and other news from Today in Palestine
Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
Abbas pressures U.S. to aid in stopping Israel settlement building
The Palestinian president says Israel is ‘still putting obstacles’ in the path of peace talks, singles out West Bank settlement building.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/abbas-pressures-u-s-to-aid-in-stopping-israel-settlement-building-1.319096?localLinksEnabled=false
Settlers Attack Olive Groves in Jub al-Theeb, East of Bethlehem
Bethlehem – PNN – Israeli settlers with the protection and support of soldiers destroyed olive groves in a farm in Jub al-Theeb, east of Bethlehem, on Wednesday morning. Image After being stopped by a group of international solidarity workers, one settler took revenge on Thursday morning by attacking a herd of sheep. Mubarak Zowahera, of Jub al-Theeb, told PNN this morning that the group of settlers came to cut down his olive trees near the Israeli settlement of Zibar. A group of international solidarity activists came later to survey the damage to his fields. Then early Thursday morning, one settler attacked a herd of sheep in Zowahera’s olive grove, which had been “cut down and vandalized” the day before. This action is believed to be in response to the solidarity activists stopping the settlers’ assault. Zowahera told PNN he was working to expose the occupation policies by taking pictures of what happened and presenting them to the Israeli human rights group B’tselem.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8903&Itemid=64
In photos: Settlers disrupt Burin olive harvest
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=323640
Settlers Harvest Palestinian Olives, Destroy Trees
Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported that Jewish settlers in the northern part of the occupied West Bank are avoiding attempts by the Israeli army to stop them from harvesting and destroying Palestinian orchards, by sneaking under the cover of darkness into the lands and harvesting them before the Israeli army arrives.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59613
Israel to demolish 22 Palestinian homes in J’lem to build park
The Israeli municipal council in occupied Jerusalem approved a plan to build a new Jewish park in place of 22 Palestinian homes to be demolished in Al-Bustan neighborhood.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6
Israel to confiscate 1000 dunams in West Bank
RAMALLAH: Israeli authorities on Wednesday decided to confiscate a large area of agricultural lands near the West Bank city of Nablus, a Palestinian official said. Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian Authority official monitoring settlers’ activity in the northern West Bank, said that Israeli occupation authorities issued a military order to confiscate some 1,000 dunams (100 hectares) belonging to Palestinian farmers from the village of Jaloud, to the southeast of Nablus. Daghlas added that the order was signed by the commander of Israeli Army in West Bank.
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article160375.ece
Jerusalem mayor calls for new east Jerusalem plans
JERUSALEM — Jerusalem’s mayor on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve a major rezoning plan for Arab east Jerusalem, a move that could fuel tensions in the flashpoint Holy City. Nir Barkat said the project would legalise thousands of buildings in annexed east Jerusalem that Arab residents built without Israeli municipal permission. “Barkat called on the prime minister and his government to adopt the municipality’s new re-zoning plans for Jerusalem’s eastern neighbourhoods and reiterated his demand to halt demolition orders throughout areas under re-zoning,” Barkat’s office said in a statement. However, at the heart of the plan is a new an archaeological park in a crumbling Arab neighbourhood just outside the walls of the Old City which has drawn widespread condemnation from Palestinians and the international community.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gtTipq7d9fwPrx6euw-nZM42c3mQ?docId=CNG.9dd1a1176881e712993720a765eec626.991
Zionist Parallel Universe: Jerusalem municipality turned blind eye to illegal building in Silwan
State comptroller’s report finds that the Jerusalem municipality has been lax in enforcing building codes and reining in illegal construction in Silwan.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/jerusalem-municipality-turned-blind-eye-to-illegal-building-in-silwan-1.318953?localLinksEnabled=false
Zionist Parallel Universe: Illegal Arab construction ignored
Damning state comptroller’s report slams ongoing increase in number of illegal structures throughout east Jerusalem; since 2000, some 1,000 such homes are being constructed annually, report says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3969064,00.html
Secret Israeli Drill Simulates Riots by Arab Citizens, The Transfer Scenario, JONATHAN COOK
Israel secretly staged a training exercise last week to test its ability to quell any civil unrest that might result from a peace deal with the Palestinian Authority requiring the forcible transfer of many Arab citizens, the Israeli media has reported. The drill was intended to evaluate the readiness of the civil defence units, police, army and prison service to contain large-scale riots by Israel’s Arab minority in response to such a deal.
http://www.counterpunch.com/cook10142010.html
Israeli security makes preparations to deport 1948 Palestinians
Israeli Internal Security Minister said security forces are gearing for all potential scenarios if a decision is passed to deport all Palestinians from 1948 occupied lands into the West Bank.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xy
Bishops Warn About the Flight of Christians from the Middle East
Bishops meetings with a Vatican synod to discuss the immigration of Christians from the Middle East have blamed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for spurring the exodus.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59618
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions & Divestment
Nabi Saleh Protester Jamal Yassin to Remain in Jail Despite Lack of Evidence, Joseph Dana
Jamal Sameeh Yassin from the village of Beit Rimma was arrested more than three months ago in connection with Nabi Saleh demonstrations. He remains in jail without any evidence being presented in his trial to date. Yassin was arrested from his home on July 13th, 2010, during a military night raid on the village of Beit Rimma, north west of Ramallah. He was arrested on charges of stone-throwing during a demonstration against illegal settlement expansion into Palestinian lands in the village of Nabi Saleh.
http://josephdana.com/2010/10/nabi-saleh-protester-jamal-yassin-to-remain-in-jail-despite-lack-of-evidence/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nabi-saleh-protester-jamal-yassin-to-remain-in-jail-despite-lack-of-evidence
10 Oct. ’10: Dark shadow hangs over conviction of Bil’in anti-barrier protest leader
Abdallah Abu Rahma, to be sentenced tomorrow, was convicted based on questionable testimonies by minors. Tomorrow, the Ofer military court will pronounce the sentence of Abdallah Abu Rahma, a prominent activist in the struggle against the Separation Barrier in the West Bank village of Bil’in. Abu Rahma, who has been under arrest since December 2009, was convicted of inciting demonstrators to throw stones and of organizing and participating in an illegal demonstration, according to Military Order 101 of 1967 that the army recently reinstated. Abu Rahma was acquitted of the charges of stone throwing and possession of arms. The latter charge pertained to used tear gas canisters that Abu Rahma kept in his home to illustrate the measures employed by the army against demonstrators
http://www.btselem.org/English/Press_Releases/20101010.asp
The legacy of Abdullah Abu Rahmeh and other human rights defenders
Oct 13, 2010– The Occupation has increased its violent and systematic campaign against the popular resistance and the grassroots activists, using several brutal methods which attempt to stop their actions.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2378.shtml
Egypt grants passage to Gaza convoy
Viva Palestina aid convoy has been given the green light to sail to the port of Al-Arish and cross the border into Gaza.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/10/20101013203915141175.html
Lifeline organizers: We will sail to Arish next Friday
Organizers of the lifeline 5 aid convoy to the Gaza Strip would not stay for long in the Syrian port of Latakia and would set sail to Al-Arish in Egypt next Friday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q
President Obama: Negotiate on the Basis of Human Rights, International Law, and UN Resolutions
The Obama Administration reconvened under its auspices direct Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations on September 2. However, the United States is not insisting on any terms of references for the negotiations, meaning that they are likely to result in similar failed negotiating efforts. Sign the petition below to President Obama letting him know that for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to be successful, they must be based on human rights, international law, and UN resolutions.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/641/action/negotiations
Join the Anti-Apartheid Media Marathon to help put a stop to illegal practices of the Occupation
Oct 14, 2010– To mark this year’s Week against the Apartheid Wall from 9 – 16 November, Palestinian and international activists will again mobilize in the streets and organize a series of events across the globe. This mobilization on the ground will be complemented by a fast paced 48 hour media marathon on 12 and 13 November. We call on media to join 48 hours non-stop coverage!
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2380.shtml
London’s Jazza Sings in Tune with Palestine, Mamoon Alabbasi – London
London’s ‘Jazza Music Festival’ kicked off Tuesday with a number of artists performing free of charge to help raise aid for the occupied Palestinian territories and highlight their plight. The event offered a mix of music genres that crossed both cultural as well as generational divides, where a diverse audience enjoyed tunes from classic Arabic oud to a touch of contemporary Palestinian hip-hop passing through styles of jazz and into a melodic portrait of England’s north east.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16335
#BDS: Green Party Candidates Urge Divestment from Israel
October 13, 2010 — Julia Willebrand, Green Party candidate for NY State Comptroller, said that if elected, she will use her position to divest the Common Retirement Fund from Israel until such time as the government of Israel complies with international law and the human rights of Palestinians.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/10/bds-green-party-candidates-urge.html
#BDS: An Open Letter to Boycott Opponents from Olympia BDS
As community members and peace activists, we are proud that the Olympia Food Co-op has joined a rapidly growing global movement for social justice in a conflict for which we are all complicit. It is an honor to stand with Desmond Tutu and with prominent Palestinian and Israeli activists who are risking their lives to create a just peace.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/10/bds-open-letter-to-boycott-opponents.html
Siege (Gaza & West Bank)/Rights Violations/Restriction of Movement
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (07– 13 October 2010)
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/JALR-8A8G5X?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Israel’s denial of family reunification increases Palestinians’ suffering
GAZA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) — Having been separated for 17 years from her twin sister, Hayam Shamalakh who was only 19 when she settled in Gaza after the Oslo peace accords were signed in 1993 has been appealing to the Israeli government for family unification permits. Hayam managed to study physiotherapy in Gaza and always hoped to visit her twin sister Amany who had moved from Egypt to Denmark. Her family, living in Diaspora since 1967, came to Gaza in 1993 and decided to illegally stay here without having Palestinian ID cards.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/13/c_13556187.htm
Violence (past and present)
Israeli Settlers Attempt to Abduct a Child in Hebron
Palestinian security sources reported to Palestine News Agency, WAFA, that a group of Israeli settlers in Hebron, on Wendesday night, attempted to abduct a child.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59631
3 beaten, 1 detained in Hebron
Oct 14, 2010– HEBRON (Ma’an) — A Palestinian security source said three Palestinians were beaten by Israeli forces overnight Monday in the At-Tuwani village in the southern Hebron district.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2379.shtml
Teen injured by Israeli fire near Gaza border
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Thursday shot at a Gaza teenager collecting rubble near the Strip’s border with Israel, medics said. Yahia Mahmud Az-Za’aneen, from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, was transferred to the Kamal Odwan Hospital with moderate injuries to his right leg. Medics said he was collecting aggregates near the Erez crossing.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=324074
Ten years later, no justice for October 2000 killings
Ten years since 13 Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed by the Israeli police force during nonviolent demonstrations at the outset of the second Palestinian intifada, Palestinians in Israel fear the worst is yet to come. Jillian Kestler-D’Amours reports for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11567.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Detainees
Military court reverses minor’s release
An Israeli military court reversed Wednesday a ruling granting the release of a 12-year-old last week, keeping him in detention until legal procedures are complete, his lawyer said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=323693
Israeli Army Detains Journalists Helping with Harvest
Israeli army detained, on Thursday afternoon, a number of journalists who participated as volunteers in harvesrting olives. Their work was organized by the Palestine Mininstry of Information in Kafir Kadom, near Qalqilia.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59632
Israeli forces detain journalists in Nablus
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Thursday detained a group of journalists and government employees who were helping to harvest olives in a Nablus village, a Palestinian Authority ministry said. The PA Information Ministry organized a volunteering day for approximately 40 journalists and 20 ministry employees to help villagers in Kafr Qaddum pick olives. A ministry statement said Israeli forces surrounded the volunteers and threatened to shoot them if they moved.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=324087
Israeli Troops Arrest 16 Palestinians During Overnight And Morning Invasions
Bethlehem – PNN – Sixteen Palestinian civilians were arrested by Israeli soldiers during overnight and morning invasions in West Bank communities in Thursday. 65-year-old Palestinian farmer, As’ad Mishaqi, was arrested by Israeli troops while he was working on his land in Al Jadedah village near Jenin in the northern West Bank. Troops also searched and ransacked homes in three nearby villages on Thursday morning. Also this morning Israeli soldiers invaded the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem and searched homes in Duheisha refugee camp. Israeli forces also invaded the city of Tubas and nearby villages, arresting two men before leaving. In all, troops arrested 13 civilians during the overnight raids and 12 civilians in the morning.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8899&Itemid=64
Protest in Bethlehem to stand by detainees
Demonstrators held a sit-in Thursday in front of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem to protest the torture of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, organized by the local detainees’ center., Head of the center Abdul Fattah Khalil welcomed supporters who joined the sit-in, and called for the release of all political prisoners.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=324030
Fatah
Poll: 45% Want Abbas to Dissolve PA Thursday, 14 October 2010 09:49
Ramallah – A public opinion poll conducted by the independent Palestinian news agency Sama showed that 45% of Palestinians believe that President Mahmoud Abbas should dissolve the Palestinian National Authority (PA) in response to Israel’s decision to continue settlement building in the occupied West Bank. 30% of the poll respondents want President Abbas to resign while 25% see that he should continue on as leader of the Palestinian Authority but boycott talks with Israel. Over 3400 have participated in the one-week survey.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/latest-news/129234-poll-45-want-abbas-to-dissolve-pa.html
PLO official’s recognition of Israel as Jewish state angers Palestinians
RAMALLAH, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) — Yasser Abed Rabbo, a Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) official’s Wednesday statement over the Palestinians’ readiness to recognize Israel as a Jewish state outraged the Palestinians. Abbed Rabbo was quoted by the Israeli Ha’artez Daily as saying that the Palestinians would be ready to recognize Israel as a Jewish state if Israel withdraw completely from the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, including east Jerusalem.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/14/c_13556201.htm
Gaza government demands Abed Rabbo’s resignation
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Gaza government called on Thursday for the immediate resignation of a PLO official who was quoted in the press as agreeing to a conditional recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo was quoted in the Israeli daily Haaretz as saying the PLO would recognize Israel “according to the formulation of the government within the hour” if Israel agreed to 1967 borders.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=324044
Hamas
IFJ condemns Hamas for attacks on press
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The International Federation of Journalists on Wednesday condemned Hamas’ Internal Security department, which closed down the office of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate in Gaza. In a statement, the IFJ accused Hamas of “inexcusable intrusion” in the internal affairs of Palestinian journalists.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=323846
West Bank firms encounter new Hamas laws in Gaza
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Palestinian firms in the West Bank say the Hamas group which governs the Gaza Strip is planning new business regulations that will deepen an economic and political chasm between the territories. In the last few months, West Bank-based firms have begun to rediscover the market in the Gaza Strip, home to a third of the Palestinian population, as Israel has eased restrictions on goods allowed into the territory.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE69C1JA.htm
Political Developments
Only smart thing they’ve done which they now deny doing…. Palestinian negotiator denies official request for border map of Israel
RAMALLAH, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) — Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath on Wednesday denied that the Palestinian leadership had officially requested from the United States and Israel a map that draws the borders of the state of Israel. Shaath, who is also a member of President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party central committee, told Xinhua that “it is not true that we made the request” in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s offer to extend the settlement freeze moratorium for recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. Earlier Israeli media reports quoted Yasser Abed Rabbo, the official in Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), as saying that he was officially authorized to apply to the U.S. and Israel and request a map for Israel.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/13/c_13556178.htm
Fatah: Netanyahu demand ‘new obstacle’ to talks
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Fatah described Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand that the Palestinian Authority recognize Israel as Jewish state for the extension of a moratorium on West Bank settlement construction as a “new obstacle in reviving negotiations,” on Monday. Party spokesman Ahmad Assaf said the condition “proves false claims by the Israeli government on the natural expansion of settlements, which it has used to resume settlement activity.” Assaf said he “if this is the price the Netanyahu government demands for a settlement freeze, then what will be the price for the removal of all settlements on Palestinian territories or the withdrawal from East Jerusalem?”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=323159
Fatah leader says peace process has failed
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Fatah Central Committee member Mahmoud Al-Aloul affirmed Wednesday that the Ramallah leadership has reached a conclusion that the political process based on two states has failed. Meeting with Fatah officials in Bethlehem, Al-Aloul said the Palestinian side had exerted all possible efforts to reach an agreement with Israel, but Israel’s “racist policies” have eliminated the possibility of reaching an agreement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=323869
PLO official: We reject Jewish state proposal
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A PLO official said Wednesday that the Ramallah-based body’s position toward recognizing Israel as a Jewish state is clear and not going to happen. Executive Committee member Wasel Abu Yusuf told Ma’an that such a move would undermine the Palestinian right of return. On Monday, Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu asked the Palestinian Authority to recognize Israel as a Jewish state in exchange for a settlement freeze extension, which was rejected.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=323908
Gaza minister: Army chief seeks more destructive war
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi’s threats to wage a “short and destructive” war on the Gaza Strip reflects his country’s intention to commit more “massacres” against Palestinians, the interior minister in Gaza said Wednesday. “Ashkenazi is threatening to wage a short coming war to claim more lives of our people,” Hammad said during a tour of schools west of Gaza City. He was accompanied by senior figures of the ministry including spokesman Ihab Al-Ghussein.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=323817
War Crimes
ICC urged to act over flotilla raid
Lawyers of the victims of Israeli raid on Gaza-bound aid flotilla present The Hague-based court evidence over incident.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/10/20101014125820963565.html
Arabs snub Turkel Committee hearing
Two Israeli Arabs slated to testify before panel probing flotilla raid fail to appear despite subpoena.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3969075,00.html
Human rights organizations to Turkel Commission: Defense of human rights is not political
Some of the committee members focused on the political aspects of the closure, however Gisha’s representative clarified that her testimony would concern the legality of the closure and its ramifications.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MMAH-8A84CW?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Other News
Finnish foreign minister pays unusual visit to Gaza
Finland’s Alexander Stubb paid a several-hour visit to Gaza Thursday, the first European foreign minister to do so via Israel in 22 months., Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency in the Far East (UNRWA), which hosted Stubb, told reporters he arrived from Israel and crossed into Gaza through the Israeli- controlled Erez crossing., Since Israel’s three-week war with Hamas in the winter of 2008- 2009, only selected officials – including EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon – have visited Gaza via Israel.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1591391.php/Finnish-foreign-minister-pays-unusual-visit-to-Gaza
Woman fighting ‘kosher’ bus lines harassed over the phone
Volunteer coordinator for movement campaigning against ‘haredi coercion’ in Jerusalem says cursed by people ‘with heavy Yiddish accent’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3969297,00.html
Culture
Mahmoud Darwish street inaugurated in Jericho
Washington – In honor of Jericho’s 10,000th anniversary, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad unveiled Mahmoud Darwish Street on Monday, Ma’an News Agency reported Wednesday.
http://palestinenote.com/blogs/theater/archive/2010/10/13/mahmoud-darwish-street-inaugurated-in-jericho.aspx
Book review: diary from pre-Nakba Palestine
A Young Palestinian’s Diary 1941-1945: The Life of Sami ‘Amr is an interesting departure from the growing number of Palestinian memoirs published in English. Asa Winstanley reviews for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11568.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
‘Budrus’ on Charlie Rose, and the Israel lobby on ‘the Good Wife’, Andrea Whitmore
I’ve taken to watching Charlie Rose online since it comes on too late here in Kansas City for me to stay awake, and I hate to miss it. Night before last (October 11), the same night that Andrew Sullivan appeared, Charlie also interviewed Brazilian filmmaker Julia Bacha and Jordan’s Queen Noor about the documentary Budrus. Rose opened the segment with a trailer for the film and asked entirely respectful questions. Julia Bacha made sure to say that people are always asking about the Palestinian Gandhi, so she answers that there have always been peaceful protests on the ground, but that the mainstream media gives “very little coverage of civil society and what Palestinians and Israelis are doing together” in the struggle for justice. It’s well worth watching. Queen Noor and filmmaker Bacha hope for wide exposure for Budrus following last Friday’s opening in New York. The interview is at http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11238
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/budurs-on-charlie-rose-and-the-israel-lobby-on-the-good-wife.html
Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest
Palestinians consider Mideast talks trump card: declaring statehood (The Christian Science Monitor)
The Christian Science Monitor – Could the Palestinians get the attention of the Israelis and the international communitys support by leapfrogging negotiations and simply declaring a state?
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20101013/ts_csm/331960
Groundwork Laid for Media Narrative of Failed Peace Talks: It’s the Palestinians’ Fault, Alex Kane
With direct “peace talks” between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government headed nowhere fast after the Netanyahu government let the so-called “settlement freeze” lapse, the groundwork for the media narrative on who to blame if the “peace talks” officially break off is being laid. Predictably, it will be, and already is, a narrative of Palestinian rejectionism versus Israeli generosity.
http://alexbkane.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/groundwork-laid-for-media-narrative-of-failed-peace-talks-its-the-palestinians-fault/
Palestine liberation recalls anti-apartheid tactics, responsibilities and controversies
On a full-day drive through the Jordan Valley late last month, we skirted the earth’s oldest city and the lowest inhabited point, 400 meters below sea level. For 10,000 years, people have lived along the river separating the present-day West Bank and Jordan. Since 1967 the river has been augmented by Palestinian blood, sweat and tears, ending in the Dead Sea, from which no water flows out, it only evaporates. Conditions degenerated during Israel’s land-grab, when from a peak of more than 300,000 people living on the west side of the river, displacements shoved Palestinian refugees across to Jordan and other parts of the West Bank. The valley has fewer than 60,000 Palestinians today.
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/10/13/palestine-liberation-recalls-anti-apartheid-tactics-responsibilities-and-controversies/
PA’s challenge to Israel: Set your borders, Ira Glunts
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has offered to recognize Israel “by whatever name it applies to itself in accordance with international law” in exchange for “a map of the borders of the state of Israel which they want us to recognize.” This according to senior Palestinian official,Yasser Abed Rabbo, in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP).
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/pas-challenge-to-israel-set-your-borders.html
Boston University’s Islamophobic Pro-Israeli Conference, Steve Lendman
A personal note. I grew up in Boston from the mid-1930s – mid-1950s through college. Then after military service and summer courses at BU, out-of-town grad school followed in the fall. It was a different time, good and bad. Eisenhower was still president. Unemployment was low. Anyone wanting work found it. Most years the economy grew during a post-WW II expansion. Inflation was low. The average new car cost $1,500, a typical home under $10,000. College was affordable. Harvard’s 1952 full year tuition was $600. Four years later it was $1,000 – for a full, two-semester year. During the period, anyone could attend evenings at $5 a course and get a Harvard degree for about $175, the way my mother did it, graduating with me in the same class, the first ever mother and son to do it.
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/10/boston-universitys-islamophobic-pro_13.html
Ali Abuninah: Let the Sun Shine In: Israel lobby tries to censor my appearance at University of New Mexico
It has come to my attention that the Jewish Federation of New Mexico and Hillel at the University of New Mexico are actively trying to censor my lecture at the University of New Mexico next month by writing to departments and professors who may co-sponsor it as they co-sponsor countless other educational events on campus. Below is a copy of a letter that has been sent to departments, signed by Sam Sokolove, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico and Sara Koplik, Director of Hillel at the University of New Mexico.
http://aliabunimah.posterous.com/let-the-sun-shine-in-israel-lobby-tries-to-ce
The Smell of Apartheid: Israel`s Citizenship Law
Yacov Ben Efrat – Challenge – In fact, behind this amendment there is a hidden message regarding a debate sparked some five years ago between representatives of the Arab population and the state. The conflict began when former Knesset member Azmi Bishara set up a party under the slogan “A state for all its citizens”, which opened the way for Arab parties and institutions to challenge the state and expose the structural contradiction in its self-definition as “Jewish and democratic.” This philosophical clash between the Arab minority and the state served to oil the wheels of Avigdor Lieberman, today Israel’s foreign minister, whose party won 15 seats in the last general elections with its slogan “No citizenship without loyalty.”
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=42783
Can you support the Palestinians when you live on their stolen land?, Joseph Glatzer
Every time I would tell my girlfriend (she’s Palestinian) about a famous Israeli activist or writer or she would ask why they still call themselves Israeli. She tells me things like, “See. They still call themselves Israeli. When they use that word they are automatically erasing Palestine.” I always used to argue with her over that and try to convince her that these Israelis are good people who genuinely care and want to do something. But, for the first time I think she’s right. If you are an Israeli, even if you disagree with your government’s treatment of the Palestinians, you’re still enjoying the sweet life of privilege. You’ll still be enjoying the privileges Palestinians aren’t able to even though it’s actually their land.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/can-you-support-the-palestinians-when-you-live-on-their-stolen-land.html
From Apartheid South Africa to Palestine, PATRICK BOND
On a full-day drive through the Jordan Valley late last month, we skirted the earth’s oldest city and the lowest inhabited point, 400 meters below sea level. For 10,000 years, people have lived along the river separating the present-day West Bank and Jordan. Since 1967 the river has been augmented by Palestinian blood, sweat and tears, ending in the Dead Sea, from which no water flows out, it only evaporates. Conditions degenerated during Israel’s land-grab, when from a peak of more than 300,000 people living on the west side of the river, displacements shoved Palestinian refugees across to Jordan and other parts of the West Bank. The valley has fewer than 60,000 Palestinians today.
http://www.counterpunch.com/bond10132010.html
A Close Look at the Pro-Israeli Lobbies inside Britain, Ershad Abubacker
The US is considered by many as the backbone of Israel and the mother of many evils in Middle East. With the presence of various pro-Israeli lobbies and pressure groups rallying around the corridors of power in Washington to press their case, they have been highly successful not only in setting the agenda in favour of Israel, but also makes sure that the Palestine voice is not heard. Many believe that this is a typical phenomenon in Washington and hence an internal issue of the United States. But the pro-Israeli lobbies are a decisive factor in most European countries and its influence is felt manifold in Britain.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16333
The Main Question that Israel Misses, George S. Hishmeh – Washington, D.C.
It is generally recognized that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), now a 100,000-member pro-Israeli lobbying group, has had an impressive record since the fifties in advocating pro-Israel policies mostly to Congress. But of late several key officials, all American Jews in sensitive government positions, have outpaced this lobbying group established in 1950.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16334
The Zionist System Shows its True Face, Michael Khaled for MIFTAH
Recent headlines and editorials have been sounding the alarm on a new Israeli policy requiring non-Jewish immigrants to Israel to swear allegiance to a “Jewish and democratic” state. Commentators and academics around the world are calling the just-approved measure fascist and some even compare it to racist laws in Europe that lead up to the Holocaust. Within Israel, “liberal” Zionists are calling this a turning point at which Israel begins an inexorable march away from democracy. Though it is surely the most blatantly racist and discriminatory policy to come out of the Knesset, it is far from the first. Yesterday I spent the afternoon wading through the bureaucratic labyrinth laid out by the Israeli Interior Ministry. Bouncing from office to office, building to building, on a strangely-hot October day, I had official after official tell me I was in the wrong place and I had to go talk to someone else. But the most foreboding aspect of the whole process was filling out the application itself before I arrived.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=22701&CategoryId=13
A Question for the British Foreign Secretary, Stuart Littlewood – London
‘Mr Hague, is it not your responsibility to keep seaways open?’ ‘The unbroken thread of Conservative Party support for Israel that has run for nearly a century from the Balfour Declaration to the present day will continue. Although it will no doubt often be tested in the years ahead, it will remain constant, unbroken, and undiminished by the passage of time.’ No prize for guessing which leading politician uttered these words.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16336
Judt’s beautiful bloody mind, Philip Weiss
Last night the family of Tony Judt held a memorial service at NYU for the historian, who died at 62 in August, and I got a sense of Judt’s spirit from the movie excerpts that his family had picked out to play: scenes of class humiliation and lawlessness from The Bicycle Thief and 400 Blows, and the heroic climactic anti-fascist endings of Casablanca and Grand Illusion. Judt grew up humbly and got a lot of pleasure from life. He knew the difference between fighting over ideas in print and his successful social relationships. Was the world-class intellectual visible in his youth at Cambridge? No, said his cousin and classmate Jonathan Goldberg, he was into music and girls, and let that give hope to the rest of us. The family also showed Orson Welles’s cuckoo clock speech from the Third Man, and the Sanity Clause scene from Night at the Opera, and two Charlie Chaplin bits. Judt seems to have prized stoical humor over almost any other response to ill fortune. When Goldberg asked if he was going to turn religious after his diagnosis with a dread disease, ALS, he said it was too late; if he was wrong about god, he wasn’t going to vex the creator further by adding hypocrisy to his list of offenses.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/judts-beautiful-bloody-mind.html
Other Analysis and Op-ed
Dear Feds: End the Al-Arian Travesty of Justice
One of the most Kafkaesque post-9/11 cases is still going on. A hearing this Friday could determine whether the latest stage of the government’s legal campaign against him be dismissed or end in re-trial. The federal government has Dr. Sami Al-Arian under house arrest currently, stemming from an embarrassing, failed prosecution based on terrorism charges.
http://www.kabobfest.com/2010/10/dear-feds-end-the-al-arian-travesty-of-justice.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kabobfest%2FGrillMe+%28KABOBfest%29
Arab League still struggles for credibility
Although the Arab League was formed in the aftermath of the League of Nations, its founding fathers vowed to avoid that world body’s mistakes. However, the weakness of Arab leaders in the face of conflicts in Kuwait, Palestine and Iraq and the failure to honor funding or political commitments suggest that unless the Arabs reform, their grouping faces an ignominious demise similar to that of the League of Nations. – Sami Moubayed (Oct 14, ’10)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LJ15Ak01.html
Lebanon
Nasrallah says Iran no threat to region
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah said Wednesday that Iran is not a threat to the Arab world. At an event honoring Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who arrived in Beirut Wednesday, Nasrallah insisted that Islam is a blessing and the Muslim world should “make use of it.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=323939
Report: Iranian president extends Lebanon visit
BEIRUT (Ma’an) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has extended his visit to Lebanon until Friday to meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the As-Safir newspaper reported Wednesday. As Safir’s report was not repeated in any other dailies in Lebanon, and the paper is known to be closely linked to Iran and Syria, the Lebanese news agency Ya Libnan reported. “A Lebanese-Iranian-Turkish meeting is expected to take place in Beirut to discuss the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s [pending] indictment,” As-Safir sources sources were quoted as saying.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=323666
Ahmadinejad arrives to fanfare of rose petals in Beirut’s southern suburbs
BEIRUT: President Ahmadinejad ascends the stage to the cheers of tens of thousands, a swell of noise shuddering off surrounding high rises. Every square inch of Dahiyeh’s dust-filled square is crammed with supporters.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=120356
Reports of Iranian and Aljazeera TV of Ahmadinejad trip to Lebanon : Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB6ge5esteA
Nasrallah to Ahmadinejad: ‘You are strong support for opposition’
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a recorded speech during a Hezbollah general assembly held in honor of the Iranian leader’s visit to Lebanon.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3969128,00.html
U.S. lawmakers: Lebanon’s embrace of Ahmadinejad may affect military aid
U.S. representatives renew opposition to transfer of $100 million in U.S. assistance to Lebanon in wake of visit by Iran President, Lebanese daily reports.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-lawmakers-lebanon-s-embrace-of-ahmadinejad-may-affect-military-aid-1.319034
‘Ahmadinejad visit proves Lebanon has joined axis of extreme nations’
Top Israeli official says Iranian President visits Lebanon like a ‘commander inspecting his troops.’
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/ahmadinejad-visit-proves-lebanon-has-joined-axis-of-extreme-nations-1.318905?localLinksEnabled=false
Far-right MK: Assassinating Ahmadinejad today is like assassinating Hitler in 1939
Aryeh Eldad of National Union says Israel should seize the opportunity to kill Ahmadinejad while he is visiting Lebanon.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/far-right-mk-assassinating-ahmadinejad-today-is-like-assassinating-hitler-in-1939-1.318881
White House engaging in Sectarianism: Ahmadinejad visit exposes Hezbollah values (AFP)
AFP – The White House said on Wednesday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s “provocative” visit to Beirut proved that Hezbollah cared more about Iran than the people of Lebanon.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101013/pl_afp/uslebanoniranpoliticsgibbs
Police racism in Lebanon
Dr. AbdelMeneem is a Sudanese community leader and refugee in Lebanon for the past 23 years+. He went on huger strike for 16 days in Sep/ Oct 2010 to demand an end to racist policies and arbitrary detention against Sudanese people and other marginalized communities in Lebanon. Throughout those 16 days, he was visited daily and hourly by certain security forces who were harassing him to stop his hunger strike and leave the strike place. Harassment and annoyances extended to visitors of the Dr. too. This is only a portion of what is happening to refugees, migrant workers, asylum seekers and other vulnerable communities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjIwTQ–2Yo
For Israel “war is the continuation of national suicide by other means”
I have recently referred to the Israeli nuclear weapons as “useless” and that Hezbollah would eventually be in a position to force a solution on Israel. I was then asked the following question: Why wouldn’t Israel use nukes? Because it would guarantee a nuclear counter-response in the future? Because they wouldn’t be effective against spread out missile launchers? Also, I’d like to hear your thoughts on how a future war with Hizballah, Israel, Syria and Iran might play out? How could Hizballah get to a position in which it could “force a solution”?
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2010/10/for-israel-war-is-continuation-of.html
Inside Story – Will Ahmadinejad use or support Lebanon?
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president, is in Lebanon for his first official state visit. But why is he visiting now? Is it a visit to express support to Lebanon or a celebration of rising influence there? And why is the West so concerned?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhTqv2lebvY&feature=youtube_gdata
Master and Pupil, Qifa Nabki
That’s right. Such is the mystique of Hizbullah in Lebanon that it wouldn’t be completely outlandish for someone to claim that the Iranian president’s rise was facilitated by the influence of his Lebanese allies. Nasrallah, after all, was a regional rock star while Ahmadinejad was revoking parking tickets as mayor of Tehran. (This was the gist of the discussion that followed, between me and Abbas).
http://qifanabki.com/2010/10/13/master-and-pupil/
Centuries-old ties anchor Ahmadinejad tour of south Lebanon
The Lebanese villages Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is visiting today were once home to Shiite scholars who shaped Iran’s emergence as a Shiite nation.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/zdqnBNerxac/Centuries-old-ties-anchor-Ahmadinejad-tour-of-south-Lebanon
Iraq
Roadside bomb in Baghdad kills 4, wounds 6 (AP)
AP – Iraqi officials say a roadside bomb has hit a senior politician’s convoy, killing four people and wounding six others, including the politician.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101014/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
Wednesday: 24 Iraqis, 7 Iranians Wounded
At least 24 Iraqis were wounded in the latest violence. No deaths were reported today, but one attack also left seven Iranians injured. Meanwhile, a Dutchman of Iraqi decent, who was found guilty of planning attacks against U.S. soldiers, had his jail sentence cut short in the Netherlands.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/10/13/wednesday-24-iraqis-7-iranians-wounded/
Return to Baghdad: Sunnis Warn of a Revived Insurgency (Time.com)
Time.com – A TIME reporter meets two old Sunni contacts and discovers the bitterness that remains.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20101013/wl_time/08599202493000
Iraq: Treatment of Sunnis including those who or their families were in the Ba ath party
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4cb6d4dc2.html
Iraqi police seize gang specialized in smuggling of girls
Iraqi police have apprehended a gang specialized in the smuggling of girls and selling them abroad. The gang was based in the southern Province of Basra and most of the girls who had been smuggled and sold belonged to impoverished families in the city of Basra, the provincial city. Smuggling of girls is a booming business in Iraq and the crime is as rampant as the smuggling of narcotics, antiquities and weapons that has spread widely in the country since the 2003-U.S. invasion. “This (smuggling of girls) is a phenomenon that is totally strange and unacceptable in a traditional society like Iraq,” a security officer, who refused to be named, said. He said this was not the only gang the policed had seized. “The gangs are after small girls. They forge their documents and facilitate their travel abroad.”
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2010-10-14\kurd.htm
Breast cancer cases in Iraq in mounting numbers
Iraq’s General Health Ministry affirmed that the percentage of breast cancer cases in Iraq is still high despite awareness campaigns. For more details, click on play movie.
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-55104-Breast-cancer-cases-in-Iraq-in-mounting-numbers.html
Other Mideast/World News
Chile miners’ rescue accomplished
All 33 workers trapped for more than two months in a collapsed mine have been lifted to safety.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/americas/2010/10/201010140484211982.html
Chilean Miners Rescue: This is a Rare Moment of Global Joy
Alas, the world is more often united in grief or horror by modern mass media than it is by joy or a quiet smile of satisfaction on the way to work. So today provides a rare sense of shared enjoyment. The 33 Chilean miners we feared were lost are being saved after all.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2010/oct/13/michael-white-chilean-miners-rescue
Report: Afghans allege abuse at secret US jail
Report alleges abuse of Afghan detainees at secret US detention center A report issued Thursday by a U.S. foundation details allegations of detainee abuse — some as recent as this year — from Afghans who say they were held at a secret detention center inside the main American military base in Afghanistan.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/report-afghans-allege-abuse-secret-jail/
Karzai bid to placate angry Afghans
Afghan president meets villagers in Laghman province after civilians were killed in Nato raid last month.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/10/20101012132529198175.html
US Kills 9 People in Pakistan
According to local media reports and sources in North Waziristan, the U.S. drones fired six missiles at a residential area in the village of Lataka in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan which borders Afghanistan.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/14/c_13556188.htm
Ex-top soldier: Iraq war ‘fiasco’ due to Rumsfeld’s ‘lies’
The US had no reason to invade Iraq in 2003, and only did so because of “a series of lies” told to the American people by the Bush administration, says Gen. Hugh Shelton, who served for four years as the US’s top military officer. Shelton, who was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1997 to 2001, makes the comment in Without Hesitation: The Odyssey of an American Warrior, a soon-to-be-published memoir reviewed at Foreign Policy by Thomas E. Ricks.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/iraq-fiasco-due-bushs-lies/
In new memoir, Condoleezza Rice cites personal relationship with the Netanyahus
In the first of two planned volumes, ex-U.S. secretary of state describes her path to the upper echelons of the American administration while avoiding thorny issues like the Iraq war.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/in-new-memoir-condoleezza-rice-cites-personal-relationship-with-the-netanyahus-1.318908?localLinksEnabled=false
Carl Paladino Loses Support From New York Rabbi After Apologizing For Anti-Gay Comments
NEW YORK — An Orthodox rabbi says he’s withdrawing his endorsement of New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino because the Republican apologized for comments he made about gays. Rabbi Yehuda Levin, who represents an umbrella organization of ultra-Orthodox clerics, accused Paladino on Wednesday of bowing to political pressure when he apologized for a speech in which he said children shouldn’t be “brainwashed” into thinking homosexuality is acceptable.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/13/carl-paladino-rabbi-support_n_761357.html
South Carolina mosque defaced with bacon slices
The FBI should investigate the defacement of a South Carolina mosque as a hate crime, according to the advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). On Sunday afternoon, someone spelled out “PIG CHUMP” using slices of bacon on a brick walkway leading up to the Florence Islamic Center.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/south-carolina-mosque-defaced-bacon-slices/
Behind Egypt’s Deep Red Lines
For six weeks, Egypt has been sitting on top of a sectarian volcano. Protesters, men and women, have been exiting mosques following prayers almost every single Friday since the beginning of September to demand the “release” of Camillia Shehata, a Coptic priest’s wife who they believe has converted to Islam and is now incarcerated by the Coptic Orthodox Church…..
http://www.merip.org/mero/mero101310.html
Chinese authorities must reveal whereabouts of wife of peace prize winner
Liu Xia, the wife of 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, is reported to have been detained by police and forced to leave Beijing to visit her husband in prison in Liao Ning province. The Chinese authorities must immediately disclose the whereabouts of Liu Xia, the wife of 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, Amnesty International said on Monday. Amid reports that she has been detained by police and forced to leave Beijing to visit her husband in Jinzhou in Liao Ning province, where he is imprisoned by the authorities, Catherine Baber Deputy Amnesty International deputy director of Asia Pacific said.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/chinese-authorities-must-reveal-whereabouts-wife-peace-prize-winner-2010-10-11
www.TheHeadlines.org
