28 October 2013 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Israeli Forces Arrest 2 PLC Members and 20 Other Palestinians Affiliated to Hamas
IMEMC – The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the Israeli forces’ detention of 2 Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) from the Change and Reform Bloc of Hamas: Nizar Abdul Aziz Abdul Hamid Ramadan (53); and Mohammed Maher Yusef Bader (55), both from Hebron, in addition to 20 other Palestinians. …
Soldiers Demolish Palestinian Structures In Jerusalem
IMEMC – [Monday October 28, 2013] Israeli soldiers invaded Jabal Al-Mokabber area, south of occupied East Jerusalem, and demolished two rooms and a shed that belong to a Palestinian resident. …
Settlers Attack Palestinian In Nablus
IMEMC – Local sources have reported [Monday October 28, 2013] that a number of extremist Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian man in his own land, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, before settlement guards kidnapped him instead of removing the settlers. …
Army Fires Missile At Area Close To School In Gaza
IMEMC – [Monday October 28, 2013] The Israeli Air Force fired at least one missile at an area behind the Al-Maqousy towers, close to an elementary school, northwest of Gaza city. …
Soldiers Kidnap 21 Palestinians In West Bank
IMEMC – [Monday at dawn October 28, 2013] Israeli soldiers invaded various areas in the occupied West Bank, broke into homes and violently searched them, before kidnapping 21 Palestinians, and taking them to unknown destinations. Two of the kidnapped are legislators from Hebron. …
Israel Announces Names Of 26 Detainees To Be Released Tuesday
IMEMC – The Israeli Ministerial Cabinet held a meeting on Sunday, to discuss the release of 26 Palestinian detainees as part of direct talks with the Palestinian Authority, and determined the names of the detainees. …
Netanyahu Reiterates Israeli Preconditions For “Peace”
IMEMC – [Sunday October 27, 2013] Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that Tel Aviv is seeking peace with the Palestinians, but reiterated Israeli preconditions and demands to recognize Israel as a Jewish State, and drop the internationally guaranteed Right of Return of the Palestinian Refugees. …
Israeli airstrikes target northern Gaza
10/28/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli airstrikes targeted the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, Israel’s army said, in the first airstrike on Gaza in over two months.”In response to the numerous rockets and mortars launched at Israel in the past 24 hours, IAF aircraft targeted two concealed rocket launchers in the northern Gaza Strip. Direct hits were confirmed,” a statement said. Witnesses said….
Israeli forces hand out demolition orders in Jerusalem village
10/28/2013 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli municipality staff on Sunday handed stop-work orders to several houses in the Wadi al-Hilweh neighborhood in Silwan, a Ma’an reporter said. Israeli police and the Israeli municipality staff raided Wadi al-Hilweh and took photos of houses. Jawad Siam, director of the Wadi al-Hilweh center, said that Israeli municipality staff handed six demolition orders to Palestinian houses and a….
Palestinian accused of killing soldier ‘tortured in jail’
10/28/2013 – Correction appendedBETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A Palestinian man accused of killing an Israeli soldier was severely tortured by Israeli forces following his arrest, a human rights group said Sunday. Solidarity Foundation for Human Rights lawyer Mohammad al-Abed met with Nidal Amar, 42, who is suspected of kidnapping and killing Israeli soldier Tomer Hazan. Amar told the lawyer that he was tortured in ways “only seen….
Israeli forces detain 15 Hamas affiliates in Nablus
10/28/2013 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli forces arrested 15 Hamas affiliates in Nablus early Monday, the Islamist movement said. Locals told Ma’an that Israeli military vehicles raided Nablus, Tulkarem, Tamoun and Salem and detained 15 people, mostly students at An-Najah University. Amjad Bashkar, Abed al-Rahman Ishtaiya, Moath Abu Baker, Samer Abu Shoaeb, Anas Ghanem, Anas Radad, Amer Ishtaiya, Kamal Qatalouni, Ami al-Tanbour, Masoud al-Kuni….
Settlers assault Palestinian farmer near Nablus
10/28/2013 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — Settlers assaulted a Palestinian farmer in the Sinjil area between Nablus and Ramallah on Monday, a Palestinian Authority official said. Ghassan Daghlas, an official in charge of monitoring settlement activity the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that a number of settlers from Maale Pune assaulted farmer Mohammed Faqha, 45, leaving him with bruises and injuries. Israeli forces then arrested….
South African committee adopts Marwan Barghouthi’s plight
10/28/2013 – CAPE TOWN (Ma’an) — A conference in Cape Town in South Africa taking place on Monday saw the launch of a higher international committee to free Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouthi and all Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, a Ma’an reporter said Noble Prize winners Desmond Tutu and his former cellmate Ahmed Kathrada were among the members of the newly formed committee…. Related:Palestine’s Mandela
Egypt tunnel closure ‘costs Gaza $230 million monthly’
10/28/2013 – GAZA CITY (AFP) — Egypt’s closure of tunnels used to smuggle goods into the Gaza Strip has caused monthly losses of $230 million to its economy, a Hamas official said Sunday. The “closure of the tunnels caused heavy losses to the industry, commerce, agriculture, transport and construction sectors” of around $230 million monthly, said Hatem Oweida, deputy economy minister of Hamas. Essential materials were….
Israel says will attend UN rights review
10/28/2013 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel will attend a UN human rights review Tuesday, a top official told AFP after media reported that Germany had warned of a diplomatic backlash if it stayed away.”We will attend” the Universal Periodic Review held by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, the official, who declined to be named, said on Sunday. Haaretz newspaper earlier reported that Germany warned Israel of…. Related:HRW praises Israel renewing UN rights council ties and Israel prepares to renew cooperation with the UNHRC
Palestinian Syria refugees protest UNRWA ‘delay’ in Gaza
10/28/2013 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Palestinian refugees from Syria demonstrated Monday in front of UNRWA headquarters in the Gaza Strip, protesting against the agency’s “delay” in fulfilling its responsibilities towards Palestinian refugees from the conflict. Protesters called upon UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees displaced by the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, to provide a “good and dignified life….
Undercover Israeli forces abduct Jihad activist
10/28/2013 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) – Undercover Israeli agents abducted a Palestinian activist affiliated to the Islamic Jihad movement from the village of Beit Liqya west of Ramallah on Monday afternoon. Witnesses told a Ma’an reporter that 24-year-old Muhammad Salih Badr was inside a shop owned by his family when an Israeli-plated car pulled over and four unidentified guys got out and surrounded him….
PA: Freed detainees will not be deported
10/28/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — An agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority for the release of veteran Palestinian prisoners will not result in any being deported abroad, a PA official said Sunday. Prisoners affairs minister Issa Qaraqe said the agreement had nothing to do with reported progress in negotiations with Israel, and he denied reports that the outcome was linked to settlement building.”We strongly….
Israel assembling Palestinian prisoners ahead of release
10/28/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Israeli Prison Service has started to round up 26 Palestinian prisoners who will be freed Tuesday night as a second group of 104 that Israel agreed to release as part of a gesture to coincide with the PLO’s return to peace talks. Hassan Abed Rabbo, a spokesman for the Palestinian ministry of prisoners’ affairs, told Ma’…. Related: Family counting minutes ahead of son’s release
Iran seeks ‘new approach’ with atomic agency
10/28/2013 – VIENNA (AFP) — Iran’s top nuclear negotiator called Monday for a “new approach” in ties with the UN atomic watchdog, kicking off a series of meetings preparing for tough talks with world powers next week.” We think that it is time to take a new approach to resolve questions between Iran and the IAEA,” Abbas Araqchi said in Vienna as he met with International….
HRW praises Israel renewing UN rights council ties
10/28/2013 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — Human Rights Watch on Monday praised Israel’s decision to resume ties with the UN’s rights council, which Israel was boycotting over scrutiny of humanitarian issues in the occupied Palestinian territories.”Israel’s decision to end its misguided boycott of the UN Human Rights Council is a positive step,” the New York-based watchdog’s Bill Van Esveld said…. Related: Israel says will attend UN rights review and Israel prepares to renew cooperation with the UNHRC
Family counting minutes ahead of son’s release
10/28/2013 – HEBRON (Ma’an) – Relatives of the longest-serving Bethlehem-area prisoner are waiting on tenterhooks counting down the hours and minutes ahead of his expected release Tuesday night. Issa Abed Rabbo from Duheisha refugee camp has served 30 years in Israeli jails. His name appeared on a list of Palestinian prisoners numbering 104 jailed before the Oslo Accords of 1994. On Sunday, an Israeli ministerial committee…. Related: Israel assembling Palestinian prisoners ahead of release
Palestinian worker killed in work accident in Israeli factory
10/28/2013 – QALQILIYA (Ma’an) – A young Palestinian man was killed in a work accident in a factory in Kafr Qassim in Israel. A Ma’an reporter in Qalqiliya in the northern West Bank said that the body of Ahmad Abed Halayqa from al-Shuyoukh village near Hebron was transferred by an Israeli ambulance to a checkpoint near Qalqiliya. The body was then taken in a….
Qalqiliya man found dead inside house
10/28/2013 – QALQILIYA (Ma’an) — Makram Awad Maraba, 36, was found dead inside his house in the Palestinian village of Kafr Thulth, southeast of Qalqiliya, on Monday. Police and public prosecution forces arrived in the area and opened an investigation. Sources told Ma’an that the man had gunshot wounds on his body. [END]
Father mistakenly runs son over in Rahat
10/28/2013 – BEERSHEBA (Ma’an) – A four-year-old boy was killed Monday afternoon in the Bedouin city of Rahat in Negev in southern Israel after his father mistakenly ran him over. Initial police investigations suggest that the father started his private car which was parked in front of the house before he heard somebody shouting at him to stop. He discovered that he ran over his son….
3 policemen shot dead in Egypt
10/28/2013 – CAIRO (AFP) — Gunmen on Monday killed three policemen in Egypt, where attacks against security forces have been on the rise in the face of a bloody crackdown against Islamists, security officials said. The assailants opened fire on the policemen who were posted near the University of Mansura in Egypt’s Nile Delta region, before fleeing, one source said. Since the army’s ouster….
Russia says Syria rebel threats against talks ‘outrageous’
10/28/2013 – MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia on Monday described as “outrageous” a threat by powerful rebel groups in Syria against those who attend peace talks on the conflict backed by Moscow and Washington.” It is outrageous that some of these extremist, terrorist organizations fighting government forces in Syria are starting to make threats,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in televised comments.” The threats are directed at those who….
Iran in talks to prepare for 6-power meeting
10/28/2013 – VIENNA (AFP) — Iranian negotiators hold this week a series of meetings in Vienna meant to lay the groundwork for substantial progress in talks with world powers in Geneva on November 7-8. On Monday UN atomic watchdog head Yukiya Amano will meet Abbass Araqchi, deputy foreign minister and Tehran’s chief nuclear negotiator in Iran’s fresh diplomatic push under new President Hassan….
Egypt Islamists turn to campus protests after crackdown
10/28/2013 – CAIRO (AFP) — Pressed by police at every turn, Egypt’s Islamists have turned universities into protest hubs to galvanize their flagging movement four months after a military coup toppled president Mohamed Morsi. Morsi’s loyalists have made no headway in trying to reinstate the jailed former president, but they continue almost daily protests nonetheless in a bid to force concessions from the military-appointed….
Egyptian police arrest fugitive in el-Arish
10/28/2013 – CAIRO (Ma’an) — Egyptian police on Monday arrested a fugitive in el-Arish in North Sinai district suspected of masterminding “terrorist” attacks in Cairo and the Sinai Peninsula, an Egyptian official said. Speaking to Ma’an in Cairo, a high-level official in the Egyptian ministry of interior confirmed that police arrested 40-year-old Hisham Ahmad Kamal. The source described Kamal as a “top fugitive….
Libya gunmen steal $54 mn in bank van attack
10/28/2013 – TRIPOLI (AFP) — Gunmen attacked a central bank van in the Libyan city of Sirte on Monday, stealing $54 million in different currencies, the official Lana news agency reported. The report said “10 heavily armed men” had made off with the funds, which were destined for the Sirte branch of the Libyan central bank and had been flown to the city from Tripoli. Citing an source….
War prevents inspection of 2 Syria chemical sites
10/28/2013 – THE HAGUE (AFP) — The security situation in war-torn Syria has prevented international inspectors from visiting two remaining chemical weapons sites, the international watchdog said. Inspectors have visited 21 of 23 chemical sites, but “the two remaining sites have not been visited due to security reasons,” the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said in a statement. [END]
Saudi ‘no woman, no drive’ mockery video goes viral
10/28/2013 – RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — A Saudi video mocking the kingdom’s unique ban on female driving has gone viral, featuring a male performer singing “no woman, no drive”, an adaptation of Bob Marley’s famous song. Nearly 3. 5 million people had seen the 4:15-minute video by Monday, two days after the adaptation of the reggae legend’s “no woman….
Israel: Rocket from Gaza intercepted
AlJazeera 28 Oct 2013 – Israeli military says two concealed rocket launchers bombed in Palestinian territory’s north in retaliatory action.
Israel to Release 26 Palestinian Prisoners
Palestine News Network
Freedom Movements: Capoeira and Yoga in Palestine
Palestine News Network
First Web Program to Promote Tourism Launches in Palestine
Palestine News Network
Iconography Revives in Palestine
Palestine News Network
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Israeli Forces Arrest 2 PLC Members and 20 Other Palestinians Affiliated to Hamas
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
occupied Palestinian territory: Tunnel closure costs Gaza $230 million monthly: official
Relief Web 27 Oct 2013 – Source: Agence France-Presse Country: occupied Palestinian territory 10/27/2013 13:53 GMT GAZA CITY, October 27, 2013 (AFP) – Egypt’s closure of tunnels used to smuggle goods into the Gaza strip has caused monthly losses of $230 million (170 million euros) to…
Obama’s Twitter account hacked
The National 28 Oct 2013 – Syrian Electronic Army claims responsibility for hack, leaving message: “Obama doesn’t have any ethical issues with spying on the world, so we took it upon ourselves to return the favour”.
Five dead, 38 injured after SUV ploughs into Tiananmen Square crowd
The National 28 Oct 2013 – Five people including a Philippine tourist are killed and 38 are injured after a vehicle ploughs into crowds in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and catches fire.
Hurricane-force winds batter UK, France and Netherlands, killing four
The National 28 Oct 2013 – Major storm lashes southern Britain, the Netherlands and parts of France, killing four, knocking down trees, flooding low areas and causing travel chaos.
US determined ‘not to be consumed by one region’
The National 28 Oct 2013 – Barack Obama’s top foreign policy adviser says Washington’s scaled-back policy towards the Middle East reflects the administration’s determination not to be ‘consumed 24/7 by one region, as important as it is’. Taimur Khan reports.
A million Kenyans campaign against ‘grass-cutting’ punishment for gang rapists
The National 28 Oct 2013 – Over a million furious campaigners have signed a petition demanding justice after three men accused of brutally gang raping a Kenyan schoolgirl were ordered to cut grass as punishment.
UAE joins UK for humanitarian development
The National 28 Oct 2013 – Joint humanitarian and economic development projects between the UAE and the UK are taking root in Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria.
Kuwait PM cautions that welfare state ‘unsustainable’
The National 28 Oct 2013 – Kuwait’s prime minister warns citizens they may need to depend less on the government in coming years. Elizabeth Dickinson reports
Russia slams Syrian rebel stance on Geneva talks
The National 28 Oct 2013 – UN-Arab League envoy arrives in Syria as Russia slams Syrian rebels for threatening anyone who attends the proposed Geneva peace talks.
Turkey opens its iron ‘Silk Road’
The National 28 Oct 2013 – The Marmaray rail link, an underground tunnel beneath the sea of Marmara in Istanbul connecting Europe with Asia, is set to open. Thomas Seibert reports
US snooping: NSA monitored over 60 million Spanish phone calls
The National 28 Oct 2013 – Ambassador called in as report claims 60.5 million calls monitored.
Iran bans newspaper Bahar for story questioning Shia Islam
The National 28 Oct 2013 – Press watchdog bans Bahar for publishing an article seen by critics as questioning the belief of Shia Islam.
Israel arrests Hamas members in West Bank
The National 28 Oct 2013 – Israeli Defence Force has not given any details or reasons for the arrests.
Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson in court as Britain’s phone hacking trial begins
The National 28 Oct 2013 – Rupert Murdoch’s former British newspaper chief and the British prime minister’s ex-media head face trial with six others for conspiring to illegally access voicemail messages on mobile phones belonging to politicians, the famous and victims of crime, to obtain exclusive interviews.
In pictures: Storm batters Britain and northern Europe
The National 28 Oct 2013 – A major storm with hurricane-force winds lashes southern Britain, causing flooding and travel delays.
Woman dies of Mers coronavirus, raising Saudi toll to 52
The National 28 Oct 2013 – Woman’s death raises to 52 the death toll from the infection in Saudi Arabia, health ministry says.
Filipinos vote in village elections after 22 supporters die in pre-poll violence
The National 28 Oct 2013 – Security stepped up in villages considered security hotspots due to a history of electoral violence or attacks by insurgents or militants with links to Al Qaeda.
Storm batters southern Britain, air travel delays at London Heathrow
The National 28 Oct 2013 – A major storm with hurricane-force winds is lashing southern Britain, causing flooding and travel delays including the cancellation of roughly 130 flights at London’s Heathrow Airport.
Video: Bomb attacks on Iraqi soldiers, Shiites kill at least 49
The National 28 Oct 2013 – Ten car bombs blast across Baghdad Sunday, killing at least 49, police and medics say, including Iraqi soldiers lining up for their pay.
Video: Coalition party takes control In Georgia
The National 28 Oct 2013 – After a decade of rule from Mikheil Saakashvili, the Georgian Dream party takes control of both the presidency and the government for the first time in the former Soviet republic.
Thousands protest Israeli government’s planned release of Palestinian prisoners
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Disgruntled Rihanna fans sue Israeli producers over singer’s tardiness
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Beleaguered Syrian Christians fear future
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Knesset passes marriage reform bill, in blow to chief rabbis
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Naftali Bennett denounces attacks on party: ‘The goal is to domesticate us’
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Naftali Bennett denounces attacks on party: ‘The goal is to domesticate us’
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Top Al-Shabab explosives expert killed in Somalia
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Ex-U.K. FM denies anti-Semitic remarks on ‘Jewish money’
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Saudi women back effort to keep female drivers off the road
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Omri Casspi’s career poised for liftoff with Houston Rockets
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Releasing Palestinian prisoners is Netanyahu’s double defense
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Releasing Palestinian prisoners is Netanyahu’s double defense
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Israel’s education council ignoring sexual harassment watchdog
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
U.S. officials: Obama has NSA halt spying of Merkel, other leaders
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Israeli law enforcement being privatized without legal basis, warns civil rights group
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Israeli attacks on Palestinian olive groves kept top secret by state
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
NSA spied on more than 60 million calls in Spain in single month
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Bloomberg’s misplaced Jewish Nobel Prize
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Be honest: Open Orthodoxy is not Orthodoxy
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Israel scrambles to find place for jailed African migrants
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
As Dead Sea shrinks, Israel attempts damage control
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
Israel publishes names of Palestinian prisoners to be released for peace talks
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
IAF attacks Gaza targets in response to rocket fire on south Israel
Ha’aretz – 28 Oct 2013
First woman elected to Safed city council has ultra-Orthodox up in arms
Ha’aretz – 27 Oct 2013
Devious and dangerous, Naftali Bennett shows his true face
Ha’aretz – 27 Oct 2013
Bill legalizing preferential treatment for Israeli soldiers goes to the Knesset
Ha’aretz – 27 Oct 2013
Ministry to announce ‘far reaching’ regulations of marijuana use in Israel
Ha’aretz – 27 Oct 2013
Emigration of young people from Jerusalem slows
Ha’aretz – 27 Oct 2013
Adelson’s bomb: Apologize or face sanctions
Ha’aretz – 27 Oct 2013
For themselves, by themselves: the irrelevant elites
Ha’aretz – 27 Oct 2013
Israeli scientists discover how activity delays Alzheimer’s onset
Ha’aretz – 27 Oct 2013
Teva, unions reach wage accords at four of its Israeli facilities
Ha’aretz – 27 Oct 2013
Resuming cooperation with UN Human Rights Council an important step
Ha’aretz – 27 Oct 2013
Concrete and cockroaches: municipal elections in the Arab sector
Ha’aretz – 27 Oct 2013
The boycott movement will not bring down the settlements
Ha’aretz – 27 Oct 2013
Lou Reed, the ultimate counter-Jew
Ha’aretz – 27 Oct 2013
2,000 people protest release of Palestinian prisoners outside Ofer prison
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Almagor Terror Victim Association tells Interior C’tee that 7 of 16 victims’ families were not warned about release.
American LGBT leaders arrive for weeklong trip
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Program, organized by Project Interchange, an institute of the American Jewish Committee, is the first trip run by the project specifically for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender advocates from the United States.
Jack Straw to ‘Post’: ‘I am not remotely anti-Semitic’
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – UK Zionist federation says former foreign secretary’s remarks “go far beyond criticism of Israel.”
Taub Center: Israeli welfare system ineffective in reducing poverty among elderly
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – According to the research about half of Israel’s elderly are living below the poverty line as per their market income.
Candidly Speaking: Turkey’s Erdogan – An autocratic Islamist bigot
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Erdogan seeks to conceal his true intentions and convey the illusion that he is a role model for an enlightened Islam which blends with democracy.
Livni’s political strategy
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Livni promised that she will never quit politics again. Let’s hope her word on that score is as solid as her national security credentials.
PM says world’s talks with Iran ‘useful’ to Iran because it ‘buys them more time’
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, speaking alongside Nigeria’s visiting leader Goodluck Jonathan, restated that Israel will prevent Iran from getting nuclear bomb.
PM says world’s talks ‘useful’ to Iran because it ‘buys them more time’
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, speaking alongside Nigeria’s visiting leader Goodluck Jonathan, restated that Israel will prevent Iran from getting nuclear bomb.
Straw canard
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Straw’s attack on AIPAC follows in the footsteps of John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt who in 2007 published The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy.
ACRI asks High Court to put state in contempt over migrants
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Nine migrants have been released so far and many other migrants’ cases are under review according to AG letter.
Tzohar bill passed into law
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Bill passed after feisty debate between Tzohar national religious rabbinical association and the religious establishment.
Municipal elections in Israeli Arab towns
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – The government turns a blind eye to what is happening in the Arab Israeli communities.
A resting development in South Africa
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Shabbat observance brings communal spirit, family togetherness and inner calm to the alienation, fragmentation and gadget saturation of our 21st-century lives.
Report: Chinese Trojan Horse targeted defense corporations
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Defense official says he’s unaware of such developments; Defense corporations decline to comment.
Israel to present its human rights record to UNHRC
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Report will cover from Beduin in the Negev to WoW.
Peace needs a peace camp
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – No longer do we see huge demonstrations in support of peace, or even small ones.
Antiquities thieves who allegedly sneaked into Israel on donkeys to face indictment
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – The IAA that the three men were surprised by anti-antiquities theft officers backed up by Border Patrol officers.
State to High Court: No plan for full gas mask distribution before mid-2014
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – 45% of the population may wait a long time until they actually have their masks in hand.
Argentina’s history-making rabbi-lawmaker wears Jewishness on his sleeve
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Sergio Bergman is believed to be the only rabbi seated in a national parliament outside Israel.
Abbas vows to continue efforts to release all Palestinian prisoners
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – “We won’t have comfort until they are all released.”
7 of 16 victims’ families were not warned about prisoner release
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Knesset Interior Committee chairwoman Miri Regev: No normal country in the world frees terrorists.
Israel plans mass spaying campaign to combat street cat proliferation
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Agriculture Ministry’s NIS 4.5 million campaign will spay and neuter approximately 45,000 stray cats.
Israeli models mix with fish in Red Sea photo contest
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Italian photographer Giordano Cipriani shot Cohen for about 30 minutes, directing her in sign language as the wedding gown floated freely about her as it never would on land.
Netanyahu sends message to Bennett on ‘necessary’ prisoner release
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Tensions rise within coalition on eve of prisoner release.
Cornet unveils breakthrough to unclog Wifi, radio spectrum
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – “If everyone talks at once, nobody will understand anything. If everyone gets a window of time to speak, it works out.”
Iranian deputy FM pledges ‘new approach’ in nuclear program talks
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – UN nuclear chief says talks must make concrete progress.
Palestinian minister: Israeli concept of ‘life in prison’ has collapsed
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is ready to greet freed security prisoners in Ramallah ceremony.
1500 schools under high risk in case of earthquake
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Earthquake preparedness falls between the cracks as different ministries claim not to be responsible.
Peace Now lashes out at Naftali Bennett over prisoner release opposition
Jerusalem Post 28 Oct 2013 – Anti-settlement organization says Bayit Yehudi responsible for freeing violent prisoners.
Syrians Under Siege Now in Egypt
IPS A Syrian refugee in Cairo: fleeing Syrians have little to look forward to here. Credit: Hisham Allam/IPS. By Hisham Allam CAIRO, Oct 28 2013 (IPS) Mahmoud Abu Yousef, 28, sits in one of the suburban subway stations of Egyptian capital Cairo selling socks. He had fled Syria with his wife…
What s behind Israel s biggest economic boom? The occupation
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 – The period of Israel s history that by far saw the largest economic growth, more than any other, was the six years following the Six Day War. And what agricultural, industrial, or hi-tech breakthroughs took place…
Drone kills two in Somalia: witnesses
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 -A suspected drone strike has hit a vehicle in southern Somalia and killed two fighters from the armed group al-Shabab, witnesses said.The men were the only occupants of the vehicle and no one else was harmed, they…
Pakistani Victims of CIA Drone Strike Travel to US to Bring Their Story to Americans
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013- Rafiq ur Rehman is a Pakistani whose 67-year-old mother was killed and whose children were injured by a CIA drone strike. His family has received no explanation from the US government on why she was killed. To…
Video: Joseph Massad on Zionism s strategy of “Peace is War”
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 – In this fascinating lecture, Columbia Professor Joseph Massad unravels the obfuscatory language of “peace” the Zionist movement and Israel have always used to mask their aggressive and colonial intentions towards Palestine.Massad s lecture, entitled “Peace Is…
Omar Farooq, Iraq: “It is like the fire is getting closer”
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013- During the height of Iraq s sectarian violence in 2006-7, sectarian militias went on shooting rampages, killing civilians at false checkpoints and outside their homes for a single reason: their sect.So-called identity-based killings by death squads -…
Max Blumenthal s Goliath, Life and Loathing in Greater Israel – Pt1 (Video)
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 – …Well, as you mentioned, Israel is an ethnocracy. It s not an actual multiethnic, multireligious democracy. It s not a real democracy. At best you can call it a Herrenvolk democracy, because it privileges one group…
Palestinian Syria refugees protest UNRWA delay in Gaza
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 – — Palestinian refugees from Syria demonstrated Monday in front of UNRWA headquarters in the Gaza Strip, protesting against the agency s “delay” in fulfilling its responsibilities towards Palestinian refugees from the conflict. Protesters called upon UNRWA,…
Israeli soldiers blocking the entrances of Ni lin village
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 – Since last week the village of Ni lin is being targeted daily by midnight raids from the Israeli occupation forces. The soldiers have been shooting tear gas into people s homes while they are sleeping. Only…
NSA head demands end to spying revelations
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 -In an interview last Thursday, the head of the National Security Agency (NSA), General Keith Alexander, delivered a series of threats against whistle-blower Edward Snowden and those who sympathize with and support him, as well as against…
Choosing Murder: The True Nature of the System Laid Bare
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 – Just a reminder: this is the true nature of the bipartisan, militarized “security state” now headed by the progressive Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. When you support the Laureate — however “savvily” and “critically” — when you…
Jewish anti-miscegenation groups distribute racist, sexist flyers
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 – I have recently reported on a few instances in which two Jewish anti-miscegenation groups – Lehava and Yad L Achim – have been actively operating to thwart contact between Jews and Arabs. Lehava, which runs a…
Embassy Espionage The NSA s Secret Spy Hub in Berlin
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 – According to SPIEGEL research, United States intelligence agencies have not only targeted Chancellor Angela Merkel s cellphone, but they have also used the American Embassy in Berlin as a listening station. The revelations now pose a…
Talking Nonsense about Apartheid: How Come Uri Avnery Knows So Little about Israel?
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 – Yes, I know. Uri Avnery has achieved many great things as a journalist and a peace activist. He has probably done more to educate people around the world about the terrible situation in the occupied Palestinian…
Triadic Failure Bank Regulation, Drone Warfare, Cracks in the Alliance
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 – The Obama administration isn t inexperienced, it is criminal. This accounts for its failures, all glaringly visible in just the past week, which POTUS himself will not admit as failures but weasel out of through posturing…
Palestinian accused of killing soldier tortured in jail
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 — A Palestinian man accused of killing an Israeli soldier was severely tortured by Israeli forces following his arrest, prisoner support group Addameer said Sunday. Addameer Lawyer Mohammad al-Aabed met with Nidal Amar, 42, who is suspected…
Iraq: 88 Killed, 203 Wounded, As Bombs Target Baghdad and Mosul
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 27, 2013 – At least 88 people were killed and 203 more were wounded in a series of coordinated bombings in Baghdad and other bloodshed. Mosul suffered a series of apparently unrelated attacks, while other towns experienced the usual…
Israeli Army Fires Missile At Area Close To School In Gaza
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 – The Israeli Air Force fired at least one missile at an area behind the Al-Maqousy towers, close to an elementary school, northwest of Gaza city. Dr. Bassem Al-Qodra, spokesperson of the Ministry of Health in Gaza,…
New campaign to save historic Palestinian building
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013- A campaign has been launched within Palestine and Israel to save the Khan al-Umdan (Caravanserai of the Pillars), a spectacular and historic building in the heart of the Old City of Akka (Acre).Under plans released recently by…
The world s only ethnic time zone
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 28, 2013 – For the past month, the Holy Land was the only place in the world where time zones are delineated not by geography but by ethnography. As of this morning, for the first time in a month,…
Family of grandmother killed in US drone strike arrive for Congress visit
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 27, 2013 – Drawing on a pad of paper in a Washington DC hotel, Nabeela ur Rehman recalled the day her grandmother was killed. “I was running away,” the nine-year told the Guardian. “I was trying to wipe away…
Gaza Olive Harvest Resumes Despite Israeli Border Threats
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 27, 2013 – Moussa Saadat and his wife, Fatima, pick olives and thoroughly inspect them to see if they are damaged or not. They explained to Al-Monitor that worms had infested the majority of this year s crop. The…
Main Syrian rebel groups declare opposition to Geneva peace talks
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 27, 2013 -Main Syrian rebel brigades have announced their opposition to an international peace conference on Syria if it does not result in President Bashar al-Assad s removal, piling pressure on the political opposition not to attend. “Any solution…
Syria News – October 27, 2013 (Warning: Graphic Videos)
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 27, 2013 – By the end of Sunday the Coordination Committees were able to document 65 martyrs including 5 women, 3 children and 1 martyr under torture: 16 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs, 16 in Daraa,…
Edward Snowden s statement at Stop Watching Us rally, DC (Video)
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 27, 2013 – In the last four months, we ve learned a lot about our government. We ve learned that the US Intelligence Community secretly built a system of pervasive surveillance. Today, no telephone in America makes a call…
Author Max Blumenthal Offers Unfiltered View Into Israel s Commitment to Ethnic Supremacy
Uruknet 28 Oct 2013 – October 27, 2013 – In his new book, Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel, award-winning journalist Max Blumenthal goes deep inside Israeli society, offering a rare and unfiltered lens into the hideous implications of Israel s commitment to Jewish…
America s Most Beloved War Criminals
Uruknet 27 Oct 2013 – October 27, 2013 – Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is set to be named officially next month as a member of the College Football Playoff selection committee, charged with selecting the four teams that will compete in the first…
Report: Russia seeking to strengthen ties with Egypt
Uruknet 27 Oct 2013 – October 27, 2013 – Russia is hoping to capitalise on the current difficulties America is experiencing in its relations in the Middle East, beginning with efforts to launch greater cooperation with Egypt that could result in Moscow gaining access to…
Stasi Meets Steve Jobs
Uruknet 27 Oct 2013 – October 27, 2013 – …US reputation in Europe and Latin America is now at an all-time low. The next NSA spying scandals will likely come from the Mideast, India and Pakistan, Canada, South Korea and Japan. Obama may be remembered…
Morsi rejects authority of Egypt court due to try him
Daily Star 28 Oct 2013 Egypt’s ousted president Mohamed Morsi has rejected the authority of the court that is due to try him next week for incitement to murder, his supporters said Monday.
Blast heard near US Embassy in Yemeni capital
Daily Star 28 Oct 2013 A large explosion followed by heavy gunfire was heard late Monday near the U.S. Embassy in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, security officials and residents said.
Humanitarian situation in Syria ‘unacceptable’
Daily Star 28 Oct 2013 The suffering of millions of Syrians caught up in their homeland’s civil war is a stain on the world’s conscience, European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso said Monday.
Fernandez’s government downplays electoral setback in Argentina
Daily Star 28 Oct 2013 President Cristina Fernandez’s government sought on Monday to downplay a sobering defeat in Argentina’s mid-term elections, asserting that its ability to govern has not been diminished even though voters shrank her majority in Congress and erased…
Gemayel to Nasrallah: 662 Lebanese detained in Syria
Daily Star 28 Oct 2013 Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel dismissed Nasrallah’s account of Lebanese nationals missing in Syria, saying most are being detained in Syrian prisons
Kerry says he may travel to Egypt in coming weeks
Daily Star 28 Oct 2013 U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday he may visit Egypt in the coming weeks in what would be his first trip since the army toppled the country’s democratically elected president on July 3.
Israel: Nuclear armed Iran is threat to Africa
Daily Star 28 Oct 2013 Israel’s prime minister has told Nigeria’s president that a nuclear armed Iran threatens Africa.
Bombings, shooting kill 11 in Iraq
Daily Star 28 Oct 2013 Two bombings and an ambush of a police checkpoint in Iraq killed 11 people in and west of the capital on Monday, said officials
Syrian hackers claim Obama Facebook, Twitter accounts
Daily Star 28 Oct 2013 Hackers from a group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army claimed Monday they had taken control of US President Barack Obama’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Syria MP abducted by Islamist fighters: NGO
Daily Star 28 Oct 2013 A Sunni Arab lawmaker was kidnapped by Islamist fighters during clashes with members of his pro-regime tribe in Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ezzor, a monitoring group reported Monday.
Chemical weapon inspectors unable to reach two Syrian sites
Daily Star 28 Oct 2013 Safety concerns have prevented inspectors from a global chemical weapons watchdog from reaching two of the 23 sites declared by Syria as part of an agreement to destroy its toxic arsenal, the organisation said on Monday.
Iran pitches ideas to end rift with IAEA
Daily Star 28 Oct 2013 Iran’s deputy foreign minister said he had made proposals to the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Monday after pledging a new approach to easing international concerns about indications of illicit atomic bomb research by Tehran.
India, US preparing satellites to probe Martian atmosphere
YNet News, 28 Oct 2013 – ….
UK police charge five under anti-terrorism laws
YNet News, 28 Oct 2013 – ….
Obama, Netanyahu discuss Iran, Middle East talks by phone
YNet News, 28 Oct 2013 – ….
Kerry says he may travel to Egypt in coming weeks
YNet News, 28 Oct 2013 – ….
Senator Dianne Feinstein condemns US spying
YNet News, 28 Oct 2013 – ….
Murderers released in vain
YNet News, 28 Oct 2013 – Op-ed: Bereaved brother tries to explain to Netanyahu how it feels when sibling’s killer is being set free ….
Shoah memorial app launched in Germany
YNet News, 28 Oct 2013 – New smartphone application shows names, pictures of Holocaust victims to people walking by their former homes in Munich. ‘We want to put the fate of Nazi victims into the open, give them a face and a biography,’ says company spokesperson ….
The president is in love
YNet News, 28 Oct 2013 – Op-ed: US has no intention of striking in Iran, and Israel won’t be able to attack behind Obama’s back ….
Quebec’s Jewish community stands firm
YNet News, 28 Oct 2013 – Analysis of 2011 consensus shows that number of Canadian province’s Jews has not dropped in years. Meanwhile, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities rally together in protest of religious symbols ban ….
Palestinian Information Center
Resheq: the detention of Hamas affiliates is the result of security coordination
PIC – Member of the political bureau of Hamas Ezzat Resheq condemned the campaign of arrests waged against the leaders and cadres of the movement in the West Bank on Sunday night.
Hamas warns Israel against attacking Gaza, calls for Islamic action
PIC – Hamas movement said that the Israeli raid on Gaza on Monday morning was an escalation meant to terrorize innocent civilians.
Confrontations reported in Arub refugee camp
PIC – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired teargas canisters at Palestinian homes in Arub refugee camp, north of Al-Khalil, on Monday prompting young men in the camp to throw stones at them.
Palestinian prisoner loses sight due to medical neglect
PIC – Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) in Jenin, warned on Sunday of the deterioration of the health status of prisoner Salem Kassab, aged 28, who lost sight in one of his eyes.
IOF storms a village in al-Khalil and arrests a child
PIC – A Palestinian child from the village of Bani Na’im, east of the city of al-Khalil in the south of the occupied West Bank, was arrested at dawn Sunday by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF).
Israel planning to build five new settlements in Negev after expelling Bedouins
PIC – The Israeli ministry of construction and housing revealed that it was planning to build five new settlements in the Negev area between Beersheba and Dimona.
Tadamun: Israeli special forces nab three Palestinian youths
PIC – Israeli special army forces stormed Deir Sharaf crossing near Shavei Shomron settlement, north west of Nablus city, and nabbed three young men on Sunday evening.
Salfit farmer poisoned by Burkan settlement polluted gases
PIC – An old Palestinian farmer in Salfit was transferred to hospital on Sunday after inhaling poisonous gases coming from the industrial area in nearby Burkan settlement.
Israeli warplane raids Gaza
PIC – An Israeli air raid targeted a deserted area to the north west of Gaza city on Monday morning.
Israeli plan to turn an Islamic site in the Aqsa into Jewish ritual baths
PIC – Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowments and Heritage revealed that there is an Israeli plan to turn a historic Islamic site in the vicinity of the Aqsa Mosque into Jewish ritual baths for women.
Dates Festival Opens in Jericho
WAFA – 28 Oct 2013
Activists Protest Israeli Singer’s Performance in New York
WAFA – 28 Oct 2013
Campaign to Free Marwan Barghouti Launched from Mandela’s Prison Cell
WAFA – 28 Oct 2013
Israel Holds 15 Lawmakers in Prison, says Group
WAFA – 28 Oct 2013
Israel to Release 26 Long-Serving Prisoners on Tuesday
WAFA – 28 Oct 2013
Israeli Settlers Assault Palestinian, Arrest Him
WAFA – 28 Oct 2013
Israeli Warplane Strikes Empty Land in Gaza
WAFA – 28 Oct 2013
Israeli Forces Arrest 22 Palestinians in West Bank
WAFA – 28 Oct 2013
Internationals Help in Olive Picking in Israeli-Threatened Areas
WAFA – 28 Oct 2013
Egypt: Attack in Nile Delta leaves three police officers dead
LA Times 28 Oct 2013 – CAIRO — Masked gunmen opened fire on a security checkpoint in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, killing three police officers, Egyptian authorities said.
Israel approves release of Palestinian prisoners
LA Times 28 Oct 2013 – JERUSALEM — Israeli officials have approved a list of 26 Palestinian prisoners to be released later this week as part of the peace talks that were renewed this past summer, according to a government statement Sunday evening.
Syria meets chemical weapons deadline
LA Times 27 Oct 2013 – Syria submits a declaration of its poison gas facilities as well as a proposal to destroy its chemical arsenal, the OPCW says. GAZIANTEP, Turkey — The Syrian government has met an international deadline to submit a detailed declaration of its chemical weapons facilities and a…
Prisoner Release Underscores Split in Israeli Coalition
New York Times 28 Oct 2013 – Right-wing members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government tried in vain to stop future releases, part of United States-brokered peace talks.
Video Offered to Back Claim of Cairo Attack
New York Times 27 Oct 2013 – Ansar Beit el-Maqdis, a relatively new extremist group, released footage to back its claim that it carried out a suicide attack in Cairo in September.
Syria Meets Deadline for Submitting Destruction Plan for Chemical Weapons
New York Times 27 Oct 2013 – The watchdog charged with monitoring and destroying Syria’s chemical weapons program said it had received the nation’s formal declaration on its arsenal ahead of schedule.
Yandex to set up Israel development activities
Globes Main News – Representatives of the Russian search engine giant are hiring dozens of Israelis.
Mekorot to draw up Azerbaijan water master plan
Globes Energy & Water – The four-year project, worth an estimated tens of millions of euros, will get underway in 2014.
Montreal Jewish festival boots panelists who defied its funders, calling for end to ‘Birthright’
Mondoweiss – Aaron Lakoff From Aaron Lakoff’s website, a statement from Sarah Woolf, Aaron Lakoff, and Moishe Dolman: Le Mood, described by organizers as “Montreal’s festival of unexpected Jewish learning, arts and culture” will be hosting its third annual festival on November 3, 2013. The festival features “hands-on…
Mon: Telcos pull market down
Globes Main News – Bezeq, Cellcom, and Partner lost ground, while Teva was down on the day’s biggest turnover.
Bank of Israel keeps Nov interest rate unchanged
Globes Main News – In explaining its decision, the Bank of Israel said that the shekel’s appreciation had been halted over the past month.
IDB Development valued upwards to NIS 980m
Globes Main News – The previous average valuation of the company was NIS 822 million.
Bar Assn. agrees to cancel fees on new homes
Globes Main News – The Israel Bar Association announced that it will will seek to cancel lawyers’ fees from buyers of new homes from contractors.
Adelson’s atomic moment: Help us break more video stories
Mondoweiss – Last week we scored a big media hit with Phil Weiss and Alex Kane ‘s reporting on Sheldon Adelson’s appearance at Yeshiva University. In addition to being featured on Chris Hayes’s show above, it was also picked up in the New York Times , Time , Politico , and…
Lapid pledges cooperation with Flug
Globes Macro Economics – Flug said: “The Israeli economy is facing many challenges, and its ability to meet them is dependent upon a fruitful collaboration between the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Israel.”
Video: Peaceful NYC protest of Israeli musician Idan Raichel met with racist response from fans
Mondoweiss – Over 30 New York human rights advocates protested outside the performance of Israeli musician Idan Raichel at the Beacon Theatre this evening, calling Raichel “a self-proclaimed propagandist for the Israeli government” and its brutal, apartheid policies towards the Palestinian people. The peaceful, spirited protest of chanting…
Local taxes to rise in 2014
Globes Macro Economics – Arnona (property tax) on homes and businesses is expected to rise by up to 3.8% in January 2014.
IEC to launch cyber defense training facility
Globes Energy & Water – The Cyber Gym, to be launched Wednesday, is a unique facility to train cyber fighters to practice cyber defense for strategic national energy and infrastructure companies.
AIPAC’s ‘unlimited’ funds are greatest obstacle to peace, former British foreign sec’y says
Mondoweiss – Jack Straw (l) and Einat Wilf (r) at roundtable, from Wilf’s facebook page Huge news in the Israeli media, but not ours, though it’s about our politics. Einat Wilf is an Israeli member of Knesset who was present at an international leaders’ roundtable in London last…
Israel announces Palestinian prisoner release and settlement expansion in the West Bank
Mondoweiss – Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid Israel to issue tenders for new settlement units IMEMC 25 Oct — Israeli sources have reported that the Israeli Housing Ministry is planning to issue tenders for the construction of hundreds of [1700] units in Jewish settlements…
Teva CEO denies resignation threat
Globes Main News – In response to reports of friction with the board Dr. Jeremy Levin said, “The opposite is the case: I intend to continue to manage this outstanding company and move it forward.”
Habas liquidators seek to sue Duet Fund
Globes Main News – The liquidators ask the court to enforce Duet’s commitment to carry out the original deal, or pay compensation for breaching its commitments.
What Comes Next: Strategy before solutions
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…
Palestine to Sheffield: One month away from home
Mondoweiss – Malaka Mohammed is a graduate in English Literature and Education from the Islamic University of Gaza and is now studying for a Master’s degree in Global Politics and International Law at the University of Sheffield in the UK. She will documenting her experience in Sheffield in…
Gazit-Globe raises NIS 451m debt on TASE
Globes Main News – The company will use the net proceeds to reduce the outstanding balance under its revolving credit facilities and for general corporate purposes.
Mellanox CEO defends Teva
Globes Main News – Eyal Waldman: I do not think that someone from the outside should come and tell a company, ‘You cannot fire people because you received this or that.’
Shekel opens weaker
Globes Main News – The shekel is losing ground against the dollar and euro ahead of the Bank of Israel’s interest rate decision this evening.
Adelson-Backed Group Surveys Israeli-Americans on Level of Loyalty to Israel
Tikun Olam – Survey question seeking to elicit support for Israel An L.A. based pro-Israel group, the Israeli-American Council (IAC), with the financial support of Sheldon Adelson, has compiled a survey measuring the level of loyalty of Israeli-Americans to Israel and America. The survey was disseminated to tens of…
Christian Zionists Bring ‘The Word,’ and Higher Education to 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…
Anti-Israel Bus Campaign Hits Detroit For Jewish National Fund Conference
The Foward Breaking News 28 Oct 2013 – Advertisements accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing” are appearing on Denver-area buses while the Jewish National Fund holds its national conference in the city. Click here for the rest of the article…
Families of Israeli Terror Victims Protest Prisoner Release Outside Ofer Prison
The Foward Breaking News 28 Oct 2013 – Family members of terror victims and other Israelis protested outside the Ofer Prison, from where 26 Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released. Click here for the rest of the article…
18 Jewish Non-Profits Report Major Illegal ‘Diversions’ of Funds
The Foward Breaking News 28 Oct 2013 – At least 18 Jewish non-profit groups and non-profit groups that support Israeli institutions have notified tax authorities of likely illegal “diversions” of funds in the past five years. Click here for the rest of the article…
Egypt: Petroleum Minister – UAE Oil Support for Egypt to Continue Until December
allAfrica.com 28 Oct 2013 – [Egypt Online]Minister of Petroleum Sherif Ismail said that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) support for Egypt through one billion dollars worth of oil products will continue until the end of December.
Egypt: Political Parties Hail PM’s Visit to UAE
allAfrica.com 28 Oct 2013 – [Egypt Online]Political parties hailed Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawy’s recent visit to the United Arab Emirates, stressing that it has a special economic character.
Egypt: PM – Gulf Security, Stability Are Part of Egypt’s Security, Stability
allAfrica.com 28 Oct 2013 – [Egypt Online]Prime Minister Hazem el-Biblawy said the Gulf security and stability are integral part of Egypt’s security and stability, adding any infringement upon the Gulf security affects the Egyptian national security.
Two Syria chemical sites not visited
BBC 28 Oct 2013 – Chemical weapons inspectors finish the first phase of their verification activities in Syria, but say two sites were not visited for security reasons.
Jewish Support for Possible Iran Strike Over Nukes Dips in AJC Poll
The Foward Breaking News 28 Oct 2013 – The annual American Jewish Committee poll of American Jews shows a decrease in support for a U.S. strike on Iran should diplomacy not end its suspected nuclear weapons program. Click here for the rest of the article…
Egypt: Beblawy Hails Gulf Support for Egypt
allAfrica.com 28 Oct 2013 – [Egypt Online]Prime Minister Dr. Hazem El-Beblawy said Egypt is open to the Arab nation, adding that many Arab countries have expressed indelible support for Egypt during its current crisis.
Israel to free Palestinian prisoners
BBC 27 Oct 2013 – The Israeli government says it has approved the release of another 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal for the resumption of peace talks.
Rights group probes Saudi abuse video
Al-Akhbar News 28 Oct 2013 – A Saudi rights group said Monday it is investigating a video appearing to show a local man brutally beating up an Asian worker in the kingdom that hosts millions of foreign laborers. The video posted online shows a man dressed in the traditional Saudi white cloak,…
Jordanian MP arrested over parliament shooting
Al-Akhbar News 28 Oct 2013 – A Jordanian MP was arrested on Monday for his alleged role in a September fight in parliament, where another lawmaker fired a Kalashnikov assault rifle at a third colleague, an official said. “Yahia al-Saud was detained today after prosecutors charged him with inciting murder, defamation and…
Nasrallah: Saudi “anger” fueling Syrian war
Al-Akhbar News 28 Oct 2013 – Two injured men are transported on a fruit barrow in the Syrian city of Aleppo following shelling as fighting between pro-government forces and rebels continues on October 26, 2013. (Photo: AFP – Karam al-Masri) After two and a half years of relentless bloodshed, the whole world…
Two Syria chemical sites not visited
BBC 28 Oct 2013 – Chemical weapons inspectors finish the first phase of their verification activities in Syria, but say two sites were not visited for security reasons.
Iraqi Kurdistan: State-in-the-making?
BBC 28 Oct 2013 – How statehood is emerging as a possible future for Iraqi Kurdistan
Lebanese Child Married to Kidnapper to Pay Father’s Debt
Al-Akhbar News 28 Oct 2013 – The girl is now in the custody of another clan, and it will bring us great shame to bring her back. (Photo: AFP – Khalil Mazraawi) The girl is now in the custody of another clan, and it will bring us great shame to bring her…
Protests Mount Against France to Free Georges Abdallah
Al-Akhbar News 28 Oct 2013 – Several hundred French solidarity activists held a protest outside Lannemezan Prison where Abdallah is being held, with signs calling for the Lebanese prisoner’s freedom. (Photo: Marwan Bou Haidar) Several hundred French solidarity activists held a protest outside Lannemezan Prison where Abdallah is being held, with signs…
Yemen’s War of Assassinations Unearthed
Al-Akhbar News 28 Oct 2013 – Yemeni soldiers are positioned outside the court in the capital Sanaa on October 2, 2013 during the trial of 11 Al-Qaeda militants. (Photo: AFP – Mohammed Huwais) Yemeni soldiers are positioned outside the court in the capital Sanaa on October 2, 2013 during the trial of…
Saudi Princes Fret
Al-Akhbar Blogs 28 Oct 2013 – Related Articles: Why Did Riyadh Turn Down UN Seat? Saudi Succession: The Battle to Be King read more
Trending: No Woman, No Drive
BBC 28 Oct 2013 – What does Bob Marley have to do with Saudi Arabia?
Week-long clashes kill 13 in Lebanon’s Tripoli
Al-Akhbar News 28 Oct 2013 – A cat crosses the street with a mouse in his mouth as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard on Syria Street in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on October 28, 2013 following a week of clashes that have killed at least 13. (Photo: AFP – Joseph…
AUDIO: Allawi: ‘Iraqi violence will increase’
BBC 28 Oct 2013 – Iraqi former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi talks to the Today programme about sectarian violence and the impact of the Syrian crisis.
Syrian shelling kills man in Turkey
Al-Akhbar News 28 Oct 2013 – A man was killed and his daughter wounded in southeastern Turkey by a mortar shell fired from across the border with war-torn Syria, health officials said. The latest incident brought to 10 the number of casualties on the Turkish side of the border since last year…
Egypt gunmen kill three policemen
Al-Akhbar News 28 Oct 2013 – Three Egyptian policemen were killed on Monday when masked men attacked a checkpoint in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, security sources said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants have stepped up attacks on soldiers and police since the army toppled…
Three Egyptian policemen shot dead
BBC 28 Oct 2013 – Three Egyptian policemen have been shot dead in an attack on a checkpoint in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, officials say.
Israel to free Palestinian prisoners
BBC 27 Oct 2013 – The Israeli government says it has approved the release of another 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal for the resumption of peace talks.
Tunisia’s ‘sexual jihad’ – extremist fatwa or propaganda?
BBC 26 Oct 2013 – Were young Tunisian women used to bolster militants’ morale?
Articles
Israel is an apartheid state. Period.
Jonathan Cook in Nazareth, Redress 10/28/2013
How come Uri Avnery knows so little about Israel? Talking nonsense about apartheid.
Yes, I know. Uri Avnery has achieved many great things as a journalist and a peace activist. He has probably done more to educate people around the world about the terrible situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, and for longer, than any other single human being. And, to boot, he’s celebrating his 90th birthday this week. So best wishes to
Nonetheless, it is important to challenge the many fallacious claims Avnery makes to bolster the arguments in his latest article, dismissing the growing comparisons being made between Israel and apartheid South Africa.
There is much to criticize in his weakly-argued piece, based on a recent conversation with an unnamed “expert”. Avnery, like many before him, makes the mistake of thinking that, by pointing out the differences between Israel and apartheid South Africa, he proves that Israel is not an apartheid state. But this is the ultimate straw-man argument. No one claims Israel is identical to South Africa. You don’t need an expert to realize that.
When people call Israel an apartheid state, they are referring to the crime of apartheid as defined in international law. According to the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, apartheid comprises inhumane acts “committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime”.
So what colour the victims of apartheid are, what proportion of the population they constitute, whether the economy depends on their productive labour, whether the early Zionists were socialists, whether the Palestinians have a Nelson Mandela, and so on have precisely zero relevance to determining whether Israel is an apartheid state. — See also: Avnery Taking Apartheid Apart more.. e-mail
Israel prepares to renew cooperation with the UNHRC
Samira Shackle, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) 10/25/2013
18 months after ties were cut, it has been reported that Israel is in the middle of negotiations to renew cooperation with the UNHRC.
In March last year Israel became the first country ever to sever ties with the UN Human Rights Council. The decision came after the body decided to investigate Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
It began in January 2012. Israel, which has long claimed that the UN treats it unfairly, boycotted the UNHRC review. At the time, spokesman Rolando Gomez said that Israel’s absence put the council in “new territory” because attendance of the Universal Periodic Review was mandatory. It was feared that Israel’s unprecedented decision could undermine the UN’s human rights work across the board, by encouraging other countries facing awkward questions to follow suit and refuse to attend. Even the US, Israel’s biggest ally, urged the nation to attend the review.
In March, when the council decided to go ahead with its investigation of the West Bank, Israel cut all ties to the international body. The foreign ministry – which was at that time headed by ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman – told its envoy in Geneva not to co-operate with the council, or with the UN Human Rights Commissioner. It also made moves to prevent a UN team from entering Israel to assess the effects of settlements on Palestinian rights. In a statement, Israel alleged that the only aim of the mission was “to satisfy the Palestinians’ whims and to harm future chances to reach an agreement through peaceful means”.
Now, 18 months after ties were cut, it has been reported that Israel is in the middle of negotiations to renew cooperation with the UNHRC. Ambassadors of western states on the council are to vote on an agreement which would bring Israel back into the UN body. The Haaretz newspaper correctly notes that “if the outline of the accord is passed, it would represent a significant diplomatic victory for Israel.” — See also:Israel says will attend UN rights review more.. e-mail
The structural roots of Israeli Apartheid
Noura Erakat, Al Jazeera 10/28/2013
Recent rulings by the Israeli high court have made a mockery of the concepts of equality, justice, and dignity for all.
Palestinian-Israeli negotiations have intensified in recent days. The talks, facilitated by US Secretary of State John Kerry, have resulted in 13 meetings between the two delegations to discuss issues of mutual concern. Yet in the midst of the current flurry of activity aimed at saving the two-state solution from the shelves of rich archival libraries, three-time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is insisting that the conflict is not a political one at all.
To the contrary, at a recent talk delivered at Bar Ilan University, Netanyahu explained that the conflict is about Palestinian hatred for Jews as a people. There is, he maintains, a cultural malaise inherent to Palestinians that is not connected to Israeli military and structural violence against a dispossessed and stateless people. His diagnosis leaves little in the way of possible remedies aside from cultural sensitivity trainings (for Palestinians mind you) or, more realistically, the indefinite subjugation of an entire people billed to US taxpayers.
The hawkish leader’s analysis is contingent on the belief that Palestinians are not rational actors, but emotional ones impervious to reason. Netanyahu’s analysis is fundamentally racist and flawed because it ascribes to Jewish immigration into Mandatory Palestine an innocuous character it has never possessed.
Israel’s establishment as a homeland for a Jewish majority in a land where a Palestinian-Arab majority existed has necessitated the on-going forced removal and subjugation of the non-Jewish Palestinian population – not simply in the Arab-Israeli War or the Six-Day War but into the present day. more.. e-mail
What’s behind Israel’s biggest economic boom? The occupation
Dr. Assaf Oron, +972 Magazine 10/28/2013
The period of Israel’s history that by far saw the largest economic growth, more than any other, was the six years following the Six Day War. And what agricultural, industrial, or hi-tech breakthroughs took place around 1967-1973? None worthy of mention. More than any other single factor, it was the establishment of the Occupation-Settlement Enterprise.
This week, Dr. Karnit Flug became the first woman in Israeli history to be appointed Governor of the Israel Central Bank – a position analogous to the U.S. Federal Reserve chair. The process leading up to her appointment played out as a satirical mirror-image to what had transpired in America a short while earlier.
In both cases, the outgoing chair/governor had strongly recommended his second-in-command, a woman, as successor. In both cases, the government had originally skipped over the female candidate, instead courting has-been male candidates with skeletons in their closets. And in both cases, common sense eventually prevailed.
There were, however, the familiar differences between the American process and its Israeli doppleganger, in the depth of the farce. Whereas the Obama administration had only considered Larry Summers over Janet Yellen, but never formally extended the invitation – the Netanyahu government managed to formally appoint not one, but two would-be male governors, only to see both candidacies evaporate into thin air. Then, Bibi and his finance minister, Lapid, bickered and vacillated over various other candidates for an additional three to four months before finally reverting to Flug – who was meanwhile the acting governor – as the option of last resort. This was preceded by Lapid – a few months ago Israel’s rising political star and nowadays its favorite laughingstock – going on national TV a mere four days before the final appointment and stating in his signature dismissive overconfidence that, “Flug will never be Bank of Israel governor.” more.. e-mail
Talking Nonsense about Apartheid: How Come Uri Avnery Knows So Little about Israel?
Palestine Chronicle: 28 Oct 2013 – By Jonathan Cook – Nazareth Yes, I know. Uri Avnery has achieved many great things as a journalist and a peace activist. He has probably done more to educate people around the world about the terrible situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, and for longer, than any other single human being. And, to boot, he’s celebrating his 90th birthday this week. So best wishes to him. Nonetheless, it is important to challenge the many fallacious claims Avnery makes to bolster the arguments in his latest article , dismissing the growing comparisons being made between Israel and apartheid South Africa. There is much to criticize in his weakly argued piece, based on a recent conversation with an unnamed “expert”. Avnery, like many before him, makes the mistake of thinking that, by pointing out the differences between Israel and apartheid South Africa, he proves that Israel is not an apartheid state. But this…more
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The New Dark Age 