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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Land theft and destruction/Ethnic cleansing
22
Palestinian
homes to be razed in East Jerusalem
Jerusalem municipal
planning committee approves plan to demolish 22 Palestinian homes in the
Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem to make room for a tourist
center.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/22-palestinian-homes-to-be-razed-in-east-jerusalem-1.297471
Ground
broken for 600 J'lem settler homes
Jerusalem – Ma'an –
Israeli construction vehicles and bulldozers began digging in Jerusalem
on Monday morning, in what is believed to be ground work for the
building of some 600 new settlement units. The homes were announced in
late February, and are set to be built near the illegal Pisgat Ze'ev
settlement and the Palestinian neighborhood of Shu'fat.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=293414
J'lem to authorize al-Bustan demolition
The
Jerusalem municipality is slated to authorized on Monday the "King's
Garden" plan, in which 22 houses in east Jerusalem's al-Bustan
neighborhood will be demolished. The plan, which has made waves
throughout the world, has caused various bodies in the city council to
bare their teeth as the Right demands that an even harsher plan against
Arab illegal building be implemented, while Meretz and the Left have
announced their intentions of resigning from the city government.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3908061,00.html
Report: Israel revoking Jerusalem residency of
hundreds
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - Many Palestinians from Jerusalem who choose
to study and work abroad are finding out that they have imperiled their
right to return to their hometown, an Israeli newspaper reported
Saturday. The 1952 Law of Entry into Israel determines that anyone who
is not an Israeli citizen or the holder of an immigrant's permit or
immigrant's certificate does not have the right to live in Israel, and
his residency in Israel is conditional on a residency permit that has
been granted to him according to this law, the Israeli daily Haaretz
reported regarding a Palestinian deportee.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=293096
Israeli
High
Court Rejects Appeal Against Deporting Jerusalem Legislators
The Israeli High Court rejected on Sunday an appeal against deportation
orders targeting three Palestinian legislators and a former minister
from Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58969
Activism/Boycott,
Sanctions
and
Divestment
Protesters prevent unloading of Israeli ship
(06-20) 12:35 PDT OAKLAND -- Hundreds of demonstrators, gathering at the
Port of Oakland before dawn, prevented the unloading of an Israeli cargo
ship. The demonstrators, demanding an end to Israel's blockade of
the Gaza Strip, picketed at Berth 58, where a ship from Israel's Zim
shipping line is scheduled to dock later today. The day shift of
longshoremen agreed not to cross the picket line.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/20/BA0G1E28CV.DTL
Video
of
Activists in Oakland California: Protesters Picket Israeli Cargo Ship
In
Oakland, California an Israeli ship was blocked
by protesters for the first time in history. 700-1000 protesters blocked
three different gates at 5:30 A.M. keeping dockworkers from unloading the
Israeli cargo. ILWU members refused to cross picketline - citing
"health & safety" provisions of their contract. Management demanded
"instant arbitration." The arbitrator took a look at the picketlines at
each gate to the SSA Terminal and ruled that ILWU members were justified
in refusing to cross. All dockworkers were sent home with FULL PAY.
Special thanks to the Brass Liberation Orchestra for their performances
today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpKObPFtcBA
Huge outpouring of Oakland picketers stop unloading
of Israeli ship, Henry Norr
If anyone had any doubts that the movement for justice in Palestine is
growing by leaps and bounds, in numbers, breadth, and determination,
check out what happened this morning in Oakland, CA
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/huge-outpouring-of-oakland-picketers-stop-unloading-of-israeli-ship.html
Update
from
Oakland: Victory!, Henry Norr
Quick follow-up on today's
action at the Oakland docks: we won! Something like 400 or 500
people - many who had also been there at 5:30 in the morning, plus
others who hadn't made the first shift - turned up to resume the picket
line at 4 p.m. I was surprised there weren't more: I had assumed there
would be far more people in the afternoon, with the BART running, but I
guess even in the Internet age it's hard to get people out with only a a
couple of hours notice.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/update-from-oakland-victory.html
More
pictures
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/06/20/18651361.php
Compilation
of
coverage from: Ynet,
IMEMC, Al
Manar, Haaretz,
Soldiers
Attack
Nonviolent Protestors in Beit Jala
Israeli soldiers
attacked, Sunday, a nonviolent protest against settlements and the
Annexation Wall in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, leading to a number of
injuries. The soldiers also attacked bystanders and reporters
http://www.imemc.org/article/58967
Hebron's Youth Against Settlements red card
occupation
Hebron – Ma'an – Clashes erupted between protesters demanding free
movement in the downtown core of Hebron and Israeli police attempting to
enforce a closure of the street confronted each other on Saturday.
Blowing vuvuzelas and holding red cards, gathered demonstrators demanded
Israel "get off the field" and halt its military
occupation of the city, occupied by some 700 settlers, guarded by at
least 1,500 soldiers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=293357
Al-Ma’sara demands the release of Palestinian
activist Hasan Brijiyyeh
On June 18th, 2010, Israeli occupation forces suppressed Al-Ma’sara’s
weekly protest which called for the release of Hasan Brijiyyeh who was
arrested last week for his involvement in organizing the demonstrations
which oppose the construction of the Apartheid Wall and insist upon the
struggle to preserve the Palestinian land.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2296.shtml
Bil'in: occupation forces arrest 3 solidarity
activists, wound 3 protesters
June 19th, 2010-- The weekly march headed towards the area of the Wall
where the occupation forces were already hiding behind the concrete
blocks of the Wall. The demonstrators attempted to cross the gate of the
Wall, which was closed with barbed wire. During the ensuing clashes,
three demonstrators were injured.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2299.shtml
Ni'lin: occupation forces assault medical staff and a
press
June 19th, 2010-- The occupation forces beat the medical staff, threw
down their important medical equipment, and arrested them. Hamud Said
Amira, a cameraman from Ni’lin, was also assaulted during the
demonstration. On the other side of the Apartheid Wall, the occupation
forces set fire to olive trees.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2298.shtml
Wadi
Rahal: Scouts lead protest against the Apartheid
Wall in spite of threats from IOF
June 19th, 2010-- The
scouts of Wadi al-Rahal led the residents and the international
solidarity activists in the weekly march against the Apartheid Wall in
the village. After the Friday prayers, the march started from the center
of the village and moved towards the area of the Wall in an attempt to
reach the confiscated lands.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2297.shtml
Lebanese Christian women plan new Gaza aid convoy
A group of women planning to sail to Gaza gathered to pray by a statue
of Our Lady in south Lebanon, before setting out on boat called Mariam, a
voyage bringing aid to Gaza., Spokeswoman Rima Farah said she felt their
prayers were already being answered as Israeli officials have now
announced plans to slightly ease the blockade on Gaza., "The
participants are committed to making progress and our only weapons are
faith in the Virgin Mary and in humanity," she told Agence France
Presse.
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=16349
Israel Preparing to Repeat the “Marmara” Scenario,
Lebanon to Respond
20/06/2010 Lebanon is preparing to explain its position at the UN
Security Council in response to Israeli threats to prevent ships that
could sail from Lebanese ports in an attempt to break the Israeli siege
of the Gaza Strip, Al-Hayat newspaper reported on Sunday. The paper
quoted an unnamed source as saying that Lebanon will reject Israeli
accusations, especially after the letter sent by Israeli Ambassador to
the UN Gabriela Shalev on Friday to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and
Security Council members pointing to alleged links between the sponsors
of a new Gaza-bound aid ship and Hezbollah.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=142999&language=en
European women organize new siege-breaking trip to Gaza
Women
for Gaza organization has decided to send an aid ship to Gaza Strip with
women on board to break the Israeli naval blockade on the coastal
enclave.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Canadian who was on flotilla slams Israeli policy
change
“It’s another one of these publicity stunts Israel is conducting,” the
former Toronto resident said from Jordan. “I don’t want people —
especially in my hometown — to fall prey to this propaganda.”
http://www.canada.com/news/Canadian+flotilla+slams+Israeli+policy+change/3179169/story.html
Maariv:
Targeted
boycott and divestment pushing companies out of the settlements
The
cover story of this morning’s (June 21 2010) Maariv business section
reports that targeted boycott and divestment actions — Israeli,
Palestinian and international — are pushing an increasing number of
Israeli companies out of the West Bank settlements and into Israeli
proper:
http://coteret.com/2010/06/21/
maariv-targeted-boycott-and-divestment-pushing-companies-out-of-the-settlements/
“Stand
up… and Break the Siege” Initiative continues to challenge closing off
of Palestinian roads
June 19th, 2010-- The villages of northeast Ramallah organized the
second mass demonstration in Bittin to open the main road to Ramallah
and to expose the Israeli occupation forces’ policy of collective
punishment. The campaign is the first of its kind in demanding the
opening of closed roads by the occupation forces.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2300.shtml
Participate in the World Education Forum in
Palestine, October 28-31 2010
The World Education Forum (WEF) will take place in Palestine between the
dates of October 28th through the 31st under the umbrella of the World
Social Forum (WSF) program. Established in 2001, the WSF uses social
exchange and active cooperation to oppose war, colonialism,
neo-liberalism and a strictly market-driven approach to economic and
social policy from which only a handful of elites are able to benefit.
The WSF has become the ‘open space’ for global civil society with the
basic goal of affecting positive change throughout world.
http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/2302.shtml
Punishing Dissent
Education minister vows to punish professors who
back academic boycott
Gideon Sa'ar says government will act during the summer against
academics who joined call for Israel boycott.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
education-minister-vows-to-punish-professors-who-back-academic-boycott-1.297330
How I
was summoned to the Knesset
On Monday, June 21, I am to
appear before the Knesset Education Committee and the Minister of
Education, Mr. Gideon Saar, following my unequivocal words to my
students, condemning the 43 year-old occupation and rule over the life
of the Palestinian people. A school principal should have a clear and
unequivocal moral position about any subject and issue on the agenda of
Israeli society. A principal is not an educational clerk. A principal
must have, for example, something to say about the deportation of the
children of migrant workers, trafficking in women, the separation fence,
the withdrawal from Gaza, minimum wage law, settlers attacking
Palestinian villagers to exact a `price tag`, the removal of Arabs from
their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, the siege on Gaza, corruption in
government, or the relations of religion and state.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=40651
Violence and
Aggression/War Criminals
IOF
troops
advance in northern Gaza, detain Jerusalemite youths
Israeli
occupation forces (IOF) advanced into the outskirts of Beit Lahia town
in northern Gaza Strip at dawn Monday and fired at citizens' homes at
random, local sources said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
A Widow Mourns, An Army Lies
Last week Palestine Monitor reported that Israeli police shot and killed
Shu'fat resident 39-year-old Ziad Jilani in the East Jerusalem
neighbourhood of Wadi Joz. Now his widow, a U.S. citizen, reflects on
her husband's life and death, and the journey he's taken her on.
Reporting from Kara Newhouse.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1457
Who will be punished for killing civilans in the
Gaza war?, Amira Hass
The decision to indict Staff Sgt. S. for killing two women during last
year's war in Gaza has caused a stir. But his lawyer will rightly ask,
why him, and not all the others who killed civilians?'
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
who-will-be-punished-for-killing-civilans-in-the-gaza-war-1.297390
Detainees
Abbas's
militias
kidnap Hamas leader in Jenin
Militias loyal to Mahmoud Abbas
kidnapped Sheikh Khaled Al-Haj, a Hamas leader, on Sunday only two
months after the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) released him from
its jails.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Siege/Human
Rights/Humanitarian Issues/Restriction of Movement
Goods
–
Needs Vs. Supply – May 23 – June 19
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/06/goods-needs-vs-supply-may-23-june-19/
Israeli
steps
to ease blockade not end of siege: Hamas
GAZA, June 21
(Xinhua) -- The Israeli decision to ease the blockade of Gaza by
extending the list of items allowed into the territory "does not mean
the end of the siege," an official from the deposed Hamas government
said on Monday. "Israel is maneuvering," Hamas Minister of Economy Ziad
al-Zaza told the Gaza-based al-Quds Radio, adding "the Israelis are
deceiving the world to avoid the recent wave of international
criticism."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-06/21/c_13361269.htm
Inside
Story
- Lifting the blockade
George Mitchell, the US special
envoy to the Middle East, met with Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian
president, on Saturday to discuss ongoing political deadlock in the
Middle East. On Friday he met with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian
president, in Ramallah. Both Abbas and Ismail Haniya, the deposed prime
minister, however, reiterated that the Israeli blockade of the Gaza
Strip must be completely lifted. But can those making this demand
capitalise on unprecedented international pressure to achieve that end?
And will more planned aid flotillas bound for Gaza help or hinder?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHn5uOWdUPA&feature=youtube_gdata
Concerns
over
Gaza blockade "ease"
Israel has announced it will loosen its
blockade on the Gaza Strip by allowing a greater variety of goods to
enter the territory, which has been deprived of basic imports including
medicine and construction material for more than three years. The
Israeli prime minister's office said it will start prohibiting only
items deemed as "weapons or war material" to mitigate security risks.
But specifics as to what constitutes "war material" have not been
mentioned, fueling widespread fears that much needed items will remain
banned from entering Gaza. Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros reports from
Jerusalem. [June 21, 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jdsZqWW23Y&feature=youtube_gdata
Report: German government to demand sea aid to Gaza
The German parliament is to issue a cross-party demand that Israel allow
humanitarian aid to reach the Gaza Strip by sea, the daily Sueddeutsche
Zeitung reported Saturday.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1564554.php/
MK Zoabi: Blockade easing proves politics as
motivator, not defense
Arab lawmaker who took part in
Gaza-bound flotilla says it marked 'beginning of total collapse of
Israeli siege.' Adds: I won't be deterred by political persecution,
scare campaign.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3908076,00.html
No Gaza optimism over easing blockade
"I don't need ketchup or mayonnaise from Israel. I need my business
back," says Nasser al-Helo standing on a busy street in Gaza City.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10359740.stm
Israel willing to increase transfer of goods to Gaza
by 30%
Shortly after announcement on easing of blockade, coordinator of
government activities in territories tells Palestinians Israel prepared
to raise number of trucks entering Strip each day from 100 to 130. MK
Hasson: PM sending dangerous message that terrorism pays off.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3908047,00.html
Gaza
power
plant: Ramallah stalls fuel deliveries
Gaza – Ma'an – The
Gaza Energy Authority said Monday that the central Strip fuel station
has been receiving some 33% of the necessary amount of industrial
diesel, and accused the Ramallah government of curtailing supply. The
report renews an argument which first arose in February, one
month after the EU handed over control of Gaza fuel deliveries to the
Palestinian Authority, at the government's request. The PA, citing
budgetary difficulties, had the EU contribute funds to civil servant
salaries but had trouble funding sufficient amounts of fuel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=293464
Gazan family sends plea for their daughter's health
condition
Gaza, June 20, (Pal Telegraph) The family of Reem Riad Abdel-Gawad (14
years), appealed to President Mahmoud Abbas and every other concerned
direction to provide the necessary treatment for their daughter
suffering from an abnormality of the left hand that grows while she
grows up. Reem’s mother said that her daughter suffers from inflation
in the bones of her left hand, pointing out that the size of her
daughter’s hand gets bigger and heavier while her daughter grows up.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/gaza-strip/6464-
gazan-family-sends-plea-for-their-daughters-health-condition
Gazans decry tax increases
Residents
of the Gaza Strip have been facing a new burden - a significant rise in
taxes on a number of items ranging from gas to cigarettes. The taxes,
which have been introduced by Hamas, the Palestinian group ruling the
territory, have been increasing the strain on many business owners and
shopkeepers. Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston reports on how some are
questioning the legitimacy of the financial measures. [June 20, 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEoIyTMKz5k&feature=player_embedded
A
day on the road to Gaza
When Egypt announced it would open Gaza’s Rafah border crossing on June
1, hundreds of Gazans flocked to the border. Photo: International
Solidarity Movement Two days after the
flotilla massacres on May 31, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt announced
in response to mass demonstrations in Cairo and across the world, that
Egypt was opening the Rafah border crossing, breaching the siege of the
Gaza Strip that holds its 1.5 million people in a stranglehold.
Hundreds of Gazans flocked to the southern-most border of
the coastal enclave. Many were left waiting on the border for days,
denied entry to Egypt. On the Egyptian side, only a small trickle of
aid passed through the dusty hopelessness of northern Sinai through the
myriad military checkpoints on the road to Gaza.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/44490
Flotilla
activists:
Violence led to blockade removal
Following Israel's decision
to ease Gaza blockade, pro-Palestinian activists celebrate victory, say
'without the deaths onboard Marmara, we might not
have witnessed results today'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3908370,00.html
Olmert
aides:
Barak responsible for siege
Following decision to ease
blockade on Strip, former prime minister's associates blame defense
minister for Israel's 'coriander and pasta policy' which was harshly
criticized by world. 'He was the one who insisted on preventing the
inflow of products with no security risk,' one of them says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3908233,00.html
Refugees
First person: Life of a Palestinian refugee
The United Nation marks World Refugee Day on June 20, a day meant to
focus attention on the plight of 40 million uprooted people around the
world. Alia Salman is a Palestinian woman who was living in Iraq until
the war changed her life. Now a resident of Anaheim, California, she
tells Al Jazeera her story in her own words. (June 20, 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX4xGjIbKFc&feature=youtube_gdata
Palestinian
Women
under Occupation
The
Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations is a Beirut,
Lebanon-based organization engaged in "strategic and futuristic studies
on the Arab and Muslim worlds, (emphasizing) the Palestinian issue. In
early 2010, it published the second of its series, "Am I Not a Human," a report titled, "The Suffering of the Palestinian Woman under the
Israeli Occupation, " discussed below.
http://www.baltimorechronicle.com/2010/062110Lendman.shtml
Israel's Arab Security Guards
PNA hopeful to open more police stations under
proximity talks
The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is
hopeful to get an Israeli approval through proximity negotiations to
build new police stations in the West Bank, a source told Xinhua
Saturday. The source added that the 28 police stations would be built
on B areas where the PNA -- under Oslo agreement -- have administrative
control in these areas while it shares security control with Israel.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/7031555.html
Nablus:
not allowed to visit Joseph’s Tomb!
Yesterday, while in
Nablus, we went to Joseph’s Tomb – just on the edge of downtown Nablus,
and near Balata and Askar refugee camps. There was no one else there as
we parked next to the low white-washed domes. But there was a
Palestinian Security post right across the streets. One
soldier/policeman came with his big gun, and said we were not allowed to
be there. He gestured at the top of the mountain facing us. There I saw
one of the concrete cylindrical Pillbox” towers used by Israeli forces.
The Palestinian policeman said the Israelis either had, or would
momentarily be, calling him on the radio to say we weren’t allowed to be
there. But, I said, the Oslo Accords provide for free access to all
religious sites.
http://un-truth.com/israel/nablus-not-allowed-to-visit-josephs-tomb
Political Developments/Flotilla Fallout
US signals better relations with Israel (AFP)
AFP - The United States signaled Sunday strained relations with Israel
were on the mend, announcing White House talks with Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu early next month and backing him to the hilt over his
plans to ease a four-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100620/pl_afp/uspoliticsdiplomacymideastgaza
Netanyahu drops opposition to Likud plan for renewed
settlement building
PM delayed discussion on the construction freeze in for months but will
not oppose new initiative and may even support it.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
netanyahu-drops-opposition-to-likud-plan-for-renewed-settlement-building-1.297334
Netanyahu: Decision to ease Gaza siege weakens Hamas
Prime
Minister tells Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that easing
civilian blockade allows Israel to focus on real security concerns.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
netanyahu-decision-to-ease-gaza-siege-weakens-hamas-1.297476
Aluf
Benn
/ Turkey can take credit for ending Israel's blockade of Gaza
It
is
now clear, even to Israel's leaders, that the Turkish flotilla -
despite activists' deaths and not having actually reached Gaza -
accelerated policy change in Gaza.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
aluf-benn-turkey-can-take-credit-for-ending-israel-s-blockade-of-gaza-1.297463
Freed
Islamic
leader urges national unity
Nayef Rajoub, the popular
Islamic leader in the al-Khalil region, has been set free after spending
48 months of captivity in Zionist jails and detention camps for
“taking part in illegal elections.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Other News
Dubai to have security cameras 'everywhere' (AFP)
AFP - Dubai, where a top Hamas commander was killed in January in an
assassination blamed on Israel's Mossad spy agency, is to have security
cameras "everywhere," the police chief was quoted as saying on Sunday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100620/wl_mideast_afp/uaedubaisecuritymideasthamas
Report: Brodsky used cover name Alexander Verin
Der
Spiegel
says Israeli arrested in Poland on suspicion of aiding Mabhouh
assassination used several cover names while in Germany; claims Berlin
angry over 'Mossad's use of Holocaust in passport request'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3907484,00.html
Experts
to
discuss 'hasbara' at TA conference
The Israel Security
Council – a private initiative that brings together 28 experts,
including academics and former military officials – will hold a
conference on Sunday in Tel Aviv to address the problems faced by the
country’s often lackluster hasbara (public diplomacy) efforts. In a
press release issued on Thursday, the council said the conference was
being held as “Israel’s image is right before our eyes becoming a
national security problem for the State of Israel. A need has been
created for someone to fill this vacuum and designate the goals and
objectives needed for hasbara.”
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=178818
West Bank women get first radio station
The new Arabic station, Nisaa (Women) 96 FM, will be run by men and
women and aimed at a broad demographic, with programming focused on
social issues as well as music and call-in shows with experts. "The
broadcasts will focus on women's issues, but they will also target men
in order to influence them for the benefit of women," Maysoun Odeh
Gangat, the station's founder, told reporters in Ramallah at the formal
launch.
http://business.maktoob.com/20090000482330/West_Bank_women_get_first_radio_station/Article.htm
Analysis/Opinion
Richard Falk:The Shock Resulting from Flotilla
Attack has Reinforced the Campaign to de-Legitimize Israel
Richard Falk 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 Dugard. 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
Intifada Palestine’s Elias F. Harb .
http://intifada-palestine.com/2010/06/richard-falkthe-
shock-resulting-from-flotilla-attack-have-reinforced-the-campaign-to-de-legitimize-israel/
Our western privilege is the legacy of historical
violence, Max Ajl
David Bromwich has responded to my comment
about non-violence and violence with a strong, textual case for
non-violent mobilization. Engagement is welcome. There is space for
tactical and conceptual clarification and discussion. First, though,
several mistakes, misinterpretations, and mis-directions demand
correction. Bromwich insists that “For Gandhi and for King non-violence
was a principle,” and
proceeds to lay out their ideas, appending a post-script with extended
quotations. I do not know why Bromwich brought up King, who was anyway
not the dogmatic pacifist he presents, and whose non-violent activism
achieved its partial successes against the specter of violence in
American urban centers and the threat of revolutionary militancy from
the Black Panthers and the social spirit they stood for. Anyway, I did
not bring King up. Here I will stick to Gandhi...
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/our-western-privilege-is-the-legacy-of-historical-violence.html
Turkey, Israel, the U.S., Helena Cobban
Several
strongly
pro-Israeli members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives
have
stepped up their campaigns against NATO ally Turkey over the past week,
in a campaign that has been quietly orchestrated by the big pro-Israel
organization AIPAC. (See, for example, the 'Related Materials' linked to
on this
page of the AIPAC website.)
http://justworldnews.org/archives/004048.html
MJ Rosenberg: AIPAC Circulates Racist Anti-Turk,
Anti-Arab Video
The "pro-Israel" lobby is slipping big time.
First, earlier this spring, its student activities czar, Jonathan
Kessler, openly spoke about how AIPAC muzzles Congress. But this is
worse. Yesterday, it's press liaison circulated a blatantly racist
video. (He sent it out to his media contacts by email to avoid too much
of a direct link to AIPAC. Nice try).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rosenberg/aipac-circulates-racist-a_b_618264.html
Cartoonists get the story, even if MSM is muzzled,
Philip Weiss
Here's Jeff
Darcy
at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, great. Hispaper
promptly retrenched from his view of Gaza. And here's Matt
Bors, more Gaza inhumanity. Thanks to Idrees Ahmad.
Oh and here's Emily Henochowicz again. Her paintings for the "apartheid wall."
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/cartoonists-get-the-story-even-if-msm-is-muzzled.html
Book review: Victor Kattan's legal history of the
colonization of Palestine
In order to understand how the law works, one needs to situate it in its
political and historical context, otherwise it loses its relevance.
That's what Victor Kattan's new book From Coexistence to Conquest does.
It is a novel attempt to examine the legal history of the Israeli-Arab
conflict, describing law as one factor among many that shaped the
development of events. Mazen Masri reviews.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11344.shtml
Iraq
Sunday: 50 Iraqis Killed, 77 Wounded
At least 50 Iraqis were killed and 77 more were wounded in attacks that
focused mostly on Baghdad. Turkish troops also struck in northern Iraq
where civilians were among the casualties. Also, an American-born
al-Qaeda spokesman repeated the group's demands, which include the
withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/06/20/sunday-50-iraqis-killed-77-wounded/
New
clashes
in Iraq over electricity cuts (Reuters)
Reuters - Iraqi
police fired water cannon Monday to disperse stone-throwing protesters
in the southern city of Nassiriya, demonstrating over crippling power
cuts that are stoking tensions following a March election.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100621/ts_nm/us_iraq_electricity_protest
Iraqi army confronted UK deportation officials on
Baghdad plane
Army officer reportedly warned UK officials not to return Iraqis by
force again, as UNHCR condemns removals to Baghdad.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/16/unhcr-uk-baghdad-deportations
Inside Iraq - Iraq parliament's first session
Three months after its elections, Iraq is still without a government.
Tough political horse-trading is underway and party bosses are jockeying
to win the coveted position of prime minister. All parties have wrapped
themselves up in Iraqi nationalism and vowed to make services, security
and fighting corruption their top priorities. But polls indicate that
Iraqis do not believe a word of it. What everyone is reluctant to
discuss openly and freely, however, is who Iraq's neighbours would
prefer to become prime minister. Despite denials and protestations by
Iraqi politicians, the decision of who should govern Iraq is made as
much in Tehran, Damascus and Washington as by Iraqi voters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyWREr0v9BI&feature=youtube_gdata
Iraqi
FM
says political 'bickering' risks street riots (AFP)
AFP -
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari warned on Monday that prolonged
"bickering" over who should be the war-torn country's prime minister is
angering the public and risks stoking deadly street riots.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100621/wl_afp/iraqpoliticszebari
Iraq's Allawi fears plots to assasinate him (AFP)
AFP - Former Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi, who is locked in a
struggle to form a new government after inconclusive polls, said in an
interview Monday he had been warned of plots to assassinate him.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100621/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpoliticsallawi
Iraq: Finding hope for former child fighters
BAGHDAD, 14
June 2010 (IRIN) - Sheikh HM's message to the teenagers gathered around
him after Friday prayers at a Baghdad mosque was straightforward: "Islam
is simple. Be a moderate Muslim and not an extremist one to win the
love of
God." The cleric, who gave only his initials for fear of retaliation,
said the only way to win the war against terrorism and sectarianism in
Iraq is to keep young people away from extremists.
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4c1b1b9ca.html
Lebanon
Hezbollah: diplomacy doesn't work with Israel
BEIRUT, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah
stressed Sunday that diplomacy is not the best way to deal with Israel,
vowing to never stand on the "neutral side" when it comes to dealing
with the Israeli threats to Lebanon. "Some groups are adopting a
conspiracy path to protect Israel," Hezbollah's MP Mohamad Raad was
quoted by the National News Agency (NNA) as saying during a ceremony in
the southern village of Zawtar.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-06/20/c_13359565.htm
Jumblatt: Sovereignty secured by safeguarding
Resistance's arms
MUKHTARA: Preserving the Resistance's weapons guarantees Lebanese
sovereignty and strengthens ties between Lebanon and Syria, Progressive
Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt said Saturday. Jumblatt made
his remarks during a luncheon banquet at his residence in Mukhtara,
where the guest of honor of was Syria's Ambassador to Lebanon Ali
Abdel-Karim.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=116207
U.S.
and other
World News
Report: Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel to quit
White House
Washington insiders say top adviser has reached reached an understanding
with the president that he will serve only half the full four-year term.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/
report-obama-chief-of-staff-rahm-emanuel-to-quit-white-house-1.297393
Meanwhile the press in the U.S. likes to focus on executions
in Iran...World opinion condemns the US for a 'savage'
execution
Around the world and across the US, the firing squad execution in Utah
has been met with a wave of criticism from those entirely opposed to the
death penalty and those who say that shooting is not the most humane
method of killing a prisoner.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/
world-opinion-condemns-the-us-for-a-savage-execution-2004760.html
Lieberman tells Web users to ‘relax’ about ‘kill
switch’
"Right now China, the government, can disconnect parts of its Internet
in case of war and we need to have that here too," Lieberman told CNN's
Candy Crowley on State of the Union Sunday.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0620/lieberman-relax-kill-switch/
Proposed Muslim centre near 9/11 site draws protest
A proposal to build an Islamic Centre near Ground Zero, where the twin
towers of the World Trade Centre once stood in the US city of New York,
has met with loud opposition from some Americans. Two hijacked airliners
were flown into the towers on September 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000
people, an event blamed on, and claimed by, al-Qaeda. The Cordoba
Initiative group, which says it aims to improve Muslim-West relations,
plans to build a community centre near the site to help spread the
message of tolerance. Local authorities, including New York's mayor,
Michael Bloomberg, as well as residents in the neighbourhood, have
welcomed the centre. But a small, vocal group led by the Stop
Islamisation of America movement says the centre has no business being
near Ground Zero. Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey reports. (June 20, 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJZbknXDLm8&feature=youtube_gdata
Academy-Award Winning Filmmaker Oliver Stone Tackles Latin America's
Political Upheaval in "South of the Border", U.S. Financial Crisis in
Sequel to Iconic "Wall Street"
Academy-award winning
filmmaker Oliver Stone has taken on three American presidents in "JFK,"
"Nixon," and "W." and the most controversial aspects of the war in
"Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of July." He looked at the greed of
the financial industry in the Hollywood hit "Wall Street" and its
forthcoming sequel. In "South of the Border", his latest documentary out
this week in the United States, Stone takes a road trip across South
America, meeting with seven presidents about the revolution sweeping the
continent. The leftist transformation in the region might be ignored or
misrepresented as nothing but "anti-Americanism" in the corporate media,
but this film seeks to tell a different story. Stone joins us along
with the film’s co-writer, the Pakistani-British author and activist
Tariq Ali.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/21/academy_award_winning_filmmaker_oliver_stone
Ethnic in Uzbek in Kyrgyzstan: We have become like
Palestinians
400,000 uprooted people crammed into squalid camps on Kyrgyzstan's
sun-parched border with Uzbekistan with little access to clean water or
food.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/
ethnic-in-uzbek-in-kyrgyzstan-we-have-become-like-palestinians-1.297247
Iran executes Jundallah leader
The leader of Jundallah, an Iranian Sunni Muslim group that has been
engaged in an insurgency against the Iranian government for years, has
been hanged in public in Tehran, the capital. Abdulmalek Rigi, who was
executed on Sunday, was the government's public enemy number one. He was
accused of being behind several attacks since 2005 that have killed more
than 150 people, including security personnel and civilians. Jundallah
says it is fighting for the rights of Sunnis, who they claim are
discriminated against and oppressed in the Shia dominated country. Al
Jazeera's Dan Nolan reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BXLXtHRPJs&feature=youtube_gdata
Jordan patients seek justice over malpractice
Jordan is known for its advanced and high-quality medical services, but a
recent increase in malpractice claims has dented the reputation of the
country's healthcare system. Last year, Jordan's ministry of health said
it had received about 3,000 complaints related to medical negligence.
Now, victims of botched operations are calling for compensation in court
and a change in the law. Al Jazeera's Nisreen El-Shamayleh reports from
the capital, Amman, on the struggle of patients seeking justice. Viewers
should note her report contains graphic pictures of surgery being
performed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij4UDoVeaB8&feature=youtube_gdata |
| For further information contact Shadi Fadda |
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