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News
International Middle East Media Center
Shiokhy:
“Toxic Settlement Products Buried in West Bank”
IMEMC 21 Jan 2010 -
Friday January 22, 2010 - 02:08, Azmi Shiokhy, head of the Palestinian
Consumer Protection Program in the West Bank, stated that several
Israeli factories in are pumping and burying their toxins in several
areas in the occupied West Bank.
Fayyad
To Participate In Israel’s National Security Conference
IMEMC 21 Jan 2010 -
Friday January 22, 2010 - 01:39, Organizers of the Hertzilia National
Security Conference in Israel stated that Palestinian Prime Minister,
Dr. Salaam Fayyad, would be participating in the conference scheduled
to start by the end of this month.
Indictment
Filed Against Two East Jerusalem Youths
IMEMC 21 Jan 2010 -
Friday January 22, 2010 - 00:18, The Israeli prosecution at the Central
Court in Jerusalem filed on Thursday an indictment against two
Palestinian youths from East Jerusalem, for allegedly planning to
attack Israeli soldiers at the Qaladia terminal.
Palestinian
Families Evacuated from Haiti
IMEMC 21 Jan 2010 -
Thursday January 21, 2010 - 23:42, The Palestine Media Center (PMC)
reported that twelve Palestinians, members of three Palestinian
families in Haiti, were safely evacuated Wednesday from the earthquake
stricken area, with the help of the Palestinian Foreign Ministry.
Presidential
Aid to Netanyahu: Palestinians won’t accept any military presence after
occupation ends
IMEMC 21 Jan 2010 -
Thursday January 21, 2010 - 18:57, Nabeel Abu Rudiyneh, the
spokesperson for the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said on
Thursday that Palestinians will not accept any Israeli military
presence in the future Palestinian state after occupation ends.
The
Israeli military orders families to leave their homes in northern W.B
ready for demolition
IMEMC 21 Jan 2010 -
Thursday January 21, 2010 - 18:22, Israel’s military handed out,
Thursday, demolition orders to three Palestinian owned homes located in
northern West Bank.
Malsin:
No such thing as voluntary deportation
1/21/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Upon landing in New York on Thursday, Ma'an News
Agency's Jared Malsin, a US citizen, said Interior Ministry staff
pressured him into dropping a legal challenge against his deportation
order just two hours after his lawyer left for the day. After signing a
hand-written letter that Malsin said he believed was a "formality,"
ministry staff sent the paper to District Judge Kobi Vardi, who had
presided over Malsin's case, and the judge decided to lift the stay of
deportation order. A motion from Ma'an attorney Castro Daoud,
requesting that his client's hearing continue in his absence, was filed
and pending decision as the ruling to expel the journalist was made.
Malsin was subsequently placed onto an El Al flight to New York. "None
of this was my decision," he emphasized in a phone interview minutes
after arriving at JFK. . .
Israeli
forces take 9 overnight, raid Nablus, Bethlehem, Ramallah
1/21/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israel's channel 10 News said nine Palestinians
were detained during overnight raids in the West Bank, with Palestinain
security sources confirming the detention of two men in raids on
Nablus. Israeli sources said the nine were "wanted," and noted two of
the men were from Nablus, two from Ramallah, and five from Bethlehem.
They were all taken for questioning, the report said. Nablus
Palestinian security sources said several Israeli vehicles stormed
Nablus from the Huwwara military checkpoint at 1:30am, entering several
neighborhoods and ultimately detainingAsid Al-Juneid from the Kamal
Jenblat area, and Khalil Abdul Aziz Jebrin from Rafedia. Beit Ummar -
In the Bethlehem-area town of Beit Ummar, Spokesman of Palestinian
solidarity project Muhammad Ayyad Awad said four were detained and the
home of 60-year-old Muhsen Awad was raided, its owner beaten and his
identity card stolen.
Israeli
forces hand out demolition notices
1/21/2010 - Nablus -
Ma'an - Israeli forces on Thursday handed out three notifications to
families ordering them to demolish their houses in the Karazlafeh area
east of Aqraba, a village south of Nablus. Palestinian official Ghassan
Douglas, who holds the settlement portfolio for the West Bank, told
Ma'an that Israeli forces officially handed notifications without
clarifying the pretext for Atiyeh Fahmy Bani Maniya, Zahi Bani Maniya,
and his brother Zuheir Bani Maniya. Douglas termed the house-demolition
policy a way to drive Palestinians out of the country, and noted
ironically that the new orders came just as US envoy George Mitchell
arrived in Israel. [end]
UN
appoints new UNRWA commissioner general
1/21/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - United Nations Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon appointed a new Commissioner General for the UN Relief and
Works Agency (UNRWA) following the retirement of former head Karen Abu
Zaid in December. According to the UN News, Ban made the decision to
appoint Italian national Filippo Grandi following consultations with
UNRWA's Advisory Commission. The appointment period started on
Wednesday. The 53-year-old Italian served as UNRWA's Deputy
Commissioner General between 2005-7, and according to the UN is a
"strong advocate for the rights and dignity of Palestine refugees and
an excellent manager, he has been instrumental in the success of the
Agency's comprehensive and far-reaching management reforms. He brings
to his new position a record of outstanding service under the banner of
the United Nations. . . "
One
Gaza crossing open, exports continue
1/21/2010 - Gaza -
Ma'an - Israeli authorities opened the Kerem Shalom crossing Thursday,
for the import of limited quantities of aid, fuel and the export of
carnations and strawberries, Palestinian crossings officials said.
Liaison official Raed Fattouh said 82-92 truckloads of humanitarian aid
for the agriculture and commercial goods were expected to be
transferred in, alongside limited quantities of cooking gas and
industrial diesel. The fuel transfer infrastructure at the crossing was
transfered there only in November and December, as Israeli officials
announced the closure of the Nahal Oz crossing, which was equipped with
machinery to transfer large quantities of fuel into Gaza quickly. The
move to Kerem Shalom, according to watchdog agencies, reduces the
amount of fuel it is possible to transfer through, and slows the rate
of transfer.
An
open letter to Benjamin Netanyahu - from the papers
1/21/2010 - Dear
Prime Minister, We are writing on behalf of the World Association of
Newspapers and News Publishers and the World Editors Forum, which
represent 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000
companies in more than 120 countries, to express our serious concern at
the detention and proposed deportation of journalist Jared Malsin.
According to reports, Mr Malsin, editor-in-chief of the
English-language section of the Bethlehem-based Ma'an News Agency and a
US citizen, was returning to Israel from a trip to the Czech Republic
when he was stopped by security services at Ben Gurion International
Airport in Tel Aviv on 12 January. Mr Malsin was detained for "security
reasons" and remains in custody pending a deportation hearing. The
reasons cited for denying entry were "refusing to cooperate" and
violating visa terms, although court documents showed that security
services had compiled a dossier on his journalism "criticizing the
State of Israel" and reports written "inside the [Palestinian]
territories. "
As
UNRWA launches emergency appeal, Canada reduces funding
1/21/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) launched a
campaign seeking 73 million US dollars in support of West Bank
programs, and an additional 249 million for programs in Gaza. The
appeal was launched Monday, as announcements came in from Canada that
the government would be diverting its aid money away from the refugee
agency's general fund, and instead pouring a limited budget into the
construction of courthouses. UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness told Ma'an
on Thursday that while Canada was still donating 11 million to the
emergency fund, the country's contribution had gone down overall. "We
hope Canada sees the sense of continuing donations to the general
fund," Gunness said, noting the fund's focus on the provision of
health, education and prosperity projects. "Instead of providing
untagged core funding, we're just providing the same amount of money
but it's. . . "
Mitchell
in Israel Thursday, Palestine Friday
1/21/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Middle East Envoy for the United States George
Mitchell announced his arrival in the region Thursday, where he will
meet with Israeli officials and resume efforts to kickstart peace talks
between Israel and Palestinians. Mitchell will meet with President
Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, alongside members of the Palestinian
leadership. In Israel Mitchell will meet the country's Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shemon Peres, Foreign Minister Avigdor
Lieberman, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and leader of the opposition
Tzipi Livni. The envoy will address recent concerns in Israel expressed
by Peres, who warned Abbas that continuing the negotiations deadlock
could lead to a third intifada. He told Israel's daily paper Haaretz
that by insisting on a halt to settlement construction and delaying
peace talks, Abbas was "playing with fire. " . . . .
Fayyad
meets Nativity Church deportees in Spain
1/21/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an -Prime Minister Salam Fayyad met with several of the
Nativity Church deportees during his visit to Spain on Wednesday, the
group's spokesperson in Europe Jihad Je'ara said. The deportees, exiled
to Europe following a standoff between the group and Israeli forces in
2002 that saw negotiations mediate their release and expulsion, face
increasing difficulties in their host countries, some of which have
threatened to expel them over the years. Je'ara said the three who
managed to meet with Fayyad explained the details of their
difficulties, and requested the prime minister contact European
governments to smooth over issues. According to Je'ara, Fayyad said he
would look into the cases and promised to make their situations in
exile more tolerable. Those who met with Fayyad were identified by
Je'ara as:Muhammad Abu Said exiled to Italy, Anan Khamis exiled to
Portugal, and Ahmad Hamamra exiled to Spain.
Erekat:
Israel imposing 1-state solution
1/21/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat on Thursday
blasted statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that
Israel would never withdraw from eastern areas of the occupied West
Bank. Erekat termed the statements a direct challenge to the
international community, casting Israel's readiness for peace further
into doubt, by imposing further conditions on negotiations and
announcing Israel's intention to continue its occupation irrespective
of the outcome. "Benjamin Netanyahu has said no to a settlement freeze,
no to sharing Jerusalem, no to the 1967 borders, no to the rights of
Palestinian refugees," Erekat said in a statement. "What are these if
not Israeli preconditions on negotiations that erode any foundation of
hope for the two-state solution? "he added. "We had hoped to hear a
clear commitment to negotiations without preconditions," he continued.
Dweik:
Hamas doesn’t recognize Israel
1/21/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Palestinian Legislative Council speaker Aziz Dweik
on Thursday denied reports by Israeli news outlets that he said on
Wednesday Israel has a right to exist. "The media reports in question
were inaccurate," he said in a statement, adding that since his release
from an Israeli prison last year, Israeli news outlets have repeatedly
misrepresented his views. The Jerusalem Post, an English-language
Israeli newspaper, quoted Dweik as saying on Wednesday that the Islamic
movement has accepted Israel's right to exist and would be prepared to
nullify its charter, which calls for dismantling the state. The remarks
were said to have been made during a meeting in Hebron with British
millionaire David Martin Abrahams, who reportedly maintains close ties
with senior Israeli and British government officials.
Abbas
meets Druze delegation in Ramallah
1/21/2010 - Ramallah
- Ma'an - Mahmoud Abbas met members of the Druze community in Ramallah
on Wednesday. He said the religious minority had historically supported
Palestinians, according to the official Palestinian Authority news
agency Wafa. Speaking at his office in the central West Bank city,
Abbas said the main obstacle to resuming talks with Israel was its
refusal to abide by international agreements. Wahhab Harb, a senior
Druze delegate, threw his support behind the Ramallah-based leader's
approach to stalling negotiations in the absence of a comprehensive
settlement freeze, Wafa reported. [end]
Ban
urges Israel to end settlements
1/21/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israel's settlement construction on occupied
Palestinian territory is hindering Middle East peace efforts, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Thursday. Other policies like
its annexation of East Jerusalem, which remains part of the occupied
territories, and its blockade of Gaza are for the resumption of
long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, he said. "In the
absence of talks, confidence between the parties has diminished," he
told a meeting in New York of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the
Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. "Tensions have risen in
East Jerusalem. People in Gaza and southern Israel continue to suffer
from violence. If we do not move forward on the political process soon,
we risk sliding backwards," he was quoted as saying by the UN News
Centre.
Orthodox
patriarch urges Peres to release jailed minister
1/21/2010 -
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem has appealed
to Israeli President Shimon Peres to pardon a former cabinet minister,
Shlomo Ben Ezri (Shas), who was jailed on corruption charges. In a
letter to Peres, published in the Hebrew-language daily Yedioth
Ahronoth, the patriarch wrote that most of the country's jailed
government officials were treated better than Ben Ezri. "He is a
religious and kind-hearted man, and a father of a family with many
children, a man with good intentions. He gave himself to each of you
without taking into consideration religion, race, or color," Theophilus
wrote. Recounting instances in which Ben Ezri had helped the less
fortunate, the patriarch added, "I fully hope that a person of such
high stature would be allowed to have what is owed to him by society,
and will celebrate when your excellency grants him a pardon. " . . . .
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Palestinian official accuses Jewish settlers of smashing tombstones in cemetery near Nablus.
Elbit to provide laser system to IDF, North America in $50 million deal
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Norway's FM recently told Haaretz that his country's decision to divest the defense contractor wasn't anti-Israeli.
Fatah men charged with attempted murder of Israel cops, soldiers
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - East-Jerusalem residents allegedly alerted police of their intentions to increase potential casualty count.
IDF unit to monitor soldiers' entries on Facebook
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Crackdown a product of Second Lebanon War and the conclusions of the Winograd Committee.
IDF sets up 'Facebook' unit to plug media leaks
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - The Shin Bet has reported several attempts by militant groups to contact IDF soldiers via networking sites.
30 countries joined Israel in mass bio-terror drill
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Drill simulated scenario in which terrorists infected with a virus entered Tel Aviv posing as tourists.
MI Chief: Israel's success battling terror has turned world against us
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Yadlin tells Knesset panel the PA has encouraged international community to question Israel's legitimacy.
Israel razes West Bank caravan built after settlement freeze
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Elon Moreh caravan set up as 'Zionist response' to freeze; forces dismantle foundations for 2 other buildings.
Court extends remand of settlers suspected of mosque arson
Ha'aretz 21 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 21 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 21 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 21 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 21 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 21 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 21 Jan 2010 - Jordanian minister: Attack on Israeli diplomatic convoy was primarily an attack on Jordan.
ANALYSIS / Jordan bombing: Good intelligence, poor execution
Ha'aretz 21 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 21 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 21 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 21 Jan 2010 - Ismail Haniyeh says adhering to cease-fire with Israel protects Gazans from IDF attacks.
Israel
grilled by international experts for child abuse
Uruknet January 21,
2010 - Israel was grilled on Thursday during a meeting of the Committee
on the Rights of the Child (CRC) over its report on the implementation
of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)
reported on Thursday. In a statement to journalists, Minister of State
for Family and Population Affairs Moushira Khattab said...
Israeli
military rule and incarceration procedures
Uruknet January 21,
2010 - Ala Joradat, the program manager of Adameer, a Palestinian human
rights organization that focuses primarily on prisoners, legal aid, and
monitoring, meets with our delegation and tries to unravel the complex
civil and human rights issues that face Palestinians, particularly
those who choose to protest the conditions of the Israeli occupation.
He explains that the prisoners...
The
NGOization of Palestine
Uruknet January 21,
2010 - ...The Palestinian struggle (which does not differentiate
between land stolen from Palestinians in 1948 and land stolen in 1967)
has demanded the right of return for all Palestinian refugees and calls
for Palestine to be a complete whole. But today, almost all NGOs and
foundations call for a "two-state solution" that insists Israel, as
it’s currently...
Qaradawi
slams Abbas
Uruknet January 21,
2010 - A heated exchange of recriminations, name-calling and blame
casting has been raging in occupied Palestine between the Palestinian
Authority (PA) and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood following
scathing criticisms of President Mahmoud Abbas by Qatar-based Sheikh
Youssef El-Qaradawi. Qaradawi, one of the world's most highly respected
living Sunni Islam scholars, reportedly urged both the Arab League...
"Jerusalem
is in danger"
Uruknet January 21,
2010 - Once again, Israel resorts to show trials. Sheikh Raed Salah, a
prominent political and religious leader of the Palestinian minority,
was sentenced on 13 January by an Israeli court to nine months of
imprisonment. This is his second conviction in recent years. This time
the allegation was that he assaulted a policeman and obstructed police
work...
Weekly
Report: On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory 03/2010 (14-20 Jan. 2010)
Uruknet January 21,
2010 - Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law
continued in the OPT during the reporting period (14 – 20 January
2010): Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF wounded 9 Palestinian
civilians, including two children and 3 journalists, in the West Bank.
Seven Palestinian civilians, including 3 journalists, were wounded when
IOF used force to disperse peaceful...
Dweik:
Hamas doesn't recognize Israel
Uruknet January 21,
2010 - Palestinian Legislative Council speaker Aziz Dweik on Thursday
denied reports by Israeli news outlets that he said on Wednesday Israel
has a right to exist. "The media reports in question were inaccurate,"
he said in a statement, adding that since his release from an Israeli
prison last year, Israeli news outlets have repeatedly misrepresented
his views......
CAN
YOU HEAR THE SCREAMS FROM PALESTINE?
Uruknet The very
bastards that scream anti Semitism when a Jewish grave is vandalised
have no problem doing the same to Palestinian graves. The Palestinians
are also screaming….. but the world seems to have its ears plugged.
Waiting for Foxman to issue a statement……. Ha!...
Israel
Continues To Spy on Its Biggest Ally, Another Israeli Spy Arrested by
FBI
Uruknet January 21,
2010 - Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested on
Monday an American scientist on charges of attempting to pass
classified information to Israel. The scientist is accredited for
helping "discover water on the moon". The scientist, Stewart David
Nozette, 52, from Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA. He was approached by an
FBI agent pretending to be...
Netanyahu
demands eternal Israeli presence in West Bank
Uruknet January 20,
2010 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that
Israel must have a presence in the West Bank even after a peace
agreement is achieved, dealing a fresh blow to the visiting US Middle
East envoy’s effort to restart peace talks. Netanyahu said the
experience of rocket attacks from the Lebanese and Gaza borders means
Israel must...
GAZA
IS NOT ALONE; THE ENTIRE WEST BANK IS UNDER SIEGE
Uruknet January 20,
2010 - In a new effort to discourage, in fact stop, foreign nationals
from volunteering in Humane organisations in the Occupied Territories,
Israel has stopped issuing work permits to them. Israel has been
successful in maintaining the siege on Gaza by not allowing foreigners
to enter the area with much needed medical and building equipment.
That, apparently is...
"Humanity
cannot be divided": Gaza shows solidarity with Haiti
Uruknet January 20,
2010 - "We have been living a man-made disaster actually for the past
62 years," said Palestinian parliamentarian Jamal al-Khudari, a
chairman of the Gaza-based Committee to Break the Siege. "We would like
to send out a message of solidarity to the people of Haiti, who are now
facing a natural disaster. Despite the harsh conditions Gaza people...
West Bank, January 21, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli occupation forces detained 4 Palestinians from Bait Ommar village in Hebron in operations carried out Thursday dawn. IOF soldiers arrested the 4 Palestinians in Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem then they transferred them to investigation centers. The detainees are Mahmoud Slibi, 25, Jamal Khalil, 18, Mohammed Awad, 32, and Alam Brighit, 18....
Gaza: Political leaders call for general elections to be held on time
Gaza, January 21, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Several Palestinian political leaders in the Gaza Strip called on Wednesday for holding the general presidential and legislative elections in all the Palestinian territories on time. However, most also said that a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah must come first. The politicians agreed during a political workshop held in Gaza City that postponing...
Peres warns Abbas of third intifada
Palestine, January 21, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli President Shimon Peres warned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that continuing the impasse in negotiations with Israel could lead to a third intifada. He added that "in delaying, Abbas is playing with fire." On Sunday, Peres told Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store about his discussions with Abbas. Store told Peres that...
UN 'deeply concerned' about health system in Gaza
Gaza, January 21, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - The United Nations on Wednesday said it was "deeply concerned" about the deterioration of the health care system in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli closures of the Hamas-ruled territory. A year after Israel's devastating offensive in Gaza the borders of the impoverished territory remain mostly sealed, preventing hundreds of patients each month...
Israel Detains 2 Palestinians
Ramallah, January 20, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli occupation forces detained 2 Palestinians from Ramallah in the West Bank in operations carried out Wednesday dawn. The detainees were transferred to Israeli investigation centers for questioning. In the last 48 hours, Israeli occupation forces invaded different governorates in West Bank and broke into some houses claiming that they were searching for "...
The National 20 Jan 2010 - UN estimates a total loss of $268m to region's farming sector, which it says is impossible for farmers to recover because of other restrictions.
Forum seeks ways of bringing Gaza Strip back to life
The National 20 Jan 2010 - Delegates at a three-day forum in Doha review how desperate living, working and health conditions have become in Gaza after the three-year blockade by Israel.
US could tip its hand on peace plan during West Bank visit
The National 20 Jan 2010 - When George Mitchell arrives in the West Bank today, he will meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders under pressure to stand their ground.
Alternative Information Center
Three More Arrested in Ni'ilin Night RaidAlternative Information Center 21 Jan 2010 - Three residents of Ni'ilin were arrested in a pre-dawn imilitary incursion into the village of Ni'ilin today. This is the 15th time such a raid was conducted in the past month in order to apprehend Palestinian...
The World Cup, the Olympics and the Occupation
Alternative Information Center 20 Jan 2010 - A New York City-based organization, Adalah-NY, recently led an effort to get the New York Mets and Major League Baseball to cancel a fundraising event at Shea Stadium for the pro-settler Hebron Fund. The world of...
An Important Lesson for Knesset Member Zahalka
Alternative Information Center 20 Jan 2010 - In the moment of truth in the television drama played out on Erev Hadash , the Israeli liberal becomes an aggressive racist—an obvious product of the nationalistic model dubbed “Jewish democratic state” which denies the question of...
Israel Suddenly Expels Detained Ma'an Journalist
Alternative Information Center 20 Jan 2010 - For the first time in a week, journalist Jared Malsin was allowed to use his mobile phone on Wednesday morning to inform Ma'an that he was being placed onto an El Al flight to New York....
PNN 20 Jan 2010 - Associated Press is reporting that 3 of the 22 defense industry contractors arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada and Miami, Florida this week during a bribery sting are of Israeli origin, and were working for Israeli-based firms. he sting was part of an [[FBI]] operation targeting corrupt contractors who were attempting to bribe who they believed was a procurement officer from an African...
The case of Jared Malsin - expelled by Israel
PNN 20 Jan 2010 - It probably has not made the headlines in most press around the world, but Israel has recently decided to expel an American journalist working for the respected Ma'an News Agency, based out of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. For the first time in a week, journalist Jared Malsin was allowed to use his mobile phone on Wednesday morning to inform Ma'an that he...
Israel withholding NGO employees' work permits
PNN 20 Jan 2010 - The Interior Ministry has stopped granting work permits to foreign nationals working in most international nongovernmental organizations operating in the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, Haaretz has learned. In an apparent overhaul of regulations that have been in place since 1967, the ministry is now granting the NGO employees tourist visas only, which bar them from working. Organizations affected by the apparent...
Jeruslalem Post 21 Jan 2010 - Group's PAC to increase contributions to US Congressional candidates by at least 50% in 2010.
Israel hopes NIE will roast Iran
Jeruslalem Post 21 Jan 2010 - US and European Union vow to keep up pressure on Iran to provide details about nuclear program.
Greek MP returns 'stolen' Golan wine
Jeruslalem Post 21 Jan 2010 - Deputy PM of Greece sends back gift because wine was produced on land which "belongs to Syria."
HRW: Israel more hostile than ever
Jeruslalem Post 21 Jan 2010 - Foreign Ministry: "What truly became more hostile is the stance of groups like Human Rights Watch."
Haiti President thanks Israel for help
Jeruslalem Post 21 Jan 2010 - IDF to decide Sunday on how long aid and rescue mission will stay on earthquake-stricken island.
Obama: I misjudged the will for peace
Jeruslalem Post 21 Jan 2010 - Israel: We warned the US its strategy was wrong; PM meets Mitchell, won't offer any more gestures to PA.
Al-Qaida may use Sudanese refugee influx to infiltrate Israel
Jeruslalem Post 21 Jan 2010 - Netanyahu says barrier needed along Egyptian border to keep out terrorists, drug smugglers, illegal migrants; but construction may take up to 3 years.
PM's stance on foreign workers 'racist and hypocritical'
Jeruslalem Post 21 Jan 2010 - Hotline for Migrant Workers slams premier after he says illegal workers infiltrating Israel from Sinai are causing social and economic damage.
FPA denies activists pose as journalists to work in PA
Jeruslalem Post 21 Jan 2010 - Foreign journalists in Israel are already used to waiting a great deal of time, often more than six months, to get their work visas renewed, says FPA official.
IPS JERUSALEM, Jan 14 (IPS) - A bizarre diplomatic incident - even by the Byzantine-like standards of the old near East - has threatened already strained relations between Israel and Turkey.
Q&A: 'Religious State, Recipe for Disaster'
IPS RAMALLAH, Jan 19 (IPS) - When Omar Abdel-Razeq was appointed finance minister following the election of Hamas in January 2006, the BBC characterised the post as the "least enviable job in the new Palestinian government."
MIDEAST: Harsher Gaza War Looming on Horizon?
IPS RAMALLAH, Jan 19 (IPS) - According to several prominent Palestinians and Israelis another major Israeli military assault on Gaza, even harsher than last year’s Operation Cast Lead, is imminent. But will this change anything and have the underlying causes behind the previous bloody war been addressed?
LEBANON: Spy On Thy Neighbour
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.
PCHR
International Solidarity Movement
Three more arrested in Ni’ilin night raid1/21/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - Popular Struggle Coordination Committee - Three residents of Ni'ilin were arrested in a pre-dawn imilitary incursion into the village of Ni'ilin today. This is the 15th time such a raid was conducted in the past month in order to apprehend Palestinian anti-Wall activists. Today's arrests are a continuation of a concerted assault on the popular struggle movement and its leadership. Shortly after 3 am tonight, dozens of Israeli soldiers participated in a night-time incursion on the Wes Bank village of Ni'ilin as part of a prolonged arrest campaign against the village held by the army in the past month. Among those arrested was also Mustafa Amirah, a man in his 50s, who was only arrested because his son was not at home when the soldiers arrived to arrest him, and in an illegitimate and illegal attempt to apply pressure on him. During the raid soldiers broke into five additional houses, but carried no arrests in them.
Bradford Palestine Solidarity Group hosts Palestine Awareness Week
1/21/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - Bradford Palestine Solidarity Group - As Palestinians continue to suffer in occupied Palestine, actions and events are being held in the UK and Europe. The University of Bradford Union (UBU), Palestine Return Centre and Let Palestinians Study are organizing Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) and remembrance in Bradford city. The week of actions coincides with the 1st Anniversary of Gaza War which has been commemorated worldwide. Events will run from 1st February to 5th February. Palestine Awareness Week starts Monday 1st February with a live graffiti about Palestine. At 5pm there will be a film screening of Occupation 101 open to students and members of public. The second day will be a day of cultural festivities where Palestinian food, traditional items, and free literature will be provided for people to take away. There will also be presentations of Palestinian cultural history and if possible a performance during lunch.
Shahar Peer relieved as threats of Pro-Palestinian protesters dissipate
1/21/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - Ha'aretz - Shahar Peer's first-round match at the Australian Open passed without incident Wednesday despite threats of a pro-Palestinian protest. Israel's top tennis talent woke up to headlines in Melbourne's The Age newspaper claiming that protesters were planning to target her match against Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic on an outside court. But there was no sign of any trouble during her 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-1 win here over Hradecka. "I heard there was going to be something, but I didn't know what was happening," Peer said. "I'm a tennis player – that's what I'm concentrating on. "Peer may be focusing on tennis, but the protesters are focused squarely on her. Peer's appearances at the season-opening WTA event in Auckland, New Zealand were disrupted by demonstrators against Israel's policies on the Palestinians.
Anshel Pfeffer / IDF in Haiti - Good deeds, good press
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - But the army's heroic efforts in the Caribbean won't diminish criticism of its actions in the Mideast.,
Yitzhak Laor / Is 'Jewish pride' abetting racism?
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Jewish communities for the most part do not dare to defend the victims of the 'new' European racism.,
Top minister to Haaretz: Chances for renewed peace talks are slim
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Obama is holding Israel and the Palestinians equally responsible for the stalemate in the peace process.,
Clinton: We won't yield on demand Iran reveal nuclear program
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton says Europe 'stands together with U.S.' on Iran issue.,
Obama: U.S. expectations for Middle East peace too high
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - U.S. president: Israel, Palestinians have been unwilling to make bold gestures for sake of peace.,
Mitchell to meet with Netanyahu as U.S. relaunches peace drive
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Obama's peace envoy met Thursday with Ehud Barak, Avigdor Lieberman, and President Shimon Peres.,
Netanyahu: Situation at Egypt border worse than I thought
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Premier was briefed by top IDF commanders during tour of southern border with Egypt on Thursday.,
Mofaz looks to force Livni to hold Kadima primaries sooner
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Kadima cuts short committee meeting after details were leaked to the press in real time.,
French PM: Good Syria-Lebanon relations benefit entire region
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Francois Fillon, Lebanese counterpart Saad Hariri discuss the Middle East peace process in Paris.,
Jewish religious item leads to false bomb scare on U.S. plane
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Passenger alarmed by phylacteries which Jews strap around their arms, heads in prayer.,
Police return stolen Auschwitz sign to museum
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Historic 'Arbeit Macht Frei' returned during a ceremony in Krakow after conducting tests on it.,
Iran denies its minister shook hands with Israeli counterpart
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Israeli, Iranian tourism ministers were introduced at a reception hosted by the Spanish king in Madrid.,
Russia: Iran nuclear plant to start up this year
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Tehran official to Bloomberg News: Sanctions against Tehran will only empower Ahmadinejad.,
Palestinian, Lebanese survivors relive Haiti quake terror
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - More than a dozen Mideast citizens who lived through Haiti's earthquake arrived in Beirut Thursday.,
Erekat: Netanyahu is sabotaging two-state solution
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - PM stated that Israel would demand a continued military presence along a Palestinian state's eastern border.,
The Guardian 21 Jan 2010 - US president tells Time magazine his efforts to secure a Middle East peace deal have failed Barack Obama has admitted that his attempts to break the political deadlock in the Middle East by pressuring Israel to...
Gaza blockade threatens health of 1.4 million, aid agencies warn
The Guardian 20 Jan 2010 - Israeli and Egyptian blockade means nearly one-fifth of requests to leave for treatment are refused or delayed, report says The health of 1.4 million people is being put at risk by the ongoing Israeli and Egyptian...
Israel deports US journalist
The Guardian 20 Jan 2010 - News editor for Palestinian agency put on flight to New York Israeli authorities today deported an American journalist who was working as an editor for a Palestinian news agency. Jared Malsin, who is Jewish and in...
Palestine's occupation tourism | Seth Freedman
The Guardian 21 Jan 2010 - Palestinian protesters are often joined by international tourists who see their struggle as an entertaining spectacle On any given Friday in Bil'in , the local Palestinian protesters are joined by scores of Israeli and international activists, who...
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has gone on the offensive against the municipal legal system, state prosecutor and outgoing Attorney General Menachem Mazuz following Mazuz's order to the police to immediately evict the Jews living in a building in East Jerusalem's predominantly Arab Silwan neighborhood. ...
Rights group demands indictments for settlers who assaulted Palestinians
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - The human rights group Yesh Din is demanding that the Shai police district indict four settlers who were filmed attacking Bedouin in the West Bank in the summer of 2008. The police closed the cases against the suspects, despite a police camera having documented them in action. ...
How much does Israel's aid mission to Haiti cost the state?
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Israel's rescue mission to earthquake-ravaged Haiti is costing the state some NIS 40 million, a sum which is likely to rise the longer the delegation remains in the country. ...
Netanyahu: Migrant workers risk Israel's Jewish character
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Migrant workers infiltrating through the border with Egypt are jeopardizing Israel's Jewish and democratic nature, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, adding that those workers were also causing salaries in the country to drop to "third world" rates. ...
Yeshiva rabbi cannot mock IDF or defy its authority, Barak says
Ha'aretz 21 Jan 2010 - Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Israel Defense Forces on Thursday submitted to the High Court of Justice their response to a petition by Har Bracha yeshiva students to overrule Barak's decision to oust their school from a joint program with the IDF. ...
Relief Web 21 Jan 2010 - Source: Reuters - AlertNet
In Remarks to Palestinian Rights Committee, Secretary-General Warns Forward Movement Needed Soon on Middle East Peace Process, or We Risk Sliding Backwards'
Relief Web 21 Jan 2010 - Source: UN General Assembly, UN Secretary-General
Secretary-General, Addressing Palestinian Rights Committee, Calls for Greater Engagement by Quartet Mediators in Continuing Quest for Two-State Solution
Relief Web 21 Jan 2010 - Source: UN General Assembly
OPT: Protection of civilians weekly report, 13 - 19 January 2010
Relief Web 21 Jan 2010 - Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
OPT: Epidemiological bulletin for Gaza Strip vol 2, issue 1
Relief Web 21 Jan 2010 - Source: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
Weekly report on Israeli human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory 14 - 20 Jan 2010
Relief Web 21 Jan 2010 - Source: Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
YNet News 21 Jan 2010 - After Obama says his administration overestimated its ability to persuade Israelis, Palestinians to resume peace talks, secretary of state stresses US 'going to continue to do everything in its power to create environment in which that is possible'
IDF to probe desecration of Palestinian tombstones
YNet News 21 Jan 2010 - Military Police to look into possibility graves in West Bank village vandalized by soldiers escorting Jewish settlers
Russia says to start Iran nuclear plant in 2010
YNet News 21 Jan 2010 - Head of the Rosatom state nuclear corporation says after cabinet meeting in Moscow, 'There is absolutely no doubt 1,000 megawatt Bushehr plant will be built this year'. Clinton in response: 'We will not be waited out; we will not back down'
Israel fears terrorist-refugees may set up Qaeda cells
YNet News 21 Jan 2010 - During tour of Israel-Egypt border, IDF officials tell Netanyahu terror group may recruit Sudanese refugees, have them infiltrate Israel
Obama: Expectations for Middle East peace too high
YNet News 21 Jan 2010 - US president tells Time Magazine Israel, Palestinians unwilling to make the bold gestures. Mitchell's visit to region clouded by tough statements from both sides accusing the other of cynicism
Egypt mufti wants to put prayer ringtone on silent
YNet News 21 Jan 2010 - Ali Gomaa issues religious edict urging Muslims not to make Quranic verses or five daily calls to prayer cellphone ringtones, which he claims are misleading and demeaning to God's words
18 Jan 2010 - Fidaa Heji was diagnosed in 2007 with lymphoma. On 23 Sept. '09, her physicians referred her to treatment in Israel, and her family submitted an urgent request to enter Israel. On 11 Nov. '09, she died, two weeks before her 18th birthday. Four days later,
Daily Star 21 Jan 2010 RAMALLAH, Occupied West Bank: Israel and the Palestinians belittled each other's commitment to peace as US President Barack Obama admitted on Thursday he had underrated the difficulty of reviving deadlocked Middle East negotiations. As his envoy George Mitchell began a fresh attempt to get the two sides talking to each other, Obama told Time Magazine: "This is just really hard.
Demolitions in occupied East Jerusalem halted to save settler home
Daily Star 21 Jan 2010 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Plans to raze illegally built houses in mainly Arab occupied East Jerusalem have been halted to avoid having to tear down a building occupied by Jewish settlers, Israeli Army Radio said on Thursday. Rightwing Deputy Mayor David Hadari said he had frozen the transfer of funds to be used for house demolitions. "Before I unblock the funds, I want the priorities to be determined.
US, partners 'will not back down' on Iran nuclear program
Daily Star 21 Jan 2010 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday the United States and its partners will "not back down" in the face of Iran's defiance on its disputed nuclear program. "Let me be clear, we will not be waited out and we will not back down," Clinton said. Speaking at a news conference in Washington, Clinton said major powers were united on working toward putting more pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.
Former UK foreign minister defends Iraq war backing
Daily Star 21 Jan 2010 LONDON: Britain's former foreign minister said on Thursday he deeply regretted the loss of life in Iraq but defended his decision to back the US-led invasion in 2003. Jack Straw, a mainstay of Labour governments since 1997 currently serving as Britain's justice minister, asserted that if he had opposed the plan, Blair would have been unable to persuade the rest of the Cabinet and the Parliament to support the decision to invade.
Germany orders tighter security as passenger flees after 'explosive' alert
Daily Star 21 Jan 2010 BERLIN: Germany's interior minister called Thursday for a full enquiry into a major alert at Munich airport when a man fled security personnel after his laptop tested positive for possible explosives. "I have ordered every single circumstance surrounding this incident to be looked at with all those involved," Thomas de Maiziere said on Deutschlandfunk radio, adding that he was taking it "very seriously."
Clinton: World should condemn cyber attackers
Daily Star 21 Jan 2010 WASHINGTON/BEIJING: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday called for global condemnation for those who carry out cyber attacks as China sought to contain tension with the United States over online censorship and hacking. In a speech expected which addressed Google Inc.'s concerns about China as well as global internet freedom.
French minister rejects Hariri's plea for guarantees against Israeli aggression
Daily Star 21 Jan 2010 BEIRUT: Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Thursday sought France's commitment to preventing Israel from destabilizing the regional situation while French Premier Francois Fillon underlined the need for all parties to respect UN Security Council Resolution 1701. During a joint news conference with Fillon, Hariri stressed Lebanon's determination to strengthen its national army.
IFC acquires 8 percent stake in Lebanon's Byblos Bank
Daily Star 21 Jan 2010 BEIRUT: The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private arm of the World Bank, acquired eight percent of Byblos Bank's stake as part of efforts by the Lebanese bank to boost its capital by $250 million. According to a statement by Byblos Bank on Thursday, the IFC has purchased the eight percent stake for $100 million. "In the context of a proposed $250 million capital increase.
Lebanese, UN officials honor fallen comrades in Haiti
Daily Star 21 Jan 2010 BEIRUT: Lebanese and UN officials gathered Thursday to honor the victims of last week's Haiti earthquake, just hours after a Middle East Airlines aid plane returned to Beirut. "Not in war, but in a tragic natural disaster the UN has suffered its single largest calamity," UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Michael Williams, told a crowd of colleagues and Lebanese parliamentarians at the UN Economic.
Salvation arrives in Tripoli via the Orient Express
Daily Star 21 Jan 2010 BEIRUT: Anyone taking the seaside highway that joins Tripoli to Beirut can, on occasion, spot the twin lines of railway track glancing out from beneath the tarmac before swerving back, poignant reminders of the now-defunct rail network connecting Lebanon to Syria, Europe and beyond. The Friends of the Tripoli Railway Station believe that, at the beginning of the 20th century.
Female religious guides are on the rise
Daily Star 21 Jan 2010 In recent years, Morocco, Egypt, and Turkey have trained and appointed a new group to the ranks of religious guides: women. Female religious guides, al-murshidat in Arabic, reach a demographic group that might otherwise not be available - or receptive - to male imams, such as women and children, particularly those in poorer neighborhoods.
Unarmed peacekeepers swap weapons for words to build ties with Lebanon's south
Daily Star 21 Jan 2010 The United Nations, with its intricate network of agencies and programs, could hardly have developed into the mammoth agency it is today without creating its share of contradictions. Take peacekeeping: a practice meant to safeguard the ideal of peace enshrined in the United Nation's charter that, somewhat paradoxically, puts the military might of its peacekeepers at its core.
Palestinian Information Center
Arab geologists warn of Aqsa collapse due to IOA practicesPIC 21 Jan 2010 - The union of Arab geologists has warned of the collapse of the Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem due to natural or supernatural causes.
Institutions in Europe promise to keep their efforts to expose Israel’s crimes
PIC 21 Jan 2010 - European, Palestinian and Islamic institutions in Europe promised, during their participation in the week for victims of Palestine, to continue their efforts to expose Israel’s war crimes in Gaza.
Abbas's militias kidnap 5 Hamas supporters including Sheikh Kharraz
PIC 21 Jan 2010 - Militias loyal to former PA chief Mahmoud Abbas kidnapped five Hamas supporters over the past 24 hours including Sheikh Maher Al-Kharraz, one of its prominent leaders in Nablus.
QB: We repaired our military losses
PIC 21 Jan 2010 - The spokesman for the Qassam Brigades said in a statement on Wednesday that the armed wing had succeeded in repairing all military losses suffered during the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
Jewish settlers destroy tombstones in WB cemetery
PIC 21 Jan 2010 - Jewish settlers went on the rampage in the Orta village cemetery, east of Nablus city, on Tuesday night and offered rituals on a number of graves, locals reported.
Kurd appeals for taking practical steps to lift blockade
PIC 21 Jan 2010 - Minister of social affairs Ahmed Al-Kurd appealed to the Arab and Muslim nations, and the free people of the world to take practical steps to lift the siege and open the crossings.
Abu Halabiya: 2010 is a decisive year for the future of the Aqsa Mosque
PIC 21 Jan 2010 - Dr. Ahmed Abu Halabiya warned that 2010 would be a decisive year for the future of the Aqsa Mosque after Israel intensified seriously its Judaization activities in the occupied city of Jerusalem.
UN organizations worried about human situation, call for lifting the siege
PIC 21 Jan 2010 - UN organizations working in besieged Gaza have asserted that the human condition in the Strip was deteriorating, accusing the Israeli occupation of aggravating the suffering of its inhabitants.
Gov't committee: APU delegation to visit Gaza
PIC 21 Jan 2010 - The government committee against the siege announced in a statement on Wednesday that a delegation of the Arab parliamentary union is to visit Gaza Strip.
Larijani: Iran proud to support the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance
PIC 21 Jan 2010 - Speaker of the Iranian parliament Ali Larijani expressed his country’s pride to support resistance movements in the region including the Lebanese resistance and the Movement of Hamas.
LA Times 21 Jan 2010 - The bureau's independent watchdog says top agency officials approved a possibly illegal method of obtaining phone records during the Bush administration. The FBI used a variety of controversial and possibly illegal methods to obtain phone records in terrorism investigations, according to a sharply critical report issued Wednesday by the Justice Department's inspector general.
New York Times 20 Jan 2010 - The country's secretive weapons trade, patent-bending drug industry and occupation of Arab lands are raising questions about its accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Lonely Trek to Radicalism for Terror Suspect
New York Times 19 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.
World Briefing | Middle East: Gaza: Palestinians Push Hamas for Inquiry Over War Crimes Against Israel
New York Times 19 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 19 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 19 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.
Palestine Monitor - 21 Jan 2010 - A new report reveals the effects of the ongoing Israeli and Egyptian blockade on the health of Gazans. The report by more than 80 aid groups, including WHO (World Health Organisation) and UN agencies, was released yesterday during a press conference held in front of Al...
Shooting The Messenger
Palestine Monitor - 21 Jan 2010 - With a new year comes new tactics from Israel's security forces. 2009 began with a determined effort to destroy their enemies in Gaza, claiming the lives of 500 children in the process. It must have been an irritation to the military that they could not so...
A Day Of Destruction in Khirbet Tana
Palestine Monitor - 21 Jan 2010 - The Israeli army rolled into Khirbet Tana, a village east of Nablus with a population of about 300, in the morning hours on January 10, 2010. They then destroyed about thirty structures, including a school, homes, and shelter for farm animals. This destruction stems from a...
Jewish student mag publishes one-state argument, signaling generational battle ahead
Mondoweiss - 21 Jan 2010 - I keep saying that there’s about to be a Jewish intifada, that young empowered American Jews are going to throw off the idea of a Jewish state just because it is not meaningful to them. I deal in straws in the wind, and I saw it...
Jared Malsin: ‘There’s no such thing as a voluntary deportation. I was deported, period.’
Mondoweiss - 21 Jan 2010 - Jared Malsin has arrived back in the US after being deported from Israel, and he is starting to fill in some of the blanks around his confusing deportation from Israel . Malsin clarifies that he did not leave Israel on his own accord and was in fact...
Abunimah and Ratner to speak on Gaza tonight in NY
Mondoweiss - 21 Jan 2010 - Ali Abunimah and Michael Ratner will be speaking about Gaza tonight at the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village . That’s Abunimah, at left, in Cairo last month, on the morning he decided not to go into Gaza after all, following the request of Haidar Eid of...
2 state solution needed in a hurry, for U.S. and Israel
Mondoweiss - 21 Jan 2010 - I have a new mantra: Two State Solution Needed for U.S. and Israel. I’m going to keep repeating it till I’m blue-and-white in the face. (Get it?) Where do our borders stop? Where does our sovereignty blur away into Israelness? Who’s the loyal opposition, and where’s...
my wife might be falling out of love
Mondoweiss - 21 Jan 2010 - Over the last few months, as he pushed the Afghanistan war and let Netanyahu have his way with settlements, I’ve gotten a dubious look whenever Obama comes on the TV at dinner time. Then I look over at my wife and try and recruit her in...
The World Cup, the Olympics and the Occupation
Alternative Information Center - 20 Jan 2010 - A New York City-based organization, Adalah-NY, recently led an effort to get the New York Mets and Major League Baseball to cancel a fundraising event at Shea Stadium for the pro-settler Hebron Fund. The world of athletics regularly crosses paths with the occupation in public protests...
An Important Lesson for Knesset Member Zahalka
Alternative Information Center - 20 Jan 2010 - In the moment of truth in the television drama played out on Erev Hadash , the Israeli liberal becomes an aggressive racist—an obvious product of the nationalistic model dubbed “Jewish democratic state” which denies the question of 1948.
Articles
Democracy in jeopardy
Lara Friedman, Ma’an News Agency 1/22/2010
Today a friend asked if I thought the story of Israel recent deportation of Jared Malsin – the American (and Jewish) editor of a Palestinian news outlet – was important.
I responded that if you consider it important that Israel arrests a working journalist, holds him in virtual solitary confinement under miserable conditions for a week until he can’t stand it anymore, and then deports him under highly dubious legal circumstances – then yes, it is.
But that is not the whole story. Because this is not an isolated issue.
It is clear to all of us who work on issues related to peace, human rights, or Israeli civil society that the government of Israel is deliberately and systematically upping the ante and increasing the pressure on those who do not toe the Israel policy line.
We are seeing this in the treatment of foreigners who have anything to do with the Palestinians. For anyone who missed it, Israel also deported Faith Rowold, Jared’s girlfriend, who works as a volunteer for a Lutheran NGO that helps Palestinians in the Bethlehem area. And that, too, was not an isolated incident.
We are seeing it, too, in the outrageous tactics being used against peaceful and legal protests against the situation in Sheikh Jarrah, where peaceful protesters were arrested last week and spent the Sabbath in jail (36 hours), only to be released without charge as soon as they were brought before a judge (it is expected that they will be treated even worse this week). more.. e-mail
Oslo and the end of Palestinian independence
Joseph Massad, Al-Ahram Weekly 1/21/2010
The Oslo agreement aimed to end the Palestinian quest for liberation and justice and continues to pose the most significant challenge to both.
The Oslo agreement did not only usher in a new era of Palestinian-Israeli relations but has had a much more lasting effect in transforming the very language through which these relations have been governed internationally and the way the Palestinian leadership viewed them. Not only was the Palestinian vocabulary of liberation, end of colonialism, resistance, fighting racism, ending Israeli violence and theft of the land, independence, the right of return, justice and international law supplanted by new terms like negotiations, agreements, compromise, pragmatism, security assurances, moderation and recognition, all of which had been part of Israel’s vocabulary before Oslo and remain so, but also Oslo instituted itself as the language of peace that ipso facto de-legitimises any attempt to resist it as one that supports war, and dismisses all opponents of its surrender of Palestinian rights as opponents of peace. Making the language of surrender of rights the language of peace has also been part of Israel’s strategy before and after Oslo, and is also the language of US imperial power, in which Arabs and Muslims were instructed by President Barack Obama in his speech in Cairo last June. Thus the transformation that Oslo brought about was not only a transformation of language as such, but also of the Palestinian language and perspective through which the nature of Palestinian-Israeli relations were viewed by the Palestinian leadership, and that institutionalised instead the Israeli perspective and Israel’s vocabulary as neutral and objective. What Oslo aimed to do, therefore, was change the very goal of Palestinian politics from national independence from Israeli colonialism and occupation to one where Palestinians become fully dependent for their political and national survival on Israel and its sponsors in the interest of peace and security for their occupiers.
The key transformative formula of the Oslo agreement enshrined in the Declaration of Principles of 13 September 1993 is "Land for Peace". This detrimental formula to internationally recognised Palestinian rights remains the guiding and delimiting approach of all subsequent agreements -- and disagreements -- between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and successive Israeli governments.... more.. e-mail
Dozens of Houses and Properties Flooded as the IOF Opens Dam Gates for Rain Water in the Gaza Valley
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights 1/21/2010
Al Mezan Condemns the Israeli Unwarned Conduct
For the second time in the past ten years, at approximately 6pm on Monday 18 January 2010, Israel opened the floodgates of one of the dams in the Gaza Valley, which flows into Gaza from the east. As a result, dozens of Palestinian houses and properties were damaged. Israel built this floodgate to prevent the rainwater’s natural flow into Gaza, depriving the Gaza aquifer from its main natural source of underground water.
According to Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights field workers, the water flooded both sides of the Gaza Valley, causing harm to the Palestinian houses; agricultural land and other properties.
Dozens of Bedouin families live in that area. According to Al Mezan’s field workers, about 50 families live in tents in that area. Water reached about two meters above the valley’s level and flooded their houses. Other families who have been living in the watercourse in the valley, which has been dry for many years due to the Israeli dams, had left the area two days before the flood occurred due to the heavy rain. The mayor of the Gaza Valley village (Juhr Ad-Dik) told Al Mezan that about seventy houses were flooded, dozens of poultry and sheep died, and several personal belongings were damaged as people were surprised by the sudden flow of water.
Al Mezan condemns the Israeli conduct which came without any prior warning or coordination with local authorities or international organizations working in Gaza. Israel keeps a close eye on Gaza and knows well the possible catastrophic consequences of such a huge, sudden water flow.... more.. e-mail
Lebanon activists launch campaign targeting Egypt's "wall of shame"
Electronic Intifada: 21 Jan 2010 - The Campaign to Stop the Wall of Shame, a newly-formed activist movement based in Beirut, Lebanon, held a press conference this morning to publicize the Arab Contractors construction company's role in the building of an underground steel wall along the Egypt-Gaza border.
Israel threatening, arresting and deporting to crush dissent
Electronic Intifada: 21 Jan 2010 - RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Israel is lashing out at international criticism and attempting to crush local dissent in what appears to be growing sensitivity to reproach of its policies. Several recent incidents have dominated media headlines, including the arrest of a Jewish-American journalist on the grounds of security, threats by an Israeli minister against international diplomats and the arrest of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.
"Jerusalem is in danger"
Electronic Intifada: 21 Jan 2010 - Once again, Israel resorts to show trials. Sheikh Raed Salah, a prominent political and religious leader of the Palestinian minority, was sentenced on 13 January by an Israeli court to nine months of imprisonment. This is his second conviction in recent years. This time the allegation was that he assaulted a policeman and obstructed police work during a demonstration at al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Nimer Sultany comments for The Electronic Intifada.
"Humanity cannot be divided": Gaza shows solidarity with Haiti
Electronic Intifada: 20 Jan 2010 - "We have been living a man-made disaster actually for the past 62 years," said Palestinian parliamentarian Jamal al-Khudari, a chairman of the Gaza-based Committee to Break the Siege. "We would like to send out a message of solidarity to the people of Haiti, who are now facing a natural disaster." Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip.
In Gaza: 19 Jan 2010 - The long-awaited rains came full force. Dehydrated Gaza was suddenly awash. And while farmers are overjoyed –they can finally plant their crops; their water wells and cisterns were destroyed during the Israeli massacre of Gaza; they must plant before the end of the month or there will be no point [we got a call right away to accompany farmers close to the border fence]–the rains brought disaster to families in flooded areas of Gaza. In the low-lying Wadi Gaza region, between Gaza City and Khan Younis, the combination of sudden and great rains with Israel’s opening of dam floodgates caused a surge of water which swept through the villages in...
Palestine Chronicle: 21 Jan 2010 - By Ramzy Baroud Should the United States be concerned about Iran's determined efforts to reach out to Latin America? Or, as was suggestively described in the Economist, by the Ayatollahs' strategy of cozying up to Latin America? The US continues to see the world as its own business. It gives itself and its allies, most notably Israel, the right to geopolitical maneuverability. Iran, on the other hand, is censured, derided and punished for even its own internal policies, within its own borders. Thus, an Iranian move into Latin America is naturally viewed as unwarranted, uncalled for and most definitely dangerous as far as the US is concerned. But Iran is not invading America geopolitical space per se. It is neither financing a terrorist group, nor involved in the ongoing narcotic war. More, there is no historical connection between an interventionist Iran and the bloody past of Latin America, including its former dictators and brutal juntas. In fact, Iran’s ‘cozying up’ to Latin American merely began in 2005. Since then, Iran has opened embassies in several Latin American countries and launched important joint projects that provided funds and work opportunities for thousands of ordinary people. There is no Iranian equivalent to the School of the Americas. So why the alarm? Paul McLeary of Aviation Week gives us a clue. Iran’s move “has set off a proxy conflict between Iran and Israel in South America, with the presidents of both countries logging frequent-flier miles to win friends in the region. One cause...
Israel, Facing the Looking Glass
Palestine Chronicle: 20 Jan 2010 - By George S. Hishmeh – Washington The row that took place recently between Israel and Turkey when the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon undiplomatically “rebuked” the Turkish ambassador to Israel during a humiliating encounter over a Turkish television program critical of Israel reminds me of the saying, “The (black Israeli) pot calls the (shiny Turkish) kettle black.” The Turkish ambassador, Ahmet Oguz Celikkol, was led to a low-level seat in the minister’s office while the Israeli deputy foreign minister and a colleague sat on higher chairs. The coffee table between them had only an Israeli flag on it and his remarks were in Hebrew, a language the ambassador does not know. The Israeli media recorded the event and the photos were circulated world-wide. After a few tense days, Israel apologized for its outrageous action – its first backhanded response was rejected by Turkey – only after the Ankara government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to take serious countermeasures. Relations between Turkey and Israel took a nose dive after Israel’s drastic assault on Gaza more than a year ago when 1400 Palestinians were killed including hundreds of women and children. The Gaza Strip, often described as an open-air prison, is still under siege with no sign that Israel and Egypt would open their borders to the impoverished and densely populated region on the East Mediterranean. Israel needs to examine itself in the looking glass for its deplorable actions in recent times. Turkey has been a close Muslim ally...
Contested Histories – Book Review
Palestine Chronicle: 20 Jan 2010 - By Jim Miles The Israel-Palestine Conflict - Contested Histories. Neil Caplan. Wiley-Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons), Malden, MA. 2010. There are obviously multiple stories concerning any act or incident, and any series of acts or incidents, until the overall view becomes large enough that they are distilled into a national or international narrative. These national narratives often serve as rationalizations of not so much the particular occurrence of any given event, but the reasons behind the event, with the reasons stretching from a basic cause and effect (he hit me back first) to the more irrational rationalizations of cosmic mythology. The Israel-Palestine Conflict attempts to work history within a discussion of how the two narratives of Israel and Palestine conflict with each other. As such, it serves more as a university level text with some history, some philosophy of history, some discussion of different perspectives taken by writers without satisfying any of these. For himself, Neil Caplan says he has worked generally from English language "accounts of what happened from people who were actually present when it happened." He sees himself in the genre of the "sometimes criticized...ivory tower intellectuals...content to provide useful and credible raw material, leaving it to other academics and commentators to explore and exploit. They prefer to keep a low profile and not venture into public debates or take stands on controversial issues." For those of you who have read my work, you can see that is not the tack that I would advocate - and...