And other news from Today in Palestine:
Land and Property Theft and Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
Barak may use legal loopholes to impose de facto settlement freeze
As Netanyahu evades U.S. pressure to halt construction, defense minister seeks alternative restrictions.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/barak-may-use-legal-loopholes-to-impose-de-facto-settlement-freeze-1.314252?localLinksEnabled=false
Israel says it won’t extend settlement curbs (AFP)
AFP – Israel reiterated on Friday its refusal to to extend curbs on settlement building that expire this month, despite US pressure and Palestinian threats to walk out of peace talks.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100917/wl_afp/israelpalestinianspeace
Palestinians to quit talks if settlements built
CAIRO, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Palestinian negotiators will quit direct peace talks if Israel builds any new settlements after the end of a partial moratorium on construction in the West Bank, the Palestinian foreign minister said on Thursday. “If one settlement is built after the end of the freeze, we will stop direct talks with Israel,” the minister, Riyad al Maliki, told reporters on the sidelines of an Arab League meeting in Cairo.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/WEA8512.htm
EU urges Israel to extend settlement freeze (AFP)
AFP – The European Union urged Israel on Thursday to extend its moratorium on settlement building, a key demand made by Palestinians to keep renewed peace talks afloat, a text obtained by AFP showed.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100916/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianspeaceeusummit
Clinton urges Israel: Extend settlement freeze, even for a limited time
Secretary of State tells Channel 10 in an interview that such a move would be ‘extremely useful’ in advancing peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
http://www.economist.com/node/17046728?story_id=17046728
Israel To Build 2500 Units in West Bank Settlement
The Israeli Radio reported Thursday that Israel intends to construct 25000 units in Modi’in Ilit settlements near the central West Bank city of Ramallah.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59428
Al-Aqsa Foundation: New works at holy Jerusalem site
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — The Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage issued a statement Thursday saying Israel began work to build a bridge from the Mughrabi gate connecting it to the Al-Aqsa area in Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315543
Israel-Palestinian talks end without settlement deal: What happens next?
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US envoy George Mitchell hopped on planes to seek the support of regional leaders, with only two weeks before the Israeli settlement freeze expires.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/euOt7y7jUTI/Israel-Palestinian-talks-end-without-settlement-deal-What-happens-next
Dangers Of Negotiations Under Settlements
The Palestinian National Initiative, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and independent national figures organised yesterday a press conference at WATAN Media Center in Ramallah expressing their rejection to the negotiations that are being held under the settlements and because there is clear absence of terms of reference for the negotiations.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1540
Solidarity/Activism/Boycott, Sanctions & Divestment
In photos: Leftist factions protest talks in Nablus
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315360
Sentencing begins for convicted grassroots activist
In a courtroom packed with foreign diplomats, Palestinian and Israeli human rights workers and political activists, the sentencing phase in the ongoing trial of Palestinian activist Abdallah Abu Rahme began at Israel’s Ofer Military Court on Wednesday, 15 September.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11525.shtml
Israel at Abdallah Abu Rahma’s trial: .22 bullets are ok for crowd control
Military Prosecution Demands More Than Two Years Imprisonment for Bil’in’s Abdallah Abu Rahmah
Military prosecutor said harsh sentence should serve as a deterrent to other protesters. Despite military orders to the contrary, army officer said 0.22″ caliber bullets are considered crowd control measures.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/09/israel-at-abdallah-abu-rahmas-trial-22-bullets-are-ok-for-crowd-control/
BGU reprimands two more students over protests
Harsh and disproportionate penalty would bar students from political activism, says one student.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/bgu-reprimands-two-more-students-over-protests-1.314046
Aid convoys prepare to head to Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A Jordanian workers’ union will send 50 truckloads of aid to Gaza as part of the fifth Viva Palestina convoy, a spokesman for the British organization said Thursday. Zahir Berawi said 50 trucks from Algeria would also join the European convoy when it reaches Syria in October. The convoy is due to leave London on Saturday and head to the Egyptian Al-Arish port.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315532
TUC votes for campaign of boycott and disinvestment to free Palestine
vote at TUCBritain’s unions have thrown their weight behind a campaign of disinvestment and boycott from companies which are profiting from Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories. Trade unions voted unanimously today at the TUC’s annual conference for a motion put forward by the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), seconded by the GMB, and supported by UNSION, PCS (the Public and Commercial Services Union) and the FBU (Fire Brigades’ Union).
http://www.palestinecampaign.org/index7b.asp?m_id=1&l1_id=4&l2_id=
Indigenous resistance, from Colombia to Palestine
The mistreatment of the indigenous peoples of Colombia by the government of former president Alvaro Uribe Velez, appointed by the UN investigate Israel’s fatal attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, parallels Israel’s abuses of the indigenous people of Palestine. Anna Baltzer reports for The Electronic Intifada
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11522.shtml?utm
An Unsettling Protest in Israel, Tony Kushner and Alisa Solomon
Toward the end of August, a group of theater artists in Israel provoked an uproar when they declared that they would not perform at a new stop added to government-funded theatrical tours around the country. That actors, directors and playwrights have sparked controversy is nothing new in a nation where theater has always participated in the feisty public discourse. But this time, with Washington trying to resuscitate Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, their offstage action holds a mirror up to society with especially urgent exactitude.
http://www.thenation.com/article/154740/unsettling-protest-israel
Pressure grows on Harvard to cancel Peretz honor, Adam Horowitz
The Harvard Social Studies Committee is meeting tomorrow to make a final decision on whether to move forward with their event planned to honor Marty Peretz. A source at Harvard tells me, “there is a LOT of internal dissent on this.” One sign of that dissent is this open letter that is ciruclating from “concerned members of the Social Studies Community and others at Harvard.”
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/09/pressure-grows-on-harvard-to-cancel-peretz-honor.html
The Siege (Gaza & West Bank)/Humanitarian/Restriction of Movement/Human Rights/Racism
Three rescued from Gaza tunnel
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Three Palestinians were rescued from suffocating while working in a smuggling tunnel under Gaza’s border with Egypt on Thursday, medics said. Medical coordinator Adham Abu Selmia said civil defense crews evacuated the men, treating one on the scene. Red Crescent ambulances transferred two of them to Abu Yousef An-Najjar hospital, where their condition was described as stable. Several Palestinians have died as a result of tunnel collapses. The underground tunnel complex was created along the Egypt-Gaza border to bring supplies into the Strip in the wake of Israel’s siege on the coastal enclave. The tunnels are used to transport a number of goods made unavailable as a result of the siege, including fuel, food, medicines, livestock, vehicles, and, according to Israel, weapons.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315536
10 injured in Gaza tunnels
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Ten Gaza residents were injured in two tunnels accidents on Friday morning, medics said, with one man still missing beneath the Gaza-Egypt border. Military medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmya said Civil Defense crews were able to evacuate six tunnel workers from one passageway after they reported being incapacitated by a noxious gas present in the underground terminal.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315674
Gaza crossings closed for weekend
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — As PA officials confirmed an impending take over of operations of the Kerem Shalom crossing, Israeli officials informed their Palestinian counterparts that the Gaza terminal would be closed on Friday. Palestinian coordination official Raed Fattouh said that “we were informed by the Israelis that the Kerem Sahlom and Karni crossings would be totally sealed on Friday and Saturday to be opened again on Sunday.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315585
UNRWA head makes plea to Arab League on behalf of Palestine refugees
The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Filippo Grandi, expressed thanks to the Arab States and the Arab League’s Secretariat for their continued support to UNRWA and for the Palestine refugees served by the Agency. Speaking at the meeting of the League’s Foreign Ministers’ Council in Cairo, Grandi called on Arab leaders to bolster their support for the refugees during a period of unprecedented financial difficulty for the Agency. The Agency continues to face an US$ 80 million shortfall and is expecting a deficit situation again in 2011. The impact of the shortfall had direct consequences for the refugees with the Agency unable, for example, to absorb nearly 40,000 students into schools in Gaza at the start of the current school year.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/VDUX-89CSXS?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Gaza Electric asks PA to modify bill payment scheme
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Gaza Electricity Company has asked the Palestinian Authority to adjust its automatic payment deduction from civil servant salaries, officials said Thursday. Company spokesman Jamal Ad-Dardasawi told Ma’an that a system put in place a month earlier would automatically deduct 170 shekels ($45) from salaries of 50,000 civil servants on the PA payroll regardless of whether the individuals were up to date on bill payments.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315456
Closure of tourist facilities intensifies concerns in Gaza
GAZA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) — Sitting in a chair inside a restaurant that overlooks the beach of Gaza, Mo’een Abul Kheir, the owner of al-Samak (Fisherman) restaurant on Gaza city’s seaside, is not able to hide his concerns and anxiety about his business following the closure of several tourism facilities in the coastal Gaza Strip by the deposed government of Hamas. He is not optimistic about the future of his business and the future of the tourist industry in the enclave “in case the government (of Hamas) continues its harassment against coffee shops, hotels and restaurants, an industry that has already suffered from a deteriorated economic situation due to the ongoing Israeli siege.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-09/17/c_13517663.htm
Dreaming of Fish, and Flowers, Mohammed Omer
GAZA CITY, Sep 16, 2010 (IPS) – As the many colours of the fish and flowers slowly disappear from the Gaza landscape, the already grim prospects of the besieged residents begins to look even bleaker.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52852
Shopping mall opens in Gaza
Israeli blockade limits what goods are available in new air-conditioned centre.
http://english.aljazeera.net//video/middleeast/2010/09/201091742515320817.html
PCHR Participate in Mission to 15th Session of UN Human Rights Council
Palestinian Center for Human Rights Ref: 69/2010 From 13-17 September 2010, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) participated in a joint mission to the 15 th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The mission was organized by the Euro-Med Human Rights Network and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, and also included a representative of Al Haq. PCHR was represented.
http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option
Nablus to host Palestine Human Rights Film Festival
NABLUS (Ma’an) — The largest university in the northern West Bank will host its first human rights film festival at the end of September, organizers announced on Wednesday. Starting 26 September and running through the end of the month at the Zafr Masri Theater on the university’s old campus, a series of films will be accompanied with talks and video conferences to organizations in other cities and countries also working in the field of human rights.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315338
Violence/Aggression & Provocations
Hamas fighter killed in West Bank
Israeli troops shoot dead local commander of armed group in raid on his home in Nur Shams refugee camp.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/09/20109176481625485.html
Hamas Vows Revenge for Israeli Killing of Senior Operative near Tulkarem
17/09/2010 Hamas on Friday threatened retaliation over the killing of Iyad abu Shilbayeh, formerly a senior operative in the resistance organization, who was killed during an Israeli raid east of the West Bank city of Tulkarem overnight. Hamas accused Israel and the Palestinian Authority of conspiring to kill Shilbayeh, who was imprisoned and tortured by the PA several times. Hamas military spokesman in Gaza Abu Obeida confirmed Shilbayeh was a member of the group’s armed wing: “The blood of our martyr will be a curse that will follow the occupation and the traitors,” he said. Hamas spokesman Salah Bardawil told the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency that the “resistance is capable of striking harshly at the occupation. Our battle with the occupation is not just about action and retaliation. It is a fateful battle that will never end.”
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=154438&language=en
B’Tselem: Tulkarem assassination unjustified
TULKAREM (Ma’an) — A field worker for Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem who investigated the scene of Friday’s assassination of a Tulkarem man by Israeli forces called the killing “unjustified.” Speaking with Ma’an less than 12 hours after 38-year-old Iyad As’ad Shelbaya was killed by three gunshot wounds to the neck and chest, Eid As-Sa’di said Israeli statements as to how the death occurred were implausible. Witnesses said Israeli forces blasted their way into Iyad’s home. The slain man’s brother said he heard Iyad say three times, “Who’s there?”, and that the words were followed by three gunshots.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315655
Officer accused of shooting car thief to receive legal help
Jeruslalem Post 16 Sep 2010 – Police chief says F.-Snt. Bora Ratzon, who is being investigated by Justice Ministry for death of east J’lem theif, is to receive assistance. [Pretty sure east J’lem theif is code for Arab]
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=188307&R=R2
Detainees
Israeli military detains 18 from northern West Bank
TULKAREM (Ma’an) — The Israeli military said 18 were detained overnight from the West Bank, including nine in Tulkarem and at least one in Jenin. Accounts from witnesses of two of the detentions said soldiers entered the homes of the men, ransacking their contents and breaking windows. In Tulkarem, the mother of 32-year-old Mohammad Yaser Al-Jayousi said soldiers entered his home in the city’s As-Suwanah neighborhood and smashed several doors, broke windows and scattered the contents of drawers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315644
Army Kidnaps Three In Hebron
Israeli soldiers kidnapped on Thursday at dawn three Palestinians from the southern West Bank city of Hebron and took them to unknown destinations.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59426
Israel’s Arab Helpers
Hamas: PA forces detain 53 overnight
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas officials in the West Bank accused Palestinian security forces of detaining 53 members and affiliates overnight, a statement said. The alleged detentions came as Israeli forces entered Nur Shams refugee camp east of Tulkarem and assassinated a Hamas leader, also detaining at least nine other Hamas members, according to Palestinian security forces.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315615
Nine PFLP Members Detained By P.A Security Forces In Bethlehem
Legislator Khalida Jarrar, member of the Political Bureau of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) started Thursday that Palestinian security forces arrested nine PFLP members from the Doheisha refugee camp in Bethlehem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59427
Abbas’s militia raid home of MP Abu Juhaisha in Al-Khalil
Elements of the “notorious” PA preventive security apparatus under the command of Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank stormed on Thursday night the house of Hamas MP Mohammed Abu Juahaisha. [Hamas website, may not be accessible to all]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Families of Kidnapped Hamas supporters say sons are tortured in PA jails
Families of kidnapped Hamas members and supporters incarcerated in the PA jails asserted Thursday that their sons were exposed to severe forms of torture and for long hours. [Hamas website, may not be accessible to all]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
Rights group demands end to political arrests
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights has condemned what it termed the continued arbitrary political arrests carried out by Palestinian security services in the West Bank targeting members of Hamas. The group says Hamas members are subjected to detention and maltreatment in violation of the law. The latest arrest wave, which it says is part of an arbitrary arrest campaign against members of Hamas movement following a deadly attack against Israeli settlers near Hebron, was carried out against dozens of Palestinian civilians in the southern West Bank district. In a statement Thursday, the group reiterated its calls on the Palestinian Authority and its security services to refrain from carrying out arbitrary arrest campaigns, immediately release all the political prisoners, and put an end to political arrests.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315249
War Crimes Past and Present
Amnesty condemns ‘lack of accountability’ after Gaza war
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A year after a UN fact-finding mission concluded that both Israelis and Palestinians committed war crimes, possible crimes against humanity and other violations of international law during the 2008 conflict in Gaza and southern Israel, Amnesty International condemned the “continuing absence of accountability” and warned that hopes for justice hang in the balance.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315222
Marking massacre, PLO calls to protect refugees
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The head of the PLO Refugee Affairs Department on Thursday demanded justice and protection for Palestinian refugees on the 28th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Zakaria Al-Agha called on the UN Security Council to prosecute those responsible for the massacre in the International Court of Justice. He said nearly 3,500 Palestinian refugees were killed in the Sabra and Shatila camps at the direct order of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315368
Return to Shatila, William A. Cook
Twenty eight years ago, a scene of unspeakable horror rocked the rubble strewn alleys of Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut as vengeance vied with naked lust in a massive display of human malice illuminated for the IDF overseers of this massacre with flares that provided “an unobstructed and panoramic view” for Israeli Defense Minister, Ariel Sharon and his Chief of Staff, Rafael Eitan, as they watched from the seven story Kuwaiti embassy providing logistical support for their Phalangist allies as they “massacred for 36 to 48 hours” the hapless Palestinians imprisoned in the camps.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16272
Reham Alhelsi – 28 Years Later: Sabra and Shatila Massacre
28 years later, I remember Sabra and Shatila. I remember that Palestinians are targeted everywhere. I think of those among us steadfast in our land refusing to leave despite the daily Zionist terror, and think of those in the Diaspora dreaming and waiting for the return. We are the parts that make Palestine full; we are one body and when one part of Palestine bleeds, all of Palestine bleeds. I remember every massacre and every crime committed against the Palestinians. And despite the hopes, the wishes and aims of the Zionists, every massacre, every drop of Palestinian blood, every cry of a Palestinian child makes us stronger, more steadfast, more resolute to fight the occupation and the oppression. With every massacre and with every crime we grew closer and stood as one; one body aching for freedom. With every massacre and with every crime we cry for every victim of oppression, we go to the streets for every martyr and every wounded and every prisoner, we protest every injustice and demand our legitimate rights. It is our unity that makes us strong, a blood bond that not the Zionist entity, not the US, not even the treacherous Palestinians could break.
http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/09/16/
“Peace” Talks/Political Developments
Arab League refuses to recognize Israel as Jewish state
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Thursday decided to reject a demand made by Israel, asking Palestinian negotiators recognize Israel as a Jewish state. In a statement issued after the meeting, the Arab League supported President Mahmoud Abbas’ refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Palestinian negotiators have recognized Israel’s right to exist, but not as a Jewish state, which officials say would prejudice the right of return for refugees and violate the rights of Israel’s non-Jewish residents.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315642
PA issues string of condemnations at cabinet meeting
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority cabinet meeting on Thursday affirmed its support for negotiations efforts, aiming at reaching a political solution that ends the Israeli occupation and enables the achievement of Palestinian goals of an independent Palestinian state. It also reaffirmed the importance of international efforts to oblige Israel to end settlement activities in the occupied territories including Jerusalem and continuing its support to the government plan to build state institutions as a prelude for independence.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315494
US interested in comprehensive Mideast peace: Mitchell (AFP)
AFP – US envoy George Mitchell said in Damascus on Thursday that Washington was interested in a comprehensive resolution of the Middle East conflict that included peace between Syria and Israel.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100916/pl_afp/israelpalestinianspeaceusdiplomacysyria
Hamas: Gaza attacks attempt to destroy Palestinian cause
GAZA (Ma’an) — Hamas said Thursday that Israeli rhetoric which uses the launching of projectiles from Gaza to “justify targeting civilians” is an attempt to destroy the Palestinian cause. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that strikes on Gaza affirmed the credibility of Hamas’ stance that Palestinians would pay heavily for negotiations, which he said were a cover for Israeli violations.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315518
Bahar warns Abbas against conceding Palestinian rights
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A Hamas leader said Thursday that the holding of direct peace talks at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence was a “very dangerous” indicator of the nature of negotiations. Deputized PLC speaker Ahmad Bahar said that by agreeing to talks at Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem, President Mahmoud Abbas legitimized Israel’s racist policies in the occupied city.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315508
Report: Israel preps for PA return to Gaza
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — In an effort to increase the Palestinian Authority’s influence inside Gaza, Israel and the PA are finalizing plans to deploy Palestinian officials at a crossing to the Strip in the coming months, an Israeli newspaper reported Thursday. Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj.-Gen. Eitan Dangot told The Jerusalem Post that in July he established a committee with Hussein Ash-Sheikh, the Ramallah-based minister for civilian affairs, to coordinate the expansion of the Gaza Strip’s southern Kerem Shalom crossing and future international construction projects in Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315318
PNA “unaware” of plans to get control of Gaza crossings
RAMALLAH, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) — The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Thursday said it was unaware of Israeli plans to let it take part in controlling a key commercial crossing point in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. “The PNA did not receive any official Israeli offer or even contacts about running the Gaza Strip crossings,” Ghassan al- Khatib, a spokesman for the Palestinian government in Ramallah, told Xinhua.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-09/16/c_13515768.htm
Report: US envoy’s spokesman quits
WASHINGTON (Ma’an) — US envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell’s spokesman has quit, a US politics blog reported Thursday. Jonathan Prince, the deputy assistant secretary of state who handled strategic communications for Mitchell’s team, has left for the communications firm of Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates, Politico reported. In a short interview, Prince told the blog how regional media have contributed to a state of chaos surrounding the peace negotiations.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315561
Other News
The Underpinnings of the Future Palestinian State: Sustainable Growth and Institutions, Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, September 21, 2010
http://www.scribd.com/doc/37543546/WB-Report-Sep21-10-AHLC
Israeli curbs stymie Palestinian economy: World Bank (AFP)
AFP – The World Bank warned on Thursday that the Palestinians will be unable to build a viable state unless Israel lifts its restrictions that stymie private investment in the Palestinian territories.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100916/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianspeaceeconomyworldbank
Israel decides to buy F-35 fighter jets, despite row over cost of deal
Barak gave his go-ahead last month to purchase the jets in a deal valued at around $2.75 billion. The first planes are expected to arrive in 2015.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-decides-to-buy-f-35-fighter-jets-despite-row-over-cost-of-deal-1.314213?localLinksEnabled=false
How a soldier’s pizza landed Haaretz in a West Bank police station
A Haaretz team was detained at the Qalandiyah checkpoint in the West Bank yesterday after telling a soldier who had closed the checkpoint he should not be eating pizza and holding up the traffic mid-shift.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/how-a-soldier-s-pizza-landed-haaretz-in-a-west-bank-police-station-1.314253?localLinksEnabled=false
IDF to draft 30 percent of yeshiva students by 2015
Army and the National Economic Council reach new deal on ultra-Orthodox conscription, now set to go before the Supreme Court.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/idf-to-draft-30-percent-of-yeshiva-students-by-2015-1.314249?localLinksEnabled=false
Ovadia Yosef atones to Mubarak after declaring Palestinians should die
Shas spiritual leader had asked God to deliver a plague to Abbas and the Palestinians and ‘all the evil people’ in this world.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/ovadia-yosef-atones-to-mubarak-after-declaring-palestinians-should-die-1.314243?localLinksEnabled=false
Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest
Can ignoring Hamas lead to Israeli-Palestinian peace?
Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls Gaza, is being ignored in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Some think that’s a big mistake.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/lrKyt4L7Gbk/Can-ignoring-Hamas-lead-to-Israeli-Palestinian-peace
Feeling the loyalty to the Jewish state, Max Blumenthal and Joseph Dana
The Israeli Knesset is debating a bill proposed by David Rotem of the extreme right Yisrael Beiteinu party that would require all Israeli citizens to swear loyalty to Israel as a “Jewish and democratic state.” This bill is targeted at increasing pressure on the twenty percent of Israelis who are Palestinian citizens while forcing the ultra Orthodox Jewish minority who reject the legitimacy of any state not based on Jewish biblical law to accept Zionism. If passed in its proposed form, citizens unwilling to take the loyalty oath would be at risk of losing citizenship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsWDcFiPo2s&feature=player_embedded
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/09/feeling-the-loyalty-to-the-jewish-state.html
Suspicion prevails
MAWAL restaurant is a favourite haunt of Jenin’s shisha-smoking professors, politicians and policemen for whiling away the nights. A decade ago it was a battlefield. After negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians collapsed at Camp David in 2000, gunmen traded fire in the city, heralding the violent second intifada. It is hard to imagine Mawal falling back into ruin. The northern West Bank city of Jenin, once home to 30-odd suicide bombers and a plethora of rival fighting groups, is today a picture of Palestinian normality. The 500-plus American-trained security men whom Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, sent to the city in May 2008 have chased out gangland militants and criminals, and prevented attacks on Israelis even when their soldiers raid the refugee camp in central Jenin. Former fighters speak of a new era of law and order in which police impose fines of 500 shekels ($133) for talking on a mobile phone while driving. Jewish settlers near Jenin cast less of a shadow over the city than they do elsewhere in the West Bank, in part because Israel’s government dismantled four nearby settlements in 2005.
http://www.economist.com/node/17046728?story_id=17046728
Aluf Benn / In Israel, a criminal conviction doesn’t mean an end to political favors
The cosy relationship between a minister awaiting sentence for perjury, the defense minister and the chief of the Mossad.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/aluf-benn-in-israel-a-criminal-conviction-doesn-t-mean-an-end-to-political-favors-1.314282?localLinksEnabled=false
The Search for 1948, Hannah Mermelstein
The following is a chapter from the important new book Shifting Sands: Jewish Women Confront the Israeli Occupation. From the book’s website, “Shifting Sands brings to life the Jewish anti-occupation perspective through personal stories by activists such as Starhawk, Anna Baltzer, Jen Marlowe, Alice Rothchild, Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein (of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla) and others.” The book also includes introductory material from Cindy Sheehan and Amira Hass. Shifting Sands is available on Amazon.com.
https://mondoweiss.net/author/hannah-mermelstein/
Witness – Preview: The Business of Occupation
Witness presenter Ghida Fakhry talks to director Tom Evans and field producer Ghassan Khader about their series of films ‘Nablus, The Business of Occupation’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RztJRncX3-k&feature=youtube_gdata
Lebanon
‘Obama wants to restore Lebanon aid Congress feared would be used against Israel’
Senior administration and congressional officials say that the president believes it to be in the security interests of both America and the Mideast to lift holds on $100 million in assistance to Lebanon Army.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/obama-wants-to-restore-lebanon-aid-congress-feared-would-be-used-against-israel-1.314242?localLinksEnabled=false
Hizbullah denies producing ‘target’ card deck
BEIRUT: Hizbullah’s spokes-man on Thursday strongly denied media reports that the party has produced a pack of playing cards bearing images of Israeli officials to be targeted in potential assassinations.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=119392
Lebanon summons general on comments
Move comes after Jamil Sayyed, who spent four years in jail, launched a harsh attack on Saad Hariri and his government.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/09/2010916145846926793.html
Hezbollah deputies say no funding for Lebanon tribunal (AFP)
AFP – Hezbollah MPs and their allies in Lebanon on Thursday refused to approve funding for a UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, lawmakers said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100916/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonpoliticshezbollahuntribunal
Report: Lebanese Forces Attorney in Charge of Siddiq’s Asylum Request in France
16/09/2010 The Lebanese daily Al-Binaa quoted “a Christian opposition parliamentary source” as saying that the false witness in former PM Rafiq Hariri’s assassination in 2005, Mohamed Zuheir Siddiq, was seeking asylum in France. In the report titled: “Siddiq’s asylum in the hands of a Lebanese Forces attorney,” the source said that “for this purpose, Siddiq assigned a French attorney from Lebanese origins.” He added that “the attorney was before 2005 a member of a disbanded political party and that he informed Siddiq that a French intelligence officer was personally working with the intelligence apparatus in Paris (DST) to back Siddiq’s request.” In 1994, the Lebanese government disbanded the Lebanese Forces party and its leader Samir Geagea was convicted of several crimes including the assassination of former Prime Minister Rashid Karameh in 1987. Geagea received a pardon right after Hariri’s assassination and was released from jail, but he was never acquitted.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=154383&language=en
Without Protection
This 54-page report reviews 114 Lebanese judicial decisions affecting migrant domestic workers. It finds that lack of accessible complaint mechanisms, lengthy judicial procedures, and restrictive visa policies dissuade many workers from filing or pursuing complaints against their employers.
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/09/16/without-protection-0
Iraq
Thursday: 1 US Soldier, 12 Iraqis Killed; 12 Iraqis Wounded
One U.S. soldier was killed and another was wounded while attempting to defuse an explosive device in Balad. Meanwhile, at least 12 Iraqis were killed and 12 more were wounded in attacks across the country.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/09/16/thursday-1-us-soldier-12-iraqis-killed-12-iraqis-wounded/
Three day of mourning declared in Fallujah
The Iraqi city of Fallujah has declared three-day long mourning after a joint U.S.-Iraqi attack on the city killed at least 10 civilians and injured many others. The raid on Wednesday has raised tensions and angered the city’s inhabitants as well as the nearly two million Muslim Sunnis who live in the Province of Anbar, west of Baghdad. The Muslim Scholars Association, a group of powerful Muslim Sunni clerics in Iraq, described the raid as “a massacre in which two children were killed.” U.S. and Iraqi officials claim that the raid killed a former Iraqi officer linked to al-Qaeda group in the country. But the claim could not be substantiated and eyewitnesses and officials in the city said all the dead and injured were civilians.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2010-09-16\kurd.htm
Iraq was ‘failure of strategic thinking’, chief of defence staff tells MPs
Sir Jock Stirrup tells select committee that politicians did not understand the consequences of invading Iraq. British soldiers in Iraq were “dying for no strategic benefit” because Tony Blair’s government did not appreciate what it was taking on when it planned the invasion, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the chief of defence staff, has told MPs. There was a “failure of strategic thinking” in southern Iraq, he told the Commons public administration committee. Stirrup, who retires next month, was asked if the politicians appreciated what they were taking on when British forces went into southern Iraq. He replied: “No.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/16/jock-stirrup-iraq-evidence-failure
Arab FMs condemn human right violations during Iraq occupation of Kuwait
CAIRO, Sept 16 (KUNA) — The Arab League’s ministerial council reiterated Thursday condemnation of the human rights violations committed by the deposed Iraqi regime during its occupation of the State of Kuwait. In the aftermath of the seven-month long occupation, between August 2, 1990, and February 28, 1991, the Iraqi authorities tended to conceal and blur the facts relating to the Kuwaitis missing in action and prisoners of war (M. and POWs). The bodies of many M. and POWs were found in mass graves later on.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2111523&Language=en
Christian community of Iraq halved in seven years
The number of Christians in Iraq has dwindled to half of what it was before the American invasion in 2003, an Iraqi official said. Abdallah Al-Nofali, head of the government’s Bureau for the Endowments of Christians and Other Religions, said in an interview with the Arab daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat that according to a recent survey some 40 percent of Iraqi refugees in Syria are Christian. According to UN statistics, 1.5 million Christians of different sects were living in Baghdad before the American invasion. “The majority of Christians left Iraq because of religious persecution by extremists,” Joe Obayda, an Iraqi ex-pat living in England told The Media Line. “Today there are less than 500,000 Christians left in Iraq.”
http://thedailynewsegypt.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=123125&catid=1&Itemid=183
Iraq: Stop Blocking Demonstrations
(New York) – Iraqi authorities should stop blocking peaceful demonstrations and arresting and intimidating organizers, Human Rights Watch said today. Iraqi security forces should also respect the right of free assembly and use only the minimum necessary force when violence occurs at a protest. After thousands of Iraqis took to the streets in the summer of 2010 to protest a chronic lack of government services, Iraqi authorities cracked down on demonstrations. The Interior Ministry issued onerous regulations about public protests, and the prime minister’s office apparently issued a secret order instructing the interior minister to refuse permits for demonstrations about power shortages. In the past few months, the government has refused to authorize numerous requests for public demonstrations, with no explanation. Authorities have also arrested and intimidated organizers and protesters, and policing actions have led to deaths and injuries. The clampdown has created a climate of fear among organizers and demonstrators.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/09/17/iraq-stop-blocking-demonstrations
U.S. and Other World News
US: Selling arms to Israel national interest
Ministerial committee led by Netanyahu, Barak authorizes purchase of most advanced fighter jet in world at cost of NIS 10 billion. First F-35 plane to ‘make aliyah’ in 2015.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3955431,00.html
US poverty level hits record
The US authorities has announced that 14 per cent of Americans are living in poverty, the highest level since 1994. The government defines poverty as a family of four living on less than $22,000 a year. The statistics cover President Barack Obama’s first year in office, when the recession left millions of people out of work and unemployment climbed to more than 10 per cent. The report’s release comes just weeks before the economy takes centre stage in upcoming US elections. Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds reports from El Centro, California.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nmeHsqC-_E&feature=youtube_gdata
One in five American children is living in poverty
The Census figures are for 2009, and the number living in or near poverty has no doubt continued to increase this year, with the official unemployment rate remaining near 10 percent and the combined rate of unemployment and underemployment at nearly 17 percent.
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article22704.html
The Nation: Docs Reveals Blackwater-Linked Companies Provided Intel & Security to Multinationals Like Monsanto, Chevron
Uruknet September 16, 2010 – “Blackwater’s Black Ops”—that’s the title of an explosive new article in The Nation magazine that reveals how entities closely linked with the private security firm Blackwater have provided security and intelligence services to a range of powerful corporations over the past several years.
http://uruknet.info/?p=m69816&hd=&size=1&l=e
Michael Moore calls Canada ‘shameful’ on U.S. war dodgers
Renowned left-wing American documentary maker Michael Moore on Thursday blasted Canada’s position on U.S. war dodgers as shameful. Speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival, Moore said Ottawa’s refusal to allow U.S. soldiers opposed to the war in Iraq to find safe haven in this country betrays what the country once stood for.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/tiff/tiffnews/article/862482–michael-moore-calls-canada-shameful-on-u-s-war-dodgers
Dismantle America’s Military Behemoth, Jacob G. Hornberger
An article in last Sunday’s New York Times provided an interesting analysis of the Egyptian military, one that holds some important lessons for America.
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2010-09-14.asp
Never Forget: Bad Wars Aren’t Possible Unless Good People Back Them, Michael Moore
I know we’ve been “free” of the Iraq War for two weeks now and our minds have turned to the new football season and Fashion Week in New York. And how exciting that the new fall TV season is just days away!
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/never-forget-bad-wars-arent-possible-unless-good-people-back-them-message-michael-moore
Afghan elections’ obstacle course
Afghanistan faces several hurdles as it prepares for Saturday’s parliamentary elections. Poll officials have admitted that the electoral process is far from perfect as fake voting cards circulate across the country. In addition, the Taliban has vowed to boycott the vote, threatening to blow up roads and attack election workers. Al Jazeera’s Sue Turton reports from Kabul, the Afghan capital.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwtQFwaYYpI&feature=youtube_gdata
Afghan War Lies; Support for Occupation Relies on Lies and Spin, Ted Rall
If the armies of another nation invade your country, there is no need to resort to lies to sell war. The battle is already joined. The threat is palpable. Anyone with a smidgen of patriotism and/or the instinct of self-preservation will rush to enlist.
http://www.rall.com/rallblog/2010/09/14/syndicated-column-afghan-war-lies
International Days of Action in Solidarity with Bradley Manning: September 16-19, 2010
The ANSWER Coalition, along with other organizations, is actively mobilizing to build public support to defend Private Bradley Manning, Wikileaks and all those who are being targeted for severe repression for revealing (or allegedly revealing) “secrets” that expose war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bradley Manning. Bradley Manning is a 22-year-old soldier who was stationed in Iraq. He was arrested and has been held incommunicado for months. He is charged with releasing a graphic video of an attack in April 2007 by a U.S. Apache helicopter that killed a group of journalists and civilians. The Pentagon had refused to release the video of the attack, which had been requested in a Freedom of Information Act request by Reuters news service. Two Reuters employees were killed, numerous civilians were massacred and two children were severely wounded in the attack. The video became a major scandal when it was released by WikiLeaks. Manning is now imprisoned at the Marine Base in Quantico, Va.
http://www.answercoalition.org/national/news/days-of-action-bradley-manning.html
Report: Peres, Turkey president to meet on sidelines of UN assembly
Meet would be first of its kind between high level government representatives since Israeli raid on Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-peres-turkey-president-to-meet-on-sidelines-of-un-assembly-1.314392?localLinksEnabled=false
Russia: We will provide Syria with advanced missiles, despite Israel, U.S. protests
Remark by Russia defense minster comes amid reports that Israeli officials, including PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak, had reportedly warned arms could be used by Hezbollah.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/russia-we-will-provide-syria-with-advanced-missiles-despite-israel-u-s-protests-1.314339?localLinksEnabled=false
Syria’s Muslim Brothers: Where to next?
The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood’s recent selection of a new general guide is generating speculation about the group’s trajectory after a period in which it gave up most opposition activities. Mohammad Riyadh al-Shaqfih, elected in July after former guide Ali Sadreddine al-Bayanouni’s third term, served as a Muslim Brotherhood military leader in the 1980s.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=119378
Hundreds of Syrians begin visit from occupied Golan
DAMASCUS: Hundreds of Syrians living in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights began a five-day visit to Syria on Thursday, most of them for the first time in more than 40 years, official media reported.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=119376
Egypt paper accused of faking photo
Al Ahram, Egypt’s oldest Arabic-language daily newspaper, has come under fire for publishing an apparently doctored photograph showing leaders involved in the Middle East peace process. In the original photo, Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, is trailing behind the rest of leaders down the red carpet. However, in the altered version, he is seen leading the group. Al Ahram declined to comment on the matter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seHxWBfNXXo&feature=youtube_gdata
Anger over photo doctored to put Mubarak in front
CAIRO // Opponents of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak are outraged that the nation’s largest newspaper published a photograph of him that it apparently altered to make him appear more vigorous. Al Ahram, Egypt’s oldest and largest circulation state-owned daily, published the photo on Tuesday. The altered photo shows Mr Mubarak striding ahead of a group of politicians during a meeting last week at the US White House.
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100917/FOREIGN/709169818/1041/rss
Islam in the West
Woody Allen: Build The Mosque
Woody Allen is very clearly in favor of the proposed Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero. At the premiere of his new film “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger” this week, Allen shared his feelings on the Cordoba House with “Inside Edition.” “I’m for the building of the mosque,” Allen said. “I think that all the people weighing in on it except for the people that lost someone at Ground Zero…are exploitative, fake frauds using it for personal reasons and political reasons.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/16/woody-allen-build-the-mos_n_719355.html
House Republicans pal around with anti-Muslim, anti-Black racist David Yerushalmi, Alex Kane
It should come as no surprise that elected officials are aiding and abetting anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S., especially with mid-term elections nearby. But it was still a little shocking to read Think Progress national security blogger Matt Duss’ post on a newly released report titled “Sharia: The Threat to America.” Duss writes that the report, authored by the neoconservative Center for Security Policy, was presented to Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI). Here’s the slightly shocking part: also attending the event Duss reported on was David Yerushalmi, the general counsel for the Center for Security Policy.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/09/house-republicans-pal-around-with-anti-muslim-anti-black-racist-david-yerushalmi.html
The advance of the anti-Muslim movement across America, Paul Woodward
Shariah: The Threat to America, a report released by the Center for Security Policy in Washington DC on Wednesday, is an attempt to provide a veneer of seriousness in support of the hysterical ravings of people like Pamela Geller. The fact that Washington’s foreign policy establishment won’t take the report seriously is beside the point since Islamophobia needs neither the consent nor the interest of the establishment or the mainstream media in order to continue its advance across America.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/09/the-advance-of-the-anti-muslim-movement-across-america.html
Don’t Mess With My Burqa, Monsieur, Pepe Escobar
I’m already making plans to arrive at terminal 2 of Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris in the spring of 2011 sporting my burqa. The cruel doubt is, which one? Shall I deplane swathed in the classic light blue I used to cross to Talibanistan? Or the slick black number I once used to cross to the tribal areas? The ultra-chic dark green I got at Peshawar’s bazaar, perhaps? The mere thought of the possibilities once I disembark from Air France business class – where they won’t dare tamper with my burqa — and hit immigration, gives me such a thrill. Will they fine me 150 euros right away? Will they dispatch me to a “civic education” course? Will they simply denounce me to fashion police? Better yet – will they call a Chanel representative and book me a show?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pepe-escobar/dont-mess-with-my-burqa-m_b_719605.html
Muslim Americans existed before September 11, 2001
I live in Harlem on a street that is home to three churches and a mosque. The mosque is next door to one of those churches and when male congregants mingle on the sidewalk, it’s impossible to tell who had just been in church and who in the mosque. It’s only some of the women’s headscarves that tell you.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=119380
A real clash of civilizations
Several events over the past few weeks should serve as a warning that things are changing for Muslims in America. The particularly vocal opposition to plans for an Islamic cultural center near the site of the 9/11 attacks, followed by the threat by a Florida pastor to publicly burn a Koran, are signs that Muslims in America are becoming increasingly targeted.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=119377#axzz0zjFdkenK
Regarding US Muslims: A Misguided Debate, Ramzy Baroud
Laurie Goodstein’s article, ‘American Muslims Ask, Will We Ever Belong?’ was intended as a sympathetic reading of the concerns of US Muslim communities facing increasing levels of hostility and fear. While generally insightful and sensibly written, the article also highlights the very misconceptions that riddle the bizarre debate pitting American Muslims against much of the government, the mainstream media and most of the general public.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16273
The Great Muslim Scare, LAWRENCE DAVIDSON
In the year 1951 the American working class intellectual Eric Hoffer described those he called the True Believers. These are people who are alienated from their present conditions and suffer feelings of insecurity and uncertainty about the way their lives and communities are heading. To set things straight they seek out movements, either of the right or the left, that claim to have assured answers to problems while offering comfort and solidarity in a fellowship of like believers. The leaders of such movements often can be demagogues who expect their followers to be, well, true believers. The one and the many are made for each other in this regard. The solution to problems almost always entails conspiracy theories and the confronting of enemies, both internal and external. In generally uncertain and fearful times, more and more of the citizenry can be pulled into such movements, attracted by leaders who are assertive in a mesmerizing way. All societies have such true believers in them and today’s America is no exception.
http://www.counterpunch.com/davidson09162010.html
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