and other news from Today in Palestine:
Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
Sheikh Jarrah: Fighting For Survival, Palestine Monitor
Hundreds of people gather every Friday afternoon in the village of Sheikh Jarrah to protest the Israeli evacuation of Palestinian families from their homes. Jewish, Palestinian, and international demonstrators join together in solidarity each week to peacefully protest the seizure and demolition of an entire Palestinian community. Written and photographed by Brynn Ruba.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1614
New settlement freeze will be harder to enforce, Israel Police says
Series of obstacles include the willingness of settlers to counter the freeze order more aggressively than in the past because of their disappointment over the imposition of another moratorium.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/new-settlement-freeze-will-be-harder-to-enforce-israel-police-says-1.324912?localLinksEnabled=false
’No Rights’ for Palestinian Labourers in Settlement Industrial Zones, Palestine Monitor
High unemployment and restrictions on travel into Israel have forced 25,000 labourers into working on Israeli-owned industrial zones in the West Bank. Beyond the reach of PA control, these workers are exploited by their Israeli employers.
http://palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1613
Residents say settlers behind torched grove
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Fires ravaged agricultural lands in the southern West Bank near Hebron on Monday afternoon, destroying 15 dunums of fruit grove and greenhouses. Beit Ummar farmers, whose lands were affected, said they believed setters from the nearby Bat Ayin colony were behind the arson, which destroyed dozens of fig, olive and pine trees.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=333899
Watch: Footage contradicts arson allegations
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — International solidarity activists hit back this week at allegations broadcast in Israeli media that they and Palestinian farmers set fire to “state land” in the occupied West Bank.Ynet news and Arutz Sheva, two Israeli media outlets, reported Sunday that “leftists” and “foreign anarchists” were caught in an arson attempt near an illegal settlement between Bethlehem and Hebron.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=333775
Israeli-Palestinian clashes over olive groves feed distrust
With Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in limbo, a feud is escalating between Jewish settlers and Palestinian villagers over olive trees – and the land in which they’re rooted.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/0QdusLQyoDM/Israeli-Palestinian-clashes-over-olive-groves-feed-distrust
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Leftists chant ‘stop Apartheid’ outside Tel Aviv opera
Activists denounce Israel as South Africa’s Cape Town Opera performs Porgy and Bess. Counter rally: We are all Israel. We are all Ariel.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3985119,00.html
Deported by Israel, but not discouraged
I was deported by the Israeli government for publicly expressing support for and participating in the growing global movement for Palestinian human rights and freedom. Israel’s increased deportation of witnesses and activists such as myself comes as the solidarity movement including the call for boycott, divestment and sanctions gains momentum around the world.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11623.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Right-wing Israel advocacy group StandWithUs attacks Jewish Voice for Peace meeting with pepper spray, Adam Horowitz
Last night, up to a dozen members of San Francisco Voice for Israel/StandWithUs, a right-wing Israeli advocacy group with a documented track record of aggressively taunting and intimidating grassroots peace activists, attended a Bay Area Jewish Voice for Peace community meeting at a South Berkeley Senior Center with the intention of disrupting, intimidating and possibly assaulting Jewish Voice for Peace members. Jewish Voice for Peace is the largest U.S. Jewish peace group dedicated to a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on democracy and full equality — the Bay Area chapter is the founding chapter of the organization. Approximately 50 to 60 people were at the meeting, and you can read eyewitness testimonies here and here.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/right-wing-israel-advocacy-group-standwithus-attacks-jewish-voice-for-peace-meeting-with-pepper-spray.html
Physical Attack on Jewish Voice for Peace Indicates Israeli Intimidation of Jewish Dissidents Comes Home, Alex Kane
Under the reign of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right coalition, dissident Israelis have been under attack (not to mention the continuing assault on the human rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel and the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank.)
http://alexbkane.wordpress.com/2010/11/15/israeli-intimidation-of-jewish-dissidents-comes-to-the-u-s
Former Israeli soldier seeks to shine a light on Hebron
Yehuda Shaul of the group Breaking the Silence opposes the military’s treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank city. Prepare to be pelted with eggs, the tour guide warns. Or maybe it will be rocks, bricks or spit wads.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/JIlgHWX1OFA/la-fg-hebron-tour-20101116,0,3045808.story
In tribute to the ‘Young, Jewish, and Proud’, Mohammad Talat
Last Monday a group of Jewish youth calling themselves Young, Jewish, and Proud (YJP) debuted by coordinating a widely covered disruption of Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the Jewish Federation National Assembly (JFNA) in New Orleans. In the extensive coverage and exchanges that followed, much was said. Nevertheless, I am left with the feeling that some meaningful insights were largely left out.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/in-tribute-to-the-young-jewish-and-proud.html
little brown-shirts, Max Ajl
Mohammad Mahmud, a member of UC Berkeley Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), sent me the following report: This was the first time I attended a JVP meeting. I was probably the only person in the room who didn’t identify as Jewish. It was not the first time I thought about attending, but this time I matched action to intention and went, primarily to show appreciation for our colleague’s act of courage that touched me. The meeting was held in a space JVP rents regularly at the Berkeley Senior Center on Ashby, starting 6:30. I arrived at 6:40 and walked in. There was a large circle of some 50 to 60 seated attendees. There was a stage to the right. The four guest speakers were sitting on the edge of the stage. There was obvious tension as I sat next to a lady friend. She mentioned that there was a group hostile to JVP in the room and that they were trying to start the meeting peacefully. I looked around the room and saw many familiar faces. Two women on opposite sides of the room had come to our (SJP’s) teach-in on the Gaza Flotilla back in September and tried to disrupt it. One of them goes by the name of Faith. I noticed at least five more hostile faces which were familiar from recent SF City Hall and UIC Berkeley Senate sessions, where they had gathered under the organization name “Stand With Us (SWU).” They were dispersed in twos and threes throughout the room. It couldn’t be a coincidence, and later I would count at least 11 SWU people who worked in concert. Apparently, before I arrived, some of these hostile participants had tried to film the meeting, and JVP leaders brought in the night shift supervisor of the building who told everyone that they would have to leave the room if they disobeyed the organizers’ rules that prohibit filming.
http://www.maxajl.com/?p=4428&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+http%2Fwwwmaxajlcom%2Ffeedrss2+%28Jewbonics%29
Danny Ayalon to Norway: Why can’t you keep your artists under control?, Didi Remez
The Israeli government reaction to the homegrown cultural boycott of the West Bank settlement of Ariel was forceful and blunt: Threaten funding, establish a “Zionist Art Prize” and de-legitimize whoever takes part as fifth-columnists. This should not have been a surprise, coming from a government that has overseen an unprecedented assault on domestic freedom of expression and association. The campaign has been so successful locally that the Foreign Ministry is now trying it on the international stage.
http://coteret.com/2010/11/16/danny-ayalon-to-norway-why-can%e2%80%99t-you-keep-your-artists-under-control/
Luxurious magazine fights Israel
Comprehensive study reveals London Review of Books presents ‘starkly one-sided and fringe approach’ against Jewish state. Israeli, Jewish contributors among harshest critics.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3985263,00.html
Silwan youth clean up the Bab el-Rahma cemetery
The Silwan Youth Movement, in collaboration with a committee that cares for Islamic cemeteries, led a massive campaign on Sunday to clean up the Bab el-Rahma cemetery in Jerusalem. Ahmed al-Ghoul, one of the founders of the Silwan Youth Movement, said that this project came as part of the organization’s activities for Eid al-Adha. He added that the Movement would organize visits to the families of prisoners and martyrs during Eid, as well as organizing recreational activities to bring joy and entertainment to the children who have suffered under Israel’s repressive policies. The founders of the Silwan Youth Movement, which was recently established, explained that the group does not pursue any political activities, but instead focuses on social work which aims to improve cultural awareness and social relations among the Palestinian population of Silwan. The Bab el-Rahma cemetery is a Muslim cemetery that is more than 1,400 years old, and located along the eastern wall of the Haram al-Sharif. The cemetery includes a number of graves of Islamic figures from the era of Caliph Umar bin al-Khattab as well as from the Ayyubid era.
http://silwanic.net/?p=8613
In First Interview Since Critical Injury at West Bank Protest, U.S. Peace Activist Tristan Anderson Urges Iran to Free Jailed Hikers
The U.S. peace activist Tristan Anderson has given his first interview since being critically injured when Israeli soldiers fired a high-velocity tear gas canister directly at his head in 2009. Anderson was taking part in a weekly nonviolent protest against Israel’s separation wall in the West Bank. On Sunday, he helped unfurl a banner calling for the release of his friends Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, the two U.S. hikers who remain imprisoned in Iran. Anderson and the freed American hiker Sarah Shourd also sat down for a joint interview.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/11/16/in_first_interview_since_critical_injury
Abuse of Palestinian Children
Report: Mass arrests of Palestinian children in East Jerusalem
In October, DCI-Palestine collected information relating to the arrest of 17 children from the Silwan neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, although lawyers and fieldworkers for DCI-Palestine estimate that the overall number of children arrested in the Silwan neighbourhood in October is considerably higher.
http://www.tadamon.ca/post/8385
Silwan youth placed on house arrest in neighboring towns
The Israeli Magistrate’s Court sentenced three Silwan youth – Islam Aouda, 17, Ayed Abbasi, 21, and Ala’a Zaytoon, 20 – to house arrest yesterday, to be served outside of Silwan. Islam Aouda will spend his house arrest in Beit Hanina, Ayed Abbasi in Ras el Amoud, and Ala’a Zaytoon in Beit Safafa. Ala’a Zaytoon was arrested nearly a week ago from his relatives’ home in the neighborhood of Bir Ayyub. Islam and Ayed were arrested separately more than twenty days ago. The three young men are charged with throwing stones at and damaging police vehicles.
http://silwanic.net/?p=8609
Siege/Humanitarian Issues/Rights Violations/Restriction of Movement
Gaza-Egypt border sealed for 6 days
RAFAH (Ma’an) — Border officials said the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt would close Monday for six days over the Eid Al-Adha holiday. An Egyptian official said the closure also applied to Egypt’s port Awja in central Sinai, and that the Rafah crossing would follow the port’s weekend closures, shutting down every Friday and Saturday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=333812
Eid al-Adha: sheep smugglers kept busy for Muslim festival
Muslims in the Gaza Strip and West Bank were preparing for the Eid al-Adha holiday, which will be celebrated in the coming days across the Muslim world.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/8134603/Eid-al-Adha-sheep-smugglers-kept-busy-for-Muslim-festival.html
Lebanon’s refugee camps no better than those in Gaza
The conditions of Palestinians living in and outside of Lebanon’s 12 refugee camps are equal to, or even worse, than those in Gaza, a top United Nations Refugee and Work Agency (UNRWA) official said Thursday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_ID=1&article_ID=120905&categ_id=1#axzz14zfnrnDu
Poverty kills Muslim feast happiness in Gaza
GAZA, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) — Um Ibrahim Salah, a 42-year-old woman, can not buy all she needs for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, or Feast of sacrifice, since her husband have been jobless for years. “Prices double every year and most of the people are unemployed, ” Salah said, who lives in the Jabaliya refugee camp of Gaza, one of the most densely populated spots in the world. The mother spent most of the money buying sweets, nuts and shirts for her four sons. “I have no more money now to afford meat or more clothes for my kids,” she added.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-11/15/c_13608058.htm
Jenin center director: “I want to create hope”
In 2005, three years after the Israeli army perpetrated a massacre and razed dozens of homes in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, a group of Palestinian youth established the Jenin Creative Cultural Center. The center provides cultural and educational services for children and youth ranging in age from six to 25. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof interviews the center director Yousef Awad on the situation of children in Jenin.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11624.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Violence and Detainees
Israeli artillery, navy randomly shell east and west of foggy Gaza
PIC 15 Nov 2010 – Palestinian security sources said that Israel’s artillery east of the Gaza Strip and its navy in the west started at dawn Monday to randomly open heavy fire towards both directions.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7
IOF troops kidnap three Palestinians and raid two mosques
IOF troops on Monday kidnapped three Palestinian residents of al-Khalil city in the southern West Bank, raided two mosques and set up roadblocks at the centre of the city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U
Israel pardons 45 wanted Palestinians
Amnesty granted to Fatah men as gesture for Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha; part of deal signed between Israel, PA following Hamas takeover of Gaza.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3985052,00.html
Israel’s Arab Helpers
Abbas’s militia kidnap seven Palestinians
On the eve of Eid al-Adha militias affiliated with the de facto President Mahmoud Abbas continue to kidnap supporters of Hamas in West Bank. They kidnapped seven in the Tulkarem district on Monday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Egypt denies not cracking down on Gaza smuggling (AFP)
AFP – A top security official said on Monday Egypt has cracked down on tunnels to Gaza and intercepted explosives destined for the enclave, a day after an Israeli official criticised its anti-smuggling efforts.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101115/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictgazaegypthamas
War Criminals
Belgian citizens set to sue Israel
Four Belgian citizens who were on board the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza when it was attacked by Israeli forces on May 31, 2010 are planning to sue the Israeli government. The four, Fatima el-Mourabiti, Inge Neefs, Kenza Isnasni and Griet Deknopper, were victims of, and witnesses to, the attack and have applied to the Belgian courts to hear their complaint.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59913
Political “Developments”
Hamas confirms continuation of unity talks
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas leader Ismail Al-Ashqar confirmed Monday, earlier reports by Fatah officials that the reconciliation meetings would continue at the end of the Eid holiday in Damascus. Al-Ashqar led a Hamas delegation from the Gaza Strip to the last unity talk meetings in the Syrian capital, which was initially hoped to be the final meeting between parties, resolving the issue of the re-structuring of the Palestinian security forces and paving the way for reconciliation to begin.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=333906
Palestinian factions reject US proposal
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian political factions rejected on Monday a partial, one-off 90-day settlement freeze as a basis to return to talks with Israel. The US has offered Israel military and political incentives, including 20 fighter jets and a guarantee of US support at the United Nations in exchange for the freeze, which would exclude occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to accept the offer, which reports say has not yet been finalized. Israeli media reports suggested Netanyahu’s security cabinet would pass the proposal by a slim majority.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=333834
Strains in Israel coalition over U.S. freeze package (Reuters)
Reuters – Cracks emerged in Israel’s right-wing coalition on Tuesday ahead of an expected cabinet vote on whether to accept U.S. inducements to freeze West Bank settlement building so that stalled peace talks can resume.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101116/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel
US says timeline for Mideast peace deal may slip (AP)
AP – The Obama administration is hinting that next year’s deadline for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal may slip even if both sides quickly return to direct negotiations.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101115/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_mideast
Netanyahu strikes a deal on Israeli settlements could it freeze peace, too?
The Christian Science Monitor – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, long caught between intensifying US demands and the restlessness of his right-wing allies, appears to have struck a deal to delay Israeli settlement expansion without unsettling his government.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20101115/wl_csm/343429
Other News
Eyeing Iran, Israel slates missile shield for 2015
Production schedule of defense network combining rocket interceptors, kamikaze satellites corresponds to Israel’s assessment of when Iran might develop nuclear weaponry. Project director: We are talking about hermetic protection.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3985020,00.html
Top Israeli cop met Dubai police chief: report (AFP)
AFP – A top Israeli policeman has met with the chief of police of Dubai, who has led accusations that Israel was behind the slaying of a Hamas commander in the emirate, an Israeli newspaper said Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101115/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflicthamasuae
Commissioner rebuffs growing number of Israel police brutality allegations
According to data presented at the meeting, in 2009 the department for investigation of police officers closed 1,360 complaints without investigation, for ‘lack of public interest.’
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/commissioner-rebuffs-growing-number-of-israel-police-brutality-allegations-1.324921?localLinksEnabled=false
Shas minister: Procreate instead of complaining
Minister of Religious Services Yacov Margi calls on secular public to boost birth rate in effort to thwart demographic threat.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3982798,00.html
Israeli troops raid West Bank home of Hamas moneyman (AFP)
AFP – Israeli forces overnight raided the home of a jailed Hamas moneyman in the West Bank town of Tulkarem and seized cash and property, the Israeli military said on Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101115/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflicthamas
Uruguay to begin bilateral relations with Palestinian state
Uruguay has formalised its relationship with the Palestinian government and has indicated it will be represented at a mission in Ramallah. President Jose Mujica confirmed that Uruguay had recognized the Palestinian State and said bilateral relations were now in place. The announcement made at the sixteenth congress of Ferab, the Federation of Arab entities in Latinamerica, took place in Montevideo last week.
http://www.albuquerquenews.net/story/707792
Analysis/Op-ed/Human Interest
Hamas’ pragmatism is worth searching out
Khaled Meshaal, the head of Hamas’ political wing, told Newsweek on October 14 that “there is a position and program that all Palestinians share. To accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as the capital. With the right of return. And this state would have real sovereignty on the land and on the borders.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=121590
Ethan Bronner and New York Times justify the colonization of the West Bank
“The West Bank, although inhabited by millions of Palestinians, is the heartland of much ancient Jewish history, so for many Israelis, giving it up is a painful prospect…”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/ethan-bronner-and-new-york-times.html
U.S. taxpayers are paying for Israel’s West Bank occupation, Akiva Eldar
According to a June 2010 fact sheet on the USAID Internet site, last year American taxpayers funded the paving of 63 kilometers of asphalt roads in the West Bank.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/u-s-taxpayers-are-paying-for-israel-s-west-bank-occupation-1.324941
Too late for two states, Robin Yassin-Kassab
Nablus is built over deep wells on the narrow valley floor between Mount Jarizeem and Mount Aybaal. Its alleyways brim with ground coffee and spices, abrupt wafts of aniseed, plus honied tobacco bubbling from the argilehs, meat vaporising on the grills, traffic fumes, baking odours, pavement rubbish and dust. By day there is plenty of friendly Arab noise; by night barks and cock crows take over.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/2010/11/2010112112241975781.html
Did Bibi Win the Midterms?, James Traub
As a general rule, American politicians do not rally to the side of foreign leaders when those leaders directly confront the president of the United States. I don’t, for example, recall liberal Democrats cheering on French President Jacques Chirac when he defied President George W. Bush on Iraq, even though they thought he was right.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/12/did_bibi_win_the_midterms?page=0,0
Milbank’s progress, Philip Weiss
Snarky Dana Milbank at the Washington Post once smeared Walt and Mearsheimer as white-knuckled Teutons but he now seems to have imbibed their wisdom. Lately he was disturbed by Netanyahu’s response to the hecklers in New Orleans. And today he is upset about Republican Eric Cantor’s presumption.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/milbanks-progress.html
De-Zionising Israel, Bassem Hassan
Recent plans by the Israeli government and the Knesset to amend existing laws concerning citizenship rights in Israel have generated waves of criticism in liberal circles, including Israeli ones.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1023/op5.htm
Radical Solutions for Palestine, David Kenner
Hanan Ashrawi has lived through all the ups and downs of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. She was present at the birth of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations at the 1991 Madrid Conference, where she served as a spokeswoman for the Palestinian cause. Two decades later, Ashrawi, now a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s Third Way Party, fears that she is witnessing the death of the peace talks.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/09/radical_solutions_for_palestine?page=0,0
$3 billion in fighter jets to Israel: reward or bribe?, Léa Park
The New York Times published two articles over the weekend with almost identical headlines. The first, by Mark Landler, quotes an “official” (with no clue as to which government, Israeli or US, that official represents) characterizing $3 billion worth of military aid to Israel as contingent on a signed peace agreement. The second article, posted later in the day by Ethan Bonner, unequivocally identifies its sources as “Israeli officials”, who spin things quite differently. Their description of the terms under which US taxpayers would provide Israel with an “extra” $3 Billion payout looks like nothing so much as a foolish bribe: $33 million a day for a 90-day moratorium on settlements, settlements which are, moreover, all illegal under International law!
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/3-billion-in-fighter-jets-to-israel-reward-or-bribe.html
Palestine and the Fate of the UN, LAWRENCE DAVIDSON
The United Nations celebrated its 65th birthday (1945 to 2010) on 24 October 2010. At 65 the world body has lasted 27 years longer than its predecessor, the League of Nations (1919 to 1946). Will the UN go another 65 years? To help answer that question a quick look at what did in the League of Nations is in order.
http://www.counterpunch.com/davidson11152010.html
AIPAC Bares All to Quash Lawsuit: Sex, Spies, and Videotape, Grant Smith
If Rosen proves in court that AIPAC has long handled classified information while lobbying for Israel, the worn public pretense that AIPAC is anything but a stealth extension of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs – from which it emerged in 1951 – will end forever.
http://original.antiwar.com/smith-grant/2010/11/14/aipac-bares-all-to-quash-lawsuit/
Helen Thomas on Her Resignation and Middle East
Brave and outspoken: the great Helen Thomas. Thomas: Israel should get out of Occupied Territories; White House Correspondents Association were out of line.
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/11/16/helen-thomas-on-her-resignation-and-middle-east/
Open Letter to Hillary Rodham Clinton, George S. Hishmeh
Dear Secretary Clinton, My apologies for this open letter but I have been worrying that your briefing papers are not providing you with much-needed background for some of your decisions on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, now in its sixty-second year, or that you do not have the time to read all the significant information that may be in your files. To start with, I must confess that I have been dismayed and disappointed since I read in the newspapers that you have offered several deplorable “incentives” to the Israeli prime minister, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, during your nearly eight-hour meeting in New York last week in return for a measly 90-day moratorium on Israeli colonial expansion in the occupied West Bank but not Arab East Jerusalem. Why not the Arab sector of the Holy City and why only 90 days?!
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16419
One-Sided Deal, Neve Gordon
Imagine a sheriff offering the head of a criminal gang the following deal: ‘If you agree to stop stealing from your neighbours for three months, I’ll give you cutting edge weaponry and block any efforts by other law enforcement authorities to restrain your criminal activities.’
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16418
Hitchens says latest deal only dispossesses Palestinians and exposes U.S. servitude to Israel, Philip Weiss
Christopher Hitchens has a great column at Slate describing the “national humiliation” of the United States by Israel in the latest deal that Netanyahu has extracted. Hitchens’s language is colorful, and is a reminder that generally when a writer writes with literary freedom about gentile-Jewish relations, in a critical manner, he/she gets smacked down for anti-Semitism. I wonder whether this will happen to Hitchens. He says Netanyahu has made a Shabbos goy of Obama (a servant who can perform duties a Jew can’t on the Sabbath) and links the U.S. treatment with extreme Jewish religious attitudes– with the idea that gentiles must serve Jews, as articulated by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/hitchens-says-latest-deal-only-dispossesses-palestinians-and-exposes-u-s-servitude-to-israel.html
Netanyahu Reigns While Obama’s Away, James Gundun – Washington, D.C.
Should anything else be expected from Benjamin Netanyahu? Fresh off his jet, the Israeli Prime Minister hit New Orleans running with a loaded freight train – plans from the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee for 1,300 settlement units in East Jerusalem. US State Department officials reacted in pseudo-horror. Then plans surfaced for another 800 units in the West Bank settlement of Ariel, with final approval due in several months. Meanwhile incremental construction has broken ground across the West Bank. US and Israeli media reports increased their wonder as to the effects on Netanyahu’s upcoming meetings with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – but why would there be any trouble?
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16421
Letter to the British Liberal Democrats, Stuart Littlewood
Subject: Protecting war criminals ’just about the lowest thing anyone could do.’ LibDem leaders know perfectly well that under ‘universal jurisdiction’ all states that are party to the Geneva Conventions are obliged to seek out and prosecute or extradite those suspected of grave breaches of the Conventions and bring them justice, regardless of nationality. “Grave breaches” means willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and other serious violations of the laws of war… the sort of atrocities that have been (and still are) committed wholesale by Israelis against civilians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and on the high seas.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16420
The Demasking Law
The Loyalty oath law supports the stance of all the Zionist parties; It demasks the take over of fascism in Israel. The new citizenship law is a good law. According to the latest trends, it works in the interests of Israel. First of all, it makes clear the state of affairs in the country, that in the past year or rather since the summer of 2010, the country’s fascist side strengthens. It will increase the international pressure on Israel and it looks like it may be the only thing that can rescue Israel from the current bleak state of affairs.
http://www.israeli-occupation.org/2010-11-15/hanan-hever-the-demasking-law/
Lebanon
Lebanese struggle to make ends meet for Eid al-Adha
BEIRUT: People across the country prepared for three days of relative calm as they planned to gather with family and friends Tuesday to celebrate Eid al-Adha.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=121611
Lebanon radical cleric names Hezbollah MP as lawyer (AFP)
AFP – Radical Islamist preacher Omar Bakri has appointed a Hezbollah legislator as his defence lawyer when he goes on trial, a judicial source said on Tuesday, following his arrest in northern Lebanon.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101116/wl_mideast_afp/lebanontrialbritainbakriarrest
Iraq
Gunmen kill 2 Christians in northern Iraq (AP)
AP – Gunmen killed two Christians in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul in the latest assault on the country’s dwindling Christian community, officials said Tuesday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101116/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
Monday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 43 Wounded
At least 10 Iraqis were killed and 43 more were killed a day ahead of Eid observances in Iraq.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/11/15/monday-10-iraqis-killed-43-wounded/
Seeds of doubt in Iraq’s consensus
The fragile power-sharing deal to end Iraq’s post-election stalemate sees ex-premier Iyad Allawi take charge of a new National Council for Strategic Policy. But sectarian tensions could be reignited if the new body emerges with too powerful a mandate, while Allawi’s bloc will not be satisfied with a merely ceremonial role. – Sami Moubayed
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LK17Ak03.html
US scheming to extend Iraq adventure
In a secret meeting with Iraqi officials, the United States has offered to leave 15,000 soldiers in the country after the 2011 deadline for withdrawal. Such a deal could embroil American troops in Iraq’s internal conflicts for years to come. – Gareth Porter
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LK17Ak01.html
U.S. & Other World News
Church in Arizona protested because it looks like a mosque
Islamophobia may have reached a point in this country where people condemn Christians that they suspect are Muslims without ever checking the facts. In Phoenix, Arizona, a new Christian church has residents fearing that it is an Islamic mosque.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/church-arizona-protested-mosque/
Afghan President Karzai call for less troops frustrates U.S. general
Top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, was frustrated by the Afghan president’s blunt call for a reduced military footprint in the country — a remark that threatens to undermine efforts to maintain international support for the war at this week’s NATO summit.
http://www.toledoblade.com/article/20101115/NEWS14/101119697/-1/NEWS
Karzai opposes drone attacks in Pakistan
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in a newspaper interview published Sunday, voiced his opposition to US done attacks in Pakistan, and said that he now realises that the Pakistanis are suffering more than Afghans due to terrorist violence afflicting the region.
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/15-Nov-2010/Karzai-opposes-drone-attacks-in-Pakistan
Mubarak’s Critics See Hypocrisy in U.S. Support
The Egyptian government’s crackdown on political opponents continues unabated in advance of parliamentary elections Nov. 28, even as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week hailed the “partnership” between the two countries as “a cornerstone of stability and security in the Middle East and beyond”.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53558
Egypt police blamed for death
Police brutality back in focus after dead teenager’s relatives say police in Alexandria tortured him.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/11/2010111516111485865.html
Foreign couple to be lashed for sex in UAE
DUBAI: A Filipina maid and her Bangladeshi lover will receive 100 lashes and be deported for having sex out of wedlock in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, a newspaper said Monday. The Sharjah Sharia Court ordered the Filipina to be lashed 100 times and deported for “unlawful sex,” said the Gulf News report.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=121596
Bahrain activists make new torture allegations
Some of 23 detainees say they have been beaten, deprived of sleep and forced to stand for long periods in reprisal for previous torture claims.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/bahrain-activists-make-new-torture-allegations-2010-11-16
Sri Lankan maid claims Kuwaiti torture
A Sri Lankan maid has claimed she was tortured by her Kuwaiti employers, who allegedly jammed 14 metal pins into her arms and legs after she asked for her wages. The pins were removed from Lechchmi’s body in a hospital in the Sri Lankan city of Kurunegala after two long operations. The allegation is the latest in a series of abuse claims by Asian workers employed in the Arabian Gulf region.
In August, another Sri Lankan housemaid returned to the country with 24 nails driven into her body, saying her Saudi employers were responsible. Al Jazeera’s Minelle Fernandez reports from Kurunegala.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Qq4rMOAFY&feature=player_embedded
www.TheHeadlines.org
