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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Land/Property Theft and Destruction/Settlements/Ethnic Cleansing
Israel’s
tightening grip on the Jordan Valley
The Jordan Valley is an
area under urgent threat of annexation, and during the last few weeks
Israel has considerably tightened its grip on the indigenous Palestinian
population. On the 11th of April the Israeli military shut of the main
water source to Bardala -jeopardising the village’s viability as a
farming community-, on the 12th of April they declared Al Maleh a closed
military zone, which prevented shepherds from grassing their animals,
and on the 15th of April the Israeli military raided Al Farisiya and
stole four water pumps in a further attempt to control all water
resources in the area. On the 25th of April the harassment of
Palestinians increased significantly as armed settlers from the strongly
Zionist Maskiot settlement erected a tent only ten meters from the the
Al Maleh Bedouin community.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/05/12309
Israel grabs more Palestinian land to build Greater
Jerusalem, Philip Weiss
Does this look like Jerusalem to you? This is footage from earlier today
in al-Walaja, a hillside village miles south of the Holy Basin in
Jerusalem, and across from a Jewish settlement called Gilo. The
settlement wants to expand, and Israel is seizing more land, all east of
the Green Line, to build the sprawling Jerusalem that slouches toward
Bethlehem. You will see Palestinian-American geneticist Mazin Qumsiyeh
being arrested
as he tried to stop the bulldozer. "Why are you doing this?" he cries.
Yes why are they doing this? I gather Qumsiyeh has been released. P.S.
Al-Walaja is only there because villagers were forced off their lands to
the west in 1948.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/05/
yale-geneticist-is-arrested-as-israel-steal-more-palestinian-land-to-build-greater-jerusalem.html
Quartet ex-envoy's investment helps Israel
greenwash settlements
Former World Bank president and Middle East Quartet envoy James D.
Wolfensohn is an investor in an Israeli company that is developing
transport infrastructure for Jewish-only settlements built in the
occupied West Bank in violation of international law, an investigation
by The Electronic Intifada reveals.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11238.shtml
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott,Sanctions
and
Divestment
Two More Arrests of Activists, One is a Teenager
From the
Popular Struggle Coordination Committee: Two residents of Ni’lin
were arrested by the Israeli Army tonight, during a night-time raid on
the village. Their arrest follows the two similar arrests last week, and
may signal a renewed increase of anti-Wall arrests. A large military
force, including a plain-clothed snatch squad, raided the village of
Ni’lin at 2:30am tonight, arresting Sa’id Amirah and 17 year old
Mohanned Srour, two anti-Wall activists from the village. The arrest of
the two and of two others last week, comes after
a significant decrease in night raids and arrests recently.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/05/two-more-arrests-of-activists-one-is-a-teenager/
Rights orgs condemn arrest of Palestinian civil
society leader
This morning at 3:10am, Israeli Security Agency agents accompanied by
Israeli police raided Ameer Makhoul's family home in Haifa and arrested
him. Makhoul is a human rights defender and serves as the general
director of Ittijah - The Union of Arab Community-Based Associations and
as the Chairman of the Public Committee for the Defense of Political
Freedom in the framework of the High Follow-up Committee for the Arab
Citizens of Israel.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11251.shtml
Mazin
Qumsiyeh
and 2 others arrested, 3 wounded in al-Walaja
May 7th,
2010-- This morning, May 6, Israeli occupation forces arrested the
coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Apartheid Wall and
Settlements in Beit Sahour, Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh. Two other Palestinians
and one international were arrested also.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2251.shtml
Demonstrators succeed in delaying illegal wall
construction; brutal military violence hospitalizes three
Sitting peacefully in front of the formidable D9 Caterpillar bulldozer,
demonstrators were successful today in temporarily halting construction
of Israel’s illegal annexation wall. In the village of Al Walaja,
approximately 20 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists
disrupted work on the wall for nearly 30 minutes. Highlighting the
systematic racism of Israeli apartheid, soldiers specifically targeted
Palestinian participants. While internationals and Israelis were
virtually ignored, Palestinians were brutally beaten and pepper sprayed,
resulting in three hospitalizations. Three Palestinians and one
international were arrested.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/05/12288
Rallies expected in Silwan Friday after turbulent day
Jerusalem
-
Ma'an - A settler assaulted a 12 and nine-year-old Palestinian in the
East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Thursday afternoon, the
children's mother reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=282378
Israel's repression of its Palestinian citizens
unites us in struggle
Ameer Makhoul, director of Ittijah and chairman of the Popular Committee
for the Defense of the Political Freedoms, was arrested by Israeli
forces today during a raid of his home, two weeks after a travel ban was
imposed on him by the Israeli Ministry of the Interior. Makhoul, a
Palestinian with Israeli citizenship, submitted the following op-ed to
The Electronic Intifada prior to his arrest.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11250.shtml
The pretext of "security" along Gaza's buffer zone
"There was a single shot without any warning, and a young man was
carried away," Adie Mormech explained. Mormech, currently in Gaza, is a
British activist with the International Solidarity Movement. She was an
eyewitness at the 28 April demonstration at Nahal Oz, east of Gaza City,
when Ahmed Deeb was fatally shot by an Israeli soldier. Eva Bartlett
reports for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11248.shtml
CALIFORNIA DIVEST FROM ISRAEL BALLOT INITIATIVE
Californians
have
initiated a ballot measure that would require the state public
retirement funds (PERS and STRS) to be divested from companies supplying
military products to the government of Israel. At least 434,000
registered California voters must sign a petition to qualify the measure
for the statewide ballot. We expect petitions to be ready for signature
gathering in August 2010.
If a majority of voters support the measure, it becomes California law
and the public retirement systems in California will have to sell their
stocks (divest) in companies that provide equipment, supplies and
services that are used by the Israeli military and police in
actions/operations that violate the human rights of Palestinians. The
Initiative will not jeopardize the pension benefits of PERS and STRS
members.
http://intifada-palestine.com/2010/05/california-divest-from-israel-ballot-initiative/
Fayyad appreciates potential power of soft war
against Israel; we should too
Israel is waking up to the growing threat of the soft war being waged
against it internationally. Jazz artist Gil Scott-Heron's apparent
cancellation of his upcoming Tel Aviv performance is just the latest
outcome of the escalating campaign to promote a cultural boycott of
Israel. The April 28th assault on Israel's deputy ambassador to the UK
as she completed a university lecture is another reminder that the soft
war can quickly turn hard.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3884712,00.html
Maariv: Foreign Ministry considering stopping
lectures in US and UK because of heckling
Foreign Ministry officials are considering stopping the lectures by
senior figures around the world, particularly in Britain. The reason:
The outspoken verbal attacks by students and pro-Palestinian activists,
which render them ineffective. The attacks peaked last week, when
demonstrators assaulted the Israeli deputy ambassador to Britain at the
end of a lecture she gave at the University of Manchester.
http://coteret.com/2010/05/06/
maariv-foreign-ministry-considering-stopping-lectures-in-us-and-uk-because-of-heckling/
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2010/05/fifty-seven-organizations-and-artists.html
Violence and Aggression
Settler
aggression
reported in Nablus
Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli settlers pelted
stones at Palestinian cars on the Nablus-Qalqiliya road Thursday night,
victims of the incident reported, telling Ma'an that cars were damaged
by the stones. One driver, Jaber Al-Batta said that while he was
driving near the Qadumim junction on the Nablus-Qalqiliya road, four
young men he identified as settlers threw stones on his car, shattering
the windshield. Al-Batta said he saw the same individuals launching
rocks at a taxi that was behind him on the road. Several eyewitnesses
confirmed seeing settlers gathered in the place of the attack.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=282498
Family
say assaulted in Old City by 'settler'
Jerusalem – Ma'an – A
Jewish settler assaulted a 30-year-old Jerusalemite woman and her
daughter in front of their Old City home in the Aqbat Al-Khaledia
neighborhood on Thursday night, the family reported. Abu Ammar Abu Asab
told Ma'an that his wife and two of his daughters were on their way home
when a Jewish man, identified by Abu Asab as a settler, hit his
youngest daughter Hazar, 10, and fled the scene.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=282431
Settler arson concerns UN Mideast rep
Bethlehem
-
Ma'an - Hours after Israeli firefighters confirmed what Palestinian
witnesses alleged was arson perpetrated by Israeli settlers on a West
Bank mosque, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process
Robert Serry expressed deep concern.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=282384
Detainees
Israeli
Troops Detain 33 Palestinian Civilians During Morning Invasions
Targeting The West Bank
Israeli soldiers detained on Thursday
33 Palestinian civilians during morning invasions targeting West Bank
communities.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58620
Ma’ariv: Israel to escalate punitive steps against
Hamas detainees
Ma’ariv newspaper said Thursday that the Israeli ministerial committee
headed by the minister of justice which is assigned to study the new
punitive measures to be taken against Hamas prisoners.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Humanitarian
Issues/Human Rights/Restriction of Movement/Siege
Israel denies Mabhouh relative medical treatment
Short time before senior Hamas figure assassinated in Dubai, his
relative Mohammad al-Mabhouh undergoes surgery in east Jerusalem. His
health deteriorates since hit, but Israel denying him entry into its
territory. Shin Bet insists he is 'suspected of ties with terrorist
activists'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3886178,00.html
In
pictures:
Gaza artificial limb centre
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8653575.stm
Hebron–Dhahiriya road closed by army, locals say
Hebron – Ma’an – Israeli forces piled earth at the northern entrance of
Adh-Dhahiriya, closing off the main road to Hebron on Thursday morning,
in what town residents said was an attempt to restrict access to roads
near settlements.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=282351
Gisha responds to a State submission in its Freedom
of Information Act petition: How Will
Disclosing Whether Coriander Is or Isn't Allowed
into the Gaza Strip Harm Israel's National Security?
Thursday, May 6, 2010 – After 12 months of unsuccessful attempts by
Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement to obtain documentation
from the Israeli authorities about Israel's policy concerning the entry
of food and other goods into the Gaza Strip, and after claiming for many
months that no such documents exist, Israel has finally admitted that it
does indeed possess the information requested by Gisha, including a
list of goods whose admission into the Gaza Strip is permitted.
Following a petition submitted by Gisha under the Freedom of Information
Act, and as a result of the Tel Aviv District Court's rejection of the
State's claim that it had already provided all relevant information, the
State last week submitted its response to the court. In this response
the State apologized for "inaccurate statements made to the court", that
it claimed were the result of a misunderstanding and admitted to the
existence of four primary documents. Following this admission, however,
the State refused to disclose the contents of the documents. It argued
that, despite not previously raising such an objection, disclosure of
the documents "…would harm national security and foreign relations".
Gisha today filed its response to the court.
http://www.gisha.org/index.php?intLanguage=2&intItemId=1764&intSiteSN=113
Palestinian
Refugees
and Internally Displaced Persons, Stephen Lendman
Established
in
1998, the Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee
Rights (BRC) "defend(s) and promote(s) the rights of Palestinian
refugees and IDPs (to) advance (their) collective rights." In January
2010, BRC published a report titled, "Survey of Palestinian Refugees and
Internally Displaced Persons, 2008 - 2009."
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15937
New telephone hotline strengthens legal protection
for Palestine refugee women
A legal advice and counselling telephone hotline was launched today at
the Yarmouk Legal Advice Bureau. The new hotline was established at the
request of local women who will now be able to access information and
advice on a range of legal and family issues easily and confidentially.
The hotline is part of a project between UNRWA and a British-based NGO,
the Damask Rose Trust, which aims to build legal protection for
Palestine refugee women across the country. The project is partially
funded from the British Embassy in Damascus.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-857QTS?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Israel's
Arab
Helpers
6 Palestinians released from Egyptian jails
Gaza – Ma’an – Egyptian authorities released 6 Palestinians on Thursday,
all of whom had been held for approximately two months, all of whom are
residents of Gaza, officials said. Officials on the Gaza side of the
Rafah crossing confirmed that the men all returned to Gaza, passing
through Rafah early in the day.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=282349
War Criminals
General 'tried to cover up truth about death of
Rachel Corrie'
Israeli war hero accused of suppressing testimony that could reveal what
really happened to Gaza activist
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/
general-tried-to-cover-up-truth-about-death-of-rachel-corrie-1965623.html
Deir Yassin: Meir Pail's Eyewitness Account
Deir
Yassin
was a quiet village, that had a pact with us that had been approved by
Yitzhak Navon, then Head of the Arab section of the Haganah Jerusalem
Intelligence Service and later President of Israel. The people
of Deir Yassin had kept to the pact. The Mukhtar’s son had even been
killed fighting off an attempt to bring in foreign Arab troops. The
Haganah had planned, when the British left, to take over Deir Yassin
peacefully as we did in Abu Ghosh, and to build an airstrip between Deir
Yassin and Givat Shaul. The place was of no strategic value. There was
one field track that led into it from Givat Shaul and that was a dead
end. I never heard about any shooting at our side coming from Deir
Yassin or from foreign Arab soldiers in Deir Yassin in 1948, and there
was none that I know of on the night before the attack. I know that
Raanan, commander of the Irgun, later said it had strategic value and
controlled roads and logistic axes and so on, but that is all nonsense.
Deir Yassin did not maintain any observation or fire control over the
main road to Jerusalem, or any other route to Motza or Qastel. They
didn’t shoot at anything, certainly not at the road, because it was
impossible to shoot at the road from Deir Yassin. Deir Yassin is high
above sea level, but it, and Givat Shaul, are separated from the main
road to Jerusalem by a big ridge where the Givat Shaul cemetery is
located now, and you cannot see anything of strategic value from Deir
Yassin. Everyone knows where the cemetery is, so it is ridiculous to
claim they could fire on the road from Deir Yassin.
http://middle-east.yu-hu.com/peacewatch/dy/dypail.htm
Political
Developments/Diplomacy
Obama Will Not Allow
Unilateral Palestinian Steps
Diplomatic sources in Washington
reported that U.S. President, Barack Obama, gave Israel verbal and
written guarantees that the United States will not allow the
Palestinians to conduct any unilateral steps during indirect talks, or
in the case of failure of such talks.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58624
FBI Director In Israel For
Talks On Cooperation
Israeli sources reported Thursday that
FBI director, Robert Mueller, arrived in Israel and held a meeting with
Israel’s Police Chief, David Cohen, on cooperation against what was
described as international crime, and the joint U.S-Israeli efforts to
counter “terrorism”.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58625
Yediot’s defense analyst: Settlement construction
spree in September dooms negotiations
The opening was supposed to be a bit more festive. After all, the
negotiations with the Palestinians are being renewed after a year and a
half of a breakdown of communication. True, these are only proximity
talks, a kind of indirect negotiations, but we are finally returning to
the table. Both sides, however, are behaving as if the talks were
forced upon them, as if they are doing the Americans a favor, despite
the fact that for both Netanyahu and Abu Mazen, the renewal of the talks
is a political oxygen balloon. So the Palestinians do not know when
they are coming, and Netanyahu wants to talk about water rather than
borders — in brief, we are starting off limply, which bodes ill for the
future.
http://coteret.com/2010/05/06/
yediots-defense-analyst-settlement-construction-spree-in-september-dooms-negotiations/
U.S. envoy meets Netanyahu ahead of peace talks
(Reuters)
Reuters - U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell met Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday for the second time in two days
before the expected start of indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100506/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_usa
Erekat to
EU: Israel must abide by commitments
Jericho – Ma'an –
Negotiations affairs chief Saeb Erekat told EU leaders to urge Israel to
stick to its commitments around the Roadmap plab and halt settlement
construction across the West Bank including East Jerusalem. In a
statement summing up a series of meetings with consuls and
representatives of the EU, Erekat said he stressed to EU officials that
Israel was obliged, under signed peace plans, to stop settlement
constructions, halt the siege on Gaza and release Palestinian prisoners
from detention centers. Anything acted on around those issues, Erekat
said, "are not goodwill measures," but rather international
expectations.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=282484
Cabinet
shuffle
expected; Fatah numbers to get boost
Nablus – Ma'an –
The coming week will see a long rumored cabinet shuffle in the
Palestinian Authority, informed government sources told Ma'an on Friday,
noting the new cabinet list was already completed. The changes
reportedly follow an agreement between the Fatah Central Committee,
President Mahmud Abbas, and the Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, which will
remove Central Committee members from office, as per a decision on the
issue during the Sixth Fatah Conference in August 2009.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=282460
PA:
Mitchell will not get answers Friday
Bethlehem - Ma'an -
Special US Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell will "not get any
answers from the Palestinian leadership" when he meets with President
Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh
said. In a Thursday statement, the spokesman said Mitchell would have
to wait until the PLO Executive Committee met on Saturday for an answer
as to the conditions under which Palestinian negotiators would proceed
with talks.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=282447
Poll:
60% of Palestinians favor indirect talks
Bethlehem - Ma'an -
The Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO) released the findings
of its most recent poll on Wednesday, which revealed surprising results,
including that 60% of Palestinians support the current effort at peace
talks.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=282434
Other News
Chomsky, scientists: Technion develops death tech
Senior
academics from Tel Aviv University, Weizmann Institute, and other top
institutions around world denounce Boston Science Museum's sponsorship
of Israeli exhibit, calling it propaganda campaign. 'This is an attempt
to distract from Israel's war crimes and human rights violations,' they
say.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3886094,00.html
Gaza
smokers
forced to cough up as Hamas seeks cash
GAZA CITY — Gazans
are trapped in their overcrowded strip by an Israeli blockade and
are still struggling with the aftermath of war, but their anger today is
directed at the Hamas rulers for taxing their smokes. Many see the new
tax imposed on cigarettes smuggled from Egypt as a sign the Islamists
are in deep financial trouble in the Palestinian territory that
essentially survives on aid and a black market economy.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j-oSf2bCqDknR09qydPOE14hNnfg
'Clegg anti-Israel, Cameron good for Jews'
UK's Jewish voters split between Labor, Tory – anything except Liberal
Democrats whose leader Nick Clegg is seen as bad for Israel.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3886065,00.html
IAF official: Israel’s anti-missile systems are
insufficient
The anti-missile systems currently operating in Israel do not provide
the country with sufficient protection against surface to surface
missiles and rockets, according to the chief of the Israel Air Force’s
air defense network… The M-600s, which are manufactured on standard
assembly lines in Syria, have a 300-kilometer range, can carry a warhead
weighing up to half a ton (including unconventional warheads) and… can
be prepared for launch quickly. Most worrisome is the fact that they are
more precise than other weapons in the Hezbollah arsenal.
http://www.israeli-occupation.org/2010-05-06/iaf-official-israels-anti-missile-systems-are-insufficient/
Rabbinical court forbids Haredim from investing in Israeli companies
Badatz
ruling
explains that buying shares makes the investor a partner in firm
that may violate Sabbath or use inappropriate advertising.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/business/
rabbinical-court-forbids-haredim-from-investing-in-israeli-companies-1.288841
Analysis/Opinion/Human
Interest
Ten Israeli
negotiating strategies
Israel's ten-part negotiating strategy
with the Palestinians is designed to prolong negotiations as long as
possible, while creating unavoidable facts on the ground, writes Mohsen
Saleh*
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/997/op1.htm
Palestinian statelessness is an American Jewish
achievement, Philip Weiss
David Obey, the great Wisconsin congressman, announced his retirement
yesterday. He wanted to do it a long time ago, but when he saw George W.
Bush coming along, he said, he realized he had to keep his finger in the
dyke and try to stop Bush's madness. Well Obey is an "unstinting"
critic of AIPAC, and Israel, per
the JTA. Here's the key excerpt.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/05/palestinian-statelessness-is-an-american-jewish-achievement.html
American anger over IDF use of US Army uniforms for
prisoners in stockade
Anyone who happened to pass by Military Stockade 6, near Beit Oren
junction, might have been puzzled by what he or she saw: is Israel
keeping dozens of US Army soldiers in the military stockade? The answer,
so it would seem, is no less puzzling than the question. The IDF
received a large shipment of surplus American uniforms that are marked
“US Army.” The uniforms are light-colored camouflaged fatigues that US
Army troops use in various theaters of operations, such as Afghanistan
and Iraq. Since the uniforms are camouflaged, military officials were
leery of distributing them to IDF troops, lest others mistakenly
identify them as terrorists.
http://coteret.com/2010/05/06/american-anger-over-idf-use-of-us-army-uniforms-for-prisoners-in-stockade/
‘NYT’ ignores gigantic elephant named Gaza in the
room, Alex Kane
Post-Gaza massacre, it’s easy to see the changing
discourse about Israel/Palestine across the country among Americans
and American Jews.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/05/nyt-ignores-gigantic-elephant-named-gaza-in-the-room.html
Indirect Mideast peace talks made trickier by
Jerusalem housing projects
JERUSALEM -- When the Obama
administration launches indirect peace talks between Israelis and
Palestinians, as early as this weekend, it faces a much more complicated
landscape than the Clinton or Bush administrations, especially in
Jerusalem.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=3500be39b958528be9a597a5aa0b5735
Europe Key to Jewish Problem, Claims Arab
Twenty-four-year-old Zaki Hashem, for the last three years a legal
advisor to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and the League of Arab States,
spoke up sharply yesterday in defense of Arab rights in Palestine. "The
solution to the Jewish refugee problem," he said, "lies in eliminating
the Fascist remnants which are driving the Jews out of Europe but not in
a mass, immigration to Palestine. "Packing a country with immigrants
when a majority of that country are opposed to it is clearly contrary to
the principles of democracy and self-determination. The Arab League is
against such mass immigration because it is a political weapon against
the Arab people of Palestine.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1946/5/16/europe-key-to-jewish-problem-claims/
‘New Yorker’ profile of Haim Saban is pretty good,
Philip Weiss
I skimmed Connie Bruck's profile
of Haim Saban in the New Yorker late last night and retain a few
impressions: The New Yorker should be congratulated for moving the ball
down the
field, 20, 25 yards. Bruck's last big piece on an Israel lobbyist,
Republican Sheldon Adelson, failed to describe his ideological agenda in
any real detail. From the start of this piece, Saban is described as
caring only about Israel. The piece's title, "The Influencer," would
rate as an anti-Semitic canard if a critic of Israel uttered it. It's a
great title. There's a lot of good reporting on Saban's love of Israel
and the thrust of his efforts: influencing the discourse, buying
thinktanks and newspapers, or trying to.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/05/new-yorkers-haim-saban-profile-is-pretty-good.html
Cementing
Relationships, BRIAN CLOUGHLEY
Following Israel’s deliberate
insult to the United States of America on March 9 some people thought
there would be action taken by Washington to make it clear that in
future it would be unwise to make a fool of the US Vice President. No
chance. You can humiliate the Vice President of the United States of
America any time you want – if you’re the Israeli government. To recap
on what happened : in March Vice President Biden went to Israel,
supposedly in an attempt to persuade the Israelis and Palestinians to at
least begin to start to engage in talks. He didn’t have a hope of
succeeding, but he did what vice presidents are designed for : he sought
to convey the impression that the US Administration is serious about an
international problem that it has no intention of fixing. And while he
was in Tel Aviv the Israelis announced that they were going to build yet
more settlements on Arab lands, in defiance of international law, human
decency, and everything else associated with civilized behavior.
http://www.counterpunch.com/cloughley05072010.html
Iraq
Thursday: 5 Iraqis Killed, 13 Wounded
At least five Iraqis were killed and 13 more were wounded in the latest
attacks. Meanwhile, a mass grave containing 55 Iraqis soldiers killed in
Kuwait during the 1991 war was discovered there. Also, a day after terms
of a political alliance were leaked to the press, one important
condition came under closer scrutiny.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/05/06/thursday-5-iraqis-killed-13-wounded/
Iraqi Kurdish journalist kidnapped and killed (AFP)
AFP - The family of a Kurdish journalist and student who was kidnapped
and killed held his funeral on Thursday, hours after his corpse was
found.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100506/wl_mideast_afp/iraqkurdsmediaassassination
Iraqi Airways chief released by British court:
ministry (AFP)
AFP - A British court released the head of Iraqi Airways on Thursday and
allowed him to return home, Iraq's transport ministry said in the latest
twist in a legal nightmare for the airline.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100506/wl_mideast_afp/iraqkuwaitaviationbritain
Iraq says Kuwait reparations are unsustainable (AFP)
AFP
-
Iraq cannot sustain its reparations payments to Kuwait for Saddam
Hussein's 1990 invasion, which it says are the highest paid by any
country in history, Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said Thursday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100506/wl_mideast_afp/iraqkuwaitcompensation
Kuwait says finds Gulf War mass grave of Iraq troops
(Reuters)
Reuters - Kuwaiti authorities have found a mass
grave of 55 Iraqi soldiers killed in the 1991 Gulf War, the state news
agency KUNA said Thursday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100506/wl_nm/us_kuwait_iraq_grave
Moviegoers Celebrate a Return of Iraqi Culture
At
the
premiere for “Son of Babylon,” excitement and relief that culture could
defy occupation, war, government neglect and occasional hostility to
signal its survival.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/world/middleeast/07baghdad.html
Lebanon
Lebanese
Lawyer
May Khansa Submits Complaint Against Israel in Hague
The
president of the International Coalition against Impunity, Lebanese
lawyer May El-Khansa, will leave on her 12th visit to The Hague on
Saturday, accompanied by a number of European lawyers. The organization
will submit a new complaint to the ICC concerning Israeli crimes
committed in Gaza. The complaint and the attached documents about the
daily Israeli attacks on Gaza and International violations will be
appended to the 11 previous complaints registered in the Court under
reference number: OTP-CR-4425/08. The complaint details the daily
Israeli violations committed recently in 2010, particularly the
incursions into Palestinian territories and attacks on Palestinian
civilians and property in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as well as
Israel’s ongoing blockade on Gaza that has created a massive
humanitarian catastrophe. The organization members will meet with the
Court’s officials on May 10, 2010, at 3:00 P.M. to discuss the latest
developments in the lawsuit filed against crimes committed by Israel.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=136525&language=en
Israel Kidnaps Lebanese Goats!
Israeli moves to arrest Lebanese shepherds have now taken a new turn
after army units crossed the Israeli pullout line in the south and
"kidnapped" 185 goats in the area of al-Shahel on the outskirts of the
town of Shebaa. A Lebanese army communiqué said Wednesday the Israeli
soldiers took the goats to the occupied Palestinian territories.
http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&1A920E620C422107C225771B001AF172
U.S.
and Other World News
Treatment of Muslims blamed for plot
Set in motion just
two months ago, the plan to explode a sports utility vehicle in Times
Square was born of Faisal Shahzad's anger about US treatment of Muslims,
a law enforcement source has said.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/treatment-of-muslims-blamed-for-plot-20100506-uh32.html
'I
was expecting you. Are you NYPD or FBI?'
What failed Times
Square bomber said as he was arrested on flight to Dubai.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1272619/
Faisal-Shahzad-How-Times-Square-bomb-suspect-nearly-escaped-New-York.html
Here's
how Joe Lieberman's citizenship-stripping bill would work
Two
things you should know about this: First, it isn't just some paranoid
liberal nightmare. It's actually moving forward.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/05/how_liebermans_citizen-strippi.html
US mulls new 'terror' laws
A bill has
been introduced into the US Congress, to strip US citizens accused of
terrorist links of their citizenship even before they face trial. The
proposed legislation comes as US officials continue to investigate
possible links between New York bomb suspect Faisal Shahzad, and
fighters in Pakistan. Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIa699ouiP4&feature=youtube_gdata
A look at costs of Afghan war to U.S. taxpayers
Obama has asked for $33 billion more to help fund 30,000 extra U.S.
soldiers being sent to Afghanistan this year. He wants another $4.5
billion for beefed-up foreign aid and civilian operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan this year.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0517261220100506?rpc=401&
feedType=RSS&feedName=bondsNews&rpc=401
CIA used ‘fictional’ tale of US prison rape to
intimidate teen terror suspect
A shocking yet "fictional"
tale of prison rape by "black guys" and "big Nazis" in an American
prison was used by a CIA interrogator to intimidate 15-year-old
terrorism suspect Omar Khadr as he was held in a U.S.-operated prison in
Afghanistan, according to testimony at a Thursday hearing.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0506/fictional-tale-prison-rape-murder-intimidate-teen-terror-suspect/
Pentagon bans 4 Gitmo reporters for naming witness
The
Pentagon on Thursday barred four journalists from military commissions
at Guantanamo Bay because they published the name of a witness after
being told not to.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0507/pentagon-bans-4-gitmo-reporters-naming-witness/
Why
Was Cheney in Saudi Arabia?
Dick Cheney just went on a junket
to meet with Saudi Arabian leaders, a quiet pow-wow that's been
discussed in the Saudi media but not so much over here. Cheney—who's
been busy defending torture and complaining that Barack Obama lets world
leaders "think they're dealing with a weak president"—weakened the
president by visiting a leading torture regime and its caliph, King
Abdullah.
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/05/why-was-dick-cheney-in-saudi-arabia-oil-halliburton-logan-act-riyadh
Extrajudicial Killing: US to expand Pakistan drone
strikes
Federal lawyers backed the measures on grounds of
self-defence to counter threats the fighters pose to US troops in
neighbouring Afghanistan and the United States as a whole, according to
authorities.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/05/201056104348785170.html
Khadr Routinely Trussed Up In Cage, Hearing Told
Omar Khadr, then a gravely wounded 15-year-old, was routinely trussed up
in a cage “in one of the worst places on Earth,” according to a hulking
former military interrogator nicknamed Monster who says he felt sorry
for the Canadian and brought him books and treats.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/
interrogators-had-free-hand-to-terrify-detainees-khadr-hearing-told/article1557696/
Israel
won't
move on U.N. call for nuclear-free zone (Reuters)
Reuters
- Israel has no plan to review its nuclear policies, a government
official said on Friday, playing down efforts by world powers at a U.N.
non-proliferation conference to promote a Middle East free of atomic
arms.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100507/wl_nm/us_nuclear_treaty_mideast_israel
Iran accepts Brazil mediation to revive atom deal
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has agreed “in principle” to
Brazilian mediation to revive a U.N.-brokered nuclear fuel swap deal
with world powers, the semi-official Fars news agency said on Wednesday.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/May/
middleeast_May90.xml§ion=middleeast&col=
Brazil 'offered no N proposal to Iran'
Ahmadinejad
said
in a telephone conversation with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez
that Tehran has agreed “in principle” with Brazil's offer regarding a
swap deal to provide fuel rods for the Tehran research reactor earlier
this week.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125636§ionid=351020104
John Bolton: Obama trying to rid Israel of nukes
“Egypt and the Obama administration are negotiating right now on an
Egyptian proposal for a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East,
which certainly sounds good, except when you think about it, there is
only one country that resolution is targeted at and that is Israel."
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=174710
The Myth of a Moderate Tunisia
When Tunisian Foreign Minister Kamel Morjane arrives in Washington on
April 26, he will most certainly present himself as the representative
of a "moderate" Arab state that is friendly to the West. As a
representative of Human Rights Watch, however, I recently witnessed
another side of this supposedly "modern" regime.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/05/06/myth-moderate-tunisia
MIDDLE EAST: Environmentalists issue stark warning
on River Jordan
Source: IRIN Two recent reports by a coalition of Israeli, Jordanian and
Palestinian environmentalists paint a grim picture of the state of the
River Jordan, and urge swift action.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/f244a046d60d49203fd3deb83a589d35.htm
Egyptian Workers Strike
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK_Qm6YxKTw
First UAE woman in North Pole trek
Elham al-Qasimi recently traded her traditional long dress - common in
her native United Arab Emirates - for a puffy parka in a quest to become
the first Arab woman to reach the North Pole. The trip was unsupported
and unassisted, meaning no motorised equipment was used and there were
no resupplies along the way. Al-Qasimi narrated her experience to Al
Jazeera. [May, 06, 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_FvOBE3_28&feature=youtube_gdata |
| For further information contact Shadi Fadda |
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