And more news from Today in Palestine:
Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
28 Oct. ’10: 35 tree vandalism cases in 6 weeks
Four Israeli human rights groups – The Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), B’Tselem, Rabbis for Human Rights and Yesh Din – Volunteers for Human Rights – sent an urgent letter today to senior Israeli military commanders, in which they called on the commanders to take all necessary steps to ensure that Palestinians and their properties are protected from violence and damage during the current olive harvest season.
http://www.btselem.org/english/press_releases/20101028.asp
Widespread Work Commences in Talmon Settlement North of Ramallah
Ramallah – PNN – Eyewitnesses in the Qabliya Farms village north of Ramallah said the illegal settlement of Talmon had seen several days’ worth of widespread construction work. For more than ten straight days, the witnesses said, Israelis have been working around the clock in the areas of al-Zahur and Abu Ansar, bulldozing land and building new roads. Resident complained that Israeli authorities had barred them from reaching their land, which legally belongs to the people of the village.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9055&Itemid=62
Settlement expansion spotted in Salfit
SALFIT (Ma’an) — General Federation of Palestinian Workers’ Unions in Salfit monitored the settlement expansion activities in different places in Salfit. Mahmoud Al-Bar, the head of the federation, said settlers carried out construction-related work in or near Ariel, Revava, Pedu’el, the Barkan industrial estate, and other settlements. Land near these settlements was bulldozed in preparation for construction, he said. He also said Salfit has been divided into three parts by settlements, and is the only governorate of the West Bank where settlements outnumber Palestinian villages.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329734
Many more Israeli buildings constructed in West Bank
There have been hundreds of homes built in the West Bank by Israeli settlers since the settlement freeze was lifted. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, removed the moratorium about three weeks ago, saying it had only been a gesture. The 10-month freeze on new settlement building had ensured breathing space for the Israelis and Palestinians while peace talks were being discussed.
http://story.birminghamstar.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/701224/cs/1/
Israel Razes Homes in Hebron, Jenin; Settlers Run Wild in Nablus
Bethlehem – PNN – Wafa reported that Israeli forces demolished a number of homes in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday night, and Monday morning in the southern city of Hebron. Meanwhile, eyewitnesses reported that settlers “wreaked havoc” in the streets of the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday evening. The destruction in Hebron was more widespread, with Israeli forces razing homes in the neighborhoods of Samua, Haloul, Idhna, al-Dhahiriyya, Dura, Nuba, al-Shuyukh, and the refugee camp of al-Fawar, setting up roadblocks at the entrance of several streets and asking residents for their identification. Several residents reported Israeli troops rummaging through their belongings.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9043&Itemid=64
Jewish settlers on the rampage in Salfit
Extremist Jewish settlers on Sunday attacked Palestinian citizens while harvesting their olive crops west of Salfit and tried to rob their harvest, local sources reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Ibrahimi mosque closed for Muslim worshipers as settlers celebrate “Chaye Sarah”
Scores of Jewish settlers converged on al-Khalil on Friday afternoon to celebrate “Chaye Sarah” closing the mosque in the face of Muslim worshipers for the length of the festivity.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6
DCI-Palestine releases new report on settler violence
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/LSGZ-8ASFW3?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Fatah: Hebron must stand fast against settlers
HEBRON (Ma’an) — The Fatah Central Committee met on Sunday afternoon in the West Bank city of Hebron and discussed ways to “strengthen the steadfastness” of people living in the community in the face of what they saw as an escalation of attacks by Israeli settlers. The meeting was chaired by the secretary of the committee, Abu Maher Ghneim, and included members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and Fatah leaders.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329609
Netanyahu risks diplomatic rift with France over settlement freeze
Relations between Netanyahu and Sarkozy have become tense due to Israel’s refusal to extend the West Bank settlement freeze.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-risks-diplomatic-rift-with-france-over-settlement-freeze-1.322025?localLinksEnabled=false
PM: Settlement freeze issue on hold
Netanyahu tells Likud faction meeting US yet to offer anything in exchange for renewal of West Bank construction moratorium; says unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood would ‘exact price from both sides’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3978109,00.html
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Weekly anti-Wall Protest Update
Oct 30, 2010– Al Nabi Saleh was the scene of extreme and violent repression from the Occupation forces during the weekly anti-wall protests. Protesters were also injured in Bil’in and Almasara.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2388.shtml
Oslo mayor joins protest against illegal Israeli wall
Dr. Rateb Abu Rahmah of the Bil’in popular committee sent this note Friday after the demonstration: Today’s demonstration in Bil’in against the Apartheid wall, organized by the Popular Committee of Bil’in, was joined by many local residents, Israeli activists as well as many internationals. As the group moved peacefully towards the Apartheid wall, they chanted to “Freedom to all Palestinian Political Prisoners”. Demonstrators carrying the Palestinian flag crossed through a gate to confront the awaiting soldiers with a simple question, “What are you doing here?”
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/oslo-mayor-joins-protest-against-illegal-israeli-wall.html
Hope convoy stranded at Libyan-Egyptian borders
Members of the European “Hope” convoy carrying aid to the Gaza Strip said that they were hopeful of a decision by president Hosni Mubarak to allow them enter Egypt via land route to deliver their aid.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6
Irish musician refuses to visit Israel
Famous Irish musician Gary Moore has announced that he would never visit Israel, describing it as a criminal state during a press conference in Moscow.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7
A rabbi struggles to protect his Palestinian flock
Arik Ascherman is sitting inside a fortified and heavily guarded Israeli police compound in the West Bank. With him are two Palestinian farmers he has persuaded to report a theft, and a uniformed officer whom he is educating in the story of Alexander the Great and the Gordian Knot.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/a-rabbi-struggles-to-protect-his-palestinian-flock-2121858.html
Dallas Conference Launches Movement for One Democratic State in Palestine, discredits racist claims that Israelis and Palestinians cannot coexist peacefully in one state
Dallas-The Movement for One Democratic State in Palestine (ODS) was formally launched at a conference on October 23-24. This effort builds on the foundation made by similar gatherings held in Madrid, Boston and Haifa. “This historic conference embodies the growing international acknowledgement that the ‘two state-solution’ to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is dead,” said conference organizer Dr. Samir Abed-Rabbo. “Our call for one democratic state offers equality under the law for all Palestinians and Israelis—Christians, Jews, Muslims—in the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan. This is the only way to a sustainable peace because it is based on justice and adherence to international law.”
http://www.onedemocraticstate.org/
Audio: From Sharpeville to Gaza
This panel will present and assess the achievements and aims of the BDS movement internationally and in Palestine over the past 5 years, and speak to the challenges ahead for the BDS movement in Québec, Canada and around the world.
http://www.tadamon.ca/post/8181
Historic BDS debate in Zeek, Jesse Bacon
Zeek, the artsy hipstery Jewish journal, published two long pieces on BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) for what I assume is the first time. This bold move plants the movement squarely within the more creative portion of the Jewish establishment, at least as a topic of conversation. This suggests that the effort to make any discussion, as opposed to demonization, of BDS taboo has backfired. It is the BDS-demonizers who find themselves increasingly having a conversation with themselves.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/10/historic-bds-debate-in-zeek/
Siege/Rights Violations/Restriction of Movement
Gaza demonstrators at UN office demand end of siege
Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in front of the UN offices in Gaza city on Sunday demanding international intervention to lift the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q
Child Labour in Jordan Valley Settlements, Palestine Monitor
At 5am each day, Nabeel wakes and goes to work. He leaves his house on foot, joining friends and colleagues as young as 10, on their way to the illegal settlement of Tomer. He is 13 years old, living in the Jordan Valley village of Al Fassayil. For Nabeel there is no other choice.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1592
Feature: 70 wounded Gaza grooms celebrate marriage in mass wedding
GAZA, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) — Sitting on his wheeling chair, Omer el-Khouli was very glad as he celebrated Saturday evening, with his bride, in a mass wedding ceremony organized by Gaza Strip ruling Islamic Hamas movement. El-Khouli had been critically wounded and became physically disabled 22 moths ago, when Israel launched a three-week military offensive on the Gaza Strip in late December 2008. He was pleased to join other 69 grooms who were also victims of that war.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/31/c_13583590.htm
Racism and Discrimination
How do you translate ‘innocent’ into Arabic?, Amira Hass
Ahmed Nafe’a, a 29-year-old teacher, was jailed for nine months. The military prosecution submitted a severe indictment against him that was not based on proof, except for the testimony of a mentally challenged person
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/how-do-you-translate-innocent-into-arabic-1.322210?localLinksEnabled=false
American prof. subjected to intense El Al search shares name of pro-Iran activist, Haaretz learns
After many previous visits without incident, science expert ‘humiliated’ en route to Hebrew University conference.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/american-prof-subjected-to-intense-el-al-search-shares-name-of-pro-iran-activist-haaretz-learns-1.322207?localLinksEnabled=false
Hate-Preacher Rabbi Provokes Riots in The Galilee, Palestine Monitor
Arabs and Jews have united in condemning Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu for inciting racism in the Upper Galilee town of Safed. Eliyahu chaired a conference last week in which he informed his audience that it was ‘sinful’ to sell or rent property to non-Jews, sparking a violent demonstration against Arab students of Safed College. The Rabbi had previously demanded that the Israeli government “hang the children of terrorists from a tree”.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1593
Refugees
Interactive game inspires Ain al-Hilweh kids to stay in school
SIDON: Palestinian children learned to join forces in order to promote education during a rally-paper competition held at the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp Friday.The competition included solving riddles and playing educational games to raise awareness of the importance of education and combating illiteracy among Palestinian refugees.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=120944
Violence & Aggression
Palestinian children ‘victims of settler violence’ (AFP)
AFP – Palestinian children are coming under increasing attack by a handful of violent, extremist Jewish settlers, a rights group said Monday in a report on the human cost of settlement expansion.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101101/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianconflictsettlerchildren
Report: Israeli soldiers kill 3, injure dozens in October in Gaza Strip
A report issued by Gaza Strip medical services documented dozens of Palestinian deaths and injuries at the hands of Israeli occupation forces in the month of October, 2010.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7
Daily shootings in Gaza’s border zone
UMM AN-NASSER, Gaza (Ma’an) — A string of shootings of Palestinian workers, many of them only teenagers, in the northern Gaza Strip has brought renewed attention to a live-fire exclusion zone imposed by Israel on the Gaza side of the Green Line. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon removed settlers and most soldiers from Gaza in 2005, but Israeli forces still patrol the buffer zone, a swath of Palestinian territory along Gaza’s northern and eastern borders.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329481
Voices from the Occupation
Ill-treatment and torture – Abed (16) was arrested near a road used by settlers and accused of throwing stones. He reports being given electric shocks in Ari’el settlement.
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/doc/press/Voices_2010-10-30_ill-treatment.pdf
Witnesses: Israeli tanks operating in central Gaza Strip
Several Israeli military vehicles crossed the Gaza border on Monday into the central Gaza Strip, witnesses told Ma’an., Witnesses said Israeli tanks and bulldozers entered hundreds of meters into the village of Wadi Al-Salqa, south of Gaza City, roaming the area and bulldozing land., The Israeli army regularly conducts similar operations in the area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329823
Israeli Troops Invade Houses in Hebron
Security sources reported that the Israeli military invaded, on Monday morning, several houses in Hebron.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59798
Center: Silwan resident suffers blindness after clashes
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — A resident of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem is suffering severe vision problems after inhaling tear gas during recent clashes in the flashpoint neighborhood, a community center said. The Wadi Hilwa Information Center said Ahmad Al-Juba, 20, gradually lost his vision since the clashes in late September, when Israeli forces used tear gas against protesters. Clashes broke out after a settler security guard shot dead resident Samer Sarhan. According to the center, Al-Juba was transferred to an Israeli hospital, where it was said his vision was damaged by tear gas.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329523
Israeli Officer Charged With Handing Gun To Friend During Attack On Palestinians Last Weekend
On Sunday, an Israeli court charged two Israelis, a border officer and his friend, with firing live rounds at Palestinian-Israeli citizens last weekend in the town of Safed, while shouting “death to Arabs”, “stinking Muslims” and “a Jew has a soul and an Arab is a son-of-a-bitch”.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59795
Report: Leftover Israeli explosives cause Tubas blast
TUBAS (Ma’an) — An abandoned building in Tubas was destroyed Saturday in a blast caused by explosives left behind by Israeli forces, Palestinian Authority civil defense department said. A car belonging to PA security forces was damaged in the explosion, and the glass of two homes in the area shattered, a statement said. No injuries were reported. The report said the building had been used by Israeli military intelligence in 2002.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329553
Viciously Attacking Israeli Arabs, Steve Lendman
Reminiscent of Kristallnacht violence, Israeli Arabs in Haifa District’s Umm al-Fahm community were attacked, Haaretz writers Fadi Eyadat, Jack Khoury, and Chaim Levinson headlining, “Police clash with Arab protesters as rightists rally in Umm al-Fahm,” saying: In Arab Umm al-Fahm, “Dozens of extreme rightists (hooligan West Bank settlers) held a protest against the Islamic Movement,” an initiative advocating Islam among Israeli Arabs on three levels – religious, social, and support for Palestinian self-determination.
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/10/viciously-attacking-israeli-arabs.html
Detainees
Israel Arrests 100 Palestinian Children From Jerusalem Last Month
Jerusalem – PNN – Human rights groups issued a report saying that the Israeli military police, better known as the border police, arrested 100 Palestinian children from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan in October. Israeli soldiers arresting a Palestinian child. In contrast, the Israeli police announced that they arrested only 40 children after Israeli settlers in Silwan claimed that the children were throwing stones at them, adding that they could be lethal. The police said that all those arrested were under the age of 13 years old.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9054&Itemid=64
New Scandals in Child Prisoner Torture: Soldiers Urinate on 13-Year-Old Boys
Bethlehem – PNN – Palestinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs Issa Qaraqa’ said he has uncovered a new scandal in the treatment of child prisoners by Israeli soldiers, in which Israeli soldiers urinated on two 13-year-old boys and held them naked in a bathroom for two days.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9046
Hamas Fighter Kidnapped In Bethlehem, Army Believes He Is Behind A Shooting Attack
The Israeli army issued a statement revealing that Israeli soldiers kidnapped a Palestinian fighter, reportedly a member of Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades, and that the fighter is believed to be behind a shooting attack against settler’s vehicles near Bethlehem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59796
IOF soldiers conduct field interrogation of Hamas leaders in Yabad
A senior intelligence officer accompanied the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) that stormed two houses of Hamas figures in Yabad village, Jenin district, and conducted field interrogation with both.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k
National committee: Release Gaza prisoners whose incarceration term ended
The national committee for prisoners has asked international human rights organizations to immediately intervene with the IOA to end its crime of detaining Gazan prisoners whose sentences had ended.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Reprisals
PFLP fighters: We attacked Israeli forces in Gaza
GAZA (Ma’an) — The armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said Monday that its fighters shelled Israeli forces east of Al-Maghazi, in the central Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329678
Political “Developments“
Palestinians mull options, preparing for possible collapse of peace talks
RAMALLAH, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) — After the right-wing Israeli government refused to extend settlement construction’s freeze in the Palestinian territories on Sept. 26, the Palestinians halted the United States-sponsored direct talks with Israel and said they would seek other diplomatic options instead. Last week, President Mahmoud Abbas said that he has seven options to use in case Israel insists not to halt settlement. One of the options is to apply to the (UN) Security Council and ask for an international recognition of establishing an independent Palestinian state on the territories occupied by Israel in 1967.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-11/01/c_13585996.htm
Erekat: “Egypt Proposed A Joint Plan For Submitting Palestinian Demands To The UN”
Head of the Negotiations Department at the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Dr. Saeb Erekat, stated that Egypt proposed that the Palestinians present a plan that represents their demands to the United Nations, and that this plan would also represent a unified Arab stance.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59797
Report: Egypt intel chief set for Israel visit
TEL AVIV (Ma’an) — Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman will travel to Israel this week for talks aimed at breaking an impasse in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA), an Israeli website reported. Suleiman will meet with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netnayahu and President Shimon Peres, according to Ynet, the site affiliated with the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329779
German minister postpones Mideast visit (AFP)
AFP – Germany’s interior minister on Sunday postponed a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, his spokesman said, after global intelligence agencies thwarted an air cargo bomb plot.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101031/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansgermanydiplomacyusattacksyemen
Ma’ariv: Washington Wants to Replace Mitchell in Coming Weeks
Tel Aviv – PNN – The Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv reported on Monday that the US administration plans to replace George Mitchell, special envoy for Middle East peace, possibly with former President Clinton’s aides Martin Indyk and Dennis Ross.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9051&Itemid=66
Republicans urge Obama to prevent Palestinian state recognition
As Congressional midterm elections approach, Republican representatives call on US president not to reward ‘Palestinian behavior,’ warn UN resolution on Palestinian state would hurt peace efforts.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3976883,00.html
Israel’s Tea Party draws few supporters to ‘Say No to Obama’ event
Movement is not a breakaway from Netanyahu’s party, Likud MK and organizer says, but is meant to help PM reject Obama’s pressure to bend to Palestinian conditions for peace talks.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-s-tea-party-draws-few-supporters-to-say-no-to-obama-event-1.322182?localLinksEnabled=false
Republican election gains likely to embolden Israeli PM (AFP)
AFP – A weakening of US President Barack Obama’s Democrats in this week’s Congressional elections would make Israel more resistant to demands for a new freeze on Jewish settlement, analysts say.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101031/pl_afp/israelpalestinianspeaceusvote
War Criminals and their Enablers
Whither Goldstone? Did the PA kill the UN’s Gaza report?), Jared Malsin
Israeli soldiers shot a mentally ill Palestinian man in the leg when he ventured near the Erez crossing, in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Last Wednesday, a 65-year-old man was shot in the neck in the same area. A week earlier the soldiers shot a 17-year-old, who entered the 300 to 500 meter “buffer zone” in northern Gaza to collect construction scrap which he hoped to sell for a few dollars.
http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/10/27/whither_goldstone_did_the_pa_kill_the_uns_gaza_report
Other News
Hamas: There is no al-Qaeda presence in Gaza
Cairo – Al-Qaeda has no presence and it is also not wanted in the Gaza strip, a minister in the Hamas government told the regional daily al-Hayat Monday. ‘We have closed all loopholes, and we do not wish to deal with al- Qaeda,’ Fathy Hammad, Gaza’s Interior Minister, told the paper. ‘We are moderates and we value that, we do not like extremists or fanatics,’ the minister said. ‘We don’t need jihad fighters or weapons…whoever wants to support us sends us money,’ Hammad added. Hamas, considered a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union, took complete control over the Gaza Strip in 2007, ousting the more secular leaning Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1595623.php/Hamas-There-is-no-al-Qaeda-presence-in-Gaza
Report: Hamas admits for first time losing 200-300 men in Gaza war
Israel Radio quotes Hamas minister as denying al-Qaida is active in Gaza, saying ‘We are moderates – we don’t like extremists or fanatics.’
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-hamas-admits-for-first-time-losing-200-300-men-in-gaza-war-1.322249
Bardaweel: Israel won’t see Shalit without paying price
GAZA (Ma’an) — Hamas leader Salah Bardaweel said Monday that “the Israeli occupation will not rejoice [with Gilad] Shalit without paying the price under the resistance factions’ conditions.” This remark came during a speech at an event in the city of Khan Younis held in solidarity with the more than 10,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza held in Israeli jails.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329746
Officers suspected of robbing Palestinians
Two Border Guard officers took wallets, cell phones from Palestinians they were sent to arrest, police say.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977958,00.html
Former U.S. deputy defense secretary: Jonathan Pollard must be freed now
Lawrence Korb tells Army Radio Pollard’s punishment was too severe for his crimes, no other person with similar charges received such severe sentence.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/former-u-s-deputy-defense-secretary-jonathan-pollard-must-be-freed-now-1.322113?localLinksEnabled=false
Yishai: We’ll fight for Jewish majority
During Knesset discussion on Israel’s immigration policy, interior minister vows to maintain state’s Jewish character. Balanced bill could prevent unnecessary parliamentary battle, Opposition Chairwoman Livni notes.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977592,00.html
Germany’s Orthodox Jews outraged at government ‘discrimination’
Berlin rabbis furious over government decision to fund Liberal Jewish institution – but not its Orthodox equivalent.
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/germany-s-orthodox-jews-outraged-at-government-discrimination-1.322251?localLinksEnabled=false
Ministers approve bill against draft-dodgers
Haredi ministers slam bill requiring proof of religious lifestyle from girls who want exemption from service.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977931,00.html
Diskin: iPhones give terrorists intel
Shin Bet chief says technology has removed psychological barriers for carrying out mega-terror attacks. ‘Internet technologies accessible to public, like Google Earth, iPhones, supply terrorists with super intelligence,’ he says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977924,00.html
Coming soon: Mabhouh TV series
Mahmoud al-Zahar says writing a script on life and death of Hamas leader killed by Mossad.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3976750,00.html
Culture
Ramallah heritage exhibition fights occupation
An exhibition of handicrafts made by Palestinian women opened Sunday in Ramallah under the auspices of the Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD) to preserve the Palestinian identity against the Judaization of the occupied territories.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/11/01/124477.html
The Must-Have Kitchen Gadget From the Gaza Strip
In this gadget-riddled world, far be it from me to come out promoting a new must-have kitchen gewgaw. But I came back from doing field research in the Gaza Strip this summer with a zibdiye and it has become my most precious kitchen item, in constant use. I thought I’d share the joys of this most rudimentary and perfect object.
http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2010/10/the-must-have-kitchen-gadget-from-the-gaza-strip/65429/
Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest
Haneen Zoabi: Palestinians citizens of Israel are ’struggling for a normal state . . . which is a state for all of its citizens, [in] which the Palestinians and the Israeli Jews can have full equality.’, Adam Horowitz
Ali Abunimah has an interesting and wide ranging interview with Israeli MK Haneen Zoabi up on Electronic Intifada. Zoabi has been public enemy number one in Israel since taking part in the Freedom Flotilla last Spring. Most recently, she was targeted last week by police during the protests in Umm al-Fahm.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/haneen-zoabi-palestinians-citizens-of-israel-are-struggling-for-a-normal-state-which-is-a-state-for-all-of-its-citizens-in-which-the-palestinians-and-the-israeli-jews-can-have-full-equalit.html
The Palestinian Third Way, Palestine Monitor
He is articulate, courteous, handsome and suave. A medical doctor by profession he is also a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and was candidate for the Presidency of Palestinian Authority in 2005. Fifty-six-year-old Mustafa Barghouti wears many hats, but what he most represents is the hope of an emerging third power for his Palestinian people fed-up of the Fatah-Hamas binary. In Delhi recently to attend a conference on a Just Peace for Palestine, he modestly downplays the significance of his party — the Palestinian National Initiative, of which he is currently the Chairman.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1590
Did Netanyahu refused extending the moratorium to hurt Obama and help GOP in midterms?
Aluf Benn, Haaretz’s diplomatic correspondent, had this weekend an analysis piece on the possibility the Palestinian Authority will ask a UN recognition of a unilateral declaration of independence. Benn urged the Israeli government not to automatically object such a move. Israel, he writes, would be better off taking part in shaping a Security Council resolution than in just opposing one. As Ami Kaufman notes, given Israel’s mistrust towards international institutions, it’s a very surprising idea.
http://www.promisedlandblog.com/?p=3547
US Policy and the Future of Palestine, Kathleen Christison
When Benjamin Netanyahu, then out of office, was caught on video talking back in 2001 to a family of settlers in the West Bank, he boasted about having undermined the Oslo agreement when he was prime minister in the mid-1990s. And, speaking about the United States, he said “I know what America is. America is a thing that you can move very easily, move it in the right direction.” I would have to say that this little truism uttered by Netanyahu has never been more accurate than it is today. The so-called “peace process” in which President Obama is currently mired is, of course, only the latest of a multitude of U.S. attempts to ignite the search for a peace agreement between Palestinians and Israelis over the last several decades. And it has to be said that each attempt is a little more hopeless, and each time, the United States is a little more blind to why it is hopeless.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16376
‘I shared my father’s belief that Arabic is the loveliest language in the world’, Philip Weiss
Wadad Makdisi Cortas was a pioneering Lebanese educator. She wrote the memoir, A World I Loved: The Story of an Arab Woman, in the 1960s in Arabic then translated it into English. Her daughter Mariam Said pushed for the book’s publication, a year ago. I’m going to be quoting it in days and weeks to come for two reasons, it is beautifully written, and it offers a window on how the Palestinian issue convulsed Arab society in the 1930s and onward, even the most privileged families. The book allows others to understand how Arabs looked on Zionism. But it’s the weekend, and here’s a non-political passage.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/i-shared-my-fathers-belief-that-arabic-is-the-loveliest-language-in-the-world.html
Terry Fletcher responds to Audrey Farber’s post on Palestinian democracy
In her recent post A true Democracy; if Israel would only let it, Audrey Farber paints a very rosy picture of Palestinian democracy, both present and future. Other commentators and human rights organizations paint a quite different picture, at least of the present.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/11/terry-fletcher-responds-to-audrey-farbers-post-on-palestinian-democracy/
Ramallah is Great, but it’s Not Jerusalem, Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
Ramallah is booming. With each new passing day another restaurant, another hotel or another high fashion boutique is opening up in this bustling West Bank city. Road works have plagued motorists and pedestrians alike for months now, with new roads opened while others have been rehabilitated and widened, saplings planted strategically along the islands between the lanes and freshly painted lines designating either side of the dark asphalt streets. There is no doubt, Ramallah is thriving, the urban expansion accelerated at an almost frantic speed. One blink and another building is rising towards the clouds.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=22768&CategoryId=3
When brown shirts attacked my father, Lillian Rosengarten
Uri Avneri’s always powerful observations raise the most profound question. How can it happen, the lure of Fascism that oozes into the fabric of societies with the promise of a better life? There are always those who are not vulnerable to the language of temptation, the racist rhetoric that tears a society apart. These heroes become freedom fighters. An example is Hans Lebrecht, my father’s first cousin, who was an active resistance fighter in World War 11, a noted Communist activist, and a supporter and writer for Gush Shalom. He was my mentor and beloved friend. Now in his 90’s’, he resides at Kibbutz Beit-Oren. I cannot visit him for I am not allowed to return to Israel because I have dissented against their injustice to Palestinians. Here is a still timely quote from “JewishFriends of Palestine Gateway, by Hans.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/when-brown-shirts-attacked-my-father.html
A Turning Point Quietly Reached, Jeremy Salt – Ankara
This turning point has arrived quietly, no fanfare or advance warning signifying its importance. After 62 years there is nothing left to talk about with Israel. Finally, all possibilities have been eliminated. Past plans are scattered across the landscape like the whitened bones of dinosaurs, their only purpose to remind us and future generations of what might have been but never was. The last flimsy veil has been pulled away from a ‘peace process’ that was never a peace process in the first place but a different kind of war process. Netanyahu slaps Obama’s face time after time (and Obama does not react). Michael Oren tells the world Israel will decide its borders and noone else. Lieberman tells European Foreign Ministers to mind their own business. When you have solved your own problems come and talk to us, he says, and by the way, Israel is not going to be the Czechoslovakia of 2010, demonstrating that his knowledge of history is as twisted as his understanding of manners, ethics, law and morality.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16375
the Lobby debate is a joke, Max Ajl
So in a break from reading the delightful ethnographies of the players in the Israel Lobby littering the comment section in Mondoweiss, I started reading Grant Smith’s homework assignment book, Spy Trade, which asserts that the Israel Lobby and American slavish adherence to Israeli policies is undermining American rule of law and our Proud Traditions. Enough of this. The Lobby pursues Likudnik policies, but the policies that are carried out are in the main imperial policies. They are class war, best captured by a Gini coefficient rising to third-world levels during the time of strongest support for Israel, from 1967-2001. Keep on trying to convince imperial managers that support for Israel is against their interests. They don’t seem to agree. Zionism shouldn’t be opposed because it’s harming the empire. It should be opposed because it harms Palestinians, while the Lobby gives good cover for imperial policies. Greg Palast explained all of this a long time ago.
http://www.maxajl.com/?p=4365&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+http%2Fwwwmaxajlcom%2Ffeedrss2+%28Jewbonics%29
On the loyalty oath and the wretched Zionist “Left”
Earlier this month, Israel’s government decided, with a large majority, to obligate non-Jewish naturalized citizens to pledge allegiance to a “Jewish, democratic state”. This is, of course, an abomination. It is another indignity that targets primarily the spouses of Palestinians, and attempts, through them, to strike at the growing resistance against Zionism amidst Palestinian citizens of Israel. It is another advance in the colonial war, both physical and cultural, waged by the settlers against the indigenous people of Palestine. The Loyalty Oath is also in line with what can be expected from the ever more violent, racist and hateful Jewish parliamentary majority in Israel.
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2010/11/on-loyalty-oath-and-wretched-zionist.html
Arab Ocean’s Eleven, Sherri Muzher
It’s been said that the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the ILLUSION OF KNOWLEDGE. And when it comes to the Arab World, there seems to be many illusions – illusions that have brought people oceans apart. I call it the Arab Ocean’s Eleven. (1) Allah. Allah is simply the Arabic word for God. This is no different than the Spanish calling God “Dios” or the French saying “Dieu.” The word Allah came before the religion of Islam was even established. Because Muslims of all ethnicities believe God spoke in Arabic, all Muslims use the word Allah. But go to any Arab Christian church — Allah is who is honored.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16372
US must accept responsibility
The United States is a party to the United Nations Convention Against Torture. As such, it has accepted an obligation not to employ torture and also not to transfer captives to anyone who may be expected to torture them. To violate this obligation is to make the American commitment to human rights look like sheer hypocrisy.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2010/10/31/us_must_accept_responsibility/
What was David Broder smoking?, Stephen M. Walt
If you want to see just how ill informed and morally bankrupt an “establishment” political voice can be, check out David Broder’s op-ed column in this Sunday’s Washington Post. Broder argues that President Obama’s prospects will remain bleak if the economy doesn’t improve, and that the President cannot count on the business cycle to do that for him. So after reminding his readers that World War II helped end the Great Depression, Broder offers Obama the following advice.
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/10/31/what_was_david_broder_smoking
Hiding behind Lies: Replying to Rupert, William A. Cook
‘I keep reading between the lies.’ — (Goodman Ace). Rupert Murdoch’s recent speech before the ADL gathering at their dinner gala opened with this flattering observation, ‘You have championed equal treatment for all races and creeds.’ What he omitted from that statement is the ADL’s treatment of the Palestinian people under Abraham Foxman, its national director, who “…uses high-mindedness and unfounded anti-Semitism hysteria as cover for backing Jewish supremacy and the right of Israelis over Arabs, including by occupation and belligerently enforced apartheid” (Steven Lendman, Socio-Economic History Blog). Murdoch omits a needed clause at the end of that statement: “except for the Palestinian people and their beliefs and their rights under international law.” Indeed, Lendman’s article refutes virtually every one of Murdoch’s claims, laying bare the truth behind Murdoch’s talk: see nothing, hear nothing, speak nothing against Israel or suffer the condemnation that comes with the label “Anti-Semite.”
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16370
Lebanon
The speech delivered by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on the conduct and performance of the International Investigation Committee and the International investigators delivered on Thursday October 28, 2010.
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2010/10/speech-delivered-by-hezbollah-secretary_29.html
Hezbollah against Politicized STL, To Protect Officials Not Cooperating with It
31/10/2010 As Hezbollah deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem has said that the party is against the Special Tribunal for Lebanon because it has gone beyond its target of finding the truth behind the 2005 assassination of Premier Martyr Rafiq Hariri, Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Ali Ammar said Hezbollah will protect officials who won’t cooperate with the tribunal. “Hezbollah is against the International Tribunal because we are absolutely confident that it (the party) is not responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri,” Sheikh Qassem told the Qatari newspaper al-Watan. Describing the STL as “politicized,” Sheikh Qassem said the Court has “gone beyond its target of finding the truth.” He accused the STL of seeking to “settle scores” instead.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=160305&language=en
Inside Story – Lebanon’s rising tensions
Hezbollah has called for a boycott of the UN investigation into the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, the late Lebanese prime minister, in 2005. Reports now suggest that some Hezbollah members could be indicted. The Lebanese government has co-operated with the tribunal since it was established but Hezbollah considers the assassination to be an internal matter and has called for a local investigation. Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, believes information from the probe is being passed on to the group’s arch rival – Israel. So, has Hezbollah moved on to the offensive? And what role could regional powers play in escalating or defusing rising tensions in Lebanon?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rpq3pU_H5c&feature=youtube_gdata
Al-Manar, “Che Guevara’s Daughter Meets Hezbollah’s Number 2 Leader”
The visit took place during a campaign for the liberation of the five Cubans imprisoned in the United States for “espionage.” Aleida visited the border village of Kfar Kila, opposite the “Fatima Gate,” where, since the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 after 22 years of occupation, visitors come to observe the Israeli positions. “My father is still here with the people who are resisting,” said the Cuban militant, who also visited the Khiam Detention Center, where hundreds of people were tortured during the Israeli occupation.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/guevara301010.html
The sense from Lebanon, As`ad Abukhalil
I just returned from Lebanon last night. There is much nervousness about what is happening and what will happen. It is all about the Hariri tribunal and its much anticipated–not by me–decision. The US Middle East Zionist policy making apparatus is up in arms: because the March 14 movement is in such disarray. Jeffrey Feltman foolishly assumed that his visit to Lebanon (in the wake of his visit to Saudi Arabia) will be sufficient to revive a corpse. Feltman even thought he was being witty when he called on the Iranian president to learn from Lebanon’s “pluralism”. I wonder if he dared to ask the Saudi Wahhabi king to learn from the pluralism of Lebanon too. Feltman is furious at the transformation of Walid Jumblat: one of the most skillful–and most unprincipled–politicians in Lebanon. His value is not so much in the size of his constituency which is very small, but in his abilities in political rhetoric and sloganeering. The best gift that Hizbullah has ever attained–outside of Iranian support–is the stupidity of Sa`d Hariri. This is the talk of the town. You hear Sunnnis and Shi`ites, pro-March 8 and pro-March 14 all talk about the stupidity of this lucky or unlucky man–depending on the outcome. [continued]
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/10/sense-from-lebanon.html
A Tainted Tribunal: Israel’s Other War on Lebanon, Jeremy Salt – Ankara
The extraordinary scenes this week at a gynaecological and obsetrics clinic in the southern suburbs of Beirut have again cast light on the work of the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), set up to investigate the assassination of Rafiq Hariri. STL investigators went to Dr Inam Charara’s clinic with a demand to be given access to the files of patients dating back to 2003. More specifically, they wanted the addresses and phone numbers of 17 patients. The presence of STL investigators in her clinic disturbed women waiting for appointments. Other women arrived from other clinics in the building and a fracas broke out. Eventually the investigators were driven off, but not before a computer, a briefcase, mobile phones and notebooks had been snatched from them. The episode raises fresh questions about the role of the STL. The southern suburbs are predominantly Shi’a and many of the patients in Dr Charara’s clinic are the wives, daughters and mothers of Hizbullah officials. What the STL hoped to find remains known only to itself.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16371
Iraq
Sunday: 14 Iraqis Killed, 42 Wounded; Hostages Taken at Church
In a still developing story, gunmen are holding perhaps dozens of hostages inside a Baghdad church after a bungled attack at the stock exchange. At least 14 Iraqis were killed and 42 more were wounded in an uptick of violence that is starting out the new week.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/10/31/sunday-14-iraqis-killed-42-wounded-hostages-taken-at-church/
Dozens killed in Baghdad church
Al Qaeda in Iraq has claimed it was behind the incident involving more than a hundred catholic worshippers. Night vision images shot from an unmanned US aircraft capture the moment a bomb went off in the church. Iraqi authorities are investigating the nationalities of those behind the attack. Al Jazeera’s Rawya Rageh reports from Baghdad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDj-2JunZ6E&feature=youtube_gdata
Deadly Baghdad church siege highlights threat to Iraqi Christians
At least 37 people were killed when Iraqi forces stormed a Baghdad church that was seized Sunday afternoon by Al Qaeda-linked gunmen.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/EoeaTCbmkC0/Deadly-Baghdad-church-siege-highlights-threat-to-Iraqi-Christians
Egypt ignores Iraq Qaeda demands on women (AFP)
AFP – Egypt refused on Monday to react to demands over two Coptic women rumoured to have converted to Islam made by an Al-Qaeda group in Iraq that claimed a deadly hostage-taking in Baghdad.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101101/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestqaedaegypt
Six killed by car bomb in Baghdad
Six people were killed and four injured in a car bomb attack in northern Baghdad on Sunday, a police source said.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1595419.php/Six-killed-by-car-bomb-in-Baghdad
Guards killed at Baghdad stock exchange
Two guards at Baghdad’s stock exchange were killed in clashes with gunmen trying to battle their way into the building on Sunday, an Iraqi interior ministry official said.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1399006/Guards-killed-at-Baghdad-stock-exchange
Iraq suicide bombing kills at least 25, wounds 70: police (AFP)
AFP – At least 25 people were killed and 70 wounded in a suicide bombing at a coffee house in the town of Balad Ruz in central Iraq’s restive Diyala province on Friday, a police official said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101029/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestbaquba
Iraq says insecurity behind worsening public services in Mosul
The restive Province of Nineveh, of which the northern city of Mosul is the capital, has once again failed to spend more than 90% of allocations earmarked for improving its public services and infrastructure. Mounting violence has made it almost impossible for provincial authorities to implement service and reconstruction projects, according to Abeddhiab al-Aujaili, minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Aujaili was visiting Nineveh Province on behalf of Deputy Prime Minister Rafia al-Aysawi.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2010-10-31\kurd.htm
Internally displaced Iraqis have nowhere to go
Seven years after the U.S. invasion, large numbers of Iraqis are still on the move with no safe areas to settle in. Population movement is currently most visible in the so-called disputed areas where Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen claim them for their own. To substantiate claims, the ethnic groups, particularly Kurds, resort to violence, forcing members of the opposite ethnic group to flee. In retaliation, in areas predominantly populated by Arabs, like the northern city of Mosul, the Kurds are pressured to leave. But population movements are currently most noticeable in the restive provinces of Kirkuk and Diyala, large portions of which come under disputed areas.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2010-10-29\kurd.htm
Inside Story – Breaking Iraq’s deadlock?
An offer from the Saudi King to break Iraq’s political deadlock is welcomed by Iyad Allawi, the former Iraqi PM, but rejected by his rival Nouri al-Maliki. Is Riyadh’s rescue bid a help or a hindrance?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXmDc7Vg16Y&feature=youtube_gdata
Trial for Haditha Marine squad leader is delayed (AP)
AP – An attorney for a Marine whose squad killed 24 Iraqis nearly five years ago says his client’s court-martial is being delayed to Jan. 24.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101029/ap_on_re_us/us_marines_haditha
Saddam’s former chief of staff dies of cancer (AFP)
AFP – Iraq’s armed forces chief of staff under Saddam Hussein at the time of the 2003 invasion has died of cancer in a Baghdad hospital after seven years behind bars, the justice ministry said on Friday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101029/wl_mideast_afp/iraqmilitarysaddam
Baghdad’s Shiite Heart Beats as War Ebbs
Sadr City has moved from black-clad militiamen and Islamic codes to weddings, music, movies and games.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=2db273f28f67d91bef4e9bd7b524ebde
Wikileaks
Wikileaks Docs Underestimate Iraqi Dead
For all their value, the newly leaked documents will, unfortunately, reinforce the lower estimates of Iraqi mortality.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26713.htm
“Why Is Assange Still Alive?”: The Wretched Mind of the American Authoritarian, Glenn Greenwald
The cavalier call for people’s deaths, the demand for ultimate punishments without a shred of due process, the belief that the U.S. is entitled to do whatever it wants anywhere in the world without the slightest constraints, a wholesale rejection of basic Western liberties such as due process and a free press.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/10/29/goldberg/index.html
U.S. and other world news
Inside Story – The cargo plane bomb plot
A global security alert has been sparked by the discovery of two packages containing explosives on cargo planes from Yemen, bound for the US. Has Yemen become the new front in the global fight against terror?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlSlKXcDF8g&feature=youtube_gdata
About Those Packages, That “credible terrorist threat” — coming just before Election Day
I didn’t know what to say as the story was unfolding yesterday. I had the thought — and I immediately censored myself — what does this have to do with Election Day?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26715.htm
Omar Khadr, Guantanamo Detainee, Sentenced To 8 Years
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — A judge sentenced a former teenage al-Qaida fighter Sunday to eight more years in custody, bound by a plea agreement that compelled him to ignore a military jury that said he should serve 40 years for war crimes that included the killing of an American soldier.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/31/omar-khadr-guantanamo-det_n_776739.html
Torture Is Finally Mentioned on the Last Day of Omar Khadr’s Sentencing Hearing at Guantánamo
Everything about the last week’s events at Guantánamo has been deeply disturbing.
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/10/30/torture-is-finally-mentioned-on-the-last-day-of-omar-khadrs-sentencing-hearing-at-guantanamo/
Sunnis hang onto their edge in Bahrain elections
The Shiite opposition had hoped at least to draw even in the lower house of parliament, giving the movement an opportunity to probe alleged corruption among the ruling family. But, again, it falls two seats short. Bahrain’s opposition movement was dealt a blow Sunday when results from a second-round election held over the weekend showed that pro-government and Sunni Islamist lawmakers had retained their majority in the country’s only elected legislative body.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/U_Glic7VOAY/la-fg-bahrain-election-20101101,0,3074558.story
Saudi Arabia’s morality queen | Nesrine Malik
This year’s Miss Beautiful Morals, the Saudi ‘inner beauty’ contest, is nothing but a veiled celebration of female submission. Meet Zainab al-Khatam, the winner of Saudi Arabia’s second annual pageant celebrating “spiritual and filial beauty”. Each contestant reportedly underwent training in “psychology, culture and law in Islam; family relations, public rights, social skills, health knowledge, volunteering … as well as cosmetics”. Established last year by a Saudi women’s organisation, and implying criticism of western beauty contests, the Miss Beautiful Morals competition focuses not outward appearances but on inner beauty, and the values that are often given less significance.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/31/saudi-morality-queen-beauty-pageant
Hackers shut down Saudi education ministry website (AFP)
AFP – The Saudi education ministry’s website was shut down on Monday after hackers posted pictures of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a youth wielding a syringe.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101101/wl_mideast_afp/saudiinterneteducationhackers
Mexico: America’s Drug Habit Is Killing Us
“They [the Americans] have a clear responsibility in this because they are providing the market for the drug dealers and the criminals,” he said. “They need to do a lot more in terms of reducing the consumption of drugs and to stop the flow of weapons towards Mexico.”
http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/mexican-president-felipe-calderon-says-us-consumption-drives-drug-war/19693125
European airlines say U.S. security goes overboard
European air officials accused the United States of imposing useless and overly intrusive travel security measures, calling Wednesday for the Obama administration to re-examine policies ranging from online security checks to X-raying shoes.
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2010-10-27-european-airline-airport-security_N.htm
Police discredited over secret plan to spy on Muslim
A secret police counter-terrorism operation surveillance in two areas of Birmingham wasimplemented with virtually no consultation, oversight or regard for the law, a damning internal report has found.
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/paper/index.php?article=4872
Hijab: The Politics and History behind the Veil
Let us agree first that prior to 9/11 the west hardly bothered with Islam or Muslims. But that changed drastically after the terrorist attacks on New York. People were told that the perpetrators of the planes operation on September, 11, 2001 were all Muslim fundamentalists with lethal anti-west sentiments. History couldn’t have picked a more inappropriate time to introduce Muslims to the world than 9/11 which has in a way stigmatized Islam as the creed of hate and intolerance.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/10/hijab-the-politics-and-history-behind-the-veil/
A proud racist: Bill Maher
“In response to news that Mohammad (and variations thereof) is the most popular baby boy name in England: “Am I a racist to feel alarmed by that?” Maher asks his guests. “Because I am. And it’s not because of the race, it’s because of the religion. I don’t have to apologize, do I, for not wanting the Western world to be taken over by Islam in 300 years?”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/proud-racist.html
Settlers / Land, property, and resource theft and destruction / Ethnic cleansing
Israel expands Nablus settlement
Settlers installed 12 caravans on Saturday beside an illegal settlement in the West Bank district of Nablus, witnesses said. Locals said on Tuesday that Israeli forces in armored vehicles bulldozed land next to Shvut Rachel settlement to prepare for the installation of the caravans. At the time, a representative of the settlement denied any major expansion was in order … Shvut Rachel is built on Jalud village land. Israel confiscated 80 percent of the village’s land to build six illegal settlements in the area, residents say. Sixty-five dunums of the confiscated land was planted with olive trees, which villagers have only been allowed to access twice in the last decade, said Abdullah Hajj Muhammad, the village mayor.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329168
Rights groups decry olive harvest settler vandalism
“IDF aren’t doing enough to prevent damage to trees,” say human rights organizations in letter to commanders — Despite warnings by human rights organizations to the army about settler vandalism against Palestinian olive orchards, there have been 35 incidents of this sort between the beginning of September and mid-October, the organizations charged. See B’Tselem press release
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=193377
not sure what to make of this:
Day of hope in Hebron
Jews visit city en masse on Shabbat; Arab, Jewish youth embark on impromptu soccer game – Moment of hope: Unexpected coexistence prevailed in Hebron Saturday, after about 10,000 people visited the Jewish community in town ahead of the Torah portion on Abraham’s acquisition of the Cave of the Patriarchs. For the first time in many years, Jews were able to enter Hebron’s Old City without a personal security escort. Palestinian movement in the area was also not limited, prompting local merchants to keep their stores open and welcome Jewish shoppers.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3976985,00.html
Palestinians and Jewish settlers battle to claim West Bank lands, olive tree by olive tree (AP)
Olive tree by olive tree, Palestinian farmers and Jewish settlers are competing over the rocky hills of the West Bank, planting more of the gnarled evergreens to strengthen their hold on the land. Now in harvest season, the battle gets rough, with orchards robbed, vandalized and burned. This year, the stakes have been raised: Palestinians have planted double the number of trees as in past seasons, and Jewish settlers have responded by boosting their own olive production. The olive tree has long been a symbol of the Palestinians’ attachment to their homeland, its mystique enhanced by settlers’ annual efforts to disrupt the harvest.
http://news.therecord.com/article/803464
Photo essay: Israeli society shaped by borders (AP)
JERUSALEM — All countries are literally defined by their borders, but few have had their history, society and national mindset shaped by their frontiers as much as Israel … The question of the border between Israel and the West Bank, home to 2.5 million Palestinians and about 300,000 Israeli settlers, has riven Israeli society to the point of violence.”Between me and you, between us and them,” one contemporary songwriter wrote, “without a border, there are no limits to anything.”
http://www.timesonline.com/bct_news/news_details/article/1373/2010/october/30/photo-essay-israeli-society-shaped-by-borders.html
more settler hasbara:
Settlers dispute vandalism allegations
After four Israeli rights groups submitted a letter to the country’s army documenting attacks on Palestinians, settlers denied the allegations and said locals were more likely to blame. “Every year as the olive harvest season comes around so do various groups of provocateurs,” settler leader David Ha’ivri said. They “pose as rights groups but in fact thrive to incite tensions between local Jewish and Arab farmers and residents.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329304
and yet more from Israeli media:
Olives of wrath / David Ha’ivri
Op-ed: Journalists, aid workers have interest in fueling conflict between Jews, Arab farmers
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977253,00.html
Activism / Solidarity / Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
ISM: Weekly demonstrations: Friday, 29 October 2010
22 people injured, 5 still in hospital, at increasingly violent An Nabi Saleh Demonstration — by Henni. Many shebab, two journalists and a girl were injured on Friday at the weekly demonstration in An Nabi Saleh. Villagers had employed a new strategy in response to the increasing violence of soldiers and border police.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/10/15345/
To end the occupation, cripple Israeli banks / Terry Crawford Browne
from 3 July – The international banking sanctions campaign in New York against apartheid South Africa during the 1980s is regarded as the most effective strategy in bringing about a nonviolent end to the country’s apartheid system … If international civil society is serious about urgently ending Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights, including ending the occupation, then suspension of SWIFT transactions to and from Israeli banks offers an instrument to help bring about a peaceful resolution of an intractable conflict. With computerization, international banking technology has advanced dramatically in the subsequent 20 years since the South African anti-apartheid campaign …SWIFT will, however, only take action against Israeli banks if ordered to do so by a Belgian court, and then only in very exceptional circumstances. Such very exceptional circumstances are now well-documented by the UN-commissioned Goldstone report into Israel’s winter 2008-09 invasion and massacre in Gaza and by the attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla on 31 May 2010.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/07/03/end-occupation-cripple-israeli-banks/
BBC Video: Margolyes: West End to West Bank
Actress Miriam Margolyes, known for her role as Professor Sprout in Harry Potter, has travelled to the West Bank to see conditions in Palestinian refugee camps. She told Andrew Marr why she was troubled by what she saw of the conditions in which some live.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11660764
Gaza blockade Kiwis return home
Six New Zealanders who were part of an international aid convoy which delivered $7 million worth of aid to Gaza returned home today, saying they hope their efforts will go some way to breaking the Israeli government’s blockade on the war-torn territory … Pat O’Dea, an Auckland electrician who was part of the New Zealand contingent Kia Ora Gaza, said the conditions in Gaza needed to be seen to be believed.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/gaza-blockade-kiwis-arrive-home-3869731
Violence
Center: Israelis attack Jerusalem man
A mob of Israelis attacked a Jerusalem man late Thursday, his family and a purported witness said. Farid Tubasi, 28, was hospitalized at the intensive care unit of Hadassah Medical Center after he sustained serious wounds and bruises at the hands of a mob of ‘extremist’ Israelis, Abed Tubasi, his brother, told the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329220
Palestinian resident attacked by group of colonists
Sources told Gulf News that the 28 year old Farid Al Toubasi finished up his work duty in West Jerusalem and returned home back in occupied East Jerusalem but on the way home a group of colonists met him on Halil Street where they hit him on the head and the chest with sharp tools. The sources stressed that Al Toubasi has gone in coma and the medical sources told his family members and representatives of the public establishments of Jerusalem that he is under very critical health conditions.
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestinian-territories/palestinian-resident-attacked-by-group-of-colonists-1.704543
Palestinian worker injured in IOF shooting
GAZA, (PIC)– A Palestinian worker collecting gravel east of Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, on Sunday was injured when the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened fire at him. Adham Abu Salmiya, the spokesman for medical services, told the PIC that the 46-year-old man was hit with a bullet in his foot.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7NIf2mGSTg%2bePWwl49IjHXCDDLVG6wsGVcpuNtgagUK6Asq%2bSAhW8%2btlU3HiIXlS4ZLD5v6v19%2fiGggQDVduu0oY0NgksQA8VYgC6T3sg384%3d
Several Palestinians injured by Israeli force
Palestine, October 31, (Pal Telegraph – OCHA) During the week, Israeli forces injured 23 Palestinian civilians, for the most part during weekly demonstrations. Since the beginning of 2010, Israeli forces have injured 1002 Palestinians, up nearly 38 percent on the similar period in 2009 (727 injuries) …Read full OCHA report here
http://www.paltelegraph.com/press-release/110-press-releases/7432-Several-Palestinians-injured-by-Israeli-force.html
History: Remembering the 54th anniversary of the Israeli massacre in Kafr Qasim
October 29, 1956 …On the day of the massacre, the Israeli army decided to place all seven villages along the green line under a curfew called the War Time Curfew, from 5 in the evening until 6 the following morning. Israeli soldiers were instructed to shoot and kill any villager violating the curfew. Even though the border police troops were given the order by their commander at 3:30 in the afternoon, they only informed the mayor of Kafr Qasim about an hour later, leaving a window of 30 minutes for the 400 villagers working in the fields or outside the village to come back home. According to Israeli investigation committee records, from 5:00 pm until 6:30 on October 29, 1956, border police shot and killed 49 villagers from Kafr Qasim as they tried to return home. Among those killed were 23 children and one pregnant woman. The killed and injured were left unattended through the night. After the curfew ended, villagers took the injured to hospitals and laid the dead to rest in a mass grave.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9033
Detention / Incursions
IOF kidnap five Palestinian boys in Silwan
SILWAN, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped at dawn Sunday five Palestinian boys in Silwan town, south of the Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, on suspicion of their participation in recent events in the occupied holy city and took them to Maskubiya detention center. Local sources said that dozens of Israeli troops stormed the town at an early hour today and raided homes mainly in the neighborhoods of Battn Al-Hawa, Al-Hara Al-Wusta and Al-Bustan.
In another context, the Palestinian residents of Silwan complained about the cracks and cave-ins that happen in their homes as a result of the underground excavations carried out by the Israeli authority of antiquities … They reported that new fissures and cave-ins started to appear inside their homes with the advent of winter and said that they filed official complaints in this regard with the Israeli occupation authority, but to no avail.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7QLjyYWbP0eLnPB9mKPNfLsm5zNFFDWkPytXuyamU%2bsHhdCQekqhHRzqva1PpXN3ngpIVVDcfGNtF6fZQRJyFF7l056qYBh9Nrlvnipae6Jg%3d
Israel shows injustice toward 2 young Palestinians
Umm Al-Fahm, October 31, (Pal Telegraph) Israeli police arrested today morning two young men from the city of “Umm Al-Fahm” in the Palestinian occupied territories of 1948, for allegedly throwing stones towards Israeli special forces during clashes that erupted in the city last Wednesday during a demonstration of the Israeli extreme right wing.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/palestinian-refugees/7435-Israel-shows-injustice-towards-2-young-Palestinians.html
Army detains B’Tselem field worker
Israeli soldiers detained a field researcher with the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem in Hebron on Saturday, witnesses said. Locals said Issa Amer was documenting settler attacks on Palestinians when he was detained.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329193
Palestinian detainee held in isolation for going on hunger strike
GAZA, (PIC)– The Israeli military court will hold Palestinian detainee Shadi Abul Hussein in solitary confinement on Sunday for going on hunger strike over the past four days, his mother told the PIC on Saturday. She added that Abul Hussein was protesting the Israeli occupation authority’s (IOA) refusal to release him despite completing his sentence almost two months ago.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7%2fRC%2f7yNsOEU0fj%2fM6XLOQ8wgVYUvA3260YbgY1xMJQBCxmYCTF9gAFm3QprfN%2fuKF6VE%2fbRRNaBr96g8u0HJXwtqWaAv0pgoS2ZljVa2%2fvY%3d
CPT Hebron: Israeli military occupy Palestinian home
30 Oct — On Thursday 28th October, Israeli soldiers occupied a Palestinian house in the Baqa`a Valley, north east of Hebron. The house is located next to Route 60, across from the illegal settlement of Havot Harsina. It is the third time in less than two months that the house has been occupied. When CPTers arrived they were met by 7 soldiers on the steps of the house, who refused to allow them to enter. Members of the family came out and told CPTers that their father had collapsed when he tried to prevent soldiers from entering. He had been taken to hospital by ambulance. A month ago, when the house was occupied for the second time, his wife had a heart attack and died later in hospital … (CPTers have learned that the military occupied two more Palestinian houses in the vicinity: part of a security operation to protect Israeli visitors to Hebron commemorating the death and burial of Sarah). A neighbor told CPTers that he had heard screams, cries and shots from the house and therefore called for an ambulance. The soldiers had fired tear gas before they entered the house
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=43135
Siege / Restriction of movement / Denial of rights
Father of Gaza deportee dies in Bethlehem
The father of a deportee to the Gaza Strip died Saturday in the southern West Bank, relatives said. Ahmad Mahmoud I’beiyat, 60, died in Beit Jala hospital, near Bethlehem, his son Jawad said. The two had been separated for nine years. Twenty-six Palestinians who took refuge in the Church of the Nativity during clashes in 2002 were expelled to Gaza following Operation Defensive Shield, during which Israeli forces besieged the church and Bethlehem in a bid to locate Palestinian combatants.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329496
In Gaza photo essay; Dancing under siege (IPS)
“I’d planned to have my wedding party on a Thursday night, when more people could come, and stay later. But because the Dabke dancers weren’t free then, I held it on a Tuesday,” says Mohammed Ghronaim, 27, from Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.
http://ingaza.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/dancing-under-siege/
Israeli army closes Bethlehem checkpoints
Israeli soldiers closed down all Bethlehem checkpoints on Saturday evening, prohibiting any movement in or out of the West Bank city. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the closure was imposed after shots were fired at an Israeli vehicle in the area. No one was injured in the incident, she said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329206
Gaza crossing to open exclusively for pilgrims
The Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip will be used by Hajj pilgrims for one week in 2010, the Gaza crossings authority announced Sunday. In a statement, authorities said the crossing would operate in one direction from 3 to 9 November to make travel easier and faster for pilgrims leaving to Saudi Arabia via Egypt. The crossing will resume operating as usual after all pilgrims have crossed, the statement said
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329265
Gaza: 1 terminal partly open, Karni closed
Israeli authorities will partially open one crossing into the Gaza Strip on Sunday for the limited delivery of food and fuel, a Palestinian liaison official said … The shipment will include 16 truckloads of cement and iron bars for construction projects by UNRWA.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329226
Racism / Discrimination
Two Jewish youths charged with shooting at Arabs during Safed clashes
Border Police officer allegedly handed his M-16 to a civilian friend, as some 30 Jewish youths demonstrated violently [outside] Arab students’ apartments … The mass group of Jewish youths began shouting “death to Arabs”, “stinking Muslims” and “a Jew has a soul and an Arab is a son-of-a-bitch” at the house. They began throwing bottles and stones at the student housing.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/two-jewish-youths-charged-with-shooting-at-arabs-during-safed-clashes-1.322147
‘Dark-skinned’ soldiers denied entry to nightclub
…According to the troops, two of the nightclub’s bouncers allowed only those with an “Ashkenazi appearance” to enter, while soldiers of Ethiopian and Yemenite descent were kept out despite presenting invitations sent to them by the nightclub.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977234,00.html
Reprisals
Israeli vehicle under attack in WB, no casualties
BETHLEHEM, (PIC)– An Israeli car came under fire while passing near Battir village west of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Saturday night but no casualties were reported. The Israeli radio said that the car was carrying settlers but none was hurt as a result, noting that a bullet had penetrated the back door. A big number of Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene along with ambulance vehicles, the broadcast said, adding that the Israeli military searched the nearby Battir and Husan villages in search of the attackers, believed to be Palestinian resistance fighters.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7i6AVTZHTIeGlS4ALfOCyu5Y9kpgScBzQDDDtv5aLuEJDBut%2fJ%2fcEusvGwX0KpfC7TVvYN7hXf37byBkjtpmfCpdiZ3vZaJMzIsj5MYKHrJ8%3d
Political / Diplomatic news
Report: Israel PM offers to trade freeze for spy
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested to US President Barack Obama to free Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in exchange for extending settlement freeze in the West Bank for 60 days, an Israeli news site reported Saturday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329318
Israel’s coalition government threatened by walk-out / Harriet Sherwood
Labor party will walk out of Israel’s coalition government unless negotiations with the Palestinians get under way … “We need to move as soon as possible. The only way to guarantee the state of the Jewish people is to move boldly after the US election,” Braverman, the minister for minorities, said in an interview.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/31/israel-coalition-government-walk-out
Israeli PM to visit US next week
JERUSALEM – Israel’s prime minister said Sunday he will head to the U.S. next week to discuss Mideast peace talks with Vice President Joe Biden, in a possible sign of movement for the troubled diplomatic process.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101031/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
Sources: Egypt wants to host peace talks
London — Egypt is contacting world and regional sides to organize an international peace conference, the London-based Al-Hayat daily reported Saturday quoting Egyptian sources. “Egypt considers it unbelievable that the status quo remains unchanged in light of Israel’s refusal to take a positive step regarding settlements, while the Palestinian president insists that they stop settlements before he resumes face-to-face talks,” a source said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329225
‘Palestine not for rent’ says Saeb Erekat
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Authority on Saturday rejected a US offer that Israel lease lands in East Jerusalem and from the future Palestinian state for 40-99 years.
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article176030.ece
Protest, anti-Israel speech greet Rivkin in Morocco
Knesset speaker attends Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, slammed for Gaza siege, policy towards Palestinians. Rivlin replies: When Palestinians want it, there’ll be peace
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977108,00.html
Hamas ‘not following in Fatah’s footsteps’
…Asked if Hamas was preventing firing projectiles toward Israel while criticizing Fatah for doing the same, [Mahmoud Zahhar] answered, “Fatah wants to prove that Hamas is an exact reproduction of Fatah when they used to confiscate weapons of resistance fighters and jail using the excuse of agreements with Israel.” … He explained the difference between self-defense in case of aggression against the Palestinians as in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2009, and between security cooperation with Israel as Fatah does.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329255
Haniyeh doubts reports on new Gaza war
Gaza government Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Saturday that Israeli threats to launch a new offensive on the Strip were psychological warfare, but that he did not think a new attack was approaching. Speaking at a mass wedding for those injured in the last war on Gaza, Haniyeh said threats of war could not harm Palestinians’ spirits or ability to survive.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=329203
Tourism minister: Boycott Turkey – maintain national pride
After Turkish National Security Council defines Israel as ‘central threat,’ Misezhnikov says, ‘The less we go to Turkey, the greater the chance they get the hint”.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977235,00.html
Other news
Student arrested in rally against Gaza op to be compensated
The Beersheba Magistrate’s Court ruled that student Ran Tzoref, who was arrested about a year ago in a demonstration against Operation Cast Lead and was accused of rioting and a forbidden gathering, will receive NIS 12,838 in damages. Judge Sara Haviv acquitted Tzoref, noting that “the damages he should be compensated for are not visible – damage to freedom, the delay of justice he suffered, and of course the damage to the freedom of speech and demonstration.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977546,00.html
American professor invited to Israel humiliated by El Al security personnel
An American professor who was invited to a conference in Israel claims she was humiliated by Israeli security personnel at London’s Luton airport on Thursday … Bradshaw told Haaretz that no one told her what she was suspected of and she wasn’t explained anything. She said that security took her to a separate room and confiscated all of her belongings. She told Haaretz that she sat and waited as every few minutes a different security official came in to question her about the items in her suitcase – which were mostly books.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/american-professor-invited-to-israel-humiliated-by-el-al-security-personnel-1.322099
Peres at Rabin memorial: We are more determined than the enemies of peace
Fifteen years after assassination of iconic prime minister for signing accords with the Palestinians, president still holds hope for peace.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/peres-at-rabin-memorial-we-are-more-determined-than-the-enemies-of-peace-1.321978
Hebrew lessons at the Learning and Creativity Center in Susiya / Yael Arbel
…Then I got to know the men, those who had learned Hebrew through work in Israel. Today, very few get to leave Susiya for work, and there are no opportunities to practice their Hebrew. The women know just a few words, and they are fearful of making mistakes. They speak to me in Arabic, hoping I will understand. Each visit I understand a little more.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/10/hebrew-lessons-at-the-learning-and-creativity-center-in-susiya/
First luxury hotel to open in Ramallah
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – The opening of Ramallah’s first five-star hotel on Monday will mark another small step in the West Bank town’s steady march towards something resembling normal life. But its sixth-floor executive lounge looks out on a panorama of unresolved issues that cloud the economic outlook — a built-up Israeli settlement on a nearby hilltop, a Palestinian refugee camp down below and the hazy skyline of distant Jerusalem beyond a grim separation wall.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101031/lf_afp/israelpalestiniansconflicteconomyhotel
Wataniya Palestine shares set at $1.3 for IPO – source
Oct 30 (Reuters) – Mobile telephone operator Wataniya Palestine set a share price of $1.3 for its initial public offering (IPO) on the Palestinian bourse next month, a source familiar with the matter said on Saturday. The company aims to raise $50 million dollars, the source said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE69T02D20101030
West Bank airport seen as key to statehood plan
Officials said the PA has been searching for funds and other support for the establishment of an international airport. They said the PA has established a site in the Jordan Valley, about six kilometers from Jericho …This would mark the first PA airport in the West Bank. Until 2000, the PA operated an airport in the southern Gaza Strip, destroyed by Israel in their war.Officials said the PA has begun training staff, including pilots, for the airport. They said several European Union countries have pledged to finance the project.
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2010/me_palestinians1072_10_29.asp
Bodybuilding contest held in Gaza Saturday
A bodybuilding contest was given the green light by Hamas Saturday, as 500 spectators watched 30 contestants vie for top spot.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977068,00.html
Analysis / Opinion
Analysis: Netanyahu, Abbas and the battle for the US press /Barak Ravid
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to strike a blow for Israel in the international media apparently misfired this week when he failed to convince a group of top American journalists of Israel’s commitment to peace. On Wednesday, Netanyahu hosted a group of senior New York Times staff for a personal briefing at his office in Jerusalem. The aim: to make the world understand that it is the Palestinians, not settlers, blocking the path to peace.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/analysis-netanyahu-abbas-and-the-battle-for-the-u-s-press-1.321977
The Israelization of America / Gideon Samet
The events in Iraq can be seen as the Israelization of America. Close your eyes for a moment, and you can imagine that the Marines in Karbala are Golani infantry in Tul Karm. And it’s not surprising that two political camps in Israel with diametrically opposite views think something good will come out of the war.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/the-israelization-of-america-1.13924
‘No chance for two states’: interview with Knesset member Haneen Zoabi
“The reality goes more toward the one state solution,” Zoabi said, “whether a democratic one-state solution, or a binational one-state solution.” Elected in 2009, Zoabi represents the National Democratic Alliance, and is the first woman to be elected on the list of an Arab party in Israel.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11599.shtml
Israel is proud to present: the aggressor-victim / Gideon Levy
Israelis have always loved victimization, not only when we were real victims, as often was the case in our history, but also when we were the aggressors, occupiers and abusers.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-is-proud-to-present-the-aggressor-victim-1.322053
South Africa is already here / Zvi Bar-el
The government is trying to build a protected autonomy for the Jewish majority and a stunted autonomy for the Arab minority … Israel’s apartheid movement is coming out of the woodwork and is taking on a formal, legal shape. It is moving from voluntary apartheid, which hides its ugliness through justifications of “cultural differences” and “historic neglect” which only requires a little funding and a couple of more sewage pipes to make everything right – to a purposeful, open, obligatory apartheid, which no longer requires any justification.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/south-africa-is-already-here-1.322052
Listen to American Jews’ stand on Israel / Gabi Sheffer
Examining the views of American Jews toward Israel is crucial in light of both the U.S. midterm elections and the Jewish Agency reform program initiated by Natan Sharansky … According to polls not cited in Israel, most Jews who have completely integrated into American society display total apathy for events that unfold in Israel. Only 30 percent of American Jews care deeply about what happens here. Most Jews who do care clearly support a solution involving two states for two peoples. What’s more, an increasing number of Jews back the division of Jerusalem and turning half of it into the capital of Palestine
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/listen-to-american-jews-stand-on-israel-1.322055
Iraq
Saturday: 11 Iraqis killed, 11 wounded
Excerpt: At least 11 Iraqis were killed and 11 more were wounded in light violence. Five of casualties died of injuries received in yesterday’s blast in Diyala province. In political news, the Goran party has quit an alliance that included the Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. This new development casts further doubt that a new government will be selected quickly … The death toll in yesterday’s suicide bombing in Balad Ruz has risen by five to 30 dead. Nine suspects were arrested in connection with the bombing.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/10/30/saturday-11-iraqis-killed-11-wounded-2/
Iraqi Shia bloc rejects Saudi offer
The National Alliance, Iraq’s main Shia bloc, has turned down a Saudi offer to host all-party talks to resolve months of deadlock over forming a new Iraqi government. The offer was turned down on Sunday after some politicians voiced fears over foreign interference.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/10/2010103183433616942.html
Fighters attack church in Baghdad
A group of armed men have attacked a Christian church in the centre of the Iraqi capital, setting off bombs and engaging in skirmishes with security forces.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/10/20101031155653449733.html
New airline to launch direct London-Baghdad flights
The Al-Nasr company of Iraqi businessman Hussein al-Khawam “will fly its first Baghdad-London flight on November 3, but that date is not finalised,” said Nasser Hussein Badr, civil aviation director at the transport ministry.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101031/wl_mideast_afp/iraqbritainaviationcompany
HRW calls for probe into Iraqi Kurd journalist’s death (AFP)
Human Rights Watch called Saturday for a transparent probe into the death of a journalist who was killed after writing an article scathing of Iraqi Kurdish president Massud Barzani.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/10/30/124224.html
UK troops face 90 new claims of abuse in Iraq
A special unit of military investigators and former detectives is to look into complaints of ill-treatment
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/31/british-troops-sex-torture-allegations
Iraq denies Tariq Aziz on hunger strike
BAGHDAD (AFP) – An Iraqi court official on Sunday denied a family claim that ailing former deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz, sentenced to death last week, had begun a hunger strike.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101031/wl_mideast_afp/iraqtrialazizprotest
Save Tariq Aziz! / Robert Dreyfuss, The Nation
The hanging judge in this particular kangaroo court is a former aide to Prime Minister Maliki, who ran for election on Maliki’s misnamed State of Law coalition. It’s clear that Maliki wants to use the execution of Tariq Aziz, a Roman Catholic, to build support for his party among the most extreme Shiite partisans.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/155664/save-tariq-aziz
Other Mideast
Ahmadinejad aide says Iran not ready to talk nuclear
Reuters – President’s media adviser says, ‘We will not be talking with the Western party about the nuclear energy issue in this round of the negotiations’ because P5+1 countries yet to address Ahmadinejad’s conditions for resuming talks
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977378,00.html
Egypt: Solution under embargo / Gamal Essam El-Din
With just one week to go until the Higher Elections Commission (HEC) opens the door to registrations for the upcoming parliamentary elections, the body in charge of supervising the polls decided to impose a strict ban on the Muslim Brotherhood’s long-held slogan “Islam is the Solution”.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1021/eg1.htm
Yemeni students protest parcel bomb arrest (Reuters)
SANA`A, Oct 31 (Reuters) – Students at Sana`a University protested on Sunday against the arrest of a colleague suspected of involvement in sending explosive packages bound for the United States. The woman, believed to be in her 20s, was arrested by Yemeni authorities late on Saturday. Officials said she had been traced through a telephone number she had left with a cargo company. “The Sanaa University student union … believes the girl is innocent and has been wronged…
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE69U02G.htm
Syrian daily calls US accusations ‘irresponsible’
(AP) A state-run Syrian newspaper has dismissed US accusations that Syria is undermining Lebanon’s sovereignty, calling the claims “irresponsible.” Tishrin newspaper said Sunday the accusations reflect a “pure Israeli will” and that US policies lack credibility.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977387,00.html
Suicide blast hits Istanbul
At least 32 wounded in explosion carried out by suicide bomber in heart of Turkish city, police say … The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is often blamed for attacks in Turkey. The group has waged a bloody 26-year campaign for self-rule in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey. Al Jazeera’s McNaught said the timing of the latest bombing in Taksim Square was significant since a unilateral truce declared by the PKK two months ago expires on October 31.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/10/2010103185656175601.html
U.S., other world news
Detroit’s unlikely saviors / Bobby Ghosh, TIME
Middle East meets Motown – Can Arab Americans save Detroit? … The Arab-American community in metro Detroit produces as much as $7.7 billion annually in salaries and earnings, according to a 2007 Wayne State University study. (That amounts to more than twice Detroit’s annual budget.)
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2028057,00.html
Punish Canadian severely, Guantanamo court urged
(Reuters) – A prosecutor urged a U.S. war crimes tribunal on Saturday to sentence a young Canadian and admitted al Qaeda murderer to 25 more years in prison and said anything less would give license to militants. A military defense lawyer said Omar Khadr, who was captured in a firefight in Afghanistan at age 15, had abandoned the jihadist teachings of his al Qaeda financier father, apologized to his victims and accepted responsibility for his actions.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101030/wl_nm/us_guantanamo_khadr
Adnan Mirza: Another US War on Terror victim / Stephen Lendman
Post-9/11, Mirza is one of legions of war on terror victims – framed, charged, indicted, tried and convicted on bogus terrorism related charges … On May 27, New York Times writer Daniel Cadis headlined, “Texas: Student Convicted of Aiding Taliban,” giving Mirza one paragraph with no explanation on the FBI’s sting, using two paid informants to entrap, its common way snare victims – innocent, yet bogusly convicted and imprisoned.
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2010/10/30/adnan-mirza-another-us-war-on-terror-vic
In election’s shadow, rally draws laughs, activism
(AP) WASHINGTON – In the shadow of the Capitol and the election, comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert entertained a huge throng Saturday at a “sanity” rally poking fun at the nation’s ill-tempered politics, fear-mongers and doomsayers.
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/296577/
lest it be thought these things happen only in the Mideast:
Bomb found in Northern Ireland
(Reuters) Police in Northern Ireland detonated a bomb on Saturday planted by suspected nationalist militants in Lurgan, south of Belfast, the latest in a series of attempts to destabilise the province’s peace process.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977064,00.html
Dissident IRA car bomb defused at Belfast airport
(AP) Northern Ireland police say Irish Republican Army dissidents planted a car bomb in a parking lot at Belfast International Airport but it failed to detonate. Police say British Army experts dismantled the device Sunday morning. They determined the bomb was principally made of drums of fuel, not conventional explosive, but was viable.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3977307,00.html
