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News
International Middle East Media Center
Mitchell:
U.S. May Cut Aid To Israel In Two Years
IMEMC 10 Jan 2010 -
Sunday January 10, 2010 - 14:01, The United Stats may legally cut its
international aid to Israel in two years if peace talks fail with
Palestine. George Mitchell, the U.S. special envoy to Middle East
threatened sanctions against Israel if it fails to succeed in making
peace with Palestine. These rhetoric came on the eve of Mitchel's trip
to the region.
Abu
Marzouq Blames Netanyahu For Failed Prisoner-Swap Talks
IMEMC 10 Jan 2010 -
Sunday January 10, 2010 - 12:38, Mousa Abu Marzouq, deputy head of the
Hamas Political Bureau, told Al Hayat Newspaper, that there are no
current prisoner-swap talks, and that Israeli Prime Minister,
Netanyahu, is responsible for the failed talks.
Army
Installs Roadblocks Near Jenin
IMEMC 10 Jan 2010 -
Sunday January 10, 2010 - 09:21, Israeli soldiers installed on Sunday
at dawn two military roadblocks south of Jenin, in the northern part of
the West Bank, and searched dozens of vehicles and residents.
Palestinian
Wounded In Israeli Shelling In Gaza
IMEMC 10 Jan 2010 -
Sunday January 10, 2010 - 03:52, Palestinian medical sources reported
that a Palestinian resident was seriously wounded on Saturday evening
when the Israeli army fired artillery shells at agricultural areas east
of Al Maghazi refugee camp, in central Gaza.
Hamdan:
“Shalit Talks Ongoing”
IMEMC 10 Jan 2010 -
Sunday January 10, 2010 - 02:31, Osama Hamdan, a political leader of
the Hamas movement, stated Saturday that indirect talks on a
prisoner-swap deal are very tough, but are also still ongoing behind
closed doors.
Israel
Prepares Scenarios For A Possible “Gaza War 2”
IMEMC 10 Jan 2010 -
Sunday January 10, 2010 - 01:46, The Israeli military and political
leaderships are preparing scenarios for a possible “Gaza War 2” that
could last for one week with the heavy participation of artillery
brigades that would be bombarding areas in Gaza, along with extensive
aerial strikes, before invading them.
Israeli
strike kills 3 in central Gaza
1/10/2010 - Gaza -
Ma'an - At least three Palestinians were killed by Israeli aircraft
fire in central Gaza early Sunday evening, medics reported. They were
identified as Hasan 22-year-old Al-Qatarawi and 29-year-old Awad Nasir,
29, both from from Deir Al-Balah, as well as Hudayfa Hams, 23, from
Nusseirat refugee camp. All three were transferred to Al-Aqsa Hospital
in Gaza City, according to Muawiya Hassanein, the Gaza Health
Ministry's director of ambulance and emergency services. Israel's army
said its air force targeted "four operatives of the Islamic Jihad
terrorist organization's central region. "Awad Nasir, one of the
Palestinians killed, "was one of the terror organization's senior field
commanders and is known to be behind dozens of IED and gunfire
attacks," a statement alleged. Earlier, a military spokesman told Ma'an
the airstrike targeted "a squad of terrorists in physical preparation
of launching rockets" into southern Israel.
Palestinian
shot in Hebron by Israeli forces
1/10/2010 - Hebron -
Ma'an - Israeli forces shot and injured a Palestinian man near the
southern entrance to Hebron in the West Bank. Israeli soldiers
prevented Palestinians from assisting him, and then took him to an
unknown location, sources told Ma'an. The official Israeli police
spokesman was not immediately available to comment. Meanwhile, Israeli
media reported that Israeli district police in Hebron opened fired at
the Palestinian driving near Bani Na'im. According to the
Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth, an investigation was launched
after the incident, revealing that a car was stolen. The driver fled
the scene and "endangered the police officers' lives when he made a
U-turn," the newspaper reported, adding that the driver's injuries were
the result of shooting at the car's tires. The injured was evacuated to
the Hadassa Hospital in Jerusalem.
Israel
demolishes ’illegal’ storehouses near Nablus
1/10/2010 - Nablus -
Ma'an - Israeli military bulldozers began demolishing at least 12
agricultural storehouses in the Tana neighborhood east of Nablus in the
West Bank on Sunday. Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official in charge
of settlement-related issues in the northern West Bank, said five
bulldozers and more than 15 military jeeps stormed the area and began
the demolition process. The owners of the storehouses had appealed to
the Israeli High Court of Justice in May 2005 after they received the
demolition notices, but were turned down by the courts, said Atif
Hanini, mayor of the nearby town of Beit Furki, who explained that the
Tana neighborhood is approximately two kilometers away from an Israeli
outpost. Twenty-five Palestinian families were evicted from the area in
2005 when the military post was positioned in the area.
Anti-wall
movement leader remanded
1/10/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Abdallah Abu Rahmah of the Bil'in Popular Committee
Against the Wall was remanded until the end of legal proceedings in an
Israeli military court on Sunday. He was charged with incitement,
stone-throwing and an arms possession charge for collecting and
displaying used tear-gas canisters shot at demonstrators in Bil'in by
the army. On receiving the indictment, Adv. Gaby Lasky, Abu Rahmah's
lawyer, said that "The army shoots at unarmed demonstrators, and when
they try to show the violence used against them to the world by
collecting and displaying the remnant tear-gas canisters - they are
persecuted and prosecuted. What's next? Charging protesters money for
the bullets shot at them? " On December 10, International Day of Human
Rights, one year after receiving Carl Von Ossietzky Medal from the
International League for Human Rights, Abu Rahmah was arrested during
an Israeli late-night raid.
Awaiting
response, Hamas pessimistic on Shalit deal
1/10/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies -Hamas does not anticipate a prisoner
exchange deal to take place soon, an official said, as they await
Israel's response to their terms in the next two days through their
German mediator. "If the deal fails, it is Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu who bears responsibility," deputy chief of the
Islamic movement Mousa Abu Marzouq told the London-based Al-Hayat
newspaper on Saturday. Abu Marzouq added that the stances of both
Netanyahu and his predecessor, Ehud Olmert, revealed a failure to abide
by terms set out in agreements reached through negotiations but that
Netanyahu faltered more often and retracted several times during the
process. Unprecedented progress was made recently but Israel retreated
suddenly, halting the swap deal in its tracks, Abu Marzouq added,
assertingthat the German mediator was partially responsible for the
failure of Israel and Hamas to come to an agreement.
Israeli
officials irate after Mitchell comments
1/10/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - Israeli officials on Sunday asserted they
were "doing just fine" in response to US special envoy to the Middle
East George Mitchell's comments a day earlier that the US was prepared
to withhold loan guarantees to pressure Israel into making compromises
with the Palestinians. Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said "We
don't need to use these guarantees. . . But several months ago we
agreed with the American treasury on guarantees for 2010 and 2011, and
there were no conditions," according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.
Gideon Sa'ar, Israel's education minister, further retorted: "The
American administration knows that those who are holding up the
negotiations are the Palestinians. Israel made many concessions while
the Palestinians didn't do a thing. "He added, "Israel's economy is
pretty strong, and the threat wouldn't be appropriate. . . . "
Medics:
2 killed by Israeli fire in north Gaza
1/11/2010 - Gaza -
Ma'an - Two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli artillery in the
northern Gaza Strip Sunday morning, a medical official said. Mu'awiya
Hassanein, Gaza Health Ministry director of ambulance and emergency
services, said they were shot by tank fire near an excavation site at
the former Dugnit settlement. The bodies of those killed were taken to
a hospital, Hassanein added. An Israeli military spokesman said the
army was not familiar with the incident. Witnesses reported hearing
artillery shelling, expecting those killed to be workers in the area.
Late Thursday night, Israeli warplanes carried out a series of raids on
sites throughout the Gaza Strip, killing three Palestinians. A
Palestinian was seriously injured in a Israeli artillery shelling on
farmlands east of the Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp. The incident was the
latest in an escalating string of cross-border violence, with two
projectiles reportedly launched from Gaza and landing in southern
Israel on Saturday morning.
The
use of Palestinian civilians as human shields
1/11/2010 - Part 15
of a series recounting the findings of South African jurist Richard
Goldstone's UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict - Bethlehem -
Ma'an - At midnight on 10 January 2009, Israeli soldiers violently
entered the home of Mahmoud Al-Ajrami, where he and his wife were
sheltering underneath the stairs. Soldiers threw a grenade and entered
the house shooting. What Al-Ajrami says transpired over the next 48
hours left him with two fractured vertebrae as a result of beatings,
and was one of four cases in which civilians were used as human shields
that Richard Goldstone's UN inquiry investigated. These civilians were
allegedly forced to enter houses at gunpoint in front of or, in one
case, instead of soldiers. Two incidents took place east of Jabaliya.
The case of Mahmoud Al-Ajrami Al-Ajrami, a former civil servant whose
last position was assistant foreign minister, testified in Gaza City
last June.
Palestinian
killed in clan brawl in Jericho refugee camp
1/10/2010 - Jericho
- Ma'an - A Palestinian man was killed and three others injured in a
clan brawl in Ein As-Sultan Refugee Camp in Jericho on Saturday night.
Ma'an's reporter reported that Sami Safi, 47, was shot dead by another
man following a fight between the two. Three others were injured, the
reporter added. Jericho Governor Kamil Hmeid said Palestinian Authority
security forces imposed a curfew on the refugee camp and detained
several suspects. On Thursday, police in the West Bank city of Hebron
opened an investigation into the shooting of a resident on the same
day. Police said a resident was treated for a gunshot wound at Al-Mezan
Hospital in Hebron. PA forces went to the scene of the shooting and
found that it took place during a fight between two families in the
Israeli-controlled H2 section of Hebron. . . . .
Israel
opens Gaza crossing, allows limited export
1/10/2010 - Gaza -
Ma'an - Israeli authorities on Sunday opened the Kerem Shalom crossing
in southern Gaza to allow the transfer of aid and limited exports, a
Palestinian border official said. Between 93 and 103 truckloads of
humanitarian aid will be permitted through the Kerem Shalom crossing,
said the crossings official, Raed Fattouh. Only one truckload of
flowers and three of strawberries will be allowed out via Kerem Shalom,
to be exported to Israel and abroad, he added. The Karni crossing in
northern Gaza will remain closed, Fattouh added. The Kerem Shalom
crossing was suddenly closed on Thursday after mortar shells fired by
the militant wing of the Popular Resistance Committees hit near the
crossing site. . . . .
Egyptian
forces detain 8 African migrants
1/10/2010 - Al-Arish
- Ma'an - Egyptian security forces thwarted two attempts by African
migrants to enter Israel through Egypt's Sinai border, security sources
said on Sunday. The first group of six migrants were apprehended by
Egyptian forces as they attempted to cross into Israel over its border
fence in central Sinai, sources said, adding that forces opened fire
and surrounded the group before detaining them. Two Eritrean nationals
were later detained attempting to breach the same crossing point, the
sources added. Those arrested told Egyptian forces that they were
seeking employment in Israel, having paid 1,000 US dollars each to
human traffickers who guaranteed to smuggle them over the border. . . .
.
Erekat:
Abbas to meet Syrian president
1/10/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - President Mahmoud Abbas received an official
invitation to Damascus from Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, chief PLO
negotiator Saeb Erekat announced on Sunday during an interview on Ma'an
radio. Abbas will leave for Syria in the coming days, Erekat said,
where he will discuss recent developments in the occupied Palestinian
territories and the Middle East peace process. Erekat refuted what he
termed rumors about a possible meeting between Abbas and senior-most
Hamas leader Khalid Mash'al during his forthcoming visit, insisting
that "there will not be any meetings between Mash'al and Abbas' aides.
"Erekat further said that he had traveled to Syria two weeks ago to
meet with Syrian officials and denied allegations that the visit was
related to secret negotiations to complete the Gilad Shalit prisoner
exchange deal.
Gaza
MoH: 15,000 H1N1 vaccines arrive in the Strip
1/10/2010 - Gaza -
Ma'an - The de facto Ministry of Health confirmed on Sunday that 15,000
swine flu vaccines arrived in Gaza, which were provided by Saudi Arabia
and transferred into the Strip in coordination with the World Health
Organization. Gaza Health Minister Bassem Na'im thanked and praised
Saudi Arabia for its efforts and noted that H1N1 vaccines are scarce.
Na'im added that the gesture formed part of Saudi Arabia's continued
support for the Palestinian health sector. [end]
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - In October, an Israeli security guard was wounded after Palestinian woman stabbed him at Qalandiya checkpoint.
IDF solider killed in training accident due to oxygen poisoning
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - IDF investigation finds lead into death of Gal Azoulay, 19, who died at Ashdod Port last month.
Islamic Jihad: Israel wants to drag us into war
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Spokesman: Iron Dome rocket defense system won't stop resistance; 3 Qassams hit southern Israel.
Study: Gaza militants fall short trying for al-Qaida link
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Al-Qaida may be waiting for Gaza terror group to establish itself by attacking a Western target.
Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas must wait until Israel is ready
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Iron Dome defense systems will go a long way to protecting Israel's citizens, but it will take time to get them in place.
Israel to UN: Investigate bomb cache in Lebanon
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - UNIFIL discovered explosives near Israel border last week; thought to belong to Hezbollah.
Will IDF insignia be 'Made in China'?
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Israeli factory: Conflict-area families will lose their livelihoods, national pride is injured.
Israel hits Gaza for second time in 24 hours after mortar barrage
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Explosions rock Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah; medics: Three Palestinians killed in the attacks.
Ahmadinejad: Iran and Syria will create a new world order
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Report: Syria President Assad urges Washington to play a stronger role in Mideast peacemaking.
Galloway-led aid convoy enters Gaza following border strife
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Border crossing remains open another day to allow Palestinians stranded on either side to cross.
Are IDF dogs trained to pounce all who say 'God is great' in Arabic?
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Following expose, MK Ahmed Tibi tells Knesset plenum: 'I say here Allah Hu Akbar. Any dogs here to attack me?'
Report: Al-Qaida CIA bomber was furious over Gaza war
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Al-Quds Al-Arabi: Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi made numerous attempts to join Gaza aid group.
UNIFIL peacekeepers find bombs buried near Israel border
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Bombs believed to have been buried in southern Lebanon by Hezbollah to strike at IDF troops.
Iron Dome may be ready, but Gaza front is still in danger
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Defense establishment aces trial of barrage interception; IDF to deploy Gaza rocket interceptor by June.
Israel to deploy Gaza rocket interceptor by June
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Defense establishment aces trial of barrage interception, marking end to Iron Dome development period.
IDF urges Negev residents: Get ready, Gaza quiet may not last
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - GOC Southern Command says IDF prepared to face any tensions, saying calm along border could be temporary.
How did an Al-Qaida double agent dupe the CIA?
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Seven Americans and one Jordanian were killed in a suicide bombing last week on a CIA base.
IDF to seek legal advice during future conflicts
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Policy change comes after international criticism of IDF conduct during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.
Palestinians: Israeli strike kills Gaza militant
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Medics and a Palestinian militant group said four others were wounded in the strike on central Gaza.
Israel airport now testing 'self-check' security system
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - El Al frequent flyers are first group to use biometric system, meant to replace question-answer security method.
1/8/2010 - Mondoweiss - YNET is reporting that the US is considering sanctions against Israel. This is based on an interview George Mitchell recently did with Charlie Rose. From the article "Mitchell: Mideast stagnation endangers US aid": "On the eve of his visit to the Middle East, US special envoy George Mitchell threatened that his country would freeze its aid to Israel if the Jewish state failed to advance peace talks with the Palestinians and a two-state solution. Mitchell clarified in an interview to the PBS network that the United States would use incentives or sanctions against both sides. According to American law, Mitchell said, the US can freeze its support for aid to Israel. He added that all options must remain open and that the sides must be convinced about what their important interests are. "-- Links: Video: Mitchell on Charlie Roseand Transcript: Mitchell on Charlie Rose
The Gaza Freedom March, In Pictures
1/10/2010 - Political Theatrics - The following pictures are from fellow Gaza Freedom Marchers – I only had the ability to tape the events through my HD camera and until I am done converting all MP4 files into WMV(s) I will be releasing pictures and videos others have taken. The pictures are not my own but have been collected from Gaza Freedom Marchers who were present at all events in Cairo, Egypt along with me. [end]
Jerusalem official: Areas east of fence not part of city
1/8/2010 - Ha'aretz - Yakir Segev, who holds the East Jerusalem portfolio in the Jerusalem municipality, made an uncharacteristic remark on Friday, declaring that the Palestinian neighborhood east of the separation fence were "no longer part of the city. "Some 50,000 Palestinians, identification card holding residents of Jerusalem, live outside the separation fence. Most of them reside in the northern Jerusalem neighborhoods which are currently under near anarchy due to the fact that Israeli authorities - municipality, police, service authorities - almost never enter this area and the Palestinian authorities also refrain from entering under Oslo guidelines forbidding them to operate within Jerusalem. Speaking at Hebrew University, Segev, seen as a right-winger, said Thursday that the reality that has formed in the region is irreversible, and that the separation fence, which many Israelis credit with the dramatic. . . .
Israel prevented 17 sight-impaired Gazans from leaving for cornea transplant operations on time; a donation of dozens of corneas went down the drain
1/9/2010 - Axis of Logic - Physicians for Human Rights - The Israeli authorities at Erez checkpoint this week prevented the exit of 17 sight-impaired patients, suffering from various eye diseases, from the Gaza Strip in order to undergo cornea transplants, a treatment that is not available in the Gaza health system. Because of this delay, the medical window of opportunity to perform the transplants for these patients was closed, because corneas can be transplanted only within the shortest time frame (24-48 hours after they are extracted from the donor's body). The patients from Gaza whose exit was prevented will therefore have to wait for another donation, which may or may not happen. At the beginning of the week Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHR-Israel) received an appeal from the Musallam Medical Center in Gaza. According to the appeal, a large group of 14 patients from Gaza, who were invited to Ramallah. . . .
Israelis reject George Mitchell loan guarantee ’threat’
1/10/2010 - BBC Online - Israeli officials have shrugged off a suggestion that the US could withhold loan guarantees to pressure Israel over the Middle East peace process. The finance minister said Israel did not need the guarantees, while the prime minister accused the Palestinians of holding up peace negotiations. US envoy George Mitchell said this week the US could withhold loan guarantees to extract concessions from Israel. The guarantees allow Israel to raise money cheaply overseas. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz reacted by saying the Israeli economy was doing well. " We don't need to use these guarantees," he was quoted by Israeli media as saying. " We are doing just fine. But several months ago we agreed with the American treasury on guarantees for 2010 and 2011, and there were no conditions. " In response to Mr Mitchell's comments, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said: "Everyone knows that. . . .
Rahm Emanuel: U.S. fed up with Israel, Palestinians
1/8/2010 - Ha'aretz - White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel recently told the Israeli consul in Los Angeles that the Obama administration is fed up with both Israel and the Palestinians, Army Radio reported yesterday. Emanuel met with Jacob Dayan, consul general of Israel in Los Angeles, about two weeks ago, after which Dayan briefed the Foreign Ministry. According to the report, Emanuel told Dayan that the United States is sick of the Israelis, who adopt suitable ideas months too late, when they are no longer effective. The United States is also sick of the Palestinians, who never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, Emanuel reportedly said. The chief of staff added that if there is no progress in the peace process, the Obama administration will reduce its involvement in the conflict because, as he reportedly said, the United States has other matters to deal with.
Guerrilla ad campaign protests Pacific Gas & Electric’s link to Israeli company
1/8/2010 - Mondoweiss - An ad campaign of sorts ran in Berkeley and San Francisco at the end of 2009 drawing attention to Pacific Gas & Electric’s relationship with the Israeli company Solel and the growing BDS movement. Several of PG&E’s “Solar Power” bus shelter billboards were modified to read “Making planets orbit and bagels toast … and fueling Israeli apartheid. ” PG&E has a 25-year contract with Solel to develop the Mojave Solar Park in California’s Mojave Desert. The modified ads were rehung in bus shelters in downtown Berkeley and San Francisco’s Union Square, and stayed up for several weeks through November and December. Street artist K. R. , one of the creators of the ad, explained in a press release, “Every person in California has a stake in what PG&E does, because we are all forced to buy power from them. I don’t want to be funding apartheid every time I turn on a light, and I don’t think most of my neighbors do either.
PM complains about PA security
1/11/2010 - Jerusalem Post - After months of praising the work of the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told a delegation of US senators on Sunday that while active against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the PAsecurity forces "have trouble going against their own renegades. " Netanyahu was referring to the recent murder near Shavei Shomron of Rabbi Meir Avshalom Hai by members of Fatah's Aksa Martyrs Brigade. " They are showing timidity about addressing their own renegades," he told Senators John McCain (R-Arizona), Joe Lieberman (Independent-Connecticut), John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) and John Thune (R-South Dakota). The four senators were here for the day as part of a regional tour that took them as well to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Government sources said the threat of the US using economic leverage - such as withholding loan guarantees - to place pressure on Israel was not raised in the one-hour conversation.
Netanyahu:
Israel will resume West Bank building in 8 months
Uruknet January 10,
2010 - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday reminded coalition
members that Israel's freeze on construction in West Bank settlements
was only temporary, saying: "In another eight months, we'll start
building again."... Under pressure from the Obama administration,
Netanyahu imposed a limited, 10-month moratorium on November 25 on
housing starts in West Bank settlements, saying he hoped the...
"Israeli
cops urinated on me, placed excrement on my head"
Uruknet January 10,
2010 - "They shoved a weapon's barrel up my behind, spilled trash on
me, placed a rag full of excrement on my head and urinated on me" -
These are just some of the harsh allegations which appear in a
complaint filed by A'alan Abu Najma, a 27-year-old Palestinian from
Hebron, against Tel Aviv police officers [...] serious abuse...
Israeli
officials irate after Mitchell comments
Uruknet January 10,
2010 - sraeli officials on Sunday asserted they were "doing just fine"
in response to US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell's
comments a day earlier that the US was prepared to withhold loan
guarantees to pressure Israel into making compromises with the
Palestinians. Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said "We don't
need to use these...
Jerusalemite
center: IOA executing biggest colonialist scheme in OJ
Uruknet January 10,
2010 -- The Quds center for social and economic rights has warned of an
unprecedented colonialist project currently being implemented by the
Israeli occupation authority (IOA) in occupied Jerusalem. The center in
a report published on Saturday described the vicinity of the Old City
of Jerusalem as a large construction site, the "biggest since 1967"...
Medics:
2 killed by Israeli fire in north Gaza
Uruknet January 10,
2010 - Two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli artillery in the
northern Gaza Strip Sunday morning, a medical official said. Mu’awiya
Hassanein, Gaza Health Ministry director of ambulance and emergency
services, said they were shot by tank fire near an excavation site at
the former Dugnit settlement. The bodies of those killed were taken to
a hospital,...
Jeanne
d’Arc and the Struggle for a Free Palestine
Uruknet January 10,
2010 - ... Jeanne, who also knew the occupation, was accused of being a
witch, was banned by the church and was burned on the stake. Despite so
many enemies, and so many people who thought her cause was lost, even
among her very own people, Jeanne believed in what she did. It was only
years later after her...
Palestinian
Wounded In Israeli Shelling In Gaza
Uruknet January 10,
2010 - Palestinian medical sources reported that a Palestinian resident
was seriously wounded on Saturday evening when the Israeli army fired
artillery shells at agricultural areas east of Al Maghazi refugee camp,
in central Gaza. Dr. Moawiya Hassanen, head of the Emergency Unit at
the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, said that the resident was
moved to...
Abbas
takes blame for Goldstone delay, commission says
Uruknet January 9,
2010 - Mahmoud Abbas gave the directive to change the Palestinian
stance on the Goldstone report at the UN Human Rights Commission
following a September meeting with US and Arab officials, a report
revealed Friday. The report, aired on Al-Watan TV, was the result of
months of research and interviews conducted by a commission charged
with the investigation...
Moshe
Halbertal and the Goldstone Report
Uruknet January 9,
2010 - ...I begin here with Moshe Halbertal's attack on the Goldstone
Commission ("The Goldstone Illusion") in the November 6th issue of New
Republic. Halbertal is a Harvard PhD, a professor of Jewish thought and
philosophy at Hebrew University, the author of a number of books on
those subjects, and a former visiting professor at Harvard Law
School....
Q&A:
Attack on Karrubi Was a "Coordinated Effort" Omid Memarian interviews
HUSSEIN KARRUBI, son of Mehdi Karrubi
Uruknet January 9,
2010 - Hussein Karrubi, the son of Iranian opposition figure Mehdi
Karrubi, whose car was struck by two bullets on Thursday in Qazvin, a
city near Tehran, tells IPS the Islamic Republic is trying to silence
and intimidate his father. Many analysts believe that the escalating
attacks by security forces on opposition figures could push the popular
protests,...
Impressions
of Israeli Executions in the West Bank
Uruknet January 9,
2010 - ...Ala explained that there had been three distinct
"termination" operations conducted by the Israeli Special Forces. The
operations had been well coordinated, taking place between 2:00 and
4:00 AM, in three different houses within 2 kilometers of each other.
Ala had already taken down preliminary testimony from the neighbors. In
accordance with Muslim customs, the funerals...
Video:
IsraHell for you, Ethnic Cleansing Live
Uruknet January 9,
2009 - Israeli TV, a glimpse into Jewish tolerance. Bare in mind that
this is Israel National TV's 5 pm News. The elder Israeli presenter is
Dan Margalit, a leading Israeli Journalist and a devoted servant of
every Israeli government and War Criminal leaders in the last four
decades (Rabin, Peres, Sharon, Netanyahu, Olmert, Livni and Barak)..
West Bank, January 10, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Eyewitnesses said that Israeli forces started early on Sunday knocking down houses and sheep barns belonging to Palestinian farmers in Nablus in the West Bank. Palestinian sources said that the Israeli forces stormed into Khirbet Tana village, close to Nablus city, and knocked down farmers' houses and sheep barns. Ghasan Daghas, Palestinian...
Israel kills two Palestinians in Gaza
Gaza, January 10, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli occupation forces killed two Palestinians northwest of Gaza Strip on Sunday. The Israeli army opened fire at two Palestinian citizens who were near Dughait northwest of Beit Lahya. The IOF Spokesman Unit denied the report, saying that the army did not fire any weapons in the area on Sunday. Mo'aweya Hassanein, the...
Charges of Palestinian Child torture in Israeli prisons
Palestine, January 9, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Defence for Children International/Palestine Section (DCI/PS) on Wednesday submitted 13 cases to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture for investigation. The cases relate to the ill-treatment, and in some cases torture, of Palestinian children being held at the notorious Al Jalame Interrogation and Detention Centre near Haifa, in Israel, between February 2008 and...
Children Suffer The Most As A Result Of The Siege On Gaza, by Ayman Quader in Gaza
Gaza, January 9, 2009, (Pal Telegraph) - This is the story of Mahi abu Zer, 14 years old, living in a very marginalized area called the Qarah district, Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip. His father was killed leaving the family in dire need of support.
Israeli troops training for new Gaza war
Palestine, January 8, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli forces completed a large-scale military drill in the Negev, the country's Channel 10 news reported, preparing troops for a military offensive against the Gaza Strip. The report, aired Tuesday evening, speculated that the training could even be seen as preparation for a re-occupation of the area. Drills during the training reportedly focused...
The National 10 Jan 2010 - Villagers are abandoning or being forcibly removed from isolated settlements that the government says are too costly to maintain.
PLO rejects latest peace effort
The National 9 Jan 2010 - A bid by the US to bring Palestinians and Israelis back to the negotiating table fails on a demand for a full settlement freeze.
Iran 'frees Dubai journalist'
The National 10 Jan 2010 - Tehran's chief prosecutor says it has freed a Syrian journalist working for Dubai television who was detained two weeks ago.
AlJazeera 10 Jan 2010 - Three members of the Islamic Jihad group are killed amid escalating tensions.
Egypt bans Gaza aid convoys
AlJazeera 9 Jan 2010 - No convoys to be allowed passage in future following clashes over Viva Palestina.
Iran leader urges action over riots
AlJazeera 9 Jan 2010 - Ayatollah Khamenei calls on security forces to deal firmly with protesters.
Alternative Information Center
Accountability Now! A Symposium on Human Rights and International JusticeAlternative Information Center 9 Jan 2010 - Al-Quds University Al-Quds Human Rights Clinic Cordially invite you to: Accountability Now! A Symposium on Human Rights and International Justice Tuesday, 12th January 2010 2-4pm, Main Theater, Abu Dis Campus, Al-Quds University On occasion of the...
PNN 9 Jan 2010 - The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged Palestinians and Israelis to resume peace talks as soon as possible and without preconditions. The call comes as the Israeli prime minister held talks in Egypt, and the Saudi foreign minister was in Syria. Mrs Clinton said that if the border issues for a Palestinian state were resolved, that would iron out differences...
Jeruslalem Post 10 Jan 2010 - Successful, swift military-Shin Bet coordinated operation follows earlier firing of 4 mortar shells from Strip at western Negev.
Senators: US won't end guarantees
Jeruslalem Post 10 Jan 2010 - At press conference for McCain, Lieberman, Ehud Barak expresses gratitude to Israel's "old friends."
'Israel will react strongly to attacks'
Jeruslalem Post 10 Jan 2010 - Netanyahu condemns rockets and incitement, slams PA leaders for glorifying Coastal Massacre terrorist.
'Policemen may have abused Palestinian'
Jeruslalem Post 10 Jan 2010 - Detectives, officer arrested on suspicion of hitting, attacking detainee accused of stealing motorcycle.
Editor's Notes: Welcome to Israel
Jeruslalem Post 10 Jan 2010 - Now that the West is forced to deal with terror in the skies, we are suddenly the admired exemplars.
Bugg off!
Jeruslalem Post 10 Jan 2010 - How a solution to an epidemic in Israel's tomato industry became a multi-million-dollar industry.
Plans underway for metro in Syria's ancient capital
Jeruslalem Post 10 Jan 2010 - Syria is securing funds for a revamped public transport system in Damascus, one of the oldest cities in the world.
'Jerusalem commuters won't get to work'
Jeruslalem Post 10 Jan 2010 - Transport Ministry official warns opening Route 443 to Palestinians could lead to Highway 1's collapse.
'Another war with Hamas is inevitable'
Jeruslalem Post 10 Jan 2010 - Ex-OC Southern Command: Next strike on Hamas must be more focused to have lasting results.
IPS RAMALLAH, Jan 8 (IPS) - Israel’s bid to keep occupied East Jerusalem under its sovereignty and prevent its incorporation into a future Palestinian state has been boosted over the years with the acquiescence of the Greek Orthodox Church.
MIDEAST: Route May Open, But Not to Peace
IPS ROUTE 443, Occupied West Bank, Jan 8 (IPS) - Just beyond the main Israeli checkpoint, ten kilometres short of Jerusalem, a white Nissan station wagon is abruptly edging to the side of the road. It comes to a halt on the shoulder.
ECONOMY-JORDAN: Dubai Crisis Casts Shadow On 2010
IPS AMMAN, Jan 8 (IPS) - Surrounded by oil-rich nations Jordan has been able to make do with its modest resources over the years. In 2010, however, the country will have to face challenges associated with global economic slowdown and the crisis in Dubai.
YEMEN: U.S. Poised to Increase Aid
IPS WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (IPS) - In the wake of a botched Christmas Day airliner bombing claimed by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the direction of what used to be called the "global war on terror" settled on Yemen this week, with the United States slated to escalate economic...
PCHR
International Solidarity Movement
Bil’in organizer Abdallah Abu Rahmah remanded until the end of legal proceedings1/10/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - Popular Struggle Coordination Committee - Abdallah Abu Rahmah, coordinator of the Bil'in Popular Committee Against the Wall, was remanded until the end of legal proceedings today in an Israeli military court. Abu Rahmah is charged with incitement, stone-throwing and a ridiculous arms possession charge for collecting and displaying used tear gas canisters shot at demonstrators in Bil'in by the army. A judge in the Ofer military court has ordered the remand of Abdallah Abu Rahmah until the end of legal procedures against him. Abu Rahmah, a high school teacher and the coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil'in is charged with incitement, stone throwing and possession of illegal arm. The latter charge was pressed against Abu Rahmah for collecting and displaying used tear gas canisters shot at demonstrators in Bil'in by the army.
Illegal settlers and Israeli military attack Palestinian non-violent demonstration against settlement expansion
1/10/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - International Women's Peace Service, 8 January - On January 8, villagers from the Palestinian village of An Nabi Saleh (population approx 500), located in the north of the Ramallah district, held its third demonstration in three weeks against creeping settlement expansion and land confiscation by the illegal Israeli settlement of Hallamish (also known as Neve Tzuf). According to the residents of the village, since the settlement was established illegally on land belonging to An Nabi Saleh in 1977, there have been repeated attempts to expand the settlement. In 2009, the village successfully challenged, in the Israeli courts, the expansion of the settlement fence to land immediately alongside settler highway 465. In the past month, however, illegal settlers residing in Hallamish colony have attempted to re-annex the land alongside the highway, which now divides An Nabi Saleh's land. -- Link: IWPS
Demonstration near settlement of Halamish
1/10/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - Injured Palestinian protester during a demonstration. around 300 Israeli, international and local residents of the villages Deir Nidham and An Nabi salih demonstrated today near the settlement of Halamish (Neve Zuf) protesting the on going expropriation of their land by Israel and used by the Jewish settlements around. Armed settlers from the near by settlement attacked the protesters with stones backed up by the army who used tear gas, stunt grenades and rubber coated bullets in a violent attempt to brake and disperse the demonstration. Protesters managed to block the road for some two and a half hours and 20 of them were injured, amongst them 3 are still in the hospital suffering from medium injuries after being shot by the army with rubber coated bullets from close range. . . . .
Hamas promises to deliver final Shalit offer within days
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Hamas will deliver to the German mediator its final response to Israel's offer for a prisoner exchange within days, the group's political leader Khaled Meshal said on Sunday. ...
Netanyahu: Israel will resume West Bank building in 8 months
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday reminded coalition members that Israel's freeze on construction in West Bank settlements was only temporary, saying: "In another eight months, we'll start building again." ...
Woman students in Egypt wear surgical masks to evade veil ban
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - A number of female students wore surgical masks at Cairo University to circumvent a government ban on the full face veil in exams, an independent Egyptian newspaper reported on Sunday. ...
World Arab writers vow to fight Israel's cultural influence
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - The Arab Writers Union formed a Damascus bureau meant to prevent the infiltration of Hebrew terms into Arab culture, Israel Radio reported on Sunday, adding that the new group said it would prevent the "normalization" of cultural ties with Israel. ...
Key U.S. senators slam threat to withhold Israel loan guarantees
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Two key U.S. senators on Sunday dismissed Mideast envoy George Mitchell's suggestion that Washington withhold loan guarantees to pressure Israel. ...
The Guardian 10 Jan 2010 - Combatants for Peace's joint Israeli-Palestinian protests value constructive bond-forging over antagonistic posturing The stage was set, the cast assembled. On one side, heavily armed Israeli soldiers, police and private security guards. On the other, scores of...
Letters: Confusing government signals on the Middle East and extremism
The Guardian 8 Jan 2010 - The start of the new year brought reports of the usual incomplete and confusing government messages over Israel and Palestine. On the one hand, our attorney general was lecturing at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem ( Israeli...
'A bunch of dead muscles, thinking'
The Guardian 8 Jan 2010 - Motor neurone disease has left the historian Tony Judt quadriplegic and, he tells Ed Pilkington, has forced him to think about what it really means to be human. The result is an astonishing series of essays...
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Four Israel Police officers from the Tel Aviv area were arrested on Sunday over suspicions that they assaulted and abused a Palestinian detainee late last month. ...
Palestinian official: Israel razed 150 Arab homes in West Bank
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Israeli security forces on Sunday knocked down shelters that were home to about 150 Palestinians in the West Bank, Palestinian officials said. ...
Only psychiatrists can explain Israel's behavior
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - Our wild world of crime has recently been sent for observation. From the bodyguard of the IDF Chief of Staff to the killers of their own children - all have been sent for observation. The time has come, as is the custom around here, to send the country for observation, too. Maybe with ongoing treatment from specialists, the diagnosis that will save us can be made. ...
Transport Ministry warns: Opening Route 443 to Palestinians will jam Route 1
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - The Transportation Ministry warned on Sunday that if security is not strictly maintained on route 443, which up until a recent High Court of Justice decision was closed to Palestinian drivers, the alternate route, Route 1 from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, will not be able to withstand the volume of traffic. ...
British airline BMI officially halts Tel Aviv flights
Ha'aretz 10 Jan 2010 - The British low-cost airline bmi officially scrapped its route between Tel Aviv and London on Sunday as part of sweeping cost-cutting measures. Its departure leaves the route to El Al, easyJet and British Airways. ...
Relief Web 10 Jan 2010 - Source: Physicians for Human Rights
OPT - Cast Lead Aggression 1st Anniversary, Day 15: Left for Dead in Beit Lahiya, North Gaza
Relief Web 10 Jan 2010 - Source: Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
Palestinians reject U.S. call for resuming peace talks
Relief Web 9 Jan 2010 - Source: Xinhua
US urges new Mideast peace talks, focus on borders
Relief Web 9 Jan 2010 - Source: Reuters - AlertNet
Aboul Gheit from Washington: Consultations on establishing a new mechanism to regulate the transfer of aid to the Palestinian people
Relief Web 8 Jan 2010 - Source: Government of Egypt
OPT - Cast Lead Aggression 1st Anniversary, Day 14: The Salha Family
Relief Web 8 Jan 2010 - Source: Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
YNet News 10 Jan 2010 - Druze leader Jumblatt meets Nasrallah emissary for reconciliation two years after conflict between sides; further reconciliatory meeting expected Monday with Maronite leader Aoun
Officers suspected of abuse get house arrest
YNet News 10 Jan 2010 - Yarkon District Police officers suspects of abusing Palestinian detainee placed under house arrest, deny all allegations against them. Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court judge finds reasonable suspicion against suspects, but criticizes rash conduct of police investigations unit
Senators: Punish US officials over airline plot
YNet News 10 Jan 2010 - Senators Joe Lieberman, John McCain take issue with President Barack Obama's suggestion that no one should be fired over security lapses found in attempted Christmas Day airliner attack
Netanyahu approves construction of Egypt-Israel border fence
YNet News 10 Jan 2010 - Following discussions on problem of infiltration, PM adopts IDF plan for two fence sections near Rafah and Eilat. Bill proposed to enable harsher sentencing on those giving assistance to infiltrators
Israel razes Palestinian structures in West Bank
YNet News 10 Jan 2010 - Israeli forces knock down 15 structures that were home to some 150 Palestinians in Khirbet Tana near Nablus, claiming they were built on military training ground
Senators McCain, Lieberman downplay Mitchell's threat
YNet News 10 Jan 2010 - During Jerusalem press conference, senator who lost to Obama expresses objection to use of aid freeze as threat. Lieberman: Attempt of this kind won't pass in Congress
IDF strikes in Gaza; 3 dead
YNet News 10 Jan 2010 - IDF strikes east of Deir al-Balah in central Strip. Palestinians say three killed, four injured. Strike comes after four mortar shells fired at Israel
'Cops urinated on me, placed excrement on my head'
YNet News 10 Jan 2010 - Palestinian thief's complaint against police abuse suggests policemen beat him, placed banana peals behind his ears while capturing all on cell phone. Five officers released after questioning, rest to face remand hearings
US general: We have contingency plan for Iran
YNet News 10 Jan 2010 - General David Petraeus tells CNN US military ready for day diplomatic efforts against Iranian nuclear program fail, says Iranian facilities 'certainly can be bombed'
PM: We won't free terror symbols
YNet News 10 Jan 2010 - Prime minister tells Likud ministers Israel will not release 'terror symbols' in prisoner exchange deal for captive soldier Gilad Shalit. Netanyahu also stressed that construction in settlements is to resume in eight months
Daily Star 10 Jan 2010 Israel launched a series of air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing three Palestinians and wounding another, medical workers said. The Israeli army said it had launched four raids after a dozen mortar bombs and a rocket fired from the territory struck Israel, where no injuries were reported. Explosions rocked Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah.
Borders top agenda in new US approach to Mideast peace
Daily Star 10 Jan 2010 The US and Jordan laid out a new tack in Mideast peace efforts on Friday, pressing Israel and the Palestinians to tackle the tough issues of borders for a Palestinian state and the status of Jerusalem before addressing other obstacles. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said that dealing with those matters.
Gunmen open fire at Iranian opposition leader Karroubi
Daily Star 10 Jan 2010 Armed pro-government demonstrators opened fire on the car of an Iranian opposition leader shattering its windows, his website reported Friday. Sahamnews said the shooting happened late Thursday while former presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi was leaving a building in Qazvin, some 140 kilometers west of Tehran.
Yemen arrests three suspected Al-Qaeda men
Daily Star 10 Jan 2010 Yemeni security forces have arrested three suspected Al-Qaeda militants, including two leading members, in the province of Marib, the Interior Ministry said on Friday. A statement on the ministry website said security forces chasing Al-Qaeda militants in the province on Thursday arrested a 25-year-old man, identified only as WJ, who is suspected of being a member of the group.
China helps Iran to purchase Taiwanese nuclear equipment
Daily Star 10 Jan 2010 A Taiwanese company agreed to a request from a Chinese company to procure sensitive components with nuclear uses, then shipped them to Iran, the firm's head said Friday. Such transactions violate UN sanctions imposed on the Middle Eastern nation.
Amnesty urges Israel to release or try three Palestinians
Daily Star 10 Jan 2010 Human rights group Amnesty International urged Israel on Friday to release or fairly try three Palestinian jailed for protesting against the West Bank separation barrier. The three, two of whom are held without charges, may be "prisoners of conscience, held for legitimately voicing their opposition to the fence/wall," Amnesty said in a letter to Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Egypt arrests Christmas murder suspects
Daily Star 10 Jan 2010 The three suspects in a drive-by shooting on Christmas Eve that killed six Christians in southern Egypt gave themselves up to police Friday after being surrounded by security forces, the state media reported. Egyptian security forces blanketed the areas between the village of Farshout and the town of Naga Hamadi, where the shooting occurred.
Iraqis are finally on the right path
Daily Star 10 Jan 2010 It is clear that Iraq is heading in the right direction. I saw that for myself when I visited Basra, Baghdad and Arbil at the end of December. I saw and heard from Iraqi people how normality is slowly but surely returning to their lives and how day by day the security situation is improving.
'Buck stops with me,' Obama says of airline attack attempt
Daily Star 10 Jan 2010 Hundreds of law enforcement officers are being trained as federal air marshals to ramp up security as the Obama administration tries to prevent a repeat of the near-catastrophic attempt to blow up an airliner bound for Detroit on Christmas Day.
Palestinian Information Center
Jerusalemite center: IOA executing biggest colonialist scheme in OJPIC 10 Jan 2010 - The Quds center for social and economic rights has warned of an unprecedented colonialist project currently being implemented by the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) in occupied Jerusalem.
Nasr denies Syrian patronage of Abbas-Mishaal summit
PIC 10 Jan 2010 - Mohammed Nasr, the political bureau member of Hamas, has denied that Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad was proposing a summit meeting between Hamas leader Khaled Mishaal and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas.
Resheq: Hamas delegation led by Mishaal confers with Emir of Qatar
PIC 10 Jan 2010 - A senior level delegation of the Hamas Movement led by its top leader Khaled Mishaal conferred with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa in Doha on Sunday.
Demo at Egyptian embassy, as European MPs dismayed at Egyptian procrastination
PIC 10 Jan 2010 - Tens of Italians demonstrated in front of the Egyptian embassy in Rome to protest the Egyptian construction of the steel wall and the obstacles put by Egypt before relief convoys to Gaza.
IOF soldiers kill two Palestinian civilians, demolish property in WB
PIC 10 Jan 2010 - Two Palestinian citizens were shot dead by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in northern Gaza Strip at a late hour on Saturday, medical sources reported on Sunday.
Hamdan: Hamas determined to achieve honorable prisoners’ swap deal
PIC 10 Jan 2010 - Osama Hamdan has revealed Saturday that the indirect prisoners’ swap negotiations with the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) were still continuing, describing them as difficult.
Abdelrazek: Zio-American veto blocking reconciliation
PIC 10 Jan 2010 - Hamas MP Dr. Omar Abdelrazek, a former finance minister, has said that a Zio-American veto was impeding an inter-Palestinian reconciliation agreement.
European institutions: Egypt's steel wall only serves Israel
PIC 10 Jan 2010 - European institutions supporting the Palestine cause have issued a statement on Saturday saying that the Egyptian steel wall along the borders with Gaza Strip was only serving the Israeli interest.
British writer: Egypt participates in the US-led blockade on Gaza
PIC 10 Jan 2010 - British writer Seumas Milne has accused the Egyptian government of effectively participating in the US-led siege on the Gaza Strip.
Qaddoumi rejects steel wall, asks Arabs to support resistance
PIC 10 Jan 2010 - Farouq Al-Qaddoumi has rejected the steel wall currently constructed by Egypt along its borders with the Gaza Strip and asked the Arab countries to support Palestinian resistance.
LA Times 10 Jan 2010 - Though organizing opposition to the government is more difficult in smaller cities that don't afford the anonymity of Tehran, activists in the provinces say they're making progress. Mohammad knew he had to be careful in approaching his old classmate Hamed, the one from the conservative Iranian family. They come from a small city, after all, and word gets around.
In West Bank, conditions 'not ripe' for Palestinian uprising
LA Times 10 Jan 2010 - Israelis and Palestinians point to a weak, fractured Palestinian leadership that has disavowed violence, the tight Israeli control and a budding West Bank economy that discourages a new intifada. Born in a refugee camp in this restive West Bank city, Ammar Arafat threw his first stone at 13. At 15, he was jailed for scaling the fence at an Israeli military camp with explosives under his shirt. Upon release, he took up arms again and landed back in prison.
Iran's supreme leader tells militias not to meddle
LA Times 10 Jan 2010 - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attempts to ease tensions, while Brig. Gen. Mohammad-Reza Naghdi says his Basiji militiamen are prepared to clamp down on the opposition movement. Iran's supreme leader Saturday told shadowy pro-government militias not to interfere in the nation's postelection unrest even as the head of the notorious Basiji militia warned that his forces would "jump into the fray" if authorities didn't act strongly against the opposition movement.
Palestinian attacks test Israel's quick-retaliation policy
LA Times 9 Jan 2010 - Israeli military planes target Gaza sites in response to mortar and rocket strikes a day earlier. It's unclear whether the strategy will prevent more violence, analysts say. A recent spate of cross- border and mortar attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip -- the worst in a year -- is testing Israel's resolve to strike back hard against such provocation. But it remains to be seen whether the get-tough approach will hinder or escalate violence, analysts and officials said Friday.
Iran opposition leader Karroubi survives shooting, son says
LA Times 9 Jan 2010 - A raucous crowd of Basiji militiamen in Qazvin attacked Mehdi Karroubi's vehicle, firing at it twice, his son Hossein says. The son of Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi on Friday accused hard-line pro-government militiamen and Revolutionary Guard members of trying to assassinate his father a night earlier.
Clinton urges Israel, Palestinians to plunge into talks
LA Times 9 Jan 2010 - Secretary of State suggests tackling the big issues, such as future borders and the status of Jerusalem, to help resolve the hurdle of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday urged Palestinians and Israelis to plunge into negotiations over the most difficult issues dividing them as a way of breaking an impasse in peace talks.
New York Times 10 Jan 2010 - Sectarian violence in Egypt between Muslims and Christians is rare, but disputes over issues including land or women occasionally erupt.
Shots Fired at Iran Opposition Leader’s Car, Son Says
New York Times 9 Jan 2010 - The reported attack on Mehdi Karroubi, Iran’s most outspoken opposition leader, took place in Qazvin, where he had traveled to attend a funeral for protesters.
World Briefing | Middle East: Egypt: Suspects in Shooting at Coptic Church Surrender
New York Times 9 Jan 2010 - Three suspects in a drive-by shooting that killed six Christians in southern Egypt surrendered to the police on Friday.
World Briefing | Middle East: Gaza: Israeli Airstrikes Kill 3
New York Times 9 Jan 2010 - The strikes came in retaliation for a rocket and mortar barrage launched into Israel on Thursday.
Claim That Attack on Opposition Figure in Iran Was Staged
New York Times 8 Jan 2010 - Opposition supporters claimed that an Iranian news organization with close ties to the Revolutionary Guard had helped to stage an attack on Mehdi Karroubi, an outspoken opposition figure.
World Briefing | Middle East: Israel: New Attacks Traded With Gaza
New York Times 8 Jan 2010 - Israel launched several airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding another, medical workers and the Islamist group Hamas said.
Palestine Monitor - 9 Jan 2010 - The Palestine Monitor has been following the situation in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, since 2008. As some residents face evictions to make way for Jewish settlers, a solidarity movement originally consisting of a handful of Israeli and international activists has grown into a weekly protest where...
Sailing A Liferaft Into Gaza
Palestine Monitor - 9 Jan 2010 - As I write this, I am still in Cairo. The Gaza Freedom March is officially over…most delegates flew home Jan. 3-5. There are about 30 of us “die-hards” – individuals who have the flexibility to try to wait out the Egyptian government and the dedication/commitment to...
‘Take me back to my homeland, even as a rose’
Mondoweiss - 9 Jan 2010 - Today in Israel, a center for culture and science, medicine and high tech, religious revival and literature, famous nature reserves and gorgeous beaches, I learned how to step across coils of barbed wire. It is critical to walk cautiously, to place your foot firmly at the...
One vision for one state in Israel/Palestine
Mondoweiss - 9 Jan 2010 - As a proponent of the one-state solution for Palestine/Israel, I feel a responsibility for describing my vision of that state. It’s not enough to tell other Palestinians that they will never see their ethnically pure Palestinian state, and to explain to Israelis that their state is...
History and Hebron
Mondoweiss - 9 Jan 2010 - History and Hebron (Hebron photo credit: Michael Ratner) Of course in Germany the stars were placed to discourage if not end commerce to a Jewish shop; in Hebron they are placed to assert the closing of a Palestinian store and its “ownership” by the Jews of...
Henry Siegman: Israel is ‘the only apartheid regime in the Western world’
Mondoweiss - 8 Jan 2010 - This is from Henry Siegman in The Nation . Just a reminder, Siegman was Executive Director of the American Jewish Congress from 1978 to 1994, and has been connected to the Council on Foreign Relations. If there’s ever been a sign the times are changing. Siegman: Israel’s...
Guerrilla ad campaign protests Pacific Gas & Electric’s link to Israeli company
Mondoweiss - 8 Jan 2010 - Pacific Gas & Electric advertisement before (left) and after (right) An ad campaign of sorts ran in Berkeley and San Francisco at the end of 2009 drawing attention to Pacific Gas & Electric’s relationship with the Israeli company Solel and the growing BDS movement . Several of...
Accountability Now! A Symposium on Human Rights and International Justice
Alternative Information Center - 9 Jan 2010 - Al-Quds University Al-Quds Human Rights Clinic Cordially invite you to: Accountability Now! A Symposium on Human Rights and International Justice Tuesday, 12th January 2010 2-4pm, Main Theater, Abu Dis Campus, Al-Quds University On occasion of the one year anniversary of Israel’s 22-day-long offensive on the Gaza...
Articles
Come the iron wall
Saleh Al-Naami, Al-Ahram Weekly 1/7/2010
Saleh Al-Naami finds that everyday commodities are what form the contraband passing through secret tunnels between Egypt and Gaza.
Maged Ibrahim hurried to his sister’s house metres away from his own to fetch empty plastic containers. This university professor was out of time. As soon as his nephew, Adham, gave him three containers, Ibrahim sped away in his car to the nearest fuelling station to fill up on gasoline, in order to ensure a minimal supply for his car in case of emergencies. He also uses gasoline for the electricity generator at his home when there are power outages, which can sometimes last up to five hours, since Israel refuses to allow the regular refuelling of the sole power station in the area.
Ibrahim, like many others in Gaza, is desperate to stock up on food and fuel supplies that are smuggled through tunnels after hearing rumours that Egypt intends to build an iron wall on top of these tunnels to collapse them. The tunnels have become a vital source of livelihood and provisions for the people here. The university professor was lucky and filled up on fuel, but the majority return empty handed as gasoline stations run dry.
Salem Al-Othman, a resident of Al-Nosayrat Refugee Camp in the centre of Gaza, owns a grocery shop and is preoccupied with stockpiling merchandise in anticipation of an end to smuggling. Al-Othman went to one of the wholesale merchants in neighbouring Deir Al-Balah to reserve his goods but was surprised that the wholesaler claimed to be out of stock on everything Al-Othman wanted. more.. e-mail
The best way to help Palestine
Seth Freedman, The Guardian 1/10/2010
Combatants for Peace’s joint Israeli-Palestinian protests value constructive bond-forging over antagonistic posturing.
The stage was set, the cast assembled. On one side, heavily armed Israeli soldiers, police and private security guards. On the other, scores of Israeli and Palestinian activists, flying banners and waving placards, with press photographers and documentary makers on hand to record events as they unfolded. The sun beat down from a cloudless sky, the air felt still and calm: the lull before the storm.
And then... that was how it remained for the rest of the day, all lull and no storm, which was a welcome respite from the violent clashes taking place elsewhere in the Occupied Territories. This wasn’t Bi’lin, nor Ni’lin, nor Sheikh Jarrah – places which routinely descend into aggressive hostilities between rock-throwing demonstrators and teargas-firing security forces. Instead, this was a perfectly planned, perfectly executed example of a joint Israeli-Palestinian protest where flailing fists and antagonistic posturing came a distant second to clear-headed, constructive bond-forging between activists from both sides.
Combatants for Peace (CFP) had organised the day’s protest against the planned construction of the Givat Yael settlement, a project entirely at odds with the current freeze imposed on settler building in the West Bank. Givat Yael is slated to be established on land belonging to the Palestinian village of Wallaje on the outskirts of Jerusalem, a move CFP calls "an additional step signifying the narrowing of the possibility for a political negotiation [between the Israelis and Palestinians]". more.. e-mail
More slush
Graham Usher, Al-Ahram Weekly 1/7/2010
2009 proved disappointing for those who had hopes of a change in US Middle East policy from Barack Obama.
Receiving the Nobel Peace prize in Oslo on 10 December, Barack Obama was bashful. "My accomplishments are slight," he said. It’s an accurate description of the impact his policies have had on the various crises and conflicts that beset the Middle East.
In fact -- set against the expectations that accompanied his presidency -- Obama’s policies in 2009 towards the Middle East are so slight as to be indistinguishable from those of his predecessor George W Bush; in most cases, it has been continuity masquerading as "change".
... Binyamin Netanyahu met the "freeze" with contempt. He "unfroze" 2,500 Jewish building licences in the West Bank and has approved more than a 1,000 new units in occupied East Jerusalem. "Jerusalem is not a settlement," he told the Americans.
And Obama caved. In August US officials said a freeze was no longer a condition for resuming talks. By September, Obama was telling Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to return to negotiations "unconditionally". He asked Israel to "restrain settlement activity". The freeze had become slush.
"Obama was right to focus on settlements," said a diplomat involved in the process yet baffled by the President’s climb down. "What’s inexplicable is to have no fall-back pressure point when Netanyahu refuses."
On paper Obama had pressure points. Yet one of his first presidential decisions was to reaffirm Bush’s August 2008 pledge guaranteeing Israel $30 billion in military aid over the next decade. So that leverage, it seems, is gone. more.. e-mail
Diaries From East Jerusalem
Palestine Monitor: 9 Jan 2010 - The Palestine Monitor has been following the situation in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, since 2008. As some residents face evictions to make way for Jewish settlers, a solidarity movement originally consisting of a handful of Israeli and international activists has grown into a weekly protest where participants march from West Jerusalem to East Jerusalem, spreading the message of "free Sheikh Jarrah." Here are some images from the development of this story. All photographs are by Brady Ng. Road sign in Sheikh Jarrah. Taken on March 4, 2009 Foreign visitors outside the Umm Kamel solidarity tent in Sheikh Jarrah. Taken on March 4, 2009. Bonfire outside the Umm Kamel solidarity tent, in which solidarity activists spend the night. Taken on March 4, 2009. Sara al-Ghawi, the youngest child of the al-Ghawi family, posing in front of the fifth incarnation of the tent. The previous ones were destroyed by the Israeli authorities....
Sailing A Liferaft Into Gaza
Palestine Monitor: 9 Jan 2010 - As I write this, I am still in Cairo. The Gaza Freedom March is officially over…most delegates flew home Jan. 3-5. There are about 30 of us “die-hards” – individuals who have the flexibility to try to wait out the Egyptian government and the dedication/commitment to stay in for the long haul. There are six of us who have planned our lives ( at least in the first half of the year) on jobs (paid or voluntary) in Gaza, two journalists/filmmakers, and one whose husband lives there and hasn't seen him in more than six months. The rest are an eclectic combination of the curious, compassionate, political and adventurous. The problem is that the Egyptian government is like a “black box.” There is no way of knowing what works and what doesn't, or why. There seems to be one type of document that will get you to the border; without it,...
Palestine Chronicle: 8 Jan 2010 - By Joshua Brollier When I traveled to Cairo to participate in the Gaza Freedom March, I hoped to enter Gaza to contribute toward ending the siege and preventing future air assaults and invasions, such as the 22-day Operation Cast Lead that Israel launched against Gaza at the close of 2008. I was also keenly looking forward to meeting a young Gazan who had greatly assisted my co-workers on a Voices delegation to Gaza during last year’s Operation Cast Lead. At considerable risk to himself, this young man met members of Voices at the border, arranged housing, translated, and assisted in bearing witness to the devastation caused by the Israeli military assault. Due to the callousness of the Egyptian authorities, I was not able to meet this man or deliver much needed material aid to his community. Early this morning, my co-workers and I received an email from our friend in Gaza, saying that the Israeli military is once again bombing near the Rafah border. One Palestinian was killed and others were injured. Given Israel’s continuing siege and bombardment of Gaza, I am eager to learn lessons from our experience in the Gaza Freedom March, regroup and continue in the struggle to end the siege and occupation. Here are several of the lessons which I think are most important to communicate to the wider U.S. public. The first is that the United States and Egyptian governments have been actively colluding with the Israeli government to maintain the siege of Gaza. All...