And more news from Today in Palestine:
Settlers / Land, property and resource theft and destruction / Ethnic cleansing
Child hit by rubber bullet in Silwan clashes
Clashes broke out Sunday in the flashpoint East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan as Israeli authorities stormed the Al-Bustan area to hand down demolition notices, locals said. Head of the committee defending Silwan homes Fakhri Abu Diab said a large force of Israeli border guards ransacked the area, using homes as vantage points to fire tear-gas canisters, stun-grenades and rubber bullets “in all directions.” An eight-year-old boy was hit three times by the rubber bullets, he added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=327002
Police clash with Arab youth while distributing demolition orders in East Jerusalem
Mayor Nir Barkat has approved a development program in Silwan to raze 22 Palestinian homes that were built without permits, and to construct a tourism center in their place.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/police-clash-with-arab-youth-while-distributing-demolition-orders-in-east-jerusalem-1.320915
Settlers chop almond trees in Beit Ummar
Dozens of Israeli settlers chopped down almond trees in the Wad Al-Wahadin area of the Beit Ummar village in Hebron, marking the second act of vandalism on Saturday. Palestine Solidarity Project spokesman Mohammad Awad said settlers uprooted dozens of trees belonging to the Baher family near the Karmi Zur settlement and brought in bulldozers in what the spokesman said was an attempt to enlarge the settlement. Five dunums of land were overturned in the process, Awad said, adding that several new settlement housing units were approved in the area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326835
Mosque vandalized near Nazareth
Unknown vandals removed stones from an ancient mosque in the Ma`alul village in Nazareth on Sunday, the Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage said …
The village is located six kilometers west of Nazareth city … Hajj Sami Rizqallah Abu Mukh, heading the delegation, described the assault on the mosque as “a serious crime and it is obvious that sinful hands demolished the southern wall of the mosque and stole a large number of its stones.” … Most of Ma`alul’s land is now owned by the Jewish National Fund and the only remaining structures are two churches, a mosque and a Roman mausoleum.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326913
’48 Palestinians gather to protest Ma`lul mosque attack
NAZARETH, (PIC)– The village of Ma`lul near Nazareth saw an influx of Palestinians from 1948-occupied territories who gathered Sunday to protest the Jewish settler theft of stones of an ancient mosque in the village. The protest was attended by Arab MK Mohammed Barakat, Muslim and Christian clerics, political party delegates, and public masses. Protesters said they will rebuild the mosque in response to the settler attack … Settlers reportedly stole three years back a church bell in the village prompting ’48 Palestinians to restore the village and re-congregate for prayers there on Sundays.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7WrdcBpx2%2bjts%2fB4t5QGnuTcGhhDssq3S%2fbGJ2H%2fcI7UQz3KJYI6GuDtQhGLPHLEHah0rVBwkBtOot4vi7VJFmozB5Hp9SQRqzv%2bwcu4969k%3d
Jerusalem gets first grade national priority status
New legislation gives capital benefits in housing, employment and education sectors. Minister: Clear message that Jerusalem won’t be divided
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3974215,00.html
State: Amona eviction a low priority
The illegal West Bank outpost of Amona has been given a temporary reprieve: The State Prosecutor’s Office informed the High Court Sunday that despite the illegal construction on the premises, it will not be evicted at this time.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3974074,00.html
Violence
Israeli security forces wound 8 Palestinians in Tel Sheva
BEERSHEBA, (PIC)– Eight Palestinians in Tel Sheva village in the Negev, occupied since 1948, were wounded at the hands of Israeli security forces that stormed the village on Sunday. Mohammed Al-Asam, one of the village inhabitants, told reporters that a big number of those forces attacked the village unexpectedly to quell the citizens who were objecting to the bulldozing of a village land lot to establish an Israeli educational center on it. He added that the police forces broke into houses and fired inside them sonic and gas bombs other than beating women, children, and old people wounding 8 of the villagers. He added that the policemen arrested ten villagers in the process.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7INIevvRiBJEGn7HchxI6fquLLicBVfJp4JKF4RWHdiSEyR%2f%2bK34WFM0g%2fKFC6UWwCfwR3js4NEufyyaDt9i6Es0vX6RNCpVdnurU%2b9CQGF4%3d
Worker attacked by settlers in East Jerusalem
A young Palestinian man from the Old City of Jerusalem sustained wounds and bruises Sunday morning after a group of extremist settlers attacked him near the Ramot settlement in the occupied city, his employer told Ma’an. Anan Hijazi said his employee Muhammad Al-Beituni was assaulted by 10 extremist Israelis, “beating him brutally with empty bottles and stones.” The injured was taken to the Hadassah Hospital in Al-Isawiya in East Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326857
Activism / Solidarity / Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
A day in the olive groves of Sinjil / Alessandra Bajec
…Departing at 7am from Jerusalem, my friend and I join another two volunteers along with Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann, OT Director of Rabbis for Human Rights, in charge of coordinating two groups of olive pickers between this week and the following one.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8990&Itemid=56
Protesters march against wall in Beit Awla
Hebron – PNN – A protest march against the Israeli wall was launched on Friday morning from the village of Beit Awla, north of Hebron. Issa al-Umla, a coordinator for the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, who supported the march, said Israeli occupation forces stopped activists and journalists from entering the area known as Wadi al-Jalmoun, which has been long been blocked to farmers.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8984&Itemid=60
Ramallah presents: Rachel Corrie restaurant
Restaurant’s owner says wanted to honor American woman killed by IDF bulldozer in Rafah in 2003, all international peace activists
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3973994,00.html
South Africa, Jerusalem, and unity / Nabil Sha`ath
I am on my way to South Africa, a country I love … South Africa boycotted the OECD Tourism fiasco in Jerusalem, and stands beside us in every way. The last two weeks witnessed a battle against that OECD tourism meeting held in Jerusalem … During that infamous meeting, Israel introduced a law prohibiting Palestinian tour guides from operating in the tourism sector of Jerusalem. Israel considers our religious, archaeological, and tourism spots as Israeli! And operates OECD related Websites from settlements in the West Bank … The Israeli minister was forced to recant, and in his opening speech to the meeting did not even mention Jerusalem once the way he wanted, after the OECD embarrassingly threatened to cancel the whole convention in Jerusalem if he continues to talk about the status of Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=327048
Siege / Restriction of movement / Rights violations
Israel opens 1 Gaza crossing
Israeli authorities said they would partially open one crossing into Gaza for the limited delivery of food and fuel on Sunday, a Palestinian liaison official said … The Karni crossing in northern Gaza, Fattouh added, will remain closed Sunday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326867
Detention
IOF soldiers detain Omar Barghouthi days after his release from PA jail
RAMALLAH, (PIC)– Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Sunday arrested liberated prisoner Omar Al-Barghouthi, the brother of the longest serving Palestinian prisoner in occupation jails, only few days after his release from PA detention. Local sources told the PIC that IOF troops had stormed the house of Barghouthi in Kuwair town, Ramallah district, after midnight a few days ago but did not find him and left him a summons to Beit El on Sunday. He went there and was arrested.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7SMRsx40rjG6ukxNm8EPn9xKD5gQxlKnmcUL3UO7ZS%2bDByB%2fuf6hl9neHuZocSdxfHiWVd6UPnBtTPlvn9c8lXjgovLbf5vYiBJiON43zUcY%3d
PA security arrests preacher two weeks after arrest by Israel
RAMALLAH, (PIC)– PA intelligence arrested Islamic preacher Majid Hassan “Abu Obeida” after interviewing him for the third time since his release two weeks back after serving three years in administrative detention in Israeli prisons … Majid Hassan is a prestigious religious figure in Ramallah noted for his high patriotism and interest in national unity. He played a key role in bridging the gap between Palestinian factions in 2004-2005.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7479lAzcbBBozdJPQWfJGOv%2biXdfeIzGcZtKuu%2fRPANIK1T%2frV4OH9kkKb12ttMdoVyhXORVel1vN2oyCYqsYaQlUJzyD11M7uE3YKaYXivA%3d
Racism / Extremism
Baruch Marzel to march in Umm al-Fahm
Our Land of Israel group to hold protest rally in northern city against police ‘servility’ towards Islamic Movement. Clashes expected as last year … Some 70 members of the organization are expected to participate, led by Kach activists Itamar Ben Gvir and Baruch Marzel [US-born convicted criminal who lives in Hebron]. Thousands of police officers will provide security, and serious clashes are expected – as took place last year during a similar demonstration.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3973806,00.html
‘Kahane was right’ sprayed in Nazerat Illit
The Amakim Subdistrict Police is investigating yet another case of “Kahane was right” graffiti, sprayed in the Nazerat Illit and Migdal Ha’Emek area [in the north of Israel]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3973766,00.html
Inside Lod’s ghettos
Lod is the first town most visitors to Israel see, when they walk out of Ben Gurion International airport. What they don’t see is the discreet ethnic cleansing which takes place here, the state-sanctioned policies of discrimination which are destroying living conditions for the town’s Arab population. With the new loyalty oath poised to deepen the divide, Sophie Crowe visited communities that are already given daily reminders of their second-class status.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1580
Palestinian flag posted on Safed mosque
Tensions mounting in city following Saturday clashes between haredim, Arab students. Earlier this week rabbis urged residents not to rent out apartments to Arabs
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3973770,00.html
Refugees
Life in Palestinian refugee camps / Stephen Lendman
Besides mass slaughter and destruction, wars create refugees, millions at times, uprooted, displaced and homeless, on their own somehow to survive. Israel’s “War of Independence” was no different, dispossessing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, a story Western media reports don’t explain or even mention.
http://uruknet.info/?p=m71112&hd=&size=1&l=e
War crimes
What led to IDF bombing house full of civilians during Gaza war? / Amira Hass
The order to bomb the house has been explained as the brigade commander’s legitimate interpretation of drone photos shown in the war room … The many incidents described in the human rights organizations’ reports indicate that the drone photographs are not as precise or clear as they are said to be, or that the technology considered “objective” also depends on commanders’ interpretation: Children playing on the roof are liable to be regarded as “scouts,” people trying to speak to their relatives over the phone are liable to be “signal operators for a terrorist brigade,” and families that went to the garden to feed the goats, squads of Qassam launchers.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/what-led-to-idf-bombing-house-full-of-civilians-during-gaza-war-1.320816
Smart Israeli missiles in Gaza / Flora Nicoletta
…It was a hot day. Emad was 37-year old and handsome. A white sheet covered part of his body. When Emad moved I saw for a second that he was completely naked and his two short stumps were enormous due to big bandages. The bandages were so big that no underpants could be worn by Emad. One night [in 2006] Emad was walking in the neighborhood of Shejayia in Gaza City. While he was speaking on his cell phone a missile was fired at him. His brothers explained me that inside such kind of missile there are some sort of turning knives which cut everything. The young man from Caritas took me to other rooms. That day I saw no less than twenty amputees, a living catalogue of horror.
http://uruknet.info/?p=m71094&hd=&size=1&l=e
Israelis fired 308 bullets aboard Gaza ship: general (Reuters)
Israeli commandos fired 308 live bullets aboard a Gaza-bound aid ship in May to repel passengers who attacked them with lethal weapons including a snatched Uzi machine pistol, Israel’s top general said on Sunday. In a sometimes testy second round of testimony before a state-appointed inquest, Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi insisted the navy’s killing of nine pro-Palestinian Turks on the converted cruise ship Mavi Marmara had been unavoidable.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69N0Q320101024
Israeli army chief back at inquiry
Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, the chief of staff, was called on by the Turkel Committee to testify again on Sunday after he refused to allow other senior Israeli officers to appear before the panel. He said he did not want to expose them to the risks their testimony could create for them. Al Jazeera’s correspondent Sherine Tadros, reporting from Jerusalem, said Ashkenazi “spent most of the morning defending and justifying the actions of his soldiers on board the Mavi [Marmara]”, the lead vessel … “They [soldiers] didn’t hurt those who didn’t need to be hurt,” she quoted Ashkenazi as saying.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/10/201010247514810856.html
Chief of staff: Soldiers who stole from Marmara ‘wild weeds’
Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said soldiers who stole from the Marmara during the IDF raid on the Gaza flotilla were “wild weeds.” Speaking before the Turkel Committee investigating the event, he said it harmed the IDF’s image and promised the army would deal with the issue
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3973869,00.html
Arab-Israeli flotilla activists to testify (AFP)
Two Arab citizens of Israel who were on board a Gaza-bound aid ship seized in a deadly May 31 raid will testify before an Israeli commission investigating the botched operation, they said on Sunday. They will be the first and perhaps only activists who were aboard the ship to testify before the Tirkel Commission, established to probe the legality of the raid in which nine Turkish activists were shot dead. Mohammed Zedan and Sheikh Hamad Abu Daabis, who were on the deck of the lead ferry Mavi Marmara when it was seized in international waters with five other ships, had initially refused to testify.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101024/wl_mideast_afp/israelconflictgazaarab
in case you missed it (or even if you’ve seen it before)
Al Nakba (English) Part 1 – Al Jazeera
…first broadcast in Arabic on the 60th anniversary of the Palestinian catastrophe. It was translated into English in 2009 and then into four different languages: French, German, Spanish and Italian. Al Nakba won the prize for the best long documentary about Palestine in Al Jazeera Fifth International Film Festival (Doha/Qatar) and the audience award in Amal Ninth Euro-Arab Film Festival (Santiago/Spain). It participated in other film festivals in Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Jordan, Egypt and Palestine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm7dMhE80dw&p=30A8F80C4E383847
Political developments
Fatah official denies unity talks collapsing
Senior Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmad on Saturday denied that a recent decision to cancel a visit by a Fatah delegation to Gaza was a sign that unity talks with Hamas were collapsing, Egyptian media reported. Al-Ahmad’s comments follow the postponement on Wednesday of what both parties have described as a final meeting to discuss the outstanding security issue before ratifying the Egyptian-backed unity deal in Cairo.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326812
Abbas welcomes Vatican call to end occupation
President Mahmoud Abbas and chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat welcomed Sunday the Vatican Synod’s call for an end to Israel’s occupation a day earlier, and urged further support for Palestinian Christians.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326959
Netanyahu to Palestinians: Unilateral actions will not advance peace process (Reuters)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Palestinians on Sunday not to take unilateral steps towards statehood, saying Israel was working closely with Washington on ways to restart peace talks.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-to-palestinians-unilateral-actions-will-not-advance-peace-process-1.320878
Halt to Palestinian peace talks could be permanent (WaPo)
In perhaps the shortest round of peace negotiations in the history of their conflict, talks between the Israelis and Palestinians have ground to a halt and show little sign of resuming … The proximate cause of the breakdown is Israel’s decision not to extend a 10-month partial freeze of settlement building on Palestinian lands, but in the view of many analysts, the problems go much deeper.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/23/AR2010102302576.html?wprss=rss_world/mideast
Palestinian Authority to gain security control over Ramallah
Ramallah – PNN – The Defense Ministry in Israel has written a preliminary plan to transfer the security control of Ramallah and some West Bank villages to the P.A. The plan to transfer the security control has been written up on a contingency basis, but would include the city of Ramallah and possible Beityuya, el-Bireh, and even Bir Zeit. Some parts of the areas that are part of this plan are located in what is considered Area B, which is under Israeli security control according to the Oslo Accords.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8989&Itemid=61
Other news
Israel airs footage of nuclear reactor
TEL AVIV — Rare footage of an Israeli nuclear reactor in the Galilee was aired by Israeli TV on Saturday evening, marking the first time Israel’s nuclear facilities have been openly broadcast to the public … “This reactor’s role is to monitor nuclear experiments and activities taking place underground in the world,” said a female expert working at the reactor.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326860
Saudi payout eases Palestinian funding crisis: Fayyad
(Reuters) A pledge of $100 million from Saudi Arabia and other international aid is easing the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) financial crisis, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Sunday. The PA is relying on help from foreign backers to plug a budget deficit projected at $1.2 billion for 2010. The slow arrival of funds, especially from Arab states, has forced Fayyad to take austerity measures.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69N0NK20101024?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a49:g43:r4:c0.055556:b38641554:z0
Abu Libdeh: Rawabi can absorb settlement workers
PA National Economy Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh said Saturday that the first planned Palestinian city in Ramallah could be “a real opportunity to absorb Palestinian workers employed in settlements,” a statement read … In October, Israel’s environment minister said he would attempt to block Rawabi’s construction over concerns for the environment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326843
Nablus: 3 hurt in explosion in building previously damaged by IDF
Three Palestinian residents of Nablus were moderately wounded when n explosion shook a building in the city. The explosion took place when the three workers, as part of renovation work, were taking down a ceiling that had been damaged during an IDF strike some eight years ago. Palestinian police closed off the area and began investigations.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3974119,00.html
Gaza liaison office broken into for third time
Unidentified assailants vandalized the Gaza crossings and coordination office near the northern Erez crossing in Gaza on Sunday morning, sources told Ma’an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326978
Record-breaking tourism could spell problems for Israel
This month is shaping up to be the country’s best month for tourism in a decade, approaching the record set in October 1999 on the eve of the second intifada, with more than 1 million hotel nights.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/business/record-breaking-tourism-could-spell-problems-for-israel-1.320812
Analysis / Opinion / Human interest
Call it terror, not price tag / Zvi Bar’el
This is local terror with an instructive purpose – its goal is to terrorize the Palestinians and teach them to behave as the settlers believe they should. – Hebrew is a beautiful language. But it is also like a model whose golden days are behind her and must use pancake makeup to cover what age and strife have wrought. By way of example two terms that have become inseparable parts of the language, to the point that their real meanings has been forgotten: “price tag” and “neighbor procedure,” which gave birth to “child procedure.”
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/call-it-terror-not-price-tag-1.320819
What does online media do for Palestinians?
Comedian Mark Steel said that if the Israeli army blew up a cat’s home, the following day headlines would scream that the unfortunate animals were smuggling semtex for Hamas. Steel was referring to the Gaza flotilla and subsequent cover-up, but ironically that tragedy marked a tipping point away from Israeli PR hegemony. Today, there is more coverage from a Palestinian perspective than ever before.
http://palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1576
If the word ‘torture’ makes you feel bad…
…here’s a solution from boingboing: The New York Times Torture Euphemism Generator! by Rob Beschizza — Reading the NYT’s stories about the Iraq War logs, I was struck by how it could get through such gruesome descriptions — fingers chopped off, chemicals splashed on prisoners — without using the word ‘torture.’ For some reason the word is unavailable when it is literally meaningful, yet is readily tossed around for laughs in contexts where it means nothing at all. It turns out the NYT has a reputation for studiously avoiding the word, to the point of using bizarre bureaucratic alternatives.
http://uruknet.info/?p=m71101&hd=&size=1&l=e
US and Israel: Blinded by the right / Mark LeVine
Like the angry, self-loathing drunk unable to recognise himself in the The Who’s seminal anthem “Who Are You,” Americans and Israelis are reaching such depths of distrust and despair that the coarsest appeals to right wing identity politics – represented by the rise of the Tea Party and the current Netanyahu government – will ensure the perpetuation of policies that will doom both countries to an even darker future. In so doing they are moving so far from their founding ideals that it’s becoming impossible to recognise them anymore.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2010/10/20101021112057692436.html
Giant communal wedding comes to Nablus
Sidqi Musa — The cheers of a thousand Nablus families echoed around the Roman amphitheater in Gamal Abd al-Nasser Park. The podium was splayed with lights, chairs had been painted white, and there was a troupe of musicians in traditional dress to the left and a row of ancient arches in the background. All eyes were on the couples—all 25 of them.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8981&Itemid=60
Iraq
from Al Jazeera’s The Secret Iraq Files: The War
Iraq files reveal checkpoint deaths
[with video] Almost 700 civilians, including pregnant women and the mentally ill, killed for coming too close to checkpoints … with more than 2,000 wounded.
http://english.aljazeera.net/secretiraqfiles/2010/10/2010102216241633174.html
‘Crazy Horse’ and collateral damage
Helicopter squadron that killed two Reuters journalists in 2007 was involved in other attacks that hurt civilians.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/2010/10/20101022165819333616.html
US turned blind eye to torture
An alleged militant identified only as “DAT 326” was detained by the Iraqi army on July 7, 2006 at a checkpoint in the town of Tarmiya, north of Baghdad. When US forces interrogated him later that night, he described hours of brutal abuse at the hands of the Iraqi soldiers, an allegation apparently backed by the findings of a medical exam … Since the alleged torture was committed by Iraqi forces, the US quickly dropped the case: “Due to no allegation or evidence of US involvement, a US investigation is not being initiated,” the report said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/secretiraqfiles/2010/10/20101022161828428516.html
Video: Al Jazeera interviews Julian Assange
Wikileaks founder speaks to Al Jazeera about new leaked documents on Iraq war.
http://uruknet.info/?p=m71096&hd=&size=1&l=e
Before WikiLeaks, Iraq war vets revealed war crimes / Laila Al-Arian
…The leaked reports back up what Iraq war veterans have been telling journalists for years, only to be ignored by the mainstream media. In the summer of 2006, journalist Chris Hedges and I began interviewing combat veterans who served in Iraq about their experiences there, focusing on civilian deaths – and they recounted stories, many in graphic detail, that are now corroborated by the military documents.
http://uruknet.info/?p=m71111&hd=&size=1&l=e
The shaming of America / Robert Fisk
As usual, the Arabs knew. They knew all about the mass torture, the promiscuous shooting of civilians, the outrageous use of air power against family homes, the vicious American and British mercenaries, the cemeteries of the innocent dead. All of Iraq knew. Because they were the victims. Only we could pretend we did not know. Only we in the West could counter every claim, every allegation against the Americans or British with some worthy general – the ghastly US military spokesman Mark Kimmitt and the awful chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Peter Pace, come to mind – to ring-fence us with lies.
http://uruknet.info/?p=m71107&hd=&size=1&l=e
Assange defends leaks, and says more will come / Jonathan Owen
Whistleblower fights back against attacks from the US government …
Speaking in Washington, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said she condemned the disclosure of any classified information that threatened national security, or put at risk the lives of coalition forces or civilians. Stung by the criticisms, Mr Assange fought back yesterday, accusing the Pentagon of trying to issue “deceptive statements to fool the press into reporting something that is just not true”. And despite fears that the release of tens of thousands of Afghan war files earlier this year, complete with names of informants, would result in revenge attacks, there has yet to be a single death as a result of the revelations, WikiLeaks pointed out.
http://uruknet.info/?p=m71106&hd=&size=1&l=e
Al Jazeera video: Blackwater in Iraq
The Iraq war documents from WikiLeaks contain details of the shocking activities of Blackwater mercenaries in Iraq.
http://uruknet.info/?p=m71102&hd=&size=1&l=e
Xe (Blackwater) operations in Pakistan
It was not surprisingly that the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior expressed disbelief at the Interior Ministry’s false confirmation that there was no Blackwater operating in the country. Members of the Standing Committee rightly said that it was impossible to ignore its presence in Pakistan.
http://uruknet.info/?p=m71103&hd=&size=1&l=e
Iraq parliament ordered to convene
Iraq’s supreme court has ordered parliament to convene, nearly eight months after inconclusive elections left the country without a new government. The court on Sunday said legislators’ self-declared absence “violated the constitution”.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/10/2010102413248997227.html
Leaked Iraq documents cause neither shock nor awe in Arab world / Zvi Bar’el
It seems that the real task of the U.S. administration will be in the realm of American public opinion, rather than the Arab governments and people.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/leaked-iraq-documents-cause-neither-shock-nor-awe-in-arab-world-1.320794
WikiLeaks reports of abuse by Iraqi forces deepens political divide in Iraq / Lara Jakes
BAGHDAD — Reports of brutality and torture of fellow Iraqis at the hands of government forces threw the country’s political scene into turmoil Saturday with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki attacking the leak as an attempt to malign him, and his rivals citing the documents as proof he is unfit to lead.
http://uruknet.info/?p=m71099&hd=&size=1&l=e
Maliki supporters say WikiLeaks revelations a plot (AFP)
Supporters of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki are convinced the WikiLeaks release of secret US military documents is a plot to undermine his bid to stay in power following March elections. “Maliki’s office destabilised by WikiLeaks revelations,” ran a headline in Sunday’s independent Al-Mada daily.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101024/wl_mideast_afp/usiraqmilitaryinternetwikileakspolitics
Nouri al-Maliki’s ‘detention squad’
Reports show US worried that Iraqi prime minister uses his political power to crack down on rivals.
http://english.aljazeera.net/secretiraqfiles/2010/10/201010237530782302.html
Other Mideast
Poll success for Bahrain Shia bloc
Bahrain’s main Shi`a Muslim opposition group has won nearly half of the seats in parliament in an election it says was marred by irregularities … Bahrain is one of the few Arab states with a Shi`a majority, though it is dominated by Sunni Muslims.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/10/2010102475648379231.html
Far-right parties oppose EU membership for Turkey (AP)
Members said Turkey has no place in Europe and that citizens should be allowed to weigh in on the matter.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/far-right-parties-oppose-eu-membership-for-turkey-1.320838
Iran parliament rejects talks on uranium enrichment suspension (dpa)
Iran likely to meet with major Western powers in Vienna next month, but sides differ on what meeting’s agenda should include.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/iran-parliament-rejects-talks-on-uranium-enrichment-suspension-1.320865
Iran restricts social sciences seen as ‘Western’ (AP)
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran has imposed new restrictions on 12 university social sciences deemed to be based on Western schools of thought and therefore incompatible with Islamic teachings, state radio reported Sunday. The list includes law, philosophy, management, psychology, political science and the two subjects that appear to cause the most concern among Iran’s conservative leadership — women’s studies and human rights.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3974198,00.html
Thief’s hand ‘cut off in front of prisoners’ (AP)
Authorities in Iran have amputated the hand of a convicted thief in front of other prisoners, state radio is reporting. The report did not identify the 32-year-old convict, whose hand was reportedly cut off in the central city of Yazad, or provide details of his crime.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/thiefs-hand-cut-off-in-front-of-prisoners-2115267.html
Iran, trying to skirt sanctions, attempts to set up banks worldwide (WaPo)
Iran is secretly trying to set up banks in Muslim countries around the world, including Iraq and Malaysia, using dummy names and opaque ownership structures to skirt sanctions that have increasingly curtailed the Islamic republic’s global banking activities, U.S. officials say.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/20/AR2010102006139.html?wprss=rss_world/mideast
IMF urges Middle East job creation
The International Monetary Fund has said that the Middle East economies are likely to grow roughly twice as fast over the next two years as they did in 2009. However, the organisation said on Sunday that more needs to be done by the region to diversify its economies and create jobs.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/10/20101024104139929285.html
Yemen ‘terror’ suspect in new video
A new video featuring Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni-American religious scholar who is on a US government kill or capture list, has been posted on the internet … In April, a US official said the administration of Barack Obama, the US president, had authorised the targeted killing of Al-Awlaki, after American intelligence agencies concluded the Muslim religious scholar was directly involved in anti-US plots.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/10/20101023195023236641.html
Modern threat to Syria’s ancient Aleppo soap industry
(Reuters) The deep perfume of olive and laurel oil hangs in the air of old Aleppo, home to an ancient soap industry that has enjoyed a renaissance since the government lifted crippling trade bans in the last five years.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69L1ID20101022
U.S., other world news
FBI tracking device found on another Arab-American
19 Oct – …Veena Dubal, a staff attorney with the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco, has said that one of her clients had found a similar tracking device on his car in 2009. “I have an elderly Arab American client who was attending a free workshop on how to be a mechanic, and they were using his car as the demonstration car for an oil change,” she says. “In the middle of the class, the instructor stopped and said, ‘Oh my God, there’s a bomb in the car.’ So everyone evacuated. But it wasn’t a bomb. It was a tracking device. You can imagine how humiliating this was for my client. Everyone was looking at him like he was a terrorist and like he was going to blow them up.”
http://www.illumemag.com/zine/articleDetail.php?FBI-Tracking-Device-Found-on-Another-Arab-American-13351
Blair’s sister-in-law converts to Islam
The sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has converted to Islam after having a “holy experience” in Iran, British media reported on Sunday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326917
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