And other news from Today in Palestine:
Land and Property Theft and Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
Erekat condemns settlement expansion
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat denounced Sunday evening the installation of several mobile homes in eight West Bank settlement, as the Ramallah-based leadership mulls reentering into direct talks with Israel. Condemning settlement activity, Erekat said "While huge efforts are been made internationally, especially by the US, to lay the grounds for launching direct negotiations, the Israeli government adds more obstacles by building constructions in eight West Bank settlements," a statement read.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=308350
Barghouthi: Latest expansions show lack of credibility
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The head of the Palestinian National Initiative said Monday that Israel’s decision to construct 23 buildings in eight settlements across the West Bank "confirms it is a settler government that does not want peace." PNI chief Mustafa Barghouthi said the expansions would be undertaken in Ofra, Eli, Talmon, Immanuel, Elon More, Adam and Efrata across the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=308436
‘Settlement freeze biggest obstacle to direct talks’
Senior cabinet ministers hold first discussion on extending freeze; Abbas has conditioned direct talks with Israel on a continued construction freeze.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/settlement-freeze-biggest-obstacle-to-direct-talks-1.308330?localLinksEnabled=false
Campaign official: Israel cuts off water to Jordan Valley village
TUBAS (Ma’an) — The Save the Jordan Valley campaign has accused Israel of deliberately cutting off water to vast areas of agricultural land in the Bardala village. A campaign representative said Palestinian farmers would sustain substantial losses and that it was the second time water to agricultural fields had been cut off in 2010.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=308397
East Jerusalem: Settlers Take Over Another House
On the 29th of July another house in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City was taken over by settlers. Whilst the court makes its final decision, 8 of the 9 Palestinian families who were resident in the building for some 70 years were forced to find temporary accommodation elsewhere.Nicky Elliott visited the families.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1511
IOF gives Farisiya residents 24 hours to evacuate ahead of demolition
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed Sunday morning the Farisiya area of the Jordan Valley and handed out demolition notices against structures in the area, eyewitnesses said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q
Official: Settlers uproot 200 olive trees south of Nablus
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli residents living on an illegal West Bank outpost uprooted over 200 olive trees near the Qusra village in the Nablus district Monday, a Palestinian Authority official said. PA settlement affairs officer in the northern West Bank Ghassan Doughlas said residents of the nearby Svhut Rachel outpost ascended upon the village, uprooting the olive grove which belonged to Ali Abdul Hamid Mohammad Hassan.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=308393
Israeli troops demolish 5 shops located on Qalqilia-Nablus Road
Five Palestinian-owned shops, located on a major West Bank highway that Israel is attempting to take over for use by settlers only, were destroyed by Israeli forces Friday.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59280
Dozens of Christians in J’lem rally in solidarity with officials facing exile
Dozens of Christian citizens participated in a sit-in in the courtyard of the Church of the Resurrection in solidarity with the Jerusalemite officials threatened with exile from the holy city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz
Formalizing Israel’s Land Grab, Chris Hedges
Time is running out for Israel. And the Israeli government knows it. The Jewish Diaspora, especially the young, has a waning emotional and ideological investment in Israel. The demographic boom means that Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories will soon outnumber Jews. And Israel’s increasing status as a pariah nation means that informal and eventually formal state sanctions against the country are probably inevitable. Desperate Israeli politicians, watching opposition to their apartheid state mount, have proposed a perverted form of what they term “the one-state solution.” It is the latest tool to thwart a Palestinian state and allow Israel to retain its huge settlement complexes and land seizures in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The idea of a single state was backed by Moshe Arens, a former defense minister and foreign minister from the Likud Party, in a column he wrote last month in the newspaper Haaretz asking “Is There Another Option?” Arens has been joined by several other Israeli politicians including Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/formalizing_israels_land_grab_20100816/
Solidarity/Activism/Boycott, Sanctions & Divestment
Army violently attack Hebron demo again – yet only an innocent British peace activist is charged with assault
On Saturday Palestinians were joined by internationals and Israelis in their weekly demonstration, asking for the opening of Shuhada Street and responding to the closure of three shops in the old city earlier in the week. The Israeli army, represented by soldiers and border police, entered from the gate leading to Shuhada Street, and pushed the protesters back up the street they came from. Several people were pushed violently to the ground without any warning or for any reason. Five innocent protesters were arrested with extreme force; one Australian, two British and two Israeli citizens, and taken away by border police and soldiers. All faced trumped up charges, including, ironically, of supposedly assaulting soldier.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/08/13792/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
Harvard University fund sells all Israel holdings
No reason for the sale was mentioned in the report to the SEC. In another blow to Israeli shares, the Harvard Management Company notified the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday that it had sold all its holdings in Israeli companies during the second quarter of 2010. No reason for the sale was mentioned. The Harvard Management Company manages Harvard University’s endowment.
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000581912&fid=1725
Netanyahu arrives in Athens, as activists plan anti-Israel protests
The activists were planning marches to the Israeli embassy outside the city center to protest Israel’s May 31 raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in which nine Turkish citizens were killed, as well as Israeli policies in the Middle East.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-arrives-in-athens-as-activists-plan-anti-israel-protests-1.308349
Army shuts down peaceful rallies across West Bank
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israeli soldiers used force to shut down weekly non-violent anti-wall protests in villages across the West Bank on Friday. International, Israeli and Palestinian activists in Bil’in, Nil’in, and An-Nabi Salih, near Ramallah, and in Al-Ma’sara, near Bethlehem, were met with tear-gas grenades as they marched towards the separation wall to protest the confiscation of their lands.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=307831
British city pays tribute to flotilla victims
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Campaigners in Bristol promoted the boycott of Israeli goods on Saturday in memory of the nine passengers killed in Israel’s raid of a Gaza-bound aid ship. The protest was staged outside the main supermarket in the south-west England city, Waitrose. The store advertises a "Responsible Sourcing" policy, but failed to reply to a letter suggesting that stocking Israeli produce contradicts this policy, the Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=308226
A Statement to the Palestinian People
To our Palestinian People: We have followed with great concern the increasing external pressure, especially from the U.S. and Israel, on the PLO leadership to shift from indirect negotiations (which have not resulted in any progress) to direct negotiations without clear and binding terms of reference regarding a complete halt of all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory – including in Jerusalem. The terms of reference should be based on international law and UN resolutions and to include a predetermined timetable to reach a final status agreement. The agreement will necessarily include ending the Israeli occupation of all territories occupied in 1967 and enabling the Palestinians to exercise the Right of Return, right to self-determination, and the right to an independent and sovereign state in the territory occupied in 1967 – with Jerusalem as its capital…
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1514
Anti
GRITtv: The Other Side of Charity: Material Support & “Terrorism”
Yesterday we spoke about the problems with charitable giving by billionaires at the expense of paying their taxes. For many charitable givers in the United States, a bigger problem looms; laws about providing "material support" for terrorism have placed a stranglehold on where donors can send their money. Ghassan Elashi, co-founder of the Holy Land Foundation, faces a 65 year sentence for providing material support through his foundation, which was the largest Muslim charity in the U.S. before it was shut down by the Bush administration in 2001. Elashi’s daughter Noor, a writer and activist, joins us in studio along with Medea Benjamin of Code Pink to discuss what these cases mean for other organizations trying to help civilians in war-torn areas like Gaza.
http://www.grittv.org/2010/08/12/charity-material-support-holder-terrorism-elashi-medea/
The Siege (Gaza & West Bank)/Humanitarian and Human Rights/Restriction of Movement
Goods – Needs Vs. Supply – July 18 – Aug 14
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/08/goods-%e2%80%93-needs-vs-supply-%e2%80%93-july-18-%e2%80%93-aug-14/
Industrial Fuel – Needs Vs. Supply– July 18- Aug 14
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/08/industrial-fuel-%e2%80%93-needs-vs-supply-%e2%80%93-july-18-%e2%80%93-aug-14/
Kafka’s siege (or why it makes sense to invest in a warehouse)
Each needle wrapper must have manufacturer’s stamp, each nail must be photographed and accounted for, every inventory line endlessly debated with Israelis…
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/08/kafkas-siege-or-why-it-makes-sense-to-invest-in-a-warehouse.html
Pray for a permit to pray during Ramadan
JERUSALEM, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) — Muslims worldwide on Wednesday began the annual holy month of Ramadan, a time of prayer and fasting that marks the divine revelation received by the Prophet Muhammad. However, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Ramadan is also a month when Palestinians struggle just to make ends meet. Muhammad el-Baradiyeh and his family live in Hirbet Deir, a traditional Palestinian hamlet between Jerusalem and Hebron. The 260 people there, all from the same extended family, seem to have been left on their own, unnoticed by the passage of time.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-08/16/c_13446560.htm
Occupied Prayer
On the first Friday of Ramadan, mass prayer to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem from the West Bank went smoothly – at least for men over the age of 50, and women over the age of 45. Whilst a large number of young Palestinians were prevented from entering the Old City. ST McNeil reporting from Qalandiya checkpoint. Israel had eased restrictions for the religious holiday, according to Haaretz. As the Quartet push the Palestinian Authority and Israel’s government towards peace talks, the move could be seen as an attempt at ground-floor diplomacy. At the Qalandiya checkpoint, the crowd was split into male and female lines entering at separate entrances. Red Crescent Ambulances provided scant shade for squatting adults and children – all in various states of hunger and thirst, some experiencing caffeine and nicotine withdrawal. Today is the third day of Ramadan, the global Muslim religious holiday, where all of the able and faithful fast and abstain.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1510
Citizens, but not equal, Akiva Eldar
It’s easier for Netanyahu to extend Ramadan greetings than it is to put a stop to the Museum of Tolerance, built on the site of what was once a Muslim cemetery in central Jerusalem.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/citizens-but-not-equal-1.308265
Israel’s Arab Helpers
Egypt kills six African migrants to Israel in border gun battle
Smugglers had been holding up to 300 African migrants on the Egyptian side of Rafah when a gun battle erupted with the smugglers and Egyptian security forces.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/egypt-kills-six-african-migrants-to-israel-in-border-gun-battle-1.308049?localLinksEnabled=false
Violence and aggression/War Criminals
Child Hospitalized After Being Attacked By Settlers In Hebron
Enas Mazin Qa’qour, 10, was admitted on Sunday at night to the Hebron Governmental Hospital suffering from various bruises and concisions after being attacked by a number of Jewish settlers in Tal Romeida neighborhood in the city.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59281
UN Committee Starts Collecting Testimonies In Gaza
A U.N. special committee started Sunday collecting testimonies from residents in the Gaza Strip, the process is an implementation of recommendations set by the report of Judge Richard Goldstone who headed the U.N. Committee that investigated Israel’s war on Gaza during the period between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009; 1450 Palestinians, mainly civilians, died by Israeli fire shells and thousands were wounded.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59278
Universal Jurisdiction to Hold Israel Accountable, Stephen Lendman
The well-established universal jurisdiction principle (UJ) holds that certain crimes are too grave to ignore, including genocide, crimes of war and against humanity. Thus, under UJ, nations may investigate and prosecute foreign nationals when their country of residence or origin won’t, can’t, or hasn’t for any reason. Israel used it to convict and execute Adolph Eichmann. A US court sentenced Chuckie Taylor, son of the former Liberian president, to 97 years in prison for torture. In March 2003, the Special Court for Sierre Leone (SCSL) indicted his father, Charles Taylor, for crimes of war and against humanity. His trial at The Hague’s International Court of Justice (ICC) remains ongoing.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/08/universal-jurisdiction-to-hold-israel-accountable/
Political/Flotilla Developments
Syria-based Palestinian groups reject Israel talks (AFP)
AFP – Hamas and 10 other radical Palestinian groups based in Syria on Sunday rejected any move by the Palestinian Authority to resume US-brokered direct peace talks with Israel.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100815/wl_mideast_afp/mideastdiplomacyushamassyria
Top ministers: Israel will reject any Quartet preconditions for direct talks
Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators expected to announce resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, call for Palestinian state within two years.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/top-ministers-israel-will-reject-any-quartet-preconditions-for-direct-talks-1.308224?localLinksEnabled=false
US envoy to meet Abbas in Ramallah
Bethlehem – Ma’an – President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to hold a meeting with the Obama administration’s assistant envoy to the Middle East, David Hale, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday. The two figures will review the final draft of a statement by the so-called Quartet of Middle East peace brokers – The UN, EU, US, and Russia – in a bid to push the Palestinians back to negotiations with Israel. Abbas is expected to call a meeting of the PLO Executive Committee to examine the statement and consider returning to direct peace talks, which broke off in 2008 at the start of Operation Cast Lead.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=308311
U.S.: PA to announce renewal of direct talks ‘within days’
Quartet of Mideast mediators to call for establishment of Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders within two years.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/u-s-pa-to-announce-renewal-of-direct-talks-within-days-1.308060?localLinksEnabled=false
Ashkenazi: Next time, IDF will use snipers to halt Gaza-bound flotillas
In his first round of testimony to the Turkel Committee, the Chief of Staff took responsibility for the army’s actions.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/ashkenazi-next-time-idf-will-use-snipers-to-halt-gaza-bound-flotillas-1.307435
Israeli ex-general says flotilla activists wanted violence (AFP)
AFP – Activists on a Gaza-bound aid boat that was boarded by Israeli commandos were determined there would be violence, the head of an Israeli military probe into the deadly raid said Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100815/wl_mideast_afp/israelconflictgazaprobebritain
Returning to the Mavi Marmara
More than two months after Israel’s deadly attack on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla, the lead ship in the flotilla — the Turkish Mavi Marmara — was returned to Turkey. Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal was on board when Israeli commandos attacked on May 31st. He now re-visits the ship for the first time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJvapk57TMc&feature=youtube_gdata
Other News
Israeli TV screens joint drill with US marines
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israel’s Channel 2 TV aired previously unseen footage Sunday of a joint military drill by US marines and Israeli forces at a base in the Negev a day earlier. The drill simulated the occupation of a village in the region. The participating marines were reportedly preparing for deployment in Afghanistan. Channel 2 reported that US-Israel military ties were "not confined to joint drills," as both armies may find themselves fighting against a common enemy as a result of instability in the Middle East.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=308359
Ex-soldier presents cuffed Palestinian friends
Young woman posts pictures on Facebook taken during her IDF service in which she is seen posing next to blindfolded detainees.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3937459,00.html
Gaza airport destroyed by scavengers
The old international airport of Gaza was once able to handle 700,000 passengers per year and operated 24 hours and 364 days a year, closing only on Yom Kippur. The $86 million airport opened its doors in 1998, but it closed in 2001 after being severely damaged by Israeli military forces. Now hundreds of Palestinians have taken over the old landing strip of the airport, digging up the tarmac, taking away truckloads of stones to sell as construction material. Under Israel’s siege only limited amounts of construction materials are allowed in for United Nations projects. So there’s a booming black-market. Four years ago a tonne of sand sold for 60 dollars – now it’s 600. Israel has been bombing the airport for a decade and now Palestinians are destroying what’s left — they say they have no choice. Nicole Johnston reports from Rafah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5a3x3l93t8&feature=youtube_gdata
Arabic translator shortfall hurts Palestinians
TEL AVIV // A shortage of Arabic translators for Palestinians alleging they suffered violations by Israeli soldiers is significantly undermining the military’s investigations of their claims, an Israeli human rights group has said. Yesh Din, which documents violations against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said this week that Palestinians arriving for meetings with military investigators to give their testimonies are increasingly not being provided help in translating their statements from Arabic into Hebrew or do not receive co-operation from the translator who is present.
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100814/FOREIGN/708139848/1002/rss
New Arabic-language website to tackle ‘taboo’ issues
Editors say Qadita.net will be the first Arabic website to include a section on gay and lesbian writing, including reviews of Arab gay-oriented cinema and literature.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/new-arabic-language-website-to-tackle-taboo-issues-1.308248?localLinksEnabled=false
The girl who became the only fisherwoman in Gaza
As the waves pound Gaza’s Mediterranean shoreline, Mohammed Kulab gives his eldest daughter, Madeleine, detailed instructions on how to navigate the choppy waters to bring in the night’s catch of fish.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-girl-who-became-the-only-fisherwoman-in-gaza-2053580.html
Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest
Amira Hass / What the Hamas is really afraid of
Hamas suppression of any Gaza protest that it sees fit shows that the Islamic movement ruling Gaza is in dire need for some public support.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/amira-hass-what-the-hamas-is-really-afraid-of-1.308264?localLinksEnabled=false
Even ‘Haaretz’ has moral blindness re Gaza, Jerome Slater
Note that even Israel’s most liberal newspaper, its acclaimed voice of what remains of Israeli reason, morality, and self-criticism, does not question whether Israel has any right at all to continue its occupation, repression and economic siege of the people of Gaza. On the contrary, it starts from the premise that Israel has both the right and need to blockade even civilian goods—just that it shouldn’t use force in that case, or at least not if its soldiers enforcing the blockade are not in danger.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/08/even-haaretz-has-moral-blindness-re-gaza.html
Get the Palestinians Out of Washington?
As the U.S struggles to bring Israelis and Palestinians together at the negotiation table, some in the U.S. are debating whether or not a Palestinian delegation should even be allowed in Washington. Over the last few weeks since the State Department announced it was upgrading diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority, a controversy was ignited in Washington and elsewhere over whether the Obama administration had gone too far or not far enough. On July 20, the State Department sent a letter to Ambassador Maen Rashid Areikat, the Chief of the PLO Mission to the United States, stating that the U.S. had granted the upgrade to a "general delegation." The U.S. does not allow a full embassy because it does not recognize a Palestinian state.
http://www.truth-out.org/get-palestinians-out-washington62231
Diehl Assists In Netanyahu’s ‘Settlement Moratorium’ Farce
When reviewing history, there’s interpretation, and then there’s just flat-out misleading your readers. Jackson Diehl’s editorial today is an example of the latter.
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/08/13/diehl-assists-in-netanyahus-settlement-moratorium-farce/
Israel’s ‘John Hancock’ Means Nothing, Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
Has anyone ever wondered why Israel continues to sign agreements or humor those whose advice it has not intention of taking? It’s about time somebody questions the intentions, since the apparent trend is for Israel to ride the wave of international currents only to reject them before they reach their intended goal. Instead of offering evidence of this accusation from past to present, let’s do it the other way around. The Quartet Committee, comprised of the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia have been pressuring Palestinians and Israelis to move to direct talks as opposed to the basically futile proximity talks they have been engaged in for the past several months. Israel has accepted the Quartet as a credible mediating party and has played along with the international game of responding to their statements, demands or criticisms. However, Israel has no qualms in shooting the Quartet down when its statements do not suit Israeli interests. It strips it of all clout in its actual role of helping to mediate a negotiated settlement between Palestinians and Israelis and refers back to its own dictates as the perimeters for negotiations.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=22457&CategoryId=3
Netanyahu Running with Nowhere to Hide, James Gundun, Washington D.C.
Last week the US government and media lauded Israel’s decision to cooperate with a UN investigation into the Freedom Flotilla raid. Although Israeli opinion was more critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision, the general consensus realized he had no choice. Stonewall here and Israel would have absolutely nothing to stand on going into the pivotal month of September, when Israel’s settlement “freeze” in the West Bank expires and the UN will debate Palestinian statehood.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16200
Imbalance of Power, the Middle East Problem, Hasan Afif El-Hasan
Let us be realistic, the hypothetical creation of a just social contract by the international community that would liberate the Palestinians from their subjection and inequality has failed. Lack of progress in reaching a just solution to the Palestinian/Syrian/Lebanese conflicts with Israel is due to the imbalance of military power in favor of Israel vs. the Arab states combined. As long as the imbalance exists, the Israeli wars will continue to reign uncontrolled and there will be little hope that justice will prevail.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16199
Lebanon
Israeli plane violates Lebanon airspace
The Lebanese Army says an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft has conducted another unwarranted overflight across the country’s airspace in what appears to have become a continuing trend. On Friday, the plane flew over the southern border town of Naqoura before veering toward eastern Lebanon, the Army said in a statement. The drone entered Lebanese airspace at 6:05 p.m. (local time) and headed out more than eight hours later. The incident took place nearly a week after Israeli troops killed three Lebanese soldiers and one Lebanese journalist in an incursion into Lebanon’s soil. The airspace violations, which are reported on an almost daily basis, contravene the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 1701, which ended the Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006. The offensive killed about 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians. [end]
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=138666§ionid=351020203
Hariri: Saad Hariri and All the Lebanese Want Truth
15/08/2010 At an Iftar he hosted in Qoreitim, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said “many were expecting me to deliver a major political speech today and expectations were high; however, there is a lot to be said, but I choose when to speak up and no one can impose the timing.” "Saad Hariri and all the Lebanese want the truth and nothing more than that, and we also want stability and to know who assassinated my father and the rest of martyrs,” he said. The PM added that chaos and instability were manmade things and they don’t come out of the void. “We as officials in this country can face the vilest of attacks, whether from Israel or other sources, if we act wisely among each other,” Hariri indicated.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=150401&language=en
‘Hezbollah Won’t Allow Anyone to Tarnish Resistance Image’
16/08/2010 The head of Hezbollah Juristic Council Sheikh Mohamad Yazbek stressed that the party won’t allow anyone "to tarnish the image and reputation of the resistance." While recalling that the Resistance has granted honor to Lebanon, Arabs, and all the nobles in the world, Sheikh Yazbek expressed belief that Hezbollah’s duty was to defend itself when attacked through the international tribunal. Sheikh Yazbek renewed the request to establish a Lebanese committee to follow up the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, expressing the Resistance’s readiness to give in the data it has to the committee if established. He said Hezbollah does not trust the international tribunal because it has ruled out Israel’s involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=150527&language=en
Turkish Foreign Ministry denies Hezbollah arms claims as baseless
The Turkish Foreign Ministry denied Friday claims published in an Italian newspaper that Turkey and Iran were helping Hezbollah obtain new weapons. “These claims are baseless and should not be taken seriously,” a senior Turkish Foreign Ministry official told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. Iranian and Turkish intelligence officials recently signed an agreement that would guarantee a constant supply of weapons to Hezbollah, a report in Italian daily Corriere della Sera claimed Wednesday.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkish-foreign-ministry-denies-hezbollah-claims-as-baseless–2010-08-13
All Is Not Quiet on the Lebanese Front — An Analysis, Lawrence Davidson
On Tuesday, August 3, 2010, violence erupted along Lebanon’s southern frontier. Almost simultaneously verbal violence against Lebanon erupted from the U.S. House of Representatives. Soon thereafter Lebanon lost, at least temporarily, $100 million in U.S. military aid. What is this all about? The Lebanese border, or so-called Blue Line, has been a Middle East flashpoint for decades. It has been the site of repeated wars, cross border skirmishes and often futile United Nations peacekeeping efforts to keep things below a boiling temperature. Israel says that south Lebanon has harbored Palestinian fighters in the past, and now Hezbollah fighters, all of whom endanger its security. At least publically, Israel never asks why there is such long lasting hostility toward it. And, if their leaders do so in private, it never impacts policy. Instead, Israel has consistently waged war on its neighbors to stop the vengeful incursions of those whose land Israel has…what? Gotten from God? Conquered from the Canaanites? Confiscated after chasing out Arab forces who identified them as European interlopers? Stolen?
http://www.zcommunications.org/all-is-not-quiet-on-the-lebanese-front-an-analysis-by-lawrence-davidson
Iraq
Car bomb aimed at Iranian pilgrims kills 5 in Iraq (Reuters)
Reuters – A car bomb exploded Monday in a town northeast of the Iraqi capital while a bus full of Iranian Shi’ite pilgrims was passing, killing five people and wounding nine, security officials said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100816/wl_nm/us_iraq_violence_bus
Sunday: 28 Iraqis Killed, 68 Wounded
At least 28 Iraqis were killed and 68 more were wounded in fresh violence. In one case, gunmen were targeting Ramadan worshippers. Meanwhile, new data suggest that hundreds of U.S. veterans may have misdiagnosed post-traumatic shock disorder.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/08/15/sunday-28-iraqis-killed-68-wounded/
Iraqis file case to break political deadlock (AFP)
AFP – A dozen civic groups launched an audacious court action on Monday in a bid to break Iraq’s deadlock over the formation of a new government, five months after a general election.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100816/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpoliticscourt
Al Daawa Party to substitute Al Maliki as PM
Informed sources from the National Alliance revealed to Al Sharq Al Awsat Newspaper that Al Daawa Party voted unanimously to choose an alternative for its leader Nuri Al Maliki as a candidate for Premiership. The substitute of Al Maliki was not defined yet; the sources said hinting that the candidate will be from Al Daawa Party. Al Maliki was flexible in this regard, the sources added. [end]
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-53110-Al-Daawa-Party-to-substitute-Al-Maliki-as-PM.html
Iraqi child cancer ‘linked to US weapons’
Video Report: Stories are now emerging of increased deformities in the country’s newborn babies as well as a dramatic rise in the number of children with cancer.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1328172/Iraqi-child-cancer-
Violence Haunts Iraq’s Youngest Victims Of War
The war in Iraq has taken a heavy toll on children, many of whom saw their own family members kidnapped, tortured and executed during the brutal sectarian fighting from 2006 to 2008. But there are few services for the country’s estimated 4 million to 6 million orphans, and plans to open Iraq’s first child-psychiatry clinic have stalled.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129152669&ft=1&f=1010
Inside Iraq – Kurdistan: An unlikely success story?
As US troops prepared to launch the invasion of Iraq there was one thing that foreign policy analysts at least were uncertain about – what would happen in Kurdistan? After years of being terrorised by Saddam Hussain and desperate to maintain a separate ethnic identity, the Kurds, some said, would take the opportunity to finally break free from Baghdad. Seven years later, Kurdistan is looking like a somewhat unlikely success story – stable, prosperous and violence free. But beneath the apparent calm, the same tensions still simmer – Kurdistan’s legal status remains undetermined, the ethnic Kurds are still demanding a homeland and critics say the regional government is illegally helping itself to the nation’s oil.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMIQ77W-zjQ&feature=youtube_gdata
Iran
Iran unlikely to stop nuclear fuel enrichment
TEHRAN, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) — Iran said on Sunday it will not stop its nuclear fuel enrichment activities although Russia would provide it with the nuclear fuel needed to run its Bushehr nuclear power plant. Head of Iran’s Majlis (Parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said Sunday that Iran will continue the uranium enrichment process inevitably because the country needs it for its future power plants, official IRNA news agency reported.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-08/15/c_13446272.htm
Israeli Generals and Intel Officials Oppose Attack on Iran
Pro-Israeli journalist Jeffrey Goldberg’s article in The Atlantic magazine was evidently aimed at showing why the Barack Obama administration should worry that it risks an attack by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran in the coming months unless it takes a much more menacing line toward Iran’s nuclear program.
http://original.antiwar.com/porter/2010/08/13/israeli-generals-and-intel-officials-oppose-attack-on-iran/
How propagandists function: Exhibit A, Glenn Greenwald
Good news! Israel can successfully end a country’s nuclear program by bombing them, as proven by its 1981 attack on Iraq, which, says Goldberg, halted "forever, as it turned out — Saddam Hussein’s nuclear ambitions."
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/08/12/goldberg/index.html
The Point Of No Credibility: Jeffrey Goldberg Echoes Pastor Hagee, Max Blumenthal
Since publishing his long piece about the likelihood of a preemptive Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, “The Point Of No Return,” Jeffrey Goldberg has been accused by foreign policy writers from Hillary and Flynt Leverett to Stephen Walt to Tony Karon of using his access to top Israeli officials to promote Israeli military aggression. That was transparently obvious to me after reading his piece. But what struck me as even more striking was the extent to which Goldberg’s writing reminded me of the screeds of rapture-ready Christian Zionist fanatic Pastor John Hagee, who has lusted for an Israeli attack on Iran for years and has used his access to figures like Netanyahu to sell his flock on the war. Indeed, Goldberg and Hagee have shared many of the same high-level Israeli sources and appeared to accept their dire predictions at face value; both Goldberg and Hagee predicted an Israeli strike on Iran by the spring (Hagee issued his brilliant prophecy in 2006); and both accepted and appeared to promote the Israeli view that Iran poses a grave threat not just to Israel, but to all of Western civilization.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/08/the-point-of-no-credibility-jeffrey-goldberg-echoes-pastor-hagee/
U.S. and Other World News
U.S. warns Turkey that strained Israel ties could hinder arms deal
Obama tells Turkish prime minister that Ankara’s position on Israel and Iran could lower its chances of obtaining U.S. weapons, the Financial Times reports.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-warns-turkey-that-strained-israel-ties-could-hinder-arms-deal-1.308318?localLinksEnabled=false
CIA evidence of an Israeli nuclear test
Since 2004, the CIA report on the double flash detected by a US Vela satellite on 22 September 1979, originating in the south Atlantic, has been declassified, albeit heavily redacted.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/13/evidence-of-israeli-nuclear-test
NATO Acknowledges Killing Civilians
NATO acknowledged on Sunday that five Afghan civilians appeared to have been killed by one of its air strikes. The strike was carried out on Thursday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100815/wl_sthasia_afp/afghanistanunrestnatocivilians
Afghanistan: villagers block road after claims of civilian deaths
A crowd of about 300 villagers blocked a main road in eastern Afghanistan Aug. 12 and chanted "Death to the US!" The protest came after a raid by US forces in which they said three innocent villagers were killed at Zarin Khil, Sayed Abad district, Wardak province.
http://www.ww4report.com/node/8944
Polish soldiers blow up Afghan dwelling “for fun”
“What a beauty!” comments one of the soldiers when the building is blown to pieces in the 3-minute video (see here), recorded by Polish soldiers from the Army’s 6th rotation during their tour of duty between October 2009 and April 2010.
http://www.thenews.pl/international/artykul137552_polish-soldiers-blow-up-afghan-village-for-fun.html
Media Failing to Ask Tough Questions on Afghanistan War…Again
General Petraeus is on a media tour to sell the idea that the U.S. military is “making progress” in Afghanistan, a well-worn message aimed at convincing elites to extend this brutal, futile war. So far, it looks like the mainstream media is buying it, hook, line, and sinker.
http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/08/15/media-failing-to-ask-tough-questions-on-afghanistan-war-again/
Dennis Kucinich Makes a Serious Push to Ban Govt. Assassinations of US Citizens, Jeremy Scahill
Kucinich is putting his money where his mouth is. He just announced he has introduced legislation to "prohibit the extrajudicial killing of United States citizens."
http://www.thenation.com/blog/153899/rep-dennis-kucinich-seeks-ban-assassinations-us-citizens
Petraeus denounces ‘reprehensible’ Wikileaks
The top US military commander in Afghanistan on Sunday blasted as "reprehensible" the release of Afghan war documents, saying that US partners named in them have been put at risk.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jsn8r9SDiDEAq9okydvTEcV-ib2A
WikiLeaks to shift base to friendly Sweden
Julian Assange said he would apply for a Swedish publishing license this week in order to maximize legal protections for the sources who provide WikiLeaks with documents that some governments don’t want released to the public.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/08/15/WikiLeaks-to-shift-base-to-friendly-Sweden/UPI-89951281886653/
Bradley Manning’s guilt — and ours
The accused leaker to WikiLeaks appears to have acted out of idealism. Now that we’ve seen the results of our wars, can we say the same?
http://theweek.com/article/index/206106/bradley-mannings-guilt-mdash-and-ours
WikiLeaks: We Won’t Be Threatened By Pentagon
STOCKHOLM — WikiLeaks will publish its remaining 15,000 Afghan war documents within a month, despite warnings from the U.S. government, the organization’s founder said Saturday. The Pentagon has said that secret information will be even more damaging to security and risk more lives than WikiLeaks’ initial release of some 76,000 war documents. "This organization will not be threatened by the Pentagon or any other group," Julian Assange told reporters in Stockholm. "We proceed cautiously and safely with this material."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/14/wikileaks-we-wont-be-thre_n_682222.html
Punishing the WikiLeaker Misses the Point, Eric Margolis
A true journalist’s job is to expose government wrongdoing and propaganda, skewer hypocrites, and speak for those with no voice. And wage war against mankind’s two worst scourges: Nationalism and religious bigotry. Not to lick the boots of government.
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/eric_margolis/2010/08/13/15016246.html
Republicans slam Obama over Ground Zero Muslim center remarks
U.S. president is ‘disconnected’ from mainstream America during an election year, says Texas Senator John Cornyn.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/republicans-slam-obama-over-ground-zero-muslim-center-remarks-1.308206?localLinksEnabled=false
Florida Republican: Put immigrants in "camps"
A Republican candidate for the Florida state Legislature stood by her controversial idea to arrest illegal immigrants and send them to "camps" where they can be held en masse.
http://www.salon.com/news/immigration/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2010/08/12/florida_candidate_put_immigrants_in_camps
Origins of Saudi-Israeli alliance: the untold story
This is from an unpublished (unclassified) American government study of the subject. It states: "Anctual Israeli support of the Saudi-Imamate causes probably began prior to any direct meetings between representatives of the two governments and the Yemeni Royalist movement…This study has been able to trace at least two locations of direct Saudi-Israeli meetings which began at two distinct phases in the Yemeni civil war. The first traceable set of meetings began in March of 1963 in India. Indian sources reported that an official of the Saudi Embassy in India, Ahmad Allalah Al-Qadi, began frequenting the Israeli consulate in Bombay. According to Arab (Egyptian) sources, Crown Prince Faisal ordered the Saudi official’s meetings in reaction to the two Arab nationalist coups in Baghdad and Damascus in February and March 1963 that removed anti-Nasser governments from power in each state…The focus of the Israeli-Saudi talks were the prospects for Israel dropping arms for the Royalist tibal forces as well as Israel providing military intelligence regarding Egyptian army movements and capabilities to both the Saudis and Yemenis…
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/08/origins-of-saudi-israeli-alliance.html
Bahrain arrests four Shi’ite activists as poll nears
MANAMA, Aug 15 (Reuters) – Bahraini authorities have detained four Shi’ite activists before a parliamentary poll in which Shi’ites will be seeking a bigger role in governing the Sunni Muslim-led Arab state, their lawyer said on Sunday. The arrests could heighten tensions with Bahrain’s Shi’ite majority before the Oct. 23 election, the U.S.-allied Gulf island state’s third since its king launched a political reform process a decade ago to help quell Shi’ite protests. Clashes erupted in at least two Shi’ite villages on Saturday night following the Friday arrest of the first of the activists, said Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights. "Three more were arrested this morning," lawyer Mohammed al-Tajer told Reuters.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE67E0B3.htm
Online activism roaring in Egypt
At least 200,000 Egyptians have signed up on Facebook to back Mohamed ElBaradei, the former UN nuclear boss who has said he wants to shatter 30 years of political stasis in Egypt by running for president. Despite a surge in online support for political alternatives to President Hosni Mubarak, 82, who has been in power since 1981, even ardent supporters acknowledge that online activism in Egypt cannot deliver change without action on the streets. ‘Crucial step’ Yusuf AbdelRahman, representing ElBaradei’s Facebook group, said the petition had 54,870 online signatures so far but added that 15,000 Facebook members have volunteered to go on the streets of Cairo and other cities to collect more signatures. "[This] is a crucial step considering that three decades of state repression has left many afraid of taking action. Others accept repressive measures as a fact of life," he said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ew0ApiZpZA&feature=youtube_gdata
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