9 July 2013 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Army Invades Al-Qarara
IMEMC – Palestinian sources have reported that a number of Israeli military vehicles advanced on Tuesday at dawn [July 9 2013] hundreds of meters into the Al-Qarara town, north east of Khan Younis city, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. …
Israeli government shuts down Palestinian puppet fest and attempts to censor Israeli theater
IMEMC – Israeli authorities have taken action to shut down and censor two theaters – one Palestinian-run, and one Israeli – for performing cultural theater performances that Israel considers to be critical of its political agenda and policies. …
Mousa: “Hamas Will Pay A Heavy Price For Interfering In Internal Egyptian Affairs”
IMEMC – Legislator Yahia Mousa, a political leader of the Hamas movement, stated that the Hamas movement and the Gaza Strip will pay a heavy price for interfering in internal Egyptian affairs, and called on his movement to reconsider its regional policies, especially with neighboring countries. …
Israel charges Palestinian women over non-violent protest
7/9/2013 – OFER MILITARY COURT (AFP) — An Israeli military court formally charged two Palestinian women on Tuesday for their involvement in a peaceful demonstration in the West Bank last month. In a hearing at Ofer military court near Ramallah, Nariman Tamimi, 37, and Rana Hamadah, 21, who also holds Canadian nationality, were charged with “entering a closed military zone” during a demonstration in Nabi Saleh, where villagers….
Palestinians smash holes in Israel’s wall
7/9/2013 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian youths smashed holes in Israel’s separation wall in East Jerusalem on Tuesday. The protest marked the ninth anniversary of an International Court of Justice advisory opinion that ruled the wall illegal and called for its removal. Activists declared the anniversary a national day for the destruction of the wall.”The destruction of a portion of the wall is….
Israel names ‘pro-Republican’ hawk as new envoy to US
7/9/2013 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named as Israel’s new ambassador to Washington Tuesday a peace process hawk seen as close to President Barack Obama’s Republican opponents. Ron Dermer, who already served a stint in Washington as economic attache from 2005 to 2008, is on the record as voicing skepticism about the wisdom of a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem….
Witness: Israeli forces detain Palestinian in raid
7/9/2013 – JENIN (Ma’an) — Israeli forces raided the Bartaa al-Sharqiya village early Tuesday and detained a Palestinian, witnesses said. Abed al-Wahab Hassan Qabha, in his 40s, was taken from the village, said youth activist Baha Qabha. He said soldiers also raided commercial shops and confiscated some of the goods. Clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli forces. An Israeli soldier was lightly wounded during the….
Police: Ultra-Orthodox soldier attacked in Jerusalem
7/9/2013 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli police on Tuesday rescued an ultra-Orthodox soldier who was attacked by a group of his coreligionists in Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighbourhood, a spokesman said.”Police rescued an ultra-Orthodox soldier who had taken refuge inside a building in Mea Shearim after being attacked by dozens of haredim,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP, using the Hebrew word for ultra-Orthodox Jews. The….
Israeli MK: Foreign Ministry sent diplomats to strip clubs
7/9/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israel’s Foreign Ministry sent visiting diplomats to strip clubs, an Israeli MK claimed Tuesday. MK David Tzur said it was revealed during a Knesset meeting of the committee against trafficking and prostitution that the Foreign Ministry had sent foreign diplomats to strip clubs in Israel, the Hebrew-language news site Maariv reported. Tzur, former police chief of Tel Aviv, chairs….
Second ‘Prisoner X’ held in top secret in Israel
7/9/2013 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — A second ‘Prisoner X’ was being held in top-secret conditions in the same jail where an Israeli-Australian spy took his his own life in 2010, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. Court documents cited by Haaretz newspaper said the prisoner was being held in another wing of Ayalon prison at the same time as Ben Zygier, an alleged Mossad spy whose mysterious….
Report: Israel urges US not to freeze Egypt aid
7/9/2013 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel has urged Washington not to suspend its annual $1. 3 billion in aid to Cairo in the wake of the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi by the military, press reports said on Tuesday. Under US law, all military and economic aid must be suspended to any country where the government is overthrown by the military, although Washington has not yet determined….
Israel’s Livni to visit Moscow ‘over Syria S-300 plans’
7/9/2013 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni was due in Moscow on Tuesday for talks over Russia’s plans to supply S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, army radio said. During the visit, Livni, who also serves as Israel’s chief negotiator with the PLO, was to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a bid to….
Hamas condemns claims it interferes in Egypt
7/9/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas on Tuesday condemned accusations by PLO factions that it interferes in domestic Egyptian affairs as “incitement.” Hamas spokesman Salah Bardawil said PLO faction leaders were inciting the Egyptian army and the Egyptian people against Hamas and the Gaza Strip. He added that such incitement was “a departure from all national and moral values.” Several PLO faction leaders have accused Hamas….
Kerry Mideast visit in doubt due to wife’s health
7/9/2013 – RAMALLAH (AFP) — US Secretary of State John Kerry’s return to the Middle East to restart direct talks between Israel and the PLO could be postponed because of his wife’s illness, a Palestinian official said Tuesday. Kerry’s wife Teresa Heinz Kerry was hospitalized late Sunday with an unknown illness. The official said on condition of anonymity Kerry had been due….
Gas stations to turn away PA security vehicles
7/9/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Gas stations across the West Bank will stop allowing Palestinian security vehicles to fill their tanks, after the PA’s finance ministry failed to pay their bills, Ma’an has learned. The PA Finance Ministry has not reimbursed fuel vouchers for five months, and on Tuesday a network of fuel distributors announced it would stop letting the security forces….
Car bomb wounds 53 in Shiite Beirut suburb
7/9/2013 – BEIRUT (AFP) — A car bomb on Tuesday rocked Beirut’s southern suburbs, a stronghold of Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah movement, injuring at least 53 people, government and military sources said. The blast comes amid spiraling tension in Lebanon over the civil war raging in neighboring Syria, where Hezbollah fighters have joined President Bashar Assad’s forces in facing down a revolt by….
Close US-Egypt military ties forged on American soil
7/9/2013 – WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States has spent billions in aid to Egypt, but the education of thousands of officers at elite American academies is equally vital to the close military ties between Washington and Cairo. As Egypt convulses with deadly political tumult, such calculated, decades-long nurturing of army relations emerges as a key element as Washington engages a vital Mideast ally in the aftermath of….
Israeli police detain 2 Sudanese in Beersheba
7/9/2013 – BEERSHEBA (Ma’an) — Israeli police on Monday evening detained two Sudanese citizens in Beersheba after they were accused of painting swastikas on the walls of a wedding hall days earlier. The owner of the hall was overseas and when he come back he found swastikas painted on the walls. One of the workers there said that the two Sudanese workers were suspected of painting….
Gaza pilgrim dies in Saudi Arabia
7/9/2013 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – A Palestinian pilgrim from Gaza died late Monday in Saudi Arabia, said the minister of endowment in the Hamas-run Gaza government Ismail Radwan. Radwan said in a statement that 65-year-old Atiyeh Shehada Dughmah died of a sudden illness while he was stuck in Saudi Arabia along with hundreds of pilgrims after they performed Umrah pilgrimage. They have been stranded….
Teen dies after hit by car, ambulance
7/9/2013 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — A 14-year-old boy died in Yatta on Tuesday after he was run over twice, first by a car and then by an ambulance, police and medics said. Adi al-Dababsa was riding a bike when he was hit by an unlicensed car. The impact pushed him into the path of a passing ambulance, police said in a statement. Al-Dababsa died of….
Group: 4 killed in Syria’s Yarmouk camp
7/9/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Three Palestinian refugees and a Syrian resident of the Yarmouk refugee camp were killed as clashes between the Syrian regime and rebels of the Free Syrian Army continued Monday, says a Palestinian group based in Syria. The Taskforce for Palestinian in Syria said Tuesday that three of the victims were killed by fresh tank shells which hit the camp, while a….
State media: Egypt interim leader decrees election timetable
7/9/2013 – CAIRO (AFP) — Egypt’s interim leader vowed fresh elections by early next year after 51 people, mostly supporters of ousted president Mohamed Mursi, were killed outside Cairo military barracks prompting a US call for restraint. Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood, which has led demonstrations against Wednesday’s military overthrow of the Islamist leader, called for an “uprising,” saying troops and police “massacred” its….
Channel: Al-Jazeera employees in Egypt quit
7/9/2013 – DOHA (AFP) — Several Al Jazeera employees in Egypt have resigned because they disagreed with their employer’s editorial line, an official at the Qatari television told AFP on Monday. They did not say how many resigned, but media have reported that seven have left the company.”Several new employees at the Al Jazeera Mobasher (the media group’s live station) office in Egypt….
Syria Baath leaders replaced, UN urges Ramadan truce
7/9/2013 – DAMASCUS (AFP) — Syria’s ruling Baath party has replaced its top leadership in a surprise move, while UN head Ban Ki-Moon called on all parties in the war to observe a truce during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Meanwhile in Turkey, interim Syrian rebel prime minister Ghassan Hitto announced his resignation Monday on a day of political maneuvering. The developments came as troops….
Saudi to expel foreigners disrespecting Ramadan
7/9/2013 – RIYADH (AFP) — Saudi Arabia threatened on Tuesday to expel non-Muslim expatriates who eat, drink, or smoke in public during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Ramadan begins in the kingdom on Wednesday.”Non-Muslim residents in the kingdom must not eat or drink in public during Ramadan, in respect to the holiness of Ramadan and the feelings of Muslims,” said an Interior Ministry statement published by….
State media: Liberal economist new Egypt PM
7/9/2013 – CAIRO (AFP) — Egypt’s interim president on Tuesday named liberal economist Hazem al-Beblawi, a former finance minister, as the country’s new prime minister, presidential spokesman Ahmed al-Muslimani said. Liberal opposition chief and Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei was named vice president for foreign relations, Muslimani said. The appointments come almost a week after the military overthrew Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and chose….
Egypt imposes new visa rules on Syrians
7/9/2013 – BEIRUT (AFP) — Syrians traveling to Egypt are now required to apply for a visa, after the authorities in Cairo issued a new rule amid soaring unrest in the country, consulate staff in Beirut told AFP on Tuesday.”There is a decision from Cairo that any Syrian traveling to Egypt must apply for a visa at the Egyptian embassy,” a staff member at the Egyptian consulate….
Egypt Islamists reject poll plan drawing army warning
7/9/2013 – CAIRO (AFP) — Egypt’s army-installed interim leader set out plans on Tuesday for new elections by early next year, which were immediately rejected by the ousted president’s Muslim Brotherhood, drawing a stern warning from the military. The Brotherhood, which has refused to accept the overthrow of its champion Mohamed Mursi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, slammed the transition blueprint as….
Saudi pledges $5 billion in aid to Egypt
7/9/2013 – RIYADH (AFP) — Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday that it would give Egypt $5 billion aid to support its economy, six days after the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. The aid, which was decided by King Abdullah, will be made up of a $2 billion interest-free deposit in Egypt’s central bank, a $1 billion donation and the equivalent of $2 billion in oil….
Prisoner Writes Letter in 1958 Reaches his Family in 2013
Palestine News Network
New Israeli National Park to be Built on Palestinian Land
Palestine News Network
Report: Israel Holds a Second ‘Prisoner X’
Palestine News Network
Israeli Bulldozers Raid, Raze Lands East of Khan Younes in Gaza Strip
Palestine News Network
Israeli Occupation Allows Settlers to Obtain Information on Owners of Palestinian Lands
Palestine News Network
“The Barrier to Peace: Israeli Annexation Wall, Settlements Despite International Opposition”
Palestine News Network
World Bank: Kuwait Donates USD 50 million Towards Palestinian Development
Palestine News Network
9th Anniversary of ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Construction of Israel’s Apartheid Wall
Palestine News Network
PCHR Concerned for Deterioration of Humanitarian Conditions in Gaza Strip
Palestine News Network
International Solidarity Movement
Parents of Tristan Anderson, US activist critically wounded following West Bank protest, appeal to High Court of Israel
7/9/2013 – International Solidarity Movement – 9th July 2013, International Solidarity Movement, Jerusalem – Parents of US Activist Critically Wounded Following West Bank Protest Appeal to High Court of Israel: The Police Investigation was Shockingly Negligent – Demand a Serious, Professional Investigation into the Shooting of their son Tristan Anderson (41, of Oakland, CA) was severely wounded after having been shot in the head with a high velocity tear gas grenade* (made….
occupied Palestinian territory: In the shadow of the Egyptian revolution: The Rafah crossing has been closed for four days
Relief Web 9 Jul 2013 – Source: Gisha Country: Egypt, occupied Palestinian territory July 8, 2013. Rafah Crossing, between Gaza and Egypt, has been closed since Friday afternoon following a period when it operated under restricted conditions. According to the Palestinian Crossings Authority, current to today,…
UAE to help rebuild Egypt with Dh11bn aid package
The National 9 Jul 2013 – Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed, the National Security Adviser, flew in person to Cairo to offer a $1bn grant and $2bn loan in meetings with Egypt’s interim president Adly Al Mansour and defence minister General Abdel Fattah El Sisi. Bradley Hope reports from Cairo
Beirut bomb stokes fears of retaliation by Syrian rebels against Hizbollah
The National 9 Jul 2013 – Concern grows in Lebanon that Hizbollah could face payback for its now overt role fighting alongside Assad regime forces troops inside Syria, including in Homs near the Lebanese border.
US keen to keep Egypt aid flowing
The National 9 Jul 2013 – US officials have so far refused to describe events in Egypt as a coup because they fear doing so would trigger the suspension of aid and cause them to lose leverage with a vital Arab ally. Taimur Khan reports from New York
Russia gives UN evidence ‘Syrian rebels made sarin nerve gas’ – but US rejects claims
The National 9 Jul 2013 – International analysts say a March 19 chemical weapon attack occurred in an Aleppo suburb.
Morocco coalition faces split
The National 9 Jul 2013 – Six Istiqlal ministers to resign over fuel and food subsidies.
Costa Concordia wreck captain goes on trial
The National 9 Jul 2013 – Survivors riled over lack of other defendants in the trial, frustrating hopes of learning why the sophisticated ship struck the reef, and why everyone was not safely evacuated.
Clampdown on unsafe Ramadan tents in Ajman and Sharjah
The National 9 Jul 2013 – Civil Defence chiefs in Ajman and Sharjah will inspect unlicensed Ramadan tents and take action against those found to be in breach of fire-safety rules.
Dubai reaps benefits of cutting energy use
The National 9 Jul 2013 – Solar-powered hot-water systems and street lighting, and smarter use of air-conditioning, salvage hundreds of thousands of dirhams.
Israel’s new Jewish identity initiative based on fascist values, consultant warns
Ha’aretz – 9 Jul 2013
American Jewish groups welcome choice of Netanyahu’s right hand man as U.S. envoy
Ha’aretz – 9 Jul 2013
Fragment of ancient Egyptian sphinx discovered in northern Israel
Ha’aretz – 9 Jul 2013
Toddler dies after falling in inflatable pool in Bat Yam
Ha’aretz – 9 Jul 2013
Ultra-Orthodox IDF soldier attacked in Jerusalem’s Mea She’arim neighborhood
Ha’aretz – 9 Jul 2013
Remains of rocket fired from Egypt found in Israel
Ha’aretz – 9 Jul 2013
Hundreds of Israelis decline biometric ID cards, as program gets underway
Ha’aretz – 9 Jul 2013
Former Israeli judge who fled to Peru to escape fraud charges gets 5.5 years in jail
Ha’aretz – 9 Jul 2013
Israel warns Arab diplomats against ‘bashing’ at UN nuclear meeting
Ha’aretz – 9 Jul 2013
Israel’s next U.S. envoy: Right-wing neo-con with close ties to Bush family
Ha’aretz – 9 Jul 2013
Jerusalem court orders state to reveal identities of Palestinian landowners, paving way for eased settlement expansion
Ha’aretz – 9 Jul 2013
World corruption survey: Most Israelis believe government agencies promote foreign interests
Ha’aretz – 9 Jul 2013
Prisoner X’s lawyer: Another inmate committed ‘far more severe’ offenses
Ha’aretz – 9 Jul 2013
Snowden says Israel, U.S. created Stuxnet virus that attacked Iran
Ha’aretz – 9 Jul 2013
Israel launches pilot biometric program, warns naysayers not panic
Ha’aretz – 8 Jul 2013
Documents show Israel held other unnamed inmate at same time as Zygier
Ha’aretz – 8 Jul 2013
Clinging to an outdated concept in the age of leaks
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Analysis: Recent revelations show that the government has broken its promise to provide transparency.
Israel among most corrupt of OECD countries
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Over 80 percent of Israelis believe that personal contacts are important or very important for getting things done in public sector.
MK Katz offers to help keep ‘Ma’ariv’ alive
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Workers, management of 65-year-old paper to enter negotiations ahead of restructuring plan; Labor MK Shai: Newspaper needs a miracle.
Family vacation provides cover for would-be drug smugglers
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Beduin wannabe drug dealers busted during return from Sinai.
Morsi supporters continue protests; Gulf States offer billions in aid
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Saudi Arabia and UAE offer $8 billion in aid to Egypt; Parliamentary vote set to be held in 6 months.
Haredi attack against haredi soldier stirs political outrage
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Netanyahu vows to “take hard stance” against “lawbreakers.”
Tel Aviv inaugurates beach library
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – The Tel Aviv Municipality inaugurated a new beach library at the Metzitzim Beach aimed at offering tourists the option to check-out books for free.
Female MKs attack Ashkenazi for calling journalist ‘hot babe’
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Former IDF chief of staff under fire for making “sexist comment”; Likud’s Hotovely says he’s “unfit to pursue public leadership.”
Knesset panel: State’s Holocaust restitution is incomplete
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – NIS 1.085 billion remains to be distributed to survivors, committee says.
Possible kashrut licensing crisis looming for Jerusalem
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, who has authority to authorize kashrut licenses, recused himself due to criminal investigation against him.
Protest leader announces more demonstrations in Tel Aviv
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Daphni Leef, whose protest tent sparked a mass movement two years ago, vows to re-ignite demonstrations against living costs.
Egyptian fighting squeezes the Gaza Strip
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Shortage of cooking gas and fuel has considerably slowed life in the Palestinian enclave.
Mansour names Hazem el-Beblawi as Egypt’s interim prime minister
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Islamist Nour Party, after rejecting several other potential candidates, say they will support Beblawi’s appointment.
Analysis: Confident Assad sees Syria tide turning
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Syrian President Bashar Assad says he is “confident and sure about victory.”
Gulf states step in with billion-dollar lifeline for Egypt
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Egyptian source: UAE agrees on $1 billion in aid, $2 billion in loans; Saudi Arabia may lend a further $2 billion.
Egypt’s interim rulers issue speedy election’s timetable
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Interim head of state Adli Mansour moves to resolve crisis a day after the death of 51 Egyptians rocked the nation; Muslim Brotherhood movement are calling for further protests, raising potential for violence.
Former judge who was extradited from Peru to plead to six years jail
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – After seven years on the lam, Dan Cohen will plead to bribery and fraud among other charges.
Egypt’s Islamist Nour party accepts former FinMin for interim PM
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – May be sign of political accommodation emerging after ouster.
Car bomb hits Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut; dozens hurt
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Blast apparently targeted mall in neighborhood popular with Hezbollah militants fighting for Assad in Syria’s Civil War.
Prosecution presents closing arguments in Liberman case
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – State: Former FM admitted to all core facts in indictment.
Ya’alon reinstates Har Bracha yeshiva to hesder program
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Ehud Barak cut the yeshiva from the program in 2009 after its head refused to retract statements made regarding settlements.
Poll: Corruption worsened in Arab countries since uprisings
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Survey dashes hopes that the Arab Spring would produce cleaner government and business in the region.
Court document reveals existence of 2nd ‘Prisoner X’
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Zygier lawyer: Case of Prisoner No. 2 was even more sensational; MKs calling for probe: We are on the fast track to becoming a dark police state.
Israeli official: Obama can’t repeat ‘naive’ policy with Egypt
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Diplomatic source told Israel Radio that J’lem expects Obama to back Egypt’s army in its efforts to stabilize country.
Egypt’s interim president aims for elections in 6 months
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Mansour calls for parliament elections followed by presidential.
Is Egypt on the brink of civil war?
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – The turmoil engulfing Egypt is similar to the events which led to the bloody conflict in Algeria twenty years ago.
12-year-old explains Egyptian crisis in under 3 minutes
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – Ali Ahmed’s analysis on YouTube has gone viral.
Parents call on Facebook to control content for youth
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – The Israeli National Parents Association issued a letter to Facebook this week calling on the social networking website to further regulate content available to youth on its site.
Peres peace campaign garners prestigious PR prize
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – President’s public relations aides awarded Roaring Lion Awards for their ‘Be My Friend for Peace’ social media campaign.
‘One-third of PhD recipients work in higher education’
Jerusalem Post 9 Jul 2013 – This phenomenon encourages the brain drain and indicates the failure to take advantage of the abilities of highly trained manpower.
Syria News – July 5 2013 (Warning: Graphic Videos)
Uruknet
Video : UN Accuses Israel of Torturing Palestinian Children
Uruknet
London’s Guardian: Out in Front Exposing Lawless NSA Spying
Uruknet
Syria Protests July 5 , 2013 : A Video Roundup
Uruknet
Video : Letters from Guantanamo Bay
Uruknet
Despite Alicia Keys performance in Israel, BDS movement continues to grow
Uruknet
Haiti: US to Re-Write Haiti Constitution to Better Service the One Percent
Uruknet
Egypt Between a Public Movement and a Military Coup
Uruknet
Interview: Ahmed Shawki All of Egypt is Tahrir
Uruknet
Islamists’ partners quit Morocco coalition
Daily Star 9 Jul 2013 Ministers from the Istiqlal party quit Morocco’s Islamist-led ruling coalition on Tuesday, a spokesman for the conservative party told AFP, threatening a government shakeup or snap elections.
Saudis offer Egypt $5B support, UAE injects $3B
Daily Star 9 Jul 2013 Saudi Arabia approved $5 billion in aid to Egypt Tuesday and the United Arab Emirates has offered $3 billion in desperately needed support for the economy after the army ousted the Islamist president last week.
Three Somalis convicted of piracy, murder in yacht attack off Oman
Daily Star 9 Jul 2013 Three Somalis were convicted on Monday of piracy, kidnapping and murder in the 2011 shooting deaths of four Americans sailing in the Indian Ocean off of Oman and could face the death penalty, according to court…
Four children wounded in grenade explosion
Daily Star 9 Jul 2013 Four schoolchildren are injured after a hand grenade they were playing with exploded in north Lebanon.
Israel warns Arabs against “bashing” it at UN nuclear meeting
Daily Star 9 Jul 2013 Arab diplomats signalled on Tuesday they would seek to step up pressure on Israel over its assumed nuclear arsenal but the Jewish state said any attempt to “bash” it would be counterproductive.
Roadside bomb kills 17 villagers in Afghanistan
Daily Star 9 Jul 2013 A roadside bomb planted by the Taliban hit a motorcycle-drawn cart carrying women and children in western Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing 17 people, officials said.
UK to provide $74M for refugee crisis in Lebanon
Daily Star 9 Jul 2013 The UK says it will allocate an additional $74 million to help Syrian refugees in Lebanon and host communities, as the country struggles to cope with a refugee crisis.
Senior economist named Egypt prime minister
Daily Star 9 Jul 2013 Egypt’s military-backed interim president named a prominent economist, Hazem el-Beblawi, as prime minister on Tuesday and appointed pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei as a vice president, a presidential spokesman announced, ending days of deadlock over filling the…
Egypt imposes new visa rules on Syrians
Daily Star 9 Jul 2013 Syrians travelling to Egypt are now required to apply for a visa, after the authorities in Cairo issued a new rule amid soaring unrest in the country, consulate staff in Beirut tells AFP.
Egypt: Armed men bomb police post in Sinai
YNet News, 9 Jul 2013 – ….
Egypt’s PM-designate to offer posts to Brotherhood party
YNet News, 9 Jul 2013 – ….
Canada: Death toll from train blast rises to 15
YNet News, 9 Jul 2013 – ….
Afghan officials skeptical as US mulls complete withdrawal
YNet News, 9 Jul 2013 – ….
Brazil rejects Snowden’s asylum request
YNet News, 9 Jul 2013 – ….
Soon they’ll ask to pray naked
YNet News, 9 Jul 2013 – Op-ed: Day when liberal women demand to pray uncovered in name of self-expression is not far off ….
Between Tahrir and Zion squares
YNet News, 9 Jul 2013 – Op-ed: There’s no major difference between visions of ultra-Orthodox parties and Muslim Brotherhood ….
Palestinian Information Center
Israel arrested 170 Jerusalemite children since the start of the year
PIC – A Palestinian human rights activist accused the occupation authorities of targeting Jerusalemite children as they have arrested since the beginning of the year 2013 more than 170 children.
Hamdan: Hamas has never been part in the Arab internal conflicts
PIC – Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said Fatah’s claims accusing Hamas of interfering in the internal affairs of the Arab countries are “part of the misinformation published by Fatah..”
Hamas denounces meeting between Fatah and Israeli officials
PIC – Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, has denounced the meeting in Ramallah between Fatah and PA leaders and representatives of the Israeli Likud and Shas parties over a dinner banquet.
Construction of 39 schools in Gaza halted
PIC – The ministry of education in Gaza said on Tuesday that construction work in 39 schools in the Strip came to a halt due to the renewal of the blockade and closure of tunnels.
Hamas: We will not disappoint our people and nation
PIC – Hamas movement confirmed that it will continue to be a security gateway for its homeland and the Arab nation, demanding Fatah movement and its media to stop fabricating news about Hamas.
Health condition of isolated prisoner Dirar Abu Sisi deteriorates
PIC – Human rights sources warned of the seriousness of health condition of isolated prisoner Dirar Abu Sisi, aged 42, deputy director of the power plant in the Gaza Strip.
Two plans to build 500 new settlement units in West Bank
PIC – Israel’s Civil Administration submitted two new plans to build more than 500 new settlement units.
Calls to flock to al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan
PIC – Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage called on Palestinians in occupied Palestinian territories to flock to al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan..
Looming humanitarian crisis in Gaza strip
PIC – Head of Palestinian Contractors Union confirmed that the Gaza strip is facing a fuel crisis due to the Egyptian decision to close the Rafah crossing and the continued Israeli siege on the strip.
IOA holds Hamas leader in administrative detention one day after his arrest
PIC – The Israeli occupation authorities held Sheikh Falah Nada, a Hamas leader, in administrative detention on Tuesday one day after his arrest from his village Qarawat Bani Hassan to the west of Ramallah.
Activists Demolish Parts of Apartheid Wall East of Jerusalem
WAFA – 9 Jul 2013
PLO Issues Report on Apartheid Wall, Settlements
WAFA – 9 Jul 2013
Kuwait Donates $50M to Reform Program
WAFA – 9 Jul 2013
Nine Years Later, Israel Still Indifferent to ICJ Opinion on Wall
WAFA – 9 Jul 2013
Egypt names interim prime minister, sets timetable for elections
LA Times 9 Jul 2013 – Egypt’s military-backed interim leaders choose economist Hazem Beblawi as prime minister and make plans for revising the constitution. CAIRO — Seeking to reassure the outside world after a turbulent week of street protests, Egypt’s military-backed interim leaders on Tuesday appointed a caretaker prime minister and…
Lebanon car bomb renews fears of spillover violence from Syria
LA Times 9 Jul 2013 – The blast injures dozens in the heartland of the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement in the south Beirut area. Suspicions immediately fall on Sunni militants. BEIRUT — A car bomb that injured dozens Tuesday in the urban heartland of the Hezbollah movement renewed fears that the…
Egypt military’s power play welcomed by residents of Suez
LA Times 9 Jul 2013 – The strategic Egyptian city of Suez has stood with the army in past crises, and many there care more about stability than political freedom. SUEZ, Egypt — Military lookouts keep watch over freighters in the blurry distance and checkpoints choke the streets leading into this…
Egypt names new prime minister after coup: Who is Hazem Beblawi?
LA Times 9 Jul 2013 – CAIRO – Hazem Beblawi, a leading liberal economist, was named Egypt’s caretaker prime minister on Tuesday, ending days of speculation after the first choice for the position was abruptly withdrawn due to opposition from Islamists.
Israel launches pilot for ID with biometric database
LA Times 9 Jul 2013 – JERUSALEM — After years of delays, petitions and revisions, Israel on Monday launched a controversial biometric identification program.
In Egypt, Islamists call for uprising after military opens fire
LA Times 9 Jul 2013 – ‘What happened … is a massacre,’ the Muslim Brotherhood declares. The army says the shooting that killed 51 came in response to an attack on its headquarters. CAIRO — With its people more polarized than ever and the military once again struggling to impose calm,…
In Egypt, student is slain trying to help others
LA Times 8 Jul 2013 – Anas Mahfous, 20, heard gunfire and ran to help fellow demonstrators at a sit-in in Cairo. They were demanding President Mohamed Morsi’s reinstatement. CAIRO — Anas Mahfous heard the first shot and ran — toward the gunfire, not away.
Egypt’s Leaders Select Premier and Plan for Quick Elections
New York Times 9 Jul 2013 – The interim government’s moves on Tuesday — choosing Hazem el-Beblawy, a liberal economist, as temporary prime minister and setting a six-month election timetable — were rejected as illegitimate by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Russia Says Study Suggests Syria Rebels Used Sarin
New York Times 9 Jul 2013 – The Russian analysis was based on evidence collected directly by Russian forensics specialists who visited a site in northern Syria, an official said.
The Lede: New Video Appears to Show How Predawn Raid Unfolded in Cairo
New York Times 9 Jul 2013 – Twenty-eight minutes of video emerge that were recorded by a witness to Monday’s deadly clashes in Cairo, and appeared to offer the first clear images of the predawn phase of the confrontation.
Car Bombing Injures Dozens In Hezbollah Section of Beirut
New York Times 9 Jul 2013 – The bombing came amid longstanding fears that Hezbollah would face attacks in response to its military intervention in Syria’s civil war.
The Lede: Aftermath of Bomb in Lebanese Suburb
New York Times 9 Jul 2013 – A car bomb struck Bir al-Abed in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has its offices and supporters, raising concerns of increasing spillover from the war in neighboring Syria.
At War Blog: Secret Diplomatic Cable Sheds Light on Libyan Arms Deals
New York Times 9 Jul 2013 – A Belgian memo suggests that those making arms deals knew, even 40 years ago, that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s weapons would not be retained by Libya’s government.
Netanyahu Names Adviser Israeli Ambassador to U.S.
New York Times 9 Jul 2013 – The long-expected appointment of the aide, Ron Dermer, had raised concerns in Washington because of Mr. Dermer’s ties to Republicans, but he has since won over many in the White House.
National Economic Council: No need to subsidize solar energy
Globes Energy & Water – The calculation’s basic assumption is that solar power is better than electricity generated by coal or natural gas because it does not pollute the environment.
“Gas is a strategic resource”
Globes Energy & Water – Decisions about gas cannot be left to market forces and the private sector, argues MK Isaac Herzog.
Two groups bid to buy Better Place
Globes Main News – On Wednesday, the liquidators will make their recommendation to the Lod District Court regarding the sale of the electric vehicle venture.
12% of Israelis admit paying bribes
Globes Main News – Political parties and religious organizations are perceived as Israel’s most corrupt public institutions.
IBM acquires CSL International
Globes Main News – IBM is buying the Herzliya-based cloud computing company for about $20 million.
Tue: Strauss fails to lift flat market
Globes Main News – Strauss recorded the biggest gain on the Tel Aviv 25 Index, while Bezeq slipped on the day’s biggest turnover.
FDA asks Teva for more Treanda data
Globes Main News – Teva said that the request concerns a new liquid formation of the currently approved Treanda (bendamustine HCL ) for injection.
Tiny fraction of Holocaust assets returned
Globes Macro Economics – The Restitution of Holocaust Victims’ Assets Company has returned to heirs just NIS 50 million of NIS 1.15 billion assets located.
Governor of Delaware leads business delegation to Israel
Globes Macro Economics – Governor Jack Markell: Delaware is an ideal choice for Israeli companies seeking to enter the US market.
New Prisoner X: Mossad Hides Its Dirty Secrets in Ayalon Prison
Tikun Olam – Hollywood loves sequels, even ones that bomb. Apparently, so does the Mossad. The original version, the one starring Ben Zygier, did so “well” at the box office that the Mossad also imprisoned another Prisoner X in the same prison. This individual was also a Mossad agent…
Egypt’s Revolution Falters With Republican Guard Massacre
Tikun Olam – Last week, there was great disagreement among Egyptians and outside observers about whether the Egyptian army was a hero in fulfilling the people’s will by toppling President Morsi; or whether it was a coup designed to protect its interests and perquisites (the Egyptian army controls 40%…
Statement in Response to NGO Monitor Report
Jewish Voice for Peace – The extreme right-wing organization NGO Monitor released a report on July 8 about Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) which was apparently intended to be an expose of JVP’s mission, activities and goals. JVP is proud to be an organization that is a home and a voice…
‘I don’t want to live in a world where every expression of creativity or love or friendship is recorded’ Full transcript of Snowden’s latest interview
Mondoweiss – The Guardian yesterday posted a second portion of its June 6 interview of Edward Snowden in Hong Kong, conducted by Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras. Part I was here (and the full transcript here ). We have transcribed the second portion below, as a service to readers….
Ellsberg honors Snowden’s flight, Walt wants him pardoned; but ‘Peace Now’ worries about what he disclosed to ‘terrorists’
Mondoweiss – Here’s a roundup of recent comments on whistleblower Edward Snowden. Two highly supportive: Daniel Ellsberg points out that the culture was far more receptive to him in 1971 than it is to Snowden today, and he had the ability to speak out even after he was…
Kissinger complained of ‘Jewish lobby’ but yielded to Israeli ambassador’s threat of ‘mutiny’ by American Jews and press during ’73 war
Mondoweiss – President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger worried about the Israel lobby more than they did about strategic interests during the 1973 Yom Kippur war, though both men complained about the “Jewish lobby,” which Kissinger once described as the “Jewish league.” And five days…
The Mubarak (re)turn
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 . More deaths in Egypt yesterday – 50 and counting. Some call it a massacre. Is there another word for it? This prompted…
JNF signs for the road to ethnic cleansing (with apologies to Burma-Shave)
Mondoweiss – For background on the Jewish National Fund, see here . For background on Burma-Shave, see here. (Image: Michael Levin)
Egypt Unrest Impacts Life And Economy in Gaza as Borders Close
The Foward Breaking News 9 Jul 2013 – The continuing unrest in Egypt has taken a humanitarian and economic toll on the Gaza Strip, as the Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah border crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border amid insecurity in the Sinai Peninsula, and out of fear that Hamas activists would join in the…
Israel Finds Remains of Rocket from Egypt Near Eilat
The Foward Breaking News 9 Jul 2013 – Israeli troops found the remains on Tuesday of the first rocket to be fired from Egypt since the July 3 overthrow of the Islamist government there, a military official said. Click here for the rest of the article…
Benjamin Netanyahu Shows Rockets in Gaza Stadium to Soccer Boss Sepp Blatter
The Foward Breaking News 9 Jul 2013 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed the president of the international soccer federation proof that Palestinian soccer fields are being used to launch rockets at Israel. Click here for the rest of the article…
Ron Dermer, Israel’s Pipeline to GOP, Named U.S. Envoy
The Foward Breaking News 9 Jul 2013 – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday named a close U.S.-born political adviser with reported links in the past to the Republican party as Israel’s new ambassador to Washington. Click here for the rest of the article…
Egypt: Egypt-UAE Relations Will Be Restored to Historic Course – Ambassador
allAfrica.com 9 Jul 2013 – [Egypt Online]Egyptian Ambassador to the UAE Tamer Mansour said the UAE government and people have been backing the Egyptian people throughout their difficult and historic challenges.
Egypt: Israeli Minister – We Have Good Relations With Morsi
allAfrica.com 9 Jul 2013 – [Egypt Online]The Israeli minister of internal security said Israel enjoyed good relations with ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.
Egypt opposition rejects poll plan
BBC 9 Jul 2013 – The main liberal opposition coalition in Egypt rejects interim leader Adly Mansour’s decree, which sets a new poll timetable to try to stop the unrest.
Car bomb rocks south Beirut suburbs
BBC 9 Jul 2013 – A car bomb attack wounds dozens of people in a stronghold of Lebanon’s Shia militant group Hezbollah in southern Beirut.
Syria rebels accused of sarin use
BBC 9 Jul 2013 – Russia says it has evidence showing a projectile that hit a northern Syrian village contained the nerve agent sarin and was most likely fired by rebels.
Saudi women urge end to jail term
BBC 9 Jul 2013 – Two women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia call on their government to overturn a jail sentence for inciting a woman to defy her husband’s authority.
Syria’s Baath: A National Sideshow
Al-Akhbar Opinion 9 Jul 2013 – A Syrian man pours a traditional drink in central Damascus on 9 July 2013 as Syrians shop in preparation for the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. (Photo: AFP – STR) A Syrian man pours a traditional drink in central Damascus on 9 July 2013 as…
Israel’s new envoy to US “more extreme than Netanyahu”
Al-Akhbar News 9 Jul 2013 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on 7 July 2013. (Photo: AFP – Oded Balilty) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named as Israel’s new ambassador to Washington Tuesday an extreme nationalist with close ties to the US Republican Party. Ron Dermer,…
Israel charges two Palestinian women for protesting land theft
Al-Akhbar News 9 Jul 2013 – Palestinian activist Nariman a-Tamimi (L) and Rana Hamadah (R) sit for the verdict during their trial at Israel’s Ofer military court near the West Bank city of Ramallah on 9 July 2013. (Photo: AFP – Ahmad Gharabli) An Israeli military court formally charged two Palestinian women…
Gunmen kidnap Lebanese man in Nigeria
Al-Akhbar News 9 Jul 2013 – Gunmen kidnapped a Lebanese official from a construction company in southern Nigeria on Tuesday, after opening fire on his convoy and wounding three soldiers, the military and a security source said. The attack targeted the official from Lebanese company Setraco, who was travelling through Benin city,…
How Lebanese Corruption Works: A Road and a Quarry
Al-Akhbar News 9 Jul 2013 – News about corruption is becoming dull and the feeling of helplessness is complete. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah) News about corruption is becoming dull and the feeling of helplessness is complete. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah) Who says the system doesn’t work? Some of its wheels are still turning as…
Egypt: The Military’s Account of Mursi’s Ouster
Al-Akhbar News 9 Jul 2013 – An Egyptian woman holds up portrait of defense minister Abdelfatah el-Sisias as they gather in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on 7 July 2013. (Photo: AFP – Khaled Desouki) An Egyptian woman holds up portrait of defense minister Abdelfatah el-Sisias as they gather in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on…
Egypt: How SCAF Manipulated its Adversaries
Al-Akhbar News 9 Jul 2013 – Egyptian jet fighters trail smoke as they fly over Tahrir Square, in Cairo, on 7 July 2013, as tens of thousands of people staged a show of force in Tahrir Square to back the army’s ouster of Egypt’s first freely elected president. (Photo: AFP – Khaled…
Hezbollah and the Aounists: Destined to Agree
Al-Akhbar Politics 8 Jul 2013 – Aoun’s people complain that Hezbollah has overridden regional concerns that have undermined their ability to build a strong Lebanese state, a key principle of the FPM. (Photo: Haitham Moussawi) Aoun’s people complain that Hezbollah has overridden regional concerns that have undermined their ability to build a…
Qatar and the Brotherhood: Losing the Crown Jewel?
Al-Akhbar Politics 8 Jul 2013 – A supporter of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak holds a poster of Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, an Israeli flag and a logo of the Al Jazeera channel with the words reading: “Down Hamad” outside Moustafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandessin neighborhood in Cairo…
Egypt opposition rejects poll plan
BBC 9 Jul 2013 – The main liberal opposition coalition in Egypt rejects interim leader Adly Mansour’s decree, which sets a new poll timetable to try to stop the unrest.
Key Morocco party quits government
BBC 9 Jul 2013 – The junior partner in Morocco’s Islamist-led government, the secular centre-right Istiqlal party, quits amid a dispute over subsidy cuts.
Car bomb rocks south Beirut suburbs
BBC 9 Jul 2013 – A car bomb attack wounds dozens of people in a stronghold of Lebanon’s Shia militant group Hezbollah in southern Beirut.
Syria rebels accused of sarin use
BBC 9 Jul 2013 – Russia says it has evidence showing a projectile that hit a northern Syrian village contained the nerve agent sarin and was most likely fired by rebels.
Saudi women urge end to jail term
BBC 9 Jul 2013 – Two women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia call on their government to overturn a jail sentence for inciting a woman to defy her husband’s authority.
UK pledges refugee aid for Lebanon
BBC 8 Jul 2013 – The government is to announce £10m in aid to Lebanon to help it cope with the influx of Syrian refugees.
Articles
Treatment of Palestinians is apartheid by any other name
Jonathan Cook, Israeli Occupation Archive 7/9/2013
Were it not for the razor wire, giant concrete blocks, steel gates, watchtower and standard-issue surly teenage soldier, it would be impossible to tell at what point the barren uplands of Israel’s eastern Negev give way to the South Hebron Hills of the West Bank.
The military checkpoint of Shani vaguely marks the formal demarcation between Israel and occupied Palestinian territory, but in practical terms the distinction is meaningless. On either side of the Green Line, Israel is in charge.
In recent weeks it has been intensifying a campaign to evict Palestinian farming communities summarily from their ancestral lands to replace them with Jewish newcomers.
Israeli human rights lawyers, tired of the international community’s formulaic criticisms, say it is time to be more forthright. They call these “ethnic cleansing” zones – intended to drive off Palestinians irrespective of the provisions of international law and whether or not the Palestinians in question hold Israeli citizenship.
In the occupied South Hebron Hills, a dozen traditional communities – long ago denied by Israel the right to enjoy modern amenities such as electricity and running water – are struggling to remain in the cave-homes that sheltered them for centuries.
Israel has reclassified much of their land as a military firing range and demands that they leave for their own safety. An appeal to the Israeli courts, the latest instalment in a 14-year saga to avoid eviction, is due in the next few days.
Israel’s concern for the villagers’ welfare might sound more convincing were it not encouraging Jews to live close by in illegal settlements.
Palestinians in other parts of the occupied territories coveted by Israel – such as villages next to Jerusalem and those in the fertile Jordan Valley, the territorial backbone of any future Palestinian state – are being squeezed too…. more.. e-mail
Echoes of South Africa’s ’District Six’ in the Negev
Amjad Iraqi, +972 Magazine 7/9/2013
Despite the openness of forced displacement in Israel and the OPT, the public and centers of power do not grasp the inherent severity and racism of the practice. A comparative case, albeit a controversial one, may help to put Israel’s policy into perspective.
Israel’s policy of forcibly displacing and “transferring” the Palestinian Arab population is occurring both in the Occupied Territories and inside Israel itself. The problem is that despite knowledge of the practice, the public and centers of power do not grasp the severity of the policy or the racism behind it, both of which require harsh condemnation and immediate action in order to stop the displacement. A comparative case, albeit a controversial one, may help to put Israel’s policy into perspective.
In apartheid-era South Africa, in addition to the “Bantustans” that divided communities across the country, major cities were divided into municipal districts designated for particular races. In Cape Town, “District Six” gained particular infamy over a government plan to forcibly remove 60,000 non-white residents in order to develop the area solely for white South Africans (watch this clip).
The process began in 1966 when the state declared District Six a “White Group Area,” automatically rendering its black, Coloured and Indian inhabitants as “illegal” residents under South African law. From then until the late 1970s, the government demolished thousands of homes in the District and expelled all non-white residents. The displaced residents – a cosmopolitan community of different ethnicities and religions – were relocated elsewhere according to their race. The areas they were forced into, such as the Cape Flats, became known as the city’s “dumping ground” for non-whites, with thousands trapped in deep poverty and marginalization as a result of their displacement.
Though comparing apartheid-South Africa with Israel-Palestine is heavily debated, the parallels between each country’s policies of dispossession, especially when comparing District Six and the Naqab (Negev), are hard to miss. Israel’s Prawer-Begin Plan will oversee the destruction of dozens of Arab Bedouin villages and the forced relocation of up to 70,000 Bedouin citizens to government-planned “townships.” Like District Six in the 1960s, the Prawer Plan is rooted in the premise that the Bedouins’ presence is “illegal” (despite many of their villages existing before the state’s establishment)…. more.. e-mail
Research: separation wall on the green line?
Alternative Information Center 7/9/2013
The ICJ advisory opinion condemning Israel’s Separation Wall, made public nine years ago today, addresses only the legal dimensions of the Wall. As AIC research highlights, however, the Wall must be understood within the context of Israel’s overall occupation and colonial policies. The most relevant critique of the Wall project must involve its unequivocal rejection and call for full equality and justice for all those living between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.
A Wall on the Green Line? Research conducted by Andreas Muller for the Alternative Information Center.
Executive Summary
The advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, made public on 9 July 2004, is unequivocal in condemning the Wall that Israel has erected inside the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). However, the ICJ’s ability to address only the legal dimensions of the current Wall has increased the vacuum in accountability for the Wall’s other, equally important spheres and impacts. The universe inhabited by the Palestinian communities directly affected by Israel’s
Wall is far from being exclusively legal; the Wall’s disastrous consequences intrude into every arena of life including the familial, social, cultural, historical, economic and political. While condemning as illegal the sections of the Wall built inside the OPT, the ICJ’s mandate precludes it from addressing the very legitimacy of Israel’s policy to build a physical barrier between itself and its occupied Palestinian neighbors.
Since 2002 countless articles, reports and op-eds have been written on the Wall by international, Palestinian and Israeli organizations and activists. Nearly all focus on the intrusive route of the current Wall into the West Bank and its various devastating effects on the Palestinian population. However, no report has systematically and comprehensively studied the project of the Wall as such; in other words, the very notion of a Wall regardless of its route…. more.. e-mail
The irony of exporting Israel’s hunger strike ’expertise’ to the U.S.
Michael Omer-Man, +972 Magazine 7/9/2013
Can Israel help the United States treat hunger striking detainees at Guantanamo Bay more humanely? Probably. But one lesson that may be lost on the U.S. is that Palestinian hunger strikes in Israel have – for the most – part been successful.
When nearly 200 people were rushed to Boston hospitals after the marathon bombing earlier this year, doctors were prepared because of an Israeli disaster management training they had received years earlier.
When a building collapsed in Nairobi in 2006, Israeli army search and rescue teams flew in and freed trapped survivors.
Disaster medicine is the one of the few fields in which Israel truly excels to the point that it can make a positive contribution to the international community – and for that it deserves credit.
Another field in which Israel excels and powerful countries around the world seek its knowledge is urban warfare and counterterrorism. I’m going to go ahead and declare the arms trade a not-positive contribution to the world.
However, despite the polarity between medicine and warfare, healing and destruction, there is a point where the two converge.
Haaretz revealed on Monday that Israeli doctors have been invited to teach the Americans their policies and procedures for dealing with Palestinian hunger striking prisoners. The Americans are under pressure over force-feeding some of the 106 hunger-striking detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
When it comes to dealing with hunger-striking prisoners, (civilian) Israeli doctors have had decent success both in respecting the prisoner’s refusal to accept nourishment and also keeping them alive. There are other, unacceptable abuses like shackling hospitalized prisoners, but all in all, the Israeli doctors could teach the Americans a thing or two. more.. e-mail
Arab Bank mounts legal challenge against claims of aiding terror
Electronic Intifada: 9 Jul 2013 – A Jordanian bank accused of providing services to Hamas is petitioning the US Supreme Court.more
In photos: Palestinian workers’ everyday nightmare at Israeli checkpoints
Electronic Intifada: 9 Jul 2013 – Photo series documents both the cruelty of Israel’s occupation and the resolve of the Palestinian people in the face of daily hardship.more
Palestinian Babies and the Banality of Israeli Racism
Palestine Chronicle: 9 Jul 2013 – By Roger Sheety A June, 2013 speech by Bill Clinton honoring war criminal Shimon Peres has highlighted the extent to which Israeli anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab bigotry has become acceptable within Western mainstream discourse. In a racist echo of Golda Meir, who once admitted that she had trouble sleeping because of the number of Palestinian babies being conceived, Clinton said: “No matter how many settlers you put out there [in the West Bank], the Palestinians are having more babies than the Israelis as a whole…. You’ve got an existential question to answer.” Clinton, who was reportedly paid $500,000 to publicly share his hatred of Palestinian babies, couched his bigotry as part of a speech on “peace” and the bankrupt “two-state solution.” Said Clinton: “If you don’t have a vision of where you want to wind up, bad things are going to happen sooner or later…. You have a better chance if…more
Palestine’s Anne Franks
Palestine Chronicle: 8 Jul 2013 – By Vacy Vlazna The graffiti image of Anne Frank wearing a kuffiyeh by Netherlands artist known as ‘T’ has long drawn indignation and controversy though its original intention was related to the fashionable wearing of a kuffiyeh. Recently BDS Amsterdam’s use of the image is rekindling the controversy. Haaretz’s Bradley Bursten complained, “No, those who are affected most directly by the Anne Frank image – and most deeply hurt – are Holocaust survivors and their descendants.” Personally, I think, it is these same persons who, through the empathy of suffering, should understand the moral symbiosis of the image and its tragic significance today. Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager, who spent two years with her family hidden in a building in Amsterdam and who was betrayed, deported and died in Auschwitz, the notorious Nazi concentration camp, has become a beloved icon of the dreams of children annihilated by violence past and…more
‘Creating a Feeling of Persecution’: An IDF Manual
Palestine Chronicle: 8 Jul 2013 – By Tamar Fleishman “Creating a feeling of persecution” is the code name for the IDF’s activity intended to make the lives of the Palestinians a living hell, while using mental and physical terror that condemn an entire population to a life of fear. Soldiers that “Break the Silence” speak of this in their testimonies that are documented in the organization’s archive : One testifies that: “Part of the idea of getting those that are wanted to feel constantly persecuted, is that you have to be on site, to show up from unexpected places, to cause the population to feel discomfort. It’s all part of the deal, it’s necessary for operational reasons”. And another soldier says: “Sometimes there is something that has to be done, sometimes there are also rooky companies that need training. And so they search for a house that seems, on the aerial photos, to be convenient from operational…more
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The New Dark Age 