Eden Abergil: ‘I would gladly kill Arabs – even slaughter them.’

And other news from Today in Palestine:

Land and Property Theft and Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
US academic appeals to UN over Mamilla demolitions
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- US academic Rashid Khalidi appealed to the UN and other international officials Tuesday to defend a 12th century Muslim burial ground in West Jerusalem from desecration, providing new information on the latest wave of demolitions by the Jerusalem Municipality.
link to www.maannews.net

Human Rights Watch Israel: Stop Demolishing Bedouin Homes
(Jerusalem) - The Israeli government should immediately stop demolishing the homes of Bedouin citizens in the Negev desert in southern Israel and should compensate those displaced and allow them to return to their village pending a final agreement that respects their rights under international law, Human Rights Watch said today. Hundreds of police officers arrived unannounced at 6 a.m. on August 17, 2010, in Al Araqib and demolished about 20 makeshift structures, leaving scores of residents homeless as summer temperatures soared to 40 degrees Celsius, or 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
link to www.alertnet.org

Absentees against Their Will –Property Expropriation in East Jerusalem under the Absentee Property Law
Ir Amim - When East Jerusalem was annexed to Israel in 1967, all the laws of the State of Israel were applied to the annexed territory, including the Absentee Property Law of 1950, whose purpose was to transfer to the possession of the State of Israel the property of the Palestinian refugees of 1948.
link to www.ir-amim.org.il

Impact of Israeli Military Order No. 1650, Stephen Lendman
Located at the European University Institute (EUI), the Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies (RSCAS) conducts "inter-disciplinary and comparative research (on) major issues facing the process of integration and European society."  Prepared by Asem Khalil, its new report is titled, "Impact of Israeli Military Order No. 1650 on Palestinians' Rights to Legally Reside in Their Own Country."  Taking effect in April 2010, it defined all West Bank residents as "infiltrators" (including native born ones), requiring they get IDF-issued permits.
link to palestinechronicle.com

Expansion Of Settlements Continues
Despite an annouced settlement freeze, despite an imminent Quartet announcement, despite international pressure since the Gaza Flotilla, Israel declared it will build more in the West Bank.  Twenty-three mobile school units will be placed in 12 settler communities, including Ofra, Elon Moreh, Itamar, Emmanuel, and Talmon, according to the Hebrew-language Ma'ariv newspaper.  President Benyamin Netanyahu was behind the plan to build the housing for students of the Ariel University near Nablus. Netanyahu called an “urgent meeting” to discuss the settler's deprived education system. Attended by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Minister of Education Gideon Star and Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman, Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser, the meeting members sought to “prevent a political and diplomatic crisis of lack of classrooms in the West Bank.”
link to www.palestinemonitor.org

Silwan: When David Becomes Goliath
Fakhri Abu Diab abruptly interrupts the interview as an alarming swell of whistling rises up from the streets. He stands up and walks out of the “Al Bustan Center” tent, a makeshift wooden structure draped in black canvas and covered with blown up photos depicting moments of the neighborhood's popular struggle in the occupied East Jerusalem area of Silwan, the supposed site of the City of King David, the David who faced off Goliath.
link to www.palestinemonitor.org

Uprooted Villagers Hold Fast During Ramadan, Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM – On the eve of the start of Ramadan last week, Israeli police demolished the Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the Negev desert. It was the third time within two weeks that the village had been razed.  Unfazed, the Bedouin villagers immediately began rebuilding.   "We have already put back up some 20 of our huts, and we’re putting up more every day — despite the fast," village leader Sheikh Sayyah Abu Drim told IPS when reached by telephone a week after the last police action.   "We have nowhere else to go," said the Sheikh. More than 40 families live in al-Araqib.  At dawn last Tuesday, Israel Land Administration (ILA) officials, accompanied by a large police detail including over 100 border guards and mounted police, began their operation with the support of two bulldozers.
link to original.antiwar.com

Who wants to set fire to the Negev?
“No state representative is getting involved in the irrational saga rolling over the backs of children and people whose rights have been trampled, people forgotten by the welfare authorities. Despite the demolitions, no representative of the state in charge of citizens’ welfare comes to examine the goings on.” Haia Noah calls the state to order following the destruction of the village of Al-Arakib.  The very same scenes replay, again: again a convey of police cars swoops down on some tabernacles made of wooden poles and covered with plastic sheeting, green or black, the only refuge in the Northern Negev from the sun and the hot and somewhat hellacious weather. After the Bedouin village of Al-Arakib was demolished a week before, great forces came again last week to destroy. To destroy everything.
link to www.kibush.co.il

Solidarity/Activism/Boycott, Sanctions & Divestment
Live ammunition used on demonstrators in Gaza who move a section of the buffer-zone fence
On Tuesday morning a demonstration in Gaza by Palestinian activists from Local Initiative Beit Hanoun, with four International Solidarity Movement volunteers and other international activists and journalists was met with live ammunition fired by the Israeli army.  Soldiers opened fire on protestors in the buffer zone in Beit Hanoun, near to the Erez crossing but the demonstration succeeded in moving a section of the barbed wire fence dividing land on the Gazan side of the border.
link to palsolidarity.org

Palestinians rally against Mamilla demolitions
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinians from Jerusalem and villages inside Israel rallied on Wednesday at the Mamilla cemetery in West Jerusalem to protest the razing of several Muslim tombstones by Israeli municipal staff.  Protesters gathered at the cemetery at 10am and called on the Israeli government to bring an end to demolitions, which began on 4 August. Several Palestinian dignitaries were present, including Jerusalem Mufti Mohammad Hussien, Fatah chief of Jerusalem affairs Hatem Abdul Qader and Archbishop Attallah Hanna.
link to www.maannews.net

Tulkarem: Sit-in at the gate of Wadi al-Rasha
August 18th, 2010-- Farmers chanted slogans denouncing the wall and the Israeli Occupation Forces who stop these farmers from reaching their land by refusing to open the gate. This land is owned by approximately 450 farmers from Wadi al-Rasha, Ras Tira and Mughara al-Dabaa.
link to stopthewall.org

Lebanese all-women aid ship to head to Gaza (AFP)
AFP - Organisers of a Lebanese women-only aid ship which plans to break the Gaza blockade announced on Thursday they will sail to Cyprus on the first leg of their journey this weekend.
link to us.rd.yahoo.com

Report: Gaza-bound aid ship departs Algeria
Algerian-sponsored aid ship sets sail for Gaza with religious leaders and political officials on board, Channel 10 reports.
link to www.haaretz.com

Legal victory for BDS campaigners
Charges against four Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigners have been dropped in London because of the clearly illegal activities of an Israeli cosmetics firm against which the four had been demonstrating. The case threw up some unusual and possibly ground-breaking legal arguments.  Under international law, Israel's settlements on the occupied West Bank are illegal. The European Union, the United Nations and the International Court of Justice have all confirmed the illegality of the settlements, a position acknowledged by the majority of the world's nations. Given that well-established fact, it follows that companies which use illegally occupied land to produce and sell products of any kind are producing and selling illegal goods. It also follows that anyone buying such goods is helping to finance the ongoing illegal occupation of Palestinian land. This is the message that BDS campaigners have been trying to get across to the general public.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk

UK, Irish artists saluted for principled boycott stance
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) salutes the British dance group Faithless for declining to play in Israel this summer. The cancellation of the group's Israeli gig is the latest in a string of cancellations of performances in Israel by artists and musicians of conscience.
link to electronicintifada.net

Chick Corea: don't turn your back in Gaza!
We are a group of students from Gaza, and our only fault is being Palestinians. For that, Mr. Corea, we are imprisoned with our families and loved ones in what major human rights organizations call the largest open air prison in modern history. The state you are planning to entertain committed a process of ethnic cleansing against the indigenous people in 1948.
link to electronicintifada.net

Students, boycott Israel's propagandist youth festival!
Once again, the Brand-Israel machine is in high gear, this time organizing a million-dollar international youth extravaganza in Eilat in September 2010 called "Funjoya." This unabashed propaganda exercise is sponsored by the Israel Ministry of Tourism and the Israeli Student Union, among other official and semi-official bodies.
link to electronicintifada.net

Don't deny our rights: An open letter to Mahmoud Abbas
We are Palestinians of diverse perspectives and affiliations -- scholars, intellectuals, artists, activists, trade unionists, human rights advocates and civil society leaders, inside historic Palestine and in exile -- who are united in our commitment to the fulfillment of the fundamental rights of all Palestinians, particularly our inalienable right to self-determination. This universally sanctioned right encompasses, at a minimum, freedom from occupation and colonization in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem; full equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel; and the right of return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
link to www.maannews.net

Hudson Inst primary financial backer of NGO behind campaign to purge Israeli universities of “leftists”
Newly uncovered documentation reveals that The Hudson Institute, an influential and activist neoconservative think-tank, has provided nearly $500,000 to the Institute for Zionist Strategies (IZS), an Israeli NGO at the forefront of an ongoing campaign to purge Israeli Universities of faculty and programs deemed “left-wing.” The grants represent more than half of the IZS’s total reported multi-year funding and position Hudson as the organization’s largest donor.
link to coteret.com

The Siege (Gaza & West Bank)/Humanitarian and Human Rights/Restriction of Movement
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory No. 32/2010, 05 – 11 Aug 2010
link to www.reliefweb.int

UN Report: Israel's Military impose Restrictions On Access To Land And Sea In The Gaza Strip
UN – PNN - Over the past ten years, the Israeli military has gradually expanded restrictions on access to farmland on the Gaza side of the 1949 ‘Green Line’, and to fishing areas along the Gaza Strip coast, with the stated intention of preventing attacks on Israel  by Palestinian armed factions, the United Nation’s Humanitarian affairs office,  OCHA, reported on Thursday.
link to english.pnn.ps

In impoverished Gaza, electric company can't collect its bills
GAZA CITY, Gaza — The Islamic holy month of Ramadan, marked by daytime fasting and nighttime feasting, was just a few days away, but the Abu Hassan Sweet Shop in Gaza City was eerily empty recently.  Gaza's power plant had run out of fuel and had shut down the day before for the second time in two months, plunging the Strip's 1.5 million residents into 12 to 16 hours of darkness at a time. Mohamed Hassouna stood behind a wide tray of flaky desserts inside his shop, shouting over the constant thrum of its gasoline-powered generator.
link to www.mcclatchydc.com

Palestinians say Arab states cutting aid
* United Nations warns of crisis for PA salaries
* Aid crucial to West Bank growth and supports Gaza
link to www.reliefweb.int

Arab kids prepare to study in shelters
Hundreds of children living in east Jerusalem won't be starting school come September, simply because there is no room. Those who do will be studying in subpar conditions, with more than 50 students per classroom. 'This is clear discrimination, you don't see this situation in city's west,' says Association for Civil Rights lawyer.
link to www.ynetnews.com

A Report from Gaza
Waltham resident Ridgely Fuller is spending several weeks in Gaza to address the needs of children affected by the Israeli blockade. This is his second trip. A social worker, Fuller is especially interested and trained in using specially designed play routines to help heal and build resiliency in children who have experienced trauma. He is in Gaza at the invitation of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is responsible for critical service delivery to much of the population.
link to www.boston.com

Violence/Provocations
Israel shells east Gaza
tGaza, August 19, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli artillery shelled Thursday empty lands in east of Gaza city, no injuries were reported, local sources said.  Eyewitnesses said to SAFA Palestinian news agency that number of Israeli military vehicles stationed near Nahal Oz military site and searched that area then shelled number of shells.  Every now and then, Israeli tanks shell the borders of Gaza Strip to keep the Gazans away from the borders.
link to www.paltelegraph.com

IOF raids villages of south Nablus
Nablus, August 19, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided the villages of south Nablus yesterday under the pretext of searching for “wanted Palestinians and weapons”.  Eyewitnesses said to SAFA Palestinian news agency that IOF raided number of houses in Madama, Orata, Beta, Huara, Abones, Jma’n and Asera villages.  The sources added that IOF evacuated the houses from their residents and left damages in the furniture, adding that they used dogs in raiding some of the villages.
link to www.paltelegraph.com

Detainees
Three Palestinians seized by Israeli troops in overnight raids in Abu Dis, Hebron
In two separate invasions Tuesday night, Israeli forces attacked the east Jerusalem town of Abu Dis, and the southern West Bank city of Hebron, to search for men listed on the army's 'Wanted' list.
link to www.imemc.org

Hamas says PA detained 2 for political reasons
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Palestinian Authority officers detained two men affiliated with the Hamas movement, a statement from the party said on Thursday.  The detentions, the statement said, were carried out in Nablus and Qalqiliya.  Ma'an could not independently verify the report, which said the detentions were carried out for politically-motivated reasons.
link to www.maannews.net

Lawyer says detainee could go blind without medical intervention
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian detainee from Ramallah appealed Wednesday for urgent intervention to receive treatment for an eye condition that could cause blindness, his lawyer said.  Tamer Hamayel was treated at the Hadassa and Ramlah hospitals, but doctors said they were unable to provide him with the required treatment for his condition.  Hamayel's lawyer said his client was detained on 6 November 2009, prior to which he was receiving specialized laser treatment in Jordanian hospitals.
link to www.maannews.net

Political/Flotilla Developments
US edges back on predictions of Quartet statement (AFP)
AFP - The United States edged back Wednesday from predicting when the diplomatic Quartet would issue a statement designed to support the relaunch of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100818/pl_afp/mideastusdiplomacy

Palestinian group rejects planned direct talks
Ramallah: The Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF) called on the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) to reject direct talks with Israel, saying that any kind of involvement only provides a legal cover for its colonial activities.  Nazim Al Yousuf, deputy chairman of the PLF, said in a statement that Israel's accelerating aggression against the Palestinians comes at a time word about the planned direct talks is widespread. He said that Israeli aggression against the Palestinians takes many shapes in occupied Jerusalem, from colonial activities to blockading Gaza.
link to gulfnews.com

Leftist faction says Gaza police targeted member
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas government police opened fire at a member of the leftist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine party south of Khan Younis, representatives said.  The party issued a statement saying Talal Abu Tharifeh was attacked while he was in his car in Khaza'a village, en route to mediate a dispute between members of his party and a group affiliated with the Islamic Jihad over what he called a "field dispute."
link to www.maannews.net

Ban delivers update on Goldstone follow-up
NEW YORK (Ma'an) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made no comment Tuesday, on submissions by Israeli and Palestinian commissions tasked with follow-up on recommendations made by the Goldstone report.  Following a request by the UN General Assembly, Ban submitted to the body a 247-page report on progress and updates, which was described by news wires as having "brief observations" about progress being made, but little else.
link to www.maannews.net

Police: Soldiers looted flotilla ships
Ynet learns military police suspect officer, soldier sold laptop computers stolen from aid ships while they docked in Ashdod, after controversial IDF raid. Officials say investigation likely to prove 'highly shameful' for Israel.
link to www.ynetnews.com

MK Zoabi: Killers have no problem stealing
Arab MK who was on broad Turkish ship says she isn't surprised by looting affair.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Turkey must oppose Uribe appointment to flotilla probe
Mr. Prime Minister, it is an insult to the memory of those killed in the Israeli massacre against peace activists aboard the Mavi Marmara to have their blood "redeemed" by a man who has a record of violations against human rights and international law.
link to electronicintifada.net

Other News
'I would gladly kill Arabs - even slaughter them'
In new bid to defend publishing controversial images, former IDF soldier Eden Abergil writes on Facebook 'In war there are no rules.'
link to www.haaretz.com

Facebook page launched in support of Israeli soldier who posed with Palestinian detainees
A new Facebook page appeared in support of the Israeli soldier who posted pictures of herself smiling in front of bound and blindfolded Palestinian prisoners.
link to www.telegraph.co.uk

Settlement rabbi arrested on suspicion of incitement to racism
Rabbi Yosef Elitzur co-authored the book 'The King's Torah' which condones the murder of non-Jews.
link to www.haaretz.com

Rally held for rabbis suspected of incitement
Religious leaders gather to support rabbis who endorsed book permitting violence against non-Jews.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Israel Places Order For 20 F-35s; U.S. Picks Up The Tab
The Israeli Air Force expects to take delivery of the first aircraft in 2015. The article quotes Barak saying the F-35 costs $96 million a copy. The entire deal will be funded by American military aid.
link to defensetech.org

U.S. support for Israel is decreasing, new poll shows
Survey conducted by U.S.-Jewish group the Israel Project asked Americans and Europeans about their views on Israel.
link to www.haaretz.com

Poll: Less than half of Americans think Netanyahu gov't wants peace
Survey by The Israel Project also finds Israel's standing has also declined in Germany, France and Sweden.
link to www.haaretz.com

Israel to win in Australian elections; Aussie parties support Israel
As the two major parties in Australia's federal election vie for the title of Israel's most ardent backer, most Jewish leaders believe that Australia’s longstanding, strong bilateral support for the Jewish state will not be jeopardized regardless of the outcome.
link to www.jpost.com

Hamas bans Gaza's lingerie displays
Hamas has demanded that shops in Gaza stop displaying female lingerie, the latest in a series of new rules imposed in the name of "public morality". The most popular lingerie shop in Gaza has been told not to display bras, underwear or nightdresses, even inside the shop. The lingerie display rule comes after Hamas banned women from smoking shisha on beaches or riding on motorbikes. Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston reports from the Gaza Strip.
link to www.youtube.com

Israel media publish new Facebook soldier-prisoner shots (AFP)
AFP - Israeli media carried new pictures on Wednesday of troops posing with handcuffed Palestinian prisoners, two days after a former soldier caused uproar for posting such images on Facebook.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100818/wl_mideast_afp/mideastisraelmilitaryabusefacebook

Hasbara
Illegal Israeli PR in America: Declassified
A huge trove of newly declassified documents subpoenaed during a 1962-1964 Senate investigation reveals how Israel’s lobby pitched, promoted, and paid to have content placed in America’s top news magazines with overseas funding. The Atlantic (and many others others) received hefty rewards for trumpeting Israel’s most vital – but damaging – PR initiatives across America.  The relevant documents are now online.
link to pulsemedia.org

Wikipedia editing courses launched by Zionist groups
Two Israeli groups set up training courses in Wikipedia editing with aims to 'show the other side' over borders and culture
link to www.guardian.co.uk

Hot-air balloon ride for 'Best Zionist Editor'
TEL AVIV (Ma'an) -- A powerful Israeli settlement group has offered a free hot-air balloon ride to the winner of its new initiative to alter articles on the online information site Wikipedia, an Israeli newspaper reported Wednesday.  The Yesha Council of settlements announced the prize for the "Best Zionist Editor" - the person who over the next four years incorporates the most "Zionist" changes in the encyclopedia, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.  "The idea is not to make Wikipedia rightist but for it to include our point of view," Naftali Bennett, the director of the Yesha Council, told Haaretz, explaining that it and another right-wing group, Israel Sheli, held their first course Tuesday in Jerusalem.
link to www.maannews.net

Lobby once worked the ‘Atlantic’ and Martha Gellhorn to deprive Palestinian refugees of standing, Philip Weiss
Wonderful reporting by Grant Smith on the nascent Israel lobby, and the fact that the American Zionist Council (or AZC) in the 1960s worked hard to oppose efforts by American presidents to bring justice to the refugees expelled from Palestine and Israel in '48. (I have written about this myself, showing that over several decades American presidents sought to honor the refugees' rights; Smith fills out the picture). The lobby did so by working the media and, as always, cultivating elites-- "molders" of opinion.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/08/lobby-once-worked-the-atlantic-and-martha-gellhorn-to-deprive-palestinian-refugees-of-standing.html

Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest
Women breaking barriers
Agence France Presse (AFP) news agency recently published a report about two sisters from the Gaza Strip, aged 13 and 16, who went to work in the fishing industry to support their family following their father’s illness. The report drew much interest and was translated and published on several Arabic language websites. True, it is out of the ordinary for two girls in a conservative society to find themselves in a field, or sea, as it were, usually reserved for men, but considering the difficult situation in Gaza– 39.3% unemployment in the second quarter of 2010, with the number of people living in abject poverty rising in the last two years from 100,000 to 300,000 according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territory–many women are taking the initiative to try and earn a living to help their families make ends meet.
link to www.gazagateway.org

Justifying Pogroms and Infanticide
With thick beards, wide-brimmed hats, black suits and long curls, almost 300 rabbis and settlers filled the Conference for the Independence of Torah last night in Jerusalem's Ramada Renaissance Hotel. From wrinkled elders to pimply adolescents, they all came to proclaim rabbinical autonomy from the law. Rabbis should be able to argue within their religious teachings without legal consequence - even if they call for blood.
link to www.palestinemonitor.org

Playing the Never Again Card, Again,  Jeff Gates
The phony intelligence used to induce our March 2003 invasion of Iraq has been dusted off. This time it's being deployed to take us into Iran.  Same scam. Same storyline. Same fraud—even featuring some of the same players.  Except that this time around their deception lacks the broader context required to gain traction for their phony content. That key difference makes today’s perpetrators far more transparent—for those willing to look.  Those foisting on us this latest fraud also face another challenge: Americans now realize it was Israel and its advocates who fixed that false intelligence around a Zionist agenda.  That realization adds combustibility to the facts now fueling Israel’s fast-fading legitimacy.
link to palestinechronicle.com

Modern or Throwback, Zionist State is Wrong
I used to use the argument "Israel as an ethnic-based exclusively Jewish state is a throwback to earlier centuries, and modern states are secular and non-exclusive." I used it until someone completely tore it to pieces. He was right.  The issue isn't that the state of Israel is a good thing or not. It definitely was illegitimately created by expelling the majority Palestinian population and creating a Jewish ethnocracy. It's also an expansionist Western colonial settler-state based on theft and oppression (not just in the West Bank but from 1948 on). But don't use the “not a modern state” argument.
link to beatnikmalcontent.blogspot.com

I am a Palestinian-American, and people tell me about my freedom,  Sara Nasrallah
Flipping through a book of I.D.s from each country and territory in the world we keep around at my job (the number one capitalist and pro-American entity: a bank), I look for a picture of a Palestinian I.D.  It is a thick book with multiple pictures from each country, detailing the special feature each I.D. has, used to make sure we do not get a fraudulent I.D. I see Israeli I.D.'s of course. So I keep looking and searching through pages. Maybe it’s under “territories”, or maybe they have a section for occupied territories? I find nothing. I commented:”There is no Palestinians I.D. in here.” My co-worker, who has been to Israel and is an ultra Christian, quickly responds “no country, especially the U.S. will declare Palestine as a legitimate state.” I have nothing to say to him. The land I am from, the I.D. I possess (which I believe is the most important piece of paper I hold) are illegitimate according to the banks and apparently to any legal institution in the United States.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/08/i-am-a-palestinian-american-and-people-tell-me-about-my-freedom.html

Im Tirtzu's onslaught / No to the thought police
If the face of Zionism resembles that of Im Tirzu and its funders, we should consider a face transplant.
link to www.haaretz.com

It’s better not to ask questions, MuzzleWatch by Sydney Levy
Here’s a lesson in democracy. In preparation for the upcoming November elections a group of local activists sent a questionnaire to the 85 candidates from their county running for seats in the state legislature. They hoped the information they’d receive would encourage debate and allow voters to make better decisions at the ballot box.  What did they get instead? They got slammed. Their survey was called “abhorrent and repulsive,” and the newspaper that brought the charges against them ignored their calls for a reasonable policy debate and did not allow them to respond with as little as a letter to the editor.
link to www.muzzlewatch.com

The Israeli Images, FARZANA VERSEY
Eden Abergil is, quite rightly, confounded. She cannot “understand what’s wrong” about her posting pictures of herself, a former Israeli soldier, posing with blindfolded Palestinian prisoners and uploading them on her Facebook page.  As a member of the Israeli armed force not only was she expected to resort to violence, but to hate the very idea of Palestine. The outrage her social networking has sparked off is merely a facile reaction. Why does a military spokesperson describe her behaviour as “disgraceful” when far worse happens on the ground? The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson, captain Arye Shalicar said: "It was just something very foolish and stupid – and I hoped there wouldn't be any media interest."
link to www.counterpunch.com

And the State, is It Loyal?,  Neve Gordon
Several weeks ago, hundreds of students demonstrated in front of Ben-Gurion University's administration building. About a third of the protestors were expressing their opposition to the government’s decision to attack the relief flotilla, while the remaining two thirds came to support the government. At one point the pro-government protesters began chanting: ‘No citizenship without loyalty!’  While loyalty is no doubt an important form of relationship both in the private and public spheres, unpacking its precise meaning in the Israeli context reveals a disturbing process whereby the democratic understanding of politics is being inverted.
link to palestinechronicle.com

Israel isn't nice to her friends
A leading Israeli official has provided the latest insight into Israel's dilemma in the Middle East. The article is ostensibly about the dilemma of the "eastern front," or Israel's border with Jordan, but what Ephraim Sneh describes, inadvertently it seems, is actually a long-standing dilemma of Israeli policy, and perhaps its very identity.
link to www.dailystar.com.lb

Lebanon
12 Israeli warplanes violate Lebanese airspace
BEIRUT: The guidance directorate of the Lebanese Army issued a statement on Wednesday announcing that Israeli jets violated Lebanese airspace, contravening Resolution 1701. According to the statement, eight Israeli jets violated Lebanese airspace over the southern village of Rmeish at 10:30 am and performed circular maneuvers in the skies over all Lebanese areas, before leaving Lebanese airspace above the coastal town of Naqoura at 11 am. Also, at 10:35 am, two Israeli jets violated Lebanese airspace over the northern city of Byblos and performed circular maneuvers over the Riyaq and Baalbek areas before leaving Lebanon at 11:50 am above the coastal town of Naqoura. At 10:40 am, two Israeli jets violated Lebanese airspace over the northern city of Byblos and performed circular maneuvers over all Lebanese areas before leaving Lebanon at 11:50 am above the coastal town of Naqoura, it said.
link to www.dailystar.com.lb

IAF Sets New Guidelines in Case of War with Hezbollah, Hamas
18/08/2010 Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post published a report on Tuesday in which it said that the Israeli Air Force set new guidelines for flying in airspace in case of war with Hezbollah and Hamas.  The report said that in a future war with Hezbollah and Hamas, there would likely be thousands of missiles fired into the Zionist entity. In response, Israel will likely fire hundreds, if not thousands, of interceptors.  “With such a busy airspace, how does the Israel Air Force’s fleet of helicopters, fighter jets and drones fit in? This question was at the center of a study conducted by the IAF aimed at setting new guidelines for flying in airspace filled with enemy missiles and Israeli interceptors,” the Israeli daily added.
link to almanar.com.lb

Israel, Lebanon oppose border escalation: UN force (AFP)
AFP - Israel and Lebanon are both opposed to a military escalation along their shared border, the head the UN force deployed in south Lebanon said on Thursday, two weeks after deadly frontier skirmishes.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100819/wl_afp/mideastconflictlebanonisraelun

Hariri praises handover of STL 'evidence'
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Saad Hariri emphasized on Wednesday his commitment to the UN probe into his father former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's assassination and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) as the appropriate authority to seek justice.
link to www.dailystar.com.lb
    
Lebanon to investigate "false witnesses" in Hariri's assassination
BEIRUT, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese cabinet on Wednesday tasked a minister to deal with the issue of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)'s "false witnesses" after Hezbollah called for such a move.  "The cabinet tasked Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar to follow up the issue with the Lebanese judiciary and prepare a report on the matter," announced Lebanese Minister of Information Tarek Metri.  Following the cabinet session, Agriculture Minister Hussein al- Hajj Hassan, a Hezbollah official, said he was "satisfied" with the cabinet's decision.
link to news.xinhuanet.com

Jumblatt: There's Need to Keep Saad Hariri as Prime Minister
18/08/2010 The head of the Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblatt stressed that no one wants to topple the international tribunal and said there is a need to keep Saad Hariri as prime minister.  "No one wants to topple the court. There is a Lebanese-Syrian agreement to keep it although Syria is not involved," Jumblatt told Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar. "There is a huge difference between the tribunal and the indictment," he said.  On discussions about toppling the government, Jumblat said: "Better live in a country that has a government then a country in vacuum."  "There is a need to keep Saad Hariri as prime minister," he added.  In other remarks to As-Safir daily, Jumblatt said that parliament's decision to grant Palestinians fuller employment rights was a modest step. He thanked Speaker Nabih Berri, however, for insisting on adopting a consensual approach in dealing with the issue.  Jumblatt vowed to continue efforts to adopt the remaining rights no matter how hard and "bumpy" the road was.
link to almanar.com.lb

Sleiman: Equipping Army Essential for Defensive Strategy
19/08/2010 Once again, the same scenario repeated itself in Lebanon: a national dialogue session was held, ideas were exchanged over the country’s defense strategy and a new date was set to proceed. The only different thing was the meeting’s location: Beiteddine Palace, the presidential summer residence.  That’s it. After holding another fruitless session that lasted around three hours, the national dialogue committee set October 19 the date for the next round of talks.  In a statement it released, the committee stressed the importance of consolidating political and security stability and commitment to decisions reached during previous sessions, including those linked to Palestinian arms outside refugee camps and holding onto media and political calm.
link to almanar.com.lb

Lebanon militants: Leader slain en route to Iraq (AP)
AP - An al-Qaida-inspired group says its leader and a top commander were heading to Iraq to join insurgents there when Lebanese security troops killed them over the weekend, according to a U.S. terror-monitoring firm.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100818/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_lebanon_militants

Report: Israel soldier offered info on Hariri killing
BEIRUT (Ma'an) -- A former Israeli military officer offered information about the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri to the Lebanese government, the Beirut-based Al-Diyar daily reported Wednesday.  The report, quoted by the Israeli news site Ynet, said the unnamed ex-soldier showed up at the Lebanese embassy in Prague claiming to have information about the 2005 car bombing that killed Hariri in Beirut.
link to www.maannews.net

Jumblatt says he relayed Assad's concerns over Lebanese stability to US official
BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt told Al-Akhbar newspaper in comments published on Wednesday that he conveyed a message from Syrian President Bashar Assad to US Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs during a meeting last week in Paris.
link to www.dailystar.com.lb

Palestinians rally at UNRWA to demand more rights
BEIRUT: Palestinian activists and factions gathered Wednesday near the UN Reliefs and Works Agency (UNRWA) services manager's office in Nahr al-Bared camp, calling for enhancing the humanitarian rights of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
link to www.dailystar.com.lb

Israel's multi-front war on Lebanese resistance
Border clashes between Lebanon and Israel earlier this month, and Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah's presentation of evidence that Israel may have assassinated Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005. are much more than a routine tug-of-war between two long-time foes. Hicham Safieddine analyzes for The Electronic Intifada.
link to electronicintifada.net

OPT: Serving Ein El Helweh Camp in Lebanon
Ein El Helweh is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon but is squeezed into an area of roughly 1.5 square kilometers. Living conditions for more than 70,000 refugees living there are unhealthy and often dangerous.  Human Call Hospital sits near the end of one of the crowded streets that run through the camp in Saida, Lebanon. Hospital Director Dr. Amer El Sammak explains that Human Call has the only clinic open 24/7 to treat emergencies, making its services critical for the camp's residents.
link to www.reliefweb.int

Chickenfeed for the Soul, FRANKLIN LAMB
At 3:02 p.m. on August 17 Lebanon’s Parliament began its deliberation on granting basic civil rights to its Palestinian refugees and within four minutes agreed to alter article 50 of Lebanon’s 1964 labor law to theoretically make it easier for Palestinian refugees to obtain a work permit and a job. There was no discussion of other draft bills to grant Palestinian refugees elementary civil rights, and fifteen minutes later, by 3:17 p.m. Parliament had agreed on the next bill involving excavating for oil, which may bring millions to some well placed members. Many MP’s hadn’t studied either bill.
link to www.counterpunch.com

Amanda Abou Abdallah, "The Adventures of Salwa" (Animation)
Salwa is an ordinary woman who is sick of sexual harassment that has become part of her daily life and decides to take matters into her own hands. Her superpower lies in her bag.
link to mrzine.monthlyreview.org

Iraq
Iraq insurgents murder farmers to warn against working with US
BAQOUBA, Iraq: Three farmers were killed and leaflets pinned to their bodies on Wednesday warning against cooperation with American and Iraqi forces in a brutal act of intimidation as thousands of US troops leave.
link to www.dailystar.com.lb

Wednesday: 16 Iraqis Killed, 29 Wounded
The new U.S. ambassador to Iraq, James Jeffrey, arrived in Baghdad where he met with leaders to formally accept his new post. Baghdad was also the scene of numerous if small attacks against government officials, but the most gruesome attack occurred in Diyala where gunmen left the following message on their victims: "This is the future for all those who cooperate with the U.S. military and Iraqi security forces." Overall, at least 16 Iraqis were killed and 29 more were wounded.
link to original.antiwar.com

Insurgents kill 5 govt employees around Iraq (AP)
AP - A series of attacks and roadside bomb explosions killed five Iraqi government employees on Wednesday as insurgents maintain a steady campaign of attacks against the country's institutions and security forces just two weeks before the formal end of the U.S. combat role in Iraq.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100818/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

Jaafar al-Sadr : A confluence prime minister for Iraq
In Iraq and the wider Middle East, Jaafar needs no introduction. His father, Mohammad Baqer al-Sadr, was the most remarkable Islamic thinker of the 20th century. He was executed without trial by Saddam Hussein, together with Jaafar's aunt Bint al-Huda, on 8 April 1980.
link to www.dailystar.com.lb

Iraq coalition talks break down amid sectarianism claims
Coalition talks between Iraq's main political parties remained in disarray Wednesday amid mutual accusations of sectarianism, leaving the country without a government more than five months after elections that were meant to be a test of stability.
link to www.monstersandcritics.com

Questions over Iraq war funds
The US, which has withdrawn its last combat brigade from Iraq, has spent at least $700 billion on the Iraq war since its start more than seven years ago. But that figure does not include future interest payments and long-term care for wounded soldiers. Now, there are also concerns that funds for Iraq's reconstruction are being misspent. Al Jazeera's Tom Ackerman has more. (18 July 2010). But 56,000 American troops remain, most of whom will stay in Iraq until the end of next year, in what the Obama administration says is a military, training and advisory role. The US has spent at least $700 billion on the Iraq war. But that is not counting future interest payments and long-term care for wounded soldiers. There are now also concerns that funds for the reconstruction of Iraq are being misspent. Tom Ackerman has more.
link to www.youtube.com

Iran
Khamenei: No talks with US unless sanctions dropped
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that any talks with arch-foe the US would occur only if Washington drops "sanctions and threats" against Tehran. "The respected president [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] and others have said that we are ready for negotiations.
link to www.dailystar.com.lb

Iran To Respond If Israel Attacks
“In that case we will lose a power plant, but Israel’s existence will be in danger,” Ahmad Vahidi was cited as saying today by the state-run Mehr news agency, in response to questions about the possibility of an attack by Israel on the Russian-built atomic facility at Bushehr.
link to www.businessweek.com

Russia defends Iran nuclear plant ahead of launch
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the controversial power plant as an "anchor" that would keep Iran firmly fixed to peaceful use of nuclear energy.
link to news.yahoo.com

Ahmed Moor: America Cannot Go to War for Israel
The mongrel dogs of war are foaming at the bit. For years they've cowered in their damp trenches, bristling in the heat. But they're back now. They've gathered their sagging flesh and cast their milky, crusty eyes at Iran. The mongrel dogs of war are planning another war.  The Zionists Benjamin Netanyahu, Jeffrey Goldberg and George Will want young American men and women to attack Iran on behalf of Israel. These are the same men who wanted young American men to attack Iraq. But Iran is not Iraq, and many thousands of Americans will die in the next war. This will not be a cakewalk or a slam dunk. And no enwreathed children will greet Americans in the streets with lily-white flower petals.
link to www.huffingtonpost.com

U.S. and Other World News
Poll: Growing number incorrectly call Obama Muslim
US survey based on interviews conducted before controversy over ground zero mosque shows 18% think their president is Muslim, up from 11% who said so in March 2009.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Muslims brace for backlash over Sept. 11 Eid el Fitr celebrations
U.S. Muslim organizations ask police to be vigilant due to fear that Americans will misinterpret Muslim celebrations on anniversary of 9/11 terror attacks.
link to www.haaretz.com

Exclusive: Obama's pledge to close down Guantanamo is 'not even close'
Commander says camp will take months to shut – and he's still waiting for the order
link to www.independent.co.uk

WikiLeaks: Pentagon ready to discuss Afghan files
WikiLeaks: Pentagon says willing to discuss request for help in reviewing Afghan war documents WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Wednesday the Pentagon has expressed willingness to discuss the online whistleblower's request for help in reviewing classified documents from the Afghan war and removing information that could harm civilians.
link to rawstory.com

US military denies Wikileaks talks
Pentagon dismisses website's claims it wants talks on release of new Afghan war documents.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/americas/2010/08/201081817315332737.html

Blackwater Founder Moves to Abu Dhabi, Records Say
Erik Prince, whose company, Blackwater Worldwide, is for sale and whose former top managers are facing criminal charges, has left the United States and moved to Abu Dhabi, according to court documents.
link to www.nytimes.com

Muslim Disneyland Employee: Park Banned My Head Scarf
ANAHEIM, Calif. — A Muslim woman who works as a hostess at a Disneyland restaurant alleged Wednesday the theme park would not allow her to appear in front of customers while wearing her head scarf.  Imane Boudlal, 26, appeared outside the resort's Grand Californian Hotel after filing a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  She said when she wore the hijab to work Sunday, her supervisors told her to remove it, work where customers couldn't see her, or go home.  Boudlal, who wore the scarf in observance of Ramadan, chose to go home but reported to work for the next two days and was told the same thing.
link to www.huffingtonpost.com

AP fact check: Islam ‘already part of WTC neighborhood’
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A New York imam and his proposed mosque near ground zero are being demonized by political candidates - mostly Republicans - despite the fact that Islam is already very much a part of the World Trade Center neighborhood.
link to feedproxy.google.com

Howard Dean: Move NYC mosque
Former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean says the Muslim community center and mosque being planned near the World Trade Center site is an "affront" to people who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks, and the center should be moved elsewhere.
link to rawstory.com

US spending $16,000 for imam's Mideast tour
American taxpayers will pay the imam behind plans for a mosque near the Manhattan site of the Sept. 11 attacks $3,000 in fees for a three-nation outreach trip to the Middle East that will cost roughly $16,000, the State Department said Wednesday.
link to www.mail.com

Governor seeks 9/11 mosque talks
"Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington," Mr. Gingrich said on Fox News this week. "We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor. There's no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center."
link to www.independent.co.uk

Mosque-Erade; What Political Courage Looks Like, Glenn Greenwald
Sharif El-Gamal, categorically refused even to consider backing down.  He made clear that Park 51 has the absolute constitutional right to build a community center in Lower Manhattan, and refused even to acknowledge the toxic notion that Muslims generally somehow bear responsibility for the 9/11 attack.
link to www.salon.com

Mosque-Issippi Burning
Does anyone seriously say that there shouldn’t be a Christian church near the site of the Oklahoma City bombing, just because Timothy McVeigh was a Christian?
link to www.truthdig.com

Victimization and a Cultural Center, Dan Lieberman
The polarizing debate continues, gathering steam with political implications; mosque or no mosque on Park Place, two city blocks from ‘ground zero.’ Guided by emotions, all of which are not entirely clear, and by spurious concepts, which proceed from conditioned thought, the negative reactions to the construction of an Islamic complex in New York City disintegrate from the force of logic and analysis.  The antis to the project view the world more by slogans than by objectivity. They eagerly co-opt the 9/11 tragedy as a driving force in their lives and establish themselves as the victims, which simplifies their controversial decisions; after all victims cannot be perpetrators, and therefore cannot be wrong.
link to dissidentvoice.org

Isn't Tolerance an American Virtue?, George S. Hishmeh - Washington, D.C. 
Observing the shameful and venomous debate raging in the US over plans for a Muslim civic centre and a mosque in downtown Manhattan two blocks from Ground Zero, I could not help but recall the time when my father took me to visit Syria and Jordan while I was a student at the American University of Beirut.  One of the most striking revelations for me, as a Christian, was seeing the tomb where the head of John the Baptist was said to lie inside the famous Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
link to palestinechronicle.com

Eid al-Fitr, 9/11, and my status in America, Sami Kishawi
I came across a news headline that said “Eid festival expected to fall on 9/11. US protesters demand it be moved to another day out of respect for victims”. This isn’t just ridiculous or absurd. This is blatant prejudice. And this is my testimonial.  For those who might not know, Eid al-Fitr is a celebration or festival that Muslims observe to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Just like other Muslim holidays, it’s a strictly religious and cultural affair. It celebrates the end of the fasting period and the beginning of a purified way of life. There is absolutely no political significance to it whatsoever.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/08/eid-al-fitr-911-and-my-status-in-america.html

www.TheHeadlines.org