16 October 2013 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Sources: “Egyptian Army Opens Fire At Palestinians in Rafah”
IMEMC – [Wednesday October 16, 2013] The Palestine Now News Agency has reported that Egyptian soldiers opened fires at the Palestinian side near the border area in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. …
Bennett: “We Will Leave Coalition Should Government Grant Concessions to Palestinians”
IMEMC – Leader of the Jewish Home Party, Israeli Economy and Trade Minister, Naftali Bennett, threatened that his party would withdraw from the government coalition with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of the Likud Party, should Israel “grant any concession to the Palestinians in peace talks”. …
Egyptian Air Force Flies Over Gaza-Israel Border
IMEMC – [Wednesday October 16, 2013] Israeli Channel 2 has reported that, for the first time in 34 years, Egyptian F16 Fighter jets flew over the Egypt-Israel border area, “as part of Egyptian operations against gunmen in the area.” …
Army Breaks Into Negev Detention Camp
IMEMC – [Wednesday October 16, 2013] Dozens of Israeli soldiers broke into the Negev detention camp, allegedly to install new iron gates, leading to clashes with Palestinian detainees who protested the move. …
Army Uncovers Breach Of Settlement Fence
IMEMC – Israeli sources have reported on Tuesday evening, October 15, that Israeli soldiers located a breach in the fence of Shomron settlement, west of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. …
Gaza blockade leads to decrease in Eid livestock sales
10/16/2013 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Livestock sales in Gaza for the Eid al-Adha holiday decreased significantly this year due to high prices caused by Israel’s blockade and a crack down on smuggling tunnels by Egyptian authorities, residents say. Abu Faris al-Nijar, who sells livestock to be sacrificed every year for Eid al-Adha, told Ma’an that his sales had decreased by at….
Locals: Clashes in Hebron village, Israeli watchtower burned
10/16/2013 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Locals of Beit Awwa, a West Bank village in the Hebron district, reported that Palestinians set fire to an Israeli watchtower Monday during clashes with the Israeli army. The clashes broke out when the Israeli army entered the village. Palestinians threw stones and Israeli forces fired tear-gas grenades, locals said, adding that dozens of villagers suffered from tear gas inhalation. Additionally….
Report: PA misspent over $3 billion of EU aid
10/16/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority may have misspent £1. 95 billion ($3. 13 billion) of European Union financial aid between 2008 and 2012, a British newspaper reported this week. The European Court of Auditors, a Luxembourg based organization set-up to audit the accounts of EU institutions, visited several sites in Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank, and Gaza Strip and noted “significant shortcomings” in….
Ex-Shin Bet chief: ‘Price tag’ could lead to assassinations
10/16/2013 – TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Ex-Shin Bet security chief Carmi Gillon said Wednesday that ‘price tag’ attacks in the occupied West Bank are laying the foundation for a political assassination in Israel, news site Ynet reported.” Today they call it ‘price tag’ because there is no actual threat of returning territories, but this is where the foundations lay for the….
Interview: Ashrawi on Oslo, academia and politics
10/16/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Head of the PLO Department of Culture and Information, Hanan Ashrawi, visited Brown University on Sept. 26 and spoke to Palestinian-American professor Beshara Doumani about the Oslo Accords, academia, and women in politics. A long-time activist, lawmaker and scholar, Ashrawi was the first woman to be elected to the executive committee of the PLO. Ashrawi visited Brown as part of….
World powers, Iran set for second day of nuclear talks
10/16/2013 – GENEVA (AFP) — World powers and Iran hold a second day of talks Wednesday aimed at ending the decade-long standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program, after the Islamic republic put what it billed as a breakthrough proposal on the table. Top officials backed by experts on nuclear affairs and sanctions were combing through the details of Iran’s proposal which it said allowed for….
Israel warns Iran talks must not be ‘another Munich’
10/16/2013 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel kept up its alarmist rhetoric on talks between world powers and Iran Wednesday, with a cabinet minister comparing the situation to pre-war Europe and the appeasement of Nazi Germany.” We view the nuclear talks in Geneva with hope and with concern. We see the worrying signs and we don’t want Geneva 2013 to turn into Munich 1938,” International Relations Minister….
PA minister: Israel releases cancer patient
10/16/2013 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities released a Palestinian prisoner due to recent medical tests that showed he suffered from leukemia, Palestinian Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Qaraqe told Ma’an Wednesday. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said that the prisoner, 22-year-old Hassan Turabi from the village of Sura in Nablus, was sent to a hospital in the Israeli city of Afula….
EU’s Ashton: Next Iran nuclear talks on Nov. 7-8
10/16/2013 – GENEVA (AFP) — World powers and Iran have agreed to hold a new round of talks on Tehran’s controversial nuclear program om Nov. 7 and 8, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Wednesday.” It was decided to convene the next meeting in Geneva on Nov. 7 and 8,” Ashton told reporters after two days of negotiations with Iran. [END]
White House: Iran talks show new level of seriousness and substance
10/16/2013 – WASHINGTON (AFP) — Iran showed a greater level of “serious and substance” in nuclear talks in Geneva between world powers and the Islamic Republic, the White House said Wednesday. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the Iranian presentation at the talks was “useful” and showed a “level of seriousness and substance that we have not seen before.”[END]
Bomb kills 12 as war-related deaths near 500,000 in Iraq
10/16/2013 – KIRKUK (AFP) — A bomb ripped through a crowd of worshipers at a Sunni mosque in Iraq, killing 12 people as a study put the death toll in the war-torn country at nearly half a million since the US-led 2003 invasion. Three children, a policeman and an army officer were among the dead from the blast in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, which also….
With risks multiplying, reporters stay out of Syria
10/16/2013 – BEIRUT (AFP) — Journalists in Syria have been killed by snipers, accused of spying, and kidnapped by gunmen, and with the threats growing, many say the conflict is now too dangerous to cover. The risks have increased the challenge of reporting from the country, which was already difficult because of violence, regime visa restrictions and propaganda on both sides. Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says….
Syria blast kills 21, US presses opposition on peace talks
10/16/2013 – DAMASCUS (AFP) — A bomb exploded in southern Syria on Wednesday killing 21 people, with sources variously blaming rebels and regime troops, as Washington urged a key opposition group to join peace talks. In other violence, at least 41 fighters were Wednesday reported killed in clashes between Kurds and jihadists in the northeast of the country. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a pickup truck….
Chemical watchdog says has checked 11 of 20 Syria sites
10/16/2013 – THE HAGUE (AFP) — The world’s chemical weapons watchdog said Wednesday its inspectors have checked 11 out of 20 sites identified by Damascus as it works to eliminate Syria’s banned weapons.”The OPCW mission has now conducted verification activities at a total of 11 sites that are identified by Syria’s disclosure,” the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons….
UN: France to take in 500 Syrian refugees
10/16/2013 – PARIS (AFP) — France on Wednesday committed to taking in 500 Syrian refugees at the United Nations’ request, the UN refugee agency said. The announcement followed talks in Paris between French President Francois Hollande and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, the agency’s local representative Philippe Leclerc told AFP. [END]
Syrian Arab Republic: Palestine refugees go missing in the Mediterranean Sea
Relief Web 16 Oct 2013 – Source: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Country: occupied Palestinian territory, Syrian Arab Republic Amman, Jordan After Palestine refugees go missing in the Mediterranean Sea, UNRWA draws attention to the acuteness of their plight…
Lebanon: U.A.E. charity distributes Eid al-Adha sacrificial meat in Lebanon
Relief Web 16 Oct 2013 – Source: Emirates News Agency Country: Lebanon, occupied Palestinian territory, Syrian Arab Republic Oct 15, 2013 – 10:35 – WAM BEIRUT, 15th October 2013 (WAM)– More than ten thousand Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian families in a number of Lebanese regions have…
Russia recovers Chelyabinsk meteorite from lake
The National 16 Oct 2013 – The dramatic recovery operation came eight months after a piercing streak of light lit up the morning sky in the central Russian region of Chelyabinsk in scenes some locals said made them think of the onset of a nuclear war.
Ethiopia and Egypt face off over billion-dollar Nile dam project
The National 16 Oct 2013 – Egypt is fiercely opposed to the dam but years of political turmoil have weakened the nation’s influence in the region.
US Senate closer to deal and end to shutdown
The National 16 Oct 2013 – Leaders in plan to lift debt ceiling and stop the threat of default.
Egypt’s relations with US ‘in turmoil’
The National 16 Oct 2013 – Egypt’s foreign minister says relations between his country and the United States are in ‘turmoil’ following Washington’s decision to suspend delivery of tanks, helicopters and fighter jets to Egypt.
Pilgrims take part in safer stoning ritual as Haj draws to a close
The National 16 Oct 2013 – Pilgrims say the stoning ritual, one of the most dangerous aspects of the Haj in the past, has proved easier to perform this year due to lower numbers of participants.
Iran signals it will allow snap nuclear inspections in talks ‘breakthrough’
The National 16 Oct 2013 – Allowing snap inspections of its nuclear sites appears to be the first concession Iran may be prepared to make in return for the removal of sanctions hammering its vital oil and banking sectors. Michael Theodoulou reports
All 49 passengers believed killed in Laos plane crash
The National 16 Oct 2013 – Lao Airlines flight crashes into the Mekong River, killing all 49 people aboard including passengers from 11 countries.
Four killed in Everest avalanche
The National 16 Oct 2013 – Australian tourist and three Nepalese die in avalanche in off-limits area.
EU to push on with Turkey’s membership bid
The National 16 Oct 2013 – European Commission calls on EU governments to make good on a June pledge to restart Turkey’s entry talks after a three-year pause.
US to sell weapons worth $10bn to UAE and Saudi Arabia
The National 16 Oct 2013 – American arms manufacturers to sell more than US$10bn in weapons to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Elizabeth Dickinson reports
Sacking of Turkish TV host over low-cut outfit spurs debate over religious influence
The National 16 Oct 2013 – Presenter Gozde Kansu’s décolleté becomes a political issue in Ankara, with women’s rights campaigner who wears a headscarf saying the dismissal also breaches her rights. Thomas Seibert reports
Top Indian industrialist Birla accused of conspiracy in ‘Coalgate’ corruption probe
The National 16 Oct 2013 – The scandal concerns corruption and favouritism in the government’s allocation of coal-mining rights between 2004 and 2009, at a time when Manmohan Singh controlled the coal ministry. Samanth Subramanian reports
Ending hunger is possible, UN says on World Food Day
The National 16 Oct 2013 – About two billion people in the world lack vitamins and minerals that are essential for good health, while 1.4 billion people are overweight.
Philippines quake: Search for survivors on Bohol as death toll climbs
The National 16 Oct 2013 – Rescue workers race to reach isolated communities on Bohol that was devastated by a huge earthquake, as aftershocks tormented survivors, while the death toll climbs to 144.
Plane crashes in Laos, 39 people killed
The National 16 Oct 2013 – Aircraft crashes into the Mekong River, killing 39 people.
Polish Muslims drop Eid sacrifice amid protests, halal ban
The National 16 Oct 2013 – Poland’s Muslim community refrains from ancient tradition of animal sacrifice for the Eid Al Adha holiday amid protests by animal rights activists and a controversial ban on halal slaughter.
Rebel infighting between Kurds and Al Qaeda kills more than 40 in northeast Syria
The National 16 Oct 2013 – Two days of heavy clashes between Kurdish fighters and Al Qaeda-linked rebels in the northeast have killed at least 41 on both sides.
Lebanese TV shows footage of abducted Turkish pilots
The National 16 Oct 2013 – Two Turkish pilots abducted in Beirut two months ago appear in video broadcast by Lebanese television, saying they are both well and want to return home.
Iran and powers divided over sanctions, U.S. officials say
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Netanyahu, Lapid fail to agree on next Bank of Israel governor
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Israel responds to nuke talks: Iran will be judged on deeds, not Powerpoints
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Five ways to explain grim surveys about Jewish life in the U.S.
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Turkish army says it fires on Al-Qaida linked militants in Syria
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Israeli army taking steps to change Palestinian child arrest policy
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Senate cuts deal to raise U.S. debt ceiling, reopen government
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Suspects arrested over arson of kindergarten in south Israel
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Conservative movement marks centennial, standing on precipice of change
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Netanyahu: Israel committed to Rabin’s vision of peace, but our enemies aren’t
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Bar Refaeli wins damages for 2006 ad campaign by Suny Electronics
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Greek parliament lifts immunity of six Golden Dawn lawmakers
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Falafel in Fiji: Israeli chef meets the south Pacific islands
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Survey: Quarter of European Jews scared to wear kippot
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Italy marks 1943 deportation of Jews amid turmoil over Nazi criminal’s funeral
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Shas forms pact with Lieberman to dismantle Netanyahu government
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
A godless Judaism isn’t the answer
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
New international high school in Israel to charge whopping $35,000 a year
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Turkey missile deal shows China’s growing Mideast clout
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Bush: I won’t believe Iran’s peaceful intentions until it actually proves them
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
State Comptroller raps management of Jerusalem light rail under mayor Barkat
Ha’aretz – 16 Oct 2013
Sexual harassment case against court worker closed
Ha’aretz – 15 Oct 2013
Teva: Neither flag nor ship
Ha’aretz – 15 Oct 2013
Israel’s schizophrenia
Ha’aretz – 15 Oct 2013
Ultimately, Israeli leftism is based on one’s view of the occupation
Ha’aretz – 15 Oct 2013
The Amona complex
Ha’aretz – 15 Oct 2013
‘Foolproof’ biometric system prints duplicate passports
Ha’aretz – 15 Oct 2013
Missing millionaire’s Jerusalem homes being put up for sale
Ha’aretz – 15 Oct 2013
Six Israelis aim to break Guinness record by swimming from Cyprus to Israel
Ha’aretz – 15 Oct 2013
After his death, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef still starring in Shas’ campaign
Ha’aretz – 15 Oct 2013
Every possible cliche
Ha’aretz – 15 Oct 2013
Holiday marred for hundreds of Palestinians outside Jerusalem as Israeli army limits entry into villages
Ha’aretz – 14 Oct 2013
Hitorerut party looks to ‘wake up’ Jerusalem
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – The “pluralistic Zionist” social and political movement is on track to garner up to five seats on the city council.
Kiryat Malachi man hopes to become nation’s first Ethiopian-born mayor
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – Awake Mengistu says racism must first be fought locally, vows to move city past history of discrimination against Ethiopians.
Arab municipal elections dependent on family connections, not ideology
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – Israeli-Arab TAU lecturer tells Post says to expect high turn out for municipal elections in Arab towns, villages.
Education c’tee to tackle issue of subcontracted lecturers
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – Number of students per senior faculty members has more than doubled; C’tee to formulate recommendations by end of academic year.
40% of children at risk for poverty, says CBS report
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – Some 31% of Israelis are close to the poverty line; Israeli rates are twice the rates of European countries.
Egypt planning anti-terror law that includes death penalty
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – Interim President Adly Mansour also reviewing a protest law, similar to one from Mubarak’s reign.
American-Israeli running for mayor of Pittsburgh… from Israel
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – Joshua Wander, a 43-year-old father of six who recently moved to Beit Shemesh, is running on the Republican ticket.
Turkey says it fires on al-Qaida-linked fighter positions in Syria
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – Turkish military fires four artillery shells at Islamist Syrian positions after stray mortar shell strikes Turkish territory.
Attorneys for former Jerusalem police chief issue complaint over alleged leaks to the press on sex crimes case
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – Complaint alleges that the leaks were carried out as payback for Shaham’s refusal to sign a plea bargain.
State indicts 11 Jewish teens for ‘price tag’ violent attacks on Arabs in east Jerusalem
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – Minors accused of damaging cars, endangering lives; defendants allegedly acted “with intent to physically and economically harm Arabs.”
Hezbollah: We have captured an Israeli ‘spy eagle’ in Lebanon
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – Bird allegedly found with receiver implanted on its body and ring around its foot with markings from Tel Aviv University.
Bar Refaeli wins NIS 400k lawsuit for unauthorized broadcast of her
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – Judge orders Suny Electronics to pay Israeli supermodel NIS 400,000 for breach of contract and violation of her privacy.
China’s Mideast clout growing amid Turkey missile deal
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – Beijing has been quietly upping its presence in the Middle East; mixing commerce and geopolitics, is at heart of Beijing’s approach, experts say.
Egyptian FM: Cairo-Washington relations in turmoil
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – Nabil Fahmy says prolonged instability will “reflect negatively on region”; US wrong to assume Egypt will always follow US line.
Monitoring group: Blast hits minibus in southern Syria, kills 21
Jerusalem Post 16 Oct 2013 – Twenty-one people, including four children and six women, were killed when a minibus exploded in the southern town of Noa.
PHOTOS: Forced to live in a tent, Palestinian family celebrates Eid al-Adha
Uruknet 16 Oct 2013 – October 16, 2013 – In the Jordan Valley, it is virtually impossible for Palestinian families to get the permits to build a home: their buildings are demolished and they are forced to live in tents and tin structures with no…
Doctors Without Borders: Where s the Urgency Over Humanitarian Aid to Syria?
Uruknet 16 Oct 2013 – October 16, 2013 -World powers must mobilize aid in response to the spiraling humanitarian disaster in Syria with the same urgency and political will they mustered to address chemical weapons in the country, international humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Me decins…
Iraq: Counting the Bodies
Uruknet 16 Oct 2013 – October 16, 2013 -… Political violence has increased this year, one of the bloodiest since the partial U.S. withdrawal in 2011. According to media reports, 6,000 people died from violence in 2013, over 1,000 in September alone. These numbers come…
Iran, G5+1 Issue Joint Statement
Uruknet 16 Oct 2013 – October 16, 2013 – Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) issued a joint statement at the end of their fourth session of talks in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday evening. “Delegations…
NSA “harvesting” electronic address books and contact lists
Uruknet 16 Oct 2013 – October 16, 2013 – The Washington Post on Tuesday published new revelations stemming from PowerPoint slides and documents leaked by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden. In an article headlined “NSA collects millions of e-mail address books globally,”…
Ex-Shin Bet chief: Price tag could lead to assassinations
Uruknet 16 Oct 2013 – October 16, 2013 – Ex-Shin Bet security chief Carmi Gillon said Wednesday that price tag attacks in the occupied West Bank are laying the foundation for a political assassination in Israel, news site Ynet reported.”Today they call it price tag…
New Study on Iraq Death Count 50 Ti
mes Higher Than Americans Think
Uruknet 16 Oct 2013 – October 16, 2013 – Part of American Exceptionalism is never having to admit when your government kills hundreds of thousands of people. A new study says the U.S. invasion and subsequent war in Iraq killed an estimated 460,800, higher than…
Report: Nigerian forces killed more civilians than Boko Haram this year
Uruknet 16 Oct 2013 – October 16, 2013 – Hundreds of people are dying in military detention as Nigeria s security forces crack down on an Islamic uprising in the northeast, Amnesty International said Tuesday. Some people have been shot, some are starving and others…
Growing up under occupation: the toll Palestinian children pay
Uruknet 16 Oct 2013 – October 16, 2013 – Palestinian children are growing up in an environment in which their rights are being violated. A recent bulletin released by UNICEF (the United Nations Children Fund) shows that 871 Palestinian children were injured and four killed…
Time for the ICC to act on Palestine
Uruknet 16 Oct 2013 – October 16, 2013 – Over three years ago, on January 22, 2009 – in the immediate aftermath of Operation Cast Lead – the government of Palestine lodged a declaration with the Registrar of the International Criminal Court, accepting the Court…
Israeli troops enter Gaza every three days – Oxfam
Uruknet 16 Oct 2013 – Ocotber 16, 2013 – Israeli ground forces entered the occupied territory nine times in September, up from twice in August, according to UK-based development agency Oxfam in its October report on the situation in Gaza. That s about once every…
Libyan al-Qaida suspect pleads not guilty as US federal trial begins
Uruknet 16 Oct 2013 – October 15, 2013 – Abu Anas al-Liby, an alleged al-Qaida mastermind of the 1998 US embassy attacks in east Africa that killed 224 people, pleaded not guilty in federal court in New York to charges of conspiracy to kill and…
U.S. Weighs Letting Iran Keep Nuclear-Enrichment Facilities
Uruknet 16 Oct 2013 – October 15, 2013 – The Obama administration is weighing possible solutions to the standoff over Iran s nuclear program that include provisions at odds with key Middle Eastern allies: allowing Tehran the right to maintain uranium-enrichment facilities on its soil….
Emir of Qatar Asks for Broader Ties with Iran in Eid Felicitation Phone Call
Uruknet 16 Oct 2013 – October 15, 2013 – Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Tuesday called Iran s President Hassan Rouhani to felicitate him on the occasion of Eid al-Adha and to call for expansion of bilateral ties. In their phone…
Syria News – October 15, 2013 (Warning: Graphic Videos)
Uruknet 15 Oct 2013 – October 15, 2013 – By the end of Tuesday the Coodination Committees were able to document 71 martyrs, and includes 3 women and 2 children: 26 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs; 13 in Aleppo; 12 in Daraa;…
World powers and Iran to hold next nuclear talks on Nov 7-8
Daily Star 16 Oct 2013 Six world powers and Iran will hold their next round of nuclear talks on Nov. 7-8 in Geneva in a bid to resolve a decade-old standoff over Tehran’s atomic programme, a western diplomat says.
Peres: Status quo with Palestinians cannot go on
Daily Star 16 Oct 2013 The status quo between Israel and the Palestinians cannot go on, President Shimon Peres warns, in a clear call for the government to push forward fledgling peace talks.
Syria army hails recapture of rebel town near Damascus
Daily Star 16 Oct 2013 Syrian troops recapture the strategic town of Bweida, south of Damascus, from rebel forces, state media and activists report.
Chemical watchdog says has verified 11 Syria sites
Daily Star 16 Oct 2013 The world’s chemical weapons watchdog says its inspectors have checked 11 out of 20 sites identified by Damascus as it works to eliminate Syria’s banned weapons.
Saudi Arabia, UAE seek $10.8 billion in U.S. arms
Daily Star 16 Oct 2013 Saudi Arabia and the UAE say they are seeking $10.8 billion in advanced U.S.-made missiles and other weapons as part of bids by Western-allied Gulf states to stay ahead of claimed military strides by rival Iran.
At least 41 killed in Syria Kurd-jihadist fighting: activists
Daily Star 16 Oct 2013 At least 41 fighters have been killed in violent clashes pitting Kurds against jihadists and Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria, activists say.
Hillary Clinton ticketed by London traffic warden
Daily Star 16 Oct 2013 Hillary Clinton may be tipped as a future U.S. president, but that did not impress a London traffic warden who slapped her vehicle with an £80 (95-euro, $130) parking fine.
Iran offers concessions in nuclear talks, no deal yet
Daily Star 16 Oct 2013 Iran has indicated a readiness to scale back its most sensitive nuclear activity in a clear signal that it is willing to compromise with the West to win relief from harsh economic sanctions, diplomats say.
Israel economy to grow 3.4 pct again in 2013: stats bureau
Daily Star 16 Oct 2013 Israel’s economy is on track to grow at a 3.4 percent rate for the second straight year in 2013, the Central Bureau of Statistics says.
Any US sanctions relief on Iran likely to start slowly
YNet News, 16 Oct 2013 – ….
Facebook lifts restriction on teen users sharing with public
YNet News, 16 Oct 2013 – ….
PM, Lapid to announce new BOI governor by Sunday
YNet News, 16 Oct 2013 – ….
Ein Gedi crash: 2 dead, 2 seriously wounded
YNet News, 16 Oct 2013 – ….
Syria rebels assault Aleppo prison
YNet News, 16 Oct 2013 – ….
Rabin still missed
YNet News, 16 Oct 2013 – Op-ed: He didn’t know everything, wasn’t always right. That’s the prime minister Israel needs these days ….
Study Hebrew, find shidduch, make aliyah
YNet News, 16 Oct 2013 – Jewish Agency opens new international center in Beersheba for young Jewish single men, women from around world ….
Winston Netanyahu
YNet News, 16 Oct 2013 – Op-ed: Only thing Israeli PM has in common with late British leader is fondness for expensive cigars ….
Sobibor revolt’s unsung hero remembered
YNet News, 16 Oct 2013 – Russia, Poland mark 70th anniversary of biggest and most successful prisoner escape under Nazi regime led by Red Army officer of Jewish origin ….
Palestinian Information Center
Mashaal attends Eid Al-Adha reception at Palestinian embassy in Doha
PIC – Head of Hamas’s political bureau Khaled Mashaal attended the reception held on Tuesday in the Palestinian embassy in Qatar on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha.
IOA releases a patient prisoner
PIC – The Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOA) released the Palestinian prisoner Hassan al-Tourabi, from Nablus, due to serious deterioration in his health condition.
Settler runs over an elderly Palestinian near Qalqilya
PIC – An Israeli settler on Wednesday ran over an elderly man in Qalqiliya northern occupied West Bank, causing him serious injuries.
Murra: The resistance and the intifada are the only means to liberate the land
PIC – Ra’fat Murra, in charge of political affairs in Hamas’s office in Lebanon, said that the resistance and the launch of a third intifada are the only means to liberate Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque.
Sources: 212 refugees survived sinking incident near coasts of Malta and Italy
PIC – Palestinian official sources affirmed that 212 Palestinians and Syrians survived drowning after the ship they were aboard sank off the Maltese and Italian coasts a few days ago.
Resheq denies Hamas leaving Qatar
PIC – Izzat al-Resheq, a member of Hamas political bureau, flatly denied what was published in two Lebanese newspapers that his movement had requested to change its political bureau’s residence.
Gaza gov’t asks Arab states not to close borders before Palestinian refugees
PIC – Palestinian government in Gaza stressed its readiness to receive the Palestinian refugees fleeing from the war in Syria, after a boat carrying hundreds of them capsized in the Mediterranean.
Haneyya affirms importance of national unity in telephone contact with Abbas
PIC – Gaza premier Ismail Haneyya reached Mahmoud Abbas, the PA chief in Ramallah, and congratulated him on the occasion of Eidul Adha on Tuesday.
Haneyya invites Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria and Egypt to come to Gaza
PIC – Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya called on the Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria and Egypt by sea to come to the Gaza Strip instead of risking their lives.
B’Tselem: Disruptions at Rafah Crossing Highlight Israel’s Duty to Enable Gazans’ Travel Abroad
WAFA – 16 Oct 2013
Israel’s Ill-Treatment of Children in Custody still Ongoing, Says UNICEF
WAFA – 16 Oct 2013
Egyptian foreign minister cites ‘disturbance’ in relations with U.S.
LA Times 16 Oct 2013 – CAIRO — Egypt’s foreign minister said in an interview published Wednesday that turmoil in U.S.-Egyptian relations could harm American interests throughout the Middle East and suggested that his country’s military-backed government might begin distancing itself from the United States and seeking aid elsewhere, possibly from…
Egypt’s American soccer coach goes from hero to scapegoat
LA Times 16 Oct 2013 – CAIRO — Americans are not at all popular in Egypt these days. And now, perhaps the only one who was has suffered a spectacular fall from grace.
Study estimates nearly 500,000 Iraqis died in war
LA Times 15 Oct 2013 – At least 461,000 war-related deaths occurred between the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 and the end of 2011, researchers say. New research on the human cost of the war in Iraq estimates that roughly half a million men, women and children died between 2003 and 2011…
Iran, U.S. diplomats hold rare private meeting
LA Times 15 Oct 2013 – The bilateral talks at the U.N.’s Palais des Nations last for an hour and signal further easing of tension in the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program. GENEVA — Iranian diplomats Tuesday laid out a plan to address international concern about their nation’s nuclear program and…
Iran Says Nuclear Talks Will Continue Next Month
New York Times 16 Oct 2013 – Iran’s foreign minister said on his Facebook page that he expected the world powers to respond within a few weeks to a proposal he had made.
Iran Presents Nuclear Plan to Big Powers
New York Times 15 Oct 2013 – Speaking in English and using PowerPoint, the Iranian foreign minister outlined a proposal to the big powers aimed at ending the nuclear dispute.
Bill de Blasio’s campaign fundraising helped by pro-Israel donors
Mondoweiss – Mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio waves the Israel flag at the 2013 Celebrate Israel parade. (Photo: Bill de Blasio/Flickr) The takeaway from my story yesterday on New York City mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio is that “you must be very pro-Israel to rise to power in…
P&G pays no Israeli tax on NIS 100m profits
Globes Main News – Procter & Gamble’s annual turnover in Israel is NIS 1.1 billion, but sales are recorded as income by P&G’s Swiss unit for tax purposes.
Google technology could halve construction costs
Globes Main News – Google X: Genie could halve construction costs and time to market, earning the company $120 billion a year.
‘Obama should be called the Bibi sitter’
Mondoweiss – If you go to 9:00 or so of this video of President Obama meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu on September 30 at the White House, you will see some fairly excruciating moments in body language as the prime minister explains a thing or two to the president….
Teva VP denies layoffs in Israel decided
Globes Main News – Ika Abarbanel told the Knesset Finance Committee: I don’t know where the number 800 came from.
ADHD co Alcobra seeks to raise $34.5m
Globes Main News – The company raised $25 million in its IPO just five months ago.
Wed: Stocks keep rising
Globes Main News – The TASE rose again today, with Oil Refineries correcting upwards and Opko Health a notable riser, hwile Teva fell slightly.
‘Occupied Palestine’ doc’y finds new life 30 years after a bombthreat killed its release
Mondoweiss – An image from David Koff’s film, 1980 Largely-suppressed for 30 years, the film “Occupied Palestine” will be screened on October 22 at the 2013 Boston Palestine Film Festival. Joumana El Alaoui said earlier this year that the film presents “an analysis of the Israeli occupation that…
“Facebook amazed by amount of talent in Israel”
Globes Main News – Facebook VP Nicola Mendelsohn: It was a momentous decision for Facebook to open its first R&D center outside the US.
Water tech co TaKaDu raises $6m from 3M
Globes Energy & Water – Municipal water network monitoring company TaKaDu raised the capital from 3M and other investors.
Pharmaceutical exports down sharply in Q3
Globes Main News – Teva Pharmaceuticals is the main exporter in the sector.
Lilach Topilsky leading candidate to head Discount Bank
Globes Main News – Bank Hapoalim head of retail banking Lilach Asher-Topilsky is the top candidate to succeed Reuven Spiegel.
New documentary ‘Flying Paper’ showcases the creativity of Palestinian youth in Gaza
Mondoweiss – Flying Paper Trailer from Flying Paper on Vimeo . The new documentary film, Flying Paper , is premiering across the country in the coming weeks. Flying Paper is an uplifting story of Palestinian
youth in the Gaza Strip on a quest to shatter the Guinness World Record for…
Knafaim buys two aircraft for leasing
Globes Main News – Knafaim has bought an Airbus 321-200 and Boeing 737-800, leased to British Airways and South African Airways, respectively.
Is the US headed for boom or bust?
Globes Macro Economics – Or perhaps something in-between? Whatever the answer, no other country will be affected more than Israel.
Exchanging hand wringing for truth telling: A review of Max Blumenthal’s ‘Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel’
Mondoweiss – Israel should withdraw from the West Bank (and possibly East Jerusalem, depending on one’s perspective) because continuing its occupation of these Palestinian-populated lands would undermine the country’s “Jewish and democratic” character. This is a common refrain among liberal Israelis (and Americans). Yet aside from the unsettling fact…
Liberal senators Markey and Murray join AIPAC in fighting White House opening to Iran
Mondoweiss – Sen. Patty Murray This is tragic. “Democrats, AIPAC jeopardize Iran talks,” reports Foreign Policy . Much of the opposition to lifting sanctions comes from liberals: Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and Patty Murray of Washington (fifth most liberal Senator, according to National Journal rankings in 2012). But then…
What Comes Next: The Jewish/Palestinian Diaspora
Mondoweiss – This post is part of “What Comes Next?: A forum on the end of the two-state paradigm.” This series was initiated by Jewish Voice for Peace as an investigation into the current state of thinking about one state and two state solutions, and the collection has…
NYT decontextualizes (ethnically-cleansed) Jaffa in hipster fashion piece
Mondoweiss – Jaffa was once the pride of Palestinian culture, the bride of the sea. Then it was ethnically cleansed in 1948, by Zionist terrorist militias. A lot of the folks who lived there are in Gaza. You’d never know any of this from watching this n ew…
Israeli right wants to muzzle discussion of the Nakba and Palestinian history
Mondoweiss – Palestinian refugees in 1948 leaving the Galilee. (Photo: Fred Csasznik/Wikimedia Commons) We know all too well how adamantly pro-Israel forces in the U.S. Jewish community and Israel consider certain conversations and actions critical of Israel “beyond the pale,” and how blatant their hasbara (pro-Israel propaganda) attempts…
Elbit Systems wins follow-on Korean order
Globes Aerospace & Defense – Elbit Systems will supply advanced Helmet Mounted Display systems for the South Korea Army’s Surion helicopter.
Shekel weakens after unchanged CPI
Globes Main News – FXCM Israel: The chances of an interest rate cut have increased following the lower than expected CPI figures for September.
Candid words at Iran nuclear talks
BBC 16 Oct 2013 – How the Iranian foreign minister’s backache broke the ice
Carnage as bus hits mine in Syria
BBC 16 Oct 2013 – At least 21 people were killed, including children, when a bus ran over an explosive device in Deraa, southern Syria, say activists.
Egypt: Moussa – Gulf Support for Egypt Affects U.S., Western Stand On June Revolution
allAfrica.com 16 Oct 2013 – [Egypt Online]Head of the fifty-member committee tasked with amending the constitution Amr Moussa affirmed that the support of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE for Egypt has affected the US and Western position on June 30 revolution.
Syria’s Christians ‘flee conflict’
BBC 16 Oct 2013 – A senior Syrian Church leader says almost a third of the country’s Christians have fled their homes – but insists the Christian community will survive.
Nigeria: Jordan Friendly – the List of Stephen Keshi
allAfrica.com 16 Oct 2013 – [Africa Top Sports]For a first appearance at the African Nations Championship on Thursday October 17, the home Eagles will start their preparations.
VIDEO: Al Qaeda suspect appears in US court
BBC 16 Oct 2013 – A Libyan man captured by US special forces in Tripoli earlier this month has appeared in court in New York and pleaded not guilty
Nigeria: Jonathan to Sign BASA Pact With Israel
allAfrica.com 16 Oct 2013 – [Daily Trust]Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) Mr. John-Kennedy Opara has said Nigeria and Israel would sign a Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) when the President Goodluck Jonathan visits the State of Israel on pilgrimage this month.
Iran talks ‘most detailed ever’
BBC 16 Oct 2013 – World powers and Iran have had “their most detailed talks ever” on Iran’s nuclear programme, the EU’s top foreign policy official says.
Candid words at Iran nuclear talks
BBC 16 Oct 2013 – How the Iranian foreign minister’s backache broke the ice
Carnage as bus hits mine in Syria
BBC 16 Oct 2013 – At least 21 people were killed, including children, when a bus ran over an explosive device in Deraa, southern Syria, say activists.
US Law Overturns Lebanon Bank Secrecy
Al-Akhbar News 16 Oct 2013 – BDL had attempted to reach a compromise regarding the reporting process under FATCA, proposing to the US Treasury Department an arrangement where BDL reports on b
ehalf of local banks. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah) BDL had attempted to reach a compromise regarding the reporting process under FATCA, proposing…
Lebanon’s Troubled “Future”: Why Is Riyadh Undermining Us?
Al-Akhbar News 16 Oct 2013 – There are no meetings with Saudi officials, no communications, and not even coordination. (Photo: Haitham Moussawi) There are no meetings with Saudi officials, no communications, and not even coordination. (Photo: Haitham Moussawi) Members of Lebanon’s Future Movement are worried about Saudi’s shifting politics toward Lebanon. Are…
Syria’s Christians ‘flee conflict’
BBC 16 Oct 2013 – A senior Syrian Church leader says almost a third of the country’s Christians have fled their homes – but insists the Christian community will survive.
Study: Half a million Iraqis died from war-related causes since US invasion
Al-Akhbar News 16 Oct 2013 – An Iraqi man visits the grave of a loved one at a cemetery in the capital Baghdad during the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday or “The Feast of Sacrifice” on October 15, 2013. (Photo: AFP – Ahmad al-Rubaye) Nearly half a million people…
Iraq war ‘left half a million dead’
BBC 16 Oct 2013 – About half a million people died in Iraq as a result of war-related causes between the US-led invasion in 2003 and mid-2011, an academic study suggests.
Iran says willing to give IAEA wider powers in nuclear program inspections
Al-Akhbar News 16 Oct 2013 – Updated at 2:15pm: Iran suggested it was ready to address calls to give the UN atomic watchdog wider inspection powers as part of Tehran’s proposals to resolve a decade-old nuclear dispute with the West. Meanwhile, Israel kept up its alarmist rhetoric on talks between world powers…
Seventy Syrian rebel groups say they no longer recognize SNC legitimacy
Al-Akhbar News 16 Oct 2013 – A picture taken on October 9, 2013 shows an opposition fighter firing an rocket propelled grenade (RPG) during clashes in the Salaheddin district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. (Photo: AFP – Abo al-Nur Sadk) Rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s government in southern Syria said…
The growth of global immunisation
BBC 16 Oct 2013 – Many lives saved but who’s missing out?
VIDEO: Al Qaeda suspect appears in US court
BBC 16 Oct 2013 – A Libyan man captured by US special forces in Tripoli earlier this month has appeared in court in New York and pleaded not guilty
VIDEO: Syrians told ‘eat dogs & donkeys’
BBC 15 Oct 2013 – A group of Muslim clerics in Syria have issued a fatwa, a religious ruling, permitting people to eat cats, dogs and donkeys to stave off the threat of starvation.
Articles
Time for the ICC to act on Palestine
Raji Sourani and Shawan Jabarin, Al Jazeera 10/16/2013
A clear and urgent need for judicial intervention is needed for Palestinians who continue to be marginalised.
Over three years ago, on January 22, 2009 – in the immediate aftermath of Operation Cast Lead – the government of Palestine lodged a declaration with the Registrar of the International Criminal Court, accepting the Court’s jurisdiction “for the purpose of identifying, prosecuting and judging the authors and accomplices of acts committed on the territory of Palestine since 1 July 2002”. This declaration gives the ICC jurisdiction to investigate all suspected crimes – regardless of the nationality of the perpetrator – committed on Palestinian territory.
The reality on the ground demonstrates the clear and urgent need for judicial intervention.
Since the beginning of the Oslo process over 20 years ago, the rights of the Palestinian people have been continuously sacrificed in the name of political progress. The peace process’ forfeit of the rule of law and human rights was intended to secure peace and security. The result has been neither peace nor security, but rather a consistent – and in recent years, increasing – deterioration of the quality of life. In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the expansion of settlements continues relentlessly, while the illegal Annexation Wall creates a situation that is completely at odds with both international law and the stated goals of the peace process. In the Gaza Strip we are focused on securing access to medicines, water, adequate food, and, on the right to movement, education and work.
Life in Palestine is subject to the rule of the jungle: generals and politicians know that they can violate the law with impunity, fuelling a continuous cycle of violations and suffering. The result has been an increase in war crimes committed against innocent civilians. Throughout Palestine we are struggling for the right to live, and the right to live in dignity. more.. e-mail
Torturing the Palestinians will not create security
Fahmi Huwaidi, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) 10/14/2013
When our friend made a statement calling for the Rafah crossing to be opened to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, he was faced with accusations of slander in a story in al-Ahram newspaper on October 10th, from so-called “politicians” who said that his statement indicated his ignorance of Egypt’s national security needs. The story also noted that Mr Hamdeen Sabahi, founder of the Egyptian Popular Current and a co-leader of the National Salvation Front, had met with a number of Hamas representatives, led by Dr Mousa Abu Marzouk, deputy chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau.
Mr Sabahi then went on to make a statement that aggravated the politicians, who I imagine would know more about what has happened than anyone else, and who I, therefore, would have expected to take a stronger stand and more responsibility when sharing their opinions. Yet statements in al-Ahram reveal that some of these members of the new Egyptian elite suffer from a lack of insight and knowledge. This applies to a long list of the members of the elite who appear on television.
The fundamental point that these politicians counted on was that opening the Rafah crossing would be a threat to the Egyptian national security. Yet, no one has mentioned why it poses a threat nor have there been any incidents that support this argument. They have relied upon the common impression amongst the Egyptian public that Hamas, who governs the Gaza Strip, poses a threat to Egypt’s security and that the tunnels dug by the Gazans to overcome the blockade and to supply themselves with necessities are “nothing but means to smuggle weapons and terrorists into Sinai in order to turn them into a base for international terrorism.
This last quote was actually alleged by one of the politicians who spoke to al-Ahram (and is a spokesperson for the leftist opposition party, Tagammu), who also said that Egypt will not feel that its borders with Rafah are completely safe until Hamas’s government falls because Hamas are an extension of the Muslim Brotherhood…. more.. e-mail
Democrats, AIPAC Jeopardize Iran Talks
Yochi Dreazen and John Hudson, Foreign Policy 10/15/2013
The Obama administration is facing an unexpected hurdle in its new nuclear talks with Iran – a sizeable bloc of Democratic lawmakers who have made clear that they would break with the White House and fight any effort to lift the current sanctions on Tehran.
The future of those sanctions is a key issue in this week’s negotiations in Geneva between senior officials from Iran and the U.S., the most serious talks between the two longtime adversaries in decades. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif kicked off Monday’s session with a PowerPoint presentation, delivered in English, which offered to put new limits on his country’s nuclear program in exchange for easing the Western sanctions that have devastated the Iranian economy and decimated the value of its currency.
The White House has already signaled a p
otential openness to that kind of deal, but a wide array of powerful Democrats — including the top members of both the Senate and House foreign affairs committees — strongly oppose lifting any of the existing sanctions on Iran unless Tehran offers concessions that go far beyond anything Zarif has talked about in Geneva. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, has also promised to do everything in its power to keep the punitive measures in place.
“If the president were to ask for a lifting of existing sanctions it would be extremely difficult in the House and Senate to support that,” Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told The Cable. “I’m willing to listen but I think that asking Congress to weaken and diminish current sanctions is not hospitable on Capitol Hill.”
“I’d say no,” said Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) when asked if he’d accept a presidential plea to lift sanctions…. more.. e-mail
Madness
Daniel Kovalik, CounterPunch 10/16/2013
A Meditation on U.S. Policy Towards The Middle East
The other day, I was rereading a little chestnut by Seymour Hersh from March 5, 2007, entitled, “The Redirection: Is the Administration’s new policy benefitting our enemies in the war on terrorism?” This article turns out to be quite prescient and helpful in understanding, in particular, the current conflict in Syria. In this piece, Hersh explains how, as far back as those six and a half years ago, the U.S. was already shifting its policy away from its post 9/11 “war on terror” which purported to attack Sunni extremists, best typified by Al Qaeda, and instead towards attacking Shiite organizations and governments in the Middle East with the help of the very Sunni extremists we claimed to be at war with.
As Hersh writes, “[t]he U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.” Hersh explains that the Bush Administration decided to take this redirection because, quelle surprise, its toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq had the unintended, and yet predictable, effect of bringing to power a Shiite government in Iraq which was friendly to Iran, thereby empowering Iran beyond the liking of the U.S. The U.S. decided that Iran was now the bigger threat to the U.S. than the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks, and so sided with the latter to weaken Iran and its allies, such as Syria.
Obama, of course, appears to be following suit, aligning with jihadists in Libya to topple Muammar Gaddafi – one of the most aggressive enemies of Al Qaeda – and with Sunni extremists in Syria, some directly aligned with Al Qaeda, in order to topple, or at least weaken, the Syrian government in Damascus.
While this alignment must be rather perplexing to most Americans, at least to the extent that they are aware of it, there appears to be little sanity in the entire arch of U.S. involvement in the Middle and Near East…. more.. e-mail
South vs. North: Yemen Teeters between Hope and Division
Palestine Chronicle: 16 Oct 2013 – By Ramzy Baroud On Oct 12, tens of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of Eden in the South of the country, mostly demanding secession from the north. The date is significant, for it marks the 1967 independence of South Yemen, ending several decades of British colonialism. But for nearly five decades since then, Yemen is yet to find political stability, a semblance of economic prosperity, and, most importantly, settle the question of its national identity. It has been two years and nine months since a large protest has occurred in the Yemeni capital. Sana’a initiated what was quickly named the Yemeni revolution and ignited media frenzy that Yemen had officially joined the so-called Arab Spring. Seeing Yemen as a member of the ‘Arab Spring’ club, as opposed to appreciating the Arab country’s own unique historical and political circumstances, was a media shortcut that failed to explain the vast…more
Israeli Factor in Syrian Conflict Unveiled
Palestine Chronicle: 16 Oct 2013 – By Nicola Nasser More than two and a half years on, Israel’s purported neutrality in the Syrian conflict and the United State’s fanfare rhetoric urging a “regime change” in Damascus were abruptly cut short to unveil that the Israeli factor has been all throughout the conflict the main concern of both countries. All their media and political focus on “democracy versus dictatorship” and on the intervention of the international community on the basis of a “responsibility to protect” to avert the exacerbating “humanitarian crisis” in Syria was merely a focus intended to divert the attention of the world public opinion away from their real goal, i.e. to safeguard the security of Israel. Their “Plan A” was to enforce a change in the Syrian regime as their “big prize” and replace it by another less threatening and more willing to strike a “peace deal” with Israel and in case of failure,…more
Israelis Turning Blood
into Money: The Lab Review
Palestine Chronicle: 16 Oct 2013 – By Vacy Vlazna Warning! The Lab contains war-porn and hard-core evil; watch and weep. Yotam Feldman’s documentary , released in August, is one of the most important exposés of the obscene rationale and execution of Israel’s hugely lucrative arms and security industries through the voices of some of its ex-military key operators: Amos Golan, Shimon Naveh, Leo Gleser, and Yoav Galant. Israel’s armament juggernaut currently turns over $7 billion p.a. and its phenomenal success is, as Feldman reveals, due to experience, that is, the testing of weaponry on the Palestinian population in the Israeli military ‘labs’ of Gaza and the West Bank: “I think the main product Israelis are selling, especially in the last decade, is experience. .. the testing of the products, the experience is the main thing they [customers] are coming to buy. They want the missile that was shot in the last operation in Gaza or the rifle that…more
The Peace Poets Write from Kabul
Palestine Chronicle: 16 Oct 2013 – By Luke Nephew The Flight from Dubai to Kabul: It’s a flight full of Afghan people and soldiers. And me. And surely a handful of other curious characters. The tension is palpable in the waiting area by the gate. Eye contact between the warring parties is avoided let alone any dialogue. I think about the time when we were in the Bahrain airport where all men and woman sit it different waiting areas and I took out the guitar and played Akon’s “Ain’t nobody wanna see us together but it don’t matter no, because we gonna fight, yah we gonna fight, fight for our right to love.” Against all odds that went over great, this particular moment however just didn’t feel like it was asking for a song. But then as the bus brought us across the runway to board the plane, an American soldier helped an Afghan family carry…more
Turning Blood into Money
Dissident Voice: 16 Oct 2013 – Warning! The Lab contains war-porn and hard-core evil; watch and weep. Yotam Feldman’s documentary, released in August, is one of the most important exposés of the obscene rationale and execution of Israel’s hugely lucrative arms and security industries through the voices of some of its ex-military key operators: Amos Golan, Shimon Naveh, Leo Gleser, and Yoav Galant. Israel’s armament juggernaut currently turns over $7 billion p.a. and its phenomenal success is, as Feldman reveals, due to experience, that is, the testing of weaponry on the Palestinian population in the Israeli military ‘labs’ of Gaza and the West Bank: I think the main product Israelis are selling, especially in the last decade, is experience… the testing of the products, the experience is the main thing they [customers] are coming to buy. They want the missile that was shot in the last operation in Gaza or the rifle that was used…more
South vs. North: Yemen Teeters between Hope and Division
Dissident Voice: 16 Oct 2013 – On October 12, tens of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of Eden in the South of the country, mostly demanding secession from the north. The date is significant, for it marks the 1967 independence of South Yemen, ending several decades of British colonialism. But for nearly five decades since then, Yemen is yet to find political stability, a semblance of economic prosperity, and, most importantly, settle the question of its national identity. It has been two years and nine months since a large protest has occurred in the Yemeni capital. Sana’a initiated what was quickly named the Yemeni revolution and ignited media frenzy that Yemen had officially joined the so-called Arab Spring. Seeing Yemen as a member of the ‘Arab Spring’ club, as opposed to appreciating the Arab country’s own unique historical and political circumstances, was a media shortcut that failed to explain the vast majority of events…more
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The New Dark Age 