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International Middle East Media Center
Israel,
Germany hold joint Cabinet meeting amidst protests; Israel to receive
nuclear submarine
IMEMC 18 Jan 2010 -
Tuesday January 19, 2010 - 03:16, “Judaism Yes, Zionism No!” read signs
carried by a group of Orthodox Jews who joined dozens of other
protesters outside a joint Cabinet meeting of the German and Israeli
Prime Ministers on Monday. The protesters condemned the ongoing Israeli
siege on the Gaza Strip, where 1.5 million Palestinians live imprisoned
behind Israeli and Egyptian border controls, unable to leave or to
export or import goods.
Abu
Zuhri: “Israel Deliberately Trying To Flood The Palestinians”
IMEMC 18 Jan 2010 -
Tuesday January 19, 2010 - 02:38, Sami Abu Zuhri, spokesperson of the
Hamas movement, stated that Israel deliberately opened the dams
allowing the water to flood the Gaza valley area, and added that this
is yet “another Zionist crime targeting the residents and their
property”.
Hundreds
Displaced By Gaza Flood
IMEMC 18 Jan 2010 -
Tuesday January 19, 2010 - 00:45, Dozens of Palestinian homes were
flooded in the Gaza Valley area on Monday evening, and hundreds of
families were rendered homeless after Israel opened one of its dams
that were overfilled with heavy rain water.
The
Israeli military kidnaps 17 Palestinian civilians from the West Bank
IMEMC 18 Jan 2010 -
Monday January 18, 2010 - 16:11, Seventeen Palestinian civilians were
reported to have been kidnapped on Monday by Israeli troops during
pre-dawn invasions targeting a number of West Bank communities.
Israel's
military continues to target anti wall protest organizers
IMEMC 18 Jan 2010 -
Monday January 18, 2010 - 14:15, Four Palestinian civilians were
kidnapped by Israeli troops during a pre-dawn invasion targeting the
village of Nil'in, central West Bank. Israeli troops told their
families that they have been kidnapped for their involvement in the
weekly nonviolent protests against the Israeli built wall on villager's
lands.
Hamas
Welcomes Amnesty Report
IMEMC 18 Jan 2010 -
Monday January 18, 2010 - 14:09, Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas,
welcomed the report of Amnesty International in which it demanded
Israel to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip, and stated that the siege
leaves more than 1.4 million Palestinians cut off from the outside
world and struggling with desperate poverty.
Excavations
blamed for latest Silwan collapse
1/19/2010 -
Jerusalem - Ma'an - The Wadi Hilwah Information Centre reported another
collapse in the Silwan neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem on
Monday, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City, creating
a 12 meter square hole in the middle of Wadi Hilwah street. Jawad Siam,
head of the information centre, said that the latest collapse in Wadi
Hilwah took place over a 10 meter deep tunnel and is a few meters from
the previous cave in at the beginning of January, as a result of
Israeli excavations in the area. A child was injured and a vehicle fell
ithrough the site, Siam said, adding that the local Al-Ein mosque,
where Israeli excavation has intensified, was flooded as rainwater
seeped into the collapsed site. The Al-Quds Centre for Economic and
Social rights said that this incident follows a number of similar
collapses in Silwan recently, pointing out that last year, a collapse
occurred in a girls' school, injuring 17 students.
Sheikh
Tamimi warns of Al-Aqsa mosque collapsing
1/19/2010 -
Jerusalem - Ma'an - Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi, chief Islamic judge for the
Palestinian Authority, warned that the Al-Aqsa Mosque suffers from
cracks and fissures in the walls, a sign of its impending collapse, as
a result of Israeli excavations below it, he said on Monday. Sheikh
Tamimi further warned that houses in the surround neighborhood are at
risk resulting from the Israeli Antiquities Authority working a night
and removing dozens of bags with stones from the excavation site south
of the mosque. He further spoke of the rise in extremist Jewish, as
well as military intrusion into the compound, including the entry of 50
students from various departments of archeology in Israeli universities
to undertake research and of settlers while women prayed, he said. The
Sheikh held the Israeli government responsible for the collapses and
deterioration around the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its. . .
Peaceful
march reaches Gaza buffer zone
1/19/2010 - Gaza -
Ma'an - Dozens of Palestinian and foreign activists on Monday rallied
in protest against Israel's creation of a buffer zone between the Green
Line and the northern and eastern borders of the Gaza Strip. The march
began from the destroyed Faculty of Agriculture north of Beit Hanoun
and reached the buffer zone south of the Erez crossing. The
demonstrations began last Monday and are due to be held every week.
Following the first protest, Saber Az-Za'aneen, coordinator of the
local committee that organized the protests said that the committee
hopes to see participation grow, in order to protect farmers, who are
most affected by the decision, and to assist them in gaining entry to
their agricultural land. The Israeli army dropped leaflets across Gaza,
informing its residents of the new areas that are no longer accessible
to the population. . . . .
Palestinian
rights orgs demand gov’t investigate Goldstone claims
1/18/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Thirteen Palestinian human rights organizations and
legal advocacy groups appealed to President Mahmoud Abbas and de facto
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in open letters, calling for the
immediate commencement of internal investigations of the Goldstone
report. The groups, listed below, demanded the investigations be
carried out in compliance with the UN General Assembly resolution. The
letter explained that on 5 February 2010 the UN Secretary-General is
due to submit his report on the implementation of the General Assembly
Resolution relating to investigations into allegations made in the
Goldstone report. "As Palestinian and international non-governmental
organisations, we urge both the Palestinian authorities in the West
Bank and Gaza to immediately commence credible internal investigations
in compliance with international standards and in accordance with the
Report by the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict. "
Gazans
raise money for Haiti
1/19/2010 - Gaza -
Ma'an -Palestinians in Gaza set off for the Red Cross headquarters on
Monday to offer donations and financial support for the victims of
Haiti's devastating earthquake on Tuesday. Relatives of Palestinian
prisoners also participated in the drive, with many offering financial
donations and goods including blankets and covers, as well as food and
milk for children. Head of the Committee to Break the Siege Jamal
Al-Khudary said "people may be astonished at our ability to collect
donations from our people [in Gaza]; we tell them that this is a
humanitarian campaign and our people love life and peace "¦""We are
here today supporting the victims of Haiti "¦ we feel for them the most
because we were exposed to our own earthquake during Israel's war on
Gaza. "The Red Cross director was only able to accept financial
donations as transferring goods out of the Strip is near impossible,
Al-Khudary added.
Christians
mark Epiphany on Jordan River
1/19/2010 - Jericho
- Ma'an - Eastern calendar Christians celebrated the Feast of the
Epiphany on the west bank of the Jordan River on Monday, commemorating
the baptism of Jesus. Thousands of Christians came from Europe, Russia,
and Ethiopia joined Palestinian Christians despite pouring rain and
swelling river banks. Hundreds from Jordan also joined in from the east
bank of the Jordan, shouting greetings to friends and loved ones on the
Palestinian side. Pilgrims noted a heavy Israeli military presence, and
were prohibited from performing the traditional baptisms at the site.
Onlookers said military cordons were placed between the pilgrims and
the water. Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III officiated the
celebrations, arriving early in Jericho to meet with local leaders and
Christian officials in the city. Jericho Governor Kamel Hemed told the
patriarch that the Palestinian. . .
Why
Israel should support journalists
1/18/2010 - Matt
Sienkiewicz - I write this brief piece with anger, sadness and a
measure of fear. I write with anger because Israeli authorities have
detained Jared Malsin, the English Desk Editor at the Ma'an News
Agency, since Wednesday. After considerable legal effort, Malsin has
been granted a hearing, thus avoiding immediate deportation. However,
as of this writing, he remains locked up in a small, windowless room,
uncertain of his fate. There is some debate as to the nature of
Malsin's detention and potential deportation. Israeli sources have
denied that the legal issues stem from Jared's work as a journalist in
the West Bank. Ma'an has recovered contradictory information, however,
suggesting that at least part of the "security" concerns surrounding
the journalist stem from his writing and reporting. Certainly, Malsin
has been involved in reports that detail the uglier side of Israeli
policies in the West Bank and Gaza.
Two
crossings open; Gaza strawberries en route to France
1/18/2010 - Gaza -
Ma'an - Israeli authorities opened the Kerem Shalom and Karni to allow
the transfer of aid, limited quantities of domestic gas and industrial
diesel, as well as restricted amounts of goods for export, Palestinian
border crossing official Raed Fattouh said. Approximately 70 truckloads
of humanitarian aid will be allowed through Kerem Shalom, as well as
limited amounts of cooking gas, Fattouh said. At Karni, 98 truckloads
of animal feed and wheat will be transferred into the Strip. For
export, two truckloads of strawberries will leave Gaza under the
auspices of a program headed up by the Dutch government. The program
supports strawberry and carnation farmers in the Strip, and as of 10
December secured permission from Israeli crossings officials for the
regular export of both goods. According to Consul General for the
Netherlands in Jerusalem Jack Twiss Quarles van Ufford,. . .
Israeli
forces detain four in Jerusalem area
1/18/2010 -
Jerusalem - Ma'an - Israeli forces detained four Palestinians in Beit
Duqqu, northwest of Jerusalem early on Monday, according to sources.
The sources told Ma'an that an Israeli military convoy of 10 vehicles,
accompanied by police dogs, raided the village at 3am and used stun
grenades against the four before detaining them. Sources identified
those detained as Khaled Daoud, 22, Yousef Daoud, 25, Ali Daoud, 33 and
Muhamamd Daoud, 34. [end]
Gaza
family appeals to Abbas to help save dying son
1/18/2010 - Gaza -
Ma'an - The family of a young boy in Gaza who suffers from cancer
appealed on Monday to President Mahmoud Abbas to intervene in their
son's treatment. Ahmad Al-Agha, 12, suffers from cancer of the
abdominal lymph nodes. A medical report issued by the Al-Rantisi
Pediatric Hospital revealed that in mid 2009, Al-Agha's condition
improved following chemotherapy. However, his condition deteriorated
over the last six months and is urgently in need of medical treatment
in a developed cancer ward outside of Gaza, the report said. "We appeal
to President Abbas and are full of hope that he will help us and send
him to a specialist hospital," said Ahmad's father, Hatem Al-Agha.
Ahmad's father explained that the de facto Ministry of Health had
contacted Israeli hospitals on behalf of Ahmad, which refused to
transfer him.
Israel
forces detain shepherd, three others in Ar-Rashayda
1/18/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli forces detained four Palestinians in the
village of Ar-Rashayda, southeast of Bethlehem on Monday, including an
elderly shepherd, as they returned home from tending to their sheep,
local sources said. According to the sources, a military convoy of 20
Israeli jeeps apprehended the car the four were travelling in and
detained them. Those detained were identified as Mahmud Muhammad Hamad
Ar-Rashayda, known as Abu Ismail, 61, his brother Ahmad, 55, Riziq
Ahmad Ar-Rashayda, 18, and Yasser Aramin. Israeli forces told Abu
Ismail's family that he had been transferred to the Hadassah Ein Kerem
hospital following a decline in health, the sources added. Abu Ismail
suffers from high blood pressure. His family called on human rights
organizations to intervene for his release. . . . .
Hamas
senior official admits Iran’s financial, political support
1/18/2010 - Gaza -
Ma'an - Member of Hamas' parliamentary bloc, Khalil Al-Haya said that
the movement is receiving fianacial, political and moral support from
Iran, "without paying any political price," and welcomed every Islamic
and Arab relation that would support the Palestinians and their
resistance, he said on Sunday. While reiterating that Hamas would not
sign the Egyptian-backed reconciliation proposal without discussing the
movement's ammendents, Al-Haya said that 2010 would be the year to
restore unity between the West Bank and Gaza and to strengthen
political partnerships under one government's rule throughout the
territories. This, he said, would be under a unifed Palestinian
Authority, Palestinian Legilstative Council and Palestinian Liberation
Organization that represents all Palestinian political parties,
"supporting resistance in confronting the Israel occupation. "
India
rep office in Ramallah organizes first business seminar
1/18/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Representative Office of India in Ramallah
organized the first ever Business Seminar for prominent Palestinian
businessmen, mainly importers, on Monday at the Ankar suit in Ramallah.
Around 40 businessmen participated. Bishwadip Dey, Representative of
India to the occupied Palestinian territories briefed participants on
the salient features of Indian economy, including growth potentials and
the advantages that Palestinian businessmen and importers would have
dealing with India. "India is one of the most exciting emerging markets
in the world. Skilled managerial and technical manpower that match the
best available in the world and a middle class, whose size exceeds the
population of the United States of Americaor the European Union,
provide India with a cutting edge in global competition. India is the
second fastest growing economy after China with average annual. . . "
NASA
and MIT officials meet to discuss university degree
1/18/2010 - Ramallah
- Ma'an - Undersecretary of the Palestinian Ministry of Education
Muhammad Abu Zeid welcomed National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) officials on Monday, including Robert Williams,
the President of the International Astronomical Union and the Director
of the Space Center in the US, as well asastronaut and professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jeff Hoffman. The meeting was
held to discuss the promotion of astronomy and astrophysics in
Palestinian education and developing a university degree program in the
field, in addition to endorsing a cultural exchange programs with
Palestinian specialists and NASA staff. Williams explained that the
NASA delegation's visit to the occupied Palestinian territories was
undertaken to encourage the study of sciences and astronomy at a
university level and at scientific centers.
Palestinian
civil defense rescue residents as weather turns
1/19/2010 - Nablus -
Ma'an - The Palestinian civil defense force was deployed throughout the
West Bank to assist in numerous incidents as weather conditions
worsened overnight on Sunday and early Monday morning, a police report
said. Following an electricity blackout overnight, the civil defense
was called to rescue a woman stuck in an elevator in Al-Masyoun,
Ramallah. Fire crews extinguished a blaze that erupted in the kitchen
of a home in Bethlehem - the result of an electrical shortage caused by
the blackout. In the Ad-Doha neighborhood of Bethlehem, civil defense
forces pulled cars out of flooded areas caused by excessive rainfall on
Sunday evening. Sewage lines were also repaired following a burst, also
as the result of downpours. In Hebron, a fire in a store was
extinguished which caused an estimated 50,000 Shekels worth of damage.
Dahlan
refuses to enter Gaza under Hamas
1/19/2010 - Ramallah
- Ma'an - Fatah leader and Palestine Legislative Council deputy
Muhammad Dahlan has refused to enter Gaza while it remains under Hamas'
control, he said on Monday. Dahlan accused the Islamist movement of
exploiting his mother's death for political gains by inviting him to
participate in her funeral. He would have to make a formal request to
enter Gaza with the de facto government and enter in the custody of
Hamas. "[I] do not want to provoke events or confrontations, or injury
to members of Fatah who may be abused, as was the case during the
commemoration ceremony for Yasser Arafat when more than 10 Palestinians
were killed and a hundred injured," Dahlan's statement read. "Despite
this great sadness that arises from not participating in the funeral, I
will not enter Gaza until Palestinian legitimacy is restored. "
Hebron
governor delivers assistance to 25 families
1/18/2010 - Hebron -
Ma'an - Hussein Al-A'raj, governor of Hebron south of the West Bank
delivered urgent aid on behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas to 25
families in need in the Hebron district during a ceremony on Sunday
evening. The ceremony was attended by deputy of the governor Samar Abu
Zneid along with other officials and families receiving the donations.
During a speech, Al-A'raj expressed his gratitude to Abbas for meeting
the needs of all Palestinians, he said, adding that the donations will
have a significant effect on its beneficiares. The families expressed
gratitude and appreciation to the donation and Abbas' delivered support
for the Palestinians. They also thanked the governor and the senior
officials of the governorate for helping deliver the aid. . . . .
Hamas:
PA security detain six affiliates
1/18/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Hamas officials accused Palestinian Authority
security services of detaining six men with connections to Hamas,
saying they were detained from across the West Bank on Monday based on
their affiliation. A statement from the party identified those detained
as: Mayor of Qabalan Yousef Ahed Al-Imleh, Muhammad Marshoud from the
Balata Refugee Camp Kheirallah Umous from Ramallah Zaher Hassanein,
from Qalqiliya, recently released from Israeli prison Mu'ayayd Abdoul
Latif, from Qalqiliya, previously targeted by the PA, Majdi Sharif,
from Qalqiliya, previously targeted by the PA. The arrests could not be
independently confirmed by Ma'an. [end]
Palestinian
NGO Network calls for national unity
1/18/2010 - Gaza -
Ma'an - Seventy Palestinian NGOs and human rights organizations have
called on Hamas and Fatah to respond to Egyptian efforts to end
internal Palestinian division on Monday and to work towards national
unity. The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organization Network (PNGO) has
made the call to guarantee Palestinian rights and freedoms, achieved
through strengthening national unity, representatives said. On 14
September 2009 PNGO launched a conference for the national Campaign to
Defend Public Freedoms and Human rights and to Promote the Restoration
of National Unity in Palestine - a national meeting via
video-conference between the Gaza Strip and West Bank. In October the
Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights (affiliated with PNGO) called on
Palestinian political parties to restore national unity without further
delay in a statement issued on the PNGO Portal.
Al-Wadiyeh:
Talks underway for Hamas-Fatah reconciliation
1/18/2010 - Gaza -
Ma'an - Representative of Independent Palestinian Party Yasser
Al-Wadiyehannounced on Monday that talks between Palestinian and
Egyptian officials are underway to encourage the ratification of the
Egyptian reconciliation document or a meeting between President Mahmoud
Abbas and Hamas senior leader Khaled Mash'al. During an interview with
Ma'an, Al-Wadiyeh called for a swift end to procedural steps to break
the impasse reached in reconciliation talks and the signing of the
Egyptian document in order to implement its instructions throughout the
occupied Palestinian territories. "There is a positive inclination
towards resolving the current crisis by several Palestinian and Arab
parties," he said. On Sunday it was reported that Kuwaiti Foreign
Minister Sheikh Muhammad As-Sabah would host a reconciliation meeting
within the next ten days between Abbas and Mash'al, Kuwaiti media said.
Bethlehem
celebrates Armenian Christmas
1/19/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Bethlehem celebrated its third and final Christmas
of the season with Palestinian Armenians on Monday, alongside President
Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. The smallest minority in
Palestine, there are less than 400 Armenians in the West Bank, with
most residing in Jerusalem and three families in Bethlehem. "We
consider this Christmas as the Palestinians' Christmas," Abbas told
Armenian Patriarch Torkom Manoogian in the small Nativity Church chapel
used by Armenians, "Because we know the Armenians are stranded all over
the world. . . it is as if they are 'Palestinianized' and we feel
connected to your plight," he said. Abbas joined Bethlehemite Armenians
for Christmas lunch in the city. The Armenian church celebrates
Christmas on the same day as the Feast of the Epiphany according to the
eastern calendar. . . . .
Three
confirmed dead, dozens missing in Sinai floods
1/18/2010 - Al-Arish
- Ma'an - At least three were killed and dozens were reported missing
as floods ravaged Sinai, according to Egyptian security sources. Two
Egyptians were killed as floods swept cars across streets, the sources
said. A woman died and dozens were injured in the Ras Sidr area in
Sinai. South of Sinai has witnessed the worst flooding, which have
overtaken the isolated Sharam As-Sheikh area. Streets were shut down
across Sinai, the sources said, adding that Wadi Al-Azraq, 20
kilometers south of the Rafah crossing, experienced severe flooding.
Two Israeli jeeps drifted into Egyptian territory as a result of the
deluge. [end]
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Two months ago assailants torched furniture at Yasuf mosque, sprayed derogatory slogans.
Police arrest 10 in raid on West Bank settlement
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Five people, including two minors, detained for alleged involvement in mosque arson last month.
IDF soldier seriously hurt when comrade's hammer falls on his head
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Five IDF soldiers have died in the last four months during routine training while on duty.
Shin Bet: 2009 was first year in decade without suicide attacks
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Israel registered 15 casualties in 2009 - 9 of them during the Gaza operation - as opposed to 36 in 2008.
Hamas lets Fatah strongman into Gaza, after two years in exile
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Death of Mohammed Dahlan's mother sparks new row between rival Palestinian movements.
IDF nabs Palestinian cell allegedly planning terror attack
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - IDF, Shin Bet arrest 2 separate groups of Palestinians in possession of explosive devices.
Jordan: Israel not part of probe into attack on its convoy
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Jordanian minister: Attack on Israeli diplomatic convoy was primarily an attack on Jordan.
ANALYSIS / Jordan bombing: Good intelligence, poor execution
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Attackers had knowledge of embassy's routine activities; Al-Qaida and Hezbollah are prime suspects.
Report: Jordan arrests suspect in attack on Israeli convoy
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Convoy transporting 3 Israeli diplomats targeted by remotely detonated roadside bomb; no casualties.
Three hurt in blast in Hezbollah south Lebanon stronghold
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Lebanon officials: Bomb exploded at entrance of building, wounded three students waiting for school bus.
Hamas to Gaza militias: Stop firing rockets at Israel
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Ismail Haniyeh says adhering to cease-fire with Israel protects Gazans from IDF attacks.
Barak tells Hezbollah: War with Israel not worth your while
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Defense minister makes remarks to soldiers during a tour of the northern border on Tuesday.
Hezbollah denies drug trafficking to fund Israel attacks
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Lebanon-based group deems Der Spiegel report 'false fabrication' and 'tool manipulated by Zionists.'
Report: 8 IDF troops fell asleep while patrolling Lebanon border
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Battalion troops, which included two commanding officers, had in the past complained of sleep deprivation.
Hamas: Gaza bombmaker killed in work-related blast
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Two others injured; Palestinian sources initially claimed casualties were caused by IAF missile strike.
IDF denies reports it attacked northern Gaza
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Palestinians say three militants killed in IAF strike on Strip; Gaza rocket hits Israel for fifth consecutive day.
'Iron Dome rocket defense system will take years to deploy'
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - 'Watch your step,' Barak warns Hamas over rockets; Hamas: Palestinian attacks are response to Israeli aggression.
Egypt says Israel's plan for border fence 'not our concern'
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Cairo denies link between Israel's barrier and its own wall now being constructed between Egypt and Gaza.
Druze MK seeks immunity in indictment over Syria meeting
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Balad's Said Naffaa says meetings in Syria arguing fall under his duties as a member of Knesset.
Bank of Israel forecasts 3.5% growth rate for 2010
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Bank says global recovery upped demand for Israeli goods; cautions that could scale back the forecast.
Hundreds
Displaced By Gaza Flood
Uruknet January 18,
2010 - Dozens of Palestinian homes were flooded in the Gaza Valley area
on Monday evening, and hundreds of families were rendered homeless
after Israel opened one of its dams that were overfilled with heavy
rain water. Local civil defense teams, and medics of the Military
Medical Services in Gaza, rushed to rescue the flooded area and
rescued...
Abu
Zuhri: “Israel Deliberately Trying To Flood The Palestinians”
Uruknet January 18,
2010 - Sami Abu Zuhri, spokesperson of the Hamas movement, stated that
Israel deliberately opened the dams allowing the water to flood the
Gaza valley area, and added that this is yet "another Zionist crime
targeting the residents and their property". Abu Zuhri added that the
"Zionist occupation is to be held responsible for this crime", and
that...
Israel
Jails Palestinian Peace Activists
Uruknet January 18,
2010 - Israel has long argued that Palestinians should pursue their
political objectives in a non-violent way. However, several prominent
Palestinian peace activists have recently been arrested and jailed for
doing just that. Abdallah Abu Rahme, 39, the coordinator of the Bi’lin
Popular Committee, which has challenged Israel’s illegal expropriation
of Palestinian land both in an Israeli court...
Palestinian
NGO Network calls for national unity
Uruknet January 18,
2010 – Seventy Palestinian NGOs and human rights organizations have
called on Hamas and Fatah to respond to Egyptian efforts to end
internal Palestinian division on Monday and to work towards national
unity. The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organization Network (PNGO) has
made the call to guarantee Palestinian rights and freedoms, achieved
through strengthening national unity, representatives said...
Suffocating:
The Gaza Strip under Israeli Blockade (Full Text)
Uruknet January 18,
2010 - More than 1.4 million Palestinian men, women and children are
trapped in the Gaza Strip. Their daily lives are marked with power
shortages, little or no running water and deteriorating health care.
Mass unemployment, poverty and food insecurity exacerbate the impact of
the Israeli blockade which was brought into force in June 2007. In this
campaign...
Turkey:
Israel is strategic ally with shared interests
Uruknet January 18,
2010 - Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul on Sunday publicly put an
end to a week-long row that threatened already tense ties between
Israel and Turkey, saying his country would remain strategic allies
with Israel for as long as necessary. "We are living in the same area,
although we don't have common borders, we have the same interests,"...
Interview:
Joe Sacco
Uruknet January 18,
2010 -When it comes to the world of cartooning, Joe Sacco is considered
a luminary. Sacco, who is hailed as the creator of war-reportage
comics, is the author of such award-winning books as Palestine and Safe
Area Gorazde. His latest work, Footnotes in Gaza, is an investigation
into two little-known and long-forgotten massacres in 1956 in the
southern...
Nahr
al-Bared's economic recovery hampered by military siege
Uruknet January 18,
2010 - More than two years after the end of the fighting, the war-torn
Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, located in northern Lebanon,
is far from the model the Lebanese government has promised the camp
would become. Instead, reconstruction of the camp is delayed, the area
is a military zone with restricted access, and the camp's economy...
Repression
continues: Eight Arrested Following a Night Raid in Ni'ilin
Uruknet January 18,
2010 - Four residents of Ni'ilin have been arrested last night during a
military incursion into the West Bank village. Four others, who were
not home at the time of the raid surrendered themselves in the morning.
These recent arrests are a part of a concerted assault on the popular
movement and the arrest of three prominent organizers...
Disaster
Capitalism Headed to Haiti
Uruknet January 18,
2010 - Since the 19th century, America dominated Haiti. Before the
quake, a proxy paramilitary Blue Helmet force occupied the country,
dispatched not for peacekeeping but iron-grip control. Worse still, it
was the first time ever that UN forces supported a coup d'etat
government, the one Washington installed after US Marines kidnapped
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, forcibly exiled him...
Interview:
Jesse Hagopian Witness to a nightmare
Uruknet January 18,
2010 - ...ON SATURDAY, Hillary Clinton flew into Haiti to oversee the
relief effort--supposedly. But I think her trip to Haiti tells you all
you need to know: They had to shut down the airport for three hours so
she could land, which meant that no actual aid flights could come in.
And this happened at a really...
Bush,
Clinton and the crimes of US imperialism in Haiti
Uruknet January 18,
2010 - The Obama administration has announced that former presidents
Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will head the fundraising for relief
efforts in the wake of the Haiti earthquake. In his radio speech
Saturday, Obama declared: "These two leaders send an unmistakable
message to the people of Haiti and the world. In a moment of need,
the...
Bethlehem - Paltelegraph - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attended, on Monday evening in a celebration of the Armenian community in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. President Abbas said in a speech on the occasion of the Patriarch of the Armenians: "We will not hesitate to work for peace, and we have no other choice but peace, and through...
What time / Palestinian medic:"I mean the death of people sitting in the streets"
Gaza, January 18, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) -"I mean the death of people sitting in the streets"Palestinian medic speaks of the "Paltelegraph Press" on Amaaecath terrible during the aggression.Witnesses on the first row of war crimes made them live the last of the innocent Alzfrat Gaza medics moved the kill, the living and the fragments .. And blood-stained memories Paltelegraph - Gaza...
Call for Palestinians to investigate Gaza 'crimes'
Palestinian human rights activists have called on authorities in the West Bank and Gaza to investigate allegations of war crimes carried out by their forces. The accusations come from a United Nations report into the Israel's Cast Lead offensive in Gaza last year. Palestinian militants are accused of attacking Israeli civilians, as well as torturing and executing suspected Palestinian informers....
Israeli settlers arrested in mosque arson investigation
Israeli police have arrested 10 people as part of investigations into an arson attack on a West Bank mosque. Police carried out a pre-dawn raid on the Yitzhar settlement, near the Palestinian town Yasuf, where the mosque was attacked last month. They are investigating whether there is a link between those arrested and the arson attack, police sources said. The...
Israel detains 16 Palestinians
West Bank, January 18, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli occupation forces detained 16 Palestinians on Monday from Ramallah and Jerusalem in the West Bank. Ten Israeli military vehicles invaded Ramallah and detained number of Palestinians claiming that they are "wanted". They kidnapped seven of them captured north of Ramallah. Also, they kidnapped Khaled Dawood, 22, Yosef Dawood, 25, Ali Dawood,...
The National 18 Jan 2010 - Worst flooding in a decade hits Egypt, Jordan and Israel, destroying homes and blocking roads and knocking out power.
Israel targets Palestinian anti-wall activists
The National 18 Jan 2010 - Israel has arrested dozens of Palestinian activists since December, in an apparent attempt to crack down on protests against the barrier.
Iran threatened by female activists
The National 17 Jan 2010 - Authorities in Tehran are in a quandary over how to negate the growing force of women protesters.
AlJazeera 18 Jan 2010 - Tehran reconsidering relations with Britain following recent tensions.
Barak in Turkey to repair ties
AlJazeera 17 Jan 2010 - Israeli defence minister visits Ankara days after diplomatic feud between two nations.
Alternative Information Center
Repression continues: Eight Arrested Following a Night Raid in Ni'ilinAlternative Information Center 18 Jan 2010 - Four residents of Ni'ilin have been arrested last night during a military incursion into the West Bank village. Four others, who were not home at the time of the raid surrendered themselves in the morning. These...
PNN 18 Jan 2010 - Health officials in Israel are subjecting many female Ethiopian immigrants to a controversial long-term birth control drug in what Israeli women’s groups allege is a racist policy to reduce the number of black babies. The contraceptive, known as Depo Provera, which is given by injection every three months, is considered by many doctors as a birth control method of last resort because...
Israel's Barak visits Turkey in wake of row
PNN 18 Jan 2010 - Israel's defence minister has gone to Turkey for talks, in the wake of a diplomatic row which has further soured relations between the two countries. Ehud Barak met Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, and will also hold discussions with his counterpart. It comes days after Israel apologised to Turkey after a minister publicly humiliated Turkey's ambassador. Israeli-Turkish relations have deteriorated since Turkey...
Israel's military continues to target anti wall protest organizers
PNN 18 Jan 2010 - Four Palestinian civilians were kidnapped by Israeli troops during a pre dawn invasion targeting the village of Nil'in, central West Bank. Israeli troops told their families that they have been kidnapped for their involvement in the weekly nonviolent protests against the Israeli built wall on villager's lands.Around 100 Israeli soldiers stormed the small village near Ramallah. Troops searched a number of homes...
Jeruslalem Post 18 Jan 2010 - Israeli humanitarian efforts will reach into some countries with which it does not have relations.
Livni's brother praises Moshe Feiglin
Jeruslalem Post 18 Jan 2010 - Kadima head slammed in faction meeting.
IDF teams comb rubble for last survivors
Jeruslalem Post 18 Jan 2010 - Grim mood descends as rescue missions in Haiti increasingly become body-recovery efforts.
Dahlan rejects Hamas offer to enter Gaza
Jeruslalem Post 18 Jan 2010 - Former PA offical misses mother's funeral, doesn't want to spark clashes that would hurt Fatah men.
1 dead, 1 missing in Arava flash floods
Jeruslalem Post 18 Jan 2010 - IDF airlifts four people to safety from stranded truck in dramatic rescue broadcast live.
Court makes it easier for terror victims to sue groups responsible for attacks
Jeruslalem Post 18 Jan 2010 - Victims of Palestinian terror attacks will now be able to deliver lawsuits to accessible senior representatives of the organizations responsible for them.
'I'd be arrested to defend IDF soldiers'
Jeruslalem Post 18 Jan 2010 - In CNN interview, Livni says she's willing to be a "test case" to speak up for army's actions in Cast Lead.
Merkel backs tougher sanctions on Iran
Jeruslalem Post 18 Jan 2010 - PM, 6 cabinet members in Berlin to meet German counterparts, discuss Schalit release efforts.
Iran: Professor's death will be avenged
Jeruslalem Post 18 Jan 2010 - Ahmadinejad claims Teheran University nuclear scientist was assassinated in "Zionist style."
IPS NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, Jan 18 (IPS) - Recent inter-factional clashes in Lebanon's Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp once more illustrated the fragile security situation in some of its Palestinian camps. Lebanese plans to take over security within the camps are rejected by the Palestinians.
EGYPT: Economists Blame 'Neo-liberalism' for Region's Woes
IPS CAIRO, Jan 18 (IPS) - Egypt embarked on "neo-liberal" economics more than three decades ago reorienting its socialist-oriented policies towards those of the "free market." Now, however, many critics call the strategy a failure and blame it for the country's rampant poverty and unemployment.
MIDEAST: Israel Jails Palestinian Peace Activists
IPS RAMALLAH, Jan 18 (IPS) - Israel has long argued that Palestinians should pursue their political objectives in a non-violent way. However, several prominent Palestinian peace activists have recently been arrested and jailed for doing just that.
MIDEAST: Turkey Going Its Own Way
IPS WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (IPS) - The recent diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel has raised questions about the future of relations between the two closest allies of the United States in the region and the direction of the markedly independent foreign policy agenda that Turkey has pursued in recent years.
PCHR
International Solidarity Movement
Eight arrested following a night raid in Ni’lin1/18/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - Popular Struggle Coordination Committee - Four residents of Ni'ilin have been arrested last night during a military incursion into the West Bank village. Four others, who were not home at the time of the raid surrendered themselves in the morning. These recent arrests are a part of a concerted assault on the popular movement and the arrest of three prominent organizers from the village last Wednesday. At around 3:00am tonight, a large military force invaded the village of Ni'ilin to stage mass arrests of residents suspected of participating in demonstrations against the Wall. During the incursion, over ten houses were raided and ransacked. Tonight's raid is the 13th staged in the village since 16 December. In this period alone, 16 of the village's residents have been detained on various charges relating to anti-Wall protests, including three prominent organizers last Wednesday.
Beit Hannoun demonstrates to reclaim their land
1/18/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - ISM Gaza - Today the 18th January 2010 four International Solidarity Movement activists participated in a demonstration to reclaim Palestinian Land in Beit Hannoun, northern Gaza. The demonstration was organized by the Local Initiative Beit Hannoun Group and around 15 activists attended. Activists gathered in front of the Agricultural University College which now lays in rubble after it was bombed during operation Cast Lead. Activists then walked towards the border chanting "the occupation must stop" and "open Gaza's borders" along the way. The demonstrators stopped at 250 metres from the border. Saber Zanin, the director of Local Initiative Beit Hannoun, described how farmers face being shot at on a daily basis as they attempt to work their lands that lie in the buffer zone. This, he insisted, can no longer be tolerated by the International Community.
Israel jails Palestinian peace activists
1/18/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - Mel Frykberg, Inter Press Service - Israel has long argued that Palestinians should pursue their political objectives in a non-violent way. However, several prominent Palestinian peace activists have recently been arrested and jailed for doing just that. Abdallah Abu Rahme, 39, the coordinator of the Bi'lin Popular Committee, which has challenged Israel's illegal expropriation of Palestinian land both in an Israeli court and a Canadian one, has been charged with "illegal arms possession, stone throwing and incitement. " The "illegal arms possession" charge relates largely to a protest exhibition Abu Rahme had made out of spent tear-gas canisters and plastic-coated rubber bullets, shot by Israeli soldiers, and assembled to form a large peace sign. The canisters and bullets had been aimed at unarmed demonstrators protesting Israel's separation wall which divides Bi'lin villagers from their agricultural land.
Don’t be Complicit in Israel’s Apartheid: Boycott the 2010 Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival
1/18/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - A Joint Statement by PACBI and PSCABI - The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and the Palestinian Students"˜ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI) call on students, lecturers and film-makers to boycott the 13th International Student Film Festival, scheduled for June 2010 in the city of Tel Aviv. PACBI and PSCABI believe that this festival, as with similar cultural initiatives supported by the Israeli government, is openly designed to whitewash the crimes of Israeli apartheid. Festival organizers have highlighted the aim of the festival, noting that it is "a unique cultural and social means to presenting a different Israel to the world, [an] Israel which supports and invests in pluralism, culture and equal opportunity. "This language reveals - as did similar endeavors by the South African Apartheid regime - a cynical and systematic attempt at manipulating world opinion. "
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The Guardian 18 Jan 2010 - Last week you published several articles criticising my decision to ban al-Muhajiroun, Islam4UK, and the other offshoots of what is essentially one organisation ( Media-savvy designer Islamists must not distract us from the real danger , 14 January;...
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Members of the Israel Air Force's air rescue unit airlifted on Monday four men stranded on a truck in the middle of flood caused by the massive rainfall which hitting Israel in recent days. ...
Knesset passes no-confidence vote during PM's Germany visit
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - The Knesset passed on Monday a no-confidence vote against the cabinet entitled "Benjamin Netanyahu's governments' failing foreign policy," as the PM and several top ministers visited Germany. ...
Bnei Menashe less welfare-dependent than most Israelis
Ha'aretz 17 Jan 2010 - New immigrants from northeast India are half as likely to require welfare payments than the average Israeli, according to the first socioeconomic study of this immigrant group. ...
Disabled Palestinian boy forced to travel 3 hours to get to school
Ha'aretz 17 Jan 2010 - Muamman Abu Kwaik, a quadriplegic 5-year-old boy with cerebral palsy, leaves his home in the East Jerusalem town of Shoafat at 6 A.M. every day and travels for three hours before he reaches the rehabilitative kindergarten he attends on the western side of the city, a mere 35 minutes away. ...
Netanyahu: Direct your criticism at me, leave my wife alone
Ha'aretz 18 Jan 2010 - Direct your criticism at me and leave my wife and children be, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters on Monday, in a first public defense of his wife Sarah amid recently surfaced allegations that she mistreated a former employee of the Netanyahu couple. ...
Relief Web 18 Jan 2010 - Source: Reuters - AlertNet
Letter dated 12 January 2010 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (A/ES-10/475–S/2010/22)
Relief Web 18 Jan 2010 - Source: UN General Assembly, UN Security Council
Identical letters dated 12 January 2010 from the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council (S/2010/21)
Relief Web 18 Jan 2010 - Source: UN Security Council
OPT - Cast Lead Aggression 1st Anniversary, Day 23: Coming Home - Winter in Tents in Juhr Ad-Dik, Middle Gaza
Relief Web 18 Jan 2010 - Source: Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia: CERF Funding by Country (2009) - Summary (01-01-2009 to 31-12-2009)
Relief Web 18 Jan 2010 - Source: OCHA
OPT: The Humanitarian Monitor - Dec 2009
Relief Web 18 Jan 2010 - Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
YNet News 18 Jan 2010 - Mayor requests external legal advisor to assist in putting off implementation of court order calling for evacuation of illegal Jewish structure in east Jerusalem after city's advisor says order must be carried out immediately
Gaza also flooded; Palestinians blame IDF
YNet News 18 Jan 2010 - Palestinians say IDF made situation worse by opening dam flooding many houses. State of emergency declared in West Bank; vehicles, house catch fire
Shimshon insubordinate soldier discharged
YNet News 18 Jan 2010 - In unprecedented move, IDF dismisses soldier under clause of 'bad conduct' after showing no remorse for waving sign against settlement evacuation at Western Wall induction ceremony
Report: Iran city prosecutor assassinated
YNet News 18 Jan 2010 - Vali Haji Gholizadeh, prosecutor of Khoy city, shot dead in front of home Monday night, just six days after remote-controlled bomb killed nuclear physicist in Tehran
MKs clash over World Kadima appointment
YNet News 18 Jan 2010 - After party Chairwoman Tzipi Livni announced she is appointing MK Ronnie Bar-On as head of World Kadima following MK Eli Aflalo's resignation, outraged MK Hermesh accuses Livni of not acting with transparency. In response, Bar-On calls Hermesh 'loser' says will not take appointment
16 Jan 2010 - The human rights community in Israel condemns the extreme silencing of protest in Israel, silencing that has become particularly blatant and violent recently in East Jerusalem.
Daily Star 18 Jan 2010 Taliban gunmen launched a brazen assault on the center of Kabul Monday, with suicide bombers blowing themselves up at several locations and militants battling security forces from inside a shopping center engulfed in flames. The insurgents failed in an apparent attempt to seize state buildings but demonstrated their ability to cause mayhem.
Tehran vows revenge on Israel, US over professor's death
Daily Star 18 Jan 2010 Iran vowed Monday to take revenge on Israel and the US for the slaying last week of a physics professor in a mysterious bomb attack, the official news agency reported. Iranian officials have blamed the bombing on an exiled opposition group known as the People's Mujahideen, accusing it of acting on behalf of Israel and the US.
Merkel urges Iran sanctions as Netanyahu visits Berlin
Daily Star 18 Jan 2010 Germany will prepare possible further sanctions against Iran in the coming weeks if there is no change in Tehran's stance on its nuclear program, Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. Six world powers, including Germany, discussed the prospects for further sanctions over Iran's nuclear work in New York on Saturday.
Israel jails Palestinian activists over peaceful demonstrations
Daily Star 18 Jan 2010 Israel has long argued that Palestinians should pursue their political objectives in a nonviolent manner. But several prominent Palestinian peace activists have recently been arrested and jailed for doing just that. Abdullah Abu Rahme, 39, the coordinator of the Bi'lin Popular Committee, which has challenged Israel's illegal expropriation of Palestinian land both in an Israeli court and a Canadian one.
Iraq province gives Saddam loyalists 24 hours to leave
Daily Star 18 Jan 2010 Local government officials warned Saddam Hussein loyalists on Monday to move out of the Shiite province of Najaf in central Iraq within 24 hours or face an "iron fist." They demanded the exodus following a meeting to discuss security in the wake of a triple bomb attack last week in Najaf, about 150 kilometers south of Baghdad, which left up to 15 people dead.
Rights groups press Hamas to allow war-crimes investigation
Daily Star 18 Jan 2010 Palestinian human rights groups pressured Hamas on Monday to allow an independent investigation into whether it committed war crimes while fighting Israel last winter - an unusual public demand of the Islamic group that runs Gaza. The pressure by 11 Palestinian groups came as Amnesty International accused Israel of "suffocating" Gaza with its blockade of the 1.4 million Palestinians there.
Iranian, Iraqi commanders hold talks on border dispute
Daily Star 18 Jan 2010 Iranian and Iraqi commanders expressed hope after a meeting on Monday the two neighbors would resolve "misunderstandings" over their joint border, Iranian media reported. Earlier this month the two countries' foreign ministers said Tehran and Baghdad had begun talks, after a small contingent of Iranian troops moved into an oilfield inside Iraqi territory in December and Iraq vowed it would not give up an inch of land.
Iran tries five people over December unrest, suspects may face death penalty
Daily Star 18 Jan 2010 Five people detained during violent anti-government demonstrations in Iran last month went on trial on Monday on charges that may be punishable by the death penalty, official media reported. It was the first trial held over unrest on Ashura, the day of ritual Shiite mourning that fell on December 27, and it was a further sign of the authorities" determination to put an end to protests that rocked Iran after last year's disputed election.
Two dead after worst flooding in Egypt's Sinai for 16 years
Daily Star 18 Jan 2010 Two people died, at least 13 were hurt and dozens missing as heavy rains and floods pounded Egypt's Sinai, while five ports were closed due to the bad weather, officials said on Monday. The Ras Sidr area on the west coast of the peninsula saw the heaviest flooding on Sunday night and rescue services used rubber rafts to search for the injured and those trapped in their homes, an official said.
Yemen will target Al-Qaeda fighters as long as threat persists says minister
Daily Star 18 Jan 2010 Yemeni forces will strike Al-Qaeda extremists for as long as they pose a threat, the interior minister warned, as the Islamist group denied government claims of having killed six of its leaders. "These strikes will not be the last as long as terrorist elements target state security and stability and institutions," said Major General Mutahar Rashad al-Masri, quoted on Monday by state news agency Saba.
Two UK terror suspects win case against state
Daily Star 18 Jan 2010 Two terror suspects won the right Monday to seek compensation from the British government over the restrictions imposed upon their activities since 2006. The High Court ruling delivers another blow to Britain's system of so-called "control orders," which officials say is necessary to keep tabs on terror suspects who can't be brought to trial without revealing sensitive intelligence information.
Palestinian Information Center
IOF troops round up 17 citizens including father and his sonPIC 18 Jan 2010 - IOF soldiers stormed the home of Abdulfattah Shallade in Sa'ir village, Al-Khalil district, at dawn Monday and rounded him up along with his son Ziyad after ransacking the family home.
Detainee in Abbas's jail taken to hospital
PIC 18 Jan 2010 - Hakim Shalalde, municipality council member of Sa'ir village, has been taken from his detention cell in the jails of the PA security in Ramallah to hospital after his condition worsened.
Hamas welcomes Kuwaiti role in reconciliation efforts
PIC 18 Jan 2010 - Hamas on Monday welcomed any Kuwaiti role in forging inter-Palestinian reconciliation, denying a website report quoting one of its officials that said there was nothing new in the Kuwaiti efforts.
Bardawil: Hamas welcomes Amnesty’s report on Gaza siege
PIC 18 Jan 2010 - Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil said that his Movement welcomes the report issued by Amnesty international in which it demanded Israel to end its blockade on the impoverished Gaza Strip.
Abu Sha’ar deplores Israeli settlers’ assault on Palestinian girl in J’lem
PIC 18 Jan 2010 - Dr. Taleb Abu Sha’ar strongly denounced the physical assault by police-escorted fanatic Israeli settlers on a 16-year-old girl in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in occupied Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa foundation warns of repeated subsidence incidents in Silwan
PIC 18 Jan 2010 - Al-Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage warned of the repeated cave-ins happening in Silwan neighborhood after a new subsidence damage caused by Israeli excavations was reported in the area.
Muslim Brotherhood issues edict forbidding importing goods from Israel
PIC 18 Jan 2010 - The Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan has prohibited the import of goods from Israel, describing it as normalization with the Israeli occupation and a boost to its economy.
National committee for detainees slams Israeli decision to banish 14 prisoners
PIC 18 Jan 2010 - The committee for prisoners affiliated with the national and Islamic forces deplored Israel for threatening to exile 14 detainees, saying that these threats reflect the policy of ethnic cleansing.
MP Khudari initiates fund-raising campaign for Haiti
PIC 18 Jan 2010 - MP Jamal Al-Khudari, the head of the popular committee against the siege, has announced the start of a campaign to collect donations for the devastated Caribbean nation Haiti on Monday.
Erdogan slams Muslim leaders’ response to suffering of Gaza people
PIC 18 Jan 2010 - Turkish premier Recep Erdogan on Sunday condemned the passive positions of Muslim leaders towards the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza strip as “pathetic.”
LA Times 17 Jan 2010 - A Spanish lawmaker was horrified to learn that the FBI had used an online photograph of him to create an image showing what Osama bin Laden might look like today.
New York Times 18 Jan 2010 - Rights groups said an investigation into Hamas’s actions last winter was needed to maintain the credibility of Palestinians who want to see Israel punished for its actions during the war.
World Briefing | Middle East: Iran: Vow of Revenge for a Killing
New York Times 18 Jan 2010 - Iranian officials have blamed an exiled opposition group for the killing of a physics professor in a bomb attack last week, accusing it of acting on behalf of Israel and the United States.
Observatory: Desert Spider Discovery on Jordan-Israel Border
New York Times 18 Jan 2010 - In a cross-border study, biologists from Israel and Jordan found a new spider species, Cerbalus aravensis, living in Arava Valley sand dunes.
Israeli Defense Minister Visits Turkey to Mend Frayed Ties
New York Times 18 Jan 2010 - Ehud Barak traveled to Turkey on Sunday to try to smooth over recent tensions that have further frayed the traditionally strong ties between the two countries.
Lonely Trek to Radicalism for Terror Suspect
New York Times 17 Jan 2010 - Behind Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s journey from gifted student to terrorism suspect was a struggle between an investment in this life and a longing for the next.
6 Major Powers Move Closer to Considering More Iran Sanctions
New York Times 17 Jan 2010 - China, however, kept to its position that it opposed new sanctions from the United Nations Security Council over Iran’s nuclear program.
Palestine Monitor - 18 Jan 2010 - January 14, 2010: a concert in Sheikh Jarrah featuring the politically-charged musical groups DAM and System Ali. January 15, 2010: the weekly demonstration against house evictions at the same location. The problem: only one permit for public gatherings was issued for the week. The result: mass...
Israel using negotiations as cover for expansionism
Palestine Monitor - 18 Jan 2010 - Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Barghouthi said on Sunday that returning to negotiations with Israel is not possible until a complete settlement standstill, including in occupied East Jerusalem, is enforced, as well as population growth, during a reception for the European Council. Gilo...
The Gaza Freedom March
Mondoweiss - 18 Jan 2010 - "It was meant to be a historic non-violent protest in Gaza against Israel’s blockade. But forces are quick to converge in the Middle East against those who work for peace." The author of the following report, Barnabe Geisweiller, a Canadian student at the Columbia Journalism School...
Birthright map gives the West Bank to the settlers and Gaza to Egypt
Mondoweiss - 18 Jan 2010 - A Mondoweiss reader has sent along the following map that is used in the orientation materials for Birthright trips to Israel. For those who don’t know, Birthright Israel is a program that gives free 10-day trips to Jewish young adults between ages 18-26 to build a...
Dr. Mads Gilbert returns to North America recounting the horrors of Gaza a year ago
Mondoweiss - 18 Jan 2010 - "The boy with the destroyed brain did not need anaesthetic; he could no longer feel anything. The other lay in an artificial coma with intravenous anaesthetic agents to soften the pain and allow the ventilator to work without resistance from the boy’s own breathing. A large...
Doubts re Iran won’t deter neocon stampede
Mondoweiss - 18 Jan 2010 - Here are two reports of doubts re Iran’s nuclear program (thanks to Dan Sisken ). First, in the Times online, Israeli general Brigadier-General Uzi Eilam says that Iran is not a nuclear threat : A general who was once in charge of Israel’s nuclear weapons has claimed that...
Haiti Gaza (II)
Mondoweiss - 17 Jan 2010 - Phil is not the only one making the connection between the international outpouring of support for Haiti, and the general official indifference towards the suffering in Gaza. Akiva Eldar sees it as well : The remarkable identification [among Israelis] with the victims of the terrible tragedy in...
Repression continues: Eight Arrested Following a Night Raid in Ni'ilin
Alternative Information Center - 18 Jan 2010 - Four residents of Ni'ilin have been arrested last night during a military incursion into the West Bank village. Four others, who were not home at the time of the raid surrendered themselves in the morning. These recent arrests are a part of a concerted assault on...
Articles
Real per capita income of Palestine plunges
Nadim Kawach, International Solidarity Movement 1/17/2010
Armed with growing global financial aid, the Palestinians in the occupied territories struggled to alleviate years of poverty, unemployment and other economic woes but their efforts have been ruined by Israel’s hostility. In such conditions, the aid was only helpful in preventing a human disaster in 2008.
While their economy recorded modest growth rates in 2008, the per capita income has steadily eroded over the past decade, investment has dived, unemployment deteriorated and the farming sector continued to shrink. Several years of concerted peace moves and international promises of a better life for the Palestinians have failed to produce any results, with their economic problems only getting worse and hopes for a recovery continuing to fade away.
Persistent blockades, destruction of trees, closure of factories and other repressive and punitive measures by Israel in the occupied territories have massacred the Palestinian economy, widened unemployment and poverty, and killed hopes of the young generation of any recovery under Israel.
Economic indicators
“The suffering of the Palestinian people and economy continued in 2008 mainly because of the Israeli policies and practices. Development in the West Bank suffered from continued Israeli settlements and destruction of its geographic and economic scene. In Gaza, which contributes around 44 per cent of the Palestinian GDP, all economic indicators recorded a sharp decline because of the sustained Israeli siege,” the Arab League said in its 2009 economic report. more.. e-mail
David Brooks seeks to reframe Zionism
Scott McConnell, Mondoweiss 1/18/2010
When David Brooks puts forth a definition of Zionism, it merits our attention. Brooks is talented and sometimes incisive, but his main gift may be his acute sense of where Commentary leaves off and the ideological mainstream begins. There he parks, on the often shifting line between the two: kind of a neocon but not, understand, the frothing kind. It’s a slot he shares with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, sometimes described here as the most important Jewish journalist in America, and given the current configuration of power and opinion , a central one.
So in a seeming aside to his column praising Jewish over-representation in the world of intellect (should pro-Iraq-war media figures be quantified as well?) Brooks writes:
“Israel’s technological success is the fruition of the Zionist dream. The country was not founded so stray settlers could sit among thousands of angry Palestinians in Hebron. It was founded so Jews would have a safe place to come together and create things for the world.”
Perhaps also sensing that Americans need a refresher course in the purpose of Zionism, Jeffrey Goldberg immediately reproduced the above paragraph on his blog, appreciating that Brooks “frames Zionism in a completely different way than the news pages do” and “writes smartly about the competition between tribal and worldly Zionism”.
There is a tale in these carefully crafted sentences. David Brooks’s settlers are “stray”—as if some overly enthusiastic campers missed their trail, only to put down their rucksacks in Hebron—and not, as is actually the case, a well-financed salient backed by the American tax code, the Israeli government, and overseen by the IDF.... more.. e-mail
The Wages of Fear in Israel and the US
Ira Chernus and Tom Engelhardt, Antiwar.com 1/18/2010
If a man as fearlessly committed to truth as MLK could make such a mistake, how much more easily can other Americans, including American presidents, fall prey to the same mistake?
A country programmatically gripped by fear – yes, that’s us for more than eight years now. Fear of terrorism to be exact, even as truly terrible things happened in this land and elsewhere, from hurricane Katrina in 2005 to last week’s devastating Haitian earthquake, which should have put our fears into perspective. But no such luck.
Since 9/11, the thought of "terrorism" has seized the U.S. by the throat. People who are terrified of flying for fear of a terrorist attack are perfectly willing to drive a car to the nearest mall without a passing worry, even though traffic fatalities indicate that this is a relatively dangerous act. There were a staggering 34,000 fatal crashes in the U.S. in 2008, 12.25 fatalities for every 100,000 Americans, and carmakers are now intent on featuring ever more immersive Internet-linked "infotainment systems" on dashboards. These are sure to up the distraction level and lead to more deaths on the highway, and yet the country is barely focused on this fact. And mind you, despite all the attention, not one American died in a terrorist attack on an airplane last year. In fact, Nate Silver of the Web site FiveThirtyEight.com recently crunched a few numbers and came up with the following: "the odds of being on [a] given [airplane] departure which is the subject of a terrorist incident have been 1 in 10,408,947 over the past decade."
But keep in mind that fear, wherever directed, is a remarkably profitable emotion to exploit. Just think of those controversial full-body-scan machines now being installed in airports at a cost of up to $170,000 each. One promoter of them is former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff, "who now heads the Chertoff Group, which represents one of the leading manufacturers of whole-body-imaging machines, Rapiscan Systems." He’s part of a growing "full-body-scanner lobby" of ex-Washington politicos just made for our moment.more.. e-mail
Fighting our way to Gaza
Electronic Intifada: 18 Jan 2010 - I should have known that my trip to al-Arish was not going to be straightforward. The last time I set foot in the usually sleepy Sinai tourist town, just 40 kilometers away from the Egypt-Gaza border (or, should I say, iron wall of oppression) at Rafah was back in March 2009, when I met up with the first Viva Palestina convoy. Ten months later, another convoy was on its way to the besieged Strip. Jody McIntyre writes from al-Arish, Egypt.
Nahr al-Bared's economic recovery hampered by military siege
Electronic Intifada: 18 Jan 2010 - More than two years after the end of the fighting, the war-torn Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, located in northern Lebanon, is far from the model the Lebanese government has promised the camp would become. Instead, reconstruction of the camp is delayed, the area is a military zone with restricted access, and the camp's economy is stalled and residents are largely unemployed. Ray Smith reports for Electronic Lebanon.
Marriage under siege close to impossible
Electronic Intifada: 18 Jan 2010 - GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - "If we had money we'd get married right away," says Samir, 23. He has found his bride, but not the money to hold the wedding. The Israeli siege imposed shortly after Hamas's election in early 2006 has ruled out marriage for many. Palestinians traditionally marry young, between 18 and 25, but more and more now pass their mid-twenties single.
In Gaza: 14 Jan 2010 - Ahmad Hammad Electronic Intifada, Live from Palestine It’s a sunny day in the border region east of Beit Hanoun. Aside from a glaring absence of the citrus and olive trees which for decades abounded on this fertile land, finally razed by Israeli military bulldozers, all seems idyllic. “This is the first time I’ve returned here since my friends were killed,” Ahmad Hammad says. He stands at the edge of a vacant plot and gestures to its far end which lies over 1 km from the border separating Israel and the Gaza Strip. “They were over there, I was standing here,” he explains. Hammad, 24, recalls the day two years...
Palestine Chronicle: 18 Jan 2010 - By Ali Jawad 'It seems obvious that [the] effort to communicate fully, will continue to be blocked [...] so long as the possessors of power continue to carry on with impunity their policy of collective imbecilization through ... the mass media.'-- Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America. At the beginning of the New Year, German weekly magazine Der Spiegel ran a controversial report claiming that the Lebanese movement Hezbollah was involved in drug trafficking to finance its “terrorist operations against Israel”. The article proceeded to allege that individuals involved in the cartel had contacts with the central nexus of the resistance movement including its Secretary-General. Needless to state, no factual evidence was cited in support of the claims as in the case of a growing list of previous smear-campaigns. In his widely acclaimed book, ‘Resistance is the Essence of the Islamist Revolution’, director of Conflicts Forum, Alastair Crooke, argues that the West not only suffers from a “blind spot” when it comes to comprehending 'political Islam', but that it regularly employs an historically potent association of Islam with violence to drive in a perception of “reason capsized into madness” when depicting present-day resistance groups. As such, these groups come to symbolize everything that an idealized West isn’t; a big-toothed bogeyman of sorts. The recent allegations made by Der Spiegel touch on these historical stereotypes, and in tune with age-old precedent, they aim to influence policy patterns in one form or another. Before examining potential policy implications, a brief survey of Der...
Palestinian Film Forum Breaking the Cultural Siege on Gaza
Palestine Chronicle: 18 Jan 2010 - By Bianca Zammit and Rada Daniell - Gaza The Palestinian Film Forum (the Forum) was established in 2004 as a branch of the Palestinian Artists Union covering both Gaza and the West Bank. In the last couple of months it has intensified its activities aiming to achieve an ambitious list of tasks and ensure development of Palestinian cinematography and its networking with the other world cinematographies. The Forum recently organized the first film festival in Gaza in many years. The International Al Quds Film Festival took place between 21 and 23 December ‘09 and film makers from 11 Arab countries showed 52 documentary and feature films, two of which were made in cooperation with Spanish and Dutch filming associations. All films focused on Al Quds (Occupied East Jerusalem) or Palestine and explored issues of life under siege and occupation and five of them were awarded Gold Olive prices. Eager to find out more about their work and plans for the future, on 14 January 2010, we met up with the Forum’s founding members, Enas Altawil, Spokeswoman and PR Manager, Zahir Al Kashef, Film and Video Manager and Suad Mhanna, Forum’s President. They told us that Gaza did not have a cinema and that Palestinians in Gaza were deprived of the art of film and opportunities to escape the grim reality of the life under the siege. When we asked if that was because Gazans were not interested in films, PFF founders told us that nothing could be further from the...
Inviting David Brooks to My Class
Palestine Chronicle: 18 Jan 2010 - By M. Shahid Alam On January 12, the New York Times, carried an article by David Brooks on Jews and Israel. It so caught my eye, I decided to bring its conservative author to my class on the economic history of the Middle East. I sent my students the link to this article, asked them to read it carefully, and come to the next class prepared to discuss and dissect its contents. My students recalled various parts of the NYT article but no one explained its substance. They recalled David Brooks’ focus on the singular intellectual achievements of American Jews, the enviable record of Israeli Jews as innovators and entrepreneurs, the mobility of Israel’s new class of innovators, etc. One student even spoke of what was not in the article or in the history of Jews – centuries of Jewish ‘struggle’ to create a Jewish state in Palestine. But they offered no insights on Brooks’ motivation. Why had he decided to brag about Jewish achievements, a temptation normally eschewed by urbane Jews. In my previous class, while discussing Edward Said’s critique of Orientalism, I had discussed how knowledge is suborned by power, how it is perverted by tribalism, and how Western writers had crafted their writings about the Middle East to serve the interests of colonial powers. Not surprisingly, this critique had not yet sunk in. I coaxed my students, asking them directly to explore if David Brooks had an axe (or more than one) to grind. Was there an...
Mubarak's Iron Wall
Palestine Chronicle: 17 Jan 2010 - By Jeremy Salt Early in the 20th century the Zionist leader Vladimir Jabotinsky wrote of the 'iron wall' that would have to be built between the settlers and the indigenous people of Palestine, whom he knew would resist the attempt to take their land to the end. What he meant by an 'iron wall' was the force the Zionists would have to use to subdue the Palestinians if they were to take their land. He did not actually mean a wall according to the dictionary definition of such a structure but that is what has now been built across the West Bank to pen the Palestinians up like the wild animals the Israeli historian Benny Morris says they are. Indeed, the Palestinians have been ghettoised by a variety of walls and 'fences'. There is the monstrous 'separation ' wall weaving in and out of the rapidly disappearing 'green line' separating Palestinian land which had been occupied before the 1967 war from that which was occupied during it. The Gazans live in what has been described as the world's largest open air prison. It could also be likened to a game reserve. Every season is open season and no weapon is banned. The Gazans are enclosed by the sea on one side, patrolled by the Israeli navy so that that fishing boats cannot get out and relief boats cannot get in. They face an Israeli fence on two other sides and a concrete barrier on the border with Egypt. This is now...