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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Land, property, resource theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Demolition on the Road 90 - No. 2
8 Dec - (Photo)
Wednesday Israeli bulldozers didn't only destroyed a vegetable shop on
the Road 90, they also cut six trees few kilometers away. Those
trees
belong to Ibrahim and Saleh Zubeidat. The incident took place in
Zubeidat village, in the central Palestinian Jordan Valley. The army cut these 50 year old trees claming they affect the security control off Argaman settlement.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=137
New army aggression in Abu Alajaj
10
Dec - (Photos) Abu Alajaj – Jiftlik – occupied Palestinian Jordan Valley
-- This morning
the Israeli occupation forces came once again in Abu Alajaj to harass
the Bedouin community living in this area since decades. Four military
jeeps came over at 11:45 today in order to force the Daess
family to remove a tent, claiming that is a new building. This tent was
built four months ago and is located between other tents in the same
area. Today, they also prevented the shepherds to put a new nylon over
their hay. The hay is now surrounded by a fence built few weeks ago by
the Massu'a settlers. An EAPPI team was present during this aggression
as well as one of our foreign volunteer. She was put under delay for
more than half an hour for interrogation and was threatened to be
arrested.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=134
New exhibit tells story of Bnei Menashe
12
Dec
-- Exhibition created by Shavei Israel organization portrays
community’s daily life in Israel and northeastern India, chronicles
their return to Jewish people after centuries of isolation ... The
Bnei Menashe (Hebrew for "sons of Manasseh") claim descent from one of
the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, who were sent into exile by the Assyrian
Empire more than 27 centuries ago ... In recent years, Shavei Israel has brought some 1,700 Bnei Menashe back home to Zion. Another 7,200 still remain in
India, waiting for the day when they too will be able to return to Israel and the Jewish people.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3997244,00.html
RoR Committee: We do not recognize agreements waiving the right to return
AMMAN,
(PIC) 12 Dec -- The high committee to defend the right of return in
Jordan is refusing to recognize signatures by Palestinian parties
waiving the full right for refugees to return to their land. The
committee, marking International Refugee Day on Saturday, called on the
international community to see to the Palestinian right to return to the
homes they were ejected from by force and to put UN resolutions in that
regard into action. UN resolution 194 states that all refugees have the
right to return and compensation for all losses and moral and material
damages they and their descendants suffered throughout the years of the
diaspora.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz
Violence
Israeli military missile hits family house
posted
12 Dec (ISM) - December 9th is a day that will be remembered by the Al
Sirsawi family as a day in which God protected them from what could have
been a catastrophe. At 11:15 in the morning, a powerful missile broke
through the back wall of the family house, rocketed through one of the
bedrooms,
smashed the wardrobe and the door, soared through the hallway and
shattered the dresser of the opposite bedroom where it landed in the
wall ... We wanted to check on the baby but couldn’t immediately see
her. Finally, we found her: she too was covered in dust and her cradle
was filled with stones and wood from the explosion.”... The shell was
fired from an Israeli tank close to Karni Crossing, which is over 2 km
away from Ash Shuja’iyeh where the Al Sersawi family lives.
“We don’t know what happened or why they shelled our house with such a
missile.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/12/16013/
Israeli troops kill 2 Palestinians on Gaza border (AP)
JERUSALEM 12 Dec -- The Israeli military says troops have killed two
unarmed Palestinians trying to cross into Israel from Gaza. The military
says troops spotted the men near the security fence that
separates Gaza from Israel, then shot and killed them. Fearful of
militant attacks, the military says it does not fire warning shots when
Palestinians are trying to cross from Hamas-ruled Gaza. Some
Palestinians try to cross into Israel in search of work.The military
says during searches after Saturday's shooting, an Israeli soldier was
moderately wounded.It said it was investigating whether he was shot by
militants or accidentally by Israeli troops.
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/israeli-troops-kill-2-773145.html
Probe: Friendly fire cause of soldier's injury in Gaza
Initial
Southern Command investigation finds Armored Corps soldiers who killed
two Palestinians near border later opened fire on group of paratroopers
they mistook for terrorists
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3998047,00.html
Israel's crackdown on the border area injures four more
11 Dec - The Israeli Offensive Forces are cracking down on people
working in the buffer zone. In the past two weeks 20 people have been
shot, four of whom were children. Today the atrocities continued: this
morning three people were injured in Beit Lahiya; in Khuza’a, near Khan
Younis, the army shot a child of 16.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/12/16022/
2 Palestinians killed in clash on Gaza border
GAZA
CITY (Ma'an) 12 Dec -- Two Palestinians were killed and an Israeli
soldier
wounded in an exchange of fire along the Gaza Strip's border with Israel
Saturday night, the Israeli military said ... Palestinian medical crews
were reportedly unable to reach the scene of the shooting due to the
danger posed by military action in the area. Local radio in Gaza
reported an Israeli military incursion near Bureij refugee camp. For its
part, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, Al-Quds Brigades claimed
responsibility for firing three mortar shells at the Israeli military
post Nahal Oz.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341196
Activism / Solidarity
South African visitors forced to flee in Ramallah protest
11
Dec
- A South African delegation on a visit to Palestine was left shaken
after they were attacked with tear gas and sound bombs by the Israeli
army outside a Jewish settlement on the West Bank, on Friday morning ... They
were confronted by the Israeli army when they joined locals in Masra
village, outside Bethlehem, who were picketing against the expansion of
Jewish settlements, which encroach on their land ...Mosholi
said they had experienced first-hand what the people of Palestine
experience daily in their struggle for independence. "What is happening
here is much worse than we experienced under apartheid," she said.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article811001.ece
Detention
Salah freed from Israeli jail (AFP)
RAMLA,
Israel 12 Dec - Islamist leader Sheikh Raed Salah was freed from jail
Sunday after serving five months behind bars for spitting at an Israeli
policeman, a prison spokesman said. The Palestinian-Israeli
leader, who heads the northern wing of the Islamic Movement, was greeted
as he left prison in Ramla near Tel Aviv by a crowd of supporters
waving the movement's green bunting as well as Palestinian and Turkish
flags, an AFP photographer said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341311
Sheikh Salah: The days I spent in Israeli jails were the best in my life
GAZA,
(PIC) 12 Dec -- Sheikh Ra'ed Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement in
the 1948 occupied lands, stated immediately after his release from Ramle
prison that the five months he spent in jails was the best days in his
life and heavenly moments he spent in worshiping God.
Sheikh Salah said he was able to write three books while in detention
and called on the world to consider the freedom of detainees inside
Israeli jails political prisoners who must be released immediately
according to international law.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz
Israeli forces detain Palestinian near Hebron
Israeli forces raided the southern West Bank town of Dura south of
Hebron on Friday morning and detained a 22-year-old man from his home,
relatives said. Family members said that an Israeli military force
raided their home in the early morning firing flare canisters inside the
house before they detained Abdullah Muhammad Amayra. They added that
his mother sustained bruises as a result of flares.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341205
Health risks threatening detainees in Israeli jails for lack of winter clothes
GAZA, (PIC) 12 Dec -- The prisoners' center for studies said that the
Israeli prison authority prevents Palestinian prisoners from getting
winter clothes in its jails for the fourth consecutive year, the thing
which exposes them to health risks, especially because of the low
temperatures
this season.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz
Reprisals
Army: Rocket fired from Gaza into Israel (AFP)
JERUSALEM
12 Dec - A rocket fired from the Islamist-run Gaza Strip hit southern
Israel on Saturday without causing casualties or damage, a military
spokesman said. The projectile "exploded on open ground," he said, a day
after a mortar round or rocket fired from the Palestinian territory
exploded, again without causing casualties or damage. Gaza-based
Palestinian militants have fired some 200 rockets and mortars
into Israel this year. Eight attacks have been recorded this week.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341186
PFLP wing: Clashes with Israeli forces
GAZA
CITY 12 Dec -- The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades said fierce clashes erupted
Saturday with Israeli forces north of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza
Strip ... An Israeli military spokesman was not aware of any clashes in
the area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341126
Siege / Restrictions on movement / Rights violations
Limited export of strawberries, flowers from Gaza
Liaison official Raed Fattouh said the Palestinian side was told to
expect entry of 170-180 truckloads of goods and humanitarian aid through
Kerem Shalom terminal. In addition, Israeli authorities are expected to
allow export of eight truckloads of strawberries and flowers, harvested
in Gaza, through the same crossing. Kerem Shalom will see the entry of
limited quantities of industrial-grade diesel and domestic-use gas into
the besieged coastal enclave, he said, while the Karni crossing would
remain closed Sunday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341223
Gaza police officer says attacked by workers
GAZA
CITY 12 Dec -- Palestinian workers attacked a police officer Sunday as
he tried to stop them collecting gravel in the southern Gaza Strip, a
Gaza government police spokesman said. Ayman Al-Batneiji
said an officer sustained a head injury after a group of workers hit him
with a metal object in Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis. The spokesman
said police chased the workers into a populated area, and a woman was
injured by a stray bullet during the pursuit. She was transferred to
hospital where medics described her condition as stable, Al-Batneiji
said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341291
Video: Beyond words
9 Dec - On the occasion of the Human Rights Day, which also marks the
62nd Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Al-Haq is
pleased to launch its short documentary film entitled “Beyond Words:
Palestinian Voices in Search of Justice”. Through this documentary,
Al-Haq is giving voice to Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
Their stories are but an example of the human rights violations
committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory on a daily basis and
remain unpunished.
http://vimeo.com/17605904
Gaza furniture producers yearn to export
GAZA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Rushing from Gaza to the West Bank, Wadah
Bssiso, a Gaza-based furniture producer, found he can not re- establish
trade with his old clients after more than three years of absence. "Most
of my old clients are now importing from other producers in China and
other countries," said Bssiso, who now produces just 10 percent of what
he used to do prior to the blockade ... What added more uncertainty is that the Israeli cabinet's decision last week was still vague. It does not say whether or
not furniture and clothes would be allowed to be shipped.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-12/12/c_13646100.htm
EU Foreign Affairs discuss ways to help Gaza economy
Brussels
(UNN) The EU Foreign Affairs Council is to discuss the situation in
Palestine, Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear issue, during its regular monthly
meeting in Brussels tomorrow, Monday ... EU High Representative
Catherine Ashton will present the options for a package of EU actions to
help develop the economy of Gaza with infrastructure, equipment and
training measures, said the sources speaking on condition of anonymity.
We want 1000 trucks per day to pass through the Gaza crossing per day to boost exports from Gaza, stressed the sources.
http://www.unnindia.com/english/story.php?Id=7259
Coming to America: Gaza boys take trip of a lifetime
10 Dec - Film documents experience of 15 students who were taken on an
eye-opening journey to New York arranged by a UN agency -- The distance
from Gaza to New York
is 9,150km, but for 15-year-old Motaz Al-Jamal the gulf between the
rubble of his hometown of Rafah and the neon glitz of Times Square could
have been inter-planetary.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/10/gaza-boys-film-new-york
Racism / Discrimination
Rabbis summoned over anti-Arab ruling
12
Dec
- Three Judea and Samaria religious leaders inform police they won't
show up for questioning session on suspicion of issuing leaflet against
hiring minorities. Settlement officials: Intimidation attempt like in
Soviet Russia
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3997589,00.html
Safed student says 'Arabs out!' spray-painted on his car
12 Dec - Ali Mustafa, a student who rents an apartment
in the north Israeli city of Safed, awoke on Friday to find his car
vandalized. He reported to the police that unidentified perpetrators
smashed his side mirror, scratched the vehicle and spray-painted the
words "Arabs out!" on it ... Mahmoud Abu
Salah, a representative of the student union at Safed College, said that
the act was an example of the racist attitude prevalent in the city ...
Police have charged a few Jews for some of the acts, and claim they continue to search.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3997561,00.html
Bar Association chairman: Rabbis' letter is racist
Chairman
of the Israel Bar Association Attorney Yori Guy-Ron, severely
criticized the rabbis' letter and noted in his appeal to the Bar
Association that "the letter [against renting flats to 'Arabs'], which
began with Safed's rabbi and then received shameful support from dozens
of local authority rabbis is a sad moment in time. The statements in the
letter are racist." [End]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3997888,00.html
Civil administration wants Palestinians to submit requests in Hebrew only
The Israeli Civil Administration operating in the West Bank is demanding
that Palestinian residents submit requests in Hebrew only, the Hamoked
Center for the Defense of the Individual said. In a formal letter sent
to the NGO by the office of the new chief of the administration, Brig.
Gen. Moti Almoz, the government body suggests that the thousands of
Palestinians seeking the services of the District Coordination and
Liaison offices hire Palestinian "typists" to assist them. In a letter
to Almoz, an attorney on the staff of Hamoked, Ido Blum, wrote that
refusing to process requests written in Arabic sharply contradicts the
duties of the military commander and the Civil Administration in
occupied territories as defined by international law and acknowledged by
Israeli court rulings.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
civil-administration-wants-palestinians-to-submit-requests-in-hebrew-only-1.330111
Fatah / Hamas
Report: PA warns media against reporting power struggle
JERUSALEM
(Ma'an)
-- Many Palestinian editors and journalists have been warned against
making any public reference to the power struggle between
President Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah leader Muhamad Dahlan, an Israeli
newspaper reported Sunday. "One journalist who dared to report about the
dispute was thrown into a prison in Bethlehem for five days," The
Jerusalem Post reported ... According to some, the rivalry poses the
biggest challenge to Abbas since he entered office in January 2005, the
report said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341262
Abbas: We won't hesitate to fulfill moral duties
RAMALLAH
(Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday praised the efforts of
Palestinian firefighters who helped extinguish the worst blaze in
Israel's history ... "Our history shows that we have never been late to
fulfill our moral duties, just as Saladin did when he sent his doctor to
treat his enemy Richard the Lionheart, who was heading a campaign to
invade and occupy our country..." [no comment, leaves me speechless]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341169
Fatah leader: Abbas asked Clinton to stop MP's exile
12 Dec -- RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas wrote to US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking her to stop Israel deporting a
Hamas lawmaker (Muhammad Abu Tir) from Jerusalem, a senior Fatah
official said Sunday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341428
Nazzal: The PA asked Israel to imprison MP Qabha
AMMAN, (PIC) 12 Dec-- Member of Hamas's political bureau Mohamed Nazzal
said that the Palestinian authority (PA) asked the
Israel side to kidnap Palestinian lawmaker Wasfi Qabha after he had
launched lately a scathing attack on its policies. Nazzal told the
Jordanian newspaper Assabeel that there is an exchange of roles between
the PA and Israel and this cooperation depends on letting Israeli troops
kidnap Palestinian lawmakers and officials whom the PA cannot detain
for diplomatic and political considerations.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz
Taha denies Mishaal asked for meeting with Dahlan
GAZA,
(PIC) 12 Dec -- Ayman Taha, a Hamas leader, said that his movement's
political bureau chairman Khaled Mishaal did not ask for a
reconciliation meeting with Fatah MP Mohammed Dahlan. Taha told the PIC
that what was published by Wikileaks quoting American state department
documents on this issue was not "accurate". He explained that Mishaal
during a visit to Libya, Dahlan and Khaled Islam, who were also there,
asked for such a meeting with Mishaal after the war on Gaza in 2009.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz
Political / Diplomatic news
Report: Israel-Turkey talks stuck
TEL
AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) 12 Dec -- Negotiations between Israel and Turkey
to resolve the Gaza flotilla crisis stalled late last week, an Israeli
newspaper reported Sunday. Israel has refused to apologize for the
killings of Turkish activists aboard the Mavi Marmara and Turkey has
refused to cooperate with Israel's demands that it set aside the
incident.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341211
Palestinians sceptical after US freeze failure (AFP)
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories – Palestinian officials expressed
doubt and frustration on Sunday about the future of peace talks after
the United States failed to secure a new settlement freeze. In a speech
on Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged that Washington
would remain engaged despite the failure, encouraging the two sides to
address core issues through indirect talks. But Palestinian negotiators
and analysts said Washington's failure to win a new settlement freeze
was a sign of Israeli intransigence and US weakness, and that they held
out little hope for the future of negotiations.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101212/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianspeaceus
Palestinian envoys to Washington won't see Israeli diplomats: source
12 Dec - Palestinian officials will not see Israeli
diplomats in Washington, where the two sides are discussing reviving
Middle East peace process with the U.S. administration, a Palestinian
source said. The source, a senior member of Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, said that there are no plans to hold "any
kind of bilateral meetings" between the Palestinian and the Israeli
envoys.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/7228388.html
Israeli official: Barak's vision of dividing Jerusalem is not government policy
12 Dec - Defense Minister Ehud Barak's expressed support for
partitioning Jerusalem along Jewish and Arab lines according to an
initiative presented by former U.S. President Bill Clinton in 2000 is
not official Israeli policy, an official in Jerusalem said Sunday,
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
israeli-official-barak-s-vision-of-dividing-jerusalem-is-not-government-policy-1.330184
ABC Video: Salam Fayad and Tzipi Livni tackle the big issues
12 Dec -- In a rare interview with Christiane Amanpour, a top Palestinian official
and a top Israeli official discussed the big issues of Middle East peace.
http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/
salam-fayyad-tzipi-livni-debate-mideast-peace-plan/story?id=12375464
Israeli minister: No peace talks with 'stopwatch' (AFP)
JERUSALEM
12 Dec -- Israel will not discuss final status issues in talks with the
Palestinians with "a stopwatch in hand," a senior Israeli lawmaker said
Sunday, responding to US pressure for new peace negotiations. "It is
neither logical nor in Israel's interest to negotiate with a stopwatch
in hand," Environment Minister Gilad Erdan told Israeli public radio ...
Erdan said large-scale Israeli withdrawals from the West Bank and East
Jerusalem would turn those areas into bases for Islamists allied with
Iran.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341270
Time running out for Mideast peace: Rudd (AFP)
...The
construction
of new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank undermines the push
for a peace settlement, which should pave the way for an independent
Palestinian state and guarantee Israeli's security, he said. Rudd later
met Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and said at a joint news
conference that Israeli settlements contribute to "destroying" the
chances of peace. The Australian foreign minister said he expects to
visit Israel soon and will reiterate this position, adding
however that the Jewish state has security fears and that these should
be taken into account.
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-world/
time-running-out-for-mideast-peace-rudd-20101212-18tow.html
Other news
Al Jazeera video: Islamic group aiding Arab Israelis
11
Dec - Israel's Arabs, who account for 20 per cent of the population,
struggle with daily discrimination and living standards much lower than
their fellow Jewish citizens. Arab political parties say they are
struggling for representation in the government to defend the rights of
the minority group in the country, but are failing to put up a united
front. Sherine Tadros reports from Cana in northern Israel on why the
Islamic Movement is emerging as the only group effective at providing
social services for Arabs in the country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN-2GA6VaR0&feature=player_embedded#!
1,500 in Gaza combine to combat gender violence
GAZA
CITY
(Ma'an) 12 Dec -- UN agencies and civil society organizations on
Thursday joined together with an audience of 1,500 people to open a
festival to combat violence against women in the Gaza Strip ... Speaking
at the event on behalf of the participating UN agencies, the head of
UNRWA operations in the Gaza Strip, Mr. John Ging, stated "The
challenges in Gaza are huge." He added: "The blockade has devastated the
economy and made daily life more difficult. Domestic violence has
increased due to escalating levels of stress and unemployment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=340685
ACRI report: Freedom to demonstrate no longer obvious
12 Dec -
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel's
2010 report on freedom of expression, released Sunday, found that "the
democratic space in Israel is shrinking and the freedom to demonstrate
is no longer obvious" in Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=199068
Storms prompt fear Caesarea's ancient port may collapse
12 Dec - Following the collapse of the Caesarea breakwater, the waves
pounding Israel's shores are reaching the ancient port of Caesarea,
prompting fears it may collapse too in one of the worst storms in this region for years.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3998013,00.html
Analysis / Opinion
'Our lives became something we never dreamt' -- the former Israeli solders who have testified against army abuses
12 Dec - Former Israeli soldiers who have testified against army abuses
have for the first time given up their anonymity, to make their voices
all the harder to ignore. Donald Macintyre gets an exclusive preview of a
powerful new book Occupation of the Territories
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/our-lives-became-something-wed-
never-dreamt-the-former-israeli-soldiers-who-have-testified-against-army-abuses-2154663.html
The unholy alliance between Israel's right and Europe's anti-Semites / Adar Primor
12 Dec - Extreme nationalists in Israel have invited extremists in
Europe and believe they have tamed them to their cause -- The first of
the pyromaniacs, the Dutch MP Geert Wilders - almost a permanent guest
in Israel - was invited by MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union ) to persuade
us that Jordan is Palestine ... The honor of lighting the torch goes to
the brightest jewel in this racist crown - Heinz-Christian Strache,
leader of Austria's Freedom Party .. As a university student, Strache
belonged to an extremist organization from which Jews were banned, hung
out with neo-Nazis and participated in
paramilitary exercises with them The organizers of these visits believe
they have tamed this bunch of extremists they brought over from Europe
... But they have not genuinely cast off their spiritual DNA, and in any
event, they aren't looking for anything except for Jewish absolution
that will bring them closer to political power ...
The Austrian press reported this week that the whitewashing undergone by
Strache here in our Land of Milk and Honey could well pave his way to
the chancellor's office.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/
the-unholy-alliance-between-israel-s-right-and-europe-s-anti-semites-1.330132
Keeping Israel Jewish and pure - and democratic if there's time / Zvi Bar'el
It's not a democratic state or a national Israeli state Netanyahu wants
the Palestinians to recognize, but a state characterized by the values
of Rabbi Wolpo, Rabbi Elyahu and the other geniuses.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/
keeping-israel-jewish-and-pure-and-democractic-if-there-s-time-1.330129
Israel may have no military option against Iran / Gideon Levy
12
Dec - Any Israeli leader, even an adventurist and a former commando,
should understand that the attack option is not really an option. It's
true that we succeeded in a few bombings in the past, but nothing lasts
forever and the Scuds against us won't always be hollow. A thousand new
fire trucks and even the Iron Dome missile defense system will not
provide protection. You can't build a fortress for every citizen. This
leads to the second, unavoidable conclusion, which should penetrate very
deeply, not only among diplomats and commanders, but also among the many
warmongers among us: the only existential option is integrating into
the region
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/
israel-may-have-no-military-option-against-iran-1.330130
The Orwell lobby: Saban raises $9 million for a foreign army and Hillary calls him a 'champion of peace' / Philip Weiss
Haim Saban had a busy two days. Thursday, December 9. He hosts a fundraiser in Century City, Ca, for the Israel Defense Forces and, along with former Seinfeld star Jason Alexander and Andrea Bocelli, raises $9 million:
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/12/and-on-saturday-he-benchpressed-400-congressmen.html
Fables of the great Irish famine / Tim King
[or, why so many Irish support the Palestinian cause] SALEM, Ore. 12 Dec
- A spin through Wikipedia under the search term 'Irish Potato Famine'
leads to a page that describes a heartbreaking historic event; a potato
disease that ravaged Ireland and killed a million people, while another
million fled to places like the USA as starving refugees.
http://salem-news.com/articles/december122010/irish-troubles.php
Iraq
Saturday: 2 Iraqis killed
Only two deaths were reported in Iraq today; however, a mass
grave was also discovered. Meanwhile Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said
that it is unlikely he would form the new government before the year’s end. A mass grave
dating to 1991 was discovered in Basra province. In Baghdad, gunmen killed a police captain in the
Mansour district. In Mosul, a police lieutenant was killed in a
small arms attack near his home.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/12/11/saturday-2-iraqis-killed-2/
Sunday: 22 Iraqis killed, 90 wounded
While
Ashuraa observances may be dampening reports of violence, two
significant attacks made the headlines, including one against Shi’ite
pilgrims participating in an Ashuraa procession. At least 22 Iraqis were
killed and 90 more were wounded in those attacks and one other.
At least 17
people were killed and as many as 57
others were wounded when a suicide car bomber
struck at a police checkpoint near government offices in Ramadi....
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/12/12/sunday-22-iraqis-killed-90-wounded/
Raids, arrests of Sunnis increase in Iraq
BAGHDAD
— The soldiers yanked Arkan Subhi Ahmed al-Habshi out of bed shortly
before dawn, screaming and striking him with their guns, a scene
that has become routine in Sunni districts of Baghdad. His family’s
futile attempts to navigate the criminal justice system into which he
disappeared after his detention in July fit a pattern that
has left Sunnis across the country feeling bereft and indignant.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2010/12/12/
raids_arrests_of_sunnis_increase_in_iraq/
Iraq insurgents kidnap senior policeman's relative (AFP)
KIRKUK,
Iraq
12 Dec – Insurgents kidnapped the sister-in-law of a top Kurdish
policeman in an apparent bid to release jailed detainees in the
ethnically mixed northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, police said on Sunday.
Kirkuk's provincial police chief attributed the kidnapping in the
oil-rich city on the release from jail nearly two months ago of five
women linked to Al-Qaeda, which he admitted had been a "mistake."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101212/wl_mideast_afp/iraqkurdscrimekidnapkirkuk
Foreign Office memo shows 2002 plan to sell Iraq invasion to UK media
10
Dec - Strategy for bringing the media onside was drawn up six months
before Iraq invasion ... The document, drawn up by John Williams, press
adviser to the then foreign secretary, Jack Straw, spells out ways to
soften up the media, including "critics like the Guardian". Under the
heading Not taking the UN route, Williams wrote: "Our argument should be
narrow, and put with vigour – Iraq is uniquely dangerous."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/10/memo-2002-iraq-invasion-media
Lebanon, other Mideast
Lebanon Sunni heads lash out at Hezbollah, army (AFP)
BEIRUT
12 Dec – Sunni leaders from opposite ends of Lebanon's political
spectrum on Sunday urged supporters to stand firm against the Shiite
group Hezbollah, at a time of high tension between the two Muslim
communities. An MP loyal to Prime Minister Saad Hariri and a radical
Salafist leader jointly accused the army of serving as cover for
Hezbollah, urging a gathering of 1,500 to reject an alleged military
crackdown on their community.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101212/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonpoliticsunrestislam
Hezbollah threatens 'new era for resistance' unless Lebanon shuns Hariri tribunal
12 Dec - Hezbollah is demanding that the government end its financial
backing of the international tribunal as a precondition for staying in
the government.
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/mess-report/
hezbollah-threatens-new-era-for-resistance-unless-lebanon-shuns-hariri-tribunal-1.330110
Egyptian opposition mounts protest (Al Jazeera)
Opposition groups in Cairo stage demonstration against election result as president rejects claims the poll was rigged.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/12/2010121214281133115.html
Sand, snow, thunderstorms wreak Mideast havoc (AFP)
CAIRO
12 Dec – Winds, rain sandstorms and hail battered the southern and
eastern Mediterranean on Sunday, killing at least five people, closing
ports and disrupting traffic in the Suez Canal. Drought-stricken
countries across the Middle East
had been praying for rain for weeks when the weather turned violent at
the weekend, with at least five people killed as gale-force winds and
torrential rain pounded the coastline.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101212/wl_mideast_afp/mideastweatherstorm
US and other world news
France cited Palestinians as 'precedent' for EU exile
BETHLEHEM
(Ma'an) 12 Dec -- In talks in 2009 on closing America's detention
facility in Guantanamo Bay, French officials cited Israel's siege of the
Nativity Church in Bethlehem as a "useful precedent" for resettling
deportees. Three diplomatic cables from the US embassy in Paris,
quoting French officials, suggest that the 2002 siege and deportation of
Palestinian operatives to EU countries and elsewhere could serve as a
model for resettling in Europe some of the detainees at Guantanamo,
despite concerns raised by other member states.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341307
Worldwide demos called in support of jailed WikiLeaks chief (AFP)
WASHINGTON -- US President Barack Obama on Saturday offered his
strongest condemnation yet of WikiLeaks' "deplorable" documents dump, as
supporters of Julian Assange called for demonstrations to press for
release of the website's founder.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341234
WikiLeaks' advocates are wreaking 'hacktivism'
12 Dec - In England, a 26-year-old advertising agency employee caters to
multinational clients but on the side has been communicating with a
secretive band of strangers devoted to supporting WikiLeaks.
Halfway around the world, a 24-year-old in Montana has used a publicly
available - and, according to security experts, suddenly popular -
software program called Low Orbit Ion Cannon with the goal of shutting
down Web sites of WikiLeaks' perceived enemies.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/11/AR2010121102897.html
May considering ban on US pastor Jones (AFP)
LONDON
12
Dec – The Home Secretary Theresa May said on Sunday she was "actively"
considering whether to ban firebrand US pastor Terry Jones from entering
Britain to speak to far-right activists. He has been invited to an
English Defence League (EDL) rally to speak out "against the evils and
destructiveness of Islam". Jones caused an international firestorm
earlier this year after threatening to torch hundreds of Korans -- the
holy book of Islam -- to mark the anniversary of the September 11, 2001
attacks.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101212/wl_uk_afp/britainusattacksreligionislamfarright
FBI sting entraps another victim / Stephen Lendman
10 Dec - In December 2007, an article titled Police State America: A
Look Back and Ahead discussed the growing threat, accessed through the
following link.
It
reviewed post-9/11 legislation and a blizzard of Bush Executive Orders,
National and Homeland Security Presidential Directives, and other ways
of enforcing police state harshness by eroding constitutional
protections.
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/12/fbi-sting-entraps-another-victim.html
Updating Mohamed Harkat's persecution / Stephen Lendman
11 Dec - Mohamed Harkat - Targeted for His Faith and Ethnicity -- He's
one of
Canada's Secret Trial Five - five Muslim men, bogusly arrested and
persecuted. He wasn't charged, but was imprisoned on secret evidence,
denied bail, held mostly in solitary confinement, prevented from
contacting family or friends, and under Canadian law can't appeal a
judge's ruling by order of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
(CSIS). Yet he never before was accused, convicted, or even suspected of
a crime. He's an innocent man now. Authorities know it, but persecute
him anyway ruthlessly.
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/12/updating-mohamed-harkats-persecution.html
Israeli wearing tefillin on NZ ferry causes panic
12
Dec
- Ferry boat captain calls police after spotting man described as
wearing "boxes" with "wires taped to his leg and forehead."
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=199041 |
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