25 March 2012 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Female Detainee On Hunger Strike Since Tuesday
IMEMC – Lawyer of the Ad-Dameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Firas Sabbah, stated that he managed, last Thursday, to visit detainee Amani Al-Khandaqji, at the Asqalan Israeli prison, and that she told him that she started an open-ended hunger strike since she was kidnapped by the army last Tuesday. Interrogates are questioning her about a prisoner-support Facebook page she manages. …
Ayalon: “We Will Not Allow UN Committee Members Into The Country”
IMEMC – Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, stated Sunday that Israel will not cooperate with the United Nations Human Rights Council and its investigation committee, and will not allow committee members to enter the country, the Arabs48 News Website reported. …
Lawyer: Court rejects appeal for Hana Shalabi
3/25/2012 – JENIN (Ma’an) — Ofer military court on Sunday rejected a legal appeal for administrative detainee Hana Shalabi, a lawyer from the Prisoners Society said. Jawad Bulus told Ma’an that a secretary from the Israeli military court informed him the judge rejected his appeal against Shalabi’s detention without trial. The judge….
Foundation: Israeli group breaks Jerusalem gravestones
3/25/2012 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — A group of Israelis broke two Muslim gravestones in a Jerusalem cemetery on Saturday, the Al-Aqsa Foundation said. More than 20 Israelis gathered in Bab al-Rahmah cemetery near the eastern wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform prayers, the Foundation for Waqf (Endowment) and Heritage said. A cemetery guard told the….
Gaza power plant shuts as fuel delivery spent
3/25/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Gaza’s sole power station shut down on Sunday morning after two days of electricity production, as Palestinian officials in Cairo sought to end a fuel shortage in the coastal strip. Director of Gaza’s power company Walid Saad Sayil said the Palestinian Authority and Egypt were close…. Related: Fayyad says Hamas officials no show at Cairo fuel talks
Police probe Israeli soccer mob’s anti-Arab racism
3/25/2012 – JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israeli police have opened an investigation into the actions of soccer fans who chanted racist slogans and reportedly spat at Arabs after a match last week, they said on Sunday. Flush with victory after their team won a match, hundreds of supporters of Israel’s Beitar Jerusalem poured into a shopping mall….
Report: Israel issues warning as Land Day approaches
3/25/2012 – TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Israel is preparing for Palestinian Land Day on March 30 by putting its army on alert and urging protesters to stay away from its borders, Israeli media reported on Sunday. Israel called on surrounding countries to prevent demonstrators from approaching its borders, Israeli radio news station Reshet Bet said….
Court gives settlers 4 months to clear outpost
3/25/2012 – JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday gave settlers four months to evacuate the largest illegal outpost in the occupied West Bank, rejecting a government petition to allow them to stay on the Palestinian-owned land until 2015.” All must adhere to the law and this is the moment of truth,” the court said….
Report: Israeli ministers pose sanctions on PA for UN probe
3/25/2012 – TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Israeli government ministers will meet Sunday to discuss sanctions against the Palestinian Authority and UN Human Rights Council after the body agreed to investigate Israeli settlements, news reports said. The forum of eight senior cabinet members, which includes ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, will meet in Jerusalem for talks….
Fayyad says Hamas officials no show at Cairo fuel talks
3/25/2012 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Sunday an expected Hamas delegation had not arrived in Cairo to join talks on ending the Gaza Strip’s fuel crisis. Palestinian officials headed to Egypt on Saturday to discuss the mechanism for ongoing fuel pumping into Gaza after Egypt cut off supplies…. Related: Gaza power plant shuts as fuel delivery spent
At least 11,000 join pro-Palestine march in Morocco
3/25/2012 – RABAT (Reuters) — Tens of thousands of Moroccans staged a pro-Palestinian march in Rabat on Sunday in a show of force organized by an Islamist group seen as the main opposition to Morocco’s monarchy. A Reuters reporter in the Moroccan capital said at least 40,000 people joined the march called by Al-Adl Wal Ihsan….
Islamic Jihad hold cross-factional reconciliation summit
3/25/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Political factions in Gaza on Sunday called on Hamas and Fatah to end their public media spat, after a meeting called by Islamic Jihad leader Khalid al-Batsh. National and Islamist factions met in the Gaza Strip earlier Sunday, and issued a statement saying the exchange of accusations in the media….
Abbas approves changes in Lebanon refugee camps
3/25/2012 – BEIRUT (Ma’an) — President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday gave his approval to several resolutions affecting Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, a statement from the embassy in Beirut said. The resolutions were initially discussed during a visit by Fatah central committee member Azzam Ahmad on March 16. Ahmad had met with Palestinian faction representatives in Lebanon….
Local official: Israeli forces arrest man in Yatta
3/25/2012 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces arrested a man in the southern West Bank town of Yatta on Sunday afternoon, a local committee member said. Ahmad Jaber Mohammad Nawaja, 22, was arrested by soldiers after they raided the Hebron town, coordinator of the popular resistance against settlements and the wall Rateb al-Nbour told Ma’….
Israel’s Livni battles to remain opposition chief
3/25/2012 – JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Tsipi Livni, Israel’s former foreign minister, will fight to keep her job as head of Kadima, the country’s biggest opposition party, in a hotly contested leadership vote on Tuesday. Opinion polls predict a close race between Livni and ex- defense chief Shaul Mofaz among Kadima‘s 100,000 eligible….
In photos: Israelis protest against war on Iran
3/25/2012 – Reuters / Nir Elias – Israelis hold placards in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, as they protest against a possible attack on Iran‘s nuclear facilities. Hundreds of protesters marched through the city with signs calling against a possible war….
Obama says still time for diplomacy with Iran
3/25/2012 – SEOUL (Reuters) — US President Barack Obama said on Sunday there was still time to resolve the Iranian nuclear standoff with the West through diplomacy but that the window for such a solution was closing. Obama reiterated his position on Iran after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on the eve of a nuclear security….
Afghan killing spree suspected to occur in 2 stages
3/25/2012 – WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The US Army sergeant accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians is believed to have carried out the rampage in two stages, returning to base after the first shootings and then going out to kill again, a US official said on Saturday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not offer further details….
Annan in Moscow seeks support for Syria peace effort
3/25/2012 – BEIRUT (Reuters) — Peace envoy Kofi Annan sought to shore up support from Moscow on Sunday for his efforts to end a year of fighting in Syria where 8,000 people have been killed in an anti-government uprising. Meeting in Korea, US President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan discussed how to support the opposition….
Arabs, Turkey push Syrian opposition to unite
3/25/2012 – ISTANBUL (Reuters) — The Arab League and Turkey are pressing the Syrian opposition to unite before Western and Arab foreign minister meet in Istanbul next week to back the revolt against President Bashar Assad, opposition sources said on Sunday. Qatar, the rotating chairman of the Arab League, and Turkey, a Muslim member of NATO bordering Syria….
Israel court rejects plea on outpost removal
AlJazeera 25 Mar 2012 – State had sought to delay the dismantling of a large West Bank settler enclave until 2015.
Israel to punish Palestinian Authority over UN vote
The National 25 Mar 2012 – Threat to withhold tax after decision to probe settlements
Annan may be ‘last chance’ for Syria peace
The National 25 Mar 2012 – Moscow talks come as US president urges non-lethal aid to be sent to opposition fighters as parts of Homs and Idlib under new attacks.
Symbolic acts of kindness fail to reassure Egypt’s leaderless Copts
The National 25 Mar 2012 – Following the death of their pope and the rise of Islamist parties, the minority Christian community is concerned that the discrimination they have long complained about may increase as Egypt becomes more religiously conservative.
Poll: Most Jewish Israelis say Iran strike less risky than nuclear threat
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
IDF girds for Land Day disturbances
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
Kadima members set to vote for leader / In campaign’s final days, Livni and Mofaz argue against tribalism
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
Mystery man hopes to buy Titanic artifacts, for display in Eilat
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
Health Ministry: Failure to add magnesium to tap water could kill up to 250 Israelis a year
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
Knesset Ethics Committee: Israeli MK didn’t break rules by attending pro-Assad rally
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
UN panel urges Israel to shelve Bedouin relocation plan
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
Netanyahu refutes reports of early election
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
Top official says Knesset could call emergency meet over High Court’s ruling on Migron
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
Israeli soldier reports being attacked by Arab men in Jerusalem
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
State to offer Migron residents to move to temporary West Bank location
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
The Israeli-Iranian kiss that launched a thousand Facebook ‘likes’
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
Right-wing activist says will evacuate Palestinian family from East Jerusalem home
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
Top member of Israeli crime family ordered murders of 2 defectors, police says
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
Report: Israeli teams monitor Iran’s nuclear program on the ground
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
Israel Supreme Court rejects compromise deal on West Bank settlement of Migron
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
Jerusalem police launch probe of soccer fans caught attacking Arab workers at mall
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
Israel’s arrest of Bedouin man sheds light on Sinai kidnappings of African refugees
Ha’aretz – 25 Mar 2012
Israel mulls ways to penalize PA in wake of UN human rights probe
Ha’aretz – 24 Mar 2012
French reject charges of inaction in Toulouse terror
Ha’aretz – 24 Mar 2012
Egypt working to prevent Iran attacks on Israeli targets, sources say
Ha’aretz – 24 Mar 2012
Report: Israel granted asylum to 8 out of nearly 1,000 requests in 2011
Ha’aretz – 24 Mar 2012
Livni aims to stop Mofaz-Dichter merger ahead of Kadima primary vote
Ha’aretz – 24 Mar 2012
In Israel, a beautiful game is marred by ugly violence
Ha’aretz – 24 Mar 2012
UN Intentions
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Like the Goldstone inquiry, the proposed “fact-finding mission,” if created, will deflect attention from war crimes elsewhere.
The terrorists and their protectors
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Terror aims at the human mind. The goal is seizing the mind, not territory. Terrorists want to get into our head.
The Region: France: Here comes the whitewash
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Murders in Toulouse should be wake-up call for France. A big story can draw attention to a broader social trend.
Gov’t: Migron relocation offer still stands
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Likud minister Begin says outpost will still be relocated to state land 2 km. away, only timetable has changed after court ruling.
Jewish Ideas Daily: Marching to Jerusalem
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Protests, marches, sit-ins, boycotts have been employed in support of the Palestinian cause, but violence has remained the core.
‘A free people in our land’
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Israel is not a vassal state, not a puppet regime, not a state in name alone.
Christians and Jews united
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – That the UK should have led the way in promoting Jewish-Christian relations was ironic, given the troubled history of Jewish existence in the country.
Police in central Israel preparing for rockets from Gaza
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Central District chief tells ‘Post’ that police working with IDF’s Home Front Command after a number of rockets with increased ranges slammed into area in recent round of escalation.
Shiny angry people
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – 2010 saw a record number of complaints filed with the state comptroller, judge Micha Lindenstrauss.
Reality Check: Liberman’s home front
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Liberman has correctly identified state assistance in housing as a make-or-break issue for his party.
Court says Migron must be evacuated by August 1
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – High Court rejects state’s request to delay evacuation of West Bank outpost until 2015.
France shooter’s brother charged as accomplice
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Prosecutors charge Abdelkader Merah with complicity in 7 murders, terrorist conspiracy and theft, Paris prosecutor says.
Copts debate: A fighting pope, or a peacemaker
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Tense times in Egypt as Christians choose successor for Shenouda.
PA slams US for opposing UN settlements probe
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Saeb Erekat says fact that US alone voted against fact-finding mission shows the extent of Washington’s Israel bias.
Syrian forces on the offensive; Annan in Moscow
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Rights group accuses Syrian of using human shields; Russia offer “full support” for peace efforts.
Moroccan Islamists flex muscles in Rabat march
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – March was Al-Adl’s first since December when it pulled out of pro-democracy protests aimed at reforming monarchy.
‘Without fuel deal, Gaza shuts sole power plant’
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Ma’an: With emergency injection from Israel spent, absence of Hamas-Egypt fuel deal causes plant to close.
Beduin charged with refugee abduction in Sinai
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Defendant allegedly at center of gang that held Africans hostage in Egypt, blackmailed family members in Israel for ransoms.
Plans revealed for Israel’s tallest office tower
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Azrieli Sarona tower in Tel Aviv scheduled to be completed by 2016; 50-stories tall building will offer 125,000 sqm of office space.
Police to indict four reputed mobsters
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Police say indictments, which include Abergil family head Moti Hassin, are “a major blow to organized crime.”
‘95% of Israelis think US Jewish support essential’
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Poll shows most Israelis perceive US Jewish support of state as important; MKs fly to US to learn about Jewish community.
‘Hamas, Hezbollah helping Iran in Yemen’
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – US envoy to Sanaa tells ‘al-Hayat’ that Washington believes Tehran working with Shi’ite Muslim rebels in northern Yemen.
Afghan gun massacre families paid compensation
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – US authorities give $50,000 in cash to families of those killed in shooting rampage allegedly carried out by US soldier.
Iran to boost cash payments as inflation bites
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Critics accuse Ahmadinejad of embarking on program of wasteful public spending resulting in soaring prices.
Police probe soccer mob attack on Arab workers
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – Some 300 Beitar Jerusalem fans storm Malha mall, allegedly attack Arab workers while chanting racist songs.
House arrest for 5 indicted over soldiers attack
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – 5 of the 6 defendants charged with attacking soldiers in Haifa released to house arrest, court rules.
Man gets 9.5 years for sodomizing minor
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – As part of plea bargain, defendant had previously pleaded guilty to indecent assault, rape that took place 11 years ago.
‘Obama, Erdogan discuss aid to Syrian opposition’
Jerusalem Post 25 Mar 2012 – US official says US president, Turkish PM consider medical aid, communications support; Annan to meet Medvedev for Syria talks.
Israeli diversion off Highway 80
Jerusalem Post 24 Mar 2012 – For some Israelis, Davis, California has long been a kind of household word due to the local UC specializing in agriculture.
Bomb Iran and it will surely decide to pursue nuclear arms | Mehdi Hasan
The Guardian 25 Mar 2012 – If Israel’s 1981 bombing of Iraqi nuclear facilities teaches us anything, it’s that the quickest way to help the Iranians make up their minds is to attack them On 7 June 1981 a phalanx of Israeli…
Donors Damaging Palestinian Economy
IPS The latest Work Bank report on the Palestinian economy fuels the row on institutional viability precisely as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas considers renewing his statehood bid.
012 : A Video Roundup
Uruknet
Why Do We Protest the NATO Summit?
Uruknet March 24, 2012 – After the end of World War II, a group of nations in the north Atlantic established NATO to impede Russian influence over the reconstruction of Europe and to facilitate their own. The economic blueprint begun under the Marshall Plan and continued with NATO saw European member countries shift their energy dependency from…
Israeli Refuseniks’ Reject Anti-Arab Bias
Uruknet March 24, 2012 – It is against this background that we might consider the plight of Israel’s refuseniks. These are Israeli Jewish citizens who are “locally abnormal” either because they refuse to serve beyond the 1967 borders (that is they refuse to go into the Palestinian Occupied Territories) or refuse induction into the Israeli military altogether….
Palestinians Denied Essentials to Life
Uruknet March 24, 2012 – Besides persecution, repression, and injustice, deprivation defines life in Occupied Palestine. Essentials fall way below minimum standards. Shortages and crises affect water, sanitation, electricity, fuel, and vital healthcare when most needed. On March 14, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) headlined, “Occupied Lives: Switching off hospitals,” saying: Gaza’s hospitals, including al-Shifa (…
Lawyers Guild Expects More Documents: Homeland Security Coordinated Occupy Crackdown
Uruknet March 24, 2012 – If you want to know where the real government of the United States is located, just check out one of the documents received by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund in response to their Freedom of Information Act request to the Dept. of Homeland Security relating to surveillance of the Occupy Movement….
Confined Cruelty: Israeli Treatment of Palestinian Minors
Uruknet March 24, 2011 – For many Palestinian children their childhood is lived under a cloak of fear, and the threat of violence and abuse at the hands of an armed force that stalks the streets of their homeland. In the eleven years since 2000, Israeli forces have killed “1,471” (1) children in the West Bank and…
[uruknet.info] Ambassadors Of Portugal, South Africa, Teargased Near Ramallah
Uruknet March 24, 2012 – Ambassadors of Portugal and South Africa, in the central West Bank city of Ramallah, were treated for the effects of teargas inhalation after Israeli soldiers fired gas bombs at dozens of local and international peace activists during the weekly nonviolent protest against the Wall and Settlements in kufr Qaddoum village, near the…
Thabet: Stop oppressing Palestinians in Iraq
Uruknet March 24, 2012 — Thabet organization for Palestinian refugees right of return has called for ending the oppression befalling Palestinian refugees in Iraq. It said in a press release on Friday that the Palestinians in Iraq are the target of killing, displacement, and systematic detention. Thabet said that the storming operations of Baladiyat complex, which houses…
Israel exploits Toulouse murders to justify no-charge jailing of hunger striker Hana al-Shalabi
Uruknet March 24, 2012 – What does the spokesman of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu do when his propaganda efforts fail to conceal Israel’s abuses of Palestinians? He uses the blood of Jewish children murdered in the French city of Toulouse last week to try to blot them out. This is low, even for Israeli official propaganda….
012 (Warning: Graphic Videos)
Uruknet March 23, 2012 – Friday ends with the fall of 54 martyrs: 22 in Idlib, where 18 of them fell in during a new massacre committed by the regime in Saramein; 12 in Homs; 9 in Daraa; 3 in Aleppo; 2 in Douma in the Damascus Suburbs; 2 in Deir Ezzor; 2 in Hama; 1 in…
012
Uruknet March 23, 2012 – This month saw a 10 percent increase in the number of children prosecuted in the Israeli military courts and imprisoned. This is the second consecutive month in which a rise in the number of children in detention has been recorded. There has been a 39 percent increase in the number of children…
Military Resistance 10C11 : Target Selection
Uruknet March 23, 2012 – Mohammed Wazir says he was having breakfast with his brother in the town of Spin Boldak when he received the phone call from his village three hours away. “All your family members are martyred,” a neighbor told him. “…. The only people who have remained are those who couldn’t afford the expense of…
Palestinian hunger striker in danger
Uruknet March 23, 2012 – Hana Al-Shalabi, 24, was released from Israeli jails several months ago as part of the so-called Shalit deal. However, the young Palestinian woman was rearrested two months ago “on secret charges” and sent for administrative detention without charge or trial, ostensibly in order to make her suffer. This, says Eissa Qaraki, the…
012
Uruknet March 23, 2012. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, Human Rights Watch calls for an investigation into whether or not someone was tortured to death, security sources say the targeting of Emo youths in Iraq is back on after the Arab Summit and that this time the ones targeted will be Iraqi girls and young women,…
Israeli Army Detains A 12-year-old Child At Roadblock Near Jenin
Uruknet March 23, 2012 – Israeli soldiers detained, on Thursday evening, a 12-year-old Palestinian child at a roadblock close to an illegal Israeli settlement, south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin. The Palestinian News & Info Agency, WAFA, reported that the child was identified as Mohammad Mo’ayyad Metani, 12, from Ya’bod village, near Jenin.WAFA added…
Gaza baby dies after respirator runs out of fuel
Daily Star 25 Mar 2012 A Gaza man says his baby died after the generator powering his respirator ran out of fuel – the first known death linked to Gaza’s energy crisis.
Obama pledges ‘non-lethal’ aid for Syria rebels
Daily Star 25 Mar 2012 U.S. President Barack Obama pledged Sunday to send “non-lethal” aid to the Syrian rebels while peace envoy Kofi Annan piled diplomatic pressure on the regime by seeking the backing of its ally Russia.
Israel probes football mob attack on Arabs
Daily Star 25 Mar 2012 Israeli police said on Sunday that they have opened an investigation into a reported attack by Jewish football fans on a group of Arabs at a Jerusalem shopping mall.
Germany urges action against Iran smuggling in Oman
Daily Star 25 Mar 2012 German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Sunday on a visit to Oman that countries must take action against smuggling to Iran to help avert an escalation over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Turkish ex-military chief on trial for “terrorism”
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – ….
Human rights group: Assad’s forces use human shields
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – ….
Time for new thinking
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – Op-ed: Notion that Palestinians should get greater sovereignty a recipe for violence, instability ….
Slovenians reject homosexual adoption rights
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – ….
Egypt’s Islamists tighten their grip on power
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – ….
Soldier says attacked by Arabs in Jerusalem
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – Home Front Command soldier evacuated to hospital with light injuries after being beaten on Jerusalem street ….
Hamas blames fuel shortage for Gaza baby’s death
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – ….
Livni: Kadima primary – battle for Israel’s character
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – Kadima leader tells Pluralism Forum conference her rival in chairmanship race approached haredi parties behind her back after general elections ….
Rightist MKs blast court over Migron ruling
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – Decision to evacuate West Bank outpost by August 1 ‘proves High Court favors Arab interests over Jewish settlement,’ National Union’s Aryeh Eldad says. Peace Now: Step in the right direction ….
Mofaz ahead of Kadima primary: I’ll be next PM
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – MK says will introduce ‘new social order’ after defeating Livni on Tuesday and Netanyahu in next general elections ….
Response to ‘Zionist BDS’
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – Op-ed: Some ‘open minded’ Jews fail to understand damage they do to historical Zionist narrative ….
Indictment filed in Givati abuse case
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – 4 soldiers charged with abuse of comrades in Givati brigade; indictment describes violent seniority trials ….
Court rejects Migron deal; orders evacuation by August 1
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – In dramatic ruling, High Court justices reject request to delay voluntary evacuation of outpost built on private Palestinian land until 2015. Petitioners’ attorney: Court showed no one is above the law ….
IDF gears up for Global March to Jerusalem
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – Activists from Arab states, PA territories prepare for Friday’s march which may involve a storming of Israel’s borders. IDF instructs troops to prevent violation of Israel’s sovereignty with minimum harm to protesters ….
The motive: Jew-hatred
YNet News, 25 Mar 2012 – Op-ed: No settlements and no diplomatic circumstances can explain Jewish girl’s execution ….
Palestinian Information Center
Gaza power station shuts down again
PIC – The energy and natural resources authority in Gaza Strip has declared that the sole power generation station in the enclave has shut down anew on Sunday morning.
AFEH warns of turning Islamic cemetery into Talmudic park
PIC – The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage has condemned the Jewish settlers’ desecration of Bab El-Rahma cemetery in occupied Jerusalem on Saturday and plans to turn part of it into Talmuic park.
Energy authority: Fuel shipment enough for one day
PIC – The energy and natural resources authority has said that the fuel shipment delivered by Israel to the Gaza Strip would only suffice one day of work for the power station if operated in full capacity.
IOF soldiers arrest six Palestinians, summon liberated prisoner
PIC – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) launched a search campaign in various West Bank areas at dawn Sunday that ended with the arrest of six Palestinians.
Jerusalemites stage sit-in in solidarity with prisoners
PIC – The committee of relatives of Jerusalemite prisoners in Israeli jails and the Palestinian prisoner’s society organized a sit-in on Saturday in solidarity with their next of kin.
Cairo marathon against Judaization of O. Jerusalem
PIC – Egyptian popular committees have declared that a marathon would be organized in Cairo next Friday in support of Jerusalem and in rejection of Israeli Judaization attempts of the occupied holy city.
Israeli court of appeals refuses to release hunger striker
PIC – The Israeli military court of appeals in Ofer detention center near Ramallah has turned down a request by lawyer of Hana’a Shalabi for her release despite being on hunger strike for the past 40 days.
Detained young woman on hunger strike in Israeli jails
PIC – Amani Al-Khandakji has joined the long queue of Palestinian administrative detainees who have gone on hunger strike to protest their detention without trial or charge.
OCHA: IOA demolished 20 Palestinian homes in West Bank last week
PIC – The Israeli occupation authority has demolished 20 Palestinian homes in the West Bank over the past week, a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Sunday.
Newspapers Review: Hamas Wants to Finalize Division, Says Reports
WAFA – 14:42-RAMALLAH, March 25, 2012 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Arabic dailies Sunday highlighted a report by the Cairo-based newspaper al-Ahram claiming that Hamas de facto government in Gaza is…
Israel Threatens to Punish PA after UN Human Rights Probe
WAFA – 14:13-TEL AVIV, March 25, 2012 (WAFA) – Israeli newspaper Haaretz Sunday published that Israel is considering taking punitive actions against the Palestinian Authority (PA), following the United Nations…
Fayyad: Hamas Did Not Attend Meeting with PA on Gaza Fuel Crisis
WAFA – 13:54-RAMALLAH, March 25, 2012 (WAFA) – Hamas movement did not attend a meeting with representatives of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Egypt to discuss ways to reach permanent…
Infrastructure Cost Indexes Increase in February, Says Bureau of Statistics
WAFA – 10:14-RAMALLAH, March 25, 2012 (WAFA) – The Construction Cost Index (CCI), Road Cost Index (RCI), Water Networks Cost Index (WNCI) and Sewage Networks Cost Index (SNCI) increased during…
Global March to Jerusalem Set for 30 March
Alternative Information Center – On 30 March thousands people from throughout the world will join Palestinians from the Middle East and the Diaspora in a Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ), in a day of non-violent demonstrations in Palestine and in…
Palestinian PM says freed US aid to help ease crisis
Relief Web 24 Mar 2012 – Source: Reuters – AlertNet Country: occupied Palestinian territory RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 24 (Reuters) – Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Saturday the release of $88.6 million in development funds by U.S. lawmakers would help ease a fiscal crisis…
Egypt military looking to keep its grip at least on economy
LA Times 25 Mar 2012 – As a power transition looms in Egypt, the military bargains with the Muslim Brotherhood to protect its widespread but murky business dealings. The Egyptian military stamps itself as protector of the nation, but behind this carefully tended mythology the army controls a multibillion-dollar business empire…
In Syria, two college students swept up by protest passion
LA Times 25 Mar 2012 – Two young women ditch classes to join Damascus protests in the spirit of collective defiance. It is a daring escapade, and a political awakening. The pair of college friends can’t suppress a conspiratorial giggle when they talk about the passion that’s consuming them.
Iraq Seeks to Shift Image With Summit of Arab Leaders
New York Times 25 Mar 2012 – For Iraqi diplomats and officials, the three-day meeting of the Arab League is a banner moment for a country emerging from decades of war, occupation and diplomatic isolation.
Egypt’s Election Victors Seek Shift by Hamas to Press Israel
New York Times 24 Mar 2012 – The Muslim Brotherhood is overhauling its relations with the two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, in an effort to put new pressure on Israel for an independent Palestinian state.
Annan is ‘last chance’ for Syria
BBC 25 Mar 2012 – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev gives envoy Kofi Annan’s mission full backing, saying it may be the “last chance” to avoid a long civil war.
Israel court blocks outpost deal
BBC 25 Mar 2012 – Israel’s Supreme Court rejects a government deal with Jewish settlers to delay evacuation of the illegal West Bank outpost of Migron until 2015.
Articles
Young Palestinians act out their struggle on another stage
Killian Fox, The Observer, The Guardian 3/24/2012
A year ago the Israeli-born director of a tiny theatre in a West Bank refugee camp was gunned down. Now young Palestinians are fighting to save the place where they can voice their anger, frustration and dreams in creative ways.
On 4 April 2011, Juliano Mer-Khamis turned up unexpectedly at the Freedom theatre in Jenin and went inside to talk with his students and staff. Usually he’d call ahead whenever he planned a return to Jenin, but this time, driving up from Ramallah where he had just premiered a new production of a play by Eugène Ionesco, he gave no advance warning.
An actor and director who had forged a successful film and stage career in Israel, Mer-Khamis moved to Jenin in 2006 to set up the Freedom theatre in the city’s sprawling refugee camp, one of the most deprived areas in the West Bank. In his five years as artistic director, he had created a hub of cultural activity in Jenin and, by touring home-grown productions abroad, had given young people in the camp a sense that they had a voice in the world.
After nearly a fortnight in Ramallah, Mer-Khamis had a lot to catch up with at the theatre. A new class was opening at the acting school, and there were perennial financial problems to contend with – but first he wanted to see his family. His Finnish wife, Jenny Nyman, was pregnant with twins and due to give birth at any moment. He spent a few minutes chatting and joking with the acting-school co-ordinator, Rawand Arqawi, one of several women working at the theatre despite opposition from the local community. Then he picked up his one-year-old son, Jay, who was here with a babysitter, and set off home in his little red Citroën.
With Jay in his lap and the babysitter beside him, he drove out of the theatre’s cramped courtyard and turned right. A hundred metres down the street, a man stepped out of an alleyway shouting “Stop! Stop!”. His face was masked, according to the babysitter, and he had a gun – but in spite of this, Mer-Khamis stopped the car. more.. e-mail
Who is normal? The case for ‘universal standards of civilized normality’
Lawrence Davidson, Redress 3/26/2012
”…one must conclude that there is a wide gap between what we might consider to be ‘universal standards for civilized normality’ and those standards of ‘local normality’ in place in Israel.”
The “locally normal”
The vast majority of people in any given society are “locally normal”. By this I mean that they conform to the accepted outlooks and behaviours of their local society. They fit comfortably with their neighbours who fit comfortably with them. Their opinions are majority opinions that reflect local societal norms. Those norms may or may not espouse racism and a wide variety of other prejudices. It does not matter. They will be adhered to just the same because the are culturally imbedded. The “locally normal” will also adhere to their country’s standard history and mythology. Collectively, all these traits are what produce “good” citizens and so act as the glue that maintains social solidarity. The fact that most people are “normal” in this fashion is not a mistake. There is probably a genetic inclination for such behaviour. After all, if most people did not behave this way you could not maintain stable societies.
Still, there are drawbacks to being “locally normal”. For one thing, the more “normal” you are the less independent (at least in socio-political terms) a thinker you are. The strange thing is that the “locally normal” would not agree that thinking outside the community box is a legitimate act of independence. Such a stance would appear, from inside the box, as not being independent so much as being anti-social and perhaps unpatriotic. And, such behaviour is going to make “normal” folks suspicious and fearful. That is the genetic impulse again. Stay with the group and you stay safe. Safe from what? Safe from people on the outside, of course. If you are really looking for a “locally normal” definition of independence it is going to be an economic one: having a good job, paying your own bills, and not living with their parents. more.. e-mail
How Many Violations of US Arms Laws are Too Many?
Franklin Lamb, Intifada-Palestine 3/17/2012
It depends whether the miscreant enjoys “We will always have your back regardless”…. status
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 by recipient countries. For those who have followed the subject there was not a whole lot new in the CRS study, yet it is instructive in identifying Israel once again as far and away the most egregious violator of virtually every provision of every US law which purports to regulate how American weapons are used.
According to one CRS researcher, requesting anonymity during a Skype conversation and subsequent memo:
“An intern and I decided, almost for amusement, to count violations of US Arms Export Control laws by Israel between the date of ACEA enactment, 1976, through last month and we estimated more than 2.5 million violations if we applied the law given the legislative history and intent of Congress at the time of its passage. We based that figure on our estimation of each individual violation of the act as well as of the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act. It could be firing a US 155 mm artillery shell, various missiles, bombs, rockets and of course cluster munitions. For example, were Israel brought before a Court, the prosecutors would surely argue that each cluster booklet dropped on Lebanon in 2006 was a separate violation plus the two million estimated dropped during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon and during the 1978, 1993 and 1996 invasions. Add to this figure Israel’s records of violating US Arms export laws in Gaza, the West Bank and Syria and the true number is surely several million violations. Essentially all committed with impunity.” more.. e-mail
Gaza ambulances stop responding to calls as fuel reserves hit zero
Electronic Intifada: 25 Mar 2012 – Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip 25 March 2012 As a fuel shortage has worsened across the coastal territory, the ambulance service has been forced to stop responding to all calls except the most critical cases. With fuel reserves at zero, medical officials are warning that in case of another large-scale military attack by Israel, the ambulance service would be unable to cope.more
More material available from Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel – www.vtjp.org
To subscribe, please write to OccupationNews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visithttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/OccupationNews/join
The New Dark Age 