17 September 2014 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Israeli Report: “Hamas Arrested Group Responsible For Firing Shell Into Eshkol”
IMEMC – According to Israeli security sources, the Hamas movement in Gaza has arrested an armed group that fired a shell into the Eshkol Regional Council of Settlement. …
7500 New Settlers Moved Into West Bank, Jerusalem, Settlements In Six Months
IMEMC – The Yesha Council of Settlements has reported that the number of Jewish settlers living in the occupied West Bank, including in and around occupied Jerusalem, has reached 382031, adding that 7500 Israelis have moved into West Bank and Jerusalem settlements in the last six months. …
Israeli FM Refusing to Cooperate with UN Fact-finding Mission
IMEMC – The Israeli Foreign Ministry has expressed a refusal to cooperate with the fact-finding mission with regard to the http://www.imemc.org/article/69011 on the Gaza Strip coordinated by the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, say Israeli reports. …
Six Palestinians, Including Two Children, Kidnapped In West Bank, Jerusalem
IMEMC – Israeli soldiers continued their daily invasions into different Palestinian communities and kidnapped, on Wednesday, at dawn, six persons including two children, in the West Bank and Jerusalem. …
Nablus Clashes as Soldiers Escort Israelis to Joseph’s Tomb
IMEMC – Hundreds of Israeli Jews again toured the site of Joseph’s Tomb, in Nablus, under guard of Israeli troops, leading to clashes with Palestinian protesters. …
Israeli Army Seizes Agricultural Equipment Near Tubas, Conducts Military Maneuvers South of Jenin
IMEMC – According to local sources, the Israeli army, on Wednesday, seized privately-owned Palestinian tractors and agricultural equipment in ar-Ras al-Ahmar, a small village to the east of Tubas in northern West Bank. …
Settlers Uproot Agricultural And Grazing Lands Near Salfit
IMEMC – A number of extremist Israeli settlers bulldozed agricultural, and grazing, lands belonging to residents from Deir Estia and Hares villages, north of the Central West Bank city of Salfit. …
Clashes Take Place East Of Bethlehem
IMEMC – A number of Israeli military vehicles invaded on Tuesday evening, Teqoua’ town, east of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, and clashed with a number of local youth. A settler’s car rammed a herd of sheep, killing eight, near Hebron. …
Israeli Court: “Army At Fault In Killing Palestinian Driver”
IMEMC – An Israeli court finally made a decision in an eight-year-old case involving the fatal shooting of a Palestinian taxi driver who was waiting for Palestinian passengers heading to the northern West Bank city of Nablus. …
Prisoner says slain cellmate was killed in span of minutes
9/17/2014 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — A Palestinian prisoner on Monday said he saw a cellmate believed to have been beaten to death by Israeli prison guards last week only minutes before his death. Nassim Abu Ghosh, a lawyer from the Palestinian Authority Prisoner Affairs department, said that he met with prisoner Muhammad Said al-Azza in Ashkelon on Monday, where he was told the information regarding the….
Israeli forces confiscate farming tools near Tubas
9/17/2014 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli forces confiscated farming tools and tractors on Wednesday and prevented dozens of workers from reaching lands in eastern Tubas in the northern West Bank. A member of the central committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine told Ma’an that vehicles belonging to Israel’s civilian administration arrived in the al-Atuf and al-Buqeia areas and….
No change to Gaza blockade since ceasefire
9/17/2014 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — There have been no changes to restrictions on Gaza’s crossings since a ceasefire agreement went into effect at the end of August, a Palestinian official said Wednesday. Maher al-Tabba, director of public and media relations at Gaza’s chamber of commerce, said the Kerem Shalom operates with the same restrictions as before Israel’s military offensive…. Related: Hamas: Cairo ceasefire talks to be held within the next week
Clashes as soldiers escort Israelis to Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus
9/17/2014 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — Hundreds of Israeli Jews visited Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus in the occupied West Bank overnight under the guard of Israeli soldiers, locals told Ma’an Wednesday. Witnesses said more than 30 military vehicles escorted eight buses carrying Israelis. Palestinian protesters threw stones and Molotov cocktails at the military vehicles as they drove near Balata refugee camp and Askar….
70 ex-prisoners re-arrested without cause threaten to launch protests
9/17/2014 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — More than 70 Palestinians who were arrested in the last three months by Israeli authorities in violation of a 2011 deal that freed them on Wednesday threatened to take protest measures against their continued detention. The prisoners — who were among the 1,027 freed from Israeli custody in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit – -said in a letter published by the….
Israeli forces attempt to arrest students in Bethlehem school
9/17/2014 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Wednesday attempted to raid a school in southern Bethlehem, locals told Ma’an. Witnesses said soldiers in the village of Tuqu brought pictures of students they accused of throwing stones at Israeli vehicles in the area, and tried to enter a boys’ school, but were prevented from doing so by administrators and teachers. Students in Tuqu…. Related: Israeli forces detain 3 Palestinians from Bethlehem
Israeli court sentences 6 Palestinian minors to house arrest
9/17/2014 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — An Israeli court sentenced five Palestinian teens and a child from Jerusalem to house arrest on Wednesday for “throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails” at residential buildings housing Israeli settlers. A Ma’an reporter said that an Israeli magistrate court sentenced six Palestinian teens from Jerusalem to seven days of house arrest and 500-shekel bail each, in addition to signing….
Israeli injured after vehicle hit with stones in East Jerusalem
9/17/2014 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — An Israeli man sustained minor injuries overnight after his car was hit with stones in the Beit Hanina neighborhood of East Jerusalem, a police spokeswoman said Wednesday. Luba al-Samri said in a statement that a 44-year-old Jewish man was injured in the face after stones smashed his windshield when he was travelling along the main road to Beit Hanina. The….
EU, Iran to hold fresh nuclear talks
9/17/2014 – BRUSSELS (AFP) — EU foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif on Wednesday in New York for further talks on Tehran’s contested nuclear program, her spokeswoman said. There will be additional “negotiating sessions” ahead of formal discussions between Iran and the P5+1 powers — the UN Security Council permanent members, Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States….
Ambassador: Syrian rebels seize UN weapons in the Golan
9/17/2014 – UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — Syrian rebels linked to al-Qaeda have seized UN weapons, uniforms and vehicles from peacekeepers in the Golan and set up a “safe zone” to wage attacks, the Syrian ambassador said Tuesday. The United Nations on Monday was forced to pull back hundreds of peacekeepers to the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan after Syrian rebels advanced on their positions. Syrian Ambassador Bashar Jaafari….
Hamas MP calls on members not to participate in Cairo talks
9/17/2014 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A senior Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament on Wednesday called upon the movement’s members not to participate in the next round of indirect ceasefire negotiations with Israel in Cairo. Hamas MP Yahya Moussa said in a post on his Facebook page, “I call upon the brothers in the Hamas movement not to participate in the Cairo negotiations…. Related: Hamas: Cairo ceasefire talks to be held within the next week and No change to Gaza blockade since ceasefire
Hamas: Cairo ceasefire talks to be held within the next week
9/17/2014 – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouq on Wednesday told Ma’an that indirect ceasefire negotiations between Palestinians and Israel will restart within the next week. Abu Marzouq said that while the exact date had not yet been set, “it would definitely be before the 24th of the current month.”The Hamas leader also said that the United Nations will take charge…. Related: No change to Gaza blockade since ceasefire
Unpaid hospital cleaning workers strike in Gaza
9/17/2014 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Cleaning workers at hospitals in the Gaza Strip declared a 24-hour strike on Wednesday in protest of not being paid their salaries, a union official said. Sami al-Amsi, president of the Federation of Palestine trade union, told Ma’an that the cleaning workers had not been paid their meager monthly salaries of around $200 for the past five….
The battle to preserve Bethlehem’s cultural heritage
9/17/2014 – By Charlie Hoyle – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — When Palestinian filmmaker Leila Sansour left Bethlehem in the 1980s there were no military checkpoints intimidating the city, no separation wall jutting into residential gardens, and no Israeli settlements dominating the horizon.” I grew up in a very idyllic town, but I didn’t think of it like that as a child. There were forests of olive….
Who are the ‘terrorists’ the world needs to fight?
9/17/2014 – BEIRUT (AFP) — From Washington and Paris to Tehran and Damascus, it seems everyone agrees on the growing need to fight “terrorism.”What exactly the word means is another matter entirely. For the United States and its partners, there is no doubt the Islamic State militants who have seized swathes of Iraq and Syria count as terrorists. For Syria’s President Bashar Assad, the “terrorists….
Hebron woman found dead in her house
9/17/2014 – HEBRON (Ma’an) — A woman was found dead Wednesday in her house in the southern West Bank village of Dura, police said. Palestinian security forces identified her as 21-year-old Sukayna Khallaf. Police told Ma’an that they had opened an investigation into the death. [END]
Harassment charge against Palestinian footballer at Asian Games
9/17/2014 – SEOUL (AFP) — South Korean police said Wednesday they were investigating a Palestinian football player at the Asian Games for alleged sexual harassment and had banned him from leaving the country. The 20-year-old player, whose name was withheld, was accused of groping a 25-year-old woman working in a laundry room at the athletes’ village.”He was banned from leaving the country. We have….
US cools talk of combat role in Iraq
9/17/2014 – WASHINGTON (AFP) – The White House and the US military scrambled to play down a suggestion by the nation’s top officer that deploying ground forces in Iraq to fight the Islamic State was an option. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Barack Obama’s top military adviser, had said US military advisers could be sent into….
Deal reached to rebuild war-ravaged Gaza
AlJazeera 16 Sep 2014 – UN will monitor use of reconstruction materials in deal reached between Palestinian Authority and Israel.
International Solidarity Movement
Final journal from Gaza
9/17/2014 – International Solidarity Movement – Charlie Andreasson, Gaza, Occupied Palestine – This is what seems to be the last thing I will write from Gaza. Not that there is nothing more to tell, there lies a new story under every stone, but because I will soon leave this small coastal strip where there is so much to be found. Suffering, deprivation, death, dismemberment, despair, shattered homes, and lives without a future….
Egypt: Egypt blames organised crime after migrant shipwreck deaths
Relief Web 17 Sep 2014 – Source: Agence France-Presse Country: Egypt, occupied Palestinian territory, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic 09/17/2014 12:28 GMT CAIRO, September 17, 2014 (AFP) – Egypt on Wednesday blamed organised criminal gangs of people traffickers operating on its territory after a boat carrying 500…
occupied Palestinian territory: Ayuda humanitaria española a la población palestina
Relief Web 17 Sep 2014 – Source: Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo Country: occupied Palestinian territory, Spain La Cooperación Española contribuye con 3.178.000 euros a proyectos de las Naciones Unidas y ONG especializadas para paliar la crisis humanitaria que sufre la población civil…
occupied Palestinian territory: Warning Security Council in briefing that Gaza could ‘implode, or explode again’, Political Envoy for Middle East urges ‘revised and credible’ political framework
Relief Web 16 Sep 2014 – Source: UN Security Council Country: Lebanon, occupied Palestinian territory, Syrian Arab Republic SC/11563 Security Council 7266th Meeting (AM) Proposing a package of measures to “fundamentally change the dynamics” in Gaza, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told…
Top scholars ban travel to fight with militants
The National 17 Sep 2014 – Fatwa from Saudi Arabia’s leading religious authority says terrorism is a ‘heinous crime’ and groups such as ISIL deserve punishment
Disillusioned radicals ‘should have way out’
The National 17 Sep 2014 – Former intelligence chief and Muslim campaigner say returning extremists could be the most potent weapon against groups such as ISIL.
Militants face growing pressure as US mulls strategy
The National 17 Sep 2014 – Elite Iraqi troops backed by US jets battled militants just south of Baghdad on Wednesday as the US president Barack Obama ruled out the possibility a American forces joining ground operations against the extremist group ISIL.
Syrian children die after being vaccinated as airstrikes kill nearly 50
The National 17 Sep 2014 – The children, some just babies, all showed signs of “severe allergic shock” about an hour after they were given a second round of measles vaccinations.
Emotions mount on final day of Scottish independence campaign
The National 17 Sep 2014 – With opinion polls suggesting a close contest, both sides are optimistic.
Gaza widow offers glimpse into world of Israel’s spies
The National 17 Sep 2014 – ‘Our life was hell. I used to look over my shoulder when I am out in the market, get scared when I see a police car,’ said the widow of her years of feeding Israel information.
India rolls out the red carpet for Chinese president
The National 17 Sep 2014 – The choice of Gujarat as Mr Xi’s first stop in India, rather than the capital New Delhi, marked a departure from protocol that some saw as a sign of warming ties between China and India.
Thousands flee as Philippine volcano spews lava
The National 17 Sep 2014 – Huge glowing lava fragments and super-hot boulders have been rolling down from Mount Mayon’s crater as experts warn that the volcano could erupt within weeks.
Hong Kong tycoon snaps up 30 Rolls-Royce Phantoms for his hotel guests
The National 17 Sep 2014 – The US$20 million purchase surpasses the 14 Phantoms bought by Hong Kong’s Peninsula Hotel in 2006.
Video: Obama pledges to fight war on Ebola
The National 17 Sep 2014 – US President Barack Obama says Ebola is ‘spiraling out of control’ and pledges military support in Liberia to help contain the deadly epidemic.
Video: World watching as Scottish vote nears
The National 17 Sep 2014 – A successful push for Scottish independence is a ‘geopolitical risk’ to the global recovery, the OECD has warned, as the think tank revised down its forecasts for UK growth this year.
Video: Celebs speak up in Scottish independence debate
The National 17 Sep 2014 – With Scotland’s independence referendum imminent the debate has drawn a range of opinions from celebrities, including ‘Harry Potter’ author J.K. Rowling, Sean Connery and David Bowie.
Video: ISIL fighters shoot down a Syrian warplane
The National 17 Sep 2014 – ISIL militants gathered up parts of a Syrian fighter jet they shot down over Raqqa, marking the first time the group successfully downed a government aircraft.
Video: Will confidence vote help Hollande?
The National 17 Sep 2014 – The French government has won a confidence vote. but with the economy struggling President Hollande may need more than that to improve a dire popularity rating.
Video: Deadly convoy attack near US embassy in Kabul
The National 17 Sep 2014 – A Taliban suicide bomber has attacked a military convoy near the US embassy in Kabul, killing three foreign troops.
ISIL militants impose new lessons on Mosul schools
The National 17 Sep 2014 – The Al Qaeda breakaway group has ordered schools to reopen in the territory under its control but has told teachers not to teach history geography and literature.
Dozens of soldiers in letter to Netanyahu: IDF service leaving us in poverty
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Hamas lawmaker: Truce talks with Israel should be left to PA
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Prominent Syrian opposition leader urges rebel cooperation with Israel
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Israel recognizes Aramean minority in Israel as separate nationality
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Syrian militants still hold Fijian peacekeeper equipment, UN says
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Artificial sweeteners linked to diabetes and obesity, say Israeli scientists
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar to take ‘time-out’ from political life
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Joe Biden acknowledges ‘poor choice of words’ after ‘Shylock’ quip
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Lawsuit accusing Israel of genocide to be filed in Argentina
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Where do shofars come from?
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Put the children first: Lift the blockade on Gaza
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
UN envoy: Building materials entering Gaza may quadruple in coming months
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Meretz cancels talks with Abbas after Labor chair Herzog scores first meeting
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
High Court: Ultra-Orthodox to remain exempt from Israel’s core curriculum subjects
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
WATCH: Notes cleared from Western Wall cracks ahead of Rosh Hashanah
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Islamic extremist groups recruiting French women and girls en masse
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Why the AG is unlikely to investigate Lieberman’s secret Vienna trip
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Tunnels, kugel and war: Israel’s young right-wing minister and his secret army contacts
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Labor Party’s Herzog urges Abbas not to take unilateral steps
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
My students are considering boycotting Israel. That would be a serious mistake.
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Celebrity rabbi accepts plea bargain in police bribery case
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Al Qaida’s new South Asian arm claims major attack
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Rome nixes naming street after journalist Fallaci, citing past statements on Islam
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
In Scottish navy town, locals like the U.K. just fine
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
West Bank Bedouin leaders reject relocation plan
Ha’aretz – 17 Sep 2014
Who’s afraid of a national minority?
Ha’aretz – 16 Sep 2014
Stop the expulsion of the Bedouin
Ha’aretz – 16 Sep 2014
When women are successful in Israel, the hype isn’t always true
Ha’aretz – 16 Sep 2014
The occupation has occupied the center
Ha’aretz – 16 Sep 2014
Survey: Israelis lead Middle East in satisfaction with their lives
Ha’aretz – 16 Sep 2014
Israeli HMOs given temporary license to prescribe medical marijuana
Ha’aretz – 16 Sep 2014
Sexual harassment charges rock Israel Police
Ha’aretz – 16 Sep 2014
Ya’alon: Bennett lied about his role in tunnels
Ha’aretz – 16 Sep 2014
Plea deal likely in bribery case against prominent rabbi
Ha’aretz – 16 Sep 2014
Countering ISIS abroad: Is the U.K. a breeding ground for jihadists?
Ha’aretz – 16 Sep 2014
Iran slams ‘ridiculous’ US coalition as Congress funds arms against ISIS
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – House approves arming of Syrian rebels; Kerry defends broad mission before Senate; Obama recommits to air-exclusive campaign.
Military Intelligence collects tens of millions of pieces of information a day
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Military intel’ has its own Google and Facebook network, has released ‘hordes’ of Trojan horses that can evade defenses and self destruct if detected, says senior military source.
Following acrimonious legal battle, 20 families forcibly evicted from Tel Aviv suburb
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Evictions come after Supreme Court ruled residents did not have ownership of land, bought in 1987 by billionaire to build luxury residential complex.
Christian Arabs can now register as Aramaic Christians, not Arabs
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Christians who identify with the ancient people can decide to register as Arameans instead of Arabs.
High Court: Ultra-Orthodox do not have to learn core curriculum
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Law provides an exemption from the study of the core curriculum to ultra-Orthodox high schools grades nine through 12.
Biblical inspiration – in the kitchen
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Cookbook author Jamie Geller’s newest ‘Joy of Israel’ episode features recipes containing the Seven Species, cooked in the City of David.
Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s resignation shakes Israeli politics
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Gideon Sa’ar makes surprise announcement at holiday toast stating intentions to leave the gov’t and the Knesset; says it’s for family; Likudniks say it’s politics.
Painting it the way it is
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Turning to his own experience serving in the IDF, Israeli-American artist Tomer Peretz is out to shock the world by candidly portraying his wartime memories on canvas.
Finance Ministry nixes proposal for taxing multiple home ownershp
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Poll shows 60% of Israelis oppose increased defense spending at expense of welfare, 44% opposed to Lapid’s 0 VAT plan.
Razor-thin majority of High Court uphold law used to exclude Israeli-Arabs
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – The human rights groups claimed that the law allows Yishuvim to discriminate against Arabs, homosexuals and the disabled.
Archaeological Survey of Israel celebrates 50th anniversary
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Nation’s first archaeological surveyors and present-day counterparts to meet at Tel Aviv University to launch online database.
Biden apologizes for using anti-Semitic term following chiding by ADL
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – ADL criticizes US Vice President for use of the term “Shylock” in speech referring to bank moneylenders.
Netanyahu: Hamas arrested those responsible for Gaza fire and made clear they are committed to truce
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Prime minister says “it is clear to Hamas that we will not accept a drizzle of rockets.”
Israeli Band or Band for Israel?
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Despite living on different continents, that hasn’t managed to slow down the efforts of this popular trio.
Q&A: Why no war can stop David Broza’s music
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – In a wide-ranging interview, veteran Israeli singer tells Premium Zone why he hasn’t lost sight of the hope he spread with his first song ‘Yiheyeh Tov’ (It will be okay).
Marry a martyr: Twitter’s jihadi matchmaker
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Jihad Matchmaker encourages both men and women to send a direct message with their background, status and location, but no pictures.
Palestinians to ask UN for recognition as state soon, Abbas tells Herzog
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Both agree following Operation Protective Edge, there is a unique opportunity for a regional agreement based on shared interests of moderate powers in the Middle East.
Gas chambers at Sobibor death camp uncovered in archaeological dig
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Some 250,000 Jews murdered at camp in Poland which Nazis bulldozed and covered up with trees to conceal their crimes; personal effects of victims, including wedding rings found near gas chambers.
Watch: New ISIS video resembles Hollywood blockbuster movie trailer
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – The terror group flashes images of the US president with flames surrounding him and American targets.
Steinitz ahead of nuclear talks: Iran is Israel’s greatest threat, not ISIS or Hezbollah
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – After returning from Washington, strategic affairs minister stresses that he does not see any hope in Iran making compromises.
Diskin: Bennett acted responsibly, PM, Defense Minister hid information
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Former Shin Bet chief attacks PM and defense minister for freezing cabinet members out of decision-making process, praises Bennett for taking initiative, insisting tunnel threat be addressed.
Limmud FSU opens memorial exhibit for Ariel Sharon
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – ‘Profile of a Leader’ takes place in Belarus from where his parents immigrated to Israel.
Man abducted by ISIS with Sotloff: ‘I did my best to save him’
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – Guide captured by Islamic State recalls being abducted with American-Israeli journalist Steven Sotloff.
Poll: Half of Palestinians support armed intifada against Israel
Jerusalem Post 17 Sep 2014 – The poll found that 57% of respondents expected the eruption of a third intifada in the West Bank. Only 32% said they did not expect such a thing to happen.
Hamas arrests Palestinians who launched mortar from Gaza, Israeli officials say
Jerusalem Post 16 Sep 2014 – Hamas told mediators that it was interested in preserving the cease-fire and that it apprehended those responsible for the mortar.
Scottish Jewish community leader: Independence would not be ‘favorable’ for policy toward Israel
Jerusalem Post 16 Sep 2014 – In an exclusive interview with “The Jerusalem Post,” Paul Morron, president of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, declined to make any prediction of the result.
Auschwitz guard, 93, charged with 300,000 counts of accessory to murder
Jerusalem Post 16 Sep 2014 – Oskar Groening of Hannover, Germany, has acknowledged that he was a guard at Auschwitz but said he did not personally commit any of the atrocities.
3 injured in suspected arson attack on Brussels Synagogue
Jerusalem Post 16 Sep 2014 – Authorities following “all leads” in possible anti-Semitic attack just as Brussels Jewish Museum following the shooting which killed an Israeli couple, French woman and Belgian man.
U.S. Ground Troops Possible in Anti-ISIS Battle
IPS General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Credit: DoD/public domain By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Sep 17 2014 (IPS) U.S. combat troops may be deployed against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) if the strategy announced by President Barack Obama last week fails to make substantial…
“These are war crimes,” says father of Gaza family wiped out by Israeli airstrike
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 27, 2014 – An elder cousin daubed the blood that dripped from a wound near Thaer Jouda s left eye Tuesday afternoon as the nine-year-old lay in a bed in Gaza City s al-Shifa hospital.”He s very good in…
Syria News – August 26, 2014
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014 – By the end of Tuesday, the coordination committees were able to document 48 martyrs including 4 women, 2 children, and 3 martyrs under torture: 12 martyes were reported in Deir Ezzor; 12 in Damascus and its…
6 Systematic Attacks on Multi-Storey Buildings and Palestinian Civilians Terrified and Forcibly Displaced from Centers of Cities
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014 – Israeli occupation forces have continued their brutal and immoral offensive on the Gaza Strip for the 51st consecutive day in violation of the international law. They have employed their full-fledged arsenal to attack the Gaza Strip…
The CIA is No Stranger to Africa – But We Wish It Was
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014 – Revelations contained in an unreleased nearly 7,000 page Senate Intelligence Committee report about CIA torture of purported terrorism suspects should come as no surprise to those with even a passing acquaintance with the agency s long…
Iraq snapshot – August 26, 2014.
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014 – The prime minister of Iraq killed peaceful protesters. Including children. Including the child of a father who was present. The young teen was trying to get his father to safety. The challenged community in Iraq does…
Hamas is not ISIS and ISIS is not Hamas
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014 -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has felt desperate recently with the massive popular criticism of his country s savage war against the people of the Gaza Strip, which so far has claimed the lives of more than…
Mass Murder as Political Marketing
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014 – Douglas Valentine explained the purpose or at least the subject of his study of the Vietnam Phoenix Program as “terror and its role in political warfare”. He is generous, like most Americans-even critical ones-when he writes “…
The Evil of U.S. Aggression against Iraq
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014 – What better confirmation of the manifest failure of the philosophy of foreign interventionism than the renewed U.S. bombing of Iraq?…Interventionists are pointing out the evil nature of the Islamic State, the group that is threatening to…
Detainees Held at Bagram Air Base Without Charge for Ten Years Transferred to Yemen
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014 – The International Justice Network (IJN) is delighted to announce that two of its clients,Fadi al-Maqaleh and Amin al-Bakri, have been released from Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, were they had been imprisoned without charge for over a…
Will Abbas go to the ICC as a plaintiff or a defendant?
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014- There is no doubt that President Mahmoud Abbas will go to the International Criminal Court in The Hague on behalf of the State of Palestine sooner or later, preferably sooner. He will represent Palestine as it is…
Top 5 Ironies of U.S. Reaction to Egypt/UAE Bombing of Libya
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014 – The diplomatic angst issuing from Washington around the United Arab Emirates and Egypt bombing of weapons depots belonging to the Qatar-backed fundamentalist militia of Misrata holds many delicious ironies: 1. According to the BBC, “the US,…
Hagel ignores leading NGOs call for release of Gitmo force-feeding tapes
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014 – Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, who oversees Guantanamo Bay prison, has ignored a letter from a group of NGOs including Human Rights Watch, the ACLU, Physicians for Human Rights and Reprieve, in which they ask him…
Iraq: The cafeteria s serving left overs — again
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014 – …I m sorry where has the Guardian been — or the US press — as Sunni prisoners were tortured and targeted? As Nouri rushed through executions?The prison attacks did not start this week.I m glad Navi…
The Anti-Imperialism of Fools
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014 – As we all witnessed yesterday Syria s foreign minister Walid Muallem said that Syria will offer to help the US fight the Islamic State (IS) militant group. This of course has left the so called Anti-war…
Counter-revolutionary “Left”will again be with NATO
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014 – ….While its true that the Lincoln Brigade and groups like it came under relatively progressive leadership, whereas most of the young foreigners fighting in Syria have given themselves to very reactionary leadership, the motivations are quite…
Shepherds detained for crossing a road
Uruknet 17 Sep 2014 – August 26, 2014 – While shepherding approximately 1 km south of Qawawis, a village south of al-Khalil (Hebron), on Sunday 24th near the illegal settlement and army base of Suseya, three shepherds were stopped by the Israeli army and detained…
Meet the New Gaza Ceasefire, Same as the Old Ceasefire
Uruknet 16 Sep 2014 – August 27, 2014 – The paper says the ceasefire provides for partially lifting the siege to permit humanitarian aid and reconstruction material to enter. The Israeli and Egyptian crossings will be opened. These are almost the same provisions of the…
Four out of five Syrian children in Lebanon lack schooling
Daily Star 17 Sep 2014 Four out of five Syrian children who fled the war to Lebanon are out of school, according to a new report by Save the Children.
Top US security threats: lone wolves, Syria fighters: officials
Daily Star 17 Sep 2014 Americans radicalized by online propaganda from Islamic State and other militant groups pose the main terrorist threat to the United States, which is especially vulnerable to foreign fighters returning from Syria, senior U.S. security officials said…
Tunisia PM says he will not run for presidency
Daily Star 17 Sep 2014 Tunisia’s interim prime minister has announced he will not be running for president in the country’s November elections, quashing weeks of speculation.
Kurds not ready to recapture Mosul: Iraqi minister
Daily Star 17 Sep 2014 Iraq’s Kurdish peshmerga forces are not yet ready to wrest the city of Mosul back from the jihadist fighters who captured it on June 10, a top leader said Wednesday.
Iran’s Rouhani: Islamic State wants to ‘kill humanity’: NBC
Daily Star 17 Sep 2014 Iranian President Hassan Rouhani denounced Islamic State’s beheading of innocent people, saying the militant group wants to “kill humanity,” NBC News said in excerpts of an interview released on Wednesday.
Czechs to train Iraqi helicopter pilots
Daily Star 17 Sep 2014 The Czech defence ministry said Wednesday it would train 31 transport helicopter pilots from Iraq, whose forces are fighting Islamist militants in the north.
UN says building materials to Gaza may quadruple
Daily Star 17 Sep 2014 A deal reached on war-battered Gaza’s reconstruction is set to be implemented in the coming months, with the amount of building materials entering the territory expected to quadruple, a U.N. official said Wednesday, in the first…
Libya, neighbor nations snub military intervention
Daily Star 17 Sep 2014 Libya’s struggling elected government and representatives of 15 neighboring nations on Wednesday unanimously rejected the idea of military intervention as a way to restore stability in the oil-rich nation, which some say is on the brink…
Obama vows US will not fight another ground war in Iraq
Daily Star 17 Sep 2014 President Barack Obama vowed on Wednesday the United States will not fight another ground war in Iraq, seeking to reassure Americans about the level of U.S. involvement after a top general suggested some combat troops could…
Lebanon programmers to battle at AUB
Daily Star 17 Sep 2014 Student programmers from various Lebanese universities will compete at the American University of Beirut later this month to earn a chance at participating in an international computer science competition.
Iranians back nuclear deal, fear tough demands: poll
Daily Star 17 Sep 2014 As Iran and world powers prepare to resume nuclear talks, a new poll reveals most Iranians back a deal but consider unacceptable some of the toughest demands.
Suicide attack kills 7, destroys bridge in Iraq’s Ramadi
Daily Star 17 Sep 2014 A suicide car bomb attack kills seven people and destroys a vital bridge in Ramadi, the capital of the western province of Anbar where government forces have been battling jihadists.
FBI: US airstrikes boost ISIS, more hostages possible
Daily Star 17 Sep 2014 Support for ISIS increases after U.S. airstrikes began in Iraq and the militant group may take more hostages to try to force concessions from Washington, the FBI director tells Congress.
Syria opposition to probe measles vaccine deaths
Daily Star 17 Sep 2014 Syria’s opposition says it had launched an investigation into the deaths of 15 children inoculated against measles in the northwestern province of Idlib.
Senior MI officer: Israel would share intel on ISIS, if asked
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – In wide-ranging interview, Military Intelligence Directorate source reiterates threat posed by radical group, insists majority of 8200 refuseniks never listened to confidential calls by Palestinians…..
US House approves arms for Syrian rebels
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – ….
Poll: Majority of Israelis stringently define Jews
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – Opinion poll on Jewish identity finds a third of Israelis believe that to be considered a Jew, one has to live in Israel; only quarter of public believe that a Jew is anyone who calls himself one. ….
US, Iran hold bilateral talks Wednesday, Thursday
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – ….
The hidden holiday: 36 years of peace with Egypt
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – Op-ed: Very few of Israel’s citizens know that they owe their lives today to the leadership which signed Camp David Accords. ….
Biden says ‘Shylocks’ was poor choice of words
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – ….
UN says building materials to Gaza may quadruple
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – Under new deal, up to 800 truckloads of construction material will enter Gaza per day ‘to facilitate recovery and reconstruction of Gaza,’ says UN envoy for Mideast peace process. ….
Migrants pressured into voluntary departure agreements
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – Report reveals government workers employed in Holot detention center place increased pressure on migrants to leave country; ‘they keep telling us ‘sign, sign,’ but I can’t go back to Sudan’. ….
Out of the race
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – Analysis: Defense Minister declared the ‘next chief of staff will be appointed from within ranks of IDF,’ making it clear to Maj. Gen. (res.) Galant that he has lost out in race – and is not even a candidate for the post. ….
US scientist: Ebola unlikely to become airborne
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – ….
UN: Syrian militants kept weapons of Fijian troops
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – ….
NYPD: Hate crimes up against Jews, Muslims
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – Special victims division chief says increase in incidents started in July, in wake of Gaza conflict and emergence of ISIS. ….
Archaeologists unearth Sobibor’s gas chambers
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – Led by Yoram Haimi, international team discovers exact location of extermination camp’s killing chambers, in breakthrough finding for project. ….
Former IDF rabbi caught in middle of deep conflict over Gaza war
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – Analysis: Economy Minister Bennett was the only one who professionally challenged Defense Minister Ya’alon’s understanding during Operation Protective Edge. Even if he erred in the way he obtained the information, he was often right about the facts. ….
Jewish kids barred from entering UK store
YNet News, 17 Sep 2014 – Leading retailer Sports Direct apologizes after security guard tells two boys wearing Jewish school uniforms, ‘No Jews, no Jews.’ ….
Palestinian Information Center
FAO asks for $32m in urgent aid to agricultural sector in Gaza
PIC – The international Food and Agriculture Organization has asked for urgent aid to Gaza Strip’s agriculture sector to the tune of 32 million dollars.
US Campaign to End Israeli Occupation to Hold Annual Conference in San Diego
WAFA – 17 Sep 2014
PEX Report: Index Down Again
WAFA – 17 Sep 2014
Abbas Receives Israel’s Opposition Chief: Palestine’s UN Bid is to Consolidate Peace, Stability
WAFA – 17 Sep 2014
Suffocation Cases as Settlers Enter Joseph’s Tomb
WAFA – 17 Sep 2014
Cabinet Warns against Temporal, Spatial Division of al-Aqsa
WAFA – 17 Sep 2014
Israeli Army Seizes Tractors, Equipments near Tubas
WAFA – 17 Sep 2014
Forces Arrest 9, including 2 Minors, in West Bank and Jerusalem
WAFA – 17 Sep 2014
Bad Vaccine Kills Up to 50 Children in Northern Syria
New York Times 17 Sep 2014 – Volunteer medical organizations said the vaccine afflicted dozens of children in insurgent-held areas of Idlib Province.
House Votes to Authorize Aid to Syrian Rebels in ISIS Fight
New York Times 17 Sep 2014 – A House divided along unusual and unpredictable lines voted to authorize the training and arming of Syrian rebels to confront the militant group Islamic State, backing President Obama.
With ISIS in U.S. Cross Hairs, Syria Pounces on Other Foes
New York Times 17 Sep 2014 – Some of the more moderate insurgent groups trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad say his forces have been stepping up attacks on them.
Obama Insists U.S. Will Not Get Drawn Into Ground War in Iraq
New York Times 17 Sep 2014 – Addressing troops at Central Command base in Florida, President Obama said the United States was committed to destroying the Islamic State, but not with combat troops.
Shiite Militias Pose Challenge for U.S. in Iraq
New York Times 17 Sep 2014 – The de facto coalition of militias, the United States and the Iraqi government against the Islamic State shows little promise for stability.
U.S. Army Chief Says Ground Troops Will Be Needed Against ISIS
New York Times 17 Sep 2014 – Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, said “rooting out” militants on the ground would be necessary, but he did not say it had to be done by Americans.
Green Column: Jordan Finds Energy Sources in Unlikely Places
New York Times 17 Sep 2014 – A deal with Israel for natural gas represents a remarkable tie for two nations with a history of tension, and reflects how badly Jordan needs energy.
Islamic State Issues Video Challenge to Obama
New York Times 17 Sep 2014 – The Islamic State has released a Hollywood-style video to respond to President Obama’s declaration that he would “degrade and ultimately destroy” it.
New York Man Charged With Trying to Support ISIS
New York Times 17 Sep 2014 – The most significant accusation in the seven-count indictment of Mufid A. Elfgeeh of Rochester asserts that he tried to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State.
World Briefing: Yemen: 22 Are Killed in Clashes in the North
New York Times 17 Sep 2014 – Twenty-two people were killed in two days of fighting between Houthi rebels and government-allied tribesmen in northern Yemen, tribal and local sources said.
U.S. General Open to Ground Forces in Fight Against ISIS in Iraq
New York Times 16 Sep 2014 – Remarks by Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, open the door to a riskier, more expansive American combat role than the president has publicly outlined.
Syrian Plane Shot Down as Attacks by Groups Intensify
New York Times 16 Sep 2014 – The downing of the Syrian military aircraft was said to be the first such attack by fighters from the Islamic State group.
Temporary Agreement Is Intended to Allow Gaza to Import Materials for Rebuilding
New York Times 16 Sep 2014 – Israeli and Palestinian officials reached a temporary accord to move reconstruction material into Gaza, a senior United Nations official said.
South Africa High Court rules in favor of BDS South Africa billboard
Mondoweiss – After a months long court battle BDS South Africa ( BDS-SA ) won a “precedent-setting” freedom of expression court case last Thursday, September 11. In October 2012 BDS-SA along with the Palestine Solidarity Alliance (PSA) purchased advertisements on billboard’s across South Africa. Not unlike what occurred when the…
Malta sinking killed hundreds fleeing Gaza
Mondoweiss – This is part of Marc H. Ellis’s “Exile and the Prophetic” feature for Mondoweiss. To read the entire series visit the archive page. Time – and the news – moves on. Quickly. So, with the war over, Gaza remains in the news but off the front…
According to Yesha Council, 7,500 new settlers have moved into West Bank in last six months
Mondoweiss – 7500 new settlers moved into West Bank, Jerusalem settlements in six months IMEMC/Agencies 17 Sept by Saed Bannoura — The Yesha Council of Settlements has reported that the number of Jewish settlers living in the occupied West Bank, including in and around occupied Jerusalem, has reached…
Warren, Schama, and Lipstadt address Holocaust echoes in Gaza conflict
Mondoweiss – When I was a young journalist we said that three instances make a trend. This trend is about public figures seeing the Holocaust resonating in the Gaza conflict. First, Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke at Tufts University on September 15 and was asked about Israel/Palestine and the…
Deir al Balah Rehabilitation Center cares for Gaza’s disabled in the wake of ‘Operation Protective Edge’
Mondoweiss – In the central Gaza Strip area of Deir al Balah, Usama Abu Safer, 30, devotes his time to working with disabled people. Born paraplegic, Abu Safer’s own disability inspired him to dedicate his life to this work. “I was born disabled but that doesn’t mean I…
Unit 8200: Teaching NSA a Thing or Two About Dark Arts
Tikun Olam – Those who’ve followed Edward Snowden’s revelations about NSA spying may think they’ve heard just about every depredation they can imagine. But there could be more to come. James Bamford spent three days in Moscow with Snowden and wrote about it in Wired. Today, he has a…
Behind the Uproar Over Israeli Reservists Who Refuse To Spy on Palestinians
The Forward New 17 Sep 2014 – A group of Israeli reservists set off a firestorm when they refused to spy on Palestinians. Yossi Mellman explains why the public reacted so strongly to the Unit 8200 scandal. Click here for the rest of the article…
Obama: No US combat mission in Iraq
BBC 17 Sep 2014 – President Barack Obama has said US troops fighting Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria “do not and will not have a combat mission”.
Syrian Rebel Leader Calls for Peace With Israel
The Foward Breaking News 17 Sep 2014 – Syrian rebels should make peace with Israel in return for support in overthrowing the current Syrian government, a prominent Syrian rebel said. Click here for the rest of the article…
Dozens killed in Syria air strikes
BBC 17 Sep 2014 – Almost 50 people have been killed by two days of government air strikes in an opposition-held town in central Syria, activists say.
Kenya: Nyandarua Governor Defends Israel Deal
allAfrica.com 17 Sep 2014 – [The Star]Nyandarua Governor Daniel Waithaka has denied that the county has illegally contracted an Israeli company to draw a water master plan at an exaggerated cost.
Egypt: Sisi Discusses With French Defense Minister Me Developments
allAfrica.com 17 Sep 2014 – [Egypt Online]President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met on Tuesday 16/9/2014 visiting French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Driant.
Egypt: Shoukri, Malta Fm Confer On Situation in Libya, Me
allAfrica.com 17 Sep 2014 – [Egypt Online]Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri met on Tuesday 16/9/2014 his Malta counterpart George W. Vella in Spain.
UN brokers Gaza reconstruction deal
BBC 17 Sep 2014 – A deal has been agreed by Israeli and Palestinian officials to allow building materials into Gaza for reconstruction, a top UN official says.
Dunkin’ Donuts Sued by Feds Over Sabbath Observance
The Foward Breaking News 17 Sep 2014 – A federal government lawsuit against a Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee for refusing to hire a Sabbath-observant worker drew praise from Agudath Israel of America and the Reform movement. Click here for the rest of the article…
At least 15 children die of contaminated measles vaccine in Syria
Al-Akhbar News 17 Sep 2014 – Syria’s Western-backed opposition said Wednesday it had launched an investigation into the deaths of 15 children inoculated against measles in the northwestern province of Idlib. The vaccination program was carried out in areas under rebel control near the Turkish border but halted on Tuesday after reports…
A stroll through Barcelona
Al-Akhbar News 17 Sep 2014 – How beautiful is a city when one is flying over it, looking down on its buildings’ beautiful colors and shades. One feels this desire to head off quickly in search of its essence by getting lost in its alleys. From the airport to the city, you…
Damascus countryside refugees: ‘we will return, even to tents’
Al-Akhbar News 17 Sep 2014 – A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on September 5, 2014, shows the wreckage of an armoured vehicle sitting on a street after the Syrian army reportedly took control of the entrance of the town of Hteitit al-Jaresh in Eastern Ghouta…
Seven killed in suicide attack in Iraq
Al-Akhbar News 17 Sep 2014 – A suicide car bomb attack killed seven people and destroyed a vital bridge Wednesday in Ramadi, the capital of the western province of Anbar where government forces have been battling jihadists. Five other people were wounded in the afternoon blast, Mahmud al-Wazan, a colonel in the…
Islamist militants attack Benghazi airport
Al-Akhbar News 17 Sep 2014 – Islamist fighters launched another offensive Wednesday on the airport in Libya’s Benghazi, the final stronghold in the eastern city of an ex-general who has been waging war on them, an AFP correspondent said. The fighters of the Shura Revolutionary Council, which includes the Islamist Ansar al-Sharia…
Christians in Lebanon’s northern Bekaa and Hezbollah: we share the same fate
Al-Akhbar News 17 Sep 2014 – Al-Qaa’s town center. (Photo: Haitham Moussawi) Al-Qaa’s town center. (Photo: Haitham Moussawi) It’s a few minutes before midday. Al-Qaa, east of the city of Hermel in the northernmost area of the Bekaa Valley, seems like a ghost town. The residents are hiding in their homes from…
Tunisian troops kill two suspected foreign militants
Al-Akhbar News 17 Sep 2014 – Tunisian troops killed two suspected foreign militants in an overnight firefight, the government said on Wednesday, after it raised its alert level nationwide in the run-up to a general election. Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa, who has warned of a “serious terrorist threat” as the October 26…
Gunmen abduct Lebanese soldier near Ersal
Al-Akhbar News 17 Sep 2014 – Gunmen seized a Lebanese soldier on Wednesday near a town at the border with Syria where insurgents took 19 soldiers captive in early August, a security source said. It was not immediately clear who had seized the soldier, who the Lebanese National News Agency identified as…
Exiled MB officials may find home in Turkey
Al-Monitor 17 Sep 2014 – As Qatar expels Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood figures, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says there is nothing stopping them from traveling to Turkey “like any foreign guest.”
Twenty killed in Yemen clashes between rebels, army soldiers
Al-Akhbar News 17 Sep 2014 – At least 20 people were killed when rebels clashed with army soldiers and allied tribesmen in an outer suburb of the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, tribal and medical sources said on Wednesday. Tribal sources told Reuters the rebels had gained control of Wadi Dhahr suburb in…
Kosovo arrests 15 for recruiting jihadists
Al-Akhbar News 17 Sep 2014 – Updated at 4:07 pm (GMT +3): At least nine imams were among 15 people arrested in Kosovo on Wednesday in the second major operation in weeks to try to stem the flow of young ethnic Albanians joining Islamist fighters in Iraq and Syria. A police source,…
Interview with former Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar
Al-Akhbar Politics 17 Sep 2014 – Mahmoud al-Zahar. (Photo: Al-Akhbar) Mahmoud al-Zahar. (Photo: Al-Akhbar) On the ruins of his home destroyed in the last war on Gaza, we sat with Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar to discuss a variety of issues after the war. We talked about direct negotiations with the occupation; Hamas’…
Turkey’s economic growth fizzles
Al-Monitor 17 Sep 2014 – Turkey’s economic growth slowed to 2.1% in the second quarter, well below expectations, forcing the government to review its year-end target of 4%.
Erdogan’s $350M presidential palace
Al-Monitor 17 Sep 2014 – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has filled his newly constructed palace in Ankara with symbolism of his overthrow of Turkey’s old regime.
With $550M in agricultural losses, Gazans are going hungry
Al-Monitor 17 Sep 2014 – Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s agricultural sector has resulted in a drop in food supplied to local markets, inflating prices that are out of reach for the impoverished population.
IRGC announces improved economic relations with Rouhani
Al-Monitor 17 Sep 2014 – The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that despite initial doubts, relations between the organization and the administration of President Hassan Rouhani have improved.
Jordan arrests Brotherhood leader, youth activist over incitement fears
Al-Monitor 17 Sep 2014 – Jordanian authorities detain a Brotherhood leader and youth activist on charges of undermining the regime.
The myth of Sisi’s Sinai proposal
Al-Monitor 17 Sep 2014 – A report that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi proposed giving part of Sinai to the Palestinians stirred controversy among Egyptians, Palestinians and Israelis.
Former Shas leader: Government has abandoned the poor
Al-Monitor 17 Sep 2014 – In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Shas Party leader Eli Yishai criticizes the government’s alleged socioeconomic agenda, claiming that the poor are again subject to political manipulations.
Political rifts threaten Iraq’s anti-IS coalition
Al-Monitor 17 Sep 2014 – While a coalition of the willing is being formed to tackle the Islamic State (IS), international and local political divisions still threaten to tear it apart, leaving IS the only winner.
Arab-Israelis see Haifa as capital of Palestinian culture
Al-Monitor 17 Sep 2014 – “Palestinians in Israel are a national minority that deserves cultural autonomy,” says Iyad Bargouti, acting director of the Arabic Culture Association, which promotes the establishment of a new Palestinian cultural center in the city of Haifa.
Is Israel the most important strategic US ally in the region?
Al-Monitor 17 Sep 2014 – President Barack Obama might follow in the footsteps of Presidents George H. W. and George W. Bush by forcing diplomatic concessions on Israel.
‘100 children died’ in Malta sinking
BBC 16 Sep 2014 – Up to 100 children may have been among 500 people who drowned after a migrant boat sank near Malta last week, a migration body says.
‘Fundamental fallacy’ in Obama’s plan to arm Syrian rebels?
Al-Monitor 16 Sep 2014 – Lawmakers of both parties expressed disbelief that the rebels will stick to the role the United States wants to carve out for them.
Lebanon: What caused the nationwide power blackout?
Al-Akhbar Politics 16 Sep 2014 – A young girl does her schoolwork by candlelight during one of the numerous power-cuts plaguing Lebanon. (Photo: Al-Akhbar) A young girl does her schoolwork by candlelight during one of the numerous power-cuts plaguing Lebanon. (Photo: Al-Akhbar) On the morning of September 15, most of Lebanon, including…
Articles
Final journal from Gaza
Charlie Andreasson, Gaza, Occupied Palestine, Internationa 9/17/2014
This is what seems to be the last thing I will write from Gaza. Not that there is nothing more to tell, there lies a new story under every stone, but because I will soon leave this small coastal strip where there is so much to be found.
Suffering, deprivation, death, dismemberment, despair, shattered homes, and lives without a future. But also so much love, so much kindness, smiling faces and playing children with catching laughter. And this curiosity and immediate acceptance of me as a stranger, so very distant from my soon-to-be home in Europe.
This will be my thanks and goodbye. A sincere thank you for giving me the opportunity to publish my thoughts, reflections, and observations. A humble thanks to all of you who wanted to read them. And a little special thanks to those of you who have contacted me because of my stories and articles; it has sometimes made ??me slightly embarrassed, but also made me, secretly, of course – proud.
It has driven me to continue to write, and given me this urge to improve, to make the necessary contacts in order to write another story to keep describing Gaza for those who want to read it.
There is so much more to write and report on. There are already many orphans in Gaza, and the recent war has ripped away another 1,500 children their parents. Not all of these children will be placed in an orphanage, most will probably be taken in by relatives. This is just one of hundreds of stories that will remain on my mind, after I have left Gaza.
There is a farming season approaching, but many farmers have had their houses and fields destroyed. Tanks and bulldozers have already penetrated into the Gaza Strip in violation of the ceasefire. Fishermen have been shot at several times, six have been arrested, and a boat has been seized. This also in violation of the ceasefire. more.. e-mail
The battle to preserve Bethlehem’s cultural heritage
Charlie Hoyle, Ma’an News Agency 9/17/2014
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — When Palestinian filmmaker Leila Sansour left Bethlehem in the 1980s there were no military checkpoints intimidating the city, no separation wall jutting into residential gardens, and no Israeli settlements dominating the horizon.
“I grew up in a very idyllic town, but I didn’t think of it like that as a child. There were forests of olive trees, fig trees, apricot trees and huge fields filled with grape vines,” she told Ma’an.
“All of this is lost in Bethlehem. Now what we have is a concrete forest of buildings.”
Sansour’s new documentary, Open Bethlehem, is the culmination of a 10-year journey of emotional reconnection with a city she left as a teenager to experience the wider world.
It is also a tribute to the legacy of her father, who founded Bethlehem University.
“My father was very involved and very committed to the Palestinian cause and believed an educated people could fight better for themselves,” she says.
After his early death, Sansour says she was haunted by his legacy and the intimate moments spent discussing Palestine’s future, and was drawn to return during the Second Intifada.
The filmmaker lived through military curfews, the siege of the Nativity Church, and the building of the separation wall, and spent five years filming the changing fortunes of her hometown.
“Bethlehem for me is a city of contrasts. It is parochial, but very international. It is pastoral, yet sits on the edge of a desert. There are layers of contrast in how famous and celebrated it is yet how brutalized it is by the occupation.” more..e-mail
The media’s failure in Palestine
Alastair Sloan, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) 9/16/2014
‘Not much explodes when a Palestinian mother has to explain to her naughty children that if they run down into the valley that separates their pitifully small hovel from the luscious suburban Israeli settlements on the hill, an IDF boy or girl is authorised to shoot them dead.’
It is the whistle-blower’s dilemma: follow the official internal complaints’ procedure and risk the truth being buried, or take it straight to the press, and risk improvised prosecution by a bitter government resentful that you did right and exposed its dirty tric
ks. The forty-three Israeli whistle-blowers of Yehida Shmoneh-Matayim, Israel’s equivalent of GCHQ or the NSA, opted for the latter.
These bold citizens have been rewarded by the Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon denouncing them as criminals; an Israeli Defence Force (IDF) spokesperson claiming that their allegations have been fabricated; and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing, “I know that these accusations are baseless, and will not harm the important work done by others for the security of Israel.” The lady doth protest too much, methinks, not least because, in the same breath, Netanyahu declared the IDF to be “the most ethical army in the world”.
According to the whistle-blowers, Unit 8200’s surveillance activities amount to political policing. The Israeli military have been collecting dirt on ordinary Palestinians, including sexual preferences, infidelities, family illnesses and financial problems, matters totally unconnected to the armed resistance movements. This information is used to humiliate people; to turn the unfortunate victims against their own communities and force them to collaborate with the Israeli occupation; and to blackmail them on pain of public exposure and embarrassment. more.. e-mail
The United States Heading for a Crash
Immanuel Wallerstein, Agence Global 9/15/2014
President Barack Obama has told the United States, and in particular its Congress, that it must do something very major in the Middle East to stop disaster. The analysis of the presumed problem is extremely murky, but the patriotic drums are being turned to high pitch and almost everyone is for the moment going along. A cooler head might say that they are all flailing around in desperation about a situation that the United States has the major responsibility for creating. They don’t know what to do, so they act in panic.
The explanation is simple. The United States is in serious decline. Everything is going wrong. And in the panic, they are like a driver of a powerful automobile who has lost control of it, and doesn’t know how to slow it down. So instead it is speeding it up and heading towards a major crash. The car is turning in all directions and skidding. It is self-destructive for the driver but the crash can bring disaster to the rest of the world as well.
A lot of attention is focused on what Obama has and hasn’t done. Even his closest defenders seem to doubt him. An Australian commentator, writing in the Financial Times, summed it up in one sentence: “In 2014 the world has grown suddenly weary of Barack Obama.” I wonder if Obama has not grown weary of Obama. But it’s a mistake to pin the blame just on him. Virtually no one among U.S. leaders has been making alternative proposals that are more sensible. Quite the contrary. There are the warmongers who want him to bomb everybody and right away. There are the politicians who really think it will make a lot of difference who will win the next elections in the United States.
A rare voice of sanity came in an interview in the New York Times with Daniel Benjamin, who had been the U.S. State Department’s top antiterrorism advisor during Obama’s first term. He called the so-called ISIS threat a “farce” with “members of the cabinet and top military officers all over the place describing the threat in lurid terms that are not justified.”…. more.. e-mail
Israel tortures prisoners captured in Gaza invasion
Electronic Intifada: 17 Sep 2014 – Two dozen Palestinians from Gaza remain in Israeli detention; captors have threatened to rape the men’s wives. more..
Israel’s Gaza Probe Aims to Stymie War Crimes Trials
Dissident Voice: 16 Sep 2014 – For five days during Israel’s recent assault on Gaza, 16-year old Ahmad Abu-Raida says he was held by Israeli soldiers as a human shield. Repeatedly beaten by the unit that seized him, the youngster describes being forced at gunpoint to enter deserted homes, which could have been booby-trapped, to search for Hamas tunnels. Ahmad, who was separated from his family by Israeli soldiers after they invaded the town of Khuza’a in the southern Gaza Strip on 23 July, testified that soldiers “were walking behind me, with their rifles pointed at me. ‘Get in and see if there are tunnels or not,’ [the captain] ordered me. … Whenever I told them there were no tunnels, they would take me out and search the room themselves.” Ahmad’s account, taken by Defence for Children International, is one of five allegations of criminal conduct that the Israeli army announced last week it would be…more
More material available from Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel – www.vtjp.org
To subscribe, please write to OccupationNews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visithttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/OccupationNews/join
The New Dark Age 