18 March 2012 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Settlers Attack Homes In Hebron
IMEMC – A group of armed extremist Israeli settlers of the Ramat Yishai illegal settlement outpost, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, attacked on Sunday at night several Palestinian homes in Tal Romedia neighborhood, and chased the children around while cursing at them. …
Soldiers Invade Nabi Saleh
IMEMC – Israeli soldiers invaded, late on Sunday at night, Nabi Saleh village, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, broke into and searched several homes, and vowed further invasions and attacks should popular nonviolent resistance continue. …
Israel: “P.A Not Ready For Statehood”
IMEMC – As part of its efforts to obstruct every step the Palestinians conduct to achieve statehood recognition, the Israeli government is preparing an extensive report to submit it to the donor countries in an attempt to convince the international community that the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) is not ready for statehood, the Arabs48 news website reported. …
Lawyer: Hana Shalabi’s health is deteriorating
3/18/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The health of administrative detainee Hana Shalabi is deteriorating, a lawyer said on Sunday. Sherine Iraqi, a lawyer for the Palestinian prisoners society, said that Shalabi can no longer stand, has very low blood pressure and has lost a lot of weight. The lawyer had earlier met with the representative for….
220 trees damaged in Nablus village
3/18/2012 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — Settlers entered village land in Nablus late Friday and damaged 220 olive trees, a Palestinian official said in remarks denied by Israeli military officials. Settlers from the illegal outpost of Yesh Kodish entered land belonging to the village of Duma and destroyed 220 olive trees, Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activity….
Global march organizers say will not confront forces
3/18/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Organizers of an international rally to support Palestinians at the end of the month said Sunday they are not interested in confrontation with the Israeli army, after similar demonstrations a year earlier ended in bloodshed.”We are after all not an army, but popular peaceful international forces aiming to show solidarity….
Medics: 6-year-old injured by Israeli gunfire in Gaza
3/18/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A six-year-old boy was injured by Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, a medical spokesman said. Adham Abu Salmiya said the boy sustained moderate injuries east of Rafah, south Gaza. An Israeli army spokesman said he was not familiar with the incident….
Domestic gas shortage follows Gaza power blackouts
3/18/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The ongoing electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip has led to a shortage in domestic-use gas for heating and cooking, as residents exhaust limited supplies permitted into the blockaded coastal strip. Muhammad Al-Abadlah, a member of the board of gas companies association in Gaza, told Ma’an the gas…. Related: Othman: Egypt to provide fuel to Gaza Strip
PA, Israel negotiate revenue collection
3/18/2012 – RAMALLAH (Reuters) — The Palestinian Authority and Israel are holding economic talks despite frozen peace negotiations in a bid to revamp revenue collection and help relieve the PA‘s deepening debt crisis, officials said on Sunday. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and interim peace deals have tasked it with levying taxes and….
Settlers chase shepherd off Hebron land
3/18/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers chased Palestinian shepherds off their land in southern Hebron on Saturday, the third such confrontation in a week, eyewitnesses said. A group of five Israelis from the settler outpost Havat Maon pushed the shepherd pasturing his flocks down Meshaha Hill, which is cultivated by nearby village al-Tuwani, volunteers from….
27 laborers injured in road accident
3/18/2012 – QALQILIYA (Ma’an) — Twenty-seven Palestinian laborers were injured in a West Bank road accident on Sunday, witnesses said. An Israeli military jeep hit a vehicle carrying the laborers near Qalqiliya, causing it to flip over, one of the workers told Ma’an. The military jeep intentionally hit the vehicle, he added. The victims….
Jordanian lawmakers tour Jerusalem
3/18/2012 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — A delegation of Jordanian lawmakers visited Palestinian territories including the city of Jerusalem, Jordanian press reported on Saturday. Headed by Lower House Speaker Abdul Karim Dughmi, the group visited holy sites Al Aqsa Mosque, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the late Sharif Hussein Bin Ali’s tomb, the….
PA outlines legal case against Israeli prison DNA tests
3/18/2012 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority detainees ministry said Sunday it considers Israel’s use of DNA tests on Palestinian prisoners as a violation of international law, and will argue so in a case at Israel’s high court. PA lawyers have filed a complaint with Israel’s Supreme Court to….
Hamas official to speak at human rights council
3/18/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Senior Hamas official Ismail al-Ashqar is set to speak before the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday, a statement said. Al-Ashqar arrived in Switzerland on Sunday, ahead of a talk which will address the issue of Hamas members being held in Israeli jails, the statement added….
PFLP condemns Syria bombings
3/18/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on Sunday condemned the recent bombings in Damascus and Aleppo. The group said in a statement that such acts only serve the enemies of the Syrian nation and people. Twin blasts killed 27 in Damascus on Saturday and a car bomb ripped….
Othman: Egypt to provide fuel to Gaza Strip
3/18/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Egyptian ambassador to the Palestinian Authority said Sunday that Egypt will provide fuel to Gaza in the next few days, despite an energy crisis of its own. Egypt is currently importing diesel from abroad to fill a deficit in local consumption, Yasser Othman told Ma’an. Egypt will provide…. Related: Domestic gas shortage follows Gaza power blackouts
Fatah official: Ongoing Cairo meetings with Hamas on govt
3/18/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad said on Sunday he is meeting with Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouq to try to resolve obstacles to a deal between party leaders for a unity government. Al-Ahmad said he met Abu Marzouq in Cairo on Wednesday, and another meeting in the Egyptian capital is scheduled for….
Report: Israel to build 187,000 apartments
3/18/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Israeli government on Sunday announced a series of measures to build 187,000 new apartments over the next five years, Israeli daily Maariv reported. Around 40,000 apartments will be for affordable housing and the majority of the new buildings will be constructed in the Tel Aviv area, central Israel and Jerusalem….
Christians gather to bid farewell to Egypt’s Pope
3/18/2012 – CAIRO (Reuters) — Christians gathered on Sunday to pay final respects to Pope Shenouda III, who sought to soothe sectarian tension in his four decades atop Egypt’s Orthodox Church but saw increasing flareups in the majority Muslim nation in the last months of his life. Friction has worsened since President Hosni Mubarak, who suppressed….
Blast hits Aleppo; clashes and protests across Syria
3/18/2012 – BEIRUT (Reuters) — A car bomb ripped through a residential area of Syria‘s second city Aleppo on Sunday, a day after twin blasts killed 27 in the capital Damascus. State news agency SANA said the attack by “terrorists” had killed two people and wounded 30 others. Opposition activists said three died in the explosion….
2 Brazilian tourists kidnapped in Egypt’s Sinai
3/18/2012 – ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) — Gunmen kidnapped two Brazilian tourists traveling through Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Sunday after a visit to an isolated mountain monastery, security sources said. The gunmen were believed to be Bedouin who wanted hostages to negotiate the release of prisoners held by the government, the sources said. They stopped a bus….
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
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Palestinian Center for Human Rights
International Solidarity Movement
His story told by his mother: Ayoub Asalya, 12 years old, killed by an Israeli missile
3/18/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – By Rosa Schiano, 19 March 2012, il Blog di Oliva – Ayoub Asalya, 12, was going to school on Sunday morning when he was killed by an Israeli missile. On the walls of his house there is a poster with his image. Ayoub is shown smiling with a cap on his head.”The nights before he…. Related: il Blog di Oliva
They will never beg
3/18/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – By Johnny Bravo, 19 March 2012, International Solidarity Movement, Gaza – I have read several accounts over the last few days of how life in Southern Israel has become unbearable for the people living there. In retaliation for the latest provocation by Israel over 200 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. 11 people were injured….
Alternative Information Center
BDS Trial: France Demands Prison Sentence as Example
Alternative Information Center – The French prosecution is requesting exemplary sentences against local BDS activists.
Syria’s food crisis: ‘The fuel goes to army tanks, not farm tractors’
The National 18 Mar 2012 – Syrian farmers unable to plant crops and prices are soaring in the country’s agriculture crisis.
Oman urges peace talks as tensions rise over Iran’s nuclear ambitions
The National 18 Mar 2012 – Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, the sultanate’s minister responsible for foreign affairs, says there is still a opportunity for Tehran and the West to negotiate peace.
Third car bomb rocks Syria on protest anniversary
The National 18 Mar 2012 – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights say the latest blast targeted political security offices in the northern city of Aleppo, killing three civilians and wounding more than 25 others.
Damascus car-bombs kill 27
The National 18 Mar 2012 – Al Assad regime blames the uprising and ‘Al Qaeda terrorists’ for the latest in a series of deadly blasts at key military and security bases.
Britain’s Hague condemns Tehran for blocking UK for Iranians website
The National 18 Mar 2012 – Britain’s foreign secretary says we have no quarrel with the Iranian people after authorities branded the website an illegal attempt by the “old colonial fox” to stir up trouble.
Egyptian Copts feel vulnerable after Pope Shenouda III’s death
The National 18 Mar 2012 – After the uprising last year that forced Hosni Mubarak to resign as president and set the country on a new democratic path, there have been a spate of attacks on Copts in Egypt in rural areas.
Hamas chief: Israel using Gaza as ‘guinea pig’ for military testing
Ha’aretz – 18 Mar 2012
Ehud Barak sells luxury Tel Aviv apartment for NIS 26.5 million
Ha’aretz – 18 Mar 2012
‘Israel Loves Iran’ initiative takes off on Facebook
Ha’aretz – 18 Mar 2012
Obama in 2004: Military strikes might be needed to stop Iran’s nuclear program
Ha’aretz – 18 Mar 2012
Israel Finance Minister: SWIFT decision may cause collapse of Iran’s economy
Ha’aretz – 18 Mar 2012
In wake of anti-Israel hacker attacks, Justice Ministry tightens ID number guidelines
Ha’aretz – 18 Mar 2012
IDF opposes the screening of Israeli documentary about West Bank legal system
Ha’aretz – 18 Mar 2012
Netanyahu’s cabinet accepts reforms for Israel housing crisis
Ha’aretz – 18 Mar 2012
‘Mossad, CIA agree Iran has yet to decide to build nuclear weapon’
Ha’aretz – 18 Mar 2012
Replacement of inefficient air conditioners begins
Jerusalem Post 19 Mar 2012 – The Energy and Water Ministry replaces 10,000 Israeli air conditioners, with the aim of saving 17 million kilowatt-hours per year.
Heavy firefight breaks out in Syrian capital
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Residents hear sounds of heavy machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades from western neighborhood of al-Mezze, one of the most heavily guarded areas of the capital and home to several security installations.
Gunman nabs NIS 2,000 in bank robbery
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Police in the North launch search for gunman who escaped on foot; incidents end without injuries.
Experts: Israel should not export natural gas
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Conservation, renewables will not be sufficient to satisfy increasing demands.
Southern towns ask Court to prevent building of power plant
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Gazan rockets could trigger catastrophe if plant built, say Kiryat Malachi, Be’er Tuviya.
Gantz visits Ottawa, Washington
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Talks with Dempsey are expected to focus on Iran and will be a continuation of the meeting Netanyahu previously had with Obama.
Nursing home fire in Bnei Brak results in 17 injuries, staff arrests
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Staff members arrested on suspicion of forging fire permits; Fire and Rescue Services spokesman says no members of home’s staff were on premises.
Romney wins big in Puerto Rico primary
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Romney had about 83 percent of the vote, according to Puerto Rico’s electoral commission.
US considers prosecuting Schalit deal terrorists
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – US Dep’t of Justice continues investigating potential for prosecuting freed prisoners who harmed Americans.
‘Housing recommendations a bluff for the public’
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – “If it looks like a bluff, walks like a bluff, and smells like a bluff, chances are it is a bluff,” says National Union of Students chair.
Municipal tax to double on empty properties
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Trajtenberg Committee recommendations seek to encourage development of abandoned properties.
Demjanjuk and justice
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – According to Germany’s Demjanjuk decision, even serving as an accessory to murder is a punishable crime.
Iran: The leading state sponsor of int’l terrorism
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – By training, arming, financing and instigating groups like Hezbollah, the Iranian regime gives violent expression to the genocidal narrative of its leadership.
‘Use administrative detention for soccer hooligans’
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Israel Beiteinu’s Miller puts forward bill that would give police more power to deal with rowdy sports fans.
‘West must accept our nuclear program’s success’
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Senior Iranian lawmaker says Iran will make no concessions, P5+1 group must accept Tehran’s advances in nuclear energy.
Knesset cafeteria workers to strike, hold protest
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – 50 workers in Knesset’s 3 cafeterias uncertain about their future job status.
‘Rabbi to the stars’ clinches GOP nomination
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Shmuley Boteach defeats 2 other candidates, cites Maccabees as inspiration.
Jewish Ideas Daily: Heschel in Yiddish and Hebrew
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – The Torah was given, as the world was created, in and through language.
MK Noam Schalit?
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – It’s impossible to know whether members of Labor Party will vote Schalit into the party list toward the elections to the 19th Knesset.
Netanyahu lauds Evangelical group for support
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Thank you for standing up for Israel,” Netanyahu says to rapturous applause as he speaks to CUFI in Jerusalem hotel.
The Region: In 2011, US primacy in the Middle East died
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Any possibility that Obama’s policy might not bring disaster in the ME died in 2011. In 2012 we’re going to see the funeral.
Why I am proud to be an ‘Israel Firster’
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – The term “Israel Firster” is almost tantamount to accusing a supporter of America’s military as being a “Troops Firster.”
It’s E-asy doing Israeli dance
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Veteran choreographer Paul Emerson’s brash new Company E pays homage to modern style.
Sopranos are in season
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – For its 28th year, the Israeli Opera will celebrate with favorites like ‘La Boheme.’
‘Containing Iran will cost untold blood, treasure’
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Expecting to defer military action through containment is to misunderstand the concept, says Iranian-American researcher.
‘ID numbers need better anti-hacker protection’
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Gov’t body issues new instructions saying private internet sites should not ask for ID numbers without good reason.
Barak sells Tel Aviv apartment for NIS 26.5m
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Defense minister due to vacate luxury property on 31st floor of Akirov Towers in six months, sources tell Globes.
Mashaal: Israel using Gaza as ‘guinea pig’ for Iran
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Mashaal says Palestinians want to save their territory from Israeli occupation following meetings with Erdogan, Gul in Turkey.
‘Israeli-PA cooperation continues despite tensions’
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Foreign Ministry report details medical, security and economic coordination between Israel, PA.
2 Brazilian tourists kidnapped in Egypt’s Sinai
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Gunmen, believed to be Beduin, looking to negotiate release of prisoners held by gov’t, Egyptian security sources say.
Egypt, Hamas spar over Gaza electricity crisis
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Hamas officials accuse Egypt of “political extortion” because of insistence on supplying fuel to Gaza Strip through Israel.
Iraq approves Hormuz oil export back-up plan
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Plan includes building pipeline to ship oil to Turkey in case of crisis if Iran decides to close strategic Strait.
Gourmet Kosher Cooking: Passover recipes
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – This Passover, get into the holiday spirit and begin choosing the dishes and desserts you’ll feed your family!
Israeli couple reaches out to Iranians on Facebook
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – One Iranian writes: “We are 2 civilizations with more than 2,500 years of friendship. Why should I hate Israel?”
Car bomb hits Syria’s Aleppo killing at least 3
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – For 2nd day running, explosion attributed by state to terrorists hits near state security office; police crush Damascus march.
Court to hear case on ‘religious Jews only’ project
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Civil rights groups, Arab residents in Acre file petition claiming ILA unfairly marketed land solely to religious Jews.
Car bomb explodes in Syrian city of Aleppo
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Opposition sources say blast occurred near security office; rights group reports unspecified number of deaths, injuries.
Actor Omar Sharif’s grandson: Gay and Jewish
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Egyptian youth writes article confessing identity, begging compatriots for acceptance.
J’lem leads Mideast in New 7 Wonders competition
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Tel Aviv sits in third spot; Bethlehem and Jericho, listed in Palestine, both in the top ten; More than 1200 cities nominated worldwide.
Kinneret rises 12 centimeters over the weekend
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Following rainy weekend, Kinneret water level rises just above Water Authority’s “bottom red line” and within 2.96 meters of full.
PM: Gov’t taking steps to decrease housing prices
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Gov’t passes Trajtenberg C’tee recommendations on housing, initiating plan to build 187,000 units in next 5 years.
Food security in a hungry world
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – International community’s biggest challenge is producing enough nutritional food, delivering it to the hungry.
Nurses reach agreement with gov’t to avert strike
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – After rigorous negotiations, nurses agree to terms laid out by Finance, Health ministries, Histadrut.
Medical, TV authorities to probe ‘Big Brother’
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – At least two former residents are suing production company for receiving psychiatric drugs without their knowledge.
‘Trojan Horse’ couple to compensate novelist
Jerusalem Post 18 Mar 2012 – Court rules Ruth and Michael Haephrati to pay Amnon Jackont NIS 400,000 for invasion of privacy after appeal rejected.
Iran summons Azeri envoy over IRGC plot accusations
Jerusalem Post 17 Mar 2012 – Tehran denies connection to a plot broken up by Azerbaijan authorities last week, which it said targeted Israelis in the country.
Israel’s Baby Bamba Olympic mascot is not so lucky
The Guardian 18 Mar 2012 – Few countries have a mascot for London this summer – and now that Israel’s Baby Bamba has been withdrawn, they will be even thinner on the ground Sad days in the state of Israel. Baby Bamba,…
Behind The Bars..
Uruknet March 18, 2012 – I was thinking the whole day how can someone describe a great woman. I mean, you stand helpless in front of the computer thinking what might be a good start. This is exactly what is happening with me right now. I have a revolution inside myself but words are letting me down….
Photo Essay: 3 years of settlement, struggle in Sheikh Jarrah
Uruknet March 18, 2012 – Following the recent release of Just Vision’s new documentary “My Neighborhood,” which details the struggle of Palestinian families and Israeli activists against settlement in the East Jerusalem neighborhood Sheikh Jarrah, +972mag is presenting a series of articles on the state of the protests, past and present. All images in this post essay…
Lawyer: Hana Shalabi’s health is deteriorating
Uruknet March 18, 2012 — The health of administrative detainee Hana Shalabi is deteriorating, a lawyer said on Sunday. Sherine Iraqi, a lawyer for the Palestinian prisoners society, said that Shalabi can no longer stand, has very low blood pressure and has lost a lot of weight. The lawyer had earlier met with the representative for female…
Ayub Asaliya was on his way to school last Sunday
Uruknet March 18, 2012 – My heart keeps breaking over him, the loving hand touching his face, the loss felt by the person cupping his cheek for the last time. Is that his father? Ever since I first saw his photo, I cannot recall where but there was no name for him, he symbolized all the martyred…
Al Jazeera’s Nir Rosen: Assad’s man in Baba Amr?
Uruknet March 18, 2012 – … Also, bearing in mind that Syria is a repressive police state, it raises the question – how was Rosen as a journalist, able to travel freely between “loyalist” and “opposition” villages and communities without raising any suspicion or drawing the ire of the security forces? This question may be answered by examining…
Rachel never died
Uruknet March 17, 2012 – For me Rachel Corrie is not the name of a person. It’s a phenomenon which embodies humanity, resistance, courage and craziness. Yes, she was as crazy as it needs to be to shake the world and stir the plans of the handful of unjust men ruling this world. And it’s this craziness…
Israeli fury at Shalit kidnap remarks
Uruknet March 17, 2012 – THE FATHER of an Israeli soldier held in captivity for more than five years by Hamas has said he would kidnap Israeli soldiers if he were a Palestinian. Noam Shalit, who said earlier this year that he would be standing for the opposition Labour in the next Israeli elections, has provoked outrage…
012 (Warning: Graphic Videos)
Uruknet March 17, 2012 – Twenty martyrs have fallen so far in Syria including a child, 2 military recruits and 2 under torture. 8 martyrs were reported from Raqqa, 5 in Homs (3 of them in Rastan city), 2 in Jabal Al-Zawiyah (Idlib), 1 in Zawyeh (Idlib) 2 in Tremseh (Hama) and one in each of Inkhel…
The education of common grounds: From al Nakba to Black History Month
Uruknet March 17, 2012 – Last month we celebrated the 36th annual African American History Month. The origins of this month come from the need to study the major contributions that Black people brought to America. “The fact is that the so-called history teaching in our schools and colleges is downright propaganda, an effort to praise one…
Military Resistance 10C8: Uproar
Uruknet March 17, 2012 – … Once a believer in the offensive against the Taliban, he is now insistent that the Americans get out. “I don’t know why they killed them,” said Mr. Samad, a short, feeble man with a white beard and white turban, as he struggled in an interview to come to terms with the loss…
012 : A Video Roundup
Uruknet
Israeli Soldiers Broke Into Detention Camps 6 Times Last Week
Uruknet March 17, 2012 – Palestinian Researcher specialized in detainees’ affair, Riyadh Al-Ashqar, stated that Israeli soldiers broke into prisons and detention centers six times last week, attacked and violated the rights of the Palestinian detainees, and wounded eleven. Al-Ashqar stated, Friday, that under-cover forces of the Israeli army broke into six main detention centers, where Palestinian…
No amount of reading and word of mouth could have prepared me for the reality’ – Remembering Rachel Corrie
Uruknet March 17, 2012 – Yesterday was the anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie, the peace activist whose life was cruelly cut short in 2003 by the Israeli military when the IDF crushed her with a bulldozer. Corrie was just 23 years old when killed while volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in Gaza, but…
Ongoing Israeli State Terror
Uruknet March 17, 2012 -Israel is a serial law breaker. It governs extrajudicially in matters ranging from longstanding militarization of an occupied area, persecuting its residents ruthlessly, terrorizing them as state policy, committing cold-blooded murder, and getting international law High Contracting Parties to approve. It shows what obstacles Palestinians must overcome to live free on their own…
# Dirt & Accountability
Uruknet March 17, 2012 – I believe in clean fights. Fighting and cleaning, both – require honesty and courage ( I hate cleaning so I know what am talking about). Honesty to admit it’s dirt and courage to fight it….That’s called a clean fight in my book. Has the fight been clean ? Of course not. Is the dirt…
Memories of violence haunt Gaza children Most of them spending sleepless nights
Uruknet March 17, 2012 – While a fragile truce between Palestinians and Israelis that ended four days of violence appears to be largely holding, those few days of violence could harbour unforgettable and unpleasant memories for some of Gaza’s children. Prior to the truce, Gaza streets were almost empty at night. The sounds of explosions, ambulances and…
Video: Hana Shalabi’s sister speaks
Uruknet March 17, 2012 – Zahera Shalabi is the sister of Hana Shalabi, a 29 year-old woman from the village of Burqin in the Jenin district in Palestine. In February 2012, the Shalabis’ home was raided and Hana was arrested. She has since been in Israeli prison under what is called Administrative Detention where over 300 Palestinians…
Gaza protests fuel crisis at Rafah border
Uruknet March 17, 2012 — Dozens of Palestinians gathered at the Rafah crossing into Egypt on Saturday, to protest continuing fuel shortages in the Gaza Strip. Protesters, including several village heads, carried banners saying: “Gaza without electricity: Until when?” and “Bring fuel to hospitals.” The demonstration called for the electricity company in Gaza to connect with Egyptian…
012 (Warning: Graphic Videos)
Uruknet March 16, 2012… Hama: Two children were martyred in the neighbourhood of al-Arba’en after opening fire on demonstrators… Raqqa: Many demonstrators got martyred and wounded when security forces opened fire at the massive demonstration that emerged in the city today…Raqqa: Martyrdom of child Hamad Khaled Al-Jardawi, 4 years old. He was killed by security forces fire…..
Yemeni Nobel Laureate tells Syrians: Assad’s time is up
Daily Star 18 Mar 2012 Yemeni Nobel Peace Laureate Tawakul Karman, a key figure in the revolt that brought down President Ali Abdullah Saleh, urged Syrian refugees in Turkey on Sunday not to lose hope, saying their president’s reign would also…
Israelis agree Iran hasn’t decided on atom bomb
Daily Star 18 Mar 2012 Despite saber-rattling from Jerusalem, Israeli officials now agree with the U.S. assessment that Tehran has not yet decided on the actual construction of a nuclear bomb, according to senior Israeli government and defense figures.
2 Brazilian women kidnapped in Egypt’s Sinai
Daily Star 18 Mar 2012 Armed tribesmen on Sunday kidnapped two Brazilian women and their Egyptian tour guide as they were traveling on a bus near Mount Sinai, according to security officials.
UN, OIC experts in Syria on humanitarian mission
Daily Star 18 Mar 2012 Technical experts from the UN and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation are in Syria on a mission to assess the humanitarian impact of its year-long bloodshed, a senior OIC official said on Sunday.
Outrage in Ain al-Hilweh over Geagea remarks
Daily Star 18 Mar 2012 Around 200 Palestinian youths in Ain al-Helweh demonstrated against Samir Geagea following remarks he made calling for the removal of arms from all Palestinian camps and suggesting that the Lebanese Army enter the camp to root…
Red Cross chief heads to Moscow for talks on Syria crisis
Daily Star 18 Mar 2012 The president of the International Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger, is headed to Moscow for talks on the humanitarian situation in Syria, the ICRC said Sunday.
Oman warns on military confrontation with Iran
Daily Star 18 Mar 2012 Oman said the risk of military conflict between Tehran and the West was rising but there was still plenty of opportunity to negotiate peace.
Iran central bank lifts official exchange rate
Daily Star 18 Mar 2012 Iranian exchange houses can trade the rial freely, the Central Bank of Iran said on Sunday, unexpectedly lifting restrictions introduced earlier this year.
French and Lebanese naval forces conduct joint exercises
Daily Star 18 Mar 2012 Lebanese and French naval forces conducted joint exercises in Lebanon Saturday, the National News Agency reported.
Iran football legend injured in car crash
Daily Star 18 Mar 2012 Iran’s state TV is reporting that the country’s football legend Ali Daei was injured in a car crash and is recovering from head injuries.
Copts in Lebanon mourn spiritual leader’s death, condolences extended
Daily Star 18 Mar 2012 Copts in Egypt, Lebanon and around the world are mourning the death of Pope Shenouda III, the spiritual leader of Orthodox Copts, who died of a heart attack Saturday at the age of 88.
Car bomb in Aleppo kills 3, Damascus march crushed
Daily Star 18 Mar 2012 A car bomb hit Syria‘s second city Aleppo on Sunday and security forces arrested and beat activists at a rare anti-government protest in the capital.
Car bomb explodes in Syria’s second city Aleppo
Daily Star 18 Mar 2012 A car bomb blew up in a residential area of Syria‘s second city Aleppo on Sunday, a day after two blasts rocked the capital Damascus.
District Court: MK Cabel will be able to run for Histadrut leadership
YNet News, 18 Mar 2012 – ….
Organizers of March to Jerusalem vow ‘no violence’
YNet News, 18 Mar 2012 – Thousands of protesters from PA, Lebanon and Jordan slated to head towards Israel on March 30 ….
Tonga’s King George Tupou V dies
YNet News, 18 Mar 2012 – ….
The arrogant Ms. Livni
YNet News, 18 Mar 2012 – Op-ed: As Tzipi Livni’s political career draws to an end, she should blame it on her arrogance ….
Asma Assad: I am the real dictator
YNet News, 18 Mar 2012 – ….
Barak: Sale of my apartment was inevitable
YNet News, 18 Mar 2012 – ….
Report: Demjanjuk wanted to be buried in US
YNet News, 18 Mar 2012 – ….
Israel’s great deception?
YNet News, 18 Mar 2012 – Op-ed: Are Bibi’s and Barak’s plans for Iran strike only meant to elicit global cooperation against Iran? ….
Iron Dome technician saved by fellow soldier at last minute
YNet News, 18 Mar 2012 – Technician insists on fixing Iron Dome malfunction even as siren alerts of incoming rocket, saved from launch inferno by fellow soldier at the last minute ….
Home Front Command: 1.7 million left defenseless in case of attack
YNet News, 18 Mar 2012 – Government neglects to protect periphery, poor communities, educational institutes, leaving 40% of Israelis without gas masks if strike on Iran is realized; many left without bomb shelters ….
Suspicion: Haifa man sexually assaulted kids
YNet News, 18 Mar 2012 – Haifa resident apprehended while touching little girl inappropriately at bus stop ….
Palestinian Information Center
Hamas MP on Switzerland visit
PIC – Hamas MP Ismail Al-Ashqar arrived in Geneva on Sunday on the second such visit by Hamas lawmakers to Switzerland in two months.
Fears for her life grow as Shalabi starts 32nd day of hunger strike
PIC – Palestinian detainee Hana’a Shalabi entered on Sunday her 32nd day of hunger strike amidst fears for her life after her health greatly deteriorated.
Humanitarian tragedy in Gaza within a week
PIC – Mahmoud Al-Shawwa, the head of the union of petrol and gas companies in Gaza, has warned of a humanitarian tragedy in the Gaza Strip in the event no petrol was allowed into it within one week.
Resheq: No fixed date for new Mishaal-Abbas meeting
PIC – Political bureau member of Hamas Ezzet Al-Resheq has denied press reports about fixing a date for a new meeting between Hamas supreme leader Khaled Mishaal and Fatah leader and PA chief Mahmoud Abbas.
Tunisian president to patronize the “Palestinians in Europe†conference
PIC – Tunisian president Al-Muncef Al-Marzouki is to patronize this year’s conference for Palestinians in Europe that is scheduled to be held in Denmark on 28 April.
Mishaal discusses Palestinian developments with Gul
PIC – Political bureau chairman of Hamas Khaled Mishaal conferred with Turkish president Abdullah Gul in Istanbul on Saturday night on Palestinian developments.
IOF troops storm Al-Khalil villages
PIC – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed a number of villages in Al-Khalil province and Fawar refugee camp south of the city before dawn Sunday.
JI ameer condemns use of dogs by Israeli police to chase Palestinians
PIC – Jamaat e Islami Pakistan ameer Syed Munawar Hasan has strongly condemned Israeli soldiers for unleashing dogs on Palestinian protestors, calling it one of the worst violations of human rights.
Askool: Egyptian intelligence blocking fuel supplies to Gaza
PIC – The secretary of the Gaza council of ministers, Dr. Mohammed Askool, charged Egyptian intelligence with blocking the entry of fuel shipments to the Gaza Strip.
Report registers escalation in targeting olive trees in West Bank
PIC – The national bureau in defense of land and to resist settlement said that Jewish settlers and soldiers have escalated their targeting of olive trees in West Bank land over the past week.
Settlers Assault, Injure Shepherd near Nablus
WAFA – 17 Mar 2012
Newspapers Review: Israeli Army Dog Attack Dominates Dailies
WAFA – 17 Mar 2012
Israel’s Willing Executioners: AIPAC Invades Washington
Intifada-Palestine: 18 Mar 2012 – U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Decline results when a nation is betrayed by craven leaders, who crawl and humiliate themselves before a minority of thuggish mediocrities pledged to a foreign state without scruples… more
How Many Violations of US Arms Laws are Too Many?
Intifada-Palestine: 18 Mar 2012 – It depends whether the miscreant enjoys “We will always have your back regardless”…. status Franklin Lamb Beirut On March 6, 2012, the US Congressional Research Service released a report to the US Congress concerning Restrictions on the use of American weapons… more
Syria’s conflict has significance far beyond its borders
LA Times 18 Mar 2012 – With Syria a kind of geopolitical chessboard on which interests great and small play for their advantage, the prospect of Mideast instability is high. The raging conflict in Syria that has left thousands dead and stymied all international peace entreaties is not just about the…
Egypt’s Christian Copts mourn loss of pope at ‘difficult time’
LA Times 18 Mar 2012 – Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church was seen as a spiritual and sometimes political leader who guarded the rights of Egypt’s minority Christians. Millions of Coptic Christians turned out across Egypt on Sunday to mourn Pope Shenouda III and reflect on the sharpening…
Black market for weapons nearly depleted, smugglers to Syria say
LA Times 18 Mar 2012 – Donors have given money to aid the Syria rebels, but the needed arms are getting harder to find, merchants in Lebanon say.
Palestinians are up to ears in debt
LA Times 18 Mar 2012 – The Palestinian middle class has seized on mortgages and consumer loans as a route to upward mobility. But with the credit increase comes soaring personal debt. Ayman and Rahma abu Hussein can’t help but feel they are moving up in the world.
Pope Shenouda III dies at 88; leader of Coptic Orthodox Church
LA Times 18 Mar 2012 – The patriarch guided Egypt’s Christians as they felt increasingly isolated and threatened after Mubarak’s ouster. He led the church for four decades and was dogged in protecting Coptic interests.
Syrian Peace March Cut Short by Authorities
New York Times 18 Mar 2012 – State news media said that a car bomb on Sunday killed at least two people and wounded 30 in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, a day after two similar bombings struck the capital.
Pro-Israel Groups’ Differing Approaches on Iran
New York Times 18 Mar 2012 – Some see President Obama’s statements of support as insufficient and are pushing for a more aggressive approach and stronger support of Israel, while others urge diplomacy.
American Teacher Shot Dead in Yemen
New York Times 18 Mar 2012 – An American teacher at a missionary organization was killed by two men on a motorcycle in the central Yemeni city Taiz on Sunday, according to Yemeni officials.
New Military Memoirs Find an Audience
New York Times 18 Mar 2012 – A crop of military memoirs has found an audience among readers eager to embrace stories that accentuate heroism.
Ayub Asaliya was on his way to school last Sunday
Mondoweiss – Ayub Asaliya My heart keeps breaking over him, the loving hand touching his face, the loss felt by the person cupping his cheek for the last time. Is that his father? Ever since I first saw his photo, I cannot recall where but there was no…
NYT buries the lead– Iranians halted weapons program in ’03 and have not restarted it
Mondoweiss – New York Times News Lest we forget Iran, page A1 of the New York Times today graces us with apprehension: U.S. Faces a Tricky Task in Assessment of Data on Iran . But it’s a whole whole lot of nothing for two pages till it ends…
The Norwegians, the settlers, the zealot, the olive seedlings– and the Palestinian’s suit against ‘Nobody’
Mondoweiss – We’ve been chronicling the rising fury inside Europe toward the Israeli occupation; and one story I’ve put aside that relates to this trend involves a visit by Norwegian volunteers to help Palestinian farmers plant olive trees. Settlers destroyed their efforts. The farmers have vowed to press…
Israeli settlers attack a shepherd and a child in separate attacks in the West Bank
Mondoweiss – link to www.palestine-info.co.uk ‘–> link to www.palestine-info.co.uk link to www.palestine-info.co.uk link to www.youtube.com link to www.palestine-info.co.uk link to www.palestine-info.co.uk link to www.imemc.org link toblog.endtheoccupation.org link to news.yahoo.com link to feeds.latimes.com link to electronicintifada.net link towww.rawstory.com ‘–> link to dissidentvoice.org link to mondoweiss.net link to…
Israel to Europe: Palestinians can’t have a state because they can’t support themselves
Mondoweiss – Shocking report at Haaretz , on Israel’s defiance of the idea of Palestinian statehood. The country has prepared a 44 page report saying that Palestine can’t stand on its own two feet economically, so Europe must prop up the bantustans. “Another talking point to justify continuing Israel’s…
Speaking Tonight to Seattle’s Fellowship of Reconciliation
Tikun Olam – Tweet I’ll be speaking later today to the Fellowship of Reconciliation on the threat of an Israeli attack against Iran. The event will be at Seattle ‘s Woodland Park Presbyterian Church, 225 North 70th Street at 6:30PM. If you’re in town, please join us. I’ll be…
France ready to support regional war
Voltaire Network 17 Mar 2012 – The fake e-mails by the al-Assad couple released by the Guardian were startling in their naivete; everyone was thus looking forward to further developments. Consider it done: The Daily Telegraph asserts that the online shopping attributed to Asma al-Assad violates the unilateral sanctions of the European…
UK journalists are freed by Libya
BBC 18 Mar 2012 – Two British journalists detained in Libya after admitting entering the country illegally have been released, the Foreign Office confirms.
Iran ‘blocks’ Foreign Office site
BBC 18 Mar 2012 – Tehran has blocked a UK Foreign Office website in Iran as part of its “ever-tightening stranglehold of censorship”, the foreign secretary says.
Turkey, Ästanbul: Commemoration of Beyazit and Halabja massacres
A-infos 18 Mar 2012 – On March 16th a protest took place in Beyazit/Ästanbul for the anniversary of massacres of Beyazit (16-3/1978) and Xalabja (16-3/1988). The demo was organized by 16 Mart Platformu (16 March Platform). Revolutionary Anarchist Action (DAF) was one of the participants in this platform. The protest was…
Articles
Racial profiling is just racism: A response to Goldberg
Noam Sheizaf, +972 Magazine 3/18/2012
Jeffery Goldberg, one of the most well know Jewish American journalists, had an entry in his blog raving about Israeli security procedures at Ben Gurion airport. Ben Gurion (TLV) has no naked-scanning machines and you don’t have to take off you shoes. Instead, security personal use racial profiling, thoroughly checking Arabs in back rooms while exempting Jewish Israelis and tourists with a few standard security questions. “I find answering a series of questions about my travel less invasive than posing like a mugging victim in a machine that takes pictures of you naked,” Goldberg concludes. A perfect example of self-inflicted blindness: As Mairav Zonszein was quick to note, the reason Goldberg ended up with such a positive experience was that he wasn’t part of the ethnic group to be targeted by the racial profiling.
Goldberg got some responses to his post pointing out to this issue, so he posted another piece, which actually made things worse. He would allow racial profiling in Israel (but not in the States), because “Israel is in open conflict with several Muslim terror groups,” Goldberg writes. To an Arab reader he reminds us that today is the 20th anniversary of the bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina, “so it isn’t the best day to complain about this ‘imaginary threat.’”
If it’s history class we have entered, it is worth remembering that the two most serious terror attacks concerning air travel to Israel – the kidnapping of an Air France flight in 1976 to Entebbe and the attack in Ben Gurion in 1972, which claimed the life of 24 people – were committed by German and Japanese terrorists, respectively. But the important point is that Goldberg avoids the true meaning of the criticism against the use of racial profiling at TLV airport. Nobody seriously claims that the security check should be canceled – only that all passengers should go through the same procedure, uncomfortable as it may be. — See also: Goldberg: On Political Correctness at Ben-Gurion Airport more.. e-mail
Choosing escalation
Saleh Al-Naami, Al-Ahram Weekly 3/15/2012
Taking advantage of Palestinian disunity and an election year in the US, Israel is hitting the Gaza Strip hard.
Aisha was especially upset Monday morning; she had not packed sandwiches for her sixth-grade son Naif before he went to school that day, so she decided to prepare a hot meal for him as soon as he got home. Aisha was shocked, however, to hear the loud noises surrounding her house in the coastal district of Al-Sudaniya in the north of the Gaza Strip. A crowd of her neighbours was coming towards her house and quickly found out that the son she loved so dearly was decimated in an Israeli air raid that targeted him and his friends on their way back from school.
It was a shock for everyone in the neighbourhood who all have close ties to the family, most surprisingly because this area is usually very quiet and no members of the Palestinian resistance are located there. Naif was victim number 21 killed in continuous air raids by Israel on the Gaza Strip since Friday night. The assassinations by Israel primarily targeted members of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and the Islamic Jihad, but a large number of civilians have also been the victims of these operations.
Israel’s unmanned drones were used in the assassinations and the orders of the Israeli army were crystal clear: assassinate the targets at any cost. Indeed, the Israelis do not hesitate in bombing homes with people inside if they receive intelligence that there are targets inside. They bomb resistance targets in civilian vehicles or homes.
Israeli air raids, with the participation of various military branches, have affected all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of Palestinian farmers refused to go to their farms since most agricultural land is located on the “contact” zone by the border separating the Gaza Strip and Israel, and is frequently the target of Israeli artillery under the pretext of preventing resistance fighters from nearing the border. more.. e-mail
Photos of Iran’s Parchin site lack credibility
Gareth Porter, Asia Times 3/15/2012
Reports of photographs that show Iran “erasing evidence” of “neutron device” tests at its Parchin military site could only have been fed to Western media by Israel or its European allies.
WASHINGTON – News stories about satellite photographs suggesting efforts by Iran to “sanitize” a military site that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said may have been used to test nuclear weapons have added yet another layer to widely held suspicion that Iran must indeed be hiding a covert nuclear weapons program.
But the story is suspect, in part because it is based on evidence that could only be ambiguous, at best. The claim does not reflect US intelligence, and a prominent think tank that has published satellite photography related to past controversies surrounding Iran’s nuclear program has not found any photographs supporting it.
The original Parchin clean-up story by Associated Press correspondent George Jahn, published on March 7, reported that two unnamed diplomats from an unidentified country or countries – it was not made clear how many were involved – told him that satellite photos “appear to show trucks and earth-moving vehicles” at the site.
The two diplomats said they suspected Iran “may be trying to erase evidence” of tests of a “neutron device used to set off a nuclear explosion” because “some of the vehicles at the scene appeared to be hauling trucks and other equipment suited to carting off potentially contaminated soil from the site”.
However, a third diplomat told Jahn he “could not confirm that”, and Jahn was shown no photographs to back up the description offered by his two anonymous sources. Three other diplomats with whom Jahn spoke were apparently unaware of such photographs. more.. e-mail
Colonization of the Mind: Normalize This!
Palestine Chronicle: 18 Mar 2012 – By Samah Sabawi (Full Transcript. Excerpts from this speech were presented at the University of Sydney Australia during Israeli Apartheid Week 2012.) I would like to talk about normalization. I found the best definition of the word normalization on the Palestinian Campaign for Cultural and Academic Boycott’s website: “Normalization is the colonization of the mind, whereby the oppressed subject comes to believe that the oppressor’s reality is the only “normal” reality that must be subscribed to, and that the oppression is a fact of life that must be coped with.” So projects that constitute normalization are not about freedom, justice or liberation, but about numbing our minds to the horror of the occupation, so we accept it as normal, as permanent, as an unchangeable fixed reality! A typical normalization project brings Palestinians and Israelis together to talk about acceptance of one another to reduce the ‘hate’ that drives the conflict!…more
On US-Afghan Strategic Partnership Agreement
Palestine Chronicle: 18 Mar 2012 – By the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers In Afghanistan, the tragic Kandahar killing spree has prompted renewed talk about the proposed U.S. Afghan Strategic Partnership Agreement. At stake in these discussions is the security of Afghanistan, the U.S. and the region. Citizens in the U.S. and Afghanistan should be urgently exchanging their views or concerns about this partnership. Many are not even aware of it. Currently, citizens of Syria and the world can at least discuss Mr Kofi Annan’s warning that the situation in Syria should be handled “very, very carefully” to avoid an escalation that would de-stabilize the region, after an earlier warning against further militarization of the Syrian crisis. The crisis in Afghanistan is as severe as the one in Syria, and it is more chronic. 2 million Afghans have been killed in the wars of the past 4 decades. But not a single diplomat is warning against the…more
A Growing Movement: Six Days in Canada During IWA
Palestine Chronicle: 18 Mar 2012 – By Frank Barat ‘I will support Israel whatever the cost,’ recently said Stephen Harper, Canadian Prime Minister. When it comes to Israel, Mr Harper could not be more clear. He is not hiding behind pragmatic statements like his neighbour Mr Obama, who despite his active and blind support for Israel on a day to day basis (diplomatic, financial, military, moral) always, at least when making public statements, tries to fool people by saying how much he wants peace and how much the Palestinians deserve a State. Mr Harper is, when it comes to Israel, a pretty unique politician: He tells the truth. His statement was in my head when I landed in Montreal, on a very cold Sunday afternoon. How do Canadians feel about being ‘governed’ by someone who is ready to support a foreign, far away country, whatever the cost might be, including for the people who ‘elected’ him…more
More material available from Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel – www.vtjp.org
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The New Dark Age 