and other news from Today in Palestine
Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
Four People Detained At Peaceful Protest Near Bethlehem
The Israeli army detained three Israeli peace activists and one young Palestinian man during the weekly Friday non-violent demonstration in the West bank village of al-Ma’sara , south of Bethlehem.
http://imemc.org/article/60024
Palestinians condemn train plans
A new plan for a train line linking central Israel to settlements deep in the West Bank… The project was quickly denounced by a spokesman for the Palestinian government in the West Bank. “This shows not only Israel’s short-term illegal activities in terms of settlement expansion, but its long-term planning and execution of colonial projects that aim at nothing less than ending the two-state solution,” Husam Zomlot said. A different Israeli train project, a new fast rail line from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, has also angered Palestinians because the route veers into the West Bank. That line is already under construction.
http://www.argus.ie/breaking-news/world-news/palestinians-condemn-train-plans-2437684.html
Israel condemned over Bedouin village demolition
“We condemn these repeated demolitions that aim to forcibly evict the residents of al-‘Araqib from the land they have on lived for generations,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “The fact that the village has been demolished seven times in four months shows that this is not some administrative mistake but a conscious Israeli government policy of dispossession.”
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/
israel-condemned-over-bedouin-village-demolition-2010-11-25
South African students action for the Week Against the Apartheid Wall
At the University of the Witwatersrand, students writing their end of year exams were handed fact sheets about the apartheid Wall. This information campaign gave many students new insight and aimed to improve awareness about the realities and illegality of the Wall.
http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/2401.shtml
Right of Return
Memories and maps keep alive Palestinian hopes of return
Aerial photographs taken by first world war German pilots are combined with mandate-era and Israeli maps supplemented by digitally enhanced satellite images that record old tribal boundaries, neighbourhoods and even individual buildings. Most striking are the hundreds of Arab villages that were destroyed or ploughed under fields, as well as postwar Jewish settlements and suburbs. The Abu Sitta family lands, for example, are now owned by Kibbutz Nirim, near the border with Gaza.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/26/palestinian-refugees-middle-east-conflict
Detention Policy
5 detained at Bethlehem village anti-wall rally
An army spokeswoman said soldiers used riot dispersal mechanisms against the rally when protesters threw rocks at them. Israel’s separation wall annexes thousands of dunums of agricultural land from Al-Ma’sara and its surrounding villages for the illegal Gush Etzion settlement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=336209
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Dutch will look into NGO funding of anti-Semitic website
The Dutch government has been funding the Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation, a Dutch aid organization that finances the Electronic Intifada website that, NGO Monitor told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, is anti-Semitic and frequently compares Israeli policies with those of the Nazi regime.
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=196852
Fundraising campaign launched for Tom Hurndall’s book
Hurndall was a young photojournalist and peace worker, and the book The Only House Left Standing – the Middle East Journals of Tom Hurndall will contain all of his photographs in the weeks running up to his shooting, as well as his personal writing from his diaries and poems. The book is to be prefaced by Robert Fisk.
http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/1906745/
fundraising-campaign-launched-tom-hurndalls-book
“Road To Hope” Humanitarian Convoy Arrives In Gaza
The humanitarian “Road To Hope” convoy arrived in the Gaza Strip, on Thursday, carrying 30 vehicles filled with aid and 101 humanitarian aid workers, including eight who survived the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla that killed nine activists in May this year.
http://imemc.org/article/60015
Violence/Aggression
Israeli soldiers who made Palestinian boy search ‘bomb’ bags are freed
DCI said the “leniency of the sentence and the fact that we have documented 15 cases of human shields since the High Court ruling, three of them children, shows the Army is not taking its obligations seriously”.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/israeli-
soldiers-who-made-palestinian-boy-search-bomb-bags-are-freed-15014136.html
Israel: Soldiers’ Punishment for Using Boy as ‘Human Shield’ Inadequate
“The slap on the wrist for these soldiers is another slap in the face for the victims of violations during Operation Cast Lead,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Not only do these sentences seem unjustifiably lenient, but two years later, they are the only sentences Israel has handed down for serious human rights violations among the many alleged during the Gaza offensive.”
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/11/26/
israel-soldiers-punishment-using-boy-human-shield-inadequate
OPT: Protection of Civilians Weekly Report, 10 – 23 November 2010
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/LSGZ-8BKE9H?OpenDocument
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Let our Motto be: No to Silence on Violence against Palestinian Women
The illegal Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip since 2006 has further degraded the living conditions of the Gaza Strip’s population. The four-year Israeli siege has resulted in the deaths of dozens of Palestinian women suffering from health problems due to the ill-supply of medication in Gazan hospitals. This problem is worsened by the inability of Palestinians to travel abroad for medical treatment.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/AZHU-8BJNCY?OpenDocument
Political Developments
Unity leader says trust, commitment key
Upon his return, Al-Masri spoke with Ma’an on the program Hard Questions, explaining that his efforts toward conciliation between the parties was ongoing, adding that “we must all contribute to conciliation, Hamas and Fatah must understand the necessity of achieving it and take on the sensitive issues to restore the spirit of the Palestinian national project.”
http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=336085
China urges peaceful coexistence between Palestine,Israel amid stalled talks
Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, expressed hope for establishing an independent Palestinian state and peaceful coexistence between Palestine and Israel through negotiations based on relevant United Nations resolutions, the “land for peace” principle and the Arabic Peace Initiative.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/7213080.html
Syria warns Israel: Evading peace will lead to Mideast war
“The possibility of war always exists in our region since Israel almost always scandalously evades the commitment to peace,” said Moallem. “There is no doubt that closing the horizons to peace could lead to war,” he said.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
syria-warns-israel-evading-peace-will-lead-to-mideast-war-1.327015
Rabin’s son presents his Israeli Peace Initiative
1. A viable Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders and one-on-one land swaps 2. Jerusalem as the home of two capitals and special arrangements in the holy basin 3. An agreed solution for the refugees inside the Palestinian state (with symbolic exceptions) 4. Mutual recognition of the genuine national identities of the two states as the outcome of negotiations and not as a prerequisite 5. Reiteration of the principles underlying Israel’s 1948 declaration of independence regarding civic equality for its Arab citizens 6. Long-term security arrangements with international components.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
rabin-s-son-presents-his-israeli-peace-initiative-1.327055
Saudis stop Hamas men from reaching Syria
Saudi Arabia has prevented senior members from Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), who had made the pilgrimage from Gaza to Mecca, to continue on to Damascus to meet the leaders of their organizations, a source within one of the organizations told Ynet on Friday.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3990290,00.html
As Turkey front freezes, Israel looks to warming Balkan ties
In the past year Israel has expanded relations with Greece and Bulgaria and upgraded its existing ties with Cyprus, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Croatia. These states share concerns about Turkey’s new radicalism and world jihad’s growing influence there and see new opportunities for economic, technical and security cooperation with Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
as-turkey-front-freezes-israel-looks-to-warming-balkan-ties-1.326903
MK proposes bill to declare Jerusalem Jewish capital
An Israeli MK has proposed changing Israel’s Basic Law to declare Jerusalem “the capital of the Jewish people,” the Hebrew-language daily Ma’ariv reported Friday. Knesset member Zevulun Orlev sponsored the bill in April 2008, and the preliminary reading of the amendment was approved by a large majority in the Knesset. However at a vote on the amendment in October 2009, the Labor party vetoed the proposal.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=336211
Other News
WEST BANK: Israel bulldozes Fayyad’s Freedom Road
On Sept. 1, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad celebrated with the residents of Qarawat Bani Hassan the inauguration of a mile-long road linking the small West Bank village to a spring its residents consider the lifeline of the community. It was called Freedom Road. Israel on Wednesday destroyed the road, which is located in Area C of the West Bank.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/11/
west-bank-fayyads-freedom-road-succumbs-to-israeli-dictate.html
DFLP demands public freedoms from Hamas in Gaza
Officials from the leftist party the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine said a meeting with Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday was successful, and helped guarantee pubic freedoms for the movement’s members.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=336169
PCBS: Building boom of ’09 tapers in ’10
The total number of issued building licenses decreased by 16.8 percent in the third quarter 2010 compared with the second quarter 2010, whereas it increased by 11.8 percent when compared with the third quarter 2009
http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=336203
Israel to vote on center to detain Africans
Israel’s Cabinet is being asked to approve construction of a massive detention center to hold Africans who illegally enter Israel through its porous border with Egypt. Israel says most infiltrators come looking for work. Placing them in a detention center would weaken the economic incentive to cross the border. The Cabinet will vote on the proposal Sunday.
http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/israel-to-vote-on-center-to-detain-africans-1.877028
Israel Contributed to Hariri Tribunal
Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has acknowledged Israel aided Hariri’s tribunal, Press TV reported quoting Lebanon’s al-Akhbar newspaper on Friday. Lieberman added that Tel Aviv’s government has been transparent and open to the investigation.
http://imemc.org/article/60023
Lebanon PM: Netanyahu doesn’t believe in peace
Moreover, he stressed that Israel can only have security if comprehensive peace was achieved between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and between Israel and the Arab world – which includes Syria and Lebanon. “[Netanyahu] takes the issue of security as the basis of his whole political platform but you will only have security if you have peace,” he said.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense
/lebanon-pm-netanyahu-doesn-t-believe-in-peace-1.326975
Analysis/Op-ed
In the name of humanity
Ilana Hammerman and her colleagues have presented to us with the bar for graciousness, limitless giving without any interest, and the assumption of personal risk, as the offences attributed to them carry a two-year jail sentence. These women are a small reminder to the fact that not all of us had become brutal and that the corrupting occupation nonetheless left some humanity in some of us.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3989284,00.html
Professor proposes 1-state solution for Israel-Palestine
Mezvinsky said the violent resistance to “the Israeli occupation” is the wrong approach morally and practically for Palestinians. “Unfortunately, Israeli violence toward Palestinians will continue to beget Palestinian violence against Israel,” he said. “The present condition is a recipe for disaster, more continued oppression of Palestinians followed by increased violence for Palestinians, resulting in more wounding and killing of Palestinians and Israeli Jews.”
http://www.newbritainherald.com/articles/2010/11/25/news/doc4cef0f6cc3d9b574235708.txt
Bad Intentions: New Jerusalem Settlements and the Prospects for Peace
Two more houses in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem taken over by settlers over the past two days, in the neighborhoods of Jabel Mukaber and A-Tur. Are these just routine settler provocations or something more? The answer is: both. They are routine because settlers have been doing this for years, supported by Israeli police and courts.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hagit-ofran/post_1329_b_788152.html
How the EU could entice Israel to seek peace
It may come as a surprise, for instance, to learn that the EU – not the United States – is Israel’s main trading partner, with a relationship worth a handsome €20bn (£17bn) per year. Not only that, but Israel enjoys the status of a “privileged partner”. Recent years have witnessed the EU and Israel striving to “develop an increasingly close relationship, going beyond co-operation, to involve a significant measure of economic integration and a deepening of political co-operation”.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/26/eu-israel-europe-peace
‘NYT’ says that US support for Israel may finally become ‘politicized’
The encouraging news here is that Kentucky Senator-elect Rand Paul might take a stand against aid to Israel, and for once Israel-support might be politicized. The American people would then get to vote on the issue, rather than face wall to wall support among their leaders, enforced by fatcat lobbyists with access. And journalists would have to write about the lobby, as they write about the gun lobby, the anti-abortion movement, or any other ideological special interest.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/nyt-says-that-us-support-for-israel-may-finally-become-politicized.html
The ‘freeze’
The answer is simple: The purpose of the “freeze” is not actually to bring peace closer, but to distance it. The purpose is not to thaw regional relations, but to freeze the desire of the Palestinians and the Americans – and, in fact, of the world – for an agreement. The true purpose of the moratorium is to prompt people – all people, in all places – to entertain the following thought: “If this is what happens because of a few months of construction stoppage, what kind of peace process are we talking about?”
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/the-freeze-1.327005
Obama Surrenders Palestinian Rights
Even the term ‘bribe’, which is abundantly used to describe American generosity, isn’t quite adequate here. Bribes have defined the relationship between the ever-generous White House and the quisling Congress to win favor with the ever-demanding Israel and its growingly belligerent Washington lobby. It is not the concept of bribery that should shock us, but the magnitude of the bribe, and the fact that it is presented by a man who positioned himself as a peacemaker (and actually became certified as one, courtesy of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee).
http://www.counterpunch.org/baroud11262010.html
Diplomacy: The shared view from the top
If you closed your eyes for a minute while listening to what Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday to a group of Likud MKs opposed to an additional 90-day settlement moratorium, you could swear you were hearing Ariel Sharon.
http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Article.aspx?id=196828
Iraq
Iraq Kurdish leader: A uniter in a divided nation
In his five years as Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani has shown a remarkable ability to rise above the ethnic and religious divisions defining the country’s political scene — sometimes at the expense of his own Kurdish identity.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101126/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_talabani_the_uniter
Other Middle East and Related News
Turkish-Israeli Business Council postponed
A large group of Turkish businesspeople were expected to participate in the Tel Aviv meeting. Israeli Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Binyamin “Fuad” Ben Eliezer was to deliver the opening remarks of the Council meeting.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=66731
Official: Mossad behind Egypt riots
Who’s responsible for this week’s riots in Egypt, which left one man killed and dozens injured? Chairman of the Egypt People’s Assembly’ Foreign Affairs Committee Dr. Dr Mostafa El Feki on Thursday accused the Israeli Mossad of being behind the recent clashes between Christian Copts and Muslims.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3990229,00.html
Hariri: Iran has role to play in Lebanon’s stability
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has a natural role in the region, especially in resolving crisis and strengthening stability in Lebanon,” Hariri was quoted as saying in an interview with the agency. Hariri is to arrive in Tehran on Saturday for two days on his first official visit and is to meet with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other officials.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=336236
Intel sources implicate Syria in Hariri assassination
Syria played a major role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005, and the UN probe into the murder is wrongly absolving it of guilt, Western intelligence sources familiar with the probe told Haaretz.
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/mess-report/intel-sources-implicate-syria-in-hariri-assassination-1.326904
Israel, U.S. tense as WikiLeaks set to release classified bilateral communiques
The American message said that if cables from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv were released, it could be embarrassing because they relate to relations between Israel and the United States, which are usually kept confidential, or because they involve internal correspondence between American diplomats that do not always reflect the official position of the U.S. administration.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-u-s-tense-
as-wikileaks-set-to-release-classified-bilateral-communiques-1.326905
The truth about Israel, Iran and 1980s U.S. arms deals
Recently declassified Pentagon documents reveal a strange, not to say illicit, 1980s operation called ‘Tipped Kettle,’ in which weapons stolen by Israel from the PLO in Lebanon were transferred to the Contras and to anti-American elements in Iran
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/
the-truth-about-israel-iran-and-1980s-u-s-arms-deals-1.326987
Erdogan wins Libyan human rights prize
Erdogan is not the first leader to win the prestigious Libyan prize. He was preceded by former South African President Nelson Mandela, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3990298,00.html
Turkish regulator rejects Israeli bid for Adabank
The SDIF had put an appraisal price of $90 million on Adabank. But BankPozitif, the sole bidder, offered $42 million, less than half the appraisal price. BankPozitif’s bid was presented to the SDIF committee, which turned it down and canceled a “negotiation auction” scheduled to take place Friday.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=regulator-rejects-israeli-bid-for-adabank-2010-11-26
God isn’t finished with me yet
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/god-isnt-finished-with-me-yet.html
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www.TheHeadlines.org
