15 May 2013 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Clashes, Injuries, Reported In Hebron
IMEMC – Palestinian medical sources reported that dozens of Palestinians have been injured during clashes that took place with Israeli soldiers in Kharsa village, south of the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Israeli army sources said that four soldiers have been injured. …
On Nakba Day, Palestinians March In Jaffa
IMEMC – Wednesday May 15 2013, hundreds of Palestinians marched in Jaffa marking the 65th anniversary of the Nakba of 1948, affirming that the Palestinians are determined to achieve their full and legitimate right in the historic land of Palestine. …
Thousands Mark The Nakba In Bethlehem
IMEMC – Thousands of Palestinians marked, on Tuesday evening, the 65th anniversary of the Nakba, and participated in a huge procession organized by the Badil Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugees Rights, reaffirming the legitimate Palestinian Right of Return to their homeland, homes and towns. …
65th Commemoration: Ongoing Nakba and Secondary Forcible Displacement
IMEMC – Of the 11.4 million Palestinians worldwide, 66% are forcible displaced, (refugees and internally displaced people) and over half live in the Shatat (forced exile). Instead of an event relegated to history, the Nakba continues into its 65th year – the central source for the annual increase of these displacement statistics. …
Army Invades Jenin, Clashes Reported
IMEMC – Wednesday at dawn, May 15 2013, local sources reported that dozens of Israeli military jeeps invaded Zabbouba town, west of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, and clashed with local youths. The army also invaded the nearby towns of Rommana and At-Tayba. …
Israel Claims Two Mortars Fired Into The Golan
IMEMC – Israeli sources reported Wednesday that at least two mortar shells have been fired into the occupied Golan Heights, and detonated in the Jabal Al-Sheik, leading to no damages or injuries. …
ICC To Conduct Preliminary Examination Into Marmara Attack
IMEMC – The International Criminal Court said that it initiated a preliminary investigation into the May 2010 deadly Israeli attack that targeted the Turkish MV Marmara solidarity Ship leading to the death of nine Turkish activists. humanitarian and medical supplies. …
Right Of Return Coalition calls For Unity, Rejects Arab Initiative
IMEMC – The International Palestinian Right of Return Coalition issued a press release marking the 65th anniversary of the Nakba of 1948, and called on all Palestinian factions to achieve unity and to remain steadfast without abandoning the legitimate Palestinian rights, topped by the Right of Return of the refugees to their homeland, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. …
Four Detained Legislators Receive Renewed Administrative Detention
IMEMC – The Ahrar Center for Detainees’ Studies and Human Rights reported Tuesday that four illegally imprisoned legislators, held at the Negev Israeli detention camp, received renewed Administrative Detention orders, for six additional months without charges or trial. …
Reporter: 17 hurt in al-Khader clashes
5/15/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Seventeen Palestinians were injured on Wednesday in clashes in al-Khader village south of Bethlehem. A Ma’an reporter said clashes broke out in the early morning and Israeli forces fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Twelve people were injured by the bullets while five others suffered tear-gas inhalation. An…. Related: Clashes in West Bank as Palestinians mark Nakba Day and In photos: Nakba commemorated in Bethlehem
Israeli forces disrupt Hebron bike rally
5/15/2013 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Tuesday prevented international solidarity activists from completing a bike rally in Hebron’s old city. Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near the Ibrahimi mosque forced cyclists to dismount their bikes and continue on foot. The rally was organized by the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee to show international activists….
Clashes at Al-Aqsa mosque compound
5/15/2013 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Clashes broke out on Wednesday around the Al-Aqsa mosque compound as Israeli rightists tried to enter the holy site. Dozens of Israeli right-wingers raided the compound through the Moroccan gate, and clashes broke out at the Bab al-Hutta gate as Israeli forces escorted rightists into the mosque area. Witnesses told Ma….
Poor healthcare, education services in Hebron outskirts
5/15/2013 – HEBRON (Ma’an) – Healthcare, education and transportation services in the east Yatta area south of Hebron are very poor and residents blame the Israeli occupation.” One day my daughter accidentally cut her leg, and I had to deliver her on a working animal to the nearest road before I could find a car to….
Thousands mark Nakba Day in the West Bank and Gaza
5/15/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Thousands of people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Wednesday marked the 65th anniversary of the Nakba, an event which saw hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes in what is now Israel. Sirens were sounded for 65 seconds in the West Bank to mark the start…. Related: Clashes in West Bank as Palestinians mark Nakba Day and Dozens arrested in Jerusalem clashes
Clashes in West Bank as Palestinians mark Nakba Day
5/15/2013 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Clashes broke out across the West Bank on Wednesday as Palestinians marked the 65th year since the Nakba in 1948, witnesses and Israel’s army said. In east Jerusalem, police clashed with demonstrators outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate, police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP, saying three policemen…. Related: Reporter: 17 hurt in al-Khader clashes and Dozens arrested in Jerusalem clashes
Dozens arrested in Jerusalem clashes
5/15/2013 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Dozens of Palestinians were arrested in clashes that broke out in East Jerusalem after Israeli police and border guards attacked a rally marking Nakba Day. A Ma’an reporter said dozens suffered bruises after Israeli police used batons and pepper spray to disperse the protesters. Three police officers were wounded…. Related: Clashes in West Bank as Palestinians mark Nakba Day and Thousands mark Nakba Day in the West Bank and Gaza
Bethlehem marks Nakba anniversary
5/15/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Thousands gathered in Bethlehem’s Manger Square on Tuesday to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Nakba. The commemoration events started with a candlelit vigil which finished outside of the Church of the Nativity. Participants waved Palestinian national flags and banners commemorating the Nakba. The event was inaugurated by the….
In photos: Nakba commemorated in Bethlehem
5/15/2013 – MaanImages / Eva Pilipp – Thousands of Palestinians gather in Bethlehem’s Manger Square to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Nakba, or catastrophe, of the Palestinian people in 1948. More than 760,000 Palestinians — estimated today to number 4. 8 million with their descendants — were pushed into exile or driven out of their homes in the…. Related: Photo essay: March through Nablus and Tulkarem commemorates the Nakba and Reporter: 17 hurt in al-Khader clashes
Nakba survivor: ‘If you wanted to live, you left’
5/15/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Ghatheyya Mifleh al-Khawalda was 15 years old when she fled her home during the Nakba of 1948. Now 80, Ghatheyya was once a carefree teenager who used to live with her mother and sister in the village of al-Qastina, northeast of Gaza. Although her early life was marked by tragedy — her….
Israel army: Syria shells land in Golan Heights
5/15/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Several rockets fired from Syria landed in the occupied Golan Heights on Wednesday, Israel’s military said.” Around 6 a. m. several rockets landed in the Hermon area on the Syria-Israel border,” an Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma’an.” As a result, the site has been closed to visitors….
Fatah slams ‘normalization’ activities
5/15/2013 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Fatah on Wednesday condemned what it called ‘normalization’ activities carried out by some Palestinian organizations.” Every now and then, some organizations who call themselves Palestinian come up with activities of normalization with the occupation. These activities are held either in some European capitals or even during visits to the….
Abbas arrives in Cairo for talks with Mursi
5/15/2013 – CAIRO (Ma’an) — President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Cairo on Wednesday for talks with his Egyptian counterpart Muhammad Mursi, the PA ambassador to Egypt said. Barakat al-Farra told Ma’an the presidents would meet on Thursday and discuss the Arab League’s recent visit to Washington, the peace process and Palestinian reconciliation….
Hamas: Refugees in Lebanon determined to return
5/15/2013 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas’ representative in Lebanon said Wednesday that Palestinian refugees were still holding onto their lands after 65 years.”The Palestinian issue is an issue of land, people and holy sites,” Ali Baraka told Ma’an.”The solution to it is returning the land to its rightful residents.”The….
2 children killed as wall collapses in Yatta
5/15/2013 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Two children died and two others were injured Wednesday when a wall collapsed in al-Riheya village near Yatta in the southern West Bank. Mohammed al-Hursh, 5, and Farah al-Hursh died instantly, medics told Ma’an. Wafaa al-Hursh suffered critical wounds and Mousa al-Hursh suffered minor injuries. A relative of the….
May showers across Gaza Strip
5/15/2013 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Rare May rainfall Wednesday morning across the Gaza Strip encouraged farmers who said it was the first time since 2004 that the enclave felt heavy showers this time of year. Nizar al-Wahidi, an agronomist in the Hamas-run Ministry of Agriculture, told Ma’an the showers would be particularly beneficial….
Palestinians mark 65th anniversary of Nakba
AlJazeera 15 May 2013 – Protests held across occupied territories to mark the “catastrophe” of the creation of Israel in 1948.
IOF Forces Spray Waste Water at Peaceful Protesters in Jerusalem
Palestine News Network
PCHR Welcomes Presidential Order Confirming Prohibition of All Forms of Torture
Palestine News Network
Several Injuries in Clashes Erupted at Qalandia Checkpoint
Palestine News Network
ICC To Examine Israeli Raid on Gaza Flotilla
Palestine News Network
Prisoner Thaer Halaleh Needs a Doctor, The IPS Refuses
Palestine News Network
On Nakba Anniversary, Settlers Storm Al-Aqsa Mosque
Palestine News Network
Two Mortar Shells Fired at Jabal al-Shaykh; Site Closed
Palestine News Network
Palestinians Mark 65th Nakba Anniversary, Old, Young Cling to Return
Palestine News Network
‘Your Day of Independence is our Day of Catastrophe’
Palestine News Network
“MADA” is Disappointed With Newseum Decision to Dishonor Two Palestinian Journalists
Palestine News Network
PCHR Concerned by Detention, Questioning of Journalist Abu ‘Arqiub
Palestine News Network
Israel Suppresses Al-Awda March, Assaults Journalists and Protesters
Palestine News Network
IOF Forces Storm Houses in Tubas
Palestine News Network
Fateh, Hamas Meet in Cairo
Palestine News Network
Consumer Price Index Decreased during April, Said Statistics Bureau
Palestine News Network
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
“If you wanted to live, you left”
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
International Solidarity Movement
Right of Return still key – Nakba Day demonstrations violently suppressed by Israeli forces
5/15/2013 – International Solidarity Movement – 15th May 2013, International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah, Occupied Palestine, By Team Ramallah – The 15th May marks the 65th anniversary of the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and the destruction – and massacre in some cases – of more than 500 Palestinian villages by Zionist forces in 1948. 65 years on, the same Zionist….
Sawiya night attack by settlers sees property damaged and graves vandalized
5/15/2013 – International Solidarity Movement – 15th May 2013, International Solidarity Movement, As Sawiya, Occupied Palestine, By ISM Nablus – In the early hours of Monday morning, a group of Zionist settlers from the Eli and Rechalim colonies attacked the Palestinian village of As Sawiah, east of Salfit. At about 3am, As Sawiah’s residents were sleeping as settlers attacked, first….
occupied Palestinian territory: A hungry Gaza finds sustenance in urban farms
Relief Web 15 May 2013 – Source: Global Communities Country: occupied Palestinian territory With much of Gaza’s farmland swallowed by Israel’s buffer zone, experts say urban aquaponic farms can curb food insecurity in the cramped territory. By Rebecca Collard This article originally appeared in the GlobalPost….
occupied Palestinian territory: Fatah, Hamas agree to form Palestinian unity government
Relief Web 15 May 2013 – Source: Agence France-Presse Country: occupied Palestinian territory 05/15/2013 11:39 GMT CAIRO, May 15, 2013 (AFP) – Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have set a three-month timetable to form a unity government and organise elections, officials from both sides said…
occupied Palestinian territory: Food Voucher Program Gives Palestinian Families Choices and Supports the Local Economy
Relief Web 15 May 2013 – Source: US Agency for International Development Country: occupied Palestinian territory, United States of America Posted by Alina Romanowski, Acting Assistant Administrator for Middle East on Tuesday, May 14th 2013 Recently, while visiting the West Bank, I had the pleasure to…
occupied Palestinian territory: Arab Israeli ‘Nakba’ descendants return to village
Relief Web 15 May 2013 – Source: Agence France-Presse Country: Israel, occupied Palestinian territory 05/15/2013 03:09 GMT by Shatha Yaish IQRIT, Israel, May 15, 2013 (AFP) – Sixty-five years after their ancestors were driven out during the Nakba, the “catastrophe” that befell Palestinians, Arab Israeli youths…
Al Ittihad wins award for sports report
The National 15 May 2013 – The Abu Dhabi-based Arabic-language paper won accolades at the Arab Journalism Awards.
GCC calls for unity on Syria
The National 15 May 2013 – Dr Abdullatif Al Zayani, the GCC Seccretary General, hits out at the lack of unity on Syria in the United Nations Security Council during the Arab Media Forum.
Four power stations to be built in Al Ain
The National 15 May 2013 – New power stations will be set up in the city to sustain the level of development and strengthen the power network in other areas.
Palestinians mark ‘Day of Catastrophe’
The National 15 May 2013 – Palestinians mark the loss of their ancestral homeland and their dispersion across the Middle East from the establishment of the state of Israel 65 years ago. Hugh Naylor reports from Ramallah
World Bank: Migration of labourers ‘demands more attention’
The National 15 May 2013 – Take our poll: The labour mobility conference also highlighted the need for international agencies to collaborate with different regional groups, said Dr Farrukh Iqbal, the World Bank’s country director.
Join forces to help migrant labourers, GCC told
The National 15 May 2013 – Take our poll: GCC states are the target of criticism for supposed apathy to protecting migrant workers but a more coordinated structure could improve perceptions.
60% of migrant workers better off in UAE, according to survey
The National 15 May 2013 – Take our poll: Many get paid five times more than they do in their homecountries, according to a poll by UAE University.
Netanyahu’s big spending has Israel up in arms
The National 15 May 2013 – Premier’s million-dollar lifestyle, including hairdressers and makeup, does not sit well with Israelis facing higher taxes and welfare and medical-benefit cuts. Vita Bekker reports from Tel Aviv
Haaretz poll: Lapid pays price for austerity measures as his popularity plunges
Ha’aretz – 15 May 2013
Israelis ring in Shavuot holiday with May showers
Ha’aretz – 15 May 2013
Livni moves to block Bennett’s bid to stifle Women of the Wall
Ha’aretz – 15 May 2013
Right-wing group takes IDF soldiers on tour of East Jerusalem
Ha’aretz – 15 May 2013
Israel publicly warns Assad: If you attack us, we will topple your regime
Ha’aretz – 15 May 2013
Kremlin: No Russian pledge on Syrian missile arms sale
Ha’aretz – 15 May 2013
Palestinians clash with IDF forces in Jerusalem, West Bank on Nakba Day
Ha’aretz – 15 May 2013
Student petition reveals rising expenses at Netanyahu residence
Ha’aretz – 15 May 2013
Report: Assad to allow Hezbollah to attack Israel from Golan
Ha’aretz – 15 May 2013
Israel has highest poverty rate in the developed world, OECD report shows
Ha’aretz – 15 May 2013
Syrian mortar shells hit northern Golan Heights
Ha’aretz – 15 May 2013
NGOs no better employers than for-profits, research finds
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – According to Ben-Gurion University study, the labor market in the third sector is characterized by low wages and inequalities.
US Embassy funds program in Israeli school for English exam
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Afula high school implements program dedicated to strengthening English studies for students who took three or fewer study units in the subject.
NGO to comptroller: Publicize ‘Bibi Tours’ report
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – As storm over “Bed-gate” heats up, good-governance watchdog asks comptroller to publicize report on allegedly problematic flight funding.
Treasury adds NIS 35m. to immigrant students aid
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Treasury allocates funds to prevent Israel Student Authority closure, maintain aid to immigrant students.
Head of Hungarian Jewish community resigns
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Peter Feldmajer’s exit comes less than a week after hosting high-profile WJC assembly in Budapest.
‘If Assad reacts to Syria strike, Israel will retaliate’
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Senior Israeli official tells the ‘New York Times’ Israel will continue action to prevent transfer of weapons from Syria; Putin, Netanyahu agree to continue contacts on Syria; IDF intelligence head joins PM in meeting.
Lapid accuses Deri of lying over schools funding
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Finance minister says cuts to haredi schools were temporarily suspended, not abandoned as the Shas leader claimed.
Irish ire
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Last weekend Ireland again placed itself in the vanguard of anti-Israel activism in the European Union.
The war over preemption
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Why would Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah organization, need more missiles to menace Israeli cities?
Beduin legislation, beyond the veil
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – The Israeli government announced last Monday it will go ahead with a plan to settle longstanding land disputes with the country’s Beduin population.
Gas presence found in new Karish reservoir
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Delek Group reports signs of significant gas presence from the Karish 1 well; Energy Minister Shalom praise announcement.
Buy blue and white – and orange
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – View From The Hills: Many pro- Israel hasbara (public diplomacy) organizations have gone on the offensive.
Sunni Muslim states must send troops to Syria
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – As President Barack Obama struggles to define America’s position in Syria, events threaten to overtake his deliberations.
Thank you, George W. Bush!
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Having once had the highest approval rating going back to Truman, George W. Bush left office with an appalling 34 percent approval rating.
Israelis shouldn’t honor delegitimizers!
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Center Field: Cliff May is justifiably threatening not to hold his organization’s annual policy summit at the Newseum.
UN nuclear talks with Iran fail to end deadlock
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – IAEA, Iran fail to reach agreement on nuclear probe.
The Farhud – the riots against the Jews of Iraq
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – What happened in the Arab countries was in effect ethnic cleansing. While the Nakba is marked every year with demonstrations and wide media coverage, the Jewish disaster does not merit any public or media notice.
Are we ready?
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Will the new space be used regularly? Will I be able to find a minyan, even if only at prescribed times? Will it be possible to hold holiday services, including for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?
Syrian mortars hit Mount Hermon for first time
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – IDF Chief of Staff holds consultations after incident; not clear if shells were fired deliberately or not.
PUA to revive summer electricity savings program
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Last year, approximately 181,000 households participated in the program, receiving up to 20% discounts.
Friendly soccer match leads to Fatah threats
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Fatah activists in W. Bank threaten Palestinian teenagers who participated in a friendly soccer match with Israeli youth.
Satellite images show damage caused by alleged Syria strike
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Before and after images obtained by Channel 2 show the container terminal, a storage area at the Damascus Airport that were reportedly hit by an Israeli strike targeting a weapons transfer meant for Hezbollah.
Russia fears attacks by rebels returning from Syria
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – With at least 200 citizens fighting alongside Syrian rebel forces, Russia garners lash-back concerns for supporting Assad.
Israeli Paralympian eyes 2016 Games in Rio
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Pascale Bercovitch says “I love to find my limit and push it, to succeed more than I did yesterday.”
Mashaal on Hamas: We are not fanatic killers
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Hamas chief says Syria should have pursued a diplomatic route.
Mashaal on Hamas: We are not fanatical killers
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Hamas chief says Syria should have pursued a diplomatic route.
Hamas, Fatah to form unity gov’t within 3 months
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Palestinian factions agree on timeline for reconciliation after talks in Cairo that will continue until agreement is reached.
Palestinians protest in W. Bank, J’lem on Nakba Day
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – 4 soldiers injured in Molotov cocktail attack; 30 Palestinians arrested during clashes at Damascus Gate in J’lem.
Palestinians mark Nakba with protests and rallies
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – 75 injured in West Bank demonstrations; Abbas calls for sovereign state on pre-1967 lines; MK Ilatov: Palestinians do not want peace.
Aharonovich condemns Wadi Ara ‘price tag’ attack
Jerusalem Post 15 May 2013 – Meretz MK calls on Bennett to brand act ‘terrorism’; locals leaders fear antic will damage peaceful relations with Arab neighbors.
Return to Iqrit: how one Palestinian village is being reborn
The Guardian 15 May 2013 – Their parents and grandparents were evicted 65 years ago, when Israel was created. Now they are coming back On a breezy hilltop in sight of the Lebanese border, a village last populated 65 years ago is…
Syria will attend peace conference, US says
The Guardian 15 May 2013 – • Russia ‘has been given names of Syrian officials to attend’ • UN general assembly to vote on backing opposition • Footage of rebel atrocity fuels debate for west • Between 70 and 84 reported killed yesterday Matthew…
Gaza gastronomy
The Guardian 15 May 2013 – A women’s collective is serving up traditional homemade Palestinian dishes – with an authentic taste In a kitchen in the “martyrs’ quarter” of the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, one of the toughest places in the…
Super-reality of Gaza funeral photo due to toning technique says contest winner
The Guardian 15 May 2013 – Paul Hansen, winner of World Press Photo competition, defends use of software that led to dramatically lit shot Something of a storm in a lightbox has blown up in the photo-journalism world over the revelation that…
Gaza gastronomy in a refugee camp
The Guardian 14 May 2013 – A women’s collective in a refugee camp is serving up traditional homemade Palestinian dishes – with an authentic taste In a kitchen in the “martyrs’ quarter” of the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, one of the…
In Post-Revolution Egypt, Social Media Shows Dark Side
IPS The social media that allowed Egyptian activists to organise the massive rallies that led to Mubarak’s ouster now play a less constructive role. Credit: Khaled Moussa al-Omrani More than two years after social media networks helped Egyptian activists organise massive street protests that led to the fall of former President…
Ayad Allawi: Demonstrations Won’t Stop Unless Maliki Resigns
Uruknet
Israelis Protest Austerity Harshness
Uruknet
Israeli airport sorts passengers with ‘Jewish stickers’ and ‘Arab stickers’
Uruknet
Biden and Bush: Two (Imperialist) Peas in a (Colonialist) Pod
Uruknet
Jeremy Scahill: Other Side of the Barrel of the Gun
Uruknet
Egypt’s 6 April joins signature drive against President Morsi
Uruknet
Attacks on Sunni mosques fuel fears in Iraq
Uruknet
The Deepening Shame of Guantanamo
Uruknet
Guantánamo hunger strikers subject to harsh new method of force feeding
Uruknet
Brother and sister arrested without charge in Kufr Qalil
Uruknet
Bombs kill more than 35 people across Iraq
Daily Star 15 May 2013 Bomb attacks in Shi’ite areas of Baghdad and in northern Iraq killed more than 35 people on Wednesday, following weeks of violence by Sunni Islamist insurgents determined to unleash sectarian confrontation.
Tunisia bans Salafist group’s annual congress
Daily Star 15 May 2013 Tunisia has banned the congress of hardline Salafist group Ansar al-Sharia due to be held later this week, the ruling Islamist party’s leader said Wednesday, setting the stage for a possible showdown.
Egyptian judges suspend talks with president
Daily Star 15 May 2013 In the judiciary’s latest face-off with Egypt’s Islamist rulers, the country’s top council of judges decided Wednesday to suspend its participation in a government-backed judicial reform conference following a renewed push by lawmakers on a controversial…
Myanmar president on landmark US visit Monday
Daily Star 15 May 2013 The White House said it will welcome Myanmar’s leader on a landmark visit on Monday in a symbolic reward by President Barack Obama to encourage reforms in the longtime pariah state.
Syria rebels, regime troops fight in Aleppo prison
Daily Star 15 May 2013 Rebel fighters battled regime troops inside the walls of the sprawling central prison compound in Syria’s largest city Wednesday, hours after blowing open the gate with twin car bombs in an attempted jailbreak.
Clashes mark Nakba Day in West Bank
Daily Star 15 May 2013 Protesters and Israeli forces clashed in the West Bank on Wednesday as thousands of Palestinians commemorated the Nakba (catastrophe) of the Jewish state’s creation in 1948, during which 760,000 Palestinians fled their homes.
UN nuclear talks with Iran fail to end deadlock
Daily Star 15 May 2013 The United Nations’ nuclear agency failed to persuade Iran on Wednesday to let it resume an investigation into suspected atomic bomb research, leaving the high-stakes diplomacy in deadlock.
U.N. urges support for Syria opposition; Russia opposed
Daily Star 15 May 2013 The U.N. General Assembly condemned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and praised the opposition, but a decline in support for the Gulf Arab-drafted resolution suggested growing uneasiness about Syria’s fractious rebels.
Egypt militants planned to hit US and French embassies -MENA
Daily Star 15 May 2013 An al Qaeda-linked militant cell detained in Egypt was planning suicide attacks on the French and U.S. embassies, the state news agency MENA reported on Wednesday, quoting investigators.
France suggests EU link easing Syria arms embargo to peace talks
Daily Star 15 May 2013 France is floating a proposal that the European Union ease an arms embargo for Syrian rebels but delay acting on the decision to intensify pressure on Damascus to negotiate an end to Syria’s civil war, a…
Israeli forces suppress Nakba march and arrest Mazen al-Azzeh
Stop The Wall – Palestinian Grassroots Anti-apartheid Wall Campaign مسيرة العودة – بيت لحم Israeli forces suppress Nakba march and arrest coordinator of the Popular Campaign in Bethlehem 15-5-2013 Yesterday Israeli forces arrested Mazen al-Azzeh, coordinator of the Popular Campaign against the Wall and settlements in Bethlehem. This took place while he participated in…
White House releases over 100 pages of Benghazi emails
YNet News, 15 May 2013 – ….
Cameron: Don’t let planning for Syria talks get bogged down
YNet News, 15 May 2013 – ….
Obama assets worth between $1.8M and $6.8M
YNet News, 15 May 2013 – ….
Deri urges PM to cancel measures, increase deficit target
YNet News, 15 May 2013 – ….
Kerry to take part in ‘Friends of Syria’ meeting in Jordan
YNet News, 15 May 2013 – ….
The new wave
YNet News, 15 May 2013 – Op-ed: Israel boycotters find it very convenient to believe horror stories about ethnic cleansing ….
Iran to lead UN Disarmament Conference in Geneva
YNet News, 14 May 2013 – US boycotts any meetings led by widely sanctioned Islamic Republic; UN Watch head: Like putting Jack the Ripper in charge of a women’s shelter ….
Kenyans drench pigs in blood in protest of lawmakers’ pay raise
YNet News, 14 May 2013 – Citizens enraged over lawmakers’ demand for salary 130 times minimum wage, protest outside parliament ….
International Criminal Court examines Israeli raid on Gaza flotilla
YNet News, 14 May 2013 – Hague prosecutor will open preliminary examination into 2010 incident, following appeal referred through Comoros by casualties’ families ….
Syrian rebel hacks dead soldier’s body, eats heart on video
YNet News, 14 May 2013 – Revered rebel leader Abu Sakkar calls out ‘I swear to God we’ll eat your hearts,’ to cheering of his men; civil war death toll rises to 94,000 ….
US aircraft carrier docks in Eilat Port
YNet News, 14 May 2013 – More than 250 meters long, housing some 1,000 crewmen, USS Kearsarge will remain in Israeli dock for several days ….
Russia: US embassy employee expelled for espionage
YNet News, 14 May 2013 – Russian security services arrest American man with wads of cash, disguised in blonde wig; allegedly offered $1 million to informants; watch arrest video ….
Israeli doctors save Syrian girl’s life
YNet News, 14 May 2013 – Four-year-old suffering from deadly heart condition successfully operated in Isreali hospital; ‘We can show Syrians, world we want peace,’ says surgeon ….
Shas schools get poor results in national exams
YNet News, 14 May 2013 – Numbers show nearly half of Shas schools ranked in lowest 10% in level of math, Hebrew; ‘Teachers do not take tests seriously; you cannot force core studies into system,’ source with ultra-Orthodox educational system says ….
PM meets Russia’s Putin for Syria talks
YNet News, 14 May 2013 – Netanyahu expected to ask Putin not to carry out sale of S-300 air defense systems to Assad, for fear deal would complicate foreign intervention in Syrian war ….
US Gov’t obtains wide AP phone records in probe
YNet News, 14 May 2013 – Justice Department seized records of reporters, editors for two months; want to know who leaked info on CIA op in Yemen that foiled al-Qaeda bomb plot ….
The Nakba revisited
PIC – Today marks the 65th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, the violent usurpation and occupation of Palestine by Zionist Jewish invaders coming from around the world.
Dozens wounded in clashes near Ofer jail
PIC – More than 40 Palestinians were wounded on Wednesday in violent confrontations that broke out in front of Ofer jail between Israeli occupation forces and Palestinian demonstrators.
Casualties suffered in Qalandia clashes
PIC – A number of Palestinian young men were injured in clashes with Israeli occupation forces in the vicinity of Qalandiya roadblock and at the entrance to Ram town north of occupied Jerusalem.
Palestinian child injured in the head in Beit Ummar confrontations
PIC – A Palestinian child was hit with a metal bullet in the head in violent confrontations between inhabitants of Beit Ummar village, north of Al-Khalil, and Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Wednesday.
Warnings of a new Nakba threatening Al-Aqsa Mosque
PIC – A senior Palestinian official called for protecting Al-Aqsa Mosque from a “new Nakba” threatening it due to the occupation practices that aim to demolish it and build the alleged temple on its ruins.
Hamas and Fatah agree to form a government within 3 months
PIC – Hamas and Fatah movements have agreed during their meeting in Cairo on Tuesday to form a government of national consensus within 3 months.
Report: Demolition of Palestinian homes is an ongoing Nakba
PIC – Tadhamun Foundation for Human Rights said that some forms of the Nakba (catastrophe) of the Palestinian people, which took place 65 years ago, have continued until today.
Prisoner from Gaza on hunger strike demanding his release
PIC – Palestinian prisoner Eyad Abu Khudair launched on Tuesday an open-ended hunger strike in protest at the occupation authorities’ refusal to release him after the completion of his sentence.
Haneyya’s government: PLO announcement to freeze negotiations was false
PIC – Palestinian government in Gaza condemned reports stating that a number of PLO officials have conducted secret negotiations with Israel, considering it a continuation of “waiving rights.”
PCBS: Israel controls 85% of historical Palestine
PIC – Jewish terrorist gangs seized 774 Palestinian villages and cities and committed 70 massacres that reaped the lives of 15,000 Palestinians in 1948 to create Israel..
Palestinians Rally to Mark Nakba Day
WAFA – 15 May 2013
Clashes Erupt at Qalandia Checkpoint, Injuries Reported
WAFA – 15 May 2013
Group Asks Newseum to Re-instate Palestinian Journalists in Memorial
WAFA – 15 May 2013
Morale hits a new low on Egypt stock market
LA Times 15 May 2013 – Brokers and investors worry the Muslim Brotherhood’s rise to power will put the ailing Egyptian economy even deeper in the tank. CAIRO — His phone doesn’t ring and his charts are gloomy.
Turkey leader to press Obama for greater U.S. role on Syria
LA Times 15 May 2013 – President Obama is wary of intervening in Syria’s war. But Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he has evidence of Syrian use of chemical arms. WASHINGTON — President Obama faces a fresh test Thursday of his determination to steer clear of the civil war…
Israel Hints of New Strikes Over Weapons and Warns Syria Not to Retaliate
New York Times 15 May 2013 – An official suggested Israel would use force to prevent the transfer of weapons to Islamic militants, a warning that could be intended not just for President Bashar al-Assad.
Bombings Kill Many Iraqis in Shiite Areas
New York Times 15 May 2013 – More than 35 people were killed in Shiite areas of Baghdad and in northern Iraq on Wednesday as tensions between minority Sunni Muslims and Shiites escalate.
U.N. Calls for Political Transition in Syria
New York Times 15 May 2013 – The nonbinding resolution called for a transition to end the civil war there, but members of the United Nations recognized that it was unlikely to stem the violence.
Gaza City Journal: Tunneling KFC to Gazans Craving the World Outside
New York Times 15 May 2013 – Palestinians in Gaza who crave KFC fries or chicken must order from across the border in Egypt, and the food-delivery odyssey involves two taxis, an international checkpoint and a smuggling tunnel.
At War Blog: Wounded Soldiers Race to the South Pole
New York Times 15 May 2013 – Mark Wise, a former Army officer, will trek alongside other wounded veterans through some of the harshest climates on the planet.
IHT Special: Just in Time, a Lebanese Artist’s Work Is Shown at Tate Modern
New York Times 15 May 2013 – Saloua Raouda Choucair’s first exhibition in Beirut in 1947 is thought to be the first-ever show of abstract art in the Arab world. Now, as she copes with Alzheimer’s, her works are on display in London.
Israel Poorest of OECD Countries, 5th Largest Income Gap
Tikun Olam – Comparative rates of poverty/income distribution Israel (in red) vs OECD average (blue) Today the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which monitors economic well-being among 39 countries of the developed world, released its 2013 findings. It found that Israel’s poverty rate of 20.9% was the highest…
Cartoon Satire Skewers Stephen Hawking’s Attackers
Tikun Olam – The Forward’s Eli Valley has penned a deliciously sly, knowing send-up of the hasbara bonanza that followed on Stephen Hawking’s cancellation of his talk at the Shimon Peres conference. Those of you who followed it could read any number of the hasbarafia who noted that Hawking’s…
‘NY Times’ relays Israeli threat to attack Syria
Mondoweiss – Mark Landler said his newspaper received a telephone call today (May 15) from an unnamed Israeli official who threatened more airstrikes against Syria and warned that if the Assad regime retaliates it would face “crippling consequences.” When contacted by the newspaper, Mark Regev, an Israeli government…
‘AP’ says Barbara Boxer is favoring Israeli travelers over American ones
Mondoweiss – I’m fixated on changes in the mainstream media, and here is another one. The Associated Press put out a story about the visa waiver that Sen. Barbara Boxer is pushing for Israelis who visit the U.S.; and the story openly states that Boxer has a double…
In 1948 the Nakba was carried out by the military, in 2013 it continues in courtrooms
Mondoweiss – Moriel Rothman uses the Shamasneh family eviction case in Sheikh Jarrah as an example of how the dispossession of the Palestinian people continues today, albeit in less dramatic fashion than 65 years ago. From Rothman’s Times of Israel post ” The Shamasneh Case: How the Nakba Continues…
Exile and the Prophetic: The Nakba marches on
Mondoweiss – This post is part of Marc H. Ellis’s “Exile and the Prophetic” feature for Mondoweiss. To read the entire series visit the archive page . Well the wedding bells aren’t ringing for the 65th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel and the 65th anniversary…
Uncompromising hope inspired by Ghassan Kanafani
Mondoweiss – Ghassan Kanafani (Photo: Flickr ) This May marks the 65th anniversary of the Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe”) in Palestine in 1948 when over 700,000 Palestinians were forced off their land, in some cases at gunpoint, in other cases through massacres or threats of massacres like the massacre…
Tzipi Livni Defends Women’s Egalitarian Prayer at Western Wall
The Foward Breaking News 15 May 2013 – Justice Minister Tzipi Livni told Religious Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday night she would not support changes to the law governing the holy sites that he is promoting to limit the activities of Women of the Wall. Click here for the rest of the article……
Iran Nuclear Talks Fail To Break Deadlock
The Foward Breaking News 15 May 2013 – The United Nations’ nuclear agency failed to persuade Iran on Wednesday to let it resume an investigation into suspected atomic bomb research, leaving the high-stakes diplomacy in deadlock. Click here for the rest of the article…
Palestinians Clash With Israel on ‘Nakba Day’
The Foward Breaking News 15 May 2013 – Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday during demonstrations to mark 65 years since what they call the Nakba (Catastrophe) when Israel’s creation caused many to lose their homes and become refugees. Click here for the rest of the article…
Yair Lapid, Israel’s ‘Golden Boy,’ Crashes to Earth in Austerity Push
The Foward Breaking News 15 May 2013 – Just months after a dazzling political debut, Israel’s new finance minister Yair Lapid has come crashing down to earth with a budget that critics say hits the very people he vowed to protect – the middle classes. Click here for the rest of the article…
Jewish Women Call Angelina Jolie Inspiration for Breast Cancer Surgery
The Forward New 15 May 2013 – Jewish breast cancer ‘previvors’ and health advocates hailed Angelina Jolie for going public with her BRCA1 gene mutation — and decision to have surgery. Click here for the rest of the article…
South Africa: Why South Africa Must End Trade With Illegal Israeli Settlements
allAfrica.com 15 May 2013 – [GroundUp]South Africa ruffled political feathers in April this year, after it made it unlawful for Israeli settlement products sold locally to be labelled as “made in Israel”. All products made by Israeli businesses operating illegally in the settlements must now be labelled according to where they…
South Africa: Cosatu Statement On Al-Nakba Day
allAfrica.com 15 May 2013 – [COSATU]The Congress of South African Trade Unions sends its message to the justice loving Israelis and the peace loving people of Palestine as they commemorate al-Nakba Day (The day of the catastrophe) in memory of the annihilation, the elimination, the destruction of over 400 Palestinian villages…
Egypt: Nation’s Fear of Shi’ite Influence Is Groundless – Iranian Official
allAfrica.com 15 May 2013 – [Aswat Masriya]Director of the Iranian-Egyptian Chamber of Commerce Sabah Zangana has dismissed Egyptian fears that a spike in tourism collaboration would lead to a spread in Shi’ite influence in Sunni-majority Egypt.
Tunisia: Foreign Ministry Denies Having Requested Resumption of Diplomatic Activities in Syria
allAfrica.com 15 May 2013 – [Tunis Afrique Presse]Tunis -The foreign Affairs Ministry, on Tuesday, denied information according to which Tunisia would have requested Syria to allow the resumption of its diplomatic mission’s activities, describing them as “totally inaccurate.”
Youths of Beit Ommar Arrested by Israeli Occupation Forces
Palestine Solidarity Project 15 May 2013 – On the 13th of May 2013, the IOF arrested Saif Naseem Mahmoud Meseif Sabarna 18 years old, he is living on the street Jerusalem – Hebron. The number of the people who arrested in Beit Ummar this day is tow people, Saif Naseem Mahmoud Meseif Sabarna…
Night Raid in Beit Ommar
Palestine Solidarity Project 15 May 2013 – On the 13th of May 2013 at 3:30am, a military force about fourteen soldiers stormed the area of Abu Hashem’s family, they searched the area by dogs for more one hour, after that the moved to the down town, while they moving before trapping the house…
UN urges Syria political transition
BBC 15 May 2013 – The UN General Assembly calls for a political transition in Syria and condemns the Damascus government’s use of heavy weapons.
The Fabricated Threat of Iran
Al-Akhbar Opinion 15 May 2013 – Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili registers his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran on 11 May 2013. (Photo: AFP – Behrouz Mehri) Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili registers his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior…
Hamas and Fatah set timetable for unity government
Al-Akhbar News 15 May 2013 – Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have set a three-month timetable to form a unity government and organize elections, officials from both sides said on Wednesday. The agreement came during a meeting late Tuesday between Fatah’s official in charge of reconciliation affairs, Azzam al-Ahmed, and his…
Lebanon: Future Rallies Against New Saida Mufti
Al-Akhbar News 15 May 2013 – Several rumors circulated yesterday against Nassar in an effort to turn public opinion against him. (Photo: Khaled Ghorabi) Several rumors circulated yesterday against Nassar in an effort to turn public opinion against him. (Photo: Khaled Ghorabi) This week, the Grand Mufti of Lebanon Sheikh Mohammed Rashid…
Egypt judges back out of conference over controversial bill
Al-Akhbar News 15 May 2013 – Egyptian riot policemen stand outside the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) on 12 May 2013 in Cairo, Egypt. (Photo: AFP – Gianluigi Guercia) In their latest face-off with Egypt’s government, the country’s top council of judges decided Wednesday to suspend its participation in a government-backed judicial reform…
Car bombs kill 10 in Iraq
Al-Akhbar News 15 May 2013 – Iraqis gather at the site of a bombing in the northern city of Kirkuk on 15 May 2013. (Photo: AFP – Marwan Ibrahim) At least 15 people were killed in bomb blasts and a shooting in Iraq on Wednesday, police and hospital sources said. Ten people…
Aoun-Geagea War Finishes Off the Orthodox Law
Al-Akhbar News 15 May 2013 – The parliamentary election law, which would allow each sect to vote only within their sect, could only pass if the Christian forces in March 14 broke with their allies and voted for the proposed law, which was godfathered by the Free Patriotic Movement. (Photo: Al-Akhbar) The…
Iraqi Prosecutor Eager to Designate New President
Al-Akhbar News 15 May 2013 – An Iraqi soldier stands under the arch of the barrel-vaulted hall of the Ctesiphon palace, which was in the imperial capital of the Persian Empire in the Parthian and Sassanian times, south of Baghdad, on 15 May 2013. (Photo: AFP – Ali Al-Saadi) An Iraqi soldier…
Iran: Rafsanjani Fights His Last Battle
Al-Akhbar Politics 14 May 2013 – Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani arrives to register his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran on 11 May 2013. (Photo: AFP – Behrouz Mehri) Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani arrives to register his candidacy for the upcoming presidential…
Lebanon: Constitutional Crisis Threatens Institutional Void
Al-Akhbar Politics 14 May 2013 – The coming days will determine whether Lebanon can safely cross the minefield before it and avoid the gaping void that threatens to swallow up its core governmental institutions. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah) The coming days will determine whether Lebanon can safely cross the minefield before it and…
UN urges Syria political transition
BBC 15 May 2013 – The UN General Assembly calls for a political transition in Syria and condemns the Damascus government’s use of heavy weapons.
Series of deadly attacks strike Iraq
BBC 15 May 2013 – Dozens are killed in bomb attacks in Shia districts of Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, amid rising sectarian tensions.
Saudi virtue police condemn Twitter
BBC 15 May 2013 – The head of Saudi Arabia’s religious police warns Saudis against using Twitter, amid fears it is being used to challenge political taboos.
Twitter activists jailed in Bahrain
BBC 15 May 2013 – A Bahrain court sentences six activists to a year in jail for insulting King Hamad in Twitter messages, amid a continuing crackdown on dissent.
Articles
Nakba survivor: ’If you wanted to live, you left’
Ma’an News Agency 5/15/2013
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Ghatheyya Mifleh al-Khawalda was 15 years old when she fled her home during the Nakba of 1948.
Now 80, Ghatheyya was once a carefree teenager who used to live with her mother and sister in the village of al-Qastina, northeast of Gaza.
Although her early life was marked by tragedy — her grandmother died when she was born and her father passed away on Eid al-Adha — she says she had a happy childhood.
“We had a very nice house, a big house with marble floors in the hallway. My father was a farmer, and we had farmland with orange trees, apple trees, grapefruit trees and others. I used to spend my days playing with my sister and the other girls in the village. We were very happy,” she told the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
Her life changed dramatically in 1948, when Jewish militias arrived in the area where she lived.
“We had heard stories about attacks on other villages. Still, the attack on al-Qastina came without warning. Before that, there had been a British military camp nearby, but that year the British left and allowed the Jewish groups to take over.”
Some Jewish militia members were wearing uniform and others had civilian clothes, Ghatheyya said, and when they arrived in the village they began firing at people, killing three villagers.
“We ran away, afraid for our safety, and went to Tal al-Safi, a nearby village on a hill. It was within walking distance, and we were in a hurry to leave, so we didn’t take anything with us. It was like Doomsday. It was utter terror. People’s minds were imprisoned by fear. We couldn’t think of anything except leaving, not even simple things like bringing food with us,” she said.more.. e-mail
Despite efforts to erase it, the Nakba’s memory is more present than ever in Israel
Noam Sheizaf, +972 Magazine 5/14/2013
The Israeli Right has been waging a war on history in recent years, using extreme measures to remove evidence of the Nakba from the national discourse. It failed.
Yedioth Hakibbutz is the weekly magazine of the United Kibbutz Movement. It is delivered every week to hundreds of Kibbutzim as part of the weekend edition of Yedioth Ahronoth, the best selling paper in Israel. Even at a time of diminishing political influence – there is not a single representative of the United Kibbutz Movement in the current Knesset – the Kibbutzim remain both a symbol and a stronghold of conservative Zionism, and the mainstream tone of Yedioth suits them well.
Three months ago, there was an unusual story on the cover of Yedioth Hakibbutz. The front page read: “We expelled, blew up and killed.” Inside the magazine was a three-page interview with Kibbutz Degania member Yerachmiel Kahanovich, a former fighter in the Palmach (the Jewish underground that preceded the IDF), in which Kahanovic confessed to his part in the expulsion and murder of Palestinians during the war of 1948.
Several months earlier, Kahanovich was interviewed as part of a project by Zochrot (“remembering”), a non-profit that deals with the Nakba from an Israeli perspective (an English translation of his testimony can be found here), and his testimony drew the attention of Yedioth reporters. Zochrot exists mostly in the margins of the Israeli discourse. Getting such a follow-up in the Kibbutz magazine was unique but not unheard of: in October 2012 the same paper ran a story on a Nakba tour book published by Zochrot.more.. e-mail
On Nakba anniversary, refugees make almost half of population
WAFA – Palestine News and Information Agency, Israeli Occupation Archive 5/14/2013
RAMALLAH – On the eve of the Nakba (catastrophe) 65th anniversary, the refugees make almost half of the total Palestinian population, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said Tuesday.
While statistical data show that refugees constitute 44.2% of the total Palestinian population in Palestine, records by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) showed that there were 5.3 million registered Palestinian refugees by mid-2013, constituting 45.7% of the total Palestinian population worldwide, said the PCBS.
It said 59% of the refugees live in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, 17% in the West Bank and 24% in Gaza Strip.
About 29% of registered refugees live in 58 refugee camps, of which 10 are in Jordan, nine in Syria, 12 in Lebanon, 19 in the West Bank, and eight in Gaza Strip.
The PCBS said, however, that these estimates represent the minimum number of Palestinian refugees, given the fact that there are many non-registered refugees.
These estimates also do not include Palestinians who were displaced between 1949 and the 1967 war and do not include the non-refugees who left or were forced to leave as a result of the war in 1967.
The number of Palestinians who remained in their towns and village in 1948 after the Nakba was estimated at 154,000. Their number is now estimated as 1.4 million on the 65rd anniversary of the Nakba.
In 1948, 1.4 million Palestinians lived in 1,300 Palestinian towns and villages in historic Palestine. The Israelis controlled 774 towns and villages and destroyed 531 Palestinian towns and villages during the Nakba. more.. e-mail
The last of the Semites
Joseph Massad, Al Jazeera.com 5/14/2013
It is Israel’s claims that it represents and speaks for all Jews that are the most anti-Semitic claims of all.
Jewish opponents of Zionism understood the movement since its early age as one that shared the precepts of anti-Semitism in its diagnosis of what gentile Europeans called the “Jewish Question”. What galled anti-Zionist Jews the most, however, was that Zionism also shared the “solution” to the Jewish Question that anti-Semites had always advocated, namely the expulsion of Jews from Europe.
It was the Protestant Reformation with its revival of the Hebrew Bible that would link the modern Jews of Europe to the ancient Hebrews of Palestine, a link that the philologists of the 18th century would solidify through their discovery of the family of “Semitic” languages, including Hebrew and Arabic. Whereas Millenarian Protestants insisted that contemporary Jews, as descendants of the ancient Hebrews, must leave Europe to Palestine to expedite the second coming of Christ, philological discoveries led to the labelling of contemporary Jews as “Semites”. The leap that the biological sciences of race and heredity would make in the 19th century of considering contemporary European Jews racial descendants of the ancient Hebrews would, as a result, not be a giant one.
Basing themselves on the connections made by anti-Jewish Protestant Millenarians, secular European figures saw the political potential of “restoring” Jews to Palestine abounded in the 19th century. Less interested in expediting the second coming of Christ as were the Millenarians, these secular politicians, from Napoleon Bonaparte to British foreign secretary Lord Palmerston (1785-1865) to Ernest Laharanne, the private secretary of Napoleon III in the 1860s, sought to expel the Jews of Europe to Palestine in order to set them up as agents of European imperialism in Asia. Their call would be espoused by many “anti-Semites”, a new label chosen by European anti-Jewish racists after its invention in 1879 by a minor Viennese journalist by the name of Wilhelm Marr, who issued a political programme titled The Victory of Judaism over Germanism…. more.. e-mail
Protests an “offensive” against settler attacks, West Bank villagers say
Electronic Intifada: 15 May 2013 – Residents of Deir Jarir and Silwad are holding regular protests against Israel’s theft of their land.more
Life “no longer bearable” in Syria, says Palestinian refugee
Electronic Intifada: 14 May 2013 – Palestinians forced to flee Damascus are trying to survive on help from charities in Cairo.more
FBI files reveal Anti-Defamation League spied on Arab students
Electronic Intifada: 14 May 2013 – Feds assumed ADL reports were passed on to Israeli government.more
Israel, Hawking and the Pressing Question of Boycott
Palestine Chronicle: 15 May 2013 – By Ramzy Baroud It is an event ‘of cosmic proportions’, said one Palestinian academic, a befitting description regarding Stephen Hawking’s decision to boycott an Israeli academic conference slated for next June. It was also a decisive moral call which was communicated on May 8 by Cambridge University, where Hawking is a professor. Hawking is a world-renowned cosmologist and physicist. His scientific work had the kind of impact that redefined or challenged entire areas of research from the theory of relativity, to quantum mechanics and other fields of study. This towering figure is also wheelchair-bound – suffering from complete physical paralyses caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease. For Hawking, however, such a painful fact seems like a mere side note in the face of his incredible contributions to science, ones that are comparable to only few men and women throughout history. What is considered a prestigious scientific conference in Israel…more
Palestinians in N. America: Shatat Conference Stresses Return, Liberation
Palestine Chronicle: 15 May 2013 – By Noura Khouri “They old will die and the young will forget.” declared, David Ben Gurion, the ideological father of the European colonial/settler project, Zionism. Few quotes so succinctly sum up the stated goal/vision, idealism and the delusional nature of Zionism – which can only reside in the realm of cognitive dissonance. Meanwhile, nothing more accurately reflects the collective consciousness of Palestinians, than the shared memory of what began 65 years ago today, during the Nakba, or catastrophe and forced exile of 750,000 people from their land, and the universally recognized right to return home. Today 6 million Palestinians, remain forcibly displaced from their homes, often many times over-as is now the case with Palestinian refugees within Syria, Palestine and throughout the world. Currently these two narratives are most summarily what are at work politically – and it is this competing history, that paves the crossroads for which we find…more
Destroying Libya and World Order – Book Review
Palestine Chronicle: 15 May 2013 – Reviewed by Ludwig Watzal (Francis A. Boyle, Destroying Libya and World Order, Clarity Press, Atlanta 2013, 212 pp.) This book tells the story of what happened, why it happened and what went wrong between the United States and Libya from a perspective of a professor of international law. Among the U.S. Empire’s serving international law professors, Francis A. Boyle is a rare exception because he makes his legal advice available for those who are the victims of aggression by leading Western nations, especially the U. S. and its NATO allies. He has been fighting the unlawful policies of states with his only available “weapon”: international law. He could be described as a defender of the downtrodden of the international system such as the Palestinian people, Libya under Muammar al Gaddafi and others. Beyond that, he has contributed a great deal to the advancement of international law by, inter alia, drafting…more
Palestinian Nakba: The Young Will Never Forget
Palestine Chronicle: 15 May 2013 – By Ramzy Baroud Many Palestinians remember and reference al-Nakba, also known as the Catastrophe, on May 15 every year. The event marks the expulsion of nearly a million Palestinians, while their villages were destroyed. The destruction of Palestine in 1947-48 ushered in the birth of Israel. Older generations relay the harsh and oppressive memory of their collective experience to younger Palestinians, many of whom live their own Nakbas today. In covering al-Nakba, sympathetic Arab and other media play sad music and show black and white footage of displaced, frightened refugees. They rightly emphasize the concept of Sumud, steadfastness, as they show Palestinian of all ages holding unto the rusty keys of their homes and insisting on their right of return. Other, less sympathetic media discuss al-Nakba, if at all, as a side note – a nuisance in the Israeli narrative of a nation’s supposedly miraculous birth and its progression to…more
Palestinians Mark 65th Nakba Anniversary, Old, Young Cling to Return
Palestine Chronicle: 15 May 2013 – The Center for Political and Development Studies, Gaza, Palestine Palestinians in Palestine and in the Diaspora mark the annual anniversary of the Catastrophe, also known as the Nakba, on May 15th every year as a result of the massive ethnic cleansing carried out by Zionists gangs in 1947-1948 which resulted in the displacement of almost 750,000 Palestinians from their villages and cities. The plans of the Zionist leaders would not have been successful without the implementation of Plan Dalet (also referred to as Plan D) whose goal was the mass expulsion of Palestinians from wide areas of the historic British Mandate. The Plan was designed in the fall of 1947 and implemented in April 1948, however it was meant to be implemented after the withdrawal of the British forces from Palestine on May 15, 1948. It aimed at destroying and occupying Palestinian villages located along the highway connecting Jerusalem with…more
The Syrian Riddle
Palestine Chronicle: 15 May 2013 – By Deepak Tripathi Recent remarks by Carla Del Ponte, a Swiss investigator of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry, have changed the nature of debate on the use of chemical weapons in Syria’s civil war. Momentum had been building up for months against Bashar al-Assad’s government, first on the basis of accusations that such weapons were in use, followed by heavy hints by anti-Assad groups and Western politicians that the Damascus regime was guilty of chemical warfare against its opponents and civilians. There is no doubt about the unspeakable brutality committed by both sides in the conflict, but chemical warfare, if proven, would mean escalation to another level involving serious war crimes. Carla Del Ponte, Switzerland’s former attorney general and prosecutor of the UN tribunals for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, is no pushover. She is now a member of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, appointed under the auspices of…more
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The New Dark Age 