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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Land Theft and Destruction
Settlers Steal 25 Dunams Near Nablus
Israeli
settlers stole on Thursday 25 Dunams (6.17 Acres) of Palestinian lands
that belong to the residents of Dir Istia village, near the northern
West Bank city of Nablus. Local sources reported that dozens of
heavily armed settlers from the Rifaka illegal settlement outpost
grabbed by force 25 Dunams in Khallit Azzam and uprooted the trees
using military bulldozers.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57644
Southern West Bank farmers accuse settlers of uprooting trees
Palestinian
farmers from Yatta village southern West Bank accused Israeli settlers
of destroying 70 of their trees on Thursday. The farmers reported that
as they arrived to their lands this morning, they found that 70 of
their trees have been uprooted. The lands are located near the
illegal settlement of Ma'on. Settlers from Ma'on attack the villagers
of Yatta regularly in an effort to take over the land to expand the
settlement, farmers reported. Ma'on settlement are built on land that
was stolen by the settlers from the villagers of Yatta and nearby
Palestinian villages.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57635
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott,
Sanctions
and Divestment
Israeli Military Barricades Nili’n – Journalists Denied Access
Today
in the village of Nili’n, central West Bank, the Israeli military
closed all entrances and exits, and didn’t allow any journalists in the
village. The demonstration started after midday prayers, with
Palestinians marching alongside their anti-Zionist Israeli and
international supporters. The group marched to the gate of the wall,
deemed illegal under international law, that separates the villagers
from their land.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57647
After Night Time Incursion, al-Ma'sara Protest Continues
After
last night’s military incursion into the village of al-Ma’sara, central
West Bank, the weekly, non-violent protest continued as usual. The
protests in al-Ma’sara have occurred every Friday for the last [?]
years. After assembling the villagers and internationals, who march in
solidarity with the Palestinians against the construction of the wall,
the confiscation of land, and the continued military occupation of the
West Bank, the group peacefully marched their usual route, only to be
confronted by a barricade.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57646
Othman’s human rights activities may be circumscribed
However, his liberty is conditional on him not travelling outside the
West Bank for an unspecified length of time and reporting to the police
immediately whenever they summon him for questioning.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/othmans-human-rights-activities-may-be-circumscribed.html
Video-photos: Gaza Support Rally at Israeli Consulate, Boston
About 50 pro-Gaza activists rallied in front of the building where the Israeli Consulate is located to protest the US-Israeli
oppression of Gaza. Across the street was a pro-Israel counter
protest.The police stood between the 2 opposing rallies.
http://boston.indymedia.org/feature/display/209685/index.php
An English politician watches Israeli soldiers lose control at a peaceful demonstration and vows to bear witness, Philip Weiss
There were probably 200 of us, including several well known activists,
Yonatan Shapiro and Ezra Nawi and actor Samieh Jabbarin. When we came
to the concertina wire, we had a demonstration. The Palestinian way is
to chant in a kind of song, their list of grievances and declarations.
First the chanting was done in Arabic, and then Yonatan called out to
the soldiers in Hebrew. Finally Sami Awad spoke in English. "These
villagers seek to live in peace. But living in peace means living in
dignity and respect…." That means visiting their grape vines and olive
trees that are waiting for them on their lands.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/an-english-politician-watches-
israeli-soldiers-lose-control-at-a-peaceful-demonstration-and-vows-to-bear-witness.html
IRELAND-PALESTINE SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN: National Boycott Israeli Goods Day of Action
http://www.swp.ie/index.php?page=173&dept=Events
Boycott Stolen Beauty - Don't Buy Ahava!
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/641/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1978
Aggression/Violence/Detainees
Fishermen: Israeli warships fire on boats in three locations
Gaza
– Ma'an – Israeli war boats opened fire on Gaza's fishermen and their
boats on the shores of the central Gaza Strip, further south near Khan
Younis and again in the Rafah coastal area on Friday morning, dozens of
witnesses reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254265
Israeli troops snatch three from Tulkarem area
Tulkarem
- Ma'an - Israeli forces detained three citizens from Tulkarem in broad
daylight and took them to an unknown destination on Thursday, witnesses
said. Two of the men were taken from the Ar-Ras and Kfar Saour
villages south of Tulkarem as they worked surveying land adjacent to
the separation wall. Locals identified them as Sinan Amir and Muhammad
Taher.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254167
Israel To Deport 15 Detainees
The
Palestinian Ministry of Detainees filed an appeal to the Israeli High
Court demanding it to void a decision aimed at deporting 15 Palestinian
detainees who have already served their terms and are supposed to be
sent back home. Palestinian Minister of Detainees, Issa Qaraqe’, said
that the detainees do not have identity cards due to Israeli
restrictions, and that they were kidnapped by the Israeli army during
the Israeli military offensive against the West Bank in 2002.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57639
Human
Rights/Humanitarian Issues/Siege/Discrimination
Weekly report on Israeli human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory 06 - 13 Jan 2010
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/SKEA-7ZPKFU?OpenDocument
Joint
letter sent to the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza;
Calling for immediate commencement of internal investigations in
compliance with UN GA Resolution A/RES/64/10
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/2382
Israeli authorities prevent 17 Palestinians from getting necessary eye surgery
After
the Israeli human rights group Physicians for Human Rights arranged a
donation of 17 corneas to allow sight-impaired Palestinians from Gaza
to receive necessary eye surgery, Israeli border agents stationed at
Erez crossing prevented the sight-impaired patients from entering the
West Bank. The cornea donations had to be discarded.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57638
Israel Refuses to Take Responsibility for the Rehabilitation of Gaza’s Civilian Amputees
Shortly
after the Israeli assault on Gaza ended last January, Physicians for
Human Rights – Israel (PHR-IL) embarked on a campaign to obtain
responsibility from the Israeli Ministry of Defense for the treatment
of Gaza civilians seriously injured during the assault.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/JBRN-7ZQGGD?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Noam Chomsky joins GAA to set up team in Gaza
Noam Chomsky is a man of many different hats. He's a Professor of Linguistics at MIT but he's probably better known worldwide for his incisive criticism of big media and US foreign policy (although not necessarily in that order). Now he's wearing yet another hat as co-president (with former Tyrone player Peter Canavan) of the new GAA club in Gaza. Yes, that Gaza. A story in today's Irish Examiner tells how Chomsky and Canavan are the honorary co-presidents of the team set up by Irish activist John Hurson.
http://www.irishcentral.com/story/news/kellys_corner/
noam-chomsky-joins-gaa-to-set-up-team-in-gaza-81528462.html
Israeli forces close road in north, install checkpoint
Bethlehem
– Ma’an – Israeli forces installed a military temporary checkpoint near
Dir Sharaf east of the West Bank city of Tulkarem on Thursday. The
military stop, known as a flying checkpoint, was installed just south
of the area where Palestinian gunmen killed a settler on Christmas eve.
On Boxing Day, Israeli troops raided Nablus and executed three men they
said were responsible for the death. Witnesses said the men were shot
on site in their homes.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254180
In a letter to UN, Gaza children demand justice
Gaza
– Ma’an – Marking the aniversary of Israel's war on Gaza, hundreds of
children gathered in Gaza City to sign a letter asking that the UN
denounce as criminal the Israeli actions that lead to the death of
their friends and loved ones.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254177
Please pledge contribute for Yousif , 13 from Gaza
My
buddy Maha Mehanna in Gaza and I are looking for ten really kind people
to pledge and send $100 each -- to cover two crucial days for her
nephew Yousif, age 13 going on 14, at the Pediatric Immunology Clinic
at Safra Children`s Hospital at Tel Hashomer.
Egypt's Humanitarian War against Gazans
Gaza completes its siege by building a harbour at the end of the steel wall
Egyptian
authorities are going to build a harbour at its sea border with the
Gaza Strip to be used by Egyptian naval patrol boats, an Egyptian
security source announced on Thursday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Hamas urges Egypt to halt Gaza border wall (Reuters)
Reuters
- Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called on Egypt on Friday to stop
building an underground wall along its border with Gaza, which the
Islamist group says would put further strain on the isolated enclave.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100115/ts_nm/us_hamas_egypt_barrier
Egypt's Gaza wall
BI: How big a problem will Egypt's iron wall pose for Gaza's underground smuggling industry?
Abu Murrad: It's not a big problem. There are already holes in
the wall, and the Egyptians know this. We'll go through it or under it.
Already there are tunnels deeper than the wall. This is what we do. When the Israelis were here we smuggled, either for
profit or resistance. Whether the border is under Egyptian or Israeli
control, smuggling never stopped, never will. The only way to stop the
smuggling is to open the borders.
http://www.bitterlemons-international.org/previous.php?opt=1&id=301#1229
Egypt prevents local convoy from bringing aid to Gaza
Al-Arish
– Ma'an – Egyptian security forces in Cairo dispersed a local
initiative to deliver aid to Gaza, organized by Dr Mustafa Khalil's
Kifaya Movement, as it began transporting supplies to the country's
northern border for transfer into Gaza, the group reported. Under the
motto, “No to the wall, no to the siege,” the group affiliated to
Egypt's Labor Party under the movement's Chairman Muhammad As-Sikhawi
gathered in Cairo near the headquarters of the Journalist Syndicate,
but were dispersed by Egyptian police.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254288
Abukar Arman: The Muffled Screams of Gaza
The
Egyptian government's recent decision to seal the few "tunnels of life"
that allowed the people of Gaza to bypass the on-going inhumane
economic strangulation, harassment and cruel treatment experienced by
the participants of Gaza Freedom March and the Viva Palestina
humanitarian convoy, earned the country a prominent position in
history's page of shame. This page is crowded by wealthy Arab nations
who failed the Palestinian people and abandoned them at their most
vulnerable time.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/abukar-arman/the-muffled-screams-of-ga_b_422371.html
Israeli Racism
Ministry official: Too many Filipinas trying to marry Israelis
Shlomo
Tzagir, an Israeli, and Suzanne Kapistrano, a Filipina, met and fell in
love about 18 months ago. In January 2009, they submitted a request to
the Interior Ministry to begin the gradual, five-year process to obtain
citizenship for Kapistrano on the basis of their relationship, so that
Kapistrano could remain in Israel. However, the Interior Ministry
denied the request, citing doubts about "the sincerity of the
relationship."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1141729.html
Political Developments
Worshipers in the West Bank revolt against PA-Dayton Imams
Worshipers
in tens of West Bank mosques rejected attacks on the great Islamic
scholar, Sheikh Yousuf al-Qardawi, for his patriotic stands against the
Israeli aggression and siege on the Gaza Strip.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
The PA in Ramallah instruct imams to assail Sheikh Qardawi
The
ministry of awkaf and religious affairs in Ramallah distributed a
Friday sermon to Imams around the West Bank. The sermon launches a
scathing attack on Sheikh Yusuf al-Qardawi.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Bardaweel: “Hamas Ready To Sign Unity Deal”
Legislator
Salah Bardaweel, a prominent political leader of the Hamas movement,
stated that Hamas believes in reconciliation and is ready and willing
to sign a unity deal based on the Egyptian vision under guarantees to
preserve national interests.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57640
US security envoy meets Israeli, Palestinian leaders (AFP)
AFP - US President Barack Obama's national security adviser James
Jones held talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders on Thursday aimed
at furthering US-led peace efforts.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100114/pl_afp/mideastusdiplomacyjones
Other
News
'Arrest made' over Jordan explosion
Taxi driver suspected of planting bomb targeting Israeli diplomats, Al Jazeera learns.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/01/2010115105313678435.html
Blast near Israeli convoy in Jordan
A bomb has exploded near a convoy of cars carrying Israeli diplomats in
Jordan, without causing injuries. The incident occurred close to the
Allenby Bridge that links Jordan and the Israeli occupied Palestinian
West Bank at about 5pm (1500GMT) on Thursday, Israeli army radio said.
Danny Nevo, Israel's ambassador to Jordan, was not in any of the
vehicles that were travelling from Amman, the Jordanian capital, at the
time, Israeli officials said. There was no immediate claim of
responsibility.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/01/2010114163618626853.html
Jordan to Israel: We're hunting those behind attack on your diplomats
Jordan's
Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh called Israel's ambassador to Jordan
Daniel Nevo on Thursday after a roadside explosive device went off near
a convoy of cars carrying three Israeli diplomats traveling from Jordan
toward Israeli earlier. The blast occurred at around 6 p.m. close to
the Allenby Bridge crossing between Jordan and the West Bank. No one
was hurt.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142700.html
In Gaza, Hamas calls prayers for rain (Reuters)
Reuters
- The Islamist group Hamas held prayers in the Gaza Strip Thursday to
ask God for rain, calling for divine help to ease a water crisis that
is compounding the woes of Palestinians in the coastal enclave.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100114/wl_nm/us_palestinians_gaza_rain
Gazans Support Egypt
Despite political tensions between Gaza and Egypt along the Rafah
border, there is no doubt who Gazans still support when it comes to the
"beautiful game". Ayman Mohyeldin visits a popular Gaza sports cafe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gqFqSiJwPg&feature=player_embedded
'US architect withdraws from Jerusalem museum project' (AFP)
AFP
- Leading US architect Frank O. Gehri has announced he is withdrawing
from the Museum of Tolerance project in Jerusalem which detractors say
is being built over an ancient Muslim graveyard, the Haaretz newspaper
said on Friday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100115/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictarchitecturereligion
The IDF's latest target: Supermodel Bar Refaeli
The
Israel Defense Forces human resources chief Maj. Gen. Avi Zamir
yesterday called for a boycott of products advertised by Israeli
supermodel Bar Refaeli. Speaking at a lecture at the Interdisciplinary
Center in Herzliya, Zamir was asked why the army did not act against
Refaeli, who married under false pretenses so she could evade military
service. Zamir said that, according to law, he could not act against
Refaeli. "She went and married a 37-year-old guy, so what can I do?" he
said. "At the end of the day," according to Zamir, "she is the one who
has to look at herself in the mirror. We are a society that has an
army, and Bar Refaeli doesn't have to participate in ads for Fox
[clothing] - and if she advertises Fox then you shouldn't buy their
products."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142497.html
Analysis/Op-ed/Human
Interest
The Unipolar Moment and the Culture of Imperialism: (Edward Said Memorial Lecture), Noam Chomsky
I
have been quoting the assessment of Edward Said's literary
contributions by his close friend and comrade in struggle Eqbal Ahmad,
like Edward a rare and stellar example of an engaged intellectual,
dedicated to truth and justice in word and in action. Their passing a
few years ago is an irreparable loss for the poor and the suffering of
the world, and for depth and clarity of thought and understanding.
Among Edward Said's many achievements was to draw the "culture of
imperialism" from the shadows and explore its deep roots and pervasive
implications in many domains. In these remarks, I will try to explore
some of its specific manifestations, focusing on the events that opened
the way to the famous "unipolar moment" of unchallenged US global
hegemony 20 years ago and the ways in which these are remembered on the
20th anniversary now being celebrated. To do so requires following two
tracks: policy, and its interpretation through the prism of imperial
ideology. The dawn of the unipolar moment is an instructive test case,
in both domains.
http://chomsky.info/talks/20091203.htm
How Gaza could help Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
Hamas and a national unity government aside, the administration's
inability to find a way to alleviate the humanitarian suffering in
Gaza over the last year
stands as a major missed opportunity. Addressing the blockade and
misery of Gaza would have been the right thing to do morally, would
have clearly signaled change from the Bush approach, and very likely
would have undermined Hamas control over Gaza by removing its ability
to control and tax the flow of goods through the tunnels. There were
some early indications that the administration would do something. I
suppose that initially they were waiting to use a move on Gaza as a
bargaining chip, a step in their intricate early plan for Israeli
concessions to be matched by Arab concessions. When that plan fell
apart, Gaza seems to have just fallen off the radar... for Americans,
at least, although Gaza remains a fixture on al-Jazeera and in Arab
politics more broadly.
http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/01/14/
hamas_and_the_rumoured_push_to_revive_israeli_palestinian_talks
Video: "U.S. Foreign Policy and the Inter-Palestinian Divide" with Dr. Nathan Brown
http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/d/EventDetails/i/8324
"This is life:" remembering earlier massacres in Gaza
"This
is the first time I've returned here since my friends were killed,"
Ahmad Hammad says. He stands at the edge of a vacant plot and gestures
to its far end which lies over 1 km from the border separating Israel
and the Gaza Strip. Hammad, 24, recalls the day two years ago when
three of his friends were torn apart by an Israeli-fired
surface-to-surface missile. Eva Bartlett writes from the Gaza Strip.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11009.shtml
The spider, the road and the occupation
Even if the farce staged by Foreign Minister Avigdor
Lieberman and his deputy Danny Ayalon to make the Turkish ambassador
feel small is forgotten, Route 443 is a better example of the wide gap
between Israelis' self-image and the value of Israel and its arguments
in the eyes of the international community. No propaganda campaign
based on the cry "Gevalt, they're killing us" can save the occupation
from the understanding that this is not a dispute about Jewish
existence. Either way, Israel does not know how to defend this
existence without groaning that "the spider of the settlements is
proving burdensome, please help us handle it so we can continue
settling everywhere, including in East Jerusalem."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142520.html
'Occupation tourism'
An
old man in a black galabia who is leaning on a walking stick catches
the attention of Ferdino Madno. In the center of Bil'in, while waiting
for the start of the weekly demonstration against the separation fence,
Madno, 41, scurries around with two cameras slung over his shoulders.
"I came here with some of my fellow students," he says, pointing to a
group of 10 Italians who are sitting peacefully on a stone wall, each
carrying a camera with a spectacular zoom lens. "We are studying
photography in a school in Rome. We have finished learning how to take
portraits and now we are working on reportorial photography. That is
why we are here, as part of a workshop on reportorial photography. We
have been to Myanmar and now we have come to Bil'in to take pictures,"
Madno explains.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142716.html
Twilight Zone / Waltz in Batir, Gideon Levy
Reader
Nidal Zeghayer, 22, sent me an e-mail. He'd read what I wrote about
Highway 443 and wanted to tell me about the other separation roads
Israel is paving around his village of Batir, between Bethlehem and
Jerusalem. "Will you come see?" he asked. Something about his writing
style led me to accept his offer. When we arrived in his village, he
was waiting outside, wearing stained clothing: He's in the midst of
helping his father paint their house.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142719.html
Sharon's real legacy - keeping the Arabs out of sight, Aluf Benn
Let's
assume the optimistic forecast by special U.S. envoy George Mitchell
comes true and in two years the establishment of an independent
Palestine is declared at a ceremony. The event will be broadcast on
prime time, but most Israelis will opt to view "Big Brother 6,"
"Survivor 7" or whatever the next television hit is. Viewers will
behave this way not because they oppose a Palestinian state but because
they are indifferent. Palestine-shmalestine simply does not interest
them.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142320.html
Rattling the Cage: To be Israeli today, Larry Derfner
It's
nice to know that the economy's good, or relatively good, and that the
hi-tech sector is a miracle, that we're the "start-up nation." There's
a lot of economic opportunity in this country for well-educated,
shrewd, hard-working people (or well-educated, shrewd, hard-working
Jews, anyway). There's great wealth in Israel, a whole class of rich
people. That's a change, and a good one. I can't say I'm inspired by
it, because there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of trickle-down from
all that wealth, but prosperity, even if it's spread narrowly, is a
good thing. A positive thing. Other than the economy - the rise of the
nouveau-riche and the staving off of recession - everything else in
national life, everything else that comes to mind when you think
"Israel" or "being Israeli" - is negative.
Being Israeli today is
about being against. Against Palestinians. Against people who criticize
the way we treat Palestinians. Against Muslims in general.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1263147884884&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
Israeli Democracy or Hypocrisy, Stephen Lendman
An October 2007 Haaretz editorial titled “Democracy or hypocrisy”
contrasted the “occupying Land of Israel to the democratic Israel” in
calling for a “debate about Israel’s control over the lives of
Palestinians deprived of civil rights,” saying its democracy is flawed
and not addressing it is hypocrisy. Throughout history, regimes rhetorically embraced democracy as cover
for more despotic policies, no different today throughout the world in
countries like India, Pakistan, America and Israel practicing what
Michael Parenti calls “democracy for the few,” (the) “shadier sides of
US political life (in which) proponents of the existing social order
have tried to transform practically every deficiency into a strength.”
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/01/israeli-democracy-or-hypocrisy/
Rawabi, and the American mission to civilize the West Bank, Ahmed Moor
When I first heard about the Rawabi plan
I was repulsed. It took some time for me to distill exactly what made
me so uncomfortable. It wasn’t the Pavlovian conditioning; direct
exposure to the Jewish settler colonies in the West Bank and Gaza has
created a psychological association between objectively neutral
architectural features – red-tiled roofs, trimmed hedges, cul-de-sacs –
and racism and apartheid for me. It wasn’t that though; Rawabi seemed
more profoundly wrong.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/rawabi-and-the-american-mission-to-civilize-the-west-bank.html
Could the Taliban be genetically linked to the Jews?
Israel
has asked an Indian geneticist to study the link between the Indian
Geneticist Shahnaz Ali has been asked to study the link between the
Afridi Pathans, based in the Lucknow region of India, and certain
tribes of Israel who migrated across Asia thousands of years ago. Ali
is based in Haifa where she is working in collaboration with Israel's
prestigious university the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
Some experts attribute Israel's decision to fund the research to a
theory supported by many that Afghanistan's Pashtun fighters, the
community from which the Taliban draw their strength, are descendants
of Afridi Pathans.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142690.html
Israel and Turkey
Israelis furious over government handling of row with Turkey
The Israeli media on Thursday slammed the government's handling of a
diplomatic row with Turkey in which it humiliated Ankara's ambassador
and then retreated with public apologies."The policy of 'no more
groveling' led by Foreign Minister [Avigdor] Lieberman, was transformed
within a matter of days into a situation in which Israel was forced to dispatch an official and
diplomatic apology,” Israel’s Maariv newspaper said in an article
entitled “Capitulation.”
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=110672
Turkey: Diplomatic spat with Israel won't scupper $190 million drone deal
Turkey's
military will accept a delivery of Israeli drones in March - despite a
diplomatic row that has brought the relations between the countries
close to breaking point, Turkish officials said on Thursday. Israel
will send four Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Turkey, the
first part of a consignment of 10 drones purchased by the Turkish
government, with the remainder to be shipped by the year's end,
officials told the Turkish daily, Zaman.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142659.html
Livni Slams Netanyahu; Says Turkey Has to Choose a Side
15/01/2010 As the most recent confrontation with Turkey, over Israeli
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon humiliating Turkish ambassador to
Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol on Tuesday, began to abate, Kadima and
opposition leader Tzipi Livni said that Ankara would have to decide
which side to align itself with. "Every country in the region must
decide which side it is on. This goes for Turkey, too," Livni said
Thursday. "The choice is not between Israel and the Palestinians or the
Jews and the Arab but between Israel, the legitimate Palestinian
Authority, Egypt, and Jordan and the world of fundamental Islam."
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=119928&language=en
Turkish public won't forgive Israel's insult
Not
a single cabinet minister is running to the media to condemn the
tarring and feathering of the Turkish ambassador by Deputy Foreign
Minister Daniel Ayalon. Not
even Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who expects, despite the insult, to
be received in Turkey on Sunday with a seat befitting a minister. He
obviously also wants to forge a compromise between the Turkish defense
ministry and Israel Aerospace Industries over a deal involving unmanned
aircraft. He will very much want to pave the way for future Turkish
deals with Israeli industries, which have done NIS 4 billion in
business already.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142501.html
Israel's Attitude, Andrew Sullivan
The Netanyahu government has all but declared war on the Obama
administration and then openly disses a vital ally, Turkey. The slow
cultural shifts in Israel - toward ever more arrogance, more
fundamentalism, more Russian immigrant racism, contempt for the Muslim
world, military adventurism, and the daily grinding of the Palestinians
on the West Bank and pulverization and inhumane blockade of the people
of Gaza ... well maybe some others can explain it.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/01/israels-attitude.html
MIDEAST: Israel Cannot be Sultan
JERUSALEM,
Jan 14, 2010 (IPS) - A bizarre diplomatic incident - even by the
Byzantine-like standards of the old near East - has threatened already
strained relations between Israel and Turkey. For a quarter century
the two democracies were the region's most unlikely allies. Since
Israel's assault on Hamas in Gaza a year ago, they have been the most
problematic allies. On Monday, Israel created a scene reminiscent of a
famous scene in Charlie Chaplin's movie The Great Dictator: Chaplin's
parody of Hitler is receiving 'Mussolini'. Each confronts the other by
trying to elevate his seat above the other - until they both hit the
ceiling.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49987
Iraq
Thursday: 21 Iraqis Killed, 54 Wounded
At
least 21 Iraqis were killed and 54 more were wounded in today’s
attacks. Among them was a multiple bomb attack in the holy city of
Najaf. Meanwhile, a former Iraqi leader criticized the controversial
decision to ban 500 Iraqis from running in March elections.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/01/14/thursday-21-iraqis-killed-54-wounded/
Iraq election officials bar nearly 500 candidates from poll (AFP)
AFP
- Iraq's election organisers on Thursday barred nearly 500 politicians
and parties from contesting the country's upcoming national poll,
including many linked to Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100114/wl_mideast_afp/iraqvote
Former Iraqi PM warns of intimidation before vote (AP)
AP
- Iraq's former prime minister said Thursday that a recommendation to
bar some political parties from March elections because of suspected
ties to Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party amounts to intimidation.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100114/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_allawi
Lebanon
Accused spy for Israel denies role in Islamic Jihad killings
An
accused Israeli collaborator on Thursday denied involvement in the
assassination of Islamic Jihad leaders in 2006, saying that he was busy
in surveillance for the Israelis elsewhere at the time of the
murder.The testimony by retired Surete General Brigadier Adib Alam came
during the trial of Mahmoud Rafeh at the Military Tribunal, for the May
26, 2006 murder of brothers Mahmoud and Nidal Majzoub from the group
Islamic Jihad.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=110692
Sayyed Nasrallah: We Will Defeat Enemy, Change Region's Face
15/01/2010
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said on Friday that
in case of any confrontation with Israel, the Resistance will foil the
aggressions' objectives, defeat the enemy, and change the face of the
region. Sayyed Nasrallah was delivering a speech via video link
before the Arab and International Forum for Supporting the Resistance
at the UNESCO Palace in Beirut. Sayyed Nasrallah started his speech by
saying that Lebanon has abandoned the myth saying "Lebanon's strength
is in its weakness" to adopt the truth saying "Lebanon's strength is in
the solidarity of its army, people, and resistance."
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=119979&language=en
When Calling to Abolish Sectarianism Turns to Be… A Crime!
14/01/2010
"Where is the crime in calling for the formation of a mere committee
that would be charged with studying the appropriate ways to abolish
political sectarianism?" The question, raised by the head of the
Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblatt following the campaign launched
against Speaker Nabih Berri over his call to form the mentioned law,
seems to be more than "logical." Indeed, in a country like Lebanon,
all parties can claim day and night that they reject sectarianism in
politics, that sectarianism is the major "disease" of the Lebanese
system, that fighting sectarianism should be everyone's duty, that
sectarianism and competence cannot come together.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=119850&language=en
Women's Council hits out at 'immoral' TV shows
Racy
and objectionable content on local television stations continued to
draw fire on Thursday, even after government authorities promised to
see outlets tone things down.The Lebanese Women's Council strongly
condemned certain television shows it deemed "of a low media, cultural
and moral level."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=110694
LEBANON: Iranian film festival kicks off in Beirut, highlights ties between the two countries
Scores
of veiled women, men and families poured into a cultural
center in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday night for the opening of
the third annual Iranian film festival in Beirut. The festival is
sponsored by the Iranian cultural center in Beirut
and Hezbollah’s TV channel Al-Manar, among other organizations, and
highlights the intertwined relationship between the two countries. For
the next four days, festival-goers can watch two Iranian films
per night at the festival center, located two floors underground.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/01/
lebanon-iranian-film-festival-kicks-off-in-beirut.html
Iran
Inside Story - Who killed the nuclear scientist?
Iran
faces more politcal intrigue after Massoud Ali Mohammadi, a prominent
nuclear scientest, was killed by a bomb blast on Tuesday. [13 Jan 2010]
Who was the assassinated professor? Was he a "staunch supporter" of the
regime as Iran's media claims, or a subversive as Iranian reformists
allege?
A new Middle East cold war
Ahmadinejad slams Saudi Arabia over Yemen, Gaza, setting off Sunni-Shiite tension
While
American security officials are focused laser-like on the 300 or so
al-Qaida members in rural Maarib province of Yemen, and worry about
further strikes on the U.S. planned by this small group, a regional
food fight has broken out between Iran and Saudi Arabia about a
different sort of local insurgency, the Huthis, who have so far not
been seen by the U.S. as an international terrorism threat.
http://www.salon.com/news/iran/?story=/opinion/feature/2010/01/14/iran_cold_war
IBA Radio: Israeli tech company boasts of $1 million deal with Tehran Chamber of Commerce
Note
that the only substantial question from the interviewer is about the
danger of cancellation by the Iranians following the local media
exposure. This report may come in handy for journalists when and if
pressure builds for comprehensive trade sanctions. Glass houses and all
that.
http://coteret.com/2010/01/15/iba-radio-
israeli-tech-company-boasts-of-1-million-deal-with-tehran-chamber-of-commerce/
U.S. and other world news
Amnesty International criticizes UAE sheikh's acquittal
Rights
group Amnesty International has sharply criticized the acquittal of a
United Arab Emirates sheikh accused of torture and rape, calling the
verdict "very questionable.""We were not in court and so cannot be
certain as to the judge's reasoning, but this does appear to be a very
questionable verdict," the organization's Middle East and North Africa
director Malcolm Smart said in a statement late Wednesday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=110674
101 East - Malaysia: Whose God?
Religious
tensions are rising in Malaysia following a High Court ruling which
declared non-Muslims could use the Arabic word 'Allah' when referring
to God. [14 Jan 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDac5GXjLMo&feature=youtube_gdata
Haitians struggle to cope amid aftermath of earthquake
Barack
Obama, the US president, gave a televised speech in response to Haiti's
catastrophic earthquake as victims spent their second day struggling
with the destruction it left behind. Thousands of Haitians are now left
to survive without water, sanitation or electricity. The Red Cross in
Haiti fears up to 50,000 people were killed in Tuesday's earthquake,
but Haitian officials say it could be twice that. Al Jazeera's
Sebastian walker reports from the capital, Port-au-Prince. [Viewers may
find some of the images distressing] Jan 12, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW1VUgH9g2s&feature=youtube_gdata
Haiti's history of hardship
Haiti's
fate as one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere has not been
inevitable. It's history has been marked not only by natural disasters,
but by political and economic conflict. It is a story of international
intervention that has left the country particularly vulnerable. Al
Jazeera's Avi Lewis reports. (14 Jan 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttqexOlqhWM&feature=youtube_gdata |
| For further information contact Shadi Fadda |
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