And other news from Today in Palestine:
Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
Jerusalem is excluded from any settlement freeze
The Israeli occupation authority stressed that “east Jerusalem” will not be included in any future settlement freeze.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k
PA: Settlements must stop completely
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian government in the West Bank called on Israel Monday to end all expansion of settlements as a necessary step toward renewing peace negotiations. The cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in a declaration: “Halting settlement activities completely in the Palestinian territories including Jerusalem is the basis for a serious political process which will end occupation and guarantee the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=334912
Analysis: Barkat still seeks ways to save Beit Yehonatan
21 Nov – Jerusalem mayor attempts to sidestep Attorney General in drive to save Silwan structure illegally built by right-wing families.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=196097
IOA extends ban on entry of Abdulqader to O. Jerusalem
The Israeli occupation authority extended the ban imposed on the entry of Hatem Abdulqader, the official in charge of the Jerusalem file, to Jerusalem for six additional months.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Knesset to vote on bill outlawing Palestinians from living in ’48-occupied land
The Israeli Knesset will vote Sunday on a racist bill outlawing Palestinians from residing in 1948-occupied Palestinian territories with a majorly Jewish population.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k
Israeli authorities planning to eject 100,000 Palestinians from Jerusalem
Observers say the situation in Jerusalem is likely to explode in light of a decision by Israeli authorities to demolish hundreds of Palestinian homes in the city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Israeli authorities raze Araqib village for the seventh time
Israeli municipality bulldozers razed the Arab Bedouin village of Araqib in the Negev desert for the seventh time on Monday, local sources reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd8
Armed settlers bar farmers from land
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Armed settlers stopped Palestinian farmers from working on their land in the West Bank village of Qaryut, south of Nablus, Monday, officials said. Mofeed Jameel, the secretary of Qaryut’s village council, said gun-wielding Israelis from the settlement of Shilo ordered the farmers to leave farmland surrounding the settlement. He added that residents of the village have a decision from the Israeli Attorney General that allows them to work on the land in question, an area of about 50 dunums.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=334822
Settlers make water sources a tourist site and bar Palestinians from entering
West Bank Jews are making tourism sites of water sources that Palestinians use for agriculture.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/settlers-make-water-sources-a-tourist-site-and-bar-palestinians-from-entering-1.326005?localLinksEnabled=false
Jewish settlers set fire to girls school while expanding Rahalim settlement
As Jewish settlers spent Sunday morning digging up land in south Nablus to expand settlement, Nablus lawmaker Yasser Mansur warned expansion of illegal Jewish settlements was on the rise.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q
Settlements Wiping Out Natural Life in the Jordan Valley, Palestine Monitor
We spent two days in the Auja area north of Jericho on a field trip to survey what remains of the animals and plants in one of hundreds of areas directly devastated by Israeli occupation policies. Our host and guide was Mubarak Zawahra, a father of seven young children who lives near Bethlehem but his mother and many of his brothers live in the Jordan valley.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1618
Another Settler Arson of Salem’s Olive Trees, Assaf Oron
Uri Pinkerfeld, Villages Group coordinator for Salem and Deir El Hattab, reports: On Sunday November 14 2010, around 12 noon, smoke was seen rising from the olive orchards on the slopes of Jabal Kabeer above Salem. Several farmers went to locate the fire’s location, north of the settler bypass road, not far from the cistern. Two local teenagers who were shepherding nearby hurried to the location as well, and tried to put out the fire. They reported having seen two settlers run off towards the “Skali Farm” settler outpost. The farmers immediaterly called firefighters from Nablus and the officers of the District Coordination Office. The military allowed the fire truck to get to the orchards, but the road was too steep. Farmers eventually managed to put out the fire manually.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/11/another-settler-arson-of-salems-olive-trees/
Palestinian olive harvest plows on, despite tension with settlers
The annual Palestinian olive harvest dates to antiquity and continues today much the way it has for centuries – although in recent years, the presence of settlers has made the harvest more challenging.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/rXngo_xloss/Palestinian-olive-harvest-plows-on-despite-tension-with-settlers
The Bat Ayn Settlement – Neighbors from Hell
The Bat Ayn settlement was established in the early 1990s by a breakaway group from the nearby Gush Etzion settlement. Bat Ayn was established under the guidance of the controversial Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburg. Rabbi Ginsburg has been quoted in the New York Times as stating that “any trial based on the assumption that Jews and goyim [non-Jewish people] are equal is a total travesty of justice”. Rabbi Ginsburg also praised the actions of Baruch Goldstein who in 1994 murdered 29 people and wounded more than 125 people who were praying in a mosque in Hebron.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2010/11/20/the-bat-ayn-settlement-%e2%80%93-neighbors-from-hell/
Video disproves settler hasbara and demonstrates how the settlements expand through intimidation, Adam Horowitz
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/video-disproves-settler-hasbara-and-demonstrates-how-the-settlments-expand-through-intimidation.html
Nakba Through Legislation, Palestine Monitor
Charlotte Silver analyses the effects of land bills being passed through the Israeli Parliament. Palestinians face mass expulsions on a scale reminiscent of 1948.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1620
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Ashraf al-Khatib, Bil’in, turns himself in to Ofer Military Prison after weeks of collective punishment
On Sunday morning, 30-year-old activist Ashraf al-Khatib turned himself in to Ofer Military Prison after weeks of military and Shebak harassment to his family and the village. The military had been searching for him due to his involvement in weekly demonstrations against the wall and occupation. During recent night raids of the village, soldiers beat villagers, activists, and photographers attempting to reach Ashraf’s house. IDF soldiers aggressively entered the homes of Ashraf’s family, breaking down doors to look for him, but were unable to find him.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/11/15673/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
Mustafa Barghouti decorated with the Insignia of Officer of the French Legion of Honour, Palestine Monitor
Bernard Kouchner delivered on Monday 15th of November during an official ceremony at the Quai d’Orsay, the Insignia of Officer of the Legion of Honour to Mustafa Barghouti, President of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society. This decoration demonstrates the support of France to the determined action of this well known Palestinian figure in favour of peace and defence of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1616
Silwan Youth Movement visits martyrs families for Eid
The Silwan Youth Movement held a series of activities throughout the holiday of Eid el-Adha, including visits to the families of marytrs throughout Silwan. Families were visited in the neighborhoods of Ras el-Amud, el-Thuri, Wadi Hilweh, el-Bustan, Bir Ayyub, Wadi Rababa, Baten el-Hawa, Wadi Yasur, Shiah, the Maghrabi Gate and other districts of Silwan village. Youth Movement spokesperson Yousef Ahalisi presented families with memorial plaques in remembrance of their lost loved ones. Members also visited many of those in the village injured as a result of the militarization of Silwan by Israeli forces. The Silwan Youth Movement, which has no affiliation to any political body or agenda, strives for social unity and solidarity through volunteering activities and events to serve the community. Recent initiatives include a clean-up of Bab el-Rahma cemetary, with plans to resume the clean-up campaign tomorrow.
http://silwanic.net/?p=8725
One by one, Americans awaken
Deppen Webber, 42, and father of one, quit his $100,000 job in Sonoma County, CA, after 9 years with the company when he realized how much it was making off defense contracts, and then he went off to Israel-Palestine to help in the olive harvest and bring attention to the struggle.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/one-by-one-americans-awaken.html
‘End Military Aid to Israel’ message reaches thousands of Chicago commuters
As our target date approached, we could not get confirmation that the ads would go up for our announced date in early October. Maybe the skeptics were right – this campaign would never see the light of day. Undaunted, we were insistent on a response – positive or negative. Our persistence paid off, and the ads went up as scheduled. Our CTA “ad buy” bought posters both on train cars and in underground waiting areas in downtown Chicago – sites that thousands of Chicagoan commuters pass through daily. We chose October as our launch date to get the message out to as many people as possible. Between the crowds on the trains for the annual LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon on October 10 and the massive outpouring for the annual Columbus Day parade on October 12 in downtown Chicago – we couldn’t get much better exposure.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/end-military-aid-to-israel-message-reaches-thousands-of-chicago-commuters.html
New MNBBC Video calling on Minnesota to Divest from Israel Bonds!
Dear all, MN BBC launched it’s first video calling for Minnesota to divest from Israel Bonds until Israel complies with international human-rights law! The video includes clips of Israel’s recent assault on Gaza, features varied voices from across Minnesota, and draws parallels between Israeli and South African apartheid and racial segregation in the US. JOIN IN ON THE EXCITEMENT! PLEASE CONSIDER PLACING A LINK OF THIS VIDEO AND OUR PETITION ON YOUR ORGANIZATION’S WEBSITE. WATCH the video on You Tube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXJIpYFCgn8 SIGN the MN BBC Petition at: http://mn.breakthebonds.org/?cat=18
Minnesota’s investment in two Israel bonds supports Israel’s apartheid system in both Israel and the Palestinian Territories and enables widespread abuse of human rights. Israel Bonds finance infrastructure projects including settlement building on the Palestinian West Bank and in East Jerusalem; these settlements displace Palestinians from their own lands.
To request a copy of the new video, email mn@breakthebonds.org.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-new-mnbbc-video-calling-on.html
#BDS: Israeli Citizens to Leiden University: Please Do not Hold the 2010 Cleveringa Lecture at the Hebrew University!
Dear Officials of Leiden University, We are a group of Israeli citizens. It has recently been brought to our attention that Leiden University had decided to host a special lecture at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University on Thursday 25/11, commemorating a speech by Professor Rudolph Pabus Cleveringa during the Second World War, in which he protested the removal of Jewish faculty members.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-israeli-citizens-to-leiden.html
#BDS: Other Israel Festival Loses Key Palestinian Support
Artists Against Apartheid welcomes the withdrawal of participation of the following filmmakers from the Other Israel Film Festival and its Brooklyn Palestinian Spotlight: Rashid Masharawi, Scandar Copti and Annemarie Jacir. As elegantly stated by The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), the Other Israel Film Festival (OIFF) currently finds itself in much closer alignment with the ‘Brand Israel’campaign than the Palestinian led BDS Movement. In a private letter to festival participants, co-signed by the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI), Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and Existence is Resistance, we have requested withdrawal of participation in the festival. We will continue to advocate for such while OIFF continues to violate and obfuscate the Palestinian led cultural boycott of Israel.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-other-israel-festival-loses-key.html
#BDS: Record Turnout For Olympia Food Co-op Board Election
Olympia, WA — In a record turnout, members of the Olympia Food Co-op have chosen four new representatives and one incumbent for the organization’s Board of Directors. The large turnout was attributed by many in the community as a response to the July 15 decision by the Olympia Food Co-op to boycott Israeli goods in support of Palestinian human rights. The ballot included 14 candidates and the five elected are: Rochelle Gause, Erin Genia, John Regan, Eric Mapes, and TJ Johnson. “An organization that places social justice and sustainable practices at the forefront of the policy decisions is an organization I am proud to serve,” says newly elected Erin Genia, a low-income mother of three, a recipient of Master of Public Administration, and a member of the Sisseton-Wapheton Dakota Oyate.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-record-turnout-for-olympia-food-co.html
#BDS: Open letter from Besieged Gaza to Michel Platini and UEFA: Reverse Apartheid Israel’s Participation in European Competitive
We are writing as Palestinian footballers, coaches and athletes in the besieged Gaza Strip to commend your statement highlighting the impossible conditions imposed on our sports, echoing the general consequences for all aspects of our life caused by the Israeli occupation and hermetic siege. You recently said that, “Israel must respect the letter of the laws and international regulations otherwise there is no justification for them to remain in Europe…Israel must choose between allowing Palestinian sport to continue and prosper or be forced to face the consequences for their behaviour.”
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-open-letter-from-besieged-gaza-to.html
#BDS: Download Australians for Palestine BDS Manual Oct10
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-download-australians-for-palestine.html
The hummus intifada
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv1VrPabBxw&feature=player_embedded
Exclusive: Obama – Netanyahu Conversation
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/saturday-morning-cartoons.html
Khalidi and Mearsheimer offer qualified endorsements of Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions, Philip Weiss
Yesterday the Institute for Middle East Understanding had a conference call with Rashid Khalidi and John Mearsheimer to talk about the latest offer in the peace process. Both men used the word “charade.” It’s an entertaining conversation, go to that link. Some of my notes: Mearsheimer is a two-stater, but he says that Palestinians ought to declare for one state. “I think this whole process is a charade…This demonstrates clearly that you’re not going to get a viable Palestinian state.” Palestinians should accept that reality and say that Israel can have one state, “and we insist that it be a democratic state.”
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/latest-scene-in-peace-process-is-a-charade-khalidi-and-mearsheimer.html
#BDS: Hot-button issue: Performing in Israel
When the Cape Town Opera’s revival of “Porgy and Bess” toured Europe, its novel resetting of the American classic to apartheid-era Soweto won raves. When the touring production moved to Israel this month, attention turned sour. No less than Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu called it “unconscionable” for a South African opera company to perform in Israel, the target of an increasingly aggressive international cultural boycott organized by pro-Palestinian activists hoping to turn Tel Aviv into the new Sun City. After an ugly public tussle, “Porgy and Bess” — a piece about racism, written by a Jewish composer — opened on schedule Nov. 15, albeit with some hastily added events with Palestinian artists. But protestors outside the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center still accused the black South African performers of betraying the same kind of boycott that once helped bring down South Africa’s apartheid regime.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-hot-button-issue-performing-in.html
Anti
Livnat: Actors who boycott West Bank arts center are ignoramuses
Debate over boycott on Ariel cultural center intensified as the Culture and Sports Minister slammed the theater figures involved.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/livnat-actors-who-boycott-west-bank-arts-center-are-ignoramuses-1.326066
Siege/Rights Violations/Restriction of Movement
Construction to start on border fence
Defese Ministry to begin building electronic fence aimed at preventing infiltration of Israel-Egypt border.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3987888,00.html
Gaza student finds new way to protect people from generator explosion
GAZA, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) — Abu Ouda, a student who studies accounting in a Gaza university, has invented a new way to operate electric generator via a cell phone. Like other Gaza residents, Abu Ouda has a electric generator on the roof of his house. “The thing that propels me to invent this is that the generator might explode anytime and might hurt my family members,” he said. The new invention is about a cell phone that has an electronic panel, a chip and is linked to the electric generator, “once I dial via the cell phone, the generator would operate immediately,” Abu Ouda said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-11/22/c_13617546.htm
Racism and Discrimination
Ethiopian teen attacked at mikveh
Racism in Bnei Brak: Worker curses boy at entrance to ritual bath, calling him ‘stinking black person,’ then follows him home and physically attacks his family. ‘I slapped him but good,’ he tells police.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3988246,00.html
In unexpected move, Israel stops asylum seekers from working
Asylum seekers’ visas now state that, ‘this temporary permit should not be treated as a work permit.’
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/in-unexpected-move-israel-stops-asylum-seekers-from-working-1.325901?localLinksEnabled=false
Eli Yishai: Infiltrators pose existential threat to Israel
Interior Minister urges more government funds to construction of barrier along Egypt border in order to stop flooding of migrant workers into Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/eli-yishai-infiltrators-pose-existential-threat-to-israel-1.326075?localLinksEnabled=false
Jerusalem to hold segregated event
‘Khamenei can’t hold a candle to us here,’ says councilman about show honoring security forces.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3987920,00.html
High Court leaning toward allowing gender segregation on public buses
Transportation Ministry recommended allowing ‘voluntary separation’ on ultra-Orthodox bus lines, as long as practice is not enforced through violence or coercion.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/high-court-leaning-toward-allowing-gender-segregation-on-public-buses-1.325956?localLinksEnabled=false
Violence and Aggression
Air raid shatters holiday for Gaza family
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (Ma’an) — The most intense Israeli airstrikes in months disrupted what had been a quiet holiday for one Gaza family. Sulaiman Abu Mustafa, an olive and eggplant grower with a small farm near the border with Israel outside of Deir Al-Balah, was celebrating the Eid Al-Adha holiday with his family in his yard when the strike took place. Abu Mustafa’s uncle and aunt were visiting — there were around 20 people outside the house.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=334664
Palestinian farmer wounded in explosion of IOF ordinance
A Palestinian farmer was wounded on Sunday when Israeli army ordnance exploded near him in his farm east of Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, medical sources reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k
Israeli police shoot Palestinian worker
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Israeli police on Monday shot a Palestinian worker who was in Israel without permission, officials said. Police said the worker, who was not identified, was shot after he tried to run over a group of people near Ashkelon. Police pursued the car and opened fire at the driver injuring him in his foot. He was evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=334928
IOF soldiers storm home of MP, hand him summons
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided Saturday night the house of Palestinian lawmaker Mohamed Abu Jehaisha and handed him a summons from the intelligence director at Etzion detention center.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx
Detention of Children
Israeli soldiers detain five Palestinian Schoolboys in South Hebron Hills
At-Tuwani – Claiming that the children were throwing stones, Israeli soldiers detained five Palestinian schoolboys. Since the beginning of 2005, the children from the village of Tuba wait every morning for an Israeli army escort to accompany them to the school in At-Tuwani, along the shortest road that goes through the Israeli settlement of Ma’on and the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on. The escort’s task is to protect the children from the violence of the Israeli settlers of Havat Ma’on.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/11/15671/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
Teen detained at army checkpoint
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli forces detained a Palestinian teenager at the Huwwara military checkpoint on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus, witnesses said. Witnesses estimated the young man to be 17 years old. He was carrying a suitcase, they added. Solders ordered the teen to step out of a taxi, then detained him, as he attempted to leave Nablus. Ma’an was unable to immediately identify the detainee.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=334887
Other Detainees
IOF kidnap seven Palestinians from Ula town in Al-Khalil
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped on Monday seven Palestinian citizens from Beit Ula town, west of Al-Khalil city, during raids on homes.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
Arrest of Young Man from Wadi Hilweh
Israeli forces arrested Mohammed Natshe, 27, from the Wadi Hilweh district of Silwan.
http://silwanic.net/?p=8743
Undercover Forces Arrest Two Youths
Undercover Israeli forces recently arrested two youths in Silwan from the Bir-Ayyub neighborhood. The region is witnessing a state of heightened tension with the notable presence of Israeli troops in the Bir-Ayyub and El-Bhutan areas.
http://silwanic.net/?p=8736
PA prisoner goes on sixth day of hunger strike
Islamic Jihad movement member Bilal Nabeel Dhiab, protesting violations against him in the Palestinian Authority security prisons, is going on his sixth day of an open hunger strike.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
International campaign demands release of MP Abu Tir
The international campaign to release detained Palestinian MPs in Israeli occupation jails has demanded the immediate release of MP Mohammed Abu Tir.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87
Arab Helpers
PA militias raid home of MP Qar’awi, kidnap his son
Security militias from the Palestinian authority stormed the home of Hamas lawmaker Fathi Qar’awi in Nour Sham refugee camp, Tulkarem city, and kidnapped his son Hazem.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7
War Criminals
Soldiers who made boy search ‘bomb’ bags freed
Two soldiers convicted for ordering a nine-year-old Palestinian boy in Gaza to search bags that might have contained explosives avoided jail yesterday when they were demoted and given suspended prison sentences.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/soldiers-who-made-boy-search-bomb-bags-freed-2140329.html
Belgian ladies sue Israeli officials in Brussels
The federal prosecutor’s office in Brussels received on Friday a lawsuit filed by four Belgian young women against Israeli officials.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q
The Internet, Facebook are placing IDF soldiers in the crossfire
An online list of Israeli military personnel who took part in Gaza fighting is putting regular Israeli conscripts under threat of global arrest and harassment.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/the-internet-facebook-are-placing-idf-soldiers-in-the-crossfire-1.325570
“War Criminals” Leak Strikes at Heart of Israeli Society, Paul Larudee
When unknown elements in Israel leaked the name, rank, identification number and other information about two hundred Israeli military personnel who reportedly participated in the 2008-2009 invasion of Gaza, the effect was sudden and profound, according to sources in Israel. Although the first site on which it appeared was taken down by the host, it has continued to circulate via email, and has appeared on at least one other site. The Israeli military and other Israeli agencies are reportedly doing all they can to shut down every site on which it appears, and to prevent it from “going viral.” At least one popular blog that links to the site has received a record number of death threats.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/11/war-criminals-leak-strikes-at-heart-of-israeli-society/
Political Developments
Interview: Possibility of inter-Palestinian reconciliation within coming months slim: official
RAMALLAH, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) — Wassel Abu Yousef, secretary general of the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF) and member of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that he rules out the possibility of a reconciliation to be reached within the coming months amid the current situation.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-11/22/c_13616144.htm
New details of Dahlan’s plan to control PA, replace Abbas unfolded
An informed source from Fatah unveiled new developments about what became known as the file of Mohamed Dahlan and his scheme to control the Palestinian authority and replace Mahmoud Abbas.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Former envoy: Haggling over freeze harms Israel
Former US Ambassador Dan Kurtzer calls American offer of perks such as 20 warplanes in exchange for halting settlement construction ‘unprofessional’. Such haggling casts doubt on Israel’s security issues, he says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3987912,00.html
Israel says US has provided written guarantee (AP)
AP – The U.S. has given Israel a written guarantee that it won’t pressure the Jewish state for additional settlement freezes if it accepts a limited 90 day construction moratorium to revive Mideast peace talks, a top Israeli official said Saturday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101120/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
Palestinians may reject talks due to U.S. incentives: official
The Palestinians may reject resuming peace talks with Israel due to proposed U.S. incentives to Israel, a Palestinian official said Sunday. Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee, said the Palestinians will reject any position “that leads to legitimizing the Israeli settlement activities after a certain time.” Abed Rabbo said the incentives, which include supplying Israel with F-35 war jets, have an anti-peace impact and boost Israel’s aggressive trend.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/7206067.html
US pledges never to ask Israel for another settlement freeze
The US continues to offer Israel a list of incentives to let peace talks flourish by stopping settlement expansion on Arab lands for another three months.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7
Abbas eyes UN appeal as talks stall
With little progress in U.S. attempts to broker a new settlement freeze, the Palestinians could seek world recognition for an independent state.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/abbas-eyes-un-appeal-as-talks-stall-1.326029?localLinksEnabled=false
Knesset to demand referendums on future Israeli pullouts
Legislation calls for national vote to approve any withdrawal from East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/knesset-to-demand-referendums-on-future-israeli-pullouts-1.325975?localLinksEnabled=false
Israeli bill could threaten future peace deals (AP)
AP – Israel’s hard-line parliament was expected to approve a bill on Monday that could sink future peace deals with the Palestinians and Syria.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101122/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
Other News
Nobel laureates urge Israel to let Vanunu receive int’l rights award
Atomic whistleblower seeks to attend ceremony granting him the International League of Human Rights’ Carl von Ossietzky Medal in Berlin.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/nobel-laureates-urge-israel-to-let-vanunu-receive-int-l-rights-award-1.325707
Poll: Most Palestinians view talks as precursor to 1 state
Disturbing US poll: Most Palestinians refuse to accept idea of Israel as Jewish state, view peace talks, two-state solution as first step towards creation of one Palestinian state in area; 58% support armed struggle.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3987277,00.html
Ex-AIPAC official got at least $670,000 from donors
One philanthropist “bundled” about $200,000 for him, Rosen said. Saban gave $100,000 to him, his wife and children. Another supporter, philanthropist Lynn Schusterman, paid off Rosen’s daughter’s $18,000 college loan, he said. In all, about a dozen supporters gave him $670,000, according to his testimony, which AIPAC released last week. The payments stopped in 2009, Rosen says, when the government dropped its case against him and another AIPAC official, saying it couldn’t make an espionage case against them.”
… “Rosen says his actions were common practice at the organization. He said his next move is to show that AIPAC, Washington’s major pro-Israeli lobbying group by far, regularly traffics in sensitive U.S. government information, especially material related to the Middle East.”
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/11/ex-aipac_official_got_670000_from_private_donors.html
Ex-AIPAC official threatens to uncover mass spying at Israel lobby
Top AIPAC officials visited prostitutes, regularly watched porn at work: claim Is US’s most influential advocate for Israel about to implode? A former foreign policy chief for the largest Israeli lobby in the US is threatening to provide evidence members of the organization regularly trafficked in classified US government information.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/official-uncover-mass-spying-israel-lobby/
7% of Israeli teenagers don’t study or work
Figures published ahead of International Children’s Day by Central Bureau of Statistics reveal 24,388 teenagers between ages of 15-17 did not attend school or work during 2009.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3986166,00.html
Ultra-Orthodox groups suspected of forging IDs to swindle state funds
Associations in charge of ultra-Orthodox schools falsely reported having hundreds of students, funneling millions of shekels into their pockets.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/ultra-orthodox-groups-suspected-of-forging-ids-to-swindle-state-funds-1.325932?localLinksEnabled=false
Israel Police representative to U.S. returns to face sexual assault allegations
A polygraph backs up claims by made external adviser to Public Security Ministry regarding alleged incident at police convention in Eilat.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-police-representative-to-u-s-returns-to-face-sexual-assault-allegations-1.325964?localLinksEnabled=false
Israel rejects cancer treatment successfull in U.S.
Health ministry turns down funding for proton therapy, effective in treating many cancers without the side effects of traditional treatments.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-rejects-cancer-treatment-successfull-in-u-s-1.325984?localLinksEnabled=false
Alternate Reality: Letter from a war criminal / Yoav Keren
To be honest, I was a little insulted. I looked for myself on the list of 200 Operation Cast Lead war criminals published online last week but didn’t find what I was looking for. I performed almost a month of reserve duty during the operation, yet nothing; no mention. Not even a small one … I served in the Gaza Division war room for 26 days and saw everything in real time. I saw how every time we had to curb Qassam fire from populated areas, officials considered it seven times and meticulously calculated the firing range and angle, as not to hurt civilians by mistake … I saw the great seriousness in addressing a water pipe that burst in Rafah, and the kind of effort invested in order to bring food into the Strip and allow ambulances to evacuate wounded Palestinians from the war zone.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3987565,00.html
Israeli media provides a glimpse of how spin drives Israeli diplomacy, Didi Remez
On the front page of this morning’s Maariv, senior columnist Ben Caspit reports [full translation at the bottom of the post; Hebrew original here]: At least three top Likud figures who were briefed recently by officials very close to Netanyahu on the talks with the Americans, on the letter that has not (yet) been written, on the promises that were not made and the stealth bombers that stole away, say that the prevalent view in the Prime Minister’s Bureau about the US administration is that it is “not a credible administration.” That is the reason, these sources say, for Netanyahu’s insistence on receiving the promises in writing. And that is the reason, say these sources, that some of the promises that Netanyahu heard from the Americans evaporated shortly afterwards.
http://coteret.com/2010/11/21/israeli-media-provides-a-glimpse-of-how-spin-drives-israeli-diplomacy/
Analysis/Op-ed
Inside the bubble, Norman Finkelstein
Ethan Bronner in the New York Times today: “It is worth noting that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been largely drained of deadly violence in the past few years.” So much for the Gaza massacre.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/inside-the-bubble.html
Perry: Obama’s obeisance to Netanyahu is ‘dangerous’ and of a piece with Dogan’s unprotested killing and Kagan emulating an Israeli justice, Philip Weiss
Here is an amazing post by Mark Perry at Foreign Policy blasting Obama’s deal with Netanyahu for a settlement freeze extension as a gutless concession of power. Even Petraeus is afraid of the Israel lobby, which dominates Establishment attitudes, Perry says, and he honorably cites the killing of Furkan Dogan on the Mavi Marmara as evidence of American subjection to Israeli interests. This is a new level of criticism of the Israel lobby, at Foreign Policy no less, as compromising Beltway culture; and why I’ve always said that Walt and Mearsheimer merely scratched the surface. And why Lincoln’s attack on the two-party “conspiracy” of the slave power in our politics should be echoed today by criticism of the two-party agreement on blind support for Israel.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/perry-settlement-deal-is-dangerous-and-of-a-piece-with-dogans-unprotested-killing-and-kagan-emulating-israeli-supreme-court-justice.html
Helen Thomas get standing 0 from 500 as Sam Donaldson declares her the ‘best ever’, Jefferson Morley
From Jeff Morley at World Opinion Search: The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee honored Helen Thomas at a dinner in northwest Washington last night. The evening was all Helen, all the time, featuring accolades from the (still!) irrepressible Sam Donaldson(!), sweet Rosemary Oakar, and the pungent James Abourezk. Donaldson called Thomas “the best White House correspondent ever!” Abourezk gibed Thomas was not fired because of comments she made about Jews. Her “fatal sin,” he said, was asking President Obama if any countries in the Middle East currently possessed nuclear weapons. The always-self-righteous Ralph Nader said, “If ten reporters had acted the way Helen acted there never would have been an Iraq war.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/helen-thomas-get-standing-0-from-500-as-sam-donaldson-declares-her-the-best-ever.html
Wait– we are giving who?? 20 F-35 stealth attack jets?? for what??, Virginia Tilley
With 25 years of experience under my belt analysing the Middle East conflict, and as a close observer of US foreign policy with a pragmatic attitude toward its realist exigencies, I have never seen anything as destructive, humiliating and ruinously conceived as the “incentive” package now being offered by the US to Israel for a 3-month settlement freeze. It is our country’s foreign policy nadir: a deal is so damaging to US interests that it is hard to find words for it. What can be said plainly is that US citizens – yes, even those jaded, tired, embittered, disillusioned folks who have watched this stuff for too long – have to rise up and move fast to stop this, in the name of our country’s future.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/wait-we-are-giving-who-20-f-35-stealth-attack-jets-for-what.html
Why did Saban and other Jewish donors give a man charged with espionage $670,000?, Philip Weiss
Wow I missed this angle on the AIPAC scandal. Jeff Stein at the Washington Post didn’t. Neither did Justin Elliott who picked him up, calling it “a story that shows just how committed the nationwide network of pro-Israel donors are to their cause”. Myself I am not sure of the motivation for this largesse to Rosen. My wife, who witnessed the kind treatment by his friends of the late-troubled-neocon Eric Breindel through numerous ordeals, used to say that neoconservatives are more loyal than lefties; but I wonder whether these givers weren’t trying to buy something from Rosen?
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/why-did-saban-and-other-jewish-donors-give-a-man-charged-with-espionage-670000.html
”What “looks and acts like a banana republic? “
wo recently published items present what I see as telling, if limited and even evasive, probes into the extent and depth of Israel’s militarization, each revealing a different manifestation of it. The first (truncated in the English version which omitted the passages of personal testimony from soldiers and police, included in the Hebrew original) looks at the confusing, contradictory maze of authorities in charge of the checkpoints that monitor the passage of West Bank Palestinians into Israel. Chaim Levinson erroneously calls these Green Line checkpoints, despite the placement of some of them inside the West Bank, as part of Israel’s ongoing drive to re-draw the Green Line to its convenience. These highly sensitive, loaded meeting points between Israeli authorities and the stateless, non-citizen Palestinians whom they control are, Levinson says, operated under an entangled-to-non-existent chain of accountability. He lays the blame with bureaucracy and extremely faulty administration.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/11/what-looks-and-acts-like-a-banana-republic/
There Could Never Be Peace Without a Minimum of Justice, Palestine Monitor
Mustafa Barghouthi, Palestine, PNI, thanked the Socialist International for its constant efforts to support the cause of peace in Palestine and in the Middle East, and he apologised for questioning whether the current discussion could be called a debate when the representative of the Israeli Labour Party had left immediately after giving his speech.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1617
President Obama Would Rather Kill Palestinians than Feed American Children
Pity the American people who ignorantly pay and die for Israel’s wars while believing the lies and fear mongering chants of the Pro Israel criminal cabal that the Muslims and Iran seek to destroy this nation. Shockingly, Mr. President, you have no political choice but to accept what Netanyahu dishes out against your person or against this nation having proclaimed that he has the ability to “move” this nation in the direction he sees fit. You would rather send billions of dollars of killing weapons that offensively violate America’s laws than send such money to feed hungry American children blocks from your resident.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/11/20/president-obama-would-rather-kill-palestinians-than-feed-american-childre/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SabbahsBlog+%28Sabbah+Report%29
Angry Birds Peace Treaty
A historic moment for birds and pigs everywhere.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMltvlqEM54
Rosengarten reflects on the ‘insanity’ of the response to the Jewish boat to Gaza, Lillian Rosengarten
We have run a few accounts from Lillian Rosengarten, an American, of her experience aboard the Jewish boat to Gaza in September. As time elapses her feelings have changed and solidified. Her latest: I want to give you a small sense of the political climate that hovered over us when we attempted to sail to Gaza. The bottom line truth of my experience on the little Jewish boat Irene, is that I became a witness to what I can only call insanity. I am completely indebted to this historic voyage for it has fueled in me a fire, an intense determination to break down walls of hate, to speak out, to shout and condemn Israel’s insane politics and to use myself in the spirit of non violence for I am a pacifist. I support liberation and an open society for Palestinians and Israelis as one. This is my dream to break down barriers of fear and hate. There is no other choice.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/rosengarten-reflects-on-the-insanity-of-the-response-to-the-jewish-boat-to-gaza.html
Adbusters Magazine and the Israel Lobby
In view of recent events, last week Remembrance Day commemorations ought to have been cancelled out of respect for the thousands of Canadian soldiers, airmen, and sailors who gave their lives fighting fascism. It’s a cruel irony that we should be honouring Canadians who liberated Europe 60-65 years ago when Canadians at home are losing theirs today.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/11/adbusters-magazine-and-the-israel-lobby/
Seeing the elephant in front of you, Yossi Gurvitz
Shmuel Sermoneta-Gertel has basically accused me of being a racist, after referring to Avigdor Liberman as a Homo Sovieticus. I contend that claim. The term “Homo Sovieticus” has a very distinct meaning. It refers to someone who accepted basic Soviet thinking, including blind acceptance of claims made by authority and isolation from and hatred of the outside world. You could add several other symptoms of the Soviet systems – disregard of human rights, contempt for democracy and the democratic process, and rampant racism towards “uncivilized people”, such as Asians or Muslims – and you would have described Avigdor Liberman, as well as most of his followers, to a T.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/seeing-the-elephant-in-front-of-you.html
Palestinians’ White Knight Blots His Escutcheon, Stuart Littlewood – London
From champion of the vulnerable to betrayer in one bound… Nick Clegg, Britain’s new deputy prime minister, is surprisingly agile. Betrayal started with Sheffield Forgemasters, a well-respected company in Clegg’s own constituency, who were promised a government loan to enable them to compete for large contracts in the nuclear industry. This was cancelled as soon as the new government was formed with Clegg as deputy prime minister.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16429
Why Not Permanent Seats for Palestine and Haiti Too?, Dallas Darling
When President Barack Obama announced support regarding a permanent seat for India on the UN Security Council, it reminded me of what Howard Zinn wrote: “The creation of the United Nations during the war was presented to the world as international cooperation to prevent future wars. But the U.N. was dominated by the Western imperial countries-the United States, England, and France-and a new imperial power, with military bases and powerful influence in Eastern Europe-the Soviet Union.”
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16432
I am Zionism’s mandatory object. So don’t I get to define it?, Ahmed Moor
There’s an excellent discussion of the ‘Zionism is racism’ question over at Jeremiah Haber’s site, The Magnes Zionist. Haber makes some very good points which are especially compelling since he – a multiculturalist who self-identifies as a Zionist – is making them. Indeed, anyone who reads his site knows that people like him will be an asset in the as-yet-unrealized egalitarian one-state Palestine/Israel. I’ll get to the contradiction implicit in this statement in a moment. First, I want to review why this is an important discussion that cannot exist independently of the anti-apartheid struggle; why can’t we just focus on the tangibles like the ethnic cleansing in Sheikh Jarrah?
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/i-am-zionisms-mandatory-object-so-dont-i-get-to-define-it.html
Me and my Israeli cousin, Mohammed Rabah Suliman
In the early 1980s my father was illegally crossing the borders as he stamped his passport with forged seals of the countries he wished to visit, from Libya to Syria, then on to Jordan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia he settled for 16 years, though he did not remain in one place for long and carried on his habit, moving from Al-Riyadh to Jidda, and from Jidda to Tabook— where I was born, and lastly coming back home. His brother, meanwhile, had already settled himself in a land far more handsome and graceful, mild and sunny, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean sea far from the baking wilderness of the Arabian Peninsula. He had already gained a wide reputation as the best T.V. technician in the Galilee. By then, he had his own shop, and diligently worked so as to preserve his place in that heaven; he feared nothing more than the prospect of going back to a flaming Gaza. I care not how low, inconsiderate, and void of principles this man might be regarded, nor do I care how discreet and realistic his attitude toward life was. He married an Arab-Israeli girl of fifteen from Kofor Kana, who as she crossed our doorstep in Beit Lahya thirteen years ago had already brought him three sons and two daughters, who joined the loosely connected extended family to which I belong.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/me-and-my-israeli-cousin.html
Hussein Ibish Is Now Vacationing At The Spot Of The Last Confirmed Sighting Of James Zogby’s Dignity
Members of the “Arab Lobby” in America are in love with the rulers of the Arab Gulf States. If they’re not hosting one of the Sheiks, Emirs, or Princes at their Banquets, Conventions, or Galas in Washington DC, they are found visiting the American military bases and oil-colonies along the Eastern shores of the Arabian Peninsula. Although “Saudi” Arabian officials and Princes remain everyone’s most sought after guests at Washington events, the United Arab Emirates, with its tourist friendly city-states, and unique attractions appears to be a favored destination spot. One exclusive, high-end travel agency in Dubai has begun to offer a new James Zogby dignity tour. For a reasonable fee tourists will see the town and earn a chance to win a grand prize. They spend an entire day with a tour guide visiting the streets, sewers, and trash bins of the city-state searching for Zogby’s dignity. Whoever finds it wins 50,000 Dirhams, a visit to a palace, and a picture with one of the Emir’s sons.
http://ikhras.com/2010/11/hussein-ibish-is-now-vacationing-at-the-spot-of-the-last-confirmed-sighting-of-james-zogbys-dignity/
America’s Bad Parenting Skills, Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
For parents, discipline is, by far, the most difficult of everyday parenting skills. Punishments and rewards should be meted out fairly and consistently in a way that the child eventually understands what behavior evokes which response. At least, that is, in a perfect world. For the United States, its “child” is not only unruly, it has come to call the shots, much like a frayed parent who continually gives in to their wayward child just to keep them quiet, all the while convincing themselves that their parenting skills are just fine.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=22827&CategoryId=3
American Radical on Link TV
American Radical is the probing documentary portrait of American academic and activist Norman Finkelstein. A devoted son of holocaust survivors, ardent critic of Israeli and US Mid-East policies and author of six provocative books–including The Holocaust Industry, Beyond Chutzpah and the soon-to-be-released A Farewell to Israel: The Coming Break-Up of American Zionism, Finkelstein has been at the center of many intractable controversies. Called a lunatic and a self-hating Jew by some and an inspirational, street-fighting revolutionary by others, Finkelstein is a deeply polarizing figure whose struggles arise from core questions about freedom, identity and nationhood. Following him as he presents his message to audiences around the globe, American Radical provides an intimate portrait of the man behind the controversy, giving voice to Finkelstein’s critics as well as his supporters.
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/american-radical-on-link-tv/
Check out Laila El-Haddad’s new book Gaza Mom: Palestine, Politics, Parenting, and Everything In Between,Adam Horowitz
The video above is from an event Thursday night at the Palestine Center in Washington, DC launching Laila El-Haddad’s new book Gaza Mom: Palestine, Politics, Parenting, and Everything In Between. El-Haddad is a journalist and blogger from Gaza who maintains the Gaza Mom blog and has now published a book based on the blog. You can learm more about the book, and buy it, on the Just World Books website.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/check-out-laila-el-haddads-new-book-gaza-mom-palestine-politics-parenting-and-everything-in-between.html
Breaking w/ Israel has helped Turkey in competition for Asian markets, Philip Weiss
This is interesting. Risk analyst Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia group was on Charlie Rose two nights back describing the struggle between market capitalism and state capitalism, US v China. My sense is that risk analysts are cold fish who assess the geopolitical business climate without regard to the moral struggle; and there was a bright thread through Bremmer’s comments that Israel is just getting in the way, and also that the Palestinian story has merit.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/breaking-w-israel-has-helped-turkey-in-competition-for-asian-markets.html
An Orientalist Masterpiece, RICHARD ESTES
On Sunday, I had the opportunity to watch about 4 hours of the approximately 5 1/2 hour French miniseries about the notorious Carlos the Jackal at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco. You can also apparently rent a shorter version on cable if you have the Sundance Channel, and it will be released nationally in yet another edited version as well. I hope to watch the remainder of it sometime soon. As’ad Abukhalil, the Angry Arab, has said that Carlos is good entertainment, but bad politically, and that’s a pretty fair assessment. I probably wouldn’t gone to see it except for the fact that one of my favorite directors, Olivier Assayas, made it. I’ve seen a lot of his movies, going all the way back to Disorder from the mid-1980s, and think highly of him. I’ve always considered him to be one of the heirs to Fassbinder, with an acute sense of the internal rhythms of film narrative, a highly developed sense of the banalities of life and an empathy for what cultural studies types describe as transgressive behaviour. For my review of his movie, Summer Hours, released in the US last year, go here.
http://www.counterpunch.org/estes11192010.html
`Abdul-`Aziz Ad-Duri
The “dean” of Arab historians is dead. Not a word about this great scholar in any Western publication. The New York Times had 3/4 of a page devoted to the marriage of Prince Harry or Henry or Williams in UK. I kid you not. The style section of the NYT had a two page spread on Kim Kardashian. What do you expect. `Abdul-`Aziz Ad-Duri is not only a historian of the Arab world: but he was a historian of Arab history. He was a critical historian of history by Arabs. He was quite daring in his critical look at the early Arab historians including the sirat of Ibn Ishaq of the prophet (see his introduction to An Inquiry in the formation of the Science of History Among the Arabs (in Arabic). Ad-Duri believed that it was possible to write a history of the Arabs, consistent with his Arab nationalist views. He chaired the department of history in Baghdad University but later relocated to Jordan.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/abdul-aziz-ad-duri.html
BBC (Saudi) “documentary”: `Abdur-Rahman Ar-Rashid and Saudi propaganda, As’ad Abukhalil
Ian Black has an article about nixing of the “documentary” that was supposed to air on the BBC channel. Nadim offers this genius-level explanation: ”Nadim Shehadi, a Lebanon expert at the Chatham House thinktank in London, said: “There is an atmosphere of terror in Beirut. It may be a deliberate campaign to apply pressure to the tribunal. It is almost as if there is a communications strategy.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/bbc-saudi-documentary-abdur-rahman-ar.html
The Return of Ghosts: Debating the rise of Geert Wilders and the far-right at the Nexus Symposium, Max Blumenthal
I spent last week in Amsterdam, where I participated in the “Return of Ghosts” symposium of the Nexus Institute, a discussion/debate about the resurgence of neo-fascism in Europe and anti-democratic trends in the West. Besides providing a forum for debating European politics, the symposium was the occasion for the first public appearance in Europe by Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa since he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature last month. The arrival of Vargas Llosa, one of the world’s foremost intellectuals, resulted in an overflow crowd filled with members of the Dutch media, the country’s political class, and the royal family.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/11/the-return-of-ghosts-debating-the-rise-of-geert-wilders-and-the-far-right/
TSA is Delivering Naked Insecurity, Ralph Nader
To the Department of Homeland Security: If you thought this week was bad, brace yourself for a tsunami of protests in the days ahead.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-11-18-column18_ST1_N.htm
Lebanon
Lebanese President urges to safeguard country against internal strife
BEIRUT, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) — President Michel Suleiman called Sunday on rival Lebanese groups to safeguard the country against internal strife. Suleiman’s appeal comes amid rising fears of sectarian strife over the indictment expected to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), probing the assassination of Lebanese Former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-11/22/c_13616140.htm
CBC report, again (see below)
This CBC report rendered a great service to Hizbullah’s campaign against the Hariri court. Public opinion surveys in Lebanon already point to a clear and systematic decline in public support for the court, even among Sunnis and Druzes (the Christians are split). I mean, to accuse the key intelligence guy in the Hariri camp, Al-Hasan, of complicity is to turn the investigation into a farce. This Wisam Hasan was so key to UN investigation that he was even used (at least in the case of “false witness”, Muhammad Zuhayr As-Siddiq) as the official interpretor of the UN team. And for the report to rely on the account of Mehlis discredited the court and report further. The Hariri camp is now clearly at war, and Wisam Hasan (who is named in the report) has so much dirt on his Hariri enemies and will fight back. The movie will now get more interesting and suspenseful. As for the Hariri investigation itself, you may relegate it to late night TV, on “Nick at Night”. Check your local listing.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/cbc-report-again-see-below.html
Evidence links Hezbollah to Hariri death
A Lebanese police officer and U.N. investigators unearthed extensive circumstantial evidence implicating the Syrian-backed Hezbollah movement in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, according to an investigation by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=a1d9b807bd22702113ef886257cde4db
Lebanon: ‘resistance must continue’
Parliamentary speaker says despite Israeli pullout from disputed border village, resistance to neighbour must continue.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/11/20101118133429610900.html
First it was Der Speigel, now it’s the Canadian CBC
It appears that the Zionists have decided to initiate their next round their anti-Hezbollah campaign by using the Canadian CBC to, yet again, accuse Hezbollah of the murder of Rafik Hariri. That’s a way to give at least some cover to the now thoroughly discredited UN investigation. Remember how the Zionists used the German magazine Der Spiegel to “leak” their accusations? Now they do the same with the CBC. This latest move is also a way to cover up the proof presented by Hezbollah of Israel’s involvement in Harari’s murder. I frankly doubt that this latest stunt will have much traction, at least in Lebanon (they have already heard it all, a million times over). Mostly, this latest move is a “psyop preparation of the battlefield” before the official release of the indictments of various Hezbollah officials by the UN investigators.
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2010/11/first-it-was-der-speigel-now-its.html
Lebanon, the endgame, Norman Finkelstein
Several recent news items have focused on Israel’s desire to confront Iran in Lebanon by taking on Iranian ally, Hizbollah. Yesterday Norman Finkelstein sent along this clip from the Asia Times, “Israel moves to counter Hezbollah,” which begins, “In the past few months, Israel has gone out of its way to cast itself as a victim of aggression in case a war with Hezbollah breaks out.” Finkelstein wrote, “Setting aside the obvious propaganda and lies, it’s accurate: we’re approaching the endgame.” I asked him to elaborate.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/lebanon-the-endgame.html
Iraq
Christian brothers shot dead in north Iraq
MOSUL, Iraq — Two Iraqi Christian brothers were gunned down inside their vehicle workshop in the restive northern city of Mosul on Monday, police said. Saad Hanna, 43, and Waad Hanna, 40, were shot dead at around noon (0900 GMT) in the city, 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Baghdad, the latest in a spate of attacks targeting the minority community in Iraq.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gbwg3Jb5V8vwSiE000KI3S2XpriQ?docId=CNG.4552f80a82547c738e9dde8b3a339cd7.521
Sunday: 2 US Soldiers, 3 Iraqis Killed; 2 Iraqis Wounded
At least three Iraqis were killed and two more were wounded in new attacks. Also, one U.S. soldier was killed in a small arms attack today, and another U.S. soldier died during physical training on Friday. Thousands of Iraqi pilgrims are making their way. Meanwhile, Iraq has run out of money to pay widow’s benefits and for other poverty alleviation programs.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/11/21/sunday-3-iraqis-killed-2-wounded/
Iraq TV reporter gunned down in home: police (AFP)
AFP – Gunmen killed a young television news reporter in his home in the restive northern city of Mosul on Sunday, in the latest in a series of deadly attacks on journalists in Iraq, police said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101121/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestmedia
Bomb targets Iraq lawmaker from Sunni-backed list (AP)
AP – A roadside bomb went off in the northern city of Mosul Friday, narrowly missing a member of a Sunni-backed political bloc but killing one of his bodyguards, Iraqi officials said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101119/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
120 mass graves discovered in Iraq in seven years
Iraq has yielded 120 mass graves, but the number is certainly bound to balloon as only a small portion of the country has been surveyed so far, according to Human Rights Minister Wojdan Salem. “We cannot say how many mass graves are there in Iraq. But we have verified information about 120 of them, many of which we have excavated” but have not yet dealt with all the bodies in them, Salem said. The minister said she was concerned about the fate of Iraqis who were killed and buried en mass, urging the authorities to provide more resources for her ministry in order to expedite its surveys. Salem said the number her ministry has on mass graves represents locations of these mass burial sites. “One mass grave may contain several others,” she said.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2010-11-22\kurd.htm
Tariq Aziz seeks pardon from Iraqi president (AP)
AP – Lawyers for Tariq Aziz are asking Iraq’s president to pardon the former Saddam Hussein ally, who faces execution for the persecution of Shiite Muslims.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101122/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_aziz
Iraqi Christians seek safe haven in Jordan (AFP)
AFP – A spate of attacks targeting Christians in Iraq has forced many to flee to neighbouring Jordan which many see as a stepping stone to a new life as far away as possible from the violence-ridden country.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101122/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestchristiansjordan
Rights TV Show Bolsters Iraqi Activists
Prominent Iraqi activists and journalists say IWPR Iraq’s television reports have bolstered human rights campaign work and broadened media coverage of rights issues.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/rights-tv-show-bolsters-iraqi-activists
The Listening Post – Iraq’s factionalised media
It took eight months for the Iraqi government to finally reach an agreement on a power-sharing deal. The war torn country is notoriously factionalised with a population divided by politics and religion and plagued by sectarian violence. These divisions were very evident in the Iraqi media’s coverage in the lead up to the election. In an effort to deal with the media cacophony, the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission – set up in 2004 – entered the fray. When the commission started threatening to shut down outlets that incited hatred, many journalists in the country were left unsure of exactly what they could and could not say. This week, The Listening Post looks at the media’s role in the lead up to the election, what it may be like under the new power-sharing agreement and whether or not it will be able to put aside its differences without being censored.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAz-TljqDwU&feature=youtube_gdata
From the archive, 22 November 1927: King Feisul of Iraq – the man and his aims
Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 22 November 1927. The personal charm of Arab leaders is a theme that has been overworked by writers as far apart, perhaps, as Gertrude Bell and Ethel M. Dell, but it would be impossible to ignore in an attempt to estimate the position and importance of King Feisul of Iraq, who arrives in Manchester to-day as the guest of the British Cotton-growing Association. To see him in England is a revelation of the passion for Westernisation which, under his aegis, is surging through his country.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/nov/22/archive-king-feisul-iraq
U.S. & Other World News
Wikileaks: Next batch of secret documents seven times larger than Iraq war logs
STOCKHOLM — Whistleblowing website WikiLeaks said Monday it was planning to publish nearly three million more secret documents in its next mass release of confidential material, according to its Twitter feed. WikiLeaks did not say when the release would be, nor on what subject, but the number of documents would be seven times larger than its release last month when it posted some 400,000 secret documents about the war in Iraq on its site.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/wikileaks-batch-secret-documents-times-larger-iraq-war-logs/
Senate panel OKs ‘Internet censorship’ bill
WASHINGTON — The US Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill on Thursday that would give US law enforcement more tools to crack down on websites abroad engaged in piracy of movies, television shows and music.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/panel-oks-internet-censorship-bill/
The 19 Senators Who Voted To Censor The Internet
This is hardly a surprise but, this morning (as previously announced), the lame duck Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to move forward with censoring the internet via the COICA bill — despite a bunch of law professors explaining to them how this law is a clear violation of the First Amendment. What’s really amazing is that many of the same Senators have been speaking out against internet censorship in other countries, yet they happily vote to approve it here because it’s seen as a way to make many of their largest campaign contributors happy. There’s very little chance that the bill will actually get passed by the end of the term but, in the meantime, we figured it might be useful to highlight the 19 Senators who voted to censor the internet this morning.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101118/10291211924/the-19-senators-who-voted-to-censor-the-internet.shtml
Obama to give George Bush, Sr. the presidential Medal of Freedom
Former President George H.W. Bush is among 15 people selected to be awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom, the White House announced Wednesday night. The Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, is awarded for “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/obama-give-george-hw-bush-presidential-medal-freedom/
U.S. wants to widen area in Pakistan where it can operate drones
ISLAMABAD – The United States has renewed pressure on Pakistan to expand the areas where CIA drones can operate inside the country, reflecting concern that the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan is being undermined by insurgents’ continued ability to take sanctuary across the border, U.S. and Pakistani officials said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111906268.html
NATO occupation forces kill three children in northeast Afghanistan: locals said a fourth person was also killed in the incident
According to provincial police chief Brigadier General Khalilullah Ziayee, speaking to the Pajhwok Afghan news agency, a police officer and his three nephews – all children – were killed in the accident.
http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-88599.html
Gunmen torch 10 Nato oil tankers in Peshawar
According to police officials, six assailants attacked a workshop located on the Ring Road and torched 10 Nato oil tankers, completely gutting them. The attackers fled while opening fire.
http://www.dawn.com/2010/11/20/gunmen-torch-10-nato-oil-tankers-in-peshawar.html
Thousands protest against Afghanistan war
The demonstration, which organisers said was 10,000-strong, came as the prime minister, David Cameron, said the withdrawal of British combat troops from Afghanistan by 2015 was a “firm deadline” that would be met.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/20/protesters-march-against-afghanistan-war-london
Egypt denies Mubarak swayed Bush on grounds to invade Iraq (AFP)
AFP – Egypt denied on Sunday that President Hosni Mubarak had swayed his then US counterpart George W. Bush to invade Iraq in 2003 because its leader Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101121/wl_mideast_afp/egyptusiraqpolitics
Saudi king will travel to US for treatment
Saudi Arabia’s elderly King Abdullah flies to the US today for checks for a back ailment, and Crown Prince Sultan is returning from holiday. Political stability in the monarchy is of global concern. The Gulf Arab state controls more than a fifth of the world’s crude reserves, is a vital US ally in the region, a major holder of dollar assets and home to the biggest Arab bourse.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-king-will-travel-to-us-for-treatment-2140325.html
Muslim Brotherhood supporters clash with police in Alexandria
Supporters of a Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary candidate marching in Alexandria on Friday night (10/19/10) encountered state security forces as more than 200 people were arrested across the country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9LSp8LjoWw&feature=youtube_gdata
For Saudi Women, Biggest Challenge Is Getting to Play
After the 18-year-old Saudi equestrian Dalma Malhas won a bronze medal in show jumping at the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August, she was singled out for praise by Jacques Rogge, chairman of the International Olympic Committee, in a news conference at the Games’ conclusion. “This is indeed the first time that a Saudi woman is participating in an international event,” let alone winning a medal, Mr. Rogge said of Olympic events. Ms. Malhas’s achievement, he said, had made the I.O.C. “absolutely happy.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/sports/18SAUDISPORTS.html?_r=1
www.TheHeadlines.org
