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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Land Theft and Destruction
Benjamin
Netanyahu: Israel to retain key West Bank settlement in any peace deal
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Friday that Israel would retain
control of a large West Bank settlement under any future arrangement
with the Palestinians.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1146182.html
Arab
Israelis protest house demolitions (AFP)
AFP
- Hundreds of people on Friday protested against the demolition of
Arab-Israeli homes at a demonstration in the Israeli city of Lod, near
Tel Aviv.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100129/wl_mideast_afp/mideastisraelarabdemo
Israel fast-tracking Indian immigrants to subvert
settlement freeze
The
Israeli government is reported to have quietly approved the fast-track
immigration of 7,000 members of a supposedly "lost Jewish" tribe, known
as the Bnei Menashe, currently living in a remote area of India.
Jonathan Cook reports.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11037.shtml
Israeli Thuggery/Injustice
Jerusalem Court Fines Jerusalem Woman 20.000 NIS
After fundamentalist Jewish settlers took over her home in East
Jerusalem, the Jerusalem District Court ordered a Palestinian woman to
pay 20.000 News Israeli Shekel, and additional 7000 the prosecution.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57800
Apartheid at the Israeli High Court, By URI WEISS
In
1992
the Knesset enacted Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. This
basic law speaks clearly about human dignity. It states explicitly:
"All persons are entitled to protection of their life, body and
dignity". And let it be emphasized: all persons, not just citizens, not
just residents, and not just Jewish persons. However, Judge Aharon
Barak's Supreme Court (sitting as the HCJ) has ruled that the law is
applicable to Jewish settlers in the territories, but the question of
whether it is applicable to their Palestinian neighbors has been left
as "pending decision", i.e. an open question about which the need to
decide has not yet arisen.
http://www.counterpunch.com/weiss01282010.html
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott,
Sanctions
and
Divestment
Court rules Sheikh Jarrah protests legal
Jerusalem
Magistrate's
Court rejects police demand to extend remand of 'unruly'
leftist protestors; judge says freedom of assembly, expression is basic
right which police must protect.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3841189,00.html
Police vow to squash E. Jerusalem protests despite
court order
Despite
a court ruling to the contrary, Jerusalem police said Thursday that it
plans on forcibly putting down on a left-wing demonstration against a
Jewish takeover of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem. Public
demonstrations and protests by left-wing activists angry over the
eviction of Arab families from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of
Sheikh Jarrah are legal so long as they do not disturb the public order
and disrupt traffic, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ruled on
Thursday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1145875.html
Israeli campaign against Palestinian protest makes
the ‘Times’ as Bil’in leader is arrested again, Adam Horowitz
On the day that Bil’in protest leader
Mohammad Khatib was arrested for the second time in six months, the New York Times
has finally caught up to the story of Israel’s ongoing campaign against Palestinian dissent.
Isabel Kershner’s article, Israel Signals Tougher Line on West Bank Protests,
gives an overview of the "creeping, part-time intifada" that continues
to spread across the West Bank, as well Israel’s effort to quash it.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/
israeli-campaign-against-palestinian-protest-makes-the-times-as-bilin-leader-is-arrested-again.html
Former
Knesset Speaker Avraham (Avrum) Burg Joins the Sheikh Jarrah Protests
In
recent weeks, the ongoing weekly protests in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah have
succeeded in making headlines both in Israel
and abroad. Sheikh Jarrah is one of the most contentious neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, where
Israeli settlers are gradually moving
into the homes of Palestinian families, with the full backing of
Israeli court decisions. In East Jerusalem, Jews can return to pre-1948
Jewish properties - but Arabs cannot return to pre-1948 Palestinian
properties. This asymmetry
creates not only great human suffering to the Palestinian families
losing their homes, but also expresses unfathomable irresponsibility in
the handling of a sensitive issue at the core of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unilaterally creating facts on the ground
while violating the human rights of Palestinian families is cruel,
shortsighted, and reckless.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hagai-elad/former-knesset-speaker-av_b_441093.html
Let’s Not Forget About the Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah, Joseph
Dana
Let
us not forget what Sheikh Jarrah is all about on this weekly day of
protest. Sheikh Jarrah is about the families that live on the streets
because of Israeli actions to take over their homes in favor of
extremist settlers, backed by American money, that want to derail any
possibility for peaceful reconciliation between Israel and the
Palestinians. Sheikh Jarrah is about Palestinians.
http://josephdana.com/2010/01/lets-not-forget-about-the-palestinians-in-sheikh-jarrah/
An
Invitation to Cover a Demonstration in Lod
press
release: - RCUV - Regional Council for the Unrecognized Bedouin
Villages in the Negev "Friday, January 29th, there will be a large
demonstration organized by the Peoples` Committee in protest of these
policies of demolitions in the Arab neighborhoods of the city of Lod."
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=38022
Donations for Surgery for Eymad Bornat of Bil`in -
Urgent!
Eymad
Bornat, a resident of the West Bank Village of Bil`in, photographer,
father, and active member of the non-violent movement against the
occupation, specifically the wall and settlements that take 56% of his
village`s land for Israeli use, was badly injured a little over a year
ago in an accident in which he was hit by a tractor while filming
construction in the Modi`in Illit settlement, which stands to this day
on Bil`in`s land. At the time of the injury he was in critical
condition, but after 50 days in the hospital and intensive medical
treatment he recovered. Now, a year later, he needs to undergo an
additional operation in order to close his abdominal area, which was
only temporarily closed previously for medical reasons. The operation
will cost 22,000 shekels (the equivalent of USD $5,895), and he needs
to pay this amount by this coming Tuesday!!
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=38023
Aggression/Violence
Israel kills top Hamas commander in Dubai - Hamas
(Reuters)
Mahmoud
al-Mabhouh was killed on January 20, Izzat al-Rishq told Reuters in the
Syrian capital Damascus. Rishq said Mabhouh was an "important" member
of Izz el-Deen al- Qassam brigades, Hamas's military wing named after a
Syrian religious leader who fought British colonial forces in Palestine
in the 1930s. He said Mabhouh, who had been living in Syria since
1989, was assassinated a day after he arrived in Dubai but that Hamas
could not say more at present about how he was killed.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100129/wl_nm/us_palestinians_hamas_commander
Dubai
police on manhunt for assassins
Senior
official says local police have identified men who killed top Hamas
member Mahmoud al-Bahbouh, but adds suspects believed to have already
left emirate. Security sources say body had traces of burns, torture
from electric shock. Hamas official in Damascus explains delay in death
announcement aimed at catching Mossad agents.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3841479,00.html
Brother of
slain Hamas man: He was electrocuted and strangled
The
brother of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was killed in Dubai last week, told
Haaretz on Friday that he was certain that Israel was behind the
assassination, and that Israel had tried before to kill his brother.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1146175.html
Israeli Tanks Shell Areas East of Gaza City
Israeli
tanks shelled areas close to Gaza City and the borders with Israel,
this Thursday afternoon. Residents of Al Shojayia neighborhood
reported the shelling of their
homes and farm lands by Israeli tanks stationed at the nearby border
line.
The residents added that tanks also targeted farmers while they were
working on their land. Damage to property and homes were reported but
no injuries.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57793
Medics:
Gaza fisherman seriously hurt by naval fire
Gaza – Ma'an – A Palestinian fisherman was injured overnight by Israeli
warships, when they opened fire on a cluster of small fishing boats of
the Rafah coast before sunrise on Friday, medics said. Medical sources
at Abu Yousef Najar Hospital identified the injured man as 39-year-old
Wael Al-Bardawil, who arrived in critical condition after sustaining
gunshot wounds to the back.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=257596
Israeli
forces injure 5 during home invasion
Jerusalem
– Ma'an – Israeli forces injured five members of the Awad family,
including a pregnant woman, when an undercover force raided their home
in the Shufat Refugee Camp on Thursday night, the family said. Jamal
Awad, director of
the UNRWA office in the camp, said the forces entered his home on the
pretext of pursuing a child fleeing the scene of crime that allegedly
took place in the Pisgat Ze'ev settlement in Jerusalem. The
family refused entry to the force, which they said used tear gas and
batons to force their way into the home. Jamal said that he, his son
Muhammad, his pregnant daughter-in-law, and relatives Ashraf and
Muammar were all injured in the assault. All of the injured
were transferred to hospital by Red Crescent ambulances. Medics said
they were treated for mild to moderate injuries.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=257451
Israeli troops raid Qalqiliya, search home
Qalqilia
– Ma’an – Israeli forces raided the northern West Bank city of
Qalqiliya from two sides at dawn on Thursday, Palestinian security
sources said. Israeli forces entered the city from the north and east
and stationed themselves in the Nazzal neighborhood in the city
center. During the operation, soldiers searched the home of Muhammad
Adnan, a member of the Qalqiliya city council, as well as the homes of
his brother and several relatives, the sources said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=257520
Detentions
Israeli Soldiers Detain Six Civilians from Southern
West Bank
Six
Palestinian civilians were detained by Israeli troops, on Thursday,
during a number of invasions targeting southern West Bank communities.
Local sources reported house-to-house searches by Israeli troops that
targeted people's homes at the old city of Hebron and the nearby Dura
and Ithna villages in addition to Al Aroup refugee camp. Among those
six men taken by the troops today, were two men who were released from
army detention centers two days ago. The army radio announced that
those detained today were on its “wanted list, and that all six men
were taken to military detention camps for questioning.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57794
Humanitarian
Crisis
Weekly report on Israeli human rights violations in
the occupied Palestinian territory 21 - 27 Jan 2010
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/LSGZ-825JVP?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Gaza Health Fact Sheet
http://alternativenews.org/english/2398-gaza-health-fact-sheet.html
Video: Child's eye: 'When it comes to toys, all my
brothers think about is weapons'
Two
young Palestinian girls - 15-year-old Reem and 10-year-old Ameera –
describe their ongoing fears in the aftermath of last year's bombing of
Gaza by Israel.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/jan/29/gaza-attacks-children
Testimony: Still in a tent a year after the war
The
al-'Athamneh
family lost its house during Operation Cast Lead, its
orchards, and the taxis it operated. A year later, the family is living
in a tent next to the rubble of its house and has no source of income.
http://www.btselem.org/English/Testimonies/20091201_
Nawal_al_Athamneh_still_in_a_tent_almost_a_year_after_castlead.asp
Israel
shuts down Gaza crossings as siege continues
Gaza
- Ma'an – Palestinian crossings officials were told Friday morning that
all goods transfer points into Gaza would be closed and remain closed
until Sunday morning.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=257570
War Criminals
Goldstone member to EI: Gaza ambulance shelled
"point blank"
I
write concerning your report and photograph describing an attack on an
ambulance by means of a "dart bomb" (Eva Bartlett, "Gaza's thin red
line one year later," 22 January 2010). As a member of the United
Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict led by Judge Richard
Goldstone, I examined this incident and offer a more precise term and
also some analyses on the nature of the attack on the ambulance in
question.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11040.shtml
Did Israeli tanks carve a Star of David into Gaza?
Bethlehem
–
Ma'an – Sometime between 3-10 January 2009, Israeli army vehicles
carved a Star of David measuring 60 meters into the soil of the
southern Gaza Strip, according to a UN report released over the
summer. The issue was raised by South African jurist Richard Goldstone
during an appearance on Wednesday at Yale University.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=257509
Political
Developments and Diplomacy
Obama defends Israel, says he wants Mideast peace
(AP)
AP - President Barack Obama says he's working to get the Israelis and
Palestinians to resume peace talks.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100128/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_mideast
President Obama challenged on aid to Israel, violations
of Palestinian human rights in Tampa
"US
President Barack Obama said on Thursday that the United States would
always ensure Israel's security but that Washington must also pay
attention to the plight of the Palestinians...."Last night in your
State of the Union address, you spoke of America's support for human
rights," said a university student, who added that she worked on
Obama's campaign last year. "Then why have we not condemned Israel and
Egypt's human rights violations against the occupied Palestinian
people? We continue to support [Israel and Egypt] financially, with
billions of dollars coming from our tax dollars."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=256852
Obama: Israel's Right hinders peace
Netanyahu,
Abbas
wish to advance on peace track but are held back by coalition
partners, Hamas, Obama says in Florida town hall meeting; president
says he will never waver from helping Israel keep its people safe.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3841283,00.html
Netanyahu to U.S.: I'll free Fatah prisoners to boost
Abbas
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to the release of hundreds of Fatah
prisoners as part of efforts backed by the United States and Egypt to
jump-start the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1146133.html
‘PA’s corruption will enable Hamas to take power in
W. Bank'
Dramatic
warning delivered by Abbas’s former corruption-buster Fahmi Shabaneh;
Fatah personnel even stole US money intended to improve its image ahead
of 2006 elections. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
has surrounded
himself with many of the corrupt officials who used to work for his
predecessor,
Yasser Arafat, and that’s why Hamas will one day take control of the
West Bank,
Fahmi Shabaneh, who was appointed by Abbas four years ago to root out
corruption in the Palestinian Authority, said on Thursday.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=167194
Fayyad sees no agreement yet to resume Israel talks
(Reuters)
Reuters
- Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Thursday there was no
agreement yet to resume talks with Israel, and Palestinians would have
no faith in a process which failed to halt Israeli settlements.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100128/wl_nm/us_davos_palestinians
Q&A:
''Hamas Accepts Existence of Israel Within 1967 Borders''
Mel
Frykberg
interviews MAHMOUDI RAMAHI, secretary-general of the
Palestinian Legislative Council: RAMALLAH, Jan 29, 2010 (IPS) -
Palestinian politics are at an impasse. The four-year term of the
Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) ended on Jan. 25 with no new
elections planned. Presidential elections, meant to be held last year,
were also postponed indefinitely.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50152
Hamas:
PA must return to unity talks before Israel peace
Gaza
– Ma'an – Hamas warned of "dangerous consequences" if Palestinian
Authority officials return to peace talks with Israel, Hamas spokesman
Fawzi Barhoum told reporters Friday. President Mahmoud Abbas was the
explicit target of the warning, and was told of the danger of returning
to peace talks with Israel before Palestinian unity is achieved, as US
pressure to return to negotiations mounts.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=257588
No ray of hope for Palestinian statehood: Moroccan
PM (AFP)
AFP
- Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi said Thursday he currently saw
no hope for the creation of a Palestinian state, as he paid an official
Thursday visit to the Polish capital Warsaw.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100128/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictmoroccopoland
King Abdullah: Jordan wants no part of West Bank
King
Abdullah of Jordan said Friday his country does not want to rule the
West Bank and that the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict was the only viable option.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1146187.html
King Abdullah, Peres meet to discuss Mideast peace
Jordan'
King
Abdullah told President Shimon Peres on Thursday that he was
worried about the standstill in the peace process which could affect
the entire region.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1145901.html
Swedish mayor blasts Zionism
Malmo
mayor equates Zionism with anti-Semitism, urges Jewish community in
city to distance itself from Israeli attacks on Gaza population;
Swedish Jew says situation in town getting worse every year.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3841278,00.html
Other
News
Gaza
gov`t: Fatah leaders must apply to Hamas for Strip visit permits
Ma`an
News
Agency, Bethlehem - "De facto Interior Minister Fathi Hammad
announced new regulations for Fatah members intending to visit the Gaza
Strip. Henceforth, Hammad said on Friday, Fatah leaders will need a
permit issued by the Gaza government before they are allowed to enter
the Hamas-controlled area."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=257600
Palestinians irate over new Jerusalem tram (AP)
AP
- Jerusalem's first light rail starts test runs this spring, with its
sleek silver cars gliding across the city and promising to relieve the
perpetual congestion.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_train_boycott
Researcher: Israel destroyed Palestinian books
Tens of thousands of Palestinian books destroyed after Israel's
establishment, Ben-Gurion University researcher says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3841252,00.html
How Israel Can Help Stop the Flow of Zimbabwe’s
Blood Diamonds
Browsing
for diamond jewelry off Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv, you can't tell by
looking where the diamonds in the store windows come from. But experts
can. And those same experts have affirmed that diamonds from the
Marange fields of eastern Zimbabwe are mined under highly abusive
conditions - the latest "blood diamonds" of the twenty-first century.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/01/28/how-israel-can-help-stop-flow-zimbabwe-s-blood-diamonds
Analysis/Op-ed/Human
Interest
Will he, won't he, join the dance?, The Palestinian
president is in a pickle
A
YEAR after he promised to put peace between Israel and the
Palestinians near the top of his agenda, Barack Obama is still
struggling to get negotiations going again. His envoy, George Mitchell,
has been shuttling between Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu,
and Mahmoud Abbas in an effort, so far in vain, to lure the Palestinian
president (pictured) back to the table. What more can he do? Mr
Mitchell has veered away from trying to clinch deals over such big
issues as the dismantling of Jewish settlements in the West Bank or
devising ways of sharing sovereignty over Jerusalem. Instead he has
been trying to get both sides to take more modest measures to build
confidence: an exchange of prisoners; a deal to let cement into Gaza
(hitherto banned because it may, say the Israelis, be used to build
launch-pads for rockets); and Israeli agreements to give back a bit
more land to the Palestinians and to stop its forces raiding
Palestinian towns in the West Bank.
http://www.economist.com/world/middleeast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15403099&fsrc=rss
Anti-Israelism: Why Zionism Doesn’t and Can’t Get It
There
is
no doubt it. More and more people all over the world, and probably
many of their governments behind closed doors, are beginning to see the
Zionist state of Israel for what it really is – not only the obstacle
to peace but a monster apparently beyond control; and they, more and
more so-called ordinary folk everywhere, are beginning to turn against
it. That explains why Prime Minister Netanyahu is leading Zionism’s
hysterical call for the world to stop demonizing Israel.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/01/anti-israelism-why-zionism-doesn%e2%80%99t-and-can%e2%80%99t-get-it/
Khalil Nakhleh: “Contested histories, contested
narratives”: What kind of nonsense is this?
Numerous books and articles have been written guided by the main thesis
that the reason for the prolonged and intractable conflict between
Israel and Palestine is that there are two "contested" histories (of
Jews and Arabs in Palestine), and two "contested" narratives. The word
"contested," in this sense, means that both narratives are equally
valid and have equal legitimacy, and that all alternative readings and
interpretation of it, and all attempts to question it, are
"subjective," "very personal," "irrational," "not
credible,""unreliable" and "removed from history." This is, in my view,
total nonsense.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/opinions/views/3854-
khalil-nakhleh-contested-histories-contested-narratives-what-kind-of-nonsense-is-this-again
ISRAEL: 'Avatar' and the Palestinian blues
Mer-Khamis
confirmed
the incident and added in the newspaper Maariv: "No one dares
to make the real analogy. 'Avatar' is one of the bravest films made. It
portrays the occupation, but people aren't making the analogy. Many
would like to be like the blue people but don't understand the meaning.
This is why people got angry at the movie theater. It is no secret that
I think the Israelis are occupiers and the Palestinians occupied.
Israel sits forcefully on lands that belong to others and this is
exactly what the movie is talking about."
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/01/israel-avatar-and-the-palestinian-blues.html
Iraq
Thursday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 21 Wounded
At
least seven Iraqis were killed, including a suspected al-Qaeda
operative, and 21 more were wounded in new violence. Meanwhile,
Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani said the controversial ADE-651 bomb
detector would be removed from service if tests prove it to be useless.
Also, Britain awaits the testimony of former-Prime Minster Tony Blair
tomorrow at the Iraq Inquiry.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/01/28/thursday-7-iraqis-killed-21-wounded/
EXCLUSIVE...Blackwater's
Youngest
Victim: Father of 9 Year-Old Killed in Nisour Square Gives
Most Detailed Account of Massacre to Date
Today a Democracy
Now! exclusive report from Jeremy Scahill about a nine year old boy,
shot in the head and killed by Blackwater in the infamous Nisour Squre
massacre. His father, who is suing the private military contractor,
provides the most detailed eyewitness account of the massacre to date.
Scahill has conducted an in-depth investigation of the massacre and of
nine-year old Ali Kinani’s death. He files an exclusive report with
Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/29/exclusiveblackwaters_youngest_victim_father_of_9
US
citizens detained in Iraq
Two
US citizens have been arrested in Iraq and are now being held by the
Iraqi army, Al Jazeera has learnt. Sources tell Al Jazeera that their
passports show the two had visited Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and
Lebanon, where the two men are said to have met members of Hezbollah.
Josh Rushing reports from Irbil in Northern Iraq.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suhFmYiiPjM&feature=youtube_gdata
Tony Blair braced for grilling over Iraq war (AFP)
AFP
- Former British prime minister Tony Blair faces a public grilling
Friday over his decision to wage war on Iraq, seven years after a
bloody conflict that still divides his country.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100129/wl_afp/britainiraqmilitaryinquirypoliticsblair
Blasts
Cast Doubt Over Election Security Plan
Multiple
explosions raise fears that upcoming ballot will be marred by further
attacks. By Khalid al-Ansary and Ali Karim in Baghdad (ICR No. 321,
28-Jan-10)
http://www.iwpr.net/EN-icr-f-359688
Halabja’s
Unfinished Business
I remember March 16 as if it was
yesterday.
I remember the roar of military aircraft overhead, hiding in my
family's shelter with family and friends, and emerging hours later to
find twisted, deformed bodies lying in the street. I remember people
crushed under buildings and crying for help. And I remember the black
smoke from the napalm bombs, which billowed into the sky as we fled on
foot to Iran. I was eight years old.
http://www.iwpr.net/EN-icr-f-359705
Kurdish
War of Words
Political
tensions escalate sharply as parliament and police investigate series
of attacks on opposition figures. By Shorish Khalid in Sulaimaniyah
(ICR No. 321, 28-Jan-10)
http://www.iwpr.net/EN-icr-f-359692
Lebanon
Hariri in Cairo: Hezbollah Is Partner in National
Unity Gov't
Lebanese
Prime Minister Saad Hariri concluded on Thursday a two-day official
visit to Cairo by holding a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak, a day after he declared from the Egyptian capital that
Hezbollah is a partner in the Lebanese national-unity government.
Lebanon's PM arrived in Cairo on Wednesday on his first official visit
to Egypt. He was accompanied by Foreign Minister Ali Shami, Economy
Minister Mohammad Safadi, Information Minister Tarek Mitri and other
officials. He was also accompanied for the first time by his wife Lara,
who lives in Saudi Arabia with the couple's three children.
"Threatening any part of Lebanon is a threat against its government
which will act on this basis," Hariri warned following his meeting with
the Egyptian President. He said that there would be a unified Arab
stance towards the Israeli threats.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=121795&language=en
Israeli threats against Hezbollah target Lebanon: PM
(AFP)
AFP
- Israeli threats against the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah
are threats against Lebanon itself, the country's Prime Minister Saad
Hariri during a visit to Cairo on Thursday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100128/wl_mideast_afp/egyptlebanonploisraeldiplomacy
Spain takes command of UN force in Lebanon (AFP)
AFP
-
Spain on Thursday took over from Italy at the head of a 12,000-strong
United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon that was set up
in 1978 to monitor the country's border with Israel.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100128/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonspainitalyun
Father
of plane crash victim dies in Lebanon from grief
Beirut
- The father of a Lebanese national who was among those killed in the
Ethiopian plane crash, died Friday from a heart attack caused by his
grief, Lebanese media reported Friday. According to the reports, Jirji
Assal was admitted to Bitar hospital in Batroun, north of Beirut, after
suffering a heart attack, but later died. His son Albert Assal was one
of the passengers on the plane, but his body had not yet been recovered.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1529552.php
Hizbullah
and Iran, As`ad Abukhalil
I
was watching a news show yesterday in which Lebanese journalist, Rafiq
Khuri was talking. I really like this man: he is knowledgeable, funny,
erudite and is a great conversationalist. He knows Arabic poetry very
well, and was a sounding board (at a very early age) for `Asi Rahbani,
regarding his plays and songs. He was a staunch Arab nationalist (his
family is Syrian) and later changed like most in the Lebanese press. He
now edits Al-Anwar: which is a Lebanese mouthpiece for the sons of
Zayid. It does not sell in Lebanon but the sons of Zayid are loyal to
the Furayhah family which peddled UAE propaganda early on. But politics
aside, I always like to listen and read Rafiq Khuri. He was analyzing
Iran and Hizbullah and it struck me how many people don't get the exact
nature of relations between Hizbullah and Iran. Let me explain: up
until Hasan Nasrallah (in and in the late 1990s to be exact), Hizbullah
was a mere arm of Iran in Lebanon. Under Subhi Tufayli and even `Abbas
Musawi, the party was a mere tool of Iran. But that has changed with
the rising stature of Nasrallah. I mean, in the equation between
Hizbullah and Iran, Nasrallah is a much bigger figure than Ahmadinajad.
Can you imagine Ahmadinajad issuing orders to Hizbullah? I can't. The
relationship has changed and Hizbullah under Nasrallah has a much
bigger room of maneuver than is widely assumed. It is clear (and this
is based on analysis and on information) that Hizbullah is left to
decide what it wants to do. It is not that Hizbullah just waits for
orders from Iran, which it used to do in much of the 1980s. The notion
that if Iran is attacked, Hizbullah would immediately start launching
missiles at the Zionist entity is absurd. Hizbullah will decide largely
on its own calculations. The relationship has become much more
complicated. Nasrallah in Iran is considered by all to be senior to the
Iranian president himself (but not necessarily to the Supreme Guide).
Get that? [end]
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/01/hizbullah-and-iran.html
U.S.
and
Other World News
Howard Zinn, US historian and activist, dies aged 87
The American historian, playwright and author of the bestseller A
People's History of the United States, which presents a leftist view of
US history, has died.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/28/howard-zinn-dies
Howard Zinn: Israel and America Terrorize the World
There is something important to be learned from the recent experience
of the United States and Israel in the Middle East: that massive
military attacks, inevitably indiscriminate, are not only morally
reprehensible, but useless in achieving the stated aims of those who
carry them out. The United States, in three years of war, which
began with shock-and- awe bombardment and goes on with day-to-day
violence and chaos, has been an utter failure in its claimed objective
of bringing democracy and stability to Iraq. The Israeli invasion and
bombing of Lebanon has not brought security to Israel; indeed it has
increased the number of its enemies, whether in Hezbollah or Hamas or
among Arabs who belong to neither of those groups.
http://ampal.blogspot.com/2006/09/howard-zinn-israel-and-america.html
Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
IN THIS SCENE: Dr. Howard Zinn discusses his experience as an Air
Force bombadier in WWII. Near the end of the war Zinn is asked to bomb
a small town in France that has a lasting impression on him. ABOUT
THE FILM: In these turbulent times, Howard Zinn is inspiring a new
generation. This acclaimed film looks at the amazing life of the
renowned historian, activist and author. Following his early days as a
shipyard labor organizer and bombardier in World War II, Zinn became an
academic rebel and leader of civil disobedience in a time of
institutionalized racism and war. His influential writings shine light
on and bring voice to factory workers, immigrant laborers, African
Americans, Native Americans and the working poor. Featuring rare
archival materials and interviews with Zinn and colleagues such as Noam
Chomsky, You Can't Be Neutral captures the essence of this
extraordinary man who has been a catalyst for progressive change for
more than 60 years. Narrated by Matt Damon. Featuring music by Pearl
Jam, Woody Guthrie & Billy Bragg.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehc3V1g5pm0&feature=player_embedded
CIA Man Retracts Claim on Waterboarding
Well, it's official now: John Kiriakou, the former CIA
operative who affirmed claims that waterboarding quickly unloosed the
tongues
of hard-core terrorists, says he didn't know what he was talking about.
Kiriakou, a 15-year
veteran of the agency's intelligence analysis and operations
directorates,
electrified the hand-wringing national debate over torture in December
2007
when he told ABC's Brian Ross and Richard Esposito in a much
ballyhooed, exclusive
interview that senior al Qaeda commando Abu Zubaydah cracked after
only one
application of the face cloth and water.
"From that day
on, he answered every question," Kiriakou said. "The threat
information he provided disrupted a number of attacks, maybe dozens of
attacks."
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/01/26/
cia_man_retracts_claim_on_waterboarding?print=yes&hidecomments=yes&page=full
Islamic singer agrees to remain jailed in Michigan
(AP)
AP
- A prominent Islamic singer accused of concealing ties to a terrorist
group was duped into believing the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and
Development worked only for needy people, his lawyer said Thursday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_on_re_us/us_singer_hamas_support
US-backed Taliban payout could prove unpopular
The
US
is endorsing a plan to provide financial incentives to Afghan
Taliban fighters to lay down their weapons. Barack Obama, the US
president, wants to begin drawing down troops by next year and the
proposal could help him achieve that goal. But, while many Americans
want the war to end, the idea of paying the Taliban could turn out to
be unpopular. Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan reports. (29 Jan 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRs-aQNMK_w&feature=youtube_gdata
US businesses urge Obama to resist Iran sanctions bill
US business groups warned the White House on Tuesday that
congressional plans to expand US sanctions on Iran threaten to
significantly undermine US economic and security interests.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3840202,00.html
Does
the name 'Abdelaziz' rattle you?
It
did rattle a lot of Obama supporters who came to listen to and to
applaud Obama's corporatist policies in a town hall in Tampa. Who would
have believed that this name would be so unpopular in Florida? Listen
for yourself. Laila Abdelaziz, a Palestinian student at Tampa
University, is strongly booed by the audience after merely stating her
name and affiliation: audio
track.
Obama then has to calm the audience down. Mind you, this blatant racism
comes from the most "progressive" sector of the U.S. electorate,
Obama's politically involved base, people who self-selected by
attending this town hall meeting.
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2010/01/does-name-rattle-you.html
Obama:
the Middle East has obviously plagued the region for centuries, As`ad
Abukhalil
"The Middle East has obviously plagued the region for centuries."
If Bush came up with this dumb observation, he would widely mocked.
Obama should be equally mocked for this dumb statement. But play the
whole clip and see how awful, cowardly, nervous, and stupid he sounds
in the answer he gave. Every day, Obama provides me with justifications
to oppose him from the very beginning. I wonder how all those leftists
I know feel about him now, domestically and internationally. [end]
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/01/obama-middle-east-has-obviously-plagued.html
the
bodacity of hope, Philip Weiss
Everyone is talking about Obama’s
meltdown in Tampa yesterday. When a student who had worked for his
campaign asked him about
Palestinian human-rights. There is the president’s inane temporizing as
he tried to collect his thoughts–turning to another youth and asking if
he had gotten those beads in New Orleans–and then a phrase that George
W. Bush could have come up with, "The Middle East is obviously an issue
that has plagued the region for centuries…" Till finally Obama had
mentally assembled a few hollow phrases that did not answer Laila
Abdelaziz’s question. Adam Horowitz says that it is the first real
gotcha moment he has seen with Obama, and it came from a young
Arab-American.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/the-bodacity-of-hope.html
'Bin
Laden' blames climate change on US
A new audio tape said to be from al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden blames
global warming on the US and other industrial nations.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/south_asia/8487030.stm
African, Arab world to hold first meeting since 1977
* Yemen, Somalia and Sudan to be on agenda
* Last meeting held in
Cairo in 1977
* Libya's Gaddafi to host summit in October
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE60R23K.htm
Riz Khan - UK universities and radical Islam
In
this
edition of the Riz Khan show we speak with Professor Anthony Glees
who claims that dozens of Britain's universities have become bases for
known terrorists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duZybMcR97E&feature=youtube_gdata
US occupation
troops shoot and kill Afghan cleric near Kabul
A
U.S. soldiers shot and killed an Afghan cleric as he drove Thursday
with his young son near an American base on the eastern edge of
occupied Kabul.
http://snipurl.com/u7r57
Afghan villages form local militias
War-weary
villagers in the northern province of Kunduz in Afghanistan have been
left to battle the Taliban alone. In villages across Kunduz province,
residents are forced to form their own local militias in a bid to
protect their families and keep the Taliban at bay. Hamid Karzai, the
Afghan president, said his country must reach out to its "disenchanted
brothers" in an effort to stabilise the war ravaged nation during his
address to a one-day international conference on Afghanistan's future
in London. Karzai and officials from more than 60 countries are meeting
this week to examine ways to bring an end to nearly a decade of war in
Afghanistan. Al Jazeera's David Chater reports on the security vacuum
left behind by German troops and Afghan forces who have failed to
protect local residents in Kunduz. [January, 28, 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lph7CbVCZ2k&feature=youtube_gdata
Autocracy-lite in Jordan | Chris Phillips
The Arab Middle East is the least democratic region in the world and it is getting
worse, according to Freedom House's latest Freedom in the World report. Only Morocco, Kuwait and
Lebanon now pass as "partly free" while Yemen, Bahrain and Jordan
have this year regressed into the same "not free" group as all the
other Arab states. Jordan's relegation is particularly alarming.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/jan/29/jordan-middle-east-obama |
| For further information contact Shadi Fadda |
|
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