21 February 2012 — — VTJP
News International Middle East Media Center
66-day hunger strike ends after Israel agrees to free Khader Adnan
IMEMC – Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan agreed to end his 66-day hunger strike on Tuesday after meeting with Israeli officials who pledged to release him in April. Khader had been near death, facing possible organ failure, for the last week in an Israeli prison hospital. …
Journalists light 66 candles in solidarity with the imprisoned Khader Adnan
IMEMC – On Monday evening, in the field of Martyr Yasser Arafat in Ramallah, a number of Palestinian journalists lit 66 candles to represent the number of days spent by the prisoner Khader Adnan on hunger strike. …
PA: Khader Adnan to end strike
2/21/2012 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority minister of prisoners affairs said Tuesday that Israel intends to release hunger striking prisoner Khader Adnan after his current administrative detention term. In return, Adnan agreed to end his strike, according to Issa Qaraqe, the prisoners minister. The term will end April 17, he said. Adnan has not….
Israeli forces deliver demolition warnings near Jenin
2/21/2012 – JENIN (Ma’an) – Israeli forces delivered evacuation and demolition orders Tuesday morning to nine Palestinian residents in the northern West Bank village of Bartaa al-Sharqiya. Village council member Tawfiq Qabaha told Ma’an that officers of the Israeli planning department, escorted by military patrols, stormed the village early Tuesday and handed out the….
Israel threatens to demolish East Jerusalem home
2/21/2012 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces handed a demolition order to a Palestinian home-owner in an East Jerusalem neighborhood on Tuesday, threatening to displace 10 people. Muhammad Amira from Sur Bahir told Ma’an he received a court notice that his house would be demolished in one year unless he pays 15,000 shekels for….
Soldiers detain 9 people across West Bank
2/22/2012 – QALQILIYA (Ma’an) — Israeli forces detained nine people overnight Monday, including two men released as part of the prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel in October 2011. Three people were detained in Qalqiliya, one north of Ramallah, three in Beit Ummar, one in Yatta, Hebron, and one near Jericho, an Israeli army spokeswoman said….
Witnesses: Soldiers detain teenager from Jenin village
2/21/2012 – JENIN (Ma’an) — Israeli forces raided the Jenin village of Yabad overnight Monday and detained a 16-year-old boy, witnesses told Ma’an. Locals said soldiers raided the village and detained Asem Abu Shamlah as he was standing outside his home. Israeli forces accused him of stone-throwing. The arrest triggered clashes in the….
Forces ‘seize man at Adnan rally’ near Ramallah
2/21/2012 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Hundreds of Palestinians rallied outside Israel’s Ofer military base on Tuesday to support hunger-striking prisoner Khader Adnan. Protesters marched from Birzeit University to support Adnan, who it was later announced will be released on April 17 to end his 66-day hunger strike against his treatment. Israeli forces detained….
Bethlehem demonstration stopped at checkpoint
2/21/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian demonstrators marched toward a Bethlehem checkpoint on Tuesday, before being stopped by Palestinian security forces. Dozens of university students carrying Palestinian flags set off from Bethlehem University towards the Israeli military checkpoint next to Rachel’s Tomb in the west of the city, protesting the situation of hunger-striking prisoner….
Israeli forces detain 3 during clashes in Al-Aqsa
2/21/2012 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces detained three Palestinians in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Tuesday, after clashes broke out when two groups of Israelis toured the holy site. Witnesses told Ma’an that eight Israelis and a group of tourists were escorted by more than 40 Israeli soldiers into the Haram….
Armed men fire at Israeli watchtower
2/21/2012 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Armed men opened fire at an Israeli guard tower south of Ramallah on Monday night, Palestinian security sources told Ma’an. Soldiers reportedly returned fire against the armed men. No injuries were reported. An Israeli army spokeswoman had no reports of the incident….
Obama to meet Netanyahu at White House on March 5
2/21/2012 – WASHINGTON (Reuters) — President Barack Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 5, the White House said on Monday. Netanyahu will be in Washington to address the annual policy conference of the influential pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, which will be held on March 4-6. The announcement of the White House meeting came….
Egypt to boost Gaza power supply to ease crisis
2/21/2012 – CAIRO (Reuters) — Egypt has agreed to let more fuel into Gaza and increase the amount of electricity it supplies to the coastal enclave, Palestinian and Egyptian officials said on Tuesday. The Egyptian government said the amount of electricity supplied to Gaza would be increased to 22 megawatts from an existing 17 megawatts already supplied for….
US aide tells Israel sanctions on Iran need time
2/21/2012 – WASHINGTON (Reuters) — A top aide to US President Barack Obama told Israel’s leaders this weekend that there is still time for diplomacy to keep Tehran from getting a nuclear weapon, the White House said on Tuesday, amid growing concerns that Israel might resort to a preemptive strike. National security adviser Tom Donilon told….
Hamas: Committed to Doha deal, but needs amendment
2/21/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayyah said Monday that the Islamist movement is committed to the Doha agreement, but still disputes President Abbas’ dual role of prime minister.”Make it lawful, as Abbas can’t be president and prime minister according to the law,” al-Hayyah told Ma’an. The….
Israel top court scraps ultra-Orthodox military exemption
2/21/2012 – JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israel’s top court struck down on Tuesday a law designed to encourage ultra-Orthodox Jews to join the military and the workforce, saying it had backfired by “entrenching” their blanket draft exemptions and protracted seminary studies. The ruling was welcomed by Israel’s secular majority but could set off rifts in….
Palestinian diplomat killed in Abu Dhabi car crash
2/21/2012 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — A Palestinian diplomatic official was killed on Monday evening in a car crash in Abu Dhabi, the Fatah movement said. Khalid al-Heidabi was born in 1958 and joined the Fatah movement in 1976. He obtained a BA and MA while studying in India and fought with the PLO in Lebanon in….
Student council starts strike at university in Hebron
2/21/2012 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — The Palestine Polytechnic University student council said Tuesday they had called a strike of all classes until further notice. The students said in a statement that the Hebron-district university had failed to take their demands seriously and were stalling on solutions….
Russia refuses to attend Syria meeting
2/22/2012 – MOSCOW (Reuters) — Russia will not attend an international meeting on the conflict in Syria this week because the Syrian government will not be represented, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. The Friends of Syria, backed by Western powers and the Arab League, will meet in Tunis on Friday to seek an international agreement on….
Syrian forces kill 21, injure over 300 in Homs
2/21/2012 – AMMAN (Reuters) — Syrian government forces killed 21 people and wounded some 340 on Tuesday when they unleashed a heavy artillery barrage on a rebel-held district of the city of Homs, activists saidThe bombardment rained down as International Committee of the Red Cross officials tried to negotiate a halt to the fighting to allow them to….
Over 60 dead as Syria forces attack Homs, villages
2/21/2012 – BEIRUT (Reuters) — Syrian government forces killed more than 60 people on Tuesday in assaults on villages and an artillery barrage in the restive city of Homs, activists said, and the Red Cross called for daily ceasefires to let in urgently needed aid. Activists said at least 30 people died in the bombardment of the Baba….
Palestinian detainee ends hunger strike
AlJazeera 21 Feb 2012 – Israel agrees to free Khader Adnan on April 17 as part of a deal to end his 66-day fast over his illegal detention.
International Solidarity Movement
Call for solidarity: Submit your photos for the liberation of Shuhada street
2/21/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – 20 February 2012, International Solidarity Movement, West Bank – Beginning this week local organizers in Al Khalil (Hebron), Hebron Defense Committee, and Youth Against Settlements have organized a series of events to commemorate the Baruch Goldstein Massacre and demand the re-opening of Shuhada Street, once the commercial heart of Al Khalil, now off limits to locals, Palestinians….
The massacre of 1929 and the War of Narratives
2/21/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – By Aaron, 21 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank – If you ask an Israeli settler in or around Al-Khalil (Hebron) what calls them to live on contested land, most will speak to a religious connection to the city and the Cave of the Machpelach (“patriarchs”), where Jews, Muslims, and Christians come to revere the….
Despite the announcement of a deal limiting Khader Adnan’s detention, Addameer reiterates its urgent concern for his health
2/21/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – 21 February 2012, Addameer – *At approximately 7:50 PM local time, it was confirmed by Ran Cohen, Executive Director of Physicans for Human Rights-Israel, that Khader Adnan has ended his hunger strike. Khader Adnan‘s hearing at the Israeli High Court was cancelled today, 21 February 2012, only minutes before the hearing was to…. Related: Addameer
Alternative Information Center
Israeli Right Provokes Confrontation in Jerusalem
Alternative Information Center – “Price tag” graffiti was sprayed on a Baptist Church in central Jerusalem on Sunday evening (19 February). This is just the latest in a wave of harassments against Christian and Muslim institutions, or those perceived as…
Syria’s Druze community: A silent minority in no rush to take sides
The National 21 Feb 2012 – The Syrian regime and its opponents both court the small but still influential Druze community. Phil Sands, Foreign Correspondent reports.
Who are Syria’s Druze?
The National 21 Feb 2012 – In Syria, most Druze live in the Jabal Al Druze – also known as the Jabal Al Arab – a rugged and mountainous region in the south-west of the country, which historically provided them with a refuge from persecution.
Hunger strike ends for Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan
The National 21 Feb 2012 – The 66-day protest by the baker from the West Bank town of Araba was the longest in memory and his lawyers had said that he was near death.
IAEA: Iran refuses access to suspect nuke site
Ha’aretz – 21 Feb 2012
Palestinian prisoner ends 66-day hunger strike after Israel guarantees his release
Ha’aretz – 21 Feb 2012
IDF forces find powerful explosive device on Israel-Egypt border
Ha’aretz – 21 Feb 2012
Jerusalem Christians are latest targets in recent spate of ‘price tag’ attacks
Ha’aretz – 20 Feb 2012
Poll: Santorum gaining on Romney in Arizona
Jerusalem Post 22 Feb 2012 – Republican US presidential candidate Rick Santorum is essentially tied with rival Mitt Romney in Arizona, Time/CNN poll finds.
Ministry launches Web ballot on Dead Sea rehabilitation
Jerusalem Post 22 Feb 2012 – Public can now vote on what shape the NIS 833 million renovation of the Dead Sea will take in the coming years.
School violence dropped markedly in 2010-2011
Jerusalem Post 22 Feb 2012 – Findings based on questionnaires filled out by 24,625 pupils in grades 4 to 11 in the Jewish and Arab state school systems.
3 men charged with using dog in attack against co-workers
Jerusalem Post 22 Feb 2012 – The 3 men allegedly used a pit bull terrier to perpetrate a violent assault on two men earlier this month.
Former Pardes Katz gang head indicted for extortion
Jerusalem Post 22 Feb 2012 – TA District Attorney’s Office files indictment against 5 men, including former underworld boss Yitzhak “Heshy” Hadif.
Israeli joins Kentucky surgeons in transplant surgery
Jerusalem Post 22 Feb 2012 – Dr. Amir Oron aids a surgical team in transplanting a cadaver arm to a recipient.
Beinisch hails judges at swearing-in ceremony
Jerusalem Post 22 Feb 2012 – Peres emphasizes need to keep the Supreme Court independent and “healthy.”
Eilon to step down from Channel 10
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – For the better part of two decades, Yaakov Eilon, the top news anchor at Channel 10, has been reading the news.
Austrian Jewry gets new leader
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Oskar Deutsch was born in post-Holocaust Vienna.
IAEA: Tehran talks failed to secure agreement
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – UN nuclear watchdog disappointed with second round of talks with Iran, says inspectors were denied access to military site; follows Iranian promise to continue negotiations.
Green groups: Bill must be published in full before vote
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Henin asks comptroller to thoroughly examine “anti-social and anti-environmental” legislation before it goes to Knesset.
MKs furious with gov’t hindering of Ethiopian aliya
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Instead of speeding up aliya of thousands in dire conditions in Gondar, “gov’t is finding all reasons to slow it down,” says National Union MK.
Longer maternity leave for mothers of hospitalized infants
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Bill proposed by MK Orly Levy-Abecassis (Israel Beiteinu) passes in its final Knesset reading.
Storm erupts over public transportation on Shabbat
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Lau deeply disappointed by vote; Gal-On appeals to A-G over Transportation Ministry’s refusal to consider request.
Ex-Mossad chief sees opportunity in Syrian crisis
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Israel should focus on striking Iran politically and diplomatically – through the fall of Assad, Efraim Halevy tells ‘Los Angeles Times.’
Justice Rivlin to run for state comptroller
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Supreme Court deputy president to contend against Likud-Kadima pick Judge Yosef Shapira to replace Micha Lindenstrauss in July.
Analysis: Fears abound over Syria diplomacy efforts
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – “The only way this regime will go is by force,” analyst says.
Saving a language
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Sami minority studies ulpan model in effort to keep its ethnic dialects alive.
Rivlin to gov’t: Sign deal to move Migron 2 km.
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Knesset speaker backs agreement to prevent the demolition of their West Bank outpost next month.
US hints at possibility of arming Syrian rebels
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Red Cross seeks ceasefires as latest assault on Homs leaves 100 dead.
Truly proactive PR can’t just be about ‘peace’
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Focus on Israel as peace-seeker adopts its enemies’ view: a state defined by conflict.
The status quo
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Should a simple vote be enough to do away with a longstanding tradition of keeping Shabbat in the public sphere?
Humiliating women
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Following her experience in Beit Shemesh on her way to school in December last year, Na’ama suffered nightmares, stomach aches and anxiety.
Russia’s self-marginalization
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Whereas it promotes itself as the bulwark against non-interference, Moscow itself now interferes in the domestic affairs of its neighbors, particularly those of the former Soviet Union.
In My Own Write: Mourners of Zion
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Sitting shiva: Observing the Jewish mourning period – from the Hebrew word ‘sheva,’ meaning seven (days).
Syria’s civil war rages, as Alawites press on
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Being an unprotected minority in the Mideast is often a painful reality which the Alawites, Druse, Christians and Kurds know all too well.
Groups that demonize Israel put themselves outside the tent
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Hillel leaders should enforce National Hillel guidelines forbidding Israel-demonizing events and groups.
Abdullah: Israeli-Palestinian talks not over
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Jordans king tells delegation of American Jewish leaders in Amman that coming days will indicate direction of negotiations.
How do you say Dotan in Dutch?
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – The Israeli-born singer scored big in Holland with his debut album and now hopes to repeat his success here.
Obama to address AIPAC annual conference
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – US president will meet Netanyahu day after speaking to country’s largest pro-Israel lobby; Iran expected to be top of the agenda.
High Court rules ‘Tal Law’ can’t be extended
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Majority of six justices against three says that the law that defers IDF service for yeshiva students is unconstitutional.
Far-right MPs’ move to leading party worries Greek Jews
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – The lawmakers stepped down after austerity bill vote: Jews concerned over MPs anti-Jewish views.
Nine suspects arrested for producing fake alcohol
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Police suspect Nahariya, Haifa residents of mixing chemical substances, additives and selling substances as vodka and whiskey.
Is administrative detention needed to fight terror?
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Analysis: The case of Khader Adnan will not be the last time prisoners are held for a set period without charge or trial.
Palestinian prisoner ends 66-day hunger strike
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Khader Adnan agrees to end hunger strike in light of a deal struck between the state and his lawyers.
Egypt to boost Gaza power supply to ease crisis
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Cairo says it will increase power supply to 22 megawatts from 17 megawatts, the amount already provided for free.
Khader Adnan agrees to end hunger strike
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Announcement comes after state says it won’t renew Adnan’s administrative detention on April 17 if no new evidence presented.
Police raid home with extremist material on Temple Mount
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – The Temple Mount was relatively quiet on Tuesday, despite police preparations for possible clashes between Jewish activists and Muslims at the Aksa Mosque.
Attacks by security forces kill 100 in Syria
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Rights group reports army raids in northern Idlib province; Syrian army is shelling neighborhood of Homs; 340 reported wounded.
TA chief rabbi: Reverse TA Shabbat buses decision
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Lau deeply disappointed by vote; Gal-On appeals to A-G over Transportation Ministry’s refusal to consider request.
Iranian navy ships return from Syria through Suez
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Tehran’s defense minister says traversing to Mediterranean twice in one year proves sanctions are ineffective; navy ships are said to sailed as show of support for Assad, provided training for Syrian navy.
Police prepare for possible Temple Mount clashes
Jerusalem Post 21 Feb 2012 – Jerusalem Police raid J’lem apartment, arrest right-wing activist, seize materials calling on Jews to ascend to Temple Mount.
Activists liken hunger-striker to IRA’s Bobby Sands
Jerusalem Post 20 Feb 2012 – Pro-Palestinian activists evoke IRA member who died on hunger strike protesting British rule in N. Ireland.
Edelstein addresses conference on Israel-bashing
Jerusalem Post 20 Feb 2012 – Disagreements must be tackled with dialogue and not with violence, says Minister Yuli Edelstein.
Study: Blog more therapeutic for teens than diary
Jerusalem Post 20 Feb 2012 – University of Haifa research shows writing blogs helps youths cope with emotional and social stresses.
Kirschenbaum petitions affordable housing
Jerusalem Post 20 Feb 2012 – Ayalim Association, which establishes student and entrepreneur villages in the Negev, joined the MK in high court filing.
Paris envoy: Jews need not fear life in France
Jerusalem Post 20 Feb 2012 – Anti-Semitic acts continue to decline in France, ambassador tells reporters at Tel Aviv embassy.
French farming experts study Israeli innovations
Jerusalem Post 20 Feb 2012 – Visit organization by the France-Israel Foundation gives 20 French agriculturalists insight into Israeli innovations.
Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan ends 66-day hunger strike
The Guardian 21 Feb 2012 – Adnan agrees to start taking food immediately, after deal reached for his release from Israeli custody on 17 April A Palestinian prisoner whose life was in danger after he refused food for 66 days agreed on…
Iran raises tension by threatening pre-emptive action
The Guardian 21 Feb 2012 – Deputy chief of Iranian armed forces says regime ‘will act without waiting for enemies’ actions’ if national interests are put at risk Iran has stepped up its rhetoric with the west by warning that it could…
Palestinian journalists under pressure
The Guardian 21 Feb 2012 – The International Press Institute (IPI) has registered its concern over the treatment of Palestinian journalists by both Israeli forces and Palestinian security services. The press freedom watchdog says that since the beginning of 2012, at least…
U.S.: To Arm or Not to Arm Syrian Rebels, That Is the Question
IPS Just days before the opening meeting of the new international “Friends of Syria” in Tunis Friday, the debate over whether the United States should provide more support – including weapons – to opposition forces is gathering steam.
Jordanian NGOs Lead the Fight for Migrant Workers’ Rights
IPS As the number of domestic workers flooding into Jordan from Indonesia, Philippines and Sri Lanka reaches 140,000 annually, non-governmental organisations on the ground are working hard to protect migrant labourers’ rights and expose the terrible working conditions in the rich households that employ them.
Crackdown on Journalists Hits 15-Year High
IPS The number of journalists imprisoned worldwide reached a 15-year high in 2011, driven by repressive states seeking to choke the flow of information.
Palestinians Hear the Water
IPS After a recent Israeli Supreme Court decision allowed Israeli companies to maintain quarrying and mining activities in the occupied West Bank, local human rights groups and activists say the decision has opened the door dangerously to Israel’s pillaging of other Palestinian resources.
Administrative detention in perspective of International and humanitarian law
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – The phenomena of administrative detention in the occupied Palestinian territory, has increased in year 2011, where the occupying power during that year converted the arrest of more than 88 Palestinian detainees to administrative detention, which is based on the administrative order only, without the intervention of the judiciary power and without indictment…
Bassem Tamimi to Judge: I Do Not Recognize Your Rules
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – After 11 months in an Israeli jail, Bassem Tamimi, a prominent Palestinian activist from Nabi Saleh, was given a chance to plead his case before the military court in regards to the allegations against him, denying them in full while owning up to his and his village’s struggle against the Occupation and…
UN Special Rapporteur Condemns Israel of De-Facto Annexation of the West Bank
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – Concluding a ten day visit to the region yesterday (Monday, February 20th), United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Prof. Richard Falk stated that “the information I received paints a picture of increasing efforts by Israel to deny Palestinians their right of self-determination. Ever-increasing and expanding Israeli settlements; ever-increasing confiscation…
Israeli decision to release Palestinian detainee in April insufficient’
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – The Israeli authorities’ decision to release a Palestinian detainee by mid-April is insufficient, Amnesty International said amid reports that he has agreed to end his 66-day hunger strike. The organization has urged Israel to release Khader Adnan immediately to allow him to receive urgent medical treatment. The 33-year-old baker – allegedly affiliated…
012 : A Video Roundup
Uruknet
Palestinians Hear the Water
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – After a recent Israeli Supreme Court decision allowed Israeli companies to maintain quarrying and mining activities in the occupied West Bank, local human rights groups and activists say the decision has opened the door dangerously to Israel’s pillaging of other Palestinian resources. “On its face, the new rule allows the occupier (in…
Drones come to the US
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – A little-noted amendment to a $63 billion Federal Aviation Authority appropriations bill has ominous implications for democratic rights in the United States. President Barack Obama signed the bill, the “FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012“, into law on February 14. It clears the way for a vast expansion of the use…
Israeli forces deliver demolition warnings near Jenin
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – Israeli forces delivered evacuation and demolition orders Tuesday morning to nine Palestinian residents in the northern West Bank village of Bartaa al-Sharqiya. Village council member Tawfiq Qabaha told Ma’an that officers of the Israeli planning department, escorted by military patrols, stormed the village early Tuesday and handed out the orders. The orders…
Palestinians in Gaza protest against Syria’s Assad
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – Some 500 Palestinians are demonstrating in Gaza City in solidarity with Syrian anti-government protesters. The group of mostly Islamic University students hoisted Palestinian and Syrian flags and burned images of President Bashar Assad on Tuesday. They shouted “Bashar go to hell” to protest his violent crackdown on opponents… One of the organizers,…
Yet Another Appeal to Non-Existent Gods
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – A few years ago, in a series of posts about the economic unraveling of the United States, I cited Mike Whitney a number of times…. But as the ruling class’s grip on those who are not favored by wealth and power grows constantly tighter, as the ruling class throttles the little remaining…
Despite the Announcement of a Deal Limiting Khader Adnan’s Detention, Addameer Reiterates its Urgent Concern for His Health
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – …His administrative detention order, as is the case with all other administrative detainees, is based on the alleged threat he poses to the “security of the State of Israel.” However, if Israeli officials agree that he will not be a threat on 17 April, as clear from today’s deal, he surely does…
Administrative arrests: Months or years without due process
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – At any given moment, hundreds of Palestinians are held by Israel without charges or trial. Of the Palestinians currently under administrative arrest, 88 have been held for more than a year. One has been held for more than five years. Some advocacy groups and Israeli officials have recently claimed that Khader Adnan,…
Khader Adnan Ending Hunger Strike
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – …The Addameer Prisoner Support group reported Adnan’s announced deal on Twitter, but said: “For the sake of his family, we will not release any additional information until we have confirmation from Khader Adnan.” Addameer also said his attorney Samer Sam’an is outside his Safad Hospital detention location “being denied permission to see”…
Libya: Displaced People Barred from Homes Misrata Authorities Failing to Stop Destruction of Nearby Villages
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – – Authorities in and around Misrata are preventing thousands of people from returning to the villages of Tomina and Kararim and have failed to stop local militias from looting and burning homes there, Human Rights Watch said today. The abuse mirrors the treatment of roughly 30,000 displaced people from the nearby town…
More than 100 killed in south Libya clashes, tribal sources say
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – Fierce clashes between two tribes in Libya’s remote southeastern desert have killed more than 100 people over the past 10 days, tribal sources said on Tuesday. At least 113 people from the Toubu tribe and another 23 from the Zwai tribe have been killed in the town of Kufra since fighting erupted…
Deal reached to end Khader Adnan’s detention by 17 April; 66 day hunger strike ends
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – Lawyers for Khader Adnan have reached a deal with Israel for Adnan to be released on 17 April, Addameer announced today via Twitter. Khader Adnan has agreed to end his hunger strike. Addameer said the deal appears to meet minimum conditions Adnan had previously communicated to lawyers. Adnan has been on hunger…
Iraq plans 33 more executions
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – Iraq has already executed at least 69 people this year. Al Rafidayn reports that Iraq’s presidency council signed off on 33 more executions Sunday. If all are conducted in the next weeks, Iraq will have executed over 100 people before 2012‘s half-year mark… It can’t provide potable water or reliable electricity or…
Palestinian Authority accuses Red Cross of failing to protect prisoners
Uruknet February 21, 2012 – An official Palestinian report has accused the International Committee of the Red Cross of failing to protect Palestinian prisoners “who are exposed to massive violations of their rights and dignity in Israel’s prisons and interrogation centres”. The report was issued on Monday 20th February. In it, the Ministry of Prisoners and Freed…
012 (Warning: Graphic Videos)
Uruknet February 20, 2012 – Monday began with the martyrdom of Suleiman Salem Haj Qaddour from the Madiq Citadel in Hama due to wounds sustained when the regime’s army fired on homes… Homs: Regime’s army is shelling randomly Ashira neighborhood using RBG and nail bombs, and more than 9 shells fell on residential buildings, while Shabiha are…
Homs, city of torture
Uruknet February 20, 2012 – In Bashar al-Assad’s Syria, it is not just forbidden to speak, demonstrate and protest: it is also forbidden both to give medical treatment, and to receive treatment yourself. Since the beginning of the uprising, the regime has been waging a merciless war against any individual or institution capable of bringing medical aid…
Compassion
Uruknet February 20, 2012 – … Nine Palestinian very young children were killed and 40 other children injured (some severely) in one horrific fiery traffic accident today and another child was killed in a separate traffic accident. The day started with me breaking a glass and then having to talk to a lawyer about a notice I just…
Jordan Is Not Palestine, Neither Is Qatar
Uruknet February 20, 2012 – …Something much more dangerous is in process. Both Hamas and Palestinian President Abbas’ Fateh movements are in dire need to unite to save themselves, after totally decimating anything resembling a national liberation movement or an operating political system. The average Palestinian in Jerusalem, Haifa, Shatila, and Santiago is without voice, without representation,…
Military Resistance 10B14: Damascus Rising
Uruknet February 20, 2012 – Yesterday we went to Beit Lahia to visit the family of the two other fishermen, arrested on Monday morning, while fishing in the waters north of Gaza. Jamal Ramadan Al Sultan is a 58 year old man. His eyes are intensely expressive. With him is also another fisherman arrested on Tuesday morning,…
Military Resistance 10B13 : Zero-Fault Mentality
Uruknet February 20, 2012 – The breeze block homes that cling to the sides of the cliffs above Piraeus harbour are painted typical Greek colours: cream and pink. The bare twigs poking out of hanging baskets and trellises stand ready to sprout, as soon as some warmth arrives. At the clinic, on the corner, people hang around…
Israel top court scraps pious Jews’ draft exemption
Daily Star 21 Feb 2012 Israel’s top court struck down on Tuesday a law designed to encourage ultra-Orthodox Jews to join the military and the workforce.
Israel to free Palestinian hunger striker
Daily Star 21 Feb 2012 A Palestinian member of a violent Islamic militant group that advocates killing Israeli civilians agreed to end his 66-day hunger strike.
Iran, IAEA to carry on talks: delegate
Daily Star 21 Feb 2012 Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency whose officials wound up a two-day visit to Tehran on Tuesday are to hold further negotiations.
Syria-Russia trade up 58 percent
Daily Star 21 Feb 2012 Two-way trade between Syria and Russia jumped 58 percent last year, climbing to $1.97 billion, with the balance heavily in favour of Moscow.
Jordan’s king blames Israel for deadlocked peace
Daily Star 21 Feb 2012 King Abdullah II on Tuesday blamed Israel for deadlocked Mideast peacemaking in a meeting with U.S. Jewish leaders, the official Petra News Agency said.
YNet
Authorities say 5 dead in US spa shooting
YNet News, 22 Feb 2012 – ….
UN nuclear watchdog: Tehran talks disappointing
YNet News, 21 Feb 2012 – ….
Iran says UN nuclear talks will continue
YNet News, 21 Feb 2012 – ….
High Court rules against extending Tal Law
YNet News, 21 Feb 2012 – Panel votes 6:3 in favor of accepting petitions against Tal Law which exempts yeshiva students from army service; law scheduled to expire in August. Supreme Court President Beinisch: Law unconstitutional ….
A dubious kosher stamp
YNet News, 21 Feb 2012 – Op-ed: If Israel chooses to legitimize illegal outposts, it should allow other offences too ….
Report: IDF arrested 3 Palestinians in Gaza
YNet News, 21 Feb 2012 – ….
MK Tibi: Adnan came out a winner
YNet News, 21 Feb 2012 – MK Ahmad Tibi says Palestinian detainee’s imprisonment was unjust, lauds deal that brought end to Adnan’s hunger strike ….
Attacks by security forces kill 100 in Syria
YNet News, 21 Feb 2012 – ….
Officer: Foiled terror attack would have been deadly
YNet News, 21 Feb 2012 – Inquiry finds that bomb intercepted on southern border was cell phone-activated; ‘bomb was meant to hurt people,’ officer says ….
National Information chief Yoaz Hendel resigns
YNet News, 21 Feb 2012 – Hendel was one of three senior officials in PM’s bureau who complained about Natan Eshel and resigned following reprimand from Netanyahu ….
The fight for Israel
YNet News, 21 Feb 2012 – Op-ed: Young Israeli says time has come to ask our leaders about Jewish state’s direction ….
Principal suspected of sexually assaulting students
YNet News, 21 Feb 2012 – Former student in haredi establishment accuses principal of indecent acts, says others assaulted too. Police suspect senior haredi leaders tried to keep affair under wraps ….
Ammunition Hill heritage site to remain open
YNet News, 21 Feb 2012 – Last minute agreement facilitates allocation of NIS 2 million for historic battleground’s maintenance ….
Tensions run high in Jerusalem, West Bank; rioters arrested
YNet News, 21 Feb 2012 – Numerous incidents recorded across West Bank as stones hurled in Temple Mount, Rachel’s Tomb and near Beit Ummar. Settlers retaliate by hurling stones as well ….
Will Netanyahu err again?
YNet News, 21 Feb 2012 – Op-ed: Prime minister would be wise to stay away from Ehud Barak, stop Likud’s slide leftward ….
Palestinian Information Center
Hamas condemns Israeli desecration of Islamic, Christian shrines
PIC – Hamas has strongly condemned the Jewish fanatics’ desecration of Islamic and Christian holy shrines in occupied Jerusalem under the protection of Israeli occupation forces.
IOF kidnap nine young men from W. Bank, one from O. Jerusalem
PIC – The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped at dawn Tuesday 10 Palestinian young men during raids on their homes in different West Bank areas.
European groups meet in London to arrange for global march to J’lem
PIC – Pro-Palestinian organizations from different European countries intend to hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the arrangements to be made for the global march towards occupied Jerusalem.
Jewish settlers profane Baptist church of W. J’lem, insult Prophet Jesus
PIC – Extremist Jewish settlers desecrated the Baptist church in the western part of occupied Jerusalem and wrote crude remarks and profanities about Prophet Jesus and his mother Mary.
Jewish female extremists declare intent to defile Aqsa Mosque this morning
PIC – Palestinian women intend to march towards the Aqsa Mosque to counter Jewish female groups who declared their intent to desecrate the Mosque on Tuesday morning and on a regular basis.
Abbas meets EU’s Ashton
WAFA – 21 Feb 2012
Cabinet Condemns Raid against Al-Aqsa Mosque, House Demolition
WAFA – 21 Feb 2012
Group Calls on Israel to Stop Administrative Detentions
WAFA – 21 Feb 2012
Adnan Ends Hunger Strike in Return for his Release on April 17
WAFA – 21 Feb 2012
Iran Crisis: 10 Questions Hague Won’t Answer
Intifada-Palestine: 21 Feb 2012 – by Stuart Littlewood In an interview with The Daily Telegraph Britain’s Foreign Secretary, William Hague, claims that Iran is threatening to spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East which could be more dangerous than the original East-West Cold War… more
U.S., Israel send mixed messages on Iran
LA Times 22 Feb 2012 – As the U.S. seeks to tamp down talk of an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites, some analysts and officials see a campaign to wring concessions from Tehran. The Obama administration is bluntly warning Israel about the danger of bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities, but it…
Red Cross seeks daily ‘humanitarian pause’ in Syria fighting
LA Times 22 Feb 2012 – Amid fear that Syria is headed toward civil war, the Red Cross proposes that both sides respect two-hour cease-fires to deliver aid and evacuate the wounded and sick. Opposition activists reported scores of people killed Tuesday across Syria, including many in a new round of…
Yemen election for president ends rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh
LA Times 22 Feb 2012 – Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, who served as Ali Abdullah Saleh‘s vice president, is the single candidate. Saleh is the fourth leader to be ousted by ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings. The nation of Yemen went to the polls Tuesday in historic balloting that ended the 33-year rule…
Rise in crime intensifies unease in once-safe Egypt
LA Times 20 Feb 2012 – Egyptians say they don’t recognize the country now, a place with carjackings, soccer melees and brazen bank robberies. The headlines reflect a previously unknown cruelty: a woman gunned down in a rich Cairo neighborhood, a rash of carjackings, a deadly soccer riot, a stream of…
News Analysis: In Din Over Iran, Echoes of Iraq War – News Analysis
New York Times 22 Feb 2012 – Talk of war over Iran’s nuclear program has reached a strident pitch in recent weeks, with threats from Israel of a possible strike, bellicose American oratory and defiance from Tehran.
Yemen Vote to Replace President Ali Abdullah Saleh
New York Times 21 Feb 2012 – The vote was an important transitional moment for Yemen as it ends President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s rule.
Memo From Jerusalem: Israel Both Hopeful and Fearful About Unrest in Syria
New York Times 21 Feb 2012 – The fall of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria would be welcome in Jerusalem, but the prospect of chaos across the border worries officials.
Syria Allies Reject Calls for Pressure on Assad
New York Times 21 Feb 2012 – China, Russia and Iran all made declarations of support for the Syrian government, reaffirming their alliances in the face of broad international lobbying for unity against President Bashar al-Assad.
Saudi Arabia Names Ambassador to Iraq
New York Times 21 Feb 2012 – Saudi Arabia has moved to repair a long-fractured relationship, naming its first envoy to Iraq in more than two decades, Iraq’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.
Mother of American Sentenced to Death in Iran Visits Him
New York Times 21 Feb 2012 – Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, 28, a former Marine, was convicted of espionage last year in circumstances that remain murky.
Khader Adnan, Palestinian Hunger Striker, to Be Freed
New York Times 21 Feb 2012 – Israeli authorities agreed to release Khader Adnan, who fasted for 66 days to protest being detained without charges, in April if no major new evidence is brought against him.
If Adnan is freed, there will still be 309 prisoners in administrative detention
Mondoweiss – link to electronicintifada.net link to www.addameer.org link to www.democracynow.org link to english.wafa.ps link to www.maannews.net link to palestinesolidarityproject.org link to stopthewall.org link to english.wafa.ps link to www.maannews.net link to www.haaretz.com link to english.wafa.ps link to www.haaretz.com link to www.maannews.net link to english.wafa.ps link to english.alarabiya.net link…
2013 budget: ‘difficult cuts’ for Americans, jackpot for Israel
Mondoweiss – (Photo: I Avgi ) Speaking before students at Northern Virginia Community College on February 13, President Obama unveiled his 2013 budget request, in which he proposed “some difficult cuts that, frankly, I wouldn’t normally make if they weren’t absolutely necessary. But they are.” These budget cuts are…
‘Cruelest demolition’ kills Palestinians’ sheep and signals political tension with Europeans
Mondoweiss – We often report about house demolitions, but it is something else to see one up close. Two days ago in Palestine I saw “the cruelest demolition” in the tiny village of Sadat a Thaale in the southern West Bank. Last Wednesday morning, the Israeli civil administration…
Khader Adnan ends strike and will be released in April, under reported deal
Mondoweiss – Palestinians in the West Bank demonstrating in today’s general strike. (Photo: Alaa Badarneh/EPA) Israeli officials today offered hunger striker Khader Adnan a deal for his release. Adnan was in his 66th day of protest against an administrative detention order. An Israeli authority confirmed to Reuters : ‘There is…
On 1st Anniversary in Israeli Prison, Abusisi Charges Mossad Spirited Him from Ukraine in Coffin
Tikun Olam – Drawing of Abusisi and his children Dirar Abusisi has just completed his first anniversary as an Israeli prisoner of conscience incarcerated for “crimes” he hasn’t committed and jailed without trial. He’s been offered deals by the State involving confession to charges without foundation, which would involve…
Day and night in a Bahraini jail
Mondoweiss – Posters read “Down with [King] Hamad” in Arabic, “Down Down Hamad” in English (Photo: Flo Razowsky) You can read the first part of Sainath’s account from Bahrain here. In the alleys of Manama, a Bahraini police commander yelled at me that I had been disrespectful, as…
Rwanda: Israeli Envoy Bids Farewell to Kagame
allAfrica.com 21 Feb 2012 – [New Times] President Paul Kagame, yesterday, received the outgoing Israeli Ambassador to Rwanda, Oded Ben-Haim, after close to fours year as emissary to Rwanda.
Egypt: Haniyeh Visits- Considers Fuel Shortage And National Reconciliation
allAfrica.com 21 Feb 2012 – [Egypt Online] Palestinian Prime Minister in Gaza Ismaiel Haniyeh arrived in Egypt on Monday 20/2/2012 on a several-days visit.
Nigeria: FG Partners Isreal to Improve Emergency Preparedness
allAfrica.com 21 Feb 2012 – [Daily Trust] The Federal Ministry of Health collaborating with the Israeli government towards capacity and structural development of Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in Nigeria.
Demonstration in Hebron Shows Solidarity With Khader Adnan
Palestine Solidarity Project 20 Feb 2012 – On Monday, February 20th, 2012, Palestinian demonstrators in the city of Hebron gathered outside of Red Cross offices to express their solidarity with Khader Adnan, a Palestinian political prisoner in Israeli prison who has been hunger striking for 65 days. Khader has been held without charge…
Arab American Journalists Pay Tribute to Anthony Shadid
Arab American Institute 21 Feb 2012 – Anthony Shadid inspired a generation of Arab American Journalists?journalists who are now some of the most influential and well-respected reporters covering the Arab world. With his tragic passing in Syria last week, many of the friends and fellow journalists touched by Shadid?s life and work paid…
Inspectors barred from Iran site
BBC 21 Feb 2012 – The UN nuclear watchdog says Iran has stopped a team of inspectors from visiting a key military site.
US backs Red Cross call for Syria
BBC 21 Feb 2012 – The US backs calls by the Red Cross for a humanitarian ceasefire in Syria to allow aid into the worst affected areas.
Trial of Mubarak enters last day
BBC 21 Feb 2012 – Egypt’s trial of ex-President Hosni Mubarak, accused of ordering the killing of protesters during the revolution that ousted him, enters its final day.
Libya ethnic clashes kill scores
BBC 21 Feb 2012 – Scores are killed and injured in clashes between two rival ethnic groups in Libya’s remote south-eastern desert, according to local reports.
An officer who injured a non-violent protester in Bil’in will not be held accountable
B’tselem 20 Feb 2012 – On 1 January 2012, MAGS Corps informed B’Tselem that the investigation into the injury of the protester Eran Cohen was closed with no legal proceedings being initiated against the officer who shot him with a rubber coated metal bullet. Cohen, an Israeli citizen, was shot during…
Articles
Israeli Leader Wrongly Blames UN and Arab States for Palestinian Refugees
Leila Hilal, The Atlantic 2/21/2012
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon is putting out a series of misleading videos on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
At the end of 2011, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, posted the third video in his YouTube series about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These polished presentations are produced by an Israeli public relations firm in collaboration with StandWithUs, a U.S.-based group that counters criticism of Israeli policies regarding Palestinian. The series is promoted as “explanations of the historical facts” of the core issues of the conflict — thus far covering the peace process, the West Bank, and most recently, refugees. (A fourth video on Jerusalem is said to be forthcoming.)
Ayalon is a former Israeli ambassador to the United States and currently a Knesset member representing Yisrael Beitenieu, an ultra-nationalist party that advocates the transfer of Palestinian citizens of Israel as part of a political settlement. An avid user of social media — recognized by Foreign Policy in their who’s who of 100 Tweeters in 2011 — he maintains a personal website in Hebrew and English, including links to his widely viewed and frequently reposted Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube accounts. The refugee video alone garnered 37,000 hits within the first two weeks of its release, and currently has over 140,000 views. Ayalon reportedly plans to promote the clips, available in eight languages, globally for use in regular school curricula. The deputy foreign minister has particularly strong appeal among some Christian evangelicals and conservative members of U.S. Congress, with whom he and his party have long cultivated ties and to whom much of his communications appears geared. In short, his effort to influence the narrative on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can have consequences.
Ayalon’s refugee video — which was dropped from Le Poste (the French equivalent of the Huffington Post) for violating guidelines against racist postings — makes two main substantive assertions, claiming basis in facts and international law: first, that the Palestinian refugees are caught between Arab host governments who deny them basic rights and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)…. more.. e-mail
The massacre of 1929 and the War of Narratives
Aaron, International Solidarity Movement 2/21/2012
If you ask an Israeli settler in or around Al-Khalil (Hebron) what calls them to live on contested land, most will speak to a religious connection to the city and the Cave of the Machpelach (“patriarchs”), where Jews, Muslims, and Christians come to revere the biblical figures believed to be buried there. A series of signs posted nearby along Shuhada Street, the once-main road and market district now closed to Palestinians, tell a story of Hebronite Jewish habitation dating from biblical times, brought to a sharp and bloody end with a 1929 pogrom, which resulted in the deaths of 67 Jewish residents and the displacement of the survivors. Citing this narrative, many of today’s settlers justify their occupation of the old city as a rebirth and continuation of this community, a story echoed in publications distributed by the Gutnick Center (a Jewish cultural center) and soldier-escorted weekly tours through the Palestinian market. The problem with this narrative is that no one, not even the survivors’ descendants, agrees on it.
On Monday, February 20th, the Jerusalem Post published an article presenting the conflict between the survivors’ descendants as a microcosm for Jewish public opinion, some of whom support the settlements and a growing number who oppose Hebron’s especially active settler community, one which Yair Keidan calls “a loaded bomb that can blow up peace altogether.” Both sides have signed petitions to the Israeli government, asking variously to maintain, evacuate, and/or halt settlement activity, and both groups claim a right to the legacy of their parent community.
“You can’t bring back the dead,” said Ya’acov Castel, a survivor from 1929, “but there are people living here now who are carrying out the dream of the Jews who lived here for hundreds of years.” Yona Rochlin, whose family went back many generations in pre-1929 Hebron, argues the opposite—pointing out that the majority of settlers are US immigrants, who have settled in a foreign city unfamiliar with the customs, language, or neighborly habits of the people they claim as spiritual forebearers…. more.. e-mail
I’ve lost a good, brave, honourable friend
Robert Fisk, The Independent 2/18/2012
Tewfik Mishlawi was the first Palestinian to report for The Times.
I was the paper’s Middle East correspondent in the early 1980s and had come to admire this tall, humorous man with his giant eyes and deep voice, able to interpret civil war Lebanese politics like a seer. When I signed him up as my “stringer” in Beirut – a “stringer” is the reporter who covers for the full-time correspondent when he’s away – The Times was attacked by readers who, in some cases, declared themselves friends of Israel, all of whom told us that a Palestinian would only be writing on behalf of “terrorists”. The readers were told to get stuffed.
Tewfik proved so honourable in his coverage, so unwilling to cast blame on anyone even under fire (I especially remember him filing from the awful siege of Zahle in 1981), that I had to call him up and say: “Tewfik, in God’s name, tell us who the bad guys are – and say what you fucking well think!”
He once came home, his English wife Phillipa remembers, with a notebook full of instructions. “They have all these words you can’t use,” he told her. “On The Times, we don’t say ‘terrorist’ unless someone uses the word in quotes.” Those were the days. It was a rule that I pushed through on the paper, thus deleting the generic, often racist use of this word. Murdoch’s Times has long since rediscovered its usefulness.
So when, last week, an old Lebanese friend told me over lunch that Tewfik had died, I realised that another of those figures who would never die – Tewfik suffered a stroke in 1998 but with inhuman determination taught himself to speak again – had indeed proved mortal…. more.. e-mail
Vital health services under threat in Gaza power crisis
Electronic Intifada: 21 Feb 2012 – Gaza City 21 February 2012 An energy crisis is currently hitting the Gaza Strip’s public services hard and could lead to a severe humanitarian crisis if a sustainable solution is not found soon.more
Never mind Johnny Rotten, real punks boycott Israel
Electronic Intifada: 20 Feb 2012 – Alexander Billet Chicago 20 February 2012 Working with the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, Punks Against Apartheid follows a firm tradition of anti-racism within the punk movement.more
Baroud Talks to CPDS: Clear, Non-Factional Message Urgently Needed
Palestine Chronicle: 21 Feb 2012 – By Yousef M. Aljamal – Gaza, Palestine For the 7th week in row, the Center for Political and Development Studies, (CPDS) – a Gaza based think-tank – held a lecture via Skype with Palestinian and international activists, aiming at drawing attention to crucial issues related to Palestine. Palestinians have been misrepresented and defamed in the world as a result of PR campaigns unleashed by well-financed pro-Israeli groups, and CPDS, like other groups attempt to bring a more balanced view on the issue. Ramzy Baroud, a Palestinian-American journalist, the founder and editor of the Palestine Chronicle, a well-regarded Palestinian website in the US, and the author of three books including his last My Father Was A Freedom Fighter: Gaza‘s Untold Story talked to CPDS on Sunday, February 19, on ‘How to Establish a Palestinian Narrative’, with the presence of Palestinian activists, academics and politicians. “We have the truth on our side…more
Unmaking of Israel – Book Review
Palestine Chronicle: 21 Feb 2012 – Reviewed by Jim Miles (The Unmaking of Israel. Gershom Gorenberg. Harper Collins, New York. 2011) Many recent works are reflecting an internal crisis within Israel, part of which is the increased power of the ultra-Orthodox Jews within the educational, military, and political systems. Gershom Gorenberg’s “The Unmaking of Israel” presents clear and well argued points concerning this aspect of current Israeli life and politics, and, as reflected in other works by Jewish writers, “The ongoing occupation, the fostering of religious extremism, the undercutting of the law by the government itself all threaten Israel’s future.” Gorenberg’s thesis is narrowly focused on this aspect of Israeli life, and while there are some arguable points of historical interpretation, his general argument is well presented and well thought out. It is not a work about the Palestinians per se, but about the nature of the ongoing occupation and all the hazards that it brings…more
2013 Budget: ‘Difficult Cuts’ for Americans, Jackpot for Israel
Palestine Chronicle: 21 Feb 2012 – By Josh Ruebner Speaking before students at Northern Virginia Community College on February 13, President Obama unveiled his 2013 budget request, in which he proposed “some difficult cuts that, frankly, I wouldn’t normally make if they weren’t absolutely necessary. But they are.” These budget cuts are unavoidable, the President argued, because “the truth is we’re going to have to make some tough choices in order to put this country back on a more sustainable fiscal path.” In a sad commentary on the misplaced priorities of the Obama Administration, however, these “tough choices” will affect the delivery of basic services to U.S. citizens while the Israeli military hits the jackpot at taxpayer expense. As part of its budget request, the White House released a 205-page document detailing the cuts, consolidations, and savings the Obama Administration is proposing. These proposed cuts include $5 million to the USDA to analyze food-borne pathogens, potentially…more
Fikra: Israeli Forum for Arab Democrats
Palestine Chronicle: 21 Feb 2012 – By Maidhc Ó Cathail On February 10, subscribers to Fikra Forum’s mailing list received a bilingual (English and Arabic) letter from director David Pollock informing them: “In reaction to last week’s exclusive Fikra Forum report, Inside the Syrian Army by Ilhan Tanir, contributor Josef Olmert and I present analysis on how the U.S. and the international community should support the FSA [Free Syrian Army].” Five days later, Fikra Forum subscribers received another email with the subject title, “Leading Syrian Activist Calls for International Intervention.” In his introductory note, Pollock explained: “As the international community struggles to halt the Syrian regime’s brutal assault on its people, Fikra Forum would like to share our newest piece by Radwan Ziadeh, an official with the Syrian National Council and executive director of the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies. Ziadeh calls for intervention, urging the international community to form a coalition that legitimizes…more
Withered Hands – A Poem
Palestine Chronicle: 21 Feb 2012 – By Eugene Sigaloff ‘Jewish life is going on here in Hebron, and there’s Nothing you, or anybody, can do about it!’ A settler’s words, Pugnacious words, Stiff-necked words, Words behind a gun, Words holding all the cards, Mean words, Hostile words, Full of spite, Full of spittle, Streaming from a poisoned well. “Jewish life” is More than observant piety, More than roots and identity, More than kosher kitchens and circumcisions, More than selective humanitarianism; “Jewish life” is also Suffering crystallized as malice, and Malice warranted through the presumption of suffering, Past suffering become a blinding alibi, Righteousness become self-righteousness; “And the crooked shall be made straight”: The potter’s wheel of the human mind Turns its cup, The cup from which to sip Its very own self-serving narrative. Taunting the helpless, Mocking the persecuted, Justifying theft through folklore, Sucking an entire people dry and Accusing the victims of their wrongdoing, The…more
A Voice of Integrity in the Canadian Media Fired Again
Dissident Voice: 21 Feb 2012 – On Thursday, February 9th, 2011, Bell Media, owners of CTV and CFRA Radio in Ottawa, fired talk show host Michael Harris. Harris is a journalist of the highest integrity, a Woodrow Wilson Scholar and award winning author of numerous books, four of which have sparked Canadian Royal Commissions. He has been outspoken on Palestinian rights, environmental issues and the Harper government’s undemocratic behaviour just to name a few. The station also fired 15 others on the same day but they were not controversial, high-profile individuals of Mr. Harris’ calibre. Bell Media, of course, denies that he was fired because of his views and cites corporate restructuring as the reason for all the dismissals. An examination of the facts indicates otherwise. Two extremely right-wing talk show hosts were retained while Harris was fired; one, Lowell Green, is 75 years old and in poor health and the second, Nick Vandergragt, is a…more
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The New Dark Age 