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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Settlers / Land, property, and resource theft and destruction / Ethnic cleansing
Israel expands Nablus settlement
Settlers
installed 12 caravans on Saturday beside an illegal settlement in the
West Bank district of Nablus, witnesses said. Locals
said on Tuesday that Israeli forces in armored vehicles bulldozed land
next to Shvut Rachel settlement to prepare for the installation of the
caravans. At the time, a representative of the settlement denied any
major expansion was in order ... Shvut Rachel is built on Jalud village
land. Israel confiscated 80 percent of the village's land to build six
illegal settlements in the area, residents say. Sixty-five dunums of the
confiscated land was planted with olive trees, which villagers have
only been allowed to access twice in the last decade, said Abdullah Hajj
Muhammad, the village mayor.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329168
Rights groups decry olive harvest settler vandalism
"IDF aren’t doing enough to prevent damage to trees," say human rights organizations in letter to commanders -- Despite
warnings by human rights organizations to the army about settler
vandalism against Palestinian olive orchards, there have been 35
incidents of this sort between the beginning of September and
mid-October, the organizations charged. See B'Tselem press release
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=193377
not sure what to make of this:
Day of hope in Hebron
Jews visit city en masse on Shabbat; Arab, Jewish youth embark on impromptu soccer game -- Moment of hope:
Unexpected coexistence prevailed in Hebron Saturday, after about 10,000
people visited the Jewish community in town ahead of the Torah portion
on Abraham's acquisition of the Cave of the Patriarchs. For the first
time in many years, Jews were able to enter Hebron's Old City without a
personal security escort. Palestinian movement in the area was also not
limited, prompting local merchants to keep their stores open and welcome
Jewish shoppers.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3976985,00.html
Palestinians and Jewish settlers battle to claim West Bank lands, olive tree by olive tree (AP)
Olive tree by olive tree, Palestinian farmers and Jewish settlers are
competing over the rocky hills of the West Bank, planting more of the
gnarled evergreens to strengthen their hold on the land. Now in harvest
season, the battle gets rough, with orchards robbed, vandalized and
burned. This year, the stakes have been raised: Palestinians have
planted double the number of trees as in past seasons, and Jewish
settlers have responded by boosting their own olive production. The
olive tree has long been a symbol of the Palestinians’ attachment to
their homeland, its mystique enhanced by settlers’ annual efforts to
disrupt the harvest.
http://news.therecord.com/article/803464
Photo essay: Israeli society shaped by borders (AP)
JERUSALEM -- All countries are literally defined by their borders, but
few have had their history, society and national mindset shaped by their
frontiers as much as Israel ... The question of the border between
Israel and the West Bank, home to 2.5 million Palestinians and about
300,000 Israeli settlers, has riven Israeli society to the point of
violence."Between me and you, between us and them," one contemporary
songwriter wrote, "without a border, there are no limits to anything."
http://www.timesonline.com/bct_news/news_details/article/1373/2010/october/30/
photo-essay-israeli-society-shaped-by-borders.html
more settler hasbara:
Settlers dispute vandalism allegations
After four Israeli rights groups submitted a letter to the country's
army documenting attacks on Palestinians, settlers denied the
allegations and said locals were more likely to blame. "Every year as
the olive harvest season comes around so do various groups of
provocateurs," settler leader David Ha'ivri said. They "pose as rights
groups but in fact thrive to incite tensions between local Jewish and
Arab farmers and residents."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329304
and yet more from Israeli media:
Olives of wrath / David Ha'ivri
Op-ed: Journalists, aid workers have interest in fueling conflict between Jews, Arab farmers
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977253,00.html
Activism / Solidarity / Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
ISM: Weekly demonstrations: Friday, 29 October 2010
22 people injured, 5 still in hospital, at increasingly violent An Nabi Saleh Demonstration --
by
Henni. Many shebab, two journalists and a girl were injured on Friday at
the weekly demonstration in An Nabi Saleh. Villagers had employed a new
strategy in response to the increasing violence of soldiers and border
police.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/10/15345/
To end the occupation, cripple Israeli banks / Terry Crawford Browne
from 3 July - The international banking sanctions campaign in New York
against apartheid South Africa during the 1980s is regarded as the most
effective strategy in bringing about a nonviolent end to the country's
apartheid system ... If international civil society is serious about
urgently ending Israel's
violations of Palestinian rights, including ending the occupation, then
suspension of SWIFT transactions to and from Israeli banks offers an
instrument to help bring about a peaceful resolution of an intractable
conflict. With computerization, international banking technology has
advanced dramatically in the subsequent 20 years since the South African
anti-apartheid campaign ...SWIFT will, however, only take action against
Israeli banks if ordered to do so by a Belgian court, and then only in
very exceptional circumstances. Such very exceptional circumstances are
now well-documented by the UN-commissioned Goldstone report into
Israel's winter 2008-09 invasion and massacre in Gaza and by the attack
on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla on 31 May 2010.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/07/03/end-occupation-cripple-israeli-banks/
BBC Video: Margolyes: West End to West Bank
Actress Miriam Margolyes, known for her role as Professor Sprout in Harry Potter,
has travelled to the West Bank to see conditions in Palestinian refugee
camps. She told Andrew Marr why she was troubled by what she saw of the
conditions in which some live.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11660764
Gaza blockade Kiwis return home
Six New Zealanders who were part of an international aid convoy
which delivered $7 million worth of aid to Gaza returned home
today, saying they hope their efforts will go some way to breaking
the Israeli government's blockade on the war-torn territory ... Pat O'Dea, an Auckland electrician who was part of the New
Zealand contingent Kia Ora Gaza, said the conditions in Gaza needed
to be seen to be believed.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/gaza-blockade-kiwis-arrive-home-3869731
Violence
Center: Israelis attack Jerusalem man
A
mob of Israelis attacked a Jerusalem man late Thursday, his family and a
purported witness said. Farid
Tubasi, 28, was hospitalized at the intensive care unit of Hadassah
Medical Center after he sustained serious wounds and bruises at the
hands of a mob of 'extremist' Israelis, Abed Tubasi, his brother, told
the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329220
Palestinian resident attacked by group of colonists
Sources
told Gulf News that the 28 year old Farid Al Toubasi finished up his
work duty in West Jerusalem and returned home back in occupied East
Jerusalem but on the way home a group of colonists met him on Halil
Street where they hit him on the head and the chest with sharp tools.
The sources stressed that Al Toubasi has gone in coma and the medical
sources told his family members and representatives of the public
establishments of Jerusalem that he is under very critical health
conditions.
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestinian-territories/
palestinian-resident-attacked-by-group-of-colonists-1.704543
Palestinian worker injured in IOF shooting
GAZA,
(PIC)-- A Palestinian worker collecting gravel east of Beit Lahia, north
of the Gaza Strip, on Sunday was injured when the Israeli occupation
forces (IOF) opened fire at him. Adham Abu Salmiya, the spokesman for
medical services, told the PIC that the 46-year-old man was hit with a
bullet in his foot.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx
Several Palestinians injured by Israeli force
Palestine,
October
31, (Pal Telegraph – OCHA) During the week, Israeli forces injured 23
Palestinian civilians, for the most part during weekly demonstrations.
Since the beginning of 2010, Israeli forces have injured
1002 Palestinians, up nearly 38 percent on the similar period in 2009
(727 injuries) ...Read full OCHA report here
http://www.paltelegraph.com/press-release/110-press-releases/7432-
Several-Palestinians-injured-by-Israeli-force.html
History: Remembering the 54th anniversary of the Israeli massacre in Kafr Qasim
October
29, 1956 ...On the day of the massacre, the Israeli army decided to
place all seven villages along the green line under a curfew called the
War Time Curfew, from 5 in the evening until 6 the following morning.
Israeli soldiers were instructed to shoot and kill any villager
violating the curfew. Even though the border police troops were given
the order by their commander at 3:30 in the afternoon, they only
informed the mayor of Kafr Qasim about an hour later, leaving a window
of 30 minutes for the 400 villagers working in the fields or outside the
village to come back home. According to Israeli investigation committee
records, from 5:00 pm until 6:30 on October 29, 1956, border police shot
and killed 49 villagers from Kafr Qasim as they tried to return home.
Among those killed were 23 children and one pregnant woman. The killed
and injured were left unattended through the night. After the curfew
ended, villagers took the injured to hospitals and laid the dead to rest
in a mass grave.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9033
Detention / Incursions
IOF kidnap five Palestinian boys in Silwan
SILWAN,
(PIC)-- The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped at dawn Sunday
five Palestinian boys in Silwan town, south of the Aqsa Mosque in
occupied Jerusalem, on suspicion of their participation in recent events
in the occupied holy city and took them to Maskubiya detention center.
Local sources said that dozens of Israeli troops stormed the town at an
early hour today and raided homes mainly in the neighborhoods of Battn
Al-Hawa, Al-Hara Al-Wusta and Al-Bustan.
In another context, the
Palestinian residents of Silwan complained about the cracks and cave-ins
that happen
in their homes as a result of the underground excavations carried out by
the Israeli authority of antiquities ... They reported that new
fissures and cave-ins started to appear inside their homes with the
advent of winter and said that they filed official complaints in this
regard with the Israeli occupation authority, but to no avail.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx
Israel shows injustice toward 2 young Palestinians
Umm
Al-Fahm,
October 31, (Pal Telegraph) Israeli police arrested today morning two
young men from the city of “Umm Al-Fahm” in the Palestinian occupied
territories of 1948, for allegedly throwing stones towards Israeli
special forces during clashes that erupted in the city last Wednesday
during a demonstration of the Israeli extreme right wing.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/palestinian-refugees/7435-
Israel-shows-injustice-towards-2-young-Palestinians.html
Army detains B'Tselem field worker
Israeli
soldiers
detained a field researcher with the Israeli human rights organization
B'Tselem in Hebron on Saturday, witnesses said. Locals said
Issa Amer was documenting settler attacks on Palestinians when he was
detained.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329193
Palestinian detainee held in isolation for going on hunger strike
GAZA,
(PIC)-- The Israeli military court will hold Palestinian detainee Shadi
Abul Hussein in solitary confinement on Sunday for going on hunger
strike over the past four days, his mother told the PIC on Saturday. She
added that Abul Hussein was protesting the Israeli occupation
authority's (IOA) refusal to release him despite completing his sentence
almost two months ago.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx
CPT Hebron: Israeli military occupy Palestinian home
30
Oct -- On Thursday 28th October, Israeli soldiers occupied a
Palestinian house in the Baqa`a Valley, north east of Hebron. The house
is located next to Route 60, across from
the illegal settlement of Havot Harsina. It is the third time in less
than two months that the house has been occupied. When CPTers arrived
they were met by 7 soldiers on the steps of the house, who refused to
allow them to enter. Members of the family came out and told CPTers that
their father had collapsed when he tried to prevent soldiers
from entering. He had been taken to hospital by ambulance. A month ago,
when the house was occupied for the second time, his wife had a heart
attack and died later in hospital ... (CPTers have learned that the
military occupied two more Palestinian houses in the vicinity: part of a
security operation to protect Israeli visitors to Hebron commemorating
the death and burial of
Sarah). A
neighbor told CPTers that he had heard screams, cries and shots from the
house and therefore called for an ambulance. The soldiers had fired
tear gas before they entered the house
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=43135
Siege / Restriction of movement / Denial of rights
Father of Gaza deportee dies in Bethlehem
The father of a deportee to the Gaza Strip died Saturday in the southern
West Bank, relatives said. Ahmad
Mahmoud I’beiyat, 60, died in Beit Jala hospital, near Bethlehem, his
son Jawad said. The two had been separated for nine years. Twenty-six
Palestinians who took refuge in the Church of the Nativity during
clashes in 2002 were expelled to Gaza following Operation Defensive
Shield, during which Israeli forces besieged the church and Bethlehem in
a bid to locate Palestinian combatants.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329496
In Gaza photo essay; Dancing under siege (IPS)
"I’d planned to have my wedding party on a Thursday night, when more
people could come, and stay later. But because the Dabke dancers weren’t
free then, I held it on a Tuesday," says Mohammed Ghronaim, 27, from
Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.
http://ingaza.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/dancing-under-siege/
Israeli army closes Bethlehem checkpoints
Israeli
soldiers closed down all Bethlehem checkpoints on Saturday evening,
prohibiting any movement in or out of the West Bank city. An
Israeli military spokeswoman said the closure was imposed after shots
were fired at an Israeli vehicle in the area. No one was injured in the
incident, she said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329206
Gaza crossing to open exclusively for pilgrims
The
Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip will be used by Hajj
pilgrims for one week in 2010, the Gaza crossings authority announced
Sunday. In a statement, authorities said the crossing would operate in
one direction from 3 to 9 November to make travel easier and faster for
pilgrims leaving to Saudi Arabia via Egypt. The crossing will
resume operating as usual after all pilgrims have crossed, the statement
said
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329265
Gaza: 1 terminal partly open, Karni closed
Israeli
authorities will partially open one crossing into the Gaza Strip on
Sunday for the limited delivery of food and fuel, a Palestinian liaison
official said ... The shipment will include 16 truckloads of cement and
iron bars for construction projects by UNRWA.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329226
Racism / Discrimination
Two Jewish youths charged with shooting at Arabs during Safed clashes
Border
Police officer allegedly handed his M-16 to a civilian friend, as some
30 Jewish youths demonstrated violently [outside] Arab students'
apartments ... The mass group of Jewish youths began shouting "death to
Arabs", "stinking Muslims" and "a Jew has a soul and an Arab is a
son-of-a-bitch" at the house. They began throwing bottles and stones at
the student housing.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/
two-jewish-youths-charged-with-shooting-at-arabs-during-safed-clashes-1.322147
'Dark-skinned' soldiers denied entry to nightclub
...According
to
the troops, two of the nightclub's bouncers allowed only those with an
"Ashkenazi appearance" to enter, while soldiers of Ethiopian and
Yemenite descent were kept out despite presenting invitations sent to
them by the nightclub.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977234,00.html
Reprisals
Israeli vehicle under attack in WB, no casualties
BETHLEHEM,
(PIC)-- An Israeli car came under fire while passing near Battir village
west of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Saturday night but no
casualties were reported. The Israeli radio said that the car was
carrying settlers but none was hurt as a result, noting that a bullet
had penetrated the back door. A big number of Israeli soldiers arrived
at the scene along with ambulance vehicles, the broadcast said, adding
that the Israeli military searched the nearby Battir and Husan villages
in search of the attackers, believed to be Palestinian resistance
fighters.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Political / Diplomatic news
Report: Israel PM offers to trade freeze for spy
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested to US President Barack
Obama to free Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in exchange for extending
settlement freeze in the West Bank for 60 days, an Israeli news site
reported Saturday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329318
Israel's coalition government threatened by walk-out / Harriet Sherwood
Labor party will walk out of Israel's coalition government unless
negotiations with the Palestinians get under way ... "We need to move as
soon as possible. The only way to guarantee the state of the Jewish
people is to move boldly after the US election," Braverman, the minister
for minorities, said in an interview.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/31/israel-coalition-government-walk-out
Israeli PM to visit US next week
JERUSALEM
– Israel's prime minister said Sunday he will head to the U.S. next week
to discuss Mideast peace talks with Vice President Joe Biden, in a
possible sign of movement for the troubled diplomatic process.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101031/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
Sources: Egypt wants to host peace talks
London
-- Egypt is contacting world and regional sides to organize an
international peace conference, the London-based Al-Hayat daily reported
Saturday quoting Egyptian sources. “Egypt considers it unbelievable that
the status quo remains unchanged in light of Israel’s refusal to take a
positive step regarding settlements, while the Palestinian president
insists that they stop settlements before he resumes face-to-face
talks,” a source said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329225
'Palestine not for rent' says Saeb Erekat
RAMALLAH:
The Palestinian Authority on Saturday rejected a US offer that Israel
lease lands in East Jerusalem and from the future Palestinian state for
40-99 years.
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article176030.ece
Protest, anti-Israel speech greet Rivkin in Morocco
Knesset
speaker attends Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, slammed for Gaza
siege, policy towards Palestinians. Rivlin replies: When Palestinians
want it, there'll be peace
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977108,00.html
Hamas 'not following in Fatah's footsteps'
...Asked if Hamas was preventing firing projectiles toward Israel while
criticizing Fatah for doing the same, [Mahmoud Zahhar] answered, "Fatah
wants to prove
that Hamas is an exact reproduction of Fatah when they used to
confiscate weapons of resistance fighters and jail using the excuse of
agreements with Israel." ... He explained the difference between
self-defense in case of aggression against the Palestinians as in 2003,
2005, 2008 and 2009, and between security cooperation with Israel as
Fatah does.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329255
Haniyeh doubts reports on new Gaza war
Gaza government Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Saturday that Israeli
threats to launch a new offensive on the Strip were psychological
warfare, but that he did not think a new attack was approaching.
Speaking
at a mass wedding for those injured in the last war on Gaza, Haniyeh
said threats of war could not harm Palestinians' spirits or ability to
survive.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329203
Tourism minister: Boycott Turkey - maintain national pride
After
Turkish National Security Council defines Israel as 'central threat,'
Misezhnikov says, 'The less we go to Turkey, the greater the chance they
get the hint".
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977235,00.html
Other news
Student arrested in rally against Gaza op to be compensated
The
Beersheba
Magistrate's Court ruled that student Ran Tzoref, who was arrested
about a year ago in a demonstration against Operation Cast Lead
and was accused of rioting and a forbidden gathering, will receive NIS
12,838 in damages. Judge Sara Haviv acquitted Tzoref, noting that "the
damages he should be compensated for are not visible – damage to
freedom, the delay of justice he suffered, and of course the damage to
the freedom of speech and demonstration."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977546,00.html
American professor invited to Israel humiliated by El Al security personnel
An American professor who was invited to a conference in Israel claims
she was humiliated by Israeli security personnel at London's Luton
airport on Thursday ... Bradshaw told Haaretz that no one told her what
she was suspected of and
she wasn't explained anything. She said that security took her to a
separate room and confiscated all of her belongings. She told Haaretz
that she sat and waited as every few minutes a different security
official came in to question her about the items in her suitcase – which
were mostly books.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/
american-professor-invited-to-israel-humiliated-by-el-al-security-personnel-1.322099
Peres at Rabin memorial: We are more determined than the enemies of peace
Fifteen years after assassination of iconic prime minister for signing
accords with the Palestinians, president still holds hope for peace.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/
peres-at-rabin-memorial-we-are-more-determined-than-the-enemies-of-peace-1.321978
Hebrew lessons at the Learning and Creativity Center in Susiya / Yael Arbel
...Then I got to know the men, those who had learned Hebrew through work
in
Israel. Today, very few get to leave Susiya for work, and there are no
opportunities to practice their Hebrew. The women know just a few words,
and they are fearful of making mistakes. They speak to me in Arabic,
hoping I will understand. Each visit I understand a little more.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/10/hebrew-lessons-at-the-learning-and-creativity-center-in-susiya/
First luxury hotel to open in Ramallah
RAMALLAH,
Palestinian
Territories (AFP) – The opening of Ramallah's first five-star hotel on
Monday will mark another small step in the West Bank town's steady march
towards something resembling normal life. But its sixth-floor executive
lounge looks out on a panorama of unresolved issues that cloud the
economic outlook -- a built-up Israeli settlement on a nearby hilltop, a
Palestinian refugee camp down below and the hazy skyline of distant
Jerusalem beyond a grim separation wall.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101031/lf_afp/israelpalestiniansconflicteconomyhotel
Wataniya Palestine shares set at $1.3 for IPO - source
Oct
30
(Reuters) - Mobile telephone operator Wataniya Palestine set a share
price of $1.3 for its initial public offering (IPO) on the Palestinian
bourse next month, a source familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
The company aims to raise $50 million dollars, the source said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE69T02D20101030
West Bank airport seen as key to statehood plan
Officials
said the PA has been searching for funds and other support for the
establishment of an international airport. They said the PA has
established a site in the Jordan Valley, about six kilometers from
Jericho ...This would mark the first PA airport in the West Bank. Until
2000, the PA operated an airport in the southern Gaza Strip, destroyed
by Israel in their war.Officials said the PA has begun training staff,
including pilots, for the airport. They said several European Union
countries have pledged to finance the project.
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2010/me_palestinians1072_10_29.asp
Bodybuilding contest held in Gaza Saturday
A bodybuilding contest was given the green light by Hamas Saturday, as 500 spectators watched 30 contestants vie for top spot.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977068,00.html
Analysis / Opinion
Analysis: Netanyahu, Abbas and the battle for the US press /Barak Ravid
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempts to strike a blow for Israel in
the international media apparently misfired this week when he failed to
convince a group of top American journalists of Israel's commitment to
peace. On Wednesday, Netanyahu hosted a group of senior New York Times
staff for a personal briefing at his office in Jerusalem. The aim: to
make the world understand that it is the Palestinians, not settlers,
blocking the path to peace.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
analysis-netanyahu-abbas-and-the-battle-for-the-u-s-press-1.321977
The Israelization of America / Gideon Samet
The
events
in Iraq can be seen as the Israelization of America. Close your eyes
for a moment, and you can imagine that the Marines in Karbala are Golani
infantry in Tul Karm. And it's not surprising that two political camps
in Israel with diametrically opposite views think something good will
come out of the war.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/the-israelization-of-america-1.13924
'No chance for two states': interview with Knesset member Haneen Zoabi
"The reality goes more toward
the one state solution," Zoabi said, "whether a democratic one-state
solution, or a binational one-state solution." Elected in 2009, Zoabi
represents the National Democratic Alliance, and is the first woman to
be elected on the list of an Arab party in Israel.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11599.shtml
Israel is proud to present: the aggressor-victim / Gideon Levy
Israelis
have always loved victimization, not only when we were real victims, as
often was the case in our history, but also when we were the aggressors, occupiers and abusers.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-is-proud-to-present-the-aggressor-victim-1.322053
South Africa is already here / Zvi Bar-el
The
government
is trying to build a protected autonomy for the Jewish majority and a
stunted autonomy for the Arab minority ... Israel's apartheid movement
is coming out of the woodwork and is taking on a formal, legal shape. It
is moving from voluntary apartheid, which hides its ugliness through
justifications of "cultural differences" and "historic neglect" which
only requires a little funding and a couple of more sewage pipes to make
everything right - to a purposeful, open, obligatory apartheid, which
no longer requires any justification.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/south-africa-is-already-here-1.322052
Listen to American Jews' stand on Israel / Gabi Sheffer
Examining
the
views of American Jews toward Israel is crucial in light of both the
U.S. midterm elections and the Jewish Agency reform program initiated by
Natan Sharansky ... According to polls not cited in Israel,
most Jews who have completely
integrated into American society display total apathy for events that
unfold in Israel. Only 30 percent of American Jews care deeply about
what happens here.
Most Jews who do care clearly support a solution involving two states
for two peoples. What's more, an increasing number of Jews back the
division of Jerusalem and turning half of it into the capital of
Palestine
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/listen-to-american-jews-stand-on-israel-1.322055
Iraq
Saturday: 11 Iraqis killed, 11 wounded
Excerpt: At least 11 Iraqis were killed and 11 more were wounded
in light violence. Five of casualties died of injuries received in yesterday’s
blast in Diyala province. In political news, the Goran party has quit
an alliance that included the Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan. This new development casts further doubt that a new
government will be selected quickly ... The death toll in yesterday’s suicide bombing in Balad
Ruz has risen by
five to 30 dead. Nine suspects were arrested in connection with the
bombing.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/10/30/saturday-11-iraqis-killed-11-wounded-2/
Iraqi Shia bloc rejects Saudi offer
The
National
Alliance, Iraq's main Shia bloc, has turned down a Saudi offer
to host all-party talks to resolve months of deadlock over forming a new
Iraqi government. The offer was turned down on Sunday after some
politicians voiced fears over foreign interference.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/10/2010103183433616942.html
Fighters attack church in Baghdad
A
group of armed men have attacked a Christian church in the centre of the
Iraqi capital, setting off bombs and engaging in skirmishes with
security forces.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/10/20101031155653449733.html
New airline to launch direct London-Baghdad flights
The Al-Nasr company of Iraqi businessman Hussein
al-Khawam "will fly its first Baghdad-London flight on November 3, but
that date is not finalised," said Nasser Hussein Badr, civil aviation
director at the transport ministry.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101031/wl_mideast_afp/iraqbritainaviationcompany
HRW calls for probe into Iraqi Kurd journalist's death (AFP)
Human
Rights Watch called Saturday for a transparent probe into the death of a
journalist who was killed after writing an article scathing of Iraqi
Kurdish president Massud Barzani.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/10/30/124224.html
UK troops face 90 new claims of abuse in Iraq
A special unit of military investigators and former detectives is to look into complaints of ill-treatment
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/31/british-troops-sex-torture-allegations
Iraq denies Tariq Aziz on hunger strike
BAGHDAD
(AFP) – An Iraqi court official on Sunday denied a family claim that
ailing former deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz, sentenced to death last
week, had begun a hunger strike.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101031/wl_mideast_afp/iraqtrialazizprotest
Save Tariq Aziz! / Robert Dreyfuss, The Nation
The hanging judge in
this
particular kangaroo court is a former aide to Prime Minister Maliki,
who ran for election on Maliki’s misnamed State of Law coalition. It’s
clear that Maliki wants to use the execution of Tariq Aziz, a Roman
Catholic, to build support for his party among the most extreme Shiite
partisans.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/155664/save-tariq-aziz
Other Mideast
Ahmadinejad aide says Iran not ready to talk nuclear
Reuters
-
President's media adviser says, 'We will not be talking with the
Western party about the nuclear energy issue in this round of the
negotiations' because P5+1 countries yet to address Ahmadinejad's
conditions for resuming talks
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977378,00.html
Egypt: Solution under embargo / Gamal Essam El-Din
With just one week to go until the Higher Elections Commission (HEC)
opens the door to registrations for the upcoming parliamentary
elections, the body in charge of supervising the polls decided to impose
a strict ban on the Muslim Brotherhood's long-held slogan "Islam is the
Solution".
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1021/eg1.htm
Yemeni students protest parcel bomb arrest (Reuters)
SANA`A,
Oct 31 (Reuters) - Students at Sana`a University protested on Sunday
against the arrest of a colleague suspected of involvement in sending
explosive packages bound for the United States. The woman, believed to
be in her 20s, was arrested by Yemeni authorities late on Saturday.
Officials said she had been traced through a telephone number she had
left with a cargo company. "The Sanaa University student union ...
believes the girl is innocent and has been wronged...
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE69U02G.htm
Syrian daily calls US accusations 'irresponsible'
(AP) A state-run Syrian newspaper has dismissed
US accusations that Syria is undermining Lebanon's sovereignty, calling
the claims "irresponsible." Tishrin newspaper said Sunday the accusations reflect a "pure Israeli will" and that US policies lack credibility.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977387,00.html
Suicide blast hits Istanbul
At
least
32 wounded in explosion carried out by suicide bomber in heart of
Turkish city, police say ... The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
is often blamed for attacks in Turkey. The group has waged a bloody
26-year campaign for self-rule in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey. Al
Jazeera's McNaught said
the timing of the latest bombing in Taksim
Square was significant since a unilateral truce declared by the PKK two
months ago expires on October 31.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/10/2010103185656175601.html
U.S., other world news
Detroit's unlikely saviors / Bobby Ghosh, TIME
Middle
East meets Motown - Can Arab Americans save Detroit? ... The
Arab-American community in metro Detroit produces as much as $7.7
billion annually in salaries and earnings, according to a 2007 Wayne
State University study. (That amounts to more than twice Detroit's
annual budget.)
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2028057,00.html
Punish Canadian severely, Guantanamo court urged
(Reuters)
– A prosecutor urged a U.S. war crimes tribunal on Saturday to sentence
a young Canadian and admitted al Qaeda murderer to 25 more years in
prison and said anything less would give license to militants. A
military defense lawyer said Omar Khadr, who was captured in a firefight
in Afghanistan at age 15, had abandoned the jihadist teachings of his al
Qaeda financier father, apologized to his victims and accepted
responsibility for his actions.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101030/wl_nm/us_guantanamo_khadr
Adnan Mirza: Another US War on Terror victim / Stephen Lendman
Post-9/11,
Mirza is one of legions of war on terror victims - framed, charged,
indicted, tried and convicted on bogus terrorism related charges ... On
May 27, New York Times writer Daniel Cadis headlined, "Texas: Student
Convicted of Aiding Taliban," giving Mirza one paragraph with no
explanation on the FBI's sting, using two paid informants to entrap, its
common way snare victims - innocent, yet bogusly convicted and
imprisoned.
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2010/10/30/
adnan-mirza-another-us-war-on-terror-vic
In election's shadow, rally draws laughs, activism
(AP)
WASHINGTON
– In the shadow of the Capitol and the election, comedians Jon Stewart
and Stephen Colbert entertained a huge throng Saturday at a "sanity"
rally poking fun at the nation's ill-tempered politics, fear-mongers and
doomsayers.
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/296577/
lest it be thought these things happen only in the Mideast:
Bomb found in Northern Ireland
(Reuters)
Police in Northern Ireland detonated a bomb on Saturday planted by
suspected nationalist militants in Lurgan, south of Belfast, the latest
in a series of attempts to destabilise the province's peace process.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977064,00.html
Dissident IRA car bomb defused at Belfast airport
(AP) Northern Ireland police say Irish Republican Army dissidents
planted a car bomb in a parking lot at Belfast International Airport but
it failed to detonate. Police say British Army experts
dismantled the device Sunday morning. They determined the bomb was
principally made of drums of fuel,
not conventional explosive, but was viable.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977307,00.html |
| For further information contact Shadi Fadda |
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