|
Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
|
Ethnic Cleansing/Land, Property Theft and Destruction/Settlements
New
Israeli plan to build 321 housing units in OJ
The Islamic-Christian
commission has revealed that the Israeli-controlled municipality of
occupied Jerusalem was planning three new housing projects in the holy
city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Green
light
for Jerusalem settlers
April
27, 2010
—
The road map for peace in the Middle East has been jammed for
years, with Jewish settlers given the "green light" to build settlements
on occupied Palestinian land. Now it seems the inequalities between
Israelis and Palestinians are being reflected also on the roads in East
Jerusalem. As Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland experiences, the
traffic lights seem to favour some more than others.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQYKeYhDWa4&feature=player_embedded
Settlers Tighten Screw on Palestinian Bedouin
Communities
TUBAS (WEST BANK), April 26, 2010 (WAFA)- Between 20 and 30 armed
settlers from the Maskiot settlement, supported by the Israeli army and
police from the settlement, yesterday erected a tent flying Israeli
flags just 10 meters away from the entrance to the Palestinian Bedouin
community of El Maleh and ordered the Bedouin community off the land.
Their aim is to terrify the community into leaving and claim the land to
expand Maskiot settlement.
http://english.wafa.ps/?action=detail&id=14108
Palestinian PM accuses Israel "cutting off" E.
Jerusalem from Palestinian environs
RAMALLAH, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
on Monday accused Israel of "cutting off" East Jerusalem " from its
Palestinian environs," saying the Israeli measures there run counter to
the international law., Fayyad, speaking in a conference devoted to
support the holy city, said the eastern part of Jerusalem "would be the
lasting capital of the (future) Palestinian statehood," adding that the
Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is "determined to overcome the
Israeli obstacles."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-04/26/c_13268351.htm
Outpost
demolition
plans leaked to settlers
Defense establishment to
probe who informed National Union MK Michael Ben-Ari of plans to launch
razing operation of illegal structures in West Bank settlements.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3881529,00.html
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott,Sanctions
and
Divestment
Al-Walaja:
14-year old child beaten and arrested by IOF
April 27th,
2010-- Nabil participated at a march today on the lands of al-Walaja.
Residents walked to the fields where the apartheid wall is being built.
The Wall is slated to confiscate more land from the villagers. The
occupation forces dragged the child to a military vehicle and sent him
to an unknown location.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2240.shtml
Walaja
protests continue; 15-year-old detained
Bethlehem - Ma'an -
Protest organizers said a 15-year-old Palestinian boy was beaten and
detained by Israeli border police during an early-morning anti-wall
protest in Al-Walaja on Tuesday. Protests in the area have intensified
since an Israeli court lifted an injunction halting construction of the
separation wall in the west of Bethlehem district, with a statement from
organizers announcing that "demonstrators managed to disrupt the
construction of the Wall in al-Walaja for the second time in a week."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279791
Jerusalemites
hunger
strike in solidarity with detainees
Jerusalem – Ma'an
– More than 30 parents of Palestinian detainees from Jerusalem gathered
outside the Red Cross Headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah on Tuesday, and
announced the start of a hunger strike in solidarity with their
children. Palestinians in Israeli detention centers continue to observe
a one-month boycott of family visits, in an effort to demand equal
treatment for all prisoners, following a series of escalating
accusations against prison officials for mistreating family visitors and
using the visits as punishment for some prisoners.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279809
Gaza
War Crimes – When Will University of California Stop Funding?
When will the University of California stop funding war crimes against
Palestinian civilians and the occupation of Palestinian land? How much
longer will grieving mothers have to wait for justice? Zinad Samouni is
still waiting. She is a 35-year-old Palestinian mother of eight who
lost 48 of her family members in Israel’s assault on Gaza in January
2009, including her four-year-old son Ahmed.
http://www.caldivestfromapartheid.com/
Cal-Berkeley rallies around divestment vote; other
colleges continue BDS movement against Israeli companies
The struggle to help the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza has been
challenging to say the least, but many have become encouraged by the
growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that is gaining
steam on college campuses across the country. On Wednesday, April 28,
the campus of the one of America's most prominent and influential
colleges, the University of California at Berkeley, will be the site of a
key vote in the fight to uphold the school senate's original vote to
divest from prominent companies General
Electric and United Technology, both of which the original bill said
were traced to providing military technology to the Israeli military to
commit war crimes against citizens of Gaza.
http://www.arabamericannews.com/news/index.php?mod=article&cat=USA&article=3049
Abbas orders trade ban on Israeli settler goods
RAMALLAH, Occupied West Bank: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on
Monday banned trade in goods made by Israelis living in West Bank
settlements, stepping up a campaign to build support for an
international ban. "President Abbas today issued a law banning trade in
goods made in settlements," Abbas's legal adviser Hassan al-Awri told
Reuters.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=114231
Men and women of Iraq Burin demonstrate against
land theft
Palestinian men, women and children, along with international activists
met with severe military repression on Saturday, April 24 as the village
of Iraq Burin staged another successful demonstration against the
Israeli occupation of their lands. Local and international activists
gathered under the heat of another beaming midday sun at the southern
outskirts of the village, warming up for what has become weekly
tradition. Some 80 demonstrators, lead by a shabb (youth) on a
magnificent steed, began the march along the steep path to the summit of
Iraq Burin’s southern peak toward the fence demarcating the edge of Iraq
Burin’s contested farmland, adjacent to the illegal settlement of
Bracha.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/04/12145
Schaeffer: What if Bil’in held a demo and the army
didn’t show up?
Some of us have become so used to West Bank demonstrations meaning major
Israeli army presence, and, typically, the use of weapons, that we have
forgotten what demonstrations in a democracy look like. We’ve forgotten
that a protest against oppressive working conditions in downtown New
York City, or against oppressive abortion policies in Fredericton,
Canada, or against wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in cities including
London, Sydney, Paris, San Francisco and Toronto — means police presence
only when the protests become so large that they overcrowd public spaces
and need direction, when they damage city property, or (get this)
when the protesters themselves might be at risk from onlookers with
opposing views.
http://coteret.com/2010/04/27/
schaeffer-what-if-bil%E2%80%99in-held-a-demo-and-the-army-didn%E2%80%99t-show-up/
UC Santa Cruz cancels Israeli speakers. Israeli
Consulate Outraged-not!
Here’s the short version. An April 20 talk by Palestinian and Jewish
Israeli citizens on the cost of war and Israeli militarism is canceled
at the last minute by
UC
Santa Cruz. administration after some 90 Jewish students protest and
2 faculty write hard-hitting letter comparing proposed talk to hanging a
noose to intimidate African American students. Talk organizer finds
alternative venue anyway, but Israeli peace group co-sponsoring talk
gets really ticked off and writes even harder-hitting letter to faculty
and students. Anti-Defamation League, Israeli Consul General say nothing
about Israeli citizens being banned from a University of California (UC)
campus.
http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/04/26/uc-santa-cruz-cancels-israeli-speakers-israeli-consulate-outraged-not/
Hour:
Canada and Israel Building Apartheid
Hour March 2010 by
Stefan Christoff. Photo: Israeli apartheid wall cutting through
Palestinian lands. Yves Engler’s new book, Canada and Israel: Building
Apartheid, is a stunning examination of the history of Canada-Israel
relations and a key read for anyone interested in Canadian foreign
policy of all political stripes.
http://www.tadamon.ca/post/6379
Violence and Aggression
'4 Palestinians' death could have been avoided'
IDF chief's inquest into West Bank clashes which left four Palestinians
dead concludes troops were ill-prepared for missions. Shomron Brigade
commander, Nahshon Battalion commander to receive official notations on
service records.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3881231,00.html
Patrolling soldiers clash with Jerusalem teens
Jerusalem –
Ma'an – Soldiers patrolling the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of
Wad Hilweh sparked stone throwing from local teenagers on Tuesday
morning, sparking fears of fresh arrest campaigns.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279793
Detainees
Relatives of slain Hamas leader detained in Hebron
Hebron – Ma'an – Israeli forces detained four men related to a
Hamas-aligned militant killed in a raid south of Hebron overnight, a
prisoners rights group reported after the attack. Israeli soldiers were
seen taking Al-Qassam Brigades affiliate Ali Sweiti's body after
demolishing the home where he was hiding in Beit Awwa, southern Hebron.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279688
Dura
mayor: 30 detained in civilian home
Hebron – Ma'an – The home
of a Hebron-area civilian was declared a closed military zone by Israeli
forces early Tuesday morning, local officials reported. The building,
home to 20, located in the city of Dura, southwest of Hebron belongs to
Raed Ash-Shahatit, city mayor Mustapha Ar-Rujoub told Ma'an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279769
Israeli Injustice
Children
stand
trial for stone throwing
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Fourteen and
15-year-old brothers stood trial at Ofer's military court on Monday,
facing charges of throwing stones at Israeli soldiers in the occupied
West Bank. The boys, Nadim and Jihad Basim Kawazba from Bethlehem's
Al-Minya neighborhood, were recommended for sentences of three and four
months detention but the judge's decision was delayed when lawyers Eyhab
Al-Ghaleith and Iyad Misk requested that the hearing be postponed until
Thursday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279823
Israel
set to try Jerusalem official detained Sunday
Jerusalem –
Ma'an – The trial of Fatah’s Jerusalem affairs official Hatim Abdul
Qader began in Israel's Magistrates Court in Jerusalem on Tuesday,
lawyers confirmed. Abdul Qader, who supports Jerusalmites facing
eviction and home demolitions, and speaks out regularly against Israeli
restrictions on freedom of worship and movement, faces charges of
resisting Israeli forces and incitement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279782
Israel
commanders
reprimanded for West Bank shootings (Reuters)
Reuters
- Israel's army chief has reprimanded two senior officers over the
killing of four Palestinians in two separate shooting incidents in the
West Bank last month, the military said on Tuesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100427/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_army
Humanitarian Issues
Health
ministry:
110 types of medicine out of stock
The Palestinian
health ministry in Gaza has warned in a statement on Monday that
hundreds of medicines and medical supplies were out of stock.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
PFLP:
Hamas imposing unfair, strict tax laws
Gaza – Ma’an – The
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) called on the de
facto government in Gaza to stop their latest practice of levying high
taxes on some residents, and using strict measures to impose their
collection. In a statement released on Tuesday, PFLP officials
condemned the practice, saying falafel vendors and taxi drivers were
being forced to pay large sums to keep their businesses running.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279974
Political
Developments/Diplomacy
Abbas:
I
don't want to declare unilateral statehood
Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday said he opposes the
unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, in an exclusive interview
on Channel 2 news.
Hamas: No elections without national unity
Hamas rejected the decision by the illegitimate government of Salam
Fayyad in Ramallah to organize municipal elections in the West Bank on
17/7/2010.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Fatah leader says prevented from leaving West Bank
Ramallah
–
Ma’an – Israeli authorities reportedly banned member of Fatah's central
committee Tawfiq At-Tirawi from traveling Monday morning through
the King Hussein border crossing between northern Israel and Jordan.
At-Tirawi told Ma'an that he was not allowed to travel as a VIP nor with
locals by bus.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279593
Obama meets with Israeli defense minister (AP)
AP - President Barack Obama assured a top Israeli official Monday that
the U.S. has an unshakable commitment to Israel's security despite
recent tension over Jewish settlement construction in East Jerusalem.
Other News
Israel
protests
Egyptian 'enemy' claim
Following Egyptian foreign minister's
statement on relaying 'messages from enemy states', Israel's ambassador
to Cairo conveys official protest, seeks clarifications. Egyptians say
minister was misunderstood.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3881613,00.html
Hamas figure denounces Shalit 3D video
(Video) Mahmoud al-Zahar condemns propaganda video showing aging father
of kidnapped soldier waiting for his son's return, says 'we have not
killed in past; will never kill captive Israeli soldiers – our morals
prevent us from doing so'.http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/middle_east/8644637.stm
Analysis/Opinion/Human
Interest
Maariv:
Gen.
Saguy reveals details of Lauder brokered Bibi-Assad negotiations in the
’90s
The most fascinating interview you did not read
appeared this month in Halohem,
the newsletter of the IDF disabled veterans organization. Perhaps it
was the esoteric platform, perhaps it was the circumstances of the
interview, and perhaps because the time had simply come—Maj. Gen. (res.)
Uri Saguy tells in the interview, in rare detail, about the negotiations
he held with the Syrians in 1999 and 2000: “A strategic diplomatic
failure of the first order,” says Saguy, who was the director
of Military Intelligence and head of the negotiating team for the talks
with Syria in Ehud Barak’s days as prime minister, referring to the
missed opportunity to reach an arrangement with Hafez Assad; such an
arrangement could have prevented all the wars in the past decade and
fundamentally changed Israel’s situation in the region.According to
Saguy, it was not the question of Syrians dipping their feet in the
water of the Kinneret that prevented an arrangement, but rather the
weakness of the leaders.
http://coteret.com/2010/04/27/
maariv-gen-saguy-reveals-details-of-lauder-brokered-bibi-assad-negotiations-in-the-90s/
Not
all
Palestinians buy Fayyad's vision of state by 2011
Palestinian
Prime
Minister Salam Fayyad is quietly changing the rules of the Arab-Israeli
conflict with a simple credo: Palestinians have to build their state
now and cannot wait for an elusive peace deal with Israel. He is moving
ahead with an ambitious plan to get the Palestinians ready for statehood
by August 2011 by trying to build it from the ground up: paving roads,
reforming the judiciary, planning new cities.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1165706.html
Israel's
fear
and loathing of Obama
Calling a complete halt to illegal
Israeli settlements on Palestinian land entails risks and pain. But it
is the only way to deliver the two-state solution that is vital for all
concerned, writes Gideon Rachman.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/310bdc10-5163-11df-bed9-00144feab49a.html
When will time run out for a two-state solution? | Yousef Munayyer
The
Palestinians
must draw the line on settlements, or the facade of a two-state
discussion will continue ad infinitum. Among those involved in the
Middle East peace process industry there is much talk
about "time
running out" for a two-state solution. Recently, the same
sentiments were echoed by the US state department, reflecting a shift in
the way the Obama administration is publicly talking about the conflict.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/27/israel-palestinian-territories
Israeli
tv exposes Abbas/Fayyad rift?
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israel's
Channel 2 aired an exclusive interview with President Mahmoud Abbas on
Monday night, where the Palestinian president announced that he was not
in favor of the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state. The
comments, billed by the Israeli press as contradictory to the plan of
Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, whose Program of the Thirteenth Government
(August 2009), is titled "Ending the Occupation, Establishing the
State," and plans for the declaration of an independent state by 2011.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=279734
Can The U.S. Beat Israel At Their Game?, Jeff Gates
For a skilled agent provocateur, an anticipated reaction can become a
powerful weapon in the arsenal of the provocateur. In response to a mass
murder on American soil, even a moderately competent game theorist could
foresee that the U.S. would dispatch its military to avenge that
attack.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25323.htm
Big
Think:
The impending Israel-Palestine disaster
The more unwilling
Binyamin Netanyahu is to take a historic leap, the more dangerous it’s
going to get, says David Remnick, Editor, The New Yorker.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/
big-think-the-impending-israelpalestine-disaster-1955807.html
25 Insanities
of the Israeli Occupation in Palestine
Paulette Schroeder -
CPT’s neighbor must enter her house, carrying groceries, first up a
ladder, over the roof entrance, down into her home. She is one of many
Palestinians who are not able to use their front doors because their
front doors are facing a now settler-only street. Insanity nr 15.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=39572
Iraq
Monday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 17 Wounded
The
formation of the new government was thrown into disarray as an Iraqi
court began to disqualify candidates who ran in last month's
parliamentary elections. At least seven Iraqis were killed and 17 were
wounded in new violence.Monday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 17 Wounded.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/04/26/monday-7-iraqis-killed-17-wounded/
Iraq: Five factory workers killed, eight injured in
Irbil blast
Five metal factory workers were killed and eight others injured in an
explosion west of Irbil, in northern Iraq.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2078327&Language=en
Iraq must protect civilians at risk of deadly
violence
An Amnesty International report documents how
hundreds are killed or injured each month. Many are targeted by armed
groups because of their religious, ethnic or sexual identity.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/
iraq-must-protect-civilians-risk-deadly-violence-2010-04-27
Widow of Iraqi killed by US troops in video ‘accepts
apology’ after letter
The widow of an Iraqi killed in a
notorious US helicopter attack yesterday accepted an apology from two of
the soldiers involved. The two wrote an open letter after footage of the
2007 incident was leaked on the internet.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article7107797.ece
Iraq
delays
ruling on election candidate ban (Reuters)
Reuters - A
potentially divisive ruling by an Iraqi review panel on whether to wipe
out the votes of nine winning candidates from last month's election has
been delayed, possibly until next week, officials said on Tuesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100427/wl_nm/us_iraq_election
Gulf War battle reignites as Kuwait tries to freeze
Iraqi Airways assets
A bitter legal battle between Iraq and Kuwait dating back to the Gulf
War has resurfaced in the British courts. On Sunday evening the first
scheduled commercial flight from Baghdad to London for 20 years touched
down at Gatwick airport. Waiting for the plane were lawyers acting for
Kuwait Airways. They carried a High Court order issued the same day,
freezing the global assets of Iraq’s national airline, Iraqi Airways.
At Iraqi border outpost, a U.S.-Iran game of 'spy
vs. spy' (McClatchy Newspapers)
McClatchy Newspapers - JOINT SECURITY STATION WAHAB, Iraq — This
windswept U.S. garrison on Iraq's border with Iran has no running water
and sporadic mail service, and it's so easily overlooked that the
military accidentally canceled its contract for portable toilets last
month, forcing the 60 soldiers who live here to resort to disposable
waste bags for a while.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100426/wl_mcclatchy/3488420
First
person:
Life still tough in Iraq
This time seven years ago, George
Bush, the former US President, was preparing his famous speech declaring
"mission accomplished" in Iraq. But today, violence is still the norm
for many Iraqis. Amnesty International says hundreds are still killed
and maimed every month. For many Iraqis, life is tough, and fear is
constant. Here's one widow's story, in her own words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqxUjxpJJe8&feature=youtube_gdata
Iraq Rocked by
Court Verdict, PATRICK COCKBURN
An Iraqi court has
disqualified two members of the country's newly elected parliament in a
move which puts in doubt the outcome of last month's election and is
likely to increase political instability in the country. The winning
candidates who have been barred are among 52 candidates disqualified for
past association with Saddam Hussein's Ba’ath party.The ban on them
appears to be part of a campaign by the government of Nouri al-Maliki,
the prime minister, to change in his favor the unexpected results of the
election, which saw his State of Law bloc narrowly beaten by Iyad
Allawi's al-Iraqiya coalition.
http://www.counterpunch.com/patrick04272010.html
Lebanon
Israeli
Occupation
Army Says Hezbollah Can Strike at Any Moment
It seems that
the phantom of Hezbollah military commander Imad Moghniyyeh (Haj Redwan)
is still chasing the Israeli occupation soldiers fearing that the
resistance group will avenge his assassination at any time and any
place. Four years after the end of the Second Lebanon War, the tense
atmosphere among Israeli occupation forces positioned along the northern
border of occupied Palestine is evident.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=135143&language=en
Sleiman vows authorities will preserve country's
security
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman stressed Monday that the Lebanese
authorities would not allow any attempts to tamper with the country's
security. "The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) will continue its
investigations without any political interference," Sleiman said,
addressing expatriates at the Mount Lebanon Club in Sao Paolo.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=114262
Lebanon: Scud claims aim to distract from stalled
peace talks
BEIRUT: Israeli charges that Syria is smuggling Scud missiles to its
Lebanese ally Hizbullah aims to divert attention from stalled Middle
East peace talks, a senior Lebanese official said Monday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=114261
Hariri calls Zapatero, urges action against Israeli
threats
BEIRUT: Premier Saad Hariri discussed on Monday
recent Israeli threats with his Spanish counterpart Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero. The phone call is part of the contacts Hariri is undertaking
with a number of European officials to confront the escalating Israeli
threats against Lebanon and Syria.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=114260
Palestinians still denied labor rights
BEIRUT: Bashar (not his real name) dreams of opening his own pharmacy.
The fact that Bashar is a Palestinian, however, means his dream will
likely never be realized. "I have the skills and knowledge to open my
own business, but the laws are working against me."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=114245
Lebanese
news
site says hacked by Israelis
National News Agency director
says website hacked by Israeli Born to Freedom Foundation, which posted
message offering $10 million for news on whereabouts of missing
soldiers.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3881607,00.html
U.S.
and Other World News
18 veterans commit suicide each day
Seven percent of the attempts are successful, and 11 percent of those
who don’t succeed on the first attempt try again within nine months.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/04/military_veterans_suicide_042210w/
Afghan
spy chief: 'I told MI5 that prisoners were being tortured'
UK
forces are accused of handing over Taliban detainees to Kandahar
interrogators despite claims of ill-treatment.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/25/afghan-mi5-prisoners-tortured
"Avatar" Director James Cameron Follows Box Office Success With Advocacy
for Indigenous Struggles
On the heels of his record-setting
Hollywood blockbuster “Avatar”, the film director James Cameron is
taking on a new role as an activist, allying himself with indigenous
struggles he says mirror the plot of his film. In “Avatar”, an
indigenous species called the Na’vi resists the private military force
of a powerful corporation bent on exploiting their planet’s valuable
minerals. Democracy Now! producer Aaron Maté caught up with James
Cameron to discuss “Avatar”, Cameron’s opposition to the Belo Monte in
Brazil, last week’s people’s climate summit in Bolivia, and his
reaction to seeing Avatar embraced by indigenous people worldwide, from
the Amazon to the Occupied Territories.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/27/avatar_director_james_cameron_follows_box
Fate of Saudi religious cop remains unclear after
condemning gender segregation
RIYADH: A senior member of Saudi Arabia's Islamic religious police who
riled conservatives by backing gender mixing and prayers outside the
mosque appeared to still have his job Monday, a day after the
organization announced he had been removed.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=114237
Smoking ban burns Syrian businesses
Syria is the first Arab country to enforce a ban on smoking in all
public places, including cafes and restaurants. The decree was signed
last November by Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, who is also a
qualified medical doctor, but the law was not implemented until last
Wednesday. Many businesses have said that the ban is already hurting
trade in a country where it is believed that more than 20 per cent of
women and 60 per cent of men are smokers. Al Jazeera's Bhanu Bhatnagar
reports. [April 26, 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sccQeN89suw&feature=youtube_gdata
Privilege Pulls Qatar Toward Unhealthy Choices
Native Qataris are suffering serious health problems that relate to a
privileged lifestyle paid for with the nation’s oil wealth.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/middleeast/27qatar.html
Iran's oil industry booming
Iran has
some of the world's largest reserves of oil and natural gas, but for
years the country's energy industry has suffered from tough sanctions
imposed over its nuclear programme, hindering access to foreign
investment. But at a recent major oil and gas exhibition in Tehran, the
presence of big international players, including Chinese companies
seeking to capitalise on billions of dollars worth of contracts, showed
that the market was alive and well. Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi reports
from Tehran. [April 26, 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBC-c11i-DA&feature=youtube_gdata |
| For further information contact Shadi Fadda |
|
|
