19 August 2012 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
U.S: “Settler Violence Is Terrorism”
IMEMC – In its 2011 Country report, an annual report about global terrorist activities, the United States described the escalating attacks carried out by extremist Israeli settlers against the Palestinians as “terrorist attacks”. This is the first time the United States describes Israeli settler attacks against the Palestinians as acts of terrorism. …
Israeli police arrest suspects in Jerusalem attack
8/19/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli police have arrested a total of five suspects in connection with an attack in Jerusalem early Friday that left a Palestinian citizen of Israel seriously injured, an Israeli police spokesman said Sunday. Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Ma’an that a special investigation team is looking into the incident and….
NY Times: Iraqis helping Iran skirt sanctions
8/19/2012 – WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Iraq has been helping Iran skirt economic sanctions imposed because of its nuclear program, using a network of financial institutions and oil-smuggling operations that are providing Tehran with a crucial flow of dollars, the New York Times said on Saturday. In some case, Iraqi government officials are turning a blind eye to trade….
Pope appoints new envoy to Israel, Palestine
8/19/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Vatican has appointed a new envoy to Israel and Palestine, the Latin Patriarchate said on Saturday. Archbishop Giuseppe Lazarotto, 70, takes over from 75-year-old Bishop Antonio Franco, who will retain responsibility for negotiations between the Vatican and Israel over financial relations and Church lands. Lazarotto, originally from Italy, has….
Report: US labels settler violence as terrorism for first time
8/19/2012 – TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — In its annual report on terrorism around the world, the US State Department has defined violence by Israeli settlers towards Palestinians as terrorism for the first time, Israeli media reported on Saturday. The 2011 US Country Report cites three suspected “price tag” incidents: vandalism of Jerusalem’s Mamilla….
Mursi offers Eid greeting to Haniyeh
8/19/2012 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi telephoned Gaza premier Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday morning to congratulate him on the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr. Mursi told Haniyeh that Egypt will stand by Gaza, while Haniyeh thanked Egypt for its support to the Palestinian people. Haniyeh stressed the importance of joint security cooperation….
Haniyeh calls to congratulate Abbas on Eid
8/19/2012 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh telephoned President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday evening to congratulate him on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Haniyeh stressed to the president his commitment to national unity. The premier has run a rival administration in the Gaza Strip since 2007, when his Hamas faction clashed with….
Committee says preparations underway for National Youth Week
8/19/2012 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an)– A committee in charge of organizing National Youth Week said Thursday that preparations were under way for the four day event, official news agency Wafa reported. Several meetings have been convened in preparation for the event, which “will have a sports nature and reflect Palestine’s unity over the Palestinian….
At least 2 killed by car bombs in Libyan capital
8/19/2012 – TRIPOLI (Reuters) — At least two people were killed when three car bombs exploded near interior ministry and security buildings in the Libyan capital on Sunday, the first lethal attack of its kind since Moammar Gadhafi’s fall last year, security sources said. Ambulances and firefighters rushed to the scenes of the blasts and large….
Assad makes rare appearance for Eid prayers
8/19/2012 – BEIRUT (Reuters) — Syrian President Bashar Assad performed Eid prayers in a Damascus mosque on Sunday, state television showed, his first appearance in public since a stunning July bombing in the capital that killed four of his top security officials. Assad, battling a 17-month-old uprising against 42 years of rule by his family, was accompanied….
Growing violence could leave Syria ungovernable
8/19/2012 – BEIRUT (Reuters) — Escalating violence and a vicious cycle of retaliation could leave Syria ungovernable even if a winner finally emerges from President Bashar Assad’s battle with rebels. Nearly a year and a half since the uprising erupted, initially as peaceful protests for reform, Assad’s forces and their insurgent foes are fighting….
Syria National Council asks UN envoy to rescind remarks
8/19/2012 – AMMAN (Reuters) — The main Syrian National Council opposition group demanded on Sunday that the conflict’s new international mediator apologize for saying it was too early to comment on whether President Bashar Assad should step down. Lakhdar Brahimi, speaking after the United Nations confirmed last week that he would take over Kofi Annan’….
Official: 7 killed in attack on Yemen mosque
8/19/2012 – ADEN (Reuters) — A gunman opened fire on a mosque during Eid prayers in southern Yemen on Sunday, killing seven people and wounding 11, a security official at the Defense Ministry said. In a separate attack on Sunday, a suicide bomber with suspected links to Al Qaeda blew himself up in the southern Abyan province, killing….
Paper: Germany helping Syria rebels with spy ship intel
8/19/2012 – BERLIN (Reuters) — Germany is helping Syrian rebels by providing them with information gathered by a German navy vessel off the coast of Syria, a newspaper said on Sunday, without citing sources. Germany’s Bild am Sonntag said the boat had spying equipment from the German intelligence service on board, enabling it to observe Syrian….
Bomb wounds Iraq cleric who urged end to insurgency
8/19/2012 – BAGHDAD (Reuters) — A prominent Iraqi Sunni cleric who urged Islamist armed groups to end their insurgency was critically wounded, and four of his bodyguards killed, when a car bomb hit his convoy in Baghdad on Sunday. Mehdi al-Sumaidai, who once fought US troops in Iraq and was part of a Sunni body issuing religious edicts….
Israel Says Firebombers Will be Brought to Justice
Palestine News Network
Ahmadenijad: Israel is an “Insult to All Humanity”
Palestine News Network
International Solidarity Movement
An Open Letter from Gaza to EU: Do not reward apartheid!
8/19/2012 – International Solidarity Movement – By PSCABI, 19 August 2012, Besieged Gaza, occupied Palestine – We call on the European Union to challenge and not embrace Israel‘s incessant land expropriation and racist subjugation against the Palestinian people. The European Union’s own reports document and supposedly lament Israel‘s apartheid policies, yet continues to pursue policies that….
Alternative Information Center
Palestinian taxi attacked with molotov cocktail
Alternative Information Center – A likely case of settler violence committed Thursday evening is almost unprecedented in its capacity to kill. A molotov cocktail was thrown at six family members driving by the settlement of Bat Ain, southwest of Bethlehem….
IN PHOTOS: 30 Palestinian-owned olive trees cut down in South Hebron Hills
Alternative Information Center – The olive grove belongs to a Palestinian family and it is located in front of the Havat Ma’on illegal outpost. This brings the number of Palestinian trees cut down or damaged in the South Hebron Hills…
South Hebron Hills villages organise to resist expulsion
Alternative Information Center – In response to demolition orders for eight villages in ‘Firing Zone 918’ of the South Hebron Hills, a coalition of Palestinian communities is acting to overcome these historical patterns. Firing zone warning in the midst of…
The best jokes are true: divergent imaginings of Tel Aviv
Alternative Information Center – A popular joke amongst critics in Palestine-Israel goes:“What’s the only European city without a Muslim population?” A: Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv city council defeated motion to add Arabic to the city’s official logo – so Adalah…
Assad appears in Damascus for Eid prayers
The National 19 Aug 2012 – Syrian leader makes first public appearance since July bomb blast.
Syrian families torn apart have little cause to celebrate Eid
The National 19 Aug 2012 – Eid holiday goes almost unnoticed amid the horrors of civil war. Hugh Naylor reports from Syria.
Palestinian government debt hurts private sector
The National 19 Aug 2012 – The cash crunch, mainly due to a sharp drop in foreign aid since 2011, is threatening to set off a chain reaction of business failures, layoffs and economic downturn that would undermine one of the West’s fundamental strategies toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Lebanese hopeful their country won’t be a theatre of Syria’s civil war
The National 19 Aug 2012 – The televised images of kidnappings, the claims of responsibility and the allegations of shadowy foreign involvement all conjured up memories that most Lebanese strive to forget.
Iraqis help Iran to get around sanctions
The National 19 Aug 2012 – A network of financial institutions and oil-smuggling operations is reportedly providing Tehran with a crucial source of US dollars.
Shortage of classes keeps special-ed Haredi kids from starting school
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
Israel Police: Hundreds watched attempt to lynch Palestinians in Jerusalem, did not interfere
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
In Israeli city, residents fight for their right to the flee the ‘cancer building’
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
Eilat appeals to Supreme Court to fight ruling forcing city to accept children of African migrants into its schools
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
Most Israeli insomniacs struggle at work the next day, new poll shows
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
Education Ministry gaffe will cause some 180,000 Israeli students to go without school lunches
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
Israel’s High Court waving a ‘black flag’ over rights groups’ petitions, experts say
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
The definite link between asbestos and lung cancer
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
Suspect in triple hit-and-run killing still at large
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
Tens of thousands converge on Acre, as Islamic world marks Id al-Fitr
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
IDF updates elite soldiers’ captivity training following Gilad Shalit’s debriefing
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
Israel Police arrests 3 more suspects in connection with Jerusalem ‘lynch’
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
WATCH: Muslims flock to Jerusalem to mark end of Ramadan
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
Israel Police arrests women for wearing prayer shawls at Western Wall
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
Head of Jewish Agency: Talk of Iran strike slowing Aliyah to Israel
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef bashes Israeli legal system, calling it ‘court of gentiles’
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
Vice PM Ya’alon: Settler attacks against Arabs in West Bank, Jerusalem are ‘terrorist acts’
Ha’aretz – 19 Aug 2012
Kibbutz rebuilds preschool from mud and memories
Ha’aretz – 18 Aug 2012
Cultic vessels from 13th century BCE go on display
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Religious tools uncovered during excavation near Tel Qashish to be part of Haifa’s National Maritime Museum exhibit.
Tunisia honors convicted murderer Samir Kuntar
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Salafis storm ceremony to protest Kuntar for pro-Assad, Shi’ite position.
High Court rejects claim, fines ACRI 45,000 NIS
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – NGO: Ruling on hospital care bad for Ashdod poor, but even worse for social justice.
Peres holds blood drive at President’s Residence
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Staff of President’s Residence give blood when MDA’s stocks run low; main reception room turned into clinic.
Man attacks wife, nurses in hospital delivery room
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Hospital has increased presence of security personnel to protect patients, hospital staff from physical violence.
Haniyeh: Hamas gov’t ready to coordinate with Cairo
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Hamas PM vows Gaza will not be a source of threat, but a source of stability to Egypt, Sinai, Rafah and El- Arish.
Baby bottlenose dolphin found off coast of Ashkelon
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Alarming number of whales, dolphins washing up onshore
IDF stations Iron Dome battery in Eilat amid Grad threat
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Move comes days after two rockets shake the Red Sea resort city, apparently fired from the Sinai Peninsula; IDF spokesmen says deployment is part of national plan to test anti-rocket system around the country.
Intolerable behavior
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Too often, politicians and leaders denounce Jewish attacks on Palestinians not because they are morally reprehensible, but because they could ignite a third intifada.
Will America forsake Israel, again?
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – America’s interest in Israel’s strategic value has always been the primary motivation for US support.
Jewish Ideas Daily: Jews and Guns
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – For American Jews, who are not shy about wielding their social and economic power, the choice to remain unarmed is perverse – but logical.
Poverty – or not
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – The inadequacies of the government’s methods of collecting data distort the picture of who is poor and why.
Netanyahu’s Id al-Fitr phone diplomacy
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – PM calls Abbas, Abdullah as Ramadan ends, tells Jordanian king: Hashemite Kingdom-Israel relations important for regional stability.
Has the legalistic approach overstepped itself?
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Think About It: The legalization of our lives has reached monstrous proportions, and complex, contorted legal arguments and provisions have taken precedence over norms, moral principles and common sense.
Reality Check: Peres and the voice of reason
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Using the media platform generated by his 89th birthday, the president launched into his own commando strike.
Defense Ministry, Treasury renew budget feud
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Barak praises Tishlet C’tee calling for 66b. shekel annual defense budget; Finance Ministry: C’tee set up on behalf Defense Ministry can’t be taken seriously.
‘Germany helping Syria rebels with spy ship intel’
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – According to German paper, country is providing rebels with information gathered by navy vessel off the coast of Syria.
Palestinian firebomb victims in hospital for holiday
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – The Jayada family was on the way to the supermarket to shop for the holiday meal when their car was attacked and burst into flames.
‘Women of the Wall’ are detained praying at Kotel
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Four women arrested wearing black and white or plain white talitot, which are viewed as being the preserve of male worshippers.
Peres urges unity in fight against violence
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – At swearing in ceremony for 18 new judges, president expresses shock, revulsion at firebombing of Palestinian taxi.
Assange berates US from Ecuador embassy balcony
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Wikileaks founder uses embassy balcony for speech to avoid arrest, calls on Obama to end “witch-hunt.”
Police nab 5th suspect over Jerusalem ‘lynch’
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Suspects all minors; additional arrests expected after Arab man left critically hurt in clash between Jewish, Arab teens.
Netanya mayor to hit-and-run suspect: Surrender
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – City gave Baraby plot of land in 2005 to open fruit kiosk, which he illegally expanded, has possible crime family ties.
Wandering Jew: Amsterdam’s appeal
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – A visit to Amsterdam gives travelers the chance to explore a city that has seen times of great Jewish flourishing and sadness.
Israeli, US navies complete drill in Mediterranean
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – The exercise, Reliant Mermaid, focused on search and rescue maneuvers, included live fire; Turkish Navy refuses to participate.
IDF investigating beating of Palestinian journalists
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Activists release video of incident showing soldier striking Palestinian journalists with baton.
Dichter: Iran poses a threat to Israel’s existence
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – New home front defense minister says Israel has proven that days of Israelis being killed for being Jews are over.
Off the Beaten Track: Perseus must die
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – Travel expert Joe Yudin explores the only Greek myth that takes place in the Land of Israel.
Next global Jewish star chosen
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – 27-year-old Canadian walks away with cash prize as winner of global Jewish competition; Livnat: “This is Zionism.”
Police nab Sudanese man accused of sexual assault
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – The suspect was working as a janitor in Herzliya public bathroom, where he assaulted the woman, police say.
Search continues for suspect in hit-and-run deaths
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – 35-year-old Shushan Baraby still at large; court extends remand of Yochai Glicksman, who confessed to crime before changing story.
Victory for enforcement
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – The Standard Chartered case should stand out as a positive symbol of US regulators trying to make sure the sanctions are enforced.
Jewish London and the Olympic Games
Jerusalem Post 19 Aug 2012 – The greatest victory of the Olympic Games goes to the 70,000 volunteer Games Makers who worked day in and day out to ensure that the “friendly Games” were the best possible for athletes, officials and spectators alike.
Militants fire RPG at Egypt army convoy, injure 3
Jerusalem Post 18 Aug 2012 – Armed men fire grenade at convoy returning from raid in Rafah; forces “entrapped by extremists.”
Jewish settler attacks on Palestinians listed as ‘terrorist incidents’ by US
The Guardian 19 Aug 2012 – Israeli leaders condemn recent extremist violence, the growth of which human rights groups blame on lack of law enforcement Violence by Jewish settlers has been cited for the first time in a US state department list…
Letters: Dismay at addition of Joshua Treviño to Guardian US commentary team
The Guardian 19 Aug 2012 – We are writing to express our shock and dismay at the addition to the Guardian’s US commentary team of a man who has openly called for the killing of people on humanitarian missions to Palestine, people…
An Open Letter from Gaza to EU: Do not reward apartheid!
Uruknet
In Afghanistan, Scandal Erupts Over Changing Street Name To Honor Iranians
Uruknet
Afghanistan: Dozens of insurgents & at least 4 civilians killed in Kunar airstrike
Uruknet
Australian government lines up behind British threats against Assange
Uruknet
UN Envoy Brahimi to firm up role, not urge Assad exit yet
Uruknet
Restoring Ties: Egypt’s President to Visit Iran — A First in Decades
Uruknet
Iran welcomes Morsi’s proposal to form “contact group” on Syria
Uruknet
Lynching in Jerusalem: where impunity and Israel’s unchecked racial hatred lead
Uruknet
Don’t get ill in Iraq
Uruknet
Report: “4550 Palestinians, Including 220 Children, Imprisoned By Israel”
Uruknet
Egypt president to visit Iran, a first in decades
Daily Star 19 Aug 2012 Egypt’s President Mohammed Mursi will attend a summit in Iran later this month, a presidential official says, the first such trip for an Egyptian leader since relations with Tehran deteriorated decades ago.
Assange berates United States from Ecuador’s London embassy
Daily Star 19 Aug 2012 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange used the balcony of Ecuador’s London embassy on Sunday to berate the U.S. for threatening freedom of expression and called on Obama to end what he called a witch-hunt against WikiLeaks.
Drone attacks pound northern Pakistan, killing 13 in two days
Daily Star 19 Aug 2012 A flurry of drone attacks pounded northern Pakistan at the weekend, killing 13 people in three separate attacks, officials and witnesses say.
Assad makes rare appearance for Eid prayers
Daily Star 19 Aug 2012 Syrian President Bashar Assad performed Eid prayers in a Damascus mosque Sunday, state television showed, in his first appearance in public since a July bombing in the Syrian capital that killed four top security officials.
Qaouk says Lebanon must not be entrusted to March 14
Daily Star 19 Aug 2012 Sheikh Nabik Qaouk, deputy head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, says the March 14 coalition cannot be trusted with stewardship of Lebanon, accusing the alliance of involving the country in the Syrian crisis via its partnership with…
Future Movement MP says impossible Hezbollah cannot control clan
Daily Star 19 Aug 2012 Future Movement MP Nuhad Mashnouq dismisses Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s claim that his party cannot control a local clan that went on an abduction spree of Syrians, particularly as the clan resides in the party’s…
Syrian beaten, robbed in east Lebanon
Daily Star 19 Aug 2012 A Syrian man is severely beaten and robbed in the east Lebanon town of Baalbek.
Assir and supporters demonstrate against Hezbollah, Syria
Daily Star 19 Aug 2012 Tens of supporters of Sheikh Ahmad Assir gather over the weekend in the coastal city of Sidon to protest the recent spree of kidnappings in the country and denounce Hezbollah’s insistence on maintaining its arms.
Envoy says Turkey unable to pressure abductors of Lebanese pilgrims
Daily Star 19 Aug 2012 Turkey’s ambassador to Lebanon, Inan Ozyildiz, says his country has no means to pressure the captors of 11 Lebanese pilgrims into releasing them.
Qabbani says Lebanon’s plight responsibility of leaders, citizens
Daily Star 19 Aug 2012 Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani blames the deteriorating situation in the country on political leaders and Lebanese who have accepted repression, adding that Lebanon needs an electoral law that guarantees true representation.
Businessman Dudi Appel to start serving prison sentence
YNet News, 19 Aug 2012 – ….
4 Syrian rockets wound Jordanian girl
YNet News, 19 Aug 2012 – ….
Iron Dome installed in Eilat
YNet News, 19 Aug 2012 – Missile shield battery arrives in southern city in an effort to calibrate its sensors to the local terrain ….
Man in Afghan uniform kills NATO service member
YNet News, 19 Aug 2012 – ….
Protesters rally outside Barak’s house
YNet News, 19 Aug 2012 – Dozens demonstrate against strike in Iran for second week in a row. ‘We will keep protesting until the threat of war is removed,’ says Tel Aviv Councilwoman Tamar Zandberg ….
Iraqi Sunni cleric’s convoy struck by bomb
YNet News, 19 Aug 2012 – ….
Dozens rally in front of Barak’s home against Iran strike
YNet News, 19 Aug 2012 – ….
Jewish man suspected of pelting stones at Palestinian cars
YNet News, 19 Aug 2012 – Police looking into possibility that the suspect is linked to the assailants who threw a Molotov cocktail at a Palestinian taxi last week, injuring six ….
President’s ‘tie-breaking’ remarks
YNet News, 19 Aug 2012 – Op-ed: President’s public comments made it easier for Netanyahu to back out of plan for solo attack in Iran ….
Jerusalem lynch suspect: I was detained for no reason
YNet News, 19 Aug 2012 – Jewish teen suspected of aggravated assault denies involvement in Thursday lynch on Arab man. Police arrest four additional suspects ….
Netanya hit-and-run: Suspect still at large
YNet News, 19 Aug 2012 – Sources privy to criminal world say Shoshan Barbi, who is suspected of killing three women during hit-and-run accident on Friday, will not turn himself in. ‘He’ll hide in an Arab village, grow a beard and escape to Oman’ ….
Dichter: Iran is an existential threat
YNet News, 19 Aug 2012 – MK Avi Dichter officially assumes role of Home Front Defense minister. Outgoing Minister Vilnai predicts ministry’s importance will only grow ….
Getting away with anti-Semitism
YNet News, 19 Aug 2012 – Op-ed: Anti-Israel atmosphere in Sweden allows author to misquote leading Zionists without being held accountable ….
Rabbis, MKs visit Turkey
YNet News, 19 Aug 2012 – In spite of Foreign Ministry reservations, delegation led by deputy finance minister visits Ankara, Istanbul for meetings with interfaith groups, Turkish officials to discuss diplomatic standstill ….
Palestinian Information Center
Haneyya: We are ready for security cooperation with Egypt
PIC – Palestinian premier in Gaza Ismail Haneyya has emphasized preparedness to forge closer security cooperation with Egypt in order to protect joint security.
Turkish demonstration in support of Jerusalem
PIC – A massive demonstration was organized in Istanbul in support of Jerusalem and Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation.
Jordanian party asks gov’t to reconsider treaty with Israel
PIC – A Jordanian party has asked its government to reconsider the Wadi Araba treaty with Israel if the latter continued to violate that treaty and to violate sanctity of the holy shrines.
Jewish settlers expand settlement outposts in Al-Khalil
PIC – Jewish settlers in two unauthorized settlement outposts established east of Yatta town in Al-Khalil province have started to expand their settlement outposts, local sources said.
Haneyya: Influx of convoys reflect solidarity with Palestinian people
PIC – Palestinian premier in Gaza Ismail Haneyya has said that the continuation of aid convoys to the Gaza Strip reflected that the Palestinian people were not alone in face of occupation.
PEX Report: Al-Quds Index Up
WAFA – 16 Aug 2012
Government Spokesman Ends Work
WAFA – 15 Aug 2012
Many rebel-held Syria towns attempt to fill power vacuum
LA Times 18 Aug 2012 – In Syria towns beyond the government’s control, residents have established makeshift courts and councils. Though the uneasy steps may point toward a post-Assad Syria, rights groups cite problems. TAL RIFAAT, Syria — Unshackled and in flip-flops, the first defendant of the day was led into…
Egypt evolving along with Morsi’s relationship with military
LA Times 19 Aug 2012 – President Mohamed Morsi’s purge of the top brass sent a jolt through an entrenched military establishment. It also raised questions about potential Islamist influence in the secular institution. CAIRO — The Egyptian military had long been run by aging generals and ambitious colonels who for…
Sunni Cleric Hurt in Iraq in Attack That Kills 4
New York Times 19 Aug 2012 – Sheik Mahdi al-Sumaidaie was known for urging extremists within his own sect to work with the Shiite-led government.
Assad Shown at Prayer in Damascus Mosque
New York Times 19 Aug 2012 – President Bashar al-Assad’s appearance seemed to be an attempt at normalcy during Eid al-Fitr, a three-day holiday after Ramadan, but it renewed doubts about the strength and confidence of the Syrian government.
Israeli Official Refuses to Deny Authenticity of Iran Attack Plan Document
Tikun Olam – 012/08/19/israeli-official-refuses-to-deny-authenticity-of-iran-attack-plan-document/
Settler leader endorses boycott of apartheid
Mondoweiss – Check out this gem from the New York Times’ fawning GQ-like profile of Israeli settler leader Dani Dayan: [Dayan and his wife] built a showpiece home, where the sunken double-height living room is filled with a painting from Vietnam, a sculpture from Machu Picchu and a…
My grandfather sparked my interest in debate over Zionism
Mondoweiss – Blogger and commenter Sheldon Richman recently wrote about a young family member who moved to Israel to join the army. (See the comments section here .) In an 1989 article in The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs , Richman wrote about his anti-Zionist grandfather, an orthodox…
Romney visits the Western Wall, July 29
Mondoweiss – After Romney visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem last month and planted a prayer in a crevice, I promised to put up video of it . Well here it is at last. Him going to the wall. At the beginning you’ll see Ann Romney get out…
Israel’s lone soldiers: Come for the perks, stay for the war crimes
Mondoweiss – ( Margarita Korol ) In his 2011 book entitled Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam , author J.M Berger (purportedly in his own words ) “uncovers the secret history of American jihadists .” Berger, who refers to himself as a “specialist on homegrown…
Exile and the Prophetic: Romero rising
Mondoweiss – Normal 0 false false false EN–US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} This post is part of Marc H….
4 Minors Arrested for Lynching in Jerusalem
The Foward Breaking News 19 Aug 2012 – After initially treating the event as a brawl, police on Sunday for the first time referred to the attack on Palestinian youths by dozens of Jewish teens in Jerusalem early last Friday as a “lynching.” Click here for the rest of the article…
Fear of War with Iran Impeding Aliyah
The Foward Breaking News 19 Aug 2012 – Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky said the fear of a war with Iran has caused Jews in the Diaspora to delay their aliyah plans. Click here for the rest of the article…
Canada’s Largest Protestant Church OK’s BDS
The Foward Breaking News 19 Aug 2012 – Canada’s largest Protestant church has voted to boycott goods from Israel’s Jewish settlements. Click here for the rest of the article…
Settler Attacks on Palestinians Called ‘Terror’
The Foward Breaking News 19 Aug 2012 – Vice Prime Minister and Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon said on Sunday that the fire-bomb attack on a Palestinian taxi on Thursday, in which six people were wounded, was “a terrorist attack.” Click here for the rest of the article…
Palestinian Statehood Returns (Ho-Hum)
The Forward New 19 Aug 2012 – The Palestinians are going back to the United Nations in a new bid for statehood. But this year, the diplomatic drama appears to be a case of “once more, but with less feeling.” Click here for the rest of the article…
Egypt: Egypt Asserts Its Support for Ibrahimi’s Mission
allAfrica.com 19 Aug 2012 – [Egypt Online]Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr asserted that Egypt fully supports the mission of the joint UN-AL envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, confirming its readiness to provide all possible assistance to stop the deterioration and bloodshed of Syrians whether through direct Egyptian effort or through Egypt’s membership…
Egypt: Morsi to Attend NAM Summit in Iran
allAfrica.com 19 Aug 2012 – [Egypt Online]The Middle East News Agency (MENA) quoted an official source in the presidency as saying that President Mohamed Morsi will attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran on August 30-31 at which Egypt will transfer the bloc’s rotating leadership to Iran.
Egypt: Mursi to Attend Non-Alignment Summit in Tehran – Agency
allAfrica.com 19 Aug 2012 – [Aswat Masriya]President Mohamed Mursi will attend the non-alignment summit hosted in Tehran on August 30, the Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported a source at the presidency as saying.
Sudan: Israel Deports Sudanese Asylum Seekers As South Sudanese Nationals
allAfrica.com 19 Aug 2012 – [Sudan Tribune]London -Sudanese citizens seeking asylum in Israel are being issued with South Sudanese documents in order to deport them, according to a report published on Saturday.
UN observer mission in Syria ends
BBC 19 Aug 2012 – The UN’s observer mission in Syria formally comes to an end, days after it was decided to cancel it in response to mounting violence.
Libya bombs blamed on Gaddafi men
BBC 19 Aug 2012 – Libyan forces arrest 32 members of a “pro-Gaddafi cell” over the twin car bombings that killed two people in Tripoli on Sunday, officials say.
Syria and Us (Part II)
Al-Akhbar Opinion 19 Aug 2012 – Residents of the town of Azaz, north of Aleppo, gather around the remains of tanks in front of a bombed-out mosque on 17 August 2012. (Photo: AFP – Phil Moore) Residents of the town of Azaz, north of Aleppo, gather around the remains of tanks in…
Lebanon Eid: Keeping the Wolves at Bay
Al-Akhbar News 19 Aug 2012 – Lebanese Muslim children pray as they read from the Quran, Islam’s holy book, during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at a mosque in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, on 14 August 2012. (Photo: AFP – Mahmoud Zayyat) Lebanese Muslim children pray as they read…
Ramadan in Algeria: The Hefty Sin Tax
Al-Akhbar News 19 Aug 2012 – A pupil walks at Zaouia Ait Koufi in Tizi Ouzou, east of Algiers, during the holy month of Ramadan 8 August 2012. (Photo: Reuters – Louafi larbi) A pupil walks at Zaouia Ait Koufi in Tizi Ouzou, east of Algiers, during the holy month of Ramadan…
Cleric injured in Iraq bomb attack
Al-Akhbar News 19 Aug 2012 – A bomb struck the convoy of a senior Sunni cleric in western Baghdad on Sunday morning, killing four and critically wounding the anti-extremist Muslim leader, police said. The attack highlights the threats faced by relatively moderate Sunni clerics whom the government needs to rebuild the country…
Syria’s Assad in Eid public appearance
Al-Akhbar News 19 Aug 2012 – A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on 19 August 2012 shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attending Eid al-Fitr payers in Damascus. (Photo: AFP – SANA) Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made a rare public appearance on Sunday for prayers marking the…
Egyptian president to visit Iran
Al-Akhbar News 19 Aug 2012 – President Mohammed Mursi plans to attend a summit in Iran this month, state media reported late on Saturday, on the first such visit since Egypt severed ties with Tehran more than three decades ago. The official MENA news agency quoted a source in the presidency as…
Deadly car bombs hit Libyan capital during Eid
Al-Akhbar News 19 Aug 2012 – Libyan security forces inspect the remains of a vehicle near the Ministry of Interior in Tripoli after twin blasts killed two people in the Libyan capital early on 19 August 2012. (Photo: AFP – Mahmud Turkia) Twin car bomb blasts killed two people in the Libyan…
Damascus Eid: Trying to Keep Smiling
Al-Akhbar Politics 18 Aug 2012 – Syrian refugees and local residents form the word “Free Syria” with candles during Laylat al-Qadr during the holy month of Ramadan late in front of the Syrian Embassy in Amman 14 August 2012. (Photo: Reuters- Muhammad Hamed) Syrian refugees and local residents form the word “Free…
Articles
An Open Letter from Gaza to EU: Do not reward apartheid!
PSCABI, One Democratic State Group 8/19/2012
We call on the European Union to challenge and not embrace Israel’s incessant land expropriation and racist subjugation against the Palestinian people. The European Union’s own reports document and supposedly lament Israel’s apartheid policies, yet continues to pursue policies that legitimize them, such as the scandalous upgrade of trade relations currently being put forward.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said that the regime you wish to do even more business with is worse than South African Apartheid, having been to the West Bank many times. But you turn your eyes and ears away from him. So does former ANC MP Ronnie Kassrils and countless other South Africans who have been to see the physical and psychological matrix of control Israel has mounted against us.
You are very well aware of what is happening to us. In terms of the brutal and illegal colonisation of the West Bank your own report from the Office of the European Union Representative (EUREP) in Jerusalem of July 2011 stated
“…large Jewish populations have settled into the occupied territory, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law. In 1972 there were 1,200 settlers which have grown to 310,000 settlers today in 124 settlements and 100 so called outposts in Area C. The Israeli government subsidizes and provides incentives including funding for housing, education and infrastructure such as special roads and water connection… The municipal area of settlements encompasses 9.3% of the West Bank Territory. However, due to the extensive network of settler roads and restrictions on Palestinians accessing their own land, the whole structure of the Israeli settlements dominate more than 40% of the West Bank.”
This is enforced Apartheid Segregation…. more.. e-mail
What’s gone wrong at The Guardian?
Ali Abunimah, Al Jazeera.com 8/18/2012
Hiring Joshua Trevino, who endorsed the killing of Gaza flotilla members, is a worrying step for journalism.
Something has gone badly wrong at The Guardian. In the name of “robust debate”, the venerable left-leaning liberal newspaper has effectively given its stamp of approval to speech that goes beyond mere hate, speech that clearly crosses the line into incitement to murder unarmed civilians and journalists. What lies behind this worrying development, and what does it tell us about the state of media in general?
On 15 August, the Guardian announced the hiring of Joshua Treviño as a correspondent with the paper’s US politics team. Janine Gibson, editor-in-chief of the Guardian US, said that Treviño would bring “an important perspective” to readers.
Treviño is a Republican party operative, paid political consultant and ideologue for hire. But while some may not like those attributes, they would not make him unique among columnists. What does distinguish Treviño is his propensity to call for violence.
Endorsing the killing of unarmed civilians
In June 2011, as several boats carrying unarmed civilian activists attempted to set sail from ports in southern Europe to break the blockade of Gaza, Treviño tweeted out a message to the Israeli army: “Dear IDF: If you end up shooting any Americans on the new Gaza flotilla – well, most Americans are cool with that. Including me.”
When another Twitter user called on Israel to “sink the flotilla”, Treviño chimed in that the effort to reach Gaza was “not morally different from a Nazi convoy”…. more.. e-mail
Inequality and Israel’s forgotten Palestinians
Patrick O. Strickland, Alternative Information Center 8/19/2012
An image of Israel that the corporate media establishment, not least of which the NYT, has carefully cultivated for years: Israel is a cringing country teetering on the uneasy brink of annihilation, fighting to preserve both its democratic institutions and its very existence. Putting aside all questions of the military occupation of the West Bank and the continued siege of the Gaza Strip, Israel’s treatment of its own Palestinian citizens—Israeli citizens!—is enough to cast serious doubt on its democratic credibility. From its very inception, Israel’s treatment of its Palestinian citizens has been characterized by inequality, segregation, and discrimination. Patrick Strickland explores.
On 15 May, the NY Times ran an editorial authored by Aaron David Miller under the title of “Preserving Israel’s Uncertain Status Quo.” Miller argues that the Israeli government’s attempts to achieve a “more peaceful and prosperous future” must “count for something.”
In his discursive analysis of the contemporary political climate, Miller unfolds an unabridged list of threats to Israel: the Israeli social justice movement, the Syrian uprising, the Egyptian ousting of Hosni Mubarak, Iran, the security vacuum in the Sinai, ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis, and ‘Arab Israelis’ (which is, of course, a crass euphemism intended to disavow the collective identity of Palestinian citizens of Israel).
Cataloging this exhaustive account of dangers, he resorts to a number of boorish clichés and Western media assumptions. Indeed, despite Israel’s malicious enemies, he argues, “the Israelis will prosper and keep their state, but the Arabs and the Iranians will never let them fully enjoy it. more.. e-mail
Wimpish in America
Palestine Chronicle: 19 Aug 2012 – By William A. Cook Last month, Stuart Jeffries writing in the Guardian, observed, ‘Capitalism is in crisis across the globe – but what on earth is the alternative?’ In 1840, Orestes Brownson in his essay ‘The Laboring Classes,’ asked the same question, ‘…what shall government do? … Its first doing must be an undoing. … We want first the legislation which shall free the government, whether State of Federal, from the control of the Banks. … a banking system like ours, if sustained, necessarily and inevitably becomes the real and efficient government of the country.” How ironic that 172 years ago, only 49 years after the adoption of the Bill of Rights, Brownson notes, “… at the end of ten years (of) constant hostility, (we know) all too well the power of the Banks, and their fatal influence on the political action of the community.” He declares further that “uncompromising…more
Palestine’s Olympians Hampered by Own Leaders
Palestine Chronicle: 19 Aug 2012 – By Stuart Littlewood Palestine’s Olympians have gone home, and not even ardent supporters like me were aware they’d been here. That’s a slight exaggeration. We caught a brief glimpse of them on TV in the opening parade. But the first real indication that they were living, breathing, approachable people was an email from the General Union of Palestinian Students saying: “The Palestinian Olympic team will be at Hyde Park at 1pm today,” giving just a few hours’ notice. Not much use to us folks living outside London. And by then there were only 4 days of the Olympics left. It played like a re-run of last year’s extraordinary effort by engineering students from the Gaza Strip who took on the cream of Europe’s technical universities in a competition to build a race car. Construction had to conform to nearly 30 pages of rules and regulations. The cars then went to…more
More material available from Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel – www.vtjp.org
To subscribe, please write to OccupationNews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OccupationNews/join
The New Dark Age 
Leave a comment