. The call for elections was illegal because it was issued by the PLO, an institution devoid….
Fatah applauds call for elections
2/15/2011 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) – Fatah on Tuesday confirmed its support for presidential, legislative and local elections called for by the PLO Executive Committee. In a statement, the secular party said it hoped successful elections would unite Palestinians and end the national division. Hamas immediately refused to participate in the elections. The Islamist movement, which governs….
EU funds Gaza private sector reconstruction
2/15/2011 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — The EU made a third payment to the Gaza reconstruction fund administered by the Palestinian Authority on Monday, a statement from the body’s representative office in Jerusalem said. The‚Ǩ1. 2 million contribution is part of a ‚Ǩ22 million package for thefirst large-scale initiative in support of….
Gaza crossings closed for ‘technical work’
2/15/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli officials informed Palestinian liaison officers that crossings terminals into Gaza would be sealed on Tuesday, as Israeli crews carried out “technical work.”Crossings liaison officer Raed Fattouh said he was told the crossings would re-open Wednesday morning. Israeli officials did not elaborate on the nature of the work being….
Ashton heads to Palestine
2/15/2011 – BRUSSELS (Ma’an) — EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton began a Mideast tour on Monday, and is expected to arrive in Palestine on Tuesday morning for meetings with the Palestinian leadership. Ashton will also meet with Israeli officials. She arrives to the region following a series of meetings with the new leadership in Tunisia….
Abbas: Israel has no vision for peace
2/15/2011 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that the current Israeli government had no vision for an end to the occupation. Addressing Palestinians released from Israeli detention at his Ramallah headquarters, the president said Israel continued to shut down all avenues to peace. Abbas said the US administration pledged that negotiations launched in….
British Foreign Secretary urges return to talks
2/15/2011 – LONDON (Ma’an) — Following his regional tour last week, British Foreign Secretary William Hague addressed parliament in London and urged a push forward with Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Hague said the world needed to see “an urgent return to talks so that people’s legitimate aspirations for two states can be fulfilled through negotiations….
Fatah confirms support for Egyptian people
2/15/2011 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Fatah’s Central Committee on Tuesday confirmed its support for the Egyptian people’s uprising to oust veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak. In a meeting in Ramallah headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, the committee said Egypt would continue to support the Palestinian struggle for independence. Meanwhile, the committee said it….
Greece holds ceremony for Palestinian ambassador
2/15/2011 – ATHENS, Greece (Ma’an) — Palestinian ambassador to Greece Samir Abu Ghazala on Tuesday presented his credentials on Tuesday to Greek President Karolos Papoulias, following the upgrade of Palestine’s diplomatic status in the country. An official ceremony was held at the Central Hall of the Republican Palace in Athens. Abu Ghazala and four….
Jerusalem archbishop greets Muslims on prophet’s birthday
2/15/2011 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — The Archbishop of Jerusalem for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate on Tuesday extended greetings to all Muslims on the occasion of Prophet Mohammad’s birthday. Archbishop Theodosius Atallah Hanna visited the flashpoint neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, whose residents are frequently subject to home demolitions and evictions. He spoke….
Iran MPs rage against opposition after deadly demo
2/15/2011 – TEHRAN (AFP) — Furious Iranian lawmakers on Tuesday demanded the hanging of opposition leaders who had called anti-government protests which left two people dead, saying they had been “misled” by Iran’s arch-foes. MPs singled out Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who had called for protests in Tehran on Monday in support of Arab….
Iraqi Protesters Seek Not a New Regime, but Jobs
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – New York Times – Iraq would seem to have virtually every ingredient for upheaval: crippling poverty, few good jobs, creaky public services, anger at an entrenched political elite and thousands of young people who meet online…
What about Arafat and PLO Billions?
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – These days every one is obsessed with Hosni Mubarak and his billions and no one bother specially among the Palestinians to ask and wonder what ever happened to the tens of billions of the PLO money…
Few Focus on Religion in One Cairo Neighborhood
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – New York Times – A generation ago, Ahmed Mitwalli’s parents were Islamists in this neighborhood along the Nile once nicknamed the Islamic Republic of Imbaba. But their son is not, and his convictions, echoed in the…
Grilling gets heated in House committee hearing on Egypt and Middle East
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – The Washington Post – Running the gauntlet was an old form of punishment in which a culprit ran between two rows of people who would yell, spit or strike the person as he or she passed…
Keep your eyes on the prize: A Palestinian analyzes the lessons of the Egyptian revolution
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – Maath Musleh, +972 – Like most Palestinians, I was glued to the television screen during the unexpected uprising in Egypt. This did not feel like an Egyptian revolution; it felt like our revolution — the revolution…
Egypt and the global economic order
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – Philip Rizk, Al Jazeera – When an online petition urged Egyptians to protest on January 25, the call was not only taken up by an internet savvy minority. The demonstrators who took to the streets on…
EU’s Ashton targets Palestinian state by September
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – Arabiya – On Tuesday the international community said it still sought to achieve a peace deal and a Palestinian state by September, despite the region’s political turmoil. Despite the impasse in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and the…
In Yemen, female activist strives for an Egypt-like revolution
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – The Washington Post – Tawakkol Karman sat in front of her laptop, her Facebook page open, planning the next youth demonstration. Nearby were framed photos of her idols: the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi…
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood To Form Political Party
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – NPR – Egypt’s long banned Muslim Brotherhood said Tuesday that it intends to form a political party once democracy is established, as the country’s new military rulers launched a panel of experts to amend the country’s…
Army urges Egyptians to end strikes
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – Al Jazeera – Egypt’s military council has renewed a call to workers to end a wave of strikes and play their role in reviving the economy after nearly three weeks of mass protests that led to…
Yemen protests enter fifth day
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – Al Jazeera – Thousands of people are protesting in Yemen for a fifth consecutive day to demand political reforms and the ouster of the country’s US-allied president. However, pro-regime supporters on Tuesday waded into the anti-government…
Facebook Officials Keep Quiet on its Role in Revolts
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – New York Times – With Facebook playing a starring role in the revolts that toppled governments in Tunisia and Egypt , you might think the company’s top executives would use this historic moment to highlight its role…
Building a New Egypt
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – Can the military meet the people’s demands for change? BBC News – Egypt’s capital Cairo is a city under military rule. While life is getting back to normal and Tahrir Square has been cleared, there are…
Fatah confirms support for Egyptian people
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – Ma’an – Fatah’s Central Committee on Tuesday confirmed its support for the Egyptian people’s uprising to oust veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak. In a meeting in Ramallah headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, the committee said Egypt would…
Obama’s Stock of Power Gets an Uptick
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – Recently, through no fault of the correspondent but unfortunately through context-removing snips by an editor, I was misquoted in the Wall Street Journal . Various conservatives then grabbed my comment to try and score a gotcha point…
Egypt Initiates 10-Day Rewrite of Its Constitution
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – New York Times – The military officers governing Egypt convened a panel of jurists on Tuesday to revise the country’s constitution, giving the panel, which includes a former lawmaker from the Muslim Brotherhood, just 10 days…
American Arab Journalists are under attack and need to stick together
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – American Arab Journalists are under attack and need to stick together By Ray Hanania There are more than 300 American Arab Journalists working in the ethnic American Arab media and in the mainstream American media, and…
Salam Fayyad building “state” institutions not an “ethnic” joke!
Palestine Note 15 Feb 2011 – Mahmoud Abbas whose tenure as elected president of the Palestinian Authority expired over two years ago, and who has no legal or constitutional legitimacy accepted and then re-commissioned Salam Fayyad to form a new government. Of…
Iran confirms deaths in protest
AlJazeera 15 Feb 2011 – MPs call for execution of opposition leaders who called for Monday’s marches in several cities that turned deadly.
Ex-judge to head Egypt reform panel
AlJazeera 15 Feb 2011 – Military rulers pick head of committee entrusted with suggesting changes to the country’s constitution.
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (03 — 09 February 2011)
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Analysis: Lebanon and the limits of protest
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – Experience suggests the pro-Iran camp can continue to happily observe pro-US regimes in the region tear themselves apart.
Muslim Brotherhood to form party in Egypt
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – Army charges expert panel with amending constitution; Mubarak said to be in failing health.
Ahmadinejad: Protests against Iran’s regime ‘going nowhere’
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – Islamic Republic’s president acknowledges that “there is a lot of hostility against the government,” but says demonstrations’ organizers “just wanted to tarnish the Iranian nation’s brilliance.”
Hamas tightens ban on Israeli imports
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – Israel’s easing of restrictions on the transfer of goods to the Gaza Strip has caused a drop in demand for merchandise from tunnels.
Ashton urges FM to come up with proposals
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – Regional changes not time to “stand still and reflect,” but to advance on Palestinian track, EU foreign policy chief tells Lieberman.
Jordan: Killer of seven Israeli girls won’t be released
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – Foreign Ministry official tells envoy that Israel is “shocked and revolted” by Jordanian Minister’s demanding Ahmed Daqamseh’s release.
Sa’ar presents program to bring pupils to Hebron
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – Education minister says program will expose students to “the Jewish heritage in the city of their forefathers.”
Obama blasts Iran for violent crackdown on protesters
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – US president praises new Egyptian leadership for backing peace treaty with Israel; says toppling of Mubarak offers opportunity for ME peace.
‘Apology and compensation for flotilla raid are red line’
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – Turkish diplomat says UN report on ‘Mavi Marmara’ raid will likely be balanced, give Israel chance to right wrongs and fix relations with Turkey.
US to boost support for cyber dissidents
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – Clinton says administration will spend $25 million this year on initiatives designed to circumvent cyber restrictions.
Falk: ICJ must issue opinion on Israeli ‘ethnic cleansing’
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – UN special investigator says Israel has “undermined the rights under international law of the Palestinian people for 43 years.”
Purim parade in Holon
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – 4000 participants from Holon and all over Israel will march, dance, man floats, celebrate spirit of Purim and brotherly love.
Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood plans political party
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – Long-banned Islamic group intends to run in upcoming elections; Armed Forces Supreme Council hopes to have elections within six months.
No such thing as black and white with Egypt
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – “A democratic Egypt will sustain peace with Israel.” While this seems like a fair judgment, over-optimists need to be aware that as Europe’s thriving democracies demonstrate, democracy can never provide an absolute panacea.
Iran blames Israel, US for supporting protests
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – US trying to “stimulate recent events” of the Middle East in Iran, Iranian MPs claim after one killed, dozens injured in Tehran protests.
Iran confirms 1 killed, dozens injured in protests
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – Tens of thousands Iranians demonstrate in central Tehran; dozens injured in shootings, beatings; unknown number of protesters arrested.
1 killed as police disperse Iranian protesters
Jeruslalem Post 15 Feb 2011 – Tens of thousands Iranians demonstrate in Tehran; 3 injured by bullets, dozen hurt after being beaten; unknown number of protesters arrested; authorities cut phone lines, blockade home of opposition leader.
Abbas asks Fayyad to form new government
Jeruslalem Post 14 Feb 2011 – Fatah officials claim move is unrelated to the revolts in Tunisia, Egypt.
First housing project of 2011 over Green Line gets final OK
Jeruslalem Post 14 Feb 2011 – Permit, plan for 120 housing units for e. Jerusalem neighborhood will be first Jewish construction project over Green Line to receive approval in 2011.
Egypt to opt for ‘demo-Islam’
Jeruslalem Post 14 Feb 2011 – As well as building a democracy, Egypt also needs to restore popularity in the region. Its future government may model itself on one or the other of the Middle East’s key players, Iran or Turkey.
International Solidarity Movement
Settlers shoot teenager south-west of Nablus
2/15/2011 – International Solidarity Movement – Settlers shot and wounded a boy of 18 whilst he was farming on his father’s land at 1400hrs today, in the village of Jaloud, south-west of Nablus. Wael Mahmoud Tobase Ayad was planting trees together with his brother. As they were finishing, three settlers from a nearby illegal settlement, armed with handguns and…. Related: Settlers shoot Palestinian teen near Nablus
Turkey demands Israeli apology over flotilla raid regardless of result of UN report
Ha’aretz – Turkish official says UN report into botched raid on Gaza aid flotilla which left nine Turkish nationals dead will be unbiased but regardless, expects Israel to make amends over incident.
Israel faces emboldened Palestinian delegation in the UN
Ha’aretz – Israel’s new UN ambassador, Ron Prosor, will face an atmosphere of support for Palestinian causes in the UN and an uphill battle in generating sympathy for Israeli causes.
Israel summons Jordan envoy over call to release terrorist
Ha’aretz – Jordan’s newly elected justice minister called for release of Ahmed Deqamseh, who killed seven when he opened fire at Israeli schoolchildren near the border in 1997.
Barak: IDF soldiers may be called into Lebanon in the future
Ha’aretz – During tour with new IDF chief along northern border, the defense minister said Israel taught Hezbollah a lesson during the Second Lebanon War, but it could soon be forgotten.
Israel fears Hezbollah behind terror threats on its embassies
Ha’aretz – Israeli embassies around the world received several terror threats, allegedly from Hezbollah; Foreign Ministry considering temporarily closing the embassies, instructing Israeli diplomats to stay home.
Haaretz probe: IDF base to be built in East Jerusalem
Ha’aretz – Both the municipality as well as the Ministry of Defense claim that the base will be built within the green line, however, Haaretz has revealed otherwise based on initial plans for the IDF base.
Education Minister proposes student trip to Hebron holy site
Ha’aretz – Gideon Sa’ar plans new school program which involves taking Israeli students to visit the Tomb of the Patriarchs, which is holy to both Jews and Muslims.
Police revoke charges against East Jerusalem teen allegedly beaten by police during detainment
Ha’aretz – Murad Banna, 19, was arrested and held over seven months for allegedly throwing stones; he claimed he was forced to give false confession.
Tax Authority official arrested on corruption charges
Ha’aretz – David Vanunu, head of field intelligence and investigations at the Israel Tax Authority, is suspected of accepting bribery in exchange for advancing various interests within the authority.
Disabled 12-year-old girl raped in Jerusalem cafe
Ha’aretz – 19-year-old man suspected of raping the girl in an Aroma cafe in central Jerusalem.
British Foreign Secretary Urges US to Support 1967 Borders
15 Feb 2011 – Palestine, (Pal Telegraph) – British Foreign Secretary William Hague Tuesday called on the United States to support the 1967 lines as the borders of the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital in order to restart Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
Settlers Uproot Olive Seedlings in Ramallah Area
15 Feb 2011 – Palestine, (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli settlers Monday uprooted newly planted olive seedlings in Nabi Saleh village near Ramallah, according to witnesses.
Anti-Settlements Draft Resolution Presented to Security Council
15 Feb 2011 – Gaza, (Pal Telegraph) – PLO Executive Committee member and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council Hanan Ashrawi confirmed Tuesday that a draft resolution condemning Israel’s illegal settlement activities and calling for all such activities to stop has been officially presented and placed on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council.
Israeli plan to construct 120 housing units in Jerusalem
15 Feb 2011 – West Bank, (Pal Telegraph)-The Local Committee for Construction and Planning in the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem has approved Monday the construction of 120 illegal housing units in Ramot settlement in the eastern Jerusalem .
Gravel worker shot by Israeli gunfire in Gaza
15 Feb 2011 – Gaza Strip, (Pal Telegraph)-A Palestinian worker was shot Monday by Israeli gunfire while collecting gravels in the north of Gaza strip. Witnesses told that Israeli forces stationed along the northern borders opened heavy fire against dozens of gravel workers; leaving one palsetinian,18, injured.
George W. Bush, War Criminal, Is Not Welcome in Europe
Uruknet February 15, 2011 – Last week I returned from Poland, where I had been touring the documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo” (which I co-directed with filmmaker Polly Nash), and discussing the importance of an ongoing investigation into the complicity of the Polish government in the establishment of a secret CIA torture prison in Poland in the…
Mubarak loyalist becomes Egypt’s transition leader
Uruknet February 15, 2011 — A U.S. diplomatic cable reported that the defense minister was known as “Mubarak’s poodle,” a derisive reference to his unswerving loyalty to the former authoritarian president… Tantawi, the head of the ruling council that took power from Mubarak on Friday, is the new leader of what many Egyptians hope will be a radical transformation of…
Illegal for Israelis to support BDS?
Uruknet February 15, 2011 – The Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement endorsed by Palestinian civil society organizations in 2005 has become one of the most controversial issues surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the spirit of the boycott movement against Apartheid South Africa, BDS activists have racked up a number of successful cultural, academic and economic boycotts of Israel over…
Iran confirms arrest of 1500 protesters
Uruknet February 15, 2011 – The Iranian judiciary today announced the names of 1,500 people arrested in yesterday’s demonstrations and transferred to Evin Prison, the Human Rights Reporters Committee reports. Families of detainees gathered in front of the Revoutionary court, where the detainees’ files were being initiated, but they were attacked by Special Guards of the security forces and dispersed…
Arab Street Celebrates Mubarak’s Ouster
Uruknet February 15, 2011 – Gazans chanted “Masr, Masr, Masr, Masr,” Arabic for Egypt. Along Umar al-Mukhtar, its main thoroughfare, hundreds of Egyptian flags were displayed, adults and children enjoying a rare moment of relief honking horns, launching fireworks, exchanging sweets, and sharing Abu Mustafa’s joy, saying: “I am so happy. This is a day that we have awaited for…
NASSER’S GHOST
Uruknet February 14, 2011 – “The king is dead!,” as the French say, “long live the king!” Will this be the case in Egypt, where one monarch, the ousted Husni Mubarak, will be replaced by another general or military junta led by Field Marshall Mohammed Tantawi? So far, this is what Egyptians are getting. The new military junta just proclaimed…
Egyptian army hijacking revolution, activists fear
Uruknet February 15, 2011 – Egypt’s revolution is in danger of being hijacked by the army, key political activists have warned, as concrete details of the country’s democratic transition period were revealed for the first time. Judge Tarek al-Beshry, a moderate Islamic thinker, announced that he had been selected by the military to head a constitutional reform panel. Its proposals…
Settlers shoot Palestinian teen near Nablus
Uruknet February 15, 2011 – Settlers on Tuesday shot and injured a Palestinian teenager near the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian Authority officials said. Residents of the illegal Kida settlement shot Wa’el Mahmud Ayed, 17, in his abdomen as he plowed his land near Jalud village, said Ghassan Doughlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank…
A Palestinian boy’s Kafkaesque trial in Israel’s military court
Uruknet February 14, 2011 – Islam Tamimi, a 14 year old child from Nabi Saleh who was pulled out of his bed by invading soldiers at 3 a.m. three weeks ago, had a hearing yesterday regarding the details of his upcoming trial. In a crowded room full of human rights observers from Palestinian legal organizations and woman from the Israeli…
What about Lebanon?
Uruknet February 14, 2011 – …The last time more than one million Lebanese gathered in Beirut was on March 14, 2005. Then, they demanded Syria’s immediate withdrawal from Lebanese territory. Although Saad Hariri would eventually use the historic moment — inappropriately, I may add — as the impetus behind the Bush-supported March 14th coalition, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese from…
It’s time for those who hold the keys to their homes to rise up
Uruknet February 14, 2011 – …After the death of Yasser Arafat, who held fast to the constants of Palestinian rights despite many mistakes and his corrupt inner circle, we were stuck with the group that even the Israeli enemy did not consider worthy of assassination, as was the case with Abu Jihad (Khalil al-Wazir) and Abu Iyad (Salah Mesbah Khalaf)…
Military Resistance 9B 13 : “Another Soldier Wept”
Uruknet February 14, 2011 – … In a September 2008 classified cable recently released by WikiLeaks, U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey wrote, “We see the military’s role in the economy as a force that generally stifles free market reform by increasing direct government involvement in the markets.” The cable noted “the military’s strong influence in Egypt’s economy,” with military-owned companies,…
Happy Valentine’s Day to the Iranian People!
Uruknet February 14, 2011 – We speak from the heart today! Happy Day of Love to our people in Iran! We love you, brothers and sisters, and we salute your renewed spirit of defiance, loss of fear, and your renewed sense of what is possible! Long live your positive will! Long live your perseverance! We can only cheer from shores…
The Fall of Mubarak and the Bankruptcy of Western Empires
Uruknet February 14, 2011 – After three decades of military and economic support for the Mubarak dictatorship, and of sending billions of dollars annually to sustain it, the first declarations of western leaders following the fall of Mubarak have been to sell us the idea that it was their “liberal democratic principles” that have prevailed, attempting to capitalize on the…
Gaza scholars ask Egypt to end siege
Uruknet February 14, 2011 – A group of well respected religious scholars in Gaza City congratulated the Egyptian people on “ending the tyranny and injustice” of the nation’s former president, and called on the new leadership to continue the trend by opening the Rafah crossing. Calling themselves the Palestinian Scholars Association, the group issued a statement on Sunday, two days…
Opposition in Iran proves it is still strong
The National 16 Feb 2011 – While numbers are disputed, the fact that people dared to turn out on the streets of Tehran and elsewhere to protest is a victory for the Iranian opposition movement brutally quelled in 2009.
UN warns that Egypt’s population is set to triple to 290m
The National 16 Feb 2011 – Report says Egypt and Yemen, two countries struck by unrest linked to high youth unemployment, food prices and a desire for more political freedoms, face potential huge population increases.
‘Islamist’ judge to lead Egypt’s constitutional reforms
The National 16 Feb 2011 – After Tarek el Bishry, a critic of secular government, is appointed to lead effort to amend Egypt’s constitution, activists say they have no fears, as long as changes relate only to elections.
Alternative Information Center
Release Ameer Makhoul and all Palestinian Political Prisoners Immediately!
Alternative Information Center – Palestinian human rights defender Ameer Makhoul was sentenced to nine years in prison. This is a capricious sentence based on a plea bargain made after Ameer was abused:
120 New Housing Units Approved in East Jerusalem Settlement of Ramot
Alternative Information Center – 120 new housing units in the East Jerusalem settlement of Ramot were approved by the Jerusalem Municipal Planning Committee on Monday, 14 February.
Knesset Passes Anti-BDS Bill in First Reading
Alternative Information Center – The Israeli Knesset’s Constitution Committee approved on Tuesday (15 February) the ‚Äé”Prohibition on Instituting a Boycott Bill” for its first reading in the Knesset plenum, after all opposing Knesset members left the room.
Sounds Jewish: February 2011
The Guardian 15 Feb 2011 – With Hosni Mubarak gone and the army now running the country, will the 30-year peace between Egypt and Israel still hold? And how should Israel view the main opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, if it was…
We live in a country of UNHCR : The UN surrogate state and refugee policy in the Middle East
Relief Web 15 Feb 2011 – Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees
EGYPT: Labour Anger Does Not End With Mubarak
IPS Before his ouster on Friday, toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had made one of the biggest mistakes of his reign; not learning from the lessons of hundreds of small labour and professional strikes that littered the country since 2005. These were the actual precursors to the Jan. 25 Revolution that…
Solidarity visit to striking municipal employees in Jenin
Stop The Wall – Stop the Wall organized a solidarity visit to municipal workers in the Jenin governorate who have been on strike for the past consecutive weeks, and on hunger strike for the past three days. Workers are demanding that the Ministry of Local Government, along with the head and the council of the Jenin Municipality commit an interpretation of the law governing local bodies that guarantees employees and workers stable employment and dignified living. [
Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood plans political party
YNet News – ‘It’s time for solidarity, its time for unity, in my opinion we need a national….
Obama praises Egyptian military, slams Iran gov’t
YNet News – US president says military rulers who took over after Mubarak resigned sending….
Barak: Egypt’s revolt has no military repercussions
YNet News – Accompanying Lt.-Gen. Gantz on his first tour of Lebanon border as IDF chief,….
Syria considering construction of new nuclear plant
YNet News – IAEA document reveals new plant could be ready by 2020 but former inspector….
‘Mubarak ailing, wants to die in Egypt’
YNet News – Former security official says ousted leader refusing medical treatment, may pass….
Khamenei lauds Turkey’s ‘separation from Zionist regime’
YNet News – During Tehran meeting, Iranian supreme leader tells President Gul US, Israel….
‘Assad wants to improve relations with West’
YNet News – Jewish leader Malcolm Hoenlein discusses 1-day visit to Damascus last December,….
Israel urges Jordan to denounce minister
YNet News – Foreign Ministry senior official summoned Jordanian embassy director for….
Iran: Israel, US behind revolt
YNet News – (Video) Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says Westerns nations are….
Sderot conference hosts Gaza residents
YNet News – A conference that opened in Sderot Monday, called ‘Gaza-Sderot’, brought a number of Palestinian residents of the Strip to the nearby southern town, where they stayed the …….
Video: Officer threatens to shoot settler
YNet News – VIDEO – Tensions between Israeli security forces and Jewish settlers boiled over last month when an officer threatened to kill Yitzhar’s spokesman during a raid on the Od …….
Army razes illegal settler outpost
YNet News – Six Jewish settlers were arrested on Tuesday during the razing of the illegal West Bank outpost Ramat Migron. The settlers hurled stones at security forces and tried to …….
Terror threat: Number of Israeli embassies closed
YNet News – A number of Israeli embassies around the world have been temporarily closed due to what the Foreign Ministry called on Tuesday “irregular incidents against Israeli …….
Education minister: Kids to tour Hebron
YNet News – Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar has announced a plan by which schoolchildren will tour Hebron and visit the holy site of the Cave of Patriarchs, located there. …….
Footage: army wakes children to photograph them
B’tselem 13 Feb 2011 – Israeli TV aired rare footage, filmed by B’Tselem volunteers, of a new military method: soldiers enter homes in Nabi Saleh at night, waken minors over the age of 10, photograph them and leave.
Palestinian Information Center
Israeli bulldozers dig past court orders in East Jerusalem
PIC 15 Feb 2011 – The Israeli Magistrate Court could not hamper bulldozers headed Tuesday for the estate of the Abu Taa’ah family in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah district.
Four Palestinian youths injured in IOF shooting in WB
PIC 15 Feb 2011 – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired rubber bullets at a group of young men in Beit Ummar north of Al-Khalil wounding four of them on Tuesday evening.
Hamas: All governments formed by Fatah “unconstitutional”
PIC 15 Feb 2011 – Hamas said that the governments that were formed by Fatah in the West Bank and any new cabinet are unconstitutional and part of the coup against the true representatives of the Palestinian people.
Egyptian officer: Rafah crossing to be opened regularly following arrangements
PIC 15 Feb 2011 – Senior Egyptian officer said that the Rafah border crossing with the besieged Gaza Strip will be soon opened on a regular basis after making security arrangements for that.
Islamic Jihad: PA compensation for settler lives confers legitimacy to Israel
PIC 15 Feb 2011 – Senior Islamic Jihad official Khadir Habib described the Palestinian Authority’s court settlement to pay compensation for the death’s of two Jewish settlers as a “stab in the path of the struggle”.
Abu Zuhri denounces PA compensation to Israelis
PIC 15 Feb 2011 – Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri has denounced the Fatah-controlled PA financial compensations to families of settlers killed in resistance operations.
Dweik: Elections not legitimate, deepen division
PIC 15 Feb 2011 – Speaker of the PLC Dr. Aziz Dweik has said that the legislative and presidential elections called for by de facto president Mahmoud Abbas would only deepen the rift between Hamas and Fatah.
Top Fatah leaders pressure Abbas to change his aides
PIC 15 Feb 2011 – An informed source said that there were pressures from senior Fatah leaders on Mahmoud Abbas to replace prominent figures around him with new faces in order to absorb the street’s resentment.
Israel behind virtual reality website that Judaizes Jerusalem
PIC 15 Feb 2011 – Israel has worked out a plan to promote tourism in Jerusalem with a false Jewish vision, the Muslim-Christian Association in Palestine said Tuesday.
MP Khreisheh urges Abbas to invite PLC to convene rather than hold elections
PIC 15 Feb 2011 – Second deputy speaker of the Palestinian legislative council Hasan Khreisheh called Mahmoud Abbas to invite the parliament to convene again in accordance with the Palestinian law.
Egypt opposition feels strains from within
LA Times 15 Feb 2011 – Opposition activists were united against Mubarak, but young protesters have split into two rival camps, and both groups distrust older activists. They brought down an autocrat and now hunch over position papers, microphones, BlackBerrys and meals from McDonald’s. Revolution is messy but lasting power is won, young activists are learning, in meticulous battles of negotiations, egos and intrigue.
Muslim Brotherhood plans Egypt political party
LA Times 14 Feb 2011 – The Egyptian military orders a committee studying constitutional changes to come up with amendments in 10 days, indicating that fundamental changes to the system of government aren’t anticipated. The Muslim Brotherhood announced Tuesday that it would form a political party to run candidates for Egypt’s parliament, while a committee of judges and legal scholars started work on amending the nation’s constitution.
Iran Lawmakers Want Opposition Leaders Killed
New York Times 15 Feb 2011 – Members of Parliament want two prominent opposition leaders to be sentenced to death for stirring unrest.
Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet
New York Times 15 Feb 2011 – The online blackout during protests in Egypt has mesmerized technical experts and raised concerns that other Middle Eastern governments facing unrest may be able to sever Internet connections.
Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to Be Political Party
New York Times 15 Feb 2011 – The outlawed Islamic group, long the country’s main opposition, said it awaited only the imminent changes to the country’s constitution.
Salon Mazal Video Conference: Digital Activism in the New Middle East
Tikun Olam – Tomorrow I’ll be talking to Salon Mazal in Tel Aviv about digital activism and the struggle for political change in Israel and the Middle East. So much to talk about: the Egyptian Revolution, Facebook, the Green Revolution, Twitter, exposing the dark secrets of the national security…
Here We Go Again: Shabak Holds Israeli Palestinian Incommunicado on Espionage Charges
Tikun Olam – By now, the scenario is down pat. Israel’s Mukhabarat, the Shabak barges into an Israeli Palestinian home in the dead of night with shouts and the brandishing of guns. Children are petrified, spouses as well. They trample through a home, confiscate every electronic device in sight…
Saddam is captured —Baghdad Youth Movement claims
Mondoweiss – Baghdad, March 12, 2011 : According to a bulletin from the Baghdad Youth Movement, a squad of revolutionaries and Republican Guards captured Saddam Hussein this morning. The Iraqi president was discovered in a crude bunker at a farm outside his hometown of Tikrit in northern Iraq. ” He…
‘NYT’ beats a dead horse
Mondoweiss – Bernard Avishai’s article in Sunday’s NY Times Magazine reviews the status of the negotiations between Abbas and Olmert in 2008. At the time Olmert was a lame duck under threat of indictment for corruption and running a government revving up to go to war with Gaza! (…
State Department tries to defend singling out Iran
Mondoweiss – As Dylan said, Even the lobby sometimes must have to stand naked. From the briefing yesterday by PJ Crowley, assistant secretary of State . Notice the reporters aren’t buying the double standard: MR. CROWLEY: Well, that — what has guided us throughout the last three months and…
Liberal journalists who won’t talk about Palestine have a support group called MSM
Mondoweiss – Here’s an OK piece on Republican hypocrisy re Egypt in the Washington Post. But Gene Robinson, why don’t you ever talk about Palestine? The GOP loves freedom, but not for Egypt By Eugene Robinson Why don’t conservatives love freedom? The piece doesn’t mention conservative politicians’ concern…
Peretz says he was misquoted…
Mondoweiss – Marty Peretz says he was misquoted by an Israeli journalist, quotes we picked up the other day in translation. Ben Smith runs interference for him at Politico. “I have only pidgin Hebrew, which is the only English the reporter who interviewed me possessed,” Peretz told Smith….
Erekat, Palestinian Cabinet Resign, Election Set
Tikun Olam – Mahmoud Abbas: what’s this nonsense they’re talking about democracy and some sort of Revolution? Did I miss that? (EPA) In a sign of the ripple effect that the Egyptian Revolution is having on its neighbors in the region, virtually the entire rump PA government resigned and…
Mass protests spread in Middle East as Washington reassures Israel, Arab dictators
WSWS – Inspired by the Egyptian people’s overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, protests continued to spread in the Middle East on Monday, as Washington scrambled to reassure Israel and pro-US regimes in the region of its continued support.
Crisis-ridden Palestinian Authority calls elections
WSWS – The Palestinian Authority has announced elections, a cabinet reshuffle and the resignation of Saeb Erekat, its chief negotiator with Israel. It is the desperate reaction of a regime in crisis, trying to forestall the spread of the mass movements that have toppled Tunisia’s Ben Ali and…
Al Arakib update: Four consecutive days of demolitions
The Only Democracy? JVP2 15 Feb 2011 – From the Negev Coexistence Forum (NCF) Last week brought four consecutive days of demolitions in Al Arakib. For the first time on February 9 we witnessed bulldozers clearly marked as belonging to the Jewish National Fund (JNF-KKL), destroying tents that had been erected overnight by the…
Illegal for Israelis to support BDS?
Joseph Dana 15 Feb 2011 – The Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement endorsed by Palestinian civil society organizations in 2005 has become one of the most controversial issues surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the spirit of the boycott movement against Apartheid South Africa, BDS activists have racked up a number of…
A Palestinian boy’s Kafkaesque trial in Israel’s military court
Joseph Dana 15 Feb 2011 – On a sunny day people usually stand outside or sit in the direct sun in the waiting area at the Ofer military court. To observe a trail at Ofer, one must enter the facilities and, in a way, become a prisoner. Visiting diplomats and human rights…
Egypt army sets reform deadline
BBC 15 Feb 2011 – Egypt’s ruling military council announces that work on reforming the country’s constitution is to be completed in 10 days.
Iran MPs outraged by protests
BBC 15 Feb 2011 – Iranian MPs call for opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi to be executed after deadly anti-government protests on Monday.
Obama sees ‘right Egypt signals’
BBC 15 Feb 2011 – President Obama says he sees “the right signals” in Egypt after Hosni Mubarak’s downfall, but says Iran should also allow people to express their grievances.
Winners and Losers in a Post-Mubarak Arab World
Sabbah report 15 Feb 2011 – Many different global players had an investment in the outcome of the drama that finally concluded in Egypt with Mubarak’s departure. So after this transformational moment, who are the winners and who are the losers?
Maybe Gaza should paddle its own canoe
Sabbah report 15 Feb 2011 – As the prospects of a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict vanishes thanks to Israel’s land grabs and willful failure to honour agreements it has signed up to, Stuart Littlewood considers the possibility of what is to many Palestinians currently unthinkable: a Palestinian statelet in Gaza…
The Egyptian army’s weapons problem
Sabbah report 15 Feb 2011 – Christopher King argues that there is a high probability that weapons supplied by the USA to Egypt, among others, contain trojans — hidden and malicious circuits in microchips or programs in software — that can be activated by the US or Israel at will to ensure…
Egypt at Dawn’s Early Light
Sabbah report 15 Feb 2011 – By Stephen Lendman * | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz What’s unfolding looks different than what protesters demand. World headlines partly reflect it, mostly outside America, especially on US television reporting an illusion of change, when, in fact, coup d’etat rule is in charge, headed by authoritarian generals…
(en) Palestine-Israel, Some activities the anarchists against the wall AAtW initiative involved with last week
A-infos 15 Feb 2011 – There are four main areas of struggles the AAtW activists are involved with: Joint struggle with communities that invite us to join like Bil’in and other struggles against the separation fence. Other joint struggles against occupation and settler colonialists like Nabi Saleh. Joint struggles with wider…
Articles
Abbas and Fayyad should resign too
Fadi Elsalameen, Ma’an News Agency2/15/2011
After two decades of failed political moves, the Palestinian Authority represented by its top leadership is hoping to avoid the inevitable: paying a heavy price for corruption of all kinds, alienating the Palestinian people, and failing to negotiate an end to Israel’s occupation.
Threatened and undermined by Al-Jazeera’s Palestine papers series, and dismayed by wrongly siding with Egypt’s ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak, the Palestinian Authority is employing desperate political maneuvers.
President Abbas has asked his chief negotiator and cabinet in the West Bank to submit their resignations. He has also called for local and presidential elections by September and deliberately avoided setting a date.
Will Abbas and Salam Fayyad succeed in appeasing Palestinian anger through these desperate maneuvers? No. Nothing short of Abbas and Fayyad handing in their own resignations and accepting responsibility for their failures will satisfy the Palestinian street.
With fewer allies in the region and no options left for a political horizon with Israel, Abbas and Fayyad must resign to pave the way for a newly elected and more representative Palestinian leadership.
Abbas and Fayyad have no political capital left to spend, they are out of touch with the Palestinian street, and they have successfully managed to alienate even supporters within Fatah.
Their failures politically have discredited them and the Palestinian Authority both at home and abroad. more.. e-mail
The Future of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty
Patrick Seale, Agence Global2/14/2011
Israel has been unnerved by Egypt’s Revolution. The reason is simple: It fears for the survival of the 1979 Peace Treaty — a treaty which by neutralizing Egypt, guaranteed Israel’s military dominance over the region for the next three decades.
By removing Egypt — the strongest and most populous of the Arab countries — from the Arab line-up, the Treaty ruled out any possibility of an Arab coalition that might have contained Israel or restrained its freedom of action. As Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan remarked at the time: “If a wheel is removed, the car will not run again.”
Western commentators routinely describe the Treaty as a “pillar of regional stability,” a “keystone of Middle East diplomacy,” a “centerpiece of America’s diplomacy” in the Arab and Muslim world. This is certainly how Israel and its American friends have seen it.
But for most Arabs, it has been a disaster. Far from providing stability, it exposed them to Israeli power. Far from bringing peace, the Treaty ensured an absence of peace, since a dominant Israel saw no need to compose or compromise with Syria or the Palestinians.
Instead, the Treaty opened the way for Israeli invasions, occupations and massacres in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, for strikes against Iraqi and Syrian nuclear sites, for brazen threats against Iran, for the 44-year occupation of the West Bank and the cruel blockade of Gaza, and for the pursuit of a “Greater Israel” agenda by fanatical Jewish settlers and religious nationalists. more.. e-mail
A False Peace: Egypt’s Relationship with Israel – and Ours
M. Junaid Levesque-Alam, Antiwar.com2/13/2011
When the tumult in Tunisia and Egypt shattered the deep freeze that has afflicted Arabs for almost four decades, countries fond of touting democracy should have been leading the celebrations. Instead, the reigning mood among elites in the United States, and especially in Israel, was one of fear and trepidation.
Though the Obama administration sounded a supportive note for the popular rebellion near its beginning – and later, when Mubarak’s ouster was a foregone conclusion – it has also issued nervous caveats, citing the dangers of rapid change and the merits of Mubarak’s intelligence chief, torturer Omar Suleiman. The reversal came on the back of pressure exerted by America’s other clients in the Arab world and Israeli leaders, who both dread the prospect of region-wide revolt.
Accompanied by a chorus of spineless pundits, America and its allies began mouthing the rationales of the dictator himself: stability is good; change is bad; horrors will befall us if the Muslim Brotherhood wins a share of power.
The hand-wringing of other Arab autocrats should not be discounted, but it is the potential disruption to the Egypt-Israel relationship that animates American concern. The Israelis have made known their fear that change in Egypt will leave them bereft of friends “in the neighborhood” – a serious predicament for a state founded, through ethnic cleansing, on top of the neighborhood.
Israel’s security, its leaders and American allies insist, thus depends on its longstanding “peace” treaty with Egypt, signed after the 1978 Camp David Accords. American media outlets, politicians, and pundits have slavishly echoed this line, warning that a successful revolution may end this much-coveted “peace”, which, we are told, is vital for both Israel and America. more.. e-mail
Overcoming Israel’s attempts to discredit protest
Electronic Intifada: 15 Feb 2011 – In recent months, Israel’s tactics to discredit legitimate protestors have become increasingly Orwellian as it steps up its campaign against human rights activists within the country and abroad, especially in the United Kingdom. Ismail Patel comments for The Electronic Intifada.more
Egypt labor not resting after Mubarak’s ouster
Electronic Intifada: 15 Feb 2011 – CAIRO (IPS) – Before his ouster on Friday, toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had made one of the biggest mistakes of his reign: not learning from the lessons of hundreds of small labor and professional strikes that littered the country since 2005.more
Only in Palestine
Palestine Monitor: 15 Feb 2011 – The significance of what we have learned in the past will inevitably be portrayed in present events throughout the world. We have heard the infamous stories of the heroic legends of the past. Those brave people who firmly stood up and fought for their freedom and independence against whatever type of inhumanity or injustice that was prevalent in their time. Reading about these infamous leaders in history inevitably has planted a seed of persistence and determination in us, yet we may not recognize it. As a Palestinian having spent most of my life abroad, I remember clearly my continual participation in Palestinian protests against the ongoing Israeli occupation in Palestine. Having lived in the US, I found myself struggling to firmly hold on to my ancestral Palestinian roots. Despite this, I fortunately managed to voice and express my beliefs and opinions with many other Palestinian solidarity activists by holding a…more
Civic Institutions Essential for Egypt’s Democracy
Palestine Chronicle: 15 Feb 2011 – By Ralph Nader Colman McCarthy, a former Washington Post writer and founder of the Center for Teaching Peace, must be very happy with the news from Egypt. For twenty-five years, McCarthy has been persuading high schools and colleges to adopt peace studies in their curriculum (for more information, contact him at cmccarthy@starpower.net ). Now he has another example of a largely non-violent revolution-led by young people of all backgrounds-successfully ousting a dictatorial regime. The moral power of non-violence against tyrants is ridiculed by the militaristic mind. Tell that to Gandhi and Mandela and to U.S. civil rights leaders. Those who say these are exceptions due to the relative lower brutality of what they were up against should read the history. Those entrenched regimes were plenty brutal over the years. But when non-violent protests became organized and disciplined enough to reach critical mass, brutality only strengthened and enlarged the uprisings. Hosni Mubarak’s…more
Racist Subjectivity and Intellectual Dishonesty
Palestine Chronicle: 15 Feb 2011 – By Mohamed El Mokhtar It felt sometimes quite depressing, and indeed demeaning, to be an Arab, living or going to school in America, during the Second Intifada, and hear ad nauseum the same old refrain chanted every minute in every media, at work, on campus: “Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, Israel this, Israel that..!”. It is all the more insulting that, besides being quite inaccurate to a large extent, it is, inherently, dishonest to say the least. It is, also, primarily meant to hurt some more than to extol others. This is certainly the case when coming out of the mouth of openly racist and cynically biased pundits like the O’Reillys, the Cavutos, or the Blitzers of this world, and the many spins doctors to whom they give, on a daily basis, a free platform to air their one-sided and unchallenged view of the Arab-Israeli conflict…more
The Egyptian Revolution and Democracy
Palestine Chronicle: 15 Feb 2011 – By Brian Napoletano Imperial conquests have always had their ideological justifications. Even in earlier ages, exterminating a people, exploiting their resources, stealing their lands, and enslaving their children were generally non-starters when it came to firing up the local populace for another military campaign. Accordingly, the Romans “civilized” the barbarians, the Spanish conquistadores “brought the gospel” to the “New World,” and the English were “shining the light of civilization” on the Indian subcontinent. Although most history books tend to minimize the genocide and slavery that accompanied Europe’s string of conquests (including North America), few have any illusions about the true objectives of Rome, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, and other countries’ imperial adventures. Similarly, when future students of history read about the mission undertaken by the US government to “spread democracy” at the dawn of the twenty-first century, they too will most likely understand its true motives far better than most…more
Egypt: Social Movements, the CIA and the Mossad
Palestine Chronicle: 15 Feb 2011 – By James Petras The mass movements which forced the removal of Mubarak reveal both the strength and weaknesses of spontaneous uprisings. On the one hand, the social movements demonstrated their capacity to mobilize hundreds of thousands, if not millions, in a successful sustained struggle culminating in the overthrow of the dictator in a way that pre-existent opposition parties and personalities were unable or unwilling to do. On the other hand, lacking any national political leadership, the movements were not able to take political power and realize their demands, allowing the Mubarak military high command to seize power and define the “post-Mubarak” process, ensuring the continuation of Egypt’s subordination to the US, the protection of the illicit wealth of the Mubarak clan ($70 billion), and the military elite’s numerous corporations and the protection of the upper class. The millions mobilized by the social movements to overthrow the dictatorship were effectively excluded…more
A Plan for Peace that Never Was
Palestine Chronicle: 15 Feb 2011 – By Issa Khalaf On his site, ‘Bernard Avishai Dot Com,’ an outraged Avishai had this to say about the Palestine Papers: “…the Guardian’s spin on the talks, based on documents leaked by Al Jazeera, is outrageous. “The Guardian has seemed bent on making Palestinian concessions seem like a betrayal. But they have reported only one hand clapping. Palestinian territorial and other concessions, I will show, were the other side of significant, creative Israeli proposals and concessions. Any prospective agreement would be a compromise, for God’s sake. …” I waited with held breath. His response came-“A Plan for Peace that Still Could Be,” in that bastion of Israel advocacy and a generous platform for Avishai, the New York Times, on 7 Feb. 2011-and went. I could hardly stomach having to go through it, but today I did. Not because I reject the good intentions of Avishai’s Israeli liberalism-despite its severe shortcomings…more
Egyptian Revolution in Israeli Eyes
Palestine Chronicle: 14 Feb 2011 – By Seraj Assi The Arab World is suffering and in its suffering it threatens Israel. ‘Israeli citizens are frightened,’ said Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni in a moment of deep confession. In fact, what Livni was saying, to paraphrase Franz Fanon, is this: “Mama America, see the Arab! I’m frightened! Frightened! Frightened!” This is a typical colonial scene where the “frightening victims” are captured in a game that involves dehumanization and empowering and rendered silent and dangerous subjects at the same time. Never can they escape this colonial capacity to invite and contain contradictions and opposites. Yet in the Israeli case the irony is far more acute. For not only does Israel see its victim as dangerous and potentially evil, but has itself become the victim. It is within this irony that the ritual of victimization came to dominate the master narrative of Israel’s colonial discourse and foreign policy. Not…more
US, Al-Qaida, and the Arab Revolt
Dissident Voice: 15 Feb 2011 – On December 24 2004, I wrote an essay, “America and Islam: Seeking Parallels,” for which I received much heat from Zionist and right-wing bloggers in the United States. The article made the point that the leaders of al-Qaida believe that they have to carry their war to the home ground of the ‘far enemy’ — the United States, Israel and Western powers — in order to free the Muslim world from foreign domination. This anyone can verify from the numerous communiqués of al-Qaida. To say this is not to endorse the terrorist methods that al-Qaida employs. This was my moral position then: and it is my moral position now. At the same time, we should not shrink from recognizing that the total wars waged by many states, including the United States, since WWII differ from the methods of al-Qaida only in the infinitely greater scale of the destruction they wreak…more
Jimmy Carter’s Gift of “Apartheid”: Use It
Dissident Voice: 15 Feb 2011 – Eclipsed by the events in Egypt, news from its little neighbor has not gleaned much notice save for media angst that Egyptian democracy might not be as genial as was the Mubarak dictatorship to the relentless, long term ethnic cleansing of an indigenous people, the Palestinians. But news there was as Israeli “human rights” lawyers went public with a libel suit against Jimmy Carter for his precise little book, “Palestine, Peace Not Apartheid.” The stunner to the Israelis lies in a single word in Carter’s title, “Apartheid” Names, names, names. What constitutes an accurate description of Israel? There are many appellations, none of them appealing. The partisans of Israel like to call it “the Jewish state.” But that name carries a disconcerting note. We do not like “Islamic states,” and “Christian state” calls forth images of fascism, bigotry and Crusades. Does “Jewish state” sound any more tolerant? Then there is…more
On Revolutionary Leadership and Mass Action
Dissident Voice: 15 Feb 2011 – SOME Some stood up once and sat down. Some walked a mile and walked away. Some stood up twice then sat down. I’ve had it, they said. Some walked two miles then walked away. It’s too much, they cried. Some stood and stood and stood. They were taken for fools They were taken for being taken in. Some walked and walked and walked They walked the earth They walked the waters They walked the air. Why do you standthey were asked, and Why do you walk? Because of the children, they said, and Because of the heart, and Because of the bread. Because The cause Is the heart’s beat And the children born And the risen bread. – Daniel Berrigan I am writing two days after the huge first step of the Egyptian democratic revolution, the driving out of Hosni Mubarak, the man about whom Vice President Joe Biden said,…more
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