26 January 2014 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Number Of Palestinian Druze Refusing Israeli Service Increasing
IMEMC – A recent poll, conducted by the University of Haifa, has revealed that the number of Druze refusing to serve in the Israeli army is increasing. It also shows that a growing number of Israeli youth prefer being jailed instead of military service. …
Worker Shot By Police, Minor Beaten By Settlers
IMEMC – Journalists Detained, Activists Arrested [Sunday, January 26, 2014] Israeli police have shot a Palestinian man, aged 41, while he was in Israel for work, according to medical sources. …
Peace Talks Reach Stalemate As Kerry Frames Outline For Final Agreement
IMEMC – In the framework of the Palestinian reconciliation talks, and just days after a Fatah delegation arrived to the Gaza Strip to meet Hamas leaders, Hamas issued a statement, on Saturday, calling upon Fatah to withdraw from negotiations with the Israeli occupation without further delay, in light of information leaked about US Secretary of State John Kerry’s framework agreement. …
Update – Settlers Uproot Trees, Soldiers Kidnap Palestinians
IMEMC – Bethlehem – [Sunday, January 26, 2014] After dozens of settlers uprooted Palestinian trees and farmlands near Wad Rahhal village, south of Bethlehem, Israeli soldiers kidnapped coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, and detained two journalists. …
Army Invades Various West Bank Communities, Kidnaps Three Palestinians
IMEMC – Settlers Attack Palestinian Child In Hebron [Sunday, January 26, 2014] Israeli soldiers invaded various Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, conducted military searches of homes and property, and kidnapped three Palestinians. …
Israeli Extremists Attack Cars, Residents, In Jerusalem
IMEMC – [Saturday Evening, January 26, 2014] Palestinian sources have reported that several Israelis hurled stones at Palestinian cars driving on Road 1, in occupied Jerusalem; injuries have been reported. …
Ultra-Orthodox Jews hurl stones at Palestinian vehicles in Jerusalem
1/26/2014 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews hurled stones at cars traveling on route 1 highway in Jerusalem on Saturday evening, in what victims claimed were racially-motivated assaults targeting Palestinians. Eyewitnesses told a Ma’an reporter that about 60 ultra-Orthodox Jewish men hurled rocks at vehicles driven by Palestinians with Israeli registration plates and assaulted a bicyclist before stealing his bike. Muhammad Abu….
Settlers attack Palestinian farmers in Beit Ummar
1/26/2014 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers and their families in the Wadi Abu al-Reesh area in the southern West Bank near Beit Ummar on Saturday evening, a local spokesperson said. Muhammad Ayyad Awad, a spokesman for Beit Ummar’s local committee against settlement activities, told Ma’an that settlers wearing masks and white uniforms threw stones at farmers and swore….
Report: Israel to allow storm recovery materials into Gaza
1/26/2014 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli media reported on Sunday that Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon had approved plans to allow construction material into the Gaza Strip in order to help repair buildings destroyed in December’s severe winter storm. Israeli news site Ynet said that the plan to allow 1,000 tons of cement and “construction materials” into the besieged coastal enclave followed coordination….
Hundreds protest reduction of UNRWA services in Gaza
1/26/2014 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hundreds of Palestinian refugees rallied on Sunday in the central and southern Gaza Strip protesting reductions in services by UNRWA in Palestinian refugee camps across the coastal enclave. Witnesses told Ma’an that protestors closed the offices of the UN’s Palestine refugee agency in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip during the protest. Demonstrators waved….
Israeli jailed for espionage goes free after 26 months
1/26/2014 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — An Israeli woman convicted of spying and leaking classified military documents to the media walked free on Sunday after serving 26 months of a four-and-a-half year prison sentence. Commercial TV station Channel 2 showed former soldier Anat Kam leaving Neve Tirza women’s prison in Ramle near Tel Aviv wearing jeans and a dark sweater.”I’m going home, goodbye,” she….
Official: Undercover Israeli forces arrest man near Hebron
1/26/2014 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Undercover Israeli forces on Sunday arrested a young Palestinian man at the entrance of Beit Ummar village. Spokesman for the popular resistance committee Mohammad Awad said that Sakhr Hisham Khalil Abu Maria, 21, was apprehended after a white car with Israeli license plate stopped beside him. Awad said three armed people stepped out of it and forced him into the car….
‘Jewish state’ demand bares clashing Mideast narratives
1/26/2014 – RAMALLAH (AFP) — The controversy over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state is rooted in the clashing historical narratives of the decades-old conflict. Palestinians have dismissed the demand, pointing to the fact that they recognized Israel in 1993 at the start of the peace process and insisting it’s not for other nations to….
4 gunmen killed ‘placing roadside bomb’ in North Sinai
1/26/2014 – EL-ARISH (Ma’an) — Four gunmen were killed by a roadside bomb between Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah in North Sinai on Sunday morning, Egyptian security sources said. The sources told Ma’anthat an improvised explosive device went off while four gunmen were trying to place it near a military checkpoint on the roadside at the entrance to Sheikh Zuweid. The four were killed immediately….
Conflicts linger as Yemen concludes thorny dialogue
1/26/2014 – SANAA (AFP) — Yemenis concluded a national dialogue Saturday aimed at drafting a new constitution and establishing a federal state in an impoverished country gripped by unrest, where southerners are clamoring for independence. Secessionists boycotted the talks launched in March 2013 as part of a UN-backed transition that saw president Ali Abdullah Saleh step down after 33 years in power following massive Arab Spring-inspired protests in….
Elders to visit Iran to promote dialogue with West
1/26/2014 – TEHRAN (AFP) — A group of former global leaders known as the Elders, tasked with encouraging dialogue between Iran and the international community, is due to arrive in Tehran Sunday, their website said. The group, formed in 2007, is made up of twelve global leaders who try “to promote peace, justice and human rights,” according to their website. The group sees “recent positive developments as a….
Iraq violence kills 28 as January toll tops 800
1/26/2014 – BAGHDAD (AFP) — Shelling and bombings across Iraq killed 28 people Saturday and militants blew up a key bridge linking the capital to the north, the latest in a surge of violence. The bloodshed, which pushed the death toll for January to more than 800, comes in the run-up to a general election scheduled for April 30, and has stoked fears Iraq is slipping back into….
Iran eyes revival of key gas sector
1/26/2014 – ASSALUYEH, Iran (AFP) — Iran is working full throttle to develop its South Pars natural gas field, the world’s largest, amid hopes of sanctions relief and the return of Western oil majors.”We would welcome foreign companies and investors if they want to come back,” said Hamid Reza Massoudi, chief engineer at an unfinished South Pars refinery near the town of Assaluyeh, 920 kilometers….
4 Egyptian troops killed, 11 injured in attack on bus in Sinai
1/26/2014 – CAIRO (Ma’an) — Four Egyptian soldiers were killed and eleven others were injured on Sunday morning in an armed attack by unidentified gunmen on a bus carrying Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula. An Egyptian military source privy to the details told a Ma’an reporter in El-Arish that a group of gunmen ambushed a bus carrying soldiers in the winding Mitla Pass….
Syria peace talks to focus on prisoners
1/26/2014 – GENEVA (AFP) — The fates of the thousands jailed, kidnapped or missing in Syria will be on the table Sunday as the country’s warring sides pursue UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva. A day after sitting together for the first time in the same room, delegates from President Bashar Assad’s regime and the opposition resumed closed-door talks with UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi acting….
HRW slams Kuwaiti jail, deportation of online activist
1/26/2014 – KUWAIT CITY (AFP) — Human Rights Watch on Sunday condemned as “shocking” a Kuwaiti court’s five-year jail sentence followed by deportation against an online rights activist for criticizing the emirate’s ruler on Twitter. A lower court imposed the sentence on Abdullah Fairouz Abdullah Abd al-Kareem, 30, on January 9 for posting comments on the microblogging website deemed offensive to the emir. The….
Militant group claims downing of Egypt army helicopter
1/26/2014 – CAIRO (AFP) — An Al-Qaeda-inspired group has claimed it shot down an Egyptian military helicopter in the Sinai peninsula, in what the army said was an accident that killed five soldiers. The Ansar Beit al-Madqis group, which has taken responsibility for a series of deadly attacks across the country, said its fighters brought down the helicopter on Saturday with a missile. The military issued a statement….
Lebanon: Syria Situation: Regional Winterization Programme Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey 10 – 16 January 2014
Relief Web 26 Jan 2014 – Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees Country: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, occupied Palestinian territory, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey HIGHLIGHTS The distribution of winterization items among Syrian refugees in camps across Iraq is complete and distribution for refugees outside camps is…
occupied Palestinian territory: Israel to let more building materials into Gaza
Relief Web 26 Jan 2014 – Source: Agence France-Presse Country: occupied Palestinian territory 01/26/2014 13:58 GMT GAZA CITY, January 26, 2014 (AFP) – Israel is to allow the entry of more building materials into the Gaza Strip, the defence ministry said Sunday, and a UN refugee…
Egypt: Winter assistance in Egypt
Relief Web 25 Jan 2014 – Source: Save the Children Country: Egypt, occupied Palestinian territory, Syrian Arab Republic By Meg Pruce, Information and Communications Officer for Save the Children’s emergency response in Egypt It is 8.30am and I am standing at a bus stop, waiting alongside…
India’s village councils under scrutiny after rape
The National 26 Jan 2014 – Known as khap panchayats, councils of village elders dispense harsh justice for those who flout their dictat despite having no legal status.
Egypt to hold presidential election before parliamentary polls
The National 26 Jan 2014 – Egypt’s interim president, Adly Mansour, announced on Sunday that the country will hold a presidential election before parliamentary polls.
Anti-government protest leader shot dead in Bangkok
The National 26 Jan 2014 – Shots fired in clashes with government supporters as demonstrators swarmed polling stations across the country to disrupt early round of voting for February 2 general election.
Israel allow more building materials into Gaza
The National 26 Jan 2014 – Israel will allow about 1,000 tonnes of cement and building materials to enter the Gaza Strip following a fierce winter storm that hit the Palestinian enclave last month.
Syria talks see breakthrough as women and children allowed to leave Homs
The National 26 Jan 2014 – Women and children will be allowed to leave the besieged Syrian city of Homs as peace talks in Geneva see a small breakthrough.
Tunisia to vote on charter, new cabinet awaited
The National 26 Jan 2014 – Legislators gathered to vote on Tunisia’s new constitution as premier-designate Mehdi Jomaa prepared to unveil his cabinet.
Iran tanker company to ship oil as sanctions ease
The National 26 Jan 2014 – The National Iranian Tanker Company may ship crude oil exports to countries including China, India and Turkey after sanctions were eased.
French workers suffer carbon monoxide poisoning in Channel tunnel
The National 26 Jan 2014 – Sixty people, including workers from a company commissioned by Eurotunnel and Eurotunnel employees, were in the process of changing rails on the line between the towns of Calais in France and Folkestone in Britain when a welder took ill overnight Saturday.
Death toll from Egypt anniversary clashes rises to 49
The National 26 Jan 2014 – More than 250 people are injured in fighting between supporters of the government and allies of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In pictures: Protesters storm Ukrainian House in central Kiev
The National 26 Jan 2014 – Protesters in the Ukrainian capital Kiev Sunday ousted special police forces from a flashpoint building in the city after storming the premises in new clashes, officials said.
Education minister rebuffs criticism over ‘leftist’ teacher
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
After Davos, foreign tech firms head to Israel
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Two Eritreans win refugee status in rare decision
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Secular left and biblical heritage meet at Shulamit Aloni’s funeral
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Secular left and biblical heritage meet at Shulamit Aloni’s funeral
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
A electoral threshold too high
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
A new, improved Jordanian option
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Israel planning new road in Galilee, at expense of national park
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
The Jewish Bubba who became a YouTube porn queen
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Second Israeli astronaut under discussion, says Netanyahu
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Bennett blasts Netanyahu for ‘dangerous’ and ‘irrational’ ideas
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Louvre paintings stolen by Nazis to be returned to Jewish owners
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Syrian government to let women, children out of besieged city of Homs
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Arab-Americans criticize bill to do away with visas for Israelis
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Birds maul peace doves freed from pope’s window
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
How a head scarf almost got Italian FM’s visit in Tehran canceled
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Who is ‘righteous’ enough for Yad Vashem?
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Obama administration names envoy to aging Holocaust survivor community
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Auschwitz memorial ceremony financed by ‘King of Fun’
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Lockheed Martin to invest in advanced Israeli tech projects
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Letter to the Editor: Why Economist’s sly anti-Semitic cartoon must be protested
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Why the self-defeating secrecy, AIPAC and de Blasio?
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Livni to Lapid: Don’t provide tax breaks for 35 isolated settlements
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Shulamit Aloni: Israel’s most influential woman politician
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Supreme Court okays highway bisecting Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Only 16 asylum seekers head to Negev detention center
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
‘Netanyahu’s son follows his heart – into Norwegian arms’
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Top Palestinians: Peace talks futile, we must return to resistance
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Violence erupts in Kiev despite president’s offer
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Israel eases ban on building material imports to Gaza
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Anat Kamm released after two years in jail
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
African asylum seekers due at Holot detention center today
Ha’aretz – 26 Jan 2014
Israeli police keep making arrests for light drug possession, despite AG’s advice
Ha’aretz – 25 Jan 2014
Three dead in Maryland mall shooting
Ha’aretz – 25 Jan 2014
One of the sons from the poisoned Jerusalem family briefly regains consciousness at hospital
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Michael Gross, 7, opens eyes for first time during family prayer vigil five days after his two sisters were killed; Brother Yitzhak, 5, upgraded to stable condition.
Only 26 African migrants arrive at detention facility as 30-day deadline expires
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Meretz MK Rozin visits facility on same day migrants enter, says facility gives “strong impression of a prison.”
Analysis: Venomous stares and a trial that might have been avoided
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – In the Leef trial it is unlikely that either side cares as much about the legal result as maintaining its standpoint.
Cyber hackers breach Defense Ministry computer
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Palestinians suspected of carrying out cyber assault that infected Israeli defense computer via tainted email posing as message from Shin Bet, according to cyber security firm.
The post-Khamenei era
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – The West has considerable interests in how this era will be shaped in the Islamic Republic.
Defense Minister: Israel to allow limited building materials into Gaza
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – 1,000 tons of cement to be trucked into Strip for storm recovery efforts in private sector of Palestinian territory.
Israel: 1,000 tons of cement can enter Gaza
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Cement to be trucked into Strip for storm recovery efforts in private sector of Palestinian territory.
Think about it: Anti-Semitism and the boycott of Israel
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – There are those who believe that the boycott’s sole motive is the objection to all aspects of Israel’s settlement policy.
Abraham Stern, Israel’s own revolutionary
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Stern walked the streets of south Tel Aviv at night with a collapsible cot, sleeping in stairwells after his underground meetings were over.
Exposing the myth of the Arab bystander to the Holocaust
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – The myth that the Arabs were innocent bystanders to the Nazi Holocaust is unfortunately widely accepted at face value
‘Never again’ imperatives
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – In addition to the “never again” imperative that relates specifically to Jews as victims, however, there is another “never again” lesson to be learned from the Holocaust.
Roni Alter goes wild with new album and tour
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 –
Claude Lanzmann: Setting the record straight
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Latest film seems to be the final step in Claude Lanzmann’s long quest to try to understand the Holocaust.
Health Ministry advocates allowing gay couples to use surrogate mothers
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Amid flap over Thai surrogates, ministry says to propose bill allowing individuals, not just married couples, to use surrogacy services.
MKs slam Netanyahu for letting son date gentile
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Shas MK Ze’ev says PM failed to set example for the Jews by preventing son from dating woman; Likud MK Feiglin calls affair “unfortunate.”
MKs slam Netanyahu over his son dating a non-Jewish Norwegian woman
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Shas MK Ze’ev says PM failed to set example for the Jews by preventing son from dating woman; Likud MK Feiglin calls affair “unfortunate.”
Could Intel pave Israel’s way on cyber security?
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Intel is already one of the most important players in Israel’s economy, touting a cumulative investment of $10.8 billion in the state.
A wonderful musical fusion
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Dudu Tassa’s concert is not to be missed.
Israeli-US-Australian researchers: effects of aerosols on clouds, climate change uncertain
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Depending on meteorological conditions, aerosols can have dramatically different effects on the clouds.
Israel scores 39 out of 178 in Environmental Performance Index
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – The country excelled the most in the drinking water and water sanitation category, achieving first place.
Ahead of Int’l Holocaust Remembrance Day, Bennett warns cabinet of rising anti-Semitism
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Jerusalem and Diaspora affairs minister says situation for Jews around the world deteriorated in 2013, despite lack of high profile attacks against Jewish targets such as 2012’s Toulouse school massacre.
Early presidential election is called in Egypt day after killing of 49 protesters
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Change to the post-Morsi political timetable could pave way for swift election of Sisi.
Hundreds mourn loss of former minister Shulamit Aloni
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – President Peres eulogizes former education minister, praises her “authentic and real courage” to express difficult truths.
As deadline expires only 21 African migrants arrive at desert detention facility
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Meretz MK Rozin visits facility on same day migrants enter, says facility gives “strong impression of a prison.”
Court extends remand of Palestinians suspected of planning al-Qaida attacks
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Two Palestinians suspected of belonging to terror cell in Jerusalem receive extended detentions.
Supreme Court upholds state’s right to build controversial east Jerusalem road
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Court did make some modifications based on the Arab residents’ wishes by cancelling certain road-networks around main road.
Supreme Court upholds controversial Jerusalem road, with modifications
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Beit Safafa residents argue street would cut the neighborhood in half.
WATCH: Sarah Silverman and Jesus preach reproductive rights
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Comedienne recounts a visit from the Holy figure in her dreams; “Fertilized eggs aren’t people. People are people,” she says.
WIZO survey: More than 60% of Israeli parents can’t find good balance between career and family
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Study released in advance of Family Day on January 31st; aims to examine the impact of careers on modern parenting.
Rehovot hospital restores hearing of man deaf for decade
Jerusalem Post 26 Jan 2014 – Mifal Hapayis kiosk owner helped with implant surgery to hear customers happy over winning prizes.
Oxfam s cowardly stance on Scarlett Johansson s Israeli settlement profiteering
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 25, 2014 – Human rights defenders took some encouragement yesterday from a statement by Oxfam implicitly criticizing Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson for a multi-million dollar endorsement deal with the Israeli-occupation profiteering firm SodaStream.Johansson is also an “Oxfam Global Ambassador,”…
Gaza: Life beneath the drones
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 25, 2014 – In the Gaza Strip there is no escape from Israel s drones. Nicknameed zenana by Palestinians because of their noisy buzzing, the drones (remote control aircraft) are omnipresent. Sometimes they are there to carry out an…
The tragedy of the lost Yemenite children: In the footsteps of the adoptees
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 25, 2014 – Between the years 1948 and 1952, thousands of Yemenite babies, children of immigrants to the newly-founded State of Israel were allegedly taken away from their parents and given up for adoption to Ashkenazi families. Now, poet…
Fatah official: Negotiations will fail, it s time to resume resistance
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 25, 2014 — A Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will not be established within the coming 20 years, a member of the Central Committee of the Palestinian Authority s ruling party Fatah said on…
Syria News – January 24, 2014 (Warning: Graphic Videos)
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 24, 2014 – By the end of Friday the Coordination Committees were able to document 87 martyrs including 8 children, 7 women and 6 martyrs under torture: 34 martyrs were reported in Aleppo; 14 in Damascus and its Suburbs;…
Israeli coalition chairman proposes racist legislation, aims to divide Palestinian citizens of Israel
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 24, 2014 – Yariv Levin, the Israeli coalition whip, recently proposed legislation that would legally differentiate Christian and Muslim Arab citizens of Israel. The new legislation would give Christians special privileges and certain rights that Muslims would not enjoy….
Death penalty in Iraq The horror continues
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 24, 2014- One more time executions in Iraq have broken all records. According to official statements given by the Iraqi Minister of Justice al-Shammari, 37 people were hanged between the 19 and 23 January 2014. Other credible sources mention…
Iraq snapshot – January 24, 2014
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 24, 2014. Chaos and violence continue, Nouri continues to terrorize Anbar, Iraqis continue to protest Nouri, Iraq s Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi has no “Red Notice” with INTERPOL (though the press forgot to tell us that), and much more….F….
Two Palestinians die after days of torture in Syrian jail
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 24,2014- The action group for the Palestinians in Syria said that two Palestinian refugees died on Wednesday in a Syrian detention center after they were exposed to excruciating torture at the hands of interrogators. The action group stated on…
In Wake of Syria Torture Report Remember That the US Has Taken Advantage of the Assad Regime s Brutality
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 24, 2014- Ahead of the ongoing Syria peace talks in Switzerland the U.S. and the United Nations expressed their horror at the findings of a report put together by former war crimes prosecutors, which shows that the Assad regime…
Further Allegations of US War Crimes in Fallujah
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 24, 2014 – As the US-unleashed Grim Reaper continues to cull Iraqis in ever rising numbers, this month of the 23rd anniversary of the 1991 US-led onslaught on Iraq and just weeks away from the 11th woeful wake for…
A defender of oppression
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 24, 2014-… Mother Agne s spoke in Paris on March 21, 2013, at an event organized by the France-Israel committee, where she repeated sectarian Islamophobic racist and Zionist apologetics, appealing to the Zionist-organized event.Mother Agne s is an Islamophobic…
Israeli forces kill Palestinian youth in north Gaza
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 24, 2014 – Israeli forces killed 20 year old Bilal Samir today Friday in the Jabaliya area, north of the Gaza Strip. The victim was part of a peaceful demonstration by young men in the buffer zone imposed by…
Inside the CIA s Secret Polish Torture Site
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 24, 2014- A new report by The Washington Post digs deep into one of the CIA s most important “black sites,” a two-story villa in a Polish forest where alleged terrorists were detained and tortured in the years after…
The impact of recognising Israel as a Jewish state
Uruknet 26 Jan 2014 – January 24, 2014 – The Zionist project is a comprehensive, long-term programme. Given that the Arab people don t have a single national narrative or memory, Israel s story from the earliest immigrants at the end of the nineteenth century…
Syria Protests January 24, 2014 A Video Roundup
Uruknet 25 Jan 2014 – January 24, 2014
Both Assad and ISIS Declared War On The Syrian People, Because Both Want The Same For Themselves
Uruknet 25 Jan 2014 – January 24, 2014 – All the talk of how Bashar al-Assad directs the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS), how his men have infiltrated ISIS, how the regime pays ISIS or how it controls or runs ISIS, doesn t…
The impact of recognising Israel as a Jewish state
Uruknet 25 Jan 2014 – January 24, 2014 – lThe Zionist project is a comprehensive, long-term programme. Given that the Arab people don t have a single national narrative or memory, Israel s story from the earliest immigrants at the end of the nineteenth century…
Israeli report reveals demographic policy in Gaza
Uruknet 25 Jan 2014 – January 24, 2014 – One of the key obstacles to permanent Israeli control of the West Bank is the presence of Palestinians in it. Unable to physically move them or have them leave voluntarily, Israel has over the years deployed…
Tunisia premier names new cabinet for caretaker government
Daily Star 26 Jan 2014 Tunisia’s Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa on Sunday named a new caretaker cabinet to govern until elections in one of the last steps to democracy three years after the uprising against autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
Israeli defence computer hacked via tainted email : cyber firm
Daily Star 26 Jan 2014 Hackers broke into an Israeli defence ministry computer via an email attachment tainted with malicious software that looked like it had been sent by the country’s Shin Bet secret security service, an Israeli cyber security firm…
Stymied Obama aims to bypass Congress: aides
Daily Star 26 Jan 2014 President Barack Obama will serve notice in his State of the Union address he intends to bypass Congress whenever necessary to regain initiative after a year of debilitating legislative logjams, aides said Sunday.
Activists in Syria’s Homs want guarantees on Geneva safe passage deal
Daily Star 26 Jan 2014 Activists in besieged, rebel-held areas of the central Syrian city of Homs said Sunday they want “guarantees” authorities will not detain anyone evacuated as part of a safe passage deal announced in Switzerland.
Talks to free S.African hostage in Yemen collapse: negotiators
Daily Star 26 Jan 2014 A group attempting to secure the release of an ailing South African man kidnapped in Yemen by Al-Qaeda said Sunday talks to free the teacher have collapsed.
Syria agrees to let women, children leave besieged Homs area
Daily Star 26 Jan 2014 Syria’s regime agreed at peace talks in Geneva Sunday to allow women and children safe passage from rebel-held areas of the city of Homs where they have been under siege for months.
Foreign parties meddling in Dar al-Fatwa: Saudi envoy
Daily Star 26 Jan 2014 Saudi Ambassador Ali Awad Asiri says Dar al-Fatwa should remain neutral and represent the voice of moderation in Lebanon in order to confront the rise of extremist groups in the country, accusing foreign groups of meddling…
Police in Egypt release detained U.S. citizen
Daily Star 26 Jan 2014 An American translator who was being held by Egyptian police without charges says he is free and plans to travel to the U.S. soon.
Tunisia finally passes progressive constitution
YNet News, 26 Jan 2014 – ….
The Left’s Pavlovian conditioning
YNet News, 26 Jan 2014 – Op-ed: Why are leftists, who are willing to evict tens of thousands of Jews from their homes, so opposed to a land swap which will leave people on their lands at the cost of changing their citizenship? ….
Killed protester mourned in Kiev amid crisis
YNet News, 26 Jan 2014 – ….
Lebanese report: Explosion in Syrian city of Latakia
YNet News, 26 Jan 2014 – ….
Five kidnapped Egypt diplomats freed in Libya
YNet News, 26 Jan 2014 – ….
Woman moderately injured from gunfire in Tira
YNet News, 26 Jan 2014 – ….
Report: Anti-Semitic atmosphere sweeping over the world
YNet News, 26 Jan 2014 – Annual Anti-Semitism Report released by Israel’s Information and Diaspora Ministry reveals that although 2013 did not see a significant increase in the number of violent attacks on Jews and their property, the situation on the ground is much worse ….
BDS network infiltrating Holland
YNet News, 26 Jan 2014 – Op-ed: Will the Dutch government rise to prevent political warfare against Israel? ….
The ‘politically incorrect’ politician
YNet News, 26 Jan 2014 – Op-ed: Shulamit Aloni chose not to be a populist. The only people she fought against were the enemies of democracy ….
Swastika on Austrian tombstone defies official ban
YNet News, 26 Jan 2014 – Nazi symbols reflecting European country’s darkest chapter in history endure in city of Graz, and officials appear either unable or unwilling to do away with them – despite complaints from locals ….
Israelis pessimistic over peace process
YNet News, 25 Jan 2014 – Poll published Saturday indicates that majority of Israelis think current peace talks with Palestinians will not lead to agreement ….
Military Advocate General: Palestinians need to be protected as well
YNet News, 25 Jan 2014 – In special Ynet interview, General Danny Efroni discusses legalities behind ‘price-tag’ incidents, possible escalation in West Bank or north, soldiers’ clashes with settlers, Operation Pillar of Defense ….
Hundreds protest against possible dismissal of ‘leftist’ teacher
YNet News, 25 Jan 2014 – Educators, parents protest against manner in which hearing of teacher Adam Verta was conducted, after student complained he expressed ‘radical leftist views’. ‘He’s a great teacher,’ one parent says ….
Lod’s Jewish residents protest against vandalism
YNet News, 25 Jan 2014 – Protesters say that some 15 cars the tires of which were slashed were vandalized by Arab residents who were targeting Jews’ property. ‘Today it’s cars that are damaged; tomorrow people will be hurt, protester says ….
Syria parties discuss aid to Homs; prisoners on Sunday agenda
YNet News, 25 Jan 2014 – At peace talks in Geneva, delegators discuss dire conditions of city of Homs, express concern of humanitarian situation. UN mediator says talks, to resume Sunday, will touch on subject of securing freedom of prisoners ….
Iran says nuclear talks to resume next month
YNet News, 25 Jan 2014 – Islamic republic’s FM Zarif says talks with world powers on reaching long-term nuclear deal will resume next month ….
Three dead in shooting at mall in Maryland
YNet News, 25 Jan 2014 – Police say a shooting has occurred at a shopping mall in Maryland, noting three people killed in shooting ….
At least 29 killed in Egypt protest clashes
YNet News, 25 Jan 2014 – As thousands rally in support of army-led authorities, three years after the fall of Mubarak, at least 29 people reportedly killed during clashes ….
Hungary apologizes for role in Holocaust
YNet News, 25 Jan 2014 – In UN, Hungary makes first apology for role in Holocaust, amid local dispute over war-time memorial. ‘We owe an apology to the victims because the Hungarian state failed to protect its citizens from destruction, secondly because it funded the mass murder’ ….
De Blasio’s AIPAC speech causes row
YNet News, 25 Jan 2014 – Newly elected NY Mayor de Blasio tells AIPAC the ‘his door is always open,’ because of his obligation to ‘defend Israel,’ but causes storm for hiding events from press ….
Syrian regime and opposition meet face to face for 1st time
YNet News, 25 Jan 2014 – For first time ever, representatives of Assad’s embattled regime met with Syrian rebels. Though there was no handshake and the two sides did not speak directly to one another, just the meeting is an achievement in such a bloody conflcit, diplomats said ….
Blast shakes Cairo on 3rd anniversary of Mubarak-ouster
YNet News, 25 Jan 2014 – After a string of terror attacks left six people dead Friday in Egypt, Saturday – the 3rd anniversary of the ouster of autocrat Mubarak – saw a dawn blast in Cairo’s police academy; no casualties, more violence expected ….
Palestinian Information Center
FPJ: Israel fabricates claims about Gaza to justify the targeting of civilians
PIC – The forum of Palestinian journalists warned against the gravity of the media campaign that was launched recently by Israel to prepare the world’s public opinion to accept its military attacks on Gaza.
Kerry to table his peace plan soon
PIC – The shuttle diplomacy of US secretary of state John Kerry seems to have taken shape after he declared his intent to table his framework peace agreement in a few weeks.
Prisoner Hamza Kaluti waiting for surgery since 2009
PIC – The Tadamun foundation for human rights said that Palestinian prisoner Hamza Al-Kaluti is medically neglected by Israeli jailers and has been waiting to undergo a hernia operation since 2009.
IOF soldiers launch arrest, search campaign in two WB cities
PIC – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed a number of suburbs in Samu village in Al-Khalil and arrested two citizens in Bethlehem and eastern Jerusalem on Sunday.
Prisoner Abu Sisi infected with a serious germ in the stomach
PIC – Tadhamun Foundation for Human Rights said that the isolated prisoner Dirar Abu Sisi has been recently taken to hospital after a serious deterioration in his health condition.
Marches in Nablus and Al-Khalil in protest at Kerry’s peace plan
PIC – Scores of Palestinian citizens in Nablus and Al-Khalil cities participated on Saturday in marches organized in protest at the so-called framework peace agreement proposed by John Kerry.
IOF arrests four children near the Ibrahimi Mosque
PIC – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested four Palestinian children on Sunday near the Ibrahimi Mosque, in al-Khalil, after assaulting them.
IOF arrests 3 Jerusalemites, settlers attack citizens
PIC – The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Saturday arrested three Jerusalemite youths near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, after they were accused of attacking settlers.
Resheq warns of getting along with Kerry’s peace plan
PIC – Member of Hamas’ political bureau Ezzat Al-Resheq warned of the gravity of the peace plan proposed by US secretary John Kerry and described it as extremely detrimental to the Palestinian cause.
Qabha: Palestinian people are losing patience with negotiations
PIC – Former minister of prisoners Wasfi Qabha said that the escalation of Palestinian attacks against Israeli targets comes in response to the occupation violations and the settler attacks.
Abu Rudeineh: Livni’s Threats against Abbas Unacceptable
WAFA – 26 Jan 2014
Israeli Police Shoot, Injure Palestinian in Israel
WAFA – 26 Jan 2014
Israeli Forces Prevent Farmers from Grazing their Sheep near Hebron
WAFA – 26 Jan 2014
Army Arrests Two in West Bank, including Anti-Settlement Activist
WAFA – 26 Jan 2014
Army Prevents Cameramen from Covering Events in Hebron
WAFA – 26 Jan 2014
Settlers Severally Beat Up Minor in Hebron
WAFA – 26 Jan 2014
Newspaper Review: Anniversary of Egypt’s Revolution Focus of Dailies
WAFA – 26 Jan 2014
Settlers Torch a Sit-in Tent Northwest of Jerusalem
WAFA – 25 Jan 2014
Israeli Forces Arrest Three Youths from Jerusalem
WAFA – 25 Jan 2014
Israeli Forces Arrest a Palestinian, Summon 3 near Hebron
WAFA – 25 Jan 2014
L.A. man freed in Egypt after four days; filmmaker still held
LA Times 26 Jan 2014 – CAIRO — A young Los Angeles man working in Egypt as a freelance translator and journalist was freed four days after being detained by Egyptian authorities, the U.S. Embassy said Sunday.
Israeli who leaked army data is released from jail
LA Times 26 Jan 2014 – JERUSALEM — Anat Kamm, an Israeli woman convicted of stealing classified military documents during her army service last decade, was released from jail Sunday after being paroled for good behavior.
Four Egyptian soldiers killed in Sinai in suspected militant attack
LA Times 26 Jan 2014 – CAIRO — Suspected militants attacked a bus carrying Egyptian soldiers in the northern Sinai peninsula on Sunday, killing four of the conscripts and injuring 13 others, state media reported.
Netanyahu Would Let Israeli Settlers Live in Future Palestine: Report
New York Times 26 Jan 2014 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will insist that Jewish settlers in the West Bank have a right to remain under Palestinian rule in any future peace deal, a government official was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Egyptian Diplomats Kidnapped in Libya Freed
New York Times 26 Jan 2014 – Libyan and Egyptian officials say some of the six Egyptian diplomats and embassy staff members kidnapped in the capital Tripoli have been released and the rest are to follow soon.
Libya Says Five Kidnapped Egyptian Diplomats Freed
New York Times 26 Jan 2014 – Five Egyptian diplomats kidnapped in Tripoli in retaliation for Egypt’s arrest of a Libyan militia commander have been freed, Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Abdul Razak Al-Grady said on Sunday.
Hungary Addresses Holocaust After Accusations It ‘Whitewashed’ Past
New York Times 26 Jan 2014 – Hungarians collaborated with Nazis in sending nearly half a million Jews to their deaths, Hungary’s president said on Sunday in a rare public acknowledgement of a war-time past that Jewish groups say is often glossed over.
Interim PM Announces New Tunisia Cabinet
New York Times 26 Jan 2014 – Tunisia’s interim prime minister announced on Sunday his new government following a 24-hour delay over the post of interior minister.
Israeli Official: Palestine Should Allow Settlers
New York Times 26 Jan 2014 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that all Jewish settlers should have the right to remain in their homes in a future Palestine, an official in his office said Sunday, offering a novel approach to one of the stickiest issues in Mideast peace talks albeit one that was immediately rejected by the Palestinians and settlers themselves.
Tunisia Assembly Prepares Last Vote on New Charter
New York Times 26 Jan 2014 – Tunisia’s elected National Constitutional Assembly is preparing for its final vote on the landmark post-revolutionary constitution its members have spent the last two years writing.
The Personal Life of a Nazi: New Trove of Himmler Documents Published
New York Times 26 Jan 2014 – Excerpts from a collection of letters, diaries and photographs from Heinrich Himmler, chief of the Nazi Gestapo, and his family have been published for the first time.
Syrian Govt. Will Allow Women, Children to Leave Homs: Deputy Foreign Minister
New York Times 26 Jan 2014 – Syrian deputy foreign minister Faysal Mekdad said on Sunday that the Assad government will allow women and children to leave besieged city of Homs immediately if rebels give them passage.
Syrian Government Says Women, Children Can Leave Homs District: Mediator
New York Times 26 Jan 2014 – International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Sunday that the Syrian government delegation at peace talks in Geneva had told him that authorities would allow women and children to leave the besieged old district of Homs city straight away.
Bahraini Police, Protesters Clash After Funeral
New York Times 26 Jan 2014 – Bahraini police firing teargas and birdshot clashed with stone-throwing protesters in a village west of the capital on Sunday after the funeral of a young man who died in custody, witnesses said.
Police in Egypt Release Detained US Citizen
New York Times 26 Jan 2014 – An American translator who was being held by Egyptian police without charges says he is free and plans to travel to the U.S. soon.
US Customs Passenger Facility Opens in UAE
New York Times 26 Jan 2014 – Passengers travelling from the United Arab Emirates to Washington D.C. no longer have to wait in long U.S. Customs lines because of a new preclearance facility in Abu Dhabi’s airport.
Yemen Gunmen Shoot Dead Senior Security Officer
New York Times 26 Jan 2014 – Gunmen shot dead a senior Yemeni security officer on Sunday, a security official said, the latest in a series of attacks on the police and army in a country battling Islamist insurgents.
‘I will not uproot a single Israeli’ settler, Netanyahu says, and Washington Post backs him up
Mondoweiss – Jordan Valley (photo: EPA) In response to a question about the Jordan Valley at a press conference in Davos on Friday Netanyahu wowed the crowd and made headlines by saying he didn’t intend to evacuate any settlements or uproot even one Israeli. Let’s take a look : “I…
Death toll rises in Yarmouk as siege and bombings continue
Mondoweiss – Entrance to Yarmouk refugee camp, January 2014. (Photo: Palestinian Camps News Network Union) A week ago the world rejoiced when food trucks finally arrived to Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria to alleviate mass starvation, after nearly 200 days of siege and over 50 dead. Parcels of…
Stephen Harper’s Criticizing-Israel-Is-Anti-Semitic screed is exploded on CBC
Mondoweiss – Blockbuster Interview on Canadian National Radio Stephen Harper’s cringe-provoking performance of the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” at an Israeli state dinner last week (he plays piano better than he sings) received enormous media attention, certainly up here in Canada. More germane to current debates were his comments…
Peres: Israel has gained major investment via Davos
Globes Macro Economics – President Shimon Peres tells “Globes” of the importance of his contacts at the annual World Economic Forum.
Lockheed Martin, EMC setting up Israeli center
Globes Main News – The two companies will reportedly invest $1 million to set up the cyber security project.
Israeli cos in pole position for Cyprus gas tender
Globes Energy & Water – Cyprus seeks to buy gas in a ten-year contract worth some $3 billion.
IBI nostro trader jailed for ten months
Globes Main News – Judge Chaled Kabub has set a new threshold for penalties for securities fraud.
Norway to help train Israeli energy engineers
Globes Energy & Water – The Technion in Haifa will sign a cooperation agreement with the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Norway’s University of Stavanger.
Sun: TASE follows world markets south
Globes Main News – Tel Aviv caught the Chinese flu today, with the declines led by healthcare stocks Teva and Opko.
Services exports rise offsets fall in goods
Globes Macro Economics – Export Institute CEO Ofer Sachs: More than half of the companies that were acquired by foreign companies terminated their activity in Israel.
Tshuva sells London project for nearly NIS 1b
Globes Main News – Buckingham Gate was sold at a capital gain of NIS 450 million, after permits were obtained to convert the building into apartments.
Are we all Egyptians?
Mondoweiss – Tahrir Square, February 2011 This is part of Marc H. Ellis’s “Exile and the Prophetic” feature for Mondoweiss. To read the entire series visit the archive page . Acting in history isn’t simple. You never know what’s around the bend. Nonetheless, you have to act. You hope…
‘That tyrant whose seat you’re in? We took him out’ (The Egyptian revolution continues)
Mondoweiss – Riveting video/manifesto from Mosireen– who has educated us before – featuring martyrs to the military rulers of Egypt. A friend translates the Arabic in the video description: These are images you have never seen before, or maybe you have but you did not pay attention to…
Scarlett Johansson gets an ally– Mike Huckabee
Mondoweiss – Rightwing Fox star Mike Huckabee’s promotion of SodaStream sounds a lot like Scarlett Johansson’s! In the first two minutes of the video above, he comes down on Oxfam for criticizing Johansson and says that her new corporate partner SodaStream operates not in a settlement but in…
Judge jails perpetrators in Melisron securities fraud
Globes Main News – Ofer Investments CFO Golan Madar was sentenced to twelve months in jail, nine months probation, and a fine of NIS 100,000.
Leviathan finally recognized as discovery
Globes Energy & Water – Three years after the field’s potential became known, the Oil Commissioner has declared Leviathan a discovery.
Given Imaging shareholders approve Covidien merger
Globes Main News – Covidien is acquiring Given Imaging at a valuation of $970 million.
Teva to continue laquinimod development despite EMA
Globes Main News – Europe’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use: The risk-benefit profile of laquinimod is not favorable at this time.
Eini postpones resignation as Histadrut chairman
Globes Macro Economics – Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini will delay his resignation until after the Supreme Court rules on the election of his successor.
Israel Chemicals in talks with Allana Potash – report
Globes Main News – “Bloomberg”: Israel Chemicals is close to an agreement with Canada’s Allana Potash on joint potash mining in Ethiopia.
Israeli Whistleblower, Anat Kamm Freed from Israeli Prison
Tikun Olam – Whistleblowers’ pantheon, where Anat Kamm belongs Anat Kamm, the Israeli whistleblower who leaked top-secret IDF documents which exposed targeted killings of unarmed Palestinian suspects and other potential war crimes, was released from prison after serving two years of an original four and a half-year sentence (reduced…
Egypt diplomats released in Libya
BBC 26 Jan 2014 – At least three of five Egyptian embassy staff kidnapped in the Libyan capital Tripoli have been released, according to officials.
VIDEO: Homs deal at Syria peace talks
BBC 26 Jan 2014 – The Syrian government will allow women and children to leave the besieged area of Homs “from now”, the UN mediator at the Geneva peace talks says.
Homs deal at Syria peace talks
BBC 26 Jan 2014 – Syria will allow women and children to leave the besieged area of Homs “from now”, UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi says at the Geneva peace talks.
Israeli Documentary on Hamas Spy Wins Audience Award at Sundance
The Foward Breaking News 26 Jan 2014 – An Israeli documentary about how the son of Hamas leader Hassan Yousef spent a decade as Israel’s top informer in the West Bank received a top honor at the Sundance Film Festival. Click here for the rest of the article…
Fifteen Israeli Defense Computers Hacked by Email Virus
The Foward Breaking News 26 Jan 2014 – Hackers broke into an Israeli defence ministry computer via an email attachment tainted with malicious software that looked like it had been sent by the country’s Shin Bet secret security service, an Israeli cyber security firm said on Sunday. Click here for the rest of the…
Heinrich Himmler’s Personal Letters Exposed for First Time
The Foward Breaking News 26 Jan 2014 – Excerpts from the private letters and diaries of Heinrich Himmler, chief of the Nazi Gestapo and the SS, were published for the first time this weekend in Israeli paper Yediot Aharonot and the German paper Die Welt. Click here for the rest of the article…
Scarlett Johansson Stands by SodaStream, Response To Oxfam Criticism
The Foward Breaking News 26 Jan 2014 – Scarlett Johansson addressed criticism from the Oxfam aid organization over her role as a spokeswoman for SodaStream, which operates a factory in the West Bank. Click here for the rest of the article…
VIDEO: Early presidential poll for Egypt
BBC 26 Jan 2014 – Egypt’s interim government announces that presidential elections will be held earlier than planned.
Orthodox Growth Tests Multiculturalism in Flashpoint Beit Shemesh
The Forward New 26 Jan 2014 – In Beit Shemesh, the gulf between ultra-Orthodox and secular Jews grows wider by the day. If coexistence can’t work here, what does that mean for Israel? Click here for the rest of the article…
Ari Shavit’s “My Promised Land”
The Magnes Zionist 26 Jan 2014 – There are two important stories about My Promised Land, Israeli journalist Ari Shavit’s memoir cum interviews cum meditation on Israel: the story of the book, itself, and the story of the enthusiastic reception it has received in America (and decidedly will not receive in Israel.) This…
Lebanon: A Runaway Wife is neither a Fugitive nor a Missing Person
Al-Akhbar News 26 Jan 2014 – running away is not a criminal offense and if someone files a complaint, it ought to be dismissed, that’s the right course of action. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah). running away is not a criminal offense and if someone files a complaint, it ought to be dismissed, that’s…
Early presidential poll for Egypt
BBC 26 Jan 2014 – Egypt says presidential elections have been moved forward, increasing speculation over whether army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will stand.
Libya in talks with Egypt to resolve diplomat hostage situation
Al-Akhbar News 26 Jan 2014 – Updated at 3:00pm: Libya’s government was in talks on Sunday with Egypt to resolve a hostage crisis after gunmen kidnapped five Egyptian diplomats in Tripoli in retaliation for Egypt’s arrest of a top Libyan militia commander. Egypt’s ambassador and his staff have already left Libya, the…
Tunisia set to pass constitution, as caretaker PM fails to form cabinet
Al-Akhbar News 26 Jan 2014 – Updated at 2:55pm: Tunisia’s interim parliament was set to pass a much-delayed new constitution Sunday, after the failure to form a caretaker cabinet showed deep political discord. The Constituent Assembly’s lawmakers have already vetted the new document line-by-line after painstaking negotiations on issues such as women’s…
Geneva II: Syrian foes to discuss prisoner releases
Al-Akhbar News 26 Jan 2014 – Syrian senior presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaban speaks to a Syrian TV reporter at the United Nations Offices in Geneva on January 26, 2014. (Photo: AFP – Fabrice Coffrini) Updated at 1:30pm: Syria’s government and opposition resumed face-to-face talks on Sunday expected to tackle humanitarian issues including…
Nearly 50 killed on third anniversary of Egypt revolt
Al-Akhbar News 26 Jan 2014 – A member of the April 6th movement (center-back) is attacked by supporters of Defense Minister army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (front) in Cairo’s Talaat Harb Square, near Tahrir Square, on January 25, 2014. (Photo: AFP – Khaled Kamel) Updated at 2:45pm: Nearly 50 people were killed…
The novelist who won’t let war end his social life
BBC 25 Jan 2014 – The novelist who refuses to let war stop his social life
VIDEO: Egypt police open fire on protesters
BBC 25 Jan 2014 – At least 29 people have died and more than 100 have been injured in clashes as Egypt marks the third anniversary of the 2011 uprising.
Articles
The ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem
Nadia Saad Al-Din, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) 1/26/2014
An executive committee member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation said recently that Jerusalem will be lost permanently if Israel continues its settlement projects while Arab-Muslim support for the city remains weak. “Jerusalemites should be valued,” urged Ahmed Qurei, “and they should be supported so that they can remain steadfast in their homes and on their land.”
Israel, insisted the senior Fatah official, has long been engaged in an “ethnic cleansing” project in the Hole City and it is enlarging its settlements daily. “The occupation authorities have spent the equivalent of the budgets of two Arab states for the Judaisation of Jerusalem in order to prevent the city from being divided with the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.” Until now, he added in a statement to Al-Ghad newspaper, US Secretary of State John Kerry has yet to provide any solution that would be accepted by Palestinians.
Qurei warned that Jerusalem is undergoing so many drastic changes that soon “nothing in the city will be Arab” if the current situation remains as it is. In fact, Al-Ghad published data and maps prepared by the Department of Jerusalem Affairs which revealed the gravity of Jerusalem’s ever-changing features due to the occupation. They disclosed the expansion of 15 settlements, housing approximately 200 settlers in the Arab towns and villages that constitute Jerusalem and its surrounding area. These settlements are being established on nearly one-third of Jerusalem’s traditional land, which has been annexed by Israel since 1967. Two neighbourhoods and eight outposts have been dismembered in order to house 2,000 Israeli settlers among Arab Jerusalemites and their homes.
In the Old City of Jerusalem, an area of less than one square kilometre, 4,000 Jewish settlers live within four settlement blocks and 56 settlement units in an attempt to crowd out the 33,000 Palestinian residents. The maps revealed plans to expand the apartheid wall around Jerusalem…. more.. e-mail
Celebrating water cooperation: Red Sea to Dead Sea
Hilal Elve, Al Jazeera 1/26/2014
Israel-Palestine Joint Water Committee’s work has been referred to as ‘water apartheid’, and ‘pretence of cooperation’.
“…it is difficult to understand why the Palestinians are denied or significantly restricted access to an equitable share of mountain aquifers and Jordan River basin, while at the same time being encouraged to buy fresh water from Israel.”
In December 2013 the World Bank proudly announced a rare agreement on water among Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (PA). The Middle East is not a region where cooperation among states is common, especially in relation to water. Therefore, the news about this so-called “water cooperation agreement” made headlines in the global media.
While the World Bank, and official authorities of the three countries were very pleased with the outcome, environmentalists and Middle East water specialists were sceptical because of the feared adverse impacts of the project on the environment and fragile ecosystem, and its implications for delicate political conflicts on the ground. Some Israeli experts were suspicious, supposing that the main motivation of the agreement was a geopolitical interest associated with giving support to Jordan. “Saving the Dead Sea” which was proclaimed to the public as the main justification of the agreement was seen as distinctly secondary by critics.
Red Sea to Dead Sea
The agreement calls for transportation of water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. The goal is to replenish the waters of the Dead Sea that was in serious danger of drying up. The Jordan River had previously been providing feeder waters to sustain the Dead Sea, but these were diminished over the years by diversions in large volumes by Israel, Jordan and Syria.
The project also responds to the acute shortage of clean fresh water, especially in Jordan. One of the main aims of the project is a commitment to build a new desalination plant in Aqaba, Jordan, that will convert salt water from the Red Sea into fresh water. The desalination project will be built and operated by a private company on a strictly commercial basis…. more.. e-mail
Nothing New Under the Sun
Uri Avnery, Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN) 1/25/2014
DURING THE last hundred years, Russia has undergone huge changes.
At the beginning, it was ruled by the Czar, in an absolute monarchy with some democratic decorations, a “tyranny mitigated by inefficiency”.
After the downfall of the Czar, a liberal and equally inefficient regime ruled for a few months, when it was overthrown by the Bolshevik revolution.
The “dictatorship of the proletariat” lasted for some 73 years, which means that three generations passed through the Soviet education system. That should have been enough to absorb the values of internationalism, socialism and human dignity, as taught by Karl Marx.
The Soviet system imploded in 1991, leaving few political traces behind. After a few years of liberal anarchy under Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin took over. He has proved himself to be an able statesman, making Russia into a world power again. He has also instituted a new autocratic system, clamping down on democracy and human rights.
When we view these events, spanning a century, we are obliged to conclude that after undergoing all these dramatic upheavals Russia is politically more or less where it started. The difference between the realm of Czar Nicholas II and President Putin I is minimal. The national aspirations, the general outlook, the regime and the status of human rights are more or less the same.
What does that teach us? For me it means that there is something like a national character, which does not change easily, if at all. Revolutions, wars, disasters come and go, and the basic character of a people remains as it was. more.. e-mail
Australia’s crimes during its colonial history resemble those of Israel
Vacy Vlazna, Al Jazeera 1/26/2014
“Imperialism after all is an act of geographical violence” – Edward Said
Is it just me, or do you also see a thread of colonial superiority and racism binding US, Australia, and Canada to Israel?
Think about it. All are ex-British colonies and like Israel, have a dark history of atrocities committed against their respective indigenous peoples and all continue to treat them as third class citizens.
I can’t speak for the US and Canada, but, apart from realpolitik and arms trade, an underlying colonial arrogance goes a long way to explain why my “civilised” “democratic” Australian government is complicit in granting Israel impunity to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity on a daily basis against generations of Palestinian families.
The tragic past and near narratives of the suffering of unspeakable colonial atrocities against Indigenous Palestinians and Indigenous Australians bear close resemblance and are written in blood and great injustice.
Just as Israel’s Independence Day and the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) have a bloody symbiosis, Australia Day or Invasion Day, on the January 26th, is celebrated or mourned according to the victors or the vanquished.
Both Israeli and British colonists took the “terra nullius” (“empty land”) to justify their brutal occupations and wholesale land theft of Palestine and Australia. Israel boasts it made the desert bloom even though for centuries Palestine traded in olives, oil, quinces, pinenuts, figs, carob, cotton, dates, indigo, artichokes, citrus fruit, almonds, mint sumach and much more. In Australia, the Aborigines maintained their food supply with a sophisticated fire management system of the land. more.. e-mail
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The New Dark Age 
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