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News
International Middle East Media Center
Barak
To Accompany Netanyahu To The U.S.
IMEMC 31 Oct 2009 -
Saturday October 31, 2009 - 06:26, Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud
Barak, will be accompanying Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in his
next week visit to the United States to hold talk with President Barack
Obama and other senior U.S. officials.
Clinton
To Meet Abbas In Abu Dhabi
IMEMC 31 Oct 2009 -
Saturday October 31, 2009 - 06:13, U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary
Clinton, is expected to hold a meeting with the Palestinian President,
Mahmoud Abbas, in Abu Dhabi next Saturday.
Four
Palestinians Wounded By Settler Fire In East Jerusalem
IMEMC 31 Oct 2009 -
Saturday October 31, 2009 - 01:17, Palestinian medical sources reported
that four Palestinians were wounded on Friday morning after a number of
fundamental settlers opened fire at them.
Haniyya:
“There Is No Harm In Holding Dialogue With America”
IMEMC 31 Oct 2009 -
Friday October 30, 2009 - 18:35, Ismail Haniyya, Prime Minister of the
Hamas-dominated government in Gaza, stated Thursday that there is no
harm, in holding dialogue with the American administration and
President Barack Obama.
Israeli
soldiers attack the Nil'in weekly protest against the wall
IMEMC 31 Oct 2009 -
Friday October 30, 2009 - 16:10, Dozens suffered effects of tear gas
inhalation on Friday, by the Israeli military fire at the weekly
protest against the wall in the central West Bank village of Nil'in.
Poor
olive harvest may see PA import oil for citizens
10/31/2009 - Nablus
- Ma'an - A bad olive harvest and depleted access to agricultural lands
has left Palestine with a deficit of 10,000 tons of olive oil. Head of
the council of the Palestinian olive oil Nabih Ath-Thib said he
expected the total olive harvest would yield approximately 5,000 tons,
short of the 15,000 he said was needed to cover the needs of
Palestinians in Green-line Palestine (West Bank including Jerusalem,
Gaza). Appearing on the Ma'an News Network show "Our Economy"
(Iqtisadina), Ath-Thib said the price of olive oil in Palestine has
skyrocketed to 10 US dollars a kilo. Advisor to the minister of
agriculture Fares Al- Jabi estimated that each adult in the Palestinian
cities would need an average of four liters of olive oil per year, with
adults in the countryside requiring an average of 16 liters of oil a
year.
Israeli
forces shoot, detain Palestinian in Gaza
11/1/2009 - Gaza -
Ma'an - Israeli forces shot and detained a Palestinian in the Gaza
Strip on Saturday. A local medical official and an Israeli military
spokeswoman told Ma'an the unidentified male was shot northwest of Beit
Lahiya. Israeli forces said they transferred the injured Palestinian to
a medical post, according to Dr Muawiyah Hassanein, the Health
Ministry's director of emergency and ambulance services, in a telephone
interview. Hassanein added that health officials were negotiating with
the army to secure his return to a Gaza hospital. Approached by Ma'an,
an Israeli spokeswoman confirmed that a Palestinian male was shot and
detained, describing his wounds as light. She said the injured male
underwent medical treatment and interrogation inside Israeli territory
before he was eventually returned to Gaza. The spokeswoman said the
Palestinian had approached the separation barrier in a suspicious
manner. . . .
PCHR:
Defeat, progress over former Shin Bet leader’s torture charge
10/31/2009 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Court of Appeal in the Netherlands denied a
complaint taken against former head of the Israeli General Security
Services Ami Ayalon (Shin Bet) on Monday, the Palestine Center for
Human Rights announced. Despite the denial of the complaint, the group
said in a statement, "some of the Court's findings represent a victory
with respect to the future prosecution of alleged torturers. "Significantly, the Court of Appeals ruled that a suspect's presence on
Dutch territory is sufficient for the establishment of jurisdiction. In
order to persuade the court to act, however, a prosecutor must
establish whether the individual in question could be identified as a
suspect under the Convention against Torture and the Dutch implementing
law. In light of the evidence presented to the Prosecutor regarding
Ayalon's involvement in torture, PCHR said it believes that. . . --
Links: Justice
Denied: Dutch Court Denies Appeal Petition in Ayalon Torture Case
Hamas
hopes Amnesty report will translate into criminal prosecution
10/31/2009 - Gaza -
Ma'an - Amnesty International's report to the water situation in
Palestine proves that "the Israeli occupation is stealing our
resources," de facto Minister of Agriculture Mohammad Ramadan Al-Agha
said Saturday. Al-Agha noted "the importance of endorsing this document
at the international organizations so Palestinians can claim for
compensation and file lawsuits in international courts for the water
theft. "Gaza needs 200 million cubic meters of water yearly from the
West Bank to overcome its water crisis," he said, as desalination
plants remain defunct and in disrepair as organizations try various
forms of diplomacy and international pressure to get the building
materials and replacement parts into the Strip through Israeli crossing
points. The human rights group released a report on Tuesday saying
Israel is denying Palestinians the right to sufficient water through
discriminatory policies.
Rafah
opens early, passage both ways until Tuesday
10/31/2009 - Gaza -
Ma'an - Egyptian authorities announced that the Rafah crossing between
Egypt and Gaza would open and allow hundreds of Palestinians to return
to Gaza for humanitarian reasons on Saturday. The opening is in
addition to regular crossing hours dictated by Egypt to allow the
passage of Palestinian patients and students with permission to exit
the Strip. Egyptian security sources said 75 Palestinians had already
gone through the crossing as of early Saturday morning. The crossing
will remain open until Tuesday to allow the stranded and medical cases
to pass the crossing in both directions. [end]
5,000
in Gaza have no ID cards; await family reunification permits
10/31/2009 - Gaza -
Ma'an - Speaking on behalf of the at least 5,000 Palestinians living in
Gaza without ID cards, Haydar Abu Sharkh appealed to Palestinian
leaders to speed up the process of issuing cards. Without an ID card
Palestinians in Gaza cannot apply to Israel for a permit to leave for
medical treatment in Israel or the West Bank, they cannot apply for
permits to visit jailed relatives in Israeli prisons, or permission to
leave the Gaza Strip though Rafah. For those with family in the West
Bank, no ID card means no travel permit, so families remain fragmented
with no possibility of visits. Israel caps the number of ID cards the
Palestinian Authority can issue. The cards are effectively residency
permits for Palestinians and give them rights for government services
including welfare or social support. Palestinian refugees who wish to
return to live in the West Bank or Gaza must obtain a permit.
PA:
Nablus man injured, another seized in raid
10/31/2009 - Nablus
- Ma'an - A young man was injured and another detained when Israeli
soldiers and settlers attacked Iraq Burin village south of Nablus on
Saturday afternoon, a Palestinian Official official said. Ghassan
Douglas, who holds the settlement portfolio for the northern West Bank,
said dozens Yizhar settlers threw stones at villagers. As the attack
continued, soldiers arrived to fire tear gas and rubber-coated bullets
at village residents, he said. The bullets injured 22-year-old Sa'd
Husam Al-Faqeeh, while 36-year-old Wa'el Al-Faqeeh was detained by the
invading forces, Douglas added. [end]
Fayyad
condemns ’terrorist’ settler violence
11/1/2009 - Ramallah
- Ma'an - Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Saturday condemned an attack
during which Israeli settlers shot a Palestinian and injured four
others in occupied East Jerusalem. Five relatives, three of them over
60 years old, were hospitalized after right-wing Israelis attacked the
Salah family, shooting one, in a bid to take over their home in the
Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa on Friday. "This terrorist
settler attack on the lives and property of Palestinian citizens
demonstrates the necessity of providing immediate international
protection for our people in Jerusalem," Fayyad said, speaking
alongside US Consul General Daniel Rubenstein and other American
officials at an unrelated event near Ramallah. He urged the
international community to intervene and secure the safety of
Palestinians throughout the occupied territories "until the
establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its
capital.
No
movement on talks after Abbas-Clinton meeting
10/31/2009 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Peace talks will not resume based on the terms US
special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell has worked out with
Israel, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat announced Saturday. President
Mahmoud Abbas himself confirmed the announcement following a meeting
with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Abu Dhabi, telling
reporters there was "nothing new" in the conversation. "The basics of
the meeting with Clinton was about [Jerusalem, it] is in danger and the
Arabs and Muslims should pay attention for that," Abbas continued.
"Peace starts in Jerusalem, [without Jerusalem] I think there will be
no peace with the Israeli side. " Explaining the Palestinian refusal
to relaunch talks, Abbas said, "the problem with the Israeli government
is that it rejects the halt of settlement and it rejects to return to
peace.
House
of Representatives to discuss resolution condemning Goldstone
10/31/2009 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - The US House of Representatives is expected to
approve a non-binding resolution on Tuesday condemning the UN-backed
Golstone report which accused Israel of war crimes during last winter's
military offensive "Cast Lead" against the Gaza Strip, the Washington
Post reported Saturday. The American paper said the report, which calls
for investigations into allegations of war crimes and crimes against
humanity, is proving to be a "major complication in Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton's diplomacy in the Middle East this weekend.
"Hours after the 575-page report was released, the US, along with the
Israeli administration condemned its findings. The draft resolution,
expected to condemn the document was proposed by two representatives
from House Foreign Affairs Committee representatives Howard L Berman
(D-Calif.
Lebanese
court finds citizen guilty of collaboration with Israel
10/31/2009 - Beirut
- Ma'an - A Lebanese military court sentenced Antoine Lahd to 15 years
in jail with hard labor last week. Lahd was the former commander ofthe
South Lebanon Army, a militia that supported Israel when it occupied
the south of Lebanon. He was found guilty of collaborating with Israel
and acquiring its citizenship. The verdict was the latest of several in
absentia sentences against Lahd, who currently resides in France. [end]
Bahar:
Hamas can win fair elections in the West Bank
10/31/2009 - Gaza -
Ma'an - Hamas does not fear elections, but does express concern over
their fairness given the security situation in the West Bank, Deputy
Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) with the Hamas
bloc Ahmad Bahar on Saturday. "If there are free and fair elections in
the West Bank, Hamas will win," Bahar said during a panel session in
the An-Nuseirat Refugee Camp addressing issues around Palestinian
support for the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Bahar expressed concern over what he
called the "bias of the international Quartet" and accused them of
"referring solely to Fatah" as the representatives of the Palestinian
people, when Hamas was the rightfully elected party. He called the
approval of the Goldstone report by the UN Human Rights Council a
triumph of the Palestinian resistance, and an example of the even
handedness of the international community without the US veto.
Eleven
arrested at Jordan border
10/31/2009 - Jericho
- Ma'an - Palestinian Authority security forces have arrested 11
Palestinians over the past week, according to a police report obtained
by Ma'an on Saturday. All were fugitives attempting to flee Jordan, the
report said, pursued on various charges including money laundering and
theft. The same report, which was issued by the Jericho police media
office, noted a decrease in traffic at the West Bank border. Some 7,371
passengers departed for Jordan last week, including 149 foreigners and
21 Israeli ID holders, while some 6,500 arrived into the West Bank,
among them 106 foreigners and 21 Israeli residents. Meanwhile, 34
Israeli tourists injured in a bus accident the day before were
transferred to hospitals in Israel from Amman. Several were airlifted,
while some 25 crossed over in ambulances at the Allenby Bridge, which
is otherwise closed to Israeli citizens.
Ministry
of agriculture confiscates counterfeit olive oil
10/31/2009 -
Ramallah - Ma'an - The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture, in
cooperation with customs officers, confiscated several tons of
counterfeit olive oil in the West Bank cities of Nablus, Hebron and
Jenin. The oil, a mixture of low-grade olive and cooking oils, will be
kept until legal procedures are taken against those attempting to sell
the oil as pure olive. The confiscations are part of a continued effort
to enforce consumer protection legislation by the Palestinian
Authority. [end]
Thirteen
Palestinians arrested near Hebron
10/31/2009 - Hebron
- Ma'an - Palestinian Authority police and other security services said
in a joint statement that they arrested 13 people near the southern
West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday. Police said prior warrants had
been issued for each of the unidentified detainees, predominantly on
suspicion of theft. Police said they were from Beit Awwa, near Hebron,
and that their arrests came "during a campaign to impose security and
order. "PA security forces have arrested 11 Palestinians at the Allenby
Bridge over the past week, according to a police report obtained by
Ma'an on Saturday. All of those detainees were fugitives attempting to
flee Jordan, the report said, pursued on various charges including
money laundering and theft.
Official:
Reconciliation deal not dead yet
10/31/2009 - Gaza -
Ma'an - Ending two years of debilitating Palestinian disunity is still
possible and efforts are ongoing to encourage a unity deal, according
to Dr Yasser Al-Wadiyeh, an independent Legislative Council member, on
Friday. "There has not yet been an announcement that reconciliation
failed - despite some setbacks," the lawmaker said in an interview.
Independents are studying the latest setback, in which Hamas refused to
sign a reconciliation document sponsored by Egypt, Al-Wadiyeh insisted,
noting that talks were being conducted outside the media. He also
called the right to vote sacracant, and condemned efforts from any one
side to prevent Palestinians from casting their ballot should elections
be held on 24 January 2010 as announced by President Mahmoud Abbas
earlier this month.
Gaza
university to participate in EU quiz show
10/31/2009 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Khaled Abu Omra, the sports' activities coordinator
at Al-Azhar University, said that the university was chosen to
participate in the Stars program. Stars is the largest quiz show
between Palestinian universities, which was produced by Ma'an Network
in cooperation with the universities and funded by the European Union.
"Al-Azhar University gained previous experience by participating in
local and foreign competitions, in all of which we won first place,"
Abu Omra added. Crew members held a pre-launch workshop in Ramallah
last Saturday, where they discussed this season's premier with
representatives of participating institutions. At the Ramallah
workshop, Stars producer Ala Ad-Din Al-Abed greeted contestants on
behalf of the network's general manager, Raed Othman, and applauded the
EU for its participation and assistance to unique Palestinian media.
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Umbrella group calls on Palestinians and Arabs to 'defend' Al-Aqsa mosque and East Jerusalem.
Report: Lebanon nabs top militant over rocket attack against Israel
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Lebanese daily reports arrest; Lebanon FM: Israel's cease-fire violations hint it's planning to attack us.
The IDF has become Israel's diplomatic channel to the West
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - In recent months, the similarity of the threat facing Israel and its Western counterparts has grown.
Lebanon warns UN: Israel planning to attack us
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - UN envoy condemns IDF artillery attack and cites repeated Israeli threats, says Lebanese paper
U.S. official: Syria must rethink support of Hezbollah, Hamas if it wants better ties
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Assistant Secretary of State: Dialogue with Syria will not be at the expense of Lebanon's sovereignty.
Barak: Soldiers' political protest harms IDF, Israel
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Defense Minister warns of perils of IDF soldiers protesting settler evacuations within confines of the army.
Trial of suspected Hezbollah cell resumes in Egypt
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - 26 men are accused of planning attacks against tourists and the Suez Canal and possessing explosives.
Lebanon army dismantles 4 rockets aimed at Israel
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Rockets ready for launching were discovered Wednesday; Katyusha struck northern Israel on Tuesday.
Aluf Benn / Who decided to go to war in Gaza and why?
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Did the cabinet consider that hundreds of Palestinian civilians would be killed during Operation Cast Lead?
VIDEO / Settlers clash with Palestinian 'security threat' olive growers
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Settlers reportedly uproot dozens of Palestinian olive trees; IDF lets settlers protest inside Palestinian village.
IDF Chief: Israeli inquiry into Gaza war proper response to Goldstone
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Gabi Ashkenazi said Israel can't let anyone control its future, in his first visit to Germany as Chief of Staff.
Peres: Unlike Hamas, Israel protects its children
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - President tells schoolchildren that Israel doing everything possible to bring Gilad Shalit back home.
Israel to set up team to review Gaza war probe
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Netanyahu stresses that team will recommend course of action, IDF troops won't be investigated.
Hamas: War will settle Jerusalem dispute, not talks
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Jordan to Israel: Temple Mount violence derails peace efforts; Arab MK: Israel letting extremists desecrate Al-Aqsa.
IDF troops who waved pro-settler banner expelled from brigade
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Offending troops also given 20 days in military prison after holding banner at IDF swearing-in ceremony.
Israel Police battle Arab rioters on Temple Mount; PA official arrested
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Abbas aide among 15 arrested by Jerusalem police in fresh unrest; three cops wounded.
Palestinian woman stabs Israeli guard at West Bank checkpoint
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Guard taken to hospital in moderate condition; Jerusalem police detain 21-year-old assailant for questioning.
IDF soldier hospitalized after beating by officer
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Golani platoon commander caused soldier internal bleeding; officer dismissed from post.
Is Taliban helping Gaza militants make deadlier roadside bombs?
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - IDF tests find that bombs deployed on security fence are similar to those used against U.S. in Afghanistan, Iraq.
'Netanyahu didn't mean he backed Israel probe of Gaza war'
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - PM's bureau issues statement to clarify comments Netanyahu made in interview with Washington Post.
[uruknet.info]
Action urged against Israel's discriminatory water policies'
Uruknet October 31,
2009 - The National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) on Saturday urged
international human rights agencies to expose Israel's practices that
aim to deny Palestinians the right to have access to clean water. In a
statement issued yesterday in response to a recently issued report by
Amnesty International (AI), the NCHR said the report represents "a cry
for...
[uruknet.info]
How the "Most Moral Army in the World" Wages War on Students
Uruknet October 31,
2009 - If there's one thing the Israelis are good at it's making war on
women and children. They killed 952 Palestinian kiddies in their
homeland between 2000 and the start of the Gaza blitzkrieg in December
2008 (according to B'Tselem statistics). They murdered at least 350
more during their Cast Lead onslaught and have kept Gaza under...
[uruknet.info]
Operation Cast Lead: The Elusive Quest for Self-Defense in
International Law
Uruknet October 31,
2009 - On December 27, 2008, Israel launched a 22-day military
offensive against Gaza called "Operation Cast Lead." Israeli forces
killed some 1,300 Palestinians, including 280 children, and injured
approximately 4,300 others, including 1,100 children. Civilians
comprised nearly 70 percent of the Palestinian death toll. The aerial
and ground offensive also destroyed 2,400 homes, 29 schools, 121
commercial...
[uruknet.info]
Iran says EU firms in talks to bring its gas to Nabucco
Uruknet October 31,
2009 - An Iranian official said on Saturday that European firms are in
talks for Iran to join the EU's flagship Nabucco gas pipeline project,
which aims to reduce the bloc's reliance on Russia, Mehr news agency
reported. "At the moment some European companies have started
unofficial talks for Iran to join this pipeline," Mehr quoted Reza
Kasaizadeh,...
[uruknet.info]
Water authority warns of groundwater depletion in Gaza
Uruknet October 31,
2009 - The Palestinian water authority has warned Saturday of the
depletion of underground water supplies in the Gaza Strip within the
next 10 years, calling for taking serious action to save these
supplies. In a report, the water authority said that Gaza suffers from
an annual water deficit up to 70,000,000 cubic meters as a result of...
[uruknet.info]
Israeli forces shoot, detain Palestinian in Gaza
Uruknet October 31,
2009 - Israeli forces shot and detained a Palestinian in the Gaza Strip
on Saturday. A local medical official and an Israeli military
spokeswoman told Ma'an the unidentified male was shot northwest of Beit
Lahiya. Israeli forces said they transferred the injured Palestinian to
a medical post, said Dr Muawiyah Hassanein, the Health Ministry's
director of emergency and...
[uruknet.info]
Fool's gold Plans for an election are impractical at best
Uruknet October 31,
2009 - As if the stalled and nearly moribund peace process between the
Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel didn't face enough problems, PA
President Mahmoud Abbas dropped a bombshell this week when he called
for "presidential and legislative elections" to be held in the West
Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem on 24 January. The decree is more...
[uruknet.info]
Upping the ante at Al-Aqsa
Uruknet October 31,
2009 - Government-backed Jewish religious extremists have stepped up
their efforts to seize a foothold at Al-Aqsa Mosque esplanade in East
Jerusalem, ostensibly in order to erect there a Jewish temple. Al-Aqsa
Mosque is one of the three holiest Islamic sanctuaries. The other two
are the Sacred Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet Mohamed's Mosque in
Medina in...
[uruknet.info]
Palestinian Child Prisoners - Video and UK Speaking Tour
Uruknet October 31,
2009 - On Monday, 2 November 2009, DCI-Palestine will accompany
Mohammad and his mother Somaya on a four-day speaking tour of the UK to
highlight the plight of Palestinian child prisoners. Mohammad, from the
occupied West Bank, was 14 years old when he was detained by Israeli
forces in February 2008 and accused of throwing stones at the...
[uruknet.info]
Humanity Targeted in Gaza
Uruknet October 31,
2009 - There was a time, not so long ago in fact, when opposing armies
would line up across from each other with nothing but green fields
between them and take turns exchanging fire. While these tactics were
very efficient at killing soldiers on both sides, civilians were rarely
ever hurt. Somewhere along the line this all changed....
[uruknet.info]
Fight for survival in the West Bank
Uruknet October 31,
2009 - A major new road joining Jerusalem to Israeli settlements in
Hebron bisects land owned by the Jaber family. They have farmed these
fields for 300 years. They once owned 60 dunums (60,000 square metres)
but now have four (4,000 square metres) - the rest has been confiscated
by Israeli settlers. The Jabers fight to farm on...
[uruknet.info]
Video: Gaza war widows struggle to survive
Uruknet October 31,
2009 - Ten months after Israels war on the Gaza Strip, the effects of
the deadly offensive are still being deeply felt. Hundreds of
Palestinian women lost their husbands in the war and have had to step
into their husbands' roles as the main breadwinners in their families.
Al Jazeera's Barbra Serra reports from Gaza, where women
traditionally...
U.S.A, October 30, 2009, (Pal Telegraph) -Tuesday morning at 8 o'clock is chaos at Rafah Crossing, the Egyptian-controlled entrance to the Gaza Strip. Black-clad Egyptian security forces stand by their trucks, ready if things get out of hand. Aid convoys line up...
UN Depicts Gaza Shelling in One-Man Play
Israel, October 30, 2009, (Pal Telegraph) - There is nothing ordinary about this advocacy campaign for a large UN institution. The lights dim before a packed audience and a slideshow begins: images of Gaza in conflict, people fleeing their homes, buildings on...
Student Forcibly Expelled to Gaza - 6th in 10 Days
Gaza, October 30, 2009, (Pal Telegraph) - A Palestinian student has been handcuffed, blindfolded and forcibly expelled to the Gaza Strip by Israeli troops just two months before she was due to graduate from university.
PRC International Conference: “UNRWA & Future of Palestinian Refugees”, Study to be displayed
London, October 30, 2009, (Pal Telegraph) - The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) conducted a survey in the Palestinian Refugee Camps in Syria and Lebanon. The survey targeted some thousands of refugees to explore their views about the UNRWA performance for the past...
5,000 Fans Gather for Gaza Dialogue and Tolerance Cup Final
Gaza City, October 29, 2009, (Pal Telegraph) - Terrace crowds are controlled by men wearing army fatigues and holding Kalashnikov rifles, players and press pray on the pitch at half-time and when the final whistle is blown, the trophy is handed to...
The National 31 Oct 2009 - More than 10,000 women flocked from all over the West Bank to watch the Palestinian women's national team take on Jordan in an historic, first-ever home match.
Iran seeks details of uranium supplies
The National 30 Oct 2009 - Iran wants more talks on how to procure nuclear fuel for a Tehran reactor before it gives a final reply to a UN-drafted deal, the official IRNA news agency says.
Clinton to meet Abbas in Abu Dhabi
The National 30 Oct 2009 - Abu Dhabi will tomorrow host a meeting between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
AlJazeera 31 Oct 2009 - Hillary Clinton backs Israeli call for peace talks without preconditions.
Iran makes nuclear fuel demand
AlJazeera 30 Oct 2009 - Western powers find Iranian response to nuclear proposal unacceptable, diplomats say.
PNN 31 Oct 2009 - Rafah / PNN – The announcement that the southern Gaza crossing with Egypt would be open in both directions on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday was supplemented on Saturday. Early this morning Egyptian authorities allowed 75 Palestinians to return to the Strip. Considered “humanitarian cases”, the returning medical patients will be joined by more of the stranded and sick early next week. During the...
Eighteen members of Palestinian parliament remain in Israeli prisons, 7 soon to be released
PNN 31 Oct 2009 - Bethlehem / PNN – Seven Palestinian Legislative Council deputies who were arrested after winning the elections in the Change and Reform bloc are slated to be released from Israeli prisons early next month. With the end of the sentences that were imposed by an Israeli military court, the parliamentarians should be able to return to their homes just as their terms in office...
Na'lin: full economic and political boycott, along with continued resistance, could end occupation
PNN 31 Oct 2009 - Ramallah / PNN - Hundreds of people took part in Friday prayers in the threatened village of Na’lin. Thousands of dunams have already been confiscated for the Wall and settlements in the area. Leading yesterday’s service was Sheikh Salah Al Khawaja who said that the prayer and ensuing demonstration were not only part of the continuing struggle in Na’lin, but were also being...
Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights condemns attack on Beit Safafa family
PNN 31 Oct 2009 - Jerusalem / PNN – The Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights issued a condemnation of the attack by Jewish extremists on the Saleh family in southeastern Jerusalem’s Beit Safafa yesterday. The Jerusalem Center accused Israeli police of failing to address the serious assault carried out by 12 settlers who were armed with weapons, tools and sharp instruments. Five members of the Salah...
Patients evacuated from hospital: heavy rains flood streets and agricultural lands in Tulkarem
PNN 31 Oct 2009 - Tulkarem / PNN – Management at Thabet Thabet Memorial Hospital in Tulkarem was forced to evacuate patients from a majority of wings due to flooding. Heavy rains are playing havoc with the northwestern West Bank governorate whose low-lying agricultural lands are shadowed by the Wall.Medical staff was assisted yesterday by the local civil defense and police.Hospital Director, Dr. Hossam Tanib said that several...
Human rights organization reports on weekly violations including injury of 41 at demonstrations
PNN 31 Oct 2009 - The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights issued its weekly report for the period of 22 through 28 October, 2009 which includes an outline of the injury of journalists and nonviolent demonstrators. PCHR - Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Continue to Impose a Total Blockade on the Gaza Strip41...
Settlers attack Salah family in Beit Safafa as part of ongoing campaign to drive them away
PNN 30 Oct 2009 - Jerusalem / Maisa Abu Ghazaleh for PNN – Israeli settlers attacked the Salah family in southeast Jerusalem’s Beit Safafa on Friday. The attack was the latest in ongoing attempts to capture the neighborhoods and towns of Palestinian Jerusalem. Today, five people were injured.In an interview with PNN Shiha Salah, an elderly woman who is bruised on her neck and head, described her day....
Jeruslalem Post 31 Oct 2009 - Community's Sig'd festival to be commemorated in an official ceremony at the President's Residence in Jerusalem on Monday.
Only disunity will produce two states
Jeruslalem Post 31 Oct 2009 - Hamas senses time working in its favor and a deal with Fatah will help it carry out a West Bank takeover.
'Nozette passed information to Israel'
Jeruslalem Post 31 Oct 2009 - Prosecutors tell court American 'spy' caught in FBI sting did what his operators told him to do.
'Oxfam aids illegal Palestinian deeds'
Jeruslalem Post 31 Oct 2009 - Regavim advocacy group: Palestinians siphoning water in Kiryat Araba area with help from Oxfam.
Jordan accident casualties in Israel
Jeruslalem Post 31 Oct 2009 - IDF helicopters, MDA evacuate 34 Israeli tourists to Jerusalem, Tel Hashomer medical centers; 1 killed.
Clinton rejects PA condition for a settlement freeze
Jeruslalem Post 31 Oct 2009 - In press conference, US secretary of state says ultimate goal is establishing Palestinian state; PM: PA's demands are a "new Palestinian policy."
PM: UN Iran offer 'positive first step'
Jeruslalem Post 31 Oct 2009 - In meeting with Mitchell, Netanyahu hails Obama's "ongoing efforts" to diminish Iranian threat.
'US wants to let Iran process play out'
Jeruslalem Post 31 Oct 2009 - In CNN interview, Clinton backs talks, but White House spokesman says Obama's time is limited.
'No signs Israel planning immediate war'
Jeruslalem Post 31 Oct 2009 - But Lebanese FM tells London paper that Israeli spy rings may be a sign of intent to launch future war.
IRIN TEL AVIV Friday, October 30, 2009 (IRIN) - Migrant workers in Israel’s agriculture sector are among the most exploited, according to a 28 October report by Kav LaOved, an Israeli NGO campaigning for the rights of disadvantaged workers in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
LEBANON: Solar power helps schools, hospitals
IRIN AKKAR Thursday, October 29, 2009 (IRIN) - In Lebanon’s remote northeastern district of Akkar, teachers and pupils at the Rajam Issa public school are hoping this winter will be the first when the lights stay on. “Electricity is the lifeline of the school,” said head teacher Ibrahim Salame, complaining of...
SYRIA: Thousands of Iraqi refugees seek resettlement in West
IRIN DAMASCUS Wednesday, October 28, 2009 (IRIN) - Iraqi refugee Leila Johanna Isho is determined to make this her last year in Syria. “Most of our family is scattered across Europe and I have a cousin in Canada so we don’t mind where we move, but we have to move because...
IPS UNITED NATIONS, Oct 31 (IPS) - Is the ongoing controversy over Iran's nuclear programme helping to advance the United Nations' agenda on nuclear disarmament? To a number of diplomats and experts who have participated in past U.N. discussions on the spread of nuclear weapons, the answer is, yes – although...
U.S.: Rights Groups Condemn Bid to Quash Goldstone Report
IPS WASHINGTON, Oct 30 (IPS) - International human rights groups have raised concern over a proposed non-binding resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives which would call on the White House to oppose any future endorsement or consideration of Judge Richard Goldstone's "Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on...
Stop The Wall 31 Oct 2009 - More than 150 people attended the weekly demo against the Apartheid Wall. Protestors held signs with the names of the five Nil’in prisoners, and others called for the freedom of the 11,000 other Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Youth marched with their hands tied, imitating the means soldiers use when they arrest Palestinians. Soldiers constantly tried to capture protestors, and jeep mounted launchers showered the area with gas. Soldiers also targeted medical teams, firing tear gas directly at them. [
Ni’lin demands Palestinian unity
Stop The Wall 31 Oct 2009 - Six people were injured, including one young man who was shot in the jaw with a rubber coated steel bullet, when more than 200 demonstrators attended the weekly demonstration against the Apartheid Wall in Ni’lin yesterday. This week the demonstration was calling for Palestinian unity, and the protestors demanded a stop to all factional rivalry and unification against the occupation. ‘The Palestinian people are one, the Palestinian people all live under occupation and we can only overcome if we stand strong as one! [
PCHR
International Solidarity Movement
Villagers from Burin plant 50 olive trees to replace those destroyed by settlers11/1/2009 - International Solidarity Movement - 29 October - On Thursday, 29 October, a group of international activists accompanied Palestinian farmers and villagers from Burin to the planting of approximately 50 olive trees as a part of the ‘10,000 Trees for Nablus' campaign to replace some of the trees destroyed by settlers during the harvest. Although the Nablus region saw fierce rains on the morning of the tree planting, there was a strong turn up when the action began at noon. Around 60 pupils from the Burin Girls School joined the march to the fields, followed by many more Palestinians of all ages. The demonstration was also attended by 30 members of the French solidarity organisation CCIPPP (Campagne Civile Internationale pour la Protection du Peuple Palestinien). In total, the tree planting was attended by between 150 and 200 people. Although the trees were planted close to the city of Burin, and not in the threatened
Harvesting in death zone, with a song
10/31/2009 - International Solidarity Movement - Eva Bartlett, Inter Press Service, 30 October - On a quiet October morning, Fida Zaneen, 19, sings a traditional love song as she pulls olives from trees in Beit Hanoun's border region during the annual olive harvest. "My grandmother taught me the folk songs. They were popular all over Palestine many decades ago. " Saber Zaneen, 44, and Khalil Nassir, 45, alternately belt out traditional harvest songs as they, too, strip the limbs of the green and black fruit in the northern Gaza region. Keeping Palestinian culture alive is one of the mandates of Local Initiative, a Beit Hanoun-based volunteer group comprising many youths and women, and of which Fida Zaneen is a member. At group events, participants often sport traditional robes and Palestinian kuffiyehs, and dance dabke to hand-drums and singing from the group.
Student expelled to Gaza Strip by force
10/31/2009 - International Solidarity Movement - The Independent, 30 October 2009 - A Palestinian student has been handcuffed, blindfolded and forcibly expelled to the Gaza Strip by Israeli troops just two months before she was due to graduate from university. Berlanty Azzam, 21, who was studying for a business degree at Bethlehem University, said she was coming home in a shared taxi from a job interview in Ramallah on Wednesday when soldiers at the "Container" checkpoint took her identity card and that of another passenger with a Gaza address. After six hours of waiting, soldiers told her she would be taken to a detention centre in the southern West Bank, and she was handcuffed and blindfolded, she said. "The driving took longer than it should have and I started to think something was wrong. I started to wonder, what are they doing to me? "After the car stopped and the blindfold was lifted, Ms Azzam saw she was at the Erez crossing to Gaza.
VIDEO - B’Tselem: Settlers harass Palestinians and steal crops during olive harvest in the West Bank
10/31/2009 - International Solidarity Movement - B'Tselem, 20 October 2009 - The video shows three events that took place during this year's olive harvest in the West Bank. In the first incident, documented on 15 October by a volunteer in B'Tselem's camera distribution project, settlers are seen stealing olives from a grove belonging to a resident of al-Mughair village in Ramallah District, near which the Adey Ad illegal outpost has been established. The footage shows two settlers picking the olives and dragging filled sacks to a car. While filming the incident, the volunteer notified the authorities. Half an hour later, soldiers and personnel from the Israeli DCL arrived at the site and arrested the settlers. On 26 October, the investigation file was transferred to the legal division in the Judea and Samaria (SHAI) Police Department,. . . -- Links: B'tselem
Tel Aviv schools: Trip to L.A. doesn't make kids better Jews
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Two Tel Aviv elementary schools - the School for Nature, Environment and Society and the A.D. Gordon School - have decided to cease participation in a program where students visit Jewish schools in the Los Angeles area. ...
Increasing numbers of Israeli Arabs studying at Jordanian universities
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Increasing numbers of Israeli Arab high school graduates are leaving the country to study at Jordanian universities, according to a recent survey. A decade ago fewer than 100 Arab Israelis were studying at Jordanian institutions of higher learning, but last year this swelled to about 5,000. ...
Israel wants to seek, not have, peace with Syria
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - It's hard not to marvel at Defense Minister Ehud Barak's rhetorical skills, how he constantly invents a new way - an original expression - to not say anything. Last week he described Syria as a "central brick in any stable peace agreement." But there will be no peace with Syria because Israel, according to Barak, "has sought in the past and will continue to seek in the future ways to advance peace with Syria." ...
EU court: No customs breaks for Israeli goods from settlements
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Israeli goods produced in West Bank settlements are not eligible for customs benefits in the European Union, stated an advocate general of the European Court of Justice last week. ...
All-Hebrew Web addresses to be available in 2010
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - The first all-Hebrew domain names will become available in 2010, announced the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the body governing domain names. ...
The Guardian 31 Oct 2009 - Last November, in Chicago's Grant Park, world politics was transformed by the arrival of America's first black president. But has he made good on his groundbreaking promises? Keith Richburg: On one year Time is needed to...
The personal jihad of Melanie Phillips | Ed Husain
The Guardian 31 Oct 2009 - In her McCarthy-style paranoid parallel universe, the Spectator columnist views every Muslim a potential Islamist terrorist Melanie Philips's zealotry and ignorance frighten me. How did we produce a public commentator filled with such anger, venom and...
The Arabs by Eugene Rogan | Book review
The Guardian 30 Oct 2009 - Robert Irwin on an eloquent history of Arab hopes and disappointments The Arabs: A History by Eugene Rogan 532pp, Allen Lane, 25 Early on in his book Eugene Rogan, who teaches the modern history of the...
The far right wrath that killed Yitzhak Rabin | Seth Freedman
The Guardian 30 Oct 2009 - Israel has never recovered from Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. Sadly, the firebrand rhetoric that led to his death is still prevalent In Jewish communities throughout Israel and the Diaspora, everyone remembers where they were the night Yitzhak...
Letters: Credible approach on human rights
The Guardian 29 Oct 2009 - Members of the advisory board of the pro-Israel lobby group NGO Monitor take the Guardian to task ( Letters , 29 October) for failing to write a story about criticisms from the founder of Human Rights Watch, Robert...
Playing with fire: UN turns Gaza shelling into theatre
The Guardian 29 Oct 2009 - A show about the fate of an aid warehouse has caused controversy in Israel There is nothing ordinary about this advocacy campaign for a large UN institution. The lights dim before a packed audience and a...
The J Street dinner | Michael Tomasky
The Guardian 29 Oct 2009 - I return to this subject warily, because my last post on the matter generated all of one comment. Surely it was the only post in the electronic history of the Guardian to have anything remotely to...
Israeli military gives settlers free rein | Seth Freedman
The Guardian 29 Oct 2009 - The IDF is offering ever more support to settlers as its influence by religious-nationalist politics increases During a swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem last Thursday, two soldiers held up a banner that sparked...
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - The huge amount of rain that has drenched Israel over the past few days leaves no room for doubt: winter has finally arrived. ...
Yishai: Migrant workers will bring diseases to Israel
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Interior Minister Eli Yishai said on Saturday that he still supported the deportation of illegal migrant workers, one day before the government was to decide on whether to deport such workers and their families. ...
Deputy PM confirms: Israel is gathering intel inside Lebanon
Ha'aretz 31 Oct 2009 - Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) confirmed on Saturday that Israel was operating intelligence-gathering networks within Lebanon. ...
Tourist drowns as Israel hit with severe winter weather
Ha'aretz 30 Oct 2009 - Heavy rain on Friday caused problems across central Israel, as much of the region was flooded, main thoroughfares were closed off and area residents were trapped in their homes and cars. ...
6 rightists detained after armed brawl with Arabs in Jerusalem
Ha'aretz 30 Oct 2009 - Israel Police on Friday detained six right-wing Jews involved in a brawl with Arabs in the south Jerusalem neighborhood Beit Safafa. ...
Relief Web 31 Oct 2009 - Source: Agence France-Presse
OPT: Egypt to open Gaza border for three days
Relief Web 31 Oct 2009 - Source: Deutsche Presse Agentur
OPT: Week in review - Tensions rise and diplomacy continues to falter
Relief Web 31 Oct 2009 - Source: MIFTAH
USAID FrontLines - Oct 2009
Relief Web 30 Oct 2009 - Source: US Agency for International Development
Vanessa Redgrave gives benefit performance to support children in Gaza and southern Israel
Relief Web 30 Oct 2009 - Source: UN Children's Fund
OPT/Lebanon: Ambassador of Japan hosts scholarship recipients
Relief Web 30 Oct 2009 - Source: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
YNet News 31 Oct 2009 - In press conference with PM Netanyahu, US secretary of state makes it clear that construction freeze in settlements not a precondition for negotiations with PA; earlier, Lieberman tells Clinton Palestinians don't want talks
Turkey's Erdogan calls for nuke-free Mideast
YNet News 31 Oct 2009 - Turkish leader says states that criticize Iran's nuke program should first give up their own nuclear weapons; Prime Minister Erdogan also slams 'arrogant' sanctions against Tehran
Iran's Mousavi hints at new opposition rally
YNet News 31 Oct 2009 - Iranian opposition leader says he will continue his efforts for political change in Iran, calls supporters to take part in rallies marking 30 years since seizure of US Embassy
US offers 'silent' halting of settlements, PA refuses
YNet News 31 Oct 2009 - Palestinians say won't renew peace process without public Israeli promise to freeze settlements
Minister Ya'alon: Halutz's hubris did damage in Lebanon
YNet News 31 Oct 2009 - Former IDF chief says, 'We as generals need to maintain our humility, know our limitations'
28 Oct 2009 - In several events filmed by B’Tselem during October, settlers are seen hampering Palestinians from harvesting olives and stealing their crops.
Daily Star 31 Oct 2009 Iran insists on simultaneously exchanging its low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel produced overseas, the state news agency said Friday, calling the demand a "red line" that will not be abandoned. The condition undermines the basis of a UN-backed plan demanding Iran ship most of its uranium outside its borders to be further enriched in Russia and turned into fuel rods in France for use in a reactor.
Leadership struggle shakes powerful Islamic movement
Daily Star 31 Oct 2009 The Middle East's most powerful Islamic political movement is undergoing a leadership struggle as young, more moderate activists try to push the Muslim Brotherhood to soften its fundamentalist ideology and become a more democratic force. The direction the Brotherhood takes could have wider implications. The group is the strongest opposition movement in Egypt, though officially banned.
Netanyahu meets with US Mideast envoy
Daily Star 31 Oct 2009 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday met Washington's Middle East envoy ahead of a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton aimed at reviving the moribund peace talks. Netanyahu told Senator George Mitchell he hoped his discussions with the US visitors would help "re-launch the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians as soon as possible.", Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday met Washington's Middle East envoy ahead of a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton aimed at reviving the moribund peace talks. Netanyahu told Senator George Mitchell he hoped his discussions with the US visitors would help "re-launch the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians as soon as possible."
Tel Aviv keen to deport children of illegal workers born in Israel
Daily Star 31 Oct 2009 Eight-year-old Stephanie is not afraid of deportation. Her teacher told her not to be. But like hundreds of Israeli-born children of illegal foreign workers, she faces the prospect of being expelled from the only home she's ever known. Some 1,200 Asian and African children born in Israel and their parents currently face deportation following a crackdown on foreign workers.
US Senate panel approves sweeping Iran sanctions
Daily Star 31 Oct 2009 The US Senate Banking Committee on Thursday approved a sweeping package of economic sanctions aimed at Iran, one of many efforts by lawmakers to compel Tehran to freeze its suspect nuclear program. The panel, led by Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, voted 23-0 to pass the legislation, which notably targets firms that help the Islamic republic obtain refined petroleum products like gasoline.
Conditions 'ripe' for international nuclear cooperation
Daily Star 31 Oct 2009 I would like to make a brief comment about the American government and Iran's nuclear issue - The American government has said (crowd interrupt, chants of slogan: Death to America). Well done to the brave and wise people of Iran and you dear ones. In an opinion poll which they published, they announced that more than 80 percent of Iranian people did not trust America's promises.
Religious leaders slam Iraqi authorities over attacks
Daily Star 31 Oct 2009 Muslim clerics slammed Iraqi authorities in their Friday prayer sermons over massive bombings last week, as a top US general warned that he expected insurgents to plan more spectacular attacks. Among Baghdad's critics was Sheikh Abdel-Mehdi al-Karbalai, a representative of Iraq's top Shiite religious leader, who called for a review of security measures in the capital., Muslim clerics slammed Iraqi authorities in their Friday prayer sermons over massive bombings last week, as a top US general warned that he expected insurgents to plan more spectacular attacks. Among Baghdad's critics was Sheikh Abdel-Mehdi al-Karbalai, a representative of Iraq's top Shiite religious leader, who called for a review of security measures in the capital.
Palestinian Information Center
Water authority warns of groundwater depletion in GazaPIC 31 Oct 2009 - The Palestinian water authority has warned Saturday of the depletion of underground water supplies in the Gaza Strip within the next 10 years, calling for taking serious action to save these supplies.
European campaign: Impose penalties on Israel to lift the Gaza siege
PIC 31 Oct 2009 - The European campaign to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip has expressed surprise at the world community's powerlessness towards the oppressive Israeli siege on Gaza.
Human rights center vows to sue Israeli leaders as war criminals everywhere
PIC 31 Oct 2009 - The Gaza-based Palestinian center for human rights has vowed Saturday that it would relentlessly work to prosecute Israeli leaders accused of committing war crimes against Palestinians.
Bahar: Hamas is not afraid of engaging in fair elections in West Bank
PIC 31 Oct 2009 - Dr. Ahmed Bahar stated that Hamas does not fear to fight the elections, but the security instability and political arrests do not allow fair elections to take place in the West Bank.
Nazzal asks Arabs and Muslims to support the Aqsa
PIC 31 Oct 2009 - Mohammed Nazzal, a political bureau member of Hamas, has asked the Arabs and Muslims worldwide to rise up in support of the Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem in face of the Israeli threats.
Report: 4,524 Palestinians detained by Israel since the start of this year
PIC 31 Oct 2009 - Researcher in prisoners’ affairs Abdelnasser Farwana reported Friday that he documented 4,524 Israeli arrests of Palestinian citizens since the start of 2009, 412 of them took place in October.
Jewish settlers attack Jerusalemite family with firearms, metal tools
PIC 31 Oct 2009 - Five Palestinians of one family were wounded on Friday when a group of armed Jewish settlers attacked their homes in Beit Safafa, south of occupied Jerusalem, local sources reported.
Ministry of prisoners condemns physical assault on two Palestinian detainees
PIC 31 Oct 2009 - The Palestinian ministry of prisoners’ affairs strongly denounced the Israeli prisons authority for deliberately humiliating and physically assaulting Palestinian prisoners last week.
UNGA to discuss Goldstone report on Wednesday
PIC 31 Oct 2009 - The UN General Assembly is to hold a session on Wednesday 4/11 to discuss the Goldstone report that was tabled by a UN fact finding mission on Israel's war crimes during its war on Gaza.
Agha: AI report ascertains IOA robbery of Palestinian water resources
PIC 31 Oct 2009 - Dr. Mohammed Al-Agha has said that Amnesty International's report on the IOA exploitation of Palestinian water resources is an important document that should be used in suing the IOA.
LA Times 31 Oct 2009 - The 18 rabbis visit Israel on a trip intended to show that different factions of Judaism can coexist. Their message is exemplified by their behavior at the Western Wall. The Western Wall is a unifying spiritual magnet for Jews the world over. It is also a place of contention over a rule by its Orthodox custodians that forbids women from standing beside men while praying there.
Iran insists on changes to nuclear deal
LA Times 31 Oct 2009 - Iran refuses to send its uranium abroad all at once, the nation's official news agency reports. Contradictory messages confound Western officials. Iran has yet to formally reply to an international plan to ship its enriched uranium abroad to be turned into fuel for a Tehran medical reactor but insists it won't agree to send all the material abroad at once, the nation's official news agency reported Friday.
Iran reply on nuclear deal called 'inadequate'
LA Times 30 Oct 2009 - A Western diplomat says Tehran wants to send its uranium abroad for enrichment in smaller batches and over a longer period of time than foreseen by the U.S.-backed proposal. Iran's response Thursday to a proposed deal to transform its controversial nuclear material into fuel for a medical reactor is "inadequate," a senior Western diplomat said, adding that the reply failed to address key U.S. and European concerns about Tehran's nuclear intentions.
New York Times 1 Nov 2009 - The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas rebuffed an Israeli proposal, relayed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, to limit building to 3,000 additional housing units.
Netanyahu Backs Nuclear Deal That Iran Rejected
New York Times 31 Oct 2009 - The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, cautiously endorsed U.S.-backed efforts to limit Iran’s nuclear program through shipments abroad of its enriched uranium.
10/31/2009 - Daily Star - 'Any similar event could destabilize the situation’ - BEIRUT: The US Special Coordinator for Lebanon warned on Friday that any further security breaches from Lebanon and Israel could lead to a resumption of hostilities between the two nations. Michael Williams’ statement voicing concern over Tuesday’s exchange of rocket fire across the Blue Line came amid media reports that Lebanon’s ambassador to the UN claimed Israel was planning a “vast attack” on the country. Following a meeting with Hizbullah international relations head Ammar Musawi, Williams condemned the latest rocket attacks. “We remain very concerned by the incidents that have taken place in south Lebanon,” he said and added that any similar event “could easily destabilize the situation in the area and increase the threat of potential conflict. ” Williams added he would travel to New York on November 10 to brief the Security
WP: Democratic House To Pass Resolution Defending Israel’s Actions in Gaza War on Tuesday
10/31/2009 - Talking Points Memo - M. J. Rosenberg - The good news is that J Street is opposed to it. The bad news is that the 800 pound gorilla, AIPAC, and its satellite organizations are pushing it hard. The House resolution which will pass on Tuesday basically endorses everything Israel did in the horrific Gaza war while bashing Judge Richard Goldstone for documenting war crimes committed in that war (320 dead Palestinian kids!). After the vote I'll post the roll call and you will see that some of your favorite "courageous" liberals are none too courageous when it comes to this issue. Some of the very House members who denounce the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war and God knows how many other US military actions (often rightly) go mute when it comes to Israel. In fact, most of them do. -- Links: Washington Post: Congress to weigh in on U. N. 's Gaza report
US senators attack Goldstone Report
10/30/2009 - Jerusalem Post - In the wake of the Goldstone Report and amid the nuclear threat from Iran, 10 state senators, through the American-Israel Friendship League and the National Conference of State Legislatures, are on a study tour of Israel. With a jam-packed itinerary, the NCSL delegation is meeting with officials such as Ron Dermer, senior adviser to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and Daniel Taub, director-general of the Foreign Ministry's Law Division. No. 1 on the meeting agenda? Goldstone. According to Georgia State Sen. Don Balfour, president of the NCSL, the Goldstone document is misunderstood in the United States. " Yesterday we had a meeting about the Goldstone Report. The average American says, 'Hey, war crimes? [with a shocked look on his face],' but then you read it and you see almost everything we [US] do is a war crime.
Student expelled to Gaza Strip by force
10/30/2009 - The Independent - Palestinian's involuntary return is the sixth in 10 days, says human rights group - A Palestinian student has been handcuffed, blindfolded and forcibly expelled to the Gaza Strip by Israeli troops just two months before she was due to graduate from university. Berlanty Azzam, 21, who was studying for a business degree at Bethlehem University, said she was coming home in a shared taxi from a job interview in Ramallah on Wednesday when soldiers at the "Container" checkpoint took her identity card and that of another passenger with a Gaza address. After six hours of waiting, soldiers told her she would be taken to a detention centre in the southern West Bank, and she was handcuffed and blindfolded, she said. " The driving took longer than it should have and I started to think something was wrong. I started to wonder, what are they doing to me? " After the car stopped and the blindfold was lifted, Ms Azzam saw she was at the Erez crossing to Gaza.
Falk: Gaza report puts Israeli officials on trial
10/30/2009 - Press TV - The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says the Goldstone Gaza report paves the way for indictment of Israeli officials by international courts. Richard Falk, a special UN rapporteur, talked about the possibility of Israeli officials being tried in countries which abide to rules of international justice. The top UN official, however, predicted that the United States will try its best to influence the International Criminal Court not to bring Israeli officials to the dock. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has meanwhile demanded that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights drop support for Goldstone Gaza report and spare no efforts to convince his European counterparts to oppose its adoption. His attempts have however proved futile. Tel Aviv is worried that charges could be lodged against politicians and army officers for war crimes committed during Israel's 22-day offensive against long-blockaded Gaza Strip.
War crimes arrest awaiting Olmert’s UK visit
10/30/2009 - Press TV - Former Israeli premier Ehud Olmert would probably face arrest on war crime charges if he visited Britain, a leading British newspapers has quoted a lawyer as saying. " Neither Olmert nor Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister during the Cast Lead offensive, and a member of Israel's war cabinet, would enjoy immunity from prosecution for alleged breaches of the Geneva conventions,” the Middle East editor of The Guardian , Ian Black, quoted Daniel Machover as saying. Machover has been involved in intensifying legal work after the controversial Goldstone report on the three-week conflict. “Neither are ministers any longer,” he explained. " Prosecutions of Israeli political and military figures remain likely despite the failure to obtain an arrest warrant for Ehud Barak, the defense minister, when he visited the UK earlier this month.
MIDEAST: Harvesting in Death Zone, With a Song
11/1/2009 - Inter Press Service - Eva Bartlett - Harvesting is a political act at the border with Israel. - BEIT HANOUN, Gaza, Oct 30(IPS) - On a quiet October morning, Fida Zaneen, 19, sings a traditional love song as she pulls olives from trees in Beit Hanoun's border region during the annual olive harvest. "My grandmother taught me the folk songs. They were popular all over Palestine many decades ago. " Saber Zaneen, 44, and Khalil Nassir, 45, alternately belt out traditional harvest songs as they, too, strip the limbs of the green and black fruit in the northern Gaza region. Keeping Palestinian culture alive is one of the mandates of Local Initiative, a Beit Hanoun-based volunteer group comprising many youths and women, and of which Fida Zaneen is a member. At group events, participants often sport traditional robes and Palestinian kuffiyehs, and dance dabke to hand-drums and singing from the group.
Israeli Arabs accuse Israel of ’ethnic cleansing’ in Jerusalem
10/31/2009 - Ha'aretz - An umbrella organization for Israeli Arab groups accused Israel on Saturday of perpetrating "ethnic cleansing" in Jerusalem, in the wake of Israel's quelling of riots by Arab youths on the Temple Mount. " Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem, and the defense of Al-Aqsa and of East Jerusalem is an obligation for the whole Palestinian people, and for the Arab nation," the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee said in a statement. The group was referring to the Al-Aqsa mosque, which sits atop the holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem. " The occupation is the most illegitimate thing in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and the struggle against it is a natural and legitimate act," the committee added. On Sunday, Israeli police firing stun grenades faced off against masked Palestinian rioters hurling stones and plastic chairs outside the Temple Mount, where past violence has escalated into prolonged conflict.
Lebanon says Israel is planning to attack it
10/31/2009 - Big News Network.com - Lebanon believes the Israeli army has it in its sights, and is preparing a major attack on its soil. Lebanon's ambassador to the United Nations has told the international body Israel is exhibiting signs of an imminent attack on his country. The claim was published by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Hayyat on Friday. Ambassador Noaf Salaam, says the report, has sent communiques to the UN Secretary-General Ban ki-moon, and to the Security Council condemning artillery fire by the Israeli military on the village of Houla, where a Katyusha rocket was fired from at the Upper Galilee last week. Salaam described the artillery fire as "a clear violation of Lebanon's sovereignty as well as of UN Resolution 1701," which was the basis for a ceasefire after the Lebanon War of 2006. According to Al-Hayyat, Salaam complained of threats by Israeli government officials which indicated the officials were planning an attack.
US bid to revive Mideast talks falters over settlements
10/31/2009 - The Raw Story - AFP - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday struggled to get Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiations table, with the thorny issue of Jewish settlements once again blocking the way. Washington's top diplomat landed in Israel for talks with hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials after "difficult" talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Abu Dhabi. The Palestinian leader insisted once again on a complete Israeli freeze on settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, before the resumption of peace negotiations, which were suspended during the Gaza war at the turn of the year. " Israel should honour its obligations especially with regards to the total halt on the settlements," Abbas told reporters after the meeting in Abu Dhabi, adding that no breakthrough had been reached.
Playing with fire: UN turns Gaza shelling into theatre
10/29/2009 - The Guardian - A show about the fate of an aid warehouse has caused controversy in Israel - There is nothing ordinary about this advocacy campaign for a large UN institution. The lights dim before a packed audience and a slideshow begins: images of Gaza in conflict, people fleeing their homes, buildings on fire. Then stands Chris Gunness, the chief spokesman of the UN Relief and Works Agency, the organisation responsible for the support and welfare of Palestinian refugees. "I am a warehouse," he says. "I am a dying warehouse, the victim of an excruciatingly painful fire that burned me down. " It is the start of a remarkable 20-minute, one-man play intended for Israeli audiences but so far unwelcome in Israeli theatres. It tells the story of the main UN warehouse in Gaza, a storage point for food and aid for a million Palestinians, and how it was hit repeatedly by Israeli artillery shells, some loaded
Articles
Fight for survival in the West Bank
Phoebe Greenwood in Hebron, the West Bank, AlJazeera 10/30/2009
"What kind of life is this? No nation, no people can live like this. They want us to leave our land but whatever they do, we will never leave."
A major new road joining Jerusalem to Israeli settlements in Hebron bisects land owned by the Jaber family.
They have farmed these fields for 300 years. They once owned 60 dunums (60,000 square metres) but now have four (4,000 square metres) - the rest has been confiscated by Israeli settlers. The Jabers fight to farm on the land they have left.
As his family clashes with workers from Israel’s water authority, employed to rip up the irrigation systems for their tomato plants, and the Israeli soldiers protecting them, Yosri Jaber, a school teacher, explains: "These clashes with the Israeli authorities are a regular thing; they happen every two to three months or so.
"The Israelis don’t allow us to water our plants. We pay them four shekels ($1) for every cubic metre of water.
"We have a water regulator, which we share with the eight other houses to irrigate our plants and get water to our homes. We’ve paid for it but we can’t use it."
Palestinians in many areas of the West Bank are not allowed to irrigate their land. Nor are they allowed electricity, to build water cisterns, or indeed, any new structures without a permit from the Israeli authorities.
Crops destroyed
These permits are difficult to come by. According to the Jabers, the Jewish settlers living on what was once their land get water for free; they don’t need a permit to irrigate their crops.
During the clash on the tomato field, Jaber’s 47-year-old sister-in-law, an asthmatic, is pushed roughly to the ground by one of the men she was trying to prevent from tearing up her field. more.. e-mail
Palestinian settlement workers fall through the cracks
Kieron Monks, Ma’an News Agency 10/30/2009
One of the cruelest ironies of the occupation is that Palestinians are building it. Tens of thousands of laborers are employed in construction of the wall, settlements and the industries around them. Their cooperation does not go unpunished. Despite a 2007 Israeli High Court ruling that gave the same rights to Palestinians working in settlements as Israelis, the reality is still low wages, hazardous conditions and no job security.
The Barkan industrial area is the hub of discontent. It stands not a stone’s throw from Ariel, the largest settlement in the West Bank and home to 30,000. Over 100 companies from around the world are based in Barkan, employing over 6,000 people, more than half of whom are Palestinian. The 2007 ruling had the effect of upping wages to an average of 10 shekels (2.67 US dollars) an hour, but employers have found creative methods of swindling their workforce. Increasingly, recruitment is arranged via subcontractors, either Palestinian or Israeli, who provide bulk quantities of desperate laborers for the factories. Palestine General Federation Of Trade Union (PGFTU) legal adviser Fatih Nasir estimates subcontractors take “40% of a worker’s daily wage.”
No contract is signed and the overall employer applies for temporary permits, usually three months, on behalf of his workers. Such an arrangement makes employment status ambiguous, meaning that when challenged on the conditions of his workforce, an employer can deny responsibility. Many workers believe they are working for the subcontractor. A joint survey from international human rights groups found that less than a quarter of Barkan employees receive official wage slips, while just 34% earn minimum wage. Where slips are provided they often contain inaccurate information that allows an employer to pay less. more.. e-mail
Electronic Intifada
Homeless by Israeli policy
Electronic Intifada: 30 Oct 2009 - SUR BAHER, occupied East Jerusalem (IPS) - The latest round brings the number of East Jerusalem Palestinians displaced since the beginning of the year by forced evictions or house demolitions to over 600, according to figures released by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees. Altogether on Tuesday, six buildings were knocked down, leaving 26 people homeless.
In Gaza
Palestinian
volunteerism and defying Israeli occupation policies and attacks
30 Oct 2009 - * Amal
Nassir, Local Initiative volunteer, harvests olives in the Beit Hanoun
border region. 1st published: (IPS) ** - On a quiet October morning,
Fida Zaneen, 19, sings a traditional love song as she pulls olives from
trees in Beit Hanoun’s border region during the annual olive harvest.
“My grandmother taught me the folk songs. They were popular all over
Palestine many decades ago.” Saber Zaneen, 44, and Khalil Nassir, 45,
alternately belt out traditional harvest songs as they, too, strip the
limbs of the green and black fruit in the northern Gaza region. Keeping
Palestinian culture alive is one of the mandates of Local Initiative ,
a Beit Hanoun-based volunteer group...
Palestine Chronicle
Convicted
of Being Muslims at the Wrong Time in America
31 Oct 2009 - By
Stephen Lendman - Chicago In an October 22 press release, the
Department of Justice (DOJ) announced another victory in its Global War
on Terrorism, renamed the Overseas Contingency Operation to continue
its jihad on Muslims, abroad and at home. By now the charges are
familiar, always bogus, and announced earlier about three Ohio men in a
Justice Department February 2006 press release as follows: "Three
(Toledo, Ohio men) have been charged with conspiring to commit acts of
terrorism against persons overseas, including US military personnel
serving in Iraq, and with conspiring to provide material support to
terrorists...." On February 16, 2006, a Cleveland federal grand jury
returned a five-count indictment against Mohammad Zaki Amawi, Marwan
Othman El-Hindi, and Wassim I. Mazloum alleging they conspired,
together and with others, "to kill or maim persons outside of the
United States, including US military personnel serving in Iraq, and
with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. Amawi is
also charged, individually, with distributing information regarding
explosives and two counts of making verbal threats against the
President of the United States." Amawi holds both US and Jordanian
citizenship. El-Hindi is also a US citizen, and Mazloum is a permanent
legal resident. The indictment further alleges that these men "engaged
in activities in furtherance of their common goal to wage violent
jihad, or 'holy war,' against American soldiers and Coalition allies
serving in Iraq. Such activities included training and target shooting,
receiving instructions in the construction and use of explosives -
including improvised...
Israel
is Unlikely to Yield
31 Oct 2009 - By
George S. Hishmeh Top aides of the Obama administration have this month
been quietly stoking the peace process fire, raising expectations that
the American president, whose popularity remains relatively high, may
now be willing to go beyond gentle rapping Israeli knuckles. The ball
started rolling when Barack Obama's National Security Advisor General
James L. Jones addressed the Fourth Annual Gala of the American Task
Force on Palestine on October 15. "The president is committed to
achieving two states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in
peace and security", he began, adding, much to the delight of his large
audience, "make no mistake about that". He also stressed that Obama was
not going to wait until the end of his administration to do something
about Palestine. This is "a clear priority", Jones said. "The president
is personally committed to this goal because he believes that peace is
in America's interests, just as it is in the interests of the
Palestinian and Israeli peoples'". A week later, Susan E. Rice, the US
ambassador to the United Nations and a close confidant of Obama's, told
the Israelis, face-to-face, that it is not enough just to pay "lip
service" to peace and urged the government to immediately revive
negotiations, without preconditions, aimed at creating an independent
Palestinian state. She was speaking at a conference in Occupied
Jerusalem hosted by Israeli President Shimon Peres. In contrast to
these two encouraging statements, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
put a dampener on the mood, reporting to Obama...
Waging
War on Students
31 Oct 2009 - By
Stuart Littlewood - London If there's one thing the Israelis are good
at it's making war on women and children. They killed 952 Palestinian
children in their homeland between 2000 and the start of the Gaza
blitzkrieg in December 2008 (according to B'Tselem statistics). They
murdered at least 350 more during their Cast Lead onslaught and have
kept Gaza under daily attack ever since. So the brave Israelis must
have eliminated nearly 1400 youngsters by now. Would anyone care to
guess how many they left bleeding, maimed and crippled? The "most moral
army in the world" also loves waging war against Palestinian university
students. Not long ago I wrote about Merna, an honors student in her
final year majoring in English. Israeli soldiers frequently rampaged
through her Bethlehem refugee camp in the middle of the night,
ransacking homes and arbitrarily arresting residents. They took away
her family one by one. First her 14-year-old cousin and best friend was
shot dead by an Israeli sniper while she sat outside her family home
during a curfew. Next the Israelis arrested her eldest brother, a 22
year-old artist, and imprisoned him for 4 years. Then they came back
for Merna's 18-year-old brother. Not content with that the military
came again, this time to take her youngest brother – the ‘baby’ of the
family - just 16. These were the circumstances under which Merna had to
study. Israeli military law treats Palestinians as adults as soon as
they reach 16, a flagrant violation...
We
Need More Erdogans
30 Oct 2009 - By
Aijaz Zaka Syed - Dubai Turkey’s Ottoman Empire died an unwept death
nearly a century ago. But the country continues to enjoy a unique
eminence of leadership across the Middle East and in much of the Muslim
world. And Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly justified
this love and respect for his country with his political courage and
candor. From the lashing Erdogan gave to Israel’s Shimon Peres at the
World Economic Forum in Davos following the Gaza offensive earlier this
year to his call this week demanding UN action on Justice Richard
Goldstone’s report, Turkey continues to show rare leadership. Erdogan’s
nation stands up for justice and fair play, rather than go along with
the shameful double standards that the rest of the world seems to take
in its stride. This is remarkable for a country that enjoys close,
strategic relations with the United States, is a NATO member and hopes
to be the first Muslim country to join the European Union. More
important, it has full diplomatic relations with Israel and is perhaps
the only Muslim country with which Israel has close economic and
military ties. (So you can’t really throw the regulation accusation of
‘anti-Semitism’ against Ankara.) This is largely because of Turkey’s
historical relations with the Jewish community. The Ottoman caliphs
sheltered and protected the Jews for centuries while they were being
hunted and killed all across Christian Europe. However, these close
ties haven’t deterred Turkey’s present leadership from confronting
Israel on its persecution...