And other news from Today in Palestine
Land theft and destruction/Ethnic cleansing
Harassment and crop destruction in Hebron
The Israeli army conducted a night raid the on the mosque Othman Ibn Afan in Tel Rumeida, Hebron, 14 June 2010. At 9.30 pm local residents and mosque visitors witnessed approximately 14 heavily armed soldiers waiting outside the mosque, ultimately for the purpose of detaining several men. The men were taken individually to the other side of the street and were stripped of their belongings, photographed and identified. A group of international activists arrived around 11 pm, and shortly thereafter the soldiers packed up and left the mosque. According to local residents none of the detained men were arrested or hurt. The Israeli soldiers outside the mosque called the night venture “an intelligence operation”.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/06/12751/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
Israel approves 1, 600 new settlement units in east Jerusalem
The Israeli interior ministry’s planning and building committee approved the plan to build 1,600 new housing units in Ramat Shlomo settlement, east of occupied Jerusalem.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7DVy7h6zQ1Km91lK1R8VFEqULDPCmk0yD0hi0sAcYc%2bi%2bVw21QNdGTOg%2bT3moBlQiPegvWq5HTWZDaBGdYL2mNPhpPF6CdQq6vfAO0WxFvug%3d
Amnesty International: Israeli authorities must stop demolitions of Palestinian homes
A new Amnesty International briefing reveals how Israeli forces are destroying homes and other structures in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, claiming they have been built illegally.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/israeli-authorities-must-stop-demolitions-palestinian-homes-2010-06-16
Jerusalem: Not as free for Palestinians as Israel Claims
Despite the fact East Jerusalem remains, under international law, an occupied city, many Israeli officials, including West Jerusalem’s Jewish Mayor Nir Barakat, profess that Jerusalem is a city open for all to live in and move around freely within, including Arabs. Israel claims even Palestinian residents of the city
are free to live where ever they please.
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2010/06/15/jerusalem-not-free-palestinians-israel-claims
Israel’s easing of West Bank closures uneven: UN (AFP)
AFP – Israel has reduced the number of West Bank roadblocks by 20 percent in the last year but the improved access is mostly concentrated in a central corridor, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100616/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictwestbankun
Activism/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
Lebanese women to send aid ship to Gaza: organisers (AFP)
AFP – An aid ship transporting medical supplies to Gaza is to leave Lebanon in the coming days with dozens of women activists on board, one of the organisers told AFP on Tuesday.
Wife of former Lebanese general plans to send aid ship to Gaza
Samar al Hajj told the German Press Agency dpa that the cargo ship Mariam will carry 30 Lebanese and 20 foreign women – a mix of Muslims and Christians, including several European nationals – who plan to deliver medical supplies, mostly for cancer patients, to the enclave.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1563490.php/Wife-of-former-Lebanese-general-plans-to-send-aid-ship-to-Gaza
Transatlantic Jewish coalition set to break the siege of Gaza, Susan Landau
Within days after the attack on the
Mavi Marmara
, European activists announced
from an undisclosed location in the Mediterranean, attempting to break the siege imposed by Israel in 2006. The boat is sponsored by a coalition of international Jewish organizations dedicated to peace with justice in Israel/Palestine, including the ”Jüdische Stimme” (‘Jewish Voice’ for a Just Peace in the Near East), along with European Jews for a Just Peace in the Near East (EJJP) and Jews for Justice For Palestinians (UK). American Jews for a Just Peace (AJJP) will serve as the U.S. Coordinator, creating a transatlantic partnership. The small boat’s cargo will include school books, medicines and medical equipment.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/transatlantic-jewish-coalition-set-to-break-the-siege-of-gaza.html
Second Iranian ship to set sail this weekend
Iranian Red Crescent says ship carrying humanitarian aid, toys for Gaza Strip to set sail ‘at start of next week’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3906136,00.html
Israel says Gaza-bound ships from Iran, Lebanon are "hostile"
Wednesday issued a stern warning to Iranian and Lebanese organizers who plan to send three more aid ships to Gaza later this week. Attempts by the Iranians and Lebanese to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza would be seen not just as a provocation and a breach of law, but as a ‘hostile’ act because the ships and their cargo are from enemy states, said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.
San Francisco Labor Council Resolution regarding the attack on the Gaza Aid Flotilla, calling for an independent international investigation, and opening of the Gaza border – PASSED 6.14.10
Tension in S.F. over anti-Israel resolution
It attempts to localize the attack that took place a half a world away by noting San Francisco’s "recognition and understanding of our population’s unique relationship to international struggles and the overall principle that human life, whether here or abroad, has value and dignity."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/15/BAIT1DVRTH.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea
Citizen Voices from 26 Countries in Europe Express Outrage Over Israel’s Actions
The Israeli Defence Force responded to signs of peace with acts of war. It attacked a flotilla of boats in international waters that carried people and humanitarian goods. It destroyed precious lives. Brutality has not stopped there. Ordinary Palestinians awaiting much needed help have been victimized yet again. We, as individuals who are not members of activist peace organizations but simply cherish the ideals of peace and justice, are deeply disturbed by what the Israeli government and its military have done and by the disinformation it and its supporters have spread in trying to legitimize acts of crime.
http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/56-news/1229-citizen-voices-from-26-countries-in-europe-express-outrage-over-israels-actions
Al-Awda-New York, "Don’t Let Enemies of Freedom Suppress the Truth about Israel’s Attack on a Humanitarian Aid Ship!"
On Thursday, June 17, two eyewitnesses to this horror, U.S. filmmaker Iara Lee and British political organizer Kevin Ovenden, and Ahmet Unsal, a former Member of Turkey’s Parliament, have been invited to tell their views and stories at a public forum at Brooklyn’s historic House of the Lord Church. The meeting is cosponsored by dozens of organizations. They come with nothing but words. But words of truth strike fear into the hearts of certain hate-filled New York politicians who have voted time and again to turn U.S. taxpayers’ dollars into missiles and bombs for Israel’s war machine. On June 14, City Council speaker Christine Quinn, Reps. Jerry Nadler, Anthony Weiner, Carolyn Mahoney, Charles Rangel, and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer gathered in Times Square at the behest of the so-called "Jewish Community Relations Council." They shamelessly demanded that the State Department investigate the invited speakers for "ties to terrorism." They want to prevent or delay their entry the United States.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/awda150610.html
The Murder of Ziad al-Jilani
Israeli Media Report That Officers Shot Palestinian Lying On Ground
The official Israeli version of an incident last Friday, in which a Palestinian motorist from East Jerusalem was killed by Israeli border officers after a motor vehicle accident, has been challenged by a new report released today by the Israeli paper Haaretz.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58940
Israel’s investigation of Ziad Julani’s death means raiding his house
Israeli security services Monday summoned for questioning the widow and three young daughters of the Palestinian man killed last Friday by Israeli Border Police at a “flying checkpoint” they had set up in Wadi Joz. Frightened and distraught, the bereaved family instead went to the American Consulate in East Jerusalem, where they were told they must cooperate with the investigation — but advised to do it with legal assistance. The widow and her daughters are all American citizens. (Ziad al-Julani, who was killed, may have had a U.S. “green card”, but was not a U.S. citizen.) Today, Israeli investigators were in the family home, searching the house for evidence… but of what? UPDATE: Moira Julani, Ziad’s wife, reported Tuesday evening that the investigators did not do one of those rough searchs of the entire family house, but instead only took away a laptop that she told them belonged to both her and her late husband.
http://un-truth.com/israel/israels-investigation-of-ziad-julanis-death-means-raiding-his-house
Three American girls are left fatherless by Jerusalem killing
These are the three American daughters of Ziad al-Jilani, who was killed Friday night in Jerusalem after praying, when he came too close to a "flying checkpoint" maintained by the Israelis, who shot him.
The al-Jilani family has said that he lost control of his car amid rock-throwing; they have called
for a full investigation of his killing.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/three-american-girls-are-left-fatherless-by-jerusalem-killing.html
Other Violence and Aggression
Medics: Teenager shot near Gaza crossing
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli forces shot a teenage boy in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday afternoon. Wa’el Al-Kafarna, 16, was moderately injured by a gunshot wound to the right leg, medics told Ma’an. Al-Kafarna was walking near the Erez crossing when a soldier opened fire, medics at Kamal Udwan Hospital said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=29245
Violent confrontations between IOF soldiers and Jerusalemites
Violent confrontations erupted in Shufat refugee camp in occupied Jerusalem on Tuesday between invading Israeli occupation forces (IOF) and inhabitants of the camp.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7dEGV7OnuJtmyUcntGWO9NYUJJnwel1UxGFKJVuDX5Fu30UXRhsUExXQgUyHJ7TAzowUeSslkJ%2fVSeo9HbadKsk%2fNEO5JcNWUJLr%2bOEZfI0w%3d
War Criminals
‘Mother shouted, then they shot her too’
On January 4, 2009 Hajaj family flees Gaza home due to shelling. Hours later, family forced to flee to new hideout. Youssef, whose mother, sister were killed in incident that may lead to indictment against IDF soldier, says, ‘We were waving white sheets’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3905961,00.html
Israel and the U.S. ruling on war crimes
A recent ruling effectively revokes immunity for foreign officials living in the United States for crimes committed in their home countries. It could put Israelis in the dock.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/israel-and-the-u-s-ruling-on-war-crimes-1.296563?localLinksEnabled=false
Detainees
IOF detains 2 in Hebron, hands interrogation warrant to a child
Hebron, June 16, (Pal Telegraph) Israeli occupation forces arrested early today two young men from the town of “Beit Amer”, north of Hebron, and a 7 year old boy was given a warrant to be present at the Israeli intelligence center for interrogation. Ayad Awad, spokesperson of the Palestinian Solidarity Draft in the town, said that the Israeli occupation forces raided the town at dawn today, amid firing sound bombs and tear gas storming several houses, and arrested Alaa Mahmoud Salibi (20 years), Mohamed Samir Mohannad Abu Maria (22 years).
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/6413-iof-detains-2-in-hebron-hands-interrogation-warrant-to-a-child
Palestinian family in Hebron appeals for their son’s protection
Hebron, June 16, (Pal Telegraph) A Palestinian family is expressing it’s fears for the safety and well being of their son Dawood Rajabi (19 years) believing that the Israeli soldiers will kill him, after they took him into custody and transported him to an unknown destination and assaulted him severely.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/6414-palestinian-family-in-hebron-appeals-for-their-sons-protection
Inside Gaza’s Ansar prison for women
Gaza – Ma’an – "Ethical issues, thefts, crimes, and checks without balance" are some of the charges against the women in the Ansar Central Woman’s Prison, officials explained ahead of an unprecedented press visit to the facility.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=291164
Siege/Human Rights/Humanitarian Issues/Restriction of Movement
Palestinian political factions condemn Abbas’ statement
DAMASCUS, June 16 (Xinhua) — Palestinian political factions based in Syria condemned on Tuesday the statement issued by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, over the siege of Gaza, the Syrian news web Champress reported on Wednesday. The Palestinian parties said in a comment issued on Tuesday, Abbas’ statements point to "Ramallah authority" collusion and coordination with Israeli government to dissolve the international isolation on Tel-Aviv.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-06/16/c_13353349.htm
In a side room at the airport
It is hard to convince the Jewish public in Israel that what happens at Ben-Gurion International Airport is a systematic injustice, if not worse. The ethnocentric panic undermines the principle of civil equality.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/in-a-side-room-at-the-airport-1.296459
UN to distribute flotilla aid to Gaza
The United Nations says it will distribute 10,000 tonnes of aid bound for Gaza that was seized by Israel in a bloody raid on the Freedom Flotilla that tried to break its siege on the Palestinian territory last month. Israel has agreed to release all of the seized goods – including construction and building materials — and the UN is to supervise its delivery and distribution in Gaza, although a delivery date has not been set. Al Jazeera’s Cath Turner reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A882GtohRcc&feature=youtube_gdata
Israel delays Gaza embargo decision
Security cabinet adjourns meeting on allowing construction materials and other goods into Gaza.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/06/2010616133259580447.html
As Rafah remains open, 1,759 Palestinians turned away
Gaza – Ma’an – The Gaza crossings authority called on Egyptian authorities to allow the unhindered passage of Palestinians on Tuesday, as the Rafah crossing remained open for two weeks.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=292294
OCHA’s Special Focus on Occupied Palestine, Stephen Lendman
On June 9, McClatchy and other publications revealed some of what’s rarely, if ever, acknowledged in the press — that Israel’s blockade of Gaza is “economic warfare,” not for security as most commonly reported, based on an Israeli document the Gisha Legal Center for Freedom of Movement’s lawsuit obtained.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/06/ochas-special-focus-on-occupied-palestine/
Industrial Fuel – Needs Vs. Supply – May 16 – June 12
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/06/industrial-fuel-needs-vs-supply-may-16-june-12/
Goods – Needs Vs. Supply – May 16 – June 12
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/06/goods-needs-vs-supply-may-16-june-12/
Who Turned Out the Lights in Gaza?
For the past several months, Gaza Gateway has reported on the declining amounts of industrial diesel, necessary for electricity generation, entering Gaza. These amounts fall far below the needs of Gaza residents and are even lower than the “
” set by Israel before the High Court, as part of its policy of supply restrictions to Gaza. Last week, for example, the power station received just 1,200,000 liters of diesel – 35% of what is needed for operation at its current maximum capacity. The result is power outages of 8-12 hours per day, interfering with the operations of humanitarian infrastructure and ordinary life. In today’s post, we call attention to a
by Gisha explaining the reasons for the decline and calling for accountability among the relevant parties, especially Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the Hamas regime.
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/06/who-turned-out-the-lights-in-gaza/
UN ordered to compensate Gaza companies
London – Ma’an – A private international arbitration commission in London has ruled that the UN should compensate three Gaza construction companies who could not complete UN projects because of the siege. Muhammad Abu Sa’da, a solicitor representing the Al-Hajjar Brothers, Thiqar, and Al-Ghad Al-Jadid companies, told journalists Thursday that the arbitration commission decided they were entitled to financial compensation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=292439
Summer camps in Gaza (11 pictures)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/jun/16/gaza-middleeast?picture=363768025
New Irish short film on life in Gaza
Gaza: Post Operation Cast Lead: This short documentary by Dearbhla Glynn brings us to the Gaza Strip following Operation Cast Lead in late 2008/ early 2009. It offers a personal insight into the day-to-day living conditions faced by the Gaza Strip’s 1.5 million conflict-stricken inhabitants. 2010 ICCL Human Rights Film Awards Shortlistee.
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/06/15/new-irish-short-film-on-life-in-gaza/
Israel lets in housing appliances into Gaza
Gaza, June 16, (Pal Telegraph) Chairman of the goods entry into the Gaza Strip Committee, Raed Fattouh, said today that the Israeli occupation authorities will allow the entry of housing appliances to the Palestinian merchants in Gaza after they have filed complaints against Israel in Israeli courts about it, saying that they pay big amount of money for these appliances and then Israel prevent it from entering.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/gaza-strip/6412-israel-lets-in-household-equipments-into-gaza
Gaza still waiting for relief
Israel has yet to implement its promised limited easing of its blockade of Gaza. Even when this happens – and goods like mayonnaise and potato chips are allowed in – it is unlikely to address the underlying humanitarian issues in the beleaguered territory. – Mel Frykberg (Jun 16, ’10)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LF17Ak04.html
Flotilla Fallout/Developments and Analysis
Amnesty International: Israel Gaza commission criticized over transparency and accountability
Amnesty International questions the credibility of a proposed investigation into military action against an aid flotilla off the Gaza coast in which nine activists were killed.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/israel-gaza-commission-criticized-over-transparency-and-accountability-2010-06-15
Will Obama support a UN investigation of Israel’s turning back the Gaza flotilla? Now’s the time to raise our voices against this travesty!
A short bombshell article appeared in
The Weekly Standard
late last week—we’ve reprinted it below—reporting that President Obama’s diplomats are assuring other nations of the
U.S.’s intention to support a U.N. investigation
of Israel’s actions against the ship attempting to run its blockade of Hamas-held Gaza.
http://www.factsandlogic.org/hotline_archive/flame_hotline_061510.html
Blockade of ‘Mavi Marmara’ continues, stateside, Philip Weiss
We all say that things are moving in a good direction. Well, in power politics, here’s a disastrous story: The
on three New York politicians joining a campaign to investigate Gaza flotilla activists who are coming here to speak. And not just any New York pols, but Christine Quinn, who we thought was good on the issue, and Congress people Charlie Rangel and Carolyn Maloney, who ought to know better. Grim news. A real bow to extremists, and reminiscent of the 1950s. Imagine them trying this with the civil rights movement…
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/e-tu-christine-3-ny-pols-calls-for-investigations-of-flotilla-activists.html
McQuaig: Partner in flotilla ‘farce’
There hasn’t been a murmur of protest from Canada over the Israeli seizure of a Turkish ship in international waters late last month, and the shocking killing of nine peace activists on board.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/823487–mcquaig-partner-in-flotilla-farce
Report: Turkey mulls suspending Israel ties over Gaza flotilla
Ankara is looking to punish Israel for its raid last month on the Gaza-bound ship that left nine Turkish activists dead, according to a report in Turkish paper Haber Turk.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-turkey-mulls-suspending-israel-ties-over-gaza-flotilla-1.296407?localLinksEnabled=false
Israeli Attack May Violate International, Maritime Laws
When two widely divergent investigative panels launch their probes on the recent Israeli attack on a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, one of the disputed issues under scrutiny would be the legality of forcibly boarding a vessel in international waters. The two commissions of inquiry, one appointed by Israel and the other to be named by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, will seek answers to a number of unresolved questions triggered by the attack which killed nine Turkish nationals and sparked worldwide outrage and condemnation.
http://original.antiwar.com/deen/2010/06/15/israeli-attack-may-violate-international-maritime-laws/
Riz Khan – Israel silencing internal critics
What really happened aboard the Mavi Marmara aid ship when Israeli commandos raided it and killed nine activists?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuSFIN9_Rww&feature=youtube_gdata
Off the hook: Israel’s own Widgery inquiry into Bloody Monday | Chris Doyle
Israel cannot be trusted to investigate its military over the Gaza flotilla raid. Only an international, independent inquiry will do. The man who ordered the attack on the aid flotilla to Gaza, set up the inquiry, chose its members and determined its mandate, has announced its outcome even before it has started. Binyamin Netanyahu’s beaming smile showed an Israeli prime minister confident that he had faced down international protestations over the Israeli attack on the Gaza aid flotilla, buying off the pressure with an inquiry that even the Israeli newspaper,
Ha’aretz, described as a farce
.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/16/israel-gaza-flotilla-inquiry
Israel has
the creation of a committee of inquiry to look into the Israeli naval raid on a flotilla trying to break the blockade of Gaza that ended in the deaths of nine people. But the make-up of the committee makes clear that this investigation will not be "impartial, credible and transparent," as the
UN Security Council called for
in the aftermath of the flotilla raid. Although the United States has applauded the Israeli announcement, the
and is keeping the option of an international probe "on the table."
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/israeli-investigation-on-flotilla-will-be-biased-and-netanyahu-leaked-the-results-already.html
After Israel’s Gaza flotilla raid, is Turkey rejecting Europe?
Israel’s Gaza flotilla raid prompted a response in Turkey that rattled some Europeans. Turkey has been rebuffed in its efforts to join the European Union for years, and is now forging a more independent international course.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/NYOAOpWM-Ek/After-Israel-s-Gaza-flotilla-raid-is-Turkey-rejecting-Europe
Don’t forget the two-day detention of the flotilla members, Philip Weiss
Right after the flotilla incident, I passed along a friend’s wise point that people who undertake acts of Palestinian solidarity will have Palestinian experiences. People who try to break blockades will be shot at. Journalists who stand up for Palestinian freedom will get marginalized. Well here is a video about events on the Mavi Marmara told by Farooq Burney
(an international campaign that aims to secure the freedom to learn for Palestinian students in Gaza and the West Bank). Burney was one of three Canadians aboard the boat; he was carrying 65 computers to students in Gaza.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/dont-forget-the-two-day-detention-of-the-flotilla-members.html
Political Developments
PPP Holds A Protest In Nablus Against Prosecution Of Party Members In Gaza
The leftist Palestinian People Party (PPP) held a protest in Nablus on Tuesday against political prosecution practiced by Hamas’ security forces in the Gaza Strip against members and leaders of the PPP.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58934
PPP supporters threaten West Bank Hamas leaders
Nablus – Ma’an – In an unprecedented move, the Palestinian People’s Party threatened Tuesday to target Hamas leaders in the West Bank if the government in Gaza harms senior PPP leader Walid Al-Awad.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=292201
Sha’ath: Hamas not asked to recognize Israel
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Fatah did not place conditions on Hamas to recognize Israel as part of a unity deal tipped to end rivalry between the two movements, Fatah Central Committee member Nabil Sha’ath said Wednesday. "We did not place conditions on Hamas to recognize Israel, nor accept the conditions of the [Middle East] Quartet," Sha’ath told the Jordanian daily newspaper Ad-Dustur.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=292484
Other News
Arab MK to EU: Israeli leaders must be tried at The Hague
MK Afu Aghbaria, speaking at a hearing of the European Parliament, also said 700 Gazans have died at border crossings due to Israel’s actions.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/arab-mk-to-eu-israeli-leaders-must-be-tried-at-the-hague-1.296404?localLinksEnabled=false
PA alarmed over Hamas’s legitimacy
As Hamas prepares to mark the third anniversary of its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Authority officials in the West Bank voiced deep concern over what they described as attempts to “legitimize” the Islamist movement’s “coup.” A PA official in Ramallah said on Tuesday that the flotilla incident two weeks ago had played into the hands of Hamas.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=178562
Court to Emmanuel parents: Obey ruling or go to jail
High Court justices decide to put end to bureaucracy holding up implementation of ruling against discrimination between Ashkenazi and Sephardic pupils, say parent who fails to abide decision will be jailed for two weeks.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3905731,00.html
Poll: 65% of Jewish Israelis say U.S. Jews should criticize Obama’s Mideast policy
B’nai B’rith survey also found 54% of Jewish Israelis believe Jewish advocacy groups who work with foreign governments should always support Israeli policy.
Israel’s illegal and immoral attack on the Freedom Flotilla humanitarian aid convoy, which left at least nine dead and dozens injured, has rightfully stunned the world. The all-civilian convoy of 6 ships carried over 10,000 tons of critically-needed humanitarian aid and nearly 700 citizens from 40 countries. The Flotilla was an ambitious attempt to break the siege imposed by Israel on the 1.5 million Palestinians of the occupied Gaza strip, since 2007. Carrying distinguished parliamentarians, religious leaders, authors, journalists, a Nobel Peace Laureate, and a Holocaust survivor, the relief convoy aimed not only to provide relief supplies to Gaza; it sought to direct the international spotlight towards the humanitarian crisis imposed on Gaza’s residents and the imperative to end it. There is no denying that the latter objective has succeeded, albeit with tragic consequences.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephane-frederic-hessel/gaza-flotilla-global-citi_b_612865.html
Independent journalists dismantling Israel’s hold on media narrative
Within hours of the Gaza-bound aid flotilla being intercepted and besieged in international waters by Israeli commandos, news of the bloody attack had spread across the globe. Rage, condemnation and calls for an international investigation followed. Meanwhile, Israel’s campaign to spin the attack, distort the facts and quell an outraged public was already in full swing. Abraham Greenhouse and Nora Barrows-Friedman analyze for The Electronic Intifada.
Israeli Raid Coverage, LINN WASHINGTON, Jr.
An American art student loses an eye when struck in the face by a tear gas canister fired by Israeli Defense Force (IDF) personnel breaking up a demonstration in the occupied West Bank which itself is a protest against the deadly commando raid on the Free Gaza flotilla. No, you didn’t miss U.S. news media coverage of this IDF attack on 21-year-old Emily Henchowicz, a student at Cooper Union in New York City who was standing with a group of foreigners during that demonstration near a checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem.
http://www.counterpunch.com/washington06152010.html
The One State Solution Sounds Like a Good Idea, but …
Due to recent events, things are coming to a head in the Middle East. As Israel becomes more belligerent and aggressive, more committed than ever to using overwhelming force as its only answer to a rapidly deteriorating situation, feeling itself even further victimized and becoming ever more paranoid, two issues come to the fore: the question of legitimacy and the question of long-term viability. More and more people, even within Israel itself, are becoming aware that what we are looking at is a severe societal case of paranoid schizophrenia, a split personality featuring the Jewish Übermensch and the poor innocent yiddische victim, in light of which the search for a solution becomes even more pressing.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/06/the-one-state-solution-sounds-like-a-good-idea-but/
Israeli Discrimination: Beyond Borders, Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
As much as I try to avoid it, the situation inevitably arises from time to time. If I tell people that traveling with my children is a nightmare, most mothers in particular would probably nod their heads understandingly, thinking I am referring to keeping two wayward children under control on an international flight. While that has also been an issue with me like most other mothers, this is not the "nightmare" to which I am referring.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=22243&CategoryId=13
One possible framework for a single state in Israel/Palestine, Ben Zakkai
The Occupation has so far dragged on for 43 years, but I don’t think it can possibly last another 43 years, or even another decade. The world (like Mondoweiss) is increasingly focused on the injustice of Israel’s domination of the Palestinians. Living in Israel, it feels like the country is entering a crisis/breakdown phase and will soon have to reconstruct itself.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/one-possible-framework-for-a-single-state-in-israelpalestine.html
Israel and Gaza: Ignorance is bliss
About 10 days ago, we ran a shocking Viewpoints column about Gaza by Lillian Pinkus. What was most amazing was her assertion that everything is just hunky-dory in Gaza. People are getting fat and happy there, drunk on Coke and candy bars, apparently. The second paragraph of her column was an authoritative-sounding description of life in Gaza
http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/06/israel-and-gaza.html
Crimes by Israel, Sanctions for Iran
The Iranian nation is not unfamiliar with the double standards of the superpowers anymore. The history of Iran’s relations with the western and eastern superpowers is filled with deceitfulness, dishonesty and fraudulence. The recent U.S.-proposed, Russia-backed United Nations Security Council resolution against Iran over its nuclear program is simply one example, out of hundreds of instances, which demonstrates that the big powers have not ever been honest and sincere with Iran.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/06/crimes-by-israel-sanctions-for-iran/
UC Irvine’s Suspension of the Muslim Union
In response to the disruptions made by a select few Muslim students, belonging to the UC Irvine Muslim Union, back in February at U.C Irvine during a speech given by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. The incident caused much outrage – from all ends of the spectrum.
http://www.kabobfest.com/2010/06/uc-irvine%E2%80%99s-suspension-of-the-muslim-union.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kabobfest%2FGrillMe+%28KABOBfest%29
Cashiering Helen Thomas, Ralph Nader
The termination of Helen Thomas’ 62-year long career as a pioneering, no-nonsense newswoman was swift and intriguingly merciless. The event leading to her termination began when she was sitting on a White House bench under oppressive summer heat. The 89-year-old hero of honest journalism and women’s rights, the scourge of dissembling presidents and White House press secretaries, answered a passing visitor’s question about Israel with a snappish comment worded in a way she didn’t mean; she promptly apologized in writing. Recorded without permission on a hand video, the brief exchange, that included a defense of dispossessed Palestinians, went internet viral on Friday, June 4.
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/06/15/cashiering-helen-thomas/
Elia Suleiman: stories my father told me
Elia Suleiman makes tender, funny films about Palestinian life. Why has his latest caused outrage? Steve Rose finds out . We’re in a street in occupied Ramallah. A young Palestinian man is taking out his rubbish. An Israeli tank is parked nearby, its gun barrel pointed right at the man’s head. As he walks to the bin and back, the tank turret tracks him in whirs and clanks, the barrel dipping when he steps off the pavement. The man is about to go inside when his phone rings. He starts talking to a friend about a party, pacing back and forth, ignoring the tank, which is still noisily following his every move. When he goes back inside, the gun swivels to point directly at the camera.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/jun/15/elia-suleiman-interview
Cherien Dabis’ journey to "Amreeka"
Why migrate? What do you leave when you do? What’s waiting for you? How do you bring the social construct of "home" with you? Or replace it? And in a collection of such heavy questions, where is there room for marijuana jokes? Director Cherien Dabis’ award-winning feature-length debut Amreeka investigates all of these and much more in an hour and a half of marvelous cinema. Jimmy Johnson writes for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11339.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Lebanon
Palestinians gearing up for protest to demand rights
SIDON: Palestinian refugees, Lebanese activists and civil society organizations are gearing up for a demonstration on June 27 to demand civil rights for Palestinians in Lebanon.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=116023
Lebanon, Syria to start demarcating borders
BEIRUT: Syria and Lebanon say they will begin demarcating their maritime and land borders as soon as possible in order to guarantee both countries’ interests, the Syrian National News Agency (SANA) reported after talks between the Syrian and Lebanese heads of state.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=116031
Israeli hot air balloons spotted over Lebanese waters
BEIRUT: Six Israeli hot air balloons were spotted over Lebanese regional waters on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese Army. The army announced that the six Israeli hot air balloons were launched between 8.45 pm and 8.55 pm over Lebanese regional waters facing Naqoura in south Lebanon.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=116028
Stop the slavery in Lebanon
The US State Department issued on Monday its annual Trafficking in Persons report, and the horrifying litany of abuses catalogued from Lebanon and throughout this region should be more than enough to push our legislators to finally enact a law against trafficking.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=116000
Iraq
Tuesday: 1 US Soldier, 12 Iraqis Killed; 22 Iraqis Wounded
At least 15 Iraqis were killed and 22 more were wounded. Also, a U.S. soldier died of non-combat wounds. Meanwhile, the Kurdish Autonomous Region’s prime minister, Barham Saleh, said that the Kurds would not support the new government without guarantees being made.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/06/15/tuesday-1-us-soldier-12-iraqis-killed-22-iraqis-wounded/
Iraqi conjoined twins to undergo surgery in Saudi (AP)
AP – Iraqi conjoined twins were to be flown in coming days to Saudi Arabia to undergo separation surgery after the Saudi king offered to pay for the operation, officials said Tuesday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100615/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_conjoined_twins
Inside Iraq – Is Iraq an economic battleground?
Before launching his war to topple Saddam Hussein’s regime George Bush, the former US president, promised a strong independent Iraq. Instead the country has become a bloody battleground for regional and international forces.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OMPoRprZcw&feature=youtube_gdata
Call to ban Iraq female mutilation
Human Rights Watch calls on authorities in Kurdish areas of Iraq to ban the practice of female circumcision.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/world/middle_east/10327619.stm
Saddam’s favourite sculptor attempts a comeback.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/world/middle_east/10321225.stm
U.S. and other World News
U.S. Citizen, Placed on No-Fly List, Is Stranded in Cairo
Six weeks ago, a Muslim American man who spent 18 months in Yemen before heading home to Virginia in early May, was stopped by agents while he was changing planes in Cairo.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=0fdbbe2fe17cbaba9313ae4f1cfbdfbe
Is Blackwater’s Erik Prince Moving to the United Arab Emirates?, Jeremy Scahill
With Blackwater’s top deputies indicted on federal charges and the company up for sale, rumors are swirling that Prince is preparing to bolt to a country with no extradition treaty with the US.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/15-4
Israel ‘blocks’ Jordan atomic bid
King Abdullah accuses Israel of trying to block Jordan from developing a peaceful nuclear programme, claims Israel denies.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/world/middle_east/10321361.stm
Paris police ban pork street party in Muslim area
Police say ‘Sausage and Booze’ party could be viewed as provocation in heavily Muslim neighborhood in French capital.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3905844,00.html
World Cup viewers killed in Somalia
Somali rebels execute two people for breaking a ban on watching World Cup football matches.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/06/2010616113342742696.html
Bloody Sunday victims all innocent
Inquiry into killing of 13 men by UK troops in N Ireland in 1972 finds all were innocent.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/06/2010615144034428377.html
Turkey and the Neocons, Stephen M. Walt
It couldn’t be more predictable. Back when Israel and Turkey were strategic allies with extensive military-to-military ties, prominent neoconservatives were vocal defenders of the Turkish government and groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and AIPAC encouraged Congress
resolutions that would have labeled what happened to the Armenians at the hands of the Turks during World War I a "genocide." (The
is no slouch, but it’s no match for AIPAC and its allies in the Israel lobby). The fact that the ADL was in effect protecting another country against the charge of genocide is more than a little ironic, but who ever said that political organizations had to be ethically consistent? Once relations between Israel and Turkey began to fray, however — fueled primarily by Turkish anger over Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians — the ADL and AIPAC
and Congressional defenders of Israel began
, too.
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/06/15/turkey_and_the_neocons
Neo-cons lead charge against Turkey, Jim Lobe
As the right-wing leadership of the organised US Jewish community defends Israel against international condemnation for its deadly seizure of a flotilla bearing humanitarian supplies for Gaza, a familiar clutch of neo-conservative hawks is going on the offensive against what they see as the flotilla’s chief defender, Turkey.
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/06/20106168451670414.html
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have spilled into another frontier – the Internet. Raw footage both from American soldiers as well as fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan are flooding cyberspace leading many to call the conflicts the world’s first ‘YouTube Wars’. So what impact will this new propaganda battle have on global public opinion and perception of both wars?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1clkppLHglA&feature=youtube_gdata
