And other news from Today in Palestine:
Land theft and destruction/Ethnic cleansing
2,700 houses to be built as soon as West Bank settlement freeze ends
Haaretz probe shows regional councils across the West Bank are preparing for continued construction as 10-month freeze end date approaches.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/2-700-houses-to-be-built-as-soon-as-west-bank-settlement-freeze-ends-1.300114?localLinksEnabled=false
Jerusalem man forced to demolish home extension
Jerusalem – Ma’an – Faced with the prospect of paying thousands of dollars in fines to the Israeli municipality that administers occupied East Jerusalem, a Palestinian homeowner has demolished part of his own house. Nayef Kasteru, a father of three living in the Aqbat As-Saraya neighborhood of Jerusalem’s Old City, on Sunday finished dismantling a 49-meter addition he had installed several years earlier without the blessing of Israeli zoning authorities.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=296815
Israel extends detention of Jerusalem lawmaker
Jerusalem – Ma’an – An Israeli court has extended the detention period of Palestinian lawmaker Mohammad Abu Teir upon the advice of its attorney general, who is considering an arrangement alternative to expulsion. Defense attorney Fadi Qawasmi said the court’s decision came after a request was presented to the Israeli interior minister to review a ruling taken last week that stripped the lawmaker of his residency rights.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=296832
Solidarity/Activism/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
End the siege of Gaza! End all U.S. aid to Israel!
Demonstrations to take place as Netanyahu meets with Pres. Obama
San Francisco, Calif.
Where: Israeli Consulate (456 Montgomery St.)
When: 4:30 p.m.
Email: answer@answersf.org
Phone: 415-821-6545
Israeli courts criminalize protest: Adeeb Abu Rahma sentenced to two years
Israeli repression of Palestinian non-violent resistance against the Wall and the Occupation takes a distubring turn: Adeeb Abu Rahma, from Bil’in Village, sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. On 30 June 2010, grassroots activist Adeeb Abu Rahma, member of the Bil’in Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements, was sentenced by Israeli military court to two years’ imprisonment, after being arrested on 10 July 2009 during a weekly demonstration in Bil’in, and after spending 11 months of detention in the Ofer military complex in the Occupied Territories.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/07/12843/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
The Battle of Nabi Saleh: Soldiers vs. Kids, Max Blumenthal
When Israeli soldiers entered the embattled Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh on July 2, they were immediately confronted by over a dozen small children. While the IDF is accustomed to firing teargas canisters, percussion grenades, rubber bullets and even live .22 caliber ammunition at adolescent boys, members of the Nahal unit and Kfir border police brigade tasked with suppressing the weekly Nabi Saleh demonstration were frustrated by the children who surrounded and taunted them. At one point, the division commander became so upset he barked into his radio, “I need backup!”
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/07/the-battle-of-nabi-saleh-soldiers-vs-kids/
IOF injures photojournalist, 3 others in Beit Jala’s peaceful demo
Bethlehem, July 4, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli occupation forces fired today gas bombs at a peaceful demo in Bait Jala which injured a photojournalist and other three protesters. Local sources reported that the photojournalist Mahmoud Alian who works with Al-Qudes newspaper was shot by a gas bomb in his head, adding that three others were suffocated while they were participating in the demo.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6592:iof-injures-a-photojournalist-3-others-in-biat-jalas-peaceful-demo&catid=59:west-bank&Itemid=135
Soldiers, Settlers, Attack A Protest near Hebron
Israeli soldiers and a group of armed Jewish settlers attacked on Saturday nonviolent Palestinian and international protestors who held their weekly protest against settlements in Beit Ummar town, north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59060
Army Attacks Nonviolent Weekly Protest In Bil’in
As local residents accompanied by international peace activists held their nonviolent weekly protest against the Annexation Wall in Bil’in village, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, Israeli soldiers fired gas bombs at them leading to dozens of injuries.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59052
Hundreds Participate in Ni’lin Nonviolent Protest Against the Wall
Hundreds of residents and international activist conducted on Friday their weekly nonviolent protest against the Annexation Wall and settlement in Ni’lin village, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah
http://www.imemc.org/article/59053
Bi’lin and Ni’lin continue protests against the Israeli Apartheid System
July 5th, 2010– The protestors in both marches carried large pictures of the martyrs Yasser Arafat and Ahmad Yassin as a message of Palestinian national unity calling for solidarity across factions to face the Israeli Apartheid system. Banners calling for the boycott of Israel were also carried.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2310.shtml
Bethlehem: Activists injured, arrested in protests leading up to the 6th anniversary of the ICJ decision
July 5th, 2010– Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested activists and assaulted 15 demonstrators with batons during the weekly protest against the Apartheid Wall and settlements in Wadi Rahal while kilometers away farmers blocked the Tekoa-Efrat settlement road.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2312.shtml
Another IDF Lie Exposed: Army Attacked Activists, Not The Other Way Around
The IDF claimed Yonathan Shapira and Matan Cohen "attacked" a soldier. It is a blatant lie discredited by video evidence. On July 2, at the weekly demonstration in the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh, Israeli army troops violently arrested Israeli activists Yonatan Shapira and Matan Cohen. I witnessed the incident that led to the arrests and filmed them as they took place. As a group of soldiers pursued children up a small hill, then began firing teargas shells and percussion grenades at them, presumably in response to a few stones the children had thrown, Cohen and Shapira mocked the soldiers. “Shooting at children! You are so brave!” Cohen exclaimed.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/07/another-idf-lie-exposed-army-attacked-activists-not-the-other-way-around/
More IDF Lies about Israeli Activists in the West Bank
During the weekly protest yesterday in the West Bank village of Nabi Salih, two Israeli demonstrators were violently arrested by IDF soliders. These activists, Matan Cohen and Yonathan Shapria, were standing among a group of children and other Palestinian and Israeli demonstrators when the army made a brash decision to arrest them. After the arrest, the IDF Spokesman’s unit tweeted, “2 arrested rioters in Nabi Salih who attacked an IDF soldier now in Israeli Police custody, the soldier is uninjured”
http://josephdana.com/2010/07/more-idf-lies-about-israeli-activities-in-the-west-bank/
How to end a conversation in a Tel Aviv Bar
It is hard to say the protest began as normal because there were only six or so Palestinians protesting but the protest began as normal in the West Bank city of Beit Jala yesterday. Palestinians have been holding weekly Sunday afternoon protests against the construction of the Israeli separation wall which will cut their city in half and annex large parts of their land to Israel. Recent protests have seen in escalation of violence by Israeli soldiers which now routinely fire tear gas into the densely populated city irregardless of women, children and other bystanders. Today was no different.
http://josephdana.com/2010/07/how-to-end-a-conversation-in-a-tel-aviv-bar/
Leading Israeli figures accuse police of targeting leftist East Jerusalem protesters
A number of prominent jurists, intellectuals, writers and leftist public figures co-sign letter that charges Jerusalem police with ‘illegal and inequitable’ conduct towards Sheikh Jarrah protesters.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/leading-israeli-figures-accuse-police-of-targeting-leftist-east-jerusalem-protesters-1.300025?localLinksEnabled=false
Jordanians burn Israeli flag, protest against normalization with Israel
AMMAN, July 4 (Xinhua) — A top anti-normalization Jordanian committee, grouping opposition parties and professional associations, staged a sit-in Sunday, slamming the Hashemite University for allegedly promoting for Israeli-made graduation gowns. Jordan’s Higher Executive Committee for Defending the Homeland and Confronting Normalization said in a statement posted Sunday on the website of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political wing of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, criticized the state-run university for "normalizing" with Israel.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-07/05/c_13383421.htm
Boycott of colony goods to be tightened
Palestinian Prime Minister Dr Salam Fayyad said during his campaign launch that his territories would be free of colony products by year end and that banning such products would be a key factor in creating the independent state of Palestine.
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestinian-territories/boycott-of-colony-goods-to-be-tightened-1.650145
Another protest in the ongoing “Stand up… and Break the Siege” campaign
July 4th, 2010– People once again gathered in a protest launched by the “Stand up… and Break the Siege” campaign which seeks to remove the military checkpoint in the village of Beitin (Ramallah District). The checkpoint has prevented 17 villages north and north-east of Ramallah from reaching the city for ten years.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2311.shtml
Emily Henochowicz, "Ni’lin" (Art)
Emily Henochowicz is a young Jewish American artist and activist. While demonstrating in Jerusalem against the Israeli massacre of activists on the Mavi Marmara, Henochowicz lost her left eye to one of the tear gas canisters fired by Israeli border police. She says about her art: "[W]hat you can take personally from this work, I can’t know — art is an interpretive force. Perhaps emotion can lead to reason."
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/henochowicz020710.html
Violence and Aggression
Gaza fisherman reported injured by Israeli fire
Gaza – Ma’an – Israel’s navy opened fire toward the coast of the Gaza Strip on Monday morning injuring a fisherman, a medical official said. Alam Ghanem Baker, in his 20s, was treated for a bullet wound sustained while fishing off the northern coast near Gaza City, Gaza Health Ministry director of emergency and ambulance services Muawiya Hassanein said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=296972
Standoff at Hebron mosque
Hebron – Ma’an – Israeli forces surrounded a mosque in the occupied West Bank late Sunday, opening fire and ordering it evacuated. It was not immediately clear what provoked the standoff at the Ar-Rihiya Mosque south of Hebron, where two Palestinians were detained. Local residents told Ma’an that Israeli forces ordered elderly residents to evacuate the facility, but they refused. Soldiers used several Palestinians as human shields while surrounding the mosque, onlookers said, during confrontations between local youth and soldiers who opened fire with tear-gas canisters, rubber-coated bullets, and live ammunition.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=296846
Nameless Palestinian Detainees: over 650,000 detained since 1967 and counting…
Ahmad Sa’adat: A Palestinian Prisoner of Conscience, Stephen Lendman
He’s the 1967-founded Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s (PFLP) General Secretary, one of thousands of Palestinian political prisoners, sentenced in 2002 to 30 years in prison "for a range of ‘security-related’ political offenses,’ " including his prominence in a prohibited organization, a 1993 document stating that:"The strategic aim of the PFLP’s struggle alongside the other forces of the Palestinian revolution is to liberate Palestine from Zionist colonial occupation. The PFLP aims for the establishment of a democratic state on the entire Palestinian land, with its capital in Jerusalem. This state would guarantee legal rights and equality of opportunity to all citizens, without discrimination on the grounds of religion, sex, belief or color. It would oppose Zionism and imperialism and be oriented towards democratic unity with other Arab countries."
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16108
Officers: IDF could handle prisoners freed to West Bank in Shalit swap
Remarks from Avi Mizrahi defy Netanyahu’s position that some prisoners would be banned from returning to the West Bank, where he said they could return to terror activities.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/officers-idf-could-handle-prisoners-freed-to-west-bank-in-shalit-swap-1.299842?localLinksEnabled=false
Israel‘s Arab Helpers
Egypt says 400 tunnels destroyed this year
Rafah – Ma’an – Egyptian authorities said Sunday that 400 smuggling tunnels have been destroyed since the beginning of the year. The announcement came after nine tunnels on the border with Gaza were taken over and a smuggler was detained. The detainee, identified only by his initials RR, was among the most wanted, intelligence sources said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=296791
Egypt: Explosives smuggling into Gaza thwarted
Al-Arish – Ma’an – Egyptian security forces thwarted a weapons-smuggling operation into the Gaza Strip on Monday, a security source said. Forces along the border city of Rafah received information that explosives prepared for smuggling through the tunnel complex were being stored in a warehouse 120 meters from the border in the Al-Ahrash neighborhood, the source said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=296915
Iranian aircraft ‘refused fuel’
Iran says Britain, Germany and the United Arab Emirates are refusing to provide fuel to Iranian passenger planes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/world/middle_east/10511420.stm
Report: Lebanon detains suspected Palestinian spy
Beirut – Ma’an – Palestinian refugee was detained in the south of Lebanon, suspected of spying for Israel since 2005, the Lebanese Internal Security Forces director told the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper Sunday. General Ashraf Rifi reportedly said the 45-year-old suspect, known only by his initials AK, was detained during an ISF ambush where he was found in possession of communications equipment and developed encryption programs.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=296904
The Siege (Gaza & West Bank)/Humanitarian and Human Rights
Israeli boy campaigns against border mines
More than 2,600 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli landmines in the past 40 years. This is no surprise considering that more than a million mines remain active. They are scattered along Israel’s borders with Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. Israel has always refused to remove them, but now an 11-year-old Israeli boy is campaigning to have them cleared. Al Jazeera’s Nisreen El-Shamayleh reports. [July 4, 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgYIsnjEaFw&feature=youtube_gdata
Arabs say Israel drying up regional water reserves
In conference of water minister from Arab states, Jordanian representative accuses Israel of ‘stealing water’ in West Bank, Lebanon, and Golan; suggests international campaign to clarify Arabs’ water rights
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3914030,00.html
OPT: Thousands missing out on education in Gaza
Thousands of Palestinian refugee children in the Gaza Strip are unable to receive adequate education, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). About 39,000 child refugees in Gaza will not attend UNRWA schools this year, since the agency is unable to build or re-build schools due to the Israeli blockade, damage sustained during the 23-day Israeli offensive (27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009) and population growth, UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness said in Jerusalem.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/bbbe23c7e149bb9fc50006c5f6994735.htm
Israel creates new Gaza ‘blacklist’
Consumer goods allowed into enclave but tight limits remain on construction materials.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/07/20107514336683929.html
Sand houses defy Gaza shortages
Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip has created a shortage of construction materials such as cement. But, some builders have adapted to make use of one thing they have plenty of – sand. Al Jazeera’s Bhanu Bhatnaagur reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsk-zSzwF3M&feature=youtube_gdata
Gaza ministry says PA rejecting passport applications
Gaza – Ma’an – The Palestinian Authority is refusing most passport applications for residents of the Gaza Strip, officials said Monday. The Gaza-based Ministry of the Interior said in a statement that a shortfall of 100,000 passports had created a crisis for prospective travelers. The ministry accused the Fatah-run government in Ramallah of providing passports to only the movement’s affiliates, and alleged that PA intelligence services were preventing the entry of most passports into the Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=297060
Palestinian Refugees
Locked out: The 12 million people without a country, and their need to become a citizen
The victims of shifting borders, politics, or the happenstance of birthplace, the world’s 12 million stateless people and their need to become a citizen are rising on the international human rights agenda.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-Issues/2010/0704/Locked-out-The-12-million-people-without-a-country-and-their-need-to-become-a-citizen?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+feeds%2Ftop+%28Christian+Science+Monitor+|+Top+Stories%29
Jumblatt: No harm in Palestinians owning property
BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt questioned on Saturday the reason behind granting Arab nationals the right to own property in Lebanon, but denying it to Palestinian refugees. Jumblatt spoke to a group of Palestinian refugees from all across Lebanon, who visited him in his residence in the Chouf village of Mukhtara.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=116714
Make Or Break Moment For Arab Unity Over Lebanon’s ’10th Class Citizens’
A debate is raging in the Lebanese government over new legislation that would grant civil rights to Palestinian refugees for the first time in 62 years. Key features of the historic bill, proposed by the Progressive Socialist Party, include the right to housing, employment, social security and hospital treatment.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1472
Flotilla Fallout/Investigation
Turkey to cut ties unless Israel apologises over raid (AFP)
AFP – Turkey will sever diplomatic ties with Israel unless it apologises over the commando raid on an aid convoy to Gaza in which nine Turks died, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100705/wl_afp/turkeyconflictgazaisraeldiplomacy
Israel says no plan to apologise to Turkey
RIGA, July 5 (Reuters) – Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday his country has no intention of meeting Turkey’s demand for an apology over a deadly Israeli raid on a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE6640YP.htm
Israel expands flotilla inquiry
Panel gets power to call witnesses but troops will face separate military inquiry.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/07/201074105655769216.html
Israel can’t be trusted to probe Gaza flotilla raid, say Rachel Corrie’s parents
Corrie, a U.S. citizen, was struck and killed in 2003 by a bulldozer as she and other activists tried to prevent the razing of Gaza homes.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-can-t-be-trusted-to-probe-gaza-flotilla-raid-say-rachel-corrie-s-parents-1.299767?localLinksEnabled=false
Ben-Eliezer slams Barak in wake of covert Turkey meeting
Trade minister tells defense minister’s media aide: ‘I’ll skewer you, you don’t know who you’re messing with.’
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/ben-eliezer-slams-barak-in-wake-of-covert-turkey-meeting-1.299964?localLinksEnabled=false
Political Developments
Europe foreign ministers to visit Gaza in July: Spain (AFP)
AFP – The foreign ministers of Spain, France and Italy are to visit the Gaza Strip this month to check on Israel’s plan to ease a blockade of the territory, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100705/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazablockadespainfranceitaly
Fayyad-Barak meeting ‘not over negotiations’
Ramallah – Ma’an – Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak will sit at 1:30 pm Monday for discussions unrelated to peace negotiations, a spokesman said. Speaking with Voice of Palestine Radio, director of the state information center Ghassan Khatib, said the leaders would discuss ways to end the siege on Gaza, address Palestinian Authority concerns over continued Israeli overnight raids in the West Bank, and ways to enable a greater scope of movement for PA forces so they can operate in areas A, B and C.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=296885
Fayyad to Barak: Give Palestinian forces more power in West Bank
Palestinian PM and Israeli defense minister meet for first high-level talks since U.S. began proximity negotiations; Barak: Netanyahu must give Obama plan for borders.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/fayyad-to-barak-give-palestinian-forces-more-power-in-west-bank-1.300198?localLinksEnabled=false
Israeli minister to meet Palestinian PM (Reuters)
Reuters – Israel’s defense minister will meet the Palestinian prime minister on Monday, the first meeting between the two politicians since February and the first sign of progress in indirect, U.S.-mediated talks.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100704/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel
US to press Binyamin Netanyahu to extend freeze on settlements
Barack Obama is anxious to build on what has been achieved since settlements freeze started in November.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/05/us-binyamin-netanyahu-settlements
Maariv: Ahead of summit, Netanyahu to meet with Obama’s “rivals” — McCain, Lieberman and Specter — in Israel
Before taking off for Washington, Netanyahu will meet in Israel with three US senators, who are among Obama’s bitter rivals, and are considered strong supporters of Israel and opponents of the American pressure being applied to it. This refers to the Republican presidential candidate who ran against Obama, John McCain, as well as Senators Joe Lieberman and Arlen Specter, who took advantage of the Fourth of July vacation to visit Israel and express support for it.
http://coteret.com/2010/07/04/maariv-ahead-of-summit-netanyahu-to-meet-with-obamas-rivals-mccain-lieberman-and-specter-in-israel/
Netanyahu hopes Obama meeting will pave way for direct Mideast talks
U.S. President to host PM on Tuesday; Netanyahu tells cabinet: There is no substitute for direct negotiations.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-hopes-obama-meeting-will-pave-way-for-direct-mideast-talks-1.299986?localLinksEnabled=false
ANALYSIS / On eve of Obama meet, Netanyahu is practically begging Abbas for direct talks, Akiva Eldar
Without PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ consent to begin direct peace negotiations, it will be difficult for PM Benjamin Netanyahu to overcome Likud hardliners opposed to extending the settlement freeze.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/analysis-on-eve-of-obama-meet-netanyahu-is-practically-begging-abbas-for-direct-talks-1.300031?localLinksEnabled=false
Labor officials: Barak on way out?
After harsh words between Ben-Eliezer, Barak spokesman, many believe latter’s future depends on outcome of Netanyahu-Obama meeting.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3914973,00.html
Ministers reject giving Knesset power to veto settlement freeze
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday scrambled for support ahead of the vote, telephoning cabinet ministers from his Likud party in the hope of persuading them to oppose the transfer of authority.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/ministers-reject-giving-knesset-power-to-veto-settlement-freeze-1.299996?localLinksEnabled=false
Other News
Petraeus emails show general scheming with journalist to get out pro-Israel storyline
Last March General David Petraeus, then head of Central Command, sought to undercut his own testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee that was critical of Israel by intriguing with a rightwing writer to put out a different story.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/07/petraeus-fed-his-pro-israel-bona-fides-to-a-neocon-writer-including-pathetic-recitation-of-meeting-wiesel.html
Israeli judge: Learn from Nazis
Retired Judge Hadassa Ben-Itto says as part of PR war, Israel should adopt tactics used to distribute Protocols of Elders of Zion.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3915394,00.html
Yediot: Hebron Brigade commander cancels UK study trip for fear of arrest
The IDF was forced to cancel the departure of the outgoing Hebron Brigade commander, Col. Udi Ben-Moha, to study in the UK. Yedioth Ahronoth has learned that the army feared that Ben Moha would be arrested upon landing due to suspicion of involvement in war crimes in the territories. Col. Ben Moha began his military service in the Naval Commando. After doing the officers’ course, he went to the Golani Brigade, then he was the deputy commander of the Egoz unit, after that he commanded the Netzarim sector in Gush Katif as the Shimshon Battalion commander, after which he served as the commander of a reservist brigade and formed the Sagi Brigade that operates on the Israel-Egypt border.
http://coteret.com/2010/07/04/yediot-hebron-brigade-commander-cancels-uk-study-trip-for-fear-of-arrest/
Israeli Ministry of Justice endorses extremist interpretations of Jewish Law
On Friday, July 9, the Ministry of Justice and the Jewish Legal Heritage Society will present a two-day seminar on Jewish laws concerning the Land of Israel. [An invitation in Hebrew can be seen here and a translation is appended at the bottom of this post. H/T Dena Shunra.] While I am not an expert on Jewish law, even a layman’s superficial examination of the itinerary reveals an extremely problematic agenda for a government. At best, this event serves as an official stamp of approval for the settlement movement; at worst, it provides legitimacy for extremist and hateful views.
http://coteret.com/2010/07/04/israeli-ministry-of-justice-endorses-extremist-interpretations-of-jewish-law/
Grave desecrator says he ‘hates blacks’
Man tells police hatred for Ethiopian immigrants led him to vandalize graves at Beersheba cemetery.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3914974,00.html
Alleged Mossad spy appears before Polish court (AP)
AP – An Israeli citizen and alleged Mossad agent has appeared at a Polish court that will decide whether to extradite him to Germany.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100705/ap_on_re_eu/eu_poland_hamas_slaying
Analysis/Opinion
Jordan is not Palestine, Lamis Andoni
In fact, Israel’s early leaders saw the Hashemite entity as both a buffer between Israel and the rest of the Arab world, and a state that could absorb those Palestinian refugees who fled or were expelled during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 and the Six Day war in 1967. But it is precisely the fact that Israeli leaders intentionally turned Jordan into the absorber of the largest Palestinian refugee population that is now being used to justify transforming it into a substitute homeland for the Palestinians and forcibly sending more.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/2010/07/2010748131864654.html
US questions its unwavering support for Israel
Consensus forming in Washington that Israeli government is abusing support with policies seen to be risking US lives. There are questions that rarely get asked in Washington. For years, the mantra that America’s intimate alliance with Israel was as good for the US as it was the Jewish state went largely unchallenged by politicians aware of the cost of anything but unwavering support. But swirling in the background when Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, arrives in Washington tomorrow to patch up relations with the White House will be a question rarely voiced until recently: is Israel ‑ or, at the very least, its current government ‑ endangering US security and American troops?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/05/us-israel-support
When Does Conciliatory Become Obsequious? — Abbas Meets The Pro-Israel Lobby, Ira Glunts
How many words have been written and spoken in the last 10 years which make the case that these same people in attendance at the Abbas meeting are the lobbyists who are the engine driving a self-defeating U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East?
http://www.lobelog.com/when-does-conciliatory-become-obsequious-abbas-meets-the-pro-israel-lobby/
Netanyahu’s Warning to America: Palestinian Statehood Will Lead to “Second Mexico” Inside U.S.
When Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the White House this week, he may wish he was meeting with President Lou Dobbs instead of Barack Obama. The dire warning Netanyahu issued to Americans in his 1993 book, “A Durable Peace,” would have resonated much more strongly with the nativist Dobbs than Obama. According to Netanyahu, the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank would have grave repercussions in the United States, provoking the Latino minority to demand a state of its own in the Southwest — a hostile “second Mexico” that will make Anglos fear for their lives. To avoid this “potential nightmare,” America has only one choice: join Israel in stifling the Palestinians’ national ambitions.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/07/netanyahus-warning-to-america-palestinian-statehood-will-lead-to-second-mexico-inside-u-s/
And if a thousand prisoners go free?, Gideon Levy
We don’t have to recall Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi’s statements to know that the danger in releasing the prisoners is less than what is being described. The opportunity, in contrast, is great.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/and-if-a-thousand-prisoners-go-free-1.300058?localLinksEnabled=false
Investigating Israeli refusal
It is absurd that the Israeli government has never held a single organized debate on the Saudi peace initiative.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/investigating-israeli-refusal-1.300061?localLinksEnabled=false
POLL: The chill in US-Israeli relations
Should President Obama insist on an extended settlement freeze when he meets Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu this week?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/poll/2010/jul/05/israel-palestinian-territories
An unacceptable surrender to Shas
Netanyahu is well aware of Israeli society’s need to extract the Haredim from the cycle of poverty and state handouts, and the need to integrate them into the labor market to ensure future economic growth. His surrender to Shas’ demand perpetuates an unacceptable arrangement and goes against the national interest.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/an-unacceptable-surrender-to-shas-1.299872?localLinksEnabled=false
Hasbarapocalypse — Leaked Frank Luntz memo: Israeli public diplomacy in US on Flotilla failed dismally
The Israel Project (TIP), an American Hasbara outfit, commissioned Republican political consultant Frank Luntz to examine the effectiveness of Israel’s public diplomacy in the US on the Flotilla debacle. TIP gave the memo to the Prime Minister’s Office, where someone promptly leaked it to Chico Menashe, Channel Ten TV News diplomatic affairs correspondent.
http://coteret.com/2010/07/05/hasbarapocalypse-leaked-frank-luntz-memo-israeli-public-diplomacy-in-us-on-flotilla-failed-dismally/
Time to Muzzle Israel, Gulamhusein A. Abba
The bloody and dastardly attack, by Israeli forces, in international waters, under cover of darkness, on a peaceful and unarmed flotilla, carrying nothing but humanitarian aid to a besieged people experiencing a humanitarian crisis, was strongly denounced by people and governments from all over the world. Deservedly so. Israel, instead of apologizing, or at least being contrite, immediately launched a brazen and aggressive campaign to justify its actions and paint the aid-bearers as the villains of the piece!
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16102
Israel: A Failing Colonial Project, M. Shahid Alam
Increasingly, despite its early military and political successes, it appears unlikely that Israel can endure for long as a colonial project. In order to firmly secure its existence – as firmly as that is possible for any state – a settler state has to overcome three challenges. It has to solve the native problem; break away from its mother country; and gain the recognition of neighboring states and peoples. It can be shown that Israel has not met any of these conditions.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16104
Iraq
Sunday: 19 Iraqis Killed, 57 Wounded
As U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met with the two leading contenders for prime minister, several suicide bombers put a damper on the attempt to reconcile the politicians’ efforts to hasten the formation of the next government. At least 19 Iraqis were killed and 57 more were wounded across the country. Also, two U.S. soldiers were wounded when their convoy came across a roadside bomb.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/07/04/sunday-19-iraqis-killed-57-wounded/
Four killed in Iraq attack by female suicide bomber, says official
A female suicide bomber blew herself up at the entrance to government offices in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday killing at least four people, an interior ministry official said.
http://thedailynewsegypt.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=120613&catid=1&Itemid=183
At least 2,405 people killed in 2010 in Iraq, says rights group
An Iraqi rights group said that 2,405 people were killed in Iraq in the past six month, as violence spiked amid political post-election tensions, the Yaqen website reported Saturday.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1568281.php/At-least-2-405-people-killed-in-2010-in-Iraq-says-rights-group
Iraqis suffer under political vacuum
While a political vacuum continues to hold Iraq in its grip, the lives of ordinary citizens are unsurprisingly in limbo. Living conditions are worsening by the day in some neighbourhoods in the capital Baghdad, with overflowing sewers, regular power cuts and a shortage of clean drinking water. Al Jazeera’s Omar Al-Saleh reports from Baghdad on how the lack of basic services is making life much harder for many. [July 4, 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm3UrqgjRQU&feature=youtube_gdata
Iraq’s war wounded
In the Jordanian capital Amman, a hospital receives the wounded from the war in Iraq. These women and children are injured by bombs on marketplaces, light or heavy artillery and military bombardments. They cannot be treated in Iraq as the medical services there are overwhelmed. FRANCE 24’s reporters went to meet them.
http://www.france24.com/en/20100702-reporters-iraq-war-wounded-violence-insurgency-jordan-amman-hospital-surgeons-operations-doctors-without-borders
Inside Iraq – Iraq’s lack of electricity
During the past weeks riots have been breaking out all over Iraq over electricity cuts. Angry demonstrators clashed with security forces and demanded the resignation of the electricity minister. Why have successive governments failed to solve the electricity issue when Saddam Hussein succeeded in reviving electricity in a record time in 1991?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNseLqT0XuY&feature=youtube_gdata
Baghdad’s Trash Piles Up
Municipality tries to tackle garbage crisis, but does it have the resources to do so?
http://www.iwpr.net/report-news/baghdad%E2%80%99s-trash-piles
No information yet on 52,000 Iraqis who went missing in first Gulf War
Iraqi authorities have not heard about the fate of 52,000 soldiers who were reported missing in the 1980-1988 Gulf War with Iran, a cabinet minister said. Human Rights Minister Wujdan Michael said she was working on a memorandum with the Iranian authorities for help on their whereabouts or at least the return of their remains if they were killed in action. “Last year we received the remains of 200 of our soldiers from Iraq. We handed back the remains of 400 of their own soldiers,” she said.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2010-07-02\kurd.htm
Iraq’s nostalgia for Saddam
It’s almost insulting that US Vice President Joe Biden chose the 4th of July to visit one of Saddam Hussein’s old palaces in Iraq and later press Iraqi leaders to end a power struggle that has gripped the country since its general elections four months ago. July 4, after all, celebrates those Americans who in 1776 freed themselves of their British occupiers by declaring their nation’s independence.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=116702
Lebanon
Spiritual leader to Hizbollah dies condemning Israel
In his final sermon, delivered by a deputy on Friday, he condemned Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and criticised the US for "giving cover to the enemy (Israel)". A doctor at the Bahman hospital, to which he was admitted on Friday, said that when a nurse asked the cleric what he needed, he replied: "For the Zionist entity to cease to exist."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/spiritual-leader–to-hizbollah-dies-condemning-israel-2018410.html
Lebanon mourns death of Shia "spiritual leader"
Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, a founding figure and one-time spiritual leader of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia political party, has passed away at 75 in a hospital in Beirut, Lebanon. Fadlallah was admitted to the hospital last month suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure. Thousands across the world are mourning the death of one of Shia Islam’s most influential scholars. Al Jazeer’s Rula Amin reports from Beirut. [July 4. 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gau2O6FPW6A&feature=youtube_gdata
Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah, As`ad Abukhalil
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/07/muhammad-husayn-fadlallah.html
Fadlallah’s Life and the Shiite Wave, Juan Cole
The death of Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Husain Fadlallah at age 75 in Beirut marks the passing of a cleric revered by many Shiite Muslims and by many Lebanese and Iraqis. His life exemplified the awakening and increasing global influence of Shiite Islam.
http://www.juancole.com/2010/07/fadlallahs-life-and-the-shiite-wave.html
Political, religious figures hail stances of late Fadlallah
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s top political and religious figures hailed Sunday Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah as a man of dialogue and the spiritual leader of resistance against Israel. Fadlallah, one of Shiite Islam’s highest religious authorities, died of illness in a Beirut hospital Sunday at the age of 74.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=116723
Sayyed Fadlullah… A True Supporter of Resistance and Unity
04/07/2010 Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohamad Hussein Fadlullah was not only a Muslim reference and authority but rather one of the most prominent contemporary religious authorities in the Islamic World. His great experience in teaching jurisprudence as well as his constant monitoring of the latest trends and literature of the major religious schools have enabled him to launch his own school and to be followed by thousands of Muslim believers in Lebanon and the region. But Sayyed Fadlullah was not only remarkable for his religious position and status. His eminence was in fact a remarkable intellectual who was described as the spiritual leader of the Resistance in Lebanon and the region. The Arab-Israeli conflict, the Palestinian cause, the US hegemony, patriotism and the S
http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=144910&language=en
Sayyed Fadlullah’s Contributions to the Civil Society and the Downtrodden
04/07/2010 “We have to improve our education and gain more scientific knowledge. If we do not make the best of our time now, we will not be able to build our future or develop in the Future…” With these words Sayyed Muhammed Hussein Fadlullah used to address people, especially the youths, to benefit from every single minute of their lives. For that reason, his eminence opened many religious and social institutions that were mainly founded with the contributions of many Muslim benefactors. In 1966 Sayyed Fadlalluh received an invitation from a group of believers who had established a society called “Usrat Ataakhi” (The family of Fraternity) to live with them in the Nabba’a neighborhood in Eastern Beirut. There, he started organizing cultural seminars and delivering religious speeches that tackled various topics.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=144909&language=en
His door was always open
The passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah is, naturally, an occasion to remember the person, and one can easily recall how his humble home in Beirut’s southern suburbs was more of a forum than a simple address.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=116724
Angry Lebanese confront UN force
UN officials "very concerned" at tensions between residents and peacekeepers in south.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/07/20107491356649453.html
Saqr, Moussawi trade accusations over Israeli spy case
BEIRUT: Zahleh MP Oqab Saqr and Tyre MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi traded accusations over the weekend following media leaks about the recent arrest of a telecommunications technician on charges of spying for Israel’s Mossad agency. On Sunday, Saqr issued a statement in which he labeled accusations made against him by Moussawi as "naive."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=116722
Iran
Total CEO calls Iran oil embargo’an ‘error’
The CEO of French energy giant Total on Friday criticised sanctions against Iran, saying an embargo on petrol products was an "error" that would harm ordinary people.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j9Eq8NcJPlT6IBH1oDcMn3qBi2Wg
Russia may lose billions for breaching missile contract with Iran
Russia’s refusal to deliver S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Iran means Tehran could turn to China as its main arms supplier, depriving Moscow of a serious source of revenue, a Russian daily suggested on Wednesday.
http://www.en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20100630/159641465.html
Iran remembers victims of airliner shot down by US
Iranian helicopters scattered flowers into the Persian Gulf waters on Saturday as family members and relatives remembered the 290 passengers killed when a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian airliner 22 years ago.
http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-world/20100703/ML.Iran.Plane.Crash.Anniversary/
Iran ‘has proof’ scientist abducted
Iranian authorities have said that they have handed over evidence proving that US agents abducted an Iranian nuclear scientist. The purported evidence was handed to the Swiss embassy in Tehran on Saturday, according to the website of state-run English language channel Press TV. The Swiss embassy manages US interests in Iran since Tehran and Washington have no diplomatic ties.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/07/20107473335675940.html
‘Saudi king says Israel, Iran don’t deserve to exist’
Le Figaro says King Abdullah told French defense minister days after Gaza flotilla raid, ‘Two states in region do not deserve to exist: Israel and Iran’. Kingdom denies report.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3914294,00.html
U.S. and other World News
Report: Israel concerned over Saudi-US defense deal
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Israel is trying to thwart a defense deal between the US and Saudi Arabia for the purchase of new F15 fighter jets and upgrades to the Saudi air force, Israeli media reported Sunday. According to a senior defense force source, the US is interested in developing the Saudi air force to deter Iran, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported. However, Israel wants Saudi Arabia to receive fewer upgrades because "[t]oday these planes are against Iran, tomorrow they might turn against us."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=296619
Paper: Mideast looking at investing in BP (AP)
AP – BP may look to sovereign wealth funds, including in the oil-rich Middle East, to fend off takeover bids amid mounting costs from the Gulf of Mexico oil leak disaster, according to reports published Sunday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100704/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_mideast_bp
This May be Britain’s Abu Ghraib
The Guardian article this week, which reported that many more civilians died in army custody than previously thought, should shock the conscience of the nation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/03/abu-ghraib-baha-mousa
Witness – Journey into Memory
Three writers journey across Syria to an infamous jail by the ruins at Palmyra, recalling the spirit that helped them survive torture and abuse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CZrVLI8wVA&feature=youtube_gdata
Syrian prisoners ‘disappeared’
At least 52 prisoners have disappeared from a Syrian jail following disturbances in 2008 that left 22 people dead, human rights groups have said. Families of the missing men say they have not been heard of since violence broke out at the Saydnaya Military Prison on July 5, 2008. On the second anniversary of the violence, 18 of the missing prisoners now meet the international legal criteria of having been victims of "enforced disappearance", according to human rights groups, and questions remain over the fate of dozens more.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/07/20107465823578458.html
So you think you can be an imam?
A Malaysian reality TV show aims to pick a young Muslim leader in a blend of doctrine and drama that is a natural fit for a nation that has held to Islamic traditions while welcoming Western culture. The 10 young men have washed corpses according to Islamic rites, cried while counseling unwed pregnant women and joined a police crackdown on teenage motorcycle racers — all before judges on national TV.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/H0IZNS7o6nk/la-adfg-malaysia-reality-tv-20100703,0,984212.story
James Zogby: Two Failed Efforts at Muslim-Bashing
Two separate incidents of Muslim-bashing occurred last week. Because they involved comments by prominent individuals and were so brazen, they caused some concern. But because neither resulted in any benefit to the offenders, only embarrassed silence or scorn, there is some hope that we may be turning a corner.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/two-failed-efforts-at-mus_b_634676.html
Put Away the Flags, Howard Zinn
On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.
http://www.progressive.org/media_mpzinn070106
Declaration Of Independence Draft Used Word ‘Subject’ Instead Of ‘Citizen’
Hyperspectral images of a draft of the Declaration of Independence reveal that it originally used the word ‘subjects’ instead of ‘citizens’ at a critical juncture. After writing "our fellow subjects," author Thomas Jefferson scrubbed it out and replaced it with the familiar alternative.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/03/declaration-of-independen_n_634803.html
TX Rep. Louis Gohmert Warns of Terrorist Babies
Citing a "retired F.B.I. agent" as his source, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, said on the floor of Congress last week that terror cells are plotting to breed future terrorists inside the United States.
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=12723249
