9 March 2012 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Two protesters wounded in Friday demos against Israeli Annexation Wall
IMEMC – Weekly non-violent protests were held on Friday afternoon in the villages of Bil’in, Nil’in, Al Mas’ara and Nabi Saleh. Two citizens were injured in addition to dozens of cases of inhalation of military grade tear gas in the village of Bil’in, west of Ramallah. …
Six Palestinians Killed In The Gaza Strip As Escalation Continues
IMEMC – Palestinian Medical sources reported that that a total of six Palestinians were killed on Friday, and several others were wounded, after the latest Israeli bombardment left one dead and two more injured in central Gaza. Earlier five Palestinians were killed and several others were wounded in a number of Israeli attacks targeted the Gaza Strip. …
18-Month Child Killed, Her Sister Injured, After Falling Into Tunnel
IMEMC – Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported, Thursday, that an 18-month-old Palestinian child was killed, and her 30-month-old sister was injured, after falling into a siege-busting tunnel, in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. …
Medics: 2 killed in second airstrike
3/10/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Two people were killed as Israel launched a second airstrike on the Gaza Strip, bringing Friday’s death toll to four people, medics said. Obeid al-Ghirbali and Muhammad Harara were named as those killed, medical spokesman Adham Abu Salmiyeh said. Both men were members of the Al-Quds Brigade, the…. Related: PRC secretary, ex-prisoner killed in Gaza
PRC secretary, ex-prisoner killed in Gaza
3/9/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — An Israeli strike targeting a car in western Gaza killed the head of the Popular Resistance Committees and a former prisoner released by Israel four years ago, medical officials said Friday. PRC secretary-general Zuhair Qaisi and Mahmoud Hanani, a Nablus native freed from Israeli custody four years earlier, were killed…. Related: DFLP armed wing call for response to assassination and Medics: 2 killed in second airstrike
Toddler dies after falling into Gaza tunnel
3/9/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A one-year-old baby died Thursday after falling into the opening of a smuggling tunnel in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, medical officials said. Samar al-Shaer was killed in the accident and her 3-year-old sister Fatima was seriously injured, emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya told Ma’an….
Soldiers disperse demonstration near Bethlehem
3/9/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces dispersed a weekly demonstration in the West Bank village of al-Masara, near Bethlehem, and prevented residents from reaching their lands, activists said. The local popular committee spokesman Muhammad Breijeh said this week’s protest was in solidarity with Hana Shalabi, a detainee without charge on hunger-strike. He stressed….
Medics: PRC chief among victims in Gaza blast
3/9/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A blast targeting a car west of Gaza City on Friday killed the head of the Popular Resistance Committees and a former prisoner who was deported to Gaza four years ago, medics said. PRC secretary-general Zuhair Qaisi and Mahmoud Hanani, a Nablus native deported to Gaza after his release, were…. Related: PRC secretary, ex-prisoner killed in Gaza
Medics: 2 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza
3/9/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Two Palestinians were killed and another person sustained injuries after Israeli forces targeted a car traveling west of Gaza City, a health official said Friday. An Israeli military spokeswoman did not immediately return a call for comment…. Related: Medics: PRC chief among victims in Gaza blast and PRC secretary, ex-prisoner killed in Gaza
Analysis: Palestinians forgotten amid Iran war of words
3/9/2012 – By Noah Browning – RAMALLAH (Reuters) — A monumental wooden chair erected in Ramallah to symbolize the Palestinians’ sought-after United Nations seat collapsed this week after months of wind and rain. Bulldozers quietly took away the shattered remains by night. It’s collapse and stealthy removal could well serve as an emblem of Palestinian hopes….
Hamas security forces attack journalists in Gaza City
3/9/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas security forces attacked three journalists covering a mass wedding in Gaza City on Thursday, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said Friday. Security forces beat the reporters in a nearby playground, it said. The journalists were covering a mass wedding of 500 couples, funded by a charitable organization and in coordination….
DFLP armed wing call for response to assassination
3/9/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine on Friday demanded a response to the assassination of two Palestinian faction members earlier in the day. The national resistance brigades held Israel fully responsible for the escalation and called on Egypt to intervene, a statement said. An….
Islamic Jihad call for retaliation to airstrikes
3/9/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Islamic Jihad movement on Friday vowed to respond to Israeli airstrikes which killed 4 people in the Gaza Strip.” The enemy is the one who initiates violence, murder and arrests, therefore the jihad and resistance should be set as it is the only option that will deter the occupation…. Related: PRC secretary, ex-prisoner killed in Gaza and 2 more killed in second Israeli airstrike
Zahhar: Fatah’s cooperation with Israel stalling unity
3/9/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar on Thursday said Fatah’s cooperation with Israel was stalling national reconciliation. Hamas does not recognize Israel while Fatah, which leads the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, coordinates with Israel under agreements signed in the 1990s. Zahhar, speaking at a conference on the….
2 more killed in second Israeli airstrike
3/9/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Two people were killed on Friday as Israel launched a second airstrike on the Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll for the day to four people, medics said….
Maan TV launches astrology show
3/9/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Astrologer Randa Bibo will lead the first episode of a horoscopes show to be broadcast on Maan Mix satellite TV on Friday. The weekly show, which is set to air at 6 p. m. every Friady, will discuss the history of astrology and viewers will be able to phone in to….
Egypt ‘virginity test’ verdict expected Sunday
3/9/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — An Egyptian military court is expected to deliver a verdict Sunday in the trial of a doctor accused of conducting forced “virginity tests” on female protesters. A year on from the Cairo protest in which female demonstrators were arrested and later subject to the invasive tests, Amnesty International says the verdict….
31 dead in Syria, mortars land on protests
3/9/2012 – BEIRUT (Reuters) — Syrian government forces killed 31 people around the country on Friday, including 10 demonstrators hit by mortar rounds in Homs, a center of opposition to President Bashar Assad’s rule, activists said. Mortar rounds hit a demonstration in the district of Bab Houd, said Homs-based opposition activist Abu Imad, who added that….
54 killed in Syria ahead of Annan peace mission
3/9/2012 – AMMAN (Reuters) — Syrian forces killed at least 54 people on Friday as they sought to quell demonstrations against President Bashar Assad before a peace mission by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, opposition activists said. Tank rounds and mortar bombs crashed into opposition districts in the rebellious central city of Homs, killing 17 people, activists said….
UN’s Ban: Annan to meet Syria’s Assad on Saturday
3/9/2012 – UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) — UN-Arab League Syria envoy Kofi Annan will meet Syrian President Bashar Assad on Saturday during a peace mission to the country where pro-democracy protests have deteriorated into bloody turmoil, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday. Ban told reporters in New York that Annan also plans to meet with the Syrian opposition….
Swiss add ministers to Syrian sanctions list
3/9/2012 – ZURICH (Reuters) — The Swiss government added seven names – most of them ministers – on Friday to a list of top Syrian officials on whom it imposed sanctions last year to put pressure on President Bashar Assad to end his crackdown on protests against his rule. The names added to the list of more than 100 Syrian….
Death toll climbs in Israel strikes on Gaza
AlJazeera 9 Mar 2012 – Medics say at least 11 Palestinians are killed and a dozen more injured after Israel hits Gaza Strip.
International Solidarity Movement
Al Ma’sara demonstrates the meaning of peace
3/9/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – By Ramon Garcia, 9 March 2012, International Solidarity Movement, West Bank – The people of Al Ma’sara gathered after praying time to march to their land, confiscated for the nearby illegal settlement. Approximately 70 internationals were present, most of them Christians coming back from a conference in Bethlehem titled, “Christ at the Checkpoints.”The….
Al Walajeh: Tunneling to get home
3/9/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – By Ramon Garcia, 8 March 2012, International Solidarity Movement, West Bank – Some Palestinians and Internationals gathered in the village of Al Walajeh on International Women’s Day to show solidarity to Omar and his family, especially his wife ,whose health has suffered from Israeli occupation in the small village. Sherinne Alaraj of the local….
Breaking: 2 international activists assaulted by extreme settlers in Al Khalil
3/9/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – 9 March 2012, International Solidarity Movement, West Bank – 2 international activists were assaulted late this morning by extreme Zionist settlers in Al Khalil (Hebron). A female activist was assaulted by a male settler, after being punched in the face and having her camera stolen by this male settler. Today’s attack comes following weeks of….
The strangulation of a village
3/9/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – By Sylvia, 10 March 2012, International Solidarity Movement, West Bank – Sheikh Nasri looks resigned as he describes his home as “the most terrorised village in the country”. With 34,000 uprooted trees in the last two years and some 4,800 dunams of land stolen, the village of Al Jab’a has little to smile about….
Women’s day demonstration in Qalandia for the rights of female Palestinian prisoners
3/9/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – By Satu, 8 March 2012, International Solidarity Movement, West Bank – On International Women’s day, March 8th, hundreds of demonstrators rallied in Qalandia in solidarity with hunger striker Hana Shalabi and calling for Israel to end the occupation. The demonstrators marched marched down the street next to the separation wall to Qalandia checkpoint, carrying….
Alternative Information Center
150 Palestinians, Israelis Demonstrate against National Park in East Jerusalem
Alternative Information Center – Some 150 demonstrators, including Palestinians, Israelis and internationals, protested Friday morning against Israel’s plan to confiscate yet more land from the East Jerusalem villages of Issawiya and A-Tur for construction of a “national park”.
U.S. senator calls for naval blockade of Iran
Ha’aretz – 9 Mar 2012
Iran expected to reject proposal for nuclear fuel swap
Ha’aretz – 9 Mar 2012
Gaza militants fire rockets at Israeli south; casualties, damage reported
Ha’aretz – 9 Mar 2012
Gaza militants fire rockets into Israel after IDF kills Palestinian leader
Ha’aretz – 9 Mar 2012
IDF strike in Gaza kills leader of Popular Resistance Committees
Ha’aretz – 9 Mar 2012
Israel inspector suspected of accepting bribes for approving substandard bomb shelters
Ha’aretz – 9 Mar 2012
Israel is only Mideast state safe for Christians, envoy to U.S. says
Ha’aretz – 9 Mar 2012
Netanyahu: Strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities possible within months
Ha’aretz – 8 Mar 2012
An old world comes alive during colorful Purim
Jerusalem Post 9 Mar 2012 – The ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea She’arim gets loud and festive in celebration of Purim.
IDF strikes Gaza terror targets following rocket barrage
Jerusalem Post 9 Mar 2012 – Escalation in South: 8 hurt, 1 seriously, by Palestinian rockets; over 40 rockets, mortars fired into South from Gaza; intense attacks follow IAF strike on Gaza that killed PRC chief Qaisi.
Hamas blames Israel for ‘grave escalation’ in South
Jerusalem Post 9 Mar 2012 – Abbas condemns IAF strike on Gaza, saying that escalation has triggered new round of violence; PRC threatens to retaliate.
Assad resumes Homs assault; 31 dead
Jerusalem Post 9 Mar 2012 – UN humanitarian chief says Damascus agrees to “limited assessment” of situation in Syria, aid to some areas.
Red Sea bridge back on the drawing board
Jerusalem Post 9 Mar 2012 – Linking Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the bridge would boost trade, pilgrimages, but threaten coral reefs.
‘Israel is only safe state for Mideast Christians’
Jerusalem Post 9 Mar 2012 – In ‘WSJ’ op-ed, Envoy to US Michael Oren criticizes PA, Hamas for policies resulting in the flight of Christians.
CAP writer backtracks on anti-Israel tweet
Jerusalem Post 9 Mar 2012 – In his tweet, Duss praised an article slamming Netanyahu for “religious incitement” because he gave Obama a copy of the Book of Esther.
Engineer arrested for approving faulty safe zones
Jerusalem Post 9 Mar 2012 – Police say bomb shelters in Ashkelon – designed to protect residents from rocket attacks – were substandard.
Peres says US, Israel agree on action against Iran
Jerusalem Post 9 Mar 2012 – President tells large audience in Los Angeles he supports tough sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program.
The Numbers Crunch: AIPAC on the Web
Jerusalem Post 9 Mar 2012 – Conference participants tweet #iamproisrael and Israelis post Purim; Russian clips popular on YouTube.
Dagan: World has time on Iranian nuke program
Jerusalem Post 9 Mar 2012 – Former Mossad chief calls the Iranian regime “very rational” in interview with CBS.
Abbas to deliver ‘mother of all letters’ to Israel
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – PA president outlines the Palestinians’ conditions for resuming the peace process.
Nature and Heritage Conservation Week begins
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Researchers work to restore shrubs and trees to Ein Gedi slopes, save rare swamp iris.
Study: Why Ashkenazis susceptible are to Crohn’s
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – The condition causes the immune system to attack healthy tissue in the gastrointestinal track, causing inflammation.
‘Women need a push to go into science’
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Israel Academy of Sciences president says female interest in science dwindles in higher grades for social reasons.
AJC, Dershowitz distance themselves from ad
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Jewish organizations and leaders in the US criticize (ECI) for anti-CAP advertisement.
Surmounting the Harpaz Report
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Security and Defense: Ashkenazi may have come off the worse for wear from the report, but it doesn’t look like that will stop him taking on Barak.
Law & Order: A last, but necessary recourse
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Former military advocate-general Avichai Mandelblit discusses the controversial issue of administrative detention with the ‘Post.’
Into the Fray: Barack, Bibi and the bomb
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Is a mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv the only evidence that the Obama administration will accept as proof of Iranian intentions?
Another Tack: Prelude to murder
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – All of us are the usurpers whose livers are destined to be devoured. Abbas’s slander is intended to justify the feeding frenzy.
‘Gaddafi hid arms in Libyan embassies across world’
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Senior official in new Libyan gov’t says handguns, grenades, bomb-making materials found in EU, Asia, Africa embassies.
Tradition Today: The whole megila
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Many biblical scholars have concluded that Esther was written to give a Jewish slant to a Persian holiday that Jews already observed.
Ask the Rabbi: May women chant Megilat Esther?
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Major scholars have permitted women’s megila readings because they are in consonance with the vast majority of sources.
Growing up in the shadow of greatness
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – ‘Major/Minor,’ is Alba Arikha’s way of making sense of her tangled relationship with her famous father.
The gospel according to Jewish scholars
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Marc Brettler explains how compiling commentary and essays on the Christian Bible has made him a better Jew.
Eisenbud’s Odyssey: Lose yourself
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – “The most liberating and empowering state one can actualize comes through understanding that true meaning and purpose can only be derived from beyond the self.”
A dose of Nuance: The masks we wear, and don’t
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Where are we if the smartest, most open Palestinian kids, from the best schools, believe that the Jewish state is going to be a corner of the West Bank?
the Human Spirit: A winning season
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – If kippa-wearing athletes can make it to the championship in Texas, they should be able to do it in Israel, too.
Consider This: A true Jewish hero (Part 2)
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Every one who had known Saba Avraham was blessed with the knowledge that his magnificent legacy would live on within them and all the generations that follow.
Dieting as a team
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Each partner needs to encourage – not discourage – the other.
A view from Israel: Hubris at the top
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Corruption and hubris at the top is damaging and diverts focus from where it is needed.
Batsheva’s Japanese bathtub
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Ohad Naharin’s ‘Furo’ is presented as a recurring piece, allowing audiences to come and go as they please.
Vive le festival
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – The ninth annual French Film Festival will be held at eight cinematheques across the country.
For the love of bel canto
Jerusalem Post 8 Mar 2012 – Spanish tenor Celso Albelo plays the role of Edgardo in Donizetti’s tragic opera.
Israel kills leader of Palestinian militants behind Shalit kidnapping
The Guardian 9 Mar 2012 – Two air strikes kill Zuhair al-Qaissi, who Israelis claim was plotting an attack, and three other militants An Israeli air strike has killed the commander of the militant group behind the abduction of the Israeli soldier…
Obama emerges from Israel-Iran talks with precious commodity
The Guardian 9 Mar 2012 – How Obama overcame the harsh rhetoric of Binyamin Netanyahu and others on Iran – and came out ahead Binyamin Netanyahu invoked the Holocaust and said the threat of bombs is the only thing Iran‘s mullahs really…
The Jewish festival of Purim – in pictures
The Guardian 9 Mar 2012 – The religious festival of Purim, which marks the deliverance of Jewish people living in Persia as told in the Book of Esther
Iran seeking to build long-range missile, warns David Cameron
The Guardian 9 Mar 2012 – Prime minister says Iran is planning inter-continental weaponry, but urges Israel to give sanctions more time David Cameron has warned that Iran is seeking to build an inter-continental missile that would threaten the west, as he…
Israel kills Palestinian militant commander
The Guardian 9 Mar 2012 – Air strike kills Zuhair al-Qaissi, who Israel claims was plotting attack similar to one in August in which eight people died An Israeli air strike has killed a top Palestinian militant commander and a second militant…
Sweden in Saudi Arms Deal Controversy
IPS Confidential documents revealed this week show how Sweden has in secret been helping Saudi Arabia to plan the construction of an advanced arms factory to produce anti-tank missiles.
Iraqi teenagers stoned to death for “emo” haircuts
Uruknet March 9, 2012 – At least 90 Iraqi teenagers with “emo” appearances have been stoned to death by religious extremists in Baghdad in the past month after an inflammatory interior ministry statement dubbed it “devil worshiping”, activists said… The exact death toll remains unclear, but Hana al-Bayaty of Brussels Tribunal, an NGO dealing with Iraqi issues,…
Israelis build the world’s biggest detention centre
Uruknet March 9, 2012 – Israel is to begin construction soon on a vast detention facility in the Negev desert to house the thousands of immigrants that cross illegally into Israel from Egypt every year. Human rights groups fear that the detention centre, the largest of its kind in the world, with a capacity to hold 8,000…
012
Uruknet March 8, 2012. Chaos and violence continue, Josh Rogin is an embarrassment whore and Foreign Policy is not about journalism, Iraqi women reject the government spin, the US Congress hears about burial issues, was Dennis Kucinich’s Tuesday loss a great blow to the left, and more …Today was International Women’s Day. Salam Faraj (AFP) reports that…
Parents of Hana al-Shalabi plead for urgent action to save their daughter
Uruknet March 9, 2012 – Hana al-Shalabi is on day 23 of an open-ended hunger strike she has undertaken to protest the violent and degrading treatment meted out by Israeli forces throughout her arrest and administrative detention, which began on 16 February. Israeli authorities have refused al-Shalabi’s parents visiting rights, leaving them to suffer in the dark…
Tens of thousands of Bahraini protesters join anti-government march in Manama
Uruknet March 9, 2012 – Tens of thousands of people have joined an anti-government march just outside the Bahraini capital, Manama…. Protesters carried banners denouncing the government and calling for the release of political detainees. They chanted “Down, down Hamad”, referring to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Sheikh Isa Qassim, a leading Shia cleric, made a…
Thousands rally against federalism across Libya
Uruknet March 9, 2012 – Demonstrators flooded the streets of Tripoli and Benghazi in protest against federalism on Friday and one person was killed when an iconic market was set ablaze, a medic and AFP journalists said. Thousands of people converged at the seaside courthouse of Benghazi chanting slogans against federalism and its chief advocate, Ahmed Zubair…
Syria: Abundance of Images but Absolute Lack of Frame of Thought
Uruknet March 9, 2012 – … The hegemonic narrative is of two camps reduced to two meta-narratives: One envisioning a pro-Islamic anti-Secular, anti-Asad Syria on the one hand and another of the Pro-Asad anti-imperialist Syria persuasion. This division also implies that pro-Islamic is also pro-Imperialism. It also implies that Asadist Syria is actually secular and stripped from religious…
012 (Warning: Graphic Videos)
Uruknet March 8, 2012 – The number of martyrs of Syria thus far is 66, including entire families, 53 in Homs, including 44 executed, 4 in Deir Ezzor, 3 in each of Idlib ,2 Daraya, 2 in Damascus Suburbs, and a martyr in each of Daraa,Aleppo and Hama…Homs: A new massacre committed by security forces and thugs (…
America: Land of the Poor
Uruknet March 8, 2012 – Years ago, who could have imagined the appalling growing poverty level in the world’s richest country? Various reports confirm it, including a new one by the University of Michigan’s National Poverty Center (NPC), titled “Extreme Poverty in the United States, 1996 to 2011”. NPC promotes multidisciplinary research on poverty and policy. It…
Six Palestinians Killed In The Gaza Strip As Escalation Continues
Uruknet March 9, 2012 – Palestinian Medical sources reported that that a total of six Palestinians were killed on Friday, and several others were wounded, after the latest Israeli bombardment left one dead and two more injured in central Gaza. Earlier five Palestinians were killed and several others were wounded in a number of Israeli attacks targeted…
Gaza: The Politics of Darkness
Uruknet March 8, 2012 – Gaza – The underground wells have been filled with rainwater and the people are optimistic about the upcoming farming season. Despite the continued stormy weather, spring is approaching. The orchards are filled with yellow and white flowers covering the grassland under the olive and lemon trees. There is a visible shortage of…
45 Palestinians arrested in the last three days
Uruknet March 8, 2012 – On Wednesday at dawn Israeli soldiers arrested twelve Palestinians from the districts of Nablus, Qalqilia, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron in the West Bank. Troops entered several cities, towns, villages and refugee camps during the night arrests and searched dozens of homes. In several cases the soldiers also forced the residents out of…
At the heart of the Palestinian struggle, a spirit she won’t surrender
Uruknet March 8, 2012 – It is this constant weathering of their souls, this creation of an indefatigable will to preserve and flourish, this defiance in the face of a cruel occupier, which has been passed from one generation of women to the next.m Nowhere did I witness this more clearly than in my visit to Gaza…
Enforced disappearances: Women resist in both Palestine and Kashmir
Uruknet March 8, 2012 – Arbitrary arrests. Administrative detention. Abductions. Enforced disappearances. Torture. Rape. Beatings. Interrogation centers. Detention camps. Secret prisons. Unprovoked attacks on peaceful protesters. No right of free movement. Censorship of Information. Discrimination. Intimidation. Humiliation. Military-enforced curfew. Property destruction. Mass graves. Gang rapes. Ethnic cleansing. Occupation. These are words that immediately bring to mind the…
What Use is War?
Uruknet Oh how many soldiers have died in vain, Riddled with bullets and screaming in pain? How much blood on the earth’s been spilled From laughing innocent children killed? What use is war to the hungry poor Whose bodies cover the plain? More use is war to the men who whore Themselves for guns and gain. How…
Iraqi Women: Resilience Amid Horror
Uruknet March 8, 2012 – It has been almost nine years since the US and UK launched their criminal invasion of Iraq, and almost three months since a major US troop withdrawal in December 2011. The situation of Iraqi women deteriorated enormously under direct occupation and has only continued to worsen in recent months. The presence of…
012 : A Video Roundup
Uruknet
UN envoy’s Syrian tour condemned as ‘useless’
Uruknet March 8, 2012 – Opposition activists in Syria have lashed out at the UN emergency aid chief who toured the besieged city of Homs this week, deriding her and her organisation for doing too little, too late. Baroness Amos, a former cabinet minister under Tony Blair, described how she was “struck” by the devastation she saw…
On International Women’s Day, Palestinian women challenge Israel’s occupation at a military checkpoint
Uruknet March 8, 2012 – On International Women’s Day, 8th March, the Palestinian Working Woman’s Society for Development along with The Coalition of Women for Peace and several other women‘s and human rights organisations, has held a mass rally at the Qalandia military checkpoint in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The demonstration sent a strong message of protest…
Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei Praises Obama’s ‘wise words’
Uruknet March 8, 2012 – Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised President Obama on Thursday for his even-keeled avoidance of war. “Two days ago, we heard the president of America say: We are not thinking of war with Iran,'” Khamenei said on state-run television on Thursday. “This is good. Very good. These are wise words. This…
Libya militias pose threat to precarious stability
Uruknet March 8, 2012 – … Rising inter-tribal violence has left scores dead. About 100 people were reported killed last month when rival tribes battled with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the remote southern town of Kufra, probably for control of lucrative arms-smuggling and human-trafficking routes in the vast empty spaces near the Chadian and Sudanese borders……
Palestinian women testify about ill-treatment and torture during their arrest and interrogation
Uruknet March 8, 2012 – The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) has submitted two group complaints to the Israeli authorities on behalf of nine Palestinian women detainees and former prisoners. The complaints address gender-specific types of ill treatment and torture. The evidence was collected last year by PCATI’s legal team in meetings with 29 women….
Daily Star
Israeli airstrike kills militant commander in Gaza
Daily Star 9 Mar 2012 An Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Friday killed the commander of the militant group behind the abduction of Gilad Schalit.
Palestinians: 2 dead in IDF strike in northern Strip
YNet News, 9 Mar 2012 – ….
2 rockets fired at Beersheba; none injured
YNet News, 9 Mar 2012 – ….
Gaza escalation: Hamas military wing threatens retaliation
YNet News, 9 Mar 2012 – ….
Egypt condemns Israel over Gaza escalation
YNet News, 9 Mar 2012 – ….
Color Red alert sounds in greater Beersheba area
YNet News, 9 Mar 2012 – ….
Southern Israel under fire; at least 2 hurt
YNet News, 9 Mar 2012 – Palestinians pound southern Israel Friday night; at least two men hurt, one suffers serious wounds. Iron Dome intercepts rockets fired at Ashdod; earlier, IDF killed four Gaza terrorists ….
Israel, terrorists clash in Gaza region
YNet News, 9 Mar 2012 – Several missiles fired at southern Israel communities after IDF assassinates senior terrorists Friday; two more gunmen killed in airstrike on rocket-launching cells, Palestinians say ….
Gaza strike: Terrorists vow revenge
YNet News, 9 Mar 2012 – PRC: Retaliation for IDF assassination to ‘shake the earth’; Hamas: Israel breached Shalit deal ….
2 killed in Gaza strike, including terror chief
YNet News, 9 Mar 2012 – IDF strikes in Gaza, two senior terrorists killed. Popular Resistance Committees secretary general reportedly among fatalities; man freed in Shalit deal also killed, Palestinians say ….
IDF: Killed terror chief planned mega-attack
YNet News, 9 Mar 2012 – PRC chief killed in Gaza strike was planning major terror attack on Egypt border, army says ….
Why Israel must strike
YNet News, 9 Mar 2012 – Op-ed: Main Shoah lesson is that active anti-Semites must be stopped when they’re small ….
Police: Contractors bribed engineer to approve faulty shelters
YNet News, 9 Mar 2012 – Investigation reveals contractors, professionals in construction field paid engineer to approve sub-standard shelters built in Qassam-ridden communities ….
Palestinian Information Center
Two captives go on hunger strike in solidarity with Shalabi
PIC – Two Palestinian captives from the village of Burqin declared an open ended hunger strike in solidarity with Hana’ al-Shalabi and in protest at administrative detention..
A human chain in al-Khalil in solidarity with political detainees
PIC – Families of political detainees in PA jails on Thursday organised a peaceful demonstration and formed a human chain in al-Khalil to protest continued political detentions..
Iran has perfect right to possess nuclear weapon
PIC – Just imagine the fanatics of Kahana and Gush Emunim taking control over Israel’s vast stockpile of weapons of mass destructions.
Activists mark International Women’s Day at Shalabi’s home
PIC – Palestinian women activists in the Jenin district on Thursday celebrated International Women’s Day at the home of Hana’ al-Shalabi to express solidarity with her in her fight for freedom.
Confrontations with the IOF in Jerusalem, two kids arrested
PIC – Clashes broke out on Thursday evening in the Ras Al-Amoud in occupied Jerusalem after a fire bomb was thrown at an IOF car and another at a Jewish settlement in the neighbourhood.
Tens of thousands participate in funeral of Abu Arram
PIC – Tens of thousands of Palestinians on Friday participated in the funeral of the Palestinian boy who was killed Thursday evening by the IOF in Yatta to the south of al-Khalil.
Two Quds Brigades fighters killed in an occupation airstrike
PIC – Two Quds Brigades fighters were killed Friday evening in another Israeli occupation airstrike targeting a group of Palestinians in to the east of Shejaeyyah neighbourhood in Gaza City.
Israeli aircraft used to assassinate two leaders of the PRC
PIC – Israeli aircraft on Friday evening assassinated Zuhair al-Qaisi, secretary general of the PRC and one of its field leaders, Mahmoud Hananni, who is a liberated captive from Nablus.
America Gone Stupid Over Iran – An Analysis by Dr. Lawrence Davidson
Intifada-Palestine: 9 Mar 2012 – Courtesy MCW News Making The Same Mistake Twice It is estimated that up to a million people died as a function of George Bush Jr.’s decision to invade Iraq. According to Bush, that decision was made on the basis of “faulty… more
Syria’s deputy oil minister Abdo Hussameddin reportedly defects
LA Times 8 Mar 2012 – The deputy oil minister would be the highest-ranking official to abandon Bashar Assad’s regime. Meanwhile, peace envoy Kofi Annan urges a political solution to the crisis. Syria‘s deputy oil minister reportedly defected from the government of Bashar Assad on Thursday, and a high-level international peace…
U.N. Relief Official Tells of Destruction in Syria
New York Times 9 Mar 2012 – An international effort to nudge President Bashar al-Assad toward peace talks ran into difficulties on Friday even before it got under way.
Bahrain Protesters Boost Pressure With Huge Rally
New York Times 9 Mar 2012 – Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters flooded a major highway in Bahrain on Friday in one of the largest opposition rallies in months against the Gulf nation’s rulers.
Israeli Airstrikes Kill Militants in Gaza
New York Times 9 Mar 2012 – The Israeli military said the strike, which killed the secretary general of the Popular Resistance Committees, was meant to thwart a terrorist attack the group was planning.
At least eleven Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza
Mondoweiss – link to www.reuters.com link to www.maannews.net link to www.maannews.net link to www.imemc.orglink to www.maannews.net link to www.maannews.net link to www.ynetnews.com link to english.wafa.ps link topalestinesolidarityproject.org link to www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk link to www.imemc.org link to english.pnn.ps link topalsolidarity.org link to english.wafa.ps link to www.maannews.net link…
?A letter from under attack
Mondoweiss – Palestinians gather around the wreckage of a car that had been carrying top Palestinian militant commander Zuhair al-Qaissi and a second militant in Gaza on Friday. Both men were killed. (Hatem Moussa/Associated Press) I am writing to all people of the world in solidarity with the…
86 Republicans to Obama: ‘You have already waited too long’ on Iran
Mondoweiss – I blame the Democrats for our saber-rattling against Iran. Well, here is a letter to Obama said to bear the signatures of 86 Republican congresspeople telling Obama to do everything Israel wants. I wonder who wrote this– maybe the Republican Jewish Coalition? And I wonder how…
New ‘Daily Beast’ blog on Israel/Palestine features 10 columnists– 7 of them Jewish, no US realist
Mondoweiss – Right in time for his new book called The Crisis of Zionism , Peter Beinart is rolling out a new blog at the Daily Beast dedicated to the conversation about Israel and Palestine, with a Zionist tilt to the contributors. Though I’ll take anything– and I’m grateful…
Warning to Obama: ‘The Jewish community will remember in November’
Mondoweiss – Following with breathtaking speed on the heels of President Obama‘s partial rejection of the Israeli agenda this week, neoconservatives and Republicans posted dramatic ads yesterday portraying Obama as a betrayer of Israel, who goes back on his word to the Jewish state. As I watched these…
Dershowitz: from Israel Firster to MEK Firster, He’ll Shill Your Cause if the Price is Right
Tikun Olam – Tweet MEK’s $140,000 full-page NY Times ad Alan Dershowitz and his 1% hedge fund manager friends at the Emergency Committee of Israel recently declared war on the Center for American Progress and Media Matters because M.J. Rosenberg has called some of Israel’s American Jewish supporters, “America…
Khamenei supporters win in Iran legislative elections
WSWS – Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his clerical allies consolidated their hold over the government in Friday’s Iranian parliamentary elections.
Hamas aligns itself with US imperialism against Syria, Iran
WSWS – Hamas leader Ismail Haniya delivered a speech in Cairo endorsing Syria’s Western-backed opposition and thereby confirming speculation that the Palestinian Islamist movement has found new patrons among the Middle East’s most reactionary regimes.
Funeral for Zakariah Jamal Abu Aram
Palestine Solidarity Project 9 Mar 2012 – On Friday, March 9th, 2012, the funeral took place for the martyr Zakariah Jamal Abu Aram, who was killed on Thursday by Israeli soldiers in Yatta (South Hebron hills). The Popular Peaceful Resistance Committee participated in the funeral to offer emotional support to the family and…
PSP activists take part in International Women’s Day
Palestine Solidarity Project 9 Mar 2012 – Yesterday, Thursday, March 8th, 2012, people from the Palestine Solidarity Project took part in two demonstrations in solidarity with women’s day. water level can be seen from recent flooding The first activity was in Al-Walaja. The town of Al Walaja is a town on the 1967…
Celebrating International Women’s Day
Arab American Institute 8 Mar 2012 – By Danielle Malaty Currently, women throughout the Middle East continue to fight for justice in the face of extremely patriarchal societies.
‘Limited progress’ over Syria aid
BBC 9 Mar 2012 – UN aid chief Valerie Amos says “limited progress” has been made to get aid access to the worst-hit parts of Syria, but she wants to see much more.
Israeli strikes kill top militant
BBC 9 Mar 2012 – Ten Palestinians, including the leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, are killed in Israeli air strikes in Gaza.
Thousands reject Libya autonomy
BBC 9 Mar 2012 – Thousands of Libyans rally in the country’s two main cities to denounce moves by eastern leaders to create a semi-autonomous territory.
Netanyahu warns on Iran timetable
BBC 9 Mar 2012 – Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu warns he will not countenance a long delay in attacking Iran‘s nuclear sites.
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A-infos 9 Mar 2012 – Freedom March 12 issue contains: —- News: —- Preparing for War – western powers circle around Syria and Iran —- Women workers beat council and union in landmark sexism tribunal —- Women suffer greater hardship under coalition’s austerity measures — Anti arms activist takes political police…
Articles
Palestinians forgotten amid Iran war of words
Noah Browning, Ma’an News Agency 3/9/2012
RAMALLAH (Reuters) — A monumental wooden chair erected in Ramallah to symbolize the Palestinians’ sought-after United Nations seat collapsed this week after months of wind and rain. Bulldozers quietly took away the shattered remains by night.
It’s collapse and stealthy removal could well serve as an emblem of Palestinian hopes for statehood.
For the first time in years, meetings this week between US and Israeli leaders were largely silent on the long-stalled peace process. Debate between Israel and Washington over a military strike on Iran knocked Israel-Palestinian peace talks to the bottom of Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu’s agenda.
“The Israeli government has a strategy: to maintain the status quo… We say that we won’t accept the rules of this game,” said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.
But to the frustration of many ordinary Palestinians, there is no other game. Riven by internal quarrels, the Palestinians are struggling to make their voice heard. World attention has shifted to the US presidential elections, the escalating violence in Syria and Iran‘s nuclear program.
PLO officials have said for weeks they are drafting a formal ultimatum to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stating longstanding grievances and repeating demands for a halt to all Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank as a precondition for a resumption of talks that broke down in 2010.
The Israelis will certainly reject the demands, if they ever arrive, and will face no international pressure to back down, with world attention fixed firmly on the Iranian nuclear row. more.. e-mail
Condemn me, but get your facts right first
Robert Fisk, The Independent 3/10/2012
Here we go again. This libellous and racist quotation comes from an email sent to The Independent by “Bernadette”, a member of a pro-Israeli lobby group in Australia.
“Robert Fisk is the most anti-Semitic, rabid, prejudiced, blithering fool in Britain, if not the world – he is a non-journalist, in fact he’s a raving idiot with a very small mind and a very large ego. He stops at nothing to put his personal anti-Semitic message across, which he gets sent to him from the where? [sic] the Middle East, not through any personal investigation; he tells any number of lies that gullible, unthinking people can’t wait to agree with. He’s a pawn of the Muslims – may he enjoy them when they set up sharia law in Britain and Europe – which is what they intend doing – chances are, if he makes one slip, they would turn on him and have him stoned to death, or even publicly behead him. Unfortunately far too many people are totally fooled because of people like him.”
I don’t care about the vicious personal abuse – that’s what you get from pro-Israeli lobby outfits when they don’t like you – though I do care about the appalling sloppiness in the letter’s use of English grammar. But what really enrages me is the suggestion that my life is in danger, that I will be “stoned to death” or even publicly beheaded. Last time I faced this sort of filth, it came from the actor John Malkovich who told the Cambridge Union that he would like to shoot me and George Galloway. Quite apart from associating me with a jerk like Galloway, Malkovich spawned a heap of vileness on the internet from even less rational people, one of whom portrayed my face covered in blood with the caption: “Malkovich is jumping the queue.”
I should add that The Independent took this matter up with the South Cambridgeshire police, who interviewed those present at the union but concluded that Malkovich had not spoken with “intent”. So that’s all right then. Yet in a subsequent interview in The Observer, he made no attempt to apologise for his threat and the paper itself repeated the libel of anti-Semitism against me…. more.. e-mail
The fearful realities keeping the Assad regime in power
Robert Fisk, The Independent 3/4/2012
Nevermind the claims of armchair interventionists and the hypocrisy of Western leaders, this is what is really happening in Syria.
In my 1912 Baedeker guide to Syria, a page and a half is devoted to the city of Homs. In tiny print, it says that, “in the plain to the south-east, you come across the village of Baba Amr. A visit to the arcaded bazaar is worthwhile – here you will find beautiful silks. To the north of Homs, on a square, there is an artillery barracks…” The bazaar has long since been demolished, though the barracks inevitably passed from Ottoman into French and ultimately into Baathist hands; for 27 days last month, this bastion has been visiting hell on what was once the village of Baba Amr.
Once a Roman city, where the crusaders committed their first act of cannibalism – eating their dead Muslim opponents – Homs was captured by Saladin in 1174. Under post-First World War French rule, the settlement became a centre of insurrection and, after independence, the very kernel of Baathist resistance to the first Syrian governments. By early 1964, there were battles in Homs between Sunnis and Alawi Shia. A year later, the young Baathist army commander of Homs, Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Tlas, was arresting his pro-regime comrades. Is the city’s history becoming a little clearer now?
As one of the Sunni nouveaux riches who would support the Alawi regime, Tlas became defence minister in Hafez al-Assad’s Baathist government. Under their post-1919 mandate, the French had created a unit of “Special Forces” in which the Alawis were given privileged positions; one of their strongholds was the military academy in Homs. One of the academy’s most illustrious students under Hafez al-Assad’s rule – graduating in 1994 – was his son Bashar. Bashar’s uncle, Adnan Makhlouf, graduated second to him; Makhlouf is today regarded as the corrupting element in the Assad regime. more.. e-mail
Parents of Hana al-Shalabi plead for urgent action to save their daughter
Electronic Intifada: 9 Mar 2012 – Sophie Crowe 9 March 2012 The parents of Hana al-Shalabi, who has been on hunger strike since 16 February to protest Israel’s holding her without charge or trial, are pleading for action to save their daughter’s life.more
US sent 600,000 tear gas canisters to Israel, says new report
Electronic Intifada: 9 Mar 2012 – David Elkins Washington, DC 9 March 2012 Between the years 2000 and 2009, the US transferred “more than 670 million weapons, rounds of ammunition and related equipment,” according to a new report.more
Iran or Israel: Which is Greater Threat in Middle East?
Palestine Chronicle: 9 Mar 2012 – By Ed Kinane Since 2001 U.S. taxpayers have been duped into squandering hundreds of billions of dollars on invading and occupying Afghanistan. Since 2003 we’ve been duped into squandering even more blood and treasure invading and occupying Iraq. These invasions, of course, generate unseemly profit for certain influential “defense” corporations. Now, as the U.S. partially pulls back from Iraq and Afghanistan, we risk being drawn into yet another – but deeper — quagmire. This may well happen if we permit ourselves or Israel to keep demonizing and provoking Iran. I say “permit” because Israel is on our leash. Sometimes Israel acts like a huge U.S. military base plunked right in the midst of the Middle Eastern oil reserves we covet. The U.S. has enormous leverage over Israel: it provides diplomatic cover on the UN Security Council for Israel’s aggressive foreign policy and for its brutal occupation of Palestine. Despite the…more
Justice Jubran is Not a ‘Jewish Soul’
Palestine Chronicle: 9 Mar 2012 – By Uri Avnery On the fate of it, it was a trivial incident. In the presence of the entire political and legal establishment, the liberal President of the Supreme Court, Dorit Beinisch, who has reached the age limit of 70, was replaced by the conservative Justice Asher Dan Grunis. At the end of the ceremony, the national anthem was sung. The camera panned from face to face. For a moment, it framed the face of Justice Salim Jubran. He was standing respectfully, like everybody else, but his lips were not moving. A country-wide uproar broke out. Justice Jubran is the first Arab citizen ever to serve as a regular judge on the Supreme Court. The right-wing parties were livid with rage. How dare he! An insult to the symbols of the state! He must be dismissed at once! Better still, deport him to a country whose anthem he would deign…more
Apartheid is a Crime, Not an Analogy
Palestine Chronicle: 9 Mar 2012 – By Joe Catron As Israeli Apartheid Week unfolds around the world, apologists for Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people scramble to defend their chosen regime’s system of racism, ethnic cleansing, and occupation, against the charge of apartheid. “The apartheid analogy is fatally flawed,” the Jerusalem Connection’s Shelley Neese writes. The David Project’s David Bernstein says, “The apartheid analogy is specious and absurd.” The Anti-Defamation League has even circulated an old report: “The Apartheid Analogy: Wrong for Israel.” These commentators are right, but not for the reasons they claim. An apartheid ‘analogy’ is fatally flawed, specious, absurd, and wrong for Israel because apartheid is not an analogy, but a crime as well-defined in law as embezzlement or kidnapping. The most relevant statute, the 1973 International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, perhaps muddies the waters by stating that “the term ‘the crime of apartheid’ … shall…more
Bloody Road to Damascus
Palestine Chronicle: 9 Mar 2012 – By James Petras There is clear and overwhelming evidence that the uprising to overthrow President Assad of Syria is a violent, power grab led by foreign-supported fighters who have killed and wounded thousands of Syrian soldiers, police and civilians, partisans of the government and its peaceful opposition. The outrage expressed by politicians in the West and Gulf State and in the mass media, about the ‘killing of peaceful Syrian citizens protesting injustice’ is cynically designed to cover up the documented reports of violent seizure of neighborhoods, villages and towns by armed bands, brandishing machine guns and planting road-side bombs. The assault on Syria is backed by foreign funds, arms and training. Due to a lack of domestic support, however, to be successful, direct foreign military intervention will be necessary. For this reason a huge propaganda and diplomatic campaign has been mounted to demonize the legitimate Syrian government. The goal is…more
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The New Dark Age 