20 January 2012 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Soldiers Kidnap Mother And Her Baby Near Hebron
IMEMC – Saturday January 19, Israeli soldiers kidnapped a Palestinian woman and her 18-month old baby, in the Um Al Arayes area, east of Yatta town, near the southern West bank city of Hebron. …
Army Invades Bab Al-Karama
IMEMC – Sunday morning January 19 – Israeli soldiers invaded the Bab Al-Karama village (Gate Of Dignity), that was installed by Palestinian activists on privately-owned Palestinian lands in Beit Iksa village, northwest of Jerusalem. …
Detainee Al-Eesawy Moved To Israeli Hospital
IMEMC – Saturday January 19, Palestinian detainee Samer Al-Eesawy, was moved from the Ramla Prison Clinic to the Assaf Harofeh Israeli hospital, after a sharp deterioration in his health condition due to his ongoing hunger strike. …
Army Isolates West Bank’s Northern Plains
IMEMC – Saturday evening – January 19, Israeli soldiers imposed a strict siege on the northern plains area of the occupied West Bank, and installed several roadblocks on main roads in the area. …
Palestinian Killed In Tunnel Collapse Accident In Rafah
IMEMC – Palestinian medical sources reported that a Palestinian teenager was killed, on Saturday at night, when a siege-busting tunnel, in Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, collapsed on him; two Palestinian are still missing under the rubble. …
Another killed in Gaza tunnels as rights group urges action
1/20/2013 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A Palestinian man was killed and two others are missing after a tunnel under Gaza’s border with Egypt collapsed, medics said Saturday. Ibrahim Abu Mour, 19, was found dead after the tunnel caved in near Rafah, in south Gaza, they told Ma’an. After a week of….
Foundation: Former mayor put in administrative detention
1/20/2013 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — A former Palestinian mayor detained by Israeli forces this week will be held in administrative detention for six months, a prisoners group said Sunday. Sheikh Jamal Tawil, who had held the mayoral post in al-Bireh, a neighborhood of Ramallah in the central West Bank, was detained on Tuesday. The Solidarity Foundation….
Egypt vows to round up undocumented Palestinians
1/20/2013 – EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) — A Sinai security chief said Sunday that Egypt had detained ten Palestinians entering illegally from Gaza in the past three days, and would act to round up all Palestinians without permission to enter the country. Maj. Gen. Sameeh Bashadi told Ma’an a list of names and descriptions of….
Forces enter Jerusalem protest village, no clashes
1/20/2013 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces entered a Palestinian protest village newly erected in northwest Jerusalem on Sunday morning, but no confrontations were reported. Local activist Muhammad Rabei said troops entered the al-Karamah (Dignity) village in Beit Iksa around 7 a. m. , photographing the structures and preventing more protesters and supporters from arriving. He said…. Related: The long road to Bab al-Karama and Israeli forces raid Jerusalem protest village
PA: Iraq will contribute to ‘Arab safety net’
1/20/2013 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Iraq has pledged to contribute to the “Arab safety net” of monthly donations to the indebted Palestinian Authority, PA foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said Sunday. Iraq’s foreign minister announced the country will pay into the safety net funds at the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit preparatory meeting on….
Gaza official: Tunisian president to visit in February
1/20/2013 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — An official in the Hamas government in Gaza said Sunday that the president of Tunisia will visit the coastal strip in early February. Cabinet secretary-general Abdul Salam Siyam said preparations are underway for the solidarity visit of President Moncef Marzouki. Malaysian Prime Minister Muhammad Najib Abdul Razak is set to….
Abbas arrives in Riyadh for Arab summit
1/20/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Riyadh on Sunday to participate in the third Arab Economic and Social Development Summit due to be held in Saudi Arabia on Monday. Abbas was greeted in the Saudi capital by Prince Muhammad bin Abdulaziz and PA ambassador Jamal al-Shubaki, official news agency Wafa said. The….
Arab League: Palestinians must vote in Israel election
1/20/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Arab League on Sunday called on Palestinians in Israel to vote in Tuesday’s parliamentary election, as Israel’s political system seems set to shift further to the right. The pan-Arab body expressed concern at the prospect of a government with far-right elements, noting that Israeli political parties….
Netanyahu: Hamas wants weak Likud
1/20/2013 – JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday a country with as many enemies as Israel cannot afford a weak ruling party, after polls ahead of Tuesday’s parliamentary election showed a slide in his support. Two polls on Friday showed Israel’s right-wing and religious bloc winning a slim parliamentary….
Gaza govt says will give grants to citizens
1/20/2013 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Hamas government in Gaza said Sunday it will give small grants to citizen-led projects in the coastal enclave. In a meeting of professional associations in Gaza, vice premier Ziyad al-Thatha said the grants would be up to $10,000 and citizens should submit project ideas to the government. Al-Thatha said….
Workers union to strike Wednesday, chief says
1/20/2013 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Civil servants will strike on Wednesday as part of ongoing action against the late payment of salaries, the workers union head said Sunday. Bassam Zakarneh said that the situation for workers is getting worse. In addition to the strike, Thursday is an Islamic holiday to mark Isra and Miraj. The union….
Israel considers ban for far-right candidate over mosque gaffe
1/20/2013 – JERUSALEM (Reuters) — An Israeli panel weighed a request on Sunday to disqualify a candidate of a powerful far-right party from running in a Jan. 22 election for alluding in a speech to the possibility of seeing one of Islam’s holiest shrines in Jerusalem “blown up.” The controversy is over a United States-born parliamentary….
Gaza baby impaled by knife survives surgery
1/20/2013 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A Palestinian baby has survived the removal of a kitchen knife which pierced his skull, medics in Gaza said Sunday. The 18-month-old, identified as R. A. , was impaled by the knife through his mouth in a home accident, health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said. He is currently in intensive….
Algeria ends desert siege with 23 hostages dead
1/20/2013 – ALGIERS/IN AMENAS, Algeria (Reuters) — Algerian troops ended a siege by Islamist militants at a gas plant in the Sahara desert where 23 hostages died, with a final assault which killed all the remaining hostage-takers. Believed to be among the 32 dead militants was their leader, Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri, a Nigerien close to al-Qaida-linked commander….
Syria says talk of Assad’s removal unacceptable
1/20/2013 – BEIRUT (Reuters) — Syria’s foreign minister said on Saturday any discussion of President Bashar Assad’s future was “unacceptable”, a week after an international envoy said the president should not be part of a transitional government. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem’s comments showed the government has dug in against foreign pressure for….
Egyptian security seizes explosives en route to Sinai
1/20/2013 – EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) — Egyptian authorities on Sunday seized a ton of explosives headed to the Sinai peninsula, security sources said. The driver was detained, and 50 cartons of explosive were held after forces apprehended them in transit from Cairo to the Sinai, they said. [END]
Khamenei aide: Assad’s overthrow ‘red line’ for Iran
1/20/2013 – DUBAI (Reuters) — A senior aide to Iran’s supreme leader warned against the overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar Assad, saying his fate was a “red line”, in one of the Islamic state’s strongest messages of support for the Damascus government. Iran has steadfastly backed Assad’s rule since an….
Obama sworn in for second term in White House ceremony
1/20/2013 – WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Barack Obama was sworn in for a second term in office on Sunday in a small, private ceremony in the White House’s Blue Room. Chief Justice John Roberts, who leads the US Supreme Court, administered the oath of office to the president, repeating a role he took in 2009….
Syrian opposition seeks Qatar backing for transition govt
1/20/2013 – ISTANBUL (Reuters) — The head of Syria’s opposition coalition has flown to Qatar to secure promises of financial aid for a transitional government in rebel-held areas, sources at negotiations in Istanbul said on Sunday. The talks on agreeing a transitional government had been hit by disagreement over whether a transitional government could survive when….
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Irish Solidarity Delegation Concludes its Visit; PCHR Honours the Delegation and Other International Solidarity Activist…
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
International Solidarity Movement
Urgent call to action following demolition of Al Maleh village in Jordan Valley
1/20/2013 – International Solidarity Movement – 20 January 2013, Jordan Valley Solidarity – On 17th January the Israeli military destroyed 55 homes and animal shelters in Al Maleh, northern Jordan Valley. As of 19th January the entire village has been declared a Closed Military Zone and the road to the village has been closed. The army have confiscated the possessions of those…. Related: 55 buildings demolished in Al Maleh
VIDEO – South Hebron Hills: 19 arrested in 24 hours including a mother and her 18 months old child
1/20/2013 – International Solidarity Movement – 19 January 2013, Popular Struggle Coordination Committee – Israeli border police arrested today 10 Palestinians and five Israelis, including three women and a child, in the area of Um El-Arayes. Four were arrested yesterday. Today, Saturday, dozens of Palestinian residents accompanied by Israeli activists, arrived at their lands in the area of “Metzpeh Yai’r…. Related: Ma’an: Israel forces ‘detain 14’ at south Hebron protest
The long road to Bab al-Karama
1/20/2013 – International Solidarity Movement – 20 January 2013, International Solidarity Movement, Bab al-Karama, Occupied Palestine – The road to Bab al-Karama, the new tent neighborhood created by Palestinians on land that will be separated from the village of Beit Iksa by the Apartheid wall, exposes a landscape of Apartheid. To reach Bab al-Karama from Occupied Ramallah one needs to take the…. Related: Forces enter Jerusalem protest village, no clashes and Israeli forces raid Jerusalem protest village
VIDEO – Justice for Rachel Corrie
1/20/2013 – International Solidarity Movement – Abby Martin speaks with Cindy and Craig Corrie, parents of slain activist Rachel Corrie, about their case against the Israeli government and their fight for social justice worldwide through the Rachel Corrie Foundation. [END]
Dubai heritage village attracts shopped-out tourists
The National 20 Jan 2013 – Dubai Shopping Festival visitors can take time to soak up the Heritage in Dubai.
Dh6 billion upgrade for Abu Dhabi’s strained sewers
The National 19 Jan 2013 – Sewerage system among infrastructure projects to upgrade as part of executive council’s multi-billion dirham plan.
Mali erupts in applause as French troops roll into town
The National 20 Jan 2013 – Army units from France and Mali intend to use Niono as a launch pad as they plan an advance to retake the Islamist-held town of Diabaly. Alice Fordham reports from Niono
Jordan’s leaders under pressure from unemployed
The National 20 Jan 2013 – Faced with growing poverty and no prospects, an area that previously backed the government is now threatening to block their city’s main roads in order to be heard. Suha Philip Ma’ayeh reports from Ma’an
Algeria siege was for Al Qaeda, says jihadist
The National 20 Jan 2013 – Veteran Islamist fighter Mokhtar Belmokhtar claims responsibility on behalf of Al Qaeda for the Algerian hostage crisis, as Algerian bomb squads find more bodies.
Algeria siege survivors recall brutal ordeal
The National 20 Jan 2013 – Picture of savagery of attack emerges, with hostages strapped to explosives and gunned down.
UAE Rulers make Gulf Cup heroes millionaires
The National 20 Jan 2013 – In the past two days, Dh137 million has been donated to the national team in appreciation of their achievement.
Three badly burnt after Dubai ‘fire show’ accident
The National 20 Jan 2013 – Three clubbers received second degree burns when the cocktail-mixing tricks of two bar attendants went wrong, court hears.
New index finds growing gender gap in Israel
Ha’aretz – 20 Jan 2013
Two Israeli citizens charged with planning Be’er Sheva terror attacks
Ha’aretz – 20 Jan 2013
Israeli public health project takes aim at diabetes
Ha’aretz – 20 Jan 2013
Egypt busts mass explosives haul heading for Gaza, largest single shipment yet
Ha’aretz – 20 Jan 2013
Nine Palestinians arrested for pummeling ultra-Orthodox with snowballs
Ha’aretz – 20 Jan 2013
Fate of Israeli university’s controversial politics department on hold until after elections
Ha’aretz – 20 Jan 2013
South Sudan says it signed oil deal with Israel
Ha’aretz – 19 Jan 2013
Livni: A vote for me is one against Yigal Amir
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Tzip Livni Party copies virginity ad from Obama campaign; Peretz: “Tzipi and I have both beaten all the pollsters in the past.”
Labor targets undecided female voters via kids
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Yacimovich hands out balloons outside a Tel Aviv preschool; Yesh Atid sends Lapid’s wife to talk to voters on the streets.
Arab League concerned few Israeli Arabs will vote
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Cairo-based Arab League warns that right wing extremist want “Jewish state under banner of Arab threat,” Egypt daily reports.
Hamas’s ‘foreign minister’ visits Gaza for 1st time
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Hamdan says reconciliation with Fatah progressing, there are no obstacles preventing the two parties from ending their dispute.
Abbas arrives in Saudia Arabia for economic summit
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – PA president, joined by other senior figures, expected to use gathering to ask for urgently needed financial aid.
Yemeni NGO criticizes gov’t for treatment of Jews
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Sawa’a Organization protests Jewish refugees’ severed funding, warns against return home to Saada.
Demographic shift alters American-Jewish education
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Decline in Conservative day schools continues as multi-denominational, inclusive model takes shape.
Gov’t expands options for elementary school registration
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Project enables parents and students in the participating cities to select their school according to pedagogical considerations.
Making conservative choices
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – The Israeli public overwhelmingly does not buy the well-worn argument, advanced obstinately by the Left and the international community, that the peace process is stuck because of settlements or lack of Israeli diplomatic flexibility.
Bayit Yehudi candidate calls for resettling Gaza Strip
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – As US-born Bayit Yehudi candidate Gimpel dismisses claims that he’s an extremist for Temple Mount comments, no. 13 on party list Horowitz calls to return Gush Katif evacuees to the Strip, rebuild dismantled W. Bank settlements.
A thirst for real unity throughout the campaign trail
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Our tradition teaches that redemption will only come when we unify as a people. I have learned that people throughout our country intuitively understand that our only chance for national success will come when we heed that call.
Reality Check: At least we get the day off work
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Let’s enjoy our holiday on Tuesday, but only after first placing a clear vote against Netanyahu.
The paradox of Israeli politics
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – In poll after poll, two out of every three Israelis say that they favor a two-state solution. Yet many of them will probably vote for parties that stand against such an idea.
Think About It: Bracing for Israel’s ‘Super Tuesday’
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – We have a general idea of what the results will be, but the details might still hold some surprises.
The hostage kidnapping in Algeria – a first evaluation
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – The Algerian military operation brings to mind the Russian modus operandi against the Chechens barricaded with hundreds of hostages in the Moscow Dubrovka Theater.
Long-distance voting
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Israelis living abroad for no longer than four years who intend to return home should have this right. This is not absentee Zionism.
Satmar rebbe: Voting forbidden according to Torah
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Anti-Zionist rabbi promises to pay $100 to anyone who agrees not to vote in upcoming election.
Blast, drones kill 16 linked to al-Qaida in Yemen
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Ten militants killed by an explosion in house where they were making bomb; six others killed in two separate drone attacks.
PM to appoint Kahlon chairman of Lands Authority
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Netanyahu announces appointment of social-minded Likud minister who decided not to run for Knesset.
Egypt seizes ton of explosives on way to Sinai
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Passengers of truck carrying explosives were planning to carry out an ambush on Al-Shahid Ahmed Hamdi tunnel in Suez.
Obama sworn in for 2nd term in private ceremony
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Obama to be sworn into office in public service, deliver inaugural address at the US Capitol on Monday; VP Biden also sworn in.
Beduin nabbed for planning terror attacks in Israel
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Shin Bet arrest two brothers for allegedly planning terror attacks in Israel, holding contacts with handlers in Gaza.
Iran hangs two men for attack posted on YouTube
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Revolutionary Court puts men to death for “waging war against God” after they posted video of assault.
WATCH: Police raid Taiba crime family compound
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Police show off haul of luxury cars, trucks and bulldozers, and close a hardware store the family used to launder money.
Khamenei aide: Toppling Assad ‘red line’ for Iran
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Ali Akbar Velayati warns against overthrow of Syrian president, says “line of resistance in the face of Israel will be broken.”
French FM says Syrian opposition to meet in Paris
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Laurent Fabius decries “abominable” situation in Syria, says “respectable” coalition will meet in Paris in a few days.
‘It’s like South Sudan here, not South Tel Aviv’
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Third in a series of Jpost profiles of voters from different sectors of the Israeli society ahead of the elections.
Nine arrested for snowball fight against haredim
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – Police arrest nine for assault in Jerusalem; Arabs pelted ultra-Orthodox victims with snowballs, shouted abuse.
‘Non-lethal chemical weapons used in Syria’
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – French daily cites intelligence sources as saying that Syrian forces used non-lethal chemical weapons against rebels in Homs.
Health: Body and soul
Jerusalem Post 20 Jan 2013 – The psychological side of infertility has been largely ignored compared to physiological factors that prevent couples from having a baby.
Binyamin Netanyahu rejects calls for Palestinian state within 1967 lines
The Guardian 20 Jan 2013 – Israeli prime minister says border would be impossible to defend and allow ‘Hamas 400 metres from my home’ Binyamin Netanyahu has vowed to rebuff international demands to allow a Palestinian state with a border based on…
Obama’s dysfunctional relationship with Netanyahu likely to trundle on | Chris McGreal
The Guardian 20 Jan 2013 – As US president starts second term, there seems little appetite for pressing Israelis to break deadlock in conflict with Palestinians It is a question asked more often in hope than expectation: what will Barack Obama do…
Why we lean to the political right in Israel | Yoaz Hendel
The Guardian 20 Jan 2013 – Most Israelis have had to conclude there is a serious flaw with the idea of ‘land for peace’ – reality has pushed them to the right The outcome of this coming week’s Israeli election is already…
Arab gloom as Israel shifts rightwards
The Guardian 20 Jan 2013 – Ian Black : The Palestinian issue looks like being sidelined amidst apathy, despair and uncertainty elsewhere in the region Arabs are awaiting Israel’s parliamentary elections with a mixture of apprehension, indifference and an understandable preoccupation with their…
Fresh evidence of how Volvo bulldozers damage farms, uproot families
Uruknet
Israeli bulldozers demolish West Bank Bedouin homes
Uruknet
“Friday No Deception”. Protesters to Maliki: Stop Cheating and Go Away
Uruknet
Settlers Cut 50 Olive Trees Near Bethlehem
Uruknet
Israelis cannot ‘democratically’ decide to continue the occupation
Uruknet
The NDAA Ensures That Closing Guantanamo Bay is Impossible
Uruknet
Yet more drone secrets
Uruknet
The Common Human Experience That Must End Torture: A Practice Which Is Always Wrong
Uruknet
Ranks of US working poor grow dramatically
Uruknet
Obama starts 2nd term in low-key White House ceremony
Daily Star 20 Jan 2013 Obama took the official oath for his second term on Sunday at the White House in a small, private ceremony that set a more subdued tone compared to the historic start of his presidency four years…
Egypt: Ton of explosives seized on way to Sinai
Daily Star 20 Jan 2013 A senior Egyptian security official says police have seized a ton of explosives headed to the Sinai Peninsula, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Russia starts naval games, Syria link seen
Daily Star 20 Jan 2013 Russia said it started its largest naval exercises in years over the weekend, in war games analysts said would let it flex its military muscle and underline its interest in Syria, where Moscow has a Mediterranean…
4 die in Egypt clashes after man killed by police
Daily Star 20 Jan 2013 Overnight clashes between police and residents of a densely populated district just north of Cairo have left four people dead and 12 wounded, The Health Ministry said on Sunday.
Syrian FM calls on rebels to disarm and negotiate
Daily Star 20 Jan 2013 Syria’s foreign minister invited the country’s rebels on Saturday to lay down their weapons and take part in a national dialogue, saying everyone who participates will be included in a new Cabinet with wide executive powers.
Syrian opposition seeks Qatar backing for transition govt
Daily Star 20 Jan 2013 The head of Syria’s opposition coalition has flown to Qatar to secure promises of financial aid for a transitional government in rebel-held areas, sources at negotiations in Istanbul said on Sunday.
Algeria terror leader preferred money to death
Daily Star 20 Jan 2013 Moktar Belmoktar is known abroad as the man who orchestrated the abduction of scores of foreigners last week at a BP-operated plant in the remote, eastern corner of Algeria, in a raid that led to many…
Blast, drones kill 16 al Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen
Daily Star 20 Jan 2013 More than 10 suspected al Qaeda operatives were killed by an explosion in a house in south Yemen where they were making bombs, and at least six others died in two strikes from U.S. drones.
At least 13 suspected al-Qaeda men killed in Yemen
YNet News, 20 Jan 2013 – ….
Heathrow cancels 260 flights, blames snow
YNet News, 20 Jan 2013 – ….
Part of courthouse burnt in Egypt clashes
YNet News, 20 Jan 2013 – ….
Barak confirms appointment of new GOC Southern Command head
YNet News, 20 Jan 2013 – ….
Current Land Administration chair blasts Netanyahu on Kahlon appointment
YNet News, 20 Jan 2013 – ….
Best of a bad lot
YNet News, 20 Jan 2013 – Op-ed: Upcoming elections illustrate severe leadership crisis Israel is experiencing at a crucial time in its history ….
Why my friends are leaving Israel
YNet News, 20 Jan 2013 – Op-ed: Emigration of well-educated, motivated Russian-speaking Israelis endangers country ….
Palestinian Information Center
Occupation storms into al-Karamah village for the 3rd time
PIC – Palestinian activists said that IOF troops on Sunday morning stormed village of Bab al-Karamah set up by Palestinian activists on the lands threatened with confiscation..
A Palestinian dies in a tunnel collapse in Rafah
PIC – A Palestinian citizen died while two others were injured in the collapse of a tunnel in the Barazil neighborhood in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday evening.
A Palestinian intellectual calls for a 3rd intifada in West Bank
PIC – Palestinian intellectual, Munir Shafiq, called for the launch of a third intifada (uprising) in the occupied West Bank to confront the attacks of the occupation and the arrogance of the settlers.
A sit-in in Jordan in solidarity with prisoners in Israeli jails
PIC – Ahrar Center for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights organized in Jordan a vigil in solidarity with the hunger striking prisoners, the Jordanian captives outside the UN offices in Amman.
Report: settlements have doubled four times over the past year
PIC – Hamas Media Bureau said in a report issued concerning the escalating Israeli settlement schemes over the past year, that the settlements have increased four times in 2012 compared with 2011.
IOF raid the town of Burin in Nablus, clashes in Jenin
PIC – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed last night the town of Burin, south of Nablus, searching a number of the houses in the village.
Tunisian president arrives in Gaza early next month
PIC – Abdel Salam Seyam, Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, revealed that the Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki will arrive to the Gaza Strip early next February..
Gaza’s health Ministry develops plan to ensure drug provision to the strip
PIC – The Palestinian Minister of Health, said that the intensive meetings with a number of relief and humanitarian institutions in Cairo, to ensure provision of medicines and medical supplies to Gaza.
Qatari Ambassador calls on Arab states to participate in reconstructing Gaza
PIC – Head of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza Mohammed Al-Emadi called on Arab states to adopt reconstruction projects in the Gaza strip..
IOA places Tawil under administrative detention
PIC – The Tadamun foundation for human rights said that the Israeli occupation authorities placed Sheikh Jamal Al-Tawil under administrative detention.
Malaysian Premier to Visit Gaza
WAFA – 20 Jan 2013
Newspapers Review: Bab al-Karameh Still Focus of Dailies
WAFA – 20 Jan 2013
Four More Swine Flu Fatalities in Palestine
WAFA – 20 Jan 2013
Residents Reclaim Land, But Army Arrests Them
WAFA – 20 Jan 2013
Israeli Army Returns to Bab al-Karameh, but Activists Steadfast
WAFA – 20 Jan 2013
PEX Report: Al-Quds Index Up
WAFA – 17 Jan 2013
After ‘final assault’ in Algeria, details are slow to emerge
LA Times 19 Jan 2013 – At least 23 hostages and 32 militants have died since gunmen stormed a gas complex, officials say. Two additional Americans may be among the dead. But other details remain murky. CAIRO — It was a bloody ordeal with tick-tock drama and a watching world.
Israeli Vote Greeted by a ‘Yawning’ Electorate
New York Times 20 Jan 2013 – In the campaign that ends Tuesday, issues that have been staples of Israeli politics for generations have been largely invisible, and social values or pocketbook concerns have been front and center.
LNG imports to begin this week
Globes Energy & Water – The buoy, located ten kilometers offshore from Hadera, will deliver gas to eight IEC power stations and other gas consumers.
Kinneret rises further 6.5 cm
Globes Energy & Water – The lake continues rising despite the dry, mild weather, the Water Authority reports.
Kahlon agrees to become ILA chairman
Globes Main News – Moshe Kahlon has taken up Benjamin Netanyahu‘s offer to be appointed chairman of the Israel Land Administration.
Hot Mobile offers NIS 9.90 unlimited monthly plan
Globes Main News – After four months, the cost of the plan will jump ten-fold to NIS 99 a month.
Sun: Mellanox leads TASE tumble
Globes Main News – NICE Systems and Israel Chemicals bucked the market, but the banks and telcos fell hard.
Bezeq CEO quits
Globes Main News – Avraham Gabbay has resigned after five years, and accumulating more than NIS 40 million in salary.
S&P Maalot: IDB Development could face going concern warning
Globes Main News – S&P Maalot downgraded IDB Development’s rating by three grades from BB to B, after putting the company on its credit watch list in September 2012.
Leumi CEO’s sister resigns from Koor board
Globes Main News – Dr. Ayelet Ben-Ezer: The proposed sale to Koor of Clal Insurance by IDB Development is partly subject to Bank Leumi’s approval.
Debt-to-GDP ratio rises
Globes Macro Economics – The Ministry of Finance denies that it has calculated and delayed the debt-to-GDP ratio, claiming that key data are still missing.
Retailers expect 150% election day sales
Globes Macro Economics – Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce: Election day vacation day will boost retailers’ sales to NIS 1.3 billion.
Epsilon: Deficit not so terrible
Globes Macro Economics – Epsilon Investment House says the deficit is not out of proportion.
Im Tirzu Steals Confidential Documents from Lawyer’s Office
Tikun Olam – Ronen Shoval testifying to a Knesset committee (David Venkin) In a deposition in a libel case brought by the far-right Israeli group, Im Tirzu, its director, Ronen Shoval, admitted that he hired private investigators (Hebrew and English ) who obtained confidential legal documents from the office of…
Teenager shot in his head with live ammunition in Aida camp
Palestine Monitor – On Friday January 18th at approximately 3.20 pm, sixteen year old Saleh Elamareen was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier in Aida refugee camp, Bethlehem. Elamareen is from the neighbouring refugee camp of…
Rights of return– first class and no-class
Mondoweiss – Yousef Munnayer does a fine job responding to Roger Cohen’s latest column, “The Blight of Return.” So do many of the Times’ own readers (see the comments: reader picks). One of the most unappealing character traits anyone can exhibit is excessive self-love. For liberal Zionists, the…
Racism thriving on the streets of Tel Aviv: ‘Out with the Africans’
Mondoweiss – This video was taken last New Year’s Eve at a rally advocating the deportation of African asylum-seekers in south Tel Aviv. A speaker with a bullhorn incites the crowd and demands the Israeli government round up African asylum-seekers: Start to bring in buses and and get people…
‘NYT”s Erlanger calls Gaza ‘Hamastan’
Mondoweiss – A month back we landed on New York Times Paris bureau chief Steven Erlanger for condescending comments he made about Palestinians in Gaza, as if they were an alien species. Well yesterday Strobe Talbott, the head of the Brookings Institution, tweeted that Hamas is a “perfect…
Israel and the nomination of Chuck Hagel
Mondoweiss – Chuck Hagel, nominated to be Secretary of Defense As I write in January 2013, President Obama has nominated former Senator and decorated infantryman from the Vietnam era, Chuck Hagel, to be Secretary of Defense in his second administration. This has created a considerable commotion in Zionist…
Israeli reporter admits suppressing images of ‘piles of bodies of civilians’ when Israel went ‘crazy’ in Gaza
Mondoweiss – A staggering, doom-laden interview published by Haaretz with an Israeli television journalist suggests that the full truth of what happened in Gaza 4 years ago was suppressed not only when the United States and its author stomped the Goldstone Report– which alleged deliberate targeting of civilians–…
Free speech?
Mondoweiss – One of the great hobbyhorses of Western discourse about the Crescent-dotted parts of the globe is the absence of free expression. I was intrigued then by the fact that England finally took up the cause of John Stuart Mill in striking down a law making offensive…
Right Winger Faces Israel Vote Ban Over Mosque Jibe
The Foward Breaking News 20 Jan 2013 – An Israeli panel weighed a request on Sunday to disqualify a candidate of a powerful far-right party from running in a Jan. 22 election for alluding in a speech to the possibility of seeing one of Islam’s holiest shrines in Jerusalem “blown up.” Click here for…
Snowball Attack on Jews Lands Palestinians in Jail
The Foward Breaking News 20 Jan 2013 – Nine Palestinians from eastern Jerusalem have been arrested in connection with a violent snowball attack against two haredi Orthodox men. Click here for the rest of the article…
Hungary ‘Jewish List’ Pol Speaks on ‘Zionist Threat’
The Foward Breaking News 20 Jan 2013 – A lawmaker from Hungary’s Jobbik Party who recently called for listing Jews as a “security risk” reportedly is planning a lecture tour about the “Zionist threat.” Click here for the rest of the article…
Jewish DNA Can Predict Family Name: Study
The Foward Breaking News 20 Jan 2013 – A male’s DNA contains information that can help scientists guess his surname, American and Israeli researchers have discovered. The findings have serious implications for data privacy; intelligence services around the world are bound to be interested. Click here for the rest of the article…
Update on Lebanon’s 2009 Agriculture Rescue Plan
Al-Akhbar Opinion 20 Jan 2013 – In Lebanon, there are two agricultural sectors: the capitalist sector and the family farming sector. (Photo: Haytham al-Moussawi) In Lebanon, there are two agricultural sectors: the capitalist sector and the family farming sector. (Photo: Haytham al-Moussawi) Lebanon’s Ministry of Agriculture recently circulated a synopsis outlining the…
Netanyahu dismisses settlment criticism following raid on tent village
Al-Akhbar News 20 Jan 2013 – Israel’s prime minister on Sunday shrugged off international criticism of Israeli settlement construction, charging instead that Iran’s suspect nuclear program the real threat to regional security, two days before national elections. The comments come following an overnight raid on the Karamah Palestinian tent village set up…
Algerian “Mr. Marlboro” said responsible for over 25 dead hostages
Al-Akhbar News 20 Jan 2013 – Screenshot: Video uploaded 16 January 2013 of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, dubbed Mr. Marlboro, a day before the attack on the Algerian gas plant of In Amenas. (Youtube Video uploaded by MinWashingtonNews) Screenshot: Video uploaded 16 January 2013 of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, dubbed Mr. Marlboro, a day before the…
The Inner Workings of Geagea’s Hyper-Secure Coterie
Al-Akhbar News 20 Jan 2013 – Geagea follows this system with precision. It allows him to interfere in all the offices’ work. (Photo: haytham al-Moussawi) Geagea follows this system with precision. It allows him to interfere in all the offices’ work. (Photo: haytham al-Moussawi) Samir Geagea and his wife Strida only eat…
Five kidnappers found alive at Algeria plant
Al-Akhbar News 20 Jan 2013 – An image grab taken from footage provided by Algeria’s Ennahar TV shows Algerian army tanks stationed near a gas complex in In Amenas in an isolated part of the Sahara desert. (Photo: AFP / Ennahar TV) The Algerian army found five kidnappers still alive on Sunday at…
The STL Witness List: Why We Published
Al-Akhbar News 20 Jan 2013 – Former chief investigator Detlev Mehlis openly published witnesses’ testimony in his reports. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah) Former chief investigator Detlev Mehlis openly published witnesses’ testimony in his reports. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah) Marten Youssef, spokesperson for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), has voiced his intense personal irritation…
Fresh charges: British “Abu Ghraib” hearing next week
Al-Akhbar News 20 Jan 2013 – Screenshot: Video uploaded on 13 July 2009 showing a British soldier screaming abuse at hooded Iraqi detainees has been played at the public inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa. (Video: ITN News) Screenshot: Video uploaded on 13 July 2009 showing a British soldier screaming abuse…
SKeyes: International Justice, STL and Al-Akhbar
Al-Akhbar Politics 19 Jan 2013 – During the conference sponsored by the Samir Kassir Foundation (SKeyes) at the Riviera Hotel will run for three days. (Photo: Haytham Al-Moussawi) The conference sponsored by the Samir Kassir Foundation (SKeyes) at the Riviera Hotel will run for three days. (Photo: Haytham Al-Moussawi) This past Friday,…
Algeria ‘kidnappers taken alive’
BBC 20 Jan 2013 – Five suspected hostage-takers are arrested after the Algerian gas plant siege, reports say, a day after the government said that all had been killed.
Bread queues lengthen in Damascus
BBC 19 Jan 2013 – Desperation starts to show in Syrian capital
Israeli politics swerves to right
BBC 18 Jan 2013 – The young tycoon taking the Israeli election by storm
Jazz, the sound of soft power
BBC 19 Jan 2013 – Jazz drummer Alvester Garnett on music and faith in Qatar
Articles
The long road to Bab al-Karama
ISM, Bab al-Karama, Occupied Palestine, International Solidarity Movement 1/20/2013
The road to Bab al-Karama, the new tent neighborhood created by Palestinians on land that will be separated from the village of Beit Iksa by the Apartheid wall, exposes a landscape of Apartheid.
To reach Bab al-Karama from Occupied Ramallah one needs to take the “Palestinian only” road that runs under the “Israeli only” 443 Highway between Ramallah and Beir Naballah.
Beir Naballah used to be a suburb of Jerusalem. Affluent Jerusalemites built their homes in Beir Naballah to escape from the housing crisis imposed on Palestinians by Jerusalem’s municipality housing polices. It sits on a road that connected the villages in the area with Jerusalem and continued on to Latrun. Now Beir Naballah is completely surrounded by an Israeli wall. The old road was widened and transformed into an Israeli highway called 443. The highway now connects Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and the Palestinian residents of the area are barred form using it. The Jerusalemite residents were forced to abandon their homes and many businesses dependent on clientele from Jerusalem have closed.
UnknownWe exit Beir Naballah through a second tunnel that connects the Beir Naballah enclave to another enclave where 8 Palestinian villages are also isolated by Israeli walls. This tunnel is even more surreal than the first. Not only does it run under two Israeli only roads but as well as under the Apartheid wall and through the Givaat Zeev settlement bloc. High cement walls with razor wire on top of them hug the sides of the road.
We drive in Biddu and drive through the villages that had been since their creation connected to Al Quds but are now cut off from it and artificially connected to Ramallah. True to the Orwellian tradition of Israel’s military language they call the Palestinian network of roads they have built under their highways “fabric of life roads”…. more.. e-mail
Israel’s policy of targeted assassinations and shifting the focus of blame
Ramona Wadi, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) 1/20/2013
Israel’s practice of targeted assassinations against Palestinians, an evolution of ‘focused foiling’ or ‘liquidations policy’ by Israel, remains a contentious issue in the discourse on human rights and international human rights law.
Perceived in a wider context, it is possible to discern a trend in the global media which fails to address assassinations as a lethal operation carried out by Israeli intelligence and the Israeli Defence Forces. A comprehensive look at Israel’s colonial occupation of Palestine, its disregard for international law and distortion of Palestinian armed resistance shows how the global media has served Israel’s deception campaign. By endorsing the occupier’s rhetoric, the media has aided in shifting the discourse of Palestinian resistance to an image of terrorism, endangering the reality of history under colonial occupation and failing to discuss the assassinations as an operative of state terror.
The absence of a specific reference to targeted assassinations in the United Nations Charter and the Geneva Conventions has made it possible for Israel to achieve immunity for its actions and shift the discourse from assassination to elimination of security threats. Israel’s defence of targeted assassinations fuels speculation about Palestinian terrorist in an imprecise context. The scene for armed resistance was set by Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. Intelligence agency Shin Bet dismisses claims of favouring assassination over apprehending suspects. However, assassinations are recommended when there is difficulty in arresting the suspect and Israeli law has not prohibited the practice, preferring to rely on a supposed analysis of each case to determine illegality.
Another odd assertion aimed at alienating people from the reality of targeted assassinations is Israel’s claim that ‘focused foiling’ is carried out with the intention of protecting Israeli citizens; hence the death of the targeted person can be classified as collateral damage…. more.. e-mail
The New State of Palestine: Division, Siege, Occupation and the Art of Diplomacy
Fadi Elhusseini, Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN) 1/20/2013
While the U.S. administration reconciled itself to walking the walk of Israel and talking the talk of its diplomacy when it comes to foreign policy towards the Palestinians, it has been announced that in the ensuing weeks, vim and vigor Europe will be trying to mend fences between Palestinians and Israel, in an attempt to bridge differences and rejuvenate the screeching halt in the peace process. At this point, the U.S. administration appears to be a bystander, watching these fresh attempts which come to control a situation which could well veer out of control, and seemingly with neither a resolution in sight nor a thaw in relations in the offing.
In the aftermath of the success of Palestine’s bid in the United Nations, Israel’s Realpolitick crudely came to the fore as it commenced a number of steps as per an immediate retaliation. It cut the PNA’s tax money, quadrupled its settlement, confiscation and demolishment activities in the occupied territory of Palestine, and unleashed settlers to attack Palestinian villagers and farms. In the light of such practices, the prolonged and unjust blockade of the Gaza Strip, along with the continuation of the financial siege on the Palestinian Authority and its inability to pay the salaries of its employees, it appears unequivocally that Israel is fanning the flames of a third Palestinian Intifada “uprising” in order to cause Palestinians to lose every diplomatic achievement, economic accomplishment and international recognition resulting through their peaceful approach.
In the midst the growing rift between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, it appears that Palestine’s domestic Sisyphean ordeal has finally found a solution. A meeting between Palestinian President Mamhoud Abbas and head of Hamas Political Bureau Khaled Mesha’al took place in Cairo earlier this month. Although the meeting looked like a re-wind of previous ones which failed to produce any concrete results, the aim of ending the division and concluding a national reconciliation are being worked out. more.. e-mail
Who to vote for?
Uri Avnery, Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN) 1/18/2013
THE ELECTIONS will take place in three days, and they are boring, boring, boring.
So boring, indeed, that even to think about their boringness (if there is such a word) is boring.
For lack of any debate about the issues, media pundits are reduced to discussing the election broadcasts. Some are good, some indifferent, some atrocious. As if this were a contest between spin doctors, copywriters, “strategists” and such, with the public just a bystander.
WHEREVER I meet people, I am told with real worry: “I don’t know whom to vote for! There is no party I really like!” and then the question I dread: “Whom do you advise me to vote for?”
I have closely followed all the past 18 Knesset elections, except the first, when I was still a soldier. In several of them I was a candidate myself. I have always written about my preferences, but I have never told my readers how to vote.
I shall follow the same rule now.
FIRST OF ALL, there is an absolute imperative to vote, more than ever.
It is not about the “feast of democracy”, “civic duty” and bla-bla-bla. This time it is a vital necessity.
A non-vote is a vote for Binyamin Netanyahu and his allies, pure and simple. As it looks now, more than half the members of the 19th Knesset will belong to the extreme right and beyond, at least a dozen of them honest to goodness fascists.
Not to vote means to strengthen them even more. more.. e-mail
Teenager shot in his head with live ammunition in Aida camp
Palestine Monitor: 20 Jan 2013 – On Friday January 18th at approximately 3.20 pm, sixteen year old Saleh Elamareen was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier in Aida refugee camp, Bethlehem. Elamareen is from the neighbouring refugee camp of…more
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The New Dark Age 