|
Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
|
Land theft and destruction/Ethnic cleansing
Israel's Likud approves West Bank settlement growth
(AFP)
AFP - The Likud party of Israel's hardline Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu unanimously approved on Thursday a motion to continue
settlement building in the occupied West Bank, a statement said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100624/wl_afp/mideastdiplomacyussettlerlikud
Israel: Lawmaker has 24 hours to leave Jerusalem
Jerusalem
- Ma'an - Hamas lawmaker Muhammad Abu Teir has until Friday to leave
Jerusalem, Israeli police informed him late Wednesday. Officials said
the Palestinian Legislative Council member was reached by phone at his
Sur Baher home after sundown Wednesday with news that upon order of
Israel's High Court, his residency rights would soon be voided.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294386
Solidarity/Activism/Boycott,
Sanctions
and
Divestment
Bil'in: One Injured As
Troops Attack Anti Wall Protest
A Palestinian man was injured
on Friday after being shot by Israeli troops during the weekly
nonviolent protest against the wall in Bil'in village central West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59003
Women
prepare
for Gaza sail: We won't fight Israel
One of hundreds
of female volunteers planning to sail to Hamas-ruled territory with
diapers, milk, medical supplies and clothes says, 'Our only weapons are
faith in the Virgin Mary and in humanity'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3910691,00.html
Iranian aid flotilla cancelled, won't sail to Gaza
Organizers cite 'Israeli threats' as the reason for canceling the
flotilla; separate Iranian ship heads to Gaza via Caspian Sea.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/iranian-aid-flotilla-cancelled-won-t-sail-to-gaza-1.298165
Reports:
Iranian
ship may depart from Turkey
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies -
Citing unnamed organizers, Israeli media reported Friday that Iran will
not send ships to Gaza in an effort to break the continued siege on
Gaza. US-based CNN released a report with a Tehran dateline, saying the
official news agency of Iran released a statement to the same effect,
quoting Hussein Sheikh Al-Islam, secretary-general of the International
Conference for the Support of the Palestinian Intifada, in the statement
as saying: "The Iranian ship carrying humanitarian aid will not go to
Gaza."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294531
Under pressure, Pride Toronto reverses censorship of
“Israeli apartheid”
And after Pride Toronto remarkably agreed to censor the two words
“Israeli apartheid” from the parades (while it’s perfectly legal to
utter the phrase in Israel or write it in Israel’s most prestigious
newspaper), it seemed as though B’nai Brith and friends won. But after a
massive
backlash, Pride Toronto has just announced it has overturned the
ridiculous decision. Xtra
reports.
http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/06/24/
under-pressure-pride-toronto-reverses-censorship-of-israeli-apartheid/
In honor of US Social Forum: my first encounter with
the “new anti-Semitism”, Cecilie Surasky
Cypriot journalist Christiana Voniati, with whom I recently did this
interview, Echoes
From The Warsaw Ghetto In Gaza, reminded me this week of an article I
wrote in early 2004 about going to the World Social Forum in Mumbai,
India. Its cousin, the US Social Forum is happening right now in Detroit,
so I thought this would be a good time to reprint what I
wrote in 2004 because in many ways it marked my first personal encounter
with the way so many groups, in this case the Simon Wiesenthal
Center, were willing to lie and dehumanize in service of a political
agenda. It also describes what I feel is even more true today-the
parallel yet all too often deliberately hidden universe of mutual
respect, love and friendship that already exists between many Arabs,
Jews, Palestinians, Israelis and others, especially in this movement for
justice and equality.
http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/06/24/in-honor-of-us-social-forum-my-first-encounter-with-the-new-anti-semitism/
Stop the Bullets! Activism in the Buffer Zone
After
the
recent attack on International activists aboard boats of the Gaza
Freedom Flotilla, the Boycott National Committees have
called for an intensification of BDS campaigns and actions around
the world While the raid is no longer in the news, Israeli armed forces
are still targeting Gazan non-violent activists. Every week near the
‘buffer zone’, demonstrators and farmers are shot at with live
ammunition. The violence against these activists, just as the violence
against the Freedom Flotilla, cannot be ignored. The BDS Movement
website has lots of suggestions about how to start or
support a local campaign.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/06/stop-the-bullets-activism-in-the-buffer-zone/
Kenneth O’Keefe on BBC’s Hardtalk
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/06/24/kenneth-okeefe-on-bbcs-hardtalk/
Midnight on the Mavi Marmara
The Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and How It Changed the Course of
the Israeli/Palestine Conflict. Moustafa
Bayoumi, Editor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7atCghrAFZ0&feature=player_embedded
Violence/Aggression
Israeli
air strikes kill two in Gaza - Palestinians
JERUSALEM, June
25 (Reuters) - Two Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes
against targets in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical workers said on
Friday. They said they recovered the body of a man from a tunnel in the
south of the coastal territory and the body of a second man remained
under rubble.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE65O14R.htm
Israeli warplanes raid Gaza (AFP)
AFP - Israeli warplanes flew three raids against the Gaza Strip
overnight wounding one person, witnesses and Palestinian medical
officials said Friday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100625/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazaraid
Israelis
Keep
the Trigger Tight, Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH, Jun 24, 2010 (IPS)
- "Where is my daddy? Why is he not coming home? I want my daddy,"
sobs seven- year-old Yasmin, her big blue eyes filling with tears. She
wakes up crying every night.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51936
Clashes reported along border in northern Gaza
Gaza – Ma’an – A Palestinian military group affiliated with the attacked
an Israeli patrol that entered the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday. The
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's Abu Ali Mustafa
Brigades said its forces fired several mortar shells toward an Israeli
unit that penetrated the Erez area of northern Gaza near Beit Hanoun.
The group said in a statement that its operatives would continue to
confront "the occupation and its crimes."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294436
Detainees
Child
Tortured, His Privates electrified By Israeli Interrogators
Israeli interrogators tortured a Palestinian child who was detained and
sent a detention near in a settlement near Hebron. The child said that
the interrogators used electricity in torturing him by attaching wires
to his testicles.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58997
Family
says
Hebron teenager tortured
Hebron - Ma'an - A Hebron family living beside the illegal Israeli
settlement Kyirat Arba said they were worried for the life of a brother,
who they said was tortured last week, and not for the first time. The
young man, 19-year-old Saleh Daoud Ar-Rajabi, was reportedly taken by
Israeli soldiers on 14 June for several hours, and returned home beaten.
"They put their cigarette butts out on him, on sensitive parts of his
body," Saleh's brother Kayed said. After Saleh returned home, his
brother added, "their torture made him act strangely."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=292417
Red Crescent medic detained at Gaza crossing
Gaza – Ma'an – Israeli forces detained a Red Crescent medic Wednesday
night at the Erez crossing as he and four other medics were en route to a
training conference in Jerusalem. Maher Abu Auf, a Palestinian official
at the Beit Hanoun crossing, said Israeli border guards detained medic
Ashraf Al-Khatib and refused to explain why he was being held.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294381
7 said detained in Hebron area
Hebron – Ma'an – Israeli troops raided several Hebron-area towns on
Wednesday night and Thursday morning, detaining what Palestinain
security sources said were eight men, with several homes reported
ransacked. North of Hebron troops entered Beit Ummar and Beit Awla,
detaining Yousef Abu Hashem, Aziz Ismael, 42, Mufid Atashneh, and
Ibrahim Al-Jabarin, 32.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294294
Negev prisoners report 'uncountable number of
insects'
Salfit – Ma'an – Palestinian detainees in Israel's Negev prison told
lawyers Wednesday that as the summer encroached, an increasing number of
insects and rodents had invaded their tents. The prison facility is
mostly outdoors, with several quadrants of tents set up in compounds for
prisoners, who said the deteriorating conditions had caused several
inmates to break out into rashes, while others said they had suffered
hundreds of mosquito bits each night.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294283
Retaliation
Army: 7 mortar shells fired from Gaza strike Israel
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Palestinians launched 12 projectiles toward Israeli
territory over the course of Thursday, Israel's military said. Seven
mortar shells landed in the Sha'ar regional council and the rest landed
inside the Gaza Strip, an Israeli army spokeswoman said. The military
official told Ma'an that there were no reports of injury or damage in
the area, which is in the Negev desert northeast of Gaza. Earlier
Thursday, witnesses said 12 Israeli military vehicles entered Gaza in
the north and destroyed agricultural land.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294471
Siege/Human
Rights/Humanitarian Issues
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory 17- 23 June 2010
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/VVOS-86QLHS?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Gaza
Power-Plant To Stop Functioning Friday
Engineer Canaan Obeid, deputy head of the Gaza Power Authority, stated
that the only power plant in the Gaza Strip will stop functioning on
Friday evening as it will run out of fuel needed to run it.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58998
MOH:
Israel
prevents delivery of oxygen to hospitals
Bethlehem – Ma'an –
Seven oxygen machines donated to the Palestinain Authority by a
Norwegian development agency were seized by Israeli officials en route
to hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza, the Ramallah-based health
ministry said. The machines, the ministry said in a Thursday statement,
were confiscated by Israeli officials who claimed that the generators
attached "came under the category of possible use for non-medical
purposes" if they were delivered to the southern Gaza governorates.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294521
Fake calls to "ease" the Gaza siege
Ever since Israel's murderous attack on the Freedom Flotilla on 31 May,
there have been increasing calls from many parties on Israel to end its
siege of Gaza. This is strange as well as deceitful, for the siege is
not Israel's alone. Hasan Abu Nimah comments.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11355.shtml
Policy change: Lieberman invites foreign ministers to
Gaza Strip
During meeting with Italian counterpart, Israel's foreign minister
proposes European delegation visit Strip, see there is no humanitarian
crisis.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3910441,00.html
PN exclusive: Life under siege
Three-quarters of the resulting damage remains unrepaired, including
homes, schools, and hospitals, according to a recent reconstruction
needs assessment [PDF] published by the United Nations Development
Programme in Jerusalem. Israel said it launched its offensive in
December 2008 to halt the the fire of homemade rockets emanating from
Gaza into neighboring Israeli communities. Around US$527 million are
required to return Gaza to its pre-war state, the equivalent of its
status in December 2008, according to the UNDP. This figure is only a
fraction of what is needed to repair and reverse the damage to public
and private infrastructure that has occurred under the four-year Israeli
blockade of the territory.
http://palestinenote.com/cs/blogs/news/archive/2010/06/24/pn-exclusive-life-under-siege.aspx
Blockade
'Eased'
as Gaza Starves more Slowly, Jonathan Cook - Nazareth
As
Israel this week declared the 'easing' of the four-year blockade of
Gaza, an official explained the new guiding principle: 'Civilian goods
for civilian people.' The severe and apparently arbitrary restrictions
on foodstuffs entering the enclave – coriander bad, cinnamon good – will
finally end, we are told. Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants will have all
the coriander they want.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16085
Political
Developments/Flotilla Fallout
Abbas blames Israel for freeze in talks
At
press conference with visiting Austrian chancellor, Palestinian
president expresses support of international probe into Gaza flotilla
raid, urges Israel to lift siege on Strip.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3910343,00.html
Israeli President Shimon Peres: U.S. and other
powers must engage Hamas on peace
JERUSALEM -- Israel's president and elder statesman, Shimon Peres, urged
the United States and other world powers this week to engage with Hamas
in order to persuade the Islamist group to renounce violence and prepare
for peace with Israel.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=f3fe41631e0a43c2009e2d47bfea803a
US senators urge Obama to stand by Israel
Bethlehem – Ma’an – In a letter, 87 American senators told President
Barack Obama that the US “must continue” to stand with Israel. In a
senate of 100 members, the group of 87 represents a strong majority.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294254
Syria, Jordan slam Israel over blocked peace efforts
(AFP)
AFP - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and visiting Jordanian King
Abdullah II on Thursday blamed Israel for blocking peace efforts in the
Middle East, the official SANA news agency reported.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100624/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictsyriajordan
Malaysia pushing for UN debate on raid
Ynet learns Malaysia leading initiative to convene General Assembly for
discussion on Navy's raid on Gaza-bound flotilla. Session slated to be
held during Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit to Washington.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3910354,00.html
Council of Europe: Israel broke international law
Council
avoids
condemning Israel, but criticizes Israel's handling of flotilla affair,
calls on Hamas to release Shalit, allow Red Cross visit.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3910345,00.html
ANALYSIS / Israel missed every opportunity to free
Shalit
The negotiations on the swap deal to free captive IDF soldier Gilad
Shalit have been stuck since December; the way things look now, the
affair is likely to drag on indefinitely.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/analysis-israel-missed-every-opportunity-to-free-shalit-1.298180
Israeli Racism/Other News
Israel lobby group FLAME says black Ethiopian Jews
are ‘backward’, Philip Weiss
Is the Israel lobby out of touch with America today? Or is this just the
charm offensive for President Obama? Here's an ad that the
lobby group FLAME (Facts & Logic About the Middle East) is
running in at least one
Jewish newspaper and that is on the group's website, too: an answer to
the question, "Israel: An Apartheid State? Is there any truth at all in
this oft-repeated calumny?"
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/israel-lobby-group-flame-says-black-ethiopian-jews-are-backward.html
Rabbi: Thomas shows 'the true face of the Arab'
“There lies beneath the skin of every sympathizer with the
Arab cause a measure of hatred, a desire for revenge and a meanness of
spirit,”
says Aglaze. “Thank you for lifting the cover and letting us see the
true face
of the Arab. Your angry face could not have been more helpful in letting
us
know what your people wants.” Rabbi Aglaze continues his diatribe, aligning
Thomas’
comments with what he labels a legacy of “it is better to destroy than
to
build” thinking. “In Gaza, after the enterprising Jews left behind
beautiful
fields of growing fruits and vegetables, your protégés proceeded to
destroy
them with a glee and a gusto that, in other civilized societies, are
usually
reserved for festivities.” The rabbi also lumps the May 31 flotilla
participants into this allegedly hateful legacy.
http://palestinenote.com/cs/blogs/news/archive/2010/06/24/
rabbi-thanks-thomas-for-showing-the-true-face-of-the-arab.aspx
Palestinian awarded damages for distress caused by
Shin Bet, 16 years on
Ziad Shami was awarded NIS 15,000 by the Jerusalem District Court for
emotional distress sustained in a 1994 incident near Batir in West Bank.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
palestinian-awarded-damages-for-distress-caused-by-shin-bet-16-years-on-1.298181
First Lebanon war, Oslo Accords missing from Israeli
textbooks
Education Ministry says it takes 20-30 years to arrive at a historical
perspective suitable for teaching young students.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
first-lebanon-war-oslo-accords-missing-from-israeli-textbooks-1.298176
Analysis/Opinion
A
great resource on the Hamas women, Helena Cobban
Kudos to
Conflicts Forum, which a few months ago published (PDF)
a very informative study by the Hebron-area journalist and researcher
Khaled Amayreh on the role of women in Hamas. Amayreh's study is in two
parts.
The first consists of interviews with three of Hamas's female MPs:
Sameera al-Halayka from the Hebron area, and Jamila Shanti and Huda Naim
from Gaza. The second is Amayreh's
own analysis of the significant role women have played in bolstering
Hamas.
http://justworldnews.org/archives/004051.html
Rattling the Cage: Let the flotillas through, LARRY
DERFNER
If we forcibly stop the ships, it’ll be an even greater victory for the
Islamists and an even worse humiliation for Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=179322
Hamdan Azhar: Strangling Gaza and the Radicalization
of Political Discourse
Two weeks ago, the senior senator from
New York, Charles Schumer, in a
speech to the Orthodox Union, said
that it "makes sense" to "strangle [the Palestinians in Gaza]
economically." "There should be humanitarian aid and people not starving
to death," he quickly followed up, but his qualification only
underscored the brutality of his suggestion. Nor was Sen. Schumer
speaking in a fit of passion; the video
shows the cool-headed, rational Harvard-educated lawyer calmly miming
the action of strangling with his clenched right fist. "I think the
boycott is important for bringing about peace in the Middle East," he
smirks, before laughing awkwardly and drawing cheers from his Orthodox
Jewish audience. Numerous critics have assailed
Mr. Schumer for advocating "collective punishment" -- a war crime under
the Geneva Conventions. Professor Juan Cole of the University of
Michigan went so far as to draw parallels between the senator's
suggestion and the Nazi policy of Sippenhaftung
under which relatives of political dissidents were systematically
persecuted by the state.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hamdan-a-yousuf/strangling-gaza-and-the-r_b_623593.html
UC Irvine's message: Criticize Israel, get
suspended, Omar Kurdi
The university's proposed one-year suspension of the Muslim Student
Union could have a chilling effect on free speech.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-oew-0622-kurdi-uci-muslim-20100622,0,1942963.story
Where Kindness Is A Crime, Max Blumenthal
In a May 7
article, Haaretz reporter Ilana Hammerman described in dramatic detail a
crime she had methodically planned and committed. In defiance of laws
supposedly related to Israel's security, Hammerman picked up three
teenage Palestinian girls in their village in the West Bank, took them
through the Betar checkpoint, and drove them into Tel Aviv. There they
ate ice cream, visited the mall and museum, and played in the sea. Even
though the girls lived just a few kilometers from the beach, Israel's
military occupation had prevented them from ever visiting it before
their illegal "day of fun."
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/where-kindness-is-a-crime.html
Yes, Kahane lives
On July 29, 1986, extreme right-wing MK Meir Kahane submitted another
no-confidence proposal: "The government's refusal to discuss the
disintegration of Zionist ideology, which endangers the existence of the
Jewish state." According to Kahane: "Since the beginning of political
Zionism, the movement's thinkers have ignored and avoided the terrible
and frightening truth of the basic contradiction between Zionism and
enlightened Western democracy, to which all the Zionist leaders were
indentured servants. Herzl, Nordau, Sokolow, Weizmann, Ben-Gurion - all
of them, right and left, with their heads in the sand, one big ostrich.
Not one of the progressives, the liberals, the enlightened waved a
banner or blew a large shofar to warn of the terrible danger of the
contradiction between the Zionist concept of a Jewish state and the
democratic foundation of majority rule."
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/yes-kahane-lives-1.298214
The public is dumb and therefore the public pays,
Gideon Levy
Having lost hope due to Prime Minister Netanyahu's deceit and trickery,
perhaps the Israeli public will finally start to ask: Where to? And why?
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-public-is-dumb-and-therefore-the-public-pays-1.298213
Reining in Barkat
Jerusalem Mayor Nir
Barkat is once again proving that he remains faithful to the views of
the extreme right on all issues related to the capital.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/reining-in-barkat-1.298212
Ignoring the tsunami
The superpower under whose patronage we shelter is becoming increasingly
weak and increasingly distant, and the Middle East is becoming unstable.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/ignoring-the-tsunami-1.297986
The
failed
peace process is on display in Silwan, Kieron Monks
From
Cast Lead to the Mavi Marmara, few states have displayed Israel’s
commitment to unilateral action. A unique ability to deflect external
criticism has allowed successive adminstrations to pursue unpopular
policies without hindrance. A microcosm can be glimpsed in Jerusalem,
where Mayor Nir Barkat’s intention to re-develop in Silwan place the
Municipality’s glamour project over the rights of residents, the agenda
of his government and stillborn proximity talks.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/the-failed-peace-process-is-on-display-in-silwan.html
The Holy Land
Foundation Case: Defending My Father ... and the Constitution, NOOR
ELASHI
The case perhaps most notably authorized by the Material Support Law,
which was upheld by the Supreme Court on Monday, was that of the Holy
Land Foundation, once the largest Muslim charity in the United States.
My father, Ghassan Elashi, co-founded this charity, and after two
lengthy, expensive trials, he’s now serving a 65-year prison sentence.
http://www.counterpunch.com/elashi06252010.html
Netanyahu
Plays the Vuvuzela, RANNIE AMIRI
Assuming you haven’t left planet Earth in the past two weeks, you know
the 2010 World Cup is well underway in host nation South Africa. Even
the uninterested have heard the unmistakable “buzz” emanating from its
stadiums, as if a massive swarm of bees had descended. The vuvuzela, or
African horn, is the source of the reverberating sound and blowing it is
the proud tradition of South African football fans. Although it may be
causing consternation among players (and hearing loss among spectators),
FIFA has dismissed calls to ban it. Indeed, the raucous chorus of
vuvuzelas has been the hallmark of this year’s World Cup
and—respectively putting South African sporting sensitivities aside—one
of its great distractions.
http://www.counterpunch.com/amiri06252010.html
Gaza:
Dangers
of Foreign Influence?, Belen Fernandez - Istanbul
A June 13
exclusive on Intelwire.com entitled 'Gaza Flotilla Official Was Foreign
Fighter in Bosnia War' purports to reveal the history of Osman Atalay,
executive board member of ÝHH, the Turkish NGO instrumental in
organizing the aid flotilla to Gaza intercepted on May 31 by Israeli
commandos. Collateral damage from the interception included 9 Turkish
humanitarian activists.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16083
Lebanon
Lebanon
Arrests
Palestinian Suspected of Spying for Israel
25/06/2010
Lebanese security forces have arrested a Palestinian man suspected of
aiding Israeli intelligence, the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported on
Friday. The resident of the Bourj Al-Shimali refugee camp in southern
Lebanon allegedly supplied information to Israel over a five year
period, according to the report. Investigators who raided the suspect's
home found advanced communications and spy devices that the man
allegedly used to contact the Israeli agents via the internet. An
investigation into spying for Israel has led to more than 50 arrests
since last year, including holding a former brigadier general of the
General Security directorate. More than 20 have been formally charged.
Lebanon, which is in a state of war with Israel, has described the
arrests as a major blow to Israel's spying networks in the country.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=143761&language=en
Barak “Concerned” over the Lebanese Gov’t
Difficulties to Deal with Hezbollah
24/06/2010 Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday that the proximity talks would not
help end the deadlock and solve the disagreements between Israel and the
Palestinians. According to Barak, direct negotiations are the only way
to advance an agreement based on a solution of two states for two people
and help strengthen peace and security in the region. Speaking during a
meeting at the State Department in Washington, the Israeli defense
minister said that Israel was “concerned” over the Lebanese government's
difficulties to deal with the Hezbollah organization. He added that the
Lebanon government would be fully responsible for any act
carried out from its territory against the Zionist entity.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=143569&language=en
Israel has 'no intention' of leaving Ghajar
BEIRUT: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday he was looking
forward to Israel's withdrawal from the border village of Ghajar, as a
Lebanese Army source said Tel Aviv had "no intention" of pulling out.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=116370
Pollution in Beirut reaches dangerous levels -
scientists
BEIRUT: Pollutants in Beirut's air have reached concentration levels so
high the substances are now toxic for human health, two researchers at
University of Saint-Joseph announced on Thursday as they presented the
findings of a research project.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=116376
Iraq
Thursday: 22 Iraqis Killed, 33 Wounded
The
formation
of the new government came across a new roadblock, this one over the
failure of two large Shi'ite groups to compromise on the selection of
the next prime minister. This new delay could mean further
destabilization of Iraq's fragile security gains. At least 22 Iraqis
were killed and 33 more were wounded in attacks that targeted security
personnel. Also, Gen. David Petraeus, who once commanded American forces
in Iraq, is now in charge of operations in Afghanistan.
Series of bomb attacks hit Iraq
Suicide
attacks and bombings across country leave several security personnel
dead.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/2010624132715557277.html
US
vehicle runs over family in Ninewa
Three people from one family were killed and three others of the same
family were wounded when a U.S. vehicle ran them over in the northwest
of Mosul city.
http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=133585
Allawi opposes SOFA Agreement
Head of Al
Iraqiya List Iyad Allawi held the United Nations and the US responsible
for reform prior to US Forces withdrawal from the country. Washington
should protect the democratic process for which Iraqis have sacrificed,
Allawi said in a statement.
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-50922-Allawi-opposes-SOFA-Agreement.html
Iraq
cuts
officials' privileges amid power crisis (AFP)
AFP - Iraqi
Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani on Friday revoked electricity
privileges enjoyed by government officials as he took temporary control
of the power portfolio amid public fury over rationing.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100625/wl_mideast_afp/iraqelectricitypolitics
Iraq
drives
to protect oil pipelines
News Middle East Policing Iraq's
oil industry Iraq's oil police force has the difficult job of securing
the country's main source of revenue, but they lack the manpower and
equipment to protect pipelines and infrastructure. The pipelines are
vital to feeding the refineries across Iraq, but since the
US-led invasion the network has been subject to frequent acts of
sabotage. Al Jazeera's Omar Al-Saleh reports on how officials from the
police force are determined to protect the country's oil production.
June 25, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng5ulqohLTo&feature=youtube_gdata
Iraq Trying To Retain Its Minority Communities
BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi minister says Baghdad wants to discourage emigration
by its minority groups and has urged other countries not to accept
asylum seekers from these communities, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq (RFI)
reports. Emigration and Displacement Minister Abdel Samad Sultan told
RFI on June 23 that his ministry has asked the European Union, the
United States, and Australia to refuse applications for asylum by
members of Iraqi minorities in order to preserve the country's ethnic
and religious diversity.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/VDUX-86QSSG?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Bitterness Grows Amid U.S.-Backed Sons Of Iraq
In the past three weeks, at least 19 members of an Iraqi paramilitary
force that was supported by the U.S. military have been killed. Scores
more of the so-called Sons of Iraq have been wounded in assassination
attempts. In the province of Diyala, a climate of fear has descended on
the men whom many credit for helping defeat al-Qaida in Iraq. Sheikh
Hussam, a member of the Sons of Iraq for the past three years, sits in a
small concrete structure with mostly bare walls; the cushions on the
floor are thin and scuffed. Hussam has not gotten rich fighting al-Qaida
in Iraq.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128084675
Iraq preparing to host AL summit
CAIRO: Iraq’s representative to the Arab League (AL) says his country is
going ahead with preparations to host next year’s summit of the
22-member organisation, already allocating $100 million. Qais Al Azzawi
said on Thursday “tremendous” preparations are under way to host the
Arab world’s kings and presidents for the 2011 summit, including
restoring whole palaces to accommodate.
Al Azzawi said hosting the summit would show that Iraq can “stand on its
feet.” It would be the first high profile international event to be
held in Iraq since the US-invasion.
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/9de26949-33dd-4a0b-9dfa-56d878118071.aspx
Iraq through the eyes of a tree healer
Jawad Kadhim is a third-generation date-palm tree doctor, one of a
dwindling number in Iraq's capital. His job offers a unique window on
how the sectarian violence has changed behavior in the various
neighborhoods of Baghdad.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/AqdM5Gb9YxA/Iraq-through-the-eyes-of-a-tree-healer
U.S.
and other
World News
US Senate backs Tehran sanctions
The US Senate unanimously approves new sanctions against foreign
companies trading with Iran.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10409847.stm
Anti-Iran Bill in House Makes Claims With No Basis
in Fact, Jeremy R. Hammond
Representative Jim Costa (CA) sponsored a bill introduced into the U.S.
Congress on Tuesday “Expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives on the one-year anniversary of the Government of Iran’s
fraudulent manipulation of Iranian elections, the Government of Iran’s
continued denial of human rights and democracy to the people of Iran,
and the Government of Iran’s continued pursuit of a nuclear weapons
capability.”
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/06/anti-iran-bill-in-house-makes-claims-with-no-basis-in-fact/
Iran renews call for nuke-free world
Mottaki
said
that using the issue of such weapons as a tool to achieve political
aims is the worst form of "blackmailing" and called on the international
community to prevent nuclear-armed countries from accessing such
weapons.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=131814§ionid=351020101
Hiker moms 'shocked' by story on children's arrest
(AP)
AP - The mothers of three American hikers held in Iran on suspicion of
espionage said Thursday they hope a report that their children were
arrested on the Iraqi side of the border will help lead to their
release.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100625/ap_on_re_us/us_iran_us_hikers
CIA hires Xe, formerly Blackwater, to guard
facilities in Afghanistan, elsewhere
The revelation comes only a day after members of a federal commission
investigating war-zone contractors blasted the State Department for
granting Xe a new $120 million contract to guard U.S. consulates under
construction in Afghanistan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/23/AR2010062305255_pf.html
WikiLeaks
founder drops 'mass spying' hint
WikiLeaks co-founder Julian
Assange has given his strongest indication yet about the next big leak
from his whistleblower organisation.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/22/2933892.htm
Wikileaks:
A Publisher Of Last Resort: "privatized censorship": Wikileaks editor
interview on censorship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smMBZvBQXfc&feature=player_embedded
Hail
to the whistleblowers
Whistleblowers like those at WikiLeaks
make huge sacrifices and are a vital last resort to check the powers of
government.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/23/hail-whistleblowers-wikileaks
Police
find
11 beheaded bodies in Afghan south
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan,
June 25 (Reuters) - The bodies of 11 men, their heads cut off and placed
next to them, have been found in a violent southern province of
Afghanistan, a senior police official said on Friday. A police patrol
discovered the bodies on Thursday in the Khas Uruzgan district of
Uruzgan province, north of the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, said
police official Mohammad Gulab Wardak.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SGE65O0DO.htm
Egypt's denial of police brutality in Khalid Said
death spurs fresh protest
More than 11,000 Egyptians have responded to a Facebook call for a
Friday protest of police brutality in the death of Egyptian businessman
Khalid Said. After a second autopsy, Egypt today upheld the original
finding that the man had choked on a bag on drugs.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/0cImR7H5h8A/
Egypt-s-denial-of-police-brutality-in-Khalid-Said-death-spurs-fresh-protest
Poverty worsens as number earning less than $2 daily
on rise
BEIRUT: Poverty is increasing in the Middle East with a 4 percent rise
in those earning less than $1.25 a day, according to the Millennium
Development Goals (MDG) Report on development released Thursday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=116377
Saudi
youth
are struggling with their identities | Fahad Faruqui
Young
people in Saudi Arabia are torn between conservative ideology at home
and the world outside. MTV's True
Life documentary series recently featured a group of young Saudis
grappling with the kingdom's rigid social norms – and their cry for
change stirred
bitter emotions in conservative quarters. They weren't talking
about politics, but about themselves and their desire to live the life
they choose. Their demands may seem mundane, but in a way, they
are far more radical than calling for democracy or political reform
because they strike at the core of Saudi Arabia's social system and its
religious underpinnings.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/25/saudi-arabia-youth-identities |
| For further information contact Shadi Fadda |
|
|
