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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Land Theft and Destruction
Israel Issues Stop-Work Order For Nablus Mosque
An Israeli government decision has stopped construction of the Salman Al Farisi mosque in Burin village, south of the northern West Bank city of
Nablus.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57762
Settlers Uproot 15 Olive Trees Near Ramallah
A group of fundamentalist settlers uprooted on Sunday evening fifteen olive trees that belong to a resident of Dir Nitham village, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57755
Akiva Eldar: Only an idiot would say Israel has frozen
settlement activity
Monday morning, as George Mitchell was on the way home from another diplomatic
mission short on breakthroughs, Saeb Erekat did not sound dismayed. On
the contrary, the head of the Palestinian negotiation team vehemently
argued that the American envoy's last visit actually moved up the
moment of truth for the White House.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1145224.html
U.S. consultant offers to help fight settlement
freeze for $300k
Yesha Council wants to hire consultant due to his relations with
Netanyahu, but the price is too high.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1145227.html
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott,
Sanctions
and Divestment
Open Rafah for Ayman – a request for solidarity and a
signature
Ayman Talal E. Quader is a Palestinian that was born on July 19, 1986
in Gaza and has lived in Gaza City for his entire life. As a young
Palestinian student who truly loves his homeland and has always dreamed
of freedom for his people, Ayman has worked very hard to achieve one of
his most important goals in life; earning a scholarship for a Masters
program in Europe.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/01/10980
Another divestment victory in the Netherlands as
energy builds for campus divestment across North America
A Dutch bank has added two Israeli companies that profit from the
Israeli occupation to their list of companies that fail to meet the
bank's Socially Responsible Investment standards, according to the Copenhagen Post Online. A settlement-builder Africa
Israel and Apartheid Wall-contractor Elbit
Systems were added to the "no investment" list of Dankse Bank.
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/divestment-energy-growing-on-campuses.html
Nil'in supporters plan fact-finding visit
Bethlehem
-
Ma'an - An urgent fact-finding mission to Ni'lin has been launched
after the Israeli military began what activists termed an escalation of
repression against human rights defenders in the village. Nil'in
representatives will welcome delegations of political leaders and
journalists to the Ramallah-area village on Tuesday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=256769
Israeli Apartheid Week 2010 to open in Toronto
Bethlehem - Ma'an - The 6th annual Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) will
take place in Toronto from 1 March to 7 March 2010, organizers
announced on Monday. IAW will feature lectures, film screenings,
cultural activities, and demonstrations aimed at "raising awareness
about Israel's apartheid policies toward Palestinians," a statement
said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=256768
Nil'in photo takes top prize at Dutch contest
Bethlehem - Ma'an - A Dutch photographer has won the Silver Camera
Award in the foreign news category for his shot during a weekly
demonstration against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank
village of Nil'in.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=256755
Israel
Seeks To Crush Palestinian Voices For Peace
The
son of one of Palestine's most prominent peace activists was arrested
in the early hours of Saturday morning. Khalid Abu Awwad is the Manager
of the Parent's Circle, a pioneering NGO that reconciles bereaved
families from both sides of the conflict. His son Mohanned, 20, has
emulated his example and become a well known activist too, working to
promote non-violence and democracy within the West Bank. Described as a
community leader his arrest has sparked outrage in both Israeli and
international circles leading to accusations that the security forces
are deliberately seeking to thwart Palestine's peace movement.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1245
Detainees
Soldiers Kidnap 15 Palestinian In Less Than Two Days
Israeli soldiers kidnapped on Sunday and Monday at least 15
Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, and took them in for
interrogation.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57756
The
Israeli Military Kidnap Two Civilians from southern West Bank
Two
Palestinian civilians were kidnapped Tuesday morning by Israeli troops
during an invasion targeting the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57763
Gaza families fight to visit relatives in Israeli
prisons
Umm Faris Baroud of Shati refugee camp in western Gaza City wakes up
early every Monday in the hope that she will be allowed to visit her
son Faris, serving a life sentence in one of Israel's prisons. "For the
past two and a half years I have been able to visit Faris," she
explained. "Every Monday, I participate in a weekly protest along with
many other families including mothers, wives and children of detainees,
at the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross." Rami
Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11027.shtml
Humanitarian Issues
American
congressmen asks Obama to pressure Israel into lifting siege on Gaza
Members
of the American Congress have asked president Barack Obama to pressure
Israel to lift the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip for almost four
years.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
WHO:
Serious deterioration in Gaza health, living conditions
The
World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the Israeli siege on Gaza
Strip and the latest war on it had led to a serious deterioration in
the already terrible living conditions in the Strip.
Haaretz
probe: Israel dismantling roadblocks, but Palestinians still can't move
Israel
claims
to have eased Palestinian movement in the West Bank, but the
Palestinians insist that more roadblocks have been appearing throughout
the area. It turns out both Israel and the Palestinians are telling the
truth, Haaretz has learned. Israel promised the Obama administration
and the international community that it has been working hard to enable
freer movement for Palestinians in the West Bank over the last few
months.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1145026.html
UNRWA launches new Hebrew website
Bethlehem - Ma'an - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) on Monday announced the
launch of a Hebrew-language website. The new website marks a watershed
for the agency, which is seeking to extend its outreach and advocacy
efforts to Israeli audiences. The site, made possible through funding
from the Dutch government, contains a wide range of resources designed
to inform the Hebrew-speaking public about the reality of life for
Palestine refugees.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=256766
B’Tselem Releases Short Animated Video On Gaza Siege
As part of a campaign by the Israeli Information Center for Human
Rights in the Occupied Territories (B’Tselem), the group launched a
short animated clip challenging the effectives of this siege especially
since Israel believes that ongoing blockade would bring Hamas on its
knees.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57757
War Criminals
Israel
to shun UN call for Gaza probe: minister (AFP)
AFP
- Israel told the UN chief it will not conduct an independent probe of
the Gaza war as demanded by a UN report, a minister said on Tuesday,
two days before the Jewish state submits its official response to
charges of war crimes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100126/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazaun
Goldstone documented nightmarish case of a Palestinian
‘human shield’, Adam Horowitz
The Israeli government is starting to go all out in its war against the Goldstone Report.
Israel is planning on issuing its response to the report this Thursday,
and it seems Israel is aided by the fact that so few people have
actually read the contents of the report itself. We will be
posting segments from the report to make them more accessible to the
public (you can find the entire report here). Hopefully the better the report is known,
the better Israel will be held accountable.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/goldstone-
documented-nightmarish-case-of-a-palestinian-human-shield.html
War on Goldstone now deploys human-rights orgs and,
you guessed it, the Holocaust, Philip Weiss
The war that was launched this past weekend against the Goldstone report
in the New York Times is aimed at the mildmannered
Sec’y General of the United Nations. So Norman Finkelstein tells me, and
this Haaretz piece confirms.
On February 5, Ban Ki-moon will report to the General Assembly on the
progress of the report (which was published last summer by the UN Human
Rights Council). Before then Ban will have gotten the Israeli gov’t’s
response to the Goldstone report–its effort to nullify the findings–and
Haaretz says the goal is to get Ban to say, I accept the Israeli
response to the charges, let the Israelis investigate the Gaza
slaughter.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/war-on-goldstone-
now-deploys-human-rights-orgs-and-you-guessed-it-the-holocaust.html
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/israeli-minister-seems-to-liken-goldstone-to-hitler.html
Polish bishop accuses Jews of using Holocaust as
propaganda
A
leading Polish Catholic bishop caused a stir on Monday when he was
quoted as saying that Jews had "expropriated" the Holocaust as a
"propaganda weapon."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1145017.html
Israeli film comparing Holocaust to occupation loses
state funds
The Israel Film Fund has ended its financial support for director
Yonatan Segal's new piece Odem, after learning that it compares
Israel's occupation of the West Bank to the Holocaust.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1145028.html
Political Developments and Diplomacy
U.S.
proposes direct,
but low-level, Mideast talks
President
Mahmoud Abbas is studying a U.S. proposal for talks between
Palestinians and Israel at a level below full-scale negotiations
between their leaders, a Palestinian official said on Monday.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1145000.html
Aide:
Abbas has 2 conditions for talks
Bethlehem
– Ma'an – President Mahmoud Abbas laid out two preconditions for the
resumption of negotiations with Israel, during his meeting with US
special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell on Friday, a senior
aide said on Tuesday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=256812
Abbas
offended by Egyot, turns to Saudis Arabia
Palestinian
leader asks Saudi, Jordanian kings to help him find way out from
Egyptian president's pressure. Cairo demanding Abbas resume peace talks
with Israel without complete settlement freeze, but he refuses.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3839805,00.html
Israeli
minister 'sought talks with Hamas chief'
MK Tibi: Yishai
asked to meet Meshal; Druze MK stripped of immunity from prosecution
over Syria trip.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1145247.html
US
diplomat against Israeli security guards
Senior
American Consulate official refuses to have Israeli guard check US
diplomats' cars. 'What if there are settlers among them? I will not
have my people end up like Rabin,' he says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3839627,00.html
Other News
New York Times fails to disclose Jerusalem bureau
chief's conflict of interest
The New York Times has all but confirmed to The Electronic Intifada
(EI) that the son of its Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner was
recently inducted into the Israeli army. Over the weekend, EI received
a tip suggesting this had been the case and wrote to Bronner to ask him
to confirm or deny the information and to seek his opinion on whether,
if true, he thought it would be a conflict of interest. Susan Chira,
the foreign editor of The New York Times wrote in an email to The
Electronic Intifada this morning: "Ethan Bronner referred your query to
me, the foreign editor. Here is my comment: Mr. Bronner's son is a
young adult who makes his own decisions. At The Times, we have found
Mr. Bronner's coverage to be scrupulously fair and we are confident that
will continue to be the case."
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11031.shtml
Ethan, take the buyout, Philip Weiss
The
larger issue here is of course Zionism in the mainstream media, how
deep does it go, and will anyone ever look into it? And
on from that, Why are so many of the MSM reporters on Israel/Palestine
Jews with intimate ties to Israel? Bronner is married to an Israeli and
has a son in the most moral military in the world. The other Times
person, Isabel Kershner, is "thoroughly Israeli," per the Jewish Forward, and
married to an Israeli. The new Washington Post reporter, Janine Zacharia,
is a Jewish woman from Long Island (I’m told) who once went over there
to work for the Jerusalem Post. Wolf Blitzer worked for AIPAC and the
JPost. Jeffrey Goldberg was in the IDF too. It’s like a credential.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/ethan-take-the-buyout.html
Inside
Story - Al-Qaeda and the Palestinians
Osama bin Laden has warned Barack Obama that al-Qaeda will attack
again. In an audio tape he said there will be more attacks if the
situation in Palestine is not resolved. But has the Palestinian issue
ever been part of al-Qaeda agenda? And does the group serve or scupper
Palestinian dreams?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooZAi65Ed-0&feature=player_embedded
Centuries-old Holy City cellar at heart of
Byzantine battle (AFP)
AFP - An Arab-Israeli shopkeeper is locked in a Byzantine battle with
the Coptic Church over an ancient Jerusalem cellar, in a saga involving
Christianity's holiest site and a 12th century Muslim general.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100125/lf_afp/mideastconflictreligionarchaeology
Knesset OKs pardons for disengagement objectors
MKs
overwhelmingly
approve legislation that annuls sentences given to
pullout rivals, with exception of prison terms; Knesset Speaker Rivlin:
At certain junctions, democracy needs to forgive and forget.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3839503,00.html
Israeli couples choosing IVF baby's sex prefer boys
Israeli
couples
who are entitled to request their future baby's sex were more
than three times as likely to ask for a boy in 2009 as they were to
request a girl, according to data recently released by the national
committee on newborn sex selection.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1145193.html
Analysis/Op-ed/Human
Interest
Remembering Al-Hakim George Habash: A Revolutionary
Life, a tribute to the great Palestinian Arab leader
Commemorating
the second anniversary of the death of Al-Hakim George Habash, we
reprint three articles published in homage to this great man who
remains an inspiration and a source for millions. The first briefly
recounts the legacy of this great man, the second is an interview in
which Dr. Habash in his own words describes the decisive moment of his
life and the third is a tribute delivered in London by the Communist
Party.
http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/01/25/remembering-al-hakim-george-habash-
a-revolutionary-life-a-tribute-to-the-great-palestinian-arab-leader/
Michel Sabbah, “Israeli Occupation Main Cause of
Instability in the Middle East”
Seventy-seven years old and with the strength of one who continues
calling for freedom and reconciliation, the Patriarch emeritus Michel
Sabbah is a key figure in understanding two important documents in the
life of Palestine and in the Middle East: the Kairos document,
presented in Bethlehem on 11 December, and the Lineamenta for the
Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops, published
Tuesday, 19 January.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/2402-michel-sabbah-
israeli-occupation-main-cause-of-instability-in-the-middle-east.html
Haiti Hypocrisy Hides Another War Crime in Gaza,
Tammy Obeidallah
The
human catastrophe gripping Haiti since a 7.0-magnitude earthquake
devastated that nation on January 12 rightfully dominated nearly every
newscast for a week. With devastation of such unimaginable proportions,
there are the riveting stories of despair and courage, along with a
relatively new and hideous phenomenon: politicization of the disaster
and its aftermath. Media opportunists have reached new depths of
hypocrisy and ineptitude in covering the tragedy. Mainstream television
networks and newspapers touted the overwhelming US military response,
as well as other countries that were among the first to reach the
victims in Haiti, including Israel. Conspicuously absent from the kudos
list were two of the first responders, Cuba and Venezuela.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15707
Iraq
Baghdad
blast kills 17, injures 80: ministry (AFP)
AFP
- A suicide car bomber has killed 17 people and injured 80 in central
Baghdad, while destroying Iraq's forensics headquarters, an interior
ministry official said updating an earlier toll.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100126/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestbaghdadtoll
Monday: 46 Iraqis Killed, 104 Wounded; Chemical Ali
Executed
Chemical
Ali was executed for genocide and crimes against humanity today. In
Baghdad, three suicide bombs that exploded shortly before news became
public could have been in retaliation for the execution. Not including
Chemical Ali, at least 46 Iraqis were killed there and elsewhere.
Another 104 Iraqis were wounded. Meanwhile, a controversial bomb
detector will be kept in service.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/01/25/monday-
46-iraqis-killed-104-wounded-chemical-ali-executed
Maliki sees remnants of Saddam past as obstacles to
Iraq's future
To
hear Iraq's prime minister tell it, the country's future depends on
purging its past links with Saddam Hussein's regime.And Nouri al-Maliki
is saying it every chance he gets. He has become something of a one-man
tribunal passing judgment on the reach of suspected loyalists to
Saddam's now-outlawed Baath party.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=111073
Iraqi
ex-MP convicted to death sentence
Karkh
Central Criminal Court convicted former MP Mohammed Al Daini to death
sentence for terrorist charges. For more details, click on play movie.
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-43776-Iraqi-ex-MP-convicted-to-death-sentence.html
Ali Hassan Al-Majid executed in Iraq
Ali
Hassan al-Majid, the cousin of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein,
has been executed in Iraq for crimes against humanity. 25 Jan 10 Later
recognised as one of the president's most feared military leaders,
al-Majid's rise to power came only after his cousin became president.
It was under Saddam that Majid became a general, defence minister and
trusted member of the president's inner circle, and forged a reputation
as a strongman. But it was during the government's campaign against the
Kurds in northern Iraq that Majid's most notorious crimes took place.
Al Jazeera's Tarek Bazley reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SJ0DN6XqmI&feature=youtube_gdata
Lebanon
Lebanon, Middle East Reject AIPAC's H.R. 2278,
Franklin Lamb - Beirut
It
is being reported in Beirut this morning that at exactly 3 a.m. Beirut
time, a supporter of the National Lebanese Resistance led by Hezbollah,
on duty above the Mediterranean coastal town of Saadyat, between Damour
and Saida was watching the skies of over Beirut for signs of Israeli
aircraft, which daily violate Lebanese airspace. What sources report to
this observer was that he saw a Boeing 737-800 aircraft which had taken
off from Rafiq Hariri airport gain altitude as it headed for Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia. Hezbollah, on full military alert these days,
presumably called in the report to Al Manar station which it founded in
1991 and which since 2004 has been on one o the various US Terrorism
lists.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15706
U.S.
and Other World News
Italian official calls U.S. relief effort in Haiti
'pathetic'
Italy's
top disaster official called the Haiti quake-relief effort a "pathetic"
failure Sunday, criticizing the militarized approach of the U.S. as
ineffective and out of touch for the emergency at hand.
http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2010/01/italian_official_calls_us_reli.html
Nearly Half of Americans Admit to Anti-Muslim Bias
(RNS)
Close
to half of Americans admit to harboring prejudice against Muslims
and negative feelings about Islam, a new study from the Gallup Center
for Muslim Studies shows. The level of anti-Muslim prejudice -- 43
percent of Americans admitted feeling at least "a little" -- is more
than twice as high as Americans' reported feelings toward Buddhists,
Christians and Jews. Fifty-three percent of respondents said their
view of Islam was "not too favorable" or "not favorable at all,"
according to a 32-page "Religious Perceptions in America" report that
was released Thursday (Jan. 21). "It was interesting to note that
Americans admit no more prejudice against Buddhists and Jews than they
do against Christians," said Dalia Mogahed, director of the
Washington-based center. "So this isn't just simply a problem against
minority religions. There is a somewhat unique issue with Muslims in
particular."
http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2010/01/nearly-half-of-americans-admit.php
Here’s a report that
the only TV studio
available to Al Jazeera English to do satellite feeds from New
Hampshire– WMUR in Manchester– has arbitrarily rescinded the Arab
network’s access to the station. I’m told that WMUR is the only
broadcast affiliate in NH, and the one that presidential candidates
live and die by every 4 years.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/censorship-islamophobia-the-whole-9-yards.html
Wanted: Tony Blair for war crimes. Arrest him and
claim your reward
Chilcot and the courts won't do it, so it is up to us to show that we
won't let an illegal act of mass murder go unpunished.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/25/bounty-blair-war-criminal-chilcot
Muslim students monitored in UK
Umar
Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who allegedly tried to explode a US
bound airliner on Christmas day, spent three years studying at the
University College London (UCL). He was also the president of the
university's Islamic Society, which has since been under intense
scrutiny - along with UCL administration. The UK is setting up a panel
to consider ways to prevent extremism while protecting freedom of
speech. Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kAOsvGZqUM&feature=youtube_gdata
France
considers ban on face veil
A
report due on Tuesday is expected to recommend that Muslim women be
banned from wearing face-covering veils in public places throughout
France. The report follows a six month inquiry after Nicolas Sarkozy,
the president of France, said the veils were not welcome on French
territory. Al Jazeera's Estelle Youssouffa reports from Paris. Jan 26,
2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQv-uUDQQhQ&feature=youtube_gdata |
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