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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Apartheid/Ethnic cleansing/Settlements
Jerusalem
'plans to build synagogue in settlement'
JERUSALEM — Jerusalem
authorities plan to give the green light to build a new synagogue and
school in east Jerusalem on land seized from Palestinians,
Israeli army radio reported on Tuesday. The land was seized from its
Palestinian owners shortly before planning for the buildings started in
the 1990s, the radio said. The construction project in the Gilo
neighbourhood, a Jewish settlement, still needs final approval from the
city's planning commission, whose head Kobi Khalon said this would be a
formality.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5isqRAOMDBXEPCo_x8q0ZvJgtCJ9A
Report: Owners fear settler takeover in Silwan
Jerusalem
– Ma'an – Landowners in Silwan fear far-right settler groups are
attempting to appropriate their land in occupied East Jerusalem,
according to a report released Monday. The Jerusalem Center for
Social and Economic Rights (JCSER) said settler
groups continue to organize marches on Palestinian land stretching
between the Beit Orot settlement and the Gethsemane Church east of the
Old City of Jerusalem. The eight dunums of land in question is known as
Al-Hariqah and is owned by Mu'ket Family.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=275936
Sheikh Jarrah: Jews tear fence erected by Arabs
(Video) Fence set up by Arabs in divided compound in east Jerusalem
neighborhood seen destroyed while police fail to intervene.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3875042,00.html
Palestinians
condemn
Israeli order
A new Israeli military policy could result in
the eviction of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the occupied West
Bank. They even risk being jailed. Amendments to the existing 1969
order on preventing infiltration could apply to Palestinians living in
the West Bank without official ID cards issued by
Israel. The Israeli army says the order was designed to "facilitate a
process of judicial review of the extradition of illegal residents in
the region". But Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations have
condemned the order. Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh reports from Ramallah in the
occupied West Bank. (13 April 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W0VoReyDl4&feature=youtube_gdata
Israeli ID order set to criminalise Palestinians
A West Bank family has been ripped apart by the Israeli bureaucracy, Al-Jazeera
English reports. Qalqab and her oldest daughter Nasrin were stopped
routinely at a West Bank checkpoint, and after it was discovered
their identifying documents hailed from Gaza and not the West Bank, they
were immediately deported without a chance for Qalqab to say goodbye to
her husband and other small children. Now a new Israeli policy
threatens Palestinians families to the same fate as Qalqab's family.
The policy would ensure that any West Bank residents without
Israeli-issued ID cards could be exiled or jailed for up to 7 years.
The requirement checks those entering the West Bank to guard against
"infiltrators."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXwVKGBMg8I&feature=player_embedded
Israel 'attempts to maintain order'
Israel 'attempts to maintain order' Israeli authorities have given the
country's military unprecedented new powers to jail or deport
Palestinians who it deems are in the West Bank illegally. The new policy
could result in the eviction of tens of thousands of Palestinians from
the occupied West Bank, or criminal charges, Israel's Haaretz newspaper
reported. Under the Israeli occupation, Palestinians are already
required to carry identification cards showing where they live,
restricting their movement at the basic level. But amendments to the
existing 1969 order on preventing infiltration could apply to
Palestinians living in the West Bank without official ID cards issued by
Israel. Gil Hoffman, a political correspondent and columnist for The
Jerusalem Post in Israel, said the policy is an attempt by the Israeli
military to maintain order in the West Bank. "[They] are trying to have
regulations at a time when thousands of people from around the world
would love to move into the West Bank," he told Al Jazeera. "They want
to be part of the economic prosperity that there is in the West Bank.
"There are people that moving there from the United States, which
doesn't have the economic growth that there is in the West Bank in part
because it has been the policy of the Israeli government to have mass
investment in the West Bank. "The situation in the West Bank is getting
better and better and better."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdb9SY8WrPY&feature=youtube_gdata
Your Tax Dollars at Work: Israel to
deport...well...just about the entire West Bank, apparently
In the recent round of Kafka-esque absurdity from the U.S.-funded
Israeli military, new military orders would allow the occupying army to
deport anyone in the West Bank without an army-granted permit--which
could include just about
anyone.
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/your-tax-dollars-at-work-israel-to.html
JCESR:”New
Israeli
Decision, As Dangerous As the Nakba of 1948”
The Jerusalem
Center for Social and Economic Rights (JSCER) issued a press release
slamming the Israeli decision to expel thousands of Palestinians
from the West Bank, and stated that this decision is part of Israel’s
demographic violations against the Palestinians, and is not less
dangerous that the Nakba of 1948 when Israel expelled thousands of
Palestinians who became refugees.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58430
Spooked
Wild
In The Jordan Valley
Nobody can deny it: the Jordan Valley
is one of the most beautiful places of the West Bank, except for the
people who live in it. Classified as Area C, Israeli occupation forces
have imposed harsh restrictions on building and movement. Inhabitants,
like the Bedouins of Al-Hadidiyeh, have become hunted on their own
lands, spooked like wild animals. Written and photographed by FLV.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1356
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott,
Sanctions
and Divestment
Army Invades Bil’in
Saed
Bannoura
- IMEMC - Israeli soldiers invaded early Tuesday morning the village of
Bil’in, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and broke into the
home of Khalil Ibrahim, a 16-year-old youth, who just two
months ago had been released after spending one month in detention for
his involvement in nonviolent protest against the Wall and settlements
[if he would have been charged with stone-throwing he would have been
kept longer-ed]
http://www.imemc.org/article/58432
Ta’ayush
Activists
Arrested in South Hebron Hills 10 April 2010
As in
every week of the year, we woke up at 07:00 on a Saturday morning to
oppose injustice. We is a group of about 15 Israeli Ta’ayush
activists. The South of Hebron Hills is one of the most difficult
regions in the West Bank. Much of the native population of this area is
Bedouin, a minority in Palestinian society to begin with, and generally
invisible to the Israeli occupation authorities.
http://josephdana.com/2010/04/taayush-activists-arrested-in-south-hebron-hills-10-april-2010/
Attack on Berkeley divestment bill dishonest and
misleading
A coalition of nearly 20 Jewish groups, ranging from the right-wing
David Project and the Jewish National Fund to the liberal J Street, is
distributing a misleading statement condemning a Student Senate bill
calling for divestment from the Israeli occupation at the University of
California, Berkeley. They refer to the bill as "dishonest" and
"misleading" and "based on contested allegations." Yet it is their
letter that is both dishonest and misleading. Sydney Levy and Yaman
Salahi comment.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11198.shtml
Singling out Israel is the right thing to do
Under a third meaning, the critic could be saying that "singling out"
Israel for criticism is unfair because while Israel is under scrutiny,
other human rights violators are off the hook. But is it really true
that those who report on Israel never hold other violators to task for
their actions? In addition to extensive documentation of Israeli human
rights abuses, every single organization above, without exception, has
also documented and investigated claims about other parties. Some even
have reports about nearly every country in the world. These
organizations are not above criticism or scrutiny, but they also do not
have reputations for dishonesty. While these organizations are routinely
cited when discussing human rights violations in Darfur, Tibet, Sri
Lanka, Burma, Russia, and China, just to name a few – it is only their
criticism of Israel that is deemed “unfair,” “biased,” or “one-sided.”
Who, then, is “singling out” Israel, and
why?
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2010-04-08/article/34977?headline=
Singling-out-Israel-is-the-right-thing-to-do
Barghouthi
to
OECD's members: don't approve Israel's membership!
“These
new military amendments adopted by Israel to an order that dates back to
1969, represent a very dangerous measure from the perspectives of both
content and timing”. With these words during yesterday's press
conference Dr Mustafa Barghouthi condemned the new military order issued
by Israeli authorities, which demands that all residents of the West
Bank including those who were born there obtain an Israeli issued
permit.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1358
PA Minister:
All goods made in settlements are illegitimate
The
Palestinian Finance Minister said all goods produced in West Banks
settlements are illegitimate and will be boycotted by the Palestinian
Authority while speaking to Haaretz on Tuesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162729.html
Your chance to see and hear Eyad al-Sarraj: "Voices
of Gaza" Videoconference Event
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/04/your-chance-to-see-and-hear-eyad-al-sarraj.html
Cementing
Our
Solidarity with the People of Gaza
Normally we don't ask
for donations for specific items, since all donations to our tax-exempt
accounts in Cyprus or the U.S. are used to buy the boats or for
operating costs However, we are sending out this special appeal to the
hundreds of you who have said, "But can't I contribute to something
specific, something that I can be proud to buy and know will help the
people of Gaza?" Therefore, we have set up our PayPal account at http://www.freegaza.org/en/donate
to accept donations for cement and book bags. In the message section on
PayPal, tell us you want the money to purchase cement or book bags. Or
you can wire money into the Irish account designated below this
announcement. We will use your donation for cement for reconstruction or
book bags for the children if you designate it's for them.
http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/56-news/1163-cementing-our-support-for-the-people-of-gaza
UK's
discriminatory
criminalization of dissent
More than 100 individuals
arrested at or after solidarity demonstrations during Israel's attack on
Gaza during winter 2008-09. Almost all of the demonstrators charged
with violent disorder were Muslim, despite the mixed nature of the
protests, which were supported by majority-white organizations like the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament as well as by Islamic groups. Sarah
Irving reports for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11199.shtml
Suddenly in vogue, book banning spreads to Canada,
Adam Horowitz
Earlier today, Phil posted on a leading Israeli
book chain that has removed a book critical of the settler movement.
Seems the trend is spreading. Tablet
reports on an effort by the Canadian Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal
Center to ban the book The
Shepherd's Granddaughter from a program run by the Ontario
Library Association for 7th and 8th graders.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/04/suddenly-in-vogue-book-banning-spreads-to-canada.html
Violence
and
Aggression and Provocations
Palestinian
fighter
killed in Gaza
Israeli military say Islamic Jihad fighters
were planting explosives near border.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/04/201041354732107366.html
Israeli forces continue to enforce Gaza no-go zone
Gaza
– Ma’an – Israeli forces opened fire on a march Monday, as civilians
protested the Israeli-imposed buffer zone lining the Gaza borders in the
southern Gaza Strip. Continuing the weekly protest against the no-go
area, which experts say eats up 20% of Gaza's arable land, protesters
gathered at the southern village of Absan, and marched toward the
border.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=275879
Locals:
Settlers
storm Tulkarem village
Tulkarem – Ma'an – A group of Israeli
settlers stormed a Tulkarem village on Tuesday, blocking residents and
school children from entering, locals said. Residents of Khirbet
Al-Hammam village, five kilometers east of An-Nazla Ash-Sharqiya, said
the group of over 50 inspected homes and archaeological sites in the
area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=276150
Clashes Reported After
Army, Settlers Invade Nablus
Local sources reported that
clashes took place between dozens of youths and Israeli soldiers and
settlers invaded Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank; no
injuries were reported.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58434
Settler
military
guard sparks anger in Nablus
Nablus – Ma'an – Responding to a
military presence, Palestinian children in the Balata area of Nablus
burned tires and threw rocks as armed soldiers escorted a
group of 600 settlers on a visit to Joseph's Tomb, security sources
said. The visit lasted between 10pm Monday and 6am Tuesday morning,
with Israeli soldiers standing guard over the area for the duration of
the visit, blocking roads and intimidating residents.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=276057
Detainees
Abbas’s militias kidnap 16 Hamas members in W. Bank
cities
Mahmoud Abbas’s militias kidnapped 16 Palestinian citizens affiliated
with Hamas in the districts of Nablus, Al-Khalil, Qalqiliya and
Bethlehem.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Attacks/Restrictions on Media
Palestinian journalist strip-searched at Allenby
crossing
Bethlehem – Ma'an – A woman, journalist and former
prisoner in Israel, was strip-searched by an Israeli soldier Monday as
she returned from Jordan via the Allenby Bridge crossing, she told the
Detainees' Society. Isra Al-Amarneh was detained for two hours upon
returning from a ten-day trip to Saudi Arabia where she performed the
Umrah pilgrimage.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=275917
Court says Israeli ex-soldier stole documents (AP)
AP - Newly released court documents say a former Israeli soldier accused
of stealing classified military secrets has admitted taking them to show
Israel committed "war crimes" against Palestinians.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100412/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_military_whistleblower
Does Israel's Crackdown on Journalists Suggest a
"Crisis of Legitimacy"?
I know something about how Israel's
security forces treat journalists
who they believe to be hostile. In January I was held for over a week
in a dingy detention center at Israel's Ben Gurion airport before being deported. Before I was detained I was questioned
by a security officer about news articles I had authored in my two and a
half years working in the West Bank for the Palestinian news agency
Ma'an.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jared-malsin/does-israels-crackdown-on_b_534013.html
Mossad Operation Threatened Against Reporter, JONATHAN
COOK
An Israeli journalist who went into hiding
after writing a series of reports showing lawbreaking approved by
Israeli army commanders faces a lengthy jail term for espionage if
caught, as Israeli security services warned at the weekend they would
“remove the gloves” to track him down.
http://www.counterpunch.com/cook04132010.html
Humanitarian
Issues/Human
Rights/Restriction of Movement/Siege
Aluminum to enter Gaza after 3-year Israeli ban
Gaza – Ma'an – Israel has informed the Palestinian Authority that
aluminum and wood will be permitted entry into Gaza, officials said
Monday. The announcement was made by Nasser As-Seraj, assistant
undersecretary in the Ministry of National Economy, and was confirmed by
Palestinian liaison official Raed Fattouh.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=276006
Yediot:
Israel
says no to Barenboim Gaza concert “because of Schalit”
Israel
has
rejected a formal request by the Spanish government to allow the famous
Israeli conductor, Daniel
Barenboim, to hold a concert in the Gaza Strip.
http://coteret.com/2010/04/13/yediot-israel-says-no-to-barenboim-gaza-concert-because-of-schalit/
The injured continue to suffer in Gaza
Gaza, April 13,
(Pal Telegraph) Thousands across Gaza live with severe injuries: youth
war amputees, mothers severely burned by phosphorus bombs, countless
Palestinians coping with physiological wounds, all injuries stemming
from the disaster wrought on Gaza by the Israeli military assault in the
winter of 2008/2009. And war injuries remain a consistent reality in
2010. "Every night, even last night, Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza,"
said Muawiya Hassanein, director-general of ambulance and emergency
services for the Palestinian Ministry of Health, in an interview from
Gaza City during the recent strikes.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/gaza-strip/5457-the-injured-continue-to-suffer-in-gaza
Zionism is Racism
The plight of Israel's 'targeted citizens'
A new documentary examines the many ways Arabs are discriminated against
by the government and Israeli society.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/09/israel-targeted-citizen-arab-discrimination
Arabs are too
young - but ultra-Orthodox are just right
Why is a 19-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jew considered more mature than a
19-year-old Arab? Arab high school graduates seeking to enroll in the
University of Haifa's physical therapy department have been wondering
that - the department states that "registration is for candidates aged
20 and over only." However, the university has a special
program for 19-year-old ultra-Orthodox students.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1155090.html
This sounds racist to me, does it to you?, Philip
Weiss
Here's something I find disturbing. MJ Rosenberg
recalls an anecdote about Robert Satloff of WINEP, the Washington
Institute for Near East Policy: He once inadvertently cc'd me (his bad
luck) on an email he wrote rejecting an appearance on the same panel
with Arab-American Institute chief, James Zogby. Satloff wrote his
correspondent (and, by accident, me) that by definition, Zogby did not
have the standing to appear with him. His argument: I, Satloff, a great
independent scholar do not appear with lobbyists for causes. (Except for
AIPAC, but then, he knows that he is essentially AIPAC so that doesn't
count).
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/04/this-sounds-racist-to-me-does-it-to-you.html
Alarming Racism in Israel, Stephen Lendman
Mossawa
means
equality, the Mossawa Advocacy Center promoting it for Israel's Arab
citizens - about 1.5 million, comprising 20% of the population.
Established in 1997, it "strives to improve the social, economic and
political status of (Israeli Arabs), while preserving their national and
cultural rights as Palestinians." It also promotes gender equality "in
all spheres of society."
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15881
Israel's Arab Helpers
Top US Treasury Official: PA Making Bold Bid to Curb
Hamas Funds
09/04/2010 The Palestinian Authority has made
significant moves to cut off the flow of funding to Hamas, according to a
top US Treasury official. David Cohen, assistant treasury secretary for
terrorist financing, praised the PA for taking “important steps to
limit Hamas’s influence” by supervising the Palestinian banking system
and charitable contributions in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza
Strip. “The Palestinian Authority has been quite courageous in its
efforts to regulate the financial system,” Cohen told the Washington
Institute for Near East Policy on Wednesday afternoon. He pointed
specifically to the designation of the Islamic National Bank by the US
Treasury, a measure he said had been made “with the full knowledge and
support” of the PA.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=132865&language=en
War Crimes
The
Jenin
Refugee Camp Massacre of 2002: 'Horrific beyond Belief'
13/04/2010
“They
were warned by loudspeaker to get out of the house before I come,
BUT I GAVE NO ONE A CHANCE. I didn’t wait. I didn’t give one blow, and
wait for them to come out. I would just ram the house with full power,
to bring it down as fast as possible. I wanted to get to the other
houses. To get as many as possible, I didn’t give a damn about the
Palestinians, but I didn’t just ruin with no reason. It was all under
orders.” Fortified by an arsenal of alcohol, Israeli occupation army
bulldozer driver Moshe Nissim did enjoy his work by killing hundreds of
Palestinian children, women and unarmed men in the Jenin camp. First
published in the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot and since reprinted on the
website of the Israeli peace group Gush Shalom, his testimony gives a
version of the barbarian and inhumane massacre that took place on April
13, 2002.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=133308&language=en
Political
Developments/Diplomacy
Hamas
to
hold out for big prisoner swap for Shalit (AFP)
AFP - The
Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza said on Tuesday that it
would insist on a high price in any prisoner exchange for captive
Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100413/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictprisonerhamas
Fatah leader received by Hamas MP in Gaza home
Gaza – Ma'an – Fatah Revolutionary Council member Sufian Abu Zaida was
received in the home of de facto government Minister of the Interior
Fathi Hammad on Sunday night, despite announced intentions to steer away
from political meetings.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=275864
Rare meeting between senior Hamas, Fatah figures held
in Gaza
'Childhood friends' Fathi Hamad, Sufian Abu Zaida meet in Strip in
effort to stop mutual incitement between rival Palestinian factions in
media.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3874974,00.html
Erekat: World must compel Israel to revoke military
order
Jericho – Ma'an – Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat called on US Mideast
envoy George Mitchell, among others, to immediately intervene and
pressure Israel to revoking a military order mandating the expulsion of
Palestinians from the West Bank defined as "infiltrators."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=275946
Obama:
Israel,
PA must restart proximity talks
U.S. President Barack Obama met with Jordan's King Abdullah on Monday to
as both leaders urged the Israelis and Palestinians to begin peace
negotiations and refrain from actions which could undermine such
efforts, the White House said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162481.html
Obama meets Jordan's King Abdullah (AFP)
AFP - US President Barack Obama Monday met Jordan's King Abdullah II,
seeking to revive his repeatedly frustrated attempt to establish
indirect peace talks between Israelis and the Palestinians.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100412/pl_afp/usnuclearmideastjordanobama
Arab League chief: Israel making it harder to
establish peace
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa on Monday condemned an Israeli
move which could see thousands of Palestinians expelled from the West
Bank.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162471.html
Report:
Israel
to reject US timelinie for peace
Wall Street Journal reports
Jerusalem officials say Israel will reject attempts by Obama to set
timeline, benchmarks for peace talks with Palestinians.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3875265,00.html
Other News
Poll: Most
American Jews approve of Obama's dealings with Israel
Despite
widespread claims that the Israeli public dislikes U.S. President Barack
Obama, a new poll released on Tuesday shows that most American Jews
view him and his dealings with Israel in a positive light.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162733.html
Likud
power-broker:
When Biden “or any other diseased leper” humiliates us, he sows the
seeds of another Holocaust
Moshe
Feiglin heads “Manhighut Yehudit
— The Jewish Leadership Movement” an extremist theocon group, which
in recent years has established a strong presence in the Likud. Feiglin-endorsed
candidates
performed strongly in the 2008 Likud primaries and make up a large
part of the party’s current Knesset caucus. Vice Premier and Strategic
Affairs Minister Moshe (Bugi) Yaalon famously used the podium at a
Manhigut Yehudit conference to
call Peace Now “a virus”.
http://coteret.com/2010/04/12/likud-power-broker-when-biden-or-any-other-diseased-leper-humiliates-us-
he-sows-the-seeds-of-another-holocaust/#more-1804
Gaza Islamists threaten to slit Abbas's throat,
KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Jaish al-Umma commander threatens death if his "collaboration with the
Jews" is proven. An Islamic fundamentalist group in the Gaza Strip on
Sunday threatened to “slaughter” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas for “collaboration with the Jews.” The commander of the group,
Jaish al-Umma [Army of the Nation], said: “If it is proven that Abu
Mazen [Abbas] is helping the Jews, we will slit his throat.” The
commander, Abu Abdallah Ghazzi, said that his group was also planning to
launch an attack on Israel from southern Lebanon on condition that
Hizbullah or UNIFIL don’t thwart it. Jaish al-Umma is one of several
Islamic fundamentalist groups that have popped up in the Gaza Strip in
recent years. The groups are believed to be inspired by al-Qaida.
http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Entertainment/Article.aspx?id=172896
Analysis/Opinion/Op-ed
Propagandistic
Anti-Semitism
Report (Accidentally) Raises The Linkage Issue, Max Blumenthal
While
the threat of anti-Semitic attacks should not be dismissed, however
random and rare they might be in Western society, the Roth Institute and
its collaborators appear more interested in insulating Israel from
scrutiny for its killing of 773 civilians in Gaza in 22 days
than in generating education and dialogue to combat bigotry. Indeed, the
main thrust of the report is consistent with one of the key
objectives of the Netanyahu administration and its international
supporters: to undermine the Goldstone Report and assail any public
figures who support its findings. At the same time, the report appears
crafted to prevent articulate Palestinian critics of Israeli policy like
Ali Abunimah from gaining mainstream traction, speciously and
scandalously conflating them with neo-Nazi street thugs and Holocaust
deniers.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/04/
propagandistic-anti-semitism-report-accidentally-raises-the-linkage-issue/
Richard Falk: "I believe that Hamas should be
treated as a political actor"
Richard Falk is the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. In 2001 Falk
served on a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Inquiry Commission for the Palestinian territories with John Duggard. He
is also an American Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton
University with a long and distinguished career in academics, politics
and law. He recently gave this exclusive and revealing interview to the
Middle East Monitor's Dr Hanan Chehata.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/europe/884-richard-falk-qi-believe-that-
hamas-should-be-treated-as-a-political-actor-that-the-blockade-should-be-terminated-immediatelyq
It takes a village to humanize the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Richard Cohen
Budrus is a
Palestinian village just inside the West Bank. "Budrus" is also a
documentary about what happened in that village when Israeli authorities
tried to use some of its land -- cherished olive groves -- to build a
security fence separating Arab from Jew or, as has too often been the
case, terrorist from target. The villagers resisted, the Israelis
insisted, and in the end an agreement was reached. On paper, it looks
like a compromise. On film, it's an Israeli rout.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/12/AR2010041203296.html
Apartheid With a Twist, Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
Soon, the West Bank will be full of criminals - virtually thousands of
them. Before anyone's imagination runs wild, this is not because the
mafia has decided to set up headquarters in Ramallah or a South American
drug kingpin has moved residence to Nablus and brought his entire cartel
with him. No, the same old Palestinian residents of the West Bank, most
of whom have been living peacefully in their homes for years,
will find themselves in the most unenviable position of "infiltrator" as
of tomorrow, April 13 by virtue of two Israeli military orders.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=21987&CategoryId=3
Weighing Obama, ‘FP’ allows the Israel lobby to put
its thumb on the scale, Philip Weiss
Josh Rogin
piece
at Foreign Policy about where Obama's advisers stand on Israel (all
over the map, he states; I'm not buying) seems to rely on the usual
suspects for insight into Obama's braintrust. The quotations I bristle
at are near the end, from worried outsiders and Israel supporters, and
have the effect of making General James Jones look like an Israel-hater
because he doesn't line up behind Netanyahu. Jeez. Where do I live?
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/04/weighing-obama-fp-allows-the-israel-lobby-to-put-its-thumb-on-the-scale.html
What Kind of Palestinian State in 2011?, Rafeef
Ziadah
In December 2007, the Palestinian National Authority
(PA), in close consultation with donor states and institutions like the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, proposed the
Palestinian Reform and Development Plan (PRDP), a program based on
“rebuilding the Palestinian national institutions” and “developing the
Palestinian public and private sectors.”[1] To augment this plan, the PA
further presented in August of 2009 a program titled Palestine: Ending
the Occupation, Establishing the State, this latter program was much
more explicit about a time frame for the declaration of a Palestinian
state.[2] Salam Fayyad, current unelected PA Prime Minister and former
World Bank employee, put forward this document (henceforth the Fayyad
Plan) insisting that, despite the occupation, Palestinians need to be
building the “infrastructure for a future state.” The report calls upon
“our people, including all political parties and civil society, to
realize this fundamental objective and unite behind the state-building
agenda over the next two years.” Fayyad's intention is to unilaterally
declare a Palestinian state in 2011 based on the June 4, 1967 borders.
http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/339.php
To secure peace, Obama must make a Mideast trip
More than three decades ago, Israeli statesman Moshe Dayan, speaking
about an Egyptian town that controlled Israel's only outlet to the Red
Sea, declared that he would rather have Sharm el-Sheikh without peace
than peace without Sharm el-Sheikh. Had his views prevailed, Israel and
Egypt would still be in a state of war.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=113721
Talking Palestine to power
It is indeed possible for all of us to "squeeze out of reality some of
its potentialities," the reality that University of Melbourne Professor
Ghassan Hage has said is found in those utopic moments that come from
challenging our own thoughts, fears and biases. In that space lies the
untapped power we seek, to speak the truth without fear or favor. Sonja
Karkar comments.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11197.shtml
Sabreena da Witch: the first lady of Palestinian
R&B
It was Sabreena da Witch's first time performing tracks from her
self-produced album A Woman Under the Influence. When her performance
had concluded, the Palestinian hip hop artist, also referred to as the
"First lady of Palestinian R&B," left the Toronto crowd wanting
much, much more. Tania Tabar writes for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11192.shtml
Loewenstein Gaza doc is on Australian national radio
Last
December
I attended the Gaza Freedom March in Cairo
to highlight the plight of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. For the last
months I’ve worked on a radio documentary feature for ABC Radio National’s
360 program, Australia's finest space for long-form
radio work and the equivalent of NPR. I aimed to create an essay that
discussed both the event itself and wider issues about Zionism and
Judaism.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/04/loewenstein-gaza-doc-is-on-australian-national-radio.html
Israel, War and Water, Jim Miles
There is a
global crisis emerging concerning the allocation, uses, and abuses of
fresh water. This is a combination of misuse by humans and the
increasing violence and changing frequency of various weather conditions
as the global climate heats up. Along with the heating are other factors
such as the acidification of the oceans as they uptake more carbon than
the life forms living there can deal with it in such a short
time span. Agriculture becomes threatened, potable water for domestic
use becomes scarcer, and although fresh water should be a right
enshrined in the UN Charter, it is increasingly becoming both a military
and corporate target.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15880
Deport the Palestinians to Where They Came From –
Israel, Ahmed Amr
It was bound to happen. The Israelis have decided to opt for outright
ethnic cleansing. As of April 13, 2010 - the Israelis military will be
accorded the power to deport any Palestinian or any foreigner in the
West Bank if their papers ‘aren’t in order.’ The IDF has already made it
clear that the order will not apply to Israeli citizens in the West Bank
- you know - the illegal Jewish settlers. In fact, if you are Mongolian
and can produce a faded newspaper clip announcing your grandfather’s
bar mitzvah - that will be sufficient documentation to acquire immediate
Israeli citizenship and get a red carpet reception when you relocate to
the occupied territories. They’ll even provide you with subsidized
housing if you take them up on the offer.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15882
New Israeli Mass Deportation Rules, Carlos Latuff
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/latuff120410.html
Iraq
Baghdad
bombing
kills 3; TV reporter wounded (AP)
AP - A bomb planted inside
a Baghdad liquor store Tuesday killed three people and wounded seven,
police and hospital officials said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100413/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
Monday: 12 Iraqis Killed, 37 Wounded
At least 12 Iraqis were killed and 37 more were wounded, mostly in a
pair of suicide bombings in Mosul and near Baghdad. Meanwhile, a human
rights group is criticizing new rules that hurt the free press. Also,
P.M. Maliki's premiership is apparently in its death throes as potential
partners turn away, but it is perhaps his other actions that underscore
how fragile his grasp on power really is.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/04/12/monday-12-iraqis-killed-37-wounded/
New Iraqi media rules restrictive: rights group (AP)
AP
-
Iraq must drop its new rules that impose harsh penalties on television
stations for vaguely defined charges of incitement, said a U.S.-based
human rights group.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100412/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_media
Military sources: New US commander for Iraq (AP)
AP
-
The senior U.S. general in Iraq since 2008, Gen. Ray Odierno, will be
succeeded by a leading Pentagon general at the end of the summer,
military officials said Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100412/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_iraq_general
Iraq
still
owes Kuwait $24 bln in war damages: MP (AFP)
AFP - Iraq
still owes about 24 billion dollars in war reparations for the 1990
occupation of oil-rich Kuwait, a Kuwaiti lawmaker was quoted as saying
on Tuesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100413/wl_mideast_afp/kuwaitiraqcompensation
"This is How These Soldiers Were Trained to Act" -
Veteran of Military Unit Involved in 2007 Baghdad Helicopter Shooting
Says Incident Is Part of Much Larger Problem
We speak with a former member of Bravo Company 2-16, the military unit
involved in the 2007 helicopter shooting of Iraqi civilians that killed
twelve people, including two Reuters employees, as seen on the military
video released by WikiLeaks. “The natural thing to do would be to
instantly judge or criticize the soldiers in this video,” says Josh
Stieber. “Not to justify what they did, but militarily speaking, they
did exactly what they were trained to do…If we’re shocked by this video,
we need to be asking questions of the larger system, because this is how
these soldiers were trained to act.” [includes rush transcript–partial]
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/12/this_is_how_these_soldiers_were
Horror
in
Rwanda, Eastern Congo and Palestine/Israel"
As the 2010
Pulitzer Prize winners are announced, we speak with the first African
American woman to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize for fiction: author, poet
and activist, Alice Walker. She was awarded the 1983 Pulitzer for her
novel, “The Color Purple.” She was written many books since then, her
latest, just out, is called “Overcoming Speechlessness: A Poet
Encounters the Horror in Rwanda, Eastern Congo and Palestine/Israel.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/13/alice_walker_on_overcoming_speechlessness_a
Iraq Sixty Years Ago
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=74823
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=74981
Lebanon
Lebanon seeks death penalty for alleged Israel spies
A Lebanese military prosecutor was seeking the death penalty for three
men charged with spying for Israel and the attempted murder by one of
them of an Al-Qaida suspect, the French AFP news agency reported on
Monday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162468.html
Fatah, Hamas hand over shooting suspect to LAF
SIDON: Fatah and Hamas officials from Ain al-Hilweh on Monday handed
over to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) a man suspected of firing
gunshots inside the Palestinian refugee camp. The rival Palestinian
factions decided to transfer Mohammad Abu al-Kil to the LAF after he
allegedly shot a man during a family feud Sunday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=113713
Little relief for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon
Generations of Palestinian refugees are still marooned in Lebanon. In a
small way, British Muslims are trying to help, finds Mary Dejevsky.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/
little-relief-for-palestinian-refugees-in-lebanon-1942869.html
Hiba's Story, Franklin Lamb
Ein el Helwe Palestinian Refugee Camp, Lebanon. More than six decades
after their expulsion from Palestine, Lebanon’s unwanted refugees just
might be granted some basic civil rights. Granting even the most
elementary and normally taken for granted civil rights to Palestinians
in Lebanon won’t be easy and it may not be pretty. Yet there is
undeniable and growing Lebanese and international resolve for Lebanon’s
politicians to end a dark bleak chapter in Arab brotherly relations.
http://www.counterpunch.com/lamb04122010.html
Leaders put aside differences to battle it out on
sports pitch
BEIRUT: When thinking of soccer, names such as Messi, Ronaldo and Rooney
often come to mind, but figures such as President Michel Sleiman,
Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri will now get their
chance to bask in the sporting limelight. Politicians have decided to
show their solidarity and unity during a friendly game of soccer.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=113709
35
Years
on… Lebanon Still Fighting Schemes of Sectarian War!
The
Lebanese calendar is full of dates and events to the degree that no day
goes without embracing a symbol, story, lesson, or meaning. Between
wars, battles, assassinations, victories, festivals, elections, and
other events, Lebanon has written its history the hard way. Yet, one
date still occupies a place in the Lebanese people’s minds; a black day
that is. April 13, 1975 is the day that marked the outbreak of the
disastrous civil war that devastated the country for 15 long and painful
years… The Lebanese were split between Muslims and Christians and they
were fighting each other. Each group was barricaded in its “region”;
sometimes they shared a single “region” but were separated by the so
called “green line.”
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=133304&language=en
Afghanistan
U.S. occupation troops fire on bus in Afghanistan, 4
civilians killed
American soldiers opened fire on a bus passing through Kandahar province
Monday morning, killing four civilians and potentially aggravating a
population already wary about the influx of thousands of new American
troops headed their way.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/12/AR2010041200761.html?wprss=rss_world
Afghans enraged after NATO troops fire on bus,
killing four civilians
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: Four civilians were killed when NATO troops fired
on a bus in Afghanistan on Monday, sparking furious protests and an
expression of regret from the military alliance. About 200 men took to
the streets of Kandahar to demonstrate over the killings on a highway
outside the southern Afghan city, burning tires and heard shouting.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=113699
'Ignorance'
leads
to botched Afghan raids
After eight years of operating
in Afghanistan, the United States military still has no understanding of
the personal, tribal and other socio-political conflicts at play.
Though the US admits to its ignorance, it continues to carry out raids
based on faulty intelligence from informants of unknown reliability that
result in civilian deaths. - Gareth Porter (Apr 13, '10)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LD14Df02.html
Afghan
anger at US casualty payments
Afghans are outraged over an ad
hoc system of payments made by the United States military to victims of
its Helmand operations. Despite the amounts being high in a country
where the average daily wage is under US$5, many politicians, rights
groups and ordinary citizens view it as blood money. - Habiburrahman
Ibrahimi (Apr 13, '10)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LD14Df01.html
U.S.
and Other World News
Iran: We will
join 'world nuclear club' within a month
Iran announced that
it will join the "world nuclear club" within a month and will be capable
of deterring possible attacks on the country, the Iranian Fars news
agency reported on Tuesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162717.html
U.S., Israeli attack on Iran would be 'unacceptable' -
Russia military
Any airstrike against Iran by the United
States or Israel would be "unacceptable," the chief of the Russian
General Staff Nikolai Makarov said on Monday.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100412/158538895.html
Several
journalists
held in Evin prison are seriously ill
Reporters Without
Borders is extremely worried about the appalling conditions in which
Iranian prisoners of conscience, including many journalists, are being
held. The authorities continue to detain them arbitrarily even when they
are ailing and in very poor physical or psychological health.
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4bc2cd31c.html
Iran
fights
Fifa ban on hijab
Iran's football federation says it is
sending a delegation to Fifa - the international football association
- to urge the Geneva-based association to overturn its ban on the hijab,
or Islamic headscarf. The ban effectively prohibits the Iranian women's
team from playing in the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore this August.
Fifa says the dress contradicts the game's charter. Alireza Ronaghi
reports from Tehran. [April 13, 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGvlwvB3O24&feature=youtube_gdata
Muslim
couple say train attack was racial hatred
Abida Malik said
the men called her and her husband Asif Ahmed terrorists. One man put Mr
Ahmed in a headlock saying he was making a citizen's arrest. The gang
boarded the train at Loughborough on Easter Sunday evening, after what
British Transport Police believe was a drinking session. Officers have
described it as an "unpleasant and nasty" incident. Police are
searching for a gang of about 20 Derby men after an attack on a Muslim
couple on a train to Nottingham.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/8609000.stm
Glenn Greenwald: More Cause and Effect in the War
Against Terrorists
The very policies justified in the name of fighting Terrorism
(invasions, occupations, bombings, lawless detentions, etc.) are the
precise ones that most inflame and exacerbate that threat.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/04/12/afghanistan/index.html |
| For further information contact Shadi Fadda |
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