This is my news list, Today in Palestine, for Thursday:
Land Theft and Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
IOF troops raid southern Gaza, bulldoze cultivated land
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in three army tanks escorted four military bulldozers in a foray north of Khan Younis city, south of the Gaza Strip, on Wednesday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7h6F9DukH3GFFVRCjozZuqooUMKzoq64bmwVbPzGivFBtFf3SQpLhSVMFrcYwdJVjrR%2b%2bV0AqiPqLwwzj9tQDTDnviJDFv1SAClrrQxzlHdc%3d
Salfit locals report crop damage by wild boars
Salfit – Ma’an – Salift farmers said a sounder of wild boars destroyed several dunums of Palestinian farm land on Wednesday, prompting accusations of settler involvement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=290858
Solidarity/Activism/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
Demonstrators interrupt illegal wall construction in Al Walaja
A group of over 30 demonstrators came to Al-Walaja today at 7am to obstruct the path of a bulldozer being used to construct the illegal annexation wall. Three demonstrators were arrested during the action; the legitimacy of two of the arrests remains in question. Among the arrested was former Yale Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh. The activists were successful in stopping construction for an hour by chaining themselves to the bulldozer.
South Korea protesters greet Peres with cries of ‘killer’
Seoul downgrades status of president’s trip from ‘official’ to ‘working’, due to pressure over Gaza flotilla raid.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/south-korea-protesters-greet-peres-with-cries-of-killer-1.295316?localLinksEnabled=false
University of Korea cancels granting Peres honorary doctorates
Korea, June 10, (Pal Telegraph) One of the South Korea universities decided to cancel granting the Israeli President Shimon Peres a honorary doctorates. The Korean authorities also decided to reduce Peres’ visit today, because of the massacre committed by Israeli occupation forces against the "fleet of freedom."
http://www.paltelegraph.com/world/asia-news/6353-university-of-korea-cancels-granting-peres-honorary-doctorates
Morocco: North Africans renew support to Palestinians
After several spontaneous demonstrations that took place around Europe and Africa, more than 50,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Rabat, Monday, in support of Palestinians while protesting against an Israeli attack, last week, during which no fewer than 19 people were killed on a humanitarian flotilla on international waters.
http://en.afrik.com/article17751.html
EXCLUSIVE: New Video Smuggled Out from Mavi Marmara of Israel’s Deadly Assault on Gaza Aid Flotilla
In a Democracy Now! exclusive, we bring you a sneak preview of previously unseen raw footage from the Mavi Marmara that will be formally released at a press conference at the United Nations later in the day. The footage shows the mood and the activities onboard the Mavi Marmara in the time leading up to the attack, and the immediate reaction of the passengers during the attack. We are joined by filmmaker and activist Iara Lee, one of the few Americans on the Mavi Marmara ship. Her equipment was confiscated, but she managed to smuggle out an hour’s worth of footage.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/10/exclusive_journalist_smuggles_out_video_of
Announcement and Actions in Support of SF Resolution on "Freedom Flotilla and Blockade on Gaza"
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcz4xph6_68zgmsrgs
50 Ships To Join Second Freedom Flotilla
Yasser Qashlaq, the head of the Free Palestine Movement, announced Thursday that Freedom Flotilla 2 could include up to 50 ships.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58901
Galloway announces new land and sea convoys to break the siege of Gaza
Two simultaneous convoys – one by land the other by sea – will set forth on SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 12th bound for Gaza. The sea convoy will travel around the Mediterranean gathering ships, cargo, volunteers from each country. The target is to enter Gaza with sixty ships.
Australian flotilla survivors describe brutality: “I’ve never met anyone whose heart has become so hard”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZWmWZluknY&feature=player_embedded
Turkish Doctor Describes Treating Israeli Commandos During Raid
A Turkish doctor told The New York Times that photographs smuggled out of Israel show him treating an Israeli commando who was captured during the initial stages of the raid on a ship bound for Gaza last week.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=7d06ee321cb67385e2617a45cba8c88e
Sri Lanka says national among flotilla injured
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli commandos shot a Sri Lankan citizen during last week’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, officials said. "Ahmad Luqman Talib received gunshot injuries in the leg and is now recovering in a hospital in Istanbul," said Nihad Issa, office director for the Representative Office of Sri Lanka to the Palestinian National Authority in Ramallah.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=291070
University of Haifa professor heading to academic convention in Alexandria denied visa.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3902967,00.html
MKs offer response to PA boycott
Knesset members submit bill that would see money owed to Palestinians handed over to Israelis hurt by settlement boycott.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3902932,00.html
Violence/Aggression
"Price Tag" Crosses the Green Line
Last night, extremist settlers further escalated their campaign to terrorize Palestinians and deter Israel’s law enforcement authorities from protecting the rule of law in the West Bank. After desecrating and vandalizing mosques in the West Bank, these hooligans are now attacking loyal Israeli Muslim citizens.
http://peacenow.org/entries/post_7
PA official: Settlers burn car in northern West Bank
Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli settlers burnt a car belonging to a Palsetinian in the northern West Bank at dawn, officials said. Ghassan Doughlas, a Palestinian official who monitors settlements in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that settlers burnt a car belonging to Ayed Abdullah Sawan, a resident of the Amatin village, which is between Nablus and Qalqiliya.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=290921
Gaza youth forum says under attack by armed groups
Gaza – Ma’an – Weeks after an UNRWA recreation center in Gaza was set alight by masked gunmen, the Sharek Youth Forum said it has suspended work in the coastal enclave, after its offices were raided several times by armed groups.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=290772
Kawther Salam – 107 Israeli Crimes Against Palestinian Journalists
“Israel perpetrated 107 attacks and violations against Palestinian journalist’s rights since the start of 2010” said the secretary general and president of the
Palestinian Journalist Syndicate
(PJS), Professor
Abed Al-Nasser Al-Najjar
. He stated that the Israeli attacks included beating the journalists, breaking their cameras, preventing them from covering events, shooting at them deliberately, arresting and jailing them, fabricating serious charges, fining them, imposing high financial fines before releasing them from detention, declaring the area of work of journalists as military zones, denying them the access to occupied Jerusalem.
http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/06/10/kawther-salam-107-israeli-crimes-against-palestinian-journalists/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PalestineThinkTank+%28Palestine+Think+Tank%29
Detainees
Torture Of Palestinian Child Prisoners "Widespread And Institutionalised"
This week a DCI (Defence For Children International) report found that Palestinian children are still routinely tortured under Israeli custody. The document, based on hundreds of sworn, independent affidavits, has been submitted to the UN Committee Against Torture.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1443
IOF soldiers detain 15 civilians
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up 15 Palestinian citizens in the West Bank at dawn Thursday at the pretext they were wanted for participating in attacks on Israeli targets.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7yQLnUBSFcjC4EX%2fVvte7NzA41BDALzqWsne4qXQJSKxM3eTeTJYHtQt9TqCfz3hkWlGjlsAgMBfPFq4jXlb7Z15Fu%2fjduEHq293rEd8yzko%3d
Israel detains 4 Palestinians in Hebron, Nablus
West Bank, June 10, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) detained four Palestinians on Wednesday overnight from Hebron and Nablus, in the West Bank. In Al-Zaheria town south of Hebron, IOF detained the citizen Mohammed Sabah Al-Hawaren, Esa Baher, 16, and Sameer Abu Marya, 16. They also beat the child Saker Abu Hashem, SAFA news agency reported. Israeli troops roamed the streets of Hebron today; no detentions were reported this morning.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/6349-israel-detains-4-palestinians-in-hebron-nablus
Siege/Human Rights/Humanitarian Issues
Obama urges Israel to end Palestinian ‘siege’
Barack Obama, the US president, has called on Israel to lift the "siege" on Palestinians, after a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president. Wednesday’s meeting in Washington also resulted in a $400m US aid package for Gaza and the West Bank. Abbas said Obama’s statement is a "positive signal" that the US cared about the suffering of those in Gaza and the Palestinian people. Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane reports. (June 10, 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_xBlo_xB1M&feature=youtube_gdata
Lieberman: Israel shouldn’t lift Gaza siege until Hamas lets Red Cross see Shalit
Lieberman’s remarks echo calls made by Shalit supporters amid international calls on Israel to end 4-year-blockade.
Weekly Report: On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory 03- 09 June 2010
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MCOI-86AFDH?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Industrial Fuel – Needs Vs. Supply – May 9 – June 5
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/06/industrial-fuel-needs-vs-supply-may-9-june-5/
Goods – Needs Vs. Supply – May 9 – June 5
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/06/goods-needs-vs-supply-may-9-june-5/
Gaza in Context: A Closer Look at the MFA’s Numbers on Humanitarian Activity
On Tuesday, May 25, 2010, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) released its
, claiming to be actively contributing to the humanitarian needs and even economic development of the Gaza Strip. Contrast the MFA report with UN agency OCHA’s critical
report on limitations to access in the Palestinian territory
released on May 27, 2010.
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/06/gaza-in-context-a-closer-look-at-the-mfas-numbers-on-humanitarian-activity/
Gaza’s boys and girls come out to play
London 2012 it isn’t. But on Sunday a relay of 50 schoolchildren bearing an Olympic-style torch will start from Deir el Balah Elementary Boy’s School in central Gaza on the 17km road journey along the Mediterranean coast to the UN compound in Gaza City. There, they will light a flame, less to commemorate the notorious white phosphorus bombardment which razed the main warehouse here during Israel’s military offensive in January 2009, than to herald the start of something altogether more cheerful: the fourth annual summer games.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gazas-boys-and-girls-come-out-to-play-1996141.html
War Criminals
The International Law Framework: It is not piracy!
The crimes that Israel committed during its assault on the vessels and civilian passengers of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla fall firmly within the category of “high crimes.” (We have already written concerning the legal status of the actual attack in a paper that can be found here: "
http://www.scribd.com/doc/32579575/The-Legal-Framework
") The assault, rather than an act of piracy, must be defined as a “crime against the peace” and a “crime against humanity” as Israel subjected “part of the high seas to its sovereignty” in a murderous attack on unarmed civilian vessels. The severity of these crimes is magnified precisely because the criminal actor is not an individual but a highly militarized state, the power of which is exponentially greater than that of any individual or group of individuals.
http://groups.google.com/group/newprofile/browse_thread/thread/5f7d3424b5846195?hl=en&pli=1
Political Developments
Hamas: Obama’s call to ease Gaza blockade "meaningless"
GAZA, June 10 (Xinhua) — Islamic Hamas movement on Thursday described the U.S. President Barack Obama’s call for easing Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip as "meaningless." Obama made the remarks following a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington on Wednesday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-06/10/c_13344120.htm
Obama sees Mideast ‘progress’ possible this year (AFP)
AFP – President Barack Obama pledged unwavering commitment to forging significant progress in the Middle East this year, despite the furor whipped up by Israel’s raid on a Gaza aid flotilla.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100610/pl_afp/uspoliticsdiplomacymideastgaza
Obama discusses Gaza’s plight with Abbas (AFP)
AFP – US President Barack Obama Wednesday welcomed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to the White House to discuss alleviating Gaza’s plight and the prospects for direct Israeli-Palestinian talks.
Obama urges Israel work with all parties on Gaza (Reuters)
Reuters – President Barack Obama called on Israel on Wednesday to work with all parties to find a solution for Gaza and said the United States is providing $400 million in new aid for the Palestinians.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100609/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_statement
US Senator unveils pro-Israel resolution in flotilla feud (AFP)
AFP – A top Republican US Senator on Wednesday unveiled a resolution fully supporting Israel’s actions in its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound ship, while condemning the pro-Palestinian activists aboard.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100609/pl_afp/israelconflictgazauspoliticssenate
Abbas tells Obama Israel not serious about talks
Palestinian officials express satisfaction over US president’s remarks in wake of meeting with Abbas.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3903009,00.html
Abbas to dine with pro-Israel leaders tonight
Leading Jewish Americans are reportedly just about fed up with the government of Turkey, but many of them are still very much interested in working with the Palestinian Authority and will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas tonight. The S. David Abraham Center for Middle East Peace is hosting a private dinner for Abbas this evening that will bring together more than 30 Jewish community leaders and former officials to schmooze with Abbas, including former national security advisors Stephen Hadley and Sandy Berger and former White House Middle East hand Elliott Abrams. The event’s host is the center’s president, former Florida Congressman Robert Wexler, who is widely rumored to be soon appointed the next U.S. ambassador to Israel.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/06/09/abbas_to_dine_with_pro_israel_leaders_tonight
Abbas tells U.S. Jews: I would never deny Jewish right to the land of Israel
Palestinian president meets with leaders of the American Jewish community in Washington, interviews with Charlie Rose.
Abdullah warns Jordan won’t become home for Palestinians
BEIRUT: Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned against any suggestion that his country would become a homeland for the Palestinians .
“You should be sure that we will not accept, under whatever circumstances, a solution for the Palestinian question at the expense of Jordan,” King Abdullah II said during a ceremony organized to commemorate the eleventh anniversary of his accession to the throne.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=115784#axzz0qODaw3Bp
Arab League chief set for Gaza visit
GAZA, June 9 (Reuters) – Arab League chief Amr Moussa plans to visit the Gaza Strip on Sunday in what the ruling Hamas movement called a sign of mounting Arab pressure for an end to an Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE6590OB.htm
Other News
Arab states: Israel’s nuclear danger reinforced by its aggression
Arab states target Israel at UN nuclear debate, urge Israel to join global anti-nuclear arms pact NPT.
US Veterans commemorate 43rd anniversary of Israeli attack on US ship
Forty-three years ago, the Israeli military attacked a U-S ship called the U-S-S Liberty in international waters. Thirty-four U-S sailors were killed, and one hundred seventy four injured.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58898
Russian Immigrant Doesn’t Want Palestinian Native in Knesset: MK Michaeli: I didn’t touch Zoabi
Anastassia Michaeli tells anti-violence conference she ‘reacted’ to seeing Balad MK on stage.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3903333,00.html
Arab nations cheer Turkey for tough Israel stand (AP)
AP – Arab nations burst into applause Thursday as Turkey’s prime minister walked to the podium at a summit, reflecting Turkey’s meteoric rise on the world stage amid disputes over Israel’s blockade of Gaza and U.N. sanctions against Iran.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100610/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_turkey_arab_meeting
Hamas, Turkey to work to sue Israel
Justice ministers of Hamas, Turkey, agree to work together to prosecute Israeli officers involved in deadly raid on Gaza flotilla. Meanwhile, Arab League chief to visit Strip next week.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3903296,00.html
EU blamed for Israel Turkey rift
Turkey’s growing hostility to Israel could be partly caused by its effective rejection by the EU, the US defence secretary says.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/world/europe/10275379.stm
Erdogan, Putin: Israel won’t get our gas
Russia, Turkey denies Israel fuel due to "economic considerations."
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=177861
Yahoo! and Apple put East Jerusalem on the map
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Internet giant Yahoo! and the Apple computer firm have reportedly included East Jerusalem on a weather software application for iPhones, Israeli media reported. According to the far-right Israeli news site Artuz Sheva, the previous program reportedly unified both sides of the city, despite the eastern part falling under territory occupied by Israel in 1967.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=290852
Nablus taxi drivers strike after co-worker dies in terminal
Nablus – Ma’an – Nablus taxi drivers declared a strike on Wednesday, after a colleague died of breathing difficulties likely caused by carbon monoxide poisoning in the Nablus central taxi terminal. Over 800 taxi drivers will not take customers inside Nablus, and will no longer operate on eight routes outside, as part of the strike.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=290720
Palestinian women racers get British training
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Palestinian Motorsports Federation, in cooperation with the British Council in Jerusalem, will sponsor a two-day training course for women racers in Ramallah at the Beituniya traverse, the federation chief told Ma’an Wednesday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=290775
Helen
Longer Helen Thomas clip released
A longer video clip has now been posted of the full exchange between Helen Thomas and passersby that included Jewish students and a rabbi. The brouhaha that ensued led to Thomas announcing her retirement. This fuller clip gives a decidedly different tenor to the exchange than the truncated remark that was seized upon to vilify an American icon.
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/06/09/longer-helen-thomas-clip-released/
“Remember, these people are occupied and it’s their land …”
A
captured 89-year-old journalist Helen Thomas making some ineloquent comments. At one point she stated that Israeli Jews should go back to where they originated. The Lobby pounced and the long knives came out to push a critic of Zionism, Thomas, into retirement. On the Canadian state CBC radio program “As It Happens,” Clinton acolyte Lanny Davis excoriated Thomas as an anti-Semite for her comments. There was no discussion of the factuality of Thomas’s remarks. There was no discussion of the racism of stealing the land of an indigenous people? The discussion was confined to racism against the occupying power? Defending occupied people against their Zionist oppressors is fraught with opprobrium.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/06/%e2%80%9cremember-these-people-are-occupied-and-its-their-land-%e2%80%9d/
The Outrage at Helen Thomas, ALISON WEIR
People shot in the head, eyes and brain parts destroyed, the elderly beaten, small children and infants caused to suffer and die, parents to grieve – none of this has caused a hint of anger. In fact, most of it has been considered of too little importance even to report. Instead, media reports are filled with outrage at “anti-Israel” words spoken by 89-year-old Helen Thomas.
http://www.counterpunch.org/weir06092010.html
Moral Failure of American Liberals: A Defence of Helen Thomas, Jonathan Cook
The ostracism of Helen Thomas, the doyenne of the White House press corps, over her comment that Jews should ‘get the hell out of Palestine’ and ‘go home’ to Poland, Germany, America and elsewhere is revealing in several ways. In spite of an apology, the 89-year-old has been summarily retired by the Hearst newspaper group, dropped by her agent, spurned by the White House, and denounced by long-time friends and colleagues.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16048
The suppression of Arab-American speech, Philip Weiss
Yesterday I met a Muslim-Asian-American friend and asked him about Helen Thomas. He was so agonized by the destruction of an "icon" that he said he had avoided all coverage of the story. I said that I was moved by the fact that at the end of her comments, Thomas said, "I’m an Arab-American." She was informing us that her views come out of that experience (as Jonathan Cook’s defense of Helen Thomas above reminds us). I asked my friend–who is not Arab-American but speaks Arabic– How many Arab-Americans share her views?
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/the-suppression-of-arab-american-speech.html
Analysis/Opinion
Egypt’s Waning Influence
BEIRUT — “This is language that we have not heard since the time of Gamal Abdul Nasser.” Thus wrote the influential chief editor of Al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, referring to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s fiery response to the Israeli assault on the Gaza flotilla — adding that such “manly” positions and rhetoric had “disappeared from the dictionaries of our Arab leaders.” He lamented that “Arab regimes now represent the only friends left to Israel.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/opinion/10iht-edcrooke.html
Turkey: an honest broker in the Middle East
Slurs of new ‘Islamist’ leanings are wide of the mark: oriented to the west, Turkey is on the side of peace, justice and prosperity.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/09/turkey-erdogan-israel-gaza
Haaretz – Editorial – The Israeli blockade of Gaza and all it entailed – the goods forbidden entry, the lies about how there was no humanitarian crisis there – was a form of collective punishment against an impoverished and oppressed population that cast a moral stain on Israeli democracy. Nor did this blockade achieve its promised goals. The Hamas government did not fall, Gaza residents did not rise up against it, and Gilad Shalit is still in captivity.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/hamas-1-netanyahu-0-1.295266
Not by cement alone, Amira Hass
Step by step, Israel developed draconian restrictions on Palestinians` freedom of movement, until it declared every Gazan in the West Bank, now and especially in the future, an illegal alien and an infiltrator. These are the essential prohibitions that must be breached. These are the prohibitions about whose existence Erdogan and U.S. President Barack Obama must be taught, and their abolition demanded.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/not-by-cement-alone-1.295036
Stephen Colbert to Michael Oren: ‘Palestinians should go back to where they came from’
The
yesterday had on Israeli Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, as an interviewed guest. To the disgust of many (see the
), Oren was
to spew lie after lie about the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. But there is one bright spot that had Oren stunned in a redeeming Colbert comment (h/t
).
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/06/10/colbert-to-oren-palestinians-should-go-back-to-where-they-came-from/
After the Flotilla, will Turkey emerge as a force for Palestinian rights?
After years of disappointment with successive Arab regimes, Turkey appears to be taking a regional leadership role. While better and closer relations between Turkey and the Arab world are welcome developments, and there is hope for a momentum building up for the Palestinian cause, the ambiguities of the Turkish stance are apparent and raise important questions. Should the current crisis with Israel be interpreted as a singular event in which Turkey gave a strong response or as the inevitable culmination of a completely new foreign policy orientation? Murat Dagli comments for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11329.shtml
The Attack on the USS Liberty: Lessons for U.S. National Security, The Brookings Institution
It is ironic that the Israeli Defense forces attacked a flotilla of relief ships bound from Europe to Gaza in international waters in a manner all too similar to its assault against the USS Liberty also in international waters on June 8 forty-three years ago. It is even more tragic and a national disgrace that in the immediate aftermath of Memorial Day there is scant remembrance of the 34 crew members comprising naval officers, seamen, two marines and a civilian who were killed in the attack along with the 171 crew members who were wounded. While the official inquiries by both nations found the attack to be a case of mistaken identity of the Liberty, to this day there is a long record of distinguished officers and journalists who take strong exception to this view believing that the attack was deliberate. Indeed the attack on the Liberty is the only maritime incident in U.S. history where our military forces were killed that was never investigated by the Congress.
http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2010/0608_uss_liberty_ebinger.aspx
7 Questions for Defenders of Israel’s Inhumane Siege of Gaza
http://www.alternet.org/story/147132/7_questions_for_defenders_of_israel%27s_inhumane_siege_of_gaza/?page=3
Israel’s military support of apartheid S. Africa exposed in new book
NEW YORK (IPS) – A US author is standing by claims that Israel offered to sell nuclear warheads to South Africa during the apartheid regime, despite denials by Israel’s then-defense minister, now-president Shimon Peres, that the accusation has "no basis in reality."
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11331.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Gaza Is in Our Hearts, Dennis Rahkonen
Perhaps the greatest of all historical ironies — reflected in hypocrisy assuming gargantuan proportions — rests with how those who were so horribly victimized by the Holocaust essentially hold a Gestapo outlook toward Palestinians today. Good and evil have traded places, an astonishing transition brought about by concretizing the “Never Again!” reaction to what European Jewry experienced under Hitler to such a dogmatic hard line, myopically advanced by an increasingly extremist Israeli leadership, that much of Israel’s population simply can’t recognize what’s plainly evident to most of the rest of the world.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/06/gaza-is-in-our-hearts/
Our 2 Op-Eds in the Israeli Press about Israel’s Future (1)
In April, in anticipation of Israel’s independence day, fellow Israeli activist Ofer Neiman sent us an op-ed for feedback. I ended up co-signing the article. It appeared on Ynet, the website of Israel’s largest daily. I planned to translate it to English but was too busy.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/06/our-2-op-eds-in-the-israeli-press-about-israels-future-1/
GRITtv and Democracy Now report on Israeli efforts to control narrative, coverage of Gaza Flotilla massacre
Yesterday we posted on some of the many reasons why an Israeli "self-investigation" of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla attack would be a farce. Check out clips from GRITtv and Democracy Now! on the Israeli PR efforts to control press coverage of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla massacre.
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/grittv-and-democracy-now-report-on.html
Howard Schweber: Israel’s Blockade of Gaza: What Items Are Allowed In?
One of the arguments one hears a lot from Israel’s representatives and supporters is that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza and that the blockade only keeps out dangerous materials. The blockade, according to Israeli government spokesman
, is only aimed at preventing the shipment of weapons to Hamas.
the same thing, insisting that civilian goods are allowed in but that Israel "will not allow the establishment of an Iranian port in Gaza."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-schweber/israels-blockade-of-gaza_b_605780.html
Obama’s refusal to jettison the special relationship is an abrogation of his responsibility, Ahmed Moor
Guilt by association is weak adjudicatory framework, but that’s not true of guilt by active association. America is rightly experiencing some of the Flotilla Massacre fallout. As Israel’s patron, protector and enabler, Israeli actions mean American responsibility. I’m beginning to think that the Israeli-perpetrated Flotilla Massacre is a game-changer (Israel’s
?). And I like Dan Drezner’s
that America is to Israel as China is to North Korea. But there is one very important difference – China is an ascendant global force, while American influence is dwindling.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/obamas-refusal-to-jettison-the-special-relationship-is-an-abrogation-of-his-responsibility.html
Sullivan asks how to redeem the Jewish state, Philip Weiss
Sullivan has asked if there are any anti-Zionist columnists anywhere in the US, and is getting no response. No there are none. You get drawn and quartered. And in the same
Israel’s existence in light of his discovery of Richard Cohen’s 2006 statement that Israel’s founding was a "mistake". I agree that the essential question is whether a Jewish state can be redeemed, and how. I am actually agnostic. But it requires wrestling with an essential issue, the 1948 issue, which Sullivan is on to in his way: Before Partition, the State Department warned Truman that a Jewish state could only be established and maintained by force. That was their solemn warning, and it was prophetic. The Arabs, they reported, didn’t want it. And in complete violation of U.S. policy, set by Roosevelt and Truman himself, the U.S. did not "consult" the Arabs about the issue, as promised.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/sullivan-asks-how-to-redeem-the-jewish-state.html
Even ‘The Jewish Week’ says what CFR can’t: Israel is a liability, Philip Weiss
I have to keep hammering on the Council on Foreign Relations, the
craziness of its support for the sanctity of the special relationship
between Israel and the U.S. at a time when Cordesman, Petraeus, Biden and
r say that the special relationship is damaging the U.S. Well look: Now the
Jewish Week is reporting the news
! I thought the Council on Foreign Relations was supposed to be about the American interest, geez Louise.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/even-the-jewish-week-says-what-cfr-cant-israel-is-a-liability.html
Through Israeli Eyes: The Flotilla of Terror
Though you couldn’t tell from the mainstream media, some citizens of Israel spent the past week running from demonstration to demonstration. Not in our name will unarmed civilians be murdered at sea. Not in our name will over a million people (the majority of which are children) be held under a horrifically violent siege. So we screamed our lungs out, and around 10,000 Israelis marched the streets of Tel-Aviv, last saturday. Around the world hundreds of thousands, knowing exactly how their hard-earned tax money is used, hit the streets, carrying the same message: “Not in our names.”
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/06/09/through-israeli-eyes-the-flotilla-of-terror/
Mira Kamdar: Gandhi and Gaza: Israel’s Raj Debacle
The organizers of the Palestinian aid flotilla have achieved a stunning victory over Israel in the international court of public opinion. It is a victory that Gandhi would well have understood. By pitting unarmed protestors (okay, so a few wielded kitchen knives when their ship was attacked) on a humanitarian mission against a government steeped in the logic that the best defense is a strong offense, the flotilla achieved the inevitable outcome: the martyrs won, Israel lost.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mira-kamdar/gandhi-and-gaza-israels-r_b_598906.html
It’s Amazing What Decades of Shit Can Do
My whole life, to a certain age, I believed “Israelis good, Palestinians bad.” That’s because that’s all I heard when I was growing up, either from my parents or from TV or from newspapers or from adults or from wherever. It was the meta-narrative: Israelis good, Palestinians bad. In 1967, when I was eleven, Israel’s smashing victory in the Six Day War was a wonder to behold and a cause for celebration. The plucky little guys had won, and won resoundingly. Take that, you stupid camel jockeys!
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/06/it%e2%80%99s-amazing-what-decades-of-shit-can-do/
Let the Palestinians Eat Potato Chips, Ahmad Amr
At first glance, I thought I was reading a parody mocking the absurd list of the products that are banned from reaching Gaza. The Associated Press just published an article titled “Israel Eases Gaza Blockade on Some Banned Foods.” That seemed like a promising headline. It now appears that the Israelis will permit the Gazans to import soda, juice, jam, spices, shaving cream, potato chips, cookies and candy. That’s it. No steel – no cement – nothing that can be used for rebuilding the thousands of homes, hospitals, schools, sewage plants and mosques that were reduced to rubble in last year’s carpet bombing of Gaza. What the AP failed to report is the long list of food products that still remain on the black list. Another thing that didn’t make past the AP censors is the fact that the Israelis continue to enforce the ban on textiles, office equipment, paper products, school equipment and even medical equipment.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16045
Canada’s Gaza Flotilla, YVES ENGLER
Early in the morning of May 31 on the international waters of the Mediterranean Sea, nine people were killed and dozens more wounded when Israeli soldiers raided a flotilla of ships carrying 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian supplies and more than 600 activists to the Gaza Strip. The activists were trying to break Israel’s three-year blockade of Gaza, which has reduced food and medicine entering the tiny coastal territory to a fraction of what is needed. Governments around the world strongly condemned Israel’s actions. Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, called the raid “an act of inhumane state terrorism”.
http://www.counterpunch.com/engler06102010.html
The Confrontation that Obama Is Avoiding, George S. Hishmeh – Washington, D.C
Much as the Palestinian leadership would welcome the U.S. financial commitment to the tune of $400 million to alleviate, in part, the deplorable situation within Gaza, President Barak Obama’s pronouncements at the end of his one-hour session last Wednesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fell short of the high expectations.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16046
Erdogan Rising?, PATRICK COCKBURN
Ever since Israeli commandos stormed a ship carrying aid to Gaza killing nine activists, the face of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan – the man who led denunciations of the raid – has been prominent on front pages and television screens across the Middle East., The bloody fiasco has led to a crucial change in the balance of power in the Middle East, greater than anything seen in the region since the collapse of the Soviet Union deprived the Arabs of their most powerful ally.
http://www.counterpunch.com/patrick06102010.html
You’re Talking Bollox, Mr Regev, Stuart Littlewood
What were Israel’s excuses for hijacking the Free Gaza ships in international waters and imprisoning their passengers after gunning down nine of them and wounding several more?
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/06/you%e2%80%99re-talking-bollox-mr-regev/
Israel Leading America into Darkness, James Gundun – Washington D.C.
Somewhere underground Israel defense officials debated alternate strategies to handle future aid ships headed for the Gaza strip. ‘Nothing has been decided,’ but ‘there are a lot of ideas out there.’ The leading one would allow aid ships to enter Gaza after being inspected by UN and Israeli officials at Ashdod Port.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16047
Greek Tragedy in Jerusalem
Omar Ibn al-Khattab square, near the Jaffa Gate entrance of the Old City of Jerusalem, is a site rich with the memory of conquerors past. From Khattab himself through to Kaiser Wilhelm II and General Allenby in the 19th and 20th centuries, this has been the location of choice for victorious invaders. Over the past few years the area has witnessed new history being written. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, the Israeli government, and a settler organisation hiding behind shady offshore companies are conspiring to conquer the Old City in a new way.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1444
Ikhras: Shutting up is Golden
“Ikhras” is classical Arabic for “Shut Up,” which is “Inchab” in Iraqi, “Sakkir Boozak” in Levantine Arabic, or “Intam” in The Arabian Peninsula. Ikhras was inspired by the Arab and Muslim “activists” and “representatives” that hijacked our identities and name for their own self-aggrandizement and in furtherance of personal ambitions unrelated to our communities’ agenda, interests, and well-being. It was they that made this project necessary and now Ikhras is here to tell them they do not speak for us. Ikhras adds its voice to those resisting US Imperialism and Zionism with a special focus on exposing, ridiculing and holding accountable House Arabs and House Muslims in the US, to borrow Malcolm X’s expression.
Cyrus Safdari, "Iran and the Latest UNSC Sanctions: The US Game Plan Revealed"
The reality is that the sanctions will not convince Iran to give up enrichment. BUT the sanctions proponents don’t really care whether or not the sanctions are effective anyway. For them, sanctions are just a steppingstone on the way to their ultimate goal: a US-Iran military confrontation, which the pro-Israel lobby has been pushing to provoke. As long as the US is sanctioning Iran, the US is not negotiating with Iran, which suits the sanctions proponents just fine. With each step that the Obama administration takes down the road of sanctions and coercion, it becomes politically harder for him to do an about-face and actually engage Iran. As sanctions build upon sanctions, eventually there will be calls to enforce the sanctions with greater vigor, for example through a naval blockade, which will spark shooting . . . and that’s how the war starts.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/safdari090610.html
Obama’s Doublespeak on Iran, ESAM AL-AMIN
On April 12, 2010, President Barack Obama hosted a forty-seven nation Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. He met with dozens of heads of state making his case for a fourth set of crippling sanctions on Iran because of its intransigence on the nuclear issue. His main argument was the refusal of Iran to accept the proposal by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of transferring the bulk of Iran’s low enriched uranium outside the country in exchange for medical nuclear isotopes.
http://www.counterpunch.com/amin06092010.html
Iraq
Wednesday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 32 Wounded
At least 10 Iraqis were killed and 32 more were wounded in a string of attacks across the country. Meanwhile, a study from the Walter Reed Institute has revealed that mental health problems are common in soldiers returning to Iraq.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/06/09/wednesday-10-iraqis-killed-32-wounded/
Nine killed in series of Iraq attacks (AFP)
AFP – Nine people were killed, including three jewellers and two members of an anti-Qaeda militia, in violence across Iraq on Wednesday, security officials said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100609/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrest
Maliki Says Iraq Needs a Strong Leader, Like Him, ANTHONY SHADID
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki warned that failure to return him to power would lead to Iraq’s descent into violence.
Al-Qaeda turns to mafia tactics
Al-Qaeda may have been wiped out of many parts of Iraq, but in Mosul the group, once a pillar of the local insurgency, now operates as a mafia, funding itself through murder, extortion, blackmail and abduction. – Saad al-Mosuli (Jun 10, ’10)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LF11Ak01.html
Iraqi Students in Baghdad
"The road is not safe," she said, referring to the near daily random explosions in Baghdad which complicate travel to and from the university.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=7a3e9665952258706e2e8c8c1d078ab6
Rights of Children
Report on availability of education, in particular controversies over location of schools.
http://www.iwpr.net/report-news/rights-children-0
Lebanon
Hizbullah raps Feltman’s claims that group poses ‘threat’
BEIRUT: Hizbullah issued a fierce rebuke on Wednesday to the United States, whose foreign affairs officials branded the group "one of the best armed and most dangerous militias in the world."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=115802
Hizbullah to sue magazine for Hariri killing claims – reports
BEIRUT: Hizbullah has commenced legal proceedings against a German magazine which claimed the party was behind the killing of former Premier Rafik Hariri, according to media reports this week.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=115803
Hezbollah Salutes Former White House Press Dean’s ‘Courage’
09/06/2010 Hezbollah on Wednesday saluted veteran US reporter Helen Thomas’s "courage" for her comments against Israel, which forced her to retire. "Respected American journalist Helen Thomas’s answer shows … a courageous, bold, honest and free opinion which expresses what people across the globe believe: that Israel is a racist state of murderers and thugs," Hezbollah MP Hussein Moussawi said in a statement. Thomas, who is of Lebanese descent, retired on Monday after coming under fire for her remarks against Israel. Asked at a May 27 "Jewish Heritage Celebration" whether she had any comments on Israel, Thomas replied: "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine. "Remember these people are occupied and it’s their land, not German and not Poland," 89-year-old Thomas said. "They can go home, Poland, Germany, and America and everywhere else."
http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=141423&language=en
Iran and Other News
UN passes fresh sanctions against Iran
The UN Security Council has approved a fourth round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme. Having pushed hard for punitive action, Barack Obama, the US president, stressed that "the door on diplomacy" had not shut. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president, said the sanctions were "valueless" and incapable of hurting his people. Al Jazeera’s Kristin Saloomey reports from the United Nations. (June 10, 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9RTb3syP4U&feature=youtube_gdata
Iran dismisses new UN sanctions
Iran’s President Ahmadinejad dismisses new UN sanctions on Tehran over its refusal to halt a nuclear programme.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/world/middle_east/10280356.stm
Sanctions take toll on Iranian businesses
Iranians have been living under sanctions in one form or another since the founding of the Islamic republic. Many local business in the capital, Tehran, are concerned about how the latest punitive measures imposed by the UN Security Council, could affect them. Al Jazeera’s Alireza Ronaghi reports (June 10, 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p40IsnROtZ4&feature=youtube_gdata
Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas condemn new sanctions against Iran
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas group on Thursday condemned the U.N. Security Council’s latest sanctions on Iran, dubbing them as "unjust." Hezbollah warned in a statement that the new sanctions "will complicate" matters in the Middle East. The militant group, which is backed by Iran, said the council was ignoring the "threat to international security and stability" that Israel poses while focusing on Iran’s nuclear program.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jXB5eYe6ZxCxvpus_LBPAAyPFDrA
Combat’s Hidden Toll
1 in 10 Soldiers Report Mental Health Problems.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/10-soldiers-fought-iraq-mentally-ill/story?id=10850315
Camel DNA may lead to better vaccines
The Arabian camel’s genome has been successfully mapped, say Saudi researchers who hope it will lead to health breakthroughs for people, including more powerful vaccines.
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100610/NATIONAL/706099850/1001/rss
