|
Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
|
Ethnic Cleansing/Land, Property Theft and Destruction/Settlements
Hundreds Of New Settlers
Homes In Jerusalem
The Islamic Christian Commission in
Support of Jerusalem and Holy Sites announced on Monday Israel’s
intentions to build 321 new settlers homes in East Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58534
Settlers - Outpost To Be
Authorized As A New Settlement Near Bethlehem
In 2001 the
outpost of Derech Ha'avot was established on lands owned by Palestinian
villagers from Al Khadir, near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem.
On September 28, 2008 the Israeli group Peace Now appealed to the
Israeli High Court of Justice together with the Palestinian owners of
the lands, demanding the enforcement of the law and the evacuation of
the "Derech Ha'avot" outpost.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58533
Maariv: Secret US-Israeli agreement on construction
in East J’lem
Israel and the US have reached secret agreements about construction in
Jerusalem. Both sides agreed to leave the agreements between themselves
and not make them public, and if they should be leaked nevertheless,
deny them vigorously. The purpose is in order not to create difficulties
for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in the coalition, and particularly
in the Likud party. The agreements indicate that contrary to Israeli
boasting, Netanyahu’s answer to Obama regarding Jerusalem was
not “No.” It was something in the middle, a little closer to the far end
(a freeze) than the close one (continued construction at full tilt).
The most accurate translation for this agreement is “Yes, but.” It is
possible that Netanyahu has learned something from the bad old days of
Shimon Peres, during which he got the nickname “Yes and no.” Now it is
Netanyahu’s turn.
http://coteret.com/2010/04/26/maariv-secret-us-israeli-agreement-on-construction-in-east-jlem/
Jordan
braces for possible influx of up to 50,000 Palestinians
AMMAN // Jordan is deeply concerned that a recent Israeli military order
facilitating the deportation of thousands of Palestinians from the West
Bank could lead to another wave of forced migration to the kingdom.
Jordanian politicians and analysts estimate that nearly 50,000
Palestinians could be deported here in the wake of Israel’s military
ruling, which took effect on April 13, that anyone caught in the West
Bank without an Israeli permit could face expulsion within days or be
sentenced to up to seven years in prison.
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100426/FOREIGN/704259928/1011/rss
Wastewater from the Etzion settlement floods 70
dunums of vineyards
April 25th, 2010-- Rapid and serious action is needed to put an end to
these further crimes of the occupation, developed both as a collective
punishment for the weekly Friday protests and to simplify the expulsion
of the Palestinian indigenous population from where it is not allowed to
live anymore.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2236.shtml
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott,Sanctions
and
Divestment
Palestinians
Block
Israeli Bulldozers
Some 200 demonstrators managed to halt the construction of the Wall in
the village of alWalaja for almost three hours this morning. Two
protesters – a Palestinian and an Israeli – were arrested. The Israeli
dislocated his shoulder during the violent arrest, but is denied access
to medical treatment at the police station. More than 200 protesters –
Palestinians, Israelis and international activists – managed to block
bulldozers constructing Israel's Wall from uprooting an olive grove for
over three hours this morning in the West Bank village of alWalaja,
south of Jerusalem. Construction of th Wall on alWalaja's lands resumed
last Thursday. Once completed, if completed it will surround alWalja
from all sides – effectively is isolating the village from the rest of
the world.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1004/S00482.htm
Al-Walaja:
Defending
Palestinian Land From Bulldozers
A sit-in protest was
organised in the West Bank village of Al-Walaja (south of Bethlehem)
on Sunday against the ongoing construction of the Wall, which was
resumed last Thursday. Approximately 200 Palestinian, Israel and
international demonstrators tried to block bulldozers uprooting an olive
grove, sitting in the place where the bulldozers staged. Israeli
soldiers attacked demonstrators: among them, Dr Mustafa Barghouthi,
Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative who declared
that “despite the attempt of Israeli authorities to weaken and interrupt
the protest, the non-violent struggle will continue weekly rallies to
stop the construction of the Apartheid Wall”.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1371
3 detained, 5
injured as al-Walaja residents stop Israeli bulldozers
April
26th, 2010-- Israeli occupation forces arrested three Palestinians
yesterday and wounded thirty others in a brutal attack against residents
of al-Walaja as they resisted the construction of the apartheid Wall in
their village.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2239.shtml
Border police beat protesters demanding halt to wall
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Demonstrators participating in a sit-in protest
against the continued construction of Israel's separation wall in Beit
Jala and Al-Walaja were beaten with sticks and batons by Israeli border
police, witnesses said. Approximately 200 Palestinian, international and
Israeli protesters sat in the path of Israeli bulldozers scheduled to
tear up olive groves on Sunday, and faced Israeli border police who
detained four, including an Israeli man. One of the protesters was
identified as Haitam Al-Atrash, and four were reported injured.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279363
Bil’in: Israel shoots Palestinian from Yafa
April 24th, 2010-- Imad Rizqa was shot in the head while attending the
protest to mark the conclusion of the Fifth Annual Conference on Popular
Resistance in Bil’in. New weapons were tested on the protestors as the
IOF clamped down on the protest.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2234.shtml
Weekly
Stop the Wall Repression Update
April 26th, 2010-- Click here
for this week's update on the most significant cases of arrests and
violence against Palestinian human rights defenders and on means of
collective punishment of communities or families where human rights defenders are active.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2237.shtml
Mass rally in Ni’lin: Free our prisoners!
April 24th, 2010-- This Friday’s protest was attended by people from
Ni’lin and the surrounding villages. Hundreds of people were targeted
once again with live rounds as they protested against the Wall and the
arrest of local activists
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2235.shtml
Non
Violent
Resistance in Palestine Growing in Numbers by the Week
Non
violent resistance to the occupation is beginning to spread to villages
across the West Bank. In addition to the regular weekly protests in
Nilin and Bilin this weekend, Nabi Salih, Walage and Beit Umar held non
violent protests against the Wall and the crippling occupation. Below
are two videos shot by Israel Putermam from Walage and Beit Umar. Be
sure to note the violent arrest of an Israeli protester at the end of
the Walage video.
http://josephdana.com/2010/04/non-violent-resistance-in-palestine-growing-in-numbers-by-the-week/
Israel's
Big
and Small Apartheids: Meaning of a Jewish State, By Jonathan Cook
Below
is
the text of a talk delivered to the fifth Bilin international
conference for Palestinian popular resistance, held in the West Bank
village of Bilin on April 21.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15908
Portland protest
challenges AIPAC fundraiser
A group of protesters in
Portland, Oregon, USA, erected mock settlements, a 'Wall of Shame', and a
checkpoint as part of a protest against the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee (AIPAC)'s annual Oregon fundraiser on Sunday.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58528
BNC
Calls On Trade Unions To Urgently Intervene With Their Government To
Stop Israel From Joining The OECD
Occupied Palestine, 22
April 2010 – In a few days Trade Unions will commemorate the
achievements of the labor movement. The origins of the International
Worker's Day date back to the 1886 Chicago protests where police killed
several workers marching to demand their rights. Every week, Palestinian
human rights defenders march in their villages protesting Israel's
encroachment of their land. The Israeli army also greets them with live
ammunition, indiscriminately killing many. Despite
these crimes, Israel continues to be rewarded by the international
community, this time with the prospects of membership in the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1370
Violence and Aggression
Hamas
fighter killed by Israeli forces
Hebron – Ma'an – Israeli
forces besieged the home of a prominent Hamas fighter on Monday morning
in Beit Awwa, southern Hebron, and later killed him, witnesses said.
Eyewitnesses told Ma'an that Israeli soldiers were seen taking Ali
Sweiti's body after demolishing the home of his wife's sister, where he
was believed to be hiding.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279431
IOF shoot 7 Palestinians in Jerusalem
Jerusalem, April 25, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli occupation forces
shot seven Palestinian men including a paramedic near the sit-in tent in
Al-Bustan neighborhood in Jerusalem. Israeli special border guards
troops and Israeli police fired rubber bullets at the young men,
injuring three men and a paramedic while he was trying to transfer the
injured men to hospital. In addition to, another citizen was injured
this morning, near the tent. The Israeli police detained Hatem Abd
Al-Qader, who holds Fatah’s Jerusalem portfolio and other five young
men.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/5687-iof-shoot-7-palestinians-in-jerusalem
Israeli vehicle runs over Palestinian worker
April 25, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli vehicle ran over a Palestinian
worker in Bir Al-Saba. The Palestinian worker, Mohammed Al-Debs, 31,
from Bethlehem works in Bir Al-Saba, in the Palestinian occupied
territories of 48, was left in the road after being injured.
Palestinian sources reported that an Israeli military jeep chased the
worker while he was in his way to his work and then ran over him. The
sources added that he was left in the road before he was transferred to
the hospital by some Palestinians.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/5694-israeli-vehicle-runs-over-palestinian-worker
Detainees (See also "Israel's Arab Helpers)
Israeli Troops Detain Five
Civilians During Dawn Invasions In The West Bank
Five
Palestinian civilians were detained by Israeli soldiers on Monday at
dawn and Sunday night during military invasions targeting West Bank
communities.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58532
Israel
Kidnaps Lawyer Representing Jordanian Detainees
Israeli
soldiers kidnapped on Sunday Shereen Al Esawy, a lawyer representing
Jordanian Detainees imprisoned in Israel. Al Esawy was kidnapped at a
roadblock, near Jabal Al Mokabbir, in East Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58527
Humanitarian
Issues/Human Rights/Restriction of Movement/Siege
2 Gaza crossings open
Gaza – Ma'an –
Israeli authorities will partially open two crossings into Gaza on
Monday, Palestinian officials said. Raed Fattouh, liaison official,
said Israel would allow approximately 100 truckloads of aid including 5
truckloads for the water authority and 2 trucks for the power authority
through the southern Kerem Shalom crossing. Limited quantities of
domestic gas and industrial diesel will be pumped through the same
terminal, Fattouh added. The northern Karni crossing will be opened on
Monday to allow 100 truckloads of wheat and animal feed, Fattouh
concluded.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279434
Humanitarian Plight in Gaza bewilderingly Difficult,
UNRWA Says
GAZA, April 23, 2010 (WAFA)- The Director of the United Nations Relief
and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
Operations in Gaza described Thursday the humanitarian plight of the
people there as bewilderingly difficult and a struggle to survive on a
daily basis, as the third year of the blockade approached and 18 months
after the last round of conflict that had wreaked tremendous
devastation.
http://english.wafa.ps/?action=detail&id=14093
Women
Make
Progress But Honour Killings Persis
AMMAN, Apr 22, 2010 (IPS) - Earlier this month, a 33-year-old man was
charged with hammering his wife to death and dumping her body on the
highway leading to the Queen Alia International Airport. The husband
confessed to murdering her ''to defend his honour,’’ as she was meeting a
male friend.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51150
Israel's Arab Helpers
PA uncovers huge Hamas arms cache
Security official says forces in Nablus discovered caches containing
hundreds of kilograms of explosives, ammunition and weapons; claims
Islamist group plotted to carry out attacks in West Bank, Israel.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3880709,00.html
Hamas: “Assassination Of
Sweity Outcome Of Collaboration Between P.A Forces And Israel”
Islamic
Resistance
Movement, Hamas, held Fateh movement of President Mahmoud Abbas, and
the Israeli Army, responsible for the Monday assassination of
Qassam Brigades fighter, Ali Sweity, and said that this assassination is
the fruit of collaboration between the P.A and the Israeli army.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58530
PA
brags
about frustrating resistance operations of Hamas against Israel
The
PA
claimed it was able to thwart resistance operations planned by Hamas
against Israeli targets after its preventive security detained a leader
of Al-Qassam Brigades in Nablus city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Hamas:
25
supporters detained by PA police
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Hamas
said Monday that 25 party supporters and affiliates were detained by
Palestinian Authority police across the West Bank. PA police raids
targeted supporters in Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron, Jerusalem, and Salfit, a
statement said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279513
Political
Developments/Diplomacy
Impose solution for Middle East, Abbas asks Obama
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas made a blunt appeal to the US at the
weekend, asking US President Barack Obama to "impose" a solution to the
Middle East conflict. The call comes amid deepening frustration at
Israel's refusal to suspend the construction of Jewish homes in
Arab-dominated East Jerusalem.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/impose-solution-for-middle-east-abbas-asks-obama-1954225.html
Other News
Egyptian FM calls Israel 'enemy'
Speaking
to reporters in Beirut, Aboul Gheit says did not come to Lebanon to
relay warning from 'the enemy to a sister Arab country'; adds that Cairo
would stand by Lebanon, Syria in case of attack.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3880673,00.html
Gaddafi to Arab MKs: I've nothing against Jews
During visit of Israeli-Arab Knesset members, Libyan leader calls on
Israel's Arabs must multiply to counter any 'plots' to expel them; says
two-state solution 'stupid' and 'unrealistic'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3880679,00.html
Kahanists organize burning of Obama effigies in
ritual bonfires [UPDATED]
UPDATE: A Facebook group
for this campaign has opened, displaying images of some previous posters
on the subject of POTUS. One is posted below, with the text “Barak
Hussein Obama Anti-Semitic Jew-hater.” Lag
B’Omer is a secondary Jewish holiday dating to Talmudic times whose
origins are obscure. In Israel, one of its most widespread
manifestations is the lighting of bonfires on the holiday eve, which
this year (2010) occurs on Saturday, May 1.
http://coteret.com/2010/04/25/kahanists-organize-burning-of-obama-effigies-in-ritual-bonfires/
Israel’s ‘guardian,’ Sen. Schumer says Gazans are
suffering but they deserve it
Mondoweiss - Ben Smith picks up a disturbing radio interview of Chuck
Schumer by Nachum Segal, who is apparently to the right of Schumer and
of course has influence, in which Schumer repeatedly sides with Israel
over Obama and says the collective punishment of the Palestinian people
in..
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/04/israels-guardian-sen-schumer-says-gazans-are-suffering-but-they-deserve-it.html
Jewish Settler website attacks, incites against
Palestinian journalist
PIC 23 Apr 2010 - An Israeli news-and-views website affiliated with the
Nazi-minded Gush Emunim movement has attacked and incited against a
Palestinian journalist for criticizing Ed Kcoh.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/
Der
Spiegel: Israel a corrupt country
German weekly outlines
recent corruption affairs in Israel's top echelon. Report covers former
Prime Ministers Ehud Olmert, Ariel Sharon as well as Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman, jailed former Minister Hirchson, Benizri.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3880809,00.html
UBS tax evader in "Holocaust" plea sent to prison
MIAMI, April 23 (Reuters) - A Florida watchmaker who argued that
"survival behavior" learned from the Holocaust influenced his attempt to
hide funds from U.S. tax authorities in Swiss bank accounts at UBS AG
<UBSN.VX> was sentenced by a federal judge on Friday to 10 months
in prison.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N23189657.htm
Analysis/Opinion/Human
Interest
Akiva
Eldar
/ Who killed the Mideast peace process?, Akiva Eldar
It is hard to believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu genuinely
assumed that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would buy the
used goods he was selling, a "state with temporary borders." Even the
man who came up with the idea, President Shimon Peres, had stashed it
along with his other shelved plans. He told Netanyahu that no
life-loving Palestinian leader would accept temporary borders without a
deadline for permanent ones.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1165401.html
Sharing a West Bank highway proves a tall order for
Israel, Palestinians
BEIT UR AL-TAHTA, WEST BANK -- For eight years, Israeli commuters have
whizzed between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Highway 443, a road whose West
Bank portion is lined with barriers, off-limits to Palestinians who live
along the way. Naji Suliman, mayor of the Palestinian community of
Beit Ur al-Tahta, thought that would change after a decision by Israel's
Supreme Court calling for the ban on Palestinians to be lifted by May.
Then, after meeting with an Israeli military commander last week,
Suliman concluded that Israel's actions came "just for public
relations."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/25/AR2010042502024.html
Has Chuck Schumer Ever Criticized Israel or its
Leadership in the Way He Just Unloaded on Obama?
Schumer's screed gets to the edge of sounding as if he is more a Senator
working in the Knesset than working in the United States Senate.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-clemons/has-chuck-schumer-ever-cr_b_548902.html
What South African Community Leaders Should Have
Done – The Goldstone Scandal, Gilad Isaacs
The leadership of South African Jewish community has retreated in shame
over the barring of Judge Goldstone from his grandson's barmitzvah. In a
statement released late Friday afternoon it was confirmed that Judge
Goldstone would attend the event and that no protests would take place.
The international embarrassment that has followed the disgraceful
'effective barring' of Goldstone has no doubt contributed to this
reversal. Whilst we should celebrate this victory thought should be
given to the manner in which these events unfolded. The recent
capitulation of the community leadership does not excuse their previous
behaviour.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/04/
what-south-african-community-leaders-should-have-done-the-goldstone-scandal.html
Jonathan Ben-Artzi: Yes, apartheid
In
their recent columns, Simon Liebling ’12 and Ethan Tobias ’12 debated
the comparison of the contemporary struggle against the Israeli
occupation of the Palestinian territories and the struggle for
divestment from the apartheid state of South Africa in the 1980s (“The
right side of history” and “No apartheid here,” Apr. 16). Today,
apartheid is considered to be a low point in South African history. In
the 1980s, however, those who fought against it faced fierce resistance.
Dissent, unfortunately, is a lonely business. As an Israeli, I had to
start planning for my military service during my senior year of high
school. In Israel, interviews, medical checkups, examinations and forms
are all a routine part of one’s 18th birthday. However, long before
scheduling my first interview, I had already made up my mind: “I will
not join the military.” I decided that I had to take a stand in the face
of policies of segregation and discrimination that ravaged (and still
ravage) my country and the occupied Palestinian territories.
http://www.browndailyherald.com/jonathan-ben-artzi-yes-apartheid-1.2236332
…In Israel, it has been “Arizona” all along!
I am encouraged by the wave of justified indignation, and spontaneous
boycott movement, against the new Arizona law. Indeed, requiring
citizens and legal resident to carry proof of their status at all times,
and encouraging police to profile passersby who “look suspicious”, runs
counter to the soul of democracy. The bigots who put together the
Arizona law should be made to pay. And hopefully it will be declared
unconstitutional.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/04/in-israel-it-has-been-arizona-all-along/
Israel
Loves
Settlers, For Good Reason
"We've proven to Netanyahu, Obama
and Mitchell that we're the bosses in Jerusalem." If we look at the
situation on the ground today in the city, most of us will have to
concur with this outrageous statement by ultra-right wing settler Ben
Gvir, who marched on Silwan along with 50 other extremist Israeli
settlers on April 25. It has often been said and unfortunately it is
all too true that the minority settler population in Israel calls many
of the shots of Israeli government policy. Never mind that every single
settler living in every single home in the West Bank and east Jerusalem
is there illegally according to international law. To the Israelis, they
are the de facto policy makers, the feared minority and the sector of
society that wreaks the most havoc.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=22037&CategoryId=3
Israel's Open Secret: Nuclear Armed and Dangerous
US, April 26, 2010 (Pal Telegraph- by Stephen Lendman)- For many
years, Israel's open secret is that it's one of eight known nuclear
powers, including America and Russia with about 97% of the world's
arsenal according to Helen Caldicott in her book "Nuclear Power Is Not
the Answer." The others are Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, and
Israel - North Korea a declared but unverified one.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/opinions/views/5699-israels-open-secret-nuclear-armed-and-dangerous
Gaza's
calm
determination
To preserve my sense of purpose, and keep
the Palestine struggle from becoming a lifeless abstraction, I need
periodically to recharge my moral batteries by reconnecting with the
actual people living under occupation and by witnessing firsthand the
unfolding tragedy. From each trip I invariably carry away a handful of
stark images that I fix in my mind's eye to dispel the occasional
hesitations about staying the course. When the memories begin to fade I
know it is time to return. Norman Finkelstein writes in this excerpt
from his new book, This time we went too far
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11226.shtml
Book
review:
Edward Said's commitment in conversation
The new book The
Pen and the Sword -- a collection of five interviews with Said conducted
between 1987 and 1994 by David Barsamian, the founder of Alternative
Radio -- serves partly as a memoriam for Said himself and for the
generation he represented. Robin Yassin-Kassab reviews for The
Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11229.shtml
Iraq
Iraq
vote
panel invalidates 52 candidates: spokesman (AFP)
AFP - An
Iraqi judicial panel has invalidated the candidatures of 52 people who
stood in Iraq's March 7 general election, a spokesman for a
controversial investigative committee told AFP on Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100426/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpoliticsvote
Barring
of
candidates may change Iraq vote outcome (AP)
AP - An Iraqi
court disqualified 52 candidates Monday from the country's parliamentary
elections, including two who won seats, and threw out their votes in a
decision that could potentially change the outcome of the March 7 vote.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100426/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
Lebanon
Lebanese
Man
Given Death Penalty for Spying for Israeli Enemy
26/04/2010
Lebanon's Government Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr
on Monday demanded the death penalty for Lebanese citizen Ibrahim Amin
al-Baba on charges of spying for the Israeli enemy. Baba was also
charged with contacting the Israeli enemy and entering the occupied
territories several times in addition to engaging in plots and providing
information about Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad activities in return for
hefty cash rewards.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=135086&language=en
In
Lebanon, the last of the first glass blowing artisans
In all of Lebanon, only one family still practices the dying art of
glass blowing, invented here more than 2,000 years ago. It's painstaking
work with little monetary reward.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0423/In-Lebanon-the-last-of-the-first-glass-blowing-artisans
U.S.
and Other World News
Airline pilot cleared of role in 9/11 after 'nine
years of hell'
Lotfi Raissi eligible for up to £2m compensation after wrongful
imprisonment and damage to health.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/apr/23/airline-pilot-cleared-9-11-lotfi-raissi
Egypt a ticking time bomb, Eric Margolis
The Arab world’s leading nation has become a political and cultural
backwater — and that’s not good. As battered air travellers struggle to
recover from Iceland’s volcanic big bang, another explosion is building
up. This time, it’s a political one that could rock the entire Mideast,
where rumours of war involving the U.S., Syria, Israel and Iran
are intensifying. President Hosni Mubarak, the U.S.-supported strongman
who has ruled Egypt with an iron hand for almost 30 years, is 81 and in
frail health. He has no designated successor. Mubarak, a general, was
put into power with U.S. help after the 1981 assassination of President
Anwar Sadat by nationalist soldiers. Sadat had been a CIA “asset” since
1952.
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/eric_margolis/2010/04/23/13697251.html#print
UAE
calls again on Iran to end islands "occupation"
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The foreign minister of the United Arab
Emirates refused to back down in the face of Iranian anger and repeated
on Sunday his call for Tehran to end its "occupation" of three islands
in the Gulf. The minister's use of the word last week and his explicit
comparison of the islands claimed by the UAE to Arab lands occupied by
Israel was called "brazen and impudent" by Tehran, which said on
Saturday it hoped he had been misquoted.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/26/worldupdates/2010-04-25
T225854Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-479848-1&sec=Worldupdates
'Mass illness' hits Afghan schoolgirls in Kunduz
Scores of schoolgirls in the Afghan province of Kunduz have fallen ill
over the past week, in what authorities allege is mass poisoning by
insurgents.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8642806.stm
Syria's
Scuds,
Israel's Security and One Big Smokescreen
In the
self-sensationalising world of modern media, some truths are better
witnessed than told. Over the past fortnight, major media outlets have
converged on Syria’s alleged delivery of scud missiles to the Lebanese
resistance movement Hezbollah. By examining how the story first came to
limelight, as well as the manner in which media sources have
uncritically covered the story, one can begin to notice the vastly
degenerated state of today’s media and its deeply polarising effects.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15909
Inside
Story
- Sharing the Nile
The Nile basin countries meeting in
Egypt last week failed to reach an agreement on water-sharing because
Egypt and Sudan refused to sign the new deal. Can there be a fair
distribution of the Nile waters with Egypt claiming historical rights,
while other downstream nations say they were not consulted? Could water
disputes over the Nile spark a water war?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGE-Nh2kgTg&feature=youtube_gdata
Growing
herbs
for profit in Jordan
Barack Obama, the US president,
launches a new effort on Monday to build business and social ties to the
Muslim world. Obama hosts a two-day presidential summit on
entrepreneurship that will bring together about 250 successful business
and social entrepreneurs from more than 50 countries, most with large
Muslim populations, fulfilling a pledge he made in his Cairo speech to
the Islamic worldlast June. The aim is to bring together successful
business and social entrepreneurs from different countries, venture
capitalists, development bankers and other business experts to discuss
ideas and share experiences with a view towards creating support
networks that will help promote development in the region. However, one
businesswoman in Jordan does not require a summit to make a profit.
Maisoon Zaidan set up an initiative in 2006 to capitalise on Jordan's
natural resources. Al Jazeera's Nisreen El-Shamayleh travelled to the
village of Anjara to meet Zaidan and her profitable garden.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=577qTns2ulA&feature=youtube_gdata |
| For further information contact Shadi Fadda |
|
|
