26 October 2013 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Settlers, Soldiers, Invaded Qaryout Village, Near Nablus
IMEMC – [Saturday at dawn October 26, 2013] Dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded Qaryout village, south of the northern West bank city of Nablus, shortly after extremist settlers invaded the village. …
Fateh Member Assassinated In Lebanon
IMEMC – [Saturday October 26, 2013] Lebanese sources have reported that a Fateh member was shot and killed by unknown gunmen, in Ein Al-Hilwa refugee camp, in Sidon city, in Lebanon. Another member was injured in the attack. …
Explosion Rocks Cars Of Resistance Fighter In Gaza
IMEMC – Palestinian sources reported Friday [October 25, 2013] that a car owned by a senior resistance fighter was hit by an explosion in the center of the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. …
Clashes break out in Jenin village, no detentions
10/26/2013 – JENIN (Ma’an) — A number of Palestinians suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation as a result of clashes with Israeli forces early Saturday in the village of Yabad southwest of Jenin, locals told Ma’an. Witnesses said that the clashes broke out after six Israeli military vehicles entered the village and soldiers walked through the streets. Israeli forces fired tear gas grenades, sound….
Egyptian authorities close Rafah crossing
10/26/2013 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah crossing with Gaza on Saturday, a Ma’an reporter said. For a week prior to this closure, the crossing had only been open for pilgrims and other special cases. Egyptian authorities did not clarify how long Rafah would be closed. After the July coup, which deposed president Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s army has….
Report: PA petitions countries to withdraw companies from settlements
10/26/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority last month urged 50 countries to pressure companies doing business in illegal Israeli settlements to “withdraw their investment and freeze their activities,” a PA official said Thursday. Mohammad Shtayyeh, a senior Palestinian economic official and peace talks negotiator, told the Financial Times Thursday that the PA had written letters to countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia….
In Photos: Thousands in Ramallah mourn slain Palestinian militant
10/26/2013 – Thousands of mourners on Wednesday participated in the funeral of a man shot dead a day earlier by Israeli forces near Ramallah. Muhammad Assi, 28, from Beit Liqya, was killed Tuesday when Israeli soldiers stormed an area between the West Bank villages of Bilin and Kufr Nemeh, sparking a gunfight which ended at a cave, Palestinian witnesses and medics said. The funeral procession started at….
PLO denies prisoner release linked to more settlement construction
10/26/2013 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — The PLO denied Saturday that a mooted Israeli release of Palestinian prisoners is part of understandings in peace talks under which Israel would be allowed to build more settlements in exchange. The media said this week that Israeli ministers were to meet Sunday to approve the release of a second batch of Palestinian prisoners under the terms of the renewed peace talks. Public….
Second batch of Palestinian prisoners to be released Tuesday
10/26/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israel will release 32 veteran prisoners on Tuesday in conjunction with ongoing peace negotiations, a Palestinian Authority official said. Undersecretary of the Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs Ziad Abu Ain said that the names of the 32 long-term prisoners will be announced on Sunday, and that they will be formally greeted when they are released on Tuesday. PA Minister of Prisoners….
PA to plant 750,000 olive trees to compensate for settler attacks
10/26/2013 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Caretaker Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said on Saturday that the Palestinian Authority will compensate Palestinians whose olive trees have been damaged by Israeli settler attacks by planting 750,000 olive trees across the West Bank. Hamdallah stressed that the Palestinian Authority is working to limit the obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation on Palestinian economic development and livelihoods. Israeli soldiers and settlers….
Car accident injures 9 near Jenin
10/26/2013 – JENIN (Ma’an) — Nine people from the northern West Bank district of Jenin were injured in a car accident near the village of Jaba, a police official told Ma’an. Local police officer Sami Hamdan said that two cars collided near a gas station and that nine people – from Jaba and Kafr Dan – were moderately injured. [END]
Syria state TV reports death of jihadist leader
10/26/2013 – DAMASCUS (AFP) — Syrian state television said Friday night that the leader of the jihadist al-Nusra Front had been killed, but state news agency Sana quickly withdrew an alert saying the same thing.”The terrorist Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, chief of the al-Nusra Front affiliated to Al-Qaeda, has been killed in the campaign in (the northwestern province of) Latakia,” the television said, without providing details. No confirmation….
14 Iran guards killed in clashes on Pakistan border
10/26/2013 – TEHRAN (AFP) — Gunmen identified as “bandits or rebels opposed to the Islamic republic” killed 14 Iranian guards on the border with Pakistan in clashes overnight, state media reported on Saturday. The official IRNA news agency, quoting what it called an informed source, said the clashes occurred in a mountainous region used by both drug traffickers and armed rebels.”Fourteen border guards were killed during armed….
NGO: Car bomb at Syria mosque killed 40, including 7 children
10/26/2013 – BEIRUT (AFP) — The toll from a Friday car bomb explosion at a mosque in Suq Wadi Barada near Damascus soared to at least 40, including seven children, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Syrian government and opposition exchanged blame for the carnage in the town. Suq Wadi Barada is under rebel control and ringed by troops loyal to the regime of President Bashar….
Syria’s jihadist al-Nusra Front says chief in good health
10/26/2013 – Beirut (AFP) — Syria’s jihadist al-Nusra Front said in a statement on Saturday that its leader was in good health, after state television had reported his death.” What was claimed by one channel alone, regarding what it claimed was the killing of the emir of Al-Nusra Front, was a lie,” said the group. On Friday night, Syrian state television said Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani had….
Saudi Arabia braces for ‘open driving campaign’ by women
10/26/2013 – DUBAI (AFP) — Saudi Arabia was braced for possible protests Saturday after women activists declared an “open driving campaign” against the deeply conservative kingdom’s ban on women behind the wheel. Activists had originally planned a “drive-in” Saturday but cancelled it after threats of legal action, instead declaring an open-ended campaign in the only country that forbids women from driving.” Out of caution and respect….
UN: Half of Syria living in poverty
10/26/2013 – DAMASCUS (AFP) — Syria’s war has destroyed livelihoods and collapsed the economy, leaving more than half the country’s population in poverty, according to a report commissioned by UN agencies this month. Some 115,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the war broke out in 2011, and the report warned that the economic devastation wrought by the conflict could be felt….
UN calls for greater Syria aid ‘pressure’
10/26/2013 – UNITED NATIONS (United States) (AFP) — The United Nations humanitarian chief on Friday called on the UN Security Council to put “sustained pressure” on the Syrian government and rebel groups to let in desperately needed relief. Valerie Amos told the council the United Nations had been unable for nearly a year to reach more than 2. 5 million civilians trapped in the worsening Syria conflict. She….
Spy scandal another blow to fretting US allies
10/26/2013 – WASHINGTON (AFP) – In Europe, America’s friends are furious, in the Middle East they are mystified and in the Pacific, they are merely puzzled. Mounting questions over the direction of US foreign policy and sweeping espionage operations are threatening to undercut the Obama White House’s claim to have repaired relations with key allies that frayed under president George W. Bush. The world….
Death toll in Syria-related clashes in North Lebanon rises to 9
10/26/2013 – TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AFP) – Three people died overnight in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli in clashes between supporters and opponents of Syria’s regime, bringing to nine the toll this week, an official said Saturday. Sunni and Alawite gunmen have been fighting in the Bab al-Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen districts of Tripoli since Monday. Two of the casualties were Sunnis, said the security….
Kurds rout Syria Wahhabi militants on Iraq border
10/26/2013 – DAMASCUS (AFP) – Fierce clashes raged Saturday after Syrian Kurds seized from Wahhabi militants a crossing on the Iraqi border, a key supply route for weapons and fighters in the 31-month war, activists said. Meanwhile, UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi was in Iran as he presses efforts to build a consensus for a Geneva conference aimed at ending the conflict. Fighters from both sides were….
UN-Arab League envoy: Iran ‘necessary’ at Syria peace talks
10/26/2013 – TEHRAN (AFP) – The UN-Arab League envoy to war-torn Syria said Saturday in Tehran that Iran’s participation in international peace talks on the conflict was “necessary,” Mehr news agency reported.” We think the participation of Iran at Geneva 2 is natural and necessary,” Lakhdar Brahimi said at a joint press conference after talks with Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. But he stressed that no invitations….
UAE to give $3.9 bn to Egypt’s military-installed govt
10/26/2013 – DUBAI (AFP) — The United Arab Emirates agreed Saturday to give Egypt’s military-installed government another $3. 9 billion in aid after transferring $1 billion in July, the official WAM news agency said. The UAE and other Gulf monarchies were staunch supporters of the July 3 overthrow of Egypt’s first Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, and have vowed to help the interim government address….
Tunisia national dialogue gathers steam
10/26/2013 – TUNIS (AFP) – Tunisia’s ruling Islamists were due to hold a second day of talks Saturday with the opposition on resolving a crippling political crisis that erupted when suspected Wahhabi militants killed an opposition MP three months ago. The much-delayed national dialogue began on Friday after Prime Minister Ali Larayedh made a written commitment to resign and make way for a cabinet of independents….
Girls settle in to first year at Old Delhi s Anglo-Arabic school
The National 26 Oct 2013 – But last year s decision to admit girls to the Anglo-Arabic Senior Secondary School has brought changes not only to the make-up of the study body but also for the students themselves.
Iran executes 16 prisoners in reprisal for Pakistan border killings
The National 26 Oct 2013 – Provincial official says 16 members of rebel groups were hanged on Saturday in retaliation for the killing of 14 border guards near the Pakistan border a day earlier.
Obama admits: NSA tapped Merkel’s calls, German media reports
Ha’aretz – 26 Oct 2013
Saudi authorities promise to crackdown on women driver protest Saturday
Ha’aretz – 26 Oct 2013
Polish police arrest man who posed as Israeli professor
Ha’aretz – 26 Oct 2013
Israeli hospital on wartime footing as Syrian refugees trickle across the border
Ha’aretz – 26 Oct 2013
Egypt’s top TV satirist Bassem Youssef is back
Ha’aretz – 25 Oct 2013
United Arabs Emirates to grant Egypt additional $3.9b. in assistance
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which oppose the Muslim Brotherhood, have already pledged $12b. in aid to Egypt.
Netanya college campus to become self-sustainable micro-grid
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Energy Ministry establishing administration for Sustainability in Cities project.
Deri blames Yishai for failure in municipal elections
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Shas chairman says rival had not helped in the municipal elections in Elad and elsewhere which contributed to Shas losses.
Qatari insult
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – There was a time was when the conflict with Israel was officially and undisguisedly pan-Arab.
Official: Iran 20% enrichment debate meaningless, Israel seeks more US sanctions
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Israeli official says debate is attempt to divert attention from need for complete halt of Iran’s uranium enrichment; says any enrichment capability, heavy water reactor not necessary for civilian nuclear energy program.
From Tucson to Nahariya women connect!
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – The spirit and values of Judaism bind Jews as a people, whether they live in Israel or in the Diaspora.
An incredibly successful intercontinental friendship
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – There were opportunities for Temple trips or Federation missions. Somehow, despite my thoroughly Jewish upbringing, I never felt the pull.
An answer to Israel s brain drain
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Sadly, Warshel left because he was not able to get tenure in Israel at the Weizmann Institute of Science.
DST ends at 2 a.m. Sunday setting clocks back one hour
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – For first time, Israel starts winter clock in line with most of Europe instead of weekend before Yom Kippur.
Successful election: Bad politics
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Barkat correctly feared that low voter turnout could mean a victory for Moshe Lion.
Theater review: The Good Soldier Svejk
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Naor is a fine and experienced director, so how could he go so awry on a piece that has its tongue so firmly in cheek?
Down to the…
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – British new wave pioneers Wire make their debut in Tel Aviv next month.
Ukrainian Jews win Torah scroll battle
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Kiev Central Synagogue wins legal battle against Ukrainian state archive enabling it to keep Torah scrolls obtained from Russia in 2011.
Alleged anti-Semitic attack in Australia leaves 5 injured
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Sydney authorities charge three in connection to brawl.
Study: Main German political party foundations fund anti-Israel activity
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Israeli organization calls for accountability and transparency.
6,000 families participate in religious-secular Shabbat
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – MKs Zahava Galon of Meretz, Aliza Lavie and Adi Kol of Yesh Atid, and Zvulun Kalfa of Bayit Yehudi also took part.
Jewish group to congressman: Remember your Lithuanian grandmother before voting on immigration
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – The group says that they should vote in favor because they, themselves, have migratory ancestries.
The awkward moment when a report surfaced that Rihanna said ‘Palestine’ during her concert
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Now we re off to analyze other clips from the concert to rule out the possibility that umbrella wasn t replaced by occupation, or whatever.
Buy a painting, save a Syrian child’s life
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – About half of Syria’s two million war refugees are children, according to the United Nations.
Syria peace envoy: Iran should come to Geneva talks
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – United Nations peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi: Iran’s participation in Syria peace talks natural, necessary, fruitful.
IDF veteran benefit bill up for ministerial vote
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Previous version of the bill vetoed by Justice Minister Livni after A-G declared it unconstitutional, discriminatory.
Following mafia car bombing, police arrest 8 suspects on obstruction charges
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Police Chief Insp. Gen Yochanan Danino vows police will step up efforts against organized crime.
Members of crime family arrested following Ashkelon hit
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Police Chief Danino vows to wage an unyielding war on organized crime after car bomb kills associate of mobster Shalom Domrani .
‘Israel’s missile-defense system could crumble at the moment of truth’
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Dr. Nathan Faber, an expert on anti-ballistic-missile defense, questions the efficacy of Israel’s tiered-defense concept in an all-out war on several fronts, citing financial and operational reasons.
Steinitz to US: Israel s minimum on Iran is no enrichment
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Intelligence minister says even at 3.5% enrichment, Tehran could weaponize within months, make 5-7 bombs in first year.
Polish police arrest man suspected of posing as Israeli scholar
Jerusalem Post 26 Oct 2013 – Mariusz K. used a fake Israeli ID, other false documents attesting to academic career in order to be hired as lecturer.
Report: Israel’s Mossad may have hacked former French president Sarkozy’s communications in 2012
Jerusalem Post 25 Oct 2013 – Le Monde reports US denied involvement in phone tapping, as well as that of allies, but NSA would not vouch for Israel.
Terrorist Groups Are Displacing Kurdish People
IPS Redur Khalil: Were it not for the Jihadists, the regime would have been toppled long ago. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza/IPS By Karlos Zurutuza QAMISHLI, Syria , Oct 25 2013 (IPS) Kurdish fighters have emerged as a powerful player in the Syrian war thanks to the YekÓneyÍn Parastina Gel (YPG People s Protection…
US Spies on Its Allies For Business Intel, Not For National Security
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 26, 2013 – …I want to emphasize one thing about it, which is that the U.S. has justified the spying in large part, and actually almost entirely: this is the way we have to get terrorists. We have to…
Iraq: No Justice Six Months After 91 Demonstrator Deaths in Hawijah
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 26, 2013 – Today marks the six-month-anniversary of what is commonly referred to as the Hawijah Massacre, which took place at Hawijah, Kirkuk, Iraq, on 23 April 2013. Information provided to Alkarama and the Iraqi Organization for Human Rights,…
Ratner: US Drone Strikes Are War Crimes, Despite Human Groups Reluctancy to Blast Obama
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 25, 2013 – …My conclusion is, which is a more–I guess, a more hard-hitting or broader conclusion then the AI report or the HRW report, is that these drone attacks are absolutely 100 percent illegal in the fashion they…
Rehavam Ze evi and the discourse of expelling Palestinians
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 26, 2013 – A recent Ha aretz editorial criticized the government for enacting a law memorializing the death of Rehavam Ze evi, who was assassinated by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in 2001. Ze evi, who…
Palestinian farmers hungry for change
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 21, 2013 – The wall in the sitting room of Murad al-Khufash s farmhouse is pulling away from the ceiling, exposing a jagged sliver of gray concrete. The three-centimetre gap is a small imperfection in an otherwise tidy living…
Mossad Infiltrated French Presidential Computer Systems
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 26, 2013 – Glenn Greenwald has published in LeMonde, yet another eye-popping story about the NSA. But in this case, it turns out the NSA was not the culprit. Look no farther than the Mossad for the presumably guilty…
Consensus grows among UN states for greater transparency on drone civilian deaths
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 26, 2013 – Key members of the United Nations – including some of Washington s closest allies – broke with a decade of tradition on Friday when they endorsed calls for greater transparency over drone civilian deaths. The European…
Dr. Mustafa Barghouti: After 20 years of Oslo
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 26, 2013 – From the Palestinian standpoint, many believe the Oslo experience was a failure. It severely damaged the cause of the Palestinian national liberation movement and forfeited the opportunity to capitalise on the results of the first Intifada…
Iran hangs 16 rebel prisoners in reprisal for border attack
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 26, 2013 – Authorities in Iran hanged 16 people imprisoned for alleged links with anti-regime groups in retaliation for the killing of 17 border guards in an ambush near the border with Pakistan. Those executed were “linked to terrorist…
Seven years of popular resistance in Al-Masara: We want freedom, not aid money
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 26, 2013 – Yesterday, Friday 25th October, over a hundred non-violent protesters, half of them internationals from more than a dozen countries all over the world marked the seventh anniversary of the popular struggle of the people of Al…
Will Appeals Court Judges Rule that Force-Feeding at Guant·namo Must Stop?
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 26, 2013 – Last week, a panel of three appeals court judges in Washington D.C. (in the D.C. Circuit Court) heard an appeal from three Guant·namo prisoners – including the last British resident, Shaker Aamer – asking them to…
Report: PA petitions countries to withdraw companies from settlements
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 26, 2013 — The Palestinian Authority last month urged 50 countries to pressure companies doing business in illegal Israeli settlements to “withdraw their investment and freeze their activities,” a PA official said Thursday.Mohammad Shtayyeh, a senior Palestinian economic official…
For Israel s police, settler violence is but a fantasy
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 26, 2013 – One of the most common phenomena of the quiet kind of settler terrorism, carried on an almost daily basis in the West Bank, is that of vandalizing trees. Yesh Din has dedicated its new data sheet…
Mustafa Barghouti Garners Support Among West Bank Youth
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 25, 2013 – …. We can understand why Barghouti s messages are so captivating. The corruption that fanned out in the Palestinian Authority from the moment of its inception destroyed everything good. Any political movement within the Palestinian Authority became…
Nouri al-Maliki plans to ask for drones
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 25, 2013- November 1st, US President Barack Obama is scheduled to host Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq s thug and Prime Minister, at the White House. Peg Mackey (Reuters) reports Nouri plans to insist upon the US government supplying him with…
Pakistan Drone Story Ignored Military Opposition to Strikes
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 25, 2013 – – The Washington Post on Thursday reported what it presented as new evidence of a secret agreement under which Pakistani officials have long been privately supporting the U.S. drone war in the country even as they…
Palestinian Refugees in Damascus Eating Dogs to Beat Starvation
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 25, 2013 – – Acute food shortages have reached desperate levels in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus. Leading religious figures in the camps have issued a fatwa permitting the killing and consumption of cats, dogs, mice, rats and…
Lawless Drone Killings
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 25, 2013 – …. Obama s a serial liar. He falsely claims drones haven t “caused a huge number of civilian casualties. They re targeted, focused at people who are on a list of active terrorists trying to go in…
Power Outages Send Gaza Children To Study on Streets
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 25, 2013 – The only refuge Asaad Jabouri, 12, found for doing his homework is under a light post on Market Street in the al-Nuseirat Camp in central Gaza Strip. He came here fleeing the electricity cuts in his…
Rift Between Cairo And Washington Deepens
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 25, 2013 – After a three month-long “strategic review,” the Obama administration has decided to “recalibrate” aid to Egypt and curtail support to its military – a move unlikely to even slightly alter the course of Egypt s troubled…
Activists arrested in Hebron: Segregation isn t our Judaism
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 25, 2013 – Israeli police arrested seven Jewish activists from Israel and the Diaspora in the segregated city of Hebron on Friday for holding signs that read, “Segregation is not our Judaism.” The activists, from a group called All…
New Film Highlights the Human Cost of Drone Warfare
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 26, 2013- Though the debate over drone warfare is certainly more active than it was, say, one year ago, there is little doubt it is basically taking place only at the elite level-policy makers, journalists and a decidedly small…
Leaked memos reveal GCHQ efforts to keep mass surveillance secret
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 25, 2013 – The UK intelligence agency GCHQ has repeatedly warned it fears a “damaging public debate” on the scale of its activities because it could lead to legal challenges against its mass-surveillance programmes, classified internal documents reveal. Memos…
Syria News – October 25, 2013 (Warning: Graphic Videos)
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 25, 2013 – By the end of Friday the Coordination Committees were able to document 257 martyrs including 7 women, 11 children and 1 martyr under torture: 174 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs including 150 martyrs…
New Israeli Discriminatory Laws Tabled
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 25, 2013- Israel s Knesset is its most hardline ever. It reflects hardline extremist rule. Adalah is the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. On October 14, it discussed “a short list of the most dangerous discriminatory…
Guant·namo lawyers want to photograph scars of waterboarded Sept. 11 mastermind
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 25, 2013 – A U.S. Marine attorney defending alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed asked a military judge Friday to let lawyers photograph scars on the ankles and wrists of the man who U.S. agents waterboarded 183 times. Marine…
Aung San Suu Kyi: falling from grace
Uruknet 26 Oct 2013 – October 25, 2013 -Ethnic violence erupted last year in Sittwe, the capital of Burma s Rakhine state. Rohingya Muslims bore the brunt of the violence with an estimated 142,000 now living in a series of squalid camps. In April, Human…
Tunisia national dialogue gathers steam
Daily Star 26 Oct 2013 Tunisia’s ruling Islamists and the opposition met Saturday to discuss a new constitution on the second day of hard-won negotiations to resolve a months-old political crisis.
Sleiman: Qatar exerting maximum efforts to release bishops
Daily Star 26 Oct 2013 President Michel Sleiman says the Qatari emir has informed him that Doha is exerting maximum efforts to help secure the release of the bishops kidnapped in Syria.
Judge dismisses lawsuit againt Egypt’s ElBaradei
Daily Star 26 Oct 2013 A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Egypt’s former interim vice president for “betrayal of trust” in quitting the army-backed government in protest against its bloody crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.
Car blast targets municipal election office in Libya
Daily Star 26 Oct 2013 A bomb exploded Saturday in the car of an electoral official in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi causing damage but no casualties, an official says.
UN Syria peace envoy says Iran should come to Geneva: Press TV
Daily Star 26 Oct 2013 The United Nations peace envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi says Iran should be invited to peace talks in Geneva, Iran’s English-language Press TV reported.
Group: Egyptian ex-army officer was suicide bomber
Daily Star 26 Oct 2013 Al-Qaeda-inspired militants say the suicide bomber who carried out a failed assassination attempt on Egypt’s interior minister last month was a sacked military officer.
Gunmen kill 2 Sunni fighters, 5 relatives in Iraq
Daily Star 26 Oct 2013 Iraqi authorities say gunmen broke into the home of two anti-al-Qaeda militiamen in Baghdad and killed them and their entire household, a total of seven people.
Palestinians deny link between prisoner release, housing
Daily Star 26 Oct 2013 The Palestinians deny that a mooted Israeli release of Palestinian prisoners is part of understandings in peace talks under which Israel would be allowed to build more settlements in exchange.
Saudi women’s driving protest kicks off without arrests
Daily Star 26 Oct 2013 Activists have posted a video of a woman in Saudi Arabia driving a car, as their campaign urging women in the ultraconservative kingdom to defy a ban on getting behind the wheel kicks off.
Iran denies it has stopped enriching uranium to 20 percent
Daily Star 26 Oct 2013 A senior Iranian official has denied reports the Islamic republic has temporarily stopped enriching uranium to the 20 percent level, the state news agency IRNA said Saturday.
Ashkelon murder: Security footage reveals placing of bomb
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – ….
Hundreds march in Washington against NSA spying
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – ….
Evolving, educating: Israel’s Gypsy community
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – Story of Bulgarian girl found with Greek Gypsy couple draws attention to culture of Gypsy communities around the world, including Israel ….
UAE to give $3.9 bn to Egypt’s military-installed gov’t
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – ….
Algeria announces major oil discovery
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – ….
Gov’t divided on issue of prisoners’ release
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – Habayit Hayehudi targets Tzipi Livni for prisoners’ release, Yesh Atid strikes back; Netanyahu keeps mum ….
Golden Dawn supporters protest in Greek capital
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – ….
Israel dismisses reports Iran halting higher-grade enrichment
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – State official says ‘Even if Iran stopped 20% enrichment, it is still equipped with advanced centrifuges that allow it to go from 3.5% enrichment to military grade 90% within a few weeks’ ….
9 people mildly injured by stone throwing
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – Stones hurled at bus traveling south of Hebron injure eight Israelis, one Palestinian girl. IDF scouring area in search of perpetrators ….
Suspicion: Anti-Semitic attack in Australia
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – Four men in yarmulkes, one woman, attacked in Sydney, evacuated to hospital with injuries. Police suspect attack anti-Semitic ….
Saudi women’s driving kicks off without arrests
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – Some 60 women defy Saudi Arabia driving ban Saturday; no arrests reported in what seems to be most successful campaign against ban so far ….
Daylight Savings Time ends Saturday night
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – Israel’s Daylight Savings Time ends October 27, following Knesset-approved extension. Next DST to commence in March 2014 ….
Report: Iran continues to enrich uranium to 20%
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – Senior Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi says Iran continuing enrichment of uranium to 20% purity level; Boroujerdi insists enrichment is for medical needs ….
Saudi Arabia: Threats take down women driving protest
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – State scare tactics take toll, activists back out of Saturday drive-in to battle ban on female drivers. Women were ‘threatened by phone, online, kept in detention,’ says Amnesty ….
Former IAF chief: Even if Iran gets nuke, it won’t last forever
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – Maj. Gen. Nehoshtan trusts in IAF’s ability to strike Iranian nuclear program: ‘Deterrence is strong.’ He warns against ‘drawn out’ talks, ‘bad deal’ ….
Fearing polio epidemic, UN to vaccinate millions in Syria
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – 2.5m children in Syria, 8m others in region to be vaccinated against possible explosion of polio, after cluster of paralyzed children found in eastern Syria. Strain may be same one found in Israel ….
Iran executes 16 ‘terrorists’ in retaliation to bloody border skirmish
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – After clashes with gunmen on Pakistani border claim about 20 border guards’ lives, state hangs jailed members of ‘terror group’ in response ….
Germany seeks ‘no spy deal’ in EU
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – After phone tapping reports, Chancellor Merkel pushes for deal between EU states to end ‘excessive spying,’ similar to deal Germany, France seek with US ….
Museum tells of ships that took Jews to US
YNet News, 26 Oct 2013 – Steam liners of Red Star Line, commemorated in their Belgian home port of Antwerp, carried about two million migrants across Atlantic between 1873 and 1934, quarter of them Jewish including Einstein, Irving Berlin, Golda Meir ….
Palestinian Information Center
Hundreds of Gazan kidney patients face death
PIC – The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza Strip warned on Saturday that hundreds of kidney failure patients were in danger of death due to the acute shortage in medicines and other consumables.
Resheq warns of serious consequences to escalating Israeli violations
PIC – Political bureau member of Hamas Ezzet al-Resheq has warned of serious consequences of escalating Israeli judaization of occupied Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque and of expanding settlement activity.
International organization calls for immediate end to Gaza siege
PIC – The international organization Partners for Peace & Development for Palestinians (PPDP) has called for an immediate end to the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Settlers enter Palestinian village under IOF protection
PIC – Around 40 Jewish settlers entered the Palestinian village of Qaryut, south of Nablus, and provocatively roamed its streets under Israeli army protection on Saturday.
Foreign activists among casualties in IOF quelling of WB peaceful marches
PIC – Citizens and foreign activists were treated for breathing difficulty after Israeli occupation forces used teargas to disperse peaceful marches in various West Bank areas on Friday.
New huge housing units built in Salfit settlement
PIC – Jewish settlers in Ariel settlement built on Palestinian land in Salfit province have built new huge housing units on farming land owned by Palestinians.
Israeli customs authorities seize shipment of “crowd dispersal weapons‚¨ ù
PIC – The Israeli customs authorities seized over 14,000 crowd dispersal weapons in Ashdod port while on its way to the West Bank, Yediot Ahronot Hebrew newspaper said.
Molotov cocktail hurled at settler bus in West Bank, farmers punished
PIC – Palestinian youths hurled a Molotov cocktail at a settler bus near Yaabad village northern West Bank, Yedioth Ahronoth Hebrew newspaper said.
Police End Course in Economic Crimes
WAFA – 26 Oct 2013
Soldiers Prevent Farmers, Herders from Reaching Land near Hebron
WAFA – 26 Oct 2013
Young Gaza Photographers, Filmmakers Sweep UNRWA/EU Prizes
WAFA – 26 Oct 2013
Fatah Condemns Israeli Ban on European Delegation Visit to Gaza
WAFA – 26 Oct 2013
PLO Official says Prisoners Release Not Linked to Settlements
WAFA – 26 Oct 2013
U.S., Russia quietly cooperate on Iran
LA Times 26 Oct 2013 – Despite the nations’ rocky relations in other areas, Moscow has given crucial support to the effort to curb Iran’s nuclear program. WASHINGTON As the U.S. presses for a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program, it is getting help from an unlikely ally: Russia.
U.S. negotiator in nuclear talks assures Iranians she’ll be fair
LA Times 25 Oct 2013 – WASHINGTON America s chief negotiator with Iran promised in a broadcast intended for Iranians that she will be a fair, balanced participant in talks over Tehran s nuclear program, despite her comment this month that deception is part of the DNA among Iranians.
Syria says more than 40 rebels killed east of Damascus
LA Times 25 Oct 2013 – ANTAKYA, Turkey Syrian government forces killed more than 40 rebels in an ambush in a strategic region east of Damascus, the official news agency said Friday, as fierce clashes were reported outside the capital.
Egyptian Satirist Returns to TV With Careful Barbs
New York Times 26 Oct 2013 – In his first show since the military ousted President Mohamed Morsi in July, Bassem Youssef skewered the leadership with caution, in a test of what the government was prepared to allow.
Iran Executes 16 Sunni Insurgents in Retaliation for an Attack
New York Times 26 Oct 2013 – Though the insurgents were not believed to be connected to an attack that killed 14 border guards the day before, an official described the Sunnis as bandits linked to groups against the system.
Saudi Women Rise Up, Quietly, And Slide Into the Driver s Seat
New York Times 26 Oct 2013 – In open defiance of staunch opposition in a conservative Saudi society, a small group of women on Saturday got into their cars and drove off, with some posting videos.
Report: Iran Hangs 16 ‘Rebels’ to Avenge Ambush
New York Times 26 Oct 2013 – Iran hanged 16 “rebels” of an unspecified armed group on Saturday in retaliation for the death of 14 border guards in clashes near the frontier with Pakistan, a semiofficial news agency reported.
Angry Over Syrian War, Saudis Fault U.S. Policy
New York Times 25 Oct 2013 – Saudi Arabia is threatening to break with the United States and pursue a more robust role in supporting the rebellion against the Syrian government. But officials worry about alienating a friend and helping jihadists.
Saudi Arabia Warns Online Backers of Female Drivers
New York Times 25 Oct 2013 – Saudi officials stepped up warnings Friday over a planned protest that will see women get behind the wheel to challenge male-only driving rules, saying that even online support for the demonstration could be grounds for arrest.
Christian Zionists to Found University in Israeli Palestinian Heartland
Tikun Olam – Just when I thought I d brought some of the wackiest, most improbable stories from the soap opera that is latter-day Israel, a new one comes along. This one is a whopper. Nazareth is the heartland of Israel s Palestinian community. It is a town comprising Muslims and…
Olmert is a patriot, Adelson tells an American audience
Mondoweiss – The other night at Yeshiva University, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach introduced Sheldon Adelson as having the ear of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Adelson said that he has met often with the prime minister, and that a recent Wall Street Journal column by fellow-panelist Bret Stephens saying that…
Interfaith solidarity from the perspective of a Jewish theology of liberation
Mondoweiss – Portions of this attached lecture were given as part of the panel A Faith-based Response to the Crisis of Imperial Capitalism during the Peace for Life 3rd People s Forum, October 23-27, 2013, Jeju Island, South Korea. This post is part of Marc H. Ellis s Exile and the Prophetic …
Our relationship to Israel causes dead Americans and enormous expense in fighting Muslims Scheuer to Congress
Mondoweiss – A lot of people are passing around this amazing testimony before Congress two weeks back by former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer, in which he says that the reason that Muslims want to become jihadis is not who we are but our foreign policy. Americans need to…
Rehavam Ze evi and the discourse of expelling Palestinians
Mondoweiss – Rehavam Ze evi A recent Ha aretz editorial criticized the government for enacting a law memorializing the death of Rehavam Ze evi, who was assassinated by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in 2001. Ze evi, who at the time of his death was the Minister of Tourism,…
Gazans mount oral history project to record Nakba stories of refugees
Mondoweiss – Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid Gaza researchers determined to record Nakba generation before time runs out GAZA CITY (Electronic Intifada) 23 Oct by Joe Catron Tucked into a quiet basement suite in the main building of the immaculate Islamic University of…
Mossad Infiltrated French Presidential Computer Systems
Tikun Olam – Glenn Greenwald has published in LeMonde, yet another eye-popping story about the NSA. But in this case, it turns out the NSA was not the culprit. Look no farther than the Mossad for the presumably guilty party. In 2012, during the French presidential elections, which Nicolas…
Israel Dismisses Reports of Iran Nuclear Progress
The Foward Breaking News 26 Oct 2013 – Israel on Saturday dismissed as irrelevant reports that Iran had halted its most sensitive uranium enrichment activity, and said Tehran s nuclear programme must be dismantled. Click here for the rest of the article…
Syria: Kurds seize border crossing
BBC 26 Oct 2013 – Kurdish fighters in north-eastern Syria seize control of an important border crossing with Iraq from Islamist rebel groups.
Egypt: Activists Tweet Struggles of Women Breadwinners in Arab World
allAfrica.com 26 Oct 2013 – [Aswat Masriya]Rights activists and women’s rights organizations in the Middle East will be posting their thoughts on female breadwinners on the popular social networking website Twitter this Saturday.
Iran ‘hangs 16 rebels’ in reprisal
BBC 26 Oct 2013 – Sixteen imprisoned rebels have been hanged in south-eastern Iran in retaliation for a deadly ambush on border guards, Iranian officials say.
Saudi Women Defy Ban on Driving
The Foward Breaking News 26 Oct 2013 – A few women filmed themselves driving in Saudi cities on Saturday, defying government warnings of arrest and prosecution to take part in a campaign against men-only road rules, activists said. Click here for the rest of the article…
Ancient Biblical Civilizations Killed by Climate Change, Study Says
The Foward Breaking News 26 Oct 2013 – Between 1250 and 1100 B.C.E., all the great civilizations of the eastern Mediterranean pharaonic Egypt, Mycenaean Greece and Crete, Ugarit in Syria and the large Canaanite city-states were destroyed, ushering in new peoples and kingdoms including the first Kingdom of Israel. Click here for…
‘Jon Stewart of Egypt’ Returns to Airwaves
The Foward Breaking News 26 Oct 2013 – Egypt s most prominent television satirist, Bassem Youssef, known for his fierce jabs at ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi, returned to the airwaves on Friday following a summer break, poking equal fun at the fan frenzy surrounding Egypt s defense minister that has gripped the nation in recent…
VIDEO: Making ends meet in the West Bank
BBC 26 Oct 2013 – Palestinian Authority managers earn more than 20 times as much as unskilled workers – despite a budget deficit of more than $1bn.
Africa: UN Urges Redoubled Efforts to Eradicate Polio
allAfrica.com 26 Oct 2013 – [UN News]The world is closer than ever to eradicating polio, the United Nations World Health Organization said today while warning that children continue to be at risk, particularly in the Horn of Africa where a tapering outbreak has been confirmed, and amid reports of suspected cases…
VIDEO: Saudi warning to women drivers
BBC 26 Oct 2013 – A protest is due to take place later in Saudi Arabia against the ban on women drivers.
Syria: Kurds seize border crossing
BBC 26 Oct 2013 – Kurdish fighters in north-eastern Syria seize control of an important border crossing with Iraq from Islamist rebel groups.
Lebanon: Jumblatt Shifts Syria Line
Al-Akhbar News 26 Oct 2013 – He is no longer enthusiastic about the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Today, the Progressive Socialist Party leader is back to his realism, or what parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri. (Photo: Haitham Moussawi) He is no longer enthusiastic about the fall of Syrian President Bashar…
Iran ‘hangs 16 rebels’ in reprisal
BBC 26 Oct 2013 – Sixteen imprisoned rebels have been hanged in south-eastern Iran in retaliation for a deadly ambush on border guards, Iranian officials say.
At least ten die in Iraq attacks
Al-Akhbar News 26 Oct 2013 – Attacks in Iraq killed 10 people on Saturday, seven of them from the same family, security and medical officials said. In the Dura area of southern Baghdad, gunmen armed with silenced weapons shot dead a father, mother, four sons and the wife of one of them…
Despite threats, Saudi women defy driving ban
Al-Akhbar News 26 Oct 2013 – Saudi activist Manal Al Sharif, who now lives in Dubai, drives her car in the Gulf Emirate city on October 22, 2013, as she campaigns in solidarity with Saudi women preparing to take to the wheel on October 26, defying the Saudi authorities, to fight for…
Israeli forces seize Palestinian’s home, turn it into military base
Al-Akhbar News 26 Oct 2013 – Israeli security forces stand facing Palestinian protesters following a march in memory of Mohammed Assi, a Palestinian who was killed by Israeli troops three days before on October 25, 2013 in the West Bank village of Bilin, west of Ramallah. (Photo: AFP – Abbas Momani) Israeli…
Iran hangs Pakistani “rebels” after deadly border clashes
Al-Akhbar News 26 Oct 2013 – The Iranian authorities on Saturday hanged 16 “rebels” following overnight clashes in which 14 border guards were killed on the frontier with Pakistan, a judicial official said. “Sixteen rebels linked to groups hostile to the regime were hanged this morning in the prison of Zahedan in…
VIDEO: Can UAE capitalise on Nokia launch?
BBC 26 Oct 2013 – After Nokia launched its latest gadgets in Abu Dhabi, can the regions start-ups produce the first Google of the Middle East?
VIDEO: Dubai bids for World Expo 2020
BBC 26 Oct 2013 – Dubai has been trying to impress the judges who will decide next month who will host the World Expo in 2020.
VIDEO: Making ends meet in the West Bank
BBC 26 Oct 2013 – Palestinian Authority managers earn more than 20 times as much as unskilled workers – despite a budget deficit of more than $1bn.
VIDEO: Saudi warning to women drivers
BBC 26 Oct 2013 – A protest is due to take place later in Saudi Arabia against the ban on women drivers.
Qatar expats shocked after UK teacher’s suspected murder
BBC 25 Oct 2013 – Qatar expats shocked after UK teacher’s suspected murder
Articles
West Bank village marks 7 years of popular resistance
Haggai Matar, +972 Magazine 10/25/2013
The markedly stone-free protests in al Ma asara are nevertheless violently suppressed by the Israeli army. We see the soldiers here with their guns, their boots, their shields and their helmets protecting the wall but we know the real problem is the wall that is in their minds, protest leader says.
About 200 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists attended this week s Friday demonstration against the wall and settlements in the village of al-Ma asara, south of Bethlehem. The larger-than-usual crowd gathered at noon in the village center to commemorate seven years of popular struggle in the village seven years of weekly marches toward the land where the separation barrier is planned to run.
Construction of the fence in this area was in fact halted about four years ago, leaving behind only a patrol road that scars the landscape and a massive gap in the separation barrier. But protests against the yet un-canceled plans and ongoing land grabs by nearby settlements continue. Demonstrations in al-Ma asara are marked by the almost complete lack of stone throwing but have still been consistently oppressed by the army, which always tries to stop activists from reaching their land and sometimes also uses tear gas, stun grenades and arrests to deter villagers from showing their dissent.
The larger and more festive procession this week took the usual route from the village center to the land using the village s main road, only to find it blocked by soldiers at the entrance to the village as the army does every week. Activists tried to break through the row of soldiers with their hands in the air and after failing to pass sat down on the ground in front of the soldiers.
A border police officer stated he was declaring the village a closed military zone, giving demonstrators five minutes to leave the area. You are standing on occupied land in a liberated Palestinian village so it is you that have five minutes to leave, answered Hassan Brijieh of the popular committee in the village. more..e-mail
Institutionalised discrimination in Israel
Khaled Amayreh in occupied East Jerusalem, Al-Ahram Weekly 10/23/2013
The Israeli Supreme Court has further cemented discrimination in Israel against non-Jews in a decision that highlights the non-democratic basis of the state.
A recent decision by the Israeli Supreme Court that asserted Jewish nationality over Israeli nationality has further alienated Israel s large Arab minority and rekindled the old question of whether it is possible to really reconcile parochial Jewish laws with broad democratic principles.
The court rejected a request by 21 mostly Jewish Israeli citizens to be registered as Israeli nationals rather than Jews or Arabs.
The rejection of Israeli nationality by the Israeli state, the petitioners argued, was utterly undemocratic and exposed the state s non-Jewish citizens to institutionalised discrimination.
Critics, both Jewish and Arab, described the decision as an undemocratic move with a disingenuous legal faÁade, aimed at perpetuating the status of non-Jews particularly Israel s Palestinian citizens who comprise about 20 per cent of the population as inherently lesser or inferior citizens.
Israeli officials and supporters of the court decision, however, argue that it is vital to maintain Israel s Jewish character , regardless of the import of democracy and equality as the basis of citizenship.
PR-savvy Israeli spokespersons contend the decision has no impact on the issue of discrimination against Israeli non-Jews, adding that Israel s Jewish identity shouldn t collide with the civil rights of ethnic and religious minorities.
JEWISH AND DEMOCRATIC? Israeli officials often claim that Israel is both Jewish and democratic in nature. Critics, however, argue that this is an empty slogan devoid of truth since Israel can t be both Talmudic and democratic. more..e-mail
Activists arrested in Hebron: Segregation isn t our Judaism
Michael Omer-man, +972 Magazine 10/25/2013
Jewish activists arrested for protesting against segregation in Hebron on day when national-religious Jews descend on the city to mark Abraham s biblical purchase of the Cave of the Patriarchs.
Israeli police arrested seven Jewish activists from Israel and the Diaspora in the segregated city of Hebron on Friday for holding signs that read, Segregation is not our Judaism.
The activists, from a group called All That s Left, went to Hebron on the eve of Shabbat Chayei Sarah, which is when the Torah portion of the same name is read. Religious-nationalist Jews descend on Hebron over the weekend, to mark the text they believe to be proof that Jews own Hebron. (Full disclosure: I was involved in forming All That s Left in early 2013, although never in its activism.)
More on segregation in Hebron
Even more than the rest of the year, during the Chayei Sarah weekend, the Israeli army restricts Palestinian movement in Hebron due to the influx of Jewish worshipers. Th
is year, like years past, the army prevented Palestinians from holding Friday prayers at the Ibrahimi Mosque.
The activists arrived in Hebron late Friday morning with a tent and some signs. They said the intention was to erect the tent and hold an alternative study session of the Chayei Sarah text, challenging the nationalist assertions others draw from it.
The tent was to resemble Abraham s Tent, which according to traditional Jewish exegesis was open on all four sides so that any passing stranger would know s/he was welcome, a statement said. more..e-mail
Tel Aviv, Jerusalem mayors keep posts; right-wing populists register successes
Noam Sheizaf, +972 Magazine 10/23/2013
The municipal elections in Israel yesterday brought no major surprises.
In the most interesting political fight this year, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat beat Atty. Moshe Lion, whose candidacy was backed by Shas s Aryeh Deri and former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman. The defeat has implications for the political futures of both politicians: Deri is weaker without the support of the late Rabbi Ovadiah Yossef and a split in Shas seems more probable than ever. Lieberman s fortune has been in decline for a long time. His fate will be determined when the verdict in his trail is handed down, but even if he is acquitted, his public standing has greatly diminished.
The secular public in Jerusalem rallied behind Mayor Barkat as the lesser of two evils (Lion was clearly more right wing, to the extent that that s possible). As I wrote yesterday, the elections showed that the Israeli center is comfortable enough or indifferent enough to the Palestinian issue to join forces with the settlers, both on a municipal and national level. This should serve as (another) wake-up call for those who think that most Israelis are mobilized against the settlements.
The results in Jerusalem also showed the fragmentation and the internal rivalries in what used to be a coherent and united Orthodox bloc.
The vote for the city council continued a national trend from the Knesset elections: there are more secular representatives but there are also more extreme-right members, including the hard-right, racist activist Aryeh King, who had one of the most Islamophobic, Arab-hating campaigns I can remember since the days of Meir Kahane. This guy is now an elected official.
Right-wing populism also won the day in other places, with Nazereth Illit Mayor Shimon Gafsou registering a landslide victory despite, and perhaps thanks to, a scare campaign against Palestinians who bought houses in his town and corruption allegations against him. He might still finish this term in prison or at least at home, but it won t be because of the voters. more..e-mail
A Tacit Admission that Israel is Ethnically Cleansing Palestinians
Dissident Voice: 26 Oct 2013 – On April 8, 2009, ten billboards went up in the Albuquerque area saying Tell Congress: Stop Killing Children. No More Military Aid to Israel. On April 28, Lamar Advertising, with whom the ads had been placed by the Coalition to stop $30 Billion, tore down the ads due to pressure, presumably from other clients with larger accounts. In June, 2012, twenty-three billboards went up in the Los Angeles area, also calling for an end to US aid to Israel. One week later, the billboard company, CBS Outdoor, also took down the ads . We have come a long way since then. Ads that are critical of giving billions of US tax dollars to Israel, of Israeli human rights violations and of the creation of the Jewish state at Palestinian expense have appeared in Detroit, Seattle, New York, San Francisco, Sacramento, Albuquerque, and other locations. In Denver, another free speech struggle has…more
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The New Dark Age 