12 July , 2011 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Over Two Thousand Jewish Americans And Canadians Make Aliyah This Summer
IMEMC – Tuesday July 12, 2011 – 19:35, Twenty-five hundred Jewish Americans and Canadians are expected to immigrate to Israel this summer of 2011. The immigrants will be residing in areas with a largely Palestinian population, as part of an initiative to change the demographics of these areas.
Jordan Valley Villages Have Wells Destroyed
IMEMC – Tuesday July 12, 2011 – 17:46, The Ma’an News Agency reports that the Israeli army has destroyed wells and water pumps in 3 Jordan Valley villages on Tuesday.
Knesset Set To Vote On Law Allowing Probing Of Israeli Leftist Groups
IMEMC – Tuesday July 12, 2011 – 17:12, Just one day after the controversial Boycott Bill was passed by the Israeli Knesset the Yisrael Beiteinu faction has announced its intention to table a vote on a law setting up commissions of inquiry into left wing group’s activity in Israel, according to YNet.
Quartet Make No Progress On Talks. Palestinians On Course To Go Ahead With UN Bid
IMEMC – Tuesday July 12, 2011 – 16:17, The Quartet on the Middle East made up of the EU, UN, US, and Russia have neglected to release a statement from Mondays meeting in Washington on a way out of the impasse in peace talks between Palestinian and Israeli leadership. Israeli and Palestinian sources told Haaretz that there is no solution to the current stall in peace talks and that Palestinians are determined to push ahead with plans for a UN statehood bid in September.
Youth Abducted In Husan
IMEMC – Tuesday July 12, 2011 – 15:21, Maan news agency has reported pre dawn raids of the West Bank village of Husan near Bethlehem. Two youths, including a minor, were detained during the raid by Israeli military forces.
Gas Line From Egypt To Israel Attacked For The Fourth Time Since The Fall Of Mubarak
IMEMC – Tuesday July 12, 2011 – 12:48, The pipeline transporting gas from Egypt to Israel has been targeted for the fourth time since the fall of the Egyptian Mubarak regime in February. The attacks are a response to accusations that Egyptian authorities are selling gas to Israel below market rates. The attack was near the Egyptian town of al Arish.
“Boycott Bill” Slammed By Israeli Civil Society Groups
IMEMC – Tuesday July 12, 2011 – 11:04, Israeli opposition politicians and civil society have come out against new legislation passed Monday in the Knesset that outlaws the boycott of Israeli goods, including settlement goods, in the state of Israel. The bill has been slammed as destroying freedom of speech and destroying any remaining remnants of Israeli democracy by Israeli and Palestinian human rights and peace groups.
Soldiers destroy wells, water pumps in the Jordan valley
7/12/2011 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli forces destroyed water wells and water pumps in several villages in the Jordan Valley on Tuesday. The villages of Al-Nasaryah, Al-Akrabanyah and Beit Hassan, all situated in the Jordan Valley, had water pumps and engines confiscated. The equipment was used by farmers in the villages. Nabil Jawda, Muhammad Wahdan, and….
Israel deports 23 ‘flytilla’ activists, 58 still held
7/12/2011 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel on Monday deported 23 foreign pro-Palestinian activists who were taken into custody after flying into Israel for protests at the weekend, an official told AFP.” There are 58 remaining (in Israeli custody),” immigration service spokeswoman Sabine Hadad told AFP, adding they would be flown out as soon as there was space available….
Aliyah arrivals destined for Palestinian areas of Israel
7/12/2011 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — An Israeli organization has announced plans to bring more than 2,500 Jewish Americans and Canadians to Israel this summer, as it seeks to resettle the new arrivals in areas with high Palestinian populations. The organization, Nefesh B’nefesh, which promotes Aliyah, or Jewish-only immigration to Israel, said it would cooperate….
Israeli troops raid village in Jenin, detain 2 locals
7/12/2011 – JENIN (Ma’an) — Israeli forces detained two men on Tuesday during a raid on Burqa village, south of Jenin. The army also reportedly handed out several orders summoning locals to appear before intelligence services at Salem military camp. Mahmoud Qasrawi, 30, and Adnan Subuh, 22, were both detained by soldiers in a dawn raid….
Rights groups: Anti-boycott law is legal annexation
7/12/2011 – “The bill seeks to enforce legal protection for an illegal project” – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli human rights groups condemned on Tuesday a new law which prohibits the boycott of businesses, universities and social or cultural institutions based in Israel and settlements in the Palestinian West Bank. The law, passed Monday, is set to impose…. Related: Israel passes law banning calls for boycott and Israel settlement ‘boycott ban’ stirs controversy
Israeli forces disperse rally in Hebron, detain man in Beit Ummar
7/12/2011 – HEBRON (Ma’an) – Israeli forces dispersed on Tuesday a non-violent rally against settlement construction and closure of shops in the center of the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades and tear-gas canisters at the protestors, hurting many of them as they inhaled tear gas. Troops also closed the area….
Israel deports more ‘flytilla’ activists
7/12/2011 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel on Tuesday expelled 22 foreign pro-Palestinian activists detained after flying into Israel for protests at the weekend, and more were due to leave in the evening, an official said. Immigration service spokeswoman Sabine Hadad said that those who left during the day were put on flights to Italy, France and Austria.” Another….
Youth demonstration against Greek president visit
7/12/2011 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Youth groups have called for a demonstration on Tuesday in Manara Square, Ramallah. The groups will protest against the expected visit of the Greek president to Palestine. He is scheduled to meet with President Abbas and other Palestinian officials….
FM: Palestinians could withdraw UN bid
7/12/2011 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian leadership plans to seek recognition of statehood from the United Nations in September but would be willing to postpone the bid if peace talks restart with a clear timetable, the foreign minister in Ramallah said Monday. Riyad Al-Maliki says the Palestinians are moving forward on the plan, but that…. Related: Abbas vows to press Palestinian statehood
Hamas: Abbas obstructing reconciliation deal over PM
7/12/2011 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas official Mohammed Nasr said Tuesday that President Mahmoud Abbas was responsible for obstructing the completion of a Palestinian national unity government.” Abbas clings to Salam Fayyad as prime minister during the interim government but we refuse this nomination and we affirmed to Fatah that we have a veto against….
4.2 million Palestinians in West Bank, Gaza Strip
7/12/2011 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — On World Population Day 2011, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics announced that the total population of the Palestinian territory stood at 4. 2 million people. Some 2. 6 million live in the West Bank and 1. 59 million in Gaza, the PCBS report said. Among the other findings: More than….
Growing economy, uneven benefits
7/12/2011 – RAMALLAH (IRIN) — The Palestinian economy is growing but remains unsustainable, with large sections of the population still unemployed and trapped by rising poverty, says a new report by the International Monetary Fund. The current growth rate would not be sustainable without a further easing of the Israeli blockade of Gaza and restrictions on movement and….
Palestinian female detainee released
7/12/2011 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A female Palestinian prisoner, Nelly Safadi, has been released after 22 months in Israeli prison, a rights organization said Tuesday. Safadi was arrested at an Israeli checkpoint situated between Nablus and Ramallah. The reason for her arrest is unknown. Ufree, a European wide organization which campaigns for Palestinian prisoner rights, said….
Israel settlement ‘boycott ban’ stirs controversy
7/12/2011 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — Despite a firestorm of criticism and the advice of the parliament’s legal adviser, Israeli lawmakers have passed a bill effectively outlawing calls to boycott settlements in the West Bank. The legislation, dubbed “fascism” by one Israeli commentator, targets the efforts of artists, intellectuals and activists who have sought to protest Jewish…. Related: Israel passes law banning calls for boycott and Rights groups: Anti-boycott law is legal annexation
Ashrawi urges Quartet to change approach
7/12/2011 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — PLO leader and Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi has urged the Quartet to significantly change its approach if prospects forMiddle East peace are to be revived. The Quartet must “bring Israel to compliance, including a cessation of all settlement activities, and adopt a clear and binding timeframe for implementing agreements,” Ashrawi said…. Related: Russian envoy: No rift among Mideast Quartet
Greek president visits Palestine
7/12/2011 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Greek president Karolos Papoulias arrived in Ramallah on Tuesday as part of an official visit to the Palestinian territories. Papoulias was welcomed by President Mahmoud Abbas in his Ramallah residence as the Palestinian and Greek national anthems were played. The Greek president also visited the tomb of Yasser Arafat, laying flowers…. Related: Youth demonstration against Greek president visit
EU, PA launch campaign to increase exports to Europe
7/12/2011 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The EU and the Palestinian Authority Ministry of National Economy are organizing a conference to inform Palestinian producers on how to export to the EU, officials said Monday. EU representative Christian Berger and the PA minister of national economy, Hasan Abu Libdeh, will open the conference at the Ministry of National….
Abbas vows to press Palestinian statehood
7/12/2011 – RAMALLAH (AFP) — President Mahmoud Abbas vowed Tuesday to take the Palestinian bid for statehood to the UN after the diplomatic Quartet failed to reach a breakthrough to revive peace talks.” We will go to the United Nations and we hope the United States will not use its veto, but that we will go with its…. Related: FM: Palestinians could withdraw UN bid
Russian envoy: No rift among Mideast Quartet
7/12/2011 – WASHINGTON (AFP) — Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday brushed aside suggestions of a rift among members of the diplomatic Quartet, one day after the group met in Washington but failed to make progress toward Mideast peace talks.” It was a good meeting,” said Lavrov, one of four Quartet members to meet in…. Related: Ashrawi urges Quartet to change approach and Quartet finds slow progress in peace process
Amnesty: Boycott law ‘an attack on freedom of expression’
7/12/2011 – TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — A law passed by the Israeli Knesset making it an offence to call for a boycott against the state of Israel or its West Bank settlements is an attack on freedom of expression and will have a chilling effect on speech, Amnesty International said Tuesday.” Despite proponents’ claims…. Related: Rights groups: Anti-boycott law is legal annexation
Quartet finds slow progress in peace process
7/12/2011 – WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Middle East diplomatic Quartet found out in Washington how massively bogged down the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is, despite efforts at bringing the parties closer. Representatives of the Quartet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, declined…. Related: Russian envoy: No rift among Mideast Quartet
Erekat condemns Israel boycott bill
7/12/2011 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — PLO official Saeb Erekat on Monday strongly condemned a bill in Israel’s parliament banning all initiatives to boycott the state, including the boycott of settlement products. The Knesset’s vote to make the boycott of Israeli settlement products punishable by law “will send a clear message that Israel….
Narcotic pills seized in Tulkarem
7/12/2011 – TULKAREM (Ma’an) —Police in Tulkarem arrested a man Tuesday allegedly in possession of a large quantity of narcotic pills. Reports suggest that the man is known to police and has a history of selling prohibited drugs. The man is under investigation to find out the source of the pills….
US: Syria’s Assad has ‘lost legitimacy’
7/12/2011 – DAMASCUS (AFP) — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad had “lost legitimacy” after loyalists attacked the US and French embassies for alleged meddling in internal affairs. Angry mobs besieged the US and French missions Monday after the countries’ ambassadors last week traveled to the flash-point protest city of Hama.” President….
Egypt gas pipeline bombed; supplies cut to Israel, Jordan
7/12/2011 – CAIRO (AFP)— Saboteurs bombed an Egyptian gas pipeline in the Sinai peninsula for the fourth time since February, cutting supplies to Israel and Jordan, the official MENA news agency reported Tuesday. The blast occurred near the town of Al-Arish in the north of the Sinai peninsula, it said, adding that the ensuing “flames were up….
Egypt PM under pressure as protesters grow restless
7/12/2011 – CAIRO (AFP) — Egyptian protesters who carried Prime Minister Essam Sharaf on their shoulders to celebrate his appointment in March have now unleashed their full wrath on him for failing to deliver on promised change. Five months after president Hosni Mubarak was ousted by a popular revolt, pro-democracy activists fear their revolution is in jeopardy, and….
Possible diplomatic opening in Libyan crisis
7/12/2011 – PARIS (AFP) — French and Libyan officials on Tuesday talked up the chances of negotiating Moamer Gadhafi’s withdrawal from power and an end to the conflict wracking his country, after months of military stalemate. Gadhafi’s own prime minister told a French daily that the embattled regime was ready to begin talks with….
Victims can join probe into ex-Lebanese PM’s murder
7/12/2011 – THE HAGUE (AFP) — People harmed in the attack that killed former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri can join the legal proceedings, the tribunal investigating the 2005 killing said Tuesday.” Individuals who have suffered physical, mental or material harm can apply to participate in the proceedings as victims,” the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said in a….
House Broke Its Own Rules to Pass Palestinian-bashing Resolution
Palestine Note 12 Jul 2011 – Last week the House voted to suspend the rules and pass H. Res. 268 , a resolution strongly backed by AIPAC and others right-of-center Jewish organizations (and strongly opposed by APN). H. Res. 268 slams the Palestinians for seeking international recognition,…
Study: Israel’s wall segregates 13 percent of West Bank
Palestine Note 12 Jul 2011 – Ma’an- Israel’s separation wall will annex 773 sq. km. of Palestinian land, a study by the Applied Research Institute in Jerusalem said on the anniversary of a judicial ruling which called on Israelis to stop building. Just 6.5 percent of…
Quartet Meeting Produces Nothing, Highlighting American Failures
Palestine Note 12 Jul 2011 – This piece was originally published at LobeLog The anticipated meeting of the Middle East Quartet (the United States, Russian Federation, United Nations and European Union) took place Monday . The result was what has become pretty standard for Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy and…
Hamas organizes summer outings for poor
Palestine Note 12 Jul 2011 – Ma’an- The Hamas movement has initiated a campaign to boost the spirits of poor people in Gaza this summer. The Islamist movement says it is spending some $30,000 to arrange boat trips for about 1,000 families from the Jabaliya refugee…
France pledges $100 million to Palestinians
Palestine Note 12 Jul 2011 – Ma’an- Palestinian officials say France has pledged $100 million to support the government in Ramallah. The funds will go toward development programs, humanitarian relief initiatives and the general budget of the Palestinian Authority as well as to support several other…
PA urges patience as corruption inquiry drags on
Palestine Note 12 Jul 2011 – Ma’an- The Palestinian government in Ramallah says it is committed to accountability and transparency. But a week after its anti-corruption unit announced that the legal immunity of several ministers had been removed to make way for charges, the PA has…
4.2 million Palestinians in West Bank, Gaza Strip
Palestine Note 12 Jul 2011 – Ma’an- On World Population Day 2011, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics announced that the total population of the Palestinian territory stood at 4.2 million people. Some 2.6 million live in the West Bank and 1.59 million in Gaza, the…
Growing economy, uneven benefits
Palestine Note 12 Jul 2011 – IRIN- The Palestinian economy is growing but remains unsustainable, with large sections of the population still unemployed and trapped by rising poverty, says a new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The current growth rate would not be sustainable…
Israel to Punish Citizens, Organizations for Boycotting Settlements
Palestine Note 12 Jul 2011 – Knesset passes new law panned by opponents as ‘anti-democratic’ The Guardian – The Israeli parliament tonight passed a law in effect banning citizens from calling for academic, consumer or cultural boycotts of Israel in a move denounced by its opponents…
Egypt protesters demand Tantawi ouster
AlJazeera 12 Jul 2011 – Tahrir Square demonstrators continue push for removal of field marshal, who chairs ruling military council.
Rights group seeks Bush ‘torture’ inquiry
AlJazeera 12 Jul 2011 – Human Rights Watch issues report demanding investigation into Bush era policies “authorising torture and war crimes”.
Egypt’s deputy PM resigns amid protests
AlJazeera 12 Jul 2011 – Unpopular politician Yehia el-Gamal quits as sit-in at Tahrir Square enters fifth day.
Clinton says Assad has ‘lost legitimacy’
AlJazeera 12 Jul 2011 – US secretary of state criticises Syrian president after Assad loyalists attacked US and French embassies in Damascus.
Quartet Talks Failed, Say Israeli and Palestinian Sources
PNN – Washington – PNN – Israeli and Palestinian sources close to the US-sponsored talks have told Israeli media that the intiaitive failed on Monday night. The Quartet was represented by the foreign ministers…
Boycott Bill Passed in Knesset; Human Rights Groups Vie to Challenge It
PNN – Tel Aviv – PNN – The controversial ‚ÄòBoycott Bill’ was passed last night in the Knesset as 47 MK’s voted for and 38 against. The Bill was approved in its final reading…
UNRWA Reinstates Full Name after Outcry
PNN – Ramallah – PNN – UN agency brings back ‚ÄòReliefs’ and ‚ÄòWorks’ to its full name on its website after Palestinian protests at name change. Palestinian protests had sprung up previously as the…
Second Saboteur Strike This Month on Egypt-Israel Pipeline
PNN – Cairo — PNN — For the second time this month and the fourth time in 2011 saboteurs have blown up a gas pipeline supplying gas from Egypt to Israel. Israeli daily Haaretz…
International Solidarity Movement
Israel passes law banning calls for boycott
7/12/2011 – International Solidarity Movement – 11 July 2011, Ha’aretz – The Knesset passed Monday a law penalizing persons or organizations that boycott Israel or the settlements, by a vote of 47 to 38. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not present during the vote. MK Zeev Elkin (Likud), who proposed the law, said the law is not meant to silence…. Related: Rights groups: Anti-boycott law is legal annexation and Israel settlement ‘boycott ban’ stirs controversy
US groups condemn anti-boycott law and reiterate support for BDS
7/12/2011 – International Solidarity Movement – US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel – Read the Palestinian Boycott National Committees statement on the anti-boycott bill – Read the Boycott From Within statement on the anti-boycott bill – On Monday, 11 July 2011, the Israeli Knesset passed new legislation outlawing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement[i]; a non-partisan grassroots initiative that…. Related: US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and Palestinian Boycott National Committees statement
Solidarity at sea on board the Oliva
7/12/2011 – International Solidarity Movement – Electronic Intifada, Rana Baker – For years, Palestinian fishermen have been subject to routine attacks, shootings and arrests by the Israeli navy as they attempt to ply their trade in the seas off the coast of Gaza. A month ago, Oliva, the first boat to monitor human rights violations in the Palestinian territorial waters, was launched….
Alternative Information Center
Welcome to Palestine Activists Call for Attorneys Access, Investigation into Their Arrest
Alternative Information Center – Standing with his back to the Separation Wall, an older German man is eager to tell his story, but not his name. Participating in the “Welcome to Palestine” campaign in which some 650 activists attempted to…
At time when Middle East is coming alive, ‚Äòit is our duty to do all we can to help the parties realize peace and security’, Secretary-General tells media seminar
Relief Web 12 Jul 2011 – Source: UN Secretary-General Country: occupied Palestinian territory SG/SM/13697 PAL/2144 PI/1992 Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, as delivered by Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, to the International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East, in…
As media seminar on Middle East Peace opens in Budapest, UN communications chief cites small but vibrant people-to-people movement between Israelis, Palestinians
Relief Web 12 Jul 2011 – Source: UN Department of Public Information Country: occupied Palestinian territory , Israel PAL/2143 PI/1991 He Calls on Media Makers to Help Combat Narratives Of ‘Fear, Hostility and Violence’ that Hamper Progress (Received from a UN Information Officer.) BUDAPEST, 12 July —…
Growing economy, uneven benefits
Relief Web 12 Jul 2011 – Source: Integrated Regional Information Networks Country: occupied Palestinian territory RAMALLAH, 12 July 2011 (IRIN) – The Palestinian economy is growing but remains unsustainable, with large sections of the population still unemployed and trapped by rising poverty, says a new report…
GCC donates $15 million for refugees in Gaza
Relief Web 12 Jul 2011 – Source: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Country: occupied Palestinian territory 12 July 2011 Amman On 8 July the GCC Gaza Reconstruction Committee (through its administrators the Islamic Development Bank) signed two agreements with…
The Barrier Route in the West Bank July 2011
Relief Web 12 Jul 2011 – Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Country: occupied Palestinian territory Link: Seven years after the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Barrier: The Impact of the Barrier in the Jerusalem area Note: Map…
3 Palestinian Prisoners at Risk in Israel’s Jails
12 Jul 2011 – Palestine, (Pal Telegraph) – Director of Palestinian Prisoner’s Club (PPC) in Hebron, Amjad al-Najar said Tuesday that health conditions of three Palestinian prisoners who have been on a hunger strike for 30 days now in the Israeli Asqalan prison have seriously deteriorated.
ICJ Ruling on Illegal Wall: Seven Years On
12 Jul 2011 – Bethlehem, (Pal Telegraph) – PNN Exclusive – Tomorrow, Palestinians will commemorate the seven year anniversary of the International Court of Justices (ICJ) ruling that the Israeli built wall and settlements in the Occupied Territories were against International law and International human rights. ImageThe ICJ at that ruling on July 9th 2004 called for the dismantling of the wall and compensation…
Israeli bulldozers raze farmlands in Hebron
12 Jul 2011 – West Bank, (Pal Telegraph)-Israeli occupation bulldozers razed Tuesday seven dunums in the area of al-Buqa’a in the east of Hebron after vandalizing agricultural equipments and confiscating irrigation pipes used by Palestinian farmers.
Ahmadinejad urges Arab governments to reform
The National 12 Jul 2011 – Iranian president says: ‘The people of the region must enjoy equal rights, the right to vote, security and dignity, and no government can deprive them of freedom and justice or refuse their peoples’ demands.’
Gunmen blow up Egypt-Israel gas pipeline for fourth time this year
The National 12 Jul 2011 – Attacks blamed on Bedouin who ‘probably did it to spite the government’ over economic marginalisation and police brutality.
Bethlehem’s taps run dry as West Bank Israelis continue to fill their swimming pool
The National 12 Jul 2011 – With Israel maintaining a tight grip on supplies, a thriving black market in water has grown up as West Bank Palestinians run so short they are unable to bathe or wash their clothes.
Israel’s left to take ‘illegal’ anti-boycott law to supreme court
The National 12 Jul 2011 – As right-wingers cheer controversial legislation that penalises groups who call for boycotts of Jewish settlements in the West Bank,human rights groups said they will petition the Israeli Supreme Court to overturn the legislation as soon as next week.
Five months after winning freedom, Egyptians seem unclear what to do with it
The National 12 Jul 2011 – Egypt has been swept by revolutionary fervour, patriotism and an ongoing, though undeclared, competition for who loves Egypt the most. But while the country is long on slogans, it is short on action to put right decades of authoritarian rule, corruption and gross human rights abuses.
UN condemns attacks on French and US embassies in Syria
The National 12 Jul 2011 – Rare criticism from the Security Council as Syrian ambassador claims American and French diplomats ‘distorted and exaggerated’ the facts.
Middle East Quartet says ‘tough decisions’ needed for peace
The National 12 Jul 2011 – Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, said yesterday that he would take the Palestinian bid for statehood to the UN after the Quartet failed to reach a breakthrough.
‘Desperate’ Ahmadinejad challenges Revolutionary Guards in Iranian power struggle
The National 12 Jul 2011 – Iran’s president, seems like a man with nothing left to lose in raising the stakes in a power struggle with rival hardliners as guards reveal they have been commissioned by the judiciary to combat a ‘deviant’ current in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s office.
Anti-boycott bill sparks freedom-of-speech row in Israel
The National 11 Jul 2011 – A law that would effectively ban Israelis from calling for boycotts of any part of the Jewish state or its settlements on occupied Palestinian land has stirred fierce opposition from rights groups.
Yemen opposition calls on Saleh’s family to be removed from authority
The National 11 Jul 2011 – President’s son and nephews, currently in charge of key military and security services, ‘must go’, says Yemeni opposition as world calls on Ali Abdullah Saleh to immediately pass power over to deputy in prelude to polls.
Pro-Assad crowds try to storm US and French embassies in Damascus
The National 11 Jul 2011 – Two protesters are killed by troops in Homs, as a government-organised national dialogue conference continued despite an opposition boycott, and Syrian government supporters attempt to invade embassies in Damascus.
Palestinian envoy to Haaretz: UN bid is last chance for two-state solution
Ha’aretz – Riyad Mansour hopes to receive more than 130 votes at September UN General Assembly vote on recognition of Palestinian state even if full membership status not obtained.
Israel’s boycott law prompts rightist MKs to push bill probing NGOs
Ha’aretz – Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and MK Danny Danon announce they will bring intitiative to Knesset vote next week; Sources say initiative revived in Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu power struggle after Likud success over boycott law.
Israel’s attorney general says boycott law borders on unconstitutionality
Ha’aretz – Yehuda Weinstein says Knesset should amend law to reduce infringement of basic democratic rights; senior jurists say outcome of the law’s Supreme Court challenge difficult to predict.
Report: Iran missiles can now hit targets at 2,000 km range
Ha’aretz – Commander of Aerospace Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh says if attacked Iran can retaliate by targeting American aircraft carriers in the region; calls them ‚Äòmoving targets.’
Officials: Mideast Quartet talks failed due to disagreement over Israel as Jewish state
Ha’aretz – Western diplomats and senior officials in Jerusalem say foreign ministers of Mideast Quartet did not issue final statement on meeting over Israel’s demand that Palestinians call it a ‘Jewish state.’
PLO: U.S. responsible for ‘racist’ Israeli policies that sabotage the peace process
Ha’aretz – At meeting in Ramallah Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee says Quartet meeting outcome confirms need for Palestinians to go to UN in September; describes Israeli policy as ‘racist’ and ‘expansionary.’
Ultra-Orthodox bar women from major Jerusalem economic conference
Ha’aretz – Hamodia’s Management Forum is attended by leading Israeli companies and politicians including Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz; women not allowed to take part in any part of the conference.
Israeli researchers identify protein that may slow down pancreatic cancer
Ha’aretz – Study indicates the naturally occurring hormone klotho may be effective in future treatment of pancreatic cancer; researchers’ next goal to reduce side effects.
Two Gaza rockets strike southern Israel
Ha’aretz – One rocket causes minor damage to house in Sdot Negev Regional Council; IDF strikes Gaza tunnel on Sunday in response to rocket fire.
U.S. on Israeli boycott law: Freedom to protest is a basic democratic right
Ha’aretz – State Department says law is an internal Israeli affair but hints criticism; ADL expresses concern over new law, says it impinges on Israelis’ basic democratic rights.
Obama administration: U.S. aid to Palestinian Authority critical to Mideast stability
Ha’aretz – Statement comes after U.S. House backs resolution to consider suspending aid to PA in light of reconciliation deal with Hamas.
Is Israel ready for a SlutWalk of its own?
Ha’aretz – A protest against sexual violence and the notion that women provoke it in the way that they dress, which started in Canada in April this year, is turning global. Will it reach Israel any time soon?
56 pro-Palestinian activists still detained after trying to enter Israel
Ha’aretz – Activists who have already been sent back to Europe complain Israel mistreated them while in detention, denied access to sanitation facilities, lawyers, making phone calls.
Israeli Left launches public campaign against new law banning boycotts
Ha’aretz – Thousands of people join calls to boycott settlement products in response to the new law, which penalizes people or organizations who call for a boycott on Israel or the settlements.
Iran warns of Israeli, U.S. ‘plots’ amid Arab world unrest
Ha’aretz – President Ahmadinejad’s warnings come as countries discuss ways to quell Syrian unrest; Tehran also calls talks with nuclear watchdog ‘very positive.’
Middle East Quartet meeting ‘excellent’, says U.S. official
Ha’aretz – Representatives of the U.S., Russia, the EU and the UN dined in Washington and discussed renewing direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, but made no public statement.
IBA appeals to Supreme Court over Pizem murder broadcast
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Since Ronny Ron and Marie Pizem were sentenced last month to life in prison, Channel 1 sees no reason for information to be withheld.
Olmert’s bank accounts to be scrutinized over alleged cash
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Former PM: Talansky never transferred money to my personal account and I never asked him to.
Did Katsav’s PIs break the law?
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Police are adamant that two private investigators hired on behalf of Katsav crossed legal line by harassing witnesses, violating privacy.
Museum of Tolerance gets final go-ahead
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – The building permit was awarded by the Interior Ministry, rather than the Jerusalem Municipality, due to the sensitivity of the site.
Extensions to Mount of Olives mosque illegal, says city
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Construction continues despite municipal stop-work order; located next to rotary at main entrance to Ras el-Amud, mosque was built in 1950s.
Thousands to march through J’lem for Palestinian state
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Organizers note that the march’s route is a direct inversion of the route taken by Right-wing marchers on Jerusalem Day.
Sinai gas pipeline hit for fourth time this year
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Explosion on pipeline distributing gas to Israel occurs east of Al-Arish; security guard and his family injured in blast.
Eclipsing Tehran
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – As Bolton put it, the world might not have forgotten about the Iranian threat, but… it’s the Palestinian issue that still grabs the headlines.
The new superpowers
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Is Israel prepared to face the geo-political changes taking place in the world?
Time-bomb for the tardy
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – In My Own Write: Is there any hope for chronic latecomers?
US officials urge Arabs to resume Palestinian aid
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – State Department officials stress to Congress benefits of aid to PA including training of W. Bank security forces to go after terrorists.
Another flotilla stand-off: The audacity of hate
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – The only thing the activists want is to fan the flames of regional extremism.
The foreign workers’ ‚ÄòCatch-22′
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Rights and Responsibility: The migrant workers who choose to come to Israel are adults. It is time we started treating them as such.
Hariri: Hezbollah arms are root of Lebanon problem
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Former Lebanese PM warns against Hezbollah’s weapons, asks, “Is Hezbollah going to continue pointing arms at the Lebanese?”
Do not desecrate the image of God
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – The debate over ‘Torat Hamelech’ is a clash over the soul of Judaism.
Grapevine: The Anglo factor in volunteerism
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – An award for feminist Alice Shalvi, a French Legion of Honor for conductor Zubin Mehta, and a medal for violinist Itamar Zorman.
Muslim Brotherhood challenges Jordan’s king
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Upcoming demonstrations may usher in new, harsher phase of protests; Brotherhood may increase rhetoric on regime overthrow, says journalist.
UNSC condemns attacks on embassies in Syria
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – German UN envoy calls on Assad to protect diplomatic personnel; comments come as Syrian envoy accuses US, France of distorting facts.
Peace Now launches boycott of settlement products
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Left-wing group challenges newly passed “Boycott Law” which allows civil suits to be brought against those calling for economic boycott.
Police disperse pro-Palestinian protest in Hebron
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – IDF, who responded with stun grenades, says riot tactics were employed after march developed into a protest.
Tel Aviv’s first green hi-rise launched
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Tenants of EcoTower will save 70% on water bills, 20% on electricity; 3rd building to receive US LEED certificate for green construction.
Israel Beiteinu MK to be first to use anti-boycott law
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Miller to sue MK Ahmed Tibi for calling to “boycott Ariel, take it apart, and send away its residents.”
Economy or Israel: Which lowers Obama’s Jewish vote?
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Apparently the interpretation depends on who is answering: Democrats and Gallup say it’s the economy; Republicans say it’s Israel.
Quartet succumbed to Israeli pressure, PA says
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Erekat: Int’l community should support UN Palestinian state bid in light of Quartet failure to call for renewed peace negotiations.
Cyprus says it attempted to offload Iran blast cargo
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Gov’t claims they tried to offload dangerous Iranian weapons that were seized from Syria-bound ship in 2009 but UN gave no word on what to do.
Hundreds of new immigrants arrive in Israel
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Immigrants from as far as New Zealand, ages ranging from two-month-old baby to 81-year-old man arrive at Ben-Gurion Airport.
CITYsights: Old City’s Muslim market
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – The Old City’s marketplace in the Muslim and Christian quarters offers a wealth of culture and diversity.
High-spending Arab tourists flock to Turkey
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – With “Arab Spring” turmoil scaring visitors in the Mideast, Turkey is counting on its large coast, rich heritage to draw more visitors.
Firefighters put out blaze at New York synagogue
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – Five lightly injured in conflagration at Kehilath Jeshurun temple on Upper East Side; structure seriously damaged.
Polish native walks on Kinneret’s waters, sort of
Jerusalem Post 12 Jul 2011 – A young man managed to take a few steps on the waters of the Kinneret, before the laws of physics provided him an inevitable baptism.
Israel’s ban on boycotts faces legal challenge from civil rights groups
The Guardian 12 Jul 2011 – Wave of condemnation for new law forbidding citizens from promoting academic, consumer or cultural boycotts Israeli civil rights groups have launched legal challenges to a new law that in effect bans citizens from calling for boycotts…
McDonald’s withdraws McFalafel from Israeli restaurants
The Guardian 12 Jul 2011 – Burger chain says its version of the Middle Eastern vegetarian street food has not worked It is the standard fast food across the Middle East: balls of ground chickpeas tossed into vats of sizzling oil and…
Egyptian pipeline hit by fourth explosive attack since January
The Guardian 12 Jul 2011 – Operator to seek $8bn from Cairo over disruption to gas exports after gunmen blow up terminal a week on from last attack A large explosion has rocked Egypt’s main gas pipeline through the Sinai peninsula, cutting…
Egypt’s gas pipeline to Israel hit by saboteurs – video
The Guardian 12 Jul 2011 – An Egyptian pipeline distribution station has been blown up in the fourth attack this year on facilities supplying gas to Israel
Israel’s boycott ban is down to siege mentality | Carlo Strenger
The Guardian 12 Jul 2011 – Existential fear, confusion and ideology are behind this latest attempt by the Knesset to curb criticism and free speech The flood of anti-democratic laws that were proposed, and partially implemented, by the current Knesset, elected in…
Lebanon is slowly reconstructed, five years on from devastating war
The Guardian 12 Jul 2011 – After savage fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, parts of Lebanon thrive, while parliament is still a site of struggle On an ancient hillside in southern Lebanon, a giant digger scrapes through slate and stone…
U.S. Hardens Tone Against Assad
IPS Escalating its rhetoric against Bashar Al-Assad, the White House declared Tuesday that the Syrian president had “lost his legitimacy” but declined to call explicitly for his resignation or removal.
French Ship Carries Freedom Flotilla’s “Dignity” to Gaza
IPS The French vessel Dignité-Al Karama is the only boat from the Freedom Flotilla II actually sailing for Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade imposed in 2006. At the same time, six Spanish members of the humanitarian aid mission went on hunger strike in the Greek capital.
US-IRAN: Tensions Mount Over Iraq, Nuke Sanctions
IPS Reviving U.S.-Iran friction over Iraq may have more to do with deteriorating relations over Iran’s nuclear programme than with uncertainty over U.S. troop levels in Iraq beyond the end of this year.
MIDEAST: Palestinians Won’t Learn Israeli Lessons
IPS Widespread strikes across Palestinian civil society could be in store for East Jerusalem at the start of the next school year, as the municipality moves ahead with its current plan to implement an Israeli curriculum in Palestinian schools.
Solidarity at sea on board the Oliva
Uruknet July 12, 2011 – For years, Palestinian fishermen have been subject to routine attacks, shootings and arrests by the Israeli navy as they attempt to ply their trade in the seas off the coast of Gaza. A month ago, Oliva, the first boat to monitor human rights violations in the Palestinian territorial waters, was launched. The project was…
The story of the flotilla is not over
Uruknet July 12, 2011 – The story of the second Freedom Flotilla is not over. Israel and the international community have deployed multiple deterrent tactics, falsely accusing participants of terrorism, chemical warfare and plans to murder Israeli soldiers. Boats have been sabotaged, boarded and blockaded with crews and owners arrested. Last year’s violent assault on the Mavi Marmara, which…
Local Coordination Committees:Tuesday of Freedom for Detainees. Over 15,000 detainees and confirmed 53 detainees under torture
Uruknet July 12, 2011 – Local Coordination Committees of Syria said today that Syrian regime continues to detain peaceful protesters, activists, journalists, and bloggers across the country despite superficial lifting of emergency law. The estimated number of detainees since the beginning of the Syrian revolution is in the tens of thousands, whereas the estimated number of detainees under arrest…
Israel’s Knesset Passes Boycott Prohibition Bill
Uruknet July 12, 2011 – Israeli outrages never quit. Besides lawlessly stealing Palestine, slaughtering and dispossessing its people, occupying its remaining 22% for over 44 years, blockading Gaza, committing high-seas piracy and murder to keep out humanitarian aid, and arresting European and other human rights advocates showing up to protest, another example highlights Israel’s rogue state status. On July…
Bahrain opposition threatens to leave talks
Uruknet July 12 2011 – Bahrain’s leading opposition group threatened on Tuesday to pull out of a national dialogue aimed at reforms after weeks of protests, as it sees little chance of success. Khalil al-Marzouq, head of the delegates from the Gulf Arab country’s largest Shi’ite opposition party Wefaq, said serious reforms were unlikely to be achieved through the…
Egypt gas pipeline bombed; supplies cut to Israel, Jordan
Uruknet July 12, 2011 — Saboteurs bombed an Egyptian gas pipeline in the Sinai peninsula for the fourth time since February, cutting supplies to Israel and Jordan, the official MENA news agency reported Tuesday. The blast occurred near the town of Al-Arish in the north of the Sinai peninsula, it said, adding that the ensuing “flames were up to…
Gaza: heat stupor
Uruknet July 12, 2011 – Sometimes it’s nice that the sound of the generators blots everything else out…street traffic, watermelon sellers, honking taxis looking for fares… But usually it’s just a headache, and I feel a sense of lethargy overwhelm me. The power is out, it’s mid-afternoon, there is no breeze, the sun’s heat cuts through thin curtains… and…
Iraq snapshot – July 11, 2011
Uruknet July 11, 2011. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, Moqtada has his own big announcement, the Iraqi Air Force may be bringing back former employees, Leon Panetta has a gaffe filled visit to Iraq, and more…That is actually probably the biggest news of the week in Iraq, Al Mada reported Moqtada al-Sadr posted a…
DCI-Palestine’s monthly bulletin on child rights violations.
Uruknet July 11, 2011 – Child injured during clashes sparked by a settler attack near his village; Child injured when the truck he was travelling in was held up at gunpoint and stoned by armed settlers; DCI-Palestine issues Urgent Appeal on Settler Violence against Palestinian children….
Gaddafi Can Stay “in Another Room of the Palace” France Says NATO Bombing Has Failed
Uruknet July 11, 2011 – … As international pressure builds on the White House to call off the NATO bombing campaign, several proposals are being discussed within the African Union, the Russian and Chinese Embassy’s, and even between the “NATO rebels” and representatives of the Libya government in Tripoli. One possible scenario might be for Libya to offer Obama and…
Does the White House already have a working memo with Iraq on continued occupation?
Uruknet July 11, 2011 – Hossam Acommok and Ines Tariq (Al Mada) report that there is a confidential memo on the “semi-agreement” between the White House and Nouri al-Maliki that would keep US forces present in Iraq until 2016. The memo outlines many things including that the US will paying 1,000 dinars for every consulate, embassy, base, etc it…
The Arab Spring and Adunis’s Autumn
Uruknet July 11, 2011 – … Yet, when the revolution’s winds uprooted dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, the “revolutionary” thinker found no satisfaction in what people had done. What had taken place in these places, he said, was a “youth rebellion.” Soon after, his compatriots in Syria revolted against a ruthless dictatorial regime that had suffocated them for four decades….
UK Torture Inquiry Boycotted by Lawyers, As David Cameron Fails Again to Demonstrate an Interest in Justice
Uruknet July 11, 2011 – Last Wednesday, just before David Cameron was engulfed in the News of the World phone hacking crisis, he had the opportunity to practice demonstrating the disregard for justice that he called on in response to the Murdoch scandal, when he attempted to distance himself from his friendship with two former News of the World…
Israel Demolishes Six Structures in Area C, Destroying Livelihood of Palestinian Refugee Families
Uruknet July 11, 2011 – Today, 11 July 2011, six structures were demolished in Al Khalayla, a dislocated community of Area C on the Jerusalem side of the Barrier. The demolished structures were used for livelihood purposes by six families, of whom at least two families are refugees. Al Khalayla is inhabited by some 700 Palestinians, including 250 West…
France extends Libya mission, says political solution likely
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 French lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to extend funding for the country’s military intervention in Libya after the prime minister said a political solution to end the crisis was taking shape.
U.N. Security Council condemns embassy attacks in Syria
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 The U.N. Security Council Tuesday condemned in the strongest terms attacks by demonstrators on the U.S. and French embassies in Damascus.
Assailants target Egypt’s gas supply to Israel
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 A huge explosion rocked an Egyptian pipeline distribution station in Sinai that supplies natural gas to Israel Tuesday…
Hariri vows to topple government
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Breaking a nearly four-month silence, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri launched a blistering attack Tuesday on Hezbollah and Prime Minister Najib Mikati…
French minister to mark France’s birthday in Beirut
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 France’s Health Junior Minister Nora Berra will arrive Thursday in Beirut to take part in the July 14th celebrations which mark the anniversary of the French Revolution.
Road accident on Naameh highway injures 2 people
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Two people were severely injured in a road accident on the Naameh highway Tuesday, said the state-run National News Agency.
Elias Maalouf: the guardian of Lebanon’s bygone locomotivetrain era
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Growing up in Ecuador, Elias Maalouf heard tales of Lebanon’s trains.
Hajj Hasan heads meeting on agricultural labs
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Agriculture Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan headed a meeting Tuesday regarding agricultural and veterinary quarantine and the laboratories belonging to the ministry and the LARI (Lebanese Agriculture Research Institute).
The making of maids: Lebanon’s first specialized training center opens
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Many of Lebanon’s domestic workers, who flock to the country in their tens of thousands each year to clean and look after households…
Southern family recalls 2006 war’s ‚Äòblack days’
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Khodor Alaeddine did not know that the missiles would come after his car as he tried to help 15 passengers escape the hell created by the July 2006 war.
Daouk: National Media Council needs authority
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Information Minister Walid Daouk said Tuesday that the National Media Council should not only be an advisory authority, stressing the importance of preserving press freedom.
Hezbollah meets with Jamaa al-Islamiya
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Official delegations from Hezbollah and the Jamaa al- Islamiya held a meeting Tuesday to discuss recent developments in the country, said a statement released by the media office of Jamaa al- Islamiya.
While the Arab world is engaging in dialogue, Lebanon moves away from it
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Opposition movements in the Arab world are preparing to engage in dialogue with the rulers of tyrannical regimes to discuss transfer of power from these rulers to the people. At the same time…
STL seeks to engage bomb attack victims in upcoming trials
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Survivors of the 2005 bomb attack that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri will be able to participate in the trial of suspects, the U.N.-backed court probing the crime said Tuesday…
Aoun rules out battle over administrative appointments
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun ruled out Tuesday that high-level administrative appointments would result in a conflict within the new Cabinet…
Offshore wealth needs national protection plan
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 The committee’s appeal came a day after President Michel Sleiman warned Israel against taking any unilateral decisions to exploit Lebanon’s resources in the demarcation of disputed maritime borders…
Egyptian security forces detain 4 Americans in Suez
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 A security official says four Americans have been detained in the port city of Suez.
Factional fighting brings Yemen unrest nearer Saudi doorstep
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Factional fighting in Yemen’s north entered its fifth day Tuesday, bringing violence closer to the border with Saudi Arabia, while the United States’ top counter-terrorism official visited Sanaa.
HR group want Moroccanreferendum probed
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Morocco’s main independent human rights group demanded a judicial investigation into what it said were serious violations that affected the outcome of a July 1 referendum on constitutional reforms.
Angry Egypt protesters target army
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Egypt’s army called on protesters to avoid harming the nation on a fifth day of demonstrations that have increasingly targeted generals running the country.
NATO’s airborne fuel stations keep Libya air raids aloft
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 After hanging over the blue Mediterranean for a couple of hours, Canadian tanker pilot Steve Aston welcomed his first customers — a pair of thirsty British combat jets.
Abbas pledges to press on for statehood as Quartet silent
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 President Mahmoud Abbas vowed Tuesday to take the Palestinian bid for statehood to the U.N. after the diplomatic Quartet failed to reach a breakthrough to revive peace talks.
Israeli groups to seek overturn of boycott law
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 A new law that seeks to impede boycotts against West Bank settlements sparked a ferocious debate Tuesday — with proponents praising a new bulwark against efforts to isolate Israel and critics fearing for its embattled democracy.
Cyprus launches criminal probe into munitions blast
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Cyprus launched a criminal investigation Tuesday into the cause of a massive blast at a munitions dump which killed 12 people and destroyed the island’s largest power station.
Sadr: U.S. mocking Iraqi sovereignty
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Firebrand Shiite preacher Moqtada al-Sadr lashed out Tuesday at U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s disclosure that American forces are keeping up unilateral attacks on Iran-backed insurgents in Iraq.
U.N. struggling to cope with East Africa drought
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 U.N. officials sounded the alarm Tuesday about a growing humanitarian crisis in East Africa caused by a severe drought and fighting in Somalia, and warned that tens of thousands of children are at risk of dying.
Iran offers IAEA cooperation, but sets condition
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 The agency already has accused Iran of stalling the investigation and that has become a major source of international tension over Iran’s nuclear program.
Rafsanjani: Tehran should talk to Washington
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Iran’s former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a bitter opponent of serving President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, came out Tuesday in support of talks with Tehran’s arch foe Washington.
Iran’s president: Arab leaders must accept reform
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Arab governments to heed popular demands for reform at a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the presidential website said Tuesday.
Hariri to Assad: No one is greater than his country
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Tuesday his Future Movement sympathized with the Syrian people, saying injustice had taken place in Lebanon’s neighbor, but stressed that his party does not interfere in Syria’s affairs.
Hariri: Hezbollah, allies want end to March 14, Saad Hariri
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Tuesday that Hezbollah wanted to get rid of him and his March 14 coalition.
No compromise on truth and justice: Hariri
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Tuesday that he would not compromise on truth and justice in the case of the assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and other Lebanese who were assassinated…
Hariri: Lebanon to pay price of Hezbollah non-cooperation with STL
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Tuesday that Lebanon would pay the price if Hezbollah did not cooperate withe U.N.-backed court probing the assassination of his father, Rafik Hariri.
Hariri blasts Mikati as “Hezbollah’s surrogate”
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri launched a fierce attack on Prime Minister Najib Mikati and his recently formed government, describing the Tripoli tycoon as “Hezbollah’s surrogate.”
Hariri breaks silence, blasts Hezbollah and Mikati
Daily Star 12 Jul 2011 Saad Hariri launched Tuesday a blistering attack on Hezbollah and Prime Minister Najib Mikati and vowed not to compromise on truth and justice over his father’s assassination.
AG: Boycott Law ‘borderline’ defensible
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is set to defend the newly-instated Boycott Law before the High Court of Justice, despite his stated opinion that the law is … ….
UN envoy: Hamas enlists kids in Gaza
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – WASHINGTON — Israel’s UN ambassador, Ron Prosor, told the Security Council during a debate entitled “Children in armed conflict” that Hamas is using Palestinian children … ….
Qassam rocket damages house
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – Two Qassam rockets were fired from Gaza late Tuesday evening, exploding in Sdot Negev Regional Council. One of the rockets lightly damaged a home, exploding just a few … ….
Tolerance museum gets final OK
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – After countless delays and disagreements, the Jerusalem District Building and Planning Committee on Tuesday approved the construction of a tolerance museum near … ….
Officials: PA prevented Quartet statement
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – Israeli officials said Tuesday that the Mideast Quartet refrained from releasing a statement of its conclusions after Monday’s meeting due to Palestinian objections. … ….
Syrian goalie: Regime wants me dead
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – The goalie of Syria’s national soccer youth team, Abdulbaset al-Saroot, says the Syrian regime has placed a bounty worth more than $42,000 on his head for “establishing … ….
US to sell F-16 jets to Iraq?
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – The United States and Iraq have renewed talks over the sale of American F-16 fighter jets and aerial defense systems to Baghdad. The Wall Street Journal reported … ….
Yisrael Beiteinu advances anti-leftist bill
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – Leftist, centrist MKs outraged by bill proposing parliamentary commission probes….
Syria: Clinton’s remarks on Assad provocative
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – Damascus says legitimacy stems from ‘will of Syrian people’ while France wants….
Ahmadinejad urges reforms in Arab world
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – Iranian President urges Arab governments to heed popular demands for reform….
FM: Stop Ayoob Kara’s overseas trips
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – In official letter to PM, Lieberman accuses deputy minister Kara of meeting with….
‘Yonatan Shapira’s’ IDF case found in trash can
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – Man finds confidential IDF file inside bag with additional military equipment….
Russia: Synagogue attacked after neo-Nazi trial
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – Molotov cocktails hurled at Moscow synagogue; no injuries reported. Police….
Gunmen blow up Egyptian gas pipeline to Israel
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – (Video) At least four assailants drive away guards, blow up terminal in El-Arish….
Quartet meeting fails to achieve progress
YNet News, 12 Jul 2011 – No statement issued after meting between EU, UN, Russian and US representatives…..
Palestinian Information Center
Calls for massive sit-in as Greek president to visit PA
PIC – Calls have been made for a massive sit-in at Al-Manara Square downtown Ramallah on Tuesday to protest the visit by Greek President Karolos Papoulias to the Palestinian Authority.
IOF soldiers arrest 8 Palestinians, beat up others
PIC – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up eight Palestinians in the West Bank at dawn Tuesday half of them in Al-Khalil province, Palestinian sources reported.
20 Palestinian prisoners poisoned after eating jail meal
PIC – More than 20 Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli Negev jail were poisoned on Monday after eating meals served in the prison’s canteen, prisoners reported.
Hamas: Abbas to blame for obstructing unity government
PIC – Hamas politburo member Mohammed Nasr has held Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas responsible for obstructing the Palestinians from achieving a unity government.
IOF troops destroy six water wells in Jordan Valley
PIC – Israeli occupation forces destroyed six water wells for Palestinian farmers in Nasariya village in the Jordan Valley on Tuesday morning at the pretext of being built in area C in the West Bank.
OIC: Gaza medicine security is dying
PIC – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (the OIC) said in its monthly report that medical security in Gaza is dying and has plummeted into a crisis which is “the worst of its kind”.
IOF troops bulldoze lands in Gaza, detain citizens in a campaign on Jenin
PIC – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) mounting a number of tanks escorted two military bulldozers into Zaitun suburb to the south east of Gaza city on Tuesday morning, local sources said.
Hamas: UNRWA name restoration aimed at misleading public opinion
PIC – Hamas said Tuesday that UNRWA’s restoring the words “relief” and “works” to its official website was “inaccurate,” also calling the move “an attempt to mislead public opinion.”
Ashqar: IOA deliberately serves rotten food to prisoners
PIC – The prisoners ministry held the IOA and prison service fully responsible for the lives of the 1500 Palestinian prisoners in the Negev prison after 25 of them were the victims of food poisoning.
Hamas objects to Abbas’s welcoming of Greek president
PIC – Hamas has rejected Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s conduct in welcoming Greek President Karolos Papoulias after Greece issued a ban on Gaza flotilla ships docked at its ports.
IOA forces Jerusalemite family to raze its own home
PIC – 12/07/2011 – 08:25 AM
Egyptian gas pipeline to Israel targeted anew
PIC – 12/07/2011 – 08:28 AM
Abbas: Quartet’s Failure to Issue a Statement Indicates Its Failure to Agree
WAFA
ECHO Launches SPHERE Handbook in Arabic
WAFA
Attili Condemns Israel’s Destruction of Three Wells in Beit Hassan
WAFA
Ashrawi Calls on Quartet to Adopt Clear Position on Negotiations
WAFA
Berger: ‚ÄòHow to Export to EU’ Seminar Aims to Facilitate Palestinian Trade
WAFA
China Supports Palestinian Membership of UN
WAFA
Kazakhstan Supports Palestinian Plan to Seek UN Recognition
WAFA
Deteriorating Health Condition of 3 Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike
WAFA
Quartet Calls to Resume Talks Without Preconditions
WAFA
Israeli Knesset Passes Law against Boycotting Settlements in West Bank
WAFA
Weather Forecast: Slight Drop in Temperature Today, Rise Tomorrow
WAFA
Saudi Arabia, Zionism, Peace and the Palestinian Cause
Intifada-Palestine: 12 Jul 2011 – By Haytham A. K. Radwan — Intifada Palestine.com (Adelaide, Australia) — The attempts to destroy the Palestinian Cause have been on the drawing board of the Al Saud’s alliance with Zionism and the West for at least 63 years. Today,… more
Freedom Flotilla II: No to a Kinder, Gentler Siege
Intifada-Palestine: 12 Jul 2011 – by Nadia Hijab It was never about aid. Freedom Flotilla II is, like its assaulted predecessor of a year ago, a political act. The passengers came together in shared determination to challenge Israel’s five-year siege of Gaza and to exercise their… more
Staring into the abyss of a new Dark Age…Battle of Britain 2 is about to Begin
Intifada-Palestine: 12 Jul 2011 – by Stuart Littlewood /Intifada Palestine Churchill, in his Battle of Britain speech 71 years ago, said: “If we can stand up to him [Hitler], all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit… more
In Egypt, post-revolution harmony turns into acrimony
LA Times 12 Jul 2011 – Activists who helped oust Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February are back at Cairo’s Tahrir Square, demanding that the prime minister be replaced and that former regime members be brought to justice more quickly. Public support of the new movement is mixed. Stock prices are…
Panetta signals a new tone on U.S.-led wars
LA Times 12 Jul 2011 – The new Defense secretary makes it clear he wants to set limits — on his military commanders, on the expectations of America’s allies and on the U.S. defense budget — to get the Pentagon off a permanent war footing. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta carried…
U.S. accuses Syria of unleashing mob attacks on U.S., French embassies
LA Times 11 Jul 2011 – Syrian soldiers stood by while protesters stormed the compounds, Western officials say. Washington says the incident was an attempt to deflect international focus from Syria’s deadly crackdown on activists. The Obama administration angrily accused Syrian authorities of instigating attacks on the U.S. and French embassies…
Panetta presses Iraq for decision on U.S. troops
LA Times 11 Jul 2011 – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta wants Iraqi leaders to decide soon whether they want some U.S. troops to stay beyond the pullout date. The U.S., however, won’t be brokering talks for a deal among Iraqi factions. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told Iraq’s leaders Monday…
Visa Delays Put Iraqis Who Aided U.S. in Fear
New York Times 12 Jul 2011 – Terrorism fears in the United States are all but halting visas for Iraqis, even those who risked their lives aiding the war effort.
Revolution Dims Star Power of Egypt’s Antiquities Chief
New York Times 12 Jul 2011 – Egypt’s minister of antiquities, Zahi Hawass, was a symbol of national pride until the upheaval in his country drew scrutiny into his relationship with the Mubarak family.
Not Satisfied, Protesters Return to Tahrir Square
New York Times 12 Jul 2011 – The spirit of revolution is alive in Egypt, but debates rage over who should rule and how.
Libyan Rebels Accused of Pillage and Beatings in Towns They Captured
New York Times 12 Jul 2011 – The findings by Human Rights Watch raised the prospect of retaliatory crimes that could inflame tribal or factional grievances and further endanger civilians.
World Briefing | THE MIDDLE EAST: Egypt: Cabinet Reshuffle Promised
New York Times 12 Jul 2011 – Prime Minister Essam Sharaf announced that he would reshuffle the cabinet and try to hold public trials for former officials and officers accused of killing protesters during the revolution.
Mass protest in Egypt calls for “second revolution”
WSWS – Hundreds of thousands of workers and youth are expected to turn out to the streets today in protests dubbed “Friday of Persistence” or “The Revolution and the Poor first”.
Mass protests mark “Friday of Determination” in Egypt
WSWS – Cities across Egypt saw the largest demonstrations yesterday since the revolutionary struggles that forced the resignation of US-backed dictator Hosni Mubarak on February 11.
Germany offers bombs and military technology for war against Libya
WSWS – As NATO runs out of ammunition, Germany is offering bombs and technology for the war against Libya.
Partition of Sudan prepares way for further conflicts
WSWS – South Sudan formally declared its independence on July 9. President Barack Obama was among the first to recognise the new country. He welcomed the “birth of a new nation”.
One week left to raise your voice
Jewish Voice for Peace –
Jewish Voice for Peace Statement on Israeli Anti-Boycott Law
Jewish Voice for Peace – July 12, 2011
Israel destroys Palestinian wells in West Bank while drilling more wells for settlers
Mondoweiss – link to www.maannews.net link to www.jpost.com link to www.paltelegraph.com link to old.news.yahoo.com link to www.palestine-info.co.uk link to www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org link to www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org link to cpt.org link to www.maannews.net link to www.palestine-info.co.uk link to www.palestine-info.co.uk link to www.haaretz.com link to electronicintifada.net link to english.pnn.ps link to ca.news.yahoo.com link…
Boycott debate— in which a young, cosmopolitan, liberal-leaning Jewish man twists and writhes under the weight of half-truths and wispy contradictions
Mondoweiss – I had the privilege of attending the boycott debate in London with Eleanor Kilroy, which she wrote about here . I only wanted to add a few more points: For those of you who haven’t seen Omar Barghouti debate or speak, he is an unnaturally gifted communicator….
Notes on the Egyptian Uprising
Mondoweiss – The ripples from the January 25 insurrection continue to rock Egyptian society. On July 8, hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in squares across the country on the Friday of Determination . As Al-Ahram reports, “retribution against ‚Äòthe killers of the martyrs’ undoubtedly stands out as the…
This draconian law seeks to delegitimize nonviolent struggle
Mondoweiss – The following statement was issued today by the U.S. Committee for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel , and endorsed by five Palestine solidarity groups (named below): On Monday, 11 July 2011, the Israeli Knesset passed new legislation outlawing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, a…
‚ÄòShocked’ by tour of occupation, 11 feminists led by Angela Davis ‚Äòunequivocally’ support BDS
Mondoweiss – The following statement is titled, “A Call to Action from Indigenous and Women of Color Feminists.” Its 11 signatories are at bottom: Between June 14 and June 23, 2011, a delegation of 11 scholars, activists, and artists visited occupied Palestine. As indigenous and women of color…
Al-Khalil (Hebron): Mekorot Water Company again destroys Jaber family irrigation pipes
Christian Peacemaker Teams – Palestine – On 6 and 11 July, 2011 Atta Jaber called the Hebron CPT Office to report that the Mekorot Water Company had destroyed plastic irrigation pipes in his family’s gardens. Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, employed young Palestinians to cut the water lines and accused the Jabers…
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** 2 Internationals, 3 Israelis Beaten and Arrested in Beit Ommar
Palestine Solidarity Project 12 Jul 2011 – ***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** Two internationals and three Israelis were arrested and beaten in Beit Ommar today, when fifty demonstrators from the Palestine Solidarity Project (PSP), the Welcome to Palestine campaign, and residents of Beit Ommar convened at the secondary fence around Karmei Tsur settlement to protest…
Another Lopsided Vote in Congress
Arab American Institute 12 Jul 2011 – A couple of days ago, the House of Representatives passed H. Res. 268 with a vote of 407-6-13. As previously noted in an AAI action alert, H. Res. 268 is an anti-Palestinian bill that was introduced by Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA), blaming the failure of the…
Gaza Prime Minister meets with a senior Fatah delegation to discuss finalising the reconciliation process
Middle East Monitor 12 Jul 2011 – The Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza has met with a high-ranking Fatah delegation to discuss the finalisation of the recent reconciliation agreement. During the meeting, Ismail Haniyeh and the delegation’s head, Ruhi Fatthouh, stressed that national reconciliation is “a strategic choice” for both…
Summer holidays on Gaza’s beaches
Middle East Monitor 12 Jul 2011 – EXCLUSIVE PICTURES Palestinians in Gaza take every possible opportunity to enjoy the simple things in life that are available to them in their blockaded homeland. Every summer, thousands flock to Gaza’s beaches to take some comfort and joy from the beautiful surroundings, although clean and safe…
Israel protests about tightened security measures on its border with Egypt
Middle East Monitor 12 Jul 2011 – The Israeli ambassador to Egypt has expressed his resentment after the Egyptian authorities tightened security measures at the Taba border crossing between the two countries. Ambassador Yitzhak Levanon filed an official complaint with Cairo’s Foreign Ministry after Egyptian border guards stationed at the border post carried…
UN OCHA launches Report marking seven years since Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Barrier
Middle East Monitor 12 Jul 2011 – The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has launched a new report, “Seven years after the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Barrier: The Impact of the Barrier in the Jerusalem area”. This is the fifth year that OCHA…
Syria condemns Clinton comments
BBC 12 Jul 2011 – Syria condemns as “provocative” a statement by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that President Bashar al-Assad has lost legitimacy to rule.
Egypt sit-in despite concessions
BBC 12 Jul 2011 – Thousands of Egyptians are protesting in Cairo to demand faster political reform, despite warnings and fresh concessions from Egyptian officials.
Chuetas ruled of Jewish descent
BBC 12 Jul 2011 – A group of residents on the Spanish island of Mallorca forced to convert to Christianity 600 years ago are of Jewish descent, a senior Israeli rabbi rules.
Netanyahu Panics When Folks Like Kathy Kelly Come to Visit Palestine by Sea or By Air
Sabbah report 12 Jul 2011 – Netanyahu’s panic response to flytilla instead of letting the party go forward. Israel put a “no fly” list of “peace and justice” passengers believed to be “threats” to Israel’s security.
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US Campaign to End the Occupation 12 Jul 2011 – July 12, 2011
Articles
Gaza flotilla, ‘flytilla’ and the prospect for civil society action
Gilad Atzmon, Redress7/12/2011
It might be argued that the passing week was not very easy on the Palestinian solidarity movement. Firstly, an international peaceful flotilla aiming to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza did not manage to leave Greek ports. The Greek government had surrendered submissively to Israeli pressure and American Jewish organizations, and blocked the naval enterprise.
Secondly, an international attempt to fly hundreds of activists from all over the world to the West Bank also partially failed, as the Israeli government had managed to mount just enough pressure to make sure that the project fell apart before it became airborne. (Those activists that did make it to Israel were very quickly detained and given deportation orders.)
Though it may seem as if the Palestinian solidarity movement suffered a blow, it is actually Israel that was harshly beaten here, for Israel has managed to expose its level of hysteria: it seems that eight old yachts and a few hundred easyJet passengers have managed to shake the entire Israeli society. Now try to imagine the potential impact of hundred of thousands of Palestinian refugees marching to their homes in Jaffa, Acre, Lod, Ramle, Haifa, Beersheba and Jerusalem.
I guess that the picture is more clear than ever — Israel doesn’t stand a chance. Its fate is doomed. It is just a question of time. It is not a matter of “if” but a question of “when”.
But the truth of the matter goes slightly deeper. Both the flotilla and the flytilla are exemplary cases of civil society campaigns — they were intended to mobilize international public support using peaceful and democratic means.
Neither campaign was aimed at harming Israel’s security in any way. Rather, the purpose of both campaigns was to draw the world’s attention to the situation in Gaza and the West Bank…. more.. e-mail
A new revolution in the making
Henry Norr, Al-Ahram Weekly7/7/2011
As Americans celebrated their revolution, passengers on US boat to Gaza called for new US Declaration of Independence – from Israel.
Eleven score and fifteen years ago, our Forefathers declared independence from Britain. We, the passengers on the SS Audacity of Hope, call for a new American Declaration of Independence.
So declared patriotic Americans from the decks of their ship which aims to relieve the siege of Gaza by Israel. It is currently confined to a Greek military pier near Athens, while its captain sits in jail.
Like the Founders in Philadelphia, the passengers detained in Greece recognise that, “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them to another, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
Just as the Founders cited “a long train of abuses and usurpations” committed by the British, the Audacity of Hope passengers detailed the Israeli abuses motivating their call for US independence:
For generations Israel has engaged in a systematic campaign to dispossess Palestinians of their lands and drive them from their ancestral homes.
Since 1967 Israel has occupied East Jerusalem the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights in open defiance of UN Security Council resolutions and the Geneva Conventions. Residents of these occupied territories have been subjected to numerous forms of mistreatment, including military attacks, arbitrary arrests, home demolitions, and the confiscation of vast areas for the construction of illegal Jewish-only settlements and roads. more.. e-mail
The iron wall
Tamar Hermann, Bitter Lemons6/1/2011
Since the Saudi peace initiative (later rebranded the Arab Peace Initiative) was put on the table in 2002, it is repeatedly referred to by Palestinian and Arab speakers, by international leaders and commentators and by Israeli activists and experts (mostly of the political left) as unequivocal and convincing evidence of the fundamental flaw in the Israeli mainstream’s current narrative of “no partner, no chance for peace” and as a major shift in Arab regional strategy. Paradoxically, however, the API has not become a major topic in the Israeli public discourse. In fact it has turned into a phantom in the internal debate over the future of Israeli-Palestinian and Israel-Arab relations.
It is not that the Israeli Jewish public is unaware of the API; in a March 2007 Peace Index Poll (PIP) following the initiative’s reaffirmation in Riyadh, 62 percent of Israeli Jewish interviewees said that they had heard about it. In this survey, the public was divided over the API, with a large minority considering it promising: 45 percent of the respondents saw it as a possible basis for an agreed solution while 47 percent were of the opposite opinion.
The question, then, is why the Israeli public is turning a blind eye to this initiative. Like it or not, the API has gotten much attention elsewhere, and there are more than a few indications that Israelis are interested in peace if only for the sake of their own security and wellbeing.
Much has already been written about various Israeli governments persistently ignoring the API, suggesting that this might have had an effect on the general public’s attitude. This is too easy an answer, however, because the Israeli public is far from automatic about adopting its leaders’ views on peace and security issues. Another explanation has therefore to be sought. I would suggest that this act of willfully ignoring the API has to do with a cognitive “iron wall”—adopting Zeev Jabotinski’s famous metaphor—standing between the Israeli-Jewish public and the Middle East as a whole. This wall is penetrated only by specific signals coming from the other side: the threatening and negative ones. more.. e-mail
Strikes likely as Israel forces curriculum on East Jerusalem schools
Electronic Intifada: 12 Jul 2011 – Jillian Kestler-D’Amours The Electronic Intifada Jerusalem Widespread strikes could be in store for East Jerusalem at the start of the next school year as an Israeli-controlled municipality moves ahead with its plan to implement an Israeli curriculum in Palestinian schools.more
Palestinians mark third year of Gaza “buffer zone” protests
Electronic Intifada: 11 Jul 2011 – Eva Bartlett The Electronic Intifada Beit Hanoun Every week a group of Palestinians risks death and injury by protesting at land confiscations near the Gaza-Israel boundary.more
The story of the flotilla is not over
Electronic Intifada: 11 Jul 2011 – Ewa Jasiewicz The Electronic Intifada Israel and the international community have deployed multiple deterrent tactics to try to thwart the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. But is it working? Ewa Jasiewicz comments for The Electronic Intifada.more
The Case of Rachel Corrie: Colonel Pinky’s Last Stand
Palestine Chronicle: 12 Jul 2011 – By Hatim Kanaaneh The last session of the Rachel Corrie court case in Haifa had been repeatedly postponed on account of the weightiness of the witness. Colonel Pinhas Zuaretz, better known by his nickname, Pinky, was the commanding officer of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade at the time the late peace activist was killed. I decided to display my solidarity with my fellow countryman, to wear my heart on my sleeve so to speak. Lacking pink in my wardrobe I donned the loudest Aloha shirt I had with large off-pink flowery pattern. Pinky turned out to be weighty indeed: a rotund, dark-skinned, middle-aged man with closely cropped salt-and-pepper scalp, thick black eyebrows and bulldoggish jowls. Despite the reassurance of our shared Semitic features, his presence evoked in me the same gut-level discomfort I had always sensed whenever seeing Ariel Sharon or our current foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman. Don’t jump to…more
Zionists in Our Midst: Battle of Britain II
Palestine Chronicle: 12 Jul 2011 – By Stuart Littlewood Churchill, in his Battle of Britain speech 71 years ago, said: ‘If we can stand up to him [Hitler], all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age, made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science…’ Today those “broad, sunlit uplands” of Churchill’s are again shrouded in storm-clouds. Zionist infiltrators have succeeded where Hitler failed. The difference now is that the enemy’s invasion forces are not massing across the Channel. They are already here in our midst and we are indeed on the brink of a new Dark Age, as the ruthless conspiracy masterminded by foreign interests expands its influence by stealth…more
Israel Anti-boycott Law Attack on Freedom of Expression
Palestine Chronicle: 12 Jul 2011 – By Amnesty International A law passed by the Israeli Knesset (parliament) making it an offence to call for a boycott against the state of Israel or its West Bank settlements will have a chilling effect on freedom of expression in Israel, Amnesty International said today. The controversial law, passed on Monday night, makes it a civil offence to call for an economic, cultural, or academic boycott of people or institutions in Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) for political reasons. Anyone making such calls could face a lawsuit and other financial penalties. Sponsors of the bill, originally proposed in July 2010 by Knesset member and coalition chairman Ze’ev Elkin, have made it clear that one of the main aims of the law is to penalize those using boycott calls to campaign against Israel’s illegal settlements in the OPT or highlight the ongoing violations of Palestinian rights caused by the…more
Playing with Political Fire
Dissident Voice: 12 Jul 2011 – The timing of political manoeuvring often reveals the stark business of domination. Sometimes the timing is flagrant, like the recent commotion in Greece. In the very hours of forbidding the passage of the aid flotilla to Gaza, the financially strapped Greek government welcomed the approval of an €8.7 billion aid payment from the European Union. With Israel’s position as an EU-groupie, even the Associated Press couldn’t resist smirking at Greece’s underlying ‚Äòincentive to cozy up to its rich Mediterranean neighbor’. Political manoeuvring also thrives on more subtle timing, as for example in the case of the notorious indictments of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Widely announced as imminent in December 2010, they somehow found themselves on the backburner when the Arab uprisings claimed every corner of Middle East news coverage. Some six months later, on the heels of the formation of a Lebanese government non-hostile to the targeted Hezbollah—in the…more
By Torpedoing the Gaza Flotilla, Israel Sank Its Own Ship
Dissident Voice: 12 Jul 2011 – Instead of high-fiving each other for their success in thwarting the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Israeli officials should be throwing overboard the propaganda hacks who catapulted the flotilla into headline news for weeks and left Israel smelling like rotten fish. Last year, when the Israeli military killed nine aboard the Turkish ship, the incident made waves around the world. But in previous years, the same international coalition had sent boats to Gaza five times, successfully reaching their destination with a symbolic shipment of humanitarian aid. No blood, no military interception, no story. That’s why the advice of many of Israel’s best buddies, including the lobby group AIPAC, was to just ignore the flotilla. But, no, the Israeli government refused to listen and instead announced with great bravado that it was prepared to stop the flotilla with lethal force—including snipers and attack dogs. Smelling blood, the media frenzy began. Before even leaving…more
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The New Dark Age 
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