And more news from Today in Palestine:
Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
Man and his pregnant wife injured in deliberate settler hit and run accident
An Israeli settler deliberately ran into a Palestinian car near Halhul village, Al-Khalil district, on Monday night injuring the driver and his pregnant wife, eyewitnesses reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q
IOF orders demolition of Palestinian homes in Bethlehem, arrests 4 in Silwan
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) served demolition notices to the owners of seven houses east of Bethlehem, south of the West Bank, local sources said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q
231 Israeli demolition orders issued against homes in O. Jerusalem
Different sources in the holy city said that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) distributed yesterday more than 231 demolition orders in different areas in occupied Jerusalem.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Five Demolition Orders Given to Jerusalem Residents, Two Homes Leveled In Lod
Jerusalem – PNN – On Monday night the Israeli Jerusalem municipality handed out demolition orders to five homeowners in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The orders included three private homes that are still under construction in addition to two buildings consisting of three apartments each. Clashes took place between local youth and the Israeli soldiers providing protection for the municipality workers on Monday evening. No injuires were reported. Local human rights groups say Israel handed out 231 demolition orders to Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem in the past two months.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9010&Itemid=64
Abbas: Settlements are a unilateral step taken by Israel
PA president responds to Netanyahu’s statement in which he urged the Palestinians to refrain from taking one-sided steps toward statehood.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/abbas-settlements-are-a-unilateral-step-taken-by-israel-1.321122?localLinksEnabled=false
Palestinians: 2,000 olive trees destroyed due to settlement sewage
Palestinians north of the West Bank claim that settlers from Elon Moreh flooded their olive groves which caused the loss of over 2,000 trees. They say that they discovered the destruction a day after the army allowed them to access the area and pick the olives. (News Agencies)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3975217,00.html
Israeli authorities deny Salfit farmers access to olive crops
Israeli authorities continue to deny farmers in the west Salfit town of Masha access to their land located behind the separation wall to harvest their olives, local sources reported Monday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
Soldiers abandon Palestinian farmers in Kufr Qalil
Farmers in Kufr Qalil, near Nablus, were scheduled to receive army protection yesterday through the Israeli District Coordination Office (DCO), in order to harvest their olives on land near the illegal Bracha settlement. The family, accompanied by four international activists, went to the land and was initially pleased to find army jeeps nearby as planned. Later in the morning, two settlers came down from the nearby outpost, yelling at the Palestinians and internationals from across the settler-only road. As the nearby army vehicle came down, seemingly to intervene, the farmers were again relieved by the fact that the DCO was keeping their word. But the jeeps soon disappeared, while the settlers remained. Tension was high in the olive groves, and fear of what could happen prompted a phone call to Rabbis for Human Rights, who got in touch with the DCO, demanding that the “protection” return. The soldiers eventually came back, driving to the settlers and joining them across the road from the olive fields. They walked together, talking casually, but the army never approached the Palestinian farmers. After a short time, the owner of the farmland decided to give up and continue harvesting a safer plot of land, farther from the settlement, as he was feeling very nervous, and had three of his young grandchildren with him.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/10/15277/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
State moves toward legalizing illegally built synagogue in West Bank outpost
Following more than a year of legal debate, Defense Ministry agrees to consider license for El Matan building as long as residents keep structure sealed over course of process.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/state-moves-toward-legalizing-illegally-built-synagogue-in-west-bank-outpost-1.321246?localLinksEnabled=false
Neighbors of Haredi town planning expansion fear more ‘ultra-Orthodox abuse’
Kiryat Ye’arim draws up expansion plan despite objections of green groups and residents of neighboring Yad Hashmona and Abu Ghosh.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/neighbors-of-haredi-town-planning-expansion-fear-more-ultra-orthodox-abuse-1.321162?localLinksEnabled=false
The Nakba and the ‘great book robbery’ of 1948, Adam Horowitz
60,000 Palestinian books were systematically looted by the newly born State of Israel during the 1948 war. The story of the stolen books is not only at the heart of our project but also the launching pad of a much bigger and wider endeavor: We intend on communicating the scope and depth of the Palestinian tragedy through the destruction of Palestinian culture in 1948. . . The drive to “collect” the books came from the management and librarians of Israel’s National Library – a leading cultural institution of the Zionist movement and the state of Israel – where all the valuable books ended up. Another thirty thousand (30,000) Palestinian books were “collected” in Haifa and Jaffa.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/the-nakba-and-the-great-book-robbery-of-1948.html
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Report: Caterpillar to delay supply of D9 bulldozers to IDF
Caterpillar, the company which supplies the IDF with bulldozers, has announced that it is delaying the supply of D9 bulldozers during the time that the trial of Rachel Corrie proceeds, Channel 2 reported on Monday. The company does not usually manufacture a military version of the D9 but it has many features that make desirable for military applications and the IDF has used them extensively for operations. Rachel Corrie was a US activist who was killed in Gaza seven years ago by a bulldozer driver who struck and killed her. Her family charged that the IDF and its officers had acted recklessly, using an armored Caterpillar D9R bulldozer without regard to the presence in the area of unarmed and nonviolent civilians.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=192744
Presbyterian Mission Network Joins BDS Movement
CHICAGO, October 25—In response to a call to action from the Christians of the Holy Land, The Israel/Palestine Mission Network (IPMN) of the Presbyterian Church (USA) [PC(USA)] voted at its annual meeting to join the international boycott of goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). The first targeted products for the boycott are Ahava Cosmetics, King Solomon Dates, and Jordan River Dates, imported into the United States from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/presbyterian-mission-network-joins-bds.html
OECD and Israel’s “tourist” colonization of Syria’s Golan, Charlotte Silver
On 20 and 21 October, the 86th session of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) tourism committee was held in Jerusalem. Leading up to the conference, there was conjecture on how the member countries in attendance would handle Israel’s tourism policies regarding the occupied territories: the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip and the Syrian Golan Heights.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11589.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
‘There is no such thing as tourism in an occupied city’, Philip Weiss
There are days that I think that Israel can be redeemed without violence, and this video gives me hope. Watch these human-rights activists, many of them Israeli speaking Hebrew, leading creative protests of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) annual tourism conference held in Jerusalem last week. “Jerusalem-based activists were on-hand to highlight the reality of the Israeli apartheid system, and let OECD delegates know that there is no such thing as tourism in an occupied city,” says the video.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/there-is-no-such-thing-as-tourism-in-an-occupied-city.html
Don’t close your eyes to Apartheid
Despite Israel’s persistent violation of human rights as protected by the law, the OECD(Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) — whose member countries include most of the rich countries of the world — granted Israel membership on May 27th this year. This not only symbolized diplomatic approval of Israel’s policies on the part of the most powerful countries in the international community, but also brought many potential economic benefits to Israel.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/10/15266/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
The Palestine Buy-cott
The first official boycott of Israel was spearheaded by the Arab League immediately after Israel was established in 1948. In 2005 Palestinian Civil Society issued a call for boycott, divestment and sanctions until Israel complies with International Law, and universal principles of human rights. Since then that call has been endorsed by hundreds of organizations which aim to challenge Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people.
http://www.illumemag.com/zine/articleDetail.php?The-Palestine-Buy-cott-13354
As Israel fires on activists, BDS movement claims victories
At least fifteen Palestinians were injured in the occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on Friday, 22 October, when Israeli forces opened fire at a demonstration against the wall and ongoing land confiscation.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11590.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
#BDS: Dear Chilean miners, please do not accept Israel’s invitation
Dear Survivors of the Chilean Mine Trap, You do not know me. I am just an American blogger/peace actvist who has followed your heroic efforts to survive your 69 day ordeal and the heroic efforts to save you. With wonder I watched as you were brought up one by one to freedom from your underground hell, where for so long you did not know if you would live or die. Indeed the whole world watched as you were rescued in thunderous joy that you would be reunited with your loved ones who had sat vigil for you for so long, insisting you were alive, insisting the rescue effort keep on, praying together for your safety. The entire world rejoices in your safe return above ground to your loved ones.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/10/bds-dear-chilean-miners-please-do-not.html
Siege/Rights Violations/Restriction of Movement/Racism & Discrimination
2 Gaza workers killed inside tunnel
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Two Palestinians died Monday in an accident in a smuggling tunnel under the Egypt-Gaza border, medics said. Musa Sleima and Abd Muhammad Zurob, both 20 years old, were killed by an electricity short, medics said. They were taken to hospitals in Rafah, where they were pronounced dead on arrival, medical spokesman Adham Abu Salmieh said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=327551
Government releases documents detailing Gaza import guidelines, Amira Hass
Since Hamas took control of Gaza, officials have employed mathematical formulas to monitor goods from aid groups entering the Strip to ensure amount was in line with what Israel permitted.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/government-releases-documents-detailing-gaza-import-guidelines-1.321154
Industrial Fuel – Needs Vs. Supply – Sep 26 – Oct 23
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/10/industrial-fuel-%e2%80%93-needs-vs-supply-%e2%80%93-sep-26-%e2%80%93-oct-23/
Goods – Needs Vs. Supply – Sep 26 – Oct 23
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/10/goods-%e2%80%93-needs-vs-supply-%e2%80%93-sep-26-%e2%80%93-oct-23/
The mathematics of strangulation of Gaza, Jesse Bacon
When the specifics of Israel’s siege of Gaza came to light, it appeared almost random in its insanity and cruelty. The famous example is the prohibiting of pasta while allowing rice, all the while claiming this was somehow ensuring Israel’s security. Well wonder no longer. Through the heroic efforts of Gisha, whose work we feature regularly here on The Only Democracy?, the actual policy has been released. It turns out there is a detailed series of charts and formulae that look like someone attempted to translate the lectures of Glenn Beck into public policy. In the driest of terms, it represents a calculus of human misery, equations of despair that add up to the starvation of Gazans and a protracted conflict.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/10/the-mathematics-of-strangulation/
Collective Punishment or Not, Gaza Blockade Illegal (Part I), Noura Erakat
Israel’s blockade of Gaza is illegal irrespective of the manner in which it is imposed because a blockade is an act of war and an occupying power cannot declare war upon the territory it occupies.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/255/collective-punishment-or-not-gaza-blockade-illegal_%28part-i%29
Israeli army opens investigation into use of 16-year-old girl as human shield
An investigation has been opened in the case of a 16-year-old girl from Nablus, who reported being used as a human shield by the Israeli army in February 2010.
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?DocId=1681&CategoryId=1
Hebron 13-Year Old ‘Banned From Attending School’
After being arrested, detained, beaten and fined by the Israeli army, Karam Daana, 13, has been placed under house arrest for five months during which he cannot attend school. His father has lost his work permit. Karam is yet to receive a trial.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1583
Voices from the Occupation
A 15-year-old boy is arrested near a road used by Israeli settlers, and accused of throwing stones. He reports being given electric shocks during an interrogation in Ari’el settlement.
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/doc/press/Voices_2010-10-26.pdf
Israeli troops blamed for Korans burned during arrest raid (AFP)
AFP – A Palestinian woman on Monday accused Israeli troops of burning two Korans when they came to arrest her husband during an overnight raid in the northern West Bank.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101025/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictarrestkoran
Shin Bet requests extension of order which allows detention of Palestinians without a hearing
‘Security situation in Israel has not changed over the past three years and there is therefore a need to extend the temporary order,’ says top Shin Bet official.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/shin-bet-requests-extension-of-order-which-allows-detention-of-palestinians-without-a-hearing-1.321113?localLinksEnabled=false
Shin Bet supports revoking citizenship of Israelis convicted of terror
Interior Minister Eli Yishai’s proposal has been presented as a method of deterring potential criminals from embarking on terrorist activities, seen as targeting Israeli Arabs in particular.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/shin-bet-supports-revoking-citizenship-of-israelis-convicted-of-terror-1.321269?localLinksEnabled=false
Scenes from the ‘Jewish & democratic’ state: Galilee politician works to prevent sale of homes to Palestinians
You do not want Arabs in Karmiel? Report to Purple Email! Karmiel’s Deputy Mayor, Oren Milstein, does not want any Arabs in his town. Therefore he urges the public to report real estate deals with Arabs to a special email address, and his bureau assists the anti-Arab initiative. Milstein: “The email address is operated by a private person”.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/scenes-from-the-jewish-democratic-state-galilee-politician-works-to-prevent-sale-of-homes-to-palestinians.html
Rightist Settlers Paint Slogans Praising Kahane in Jaffa
On Tuesday morning, the slogan “Kahane Tzadak” (Kahane was right) was found written on the walls of restaurants, stores and on the walls of the Latin church in Jaffa City.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59748
Kahane memorial to be held in Jerusalem despite local opposition
Memorial event for the right wing extremist to be held under slogan ‘Rabbi Kahane was right’; will be attended by MK Michael Ben Ari, possibly others.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/kahane-memorial-to-be-held-in-jerusalem-despite-local-opposition-1.321159
Israel and the Palestinian Minority: Political Monitoring Report by Mtanes Shihadeh (MADA Al Carmel)
In our previous political monitoring reports, we dedicated much space to describing the legislative and political process that impinges on the human rights of the Palestinian minority. This report, too, which deals with June, July, and August 2010, continues our survey of these processes.
http://www.mada-research.org/UserFiles/file/PMP%20PDF/PMR10-ENG/pmr10-eng-final.pdf
Violence & Aggression
Gaza medics: Man with disability injured by Israeli fire
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Medics said a Palestinian man with a mental disability was injured by Israeli fire near the northern border in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The unnamed man, from the Ash-Shuj’aiyah neighborhood, sustained a gunshot wound to the leg near the Erez pedestrian crossing was taken to the Kamal Adwan Hospital, where his injury was not described as serious, medics reported. A military spokeswoman said she would look into the report.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=327638
Detainees
Israeli Troops Kidnap 6 Palestinians in Jerusalem
The Israeli army abducted, on Tuesday morning, six Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem claiming they were hurling stones at Israeli police vehicles. The detainees were taken to al-Maskobeya detention and interrogation center in West Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59753
Israeli forces detain 5 in Beit Ummar
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces seized five Palestinians from the southern West Bank town of Beit Ummar in the Hebron district early Tuesday morning, including a minor, the Palestine Solidarity Project said. PSP spokesman Muhammad Awad said troops ransacked several homes in the town, and identified those detained as Hasan Kathim, 20, Yousif Alqam, 19, Wajih Sabarnah, 19, Hamza Sabarnah, 16 and Yousif Sabri Awad.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=327647
1 detained in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma’an) – Israeli troops detained on Monday at dawn a Palestinian man in central Hebron and gave his brother a notice to see the intelligence. Yasser Al-Jamal, 35, was taken to an undisclosed location after Israeli troops raided four houses in the Abu Sneineh neighborhood, his brother Yosri said. Yasser’s other brother, Khamis, received the notice to see intelligence.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=327465
Army Kidnaps Five Palestinians from Hebon
Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Tuesday morning, five Palestinians from the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron in the southern part of the West Bank, after first invading and searching several homes.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59750
Palestinian Legislator Sentenced To Six Months
The Israeli Ofer Military Court sentenced Palestinian Legislator of the Hamas’ Change and Reform Bloc, to six month in administrative detention without presenting any charges against him.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59749
EU Parliament reviews prison conditions inside Israel
DCI-Palestine has lodged a submission relating to conditions faced by Palestinian child detainees held in Israeli interrogation and detention facilities and prisons.
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?DocId=1685&CategoryId=1
War Criminals
MK Dichter cancels Spain trip for fear of arrest
Yuval Karni – Ynet – Planning on taking part in an international peace summit, Dichter requested to look into the possibility that he may face legal action in Spain over complaints against him for his involvement in the Salah Shehade assassination, and for his involvement in Operation Cast Lead, Dichter was Ministerof Public Security at the time).
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3975066,00.html
‘Mavi Marmara’ passenger: IDF didn’t treat wounded
Israeli-Arab who was on flotilla ship when it was boarded by Israeli Navy tells Turkel Commission that passengers were left bleeding.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=192707&R=R2
Israel’s Chief Military Advocate General Not Telling the truth, Richard Lightbown
On 26 August the Turkel Committee took evidence from Israel’s Chief Military Advocate General, General Mandelblit. The morning session was open although a number of documents that the participants referred to do not appear on the website. In the afternoon the Advocate General apparently spoke amongst other matters on the intended IDF policy towards future flotillas.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16354
Israel’s Arab Helpers
PA ministry: Atarot not a settlement
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of National Economy responded to allegations that its minister’s office violated a total boycott of settlement goods on Tuesday by saying it did not describe the Atarot Industrial Area as an illegal Israeli settlement. Initially unavailable for comment when the report surfaced, Abdul Hafiz Nofal, the ministry’s undersecretary, told Ma’an Radio that while the Israeli-built industrial area falls east of the Green Line in Jerusalem, it is not considered a settlement because of several Palestinian investments.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=327676
Hamas: PA detains 3 supporters in West Bank
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas accused the Palestinian Authority’s security services of detaining three party supporters across the West Bank, a statement issued Tuesday read. Hamas said PA forces detained the three in Salfit and Nablus in the northern West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=327608
Political Developments
Abbas renews threat to pursue UN recognition of Palestinian state
The Palestinian president said Monday that Israel has been taking unilateral steps for decades by building settlements, so the Palestinians might take one of their own – asking the UN to recognize their independent state.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=120794
Hamas to PA: End negotiations, now and forever
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas demanded on Monday that the Palestinian Authority cease negotiations with Israel. “The PA should stop negotiations now and forever. Israel does whatever it wants without a thought to Palestinian rights,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement. “What is needed from the PA is a declaration of their withdrawal from negotiations and encouragement of resistance, which is the only means through which Palestinian will regain their rights.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=327518
Other News
Report: Turkish intelligence severed relations with the Mossad
Turkish newspaper reports agencies stopped exchanging intelligence and conducting joint operations following Turkish government decision.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/report-turkish-intelligence-severed-relations-with-the-mossad-1.321167?localLinksEnabled=false
Palestinians thank Saudi for 100 million dollars in aid (AFP)
AFP – The Western-backed Palestinian Authority on Monday thanked Saudi Arabia for providing more than 100 million dollars (72 million euros) in aid.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101025/wl_mideast_afp/palestiniansaidsaudi
Pentagon in charge of aid to Israel?
Republicans considering transferring Israeli security aid budget from State Department to Pentagon, in order to ensure it continues while enabling them to stop money flow to other countries.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3974773,00.html
Israel’s best diplomatic option is accepting Arab peace initiative, study finds, Akiva Eldar
Study led by Herzliya’s Interdisciplinary Center Dean says accepting initiative would improve Israel’s security and economic situation.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/israel-s-best-diplomatic-option-is-accepting-arab-peace-initiative-study-finds-1.321185?localLinksEnabled=false
CPI: Israel among OECD’s most corrupted
Corruption Perceptions Index ranks Israel 22 of 33 most corrupt nations among OECD members, 30th overall. Denmark hailed as world’s least corrupt, Somalia ranked last.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3975114,00.html
Yitzhak Rabin memorial ceremony won’t be aired on major TV networks
The ceremony, which is planned to take place in Tel Aviv on Saturday night at 8 P.M. will be broadcast live on Channel 8 on cable network HOT.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/yitzhak-rabin-memorial-ceremony-won-t-be-aired-on-major-tv-networks-1.321125?localLinksEnabled=false
Hamas warns officials: Israel may booby-trap new cars
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Hamas-led government in Gaza has warned officials and leaders of Palestinian factions to avoid buying the new cars that have been entering the Strip over the month, according to media reports late Monday. “A note has been circulated to all concerned parties, warning them of the new cars the Israeli occupation has allowed in Gaza before they undergo special tests by security services,” a Gaza security source said according to one report.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=327589
Culture
Uncovering the Ancient Crafts of Nablus, Palestine Monitor
The Old City of Nablus is one of the oldest cities in the world. Founded by Romans nearly 2,000 years ago, the city has survived Byzantine, Crusader, Islamic, and Ottoman rule. Now under Israeli occupation, the Old City of Nablus remains a charming and well-preserved cultural experience.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1584
Egyptian song and dance lift Gaza weddings
Samara is the name of a new Palestinian-Egyptian dance troupe that has started a craze in the Gaza Strip. Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11586.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Abbas Visits the Restoration Works of the Nativity Church
On Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited the site of restorations being carried out on the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59743
Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest
Above the Law: Israeli Settlements & the End of the Two-State Solution, Osamah Khalil
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision not to renew the settlement “freeze” has left the Obama administration scrambling to save the negotiations from collapse.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/osamah-khalil/above-the-law-israeli-set_b_763032.html
Cut, cut, cut the budget (just don’t touch Israel), Alex Kane
If the GOP’s electoral wins next week are enough to take over Congress, one thing they’ve pledged to do is “stop out-of-control spending,” as their “Pledge to America” policy blueprint says. But don’t even think about touching the over $3 billion in annual aid the United States gives to Israel.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/cut-cut-cut-the-budget-just-don%e2%80%99t-touch-israel.html
Tissue, Skin, Bone and Organ Harvesting at Israel’s National Forensic Institute/Body Parts and Bio-Piracy, NANCY SCHEPER-HUGHES
Editorial Note: Nancy Scheper-Hughes is professor of anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, where she directs the doctoral program in medicine and society. Since 1996, she has been involved in active field research on the global traffic in human organs, following the movement of bodies, body parts, transplant doctors, their patients, brokers, and kidney sellers, and the practices of organ and tissue harvesting in several countries – from Brazil, Argentina, and Cuba, to Moldova, Israel and Turkey, to India, South Africa, and the United States. She is a co-founder of Organs Watch, an independent, medical human rights, research and documentation center at UC Berkeley.
http://www.counterpunch.com/hughes10252010.html
David Frum’s world is scary, Philip Weiss
He and his wife got off an Air France flight out of Paris in 2004, she relates, because they saw two guys who “looked… to be of Arab descent” and who “elaborately” prayed to Mecca in the departure hall.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/david-frums-world-is-scary.html
Nahla Assali and the assault on Palestinian dignity, Philip Weiss
The most meaningful phrases in the Goldstone report are the statements that Israel conducted an assault on Palestinian dignity in Gaza, and that the dignity of Palestinians is being eroded throughout the occupied territories. Now that I have toured Palestine extensively, I know these words are true. The Israelis have assaulted Palestinian dignity for more than 60 years. The assault is racially-based, and it disfigures Jewish life for all the world to see. And still it goes on.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/nahla-assali-and-the-assault-on-palestinian-dignity.html
Doron Spielman Doron Spielman, Philip Weiss
A number of friends have pointed out a slightly-unsettling-in-a-way-you-can’t-put-your-finger-on-it aspect of the 60 Minutes piece last Sunday night on occupied East Jerusalem: the affable spokesman for the religious occupiers, with an American accent, is one Doron Spielman. And Doron Spielman is also featured in the documentary Budrus, as a spokesman for the Israeli government as it builds its wall on Palestinian lands. The same guy, a few years earlier.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/doron-spielman-doron-spielman.html
New Scandal Rocks Zionist Federation, Iqbal Jassat – Pretoria
The latest scandal to hit a self-confessed pro-Israeli organization in South Africa, the SA Zionist Federation, [SAZF] is likely to invigorate the ‘Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions’ [BDS] campaign against Israel and its affiliates. This remarkable turn of events involves a Johannesburg-based bag manufacturing company, Saley’s Travel Goods, who refused to supply the SAZF with goods on the grounds that it did not want to “aid and abet” organizations responsible for “crimes against humanity”. The SAZF, known for its links to apartheid Israel, has in the recent past been embroiled in a number of headline grabbing controversies surrounding its defense of Israeli war crimes.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16356
The Organization That Cries Wolf, Josh Ruebner, National Advocacy Director, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
My late grandfather was a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp. Many other members of my extended family were not so fortunate and perished in the Holocaust. Organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), established in 1913, were designed to fight against this scourge of anti-Semitism in particular, and racism in general. However, sadly, the ADL has long since strayed from its original core mission “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.”
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/organization-that-cries-wolf.html
‘The Burning Truth of White Phosphorus’: Responding to the ADL’s ‘Anti-Israel’ List, Alex Kane
Among the groups on the Anti-Defamation League’s list of the “top ten anti-Israel groups in America” was Students for Justice in Palestine, a nationwide group of organizations on a variety of college campuses working on Palestine solidarity in universities. SJP chapters have been instrumental in moving the cause of Palestinian justice and the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement forward in the United States. At Hampshire College, the SJP chapter successfully pressured the college’s board of trustees to divest from holdings it had in companies that profit from the Israeli occupation, a first in the United States. Last academic year at the University of California, Berkeley, the SJP chapter there attracted international attention for its groundbreaking effort to push their college to divest from companies complicit in the Israeli occupation, although their initiative was ultimately felled by a veto from the president of the student government.
http://alexbkane.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/the-burning-truth-of-white-phosphorus-responding-to-the-adls-anti-israel-list
“You’re Not Alone”, KATHY KELLY
A week ago, at the small guest house where friends and I stayed while visiting Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers (AYPV) in Bamiyan, eight of us huddled around one cell phone to participate in a conference call organized by Fellowship of Reconciliation members in the United States. The call was part of an ongoing effort to foster a connection between the AYPV and volunteers at the Rachel Corrie Center in Gaza. The Gazan center was started by Cindy and Craig Corrie, whose daughter, Rachel, had tried to stop an Israeli bulldozer driver from destroying the home of a Gazan family that had befriended her. The bulldozer driver crushed her to death.
http://www.counterpunch.com/kelly10252010.html
Karma Nabulsi on the Palestinian revolution, Max Ajl
Karma Nabulsi is an academic at Oxford, and used to be a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization. She is giving the 13th Eqbal Ahmad lecture a week from Thursday at Hampshire with Amira Hass (if you’re in the area, go). She is also, as far as I know, the first Palestinian voice to appear in the London Review since Edward Said died. By turns, I found the essay below intriguing, bewildering, mesmerizing, rending. It is rare to read a writer being so blunt and so beautiful about the reality that faces her people: “The Palestinians are stuck fast in historical amber…No one cares any longer for talk of liberation.” The common parlance is talk of managed capitalism and global social democracy. The left speaks too much about withdrawal into the interstices of capitalist domination. Anti-colonial struggles and Bandung and the Idea of the Third World are antiquities when every settler-colonial state has been restructured or overthrown, and the people bizarrely speak of the end of apartheid in South Africa as a model for Palestine. Nabulsi will have none of it: “Palestinians remain stubbornly – one could almost say, willfully – in the anti-colonial, revolutionary phase of their history.” She also identifies the how and why of solidarity efforts very clearly: “Palestinian civil society organizations have channeled” the mounting rage at Israeli human rights violations “into a vivid and well-organized campaign of solidarity through boycotts, divestment and sanctions.” And she identifies the process of how revolutions proceed, where they come from, how burning underbrush suddenly becomes conflagration. Read it.
http://www.maxajl.com/?p=4333&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+http%2Fwwwmaxajlcom%2Ffeedrss2+%28Jewbonics%29
Morbid Theater: Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israel, George Polley
Admittedly, I am a relative newcomer to this discussion, which is not the same thing as saying that I am an ignorant one, as one Israeli correspondent has implied, saying that I have ‘a huge anti-Israeli bias.’ If by that he means that I question the honesty and aims of Israel’s government in its reading of history and its dealings with its Palestinian neighbors and citizens, then I stand guilty as charged. I have followed this conflict and discussion about it for years. The difference between ‘then’ and ‘now’ is that I poke around and ask questions, such as.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16355
Palestinians Have the Right to Resist Occupation, Agustin Velloso
As a Western supporter (non Muslim/Arab) of the Palestinian cause, I have always find it rather difficult to talk (let alone to advocate) about how best Palestinians can resist occupation, especially when this occupation is usually extremely violent and genocidal at times. Ramzy Baroud’s self-restrained criticism of Western and some other willing peace teachers, has prompted me to introduce a different point of view, which probably is much more common amongst Westerners than the Palestinians themselves would believe, although the mainstream media, as it happens with many other issues, have successfully managed to keep under a lid.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16358
U.S. mediates talks between Abbas and sculpture of comatose Sharon
Following the recent unveiling of a life-size sculpture of incapacitated former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, ex-Sharon adviser Ra’anan Gissin registered his opposition to artist Noam Braslavsky’s rendering of the politic0-military figure, saying that he did not care to remember Sharon in his current vegetative state but rather in his proper incarnation, when he was “always active, always doing something for better or for worse”. Had Braslavsky been more considerate, he might thus have alluded to Sharon’s for-better-or-worse activity by installing his piece not at a Tel Aviv art gallery but rather at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem or the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut.
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/10/25/u-s-mediates-talks-between-abbas-and-sculpture-of-comatose-sharon/
And the real enemy is …, Lamis Andoni
The US will continue to fail to convince Arabs that Iran, not Israel, poses the greatest threat to regional stability. No sooner had Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, left Beirut last week, than Jeffrey Feltman, the US secretary of state for Near East affairs, arrived in the Lebanese capital. Washington wasted no time in seeking to counter what it views as Iran’s growing influence across the Arab world and Ahmadinejad’s message of resistance to Israel. But it is precisely that message that has so far foiled the US’ relentless efforts to form a regional security pact to isolate and confront Tehran. Washington has failed – and will continue to fail – to convince Arabs that Iran, not Israel, is the real enemy.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2010/10/20101025795996281.html
One good reason Iranians might hate us, James North
The Central Intelligence Agency used to be proud of its role in the 1953 coup in Iran, in which the democratically-elected nationalist leader, Mohammad Mossadeq, was overthrown, and the repressive Shah restored to power. Especially back in the 1950s and ‘60s, CIA officials oozed with smug self-satisfaction as they leaked accounts of their derring-do to sympathetic journalists.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/one-good-reason-iranians-might-hate-us.html
Lebanon
Cluster-bomb fragments kill mine clearer in south Lebanon
BEIRUT: One mine clearer was killed and several others wounded Monday when cluster bomb fragments exploded amid removal work in south Lebanon.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=120804#axzz13QJzRMjv
U.S. to continue its support to Lebanese army: officer
BEIRUT, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) — A high-ranking U.S. officer said Monday that the Obama Administration was still committed to supporting Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), following a hold of the support by the Congress. According to a news release by the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon, visiting U.S. Air Force Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Lieutenant General Mike Hostage told LAF commander General Jean Kahwaji on Monday that U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration is committed to working with the U.S. Congress to continue Washington’s support for LAF.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/26/c_13574911.htm
SLA Traitor: ‘State of Israel turned its back on me’
South Lebanon Army veteran Fuaz Najim’s money ran out after he and his wife fell ill, leaving him effectively homeless. ‘I never asked for favors, only what I deserved,’ he says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3974867,00.html
Iraq
Monday: 1 Iraqi Killed, 12 Wounded
A second day of what appears to be underreporting of attacks saw casualties only in the capital. At least one Iraqi was killed and 12 others were wounded in Baghdad. Also, Iraq has asked for international help in removing an estimated 20 million landmines left after decades of war.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/10/25/monday-1-iraqi-killed-12-wounded-2/
Saddam Hussein Confidant Sentenced To Death
Iraqi state TV says former Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz has been sentenced to death for persecuting Shiite political parties during Saddam Hussein’s regime.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130826969&ft=1&f=1010
Iraq asks for help to clear landmines
BAGHDAD — Iraq called for international help on Monday to clear the estimated 20 million mines which pose a death threat in one of the world’s most heavily mined countries after three decades of conflict. “Removing mines from Iraq is difficult because there are no maps to indicate the mined areas,” Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said at a government-organised landmines conference in Baghdad.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/VVOS-8AKPHE?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
’Child cancer skyrocketing in Iraqi city’
A suspected source of the afflictions is the depleted uranium (DU) used by the invading forces. It is reported that the United States and Britain used up to 2,000 tons of DU during the Iraq war.
http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=132800
Report: Iraq, Afghanistan among most corrupt (AP)
AP – An international watchdog group says Afghanistan remains the world’s second most corrupt country, and Iraq is not far behind.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101026/ap_on_re_eu/eu_corruption_index
New Iraqi alignment reveals US failure
New information about the killing of five American soldiers in 2007, and a political accommodation between Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, reveal a convergence of Shi’ite interests in Iraq. This balance of power leaves the United States the odd man out. – Gareth Porter
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LJ27Ak01.html
Wikileaks
Investigate: Iraq War Logs 2004 – 2009
http://www.spiegel.de/flash/0,,24236,00.html
Wikileaks, new US report fuel controversy about Iraq’s PM
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, under scrutiny for torture implications in the Wikileaks Iraq dump, raised US concerns after he moved to put Iraqi Special Forces under his control.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/AofM69dJIUo/Wikileaks-new-US-report-fuel-controversy-about-Iraq-s-PM
Israeli parallel universe: Israel MK wants UN investigation into alleged Iraq war crimes
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — In a letter to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, an Israeli Knesset member, Michael Ben Ari, calls for an investigation of those responsible for alleged war crimes in Iraq. The National Union MK filed an official complaint asking that leaders from the US and those responsible for “the occupation, genocide and war crimes in Iraq [be held] accountable.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=327534
Iraq war logs: How civilians have paid heaviest price
Leaked military files analysed by the Guardian reveal secret US tally of Iraqi deaths.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/oct/22/iraq-war-logs
Iraq war logs: Apache helicopters kill 14 civilians in hunt for insurgents
US Apache helicopters killed at least 14 unarmed civilians in a series of previously unreported “gun runs” in eastern Baghdad only four days after the notorious killing of two journalists and 10 other civilians that was captured on a leaked cockpit video released in April.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/22/apache-helicopters-kill-iraqi-civilians
Iraq war logs: Secret order that let US ignore abuse
Mistreatment of helpless prisoners by Iraqi security forces included beatings, burning, electrocution and rape.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/22/iraq-detainee-abuse-torture-saddam
Faceless Woman in Endless War
The WikiLeaks papers do a valuable job of shedding light on the sexual violence of the Iraq War, among other things. There are reports in the archive of attacks or attempted attacks in which the perpetrators are members of the Iraqi police and the Iraqi Army (including one in which the victim was an American servicewoman, who “broke loose” and got help), Iraqi special forces, insurgents, Al Qaeda in Iraq, Shiite militia members, a commander in the Sunni Sons of Iraq, common criminals, gangs, hijackers, and “well known persons.” There are also references to demonstrations to protest the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl by an American soldier. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2010/10/faceless-woman-in-endless-war.html#ixzz13OcJeXJM
Gulf states urge Wikileaks probe
The Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) urges the US to investigate alleged “crimes against humanity” in Iraq after Wikileaks publishes scores of war logs.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-11620667
The Secret Iraq Files – Part two
We are getting an insight into the rise of al-Qaeda in Iraq – who pays for it and does it get its money? We will also reveal details about Iran’s secret war inside Iraq, and America’s massive use of air power – is it as pecise as they claim?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QMQKcVCJxs&feature=youtube_gdata
Why I like Wikileaks, Stephen M. Walt
George Orwell once wrote: “In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” I thought of that line as I tried to sort through my reaction to the latest set of releases by Wikileaks, consisting primarily of detailed action reports from Iraq. My question is: are we better off having an organization exploiting the viral potential of the internet in order to make public information that government officials would prefer to keep secret?
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/10/25/is_wikileaks_a_good_thing_or_not
Echoes of El Salvador in US-Approved Death Squads, PATRICK COCKBURN
The Iraqi documents released by Wikileaks produce significantly more detail on US actions in the war in Iraq. The Pentagon will huff and puff with rage as it did over the Wikileaks release of US military documents about Afghanistan, when it took the contradictory position that there was little new in what has been leaked, but important sources of intelligence had somehow still been compromised.
http://www.counterpunch.com/patrick10252010.html
Fox News editorial: WikiLeaks employees should be declared ‘enemy combatants’
Leading the attack on whistleblower web site WikiLeaks, Fox News editorialist and former Bush-era US State Department official Christian Whiton said on Monday that the US should classify the proprietors of WikiLeaks as “enemy combatants,” opening up the possibility of “non-judicial actions” against them. “So far, the Obama administration appears to have been asleep at the wheel in responding to this,” he wrote for FoxNews.com on Monday. “The same is true of the Democratic-controlled Congress, which has no fewer than ten committees of jurisdiction that could be doing something about this—but which are not.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/fox-news-editorial-wikileaks-employees-declared-enemy-combatants/
U.S. and other world news
US Seeks Wider CIA Role in Pakistan
The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday the U.S. has asked Pakistan in recent weeks to allow more CIA officers and special operations military trainers into the country to participate in Washington’s efforts step up pressure on militants.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/WSJ-US-Seeks-Wider-CIA-Role-in-Pakistan-105591273.html
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Urges US to Respect Pakistan’s Borders
Defense Minister Ahmad Mukhtar called on Washington to order the US troops to avoid violating Pakistan’s borders and show respect for the Muslim state’s sovereignty.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8908020964
US airstrike kills 50 Afghan civilians
At least 50 civilians, mostly women and children, have been killed in a US airstrike in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, the Taliban have announced.
http://www.abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&id=210440
25 killed in Nato air strike in Afghanistan, official claims
Fazal Bari, the head of Helmand’s provincial council, said local officials had told him that 25 people had been killed but that the casualty figures could rise because many bodies were still buried in the rubble.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/8085360/25-killed-in-Nato-air-strike-in-Afghanistan-official-claims.html
US-led strike kills four Afghan civilians
Local witnesses say at least four people, including an Afghan child, were killed in the US-led airstrike in the central province of Wardak.
http://bit.ly/cCfcM1
Two Afghan students killed by NATO occupation troops
Afghan officials accused NATO-led troops of killing two schoolboys in central Afghanistan on Saturday after a patrol came under fire by Taliban insurgents, but foreign troops said the circumstances were unclear.
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/24-Oct-2010/Two-Afghan-students-killed-by-NATO-troops
Afghans hold anti-US rally
Afghan people have staged an anti-US rally after American troops killed two students and injured another one in Maidan Wardak province in central Afghanistan.
http://www.military-world.net/Afghanistan/4348.html
Journalists banned from major Afghan offensive
The Pentagon brass knows that they need to conceal the deaths of innocent Afghan civilians and American GIs to bolster popular support for the war. They knew that this operation would involve especially large numbers of both and decided that they could not take the risk.
http://michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/journalists-banned-major-afghan-offensive
Holbrooke: No ‘pure’ Afghan victory
Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, is downplaying news reports of American “peace talks” with Taliban leaders, but he acknowledges that a “pure military victory” in Afghanistan “is not possible.”
http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/1010/Holbrooke_Pure_military_victory.html
Guantanamo inmate pleads guilty
Canadian Omar Khadr admits to throwing grenade that killed US soldier in Afghanistan when he was 15 years old.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/10/20101025142318598641.html
Amnesty International: USA must address Omar Khadr rights violations following plea deal
US authorities urged to address human rights violations committed against Canadian national in spite of him pleading guilty to the charges against him at a Guantánamo military commission. Amnesty International today called on the US authorities to address any human rights violations committed against Canadian national Omar Khadr, in spite of him pleading guilty to the charges against him at a military commission at the Guantánamo Bay detention centre.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/usa-must-address-omar-khadr-rights-violations-following-plea-deal-2010-10-25
Human Rights Watch: Morocco: “Stop Looking for Your Son”
This report documents a pattern of abuse under Morocco’s counterterrorism law, which was adopted 12 days after coordinated suicide bombings in Casablanca on May 16, 2003, took 45 lives. Many of these abuses violate the progressive legislation Morocco adopted to safeguard against torture and illegal detention, as well as international conventions that Morocco has signed.
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/10/25/morocco-stop-looking-your-son-0
Inside Story – Bahrain elections: Rising tensions
As the Gulf state’s Shia opposition won the parliamentary elections, what does the victory mean for sectarian issues and the country’s stability?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7KRvVnXv-Y&feature=youtube_gdata
www.TheHeadlines.org
