Researchers: US Arms Used for War Crimes in Gaza
Researchers: Erin Galbraith and Curtis Harrison – Faculty Evaluators: Andy Merrifield, PhD, Cynthia Boaz, PhD, and David McCuan, PhD Sonoma State University
January 1, 2010 – Israel’s repeated firing of US-made white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas of Gaza during its recent military campaign was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes, Human Rights Watch said in a report released March 25, 2009. The seventy-one-page report, “Rain of Fire: Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza,” provides witness accounts of the devastating effects that white phosphorus munitions had on civilians and civilian property in Gaza. Human Rights Watch researchers found spent shells, canister liners, and dozens of burnt felt wedges containing white phosphorus on city streets, apartment roofs, residential courtyards, and at a United Nations school in Gaza immediately after hostilities ended in January…

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Uranium Weapons, Low-Level Radiation and Deformed Babies
by Paul Zimmerman
January 1, 2010 – A dramatic increase in the number of babies born with birth defects was recently reported by doctors working in Falluja, Iraq. One of the proposed causes for this alarming situation is radiation exposure to the population produced by uranium weapons. The international radiation protection community dismisses this explanation as completely unreasonable because (1) the radiation dose to the population of Iraq was too low, and (2) no evidence of birth defects was reported among offspring born to survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This so-called scientific explanation is deeply disturbing, for it is out of touch with the current knowledge base. Abundant evidence exists which clearly demonstrates that birth defects are being induced by levels of radiation in the environment deemed safe by the radiation protection community. In light of this knowledge, uranium contamination cannot be summarily dismissed as a hazard to the unborn…

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Obama and Afghanistan: America’s Drug-Corrupted War
by Peter Dale Scott
January 1, 2010 – The presidential electoral campaign of Barack Obama in 2008, it was thought, “changed the political debate in a party and a country that desperately needed to take a new direction.”[1] Like most preceding presidential winners dating back at least to John F. Kennedy, what moved voters of all descriptions to back Obama was the hope he offered of significant change. Yet within a year Obama has taken decisive steps, not just to continue America’s engagement in Bush’s Afghan War, but significantly to enlarge it into Pakistan. If this was change of a sort, it was a change that few voters desired. Those of us convinced that a war machine prevails in Washington were not surprised…

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CIA Base Attacked in Afghanistan Was Hub for Airstrikes
By Joby Warrick and Pamela Constable, WP
January 1, 2010 – The CIA base attacked by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan this week was at the heart of a covert program overseeing strikes by the agency’s remote-controlled aircraft along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, officials familiar with the installation said Thursday. The assailant, wearing an explosives belt under his clothes, apparently was allowed to enter the small base after offering to become an informant, according to two former agency officials briefed on the attack. The CIA declined to comment on the circumstances behind the incident, and it was unclear whether the bomber chose the base because of its role in supporting CIA airstrikes against top al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders in the region…

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Israeli Warplanes, Tanks Strike Eastern, Southern Gaza Strip
Xinhua
January 1, 2010 – Israeli F16 warplanes and tanks had carried out late on Friday night five successive air and ground strikes on targets in eastern and southern Gaza Strip, wounding five people, medics and witnesses said. The witnesses said that Israeli F16 warplane fired two missiles, while tanks fired two shells that all landed at empty zones east and northeast of Gaza City, adding that five people were injured. Paramedics said that local ambulances took five Palestinians from eastern Gaza for medical treatment at Gaza hospitals after they were injured…

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CIA drone attacks kill six people in northwest Pakistan
By Farzana Shah – Asian Tribune Correspondent in Pakistan
January 1, 2010 – About three people were killed when missiles from a US drone hit a car Friday in Pakistan’s tribal region of North Waziristan. The second attack in two days by a drone aircraft struck a vehicle carrying suspected militants in Ghundikala village, 15 kilometres east of Miramshah, the main town of North Waziristan, close to the Afghan border. The security officials say that those killed were militants, however it could not be confirmed..

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A Bad Case of Arrested Development.
Layla Anwar
January 1, 2010 – I was invited to a gathering last evening, and overheard conversations, as usual… There were some Westerners there (to my dismay), most of whom were Americans and a few Europeans on a “mission” – working for NGOs that “specialize” in “development” projects. There was also one Pakistani guy present who works for the same group and a few Arabs. I overheard one of the American “female” “expert” say : – The main problem we’re facing is that the natives resist development. That’s one major hurdle…

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Gaza Freedom March Wrap Up
Sana, Keffiyeh And Onions
January 1, 2010 – I’m sure its going to take me some time to process everything that has happened in Cairo with the Gaza Freedom March over the past week or so but here are some of my initial thoughts and feelings. Bear in mind, these are my own opinions and reflections and they surely are not the same as the 1300 other people who were in Cairo. So for what its worth – here it goes […]
Lets clarify something here. As much as I hate Egypt, Egypt is NOT occupying the Palestinian territories. ISRAEL is. I mean, to a certain degree, by doing of all this, I feel, we took a lot of heat off of Israel b/c the press coverage just shows a bunch of people demonstrating in Cairo, which is giving the message that we have a problem with Egypt for what they are doing wrong when we were here to raise awareness of the ISRAELI OCCUPATION and Operation Cast Lead which was carried out by ISRAEL one year ago. Why are people shouting “Free Egypt” at the demonstrations? It makes no sense, we had no focus…

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WE MUST NOT LOSE SIGHT WHO THE REAL ENEMY OF GAZA IS
Steve Amsel, Deserpeace
January 1, 2010 – Recent reports from the Viva Palestina Convoy have dealt with problems they are having entering Gaza due to Egyptian interference. It is easy to get the impression that Egypt is the real enemy… this is NOT the case at all. Egypt is a part of the zioaxis of evil and are only doing what the Israeli government tells them to. One must not forget this simple fact and must not lose sight of who the REAL enemy is…

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Iranian Cleric Haeri Shirazi: Don’t Arrest The Protesters; Kill Them!
Payvand Iran News
January 1, 2010 – In a candid and shocking appearance on Iran’s state television, a leading Iranian cleric ayatollah stated that instead or arresting and suppressing the opposition protesters, it would be better to kill them. “The more of them are killed, the more beneficial. If the armed forces kill some of them, it is to our benefit.” Ayatollah Mehyaddin Haeri Shirazi said…

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AP sources: CIA base chief killed in attack
PAMELA HESS and ADAM GOLDMAN
January 1, 2010 – The CIA said Thursday that seven of its employees were killed and six others wounded in a suicide bombing at a base in Afghanistan. The Associated Press has learned that one of them was the chief of the CIA’s post in Afghanistan’s southeastern Khost Province. CIA Director Leon Panetta said in a message to agency staff that the casualties sustained in Wednesday’s strike at Forward Operating Base Chapman were the result of a terrorist attack. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing…

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AP sources: Suicide bomber invited on base
By PAMELA HESS and ADAM GOLDMAN, Associated Press Writers Pamela Hess And Adam Goldman, Associated Press Writers –
January 1, 2010 – The suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees at a remote outpost in southeastern Afghanistan had been invited onto the base and had not been searched, two former U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. A former senior intelligence official says the man was being courted as an informant and that it was the first time he had been brought inside the camp. An experienced CIA debriefer came from Kabul for the meeting, suggesting that the purpose was to gain intelligence, the official said…

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Gaza: the rains
Eva Barlett, In Gaza
January 1, 2010 – It’s pouring rain. Farmers are collectively breathing relief, finally able to begin working on their parched land, land deprived water because Israeli bombing, tanks and bulldozers destroyed virtually all of the wells, cisterns, and rain-water collectors of farms in the border regions. I’m breathing many sighs of relief, because the rain is fresh, brings life, brings a needed feeling of growth… But the family of Saleh Abu Leila, with their 14 family members crammed into 1.5 tents (half the tent is occupied by a refrigerator) of poor-quality, torn fabric will be sighing with much less relief, as water seeps in through rips and breaks in the tent, floods the door, gradually streams into the tent entrance. Their focus will be on keeping warm, particularly for their infant just over a month old, and dry, added to the daily worries about where the money for the next tine of baby milk will come from…

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Video: Afghan tensions rise amid civilian and CIA deaths
Aljazeera.English
January 1, 2010 – Afghanistan’s government has stepped up its criticism over the number of Afghan civilians killed by Nato strikes. In the latest incident, eight people died in Helmand province and the government has demanded that foreign troops responsible for civilian deaths be handed over to Afghan authorities. The civilian deaths and political fallout come amid confirmation by the CIA that seven of its agents were killed in a suicide attack at a US base in Afghanistan the agency’s worst one-day loss of life in eight years. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the bomber was an Afghan army officer who volunteered for the operation…

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Palestinian Citizens of Israel Protest Outside of Erez Crossing: End Israeli Blockade of Gaza
The Alternative Information Center (AIC)
January 1, 2010 – Over 1,000 Palestinian citizens of Israel and several dozen Jewish Israelis demonstrated this morning outside of the Erez Crossing, demanding an end to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Organised by the Arab High Monitoring Committee, the demonstration coincided with the one year anniversary of Israel’s military attacks on the Gaza Strip, which resulted in 1,400 deaths and thousands wounded. “”The Israeli war against the Palestinians of Gaza continues one year later,” said Knesset Member Jamal Zahalka (Balad) at the protest. “…

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Israeli settlements ‘witness boom’
Aljazeera.net
January 1, 2010 – Despite the suspension of settlement growth announced by the Israel government in December, dozens of illegal settlements in the West Bank are experiencing a building boom, an Israeli newspaper reports. The revelation by Haaretz comes on the eve of another visit to the region by George Mitchell, President Barack Obama’s special envoy, to try to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks…

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Israeli Arab MK: Barak enjoys classical music and killing Gaza children
DPA
January 1, 2010 – Some 1,000 people, among them all of Israel’s Arab MKs and community leaders, gathered Thursday at the Israeli side of the Gaza border to express solidarity with the residents of Gaza, one year after Israel’s offensive there. MK Taleb A-Sana relayed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s message to the Israeli side via a mobile phone. During the rally, Israeli Arab MK Jamal Zahalka directed harsh criticism at Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who he said enjoys “classical music and killing children in Gaza.”..

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Report: Settlement construction booming
Ma’an News
January 1, 2010 – Despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s professed 10-month settlement freeze, construction in dozens of supposedly frozen areas is booming, an Israeli newspaper reported Thursday. The Israeli daily Haaretz said reporters toured West Bank settlements on Wednesday and witnessed work being carried out in the Bakran and Ariel industrial zones, as well as the construction of housing at Ariel, Elkana North, Peduel and Kfar Tapuah…

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Gaza One Year After. The World Has Changed.
by Muriel Mirak-Weissbach
January 1, 2010 – In this holiday season, we celebrate the birth of Christ, and the message of brotherly love, compassion, and forgiveness. This year we also commemorate the first anniversary of Israeli’s punitive aggression against the civilian population of Gaza, a conflict that left 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead, and thousands wounded. The toll taken in economic, social, and psychological terms on the victim population has yet to be adequately tallied. But the political impact has been unambiguous: far from consolidating the image of an all-powerful Israeli Defense Force whose brutal force can force subject peoples under occupation to shrink in fear, and can intimidate the international community into mute astonishment, the three-week spree of mad-dog violence against a helpless adversary sparked unprecedented outrage worldwide, and triggered a critical shift in attitudes toward Israel.

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Is Congress planning to destroy every Middle East TV Channel that criticizes Israel?
Franklin Lamb
January 1, 2010 – … Having inherited the Bush administrations rising stack of terrorism lists, President Obama’s team had expressed interest in culling them “so they are more accurate and manageable and Americans experience less stress”, according to Homeland Security director Janet Napolitano. These lists, plus the reported existence of others that have not been made public, are supposed to reduce the fear and stress on Americans just knowing there are such lists and that someone is ‘watching out’. In many cases travelers experience more stress because they never know when Transportation Security Authority (TSA) agents at airports might eye a ‘hit’ on a computer screen, lung into action and ruin a trip. Duplicate names on various lists plus the difficulty of getting oneself off the lists have led to increasing pressure on The Obama administration to refine the concept of who really is a terrorist. The various “T” and watch lists are swelling annually by thousands of names-some quite similar leading to confusion and uncertainly who really is and isn’t on and who is on but shouldn’t be and vice versa.As of Christmas Eve, the ‘Terrorism Watch List’ reportedly included some 900,000 names with a “selectee” list with somewhere close to 30,000 people within the higher-risk category, and a “no-fly” list with an estimated 10,000 names of people who are not allowed to board planes…

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Bil’in demonstrators call for the end of the Siege of Gaza
Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements
January 1, 2010 – Residents of Bil’in gathered today after the noon prayers to demonstrate against the Israeli occupation and the Apartheid Wall on to commemorate the first anniversary of the brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza. In addition, they celebrated the 45th anniversary of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, Fatah. The demonstration, organized by the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, was joined by dozens of international and Israeli activists as well as members of the Revolutionary Council of Fatah, the Palestinian National Liberation Movement Fatah and the Palestine Liberation Front…

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