27 February, 2011 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Clashes Continue in Silwan
IMEMC – Friday February 25, 2011 – 17:22, Confrontations erupted on Thursday evening between Israeli forces and Palestinian residents of the East Jerusalem village of Silwan,
Medics: 1 dead in Israeli strike
2/27/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — One resistance fighter was killed and two others injured, medics said, in what local sources said was an Israeli air strike targeting a group of militants east of Gaza city shortly after nine o’clock Sunday evening. Shells were said to have been fired by Israeli forces toward a….
Israel: ’02 assassination justified despite mass casualties
2/27/2011 – TEL AVIV (Ma’an) — The results of a panel probe into the 2002 assassination of Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh made headlines in the Israeli press Sunday, announcing findings that the assassination was justified despite the death of 13 civilians. The others slain by the Israeli air strike on Shehadeh’s Gaza City home….
Video: Israeli forces seize 11-year-old boy
2/27/2011 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — A resident of the West Bank village of Nabi Salih videoed Israeli forces chasing and detaining an 11-year-old child. The footage, from late January, shows two Israeli border police officers chasing Karim Tamimi, who turns to a woman in the street for help. The woman repeatedly pleads to the police…. Related: Video on YouTube: muhammad1191985
Hebron girl hit by settler car, medics say
2/27/2011 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Medical officials in Hebron said an 11-year-old girl from the city was transferred to Hadassa Hospital in Israel on Sunday, after she was struck down by a settler car at the Beit Ainun junction. The girl, identified as Amani Al-Mutawer, was said to have been walking to school when she….
3 injured in Gaza tunnel collapse
2/27/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Three Palestinians were injured Sunday when a smuggling tunnel collapsed near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, medics said. Gaza medical spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said the injured were transferred to Yousef An-Najjar Hospital….
Unity tops agenda in West Bank, Gaza
2/27/2011 – RAMALLAH/GAZA (Ma’an) — An all-factions committee was called in Gaza, as legal professionals announced a sit-down in the West Bank to discuss mechanisms by which to use the Palestinian Basic Law to end the state of political division. In Gaza City, independent figures invited Sunday, all Palestinian factions to a meeting where organizers….
2 Gaza border crossings open for limited goods
2/27/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities will open two crossing into Gaza on Sunday for the transfer of limited quantities of goods, fuel and construction material, a Palestinian official said. Raed Fattouh, who coordinates the entry of goods with the Israeli side, said the southernmost Kerem Shalom crossing would be opened. Israeli officials informed….
Rocket fired from Gaza hits Israel, police say
2/27/2011 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit Israeli territory on Sunday morning, raising Israel’s alert level but causing no damage or casualties, according to Israel’s military and police. The latest rocket, which the military’s spokeswoman said struck a field in the Eshkol region in southern Israel…. Related: Gaza govt: Israel lying about projectile numbers
Gaza govt: Israel lying about projectile numbers
2/27/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Gaza’s interior ministry released a statement Sunday, saying recent reports of projectile from from Gaza were false, and accused Israel of fabricating the claims in the interest of world public opinion. The most recent reports of unconfirmed projectile fire from Gaza came on 27 and 25 February, where…. Related: Rocket fired from Gaza hits Israel, police say
Ambassador: Palestinians in Libya are safe
2/27/2011 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The 70,000 Palestinians in Libya are safe, but actions must be taken to ensure their continued protection, Palestinian Ambassador in Tripoli Atif Mustafa Auda said Sunday. Clashes between Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s forces and rebels have led to growing fears that turmoil in the country could lead to full-scale….
Haniyeh congratulates Saudi king on return from surgery abroad
2/27/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh congratulated Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz on his return home from surgery abroad. Haniyeh wished the monarch continuous progress in his recovery. The 87-year-old king had two operations in New York in November to repair a slipped disc and remove a blood clot….
Washington: Israel safer when Mideast turmoil over
2/27/2011 – WASHINGTON (AFP) — Israel will enjoy greater security under democratic regimes that may ultimately emerge from the recent instability and unrest roiling the Middle East, senior US lawmakers said on Sunday.” In the short-term, they are obviously less secure because of the unpredictability here and the situation is unpredictable. But in the long-run, I think they….
Union: Police chief issues warrants over incident with son
2/27/2011 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian Authority police issued arrest warrants for university security guards who refused to allow a commander’s son to enter campus, a union said Saturday. The Al-Quds University workers’ union said guards denied entry to a police chief commander’s son in line with university regulations which allow….
Police: Campus guards attacked son of commander
2/27/2011 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian Authority police on Sunday said arrest warrants were issued for university security guards because they “brutally attacked” a police chief’s son. The university workers’ union said Saturday that police had tried to arrest security guards because they refused to allow a police commander’s son to….
3 die in north Gaza fire
2/27/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A mother and two children died Saturday in a fire at their Beit Lahiya home in the northern Gaza Strip, medics said. The father sustained critical burns in the blaze, which fire fighters eventually controlled, a Ma’an reporter said. The injured man and the bodies of his family…. Related: Three siblings die in Gaza home fire
Three siblings die in Gaza home fire
2/27/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Two children and their infant brother died Sunday, when their one-room home in the northern town of Beit Lahiya caught fire while the family’s eldest daughter made tea the night before. Five of the eight children in the home managed to escape, an uncle said, while Nariman Mustafa…. Related: 3 die in north Gaza fire
Anti-regime forces take west Libyan towns
2/27/2011 – BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) — Forces opposed to Moammar Gadhafi took control of several western Libyan towns, an official said on Sunday as the strongman played down such reports after world leaders called on him to quit. Protest leaders meanwhile established a transitional “national council” in mainly eastern cities seized from the Gadhafi regime and called on….
Egypt to put first regime minister on trial
2/27/2011 – CAIRO (AFP) — Egypt’s once widely feared interior minister Habib Al-Adly is to appear before a criminal court on March 5 accused of money laundering, judicial sources told AFP on Sunday. Adly would be the first of toppled president Hosni Mubarak’s regime to face trial. He was arrested on February 17, along….
Lebanon: Marches against denominational govt
2/27/2011 – BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Hundreds of people marched in Beirut on Sunday demanding an end to Lebanon’s confessional system, mobilized by a call posted on Facebook, an AFP journalist reported.” The revolution is everywhere. . . Lebanon, it’s your turn,” chanted demonstrators, most of them young people, in reference to the popular uprisings rattling….
JStreet or no JStreet !
Palestine Note 27 Feb 2011 – Not taking away from the courageous efforts of JStreet in challenging AIPAC and the well-entrenched American Jewish leadership that has always been consistently anti-peace and pro-war, JStreet has a long way to go. The American Jewish…
JStreet honors Israeli-Palestinian peace and two-states with broad range of speakers
Palestine Note 27 Feb 2011 – JStreet honors Israeli-Palestinian peace and two-states By Ray Hanania More than 2,500 people packed the opening session of JStreet’s second annual convention Saturday (Feb. 27) at the Washington Convention Center in the nation’s capitol. It was…
Israeli airstrike hits Palestinians
AlJazeera 27 Feb 2011 – One killed in renewed Israeli bombing campaign against the densely populated coastal region.
Iran opposition figures ‘detained’
AlJazeera 27 Feb 2011 – Rights group says Mousavi and Karroubi, accused of illegally organising protests, moved to “safe houses” outside Tehran.
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (17 — 23 February 2011)
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Benayahu sues ‘Haaretz’ and ‘Yediot Aharonot’ for libel
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – IDF spokesman says newspapers published advertisement accusing him of treason.
Clinton: We’re ‘reaching out’ to Libyan opposition
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – US secretary of state heads to Geneva to consult with allies on next step to end crisis; UN Security Council asks ICC to investigate Libya.
Turmoil spreads to Lebanon, Oman
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – Protesters in Beirut demand end to sectarian gov’t; Tunisian PM bows to pressure and steps down; rallies continue in Bahrain, Yemen.
US accuses Iran of “blatant” rights violations
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – US condemns Iranian arrests of political figures, Internet meddling; 2 Iranian officials get US sanctions over human rights abuses.
Palestinians report 1 dead, 2 injured in IDF strike on Gaza
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – IDF spokesperson denies launching strikes on Gaza; Islamic Jihad spokesman claims member of group killed in incident.
Moussa announces run for Egyptian presidency
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – Highly popular at home, Arab League chief has often been a scathing critic of Israel.
Palestinians turn to technology to avoid roadblocks
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – Checkpoint-buster program uses text messages to warn drivers of long lines ahead in West Bank.
Fatah says no to unity government with Hamas
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – Official calls Fayyad’s effort a “private” plan that doesn’t have Palestinian support.
Arab League boss Moussa to run for Egypt president
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – Moussa enjoys wide popularity in Egypt, largely because of his scathing criticism of Israel, a country seen by most Egyptians as an enemy.
The Mafioso Colonel
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – Gaddafi is a crime-novel caricature whose antics were tolerated by the West because they were profitable, not to mention entertaining. While the world wakes up, Israel’s Left and Right should hit the snooze button on their nihil ad rem whining.
Egyptian editor: Israel-peace treaty will likely be revised
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – The Media Line interviews Egypt Daily News editor on Egyptian role in peace process, controlling Gaza border, future of Israel-Egypt relations.
Clinton: US ‘reaching out’ to Libyan opposition groups
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – US secretary of state heads to Geneva to consult with allies on next step to end crisis; Italian FM says end of Gaddafi’s rule “inevitable.”
Anti-government protests break out in Lebanon
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – Hundreds rally in Beirut against sectarian government, which demonstrators say is “a dictatorial system.”
Earliest human remains in US Arctic reported
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – Discovery of 11,500-year-old burial sheds new light on life and times of early settlers who left Asia for New World.
Jewish teen charged with killing Arab man in brawl
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – 3 more suspects indicted for battery and obstruction of justice; the 3 allegedly killed Hussam Hasan, 24, in Jerusalem.
‘Kuwait Hackers’ hijack several Israeli websites
Jeruslalem Post 27 Feb 2011 – “Team Kuwait Hackers” shut down sites for the Israel Scouts and Israeli gap-year programs.
Netanyahu wary of new international efforts in peace process
Ha’aretz – Prime Minister has yet to say whether or not he will cooperate with an upcoming Quartet meeting with Israeli, Palestinian officials, fearing Israel’s participation could allow world to dictate peace-talks terms.
Report: Palestinian militant killed as IDF strikes Gaza Strip
Ha’aretz – Palestinian medics say Israel Air Force jets bomb coastal Strip, hours after Gaza-based militants fired a Qassam rocket into the western Negev.
‘Israel’s 2002 hit of Hamas leader was justified, despite civilian casualties’
Ha’aretz – While criticizing decision makers for underestimating the risk of civilian injuries, probe panel says Israel’s Gaza assassination of Salah Shehadeh was a necessary part of its war on ‘deadly terrorism.’
Jordan urges EU to pressure Israel to desist harmful ‘unilateral actions’
Ha’aretz – Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and his Portuguese counterpart Luis Amado were in Jordan to assess the prospects for reviving peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Gaza militants fire Qassam rocket into Israel amid ongoing tensions
Ha’aretz – No injuries reported at strike which came less than a day after IDF forces bombed at least three targets in the coastal Strip.
Teen who stabbed Arab youth in Jerusalem indicted for manslaughter
Ha’aretz – Three other suspects accused of assault, after the group allegedly attacked two Arab youths after they heard them speak Arabic.
Netanyahu calls on ministers to promote the government’s achievements
Ha’aretz – PM says the cabinet is taking steps that past cabinets did not, but that some people are purposely ‘distorting the truth.’
Two found dead in suspected murder-suicide in Kiryat Ata
Ha’aretz – Woman in her forties found stabbed to death in her home; woman’s husband found hanging in the backyard after supposedly calling a friend to say he intended on murdering his wife.
Jerrold Kessel, Haaretz columnist and former CNN correspondent, dies at 66
Ha’aretz – Kessel reported for CNN in Jerusalem from 1990-2003. After leaving CNN, Kessel wrote a column for Haaretz called ‘The Sakhnin Diaries’ and a weekly sports column for the Haaretz English Edition.
Israeli settler hits 11-year- old girl in Hebron
27 Feb 2011 – West Bank, (Pal Telegraph)- local sources reported that a Palestinian child was hit by an Israeli settler driving a car near Bait Aynun crossroad in the east of Hebron city in the occupied West Bank.
Israel continues demolishing homes in Negev
27 Feb 2011 – West Bank, (Pal Telegraph)- As Israeli excessive violence continues, dozens of occupation bulldozers started Sunday morning demolishing a number of houses in Al-Zaroura village in the Negev, southern occupied Palestine after pushing inhabitants from their poor homes.
Israeli army intensifies its checkpoints across WB
27 Feb 2011 – West Bank, (Pal Telegraph)- Occupation forces stopped Sunday a number of passing vehicles headed to Qalqilya city at a checkpoint erected at the crossroad of Yatzhar settlement under the pretext of searching for wanted people.
Palestinians protest US veto near Hebron
27 Feb 2011 – West Bank, (Pal Telegraph)- A number of Palestinians participated yesterday in the weekly anti-wall rally in the village of Bait Ummer protesting the United States veto of a UN resolution condemning Israeli’s expansion of illegal settlements on the Palestinian territories .
The Iraqi Revolution : “OUR DEMANDS”
Uruknet February 27, 2011 – FIRST: We demand to take our homeland back . We had been occupied by a great power without an international permission, this power had adopted excuses that its leaders’ them selves confessed that they had been deceived by them, so why are their forces still on our land then..? It has been eight years since our…
DFLP calls on Hamas, Fatah to take lessons from Arab revolts
Uruknet February 27, 2011 – A leftist Palestinian faction on Saturday urged feuding factions of Hamas and Fatah to understand the lessons from revolts in some Arab countries and meet the people’s aspiration. The call was made during a rally attended by thousands in the Gaza Strip to mark the 42nd anniversary of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of…
Palestinian Children Affected by Armed Conflict: New UNICEF Report
Uruknet February 27, 2011 – In 2010, grave violations continued to be committed against children in the occupied Palestinian territory. Eleven Palestinian children were killed and 360 injured in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. No Israeli children were killed but two were injured. Palestinian children continued to be detained and subjected to ill-treatment, and in some cases…
Iran opposition figures ‘detained’
Uruknet February 27, 2011 – Two prominent Iranian opposition figures, who fiercely criticised the government and called for protests, are said to have been moved to “safe houses” outside the capital Tehran, after being held under house arrest for almost two weeks. According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHR), Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi were…
US ready to help Libyan rebels
Uruknet February 27, 2011 – The United States said Sunday it was prepared to offer “any kind of assistance” to Libyans seeking to overthrow the regime of strongman Moamer Kadhafi as they set up a transitional body. As forces opposed to the longest-serving Arab leader took control of several western Libyan towns, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton echoed the…
Medics: 1 dead in Israeli strike on Gaza
Uruknet February 27, 2011 – One resistance fighter was killed and two others injured, medics said, in what local sources said was an Israeli air strike targeting a group of militants east of Gaza city shortly after nine o’clock Sunday evening. Shells were said to have been fired by Israeli forces toward a second location near the border of the…
Video: Israeli forces seize 11-year-old boy
Uruknet February 27, 2011 – A resident of the West Bank village of Nabi Salih videoed Israeli forces chasing and detaining an 11-year-old child. The footage, from late January, shows two Israeli border police officers chasing Karim Tamimi, who turns to a woman in the street for help. The woman repeatedly pleads to the police in Hebrew, “he is a…
Steadfast in Occupied Jerusalem
Uruknet February 26, 2011 – On the early hours of Friday, 11.02.2011, Husam Hussein Hasan Ar-Rweidi, a 24 year old Palestinian from the eastern part of occupied Jerusalem, was on his way to work when he and a friend were attacked by a group of ultra orthodox Jews. Both were stabbed several times and while his friend was seriously injured,…
Letter from Palestine: life under occupation
Uruknet February 26, 2011 – The separation wall is the biggest recurring theme, together with the impact of settlements and military checkpoints. I’ve just heard that yesterday a woman, prevented from reaching hospital in time, gave birth at a checkpoint near where we are. This is a far from unique occurence. On Sunday in Abu Dis we talked with a…
Fatah-Hamas talks
Uruknet February 26, 2011 – …Of course, Tel Aviv rejects Palestinian national conciliation because it would represent a loss for Israel. A vital gain for Israel from Palestinian division is preventing political unity of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Benjamin Netanyahu can always claim he cannot reach agreement with Abbas because the latter does not represent all Palestinians. National…
Israeli left holds back from criticising US over settlements veto
The National 27 Feb 2011 – Fractured, tiny and marginalised, the Israeli peace movement has been described as ‘the only pro-American peace movement in the world’.
Alternative Information Center
Weekend Demonstrations against Separation Wall: Israeli Army Fears Third Intifada
Alternative Information Center – On Friday 25 February, demonstrations against the Separation Wall took place in the West Bank villages of Al Masara, Bil’in, Ni’lin and Nabi Salah . Demonstrations were additionally held in the Old City of Hebron and the…
Palestinian Children Affected by Armed Conflict: New UNICEF Report
Alternative Information Center – UNICEF released a report last week, ” Children Affected by Armed Conflict: Israel & the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) 2010 Annual Review ” , detailing violations against Palestinian children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Israeli Government, Universities Support Student Delegation Sent to Fight Israel Apartheid Week
Alternative Information Center – Ben Gurion University and the Weitzmann Institute are joining forces with Israel’s Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs to support and finance a delegation going to the UK to counter Israel Apartheid Week at the end of…
McEwan’s Criticism Appears Hypocritical
Alternative Information Center – After rejecting the Palestinian call to boycott the state-sponsored Jerusalem Prize , Ian McEwan has massaged his conscience by demonstrating against home demolitions in East Jerusalem, criticising Israel in his acceptance speech, and donating his prize money…
Freedom fighters close in on Tripoli
Daily Star 27 Feb 2011 GAZA CITY: A Palestinian was killed Sunday when an Israeli tank opened fire on a group of fighters east of Gaza City, medical sources and witnesses said.Spokesmen for the Islamic Jihad group said the dead man…
Israeli tank fire kills Gazan, say medics
Daily Star 27 Feb 2011 GAZA CITY: A Palestinian was killed Sunday when an Israeli tank opened fire on a group of fighters east of Gaza City, medical sources and witnesses said.Spokesmen for the Islamic Jihad group said the dead man…
Egypt to call referendum, open up politics, says lawyer
Daily Star 27 Feb 2011 CAIRO: Egypt’s military rulers are likely this week to lift restrictions that have long crushed political opposition and call a referendum on constitutional reforms next month, a lawyer who helped draft the changes said Sunday.
Tunisian prime minister resigns amid protests
Daily Star 27 Feb 2011 TUNIS: Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghannouchi resigned Sunday after violent protests over his ties to the North African state’s toppled leader, triggering street celebrations in central Tunis. Five people have been killed since Friday in clashes…
Maliki gives his Cabinet 100-day warning after demos across Iraq
Daily Star 27 Feb 2011 BAGHDAD: Iraq’s prime minister warned his Cabinet Sunday to shape up within 100 days or face “changes,” as protest organizers called for a fresh set of rallies and religious leaders demanded reforms. Nouri al-Maliki’s remarks came…
Jordanian PM promises reform in effort to appease opposition
Daily Star 27 Feb 2011 AMMAN: Jordan’s prime minister pledged Sunday to bring “true and gradual” reforms, a day after the opposition threatened more pressure on the government, accusing it of not taking the process seriously. “The government is not practicing…
OPT: Humanitarian & Civilian Activities in Gaza Strip – COGAT monthly report January 2011
Relief Web 26 Feb 2011 – Source: Government of Israel
MIDEAST: Gaza Protesters Prepare for March 15
IPS A look at the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings that succeeded in ousting long- entrenched dictators confirms a universal truth: it is the youth who are leading the way in forcing reform in the Middle East.
Weekly Anti-Wall Protest Update – February 25
Stop The Wall – Protests across the West Bank condemned the American veto at the UN. A protest was held on the anniversary of the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in Hebron, where protestors demanding the opening of Shuhada Street clashed with soldiers. People marched in al Ma’sara, Bil’in and Ni’lin against the Wall, facing tear gas and rubber bullets. In al Nabi Saleh, several people were injured in the weekly protest against settlement expansion and land confiscation. [
Court indicts J’lem teen for manslaughter
YNet News – Jewish stabber not charged with murder. Other teens involved in murder of Arab….
Video: 11-year-old Palestinian stone-thrower arrested
YNet News – (Video) Footage shows officers chasing down boy who took part in West Bank riot,….
Elderly citizens protest price-hike
YNet News – Hundreds gather in Jerusalem under banner ‘fighting over water, bread.’….
Jordan: Israeli hikers save British man
YNet News – Former Yom Kippur War veteran rescues young Briton who fell from high cliffs in….
Egypt proposes competitive presidential elections
YNet News – Constitutional reform panel recommends opening Egypt’s presidential elections to….
US accuses Iran of ‘blatant’ rights violations
YNet News – The United States on Sunday accused Iran’s government of hypocrisy and “blatant” violations of the rights of its citizens. “The United States strongly condemns the …….
US senators: Israel will be safer when ME turmoil over
YNet News – Israel will enjoy greater security under democratic regimes that may ultimately emerge from the recent instability and unrest roiling the Middle East, senior US lawmakers …….
Palestinians say Gaza gunman killed in strike; IDF denies attack
YNet News – Palestinian security officials said one terrorist was killed and two others were wounded Sunday evening during an Israeli aerial strike on a terror cell east of Gaza …….
Report: Shehadeh killing legitimate; civilian deaths due to intel failure
YNet News – A report submitted to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday determined that the targeted killing of senior Hamas figure Salah Shehadeh on July 22, 2002 was …….
Gaza assailants plant bomb under Christian car
YNet News – A prominent Christian surgeon in the Gaza Strip said assailants threw a bomb at his vehicle and sent him threatening messages. Dr. Maher Ayyad, 55, says no one was …….
Palestinian Information Center
Khater: Coming tourism conference marks Israeli success in Judaizing Jerusalem
PIC 27 Feb 2011 – Dr. Hassan Khater has said an Israeli tourism conference to be held in Jerusalem the coming month marks Israel’s success in promoting the holy city as a capital for all Jews.
Dweik: Call for elections illegal
PIC 27 Feb 2011 – Speaker of the Palestinian legislative council Dr. Aziz Dweik has said that the call for legislative and presidential elections was illegal.
PCHR: Thousands of Palestinians stranded abroad since Egypt events
PIC 27 Feb 2011 – Thousands of Gazans have been stranded abroad for over a month during changes in Egypt that have hindered their entry into the Cairo International Airport, the PCHR has said.
IOA imprisons Hamas MP for six months
PIC 27 Feb 2011 – The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) sentenced Hamas MP and former finance minister Dr. Omar Abdulrazek to six months in administrative detention.
Provocative searches could spark prison outbreak
PIC 27 Feb 2011 – The prisoner studies center in Ramallah has warned that provocative searches against Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons could spark an outbreak inside the prisons.
IOF soldiers, settlers quell peaceful protest demo
PIC 27 Feb 2011 – Jewish armed settlers assisted Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in quelling a peaceful demonstration in Beit Ummar village to protest continued confiscation of Palestinian land and settlement activity.
Hamas mourns death of Turkish leader Erbakan
PIC 27 Feb 2011 – The Hamas Movement has expressed its sincere condolences to Turkey’s leadership and people for the death of noted Islamic intellectual and former premier Necmettin Erbakan.
Jihad slams Lebanese gov’t for changing law concerning Palestinian refugees
PIC 27 Feb 2011 – The Islamic Jihad Movement said that the amendment made to the law of labor and social security in Lebanon only serves the policy of resettlement that is rejected by the Palestinian people.
PA militias transfer detainee Annatsheh to Jericho hospital
PIC 27 Feb 2011 – The family of political detainee Mutasim Annatsheh said that the Palestinian authority intelligence apparatus in Jericho city transferred their son to hospital after his health deteriorated.
Jewish settler runs over Palestinian girl in Al-Khalil
PIC 27 Feb 2011 – An 11-year-old Palestinian girl was run over by a Jewish settler on Sunday morning in the south West Bank province of Al-Khalil.
An old Jerusalem road gets a high-tech makeover
LA Times 27 Feb 2011 – A light-rail train is making trial runs down the venerable main street. It will ‘revolutionize transportation and the city too,’ one official says. Jaffa Road has witnessed empires come and go, watched camel caravans give way to stagecoaches and automobiles, seen pilgrims and pioneers, businessmen…
Israeli Panel Finds No Crime in 2002 Assassination
New York Times 27 Feb 2011 – A panel said an assassination of a Hamas leader that killed at least 13 civilians was flawed but the deaths “did not stem from disregard or indifference to human lives.”
At J Street, Eltahawy gets standing ovation when she calls on peaceful revolution to come to Israel and Palestine
Mondoweiss – I’ve been at the J Street conference for two hours now and the political program seems to be, End the Netanyahu government now, because we’re in deep trouble. But that message was overshadowed by Mona Eltahawy, the Egyptian journalist, who actuallly actually got applause when she…
For Egypt’s workers the revolution is far from over
Mondoweiss –
The Continual Struggle of al-Arakib
Palestine Monitor – On 17 February 2011, the special police forces accompanied officials from the Israel Land Administration to demolish the Bedouin village of al-Arakib for the 18th time since 27 July 2010. There are 45 unrecognized Bedouin communities living in Israel’s Negev, and over the past seven months…
Desecrating the American flag
Mondoweiss – Since I got back from Palestine two months ago, every Friday brings me back to the village of Bil’in. I won’t even remember the importance of Friday, as anything other than the start to my weekend, until I stumble across a video in my Facebook mini-feed…
‘Israeli Apartheid Week’ organizers respond to LGBT center’s decision to cancel event under pressure
Mondoweiss – Below is a statement from the organizers of New York City’s Israeli Apartheid Week responding to the decision by New York LGBT Center to cancel a “Party to End Apartheid” under pressure from donors. You can sign their petition here . As organizers of New York City’s…
Can you pass the Saudi Arabia quiz?
Mondoweiss – Saudi Arabia, an Islamic absolute monarchy, has enjoyed extremely close relations with the United States, a constitutional republic. This relationship highlights the gross hypocrisy of US foreign policy: fundamentalism and dictatorship in the Arab world is only condemned when it comes garbed in anti-Americanism. In fact,…
J Street and the Death of Liberal Zionism
Tikun Olam – At first glance, it may appear downright curmudgeonly to speak ill of J Street as it triumphantly open its second annual conference . I attended its first conference in 2009 and hosted an unofficial progressive blogger panel there. Since then I’ve had a testy relationship with the…
NYC LGBT Center’s Betrayals of its Values
Muzzlewatch – I have many good memories about the NY Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Center. When I was coming out of the closet, the Center opened its doors to me and showed me the value of building community and the celebration of diversity. Two decades later, the…
Libya exodus sparks border crisis
BBC 27 Feb 2011 – Libya’s western border with Tunisia is being overrun with migrants, many of them from Egypt, fleeing the turmoil in Libya, aid workers say.
(en) Canada, The Seventh Annual Israeli Apartheid Week Toronto 2011* – Institutional Complicity and Campus Resistance
A-infos 27 Feb 2011 – Time: Monday, March 7 at 12:00pm – March 13 at 3:00am —- Location: University of Toronto, York University, Ryerson University — www.apartheidweek.org — Toronto, ON — We are very proud to announce our preliminary list of confirmed speakers along with the specific themes of each evening…
(en) Israel, MEDIA, Left-wing activist Jonathan Pollack* was released from prison, demonstrated again against the occupation [machine translation]
A-infos 27 Feb 2011 – Left-wing activist Jonathan Pollak, was released from prison. Polak was sentenced to three months in prison for the offense of participating in a prohibited gathering demonstration [critical bikes travel] against the siege on Gaza, held in Tel Aviv in January 2008. On Friday, shortly after the…
Articles
Permanent Temporariness
Alastair Crooke, Middle East Monitor (MEMO)2/27/2011
It was in 2003 that I realised something fundamental had changed. The door to the room in which I was sitting flew open. In stalked a figure still dressed in a dark overcoat and scarf. He evidently could contain himself no longer. I was in Downing Street with the prime minister’s foreign affairs adviser, David Manning; the overcoated figure bursting into our meeting was Jack Straw. He wanted to tell Manning that he had persuaded Joschka Fischer, the German foreign minister, to add Hamas to the EU list of terrorist movements. His tale of his conversion of Fischer was wrapped in expressions of outrage at Hamas. It wasn’t so much the proscription that shocked me. A ceasefire, which I had helped facilitate, had broken down. What was new was the elation with which Straw greeted the banning. I don’t know what Manning thought, but he will have been aware that the terrorist ‘list’ is one of those things from which it’s almost impossible to get a name removed. The consequences for diplomacy, for the politics of peace-making, would be profound, possibly irreversible; but Straw wasn’t worried. Manning, I knew, believed strongly that there could be no solution to the Israel-Palestine issue without Hamas involvement and had firmly supported EU efforts at inclusive peace-building. Officially, the EU remained committed to a political solution, but it now seemed that two key member states were heading in the opposite direction — towards a militarised resolution. The wind had changed.
There had already been hints that a political solution was no longer at the forefront of Whitehall thinking. Not long before, a senior British official had told me bluntly that my methods of building popular consent — holding ‘town hall’ meetings with all factions, working with Hamas, shuttling between Palestinians on the ground and President Arafat to ensure broad participation and continued momentum — were pass?©. We were in a new era, and it required new thinking: ‘The road to Jerusalem now passes through Baghdad,’ the official insisted. He was speaking just before the 2003 invasion. The message was clear: the Islamic resistance in Palestine was to be neutralised, and psychologically defeated, by the massive display of Western force in Iraq, rather than brought into the political process…. more.. e-mail
Robert Fisk: The destiny of this pageant lies in the Kingdom of Oil
The Independent2/26/2011
The Middle East earthquake of the past five weeks has been the most tumultuous, shattering, mind-numbing experience in the history of the region since the fall of the Ottoman empire. For once, “shock and awe” was the right description.
The docile, supine, unregenerative, cringing Arabs of Orientalism have transformed themselves into fighters for the freedom, liberty and dignity which we Westerners have always assumed it was our unique role to play in the world. One after another, our satraps are falling, and the people we paid them to control are making their own history — our right to meddle in their affairs (which we will, of course, continue to exercise) has been diminished for ever.
The tectonic plates continue to shift, with tragic, brave — even blackly humorous — results. Countless are the Arab potentates who always claimed they wanted democracy in the Middle East. King Bashar of Syria is to improve public servants’ pay. King Bouteflika of Algeria has suddenly abandoned the country’s state of emergency. King Hamad of Bahrain has opened the doors of his prisons. King Bashir of Sudan will not stand for president again. King Abdullah of Jordan is studying the idea of a constitutional monarchy. And al-Qa’ida are, well, rather silent.
Who would have believed that the old man in the cave would suddenly have to step outside, dazzled, blinded by the sunlight of freedom rather than the Manichean darkness to which his eyes had become accustomed. Martyrs there were aplenty across the Muslim world — but not an Islamist banner to be seen. The young men and women bringing an end to their torment of dictators were mostly Muslims, but the human spirit was greater than the desire for death. They are Believers, yes — but they got there first, toppling Mubarak while Bin Laden’s henchmen still called for his overthrow on outdated videotapes. more.. e-mail
Greek PM: Zionism and the IMF’s Last Best Friend
James Petras, Dissident Voice2/26/2011
In the midst of the Arab uprisings throughout the Middle East, at a time when even the European (EU) has publically condemned Israel’s blockade of Gaza and its illegal land seizures in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou promised a visiting delegation of American Jewish leaders, that he would do everything possible to undermine EU opposition and promote Israeli economic, diplomatic and political interests in Europe. US Zionists, recently returned from a visit to Athens described Papandreou as by far the most amenable (‘servile’) European leader they have met in recent memory. Papandreou’s slavish submission to Israeli interests includes his promise, to a delegation of U.S. zionist notables, to use his influence to pressure the new Egyptian military junta to continue to uphold the Mubarak agreements with Israel.1 These include the continued blockade of Gaza and support of Israel’s military assaults on Lebanon, Syria and Palestinians. In other words Papandreou is openly supportive of Egypt’s past collaboration with Israeli clandestine assassinations and kidnapping of Arab militants.
Papandreou demonstrates a greater interest in promoting Israel’s exports to the European market, than the country he ostensibly represents. He promised a delegation from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations “to integrate Israel into the European market”1 while he shrinks the Greeks economy by 10% between 2009-11 and doubles unemployment from 8% to 16%. Papandreou’s gross servility to Israel and the American Zionist power structure is manifested in his cordial reception and recent agreements with Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and his foreign minister, the notorious Zionist-fascist Avigdor Lieberman — the same Lieberman who advocates wholesale expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank. No Greek Prime Minister, since the Zionist state was founded, has exhibited such a bizarre display of active collaboration with Israel’s colonial claims in the Middle East. No European leader has so eagerly anticipated and implemented the demands of American Zionist organizations with such zeal. more.. e-mail
The Continual Struggle of al-Arakib
Palestine Monitor: 27 Feb 2011 – On 17 February 2011, the special police forces accompanied officials from the Israel Land Administration to demolish the Bedouin village of al-Arakib for the 18th time since 27 July 2010. There are 45 unrecognized Bedouin communities living in Israel’s Negev, and over the past seven months the ILA has targeted al-Arakib making life nearly impossible. According to Palestinian Knesset Member, Talab al-Sana, Israel is making an example of al-Arakib in hopes to pressure the other communities to disperse voluntarily. Nevertheless, al-Arakib has remained steadfast, resisting pressure to leave the land they have worked on for thousands of years. Read more about the continual struggle of unrecognized villages in Israelmore
More material available from Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel – www.vtjp.org
To subscribe, please write to OccupationNews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OccupationNews/join
The New Dark Age 
Leave a comment