Land Theft/Ethnic Cleansing
Israel’s Likud approves West Bank settlement growth (AFP)
AFP – The Likud party of Israel’s hardline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unanimously approved on Thursday a motion to continue settlement building in the occupied West Bank, a statement said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100624/wl_afp/mideastdiplomacyussettlerlikud
Israel: Lawmaker has 24 hours to leave Jerusalem
Jerusalem – Ma’an – Hamas lawmaker Muhammad Abu Teir has until Friday to leave Jerusalem, Israeli police informed him late Wednesday. Officials said the Palestinian Legislative Council member was reached by phone at his Sur Baher home after sundown Wednesday with news that upon order of Israel’s High Court, his residency rights would soon be voided.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294386
Solidarity/Activism/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
Bil’in: One Injured As Troops Attack Anti Wall Protest
A Palestinian man was injured on Friday after being shot by Israeli troops during the weekly nonviolent protest against the wall in Bil’in village central West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59003
Women prepare for Gaza sail: We won’t fight Israel
One of hundreds of female volunteers planning to sail to Hamas-ruled territory with diapers, milk, medical supplies and clothes says, ‘Our only weapons are faith in the Virgin Mary and in humanity’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3910691,00.html
Iranian aid flotilla cancelled, won’t sail to Gaza
Organizers cite ‘Israeli threats’ as the reason for canceling the flotilla; separate Iranian ship heads to Gaza via Caspian Sea.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/iranian-aid-flotilla-cancelled-won-t-sail-to-gaza-1.298165?localLinksEnabled=false
Reports: Iranian ship may depart from Turkey
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Citing unnamed organizers, Israeli media reported Friday that Iran will not send ships to Gaza in an effort to break the continued siege on Gaza. US-based CNN released a report with a Tehran dateline, saying the official news agency of Iran released a statement to the same effect, quoting Hussein Sheikh Al-Islam, secretary-general of the International Conference for the Support of the Palestinian Intifada, in the statement as saying: "The Iranian ship carrying humanitarian aid will not go to Gaza."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294531
Under pressure, Pride Toronto reverses censorship of “Israeli apartheid”
And after Pride Toronto remarkably agreed to censor the two words “Israeli apartheid” from the parades (while it’s perfectly legal to utter the phrase in Israel or write it in Israel’s most prestigious newspaper), it seemed as though B’nai Brith and friends won. But after a massive backlash, Pride Toronto has just announced it has overturned the ridiculous decision. Xtra reports.
http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/06/24/under-pressure-pride-toronto-reverses-censorship-of-israeli-apartheid/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Muzzlewatch+%28MuzzleWatch%29
In honor of US Social Forum: my first encounter with the “new anti-Semitism”, Cecilie Surasky
Cypriot journalist Christiana Voniati, with whom I recently did this interview, Echoes From The Warsaw Ghetto In Gaza, reminded me this week of an article I wrote in early 2004 about going to the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India. Its cousin, the US Social Forum is happening right now in Detroit, so I thought this would be a good time to reprint what I wrote in 2004 because in many ways it marked my first personal encounter with the way so many groups, in this case the Simon Wiesenthal Center, were willing to lie and dehumanize in service of a political agenda. It also describes what I feel is even more true today-the parallel yet all too often deliberately hidden universe of mutual respect, love and friendship that already exists between many Arabs, Jews, Palestinians, Israelis and others, especially in this movement for justice and equality.
http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/06/24/in-honor-of-us-social-forum-my-first-encounter-with-the-new-anti-semitism/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Muzzlewatch+%28MuzzleWatch%29
Stop the Bullets! Activism in the Buffer Zone
After the recent attack on International activists aboard boats of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, the Boycott National Committees have called for an intensification of BDS campaigns and actions around the world While the raid is no longer in the news, Israeli armed forces are still targeting Gazan non-violent activists. Every week near the ‘buffer zone’, demonstrators and farmers are shot at with live ammunition. The violence against these activists, just as the violence against the Freedom Flotilla, cannot be ignored. The BDS Movement website has lots of suggestions about how to start or support a local campaign.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/06/stop-the-bullets-activism-in-the-buffer-zone/
Kenneth O’Keefe on BBC’s Hardtalk
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/06/24/kenneth-okeefe-on-bbcs-hardtalk/
Midnight on the Mavi Marmara
The Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and How It Changed the Course of the Israeli/Palestine Conflict. Moustafa Bayoumi, Editor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7atCghrAFZ0&feature=player_embedded
Violence/Aggression
Israeli air strikes kill two in Gaza – Palestinians
JERUSALEM, June 25 (Reuters) – Two Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical workers said on Friday. They said they recovered the body of a man from a tunnel in the south of the coastal territory and the body of a second man remained under rubble.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE65O14R.htm
Israeli warplanes raid Gaza (AFP)
AFP – Israeli warplanes flew three raids against the Gaza Strip overnight wounding one person, witnesses and Palestinian medical officials said Friday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100625/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazaraid
Israelis Keep the Trigger Tight, Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH, Jun 24, 2010 (IPS) – "Where is my daddy? Why is he not coming home? I want my daddy," sobs seven- year-old Yasmin, her big blue eyes filling with tears. She wakes up crying every night.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51936
Clashes reported along border in northern Gaza
Gaza – Ma’an – A Palestinian military group affiliated with the attacked an Israeli patrol that entered the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades said its forces fired several mortar shells toward an Israeli unit that penetrated the Erez area of northern Gaza near Beit Hanoun. The group said in a statement that its operatives would continue to confront "the occupation and its crimes."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294436
Detainees
Child Tortured, His Privates electrified By Israeli Interrogators
Israeli interrogators tortured a Palestinian child who was detained and sent a detention near in a settlement near Hebron. The child said that the interrogators used electricity in torturing him by attaching wires to his testicles.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58997
Family says Hebron teenager tortured
Hebron – Ma’an – A Hebron family living beside the illegal Israeli settlement Kyirat Arba said they were worried for the life of a brother, who they said was tortured last week, and not for the first time. The young man, 19-year-old Saleh Daoud Ar-Rajabi, was reportedly taken by Israeli soldiers on 14 June for several hours, and returned home beaten. "They put their cigarette butts out on him, on sensitive parts of his body," Saleh’s brother Kayed said. After Saleh returned home, his brother added, "their torture made him act strangely."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=292417
Red Crescent medic detained at Gaza crossing
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained a Red Crescent medic Wednesday night at the Erez crossing as he and four other medics were en route to a training conference in Jerusalem. Maher Abu Auf, a Palestinian official at the Beit Hanoun crossing, said Israeli border guards detained medic Ashraf Al-Khatib and refused to explain why he was being held.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294381
7 said detained in Hebron area
Hebron – Ma’an – Israeli troops raided several Hebron-area towns on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, detaining what Palestinain security sources said were eight men, with several homes reported ransacked. North of Hebron troops entered Beit Ummar and Beit Awla, detaining Yousef Abu Hashem, Aziz Ismael, 42, Mufid Atashneh, and Ibrahim Al-Jabarin, 32.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294294
Negev prisoners report ‘uncountable number of insects’
Salfit – Ma’an – Palestinian detainees in Israel’s Negev prison told lawyers Wednesday that as the summer encroached, an increasing number of insects and rodents had invaded their tents. The prison facility is mostly outdoors, with several quadrants of tents set up in compounds for prisoners, who said the deteriorating conditions had caused several inmates to break out into rashes, while others said they had suffered hundreds of mosquito bits each night.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294283
Retaliation
Army: 7 mortar shells fired from Gaza strike Israel
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Palestinians launched 12 projectiles toward Israeli territory over the course of Thursday, Israel’s military said. Seven mortar shells landed in the Sha’ar regional council and the rest landed inside the Gaza Strip, an Israeli army spokeswoman said. The military official told Ma’an that there were no reports of injury or damage in the area, which is in the Negev desert northeast of Gaza. Earlier Thursday, witnesses said 12 Israeli military vehicles entered Gaza in the north and destroyed agricultural land.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294471
Siege/Human Rights/Humanitarian Issues
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory 17- 23 June 2010
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/VVOS-86QLHS?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Gaza Power-Plant To Stop Functioning Friday
Engineer Canaan Obeid, deputy head of the Gaza Power Authority, stated that the only power plant in the Gaza Strip will stop functioning on Friday evening as it will run out of fuel needed to run it.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58998
MOH: Israel prevents delivery of oxygen to hospitals
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Seven oxygen machines donated to the Palestinain Authority by a Norwegian development agency were seized by Israeli officials en route to hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza, the Ramallah-based health ministry said. The machines, the ministry said in a Thursday statement, were confiscated by Israeli officials who claimed that the generators attached "came under the category of possible use for non-medical purposes" if they were delivered to the southern Gaza governorates.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294521
Fake calls to "ease" the Gaza siege
Ever since Israel’s murderous attack on the Freedom Flotilla on 31 May, there have been increasing calls from many parties on Israel to end its siege of Gaza. This is strange as well as deceitful, for the siege is not Israel’s alone. Hasan Abu Nimah comments.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11355.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Policy change: Lieberman invites foreign ministers to Gaza Strip
During meeting with Italian counterpart, Israel’s foreign minister proposes European delegation visit Strip, see there is no humanitarian crisis.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3910441,00.html
PN exclusive: Life under siege
Three-quarters of the resulting damage remains unrepaired, including homes, schools, and hospitals, according to a recent reconstruction needs assessment [PDF] published by the United Nations Development Programme in Jerusalem. Israel said it launched its offensive in December 2008 to halt the the fire of homemade rockets emanating from Gaza into neighboring Israeli communities. Around US$527 million are required to return Gaza to its pre-war state, the equivalent of its status in December 2008, according to the UNDP. This figure is only a fraction of what is needed to repair and reverse the damage to public and private infrastructure that has occurred under the four-year Israeli blockade of the territory.
http://palestinenote.com/cs/blogs/news/archive/2010/06/24/pn-exclusive-life-under-siege.aspx
Blockade ‘Eased’ as Gaza Starves more Slowly, Jonathan Cook – Nazareth
As Israel this week declared the ‘easing’ of the four-year blockade of Gaza, an official explained the new guiding principle: ‘Civilian goods for civilian people.’ The severe and apparently arbitrary restrictions on foodstuffs entering the enclave – coriander bad, cinnamon good – will finally end, we are told. Gaza’s 1.5 million inhabitants will have all the coriander they want.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16085
Political Developments/Flotilla Fallout
Abbas blames Israel for freeze in talks
At press conference with visiting Austrian chancellor, Palestinian president expresses support of international probe into Gaza flotilla raid, urges Israel to lift siege on Strip.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3910343,00.html
Israeli President Shimon Peres: U.S. and other powers must engage Hamas on peace
JERUSALEM — Israel’s president and elder statesman, Shimon Peres, urged the United States and other world powers this week to engage with Hamas in order to persuade the Islamist group to renounce violence and prepare for peace with Israel.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=f3fe41631e0a43c2009e2d47bfea803a
US senators urge Obama to stand by Israel
Bethlehem – Ma’an – In a letter, 87 American senators told President Barack Obama that the US “must continue” to stand with Israel. In a senate of 100 members, the group of 87 represents a strong majority.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294254
Syria, Jordan slam Israel over blocked peace efforts (AFP)
AFP – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and visiting Jordanian King Abdullah II on Thursday blamed Israel for blocking peace efforts in the Middle East, the official SANA news agency reported.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100624/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictsyriajordan
Malaysia pushing for UN debate on raid
Ynet learns Malaysia leading initiative to convene General Assembly for discussion on Navy’s raid on Gaza-bound flotilla. Session slated to be held during Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Washington.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3910354,00.html
Council of Europe: Israel broke international law
Council avoids condemning Israel, but criticizes Israel’s handling of flotilla affair, calls on Hamas to release Shalit, allow Red Cross visit.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3910345,00.html
ANALYSIS / Israel missed every opportunity to free Shalit
The negotiations on the swap deal to free captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit have been stuck since December; the way things look now, the affair is likely to drag on indefinitely.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/analysis-israel-missed-every-opportunity-to-free-shalit-1.298180?localLinksEnabled=false
Israeli Racism/Other News
Israel lobby group FLAME says black Ethiopian Jews are ‘backward’, Philip Weiss
Is the Israel lobby out of touch with America today? Or is this just the charm offensive for President Obama? Here’s an ad that the lobby group FLAME (Facts & Logic About the Middle East) is running in at least one Jewish newspaper and that is on the group’s website, too: an answer to the question, "Israel: An Apartheid State? Is there any truth at all in this oft-repeated calumny?"
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/israel-lobby-group-flame-says-black-ethiopian-jews-are-backward.html
Rabbi: Thomas shows ‘the true face of the Arab’
“There lies beneath the skin of every sympathizer with the Arab cause a measure of hatred, a desire for revenge and a meanness of spirit,” says Aglaze. “Thank you for lifting the cover and letting us see the true face of the Arab. Your angry face could not have been more helpful in letting us know what your people wants.” Rabbi Aglaze continues his diatribe, aligning Thomas’ comments with what he labels a legacy of “it is better to destroy than to build” thinking. “In Gaza, after the enterprising Jews left behind beautiful fields of growing fruits and vegetables, your protégés proceeded to destroy them with a glee and a gusto that, in other civilized societies, are usually reserved for festivities.” The rabbi also lumps the May 31 flotilla participants into this allegedly hateful legacy.
http://palestinenote.com/cs/blogs/news/archive/2010/06/24/rabbi-thanks-thomas-for-showing-the-true-face-of-the-arab.aspx
Palestinian awarded damages for distress caused by Shin Bet, 16 years on
Ziad Shami was awarded NIS 15,000 by the Jerusalem District Court for emotional distress sustained in a 1994 incident near Batir in West Bank.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/palestinian-awarded-damages-for-distress-caused-by-shin-bet-16-years-on-1.298181?localLinksEnabled=false
First Lebanon war, Oslo Accords missing from Israeli textbooks
Education Ministry says it takes 20-30 years to arrive at a historical perspective suitable for teaching young students.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/first-lebanon-war-oslo-accords-missing-from-israeli-textbooks-1.298176
Analysis/Opinion
A great resource on the Hamas women, Helena Cobban
Kudos to Conflicts Forum, which a few months ago published (PDF) a very informative study by the Hebron-area journalist and researcher Khaled Amayreh on the role of women in Hamas. Amayreh’s study is in two parts. The first consists of interviews with three of Hamas’s female MPs: Sameera al-Halayka from the Hebron area, and Jamila Shanti and Huda Naim from Gaza. The second is Amayreh’s own analysis of the significant role women have played in bolstering Hamas.
http://justworldnews.org/archives/004051.html
Rattling the Cage: Let the flotillas through, LARRY DERFNER
If we forcibly stop the ships, it’ll be an even greater victory for the Islamists and an even worse humiliation for Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=179322
Hamdan Azhar: Strangling Gaza and the Radicalization of Political Discourse
Two weeks ago, the senior senator from New York, Charles Schumer, in a speech to the Orthodox Union, said that it "makes sense" to "strangle [the Palestinians in Gaza] economically." "There should be humanitarian aid and people not starving to death," he quickly followed up, but his qualification only underscored the brutality of his suggestion. Nor was Sen. Schumer speaking in a fit of passion; the video shows the cool-headed, rational Harvard-educated lawyer calmly miming the action of strangling with his clenched right fist. "I think the boycott is important for bringing about peace in the Middle East," he smirks, before laughing awkwardly and drawing cheers from his Orthodox Jewish audience. Numerous critics have assailed Mr. Schumer for advocating "collective punishment" — a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. Professor Juan Cole of the University of Michigan went so far as to draw parallels between the senator’s suggestion and the Nazi policy of Sippenhaftung under which relatives of political dissidents were systematically persecuted by the state.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hamdan-a-yousuf/strangling-gaza-and-the-r_b_623593.html
UC Irvine’s message: Criticize Israel, get suspended, Omar Kurdi
The university’s proposed one-year suspension of the Muslim Student Union could have a chilling effect on free speech.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-oew-0622-kurdi-uci-muslim-20100622,0,1942963.story
Where Kindness Is A Crime, Max Blumenthal
In a May 7 article, Haaretz reporter Ilana Hammerman described in dramatic detail a crime she had methodically planned and committed. In defiance of laws supposedly related to Israel’s security, Hammerman picked up three teenage Palestinian girls in their village in the West Bank, took them through the Betar checkpoint, and drove them into Tel Aviv. There they ate ice cream, visited the mall and museum, and played in the sea. Even though the girls lived just a few kilometers from the beach, Israel’s military occupation had prevented them from ever visiting it before their illegal "day of fun."
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/where-kindness-is-a-crime.html
Yes, Kahane lives
On July 29, 1986, extreme right-wing MK Meir Kahane submitted another no-confidence proposal: "The government’s refusal to discuss the disintegration of Zionist ideology, which endangers the existence of the Jewish state." According to Kahane: "Since the beginning of political Zionism, the movement’s thinkers have ignored and avoided the terrible and frightening truth of the basic contradiction between Zionism and enlightened Western democracy, to which all the Zionist leaders were indentured servants. Herzl, Nordau, Sokolow, Weizmann, Ben-Gurion – all of them, right and left, with their heads in the sand, one big ostrich. Not one of the progressives, the liberals, the enlightened waved a banner or blew a large shofar to warn of the terrible danger of the contradiction between the Zionist concept of a Jewish state and the democratic foundation of majority rule."
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/yes-kahane-lives-1.298214
The public is dumb and therefore the public pays, Gideon Levy
Having lost hope due to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s deceit and trickery, perhaps the Israeli public will finally start to ask: Where to? And why?
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-public-is-dumb-and-therefore-the-public-pays-1.298213
Reining in Barkat
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat is once again proving that he remains faithful to the views of the extreme right on all issues related to the capital.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/reining-in-barkat-1.298212
Ignoring the tsunami
The superpower under whose patronage we shelter is becoming increasingly weak and increasingly distant, and the Middle East is becoming unstable.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/ignoring-the-tsunami-1.297986
The failed peace process is on display in Silwan, Kieron Monks
From Cast Lead to the Mavi Marmara, few states have displayed Israel’s commitment to unilateral action. A unique ability to deflect external criticism has allowed successive adminstrations to pursue unpopular policies without hindrance. A microcosm can be glimpsed in Jerusalem, where Mayor Nir Barkat’s intention to re-develop in Silwan place the Municipality’s glamour project over the rights of residents, the agenda of his government and stillborn proximity talks.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/the-failed-peace-process-is-on-display-in-silwan.html
The Holy Land Foundation Case: Defending My Father … and the Constitution, NOOR ELASHI
The case perhaps most notably authorized by the Material Support Law, which was upheld by the Supreme Court on Monday, was that of the Holy Land Foundation, once the largest Muslim charity in the United States. My father, Ghassan Elashi, co-founded this charity, and after two lengthy, expensive trials, he’s now serving a 65-year prison sentence.
http://www.counterpunch.com/elashi06252010.html
Netanyahu Plays the Vuvuzela, RANNIE AMIRI
Assuming you haven’t left planet Earth in the past two weeks, you know the 2010 World Cup is well underway in host nation South Africa. Even the uninterested have heard the unmistakable “buzz” emanating from its stadiums, as if a massive swarm of bees had descended. The vuvuzela, or African horn, is the source of the reverberating sound and blowing it is the proud tradition of South African football fans. Although it may be causing consternation among players (and hearing loss among spectators), FIFA has dismissed calls to ban it. Indeed, the raucous chorus of vuvuzelas has been the hallmark of this year’s World Cup and—respectively putting South African sporting sensitivities aside—one of its great distractions.
http://www.counterpunch.com/amiri06252010.html
Gaza: Dangers of Foreign Influence?, Belen Fernandez – Istanbul
A June 13 exclusive on Intelwire.com entitled ‘Gaza Flotilla Official Was Foreign Fighter in Bosnia War’ purports to reveal the history of Osman Atalay, executive board member of ÝHH, the Turkish NGO instrumental in organizing the aid flotilla to Gaza intercepted on May 31 by Israeli commandos. Collateral damage from the interception included 9 Turkish humanitarian activists.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16083
Lebanon
Lebanon Arrests Palestinian Suspected of Spying for Israel
25/06/2010 Lebanese security forces have arrested a Palestinian man suspected of aiding Israeli intelligence, the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported on Friday. The resident of the Bourj Al-Shimali refugee camp in southern Lebanon allegedly supplied information to Israel over a five year period, according to the report. Investigators who raided the suspect’s home found advanced communications and spy devices that the man allegedly used to contact the Israeli agents via the internet. An investigation into spying for Israel has led to more than 50 arrests since last year, including holding a former brigadier general of the General Security directorate. More than 20 have been formally charged. Lebanon, which is in a state of war with Israel, has described the arrests as a major blow to Israel’s spying networks in the country.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=143761&language=en
Barak “Concerned” over the Lebanese Gov’t Difficulties to Deal with Hezbollah
24/06/2010 Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday that the proximity talks would not help end the deadlock and solve the disagreements between Israel and the Palestinians. According to Barak, direct negotiations are the only way to advance an agreement based on a solution of two states for two people and help strengthen peace and security in the region. Speaking during a meeting at the State Department in Washington, the Israeli defense minister said that Israel was “concerned” over the Lebanese government’s difficulties to deal with the Hezbollah organization. He added that the Lebanon government would be fully responsible for any act carried out from its territory against the Zionist entity.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=143569&language=en
Israel has ‘no intention’ of leaving Ghajar
BEIRUT: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday he was looking forward to Israel’s withdrawal from the border village of Ghajar, as a Lebanese Army source said Tel Aviv had "no intention" of pulling out.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=116370
Pollution in Beirut reaches dangerous levels – scientists
BEIRUT: Pollutants in Beirut’s air have reached concentration levels so high the substances are now toxic for human health, two researchers at University of Saint-Joseph announced on Thursday as they presented the findings of a research project.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=116376
Iraq
Thursday: 22 Iraqis Killed, 33 Wounded
The formation of the new government came across a new roadblock, this one over the failure of two large Shi’ite groups to compromise on the selection of the next prime minister. This new delay could mean further destabilization of Iraq’s fragile security gains. At least 22 Iraqis were killed and 33 more were wounded in attacks that targeted security personnel. Also, Gen. David Petraeus, who once commanded American forces in Iraq, is now in charge of operations in Afghanistan.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/06/24/thursday-22-iraqis-killed-33-wounded/
Series of bomb attacks hit Iraq
Suicide attacks and bombings across country leave several security personnel dead.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/2010624132715557277.html
US vehicle runs over family in Ninewa
Three people from one family were killed and three others of the same family were wounded when a U.S. vehicle ran them over in the northwest of Mosul city.
http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=133585
Allawi opposes SOFA Agreement
Head of Al Iraqiya List Iyad Allawi held the United Nations and the US responsible for reform prior to US Forces withdrawal from the country. Washington should protect the democratic process for which Iraqis have sacrificed, Allawi said in a statement.
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-50922-Allawi-opposes-SOFA-Agreement.html
Iraq cuts officials’ privileges amid power crisis (AFP)
AFP – Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani on Friday revoked electricity privileges enjoyed by government officials as he took temporary control of the power portfolio amid public fury over rationing.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100625/wl_mideast_afp/iraqelectricitypolitics
Iraq drives to protect oil pipelines
News Middle East Policing Iraq’s oil industry Iraq’s oil police force has the difficult job of securing the country’s main source of revenue, but they lack the manpower and equipment to protect pipelines and infrastructure. The pipelines are vital to feeding the refineries across Iraq, but since the US-led invasion the network has been subject to frequent acts of sabotage. Al Jazeera’s Omar Al-Saleh reports on how officials from the police force are determined to protect the country’s oil production. June 25, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng5ulqohLTo&feature=youtube_gdata
Iraq Trying To Retain Its Minority Communities
BAGHDAD — An Iraqi minister says Baghdad wants to discourage emigration by its minority groups and has urged other countries not to accept asylum seekers from these communities, RFE/RL’s Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports. Emigration and Displacement Minister Abdel Samad Sultan told RFI on June 23 that his ministry has asked the European Union, the United States, and Australia to refuse applications for asylum by members of Iraqi minorities in order to preserve the country’s ethnic and religious diversity.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/VDUX-86QSSG?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Bitterness Grows Amid U.S.-Backed Sons Of Iraq
In the past three weeks, at least 19 members of an Iraqi paramilitary force that was supported by the U.S. military have been killed. Scores more of the so-called Sons of Iraq have been wounded in assassination attempts. In the province of Diyala, a climate of fear has descended on the men whom many credit for helping defeat al-Qaida in Iraq. Sheikh Hussam, a member of the Sons of Iraq for the past three years, sits in a small concrete structure with mostly bare walls; the cushions on the floor are thin and scuffed. Hussam has not gotten rich fighting al-Qaida in Iraq.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128084675
Iraq preparing to host AL summit
CAIRO: Iraq’s representative to the Arab League (AL) says his country is going ahead with preparations to host next year’s summit of the 22-member organisation, already allocating $100 million. Qais Al Azzawi said on Thursday “tremendous” preparations are under way to host the Arab world’s kings and presidents for the 2011 summit, including restoring whole palaces to accommodate.
Al Azzawi said hosting the summit would show that Iraq can “stand on its feet.” It would be the first high profile international event to be held in Iraq since the US-invasion.
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/9de26949-33dd-4a0b-9dfa-56d878118071.aspx
Iraq through the eyes of a tree healer
Jawad Kadhim is a third-generation date-palm tree doctor, one of a dwindling number in Iraq’s capital. His job offers a unique window on how the sectarian violence has changed behavior in the various neighborhoods of Baghdad.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/AqdM5Gb9YxA/Iraq-through-the-eyes-of-a-tree-healer
U.S. and other World News
US Senate backs Tehran sanctions
The US Senate unanimously approves new sanctions against foreign companies trading with Iran.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10409847.stm
Anti-Iran Bill in House Makes Claims With No Basis in Fact, Jeremy R. Hammond
Representative Jim Costa (CA) sponsored a bill introduced into the U.S. Congress on Tuesday “Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on the one-year anniversary of the Government of Iran’s fraudulent manipulation of Iranian elections, the Government of Iran’s continued denial of human rights and democracy to the people of Iran, and the Government of Iran’s continued pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability.”
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/06/anti-iran-bill-in-house-makes-claims-with-no-basis-in-fact/
Iran renews call for nuke-free world
Mottaki said that using the issue of such weapons as a tool to achieve political aims is the worst form of "blackmailing" and called on the international community to prevent nuclear-armed countries from accessing such weapons.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=131814§ionid=351020101
Hiker moms ‘shocked’ by story on children’s arrest (AP)
AP – The mothers of three American hikers held in Iran on suspicion of espionage said Thursday they hope a report that their children were arrested on the Iraqi side of the border will help lead to their release.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100625/ap_on_re_us/us_iran_us_hikers
CIA hires Xe, formerly Blackwater, to guard facilities in Afghanistan, elsewhere
The revelation comes only a day after members of a federal commission investigating war-zone contractors blasted the State Department for granting Xe a new $120 million contract to guard U.S. consulates under construction in Afghanistan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/23/AR2010062305255_pf.html
WikiLeaks founder drops ‘mass spying’ hint
WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange has given his strongest indication yet about the next big leak from his whistleblower organisation.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/22/2933892.htm
Wikileaks: A Publisher Of Last Resort: "privatized censorship": Wikileaks editor interview on censorship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smMBZvBQXfc&feature=player_embedded
Hail to the whistleblowers
Whistleblowers like those at WikiLeaks make huge sacrifices and are a vital last resort to check the powers of government.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/23/hail-whistleblowers-wikileaks
Police find 11 beheaded bodies in Afghan south
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, June 25 (Reuters) – The bodies of 11 men, their heads cut off and placed next to them, have been found in a violent southern province of Afghanistan, a senior police official said on Friday. A police patrol discovered the bodies on Thursday in the Khas Uruzgan district of Uruzgan province, north of the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, said police official Mohammad Gulab Wardak.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SGE65O0DO.htm
Egypt’s denial of police brutality in Khalid Said death spurs fresh protest
More than 11,000 Egyptians have responded to a Facebook call for a Friday protest of police brutality in the death of Egyptian businessman Khalid Said. After a second autopsy, Egypt today upheld the original finding that the man had choked on a bag on drugs.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/0cImR7H5h8A/Egypt-s-denial-of-police-brutality-in-Khalid-Said-death-spurs-fresh-protest
Poverty worsens as number earning less than $2 daily on rise
BEIRUT: Poverty is increasing in the Middle East with a 4 percent rise in those earning less than $1.25 a day, according to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Report on development released Thursday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=116377
Saudi youth are struggling with their identities | Fahad Faruqui
Young people in Saudi Arabia are torn between conservative ideology at home and the world outside. MTV’s True Life documentary series recently featured a group of young Saudis grappling with the kingdom’s rigid social norms – and their cry for change stirred bitter emotions in conservative quarters. They weren’t talking about politics, but about themselves and their desire to live the life they choose. Their demands may seem mundane, but in a way, they are far more radical than calling for democracy or political reform because they strike at the core of Saudi Arabia’s social system and its religious underpinnings.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/25/saudi-arabia-youth-identities
www.TheHeadlines.org
