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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Land theft / Settlements / Matrix of control
Palestinians turn to jobs building settlements
Like
most Palestinians, Ismail Harb resents the Israeli settlements that
crown the hilltops of the West Bank, but every day he lines up before
dawn to help build them. "It's not just the money we make in the
Israeli construction projects, but also that the work in the
settlements never stops," the 36-year-old says as he waits with
hundreds of others in the chilly darkness before sunrise.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3832578,00.html
House demolition NOW in Jaffa
there are more than a 100 hundred cops getting ready to destroy the
house in pardes daka in yaffo gimmel. activists are badly needed, and
even more, someone to coordinate media. please call fadi: 0504859046 or
sami: 0504435996 for more details. (the house is in Socrates St.)
http://groups.google.com/group/newprofile/browse_thread/thread/a2ac96e6dfaa9dcc?hl=en
Third night in a row, Israeli forces close northern
roads
Israeli troops closed the Qalqiliya-Azzun road, installed an impassible
checkpoint and were seen searching areas east of Qalqiliya on Saturday
night ... The closure marked the third night in a row that areas in the
northern
West Bank were closed by Israeli military personnel. On Friday, three
roads in and out of Tulkarem were shut down, with witnesses describing
a series of flying checkpoints installed and inspections being carried
out. On Thursday, the city of Nablus was closed off, the Huwwara
checkpoint locked down and similar searches performed, according to
witnesses. An Israeli military spokesman said the closure was
a part of regular security measures in the West Bank, "to ensure the
safety of all residents in the area."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254593
Activism / Solidarity
Video:
Nebi Salah 15-1-10 demonstration against the creeping annexation of the
village lands
At least three villages united to hold
two simultaneous
demonstrations at two sides of the area from which Palestinian farmers
have been denied access. The land in question is close to the Halamish
settlement also known as Neve Tzuf.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5b-SBrsOSo
200 of us demonstrated outside the courthouse all
night long, shouting to be heard by the 17 in the lockup / Assaf Sharon
My report from two demonstrations on Friday and their aftermath: 1.
Al Masara. The military raided the Palestinian village on
Thursday night (around 2 a.m.), entering homes with force and
threatening people to stop the demonstrations "or things will get much
worse… a child will be killed and it will be your fault…" Unfortunately
the intimidation worked ... 2. Sheikh Jarrah – As usual, the police
blocked our entrance to the
neighborhood (while allowing settlers and their friends to go in of
course). Shortly thereafter the troops approached and began arresting
people who
they perceived as organizers (almost everyone they got were the wrong
people) ... Update: Due to the high profile of the arrested, some of
the country’s most
prominent lawyers represented them and exposed the lies of the police
prosecutor who accused all 17 of "assaulting a police officer"....
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/200-of-us-demonstrated-
outside-the-courthouse-all-night-long-shouting-to-be-heard-by-the-17-in-the-lockup.html
Palestine-Israel, the joint struggle against
occupation and the separation fence expand and suppression increases /
Ilan S.
The AAtW activists were busy during the week in court solidarity in
Ofer military prison and with the families of Sheikh Jarrah. Special
invitation of the AAtW for this Friday five main demonstrations
resulted in the more than usual mobilization to Bil'in (50) and Maasara
30 - in addition to Ni'ilin (10) and the new location Nebi Saleh (5).
More than half of these 90 activists continued to the Sheikh Jarrah to
join others who went directly there.) State forces seems to start
worrying even more last few weeks and increased significantly the
persecution of our Palestinian partners.
http://ilanisagainstwalls.blogspot.com/2010/01/palestine-israel-joint-struggle-against_17.html
Indonesian Muslims protest Egypt's Gaza wall (AFP)
Sun
Jan
17, 3:30 AM JAKARTA (AFP) - More than 200 Indonesian Muslims
protested in Jakarta Sunday against an underground wall being built to
block a network of tunnels crossing Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/100117/world/indonesia_egypt_gaza_protest_1
Lebanese protest Egypt's Gaza barrier (AP)
BEIRUT (AP) - Lebanese protesters accusing Egypt's president Sunday of
acting like an agent of Israel over his country's construction of an
underground steel wall along the Gaza border. The Egyptian barrier
could deprive Gaza's Hamas rulers of their only lifeline by blocking
hundreds of smuggling tunnels. About 200 people took part in the
protest near Egypt's embassy. Crowds set fire to U.S. and Israeli
flags. Some of the Israeli flags had Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's
picture on them. The protesters also carried banners depicting Mubarak
as an Israeli agent, as well as portraits of the president with a Star
of David on his forehead.
http://www.fox12idaho.com/global/story.asp?s=11836129
Violence
Witnesses: Israeli navy detains four off Gaza coast,
opens fire
The Israeli navy detained four Palestinian fishermen and held two boats
off the Rafah coast of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, according to
witnesses. Witnesses say Israeli naval boats approached the fishermen,
opened fire, and detained four members of the As-Sa'idi family.
Additionally, the Israeli navy dispersed fishermen in Rafah, Khan
Younis and the An-Nusseirat Refugee Camp, as Deir Al-Balah saw
intensive shooting, witnesses say.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254641
Two Palestinians beaten by Israeli forces near
settlement
Israeli forces attacked two Palestinians near the Betar Elite
settlement near Husan village west of Bethlehem on Sunday morning. Both
were hospitalized for serious injuries. Security sources said
that Israeli soldiers stopped and beat Muhammad Halahleh, 35, and
Mahmoud Ramadan, 15, both from Kharas in the Hebron governorate.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254685
Arab taxi station attacked by Jews; police fail to
come
Manager of Arab
taxi station claims business repeatedly harassed by Jewish competitor.
Young Jews threw stones, beat driver Saturday night; police take two
hours to arrive. investigate both sides ...
Abdu opened the business about a year and a
half ago, and employed Arab drivers. About a year later, a competitor
opened a business about 200 meters away employing Jews and began making
his life miserable, he said. "They straight away began conspiring
against me. They come
every week, shouting 'death to Arabs', 'we don't want you here', 'we'll
murder you'."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3835669,00.html
Resident files complaint against PA security forces
Abbas, 20, from Dheisheh Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, filed a complaint
with police concerning his treatment at the hands of Palestinian
Authority security forces during a nonviolent demonstration in the camp
on Wednesday. Abbas said he suffered blows and bruising as he
tried to film a sit-in at the refugee camp, and was forcibly removed
from the rally by PA security forces.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254588
4 policemen indicted for abusing Palestinian
Officers
arrested
last week on suspicion of mistreating man detainee suspected
of stealing motorcycle, blackmailing its owner -- The Justice
Ministry's police
investigations unit filed an indictment with the Jerusalem District
Court on Sunday afternoon against four policemen arrested
on suspicion of abusing a Palestinian detainee. According to the
indictment, filed by Attorney Moshe Saada, the four
are accused of abusing a helpless person, sexual harassment, assault
and breach of trust.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3835560,00.html
Boy injured in explosion; police suspect leftover
Israeli charges
A boy was injured when an unknown object exploded in Khashm Ad-Daraj,
near Yatta village in Hebron, a police report said on Saturday. Saleh
Muhammad Al-Hathalin, 12, was transferred to the Hebron governmental
hospital to undergo treatment for his injuries. Police
rushed to the scene and are investigating the incident, suspecting the
explosive to be a device left over by Israeli forces, the report added.
Medical sources said Al-Hathalin was injured in his left hand and
stomach. His condition was described as moderate.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254572
Detention
Anti-wall activists freed as detentions persist
Following
months
of detention without charge in an Israeli prison,
anti-wall activists Mohammad Othman and Jamal Juma have been released,
a statement from the senior campaign officer said on Saturday. "Their
release is a massive victory. Thank you to everyone who took action to
help secure their freedom," the statement said. Juma
and Othman work for Stop the Wall, an organization opposed to Israel's
construction of the separation wall, which severely limits
Palestinians' freedom of movement and leads to the confiscation of
agricultural land. Their detention was part of Israel's ongoing
crackdown on anti-wall activists.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254445
Israeli forces detain seven in Nablus
(Maan) Israeli forces detained seven Palestinian from the Al-Ein Refugee
Camp
and Al-Sikkah Street in Nablus on Sunday, following an incursion. More
than 15 Israeli military vehicles entered the city, raided a number of
homes and detained Muntaser Hamdi, Samer As-Salhi, Raed Al-Khatib and
Mu'tasim Saleh, witnesses said. Three brothers were detained in
Al-Sikkah Street before Israeli troops
withdrew from at 8am, witnesses say, identifying those detained as
Shadi, Muhannad and Maher Shalabi.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254696
IDF
nabs Palestinian cell allegedly planning terror attack
(Haaretz) An Israel Defense Force unit working in cooperation
with the Shin Bet security service arrested on Sunday a group of
Palestinians in Nablus allegedly planning to carry out a terror attack.
Soldiers from the IDF's elite Duvdevan ("Cherry") unit confiscated
three improvised explosive devices from the Palestinian group. The
explosives were detonated in a controlled explosion and the
Palestinians were taken to be questioned.
In a separate incident Sunday, two Palestinians were
caught with five explosive devices near the Israeli settlement of
Beka'ot.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1143159.html
Hamas: PA forces detained 12 members across the West
Bank
Ma'an - Hamas reported on Sunday that Palestinian Authority security
services
detained 12 of the Islamist movement's affiliates across the West Bank
on Saturday, including a leader of the Al-Qassam Brigades, a statement
issued by the movement said. Al-Qassam Brigades leader Ayoub
Al-Qawasmi was apprehended in Hebron after being pursued by PA security
forces, the statement said. The remaining members were detained in
Hebron, Nablus, Tulkarem, Jenin and Bethlehem governorates.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254618
PA arrests wanted Hamas gunman in Hebron
Ynet
-
The Palestinian Authority (PA) arrested a wanted Hamas gunman in
Hebron last week, Ynet learned Saturday. Ayoub al-Qawasma, a gunmen
belonging to the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, was
apprehended during an operation launched by PA Intelligence forces four
days ago. Three other Hamas figures were detained in the West Bank
city, including a clerk in the Palestinian Interior Ministry. According
to a source in Hebron, during the activity shots were fired at the PA
officers, but there were no reports of injury. The arrests were the
culmination of intense PA activity against Hamas strongholds in the
West Bank, which included the capture of senior Hamas officials,
including local council heads who are affiliated with the Islamist
group, a staunch rival of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' regime.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3835216,00.html
Blockade / War
Experts: Egypt's wall will destroy Gaza's aquifer
Experts in Gaza determined on Sunday that Egypt's underground steel
wall will lead to the destruction of Gaza's aquifer, during a symposium
entitled The Metal Wall between Egypt and Gaza: Impacts, Environmental
and Human Consequences, held in Gaza. Experts and specialists
called on universities and research centres to partake in studies of
the impact of Egypt's steel wall on the Gaza border.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254812
Mubarak's iron wall / Jeremy Salt
Mubarak is not Egypt ... Were fair elections to be held in Egypt,
Mubarak and his National
Democratic Party would be finished. On the question of Palestine,
whatever their other differences, there is no difference between the
Muslim Brotherhood and the secular opposition parties and movements.
Outside the ranks of Mubarak's party there is no support for the
actions he has taken, including his recent prevention of the Viva
Palestina convoy from delivering aid to Gaza. The Egyptian people are
with the Palestinians and amongst them there is a deep sense of shame
at what Mubarak is doing. This is the country of the revolution of
1952, the staunch defender of the Palestinians, of the Third World
struggle against imperialism and colonialism, turned into a humiliating
dish rag by the west's satrap in the presidential palace in Cairo.
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15692
Day 20: 'Israel knew of the location of the UNRWA
premises'
On the morning of 15 January 2009, the field office
compound of UNRWA,
situated in the southern Rimal area of Gaza City, came under sustained
shelling from the Israeli armed forces. At least three high
explosive shells and seven white phosphorous container shells struck
the workshop and warehouse area of the compound causing massive damage
as a result of ensuing fires.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=253374
Freedom of the press
Detained American journalist Jared Malsin goes to
court today to fight deportation from Israel
By Adam Horowitz. Four days ago we posted on the the case of Jared Malsin,
the chief English editor at the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency. Malsin
was detained at the Ben Gurion Airport for the past four days and is in
danger of deported from Israel/Palestine today. Apparently, the primary
reason for his detention was his critical reporting of Israeli policy.
Here is a timeline of Malsin’s case so far. People who have
been in touch with Malsin say he has been kept in a windowless room for
five days.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/
detained-american-journalist-jared-malsin-goes-to-court-today-to-fight-deportation-from-israel.html
Ma'an urges hearing for detained US journalist
17
January 2010 For immediate release.
Ma'an filed its response to Israel's case for expelling detained
journalist Jared Malsin on Sunday evening in Tel Aviv. Minutes
earlier, District Judge Kobi Vardi heard arguments from the Attorney
General's Office in favor of the deportation without a hearing. A
comprehensive translation from Hebrew into English is underway. A
preliminary reading indicates that the attorney general requests there
be no hearing because bringing Malsin into the country would
necessitate changing the terms of his visa status and would therefore
make it more difficult to deport him. Furthermore, the attorney general
argues that Israel is a sovereign
state, that the Ministry of the Interior has denied Malsin entry for
its own reasons, and that this explanation is valid in and of itself.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=253864
No such thing as a Palestinian work visa / Stephanie
Rhodes
...It
seems to me that Jared is being held not because he’s a journalist
and not even really because he’s been critical of Israel. It’s that
he’s doing so under the banner of a Palestinian news agency. Never mind
that both Israeli and international media outlets routinely quote
Ma’an; it’s still Palestinian. When you’re entering or leaving Israel,
the last thing you want is to be linked with anything Palestinian ...
Many people do what it seems Jared may have done and rely on tourist
visas to live, work or study in Palestinian areas, since Israeli-issued
visas for those areas are nearly impossible to obtain unless you’re
backed by a major international organization.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254591
Turkey and Israel
Lieberman: Humiliation of Turkish envoy a mistake
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
addressed Israel's diplomatic row with
Turkey for the first time on Sunday, saying, "In essence, (Israel's)
protest was justified." However, the FM also said that the public humiliation of
the Turkish Ambassador Oguz Celikkol by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny
Ayalon was a mistake. "I hope we can bring things back to the way they
were," said Lieberman following a meeting in Jerusalem with his
Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Stoere ... "We must keep in
mind that Israel's protest
followed a number of measures (on Turkey's part) that are not in line
with good neighborly relations. There was the incident
with (President Shimon) Peres in Davos, the television shows.
This is not good-neighborliness," the foreign minister claimed.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3835630,00.html
Barak visits Turkey, praises Atatürk
ANKARA –
Defense Minister Ehud Barak arrived in Ankara Sunday surrounded by
heavy guard, and despite threats of an arrest warrant for his
involvement in Operation Cast Lead and
the recent diplomatic crisis between
Turkey and Israel, was received without uproar. Barak
laid a wreath on the grave of the
founder of modern and secular Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and said
he had started a legacy of peace in the region.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3835380,00.html
Israel, Turkey ministers overcome diplomatic row
Defense minister,
Turkish counterpart Gonul tell reporters in Ankara they are working to
boost relations, advance joint security projects. Barak: We apologized
for humiliation of Turkish envoy
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3835647,00.html
Israel is engaging in gangster diplomacy / Zvi Bar'el
Now we have also shown the Turks who we are, because
when it comes to the Jewish, Zionist honor of a nation that endured the
Holocaust and the Goldstone report, no one will make a movie about us -
certainly not the Turks - portraying us as war criminals. If Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan thinks he can reprimand us without
a reaction, we'll show him and all the other countries of the world.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1143060.html
Political developments
Fatah: Abbas won't attend Kuwait talks until Hamas
signs document
Members of Fatah's Central Committee told Ma'an on Sunday that
President Mahmoud Abbas will not meet with senior-most Hamas leader
Khaled Mash'al until Hamas signs the Egyptian reconciliation document.
Their
statements follow news that the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh
Muhammad As-Sabah said that a reconciliation meeting will be held
within the next ten days between Abbas and Mash’al, Kuwaiti media
reported on Sunday
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254636
Abbas urges US 'endgame' unless Israel halts
settlements (AFP)
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas urged
Washington on Sunday to declare an "endgame" to resolve the decades-old
Middle East conflict if Israel does not agree to halt settlement
growth. Abbas, in a statement carried by the official Wafa wire
service, said Arab states and the Palestinians would present a unified
position to the United States offering two options.
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/6687717/abbas-urges-us-endgame-unless-israel-halts-settlements/
Hamas to study future of calm with Israel with
Palestinian factions
By
Saleh al Naeimi. Gaza, Asharq Al-Awsat- The Hamas movement will start
in the coming days a series of meetings with representatives of
Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip to discuss the future of the
calm with Israel in view of the latter's recent military escalation
that killed 20 Palestinians within three weeks, Asharq Al-Awsat has
learned. Informed Palestinian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hamas
aims to reach a general framework that organizes the issue of
responding to the Israeli attacks
http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=19551
Diskin
to Abbas: Defer UN vote on Goldstone or face 'second Gaza'
By Akiva Eldar. The request by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
to
the United Nations Human Rights Council last year to postpone the vote
on the Goldstone report followed a particularly tense meeting with the
head of the Shin Bet security service, Haaretz has learned. At the
October meeting in Ramallah, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told Abbas
that if he did not ask for a deferral of the vote on the critical
report on last year's military operation, Israel would turn the West
Bank into a "second Gaza."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1143038.html
Other news
Real per capita income of Palestine plunges
Armed with growing global financial aid, the Palestinians in the
occupied territories struggled to alleviate years of poverty,
unemployment and other economic woes but their efforts have been ruined
by Israel's hostility. In such conditions, the aid was only helpful in
preventing a human disaster in 2008. While their economy
recorded modest growth rates in 2008, the per capita income has
steadily eroded over the past decade, investment has dived,
unemployment deteriorated and the farming sector continued to shrink.
http://www.business24-7.ae/Articles/2010/1/Pages/16012010/01172010_39da394d56624fcf9e617033e8d9d548.aspx
Fatah man asks to return to Gaza for mother's funeral
(AFP)
RAMALLAH,
West Bank — Senior Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan, who is despised by the
Islamist Hamas movement ruling Gaza, has asked to return to the
territory for his mother's funeral, an aide said Sunday. Dahlan "asked
that Arab bodies and Palestinian factions intervene with Hamas to allow
him to go to the Gaza Strip to attend the funeral of his mother, who
passed away this morning in Khan Yunis at the age of nearly 80," the
aide told AFP on condition of anonymity ... Hamas indicated it would
not oppose Dahlan's return.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ijMH3uXFlLEh2TEbTWdydb23A4mQ
PICTI opens branch in Gaza
The Palestinian
Information and Communication Technology Incubator
(PICTI), an organization that assists technology entrepreneurs to
commercialize their ideas, announced on Saturday that it will be
opening a branch in Gaza. The new Gaza branch has begun to hire
staff able to offer services to clients in the IT and communications
sector to support the Palestinian economy by creating job opportunities
of IT graduates in Gaza, as well as those interested in establishing a
company in the field, its representatives said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254427
Foundations of Bethlehem industrial zone underway
Minister of Economy Hasan Abu Libdeh announced on Sunday that
preparations are underway to lay the foundations of Bethlehem's
industrial zone, due to take place on 15 February 2010, he said during
a meeting with a delegation of the French Agency for Development.
Construction
for the new industrial zone will be undertaken in two stages; building
the external and internal infrastructure, creating 50 industrial
buildings for the zone and secondly, building high quality
infrastructure according to internationally recognized standards which
will "promote and attract investors from abroad," said Abu Libdeh ...
The industrial zone is partly funded by French donations
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254775
Fayyad launches building restoration project in Bir
Zeit
It is the project of the Palestinian Authority to create
new and
positive facts on the ground in efforts to achieve a Palestinian state
that meets the needs of its people, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told
Bir Zeit residents on Friday. Fayyad was inaugurating the restoration of
an ancient building in the
heart of the village, supported by the Swedish Development Agency and
the Dutch government and in cooperation with the Bir Zeit municipality.
He also noted several other restoration projects would be soon
underway, supported by the United States.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=254333
Israel - More severe laws planned against foreign
workers
Finance minister to present plan
designed to decrease presence of foreigners in work force
... Steinitz will present data saying that
255,000 foreign workers were residing in Israel in December of 2009,
constituting a total of 10.4% of the work force. Around 125,000 of
these are illegal immigrants. The workers are employed in five major
fields: Nursing, agriculture, construction, ethnic restaurants, and
industry.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3835273,00.html
Analysis / Opinion / Human interest
Family ties are finally renewed
With the
help of a Mail Tribune reporter, an engineering professor who
grew up on the West Bank reconnects with his long-lost American-born
nephew -- ...While [his father] Ali was adjusting to the culture in the
United States in the late
1990s and trying to fit in his Muslim background, Sadi Jr. was being
brought up in Catholicism in Louisiana by his mother, stepfather and
maternal grandparents. As a teenager, he went duck hunting with his
maternal grandfather and maternal uncle. In high school, he joined a
heavy metal band, and after high school, he went to college for a spell
and then joined the military.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100117/LIFE/1170329
Why not Somalia? Why not Darfur? Why not Mars? /
Khalid Amayreh
Zionist spin doctors are visibly upset by growing world awareness
about the manifestly cruel Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza
Strip. These malicious propagandists, hell-bent as they are on
diverting attention from the slow-motion genocide being meted out to
the helpless people of Gaza, are asking “why not Somalia? Why not
Darfur? They think that Israeli-made Gaza tragedy shouldn’t deserve
all this attention and that the thoroughly tormented Gazans should
suffer, starve and die as silently and as quietly as possible. Well, to
begin with, it is highly unlikely that such questions are motivated by
good will or any real desire to see real problems in Somalia and
Darfur and other parts of the world rectified.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Why was I silent about my politics in the Holocause
survivor's house? / Philip Weiss
...I am upset with myself for my silence. I will write that letter to my
mother’s friend. And I think my work is among Jews. They are in the
power class in America, they are the ones standing in the road of our
foreign policy. If we are to make progress on these issues it is
necessary to convert the Jews to the idea of Israel’s non-necessity.
But still Jews don’t believe it; by overwhelming majority they do not
believe it. They are attached to the idea of the Jewish state out of an
ancient Jewish sense of their own isolation in the world community. I
feel that one role I have is to engage on this question, within my
ethnic community, my original tribe, to try and get them past it. It
won’t happen with bludgeoning
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/
why-was-i-silent-about-my-politics-in-the-holocaust-survivors-house.html
Damn the collaborators
Iky Elner slams politicians, rabbis who contribute to growing
draft-dodging phenomenon -- The figures are
frightening: The enlistment
rate for 2008 stood at 72% of Jewish males and 54% of females. Major
General Zamir especially condemned the female draft-dodging – 38% of it
on religious grounds. He said that soon the figure will reach 50%. At
the current rate, Zamir predicts that the overall draft-dodging rate
will hit 40% in the coming decade.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3835277,00.html
Young men of Gaza face treacherous temptation
By Jason Koutsoukis. January 18, 2010 - Collaborating with Israel can
often be the only way out of Gaza's misery. For young Palestinian men
trapped in Gaza, the desire to escape can become so overwhelming that
some inevitably give in to the temptation to collaborate with Israel.
Yet so reviled are collaborators within Palestinian society, that
anyone suspected of helping the Israelis risks torture, at the very
least, and in many cases execution.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/young-men-of-gaza-face-treacherous-temptation-20100117-meap.html
Iraq
'Chemical Ali' sentenced to death over Halabja
poison gas attack (AP)
Saddam Hussein's
notorious
cousin "Chemical Ali" was convicted today of crimes against
humanity, receiving a death sentence for his involvement in a poison
gas attack on Halabja, Iraq.
Families
of victims in court cheered when the judge handed down the guilty
verdict against Ali Hassan al-Majid in a trial for one of the worst
poisonous gas attacks against civilians. He had already received
three previous death sentences for atrocities committed during Saddam's
rule, particularly in the government's campaigns against the Shias and Kurds in the 1980s and
1990s.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/17/chemical-ali-death-sentence-halabja-attack
Shell signs Iraq oil field deal
Oil
giant Shell and Malaysia's state-run Petronas oil company finalised a
contract on Sunday to develop Iraq's giant Majnoon oil field. In
December Shell and Petronas beat a rival bid from France's Total and
China's CNPC to develop the 12.6bn barrel field in southern Iraq.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8464295.stm
Saddam official Tareq Aziz hospitalized, son says
(Reuters)
BAGHDAD, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Tareq Aziz, a former deputy prime minister
who was the public face of Saddam Hussein's regime, suffered a blood
clot in the brain and was moved from prison to an American military
hospital, his son said on Sunday.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE60G0C7.htm
Friday: No Iraq casualties reported
Excerpt: No casualties were reported on the prayer day. However, even as
Iraqi Vice President Adil Abdulmahdi and U.S. Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates were in Washington, D.C. discussing
the security situation ahead of March elections, another Iraqi vice
president, Tareq al-Hashemi, warned
that the situation will deteriorate. Two Katyusha rockets struck a home
in Kirkuk, but no casualties were reported.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/01/16/friday-no-casualties-reported/
Saturday: 6 Iraqis killed, 7 wounded
Excerpt:
At least six Iraqis were killed and seven more were
wounded in light violence. Three
U.S. soldiers
were wounded on Tuesday when two "improvised rocket assisted
munitions" struck a base near Amara. Meanwhile, the U.S. Marines
are packing
up their belongings to either go home or to Afghanistan. Also, the
Iraqi
government has announced plans to hold a full census in October.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/01/16/saturday-6-iraqis-killed-7-wounded-2/
Yemen
Yemen tightens security at oil and gas faciliti
(Reuters)
SANAA, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Yemen has boosted
security at oil and gas
facilities to guard against militant attacks on the vital installations
days after the government declared open war on al Qaeda. Yemen,
a small oil producer with output of around 300,000 barrels per day,
vowed on Thursday to crack down on al Qaeda and a day later said six al
Qaeda militants had been killed in an air strike in northern Yemen.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE60G04M.htm
Yemen-Horn of Africa: African arrivals in 2009 up
55%
SANAA, 17 January 2010 (IRIN) -
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) received 77,802 new arrivals from the
Horn of Africa in 2009, a 55 percent increase over 2008 and the first
time Somalis were not the majority nationality, the agency's external
relations officer Rocco Nuri told IRIN in Sanaa on 16 January. The
biggest change over 2008, he said, was that the number of
Ethiopians making the perilous boat journey across the Gulf of Aden
more than doubled to 44,814, while 32,988 Somalis reached Yemen's
shores.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/9a449aa756bdbec6a4ef79f0a5473638.htm
U.S.
Spanish
MP's photo used for Osama bin Laden poster
A
Spanish politician has said he was shocked to find out the FBI had used
his photo for a digitally-altered image showing how Osama Bin Laden
might look. Gaspar Llamazares said he would no longer feel safe
travelling to the US after his hair and parts of his face appeared on a
most-wanted poster. He said the use of a real person for the mocked-up
image was "shameless".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8463657.stm
SCENARIOS: What comes next for the U.S. and Haiti? /
Andrew Quinn (Reuters)
WASHINGTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's pledge for
long-term U.S. help to earthquake-stricken Haiti could saddle
Washington with a lead role in yet another of the world's most
desperate countries -- a risky proposition ... U.S. officials sketch out
a long-term strategy under which the United
Nations -- which already has a peacekeeping force of about 9,000 in the
country -- takes the lead.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17227541.htm
Book review: A country called Amreeka
Alia Malek may very well be the first to narrate a comprehensive
contemporary American history from the perspective of Arabs in America.
If others have grown up in a situation anything like mine, then their
experience reading textbooks in grade school is not unlike that of many
other non-white peoples in the United States, who read what passes as
American history often wondering what role people like them played.
http://www.kabobfest.com/2010/01/a-country-called-amreeka-book-review.html |
| For further information contact Shadi Fadda |
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