and other news from Today in Palestine:
Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
Israeli Deputy PM: Wall Should Become Official Border For Israel
Verifying the fears that Palestinians have voiced for years (which have constantly been denied by Israel), Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor told an interviewer with Ha’aretz newspaper that Israel plans to use the Wall constructed inside the West Bank as the official border of the state of Israel.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59907
The Barrier strangles al-Walajah
The Barrier currently under construction runs close to the homes of al-Walajah, in southwest Jerusalem, damaging the ancient agricultural terraces and blocking villagers’ access to them.
http://www.btselem.org/English/Separation_Barrier/20101114_al_Walajah_Separation_Barrier.asp
Road Block Erected at Entrance to Issawiya
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center has reported, on Monday, that Israeli Military personnel erected a road block across the north eastern entrance to the village of Issawiya for the second time in three days.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59908
Israel steps-up pressure on Issawiya village with blockades
Issawiya, Jerusalem – Today large concrete blocks were laid across Issawiya village’s north-eastern entrance by Israeli troops, marking the second time in three days that the entrance has been physically blockaded by the military. The blocks, aside from severely obstructing village traffic, confirm residents’ fears of what appears to be Israeli authorities’ strategic isolation of Issawiya village. Thursday, November 10th, Issawiya witnessed clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli forces. Israeli police, accompanied by troops from the Israeli army, surrounded the village and closed off all but the easternmost entrance to the village, the furthest entrance from Jerusalem, following the clashes which erupted between Israeli troops and residents of the village. In doing so, the police carried out a collective punishment over the more than 18,000 Palestinians who live in the village.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/11/15505/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
The Occupation of Bureaucracy Denies Palestinians the Right to Farm in Saffa, Joseph Dana
Five international activists were arrested today and one was injured in the head, when soldiers prevented farmers they escorted from tending to their lands in Saffa Valley, near Beit Ummar.
http://josephdana.com/2010/11/the-occupation-of-bureaucracy-denies-palestinians-the-right-to-farm-in-saffa/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-occupation-of-bureaucracy-denies-palestinians-the-right-to-farm-in-saffa
Settlers Destroy Trees in Surif
Like Palestinians for centuries before them, Shaban Atiya Al-Hur and Ahmed Atiya Al-Hur have farmed the Al-Hajahat area of Surif. This morning both men attended their land to find that settlers from the nearby Bat Ayn settlement had destroyed 85 of their olive and fig trees. The trees were destroyed by deliberately lit fires and amount to around half the trees in the area. The fires were started at approximately 9:30am and lasted for around half an hour.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2010/11/15/settlers-destroy-trees-in-surif/
Settlers Burn Olive Trees Near Nablus
A group of extremist Jewish settlers torched, on Sunday, at least 200 Palestinian olive trees that belong to residents of Salem village, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and also torched a number of nearby farms.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59906
Israel ‘plans to sell 3,000 new homes in Jerusalem’
JERUSALEM — Israel plans to put up for sale 3,000 new Jewish homes in Jerusalem next year, including in Arab areas, a municipality official was quoted as saying by the weekly newspaper Kol Hair. Shlomo Eshkol, an engineer appointed by the Jerusalem municipality, also spoke of a long-term project to build 50,000 homes in Jerusalem during the next decade, Kol Hair said in its latest edition. Eshkol said the allocation of 3,000 new Jerusalem homes in 2011 included the mostly Arab eastern sector of the Holy City which Palestinians view as the capital of their future state.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gy8gIg3Wju159_uZi4F6_xGkgUjw?docId=CNG.585d74f4e935994236bc850ac8d75da9.401
Peace Now: Settler construction is coming back strong
New report suggests that ‘1,126 foundations have been laid in 45 days, compared to 1,888 for all of ’09’; data relies on aerial footage.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=195185
Gaza Ministry slams Israeli plan to build massive synagogue in heart of J’lem
The Religious Affairs Ministry in Gaza reiterated its denouncement of Israel’s approval of a major Jewish synagogue to be built in the heart of the holy city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7XcWEwYCEo%2fEycUPMnPvW3Esrm4WU2vsniGozWD93bMfp5el2mu15MFFJSj2AK3QbAVgGTQjMgAvUeJrfUgjQqylumQjdzkBTsqBiocu38rg%3d
OCHA: 313 Palestinian structures demolished in 2010
A report issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its monthly report that the Israeli occupation authorities demolished 313 structures in 2010.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Ariel settlement in 2007: We are NOT part of Israel
Not long ago, the large settlement which is now at the heart of the controversy over the refusal of Israeli theater actors to perform in its new auditorium, tried to prove in court that officially, it lies outside Israel, and therefore should be exempted from paying VAT.
http://www.promisedlandblog.com/?p=3568
Witness – Valleys of Hope and Despair
The battle over access to clean water sources is ongoing across the West Bank, with illegal Israeli settlements frequently blocking access and polluting Palestinian farmers’ irrigation. But in the valley of Wadi Fukin, Palestinian and Israeli villagers work together on projects to preserve water supplies and protect their local environment. This cooperation is exceptional in the region, but the huge gains both sides have made are now threatened. The separation wall is approaching and will physically divide the communities, putting an end to their collaboration and adversely affecting local water sources. Local farmer Abu Mazen, some of his neighbours and their Israeli counterparts took the authorities to court to halt the construction of the wall. This timely film looks at an issue of crucial importance to both Palestinians and Israelis and sets the context to the villagers’ legal fight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7l71L4qciA&feature=youtube_gdata
Lieberman says Israel’s borders “imperialist” and “arbitrary”
“Anti-Zionism” can be found in surprising places.Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was up in the Golan Heights on Thursday. The settlement of Katzrin awarded him “honorary citizenship of the city.” The Israeli media provided superficial reporting of Lieberman’s acceptance speech, with only generalities regarding his hard-line positions diplomatic issues coming through.
http://coteret.com/2010/11/15/lieberman-says-israel%E2%80%99s-borders-%E2%80%9Cimperialist%E2%80%9D-and-%E2%80%9Carbitrary%E2%80%9D/
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Military Repression of Non-violent Demonstration in Nabi Salih as the Army Lays Siege to the Village, Joseph Dana
The tiny and embattled village of Nabi Salih help a non-violent and unarmed demonstration against the Israeli occupation on Friday. The army crushed it The following report from the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee details what took place: Soldiers closed all roads leading to and from Nabi Saleh and negligently used dangerous high-velocity tear-gas projectiles that have already caused the death of a demonstrator in the past.
http://josephdana.com/2010/11/military-repression-of-non-violent-demonstration-in-nabi-salih-as-the-army-lays-siege-to-the-village/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=military-repression-of-non-violent-demonstration-in-nabi-salih-as-the-army-lays-siege-to-the-village
Soldiers shoot tear gas at farmers in Saffa
Soldiers shot tear gas at farmers in Saffa today [13 Nov] as they attempt to work their land near the Bat Ayn settlement. A group of about 30 Palestinian, international and Israeli activists accompanied Sheik Mohammad Aady to his land on the hillside opposite Bat Ayn, which has been marked for annexation by the settlement. VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sODHHBDAq1A
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2010/11/13/soldiers-shoot-tear-gas-at-farmers-in-saffa/
Bil’in Seeks Permission to Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada the dismissal of its case, Al-Haq
On 6 October 2010, in continuation of their struggle for justice in the face of unlawful appropriation and construction of settlements on their land, the residents of the Bil’in village filed an application before the Supreme Court of Canada to grant permission for appeal in the case against Green Park International, Inc. and Green Mount International, Inc.. The defendants are Canadian corporations registered in the Province of Quebec, Canada, who have been involved in the construction, marketing and selling of residential units in the illegal Jewish-Israeli settlement of Modi’in Illit, built on the land of the West Bank village of Bil’in, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).
http://www.bilin-village.org/english/articles/press-and-independent-media/Bilin-Seeks-Permission-to-Appeal-to-the-Supreme-Court-of-Canada-the-dismissal-of-its-case
If this is not Apartheid, Then what is?
Allan Boesak and Farid Esack | 10 November 2010 Photo Israel’s apartheid wall from above. In the opening lines of an open letter to Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Rabbi Warren Goldstein, leader of the South Africa’s Orthodox Jews, makes a plea that: “Without truth there can be no justice, and without justice there can be no peace.
http://www.tadamon.ca/post/8358
Talk to Rep. Brian Baird before he leaves office in conference call sponsored by Ta’anit Tzedek – Jewish Fast For Gaza
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/talk-to-rep-brian-baird-this-thursday-in-conference-call-sponsored-by-taanit-tzedek-jewish-fast-for-gaza.html
#BDS: India: Clerics Issue Fatwa to Boycott Israeli Goods
Muslim clerics here issued a fatwa, asking their community members to boycott goods manufactured by Israel and its friendly companies because of its offensive in Gaza. The legal pronouncement was issued on a question asking in the light of Islamic law, whether it was justified for the Muslims to boycott Israeli goods manufactured by Israeli and friendly companies as the profit earned by them was being used against the Muslims.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-india-clerics-issue-fatwa-to.html
#BDS: Protest the Hebron Fund this Tuesday as they head out to sea
This year’s Hebron Fund fundraiser has been organized as a Hudson River cruise and entitled the “Hebron Aid Flotilla” in an apparent attempt to mock the international Freedom Flotilla that sailed last spring to break the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza. The Israeli military attacked the flotilla in international waters, shooting and killing nine passengers, including an American citizen, aboard a Turkish-flagged ship, the Mavi Marmara, and injured an additional 58 passengers.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-protest-hebron-fund-this-tuesday-as.html
#BDS: Israeli Queers: Tel Aviv Nomination in MTV Gay Tourist Contests “Shameful Tribute to Apartheid”
MTV’s LGBT Network, Logo, has just published the results of two Internet award-bearing polls it conducted, nominating, among other cities, the Israeli city Tel-Aviv for gay ‘sexiest city’ and ‘year breakthrough’. The mere nomination was denounced by a Tel-Aviv-based queer group, Israeli Queers for Palestine, arguing MTV’s choice of Tel-Aviv sends a normalizing message to the Israeli occupation and oppression of the Palestinians, particularly in light of a Palestinian queer and general calls for a boycott of Israel.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-israeli-queers-tel-aviv-nomination.html
Two Jewish groups at Columbia U regret to inform you that they can’t hear John Ging’s news from Gaza, Philip Weiss
There looks to be controversy brewing inside the college Jewish community over J Street’s honorable sponsorship of speeches on campus by John Ging, the director of the UN Relief and Works Agency who has done more than anyone to instil in the west the idea of the civility of the Gazans.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/ging-campus-tour-seems-to-causes-polarization-for-jewish-organizations.html
Racism and Discrimination
The holocaust survivor whose life is in danger again
First they threatened to burn his house down. Then they pinned leaflets to his front door, denouncing him as a Jewish traitor. But Eli Tzavieli, an 89-year-old Holocaust survivor, is defiant. His only “crime” is to rent out his rooms to three Arab students attending the college in Safed, a religious city in northern Israel that was until recently more famous for Jewish mysticism and Madonna.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-holocaust-survivor-whose-life-is-in-danger-again-2134223.html
Haifa U. students protest ban on Israeli Arab MK who sailed on Gaza flotilla
Hanin Zuabi claims the university is using ‘Shin Bet tactics’ in order to limit Arab student activity.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/haifa-u-students-protest-ban-on-israeli-arab-mk-who-sailed-on-gaza-flotilla-1.324701?localLinksEnabled=false
Arab MK Zuabi visits Haifa University despite campus ban
Zuabi’s arrival at the university prompts verbal confrontations between Jewish and Arab students.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/arab-mk-zuabi-visits-haifa-university-despite-campus-ban-1.324825?localLinksEnabled=false
Rabbis: Falash Mura must convert
Haredi officials clarify Ethiopians Jews slated to immigrate Israel will have trouble marrying if they fail to undergo strict conversion process.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3984875,00.html
Violence & Aggression
This week in Silwan: clashes, raids, arrests, and demolition orders
On Saturday, Israeli forces erected checkpoints at the entrances to Silwan village for the second day in a row. The network of checkpoints are a notorious source of inconvenience and frustration to the people of Silwan, whose freedom of movement is obstructed by the “security” barriers. Jerusalem munipality bulldozers remove a barn on the property of Silwan resident Mohammed Siyam, in Abbasiya district. Last week, on Monday the 8th of November, Jerusalem Municipality workers, accompanied by Israeli forces, removed the memorial to Silwan martyr Samer Sarhan. A drinking fountain and olive tree dedicated to the memory of Sarhan were also removed from the site. Municipal workers and Israeli troops completed the operation in less than ten minutes, shadowed by an Israeli military helicopter overhead.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/11/15523/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
Jewish extremists assault Palestinians
(with photos) Jerusalem (SILWANIC) — Silwan resident Annan Jawad Yaghmour, 21, was severely assaulted, beaten, and abused by a group of extremist Jews this Saturday, November 6, 2010, as he was walking late at night near Hillel Street in West Jerusalem … The following day, Annan’s father filed a complaint with the police and called on the Israeli authorities to put up surveillance cameras on the streets of Hillel, Musrara, and the bell garden, in West Jerusalem where assaults against Palestinians are becoming increasingly common.
http://silwanic.net/?p=8475 and http://palsolidarity.org/2010/11/15507/?u
Israeli troops raid and loot house, commercial property of businessman Dudu
A large number of Israeli troops raided at dawn Monday the house of an imprisoned noted businessman called Ali Al-Dudu as well as his furniture showroom and stores in Tulkarem city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
Israeli artillery, navy randomly shell east and west of foggy Gaza
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=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
Detainees
Hebron: Israeli Forces Raid Homes and Mosque, Arrest Three
Hebron – PNN – Israeli forces arrested three Palestinians on Tuesday after raiding a mosque and a number of houses in Hebron, and setting up military checkpoints at main entrances of the southern West Bank city. Local sources said the detainees were Ashraf al-Hashloum, Hamza al-Ja’bari, both from Hebron, and Ansa Muhammad al-Jabareen, from al-Dhahirin, south of the city. Troops raided the outlying towns of Murish and Dura, where they entered a mosque. The military checkpoints set up outside Hebron were at Halhoul Bridge, the northern entrance, as well as several near hospitals inside the city.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9143&Itemid=64
Israeli forces seize 11 Palestinians
GAZA CITY (MA’AN) — Israeli forces seized 11 Palestinians during raids in the West Bank on Sunday night. The Israeli military said it arrested Palestinians in Jenin, Nablus, Bethlehem, and Hebron. The detainees were not immediately identified.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=333791
Tensions rise in Ramon prison after guard insults Allah
The supreme prisoners rights committee in Gaza said a tense atmosphere has prevailed over the Israeli Ramon prison for the past five days after a prison guard insulted Allah.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
PA releases prisoners for Eid Al-Adha
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority has started releasing dozens of prisoners convicted of minor criminal acts to mark the Eid Al-Adha holiday, head of the PA military judiciary Ahmad Al-Mubayyid said Saturday. Al-Mubayyid said the release was ordered by presidential decree. The official also said the PA did not detain any Palestinian on the grounds of political affiliation, in line with a directive issued by President Mahmoud Abbas.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=333727
Hamas releases 80 prisoners for Eid (AFP)
AFP – Hamas on Monday freed 80 prisoners on the eve of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, a police spokesman said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101115/wl_mideast_afp/palestiniansprisonershamasreligioneid
Political “Developments”
U.S. offers Israel warplanes in return for new settlement freeze
Netanyahu presents security cabinet with Clinton’s incentive of 20 F-35 fighter planes and security guarantees in exchange for 90-day West Bank building moratorium.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-offers-israel-warplanes-in-return-for-new-settlement-freeze-1.324496
US government offers Israel $3 billion weapons deal in exchange for 3-month settlement freeze
After US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with the Israeli Prime Minister on Friday, the US set out an offer of additional military assistance to Israel in exchange for a 90-day moratorium on new settlement construction in the West Bank. Construction already in progress on hundreds of units of housing would be allowed to continue during the ‘moratorium’, which also does not include East Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59904
Palestinians slam U.S. incentives to Israel for freezing settlement
GAZA, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) — The Palestinians on Sunday slammed what they described as the American incentives to the Israeli government to freeze settlement construction in the West Bank for three months for resuming the direct peace talks. Leaders in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party said that “If it is true that the United States had presented incentives offered to Israel for freezing settlement, it will be totally rejected by the Palestinians and would never help the stalled peace talks to resume.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-11/14/c_13606443.htm
Abbas aide: Freeze must be comprehensive
RAMALLAH (AFP) — Any new ban on settlement building must be “comprehensive,” a spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday, indicating it must include occupied East Jerusalem. “The Palestinians are committed to the decision of the Arab monitoring committee for a comprehensive freeze for the resumption of negotiations,” Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP, referring to a ban which would encompass settlement activity in both the West Bank and in occupied east Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=333782
Erekat: Stop all settlements and we’ll talk
RAMALLAH (AFP) — If Israel is serious about peace, it must call a complete halt to settlement building and not just limit the freeze to the West Bank, a Palestinian official said Monday. Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu is currently weighing plans for a fresh ban on West Bank settlement building in exchange for a package of US political and security guarantees in a move which US President Barack Obama said was “a signal that he is serious.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=333800
Erekat: “We Will Seek US Recognition Of A Palestinian State”
Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Dr. Saeb Erekat, stated Friday that should the United States fail in obliging Israel to halt its settlement activities in the occupied territories and in occupied East Jerusalem, the Palestinian Authority will demand Washington to recognize a Palestinian State withing the 1967 six-day war border.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59903
Arab League ‘likely to reject 90-day settlement freeze plan’
Arab League official: Settlement freeze without Jerusalem, eases criticism of Israel won’t be acceptable.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/arab-league-likely-to-reject-90-day-settlement-freeze-plan-1.324815?localLinksEnabled=false
Obama: Netanyahu willingness to freeze settlements is promising
Israeli political source says PM likely to win narrow approval from cabinet for U.S. package of incentives in exchange for 90-day settlement freeze.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/obama-netanyahu-willingness-to-freeze-settlements-is-promising-1.324678?localLinksEnabled=false
Plan for Mideast talks bets on quick border deal
JERUSALEM — Washington’s new proposal for reviving Mideast talks, presented Sunday to Israel’s Cabinet, rests on the bold expectation that Israelis and Palestinians will be able to sketch a border between them in three months.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=e2d0201c3e6ec2a3b561608b380893fe
Vice Premier: Extending the settlement freeze is a honey trap
U.S. proposal on new settlement freeze in return for incentives sparks stormy meeting of ministers from Netanyahu’s Likud.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/vice-premier-extending-the-settlement-freeze-is-a-honey-trap-1.324604?localLinksEnabled=false
Netanyahu lobbies his Cabinet on U.S. peace talk incentives
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presents his ministers with a multibillion-dollar incentive package from the U.S. to reopen peace talks with Palestinian leaders. He may have difficulty in winning their approval. Under pressure from the Obama administration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began nudging his Cabinet on Sunday toward accepting a multibillion-dollar package of U.S. incentives to restart peace talks with Palestinians.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/zXQHvXb9IL0/la-fg-mideast-talks-20101115,0,455416.story
Netanyahu poised to win razor-thin support for West Bank freeze
Shas to abstain, Lieberman and Likud rebels to vote against; Obama welcomes ‘promising move,’ Palestinians pessimistic.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-poised-to-win-razor-thin-support-for-west-bank-freeze-1.324693?localLinksEnabled=false
MESS Report / Obama has made an offer Netanyahu cannot refuse
The U.S. president is now asking: What benefits Israeli security more – a few more trailers on some hilltops or doubling the number of advanced fighters in its inventory?
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/mess-report-obama-has-made-an-offer-netanyahu-cannot-refuse-1.324687?localLinksEnabled=false
Barak: Israel must reach deal with U.S. before Palestinians do
Defense Minister weighs in on Obama administration proposal for package of incentives in return for 90-day freeze on West Bank construction.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/barak-israel-must-reach-deal-with-u-s-before-palestinians-do-1.324798?localLinksEnabled=false
Syria: ‘Judaization of Jerusalem’ proves Israel not serious about peace
After Lieberman says Israel won’t engage with Syria, counterpart Moallem says Israel responsible for lack of progress in peace talks with the Palestinians.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/syria-judaization-of-jerusalem-proves-israel-not-serious-about-peace-1.324648?localLinksEnabled=false
British politician: ‘Israel is the root cause of terrorism’
In the second attack on Israel by Liberal Democrat politicians in the same week that the party’s leader said the party got it wrong on Israel, Jenny Tonge claimed on Friday that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is the root cause of terrorism worldwide.
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=195207
Dahalan presents new plan to take over the Gaza Strip
Well-informed sources have confirmed Thursday that the infamous Fatah leader presented a plan to attack Gaza Strip in a bid to topple Hamas and to restore his “reputation” in the Palestinian arena.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
The best collaborator your money can buy
“President Mahmoud Abbas — a man Israelis say is the best Palestinian security partner Israel has ever had..”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/best-collaborator-your-money-can-buy.html
Other News
Tibi alone rebuked for Libya trip
Knesset’s Ethics Committee decides to impose sanctions on United Arab List-Ta’al MK for meeting with Muammar Gaddafi, not to reprimand five other MKs who attended meeting as no previous similar complaints filed against them.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3984895,00.html
Usamah Khalidi
I wish to use this space on my blog to offer my condolences to the family and friends of the Palestinian scientist, Usamah Khalidi, a professor of Bio-Chemistry at AUB. I never met Usamah but knew many of his relatives and students and admirers. I only heard the most wonderful things about him. I know that when a Palestinian resistance group needed a “lab,” he helped set up one for them. He made many unannounced contributions to the Palestinian resistance. That i know.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/usamah-khalidi.html
Righteous among the Arabs
Khaled Abdul Wahab sheltered 25 Jews after the Nazis invaded Tunisia, but was never found worthy for the title of first Arab Righteous among the Nations. ‘My father opened his home to Jews, but Yad Vashem did not open their home to us,’ his daughter Faiza says
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3978445,00.html
Bittersweet Remembrance Sunday for Palestinian veterans (AFP)
AFP – Mussa al-Hussein may have a hard time recalling dates and places, but the 86-year-old Palestinian does not miss a beat when asked for his ID number when he was in the British army in Palestine in World War II.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101113/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonpalestinianbritainwwiiveterans
Israel: Norway inciting against us
Foreign Ministry says Norwegian authorities funding anti-Israel film, exhibition, and play. Norway: We support freedom of expression.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3984621,00.html
Turkey’s Rambo takes on Israel
[includes trailer for film] (ISTANBUL) – As Ban Ki moon struggles to patch up relations between Israel and Turkey following the raid on a Turkish aid ship by the Israeli Defense Forces, a Turkish film company has decided to rock the boat, so to speak. Passions on both sides are likely to be inflamed by a new film portraying a Turkish agent exacting revenge on the Israeli troops who carried out the May 31 raid.
http://salem-news.com/articles/november132010/turkish-rambo.php
Egypt ‘not doing enough’ to stop Gaza arms smuggling (AFP)
TEL AVIV – Egypt is not doing enough to stop arms smuggling into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, a senior Israeli intelligence official said on Sunday, in a rare criticism of Cairo … “Egypt has lost control of what is happening,” he said, accusing Cairo of lacking motivation to do anything about it. “Soldiers are standing fewer than 20 metres (yards) from the tunnels and nobody is doing anything about this. “Egypt could stop this in less than 24 hours but there is not enough motivation.” However, the official also praised Egypt for its work in apprehending Islamic militants believed to be operating in the Sinai Peninsula.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101114/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictgazaegypthamas
Israeli R&D as being among the least productive in the world
This chart of 2008 data shows Israeli R&D as being among the least productive in the world in terms of patents received per dollar spent.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/israeli-r-as-being-among-least.html
Communal Ties Lacking for Young Jewish Professionals, Study Shows
“But despite that Israel experience and their strong Jewish backgrounds, these young professionals, like their peers not in communal work, have lower levels of commitment than their older colleagues to what he calls the “Jewish collective,” including Jewish peoplehood, Israel and a sense of Jewish “community.”
http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/communal_ties_lacking_for_young_jewish_professionals_study_shows/21648
Returning citizens to get similar rights as immigrants
Returning citizens will receive benefits “similar to those of new immigrants,” the Absorption Ministry announced this week. Speaking about a “revolution” in the state’s policy toward returnees, Minister Sofa Landver presented a new plan Wednesday at a session of the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs to attract returnees by offering perks in taxation, customs, health, education, employment and entrepreneurship. To reach its declared goals of bringing 15,000 overseas Israelis back home every year, the ministry listed several areas in which citizens are now eligible for unprecedented benefits if they choose to return.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/returning-citizens-to-get-similar-rights-as-immigrants-1.324246
Rightist acquitted of attacking leftist
Judge rules circumstances of ‘minor incident’ involving Noam Federman, Breaking the Silence activist do not justify conviction.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3984649,00.html
Analysis/Op-ed/Human Interest
Fayyad plan: Eat, drink, go to the toilet and shut up, Philip Weiss
Novelist Robin Yassin-Kassab has a fine piece at Al Jazeera touring the political landscape of the West Bank and showing how remote is the possibility of creating a viable Palestinian state. I was struck particularly by the insult of the “economic peace” idea; Americans threw the tea over the gunwhales when the English offered us this. Also by the indomitable resistance to occupation. Palestinians didn’t want Jewish emigration and they didn’t want a Jewish state in their lands. How do Americans deal with these long-suppressed truths? We can seek to divide and crush Palestinians, but this project has been going on for more than 60 years and has sown global rage. Legal scholar John Strawson has written that partition had a legal basis but required imposition, and still does. But it has never been imposed; and the Palestinian share of the land continues to be chewed away, mocking fairness, and leaving an obvious question, When do we try democracy?
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/fayyad-plan-eat-drink-go-to-the-toilet-and-shut-up.html
Going Rate for Settlement Freeze: $33.33-Million a Day
Tikun Olam – “America is used to buying its way to quasi-peace in Iraq and Afghanistan and appears to be doing something similar by buying Israel’s acquiescence in a 90-day, partial settlement freeze. The going price: $33.33-million a day for the entire 90 day process.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=43398
New deal on moratorium: This administration’s worst move yet?
With the new deal, the US might have given up all leverage over Jerusalem for the next two years, agreed to construction in Jerusalem (and ultimately, the rest of the West Bank), and seems to get nothing in return
http://www.promisedlandblog.com/?p=3572
Few pointers in US stealth offer to Israel
The implications of the latest United States incentives for Israel to extend a settlement freeze are likely to remain unclear for some time. No matter how tortuously achieved, any deal on the moratorium is no guarantee that peace talks with the Palestinians will make progress. The million-dollar question is how the offer to provide Israel with advanced fighter planes relates to the Iranian crisis.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LK16Ak01.html
Is America bribing Bibi or blackmailing him?
THE way the New York Times reports it, you might think that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are treating Israel’s prime minister with more solicitude than he deserves. If he will only agree to freeze Israeli settlement building in the West Bank for another 90 days, it seems, America will provide all sorts of goodies: advanced jet fighters, a commitment to maintain Israel’s qualitative military edge, diplomatic protection in the United Nations Security Council and much more. The pampering is almost unseemly, some (including the Palestinians) might say.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington/2010/11/president_obama_and_palestine
‘Israel can’t afford to postpone Mideast peace much longer’, Akiva Eldar
Miguel Moratinos, former European envoy to the Middle East, says peace agreement with Palestinians, Syria, could do much to thwart Iran’s ambitions.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/israel-can-t-afford-to-postpone-mideast-peace-much-longer-1.324333?localLinksEnabled=false
Eric Cantor’s Pledge of Allegiance, Glenn Greenwald
Soon-to-be GOP House Majority Leader Eric Cantor met on Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – and vowed that he and his GOP colleagues would protect and defend Israeli interests against his own Government.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/11/13/israel/index.html
Jewish Establishment’s Motto: Hear No Evil, See No Evil On Israel, Alex Kane
Nothing will change public discourse in the United States about Israel more than opening up the mainstream Jewish community’s conversation. The establishment Jewish discourse on Israel is far removed from reality–this is why the five young Jews who interrupted Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly was so important. It represented a small break from the delusions of the recent assembly, which was all about how Israel’s so-called enemies are “delegitimizing” the state.
http://alexbkane.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/jewish-establishments-motto-hear-no-evil-see-no-evil-on-israel/
In any rational order, Lieberman would be a doorman, Philip Weiss
Over the weekend Avigdor Lieberman said that the Golan Heights was part of Israel because the Sykes-Picot treaty (English-French-Russian agreement 1916) drawing a boundary line west of the Golan Heights was “imperialist” and “arbitrary.” Here is Yossi Gurvitz at 972, taking “Homo Sovieticus” and “doorman” Lieberman down. Here again we see an Israeli challenging the foundational myths of Israel.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/in-any-rational-order-lieberman-would-be-a-doorman.html
Foxman: American Jews should shut up about Israeli policy and fall into line, Philip Weiss
Abe Foxman in the Jerusalem Post. By the way, the one position he mentions the American Jewish community shutting up about is Jerusalem, which is the “supreme” issue, the “heart and soul” of the Jewish people. Even though he doesn’t even live there, and could. Let’s not forget that Partition, which Strawson says was based in international law of its time, stated that Jerusalem and Bethlehem would not be controlled by either side. Herzl made the same promise. So law and equity go out the window. And so does the peace.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/foxman-american-jews-should-shut-up-about-israeli-policy-and-fall-into-line.html
Who decided how the oppressed should fight oppression? / Ramzy Baroud
An American activist once gave me a book she had written that detailed her experiences in Palestine. The largely visual volume documented her journey in the occupied West Bank, a place rife with barbed wire, checkpoints, soldiers and tanks. It also highlighted how Palestinians resisted the occupation peacefully – in contrast to the prevalent media depictions linking Palestinian resistance to violence. More recently, I received a book glorifying nonviolent resistance and referring to self-proclaimed Palestinian fighters who renounced violence as “converts.”
http://www.truth-out.org/who-decides-how-oppressed-should-fight-oppression65044
Palestine: A Family’s Story, Ron Jacobs
Ramzy Baroud left Gaza when he was a young man. He departed with mixed emotions, knowing full well he might never see his father or Gaza again. Once he left, his activities and the nature of the Israeli control of that piece of land made those fears come true. Since he left, he has become a chronicler of the struggle for a free Palestine and an advocate for a genuine and just solution to the ongoing conflict in his native land.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16415
AIPAC Bares All to Quash Lawsuit, Sex, spies, and videotape, Grant Smith
On Nov. 8, 2010, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) filed a massive 260-page motion [.pdf] in the District of Columbia Superior Court. It asks Judge Erik Christian to dismiss former AIPAC employee Steven J. Rosen’s $20 million defamation suit. In October the court dismissed all counts of the March 2009 lawsuit except for Rosen’s claim of harm over AIPAC statements to the press that he did not uphold its standards of conduct. Rosen and AIPAC have – until now – abstained from filing damaging information about the internal workings of AIPAC in court. AIPAC’s willingness to publicly air some extremely sordid and revealing content to get the remaining count thrown out before an alternative dispute resolution hearing begins in December is a sign that AIPAC is now fighting for its life, or – as one former AIPAC attorney put it – “reason for being.” 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/
Pigs, Piper and Palestine [Satire]
While the now lame duck Israeli Vice President for American Affairs (IVPFAA) Barrack Obama was away all the rats in the US decided to play. Israeli Prime Minister and US Congressional Whip Bibi Netanyahu came to the US and has almost literally occupied it since then the way Israel occupies East Jerusalem. One would think that when Netanyahu speaks of a “united Jerusalem” he doesn’t just mean stealing the rest of East Jerusalem but also including in his version of tikkun olem the uniting of Washington and Jerusalem for eternity. He has made considerable progress in this regard this past week. He has managed now to turn much of the United States’ government against its president in his meetings with the likes of Cantor, Clinton, Biden and Shumer.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/11/14/pigs-piper-and-palestine-satire/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SabbahsBlog+%28Sabbah+Report%29
Obama, Asia and Israel, Stephen M. Walt
I wouldn’t call it a “shellacking,” but President Barack Obama’s trip to Asia wasn’t a stunning triumph either. He got a positive reception in India — mostly because he was giving Indians things they wanted and not asking for much in return — and his personal history and still-evident charisma played well in Indonesia. But then he went off to the G-20 summit in Seoul, and got stiffed by a diverse coalition of foreign economic powers. Plus, an anticipated trade deal with South Korea didn’t get done, depriving him of any tangible achievements to bring back home.
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/11/12/obama_asia_and_israel
The Goldbergian principle: People who hate Jews are anti-Semites, anti-Zionists are anti-Semites, thus anti-Semites who like Israel are just fine, Ali Gharib
After the break-up the latest plot by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to attack the U.S. by FedExing bombs set to blow up in mid-air, Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic set out to use the attempted attack as a way to disprove ‘linkage‘ – ie, the notion that solving (or even pressuring Israel to solve) the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a productive step towards helping the U.S. with its myriad problems in the Mid East, including international extremist Muslim terror.*
Lebanon
Hassan Nasrallah, “The War on the Resistance in Lebanon Enters Its Fifth Phase” (Video)
“We have overcome four phases [Resolution 1559, sponsored by France and the United States, imposing the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon; the French temptation, i.e. Jacques Chirac’s offer of power in exchange for disarmament; Israel’s July War, backed by the United States, against Lebanon in 2006; the 5 May 2008 decision of the Lebanese government, prodded by the United States, to attempt to disable Hezbollah’s communication network], and now we are in the fifth phase [the Special Tribunal for Lebanon] of the process of targeting the resistance in Lebanon.” — Hassan Nasrallah
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/nasrallah121110.html
Rubbish from Lebanon
Would people of conscience please stop celebrating Rima Fakih already? Or at least suspend celebrations until after “our troops” stop butchering people in Afghanistan and Iraq? Perhaps there are less self-insulting ways to prove to the west that Arabs aren’t so bad?
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/rubbish-from-lebanon/
Imperialist Barbie
Rimah Fakih, a native of my very own Southern Lebanon, was recently photographed crowd surfing atop a slew of American soldiers – flaunting a set of prim and polished nails in the ironic shape of a peace sign. This perverse display during the first half of an NCAA college football game between the Virginia Military Institute and Army in West Point, N.Y. was a public relations stunt; an Arab woman being carried by a profusion of United States occupation soldiers, wearing a smile filled with sheer delight. On Ms.Fakih’s personal twitter account she goes onto proclaim her excitement at being invited to “…flip the coin at the Army Football game… GOArmy.” Rimah Fakih is a colonial feminist’s dream come true, an occupation soldiers most thrilling fantasy and an anti-imperialist’s worst nightmare.
http://www.uruknet.info/?new=71841
Iraq
Iraq violence kills five (AFP)
AFP – Violence across Iraq on Monday killed five people, including a senior prison official at a jail in the restive north of the country, and wounded 28, security officials said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101115/wl_afp/iraqunrest
Car bombs kill prison commander in north Iraq (AP)
AP – A prison commander and his body guard were killed on Monday when twin car bombs detonated outside a residential complex housing prison guards and staff in northern Iraq, officials said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101115/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
Iraqi police search for “killer” mobiles
The Interior Ministry has set up a new police force to search for new weapons used to carry out “new forms of assassinations,” a senior government official said. Hussein Kamal, Interior Ministry Undersecretary, said there were credible reports of deadly weapons entering Iraq. Kamal leads the ministry’s intelligence department. He said his intelligence sources were aware of a new generation of killer weapons in Iraq which are look exactly like cellular phones. “The minister, Jawad Boulani, held a meeting last week which was specifically dedicated to ways of combating the new weapons which look exactly like mobiles,” Kamal said.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2010-11-12\kurd.htm
Foreign influence behind Iraq power-sharing pact: analysts (AFP)
AFP – Iraq’s power-sharing deal, hailed as a sign of its factions coming together, is more a result of foreign powers’ influence and was pushed in particular by the United States and Iran, analysts say.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101114/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpoliticsgovernmentusiran
Inside Story – A breakthrough in Iraq?
Iraqi politicians appeared on Saturday to have salvaged a power-sharing deal that will give Nuri al-Maliki a second term as prime minister. This came just days after a dramatic walk-out from parliament by his former rivals. The pact, which has looked fragile since being signed on Wednesday, has been lauded by world leaders, including Barack Obama, the US president, as a step forward in a country that has been without a new government since elections in March. It took Iraqi politicians eight months to reach a power-sharing agreement, but less than a week to bring it to the brink of collapse. Was this just a stumbling block or is the political deadlock in Iraq far from over? How long can the Iraqi people wait for an effective governement? Inside Story discusses with guests: Mahmoud Othman, a member of the Iraqi parliament; Muhannad al-Bayati, a member of the al-Iriqiyah coalition; and Scott Lucas, a professor of US foreign policy at Birmingham University and the editor of EnduringAmerica.com.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4RY0NiEJk0&feature=youtube_gdata
U.S. & Other World News
Obama is President of Extra-judicial Killing: Guantánamo Inmate
“We say that Bush was the president of torture, but Obama is the president of extra-judicial killing. The difference between the two is that while one used to extra-judicially detain people, the other has gone a step further and extra-judicially kills them.”
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/1113/1224283235295.html
Obama may deny KSM a trial: report
White House has given up on shutting down Guantanamo Bay: report President Barack Obama will have the final word on whether Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be given a trial or whether the man dubbed the “mastermind” of the 9/11 attacks will remain imprisoned without trial indefinitely, the Washington Post reports.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/obama-deny-ksm-trial-report/
Conyers joins growing chorus calling for Bush torture probe
Following the revelation that President George W. Bush not only approved of but emphatically supported his administration’s torture program, a growing chorus of lawmakers and human rights groups has expressed outrage at the lack of investigations and prosecutions.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/conyers-aclu-join-growing-chorus-calling-bush-torture-probe/
Michael Moore: Bush book should be in ‘crime section’
Amazon.com has listed former President George W. Bush’s new book Decision Points in the History category but Michael Moore insisted Friday that it needs to be moved to the crime section. Moore joined HBO’s Bill Maher on his Friday show to talk about the midterm elections and the new Bush book.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/michael-moore-bush-book-crime-section/
TSA Screener Accosts 3 Year Old Child at Security Checkpoint
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TCHSGvNwRY&feature=player_embedded
Body-Searching Children: No for the US Army, Yes for the TSA
A US Army staff sergeant, now serving in Afghanistan, writes about the new enhanced pat-down procedure from the TSA.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/11/body-searching-children-no-for-the-us-army-yes-for-the-tsa/66535/
We Won’t Fly: Take Action: Defeat the Scanners and Gropers
“the scans are detailed enough to identify a person’s gender… to identify a passenger’s surgery scars, or to discern whether a woman is on her menstrual cycle or not.”
http://wewontfly.com/
National Opt-Out Day Called Against Invasive Body Scanners
“No naked body scanners, no government-approved groping. We have a right to privacy, and buying a plane ticket should not mean that we’re guilty until proven innocent.”
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/11/national-opt-out/
Saturday: US kills another 5 people in Pakistan
Some reports said the dead were suspected militants while Geo News channel quoted its sources as saying that they were local tribesmen.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/pakistan/Five-killed-in-drone-strike-in-Pakistan/Article1-625777.aspx
Friday: US Kills 6 People In Pakistan
Pakistani intelligence officials said three U.S. drone aircraft launched six missiles and struck a house in the North Waziristan region.
http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-81782.html
2 NATO tankers set ablaze in Pakistan
Unknown militants have attacked two more NATO tankers in southwestern Balochistan province in Pakistan amid concerns of the rise of such incidents.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/150657.html
Report cautions Obama on high cost of Afghan war
“The cloudy picture and high costs raise the question of whether the United States should now downsize its ambitions and reduce its military presence in Afghanistan,” the task force said in a 98-page report.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101112/pl_nm/us_usa_afghanistan_strategy
U.S. Still in Afghanistan in 2014? Obama Say it Ain’t So!
If the administration decides to continue the current strategy through 2014, it would directly contradict President Obama’s own directive, which states that there should be an “accelerated transition to Afghan authorities beginning in July 2011”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-hoh/us-still-in-afghanistan-i_b_781926.html
Delaying an Afghanistan Drawdown Is Political and Policy Suicide
The President must immediately and unequivocally deny any suggestion that the July 2011 deadline is shifting further into the future. He must take a strong hand with the “unnamed senior officials” who are again working to box him into a decision-making process that predetermines the outcomes in favor of a protracted war.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/derrick-crowe/delaying-an-afghanistan-d_b_781596.html
Germany presses US to remove nuclear weapons from its soil
Neither the United States nor Germany have ever officially confirmed where the nuclear weapons are kept or how may there are, but it is generally believed there are 10 to 20 nuclear bombs under 24-hour guard at Buechel air force base in western Germany.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353131,remove-nuclear-weapons-soil.html
Obama ignores facts
It is really disappointing to note the ease with which Obama ignored India’s own human-rights violations and merciless killings of the stone-throwing Kashmiri youths in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=61712
Arab world among most vulnerable to climate change
BEIRUT, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Dust storms scour Iraq. Freak floods wreak havoc in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Rising sea levels erode Egypt’s coast. Hotter, drier weather worsens water scarcity in the Middle East, already the world’s most water-short region. The Arab world is already suffering impacts consistent with climate change predictions. Although scientists are wary of linking specific events to global warming, they are urging Arab governments to act now to protect against potential disasters.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE6A6050.htm
Nir Rosen on the Saudi arms deal, Nir Rosen wrote me this and he wrote his own byline
“While the new U.S. arms deal with Saudi Arabia has attracted attention because its the biggest arms deal in history and because the pro-Israel lobby has uncharacteristically ignored it because its mostly supposed to intimidate Iran, perhaps the most interesting part of the deal is the helicopter package. These are not for use against Iran but are either for use against domestic opposition or more likely the Houthis. When they recently fought the Houthis the Saudis asked the Americans for help with satellite imagery but the U.S. state department refused because it would have violated the laws of war (we only support Yemen in oppressing its own population and Saudi Arabia in oppressing its own population, but we wont let them cross borders to oppress somebody else’s population). So the Saudis are now getting Apaches, Blackhawks and light attack helicopters
So according to Anthony Cordesman’s report at CSIS on the new Saudi arms deals, there were significant purchases of new helicopters. Cordesman explains that “they give Saudi Arabia a level of mobile strike power to cover virtually any area in the Gulf, and a quick reaction capability that relying on armored forces and ships could not possible match. Second, they provide a major increase in interoperability with US forces,and the near- equivalent of prepositioning in a major crisis without any of the peace political complications of active US presence on Saudi soil. At the same time, they give Saudi ground forces a far higher degree of ability to deal with Iran’s capacity for irregular and asymmetric warfare on both land and sea. They give Saudi Arab the ability to strike with great precision and limited civilian casualties and collateral damage against non-state actors like those in Yemen. And finally, they provide a decisive edge in mobility and firepower against any raid or terrorist attack on civilians, government institutions and embassies, and critical infrastructure like petroleum facilities and desalination plants. In the past, Saudi Arabia has relied on a mixture of military cities and heavy armored forces near its most threatened borders, and the light armored forces in its National Guard for defense of its territory and key facilities. It has learned from past terrorist attacks, and fighting in the Yemeni border area, however, that it needs far more mobility, far faster reaction times, and the ability to support the police and counterterrorism forces under its Ministry of Interior with both helicopter lift, and the immediate firepower that only helicopters can provide…The full list of items in the transfer request in Figure Six also shows that These purchases will ensure that Saudi forces can deny Iran and terrorists any ability to “own the night,” and strike with the same precision the US has used against terrorist networks in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/nir-rosen-on-saudi-arms-deal.html
Saudi special forces [Comic relief]
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/saudi-special-forces.html
Sri Lankan domestic worker alleges nail torture in Jordan
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is probing allegations that one of its nationals employed in Jordan was forced to swallow nails, in the third case involving alleged torture in three months, an official said Sunday. A housemaid identified as D. M. Chandima has told the Sri Lankan diplomatic mission in Amman that her employer forced her to swallow six nails.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=121552
When Egypt battled over bare knees | Amira Nowaira, Amira Nowaira
As a young, Egyptian woman I was lucky to travel to Europe. It made me keenly aware of the human ability to cross barriers. Travelling to Europe for the first time in my life in the summer of 1969 meant much more than a simple crossing of the Mediterranean. To begin with, travelling abroad was not a human right in Egypt in the 60s, especially if you happened to be on the wrong side of the gender divide.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/13/egypt-bare-knees-europe-travel
In Jordan, a bookstore devoted to forbidden titles
Banned books — on sex, politics, religion — are a specialty at Sami Abu Hossein’s shop in Amman. ‘We have them,’ he says with a grin, ‘but don’t tell anyone.’ At Sami Abu Hossein’s cramped bookstore, the hundred or so book titles listed on a wall aren’t bestsellers. They’re banned.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/4iVbuA-zfE0/la-fg-jordan-banned-bookstore-20101115,0,7518254.story
Cuba frees political dissidents
Two political activists who previously refused to accept exile in Spain are released by the government.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/americas/2010/11/201011146376175194.html
How to scare away Muslim fundamentalists
“Topless Danish girls have come in between the Conservative and Danish People’s (DPP) parties following a DPP call for a new introductory film about Denmark for prospective immigrants to include pictures of bare female breasts. The Conservative Integration Spokesman Naser Khader, however, says that pictures of topless girls on a Danish beach would hardly scare extremists away from applying to stay in Denmark. “Bare breasts are not a protection against fundamentalism,” Khader says on his Facebook page. “Quite on the contrary. Fundamentalists as so sex crazy that bare breasts would make them flock to the country. Perhaps one should try naked pigs and pork – that’ll keep them away…” Khader says. The Danish People’s Party Spokesman Peter Skaarup has explained that in the Netherlands, where a similar film has been shown, they show the naked truth about what can be seen on a beach.“
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-to-scare-away-muslim.html
World’s largest pilgrimage underway as hajj begins
MINA, Saudi Arabia — The world’s largest annual pilgrimage, the hajj, began on Sunday with hundreds of thousands of Muslims pouring into the camp of Mina from Mecca to prepare for the solemn rituals. This year’s number of pilgrims is estimated at up to 2.5 million, posing a major headache for the Saudi authorities.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/worlds-largest-pilgrimage-underway/
The rich-poor divide on the Hajj
Huge crowds of Muslim pilgrims are in Mina in Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj. The Hajj pilgrimage is meant to be performed at least once in a Muslim’s lifetime, provided he or she has the financial means. But as Imran Garda reports from Mecca, for those without the means the trip can be a testing experience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeuremZd2Tw&feature=youtube_gdata
www.TheHeadlines.org
