A short Homage to a Palestinian Woman…
Layla Anwar, An Arab Woman Blues
I’ve been watching one of my favorite programs called “Ziyara Khassa” – A Private/Special Visit, by Sami Klayb on Al-Jazeera. Today’s guest was a Palestinian woman, born in 1951, an ex-PLO member. Her name is Aida Saad. She now lives in Dubai, originally from Gaza. Aida Saad though in her late 50's, has this amazing young spirit that shines through… I could still see the 17 year old girl in her, who protested the Israelis and threw a grenade on a soldiers convoy, wounding four. She said she could no longer tolerate seeing their homes being demolished by Israeli bulldozers. She wanted to do something. She was sentenced to 20 years of prison. She describes her years in Israeli jails. She was subjected to what she called “very brutal interrogation techniques”, she was also was badly tortured, physically/sexually abused and insulted… The Israeli criminals did not content themselves with that, they also brought in her brother and tortured him in front of her. She said she could take it, but the day they brought her own mother in, to witness the torture of her children – that day Aida broke down. She could not see her mother suffer that way…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44162

IRAQ: Praying, not Playing
By Maki al-Nazzal and Dahr Jamail*
In the struggle now just to stay alive, everyone has forgotten that Iraq has lost, among other things, its tradition in sports. Some of its best sportsmen are now refugees…”Despite the Iraq-Iran war of the eighties, and the UN sanctions later, there was some support for sports and youth in Iraq,” a senior member of the Iraqi Olympics Committee told IPS on condition of anonymity on telephone from Baghdad. “Iraq produced many Olympic teams and stars because of the organised system that was founded in the early days of the Iraqi state. It got worse during the UN sanctions, and then the very worst came with the U.S. occupation in 2003.” “Most of our stadiums and playing grounds have been converted into U.S. and Iraqi military bases,” Waleed Khalid of the Ramadi Sports Club who fled to Damascus with his family told IPS…In Fallujah a football stadium was turned into a graveyard through the April 2004 U.S. siege when people could not find any other place to bury their dead…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44163

CIA death squads killing with “impunity” in Afghanistan
Joe Kay, WSWS
A United Nations investigator released a preliminary report last week citing widespread civilian deaths in Afghanistan, often at the hands of unaccountable units led by the CIA or other foreign intelligence agencies. The investigator is Philip Alston, a New York University professor serving as the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution. His report provides a partial glimpse into the illegal actions of intelligence agencies, occupying forces, and Afghan police, as they seek to repress opposition to the US-led occupation and US-backed government…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44166

Aziz set for Baghdad court hearing with no lawyer
AFP
Tareq Aziz is set to appear before the Iraqi High Tribunal on Tuesday without the new legal team he demanded three weeks ago. His first court appearance ended abruptly after he said he wanted new lawyers because his Iraqi counsel Badie Izzat Aref was unable to attend for “security reasons.” The trial was then adjourned until May 20 so new lawyers could be appointed, but Aziz, who faces charges linked to the execution of 42 Baghdad merchants in 1992, may now have to seek a new court date or represent himself on Tuesday. His Amman-based son Ziad Aziz said on Saturday that French lawyer Jacques Verges, four Italian lawyers and a French-Lebanese attorney will be unable to attend Tuesday’s hearing in Baghdad because they have yet to receive visas…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44177

Palestinian patient dies in Gaza; death toll due to continued Israeli siege stands at 158
Ghassan Bannoura – IMEMC
Palestinian medical sources reported that Abed Al Karem Al Ghalbaan, 57, died at midday on Monday in a Gaza City hospital. Doctors stated that Al Ghalbaan, had contracted cancer of the liver, and added that he had been denied Israeli army permission to leave the Gaza Strip for the life saving medical care he needed. With Al Ghalbaan’s death, the number of Palestinians who have died due to the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip now stands at 158…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44172

U.S. troops bomb hospital and refuse to pay for damages
Anwar Jumaa, Azzaman
Health authorities in the Province of Babylon say U.S. troops are paying “peanuts” to cover for the extensive damage they have inflicted on the main hospital in the southern city of Hilla. The troops say they bombed the hospital “by mistake” and they have offered $6500 as compensation. But Mostafa al-Hiti, chairman of the Health and Environment Commission at the Iraqi Parliament, said “the money is not enough to cover for the broken class.”…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44173

Special Needs Children in Gaza Denied Their Education Because of Chronic Fuel Shortages
Haitham Sabbah
The Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children runs a school for 275 non-hearing children, but the classrooms have been empty for almost 6 weeks, because there isn’t enough fuel to transport the pupils to school. “What you need to understand about Atfaluna is that for our children, this is not just their school – for many of them it is their whole life. But we are not able to think about re-opening the school at the moment.”….

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44171

Police: Sunni insurgents kill 11 police recuits in northern Iraq
Associated Press
Suspected Sunni insurgents on Monday ambushed a minibus carrying Iraqi police recruits near the Syrian border, killing all 11 passengers, in the first deadly attack since Iraqi forces launched a major sweep against al-Qaida fighters in the region. The assault _ the deadliest by insurgents on police in months _ left the
minibus riddled with bullets, with most of the recruits’ bodies still inside, in the desert west of the northern city of Mosul, where the crackdown has been centered…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44170

An Open Letter to Dr. Stephen Behnke on Psychologists Engaged in Torture
If Not Now, When?
Dr. TRUDY BOND
Dear Dr. Behnke: In your letter as Ethics Director for the American Psychological Association dated May 15, 2008 to the ACLU, you wrote: “APA will adjudicate any allegation that an APA member has engaged in unethical conduct. If you have information that a psychologist has engaged in torture, I ask that you immediately bring this information to my attention.” Please excuse me if I sound a little impatient. Our profession has been hearing much the same theme from APA presidents for the past three years. Gerald Koocher, APA President 2006: “I should also note that A.P.A. has taken a very strong stance against the use of torture, inhumane, and degrading treatment, and if anyone is able to identify A.P.A. members who have been involved in such activities, we will take disciplinary action.”…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44178

US Dept of Justice IP address blocked after ‘vandalism’ edits to Wikipedia
Sabbah’s blog
Wikinews has learned that a United States Department of Justice (DOJ) IP Address has been blocked on Wikipedia after making edits to an article which were considered “vandalism”. In two separate instances, the IP address from the DOJ removed information from the Wikipedia article about the organization Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), regarding an attempt by the organization to secretly gain influence on the site. The IP address has been confirmed by Wikinews to be registered and used by the DOJ located in Washington, D.C. On April 21, Electronic Intifada published a report based on leaked emails written between CAMERA and Wikipedia contributors who are allegedly planning to gain influence on the online encyclopedia…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44169

Palestinian memory cannot be erased
Lamis Andoni, Al Jazeera Middle East analyst
US president George Bush’s attempt, at the World Trade Economic Forum in Egypt, to ease Arab anger over his speech to the Knesset is too feeble and too late. Bush had addressed the Israeli parliament, on Israel’s 60th anniversary three days ago, saying the establishment of Israel had been “the redemption of an ancient promise given to Abraham and Moses and David – a homeland for the chosen people Eretz Yisrael”. By portraying the creation of Israel as a biblical fulfilment, he bestowed divine legitimacy on the process of its establishment and also cast the Palestinians’ narrative, along with their rights, outside of the realm of history….

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44168

Israeli leader admits Israel has been holding secret talks with Hamas
Saed Bannoura – IMEMC News
Israel’s Vice-Prime Minister, Haim Ramon, admitted Monday that the government of Israel has, for the last several weeks, been holding talks with the Hamas party, in contradiction with Israel’s stated policy of ‘isolating and attacking’ the elected Hamas-led government of the Palestinian people. The talks have focused on a negotiated release of the one Israeli soldier being held by Palestinian resistance groups, in exchange for some of the over-10,000 Palestinians (many of them civilians) being held in Israeli detention camps. In addition, Ramon stated that the Israeli government is attempting to pressure the Hamas government, elected to lead the Palestinian people during January 2006 legislative elections, to engage in a ceasefire with Israel…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44167

Aziz set for Baghdad court hearing with no lawyer
AFP
Tareq Aziz is set to appear before the Iraqi High Tribunal on Tuesday without the new legal team he demanded three weeks ago. His first court appearance ended abruptly after he said he wanted new lawyers because his Iraqi counsel Badie Izzat Aref was unable to attend for “security reasons.” The trial was then adjourned until May 20 so new lawyers could be appointed, but Aziz, who faces charges linked to the execution of 42 Baghdad merchants in 1992, may now have to seek a new court date or represent himself on Tuesday. His Amman-based son Ziad Aziz said on Saturday that French lawyer Jacques Verges, four Italian lawyers and a French-Lebanese attorney will be unable to attend Tuesday’s hearing in Baghdad because they have yet to receive visas…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44177

Health ministry briefs UNICEF on siege repercussions on children
Palestinian Information Center
Dr. Basem Naim, the health minister in the PA caretaker government, on Monday briefed the UNICEF Gaza office director Laurent Chapuis on repercussions of the Israeli imposed siege on Gaza on the health of children and patients. A ministry release said that the discussions tackled the ramifications of the Israeli siege on the health of children especially in the “border areas”. It quoted the minister as saying that children were suffering social and psychological problems as a result of the siege, adding that appropriate atmosphere must be provided for those children along with enough food, proper education and adequate health care…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44165

The Anniversary Is Over, the Agony Is Not
Mohammed Omer
Holding up an old copper key, Yousef al-Hums settles down to retell the story of his eviction from what was once his home, and now is Israel. Because only the 60th anniversary of the creation of Israel is over, the occupation of home of which al-Hums still keeps a key is not. What was to Israel the creation of their nation is to Palestinians al-Nakba, meaning the catastrophe, of eviction from their homes and homeland. From that event now, it’s 60 years, and counting. Palestinian children do not learn of that event from history books, but from people like al-Hums. “We cannot return to our homes today,” he tells his sons and about 50 of his grandchildren gathered around him, with the key raised. “But you are going to return to your grandfather’s home in Yebna village.”…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44164

Critical cooking gas shortage in Gaza
Ma’an News
Cooking gas in the besieged Gaza Strip has become so scarce that only the strongest can muscle their way to the front of the long lines at fuel depots. This is one of the stark realities of life in Gaza, where deliveries of basic supplies like cooking gas are sporadic at best. After months of ever-tightening blockade, Israel all but closed the Gaza Strip’s only crossing point for liquid fuels, the Nahal Oz terminal, in April…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44161

ARABIC: A SECONDARY LANGUAGE RESERVED FOR SECOND CLASS CITIZENS
Desertpeace
Twenty five years ago if you watchted a movie on Israel’s (only) TV station, there were subtitles…. in Hebrew and Arabic. Slowly but surely, the Arabic translations were replaced by Russian. If the movie was in Hebrew, it had English and Arabic subtitles… BOTH were replaced by Russian. Most Israeli packaged goods had ingredients listed in Hebrew, Arabic and English…. this to is changing to Hebrew and Russian only…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44159

One apology for Quran target parctice .. Thousands more are needed for occupying our country
Imad Khadduri, Free Iraq
…A week ago in a police station shooting range on Baghdad’s western outskirts, the American-allied Iraqi militiaman found what one or more GIs had been using for target practice — a copy of the Quran, Islam’s holy book…A former college quarterback, Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, stood facing the angry crowd. His face was grim and fixed as tribal sheikhs swirled around him. “I am a man of honor, I am a man of character. You have my word, this will never happen again,” the general told the angry crowd through loudspeakers, pounding the makeshift podium three times with his fist. “In the most humble manner, I look in to your eyes today and I say, please forgive me and my soldiers…Can Bush ever dare look into the eyes of the Iraqi children and apologize for illegally occupying their country and destroying their society?…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44158

ISRAEL: Arab minority has lower life expectancy – new report
IRIN News
Residents of Baghdad’s mainly Shia district of Sadr City are breathing a sigh of relief as a ceasefire between Shia militiamen loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr and US-backed government forces has brought to an end seven weeks of clashes that left daily life all but paralysed. Schools, government offices and businesses have re-opened, mine clearing operations have begun and aid teams are bringing much needed relief items to those who had been cut off…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44157

May 18, 2008: 1 US Soldier, 28 Iraqis Killed; 56 Iraqis Wounded
Margaret Griffis, Antiwar.com
Clashes reignited in Sadr City, but otherwise Iraq was relatively calm today. At least 28 Iraqis were killed and 56 more were wounded in violence limited mostly to the capital. One American soldier was killed and another wounded in Salah ad Din province when their patrol struck a roadside bomb. Fighting resumed in Sadr City where four people were killed and 38 more were injured. An al-Sadr source said that Iraqi forces opened fire on people at a marketplace, killing seven of them. Three others were killed when they attacked U.S. forces…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44160

Water: World Crisis
Research Paper No. 2 Spring 2008
Sarah Meyer, Index Research
Our planet Earth has been convulsed by tsunamis, typhoons, tornados; by hurricanes, earthquakes; floods, fires and volcanic eruptions. Less eye catching for the media are droughts and water pollution, which are linked with the present famines and food shortages. They are causes for future loss of life. . Index first researched many problems associated with water in Water: the Impending Apocolypse (November 2007)…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=44174