6 December 2013 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Price Tag Graffiti Found Near Nablus
IMEMC – [Friday, December 6, 2013] Local sources in Jaloud village, south of the northern West bank city of Nablus, have reported that Israeli settlers threw rocks at a Palestinian car in the village, and wrote racist graffiti on a number of walls. …
Dozens Injured By Army Fire At Al-Aqsa Mosque In Jerusalem
IMEMC – [Friday, December 6, 2013] Palestinian medical sources have reported that dozens of Palestinian worshipers from the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in occupied Jerusalem, have been treated for the effects of teargas inhalation after being attacked by Israeli soldiers. …
Arab MKs Demand Kerry To Stop Israel s Prawer Plan
IMEMC – Israeli TV Channel 10 has reported that Arab Members of Israeli Knesset are demanded the visiting US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to intervene and stop Israel s Prawer Negev displacement plan. …
Israeli forces raid al-Aqsa compound, 40 Palestinians injured
12/6/2013 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces fired tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades at Palestinian worshipers on Friday during clashes in the al-Aqsa compound. Al-Aqsa clinic medics told Ma’an that 40 people were injured by stun grenade splinters and pepper spray, and five were taken to the hospital as a result. The wounded included a 10-year-old child hit with a stun….
Settlers vandalize Nablus village in ‘price tag’ attack
12/6/2013 – NABLUS (Ma’an) –Israeli settlers on Friday destroyed a Palestinian car and vandalized a house in Jalud village south of Nablus, a local official said. Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that settlers from nearby Ahiya settlement torched a Subaru car belonging to Fathi Yousef Hajj which was parked near his….
Al-Aqsa director condemns frequent Israeli raids on holy site
12/6/2013 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Director of the al-Aqsa compound Najeh Bkerat warned against the increasing number of Israeli actions and raids in the area of the compound on Friday. Bkerat said Israeli forces raided the compound more than 10 times so far in the year 2013, which he described as a dangerous precedent. Bkerat told Ma’an that “the Israeli occupation intentionally uses force….
Palestinian human rights lawyer wins ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’
12/6/2013 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A Palestinian human rights lawyer from the Gaza Strip was presented with the Right Livelihood Award in Sweden on Monday, according to the organization’s website. Raji Sourani “has been defending human rights for all in Palestine and the Arab world for 35 years,” a video on the website said. In addition to being a lawyer, Sourani is also the….
Man shot dead in Qalqiliya
12/6/2013 – QALQILIYA (Ma’an) — A man was shot dead by unknown gunmen on Friday in al-Marj area north of Qalqiliya. Raed Tawfik Ibrahim Dauwood, 33, was shot and taken to Darwish Nazzal hospital where he was pronounced dead. An investigation was opened in the matter. [END]
Why Palestine should seek justice at the International Criminal Court
12/7/2013 – Bill Van Esveld is a senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. – For almost a year, since obtaining upgraded status at the UN, the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah has had a chance to open the door to justice for serious international crimes committed on Palestinian territory. They could seize this chance to deter future abuses tomorrow by giving the International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction….
Abbas: Mandela ‘a symbol of liberation from colonialism, occupation’
12/6/2013 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — President Mahmoud Abbas declared a day of mourning Friday following the death of South African anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela, according to Palestinian media. Offering condolences to Mandela’s family, to the people of South Africa, and to the world at large, Abbas ordered that flags be lowered to half-mast across Palestine, the PA’s Wafa News Agency reported. Mandela….
Kerry meets Israel PM for third time in 24 hours
12/6/2013 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — US Secretary of State John Kerry was meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the third time in 24 hours on Friday for talks understood to be focused on security. Kerry, who is seeking ways to drive forward stagnant peace talks, met twice with Netanyahu on Thursday for more than six hours of talks about potential security issues in any peace agreement. He….
Iran sends envoys to Gulf over nuclear deal
12/6/2013 – MUSCAT (AFP) — Iranian overtures towards Gulf Arab countries after Tehran signed a landmark nuclear deal with world powers are to keep “brothers” updated, parliament speaker Ali Larijani said Thursday. Visits by top officials to the monarchies “are normal, because Iran considers the countries in the region to be friends,” Larijani told reporters in Muscat after meeting Sultan Qaboos.”They are our brothers, and we respect….
Kerry: Israel, Palestinians closest to peace ‘in years’
12/6/2013 – BEN GURION AIRPORT, Israel (AFP) — Israel and the Palestinians are closer to a peace deal than they have been in years, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday wrapping up his latest visit.” I believe we are closer than we have been in years to bringing about the peace and the prosperity and the security that all of the people of this region….
Barghouti: Mandela gave Palestinians hope for freedom
12/6/2013 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — Nelson Mandela’s struggle for freedom inspired Palestinians to believe that their own liberation was “possible,” jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti said on Friday. His remarks were made in an open letter to Mandela sent from Cell 28 of Hadarim prison in Israel, which was published by the Palestine Liberation Organization a day after the South African liberation leader’s death….
Less than 90 days: How US will destroy Syria chemical weapons
12/6/2013 – WASHINGTON (AFP) — A ship, two portable treatment plants and less than 90 days: that’s the plan the Pentagon unveiled Thursday to destroy “hundreds of tons” of Syria’s most dangerous chemical weapons. After Albania refused to destroy the lethal “priority 1” chemical agents – including mustard gas, sarin and VX nerve gas – on its soil, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons….
Anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela dies aged 95
12/6/2013 – JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — Nelson Mandela, the icon of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle and a colossus of 20th century politics, died late Thursday aged 95, prompting mass mourning and a global celebration of his astonishing life. The Nobel Peace laureate, who was elected South Africa’s first black president after spending nearly three decades in jail, died at his Johannesburg home surrounded by his….
Al-Qaeda claims deadly attack on Yemen defense complex
12/6/2013 – DUBAI (AFP) — Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on Friday claimed an attack on a Yemeni defense complex that killed 52 people, in a statement published on the Internet by its media arm. The defense ministry complex was “stormed and attacked on Thursday. . . after the mujahedeen (holy fighters) proved that it accommodates drone control rooms and American experts,” it said on Twitter.”As part of a….
Dozens arrested as Egypt police disperse Islamist demos
12/6/2013 – CAIRO (AFP) — Egyptian police arrested dozens of Islamist protesters on Friday when they dispersed rallies across the country, the interior ministry said. Riot police fired tear gas at separate protests in Cairo and clashed with Islamists in other provinces, amid a campaign to stamp out dissent following president Mohamed Morsi’s overthrow in July. Police have shown little tolerance for the Islamists’ rallies….
Al-Qaeda says deadly Yemen attack targeted US drone war
12/6/2013 – SANAA (AFP) — Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility Friday for a brazen attack on the Yemeni defense ministry that killed 52 people, saying the complex hosted US personnel behind drone strikes against its militants. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), regarded by Washington as the network’s most dangerous affiliate, has been hit by intensified US drone strikes in Yemen this year. There was no immediate evidence….
Syria nuns appear in video, deny kidnapped by rebels
12/6/2013 – BEIRUT (AFP) — A group of nuns from the historic Christian town of Maalula in Syria denied they were kidnapped by rebels, in a video broadcast by Al-Jazeera news channel on Friday. The brief video shows the women, apparently in good health and comfortable, dressed in black religious garb in a room. It was unclear who was filming the women, and where they were. An unidentified….
Pro-democracy protests in Bahrain ahead of international forum
12/6/2013 – MANAMA (AFP) — Demonstrators calling for democratic reform clashed with police Friday in villages near Manama ahead of an international forum on Middle East security, witnesses said. An uprising to demand changes in the Sunni-ruled kingdom was crushed in March 2011 but almost weekly protests against the authorities have been since staged in villages around Manama. On Friday, dozens of protesters, mostly youths, clashed with police….
Marwan Barghouti to Nelson Mandela: “Our Freedom Seems Possible Because You Reached Yours”
Palestine News Network
International Solidarity Movement
An interview with Hakima Hasan Motlaq on positive resistance and women’s empowerment in the village of Asira al-Qibliya
12/6/2013 – International Solidarity Movement – International Solidarity Movement, Asira al-Qibliya, Occupied Palestine – Could you tell us a bit about yourself? My name is Hakima Hasan Motlaq and I am from Asira al-Qibliya where I have always lived. It is south of Nablus and I’m 35 years old and I am married. I am the head of the village’s women and children’s resource centre, Retaj. This….
Harassment and arrest in Khan al Luban
12/6/2013 – International Solidarity Movement – International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team, Khan al Luban, Occupied Palestine – On the 4th of December, Khalid Al-Sanih Daraghmah was working in his property when illegal settlers, Israeli border police and Israeli soldiers entered his farm to harass him, arrest him and confiscate his tractor. In the late afternoon, settlers from the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Levona, two military jeeps with Israeli soldiers and two….
Settler attack instigates clashes in Hebron, one Palestinian shot with live ammunition
12/6/2013 – International Solidarity Movement – International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team, Hebron, Occupied Palestine – This afternoon in Hebron, approximately three illegal settlers, standing on the same roof as several Israeli soldiers, threw stones at Palestinian homes and cars in the old city. This act of aggression caused clashes to break out between Palestinian youth and Israeli forces, where many tear gas canisters, stun grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition were fired….
Syrian Arab Republic: UNRWA opens family support office in Damascus
Relief Web 6 Dec 2013 – Source: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Country: occupied Palestinian territory, Syrian Arab Republic Following the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed on 25 November Michael Kingsley-Nyinah, Director of Affairs…
South Africa united in mourning as Mandela s long walk ends
The National 6 Dec 2013 – In a collective outpouring of emotion not seen since Nelson Mandela ushered in an era of democracy in 1994, South Africans began a period of mourning that will last for many days to come. Under dark Johannesburg skies, they gathered outside Mandela s former Vilakazi Street home and his residence in Houghton where many danced and sang to celebrate the remarkable life of their tata , or father.
Six killed in hunt for Yemen bombers
The National 6 Dec 2013 – The Thursday attack claimed by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula killed 52 people including at least seven Filipinos. Eleven other Filipinos were slightly wounded, said Raul Hernandez, the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman.
In pictures: Remembering Nelson Mandela s state visit to UAE
The National 6 Dec 2013 – In 1995 Nelson Mandela was received by Sheikh Khalifa during his state visit to the UAE.
In pictures: Nelson Mandela, a leader admired by world leaders
The National 6 Dec 2013 – As word of Mandela s death spread, current and former presidents, athletes and entertainers, and people around the world spoke about the life and legacy of the former South African leader. From Harlem to Hollywood, Paris to Beijing, people hailed Mandela s indomitable courage in the face of adversity as an inspiration for all.
UAE President expresses sympathy as world mourns Mandela
The National 6 Dec 2013 – ‘The world has lost a true fighter and a formidable leader for peace, freedom and equality. He was a voice of justice, human dignity and goodwill for all of humanity,’ said Sheikh Khalifa.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela 1918-2013
The National 6 Dec 2013 – Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the father of democratic South Africa and symbol of racial tolerance, died yesterday peacefully at his home. He was 95 and died after months fighting a lung infection.
Palestinians remember Mandela as most courageous who supported us
The National 6 Dec 2013 – In their struggle to end Israeli occupation, Palestinians draw inspiration from Mandela s efforts to bring down the apartheid regime that ruthlessly repressed black South Africans for 46 years.
Timeline and pictures: milestones in life of South Africa s Nelson Mandela
The National 6 Dec 2013 – Nelson Mandela, the father of democratic South Africa and the towering international symbol of racial tolerance, has died at the age of 95. Here is a timeline and pictures of his life.
Nelson Mandela s greatest quotes and speeches
The National 6 Dec 2013 – Nelson Mandela seduced audiences with his wit, then often bludgeoned them with his observations. Here is a collection of some of his most memorable quotes.
South Africa s Nelson Mandela dies aged 95
The National 6 Dec 2013 – Tributes began flooding in from around the world almost immediately for a man who was a global symbol of struggle against injustice and of racial reconciliation.
Does genetically modified corn cause cancer in rats?
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
Cuban Jewish leaders visit jailed American Gross
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
ADL s Foxman favors new Iran sanctions, blasts U.S. administration s ‘hysterical’ response
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
Jordan wins UN Security Council seat, replaces Saudis
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
All Syrian chemical weapons munitions destroyed, says watchdog
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
A jihadist spark that could ignite the Israeli-Syrian border
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
Syria’s Assad calls Mandela’s life a lesson to tyrants
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
Iran, world powers to meet next week on nuclear deal implementation
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
How subsidized Israeli day care allows ultra-Orthodox to avoid work
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
Does extra vitamin D prevent disease? Study casts doubt
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
Kerry: Israelis, Palestinians are closer to peace than ever before
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
Egypt’s el-Sissi wins TIME Person of the Year reader’s poll
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
A curse be upon you, land grabbers
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
1967: A starting point to peace
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
American aid for Netanyahu
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
Supreme Court rules footprints as problematic evidence
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
Israel seeks to buy German missile boats to protect offshore gas
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
Looking for a double rainbow in the typhoon-devastated Philippines
Ha’aretz – 6 Dec 2013
As Bibi makes trouble, Lieberman takes America
Ha’aretz – 5 Dec 2013
Empathy and humanity were what made Nelson Mandela great
Ha’aretz – 5 Dec 2013
Netanyahu, world leaders pay tribute to Mandela
Ha’aretz – 5 Dec 2013
Are kids are on holiday more than in class, or does it just seem like it?
Ha’aretz – 5 Dec 2013
Knesset okays speedier grants for battered women leaving shelters
Ha’aretz – 5 Dec 2013
Palestinian leaders: Mandela is a symbol of freedom from ‘Israeli occupation’
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – PA president says former South African president’s goals have not been reached as long as “Palestinians are not free.” Hamas calls Mandela one of the most important supporters of the Palestinian people’s cause.”
Watchdog: Syria destroyed all chemical weapons munitions
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – According to the OPCW, plans are on course to complete the removal of all of Assad’s supplies of chemical arms by the middle of next year.
German court frees alleged Auschwitz guard Hans Lipschiz
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – Lipschiz, 94, was deemed unfit to stand trial due to dementia.
Blast damages IDF vehicle patrolling Syrian border
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – An army source said it was not yet clear whether the blast occurred on the western or eastern side of the border fence.
Syria’s Assad calls Mandela’s life a lesson to tyrants
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – International leaders continue to pay tribute to late South African leader who inspired millions.
Jordan to take Saudi Arabia’s place at UN Security Council
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – Hashemite kingdom was elected by General Assembly after Riyadh balked at seat.
WATCH: Obama, Casspi talk sports at White House Hannukah party
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – Israeli basketball star was invited by Obama to represent his country at the White House.
Remembering Mandela
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – Mandela was the embodiment of the three great struggles of the 20th century: the long march toward freedom, as he put it, the march for democracy, and the march for equality.
Hagel seeks to reassure jittery Gulf allies after Iran deal
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in Bahrain says Iran deal represents “very wise opportunity”.
Kerry: Israel-Palestinian peace deal has never been closer
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – Still, US secretary of state warns that no deal will be signed unless it enhances Israel’s security.
Israel clears soldier in Palestinian’s death from tear-gas shot
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – IDF concludes soldier “did not see any people in the line of fire”, none involved are criminally liable.
Majdal Shams resident indicted for aiding Syrian army
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – Northern District Prosecutor’s Office indicts Raafat Hamad al-Halabi, 28, for illegally crossing border, providing intel to Syria.
Al-Qaida linked group claims responsibility for Yemen ministry attack
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – Attack took place on Thursday, killing 52 and wounding 167; worst assault in 18 months.
Two menorahs, Mandela, and Iran at the White House
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – White House held celebration hosting thousands of guests, including members of Congress, donors and family friends, television stars and Israeli and Jewish leaders.
Poll: Lapid least popular among ministers
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – When respondents were asked to score the job performance of all 23 ministers Finance Minister came dead last.
Capt. of IDF unit that lost soldier to sniper: We re leaving Hebron quieter than we found it
Jerusalem Post 6 Dec 2013 – Unit that lost soldier to September sniper attack has begun training for all scenarios, company commander tells Post.
Mandela and Israel
Jerusalem Post 5 Dec 2013 – The iconic South African leader had an ambivalent relationship with the Jewish state.
Israel urges EU human rights body to return anti-Semitism definition to website
Jerusalem Post 5 Dec 2013 – EU s Fundamental Rights Agency dropped the definition and is now unable to define the term, the agency informed.
Nelson Mandela, from apartheid fighter to president and unifier
Jerusalem Post 5 Dec 2013 – Mandela emerged from prison determined to use his prestige, charisma to bring down apartheid while avoiding civil war.
Obama: Courageous Mandela left legacy of freedom, peace
Jerusalem Post 5 Dec 2013 – UN chief Ban praises Mandela’s “human decency, humility and humbleness”; Cameron: Mandela was “a hero of our time.”
Mandela’s vital Jewish allies
Jerusalem Post 5 Dec 2013 – The iconic South African leader had a important relationships with the local Jewish community in his country.
iEngage: Menorah in the Israeli public space
Jerusalem Post 5 Dec 2013 – Sometimes not lighting a hanukkia in Israel is the right thing to do.
Into the Fray: Empowering Islam: Taqiyya in the White House?
Jerusalem Post 5 Dec 2013 – Was this really what well-meaning, gullible American Jews had in mind, when persuaded by Obama s pledge that I have Israel s back, they gave him their support both at the ballot and the bank?
OP-ED: What Europe Must Do for Syrian Refugees
IPS Syrian refugee children learn to survive at a camp in north Lebanon. Credit: Zak Brophy/IPS By AntÛnio Guterres and Anders Danielsson GENEVA/STOCKHOLM, Dec 6 2013 (IPS) The terrible bloodshed in Syria has been going on for over two and a half years. It has caused one of the worst humanitarian…
Iran Deal Looks Safe from Lawmakers Attack for Now
IPS The threat of Congressional action has receded amidst the consolidation of a consensus that the deal negotiated by Secretary of State John Kerry is a good one. Credit: US Mission/Eric Bridiers By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Dec 5 2013 (IPS) Ten days after the signing in Geneva of a groundbreaking deal…
Israeli forces attack protests commemorating Mandela across West
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 6, 2013 — Dozens of Palestinians were injured and one detained as Israeli forces opened fire to disperse protests against the Israeli occupation and commemorating Nelson Mandela s death across the West Bank on Friday afternoon. Protests against the…
Status Quo at Gitmo Where the Torture Never Stops
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 6, 2013 -It was shortly after five o clock on a Saturday morning last April. The prisoners in the communal cellblock at Camp 6 in Guantanamo Bay Prison had just gathered for morning prayers. Suddenly the overhead lights went…
Obama in Tehran – could it happen?
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 6, 2013 -A visit to Tehran by President Obama is no longer impossible, according to experts and former officials. While an Obama trip there in the next three years remains a long shot, neither the White House nor Iran…
Shaker Aamer s Latest Words from Guant·namo, and a Parliamentary Meeting on Human Rights Day
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 6, 2013 – If you re in London, or anywhere near, and you care about the ongoing injustices of Guant·namo, then please come to a Parliamentary meeting for Shaker Aamer, the last British resident in Guant·namo Bay, on Tuesday…
PHOTOS: Israeli sniper shoots Palestinians using silenced rifle
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 6, 2013 – Two Palestinians were shot with live ammunition fired from a silenced rifle on Friday. The rifles were used by Israeli snipers stationed atop the separation wall during clashes in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Clashes…
The top 5 most hypocritical Mandela eulogies by Israeli politicians
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 6, 2013 -Israeli politicians have begun updating their Facebook pages with eulogies for the late Nelson Mandela. What do statesmen of the Jewish state – one of the last western countries to support the South African apartheid state and…
Syria News – December 5, 2013 (Warning: Graphic Videos)
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013 – By the end of Thursday the Coordination Committees were able to document 51 martyrs including 3 women and 2 martyrs under torture: 23 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs, 11 in Aleppo, 10 in…
20 Years after Declaring the International Day of Persons with Disabilities: Deterioration of the Palestinian Disabled Persons Conditions Continues
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013 -…According to data available at the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of disabled persons has mounted to around 113,000 persons, forming around 2.7% of the total population. 75,000 of whom live in the West Bank,…
EXCLUSIVE: State Department Seizing U.S. Passports in Yemen
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013- The rights of citizenship are among the most crucial to a democracy- from citizenship flows the full range of legal protections against unwarranted government interference, and the ability to travel freely.Citizenship for an American is made plain…
Nelson Mandela: Death of a Legend
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013- Nelson Mandela will be eulogized as a great man and a hero. He led the resistance to apartheid and White South African rule, and he was jailed for many years. Upon his release he became president and…
Iran Wants U.S. Companies to Develop Oil Fields
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013-Iran wants U.S. companies such as Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips to develop its oil and gas fields, the country s oil minister said Wednesday, signaling the Islamic Republic s readiness to court American business interests amid a thaw…
Maliki s charges against demonstrators to cover Baghdad incidents, MP
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013 – MP Ahmed al-Alwani stated that the charges issued by Premier Nouri al-Maliki against the demonstrators is “to cover the events taking place in Baghdad”, calling the Arab and Islamic states to have a stand on Iraqi…
Dozens made homeless amid latest Jordan Valley demolitions house demolition
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013 – On Monday, 2 December, Israeli bulldozers accompanied by military vehicles knocked down four houses and numerous tents and livestock barracks, leaving at least 30 Palestinians homeless and causing the deaths of more than a dozen lambs,…
Federal Court to Examine Legality of Iraq War Based on Lawsuit Filed by Comar Law
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013 -Plaintiff Sundus Shaker Saleh, an Iraqi single mother and refugee now living in Jordan, filed a complaint in March 2013 in San Francisco federal court alleging that the planning and waging of the Iraq War was a “…
BBC ignores ethnic cleansing in two interviews with Bedouin activist
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013 – Three days before last weekend s international Day of Rage against Israel s plans for the mass uprooting of Palestinian Bedouins, the BBC had in its studios a Bedouin activist from one of the communities facing…
Tribunal Issues Landmark Verdict against Israel for Genocide
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013 – To a crowded courtroom on the late afternoon of November 25, presiding Judge Lamin Mohd Yunus announced the verdict by an international panel of seven jurists: “The Tribunal is satisfied, beyond reasonable doubt, that the first…
Suspected US drone kills 1 in Pakistan
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013- A suspected U.S. drone strike killed an alleged militant in Pakistan s northwest tribal region, intelligence officials said Friday, the latest indication Washington has no intention of throttling back its unmanned aircraft attacks despite increasing tension with…
Pakistani MPs protest against US drone strikes
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013 – More than 100 national and provincial legislators staged a protest on Thursday in the Pakistani capital Islamabad against US drone strikes on suspected militants in the country s tribal belt. “We will continue our protest against…
Israeli authorities urged to investigate abuse of Palestinian teenagers
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – Ramallah, December 5, 2013 — Defense for Children International Palestine submitted complaints to the Israeli Military Police Criminal Investigations Division this week over the ill treatment of Palestinian teenagers during arrest and transfer to Ariel police station in September. In…
UN acknowledges and normalises of settler colonialism in Hebron
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013 -The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs published a fact sheet detailing the ramifications of settler-colonialism in Hebron. The Humanitarian Impact of Israeli Settlements in Hebron City report summarises the restrictions and challenges faced…
Hollywood Without the Happy Ending How the CIA Bungled the War on Terror
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013 – Call it the Jason Bourne strategy. Think of it as the CIA s plunge into Hollywood — or into the absurd. As recent revelations have made clear, that Agency s moves couldn t be have been…
Burden of Pain
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013 -I know that the only thing a person who has just been released from hospital wants and need is to crawl into bed. But according to the logic of the occupation, a person from Gaza who received…
Academics should boycott Israel: Growing movement takes next step
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013 -In recent years, we have seen greater recognition in the United States that religious acrimony and ancient blood feuds are not the source of the Israel-Palestine conflict, whose progenitor in fact is Jewish colonization. As this recognition…
US Military Now Keeping All Information on Hunger Striking Prisoners at Guantanamo Secret
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013 -For over eight months, more than ten prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have been on hunger strike. The hunger strike steadily grew to include over 100 prisoners until July, when the number involved in the strike started to…
Israel to push Palestinian residents of Jerusalem village and bring in tourists
Uruknet 6 Dec 2013 – December 5, 2013- An ancient archaeological site is being developed into a tourist attraction in Nabi Samwill, a small town located just north of Jerusalem in the seam zone – the area between the 1949 Armistice Line and the Israeli…
Found: Photo album hoping to return home
Daily Star 6 Dec 2013 In 1982, Lebanon was in the throes of the Civil War.
Hillary Clinton: Mandela was ‘giant among us’
Daily Star 6 Dec 2013 Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton on Friday praised the life of South Africa’s late leader Nelson Mandela, whom she hailed as “a giant among us.”
Dylan’s electric guitar sells for nearly $1M
YNet News, 6 Dec 2013 – ….
Syria regime kills 17 in Nabuk
YNet News, 6 Dec 2013 – ….
Yemen says regains ministry compound, 12 militants killed
YNet News, 6 Dec 2013 – ….
Islamists demand fall of Libyan govt, end to oil blockades
YNet News, 6 Dec 2013 – ….
Police block Mexico hospital, 6 may have radiation
YNet News, 6 Dec 2013 – ….
Cemetery sign: Men go right, women go left
YNet News, 6 Dec 2013 – Screens separating between sexes installed near grave of Zvhil Hasidic dynasty’s rebbe in Jerusalem cemetery located near Supreme Court, Knesset. ‘Rule of law in Israel is being threatened by religious radicalization,’ says Hiddush association ….
One rabbi too many
YNet News, 6 Dec 2013 – Op-ed: Judaism can manage today without a chief rabbi, just like it did for thousands of years ….
Palestinian Information Center
Gaza-based government mourns Mandela
PIC – The Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip has expressed its condolences to the government and people of South Africa for the loss of its former president Nelson Mandela.
Israeli police attack Palestinians at Aqsa mosque during Friday prayers
PIC – Violent clashes have erupted after Friday prayers between Israeli troops and Jerusalemite worshipers following an Israeli violent raid on the Aqsa mosque.
IOF opens fire at Palestinian farmers east of Khan Younis
PIC – The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened fire at Palestinian farmers working on their lands east of Khan Younis to the east of the Gaza Strip.
Israel to buy German missile-equipped boats
PIC – Israel seeks to buy advanced missile-equipped boats from Germany at the pretext of protecting its natural gas drilling installations in the mediterranean sea, Israeli media sources said.
Israel coordinates with Jordan to keep Jordan Valley under its control
PIC – Israel reportedly told Jordan to convince the US to accept long-term Israeli control over the Jordan Valley despite the fierce Palestinian oppostion, the Israeli newspaper Maariv claimed on Thursday.
PA forces arrest 6 Palestinians, including 3 ex-detainees
PIC – The Palestinian authority security forces continued to arrest and prosecute university students in West Bank for their political affiliation.
Abu Sabha: The Egyptian side promised to open the Rafah crossing next week
PIC – Director of the border affairs Maher Abu Sabha said that the Egyptian side had given him promises and reassurances to open the Rafah border crossings next week.
Massive protest in Beersheba against Israel’s Prawer plan
PIC – Hundreds of Palestinians on Thursday rallied outside the compound of Israeli courts in Beersheba to demand the release of their compatriots who had been detained during an earlier protest.
Rebel group in Syria is holding nuns, Arab newspaper reports
LA Times 6 Dec 2013 – BEIRUT Syrian rebels are demanding the release of 1,000 female government detainees in exchange for the freedom of a group of Greek Orthodox nuns being held by opposition forces, according to an account published Friday in a pan-Arab newspaper.
U.S. outfitting ship to destroy Syria chemical weapons agents at sea
LA Times 5 Dec 2013 – Hydrolysis machines aboard the cargo ship Cape Ray will neutralize chemicals that Syria used to produce nerve gas. WASHINGTON The Pentagon is outfitting a 647-foot cargo ship with high-tech equipment in an effort to safely destroy hundreds of tons of lethal chemical weapons agents…
American teacher killed in Libya is remembered as devoted, irreverent
LA Times 5 Dec 2013 – Ronnie Smith, who taught chemistry at an English-language school in Benghazi, Libya, was gunned down while jogging. BENGHAZI, Libya Relatively few Americans remained in this eastern Libyan city as street battles raged and Islamic militants made ever-bolder forays in recent weeks. But Ronnie Smith,…
The Lede: Latest Updates on Mourning for Mandela
New York Times 6 Dec 2013 – The Lede continues to follow the global reaction to the death of Nelson Mandela, on a day of tributes to the man who led the emancipation of South Africa from white minority rule and then served as its first freely elected president.
Hagel Seeks to Assure Gulf Allies of U.S. Commitment
New York Times 6 Dec 2013 – The defense secretary said that the Pentagon would not reduce its military deployments to the region or its focus on countering shared security threats.
Pentagon Sees ‘Significant Interest’ in F-35 From Gulf
New York Times 6 Dec 2013 – Strong demand from Gulf countries for Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 fighter jet has prompted Washington to grapple with the thorny question about releasing the jet to the region sooner than expected, a senior U.S. defense official said.
Nuns, Missing in Syria, Resurface in Video
New York Times 6 Dec 2013 – The nuns, who had vanished from the ancient Aramaic-speaking town of Maaloula, said they had left with rebels to escape shelling.
The Lede: Updates: First Reactions to the Death of Nelson Mandela
New York Times 6 Dec 2013 – South Africans, world leaders and citizens of many nations reacted to the death of Nelson Mandela on Thursday.
Yemen Says Regains Ministry Compound, 12 Militants Killed
New York Times 6 Dec 2013 – Yemen said on Friday it had regained full control of its Defence Ministry compound in Sanaa a day after a militant attack, claimed by an al Qaeda-affiliated group, killed 56 people, including foreign medical staff.
Security Increased for Foreigners in Eastern Libya
New York Times 6 Dec 2013 – Security for foreign instructors was increased after an American teacher was shot to death while jogging in Benghazi, amid fears that the death was not an isolated attack but rather one of an increasing number of targeted killings by Islamic militants or other gunmen with a strong presence in the volatile eastern Libyan city.
UK Foreign Secretary Seeks to Reassure Gulf Allies
New York Times 6 Dec 2013 – Britain’s top diplomat voiced his country’s strong commitment to the security of the Gulf states on Friday, seeking to reassure wary Arab allies in the wake of last month’s nuclear deal with their regional rival Iran.
Pentagon Approves $1.1 Billion Raytheon Missile Sale to Saudi Arabia
New York Times 6 Dec 2013 – The Pentagon has approved the sale of more than 15,000 Raytheon Co anti-tank missiles to Saudi Arabia under two separate deals valued at nearly $1.1 billion.
Jordan Wins Security Council Seat, Replaces Saudis
New York Times 6 Dec 2013 – The U.N. General Assembly elected Jordan to the Security Council on Friday to replace Saudi Arabia, which had rejected the seat in an unprecedented act to protest the council’s failure to end the Syrian and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts.
Syrian Presidency Calls Mandela’s Life a Lesson to Tyrants
New York Times 6 Dec 2013 – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, two and a half years into a blood-soaked rebellion against his rule, mourned Nelson Mandela’s death on Friday, calling his life an inspiration for freedom fighters and a lesson to tyrants.
At Halfway Mark, Kerry’s Mideast Effort Stumbles
New York Times 6 Dec 2013 – Halfway through an ambitious nine-month process aimed at forging Mideast peace, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, after another round of shuttle diplomacy, has little to show for his efforts.
Iran, Powers Meet Next Week on Nuclear Deal Implementation
New York Times 6 Dec 2013 – Iran and six world powers plan expert-level talks next week to work out details of implementing a breakthrough agreement for Tehran to curb its disputed nuclear program in return for a limited easing of sanctions.
Kerry, Invoking Mandela, Says Peace in Mideast Is Possible
New York Times 6 Dec 2013 – We are closer than we have been in years to an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, Secretary of State John Kerry said, without citing specific examples.
Shimon Peres on Mandela and Apartheid: Now & Then
Mondoweiss – Now: The world lost a great leader who changed the course of history. On behalf of the citizens of Israel we mourn alongside the nations of the world and the people of South Africa, who lost an exceptional leader. Nelson Mandela was a fighter for human…
Marwan Barghouthi on Mandela: Our freedom seems possible because you reached yours
Mondoweiss – The following is being circulated by the Palestinian Mission UK . Message of Marwan Barghouthi, following the announcement of Mandela s death Hadarim Prison, December 6, 2013 Our freedom seems possible because you reached yours During the long years of my own struggle, I had the occasion to think…
The unspoken alliance: Israel s secret relationship with apartheid South Africa
Mondoweiss – Editor s note: The eulogies from Israeli leaders in response to the death of Nelson Mandela are pouring in . What goes unspoken in their remembrances is that Israel had a close relationship with the South African apartheid regime. Here s an excerpt from Sasha Polakow-Suransky s groundbreaking book that…
In 1990 Nightline town hall, Jewish leaders call Mandela hypocritical and amoral over support for PLO, Koppel warns it isn t politically wise to upset lobby
Mondoweiss – (Image: IMEU) Watch this fascinating Ted Koppel interview with Nelson Mandela from 1990. The video is part of a New York City town hall meeting broadcast on ABC s Nightline during Mandela s first trip to the United States after being released from prison. In it Koppel presses…
The Jewish establishment refused to embrace Mandela in 1990
Mondoweiss – Nelson Mandela meets with Palestinian Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat, right, on Sunday, May 20, 1990 in Cairo. (Photo via news.naij.co) This post, originally published on Muzzlewatch , was reposted on Mondoweiss in June . We run it again in light of Mandela s death. JVP joins with people…
On the death of Nelson Mandela: a dissenting opinion
Mondoweiss – Nelson Mandela addresses the UN s Special Committee Against Apartheid. (UN Photo/Flickr) Offering a dissenting opinion at this moment of a general outpouring of grief at Nelson Mandela s death is not likely to court popularity. It is also likely to be misunderstood. So let me start by…
At New America Foundation, Max Blumenthal warns Israeli policy is to finish 482
Mondoweiss – Max Blumenthal at the New America Foundation on December 4, 2013. (Video: UStream) We hear this cry, said journalist Max Blumenthal at a much anticipated lecture for Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israe l at the New America Foundation (NAF) Wednesday afternoon. Finish 48. Blumenthal…
Two months away from home
Mondoweiss – Ben Lomond Mountain, UK (Photo: Malaka Mohammed) (This is the author s second diary of her life in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Her first is Palestine to Sheffield: One month away from home ) An amazing month drew to a close after a string of new experiences& Palestine in…
Obama s Mandela eulogy moving, and hypocritical
Mondoweiss – My very first political action, the first thing I ever did that involved an issue or a policy or politics, was a protest against apartheid, President Obama said in his eloquent, moving, and hypocritical eulogy of Nelson Mandela. As a citizen activist Obama opposed apartheid, and…
US Senate voted overwhelmingly for sanctions to wake up apartheid South Africa
Mondoweiss – Even Republican Senator Richard Lugar was for sanctions against South African apartheid on moral grounds Read this news story from 1986 and imagine if South Africa was a different country, with a different relationship to the U.S. From the New York Times. Pay attention to all…
Mandela and Lessons for Israel-Palestine: from Armed Struggle to Political Transformation
Tikun Olam – Though parallels and echoes seem obvious, over the years I hadn t given much thought to the lessons to be learned from Nelson Mandela s approach to apartheid. In light of his death today, his moral example and legacy seem even more relevant than they were yesterday, while…
Noam Chomsky: Israel and the United States are the real rogue actors in the Middle East
Sabbah report 6 Dec 2013 – Just how far will [Israel] go to eliminate the feared deterrent on the pretext of an existential threat ? Some fear that it will go very far. Israel might resort to nuclear war. Foreign policy analyst Zbigniew Brzezinski urges Washington to make it clear to Israel that…
Stuart Littlewood: Cameron bound in servitude to Israel
Sabbah report 6 Dec 2013 – Whenever a Western leader expresses adoration and undying support for the Zionist regime, the Jewish Chronicle can be relied on to make the most of it. This week it reports on UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s Chanucah/Hanukkah reception in Downing Street when he lit a menorah (…
Egypt stops Morsi prison visits
BBC 6 Dec 2013 – Egypt’s interior ministry says it will no longer allow visits to Mohammed Morsi, who has been detained since being deposed as president in July.
Israeli soldier cleared over death
BBC 6 Dec 2013 – An Israeli military investigation clears a soldier over the death of a Palestinian protester struck in the face by a tear-gas canister he fired.
Altered Images: The blurred baroness
BBC 6 Dec 2013 – Why photos of women are doctored by some Iranian media
Kerry Urges Israelis and Palestinians To Follow Mandela’s Lead and Make Peace
The Foward Breaking News 6 Dec 2013 – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry closed another Middle East troubleshooting mission on Friday by urging Israel and the Palestinians to follow Nelson Mandela s lead and make peace. Click here for the rest of the article…
‘Dwarfs’ fight to be classed as disabled
BBC 6 Dec 2013 – Egypt’s ‘dwarfs’ fight to be classed as disabled to get work
Jerusalem Demolition Plan Could Force More Than 1,000 People From Homes
The Foward Breaking News 6 Dec 2013 – A demolition project in East Jerusalem may leave 1,000 Palestinians with nowhere to live. Leftist groups say discriminatory laws keep Palestinians from building legally. Click here for the rest of the article…
Video: Abducted Syrian nuns “thank” captors for “protection”
Al-Akhbar News 6 Dec 2013 – An image grab from a video obtained by Al Jazeera shows one of 13 nuns abducted from a convent in the town of Maaloula as she is asked questions by their captor at their holding place. (Photo: Al Jazeera) A video released Friday night allegedly shows…
Egypt stops Morsi prison visits
BBC 6 Dec 2013 – Egypt’s interior ministry says it will no longer allow visits to Mohammed Morsi, who has been detained since being deposed as president in July.
Israeli soldier cleared over death
BBC 6 Dec 2013 – An Israeli military investigation clears a soldier over the death of a Palestinian protester struck in the face by a tear-gas canister he fired.
Jordan elected to UN Security Council seat turned down by Saudi Arabia
Al-Akhbar News 6 Dec 2013 – The 193-member UN General Assembly elected Jordan to the UN Security Council on Friday to replace Saudi Arabia, which rejected its two-year term in protest at the council’s failure to end the Syria war and act on other Middle East issues. Saudi Arabia was elected in…
Gunmen kill Iraqi journalist investigating Kurdistan corruption
Al-Akhbar News 6 Dec 2013 – Gunmen shot dead a magazine editor investigating corruption in the autonomous Kurdistan region, the latest in a series of attacks on journalists in Iraq, media rights groups and police said Friday. Kawa Ahmed Germyani, the editor-in-chief of Rayal magazine and a correspondent for Awene newspaper, was…
Police fire tear gas at rival protests in Cairo
Al-Akhbar News 6 Dec 2013 – An injured supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted president Mohammed Mursi is helped by fellow supporters during clashes with local residents following a demonstration on December 6, 2013 in Cairo, Egypt. (Photo: AFP – Khaled Kamel) Egyptian police used tear gas on Friday to end…
Week In Photo (29 November – 06 December)
Al-Akhbar News 6 Dec 2013 – Stephen Collins from Canada participates in the men’s jump eliminatories of the World Water Skiing Championship in Los Morros lake on November 29, 2013 (Martin Bernetti – AFP) Stephen Collins from Canada participates in the men’s jump eliminatories of the World Water Skiing Championship in Los…
Israel exonerates soldier in Palestinian protester death
Al-Akhbar News 6 Dec 2013 – A Palestinian throws stones towards Israeli riot police during clashes following Friday prayers at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound, on December 6, 2013. (Photo: AFP – Ahmad Gharabli) Israel’s army has exonerated a soldier in the 2011 killing of a Palestinian protester with a rifle-fired tear gas…
Lines of the Game: One Civil War in Lebanon and Syria
Al-Akhbar Opinion 6 Dec 2013 – A man runs in front of a curtain bearing text reading in Arabic: “Danger of sniper” in a street in Zahriyeh, a neighbourhood at the southern entrance of Tripoli’s Bab al-Tabbaneh area. (Photo: AFP – Joseph Eid). A man runs in front of a curtain bearing…
Politics Delay Cairo-Khartoum Highway
Al-Akhbar News 6 Dec 2013 – Cairo University’s students backing ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi flash the four-finger sign during a demonstration against July’s military “coup,” in Tahrir square on December 1, 2013 in Cairo, Egypt (Photo: AFP – Mahmoud Khaled). Cairo University’s students backing ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi flash the…
Altered Images: The blurred baroness
BBC 6 Dec 2013 – Why photos of women are doctored by some Iranian media
Lebanon: Sectarianism Invades USJ Campus
Al-Akhbar News 6 Dec 2013 – On the one side, Lebanese Forces and Phalangist students repeatedly provoked Shia students with slogans maintaining that USJ was Bachir Gemayel s university. (Photo: Haitham Moussawi). On the one side, Lebanese Forces and Phalangist students repeatedly provoked Shia students with slogans maintaining that USJ was Bachir Gemayel s…
Kerry: peace talks “closer than ever” to a deal, despite Palestinian misgivings
Al-Akhbar News 6 Dec 2013 – Israel and Palestine are closer to a peace deal than they have been in years, US Secretary of State John Kerry claimed on Friday wrapping up his latest visit. “I believe we are closer than we have been in years to bringing about the peace and…
Italy convicts abducted Egypt cleric
BBC 6 Dec 2013 – Egyptian Muslim cleric Abu Omar, abducted by the CIA in Italy in 2003, is given a six-year jail term in absentia in Milan for terror offences.
‘Dwarfs’ fight to be classed as disabled
BBC 6 Dec 2013 – Egypt’s ‘dwarfs’ fight to be classed as disabled to get work
Al-Qaeda claims Yemen ministry raid
BBC 6 Dec 2013 – Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) says it was behind an attack on Yemen’s defence ministry on Thursday that left 52 people dead.
Mandela’s mixed legacy for the Middle East
BBC 6 Dec 2013 – How Mandela will be remembered by Israel and the Palestinians
Lebanon: Resistance Air Defense Commander Assassinated
Al-Akhbar Politics 5 Dec 2013 – They suddenly learned the true identity of the shadowy man who lived on the second floor as being one of the people credited for achieving Hezbollah s victory in July 2006. (Photo: Haitham Moussawi). They suddenly learned the true identity of the shadowy man who lived on…
Articles
Land Theft in the Jordan Valley
Uri Avnery, CounterPunch 12/6/2013
(Un)Holy River
So here comes John Kerry again, for the umpteenth time (but who is counting?) to make peace between us and the Palestinians.
It is a highly laudable effort. Unfortunately, it is based on a false premise. To wit: that the Israeli government wants peace based on the two-state solution.
Unwilling or unable to recognize this simple truth, Kerry looks for a way around. He tries approaches from different directions, in the hope of convincing Binyamin Netanyahu. In his imagination he hears Netanyahu exclaim: Now, why didn t I think of that?!
So here he comes with a new idea: to start by solving Israel s security problems and doing away with its worries.
Let s not talk for now about the other core problems , he says. Let s look at your concerns and see how to meet them. I have brought with me an honest-to-goodness combat general with an honest-to-goodness security plan. Have a look at it!
This approach is based on the false premise the offspring of the overall premise that the security concerns cited by our government are genuine. Kerry is expressing the basic American belief that if reasonable people sit around a table and analyze a problem, they will find a solution.
So there is a plan. General John Allen, a former commander of the war in Afghanistan, puts it on the table and explains its merits. It addresses many worries. The main subject is the insistence of the Israeli army that whatever the borders of the future State of Palestine, Israel must continue for a long, long time to control the Jordan valley. more..e-mail
Prawer Plan: How the natives became invaders in their own homes
Noam Sheizaf, +972 Magazine 12/5/2013
The attempt to forcibly resettle a native minority population justifies international interest. If it continues, international intervention will be justified as well.
Members of the foreign press in Israel received an invitation this week for a tour in the south to explore the topic of the Bedouin population. The visit is intended to present the plan for the arrangement of Bedouin settlement in the Negev, which, according to the invitation, aims to promote the economic development for the Negev s Bedouin population [and] to resolve the conflict over land ownership.
The tour, which will take place on December 10, is hosted by General (res.) Doron Almog, who heads the unit which will implement the (re)arrangement plan, commonly referred to as the Prawer Plan (named after another general, Udi Prawer, who drafted the initial document).
This military-like operation is meant to relocate tens of thousands of Bedouin the native population of the Negev from their homes in the unrecognized villages and into designated areas whose exact borders and locations have yet to be revealed.
There is something telling in the fact that Almog is talking to the foreign press while details of the plan are being kept secret from the Bedouin themselves. Almost 100,000 Bedouin live in the Negev s unrecognized villages, but while Prawer Plan is set to become state law in a matter of weeks, not one of them knows whether his/her house will be destroyed or village displaced. Even the contractors that are hired to implement the plan must sign a special clause that ensures they maintain absolute secrecy on Prawer s details; violating this clause is defined in the contract as a national security offense. more..e-mail
Media lies harm only the media, not Hamas
Izzat Al Rishq, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) 12/4/2013
Some Arab writers, journalists and media professionals are facing a real crisis. They have distanced themselves from the ethics of their profession in search of news reports made up of fabricated accusations against the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, and its leaders to such an extent that they have run out of ways to demonise the movement.
While such fabrications have been exposed as such in the media, the credibility of Hamas has risen as a result of its sincerity of intent and adherence to its principles and values. The attempts to harm the movement have backfired and these shameless scribes have brought harm only to themselves.
Hamas will not be affected by such plots as it continues on its chosen path to liberate the land of Palestine and its holy sites. The target of the resistance is the Zionist enemy and it will not be distracted by side issues. The movement has made it very clear over the years that its struggle is against Israel and nobody else.
The media lies in Egypt against Hamas are obvious to any impartial observer. Instead of responding to them I intend to demonstrate how ridiculous the claims are. If we believe what is written and said, the Palestinians have become the enemies of Egypt and its people overnight. Not only that, but Hamas and the Palestinian resistance are behind every ill that befalls the Egyptians. Where is Egyptian journalism heading to with these lies? What is in it for the media to promote discord between Egypt and the Palestinians?
One me
dia fabrication is that Hamas was involved in the assassination of National Security officer Colonel Mohammed Mabrouk, because he was behind the dossier which accused President Mohamed Morsi of “collaborating” with the Islamic movement. Hamas has insisted that it had nothing to do with this or any other such event and that it does not and will not interfere in the internal affairs of Arab and Islamic countries. Propaganda to the contrary serves only the interests of the enemies of Egypt and its people, who have always supported the Palestinians. more..e-mail
Mandela: a Dissenting Opinion
Jonathan Cook, Nazareth, CounterPunch 12/6/2013
Victorious Over Apartheid, Defeated by Neoliberalism
Offering a dissenting opinion at this moment of a general outpouring of grief at Nelson Mandela s death is not likely to court popularity. It is also likely to be misunderstood.
So let me start by recognising Mandela s huge achievement in helping to bring down South African apartheid, and make clear my enormous respect for the great personal sacrifices he made, including spending so many years caged up for his part in the struggle to liberate his people. These are things impossible to forget or ignore when assessing someone s life.
Nonetheless, it is important to pause during the widespread acclamation of his legacy, mostly by people who have never demonstrated a fraction of his integrity, to consider a lesson that most observers want to overlook.
Perhaps the best way to make my point is to highlight a mock memo written in 2001 by Arjan el-Fassed, from Nelson Mandela to the NYT s columnist Thomas Friedman. It is a wonderful, humane denunciation of Friedman s hypocrisy and a demand for justice for the Palestinians that Mandela should have written.
Soon afterwards, the memo spread online, stripped of el-Fassed s closing byline. Many people, including a few senior journalists, assumed it was written by Mandela and published it as such. It seemed they wanted to believe that Mandela had written something as morally clear-sighted as this about another apartheid system, an Israeli one that is at least the equal of that imposed for decades on black South Africans.
However, the reality is that it was not written by Mandela, and his staff even went so far as to threaten legal action against the author. more..e-mail
Nelson Mandela leaves a legacy of struggle
Electronic Intifada: 6 Dec 2013 – The late South African leader was long a supporter of the Palestinian cause. more..
Revelations on Rafik Hariri s Assassination
Dissident Voice: 6 Dec 2013 – All the conflicts rocking the Middle East today crystallize around the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). Peace hinges on it, and so does war. For some, the STL should bring about the dissolution of the Hezbollah, quell the Resistance and establish a Pax Americana . Others consider that the STL is flouting the law and subverting the truth to ensure the takeover of a new colonial order in the region. The Tribunal was created on 30 May 2007, pursuant to UN Security Council resolution 1757, to prosecute the alleged sponsors of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri s assassination. In the political context at that time, this implied nothing more and nothing less than bringing to trial serving Presidents Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Emile Lahoud of Lebanon, not exactly favourites of the neo-conservatives. However, the charges were not pursued since they were based on flimsy evidence planted by false witnesses. With no…more
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The New Dark Age 