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International Middle East Media Center
Shabak
Instructs Lieberman’s Bodyguards Not To Speak In Russian
IMEMC
9 Feb 2010 - Wednesday February 10, 2010 - 02:42, The Israeli General
Security Agency, Shabak, informed the guards of Israel’s Foreign
Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, that they will not be allowed to talk to
him in Russian and should only use the Hebrew language in their
communication with the minister.
Israel
Retracts Its Pardon Of Palestinian Fighter In Nablus
IMEMC
9 Feb 2010 - Tuesday February 09, 2010 - 23:22, Senior Palestinian
sources reported Tuesday that the Israeli government retracted its full
pardon previously issued to a Palestinian fighter from the northern
West Bank city of Nablus, and decided downgrade it into a partial
pardon.
Clashes
Continue At Jerusalem Refugee Camp Following Monday's Attacks
IMEMC
9 Feb 2010 - Tuesday February 09, 2010 - 16:44, Tensions continued, on
Tuesday, at the Shu’fat refugee camp, East Jerusalem, following
yesterday’s clashes and arrests, Ma’an News Agency reported.
The
Israeli Military Opens Fire at Farm Lands Near Gaza City
IMEMC
9 Feb 2010 - Tuesday February 09, 2010 - 16:05, Israeli tanks stationed
at the borders of the central part of the Gaza Strip opened fire at
farm lands on Tuesday, at midday.
Non-Violent
Action Continues In The Gaza Strip; Inspired By The West Bank
IMEMC
9 Feb 2010 - Tuesday February 09, 2010 - 15:49, A delegation of farmers
from Beit Hanoun, in the Gaza Strip, will be joined by international
supporters from the International Solidarity Movement, Tuesday, in a
demonstration inspired by the non-violent protest carried out by
villagers in the West Bank.
The
Israeli Military Detained 16 Palestinian Civilians From The West Bank
IMEMC
9 Feb 2010 - Tuesday February 09, 2010 - 15:35, The Israeli military
detained 16 Palestinian civilians during invasions targeting West Bank
communities, late Monday night and Tuesday at dawn.
Shaath:
“Hamas Will Release Fateh Detainees, Reopen Headquarters”
IMEMC
9 Feb 2010 - Tuesday February 09, 2010 - 12:46, Dr. Nabil Shaath, a
Member of Fatah’s Central Committee, stated that the Hamas government
in Gaza will be releasing Fatah political prisoners in the coming days,
and will also re-open Fatah headquarters it had previously shut down.
Israel
To Partially Open Gaza Trade Crossings
IMEMC
9 Feb 2010 - Tuesday February 09, 2010 - 11:28, The Israeli Authorities
decided, Tuesday, to partially open its trade crossings with the Gaza
Strip to allow the entry of some foodstuffs, and to enable the export
of flowers and strawberries.
British
Government Promises Israeli Official He Won't Be Arrested During Visit
IMEMC
9 Feb 2010 - Tuesday February 09, 2010 - 10:14, After receiving a
letter from the British Foreign Ministry promising that he wouldn't be
arrested for war crimes while in England, Israeli Deputy Foreign
Minister Danny Ayalon arrived in London on Monday.
Effort
To Retroactively Approve Illegal Jerusalem Settlement Backed By
Interior Minister
IMEMC
9 Feb 2010 - Tuesday February 09, 2010 - 09:36, A seven-story building
constructed by right-wing Israeli settlers on Palestinian land, in East
Jerusalem in 2004, is moving toward receiving 'retroactive approval,'
with the unexpected support of Israel's Interior Minister, Eli Yishai.
This support adds an air of legitimacy to the settler's illegal
maneuver.
Jerusalem
mayor to raze 200 Palestinian homes
2/9/2010
- Nazareth - Jerusalem's mayor threatened last week to demolish 200
homes in Palestinian neighbourhoods of the city in an act even he
conceded would probably bring long-simmering tensions over housing in
East Jerusalem to a boil. His uncompromising stance is the latest stage
in a protracted legal battle over a single building towering above the
jumble of modest homes of Silwan, a deprived and overcrowded
Palestinian community lying just outside the Old City walls, in the
shadow of the silver-topped al Aqsa mosque. Beit Yehonatan, or
Jonathan's House, is distinctive not only for its height - at seven
storeys, it is at least three floors taller than its neighbors - but
also for the Israeli flag draped from the roof to the street. The
settlement outpost, named for Jonathan Pollard, serving a life sentence
in the US for spying on Israel's behalf in the 1980s, has been home to
eight. . .
Shots
fired as activists test Gaza ’exclusion zone’
2/9/2010
- Gaza - Ma'an - A few dozen Palestinian and international protesters
approached Gaza's northern-most area on Sunday, drawing fire from
Israeli forces operating an "exclusion zone" inside the coastal
enclave's borders. Israeli armed forces fired four gunshots when the
group approached an area near the Erez crossing, said Saber Az-Za'anin,
coordinator of Local Initiative, a Beit Hanoun-based organization
seeking to reclaim some 300 meters of privately owned farmland.
Az-Za'anin said soldiers also shouted at the protesters, demanding they
leave the area, and opened fire when they initially refused. "We
decided to leave for the sake of our lives and to avoid any danger. . .
we want to break the siege in a peaceful way," he said. An Israeli
military spokesman told Ma'an that "IDF soldiers identified a
suspicious gathering in a restricted area in the northern Gaza. "
Israeli
police disperse prisoner’s homecoming rally in Jerusalem
2/9/2010
- Jerusalem - Ma'an - Israeli police used violent force to disrupt a
celebratory rally marking the release of Ahmad Mahmoud Abu Al-Hawa from
Israeli prison after serving 10 years in various facilities. The rally,
hosted in the At-Tur neighborhood east of the Old City, was in
contravention of an Israeli military order preventing the gathering of
individuals or any activities marking the release of Abu Al-Hawa.
Witnesses said the border police used stun grenades to disperse the
group, which continued to march in celebration despite the attack. [end]
Israeli
warplanes fire on southern Gaza
2/10/2010
- Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli warplanes fired on the southern Gaza
Strip late Tuesday night, locals reported and the army confirmed. There
were no immediate reports of injury. An Israeli military spokeswoman
told Ma'an the strikes came in retaliation for projectiles launched
into the western Negev in recent days. In a separate statement, the
army also warned that it would "continue to operate firmly against
anyone who uses terror against the State of Israel. Hamas is solely
responsible for maintaining peace and quiet in the Gaza Strip. "The
airstrikes targeted the Yasser Arafat International Airport in
Dahaniya, said BBC correspondent Shadi Al-Kashif. Five missiles struck
the facility in total, Agence France-Presse quoted a witness as saying.
Israeli forces last targeted the airport on 3 February in response to
an attempted naval attack. Three Palestinians were wounded in those
airstrikes, which also targeted a tunnel along the Gaza-Egypt border. .
. . .
MKs,
pro-settler activists visit Sheikh Jarrah
2/9/2010
- Jerusalem - Ma'an - A delegation of members of the Knesset's Internal
Committee, along with pro-settler campaigners, visited on Tuesday the
Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, and Palestinian
homes taken over by Israeli settlers last summer. Amal Al-Qassam, a
Palestinian Jerusalemite, said that the delegation was accompanied by
Israeli police. A delegation of Palestinian members of Knesset, headed
by Muhammad Barakeh, is expected to visit the neighborhood in a show of
solidarity with Palestinians evicted from their homes, Ma'an's
correspondent said. [end]
Palestinian
shot, 5 settlers injured in West Bank clashes
2/10/2010
- Nablus - Ma'an - An Israeli settler shot a Palestinian teenager south
of Nablus on Tuesday afternoon, officials said, during clashes that
reportedly left five settlers injured. Amid Kadous, 18, was lightly to
moderately injured by a gunshot wound to the leg, according to medics
at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus. Ghassan Doghlas, a Palestinian Authority
official who holds the settlements portfolio for the northern West
Bank, told Ma'an that a settler opened fire directly toward Kadous
after clashes broke out east of the village of Iraq Burin, near the Har
Bracha settlement. The settlers were in the area planting crops on
Palestinian farmland adjacent to the settlement, he added. An Israeli
military spokesman said a civilian guard at the settlement fired
warning shots into the air as part of an arrest procedure that followed
a riot during which Palestinians threw stones and boulders at foreign
nationals who were volunteering at a vineyard connected to the
settlement.
Israel
invades Al-Aroub camp, detains two youth
2/9/2010
- Hebron - Ma'an - Israeli forces detained invaded the Al-Aroub Refugee
Camp north of Hebron Tuesday morning, taking six young men from their
homes. Of the six targeted by the Israeli army, four were later
released. Two others, identified asNaseem Rebhi Al-Jawabreh, 19, and
Bayan Khaled Zaqqout, 20, were taken to an unknown location. [end]
Locals:
Israeli forces detain workers, erect flying checkpoint
2/9/2010
- Jericho - Ma'an - Israeli forces detained late on Monday night a
group of Palestinian workers in the industrial area near Khan Al-Ahmar,
Jericho. According to locals, Israeli forces erected a flying
checkpoint at the entrance of the industrial zone and confiscated
workers' permits. Those detained were taken to Ma'ale Adummim police
station for questioning, they added. Among the workers detained were
Muhammad As-Samhury, Muhammad Hmeidan, and Ahmad Hassan. Weal Nathif,
head of the Palestinian workers' union in Jericho, said the detention
of workers was a serious issue and that the union will follow up on the
detentions. An Israeli military spokesman said that the army was not
familiar with the incident, following an initial investigation into the
report. . . . .
Building
back in Gaza - with mud bricks
2/10/2010
- Gaza - IRIN - Hassan Al-Err, aged 67, and his seven-member family are
moving into a mud house built by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees
(UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip, because other building materials are not
available. The two-bedroom house in the Ezbet Abed Rabbo neighborhood
of Jabaliya town, north of Gaza City, is an improvement on the tent in
which they had been living - next to the rubble of their former home.
Rebuilding homes damaged in last year's 23-day war has been almost
impossible because Israel and Egypt do not allow construction materials
such as cement and steel into the Strip, saying they could be used for
military purposes. "I can't forget how hard the past year has been for
me and my family living in a tent in the cold winter and the hot
summer," Al-Err told IRIN. Of course a mud house is much better than a
tent, although it's not a real solution because I can't build another
flat on top of it for my two married sons who live in a rented house in
Jabaliya town.
Two
Gaza terminals partially open
2/9/2010
- Gaza - Ma'an - Gaza's Kerem Shalom and Karni crossings will open
partially Tuesday, allowing the delivery of humanitarian aid and
commercial goods into the besieged Gaza Strip, as well as limited
exports of flowers and strawberries, officials said. Palestinian
crossings liaison official Raed Fattouh said he was informed by Israeli
sides that 65 t0 75 truckloads would enter Gaza via the Kerem Shalom
crossing, plus limited quantities of domestic gas and industrial
diesel. Via the Karni crossing, he said, 85 truckloads of wheat and
animal feed would be permitted entry. Exports under the auspices of a
Dutch government program continue, seeing two trucks carrying
strawberries and flowers export the goods via Kerem Shalom. . . . .
Israeli
forces detain PA security guard
2/9/2010
- Hebron - Ma'an - Israeli forces detained a Palestinian Authority
security guard near the central West Bank city of Bethlehem on Tuesday
evening, a security source confirmed, after he was accused of
possessing a knife. Ahmed Taqatqa was en route to Hebron from his home
in Beit Fajjar when he was detained near the Kfar Etzion junction on
accusations he had a knife in his car, the source said, denying the
official explanation for his arrest. Approached by Ma'an, an Israeli
military spokesman confirmed that a Palestinian was detained in the
same area on grounds he had a knife in his possession. He was
transferred to Israeli police, the spokesman said. Palestinian
civilians are detained multiple times each week on accusations they
were found to be in possession of knives or sharp tools, although it is
not as common for PA security officers to be held on such charges as
they are generally permitted to carry firearms and other weapons. . . .
.
Palestinians
to urge ICC action over Gaza war
2/9/2010
- Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - International Criminal Court prosecutors
will host Palestinain officials in The Netherlands, where they will
present arguments for the prosecution of crimes committed on
Palestinian land during Israel's Operation Cast Lead, Reuters reported
Monday. Palestinian officials will present at the court in March, the
ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampor told Reuters, noting no
decision over whether or not to proceed with a case would be made until
after their arguments were heard. The ICC already launched a
preliminary investigation in the fall of 2009, and the Palestinian
Authority officially recognized ICC jurisdiction during the course of
the probe. In October 2009, Minister of Justice in the caretaker
government Ali Al-Khashan presented papers at the ICC and answered
several inquiries from the court that he said would guarantee Palestine
a place within the Rome Statute and thus full membership at the court.
Mash’al:
US insistence on talks stalls unity efforts
2/9/2010
- Bethlehem - Ma'an - Chief of the Hamas politburo Khalid Mash'al
accused the United States on Monday of hindering Palestinian unity
efforts by insisting on a peace process when there was no opportunity
to do so with the current Israeli government. Speaking to reporters
following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in
Moscow, Mash'al said Hamas "wants reconciliation with Fatah as soon as
possible," but noted obstacles to unity included several American
conditions placed on going back to peace talks. He further explained
that Hamas was ready to sign the initial Egyptian unity document, but
noted the current version signed by Fatah officials had been amended
without consulting Hamas. He said that without American intervention
the re-negotiation of the unity document would be straightforward. On
the status of prisoner-swap talks, Mash'al said he held Israeli Prime.
. .
Fayyad:
End army raids, settlement construction
2/9/2010
- Ramallah - Ma'an - Greeting the Assistant Secretary-General of the
United Nations Office of Political Affairs Oscar Fernandes on Monday,
Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stressed the importance of the UN's role in
compelling Israel to abide by its roadmap obligations. According to the
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there were on
average 103 raids into West Bank areas each week in 2009. Peace Now
numbers indicate a 20% increase in the number of West Bank settlers
since 2003, when the roadmap plan was initiated. Phase I of that plan
had an Israeli pullout from the West Bank and a halt to settlement
construction. At the government headquarters in Ramallah, Fayyad told
Fernandes that the UN, as a global institution and a member of the
Middle East Quartet, has the power to demand and implement a halt to
settlement construction and Israeli raids of the West Bank.
Israelis
denounce Russia for Mash’al visit
2/9/2010
- Bethlehem - Ma'an - Chief of Hamas' politburo Khalid Mash'al's Moscow
visit has sparked controversy in Israel, with complaints being raised
to Russian officials, Israeli media reported on Tuesday. According to
Kol Israel radio, officials have called on Russia to stall meetings
between the Hamas delegation, headed by Mash'al, and Russian leaders.
Other Israeli media outlets speculated that Mash'al was tipped to meet
with Russian PresidentDmitriy Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin. However meetings have only been held between Mash'al and Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Russian Ambassador to Israel Peter
Stegny said that Russia has maintained contact with Hamas following its
electoral victory in the Palestinian general elections in 2006. Mash'al
arrived in Moscow on Monday with a delegation for talks on Palestinian
reconciliation and the peace process with Russian officials.
Bardawil:
Reopening Fatah HQ depends on reconciliation
2/9/2010
- Gaza - Ma'an - Hamas leader Salah Bardawil said on Tuesday that the
reopening the headquarters of Fatah in Gaza is tied into the
reconciliation process and depends on making agreements based on common
national interests, he said in a statement. Bardawil called on Fatah
"to stop their crimes in the West Bank against Palestinians their
practices to oppose freedom. . . ""Reconciliation requires that Fatah
stop their practices. . . against Hamas in order to prepare for an
atmosphere of unity. " The Hamas leader added that the de facto
government aspires toward social stability and peace within the
community, which he said are core Hamas values. On Monday Fatah Central
Committee member Nabil Sha'ath said that Hamas will instruct its
government in the Gaza Strip to release detainees held on political
grounds and reopen the Fatah party headquarters within the next two
days.
Palestinians
prepare world’s largest keffiyeh
2/9/2010
- Nablus - Ma'an - The Friends of Palestine Society began weaving what
will soon be the world's largest Palestinian keffiyeh to be unveiled on
Land Day, 30 March, and be judged for entry into the Guinness book of
world records, the society announced Tuesday. The project will be
undertaken by 50 Palestinian and international volunteers, who will
work through February and March on the 500 x 5 meter checkered scarf.
On Land Day, the society will display the work on the world's largest
separation wall, stringing it up near Ramallah. The scarf will then go
on exhibition around the world, making tours first of dozens of
Palestinian refugee camps and population centers of the Palestinian
diaspora. Head of the society Omar Nasser said the effort was meant to
commemorate the Palestinian liberation movement and the keffiyeh as a
symbol of the unresolved Palestinian question. . . . .
Palestinian
Al-Jazeera employee killed in Doha crash
2/9/2010
- Gaza - Ma'an - A Palestinian employee of Al-Jazeera was killed in a
car accident in Doha on Sunday. Osama Munir Abdullah, 28, was a
technical designer for the Arabic-language network's Web page, and was
based in its news room. He was born in London to parents whose families
were originally from Jenin. Osama was the son of the late Al-Jazeera
presenter Mahir Abdullah, who was killed in a similar accident six
years ago, also in Qatar. Mahir anchored the religious segment "Sharia
and Life," and was considered among the network's more prominent
presenters. He is survived by his wife and three daughters. [end]
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Official: Structure of crossing, lack of coordination with Hamas puts it at high risk for terror attacks.
Israel strikes Gaza in response to Qassam rockets
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Since the start of 2010, more than 20 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel from Gaza.
Four things Netanyahu needs for an Israeli strike on Iran
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Obama's timetable won't permit an attack on Iran this year, so Netanyahu has a lot of groundwork to prepare.
6 hurt in West Bank clashes between Palestinians, settlers
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Palestinians hurl stones at American volunteers in a West Bank field; Israeli guard fires back.
Lieberman: Turkey's 'anti-Israel' line must not kill our ties
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - In Azerbaijan, Foreign Minister urges Turkey to make amendments to policy of 'weekly' condemnation.
Five Israeli cops hurt in arrest raid on Jerusalem refugee camp
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - 25 people arrested in raid, some for involvement in unrest and others for municipal tax evasion.
IDF detains two pro-Palestinian foreigners in West Bank raid
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Arrest operation marks third time Israeli forces have entered West Bank to arrest foreign activists.
Robbing Sderot of defense from rockets
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Suspicions exist that defense establishment developed Iron Dome to serve moneymaking interests.
IDF arrests Lebanese shepherd carrying army knife near border
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Lebanese MP tied to Hezbollah calls on country to deal with incident he says clearly violates UN resolution.
Settler teens suspected in West Bank mosque arson freed from custody
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Some state attorneys believe evidence against torching suspects insufficient to justify indictment.
PA, Israel jointly arrest six Qaida-linked jihadists in West Bank
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Group was busy disseminating ideas identified with the ideology of Osama bin Laden via Internet.
Israel fears more explosive-laden barrels in Mediterranean
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Following discovery of two explosives in Ashkelon and Ashdod, police scan coast for devices.
IDF arrests two suspects plotting to attack Israel for Hamas
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - East Jerusalem residents allegedly recruited while living in Jordan and Dubai to attack civilian locations.
Report: Dubai has lead in assassination of top Hamas man
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Report comes as security official says wouldn't rule out chance that Mossad was behind January 20 killing.
Dubai: We'll go after Netanyahu if Mossad killed Hamas man
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Police chief warns Mossad and Hamas against conducting covert operations in Dubai.
Get real, Iron Dome is too expensive to defend Sderot
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Israel needs money for attack forces, protecting civilians and other measures, not just missile defense.
IDF officer: I wouldn't live in same country as Goldstone
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Mizrahi to yeshiva students: I don't believe a word of Gaza report.
Hamas rejects Goldstone charge of Gaza war crimes
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Human Rights Watch: Hamas claim that rocket attacks against Israel are not war crimes is legally wrong.
Israel's southern residents irate over missile defense decision
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - IDF: No intention at this stage of deploying Iron Dome system to protect Sderot against rocket attacks.
Police destroy third 'barrel bomb' washed ashore south of Tel Aviv
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Two barrels found earlier this week were packed with TNT and rigged for detonation by cellphone.
Israeli
Army Open Fire on Gazan Farmers and International Observors
Uruknet
February 9, 2010- Gazan farmers whose land lies in Israeli defined
buffer zone accompanied by international observers have been held down
in their field by live gunfire. The Israeli army shot live ammunition
for a quarter of an hour after finding the unarmed group fertilizing
wheat crops. The international observers loudly informed the soldiers
they were unarmed civilians, but the...
Video:
Israel denies NGOs work permits
Uruknet
February 9, 2010 - The Israeli interior ministry has stopped issuing
work permits to foreigners working for international non-governmental
organisations (NGOs). In the last few weeks, NGO staff have been given
tourist visas instead, making it virtually impossible for them to carry
out their work. The new Israeli policy affects 120 International NGOs,
of which many which provide vital developmental...
Gaza:
Abu Taima’s land
Uruknet
February 9, 2010 - It’s like spring and we’re visiting the Abu Taima
region. The different Abu Taima brothers and cousins speak of their
land, all in or near the Israeli-imposed "buffer zone" (officially 300m
in which Palestinians cannot enter without fear of being shot, killed;
but in reality a land-annexation which extends even up to nearly 2 km,
driving...
Aqsa
foundation: Aqsa walls cracked
Uruknet
February 9, 2010 - The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage that
caters for Muslim holy shrines in Palestine disclosed that big cracks
were seen in the northern wall of the Aqsa Mosque. According to a press
release issued by the foundation and published by the Quds Press on
Tuesday, the cracks were expanding day after day, and described the...
What's
Israel's new strategy? Arresting Palestinian women
Uruknet
February 9, 2010 - The arrest by the Israeli authorities of Montaha
Altaweel has been condemned by Ahrar Centre for Studies on Human Rights
and Prisoners. Ms. Altaweel is one of the most active women working in
the prisoners' solidarity movement; her husband is the mayor of Albera,
Gamal Altaweel. Fouad Alkhafesh, the Director of the Centre, regards
Ms. Altaweel's...
A
mother's grief
Uruknet
February 9, 2010 - Nejoud al-Ashqar is a 30-year-old mother from the
northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya. Two of her sons, Bilal, 5, and
Mohammad, 6, were killed during Israel's invasion of Gaza last winter.
Al-Ashqar also lost her right arm in the assault. Surrounded by her
neighbors and her youngest son and daughter she recounted her story.
"...
Effort
To Retroactively Approve Illegal Jerusalem Settlement Backed By
Israel's Interior Minister
Uruknet
February 9, 2010 - A seven-story building constructed by right-wing
Israeli settlers on Palestinian land, in East Jerusalem in 2004, is
moving toward receiving 'retroactive approval,' with the unexpected
support of Israel's Interior Minister, Eli Yishai. This support adds an
air of legitimacy to the settler's illegal maneuver. After US President
Barack Obama's retraction of his call, last year, that...
British
Government Promises Israeli Official He Won't Be Arrested During Visit
Uruknet
February 9, 2010 - After receiving a letter from the British Foreign
Ministry promising that he wouldn't be arrested for war crimes while in
England, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon arrived in London
on Monday. He is the first Israeli official to visit Britain since a
British judge issued an edict declaring that Israeli officials would be
subject to '...
Israel
to raze 200 Palestinian homes in Jerusalem
Uruknet
February 9, 2010 - Jerusalem’s mayor threatened last week to demolish
200 homes in Palestinian neighbourhoods of the city in an act even he
conceded would probably bring long-simmering tensions over housing in
East Jerusalem to a boil. His uncompromising stance is the latest stage
in a protracted legal battle over a single building towering above the
jumble of modest...
Israeli
forces fire upon a demonstration in Gaza
Uruknet
February 9, 2010 - The Israeli army fired four shots and shouted abuse
at the group of about 40 Palestinians and internationals who, on Monday
8th February '10, walked within 50 meters of the Erez border crossing,
waving Palestinian flags and chanting demands for justice and an end to
the Occupation. Similar demonstrations have taken place weekly for over
a...
No
Treatment in Gaza, No Security Risk, but Israel Prevents a Seriously
ill Man from Getting Treatment
Uruknet
February 9, 2010 - Gisha and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
appealed to the High Court of Justice on behalf of Issam Hamdan against
a District Court ruling blocking his exit from Gaza for emergency
medical treatment.· The State refuses to allow him out of Gaza based on
its claim that he may settle in the West Bank after treatment.· Mr....
Number
of cancer patients in Gaza on the rise
Uruknet
February 9, 2010 - The Palestinian health ministry in the Gaza Strip
has announced that the number of cancer patients in the beleaguered
Strip had increased to 1899 including 770 women and 220 children. The
ministry said in a statement on Monday on occasion of the international
day for cancer patients that 850 of those suffer blood cancer...
JERUSALEM, February 10, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - The Israeli government has stepped in to save a house built illegally by Jewish settlers in a volatile Palestinian neighborhood in east Jerusalem, complicating already troubled U.S. efforts to renew Mideast peacemaking. The move is meant to skirt a court order to evacuate and seal the house, thus easing settler anger over Prime...
70% of Palestinian Youth Oppose Violence
Palestine, February 10, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) -More than 80 percent of young Palestinians are depressed and 47 percent identify themselves as Muslim rather than Palestinian, according to a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report.The report, based on interviews with 1,200 Palestinians over the age of 17 from the West Bank and Gaza found that 39 percent were "extremely" depressed and...
Report documents journalist rights violations
Palestine, February 10, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - A number of violations of the rights of journalists, most committed by the Israeli occupation forces, occurred in the Palestinian territories last month. The following journalists were assaulted by Israeli forces during their professional work: Haroon Amayreh, Musa'b Al-Khatib, Ahmad Al-Kilani, Yousif Shaheen, Ayed Awemer, Rami Swidan and Issam Rimawi. In addition, they detained and deported...
Narratives Under Siege (14): Gaza’s 700 Stranded Students
Gaza Strip, February 10, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) -Hadeel Abu Kwaik is one of 7 students whose Fulbright scholarships were recently withdrawn, then swiftly reinstated by the US State Dept. But almost 700 other students remain stranded in Gaza Three days ago, on 1 June, Hadeel Abu Kwaik was sitting in her computer lab at Al-Azhar University in Gaza looking worried,...
HRW: Israel failed to properly investigate Gaza war crimes
New York, February 9, 2010 (Pal Telegraph)- Human Rights Watch said Israel has failed to demonstrate that it will conduct an exhaustive and impartial investigation into violations of the laws of war by its troops during last year's offensive on the Gaza Strip. The organization added that there is a need for an independent investigation to hold accountable those who...
The National 9 Feb 2010 - More raids on the Muslim Brotherhood are expected after 15 members of the opposition party are detained in run-up to elections.
Eastern Syria faces catastrophe'
The National 9 Feb 2010 - Economists say the combination of economic reforms and water shortages has impoverished the region, leading to mass emigration.
Iran says it has begun nuclear enrichment
The National 9 Feb 2010 - Tehran's intentions remain unfathomable, given the flurry of conflicting signals it has sent in recent days.
The Media Line 8 Feb 2010 - Proposal to allow Israelis abroad to vote rests on assumptions about their political opinions. [Jerusalem] Israeli politicians were at each others' throats Tuesday over a proposal by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to allow Israelis living abroad...
Israel Runs Out of Space for Tourists
The Media Line 8 Feb 2010 - The Israeli tourism ministry is pushing to increase tourism but some worry there is a shortage of hotel rooms. [Tel Aviv, Israel] The Israel Minister of Tourism aims to increase both the number of tourists and...
Egypt Begins Building Sea Barrier Blocking Gaza
The Media Line 8 Feb 2010 - Reports from Cairo say that Egypt has begun extending its robust barrier between the Sinai and the Gaza Strip out to sea. The daily Dustur said that bulldozers began forming a breakwater near the coast of...
Iraqi Prime Minister Agrees to Judicial Review of Blacklisted Election Candidates
The Media Line 8 Feb 2010 - Democracy appears to have been given a reprieve in Iraq after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agreed to a judicial review of candidates who had been blacklisted from participating in the country's elections. Under pressure from the...
Hamas Rejects Palestinian Authority Call for Summer Municipal Elections
The Media Line 8 Feb 2010 - Hamas has rejected the decision by the Palestinian Authority to hold crucial municipal elections this July. PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced the elections for the West Bank in what is being seen as a bid to...
Egyptians Rile Over Mosque Cameras
The Media Line 7 Feb 2010 - Egyptians are worried security forces are abusing their powers in monitoring mosques with surveillance cameras. Egyptians are protesting against a plan to install surveillance cameras in thousands of mosques throughout the country. Egypt's Ministry of Islamic...
Tourism Explodes as Syrian Airline Grounded
The Media Line 7 Feb 2010 - Despite skyrocketing tourist numbers, Syrian Air remains grounded due to U.S. sanctions. International tourism to Syria may be burgeoning, but getting there is increasingly difficult due to U.S. sanctions that have essentially grounded Syria's national airline....
Arab Censorship Warrior Gets Democracy Prize
The Media Line 7 Feb 2010 - Yemeni developer of software to circumvent online censors wins prestigious European democracy award. A Yemeni academic who developed software that allows netcitizens throughout the world to circumvent government censorship of websites has been awarded the 2010...
AlJazeera 8 Feb 2010 - Hamas and Fatah supporters among scores arrested following raid on Shuafat camp.
US seeks significant Iran sanctions
AlJazeera 9 Feb 2010 - Obama says six powers moving "fairly quickly" against Iran for latest uranium enrichment.
Alternative Information Center
Berlusconi, Israel and the Big BrotherAlternative Information Center 5 Feb 2010 - After the three-day visit of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to Israel and a short visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, a judgement is due. Berlusconi came with a large Italian ministry delegation (Foreign Minister Franco...
PNN 9 Feb 2010 - New York Times correspondent Isabel Kershner has covered Israel-Palestine for years. She knows her beat, and this shows in both her news reporting and her in-depth features. 'Barrier (http://www.amazon.com/Barrier-Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict-Isabel-Kershner/dp/1403968012/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8 s=books qid=1260173473 sr=8-1)' is her riveting, humane examination of how Israel's controversial barrier has affected people on the ground. From a reviewPalestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (http://www.pcpsr.org/)in Ramallah: Nothing expresses the...
"Art for the struggle": They Do Not Exist revisited
PNN 9 Feb 2010 - They Do Not Exist (Laysa lahum wujud), Mustafa Abu Ali, 1974, 25 min Salvaged after the 1982 Lebanon War with Israel and only recently been made available, Mustafa Abu Ali's early film They Do Not Exist focuses on Lebanon's Palestinian refugees. Abu Ali worked with French New Wave-filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard on Ici et Ailleurs (Here and Elsewhere) and founded the PLO's film...
Australian activist to fight deportation
PNN 9 Feb 2010 - AN Australian pro-Palestine activist says she was arrested at gunpoint, falsely imprisoned and denied food and phone contact for 15 hours over what Israeli authorities say is a visa irregularity. Bridget Chappell of Canberra was one of two foreign activists arrested by Israel's military in a pre-dawn raid on Sunday on the apartment she shared with a Spanish woman Ariadna Jove Marti...
Palestinian journalists scoff at "farcical election"
PNN 9 Feb 2010 - Independent and professional journalists throughout Occupied Palestine are scoffing at the “journalists’ union elections” which took place on Saturday, 6 February, under the aegis of the Fatah organization, describing the event as a “farce” and “fraud.” The Fatah group, in coordination with some erstwhile leftist organizations, selected some 60 journalists who are supposed to form the new journalists union to replace the...
"Behind the Marathon : Playing together and involving the fathers"
PNN 9 Feb 2010 - Nablus - 08/02/10: On Saturday, about 1.300 children and fathers from 5 villages South of Nablus (Burin, Madama, Einabus, Urif and Assira) participated to a marathon race. More than a sport event, the marathon was a community-based activity that aimed at improving vulnerable children’s psychosocial well-being.The Burin marathon was a fathers’ activity that stood as the launching event for a wider year-long...
The Kairos Document
PNN 8 Feb 2010 - This document is the Christian Palestinians’ word to the world about what is happening in Palestine. It is written at this time when we wanted to see the Glory of the grace of God in this land and in the sufferings of its people. In this spirit the document requests the international community to stand by the Palestinian people who have faced...
Israel bars Palestinian expert on settlements from travel abroad
PNN 8 Feb 2010 - Interior Minister Eli Yishai has banned Palestinian geographer Khalil Tufakji, a resident of Jerusalem, from traveling abroad for six months, citing unspecified security concerns. The ban was issued on the recommendation of the Shin Bet security service and is based on 1948 Emergency regulations. Having been convinced that there is real concern that the exit of Mr. Khalil Tufakji from Israel may...
Jeruslalem Post 10 Feb 2010 - Prominent Ramallah reporter says union has become a "branch of Fatah."
'Rather starve than coach Israel'
Jeruslalem Post 9 Feb 2010 - Egyptian coach says he's heard of Israelis killing Arabs, not playing soccer.
‘PA hijacked Palestinian Journalists Syndicate vote’
Jeruslalem Post 9 Feb 2010 - Prominent Ramallah reporter says union has become a "branch of Fatah."
PM: Palestinians must know EU won't deliver Israel
Jeruslalem Post 9 Feb 2010 - Netanyahu urges European countries to disabuse Palestinians of vain hopes; Lieberman visits Azerbaijan.
‘Corruption will let Hamas take W. Bank'
Jeruslalem Post 9 Feb 2010 - Dramatic warning delivered by Abbas’s former corruption-buster Fahmi Shabaneh.
'Impose crippling sanctions on Iran now'
Jeruslalem Post 9 Feb 2010 - Netanyahu tells EU envoys that words are not enough against Teheran. [video]
FM: Turkey can't keep slamming Israel
Jeruslalem Post 9 Feb 2010 - In Baku, Lieberman says J'lem has backed relations with Ankara for 10 years.
Egyptian coach: Rather starve than coach Israel
Jeruslalem Post 9 Feb 2010 - Hassan Shehata says he's heard all his life of Israel killing Arabs, but not of Israelis playing soccer.
'I wouldn't cry if Ahmadinejad was killed'
Jeruslalem Post 9 Feb 2010 - Elie Wiesel tells Army Radio of petition against Iran regime, battle against Goldstone report.
IPS RAMALLAH, Feb 2 (IPS) - The Mideast continues to be plagued by autocratic Arab regimes where human rights, democracy and freedom of speech are a pipe dream for the average citizen. But who is to blame and what can be done to amend this situation?
MIDEAST: Gazans Denied Justice as Rights Take a Beating
IPS RAMALLAH, Feb 5 (IPS) - Gazans hoping for a modicum of justice following Israel’s indiscriminate military assault on the coastal territory during December 2008 and January 2009 - which left 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, dead - could be waiting in vain.
MIDEAST: Raze Illegal Buildings - Unless They Are Jewish
IPS SILWAN, Occupied East Jerusalem, Feb 3 (IPS) - Backed by armed security men, the municipal inspectors race their jeeps through the narrow alleyways and up a hillside crowded with buildings.
MIDEAST: Netanyahu Plants Trees and More on Occupied Land
IPS MAALEH ADUMIM, Occupied West Bank, Jan 28 (IPS) - When Benjamin Netanyahu dug a spade here and in another West Bank settlement this week, some thought the Israeli Prime Minister was actually digging a hole into current United States-sponsored peace efforts.
PCHR Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) · A child was wounded in Beit Ummar village, north of Hebron.
International Solidarity Movement
Israeli Army Open Fire on Gazan Farmers and International Observors2/9/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - ISM Gaza - Gazan farmers whose land lies in Israeli defined buffer zone accompanied by international observers have been held down in their field by live gunfire. The Israeli army shot live ammunition for a quarter of an hour after finding the unarmed group fertilizing wheat crops. The international observers loudly informed the soldiers they were unarmed civilians, but the bullets only landed closer. Khuza'a is located 7 kilometers southeast of Khan Yunis. It is about a kilometer from the fence that serves as a border between Israel and Gaza. According to the UN 30% of the arable land in Gaza is in the buffer zone. The farmers and ISM volunteers who came under fire today were on land that was recently lush with a variety of crops. Over the past few years, the number of crops grown has dwindled to due to the fatal threat posed by the Israeli army.
Despite increased repression, a victory
2/9/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - Legal challenges are an important battle field in non-violent resistance because often the occupation is forced to change their policies when these are held up to scrutiny. Court cases such as the one below as can determine whether or not Israeli occupation forces continue to use a particular oppressive tactic. But legal work is also quite expensive. The ISM is asking its supporters to throw fund-raising events to raise money to support the work of the ISM's solidarity with the Palestinian movement against apartheid. You can donate by check, or online (via Paypal) for details. [link follows] On Monday, February 8, 2010, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the release on bail of the two activists who were arrested on Sunday during a pre-dawn raid on the Ramallah media office of the International Solidarity Movement. Ariadna Jove Marti, a Spanish journalist, and Bridgette Chappell, an Australian student at Beir Zeit university have now been banned from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. .
Israeli-Palestinian peace would neutralize Iran threat
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Attempting to destroy Iran's nuclear potential militarily is liable to drag Israel into a drawn-out war.
'Israel may free Palestinian prisoners when peace talks resume'
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Netanyahu tells EU officials Israel will improve quality of life in West Bank if progress is made.
Shalit family to Red Cross: Verify Hamas claims on Gilad's health
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Family asks supporters of abducted IDF soldier to delay protest in front of Red Cross offices in Tel Aviv.
Obama: Iran sanctions in weeks over nuclear program
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - U.S. president says despite Tehran's denials it is clear to him that Iran is pursuing 'nuclear weaponization.'
Egypt soccer boss: I'd rather starve than coach Israelis
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Veteran trainer Hassan Shehata ends speculation over cross-border move in bluntest possible terms.
Protesters attack foreign embassies in Tehran
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Demonstrators hurl stones, shout 'Death to Berlusconi'; Protests also at French, Dutch embassies.
Wiesel: If Ahmadinejad were assassinated, I wouldn't shed a tear
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Nobel winner Elie Wiesel gathers signatures from 50 other winners for petition denouncing Iran leader.
Muslim students scream 'killer' during Israel envoy speech in L.A.
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Police arrest 12 hecklers who disrupted Michael Oren's speech at California university.
Investigator: Demjanjuk's story exhibits inconsistencies
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Investigator disputes statements about where alleged Nazi war criminal was after capture by Germans.
British academics urge Elton John to cancel Israel concert
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - In open letter, group writes concert cannot be morally neutral: 'Read what Goldstone said about Gaza'.
Polish city displays two faces to its few Jews
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - One side of Poland is educating about Jewish history, while another still demonize them, along with gays.
Palestinians seeks U.S. clarification on proposal to renew Mideast talks
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Abbas says Palestinian Authority has no specific conditions and is keeping door open to U.S. offer.
Germany's only Jewish film festival in danger of closure
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Around 100 Jewish film festivals are held worldwide each year, most of them in the U.S. and Canada.
UN prepares to intervene as Iran declares new nuclear plans
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Barak urges world not to ignore Iran provocations; Russian lawmaker calls for 'serious measure' against Iran.
Israel protests to Russia over Hamas leader Meshal's visit
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - On trip to Moscow, Meshal says Israel's aggression and U.S. backtracking made Mideast peace impossible.
The Guardian 9 Feb 2010 - Plans for a mixed Arab and Jewish neighbourhood in Jerusalem could be a step towards eradicating decades of hostility For all that Jerusalem is perpetually mired in clashes between rival groups of Arab and Jewish residents,...
Christian Aid's anti-Israel blunders | Adam Levick
The Guardian 8 Feb 2010 - By hosting vicious attacks on Israel, Christian Aid is destroying its reputation as a non-partisan charitable organisation Christian Aid, one of the world's largest anti-poverty NGOs, chose 27 January, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, to issue a...
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud), who is just completing his first year in the post, presented plans Tuesday for one of his most important goals: Improving the ministry's ability to enforce the law. ...
Israeli academics reject university status for settlement college
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Two hundred fifty Israeli faculty members sent an open letter to the Council of Higher Education Tuesday, calling on it not to recognize the Ariel college as either a "university center" or a university. ...
Family says Israeli man died after hospital staff ignored doctor's note
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - A 54-year-old man who died after stomach surgery at Ichilov Hospital could have been saved if proper procedures had been followed, his family said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court. ...
Like Netanyahu, Barak wants second shot as prime minister
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - His career has been eulogized more than once. They said he would never be leader again, that he was insensitive, arrogant and disconnected from the people. They reckoned that his party was disintegrating and predicted that he would defect to the rival camp and glean crumbs from the table of his historical antagonist. All the same, Ehud Barak is returning to the center of the political arena and has once again joined the list of candidates for prime minister. A Haaretz-Dialog survey published last Friday confirmed a gut feeling: Barak is the most popular person in the cabinet. ...
Defense Minister and IDF chief at loggerheads over Ashkenazi's future
Ha'aretz 9 Feb 2010 - Severe tension has developed between Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi - Barak is furious over what he sees as Ashkenazi's efforts to get his term extended for an exceptional fifth year. This issue prompted senior ministry officials to lash out at IDF Spokesman Avi Benayahu on Tuesday. ...
Relief Web 9 Feb 2010 - Source: Mennonite Central Committee
UN says needs $100 million in 2010 for Palestinian refugees
Relief Web 9 Feb 2010 - Source: Agence France-Presse
Palestinians to urge again for Gaza inquiry-prosecutor
Relief Web 8 Feb 2010 - Source: Reuters - AlertNet
Joint Press Release on the Meeting between Dr. Yukio Hatoyama, Prime Minister of Japan, and Dr. Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President
Relief Web 8 Feb 2010 - Source: Government of Japan
Palestinians to hold local elections in July
Relief Web 8 Feb 2010 - Source: Agence France-Presse
OPT: Serious Increase in Internal Violence in Gaza - Al Mezan
Relief Web 8 Feb 2010 - Source: Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
YNet News 9 Feb 2010 - Barak's aides slam TV report saying Ashkenazi may enter 5th year of term, say it was never discussed
Police: IDF convoy attacked in Yitzhar
YNet News 9 Feb 2010 - Army rebuked by police for failing to report attack with stones, paint cans by settlers until day after
Obama: Working on new sanctions for Iran
YNet News 9 Feb 2010 - US president says Tehran pursuing nuclear weapons, world united on country's 'misbehavior'
Palestinian hurt in clash with settlers
YNet News 9 Feb 2010 - Teen sustains light injuries when Har Bracha security officer fires in air during West Bank brawl
Ahmadinejad's supporters attack Western embassies
YNet News 9 Feb 2010 - Hundreds of students protest Western 'interference' in Iranian internal affairs in Tehran, call 'death to' Britain, France and throw eggs, tomatoes at embassies. Italian FM: Protesters are Besij militia members
Hamas fails to pay employees' salaries
YNet News 9 Feb 2010 - Clerks, security forces say pay delayed due to problem in smuggling funds to Gaza Strip
Daily Star 9 Feb 2010 Iran said Monday it has formally told the UN nuclear watchdog of its plan to produce higher enriched uranium, sparking fresh warnings by world powers of new sanctions against the Islamic Republic. "Iran's official letter about commencing the 20 percent enrichment activity in order to provide fuel for the Tehran reactor has been handed over to the IAEA"
Expect only modest US gains from thaw with Syria: analysts
Daily Star 9 Feb 2010 The Obama team may get modest benefits from ending a five-year chill with Damascus but will find it hard, if not impossible to peel Syria way from hardline ally Iran and break the Arab-Israeli stalemate, analysts said. US President Barack Obama's administration said last week it submitted its nominee for ambassador to Damascus, the fruit of a year-long drive to engage Syria in a bid to promote Arab-Israeli peace
Palestinians want peace talks to focus on borders
Daily Star 9 Feb 2010 Palestinian officials demanded on Monday that any US-backed peace talks with Israel focus on border issues and be given a deadline of up to four months. Washington has proposed circumventing a dispute preventing the resumption of talks, stalled for more than a year since a war in Gaza, by reconvening in the form of "proximity talks" on an indirect basis, under closer US mediation
Egypt arrests 3 top Muslim Brotherhood leaders
Daily Star 9 Feb 2010 The Number two leader of Egypt's opposition Muslim Brotherhood and two other top figures have been arrested by police Monday in a dawn sweep targeting members of the nation's most powerful opposition group across the country. The arrests, part of an ongoing crackdown, come just as the group chose a new leadership and ahead of parliamentary elections set for October
Hamas leader holds talks on Palestinian unity in Moscow
Daily Star 9 Feb 2010 The leader of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas met in Moscow Monday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for talks on efforts to reunify the two main Palestinian independence movements. "We met to pursue our discussions, and our principal goal is to build on efforts brokered by Egypt to secure Palestinian unity," Lavrov told reporters at the start of talks with Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal
Israeli police raid East Jerusalem refugee camp
Daily Star 9 Feb 2010 Israeli security forces on Monday raided a Palestinian refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem, arresting 11 people in an operation police said was aimed at putting "some order" in the area. Dozens of police and border police forces in jeeps entered the densely populated Shuafat camp in the north of occupied and occupied East Jerusalem after midnight, witnesses and police said
Iran reformist leaders deny links to foreigners
Daily Star 9 Feb 2010 Iran's top reformist leaders on Monday rejected the authorities' accusation that the opposition movement had links to foreigners and urged people to attend rallies on Thursday marking the 1979 Islamic revolution. The opposition is expected to revive anti-government protests at the February 11 events, raising fears of further clashes with the security forces
Rights group: Bahrain has resumed torturing detainees
Daily Star 9 Feb 2010 The Gulf kingdom of Bahrain resumed torturing detainees in 2007 after about a decade of not engaging in the "scourge," US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released Monday. As of late 2007, "torture is back in the repertoire of Bahrain's security services" the international watchdog said in the report
Palestinian Information Center
Israeli Knesset decides not to return confiscated Arab landsPIC 10 Feb 2010 - The Knesset endorsed the second and third reading of a resolution allowing the return of confiscated lands to their owners if they weren’t utilized but excluded lands confiscated from Palestinians.
Mansour: The W. Bank is the victim of the PA-Israeli security coordination
PIC 10 Feb 2010 - Palestinian MP Mona Mansour asserted that the West Bank was the victim of the PA-Israeli security coordination that badly harmed and humiliated the Palestinian people there.
Human rights groups: IOA plans demolition of hundreds of homes in OJ
PIC 10 Feb 2010 - Jerusalemite human rights groups have warned that around one third of the population in the Shiyah suburb in central occupied Jerusalem is threatened with displacement.
Popular outcry at Egyptian arrest of Palestinian students
PIC 10 Feb 2010 - The solidarity committee with Palestinian captive in an Egyptian jail Ayman Nofal has strongly condemned the arrest of more than 150 Palestinian students at the hands of the Egyptian authorities.
IOF continues arrest campaign in Shafat refugee camp and Al-Khalil
PIC 10 Feb 2010 - Israeli occupation forces are still rounding up Palestinians in Shafat since Monday night in a campaign of arrests that continued till the early hours on Tuesday, local sources said.
Sabri: Aqsa Mosque was and will remain a red line
PIC 10 Feb 2010 - Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, the head of the higher Islamic authority, has warned of messing with the holy Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.
Aqsa foundation: Aqsa walls cracked
PIC 10 Feb 2010 - The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage that caters for Muslim holy shrines in Palestine disclosed that big cracks were seen in the northern wall of the Aqsa Mosque.
Mishaal: Washington strives to abort Palestinian reconciliation
PIC 10 Feb 2010 - Khaled Mishaal has accused the United States of trying to foil Palestinian efforts to achieve the national reconciliation by pressuring Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas not to go ahead with it.
Abu Sha'ar: The IOA demolishes more Palestinian homes in O. Jerusalem
PIC 10 Feb 2010 - Palestinian Awkaf minister Dr. Talib Abu Sha'ar has warned of the IOA policy of demolishing tens of Palestinian homes in the occupied city of Jerusalem with the pretext they have no building permits.
Human rights group: IOA escalating detention of Palestinian women
PIC 10 Feb 2010 - A Palestinian human rights group has charged the IOA with escalating the targeting of Palestinian women in a bid to spread fear among the Palestinian people and to humiliate them.
LA Times 10 Feb 2010 - Outages may grow as West Bank officials pressure the electric company over debts. The Gaza Strip's beleaguered residents face worsening power outages, even as winter temperatures drop, because of a financial dispute between the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority and Gaza's electricity distributor.
Iran plans to build 10 more nuclear plants
LA Times 9 Feb 2010 - Despite Western threats of sanctions, Tehran says it will build more nuclear fuel plants and beef up its military. As Iran moved to enrich uranium to a higher level of purity and build new nuclear-fuel plants, U.S. and French defense officials suggested Monday that sanctions were needed to force Tehran to curb its nuclear program.
Russia, U.S. harshly condemn Iran's nuclear move
LA Times 10 Feb 2010 - Tehran says it will enrich some of its uranium to a higher purity for medical purposes, but other nations fear the process could eventually be used for weapons. China's response is more muted. Iran's move on Tuesday to produce higher-grade uranium for a medical reactor prompted widespread international condemnation and an uncharacteristically harsh response from Russia, whose support is key to U.S.-led efforts to impose tough new sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Iran lawyer haunted by young man's execution
LA Times 8 Feb 2010 - Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh is filled with rage over the treatment of her client, 20-year-old Arash Rahmanipour, who was not defended in court and then was quietly put to death. The defendant met with his lawyer once for 15 minutes before he was sentenced to death and hanged.
Israeli conservatives attack U.S.-based philanthropy as unpatriotic
LA Times 8 Feb 2010 - Nationalist groups accuse the New Israel Fund of seeking to undermine Israel, alleging that rights groups it has sponsored provided most of the testimony to a U.N. panel on the Gaza war. A U.S.-based philanthropy that funds human rights groups in Israel is under fire amid accusations that its recipients provided the bulk of evidence to a U.N. commission that issued a report highly critical of Israel's Gaza Strip war a year ago.
Defying the West, Iran's president orders boost in nuclear enrichment
LA Times 8 Feb 2010 - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tells his atomic energy chief to increase uranium enrichment from 3.5% to 20% as talks over a nuclear-fuel exchange sputter. Iran's energy chief says it's simply an 'alert.' In a move possibly meant to deflect attention from his domestic political woes, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday ordered the nation's atomic energy agency to begin enriching uranium to a higher level of purity to serve as fuel for a Tehran medical reactor.
New York Times 9 Feb 2010 - Iranian security officials were believed to have arrested as many as 1,000 people in the past two months, a rights group said.
World Briefing | Middle East: Egypt: Police Arrest 3 Top Figures of a Powerful Opposition Group
New York Times 9 Feb 2010 - The police arrested three top figures of the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most powerful opposition group, as part of a continuing crackdown since the group recently chose new leadership.
World Briefing | Middle East: Yemen: Qaeda Affiliate Urges Joint Blockade of Red Sea
New York Times 9 Feb 2010 - The Yemen-based wing of Al Qaeda called Monday for a regional holy war and a blockade of the Red Sea to cut off shipments to Israel.
Iran Nuclear Plans Start New Calls for Sanctions
New York Times 9 Feb 2010 - After Iran notified the U.N. nuclear agency of plans to enrich its uranium, officials from the U.S., France and Russia called for stronger measures against Tehran.
An 'Israeli Remix' of a Palestinian Scarf
New York Times 8 Feb 2010 - A Jewish D.J. in Brooklyn finds himself defending his right to market what he calls an "Israeli remix of the keffiyeh," a symbol of Palestinian identity.
Gates Scoffs at Iran Nuclear Claim
New York Times 7 Feb 2010 - The United States and Germany rejected Iran’s assertion that it was close to accepting an international compromise on enriching uranium abroad.
Palestine Monitor - 9 Feb 2010 - Late Sunday night Israeli Army raided the Stop the Wall Campaign (a Palestinian grassroots coalition) offices in Ramallah, West Bank. Some 10 military jeeps, hummers and an armoured bus surrounded the building, where the offices are located. Photo: Stop The Wall Following a three-hour search, Israeli...
Fabulous Nablus
Palestine Monitor - 9 Feb 2010 - Look through the Rough Guide to Israel & the Palestinian Territories and you will find barely 20 pages devoted to Palestine. From that the city of Nablus receives just a few skinny paragraphs and a map, reinforcing the popular perception that the 7000 year old city...
Danny Ayalon's Arrival Sparks Outrage In London
Palestine Monitor - 8 Feb 2010 - A protest march will be held in London today against the arrival of deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign and British Muslim Initiative are co-ordinating the march, expected to number several hundred, to highlight the ongoing human rights abuses perpetrated by the Israeli...
Wiesel scored $500,000 for speech to congregation of Hagee, a Holocaust revisionist
Mondoweiss - 9 Feb 2010 - During the J Street conference, I criticized Elie Wiesel for delivering a speech to the congregation of the homophobic, Holocaust revisionist Pastor John Hagee, whose conspiratorial prophecies were so extreme John McCain withdrew the preacher’s endorsement. Now, just over three months later, we know why Wiesel...
The landlord
Mondoweiss - 9 Feb 2010 - The Jerusalem Post website today carries an "exclusive" interview with two settlers in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The whole piece is an interesting insight into this particular mentality – note, for example, Yuval’s observation that the "Galilee needs to be taken care of...
Sullivan gets the treatment
Mondoweiss - 9 Feb 2010 - Leon Wieseltier, in a V-part symphony in the New Republic , smears former New Republic editor Andrew Sullivan as an anti-semite because of his criticisms of Israel. Hard to read. Baroque style. Best quotes in the piece are Sullivan’s. Note that after Jeffrey Goldberg published a piece...
If Bronner were reassigned to China, what makes you think is replacement would be better?
Mondoweiss - 9 Feb 2010 - My initial reaction to the news that Ethan Bronner’s son had joined the IDF was a shrug. I have found Bronner’s reporting to be biased toward Israel, but only a reflection of the deeply entrenched institutional biases that control our media. Bronner is biased for the...
Oxford and Cambridge are Scylla and Charybdis of Jewish state
Mondoweiss - 9 Feb 2010 - As we say at Yom Kippur, the doors are closing. In England, that is. A few days ago a talk by Benny Morris to the Israel Society at Cambridge University was canceled under pressure from students who cited Morris’s anti-Arab statements in One State, Two States ....
Articles
Open Letter to Bono: Entertaining Apartheid Israel...U 2 Bono?
PACBI 2/7/2010
Occupied Ramallah, 13 January 2010 - Dear Bono, The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) was deeply disturbed to learn that that you are scheduled to perform in Israel this coming summer. Two years ago, you were invited by Israeli President Shimon Peres to attend a conference in Israel marking Israel‘s contributions to medicine, science, and conservation; we urged you then, as a prominent activist on issues of global inequality and a campaigner for basic human rights, to say no to Israel, especially since the invitation coincided with celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state.[1] You did not go to Israel then; we call on you now not to grant legitimacy to a state that practices the most pernicious form of colonialism and apartheid.
Performing in Israel would violate the almost unanimously endorsed Palestinian civil society Call for Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel.[2] This Call is directed particularly towards international activists, artists, and academics of conscience, such as yourself. Moreover, it would come a year and a half after Israel’s bloody military assault against the occupied Gaza Strip which left over 1,440 Palestinians dead, of whom 431 were children, and 5380 injured.[3] The 1.5 million Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, the overwhelming majority of whom are refugees who were expelled from their homes by Zionist forces in 1948,[4] were subjected to three weeks of relentless Israeli state terror, whereby Israeli warplanes systematically targeted civilian areas, reducing whole neighborhoods and vital civilian infrastructure to rubble and partially destroying Gaza’s leading university and scores of schools, including several run by the UN, where civilians were taking shelter.
This criminal assault comes after three years of an ongoing, illegal, crippling Israeli siege of Gaza which has shattered all spheres of life, prompting the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, Richard Falk, to describe it as “a prelude to genocide”. The UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, headed by the highly respected South African judge, Richard Goldstone, found Israel guilty of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, as did major international human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.... more.. e-mail
Im Tirtzu hides behind respectable mask of ‘Zionism’
Gideon Levy, Ha’aretz 2/7/2010
Binyamin Ze’ev is turning in his grave once again: A McCarthyite movement has taken his best-known slogan for its name. Im Tirtzu, which deceptively calls itself a “moderate, centrist movement,” gives a bad name to Herzl, a democrat and liberal, who coined the phrase “Im tirtzu, ain zo agada” (If you will it, it is no dream). The group’s latest trick: a dirty war against the New Israel Fund for its funding of 16 organizations that provided documentation used in the Goldstone report.
Oy, gevalt! There are nongovernmental organizations that want Israel to be a better, more just state, and that the New Israel Fund dares to underwrite. Cities were plastered with posters featuring a caricature of NIF president Naomi Chazan wearing a horn – that’s the level that the “movement” behind the campaign sinks to – and with the last name of that reviled figure, Goldstone, added to hers.
Maariv, the tabloid daily that never shrinks from McCarthyism, hastened to publish a ludicrous “expose” that is nothing more than a copy of Im Tirtzu’s report. The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee created a subcommittee to “examine the sources of funding,” media personality Avri Gilad called for Chazan’s dismissal and the Jerusalem Post has already fired her as columnist for the newspaper. It’s exactly how McCarthyism operated.
There’s no lack of fascist movements in Israel and the wider world, nationalist, militarist and racist organizations that don’t pretend to be anything but. Im Tirtzu hides behind the respectable mask of “Zionism.” Under this camouflage people hunt down all signs of democracy and critical thought. Quiet, we’re shooting, all the time. That is their “second Zionist revolution,” an Israel without the High Court of Justice and without B’Tselem, militarist with neither criticism nor supervision. If that is Zionism, then it’s better to be anti-Zionist. more.. e-mail
Israel stole 2 billion dollars from Palestinian workers: 40-year deception exposed
Jonathan Cook in Jerusalem, Redress 2/5/2010
Over the past four decades Israel has defrauded Palestinians working inside Israel of more than two billion US dollars by deducting from their salaries contributions for welfare benefits to which they were never entitled, Israeli economists have revealed. A new report, “State Robbery”, to be published later this month, says the “theft” continued even after the Palestinian Authority was established in 1994 and part of the money was supposed to be transferred to a special fund on behalf of the workers. According to information supplied by Israeli officials, most of the deductions from the workers’ pay were invested in infrastructure projects in the Palestinian territories – a presumed reference to the massive state subsidies accorded to the Jewish settlements. Nearly 50,000 Palestinians from the West Bank are working in Israel – following the easing of restrictions on entering Israel under the “economic peace” promised by Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister – and continue to have such contributions docked from their pay. Complicit in the deception, the report adds, is the Histadrut, the Israeli labour federation, which levies a monthly fee on Palestinian workers, even though they are not entitled to membership and are not represented in labour disputes. “This is a clear-cut case of theft from Palestinian workers on a grand scale,” said Shir Hever, a Jerusalem-based economist and one of the authors of the report. “There are no reasons for Israel to delay in returning this money either to the workers or to their beneficiaries.” more.. e-mail
A mother's grief
Electronic Intifada: 9 Feb 2010 - Nejoud al-Ashqar is a 30-year-old mother from the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya. Two of her sons, Bilal, 5, and Mohammad, 6, were killed during Israel's invasion of Gaza last winter. Al-Ashqar also lost her right arm in the assault. EI contributor Rami Almeghari writes from Gaza about the hardships endured by the al-Ashqar family since the Israeli invasion.
Jerusalem mayor to raze 200 Palestinian homes
Electronic Intifada: 9 Feb 2010 - Jerusalem's mayor threatened last week to demolish 200 homes in Palestinian neighborhoods of the city in an act even he conceded would probably bring long-simmering tensions over housing in East Jerusalem to a boil. His uncompromising stance is the latest stage in a protracted legal battle over a single building towering above the jumble of modest homes of Silwan. Jonathan Cook reports from Jerusalem.
United solidarity with Gaza
Electronic Intifada: 8 Feb 2010 - Once the Gaza Freedom March arrived in Cairo I repeatedly heard justification that organizers did not want to put Egyptian protesters at risk. Yet, Egyptians regularly protest in Egypt despite the risks. For a group of outsiders to justify the exclusion of our involvement without asking our opinion -- in spite of the good intentions of "protecting" us -- felt paternalistic and demeaning. Philip Rizk comments for The Electronic Intifada.
Justice denied in Gaza
Electronic Intifada: 8 Feb 2010 - RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Gazans hoping for a modicum of justice following Israel's indiscriminate military assault on the coastal territory during December 2008 and January 2009 -- which left 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, dead -- could be waiting in vain. The Israeli government has taken the offensive in the propaganda battle and attacked United Nations-appointed Justice Richard Goldstone's report into war crimes committed during the war.
In Gaza: 9 Feb 2010 - It’s like spring and we’re visiting the Abu Taima region. The different Abu Taima brothers and cousins speak of their land, all in or near the Israeli-imposed “buffer zone” (officially 300m in which Palestinians cannot enter without fear of being shot, killed; but in reality a land-annexation which extends even up to nearly 2 km, driving farmers off their land and rendering land un-used…a waste of space in a Strip that has no space to waste). Mohammed, the 14 year old son of one of the discouraged me, knows the land and its history. He tours us around, points out vacant plots where almond, fruit and olive trees once stood,...
Palestine Chronicle: 9 Feb 2010 - By Jonathan Cook - Jerusalem Jerusalem's mayor threatened last week to demolish 200 homes in Palestinian neighbourhoods of the city in an act even he conceded would probably bring long-simmering tensions over housing in East Jerusalem to a boil. His uncompromising stance is the latest stage in a protracted legal battle over a single building towering above the jumble of modest homes of Silwan, a deprived and overcrowded Palestinian community lying just outside the Old City walls, in the shadow of the silver-topped al Aqsa mosque. Beit Yehonatan, or Jonathan’s House, is distinctive not only for its height -- at seven storeys, it is at least three floors taller than its neighbours -- but also for the Israeli flag draped from the roof to the street. The settlement outpost, named for Jonathan Pollard, serving a life sentence in the US for spying on Israel’s behalf in the 1980s, has been home to eight Jewish families since 2004, when it was built without a licence by an extremist settler organisation known as Ateret Cohanim. Beit Yehonatan is one of dozens of settler-occupied homes springing up in Palestinian areas of East Jerusalem, most of them takeovers of Palestinian homes. Critics say the intent of these “outposts”, together with the large settlements of East Jerusalem built by the state and home to nearly 200,000 Jews, is to foil any peace agreement that might one day offer the Palestinians a meaningful state with Jerusalem as its capital. But exceptionally for the settlers, who are...
The Useless Logic of Round Numbers: War is Criminal Any Day
Palestine Chronicle: 8 Feb 2010 - By Ramzy Baroud The media's habit of revisiting certain issues at set intervals can be strange and even illogical at times. For example, many news outlets commented on President Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office, as well as on the anniversary of his election win, and then again one year after his inauguration day. With every new round number, more commentators joined in and discussions heated up between proponents and detractors of his government’s performance. I am not exactly sure why we like round numbers. Is it because they make valuations easy, even when the particular number is irrelevant? Some philosophers, Plato included, believed that order and symmetry are innate values in the human psyche. Perhaps. Or, perhaps, in the case of the media, numbers give us the sense, deceptively, that we have a grasp over certain truths. We determine the order in which legacies such as Obama’s should be dissected. After a decided date, the subject can be ignored until the next round number arrives, bringing with it more useless chatter. Of course, this is a delusion. Like much of the media’s behaviour, it has no connection to reality. It’s all a mind game. A lie, even. For victims of US policies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, and elsewhere, the attention given to round numbers is wholly illogical. The drones flying over Afghanistan and Pakistan, loaded with killing technology, care little for numbers, including the number of lives they destroy daily. Did Gazans starve less when we ‘examined’ Obama’s (...