13 February 2012 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Court Confirms Sentencing Of Ailing Hunger-Striking Detainee
IMEMC – An Israeli Military Court rejected on Monday evening the appeal that was filed by the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) against a military order confining ailing detainee, Adnan Khader, who has been on hunger-strike since 59 days protesting his illegal imprisonment. …
Israeli Court Forbids Nablus Mosque from Using Loudspeakers
IMEMC – The Israeli Supreme Court issued a preliminary ruling, forbidding Burin village mosque, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, from using loud speakers, and even from using lights on the mosque’s minaret. …
Israeli Navy Kidnaps Four Fishermen
IMEMC – The Israeli Navy kidnapped four Palestinian fishermen on Monday morning, after attacking their boats in Palestinian waters north of the Gaza Strip, and near the Gaza Port. …
Israeli Bulldozers Destroy Playground in Silwan
IMEMC – Israeli bulldozers from the Jerusalem Municipality destroyed a playground on Monday morning, in Wadi Hilweh area , in Silwan of East Jerusalem, and also removed the protest tent in Silwan. …
Troops Detain Five Residents at a Settlement Near Jenin
IMEMC – On Sunday evening, Israeli soldiers kidnapped five Palestinian residents from Ya’bod village, south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, and held them for several hours at the Mabo Dothan settlement, in the Jenin district. …
Four Injured After Troops Break into Palestinian Home in Jerusalem
IMEMC – Palestinian medical sources in Jerusalem reported that four residents were wounded on Sunday evening, when Israeli troops and policemen broke into a Palestinian home of a former political prisoner, in Al-Esawiyya town, in East Jerusalem. …
Israeli demolition ‘displaces 120’ in Hebron village
2/13/2012 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces demolished 22 buildings in a Palestinian village south of Hebron on Monday, displacing 120 villagers, residents told Ma’an. Twenty Israeli military vehicles accompanied bulldozers to raze the 16 domestic tents and six animal shelters in Khirbet al-Rahwa, they said. Villager Salim Salem al-Tal told Ma’an….
Israeli court rejects Adnan appeal, 23 injured at protest
2/13/2012 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — An Israeli military court rejected the appeal of hunger-striking prisoner Khader Adnan on Monday, as 23 people were injured in a nearby protest against his continued detention. Israel’s Ofer military court ruled against Adnan’s appeal of his four month administrative detention order. The Islamic Jihad leader has…. Related: Prisoners minister: Adnan ruling shows negotiations failed
Militant killed in the Gaza Strip
2/13/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The An-Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades told Ma’an Sunday evening that one of their members had been killed in an operation in the Gaza Strip. The group, which is affiliated with the Popular Resistance Committee, did not specify how Ali Juma Abu Athira died….
Israel arrests 10 ‘wanted’ men
2/13/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces detained 10 people overnight Sunday and Monday morning, witnesses and the army said. Two men were arrested in Nablus, four in Ramallah, one west of Bethlehem, two in Tubas and one near Jericho, an Israeli army spokeswoman said. All the men were said to be “wanted” by security forces….
Official: Gaza faces 18 hour power cuts
2/13/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Gaza will soon have only six hours of electricity per day if more fuel is not delivered to the blockaded strip, an energy official said on Monday. Gaza power authority official Ahmad Abu al-Amaren said a small delivery of fuel on Monday staved off a wide-scale blackout, but the authority….
Report: Israeli govt oks new settlement for Migron outpost
2/13/2012 – TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Settlers from the illegal outpost of Migron said Monday that they had reached a deal with the Israeli government to relocate their homes inside the occupied West Bank. Israel’s High Court of Justice had ordered Israeli settlers in the Migron outpost near West Bank city Ramallah to….
Police: Israel encourages drugs trade in Gaza
2/13/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip on Monday accused Israel of encouraging the drugs trade in the coastal enclave. Director of the anti-drugs police in northern Gaza Ashraf al-Bayari said Israel deliberately sends large quantities of drugs to the Gaza Strip “in order to blackmail youths and trick them into….
Israeli forces detain youth from north, south villages
2/13/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces detained three youths in the Qalqiliya village of Jayyus overnight Saturday, residents told Ma’an. Soldiers seized the son of the village mayor Jala Tahir, 19, and the mayor and his wife were injured in the raid on their home, witnesses said, adding that Tahir’s mother….
Israel’s navy detains 4 Gaza fishermen
2/13/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli forces detained four Gazan fishermen overnight Sunday and Monday morning, Ma’an’s correspondent said. Israel’s navy seized Jamal al-Sultan, 60, and his son Fadel, 22, on Monday in the northern Gaza Strip. On Sunday, naval forces detained Adham Mahmoud Abu Riyaleh, 22, and his….
UNRWA to stop financial aid to impoverished families
2/13/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The United Nations Relief and Works Agency said Monday that it will not be able to continue cash allowances for impoverished families in the Gaza Strip. UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said a program providing 40 shekels to each individual in poor families will have to be cut after April….
Prisoners minister: Adnan ruling shows negotiations failed
2/13/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian Authority Minister of Detainee Affairs Issa Qaraqe said Monday the PA is racing against time to pressure Israel to release hunger-striking prisoner Khader Adnan. An Israeli military court rejected Adnan’s appeal against his four month administrative detention order on Monday, after he entered his 58th day on hunger…. Related: Israeli court rejects Adnan appeal, 23 injured at protest and URGENT: Heed Randa Adnan’s call. Military court rejects Khader Adnan’s appeal in de facto death sentence
Witnesses: Settlers break car windshield with stones
2/13/2012 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — A group of settlers attacked a Palestinian car near the Hebron settlement of Kiryat Arba on Sunday evening, witnesses told Ma’an. Settlers threw stones at the car of Hamza al-Takrory’s car, breaking the windshield. Hamza passed out during the incident and was taken to a nearby clinic….
‘Electronic war on Palestine’ since UNESCO membership
2/13/2012 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The head of the Palestinian telecommunications provider said Sunday that hackers have escalated cyber attacks on Palestinian websites and internet servers since Palestine joined UNESCO three months ago. In comments on PA TV program ‘Facing the Media’ Paltel Chief Executive Ammar al-Ikir said: “There is an electronic war against….
PA security guard rabbis on visit to Joseph’s Tomb
2/13/2012 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli rabbis visited Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus last Thursday guarded by Palestinian Authority forces, in the first such security coordination of its kind.” The PA considers Joseph’s Tomb a historic site which everybody has the right to access as long as they comply with Palestinian instructions and….
Gazan student protests ’50 days in Egypt jail’
2/13/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A Palestinian student imprisoned for 50 days in Egypt appealed to Palestinian leaders on Monday to resolve his case. Rami Nimnim, 32, from Gaza City, wrote to the leadership via relatives saying he was being held in a section of al-Qanatir prison in Cairo for foreigners residing illegally in the….
Israel says bombs target embassies in India, Georgia
2/13/2012 – JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Bombers targeted staff at Israel’s embassies in India and Georgia on Monday, wounding four people, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of involvement. The New Delhi bomb wrecked a vehicle with diplomatic plates and Israel’s parliamentary television channel said the wife of….
Gaza protests Syria crackdown
2/13/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Palestinians gathered to condemn the Syrian regime’s violent crackdown on demonstrations in Gaza City on Sunday, as Syrian forces continued their bombardment of protest center Homs. Dozens of Gaza protesters assembled in the city’s Square of the Unknown Soldier, chanting “Homs is being slaughtered just like….
Hamas chiefs wrestle with split over Abbas premiership
2/13/2012 – GAZA CITY (Reuters) — The two top leaders of Hamas failed to resolve an internal crisis over a reconciliation pact with the rival Fatah movement of President Mahmoud Abbas at secret talks in Qatar on Sunday, a diplomat in the region said.” (Hamas chief) Khalid Mashaal and (Gaza Premier) Ismail Haniyeh met last night in Qatar….
Gaza runner ready to fly Palestinian flag in London
2/13/2012 – GAZA CITY (Reuters) — Gaza runner Bahaa al-Farra treads carefully, braving the elements and potholed roads ravaged by years of conflict between Palestinian militants and the Israeli army, as he prepares to race at the London Olympics. The 19-year-old trains for three hours a day in Gaza’s Yarmouk soccer stadium, along the dusty….
Soldiers arrest 5 in Jenin
2/13/2012 – JENIN (Ma’an) — Israeli forces raided a construction site in the Jenin village of Yaabad on Sunday evening and detained five people, witnesses told Ma’an. Subhi Ali Abu Bakr said that Israeli soldiers detained his sons Firas, 26, and Muhammad, 24, along with three laborers who were working in a building under….
Nablus murderer hands himself in to police
2/13/2012 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — A man accused of killing two men in Nablus last week gave himself up to police on Monday. The assailant surrendered himself to the deputy mayor of Nablus, Anan al-Atira, who took him to the district’s police station, a statement said. Two men were shot dead on Wednesday after….
23 killed in Homs as bombardment resumes
2/13/2012 – AMMAN/CAIRO (Reuters) — Syrian forces resumed their bombardment of the city of Homs on Monday after Arab countries called for UN peacekeepers and pledged their firm support for the opposition battling President Bashar Assad. Opposition campaigners said tank fire was concentrated on two large Sunni Muslim neighborhoods that have been at the forefront of opposition….
Russia says studying Arab-UN peacekeeping mission to Syria
2/13/2012 – MOSCOW (Reuters) — Russia is studying an Arab–UN proposal to send a peacekeeping mission to Syria but wants more details and says violence should end before any such mission takes place, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday. Lavrov repeated at a news conference Russia’s message that international pressure to end nearly a year….
Tunisia says breaks Islamist ‘terrorist’ unit
2/13/2012 – TUNIS (Reuters) — Tunisia has broken up a “terrorist organization” with links to al-Qaida and arrested 12 members, some of whom had received military training in Libya and were seeking to set up an Islamic state, Interior Minister Ali Larayed said on Monday. Larayed, a senior member of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party that now leads….
Clashes in southeast Libya kill 5
2/13/2012 – TRIPOLI (Reuters) — At least five people have been killed in clashes between rival tribes over control of territory in the far southeast of Libya, officials said on Monday, highlighting the challenge of policing the country’s sparsely populated desert. Violence broke out on Sunday in the remote city of Al Kufra and continued into….
UN: Diplomatic inaction fueling Syria crackdown
2/13/2012 – AMMAN, Jordan (Reuters) — The UN human rights chief blamed disagreement in the Security Council on Monday for encouraging the Syrian government to step up attacks on opposition strongholds in its campaign to crush an uprising against President Bashar Assad’s 11-year rule. Russia and China on Feb. 4 vetoed a European-Arab draft resolution….
Israel blames Iran for embassy attacks
AlJazeera 13 Feb 2012 – Tehran denies involvement and accuses Israel of carrying them out itself in India and Georgia.
Israel denies appeal of jailed hunger striker
AlJazeera 13 Feb 2012 – Khader Adnan, alleged leader of armed Palestinian group, has rejected food to protest detention without charge.
International Solidarity Movement
012!
2/13/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – 10 February 2012, Palestinian BDS National Committee – Commemorating Land Day, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) invites people of conscience around the world to unite for a BDS Global Day of Action on 30 March 2012 in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom, justice and equality and for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until…. Related: Palestinian BDS National Committee
Golani Brigade Report: Incidences involving the detention, intimidation, abuse, or arrest of children and youth.
2/13/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – 13 February 2012, International Solidarity Movement and Christian Peacemaker Teams – Since the arrival of the Golani Brigade in Hebron on December 27th, international accompaniment organizations (Christian Peacemaker Teams, International Solidarity Movement, and others) have documented an increase in the number of serious human rights violations against the Palestinian people, particularly youth and children in the…. Related: Christian Peacemaker Teams
Randa Adnan: The world must intervene to save my husband
2/13/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – By Joe Catronm, 13 February 2012, Mondoweiss – As Khader Adnan entered his 59th day on hunger strike, his wife Randa appealed for the international community to end his isolation and save his life.”My husband is dying inside an Israeli jail. The world should make sure I am able to see him,” she said.”And…. Related: URGENT: Heed Randa Adnan’s call. Military court rejects Khader Adnan’s appeal in de facto death sentence and 012/02/randa-adnan-the-world-must-intervene-to-save-my-husband.html
URGENT: Heed Randa Adnan’s call. Military court rejects Khader Adnan’s appeal in de facto death sentence
2/13/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – 13 February 2012, Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network – -My husband is dying inside an Israeli jail. The world should make sure I am able to see him,” she said. “And it should pressure the Israeli government to release him before it’s too late… Israel denied Khader any fairness or decency…But maybe the rest of…. Related: Randa Adnan: The world must intervene to save my husband and Israeli court rejects Adnan appeal, 23 injured at protest
Afghanistan: Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (A/HRC/19/58)
Relief Web 13 Feb 2012 – Source: UN General Assembly , UN Human Rights Council Country: Afghanistan , Bahrain , Bangladesh , Burundi , Cameroon , Chad , Colombia , Congo (the) , Côte d’Ivoire , Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (the) , Democratic Republic of the Congo (the) , Egypt , Eritrea , Ethiopia , Haiti , Indonesia , Iraq , Kenya , Libya ,…
012
Relief Web 12 Feb 2012 – Source: African Union Country: Burundi , Central African Republic (the) , Comoros (the) , Côte d’Ivoire , Democratic Republic of the Congo (the) , Egypt , Eritrea , Ethiopia , Guinea , Guinea-Bissau , Liberia , Libya , Madagascar , Nigeria , occupied Palestinian territory , Somalia , South Sudan (Republic of) , Tunisia , Uganda CONFÉRENCE DE…
UAE: speak in one voice on Syria, end violence
The National 13 Feb 2012 – Military option is not the answer, says UAE minister of foreign affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Iran and Azerbaijan in spy feud
The National 13 Feb 2012 – Tensions are rising between Tehran and Baku amid mutual accusations that each has sponsored terrorist activities on the other’s soil.
Sisters on hash and pill charges kept in prison
The National 13 Feb 2012 –
Top court bans use of ‘Mecca’ as brand name
The National 13 Feb 2012 –
Product of France … made in the UAE
The National 13 Feb 2012 –
Official predicts more power given to the FNC
The National 13 Feb 2012 – Member says gradual steps should lead to expansion in electoral roll
Italy’s cream of the crop comes to Dubai
The National 13 Feb 2012 – Giolitti due to open within the next few weeks at Emaar Boulevard
Cleaners get in under the surface
The National 13 Feb 2012 – Deep in an Omani cave, 17 people come up with 80 kilos of rubbish.
Brave boatman suffers serious burns
The National 13 Feb 2012 – The operator of a leisure boat suffered severe burn injuries after trying to extinguish a blaze that erupted on the vessel.
University plans to hire out its new facilities
The National 13 Feb 2012 – With funding shortfall and no separate budget for maintenance, Zayed University hopes on demand for conference hall and sports centre
Bank credit checks ‘will start this year’
The National 13 Feb 2012 – Minister gives FNC assurance after delays
Turkey spy linked to Syrian refugees’ abduction and return for reward
The National 13 Feb 2012 – Five people have been detained for allegedly abducting a former Syrian military officer from a refugee camp in southern Turkey and sending him back to Syria, where he was reportedly executed last month.
Sources: Israel not expected to respond harshly to India, Georgia attacks
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Israeli wounded in attack near Israeli embassy in New Delhi released from hospital
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Israeli wounded in attack near embassy in New Delhi released from hospital
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
New Delhi attack reflects Iran’s limited capabilities
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Israel rejects appeal of Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Director Claude Lanzmann denies sexual harassment charges
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
First hearing in Holyland case opens in Tel Aviv court
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Israel’s trains grind to a halt as union announces strike
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Top IDF official defends Israeli social protesters
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Israel approves new East Jerusalem visitors’ compound, razes Palestinian community center
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Witnesses in New Delhi say motorcyclist attached bomb to Israeli’s car
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
TIMELINE: From Beirut to Argentina – the life of a global terrorist
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Anshel Pfeffer / No surprises in India and Georgia attacks
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
eBay sale of ‘Western Wall stones’ prompts outcry in Jewish world
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Profile: Who was Imad Mughniyeh?
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Netanyahu: Iran behind attack on Israeli officials in New Delhi
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Lieberman: Israel will not tolerate an attack on its diplomats abroad
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Wife of Israeli diplomat wounded in car blast near New Delhi embassy
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Hamas’ Haniyeh: Armed resistance is the only way to fight Israel
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Israel nuclear reactor sent unprotected workers to search for uranium ore, lawsuit claims
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Syria rejects Arab League call for UN peacekeepers, resumes assault on Homs
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Report: Mossad chief’s secret U.S. visit meant to gauge American response to Israeli attack on Iran
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Iran preparing ‘suicide boats’ in case of Strait of Hormuz conflict, U.S. official says
Ha’aretz – 13 Feb 2012
Demjanjuk trial lawyer: Germany lacks funds to go after Nazi criminals
Ha’aretz – 12 Feb 2012
IDF brigade leaves an impression in Hebron
Ha’aretz – 12 Feb 2012
Israel bars Al-Quds University doctors from practicing in East Jerusalem
Ha’aretz – 12 Feb 2012
Israel’s social protests undermined military training, says IDF reserve commander
Ha’aretz – 12 Feb 2012
Israeli Arab women’s reports of physical and sexual violence increase by 20%
Ha’aretz – 12 Feb 2012
Israeli cabinet okays NIS 830m for Dead Sea tourism, environment
Ha’aretz – 12 Feb 2012
Green groups dissatisfied with Dead Sea budgets
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Groups decry five-year, NIS 830 million budget for Dead Sea environmental protection and tourism.
Inspectors confiscates fishy contraband
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Agriculture Ministry’s Fisheries Department confiscates a smuggled shipment of illegal predator fish.
Western Wall stones on sale at eBay
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – ‘Commercial use of holy items is akin to embezzlement from God’
Sa’ar: Free education for most 3-, 4-year-olds
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Free schooling to start in September; education Ministry gets NIS 1.3b. boost to build 500 preschool classrooms.
Pillay: UNSC failures embolden Syria gov’t
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – UN rights chief slams Syria for assault on Homs; Clinton meets Turkish FM, voices concerns over feasibility of League plan.
Families: Yishai not to blame for Carmel fire
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Bereaved families say operational command of the police and Prisons Service responsible for deaths.
Military judge denies appeal by hunger striker
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Palestinian detainee currently in the 58th day of a hunger strike.
Clinton sees ‘challenges’ for Arabs’ Syria plan
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – US Secretary of State voices commitment to free flow of emergency assistance to Syria in meeting with Turkish FM.
Panel approves tourism center in Silwan
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Complex to have parking, shops, museums and cafeteria; Activists worry that project will ignore Arab history.
Proposal for Syria peacekeepers finds few takers
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Russia balks, West hesitant after Arab League suggests joint mission with UN; 10-day death toll in Homs exceeds 300.
Haniyeh calls Israel ‘cancer that’s threatening to spread’
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Rounding up a three-day visit to Iran, Hamas prime minister says Israel remains “main enemy” of Arab, Islamic world; reiterates Hamas refusal to recognize, compromise with Israel; denies tension with Iran over Assad.
Embassy blast mars New Delhi street’s calm
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – The irony is that only a handful of radicals know who Mughniyeh was, or care what happened to him.
The Greek example
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – In the context of the social justice movement, it is instructive to learn from Greece, a country facing economic collapse.
Candidly Speaking: Ice cream and conversion
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Many observant Jews are exasperated with the determination of a haredi rabbinate to impose their stringent lifestyles on the entire nation.
Free preschool may not be a golden ticket
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Although the goal of the reform may be laudable, it is not clear that it will benefit our children, and may in the long have harmful effects.
Light Rail revolution?
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Jerusalemites like me, now have no other commuting choice.
Poll: US Catholics lean slightly toward Romney
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – About 4 in 10, or 37%, of Catholic voters approve of Democratic President Barack Obama’s performance, 48% disapprove.
Does ‘Death of Klinghoffer’ romanticize terror?
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – No Holds Barred: English National Opera is set to begin staging a production based on the tragic Achille Lauro hijacking by the PLO.
‘Split in Hamas is frustrating Palestinian unity gov’t’
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is waiting for confirmation from Hamas to implement Doha deal, senior Fatah member Nabil Sha’ath tells Ma’an.
‘Split in Hamas is frustrating Palestinian unity’
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – PA President Abbas waiting for Hamas confirmation to implement Doha deal, senior Fatah member Sha’ath tells Ma’an.
Shylock – to ban or not to ban?
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Jewish theater troupe in ironic tug of war with an anti-Israel group who wants to shut down a production of the Merchant of Venice.
Yahad and the British Jewish community
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Borderline Views: London’s Jewish Book Week has become one of the most important cultural events in the calendar of the British Jewish community.
The global repercussions of the Arab uprising
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Freedom House has described the Arab uprising as an event of potentially transformational importance.
Overstating Israel’s ‘internal Arab problem’
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – It is important to ensure that the existing institutionalized channels for Arab political mobilization remain open.
Israel boosts level of alert after embassy attacks
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Bomb planted on car by motorcyclist uses similar method to recent bombings of Iranian scientists.
Netanyahu to run for Likud convention head
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Convention to decide how Likud’s next Knesset slate should be elected, whether the PM should be allowed to reserve slots.
Naveh: IDF in a crisis after budget decisions
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – IDF is short NIS 3.3 billion, says deputy chief of staff; Sa’ar says Defense Ministry should stop whining with every gov’t decision.
Israel and Iran: The question of rationality
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – To deter Iran, Israel will first have to determine whether it’s dealing with a sane regime.
Maryland county halts Beit Shemesh partnership
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Residents of Washington DC suburb express concern about “human rights violations” in the city due to haredi extremism.
After labor dispute, rail workers launch strike
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Strike comes in response to rail operator’s decision to contract out maintenance work for hundreds of rail cars.
Human-rights ‘metrics’ that clash with reality
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – When Israel and India are on a par with Iran and Saudi Arabia, something is badly wrong.
Iran says Israel attacked its own embassies
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – In IRNA interview, Iran Foreign Ministry says attacks on Israeli embassies in India, Georgia are meant to tarnish Iranian image.
Hamas chiefs wrestle with split on Palestinian pact
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Unity deal with Fatah hits snag with Hamas hardliners; Gaza Hamas leader concludes “successful” visit to Iran.
IMF: Israel must curb defense spending
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – International Monetary Fund presents preliminary report on Israeli economy to Steinitz, Fischer in J’lem, says Israel must raise tax revenues.
Saudi writer may face trial over Muhammad tweets
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Hamza Kashgari’s comments seen as blasphemy in homeland; deported by Malaysia 4 days after fleeing death threats.
Top 5: Most romantic restaurants in Tel Aviv
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Food enthusiasts at Taste TLV give their verdict on the best that the Tel Aviv dining scene has to offer.
Timeline: Recent Hezbollah plots against Israel
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Since bombing-death of its military commander Imad Mughniyeh, the Shi’ite Lebanese group has attempted 7 attacks.
Sights and Insights: A river runs beside it
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – What was true in antiquity remains true today—no other river in history or literature has garnered as much affection as the Jordan River.
Alternatively Speaking: Love is in the air
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Alternative medicine enthusiast Natalie Marx answers your questions: Are there any natural remedies to help mend a broken heart?
Haniyeh: No compromise, only armed resistance
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Hamas PM wraps up Iran visit, saying the “gun is our only response” and that “the path of resistance continues.”
Holyland trial begins in Tel Aviv District Court
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – 16 defendants named in indictment; State witness ordered to testify 4 days a week, starting July 1.
Netanyahu: Crime is terrorizing nation’s Arabs
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Netanyahu says greater work must be done to integrate Israeli Arabs into economy and workforce.
Gaza runner ready to fly PLO flag in London
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Five Palestinians will participate in 2012 Summer Olympics, hailing from Gaza, West Bank, east J’lem and Egypt.
Hague calls for ‘urgent’ talks on new Syria mission
Jerusalem Post 13 Feb 2012 – Russia to examine details of proposed Arab–UN peacekeeping mission; China supports mum on mission.
Better Place unveils battery-swap network
Jerusalem Post 12 Feb 2012 – There are 33 battery-switch stations already in operation or close to completion around Israel.
BGU researchers: Plants play ‘broken telephone’
Jerusalem Post 12 Feb 2012 – Plants can “sense and react to distress signals” from their floral counterparts, according to researchers.
Brotherhood lawmaker: US aid to Cairo ‘assured’
Jerusalem Post 12 Feb 2012 – Senior Muslim Brotherhood official tells ‘Al Hayat’ if the US cuts aid to Egypt, it would be violation of 1979 peace accords.
Israeli embassy attacks in Delhi and Tbilisi could set off a conflagration
The Guardian 13 Feb 2012 – The immediate damage could have been worse, but the consequences for the Middle East could still be disastrous It could have been worse: one bomb slightly injured the wife of an Israeli diplomat and three other…
Oleg Deripaska accuses rival bringing £1.6bn suit of running protection racket
The Guardian 13 Feb 2012 – Russian oligarch’s claims of extortion and bribes dismissed by Michael Cherney’s lawyers as ‘cynical tactic’ to deflect attention Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch close to financier Nat Rothschild and Lord Mandelson, has accused his rival Michael…
Bombing of Israeli diplomatic car captured on Twitter
The Guardian 13 Feb 2012 – An attack today on an Israeli embassy car in New Delhi which has left two people seriously injured including a diplomat’s wife was captured on Twitter by a passing journalist. Read here how the story unfolded ….
Binyamin Netanyahu blames Iran and Hezbollah for embassy attacks – video
The Guardian 13 Feb 2012 – The Israeli prime minister calls Iran the biggest exporter of terror in the world after attacks on diplomatic missions in India and Georgia
Binyamin Netanyahu accuses Iran over bombs targeting Israeli diplomats
The Guardian 13 Feb 2012 – Tehran’s ambassador to India denounces Israeli claim as ‘sheer lies’ after blast in New Delhi and discovery of device in Tbilisi Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has accused Iran of being behind twin attacks on Israeli…
Israel Getzler obituary
The Guardian 13 Feb 2012 – Leading historian of Russia who argued that the country could have taken a democratic road in 1917 rather than follow Lenin For the historian Israel Getzler, who has died at the age of 91, there was…
New Delhi blast hits Israeli diplomat’s car
The Guardian 13 Feb 2012 – Two people injured in Indian explosion, while device found under car of driver for Israeli embassy in Georgia is defused Israeli diplomatic missions in India and Georgia have been targeted in bomb attacks linked to the…
Israeli Attack on Iran’s Nuclear Facilities Easier Said Than Done
IPS Despite renewed media speculation regarding possible Israeli attacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities as early as this spring, scepticism that such a campaign could actually be successfully carried out remains relatively high, raising the question of whether there is more bark than bite to Israeli threats.
Israeli Envoys Targeted in India and Georgia
IPS Israeli diplomats have been targeted by car bombs in India and Georgia, leaving three injured and Israel’s foreign minister promising a response.
Golani Brigade Report: Incidences involving the detention, intimidation, abuse, or arrest of Palestinian children and youth.
Uruknet February 13, 2012 – Since the arrival of the Golani Brigade in Hebron on December 27th, international accompaniment organizations (Christian Peacemaker Teams, International Solidarity Movement, and others) have documented an increase in the number of serious human rights violations against the Palestinian people, particularly youth and children in the Old City and Tel Rumeida. All recorded…
Libya Tells UN Rights Council: “Gays threaten continuation of human race”
Uruknet February 13, 2012 – Gays threaten the continuation of the human race, Libya’s delegate told a planning meeting of the UN Human Rights Council today, reported the Geneva-based UN Watch monitoring group. It was the first appearance in the 47-nation body by the post-Gaddafi government, whose membership was restored in November following Libya’s suspension in March….
Nightmare Without Limits
Uruknet February 13, 2012 -… We’ve known for over half a year that Special Operations forces would be operating in roughly 120 countries by the end of 2011. It’s now February 2012. The actual number is higher, if anything. And we know those forces are engaged in “high-profile assassinations, low-level targeted killings, capture/kidnap operations, kick-down-the-door night raids,…
New “Close Guantánamo” Campaign Begins Prisoner Profiles, Features Abdul Razak Qadir, One of Five Innocent Uighurs Still Held
Uruknet February 13, 2012 – The new “Close Guantánamo” website, an initiative I was involved in launching last month, with a petition on the White House’s “We the People” website, has now entered a new phase – presenting the prisoners’ stories, as told by their attorneys – which is a project that, hopefully, will run throughout the…
Gaza protests Syria crackdown
Uruknet February 13, 2012 — Palestinians gathered to condemn the Syrian regime’s violent crackdown on demonstrations in Gaza City on Sunday, as Syrian forces continued their bombardment of protest center Homs. Dozens of Gaza protesters assembled in the city’s Square of the Unknown Soldier, chanting “Homs is being slaughtered just like Gaza.” Demonstration organizer Hamza Abu Shanab…
Gazans shocked at home demolitions ordered “by our own brothers”
Uruknet February 13, 2012 – “Many of us women and children have gathered here at this mosque, after bulldozers demolished our homes. Unfortunately, those who displaced us are not the Israelis this time, but our own brothers in Gaza,” said an angry Umm Khaled al-Najjar, 50, as she held her grandson. Al-Najjar and dozens of other women…
Israel military rejects Khader Adnan appeal as hunger striker’s wife urges intervention to spare his life
Uruknet February 13, 2012 – “My husband is dying inside an Israeli jail. The world should make sure I am able to see him… And it should pressure the Israeli government to release him before it’s too late.” Those are the words of Randa Adnan, the wife of Khader Adnan who is entering his 59th day on…
Ismael Mohamad / United Press International Israel military rejects Khader Adnan appeal as hunger striker’s wife urges intervention to spare his life
Uruknet February 13, 2012 – “My husband is dying inside an Israeli jail. The world should make sure I am able to see him… And it should pressure the Israeli government to release him before it’s too late.” Those are the words of Randa Adnan, the wife of Khader Adnan who is entering his 59th day on…
Further revelations of Australian involvement in Iraq war crimes
Uruknet February 13, 2012 – A secret US field report from 2003 shows that Australian special forces “were an integral part of operations” at an illegal “black-site” prison in Iraq, according to the British Guardian newspaper. The Guardian’s February 7 article, written by Ian Cobain, reveals that an Australian Special Air Service (SAS) unit, designated “Task Force…
012 (Warning: Graphic Videos)
Uruknet February 12, 2012 – The number of today’s confirmed martyrs has risen to 30, among them 2 children and 1 woman. 9 martyrs fell in Daraa, 5 fell in each of Homs, Idlib and Damascus Suburbs, 4 in Hama and 1 in each of Lattakia and Damascus.. bIdlib: Maaret Al-Nouman: Several building collapsed due to shelling…
As Gas Fires Burn, Devastated Nigeria Pays Horrific Price to Ensure Profits of Big Oil
Uruknet February 12, 2012 – Big Oil ranks among the most profitable enterprises on earth. But capitalist corporations don’t pay their own costs – these are borne by the people and their environments. Few have paid a higher price than the oil-producing regions of Nigeria, now among the most devastated and toxic wastelands on the planet…
Syria refugees reveal horrors of Homs
Uruknet February 12, 2012 – After 11 months of repression that cost the lives of more than 6,000 people, many are still struggling to believe that their suffering was caused by their own government. “If Bashar al-Assad had launched the offensive in the Golan, it would have been recovered from Israel,” says Umm Mohammed, a mother of…
The essence of Apartheid in Qaryout village
Uruknet February 12, 2012 – Today, I attended with other comrades the weekly protest in the Palestinian village of Qaryout, south of Nablus. Qaryout hs joined the popular resistance last Friday. The village held in the past numerous marches and protests to resist the occupation and the settlements. This time, they are hoping to persist with the…
IOF soldiers break the legs of Palestinian minor
Uruknet February 12, 2012— The international organization for the defense of children has said that the Israeli occupation soldiers savagely beat up a Palestinian child after breaking both his legs. The organization quoted the 16-year-old boy Mahmoud Qatna as saying that he was heading to an area near the separation wall in his village Beit Sorik along…
Why Was No One Punished for America’s “My Lai” in Iraq?
Uruknet February 12, 2012 – The plea bargain in the last Haditha massacre case handed down in January is a fitting end to the Iraq war. In the most notorious case of U.S. culpability in Iraqi civilian deaths, no one will pay a price. And that is emblematic of the entire war and its hundreds of thousands…
012 : A Video Roundup
Uruknet
Guantanamo Ten Years Later: “It’s a Disgrace,” Says Expert Andy Worthington
Uruknet February 12, 2012 – On January 12, the tenth anniversary of the notorious military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Truthout interviewed investigative journalist and Guantanamo expert Andy Worthington. Author of “The Guantanamo Files” and co-director of the film “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo,” Worthington has spent the last six years painstakingly working to keep alive in…
Khader Adnan’s Heroic Struggle for Justice
Uruknet February 12, 2012 – Saturday marked his 56th hunger striking day. “My dignity is more precious than food,” he said. He’s willing to die courageously defending it. He’s protesting his lawless detention and treatment by repressive Israeli prison authorities. They’re committing willful, malicious slow-motion murder. He’s uncharged because he’s innocent. Yet Israel illegally detains him under…
Caught on video: The horrifying proof that Libya’s “freedom fighters” have turned into brutal torturers
Uruknet February 12, 2012 – A terrified Libyan man is beaten and tortured with electric shocks by youths who appear to be former revolutionary fighters…. The film shows three men tying up the blood-spattered man before whipping him repeatedly with cables, touching him on his skin with electric wires and taunting him as he pleads for mercy…Commander…
In Gaza, 61 families lost their homes this week
Uruknet February 12, 2012 – … About a block down the road there was a group of very old homes on the beach where 61 families have lived since 1948. Some of them have lived there since the early days of the first intifada when Sharon came to Gaza and demolished hundreds of Palestinian homes to make the…
Hamas police bans pro-Syria opposition rally in Gaza
Uruknet February 12, 2012 — Hamas police on Sunday prevented dozens of activists from demonstrating in solidarity with Syrian people in the Gaza Strip, witnesses said. The policemen peacefully stopped the protest shortly after it started in front of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza city. The demonstrators, nearly 30 of them, waved Palestinian and Syrian…
In photos: Israeli airstrike on Gaza flattens animal farm, kills elderly guard
Uruknet February 12, 2012 – Israeli warplanes leveled an animal farm east of Gaza City overnight Saturday, killing a 69-year-old guard in his steel shack. The funeral of Abdul-Karim al-Zaytouna was held in Gaza City on Saturday, after three others were injured in a series of dawn strikes across the Gaza Strip….
Crimes against Detained Palestinian Children
Uruknet February 12, 2012 – Amir Ofek, the press attache’ for the Embassy of Israel in London, published an article in response to The Guardian special report entitled ‘The Palestinian children – alone and bewildered – in Israel’s Al Jalame jail’. His response included many allegations and false information which should be clarified. He said, “When a…
Israel shackles Palestinian hunger striker
Uruknet February 12, 2012 – A Palestinian prisoner who has been on hunger strike for more than eight weeks is being kept shackled to a hospital bed by the Israeli authorities, despite warnings that he may be close to death. Khader Adnan, 33, has been held without charge under “administrative detention” since mid-December. The Israeli military authorities…
Arab League calls for international peacekeeping force in Syria
Uruknet February 12, 2012 – The Arab League on Sunday urged the U.N. Security Council to issue a resolution setting up a joint U.N.-Arab peacekeeping force to go to Syria and called for offering all forms of “political and material support” for the Syrian opposition. The resolution did not make clear whether the proposed joint U.N.-Arab peacekeeping…
Israeli border police enter Issawiya in East J’lem; 3 injured, 2 arrested
Uruknet February 12, 2012 – Israeli border police (Magav) injured three Palestinian residents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya today, according to village sources. Magav also arrested two Palestinian residents of Issawiya, including lawyer Shireen al Issawi. For reasons that were not immediately clear, border police reportedly attempted to enter the al Issawi residence, which, Maan…
Nigerian Islamists threaten attack on telecom firms
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 A purported spokesman for Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamists late threatened the group would soon launch attacks on mobile telephone firms for their alleged complicity with security agents.
Pacino, Tillis among arts honorees at White House
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 Actor Al Pacino and country singer Mel Tillis were among 17 poets, historians, organizations and others honored at the White House on Monday for their contributions to the arts or to the humanities.
NASA kills Mars deal with Europe
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 The US will scale back Mars exploration under a proposed budget by President Barack Obama released Monday that has some scientists fuming over the risk of a NASA brain-drain.
Minister: Armed gang in Tunisia had al-Qaida links
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 The armed group that clashed with Tunisian forces in the south of the country earlier this month had links to al-Qaida.
Nigeria’s sect Boko Haram says killed 12 soldiers
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram said on Monday it killed 12 soldiers in an attack in the northeast town of Maiduguri.
Egypt frees Australian reporter, US student
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 An Australian journalist, a US student and their Egyptian translator were freed on Monday after two days in detention on suspicion of paying Egyptians to stage protests against the authorities
Hariri ties resumption of national dialogue to issue of Hezbollah’s arms
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Monday nothing could stop the course of the court probing the assassination of his father, statesman Rafik Hariri.
Tevez says he is ready to help City win title
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 Carlos Tevez says he was treated “like a dog” by Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini, but the Argentina striker is now ready to return and play for the club again.
Europe OKs Google’s $12.5B Motorola Mobility deal
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of cellphone maker Motorola Mobility has won approval of European antitrust regulators.
Taliban announce death of ex-defense minister
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 The Taliban’s former defense minister died in a Pakistani jail in 2010, a spokesman for the insurgent group said Monday.
Saudi writer may face trial over Prophet Mohammad tweets
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 A young Saudi blogger and columnist has been deported to his homeland to face trial soon after fleeing from death threats triggered by comments on the social network Twitter seen as blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad.
17 killed in Libyan tribal clashes: tribesmen
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 A fierce gunfight between two tribes in Libya’s remote southeastern desert has killed at least 17 people in the past two days and wounded another 22, tribal sources told AFP on Monday.
Barcelona boss says winning league ‘very difficult’
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta says retaining the Spanish league title this season will be “very difficult” after Real Madrid opened a 10-point lead over the Catalan side over the weekend.
Hariri: Change in Syria certain
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 Saad Hariri said Monday the uprising of freedom in Syria would result in the toppling of President Bashar Assad and dismissed tying his return to Lebanon with developments in the neighboring Arab country.
The fight begins: Obama’s budget goes to Congress
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 President Obama was selling a $3.8 trillion election-year budget – a spending outline designed to cut $4 trillion from the deficit in 10 years through spending restraints and higher taxes on the wealthy.
Kuwait teco Zain posts 2011 profit of $1.03 bln-agency
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 Kuwait’s Zain posted a net profit of $1.03 billon in 2011, up from $1.02 billion in the previous year, the state news agency KUNA reported on Monday.
Iraq plans to up power supply, still below demand
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 Iraq plans to boost the national grid’s capacity by about 1,500 megawatts in the next few months, an official said.
Hariri: Return to Lebanon not tied to developments in Syria
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Monday he would return to Lebanon soon, adding that a recent skiing accident had delayed his return and dismissed tying his return to Beirut to developments in Syria.
Top British policeman jailed for corruption at retrial
Daily Star 13 Feb 2012 A top officer in London’s Metropolitan Police who survived a slew of corruption inquiries was sent back to jail on Monday after being found guilty in a retrial…
YNet
Indian intelligence sources: Iran sympathizers behind bombing
YNet News, 13 Feb 2012 – ….
Border Guard demolishes illegal structures in West Bank outpost
YNet News, 13 Feb 2012 – ….
Syrian defector: Assad forces using chemical weapons
YNet News, 13 Feb 2012 – ….
EU’s Ashton: Condemns attacks on Israeli embassies
YNet News, 13 Feb 2012 – ….
Israeli hero: Envoy’s wife spotted terrorist
YNet News, 13 Feb 2012 – Israeli diplomat’s wife wounded in India blast apparently managed to get out of car after motorcyclist attached bomb to vehicle; ‘she’s amazingly level-headed,’ her brother says ….
Minister: Armed gang in Tunisia had al-Qaeda links
YNet News, 13 Feb 2012 – ….
Iran: Israel, allies behind India attack
YNet News, 13 Feb 2012 – Jewish state bombed own embassies, Iranian Foreign Ministry says after wife of Israeli Defense Ministry rep in India wounded in car blast ….
Iran denies responsibility for embassy attack
YNet News, 13 Feb 2012 – Israeli accusations that Tehran was behind bomb attack in India ‘sheer lies,’ Iranian official says ….
India to boost security at Israeli embassy
YNet News, 13 Feb 2012 – Krishna tells Lieberman India will do all it can to protect Israeli embassy, says perpetrators of Monday’s attack will be found, prosecuted ….
Israeli missions in India, Georgia targeted
YNet News, 13 Feb 2012 – Blast takes out Israeli diplomatic vehicle near New Delhi embassy; envoy’s wife, driver wounded. Explosive device neutralized near Israeli mission in Tbilisi ….
Netanyahu: Iran responsible for attacks on Israeli embassies
YNet News, 13 Feb 2012 – PM vows that Israel will continue to cooperate with local authorities overseas; fight Iran-sponsored terror worldwide ….
Did IDF corporal sodomize fellow soldier?
YNet News, 13 Feb 2012 – Corporal A accused of sodomizing soldier in front of friends at southern Air Force base; Also charged with violent act against another soldier ….
Don’t trust the world
YNet News, 13 Feb 2012 – Op-ed: World’s indifference to Syria brutality reminds us that we shouldn’t trust it to save us ….
Palestinian Information Center
Protecting al-Aqsa is every Muslim’s responsibility
PIC – This week, supremacist millenarian Jews, led by fanatical Likud leader Moshe Feiglin tried to storm the Haram Sharif of Jerusalem.
Israeli court refuses to release hunger striker
PIC – The Israeli military court decided on Monday evening against releasing detained Islamic Jihad leader Sheikh Khader Adnan who has been on hunger strike for 58 days.
Haneyya discusses with UAE president Palestinian developments
PIC – Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haneyya on Monday discussed with the president of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed latest Palestinian developments.
IOA razes home, bulldozes stadium in occupied Jerusalem
PIC – The Israeli-controlled municipality of occupied Jerusalem sent its bulldozers on a fresh destruction mission in occupied Jerusalem on Monday damaging this time a soccer stadium and razing a house.
Palestinian boy injured, two arrested west of Al-Khalil
PIC – A Palestinian boy was injured on Monday when Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired stun grenades at young men to the south west of Doura village to the west of Al-Khalil.
Israeli navy arrests four Palestinian fishermen
PIC – The fisheries department at the ministry of agriculture said on Monday that the Israeli navy boats intercepted Palestinian fishing boats and arrested four fishermen off the coast of Gaza.
Haneyya arrives in UAE
PIC – Gaza premier Ismail Haneyya arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Monday morning on the fifth leg of his foreign tour.
UNRWA halts distribution of cash assistance to refugees
PIC – The UN Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) has announced that it would not be able to cash financial assistance to Palestinian refugees as of April this year.
Haneyya confers with Larijani on Palestinian developments
PIC – Gaza premier Ismail Haneyya discussed with Iranian Shoura council speaker Dr. Ali Larijani Palestinian developments especially Israeli targeting of occupied Jerusalem.
Bahar calls for resuming PLC sessions in the West Bank
PIC – Dr. Ahmed Bahar has called for resuming sessions in the PLC premises in the West Bank in response to the Israeli detention of speaker Dr. Aziz Dweik.
Military Court Rejects Striking Prisoner’s Appeal
WAFA – 13 Feb 2012
PLO Official Describes Israeli Reactions to Abbas’ Speech as Disinformation
WAFA – 13 Feb 2012
Soldiers Use Force to Disperse Protesters Outside Prison Facility
WAFA – 13 Feb 2012
Israeli Authority Demolishes Bedouin Village for 35th Time
WAFA – 13 Feb 2012
Israel to Fence Off Main Road to Hebron
WAFA – 13 Feb 2012
Historic tales unfolding in Syria
LA Times 13 Feb 2012 – Amid violence and paranoia, powerful scenes play out on both sides of the conflict in an increasingly polarized Damascus. As the evening call to prayer sounded through the alleyways of old Damascus, the aging storyteller known as Abu Shadi clambered into an elevated chair at…
Arab leaders call for new effort on Syria
LA Times 13 Feb 2012 – The Arab League asks the U.N. to create a joint peacekeeping force in the country to oversee a prospective cease-fire. Meanwhile, Al Qaeda’s leader voices support for the Syrian rebels. Arab leaders meeting in Cairo on Sunday called for a renewed United Nations attempt to…
Israel Says Iran Was Behind Bombs in India and Georgia
New York Times 13 Feb 2012 – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran for the bombs on Monday aimed at Israeli Embassy personnel in New Delhi and Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.
Syrian Forces Continue Attack on Homs
New York Times 13 Feb 2012 – Navi Pillay publicly castigated Syria’s leaders, accusing them of intensifying their deadly crackdown after the Security Council failed to reach a solution.
For Iraqis, Aid to Syrian Rebels Repays a War Debt
New York Times 13 Feb 2012 – Syrians sent money and weapons to Iraq and accepted its refugees just a few years ago; now Iraqis hope to return the favor.
Islamist Militants Execute 3 for Helping U.S. in Yemen
New York Times 13 Feb 2012 – Islamists in southern Yemen said they beheaded two Saudis and one Yemeni for working with Saudi intelligence services, helping the United States to target drone strikes.
Bahrain Protesters Clash With Riot Police
New York Times 13 Feb 2012 – Youths lob gasoline bombs at the police near Manama as violence escalated ahead of the anniversary of the uprising last year.
Arab League Calls for U.N. Peacekeepers in Syria
New York Times 13 Feb 2012 – The Arab League’s foreign ministers called on Arab nations to sever diplomatic relations with Syria in an effort to pressure it to end the violence there.
Egyptians protest in lead-up to anniversary of Mubarak’s ouster
WSWS – Thousands marched in Cairo, Alexandria, and other cities against the US-backed Egyptian military junta yesterday.
Protests against Egyptian junta spread after football massacre
WSWS – On Friday, protests triggered by Wednesday’s pro-regime footballriot spread throughout the country.
Former Gaddafi official tortured to death in Libya
WSWS – The murder of Omar Brebesh follows a series of reports by human rights groups on torture in the prisons of the new “democratic” Libya.
Renewed mass protests mark anniversary of Egyptian Revolution
WSWS – One year after the beginning of the Egyptian Revolution on January 25, millions of workers and youth took to the streets and squares all over Egypt to protest the-US backed military junta in Egypt.
Israel prepares for war against Iran
WSWS – The Israeli political and military establishment is preparing to attack Iran, and pushing the US to advance its own plans for war.
Twenty Israeli military vehicles descend on village south of Hebron, demolish 22 buildings, displace 120 Palestinians
Mondoweiss – link to www.maannews.net link to www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk link to www.maannews.net link to www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk link to www.maannews.net link to www.maannews.net link to english.pnn.ps link to www.maannews.net link to www.maannews.net link to mondoweiss.net link to www.maannews.net link to www.maannews.net link to www.imemc.org link to www.maannews.net link to english.wafa.ps link…
Israel bulldozes Palestinian community center, making way for a ‘City of David’ visitor center
Mondoweiss – December 2011 demolition in Silwan. (Photo: (Mahfouz Abu Turk/AP) Today, a Palestinian community center, café and playground in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem was demolished, making way for a second “City of David” visitor center. Haaretz reports : The new visitors’ center is to be built above…
Khader Adnan and Theodore Herzl
Mondoweiss – Khader Adnan and Theodore Herzl “A lot of the hair on his face and head has fallen off,” The Aljazera article quoted Randa, Khader Adnan’s wife, as saying. I had been alarmed by the evidence of Khader’s deteriorating health because of his hunger strike, now approaching…
UN official condemns Israel’s ‘strategy of Judaization’ throughout Israel/Palestine
Mondoweiss – A home demolition in Hebron. (Photo: Occupied Palestine ) AFP reports : Israel is dispossessing Palestinians in east Jerusalem and the West Bank as well as its Arab minority with a “strategy of Judaisation,” a United Nations representative charged on Sunday. Presenting her preliminary findings after a tour…
Hip hop leads the way in Gaza’s first talent show
Mondoweiss – I love these videos by our friend in Gaza filmmaker Mohammed Al Majdalawi and edited by talented writer and MW contributor Jehan Alfarra . The Institute for Middle East Understanding ( IMEU ) has an article about an upcoming talent show in Gaza that highlights these artists and many…
India, Iran’s Top Oil Customer, Rejects U.S. Oil Sanctions
Tikun Olam – It is a truth universally acknowledged that the west’s oil embargo against Iran will bring that country to its knees. Among other related truths: Iran’s economy derives much of its revenue from oil sales; oil sanctions will cripple Iran; all Iran’s previous customers will abandon it…
Iran’s Historic Anniversary
Voltaire Network 13 Feb 2012 – Mesmerized by the multitudinous celebrations marking the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution, Stephen Lendman observes that if the United States has never witnessed anything similar, it is because people who have nothing to celebrate “simply don’t get out and do it.” Against a backdrop of…
Egypt: Former Consultant of Saddam to Run for Presidency
allAfrica.com 13 Feb 2012 – [Aswat Masriya] Hossam Shaltout, who was once a consultant of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, has announced his intention to run in Egypt’s upcoming presidential elections.
Tunisia: Foreign Ministry Confirms Ambassador Has Left Syria
allAfrica.com 13 Feb 2012 – [Tunisia Live] Syria has given the Libyan and Tunisian governments 72 hours to close their embassies in Damascus, according to a Syrian foreign ministry spokesman on Saturday, after both Tunisia and Libya announced similar measures against Syria.
Sudan: Govt Sees Little Hope for Peaceful End to Syrian Crisis
allAfrica.com 13 Feb 2012 – [Sudan Tribune] Khartoum – Sudan’s foreign minister, Ali Karti, has expressed doom and gloom over the situation in Syria, indicating that the chances of reaching a peaceful settlement to the crisis are now slimmer than ever.
Egypt: Tantawi Discusses With Abu Mazen Efforts to Prop Up Peace Process
allAfrica.com 13 Feb 2012 – [Egypt Online] Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the chief of the supreme council of the armed forces (SCAF) conferred yesterday 12/2/2012 with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen on the latest developments on the regional and international arenas and efforts to prop up the peace process…
Israel envoys ‘target of attacks’
BBC 13 Feb 2012 – Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blames Iran after bombers apparently targeted diplomats in India and Georgia, injuring four people.
Syria ’emboldened by UN inaction’
BBC 13 Feb 2012 – The failure of the UN security council to take action has emboldened Syria to make an “all out assault” on opponents, UN rights chief Navi Pillay says.
Azerbaijan in ‘spy’ row with Iran
BBC 13 Feb 2012 – Azerbaijan angrily denies an Iranian claim that it has been helping Israeli spies plotting against Iran.
012!
US Campaign to End the Occupation 13 Feb 2012 – The following was posted yesterday at BDSmovement.net: Commemorating Land Day, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) invites people of conscience around the world to unite for a BDS Global Day of Action on 30 March 2012 in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom, justice…
Articles
Myth debunked – Palestinian textbooks don’t teach hatred
Daoud Kuttab, Huffington Post, Israeli Occupation Archive 2/11/2012
Apologists for Israel’s continued occupation and control over Palestinian lives have long contended Israel is more interested in peace than the Palestinians. One exaggerated argument, repeatedly put forward to justify military rule, is that Palestinians teach their children to hate Jews.
Politicians in the U.S., especially during election campaigns, find that bashing Palestinians has no downside and yields a vote (and donation) jackpot.
Palestinian textbooks are scrutinized for any hostile reference to Israel — or praise for Palestinian nationalism — and every frame broadcast on Palestinian television stations is analyzed by experts to see if it contains any incitement to violence.
Palestinian-Israeli committees spent hours researching these issues and concluded that there is no textbook glorification of violence or hate. European and bipartisan American committees reached similar conclusions. But the anti-Palestinian attacks never stopped. All the efforts to respond scientifically and comprehensively to the unsubstantiated barrage of attacks failed to change the narrative that anti-Palestinian forces, especially in the United States, were keen on perpetuating.
Self-declared professor and historian Newt Gingrich led the charge by negating Palestinian existence. Speaking on a Jewish online television station, Gingrich contradicted what the Israeli government did in 1993 when it recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people. By cherry-picking historical evidence to back his convoluted argument, Gingrich claimed that Palestinians are an ‘invented’ people. — See also: Source: Huffington Post more.. e-mail
Dialogue is the way
Ghassan Khatib, Bitterlemons 2/13/2012
The Doha declaration and Israel’s response
The agreement that was announced in Doha last week between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the head of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, generated healthy debate and discussion among Palestinians, but especially within Hamas. Once again, the Palestinian argument that engaging Hamas in dialogue is always useful has been proven true.
In the agreement, Hamas accepts that Abbas serve as prime minister in a national unity government. Although this government will include no other Fateh members and none from Hamas, it will be approved and supported by both factions. Hamas had previously agreed that Abbas, with his well-known political positions advocating negotiations and the two-state solution, would be mandated to conduct negotiations with Israel, provided that any agreement resulting from those talks would go before the public in a referendum. Now Hamas has said that this same individual can head a cabinet that it supports. Given the clear and long-standing commitment of Abbas to the cause of peace, negotiations and the two-state solution, the Hamas movement’s support for his role at the head of government shows again that dialogue with Hamas contributes to its moderation.
It is critical that this agreement is spurring debate between different tendencies within Hamas, where the relatively moderate elements are being strengthened and the relatively hard-line elements are being side-lined. Hamas is a genuine, significant Palestinian political movement that won the last free and democratic Palestinian elections. It cannot be ignored as a means of “handling” its unacceptable politics or practices. All experience has shown that when Palestinians from other factions engage Hamas, healthy debate and moderation result. The alternative of isolating Hamas always plays into the hands of the movement’s most hard-line elements. more.. e-mail
Mount Hermon’s pure snow can’t hide Israel’s dark past
Gideon Levy, Haaretz, Israeli Occupation Archive 2/13/2012
The entire Golan Heights is occupied exactly as the West Bank is.
These are wonderful days at Jabal al-Shaykh. It’s high season, ideal conditions and the visibility is excellent. Thousands of Israelis spent their weekend there, and the weather forecast for the next few days is promising. It’s just the name, Jabal al-Shaykh, that sounds so unfamiliar. Where did you say it was?
We managed to delete Mount Hermon’s original, Syrian name as if it had never existed. Precious few Israelis have ever heard the name, or are aware of the 200 towns and villages that were obliterated in the Golan Heights. Most Israelis, we might assume, aren’t aware that they were ever there, since Israeli collective consciousness also erased the existence of their 120,000 residents – refugees that no one knows or cares about.
Their houses were almost all razed, in order to evade superfluous questions on the merry way to Mount Hermon. The only things left intact were the remains of army barracks, so that Israelis could believe that the Golan Heights were always about war and conflicts, not simple daily life.
On the way to Mount Hermon, the Golan Heights are Israeli, as are the inhabitants – despite the fact that most of them define themselves as Syrians. Israelis in the Golan aren’t referred to as settlers. They reside in a city, in kibbutzim and moshavim – never in a settlement. On the other hand, the 20,000 Syrians still living there today are referred to as “Druze” – according to their religion, and pita bread, rather than their own definition as Syrians. — See also: Source: Ha’aretz more.. e-mail
Gazans shocked at home demolitions ordered “by our own brothers”
Electronic Intifada: 13 Feb 2012 – Rami Almeghari Gaza City 13 February 2012 Gaza City residents in the coastal Hamami neighborhood are outraged after the Gaza government bulldozed their houses to make way for a major infrastructure project.more
Educators can’t stay silent about Israeli apartheid
Electronic Intifada: 13 Feb 2012 – J. K?haulani Kauanui, Robin D.G. Kelley, Bill V. Mullen, Nikhil Pal Singh and Neferti Tadiar 13 February 2012 US academics recently returned from a fact-finding delegation describe the daily ritual of subordination, humiliation and suspicion endured by Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.more
911 Humans here
In Gaza: 13 Feb 2012 – this is 2 years old and the reality now is all the worse. Gaza is now on the brink of total power blackout–not the half-day or whole-day every single day power outages Palestinians in Gaza are sadly accustomed to, but TOTAL power outage. Aside from the obvious basics—water and sanitation–which are halted or severely disrupted by power outages, think of the cold winter nights without power, the daily efforts to get to work or study without fuel for taxis…A simple example: Emad tells me he waited over an hour for a taxi from Gaza southbound, a trip that would normally after 10 minutes get underway. His home is like most of the Strip, without central heating or any heating to speak of, concrete-walled, devoid-of-hot water, cold-air-projecting blocks of homes. We could applaud the Palestinians of Gaza for energy-conservation, but it isn’t because they are more moral than any of us,…more
Transformational Politics: Be Part of the Evolution
Palestine Chronicle: 13 Feb 2012 – By Clive Hambidge ‘Julian Assange’ said Noam Chomsky ‘should be congratulated for carrying out the responsibilities of a citizen in democratic societies, where the population should be aware of what their selected representatives are doing and planning.’ Assange is perhaps to pay a heavy price for disclosure, as simultaneously, Bradley Manning, a soldier of conscience, is to pay the ultimate one. The effectiveness of these two men’s actions should be taken to heart, and into our collective activism “For those that have the privilege to know have the privilege to act (Einstein). Also we must understand that we are not just standing in quiet or rowdy resolution and solidarity with an Assange or Manning just because our conscience dictates but because we are connected at the very substance of our being and in an evolutionary reality. We have a constituent understanding of these two, and other men and women of…more
De Leeuw: Apartheid in South Africa, Palestine
Palestine Chronicle: 13 Feb 2012 – By Yousef M. Aljamal – Gaza The Center for Political Development Studies [CPDS], a Gaza based organization held a lecture on Sunday, February 12, 2012 on ‘The South Africa-anti Apartheid Movement and Palestine’, delivered by Lydia de Leeuw, an international officer working at the PCHR, specialized in criminology, who conducted her MA thesis on ‘The involvement of business in a continuum of state-corporate crime’, in which she investigated ‘the share companies had in facilitating the South African government in committing the state-corporate crime of apartheid’. “Back then, the crime was still formulated and defined. People saw these policies, but it didn’t yet have a name. It was internationally recognized as a crime. Still it was hard to prosecute and create a political will to people to undertake steps to uphold the principles of the international law. SA had natural resources, so the white population, who have settled there few centuries…more
UN Bashes Israel for Biased Housing Policies
Palestine Chronicle: 13 Feb 2012 – By Bernhard Schell The United Nations has strongly criticised Israeli plans for relocating Bedouins in the desert and semi-desert region of Negev as well as decades of promotion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and in Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem. Raquel Rolnik, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, finds that Israeli Arabs as well as Palestinians living under military occupation are also affected by ongoing threats against their right to housing. She made these remarks on February 13 just after concluding a two-week visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. “Throughout my visit, I was able to witness a land development model that excludes, discriminates against and displaces minorities in Israel which is being replicated in the occupied territory, affecting Palestinian communities,” she stated. The recent privatization, deregulation and commercialization of public assets in Israel “have resulted in urban and housing policies that…more
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 