and other news from Today in Palestine:
Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
Palestinians to appeal to U.N. with anti-settlement resolution
The carefully worded resolution declares Jewish settlement in the West Bank a major obstacle to ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It is meant to increase pressure on Israel and the U.S. Frustrated by the collapse of U.S.-sponsored peace talks, Palestinians are preparing to take their case to the U.N. Security Council in the coming days with a resolution declaring ongoing Jewish settlement in the West Bank a major obstacle to ending the conflict.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/dlflbwxSIXg/la-fg-0103-mideast-palestinians-20110103,0,6548893.story
Report: Israel demolishes 55 Jerusalem homes in 2010
Israel’s Jerusalem municipality leveled 40 homes and forced 15 Palestinian families to rip down their homes by their own hands in the holy city in 2010, said the Wadi Ain al-Halwa Information Center.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k
Israeli forces demolish East Jerusalem home
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities on Monday demolished part of a Palestinian home in occupied East Jerusalem. Forces bulldozed nearly 90 square meters of Nasser Yousif Seyam’s home in Lafta village north of Sheikh Jarrah, leaving around 35 square meters standing, witnesses said. The family of nine must now live in one bedroom, one lounge and a corridor.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=347696
Jewish settlers confiscate Palestinian land in Toubas
A group of extremist Jewish settlers in the northern West Bank district of Toubas confiscated vast areas of Palestinian-owned land around the Rotim settlement.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k
Settlers wreak havoc in WB villages
Dozens of Jewish settlers attacked the home of a Palestinian citizen in Qasra village, south of Nablus, on Monday and slaughtered two of his sheep, villagers reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Suspicious groups discovered purchasing land in Jerusalem
Suspicious groups have been creeping into the predominantly Arab Jerusalem district of Silwan and offering residents to purchase land and claim to be sponsored by Arab and Islamic funds.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Residents of Jerusalem village fight battle against separation fence, Amira Hass
The residents of the village southeast of Jerusalem are fighting a rearguard battle against the planned separation fence that will leave them cut off, inside an enclave
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/residents-of-jerusalem-village-fight-battle-against-separation-fence-1.334877
Murder of Non Violent Activist Jawaher Abu Rahmah
Israel blamed for woman’s death
Hundreds demonstrate at funeral procession of a woman protester who died after inhaling gas fired by Israeli forces.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/01/20111221437740515.html
Protester death shows IDF may be using most dangerous type of tear gas
Jawaher Abu Rahmah died Saturday as a result of tear gas shot by IDF soldiers during demonstrations against the separation fence on Friday.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/protester-death-shows-idf-may-be-using-most-dangerous-type-of-tear-gas-1.334858
The teargas grenades that killed Jawaher Abu Rahmah were most likely ‘made in the USA’, Jeff Klein
Those rubber teargas grenades (rubber so they bounce along spreading the gas rather than get stuck in one place) are “Made in USA.” I believe that the 40mm teargas shells are also made in USA. This is one of the tear gas grenades thrown at us by the Israeli Army at a demonstration against the Apartheid Wall outside the West Bank village of Bil’in. It is made by the Defense Technology Corporation of America, headquartered in Casper, Wyoming – http://www.defense-technology.com/:
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/the-teargas-grenades-that-killed-jawaher-abu-rahmah-were-most-likely-made-in-the-usa.html
The death of Jawaher Abu-Rahma is a direct result of occupation and the inhumane violence and brutality against the nonviolent demonstrators in Bilin
Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, the Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative and the President of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society stated that the death of Jawaher Abu Rahma is a direct result of occupation and the means of violence and brutality that is inflicted against the demonstrators participating in peaceful and nonviolent demonstrations against the Apartheid Wall and the settlements. It was stated that she suffered from severe respiratory distress which lead to cardiac arrest. The medical teams tirelessly resuscitated her three times, however failed as a result of the severe gas inhalation. Jawaher Abu Rahmah was the sister of Bassem Abu Rahmah who was also killed during a peaceful protest in Bil’in on April 17th, 2010.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1656
American-made teargas was also fired in occupied East Jerusalem
Lisa Goldman made this photo of a teargas canister fired in Silwan, in East Jerusalem, last September. Also made in the U.S. In Silwan, a Jewish colony is grabbing Palestinian land just below the Zion gate of the Old City.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/american-made-teargas-was-also-fired-in-occupied-east-jerusalem.html
What really happened in Bil’in, Felice Gelman
I was at the demo on Friday and at the funeral on Saturday — along with Jen Marlowe. Also Dorothy Zellner came with me on Saturday. Hundreds of Palestinians from the border area villages, internationals, and Israelis gathered in Bil’in for the Friday demonstration. Notables like Salam Fayyad showed up to make speeches, but I did not see them join the march. The IOF commenced firing heavy tear gas before demonstrators were within five hundred yards of them. A small number of people managed to penetrate the gas and get to within 15 feet of the soldiers. Obviously, this was a non-violent demonstration because they simply remained there, talking to the soldiers for at least an hour.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/what-really-happened-in-bilin.html
Happy New Year from the Israeli Occupation Forces: The Story of the Abu Rahme Family
While hundreds of millions of people celebrated New Year’s eve last night by going out in the streets, hugging, chanting and drinking, the people of Bil’in did not change their routine much. New Year Eve or not, Friday in Bil’in means demonstrating against the Illegal Apartheid Wall carving the West Bank into bantustans and stealing their land.
http://www.bilin-village.org/english/articles/different-look/Happy-New-Year-from-the-Israeli-Occupation-Forces-The-Story-of-the-Abu-Rahme-Family
The price of resisting, Jody McIntyre
The price of resisting, eagle eyeOn New Year’s Eve, as people across the world celebrated together, Jawaher Abu Rahmah lay alone, struggling for breath in a Ramallah hospital. The day before, the people of her village, Bil’in, in the West Bank, had marched to Israel’s wall, which cuts through half of the village, to non-violently demonstrate against the theft of their land, just as they have done every Friday since construction on the wall began in 2005.
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/01/02/the-price-of-resisting/
From Bilin to Tel Aviv, outrage at killing of Jawaher Abu Rahmah
“I am in shock, we are in shock,” Hamde Abu Rahmah told me as we stood outside the small cemetery in Bilin where 36-year-old Jawaher Abu Rahmah was buried on Saturday. One day earlier, on 31 December, Jawaher was killed after inhaling US-made tear-gas fired by Israeli soldiers at demonstrators in the occupied West Bank village. Joseph Dana reports from Bilin.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11710.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Opposition groups urge Jordanian government to severe ties with Israel
Statement comes in the wake of reports that national security chief Uzi Arad met secretly with Jordanian FM in Amman last week.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/opposition-groups-urge-jordanian-government-to-severe-ties-with-israel-1.335001?localLinksEnabled=false
Repression report
Jan 3, 2011– This report includes testimony from a wounded demonstrator in al Nabi Saleh and looks at how Occupation forces used so-called “non-lethal” ammunition to seriously injure two demonstrators. There were a high number of arrests, the majority of whom were arrested in the Bethlehem area trying to block Wall construction.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2437.shtml
Weekly Anti-Wall Protest Update
Jan 3, 2011– One protestor was killed this week, and half a dozen more were injured, in protests against the Wall and settlements marking the launch of the Palestinian revolution. Occupation forces attempted to isolate the villages this week, closing both Bil’in and al Nabi Saleh.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2436.shtml
Child, Paramedic Wounded By Army Fire During Nabi Saleh Weekly Protest
As dozens of residents and international peace activists held their nonviolent weekly protest against the Annexation Wall in Nabi Saleh village, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Israeli soldiers violently attacked them and fired rubber-coated metal bullets and gas bombs leading to several injuries.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60323
The struggle in al Nabi Saleh
24-year-old Rafat Sa’id al ‘Aish was injured on the December 17, 2010 during a demonstration by a metal tear gas during the weekly demonstration in al Nabi Saleh. Arafat lives in Kufr Dik, and when the road is blocked by soldiers on Fridays he is forced to walk the 4 kilometers on foot through the mountains. Rafat is a new husband and the son of the martyr Tal’at al ‘Aish. With the loss of his father he grew up with his mother’s uncle, who spent 14 and a half years in Occupation prisons. Rafat himself was arrested and held for 15 months in both the Ofer and Naqab prisons. He explained how, despite all of this, he chooses to join in the weekly demonstrations.
http://stopthewall.org/communityvoices/2438.shtml
Asian aid convoy reaches Gaza Strip
An aid convoy carrying food and medical supplies for the besieged Palestinians, as part of an Asian aid mission, has arrived in the Gaza Strip. The Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan, (Asia 1) entered the coastal strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Monday. Some 105 human rights activists gathered at the crossing. Most of them flew to Egypt from Syria. And eight activists arrived at the Egyptian port of El Arish onboard a ship. Egyptian authorities had prevented Iranian activists with the convoy from entering Egypt.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158381.html
Asian Convoy Comes to Gaza, Max Ajl
Sirens and doors slamming ushered me over to my window; I looked out and saw two big white buses pulling up to the Al-Quds Hotel amidst at least half a dozen police cars and vans, flashing blue and white lights. Quickly grabbed my camera, ran up to my roof to get an aerial shot, then went to go greet the Asian Convoy to Gaza. We only had time to talk with them for a short while—I met a journalist from central India, someone with the right to eat campaign, and several people roughly my age, one of whom had a brother studying at Cornell. Then it was suggested that we let them eat their dinner and go to bed. More tomorrow. Marhaba!
http://www.maxajl.com/?p=4666&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+http%2Fwwwmaxajlcom%2Ffeedrss2+%28Jewbonics%29
Report: Israeli Navy detains Gaza-bound ship
Iranian Fars news agency reported Sunday that two Israeli Navy ships detained a ship named ‘Salam’ which was sailing to Gaza with intentions of getting humanitarian aid into the strip. The passengers on the ship claimed that they were detained in international waters. A ship with eight Asian activists left Syria on Saturday. The activists are hoping to pass equipment on to Gaza strip residents through the Rafah border crossing in Egypt.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4007668,00.html
Report: Jerusalem marathon changes course
TEL AVIV (Ma’an) — Sportswear company Adidas forced the Jerusalem Municipality to reroute a planned marathon to avoid occupied Palestinian neighborhoods, Israeli media reported Sunday. Hebrew-language daily Ma’ariv said Adidas threatened to withdraw sponsorship from the event after the company was lobbied by human rights organizations.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=347602
MKs urge boycott of Israeli companies building new Palestinian city
Forty-eight MKs call on cabinet ministers to stop cooperation with some 20 Israeli companies who committed to divest from Israeli settlements during construction of Rawabi.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/mks-urge-boycott-of-israeli-companies-building-new-palestinian-city-1.334954?localLinksEnabled=false
Human Rights/Humanitarian Issues/Siege
Groundbreaking report details Israel’s inhumane conditions for isolated prisoners
Report by Israel Bar Association, the first external review of the country’s prisons, says some sections ‘look more like a dungeon.’
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/groundbreaking-report-details-israel-s-inhumane-conditions-for-isolated-prisoners-1.333107
Israeli shelling victim starts life anew with Jaipur Foot
JAIPUR: Nearly two years after losing his foot in Israeli shelling, Omar (37) from Ramallah landed in Jaipur with the hope he would be able to walk again, without those painful crutches. He was fitted with the famous Jaipur Foot at the Mahaveer Viklang Sahayta Samiti (BMVSS). A father of eight, Omar could not afford advanced artificial limbs and had to face difficulty even in reaching India. “I somehow reached Dubai in search of help. But there, the cost of treatment was beyond my reach. People at the hospital advised me to use the Jaipur Foot. I was informed it would be provided free in India but I didn’t know how to go there,” says Omar. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Israeli-shelling-victim-starts-life-anew-with-Jaipur-Foot/articleshow/7207555.cms#ixzz19vZeJxE0
Let the world see….’A Child’s View from Gaza’, Susan Johnson
The new year has arrived, 2011. Please let it be better than 2008-2009-2020; let it be better for Gaza. For Gaza I wish a year without war; without the shower of white phosphorous, bombs, missiles. Keep Gaza safe from invasion, tanks, bulldozers and guns. In May 2009 I saw the impact of Operation Cast Lead on Gaza. The rubble and destruction were visible everywhere I went ….beyond my wildest dreams. The Gazans were managing to live/survive….their strength and determination were amazing. They were living in tents, bombed out shells of houses, crowded in residences built for six people now sheltering twenty.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/what-everyone-should-see-a-childs-view-from-gaza.html
Racism & Discrimination
Restricting Israel’s Arab minority
Legitimacy of Israeli democracy threatened as racism increases under discriminatory laws against Palestinian minority.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/2011129344413792.html
Israel extends ban on immigration through marriage (AFP)
AFP – Israel on Sunday extended for six months a ban preventing Palestinians married to Israelis to immigrate to the Jewish state, the premier’s office said in a statement.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110102/wl_mideast_afp/israelarabspalestiniansmarriageimmigration
Druckman: It’s a rabbi’s duty to voice opinions
Religious Zionism leader slams police investigation into rabbis’ letter, says ‘halachic rulings are not racism’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4007553,00.html
Holocaust survivors warn of stirrings of neo-fascism
Survivors of the Holocaust have warned of the first stirrings of neo-fascism in Israel following the emergence of a Right-wing campaign to cleanse Arabs from predominantly Jewish parts of the country.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/8233929/Holocaust-survivors-warn-of-stirrings-of-neo-fascism.html
All “are equal in the eyes of the law?” Al-Arakib activist hit with 7 month jail sentence for…operating garage without license
Commenting on the conviction today of former president Moshe Katsav for rape, the current Israeli President Shimon Peres declared, “There are no two states of Israel, just one state. There are no two kinds of citizens here; citizens of only one kind exist in Israel — and all are equal in the eyes of the law.”
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/12/all-are-equal-in-the-eyes-of-the-law-al-arakib-activist-hit-with-7-month-jail-sentence-for-operating-garage-without-license/
Israeli Teachers: “Racism…is growing among young people in Israel. We are witnesses to this growing racism in education”, Max Blumenthal
Were those kids at Yad Vashem who called elderly Palestinian women “sluts” and “whores” just a few “bad apples?” Or were they just a slice of the racist Jewish Israeli majority that agrees with a rabbinical ruling forbidding renting to Arabs and prohibiting Arab-Jewish relationships? Israel’s public high school teachers would know best.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/12/israeli-teachers-racism-is-growing-among-young-people-in-israel-we-are-witnesses-to-this-growing-racism-in-education/
Fair trade, Sayed Kashua
By now it’s a mantra: Arab men are threatening daughters of Israel; or more accurately, Arab men are threatening sons of Israel by taking daughters of Israel from them.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/fair-trade-1.334521
Violence/Aggression
IDF: Palestinian killed at checkpoint was unarmed
Soldier who fired at Palestinian man says he acted suspiciously, but inquiry into incident yields uncertainty as army discovers two other soldiers fired despite not being in danger. ‘We must take all measures to avoid pulling trigger,’ IDF source says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4008043,00.html
IDF says Palestinian’s death at checkpoint caused by ‘misunderstandings’
Man kept approaching soldiers despite verbal warnings and subsequent shot in the thigh.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/idf-says-palestinian-s-death-at-checkpoint-caused-by-misunderstandings-1.334844?localLinksEnabled=false
Two Palestinians wounded in Israeli raids
Two Palestinians were wounded at an early hour on Sunday when Israeli warplanes raided northern and central Gaza Strip, local sources said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
IOF soldiers raid southern Gaza
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) entered an area east of the southern Khan Younis district village of Khuza’a on Monday, PIC reporter said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7
Ashkenazi with IOF troops storm Yusuf’s tomb
Israeli occupation chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi accompanied by IOF troops, Friday at dawn, stormed Yusuf’s tomb in Nablus with strict protection provided by the IOF and Abbas’s militia.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Detainees
Israeli intelligence arrest two brothers in Silwan
Israeli intelligence officers, flanked by a large military force, arrested two youths in Silwan this morning. The family of twin brothers Muath and Mansour Shiukhi, 18 years of age, were given no reason for the arrests.
http://silwanic.net/?p=9948
Ramon prisoners forced to sleep on floor
Captivated Hamas leaders Jamal Abu al-Haija and Ahmed Saadat have been sleeping on the Israeli Ramon prison floor, said prisoner rights expert Fouad al-Khafsh.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k
Two Jerusalemites walk free from Israel’s jails
Two Palestinian Jerusalemites were released from Israeli jails this week after serving lengthy prison sentences. Abed al-Halim Awad from Qalandia in the north of Jerusalem, served a 4 year sentence before finally walking free; and Muhammad Froukh from Issawiya was released after 1 and a half years. Issawiya village is frequently a flashpoint for tension and violence between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters, with Israeli troops frequently isolating the district during clashes. On 24 September 2010 a Palestinian child died as a result of aspyxiation from tear gas inhalation during clashes in Issawiya village. Issawiya village – Archive
http://silwanic.net/?p=9960
Israel’s Arab Helpers
Arab Organization takes legal action against chief PA officials
The England-based Arab Organization for Human Rights addressed PA chief Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad demanding a solution to West Bank hunger strikers who are demanding their freedom.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
Political Developments
Abbas: I’m not afraid of Wikileaks
DAKAR, Senegal (Ma’an) — President Mahmoud Abbas said he was not concerned over any material that could be released about him or his government by the whistleblower site Wikileaks, saying follow-up with the site was not on his agenda. “I hear talk about it,” Abbas told Ma’an, but said he had no personal interactions with the site, adding that the PA was “not afraid of any leaked document,” because officials “say things in public and not in secret. If there’s anyone afraid of these documents, it would be the ones who say something in public while they have another position in secret.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=347659
PA: Chile, Uruguay to recognize state
Palestinian foreign minister says Chile to announce its approval in coming weeks, ahead of visit by its president to Palestinian territories. State with 1967 borders has been recognized by Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, and Ecuador.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4007987,00.html
Israel should first recognize independent Palestinian state: official
RAMALLAH, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) — Israel should be the first country to recognize an independent Palestinian state and withdraw from the lands it has occupied in 1967, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sunday. “If Israel has the least seriousness to make peace, it should be the first country to recognize Palestine as a state… it is clear that Israel has preferred settlement,” Erekat said, referring to Israel’s decision to resume constructions in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-01/02/c_13674394.htm
For statehood, Abbas to focus on Israelis
TUNIS, Tunisia (Ma’an) — During his flight from Senegal to Tunis, President Mahmoud Abbas told journalists he would spend the coming weeks holding meetings with representatives of Israeli civil society organizations in an effort to side-step the Israeli government in the search for a peace deal.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=347687
Israeli PM wants nonstop talks with Palestinians (AP)
AP – Israel’s prime minister on Sunday proposed nonstop, face-to-face talks with the Palestinian president until a peace agreement is reached — offering a possible way to advance talks that have stalled over the construction of Jewish settlements.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110102/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
Israeli newspaper scorns Netanyahu’s call for talks
The Israeli daily newspaper Maariv today rubbished Israeli PM Netanyahu’s statement he is ready to sit down with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas and make peace.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60332
Report: Israel not engaging with Palestinian peace proposals
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Palestinian negotiators sent several documents to their Israeli counterparts over the past weeks, containing detailed proposals over possible solutions to major issues like the status of Jerusalem and refugees under a peace deal. According to Hebrew-language daily newspaper Ma’ariv, in a Monday report, Israeli officials have refused to examine the documents, and have not responded in any way to their content.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=347635
U.S. renews Mideast peace bid after holiday break (Reuters)
Reuters – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday senior U.S. officials will return to the Middle East this week to renew peacemaking efforts with Israel and the Palestinians.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110103/ts_nm/us_palestinians_israel
Despite public denial, U.S. officials tell Haaretz: We’re angry at Barak
Sources confirm Haaretz report that Clinton, Obama feel Defense Minister exaggerated his role in peace process, despite statement by State Department spokesman denying the allegations.
Netanyahu: Israel agreed to new settlement freeze, but U.S. retracted offer
PM blames Palestinians for deadlock in peace talks, says U.S. officials due to arrive in Israel to push forward talks on core issues.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-israel-agreed-to-new-settlement-freeze-but-u-s-retracted-offer-1.334965
Labor members tell Barak: Your claims on peace process damaged Israel in eyes of U.S.
U.S. officials feel Defense Minister ‘deceived’ them about his ability to pressure Netanyahu into resuming talks; Labor mulling ultimatum for Netanyau: Hold direct talks or we’ll quit coalition.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/labor-members-tell-barak-your-claims-on-peace-process-damaged-israel-in-eyes-of-u-s-1.334764?localLinksEnabled=false
Other News
Why is 85% of a $17m Marine Corps contract being spent in Israel?, Jeffrey Blankfort
Mr. John Daggett, Oshkosh Corporation spokesman:The following item is from Defense Professional News: “Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., is being awarded $16,820,812 for firm-fixed-price delivery order #0122, under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-04-D-5016) for the purchase of 137 Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) reducible height armor kits and four MTVR reducible height wrecker armor kits for the Navy Seabees. Work will be performed in Israel (85 percent) and Oshkosh, Wis. (15 percent), and work is expected to be completed by June 30, 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps System Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.” Why, when the US is need of jobs, will 85% of the work on this contract for Oshkosh be done in Israel? Thanks, in advance, for providing this information.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/why-is-85-of-a-17m-marine-corps-contract-being-spent-in-israel.html
AIPAC Protests Disclosure of Its Secret Files
On Dec. 23, 2010, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee filed a 53-page motion [.pdf] asking Judge Eric Christian to sanction former employee Steven J. Rosen over the illicit possession and release of sensitive internal AIPAC documents.
http://original.antiwar.com/smith-grant/2011/01/02/aipac-protests-disclosure-of-its-secret-files/
State: Yigal Amir can meet 1 other prisoner
State Prosecutor’s Office examining ways to alleviate confinement conditions of Yitzhak Rabin’s assassin; proposes half-hour bi-weekly meetings with another prisoner.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4008350,00.html
Popular rabbi in north arrested for allegedly molesting minors
Rabbis name and community remain under gag order; police say at least three charges of molestation have been uncovered so far.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/popular-rabbi-in-north-arrested-for-allegedly-molesting-minors-1.334536?localLinksEnabled=false
Palestinians condemn Alexandria Church bombing
Palestinians from all political orientations have strongly condemned the Friday night bombing outside a Coptic church in Alexandria , describing the perpetrators as cowardly terrorists and criminals.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Palestinian football team to tour Pakistan (AFP)
AFP – The Palestinian national football side is to tour Pakistan next month, an official said, as the hosts ramp up efforts to bring back international sport to a country plagued by terrorism.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110103/wl_mideast_afp/fblpakpal
Silwan football youth league showcases the talents of Jerusalem youth
As 2011 dawns the Silwan football youth championship continues, with 8 teams from Silwan and other districts of Jerusalem participating in the league. The majority of matches are hosted at the al-Bustan stadium in Silwan, land that is threatened with expropriation by the Jerusalem Municipality for conversion to a parking lot. Two matches were played yesterday, 2 January, with the first match between the Einour team from Jerusalem’s Old City and the Ein al-Loza team from Silwan, which resulted in a 4-2 victory to Ein al-Loza. The team has enjoyed top position throughout the league, taking 9 points in 3 matches. The second match was played between the Wadi Hilweh and Abbasyya teams, both from Silwan, with Wadi Hilweh winning at a final score of 2-0. This brings the Wadi Hilweh’s total score to 6 points from 3 games. Palestinian children play in front of the rubble of a demolished Palestinian home in al-Bustan.
http://silwanic.net/?p=9951
Analysis/Op-ed
Gaza Two Years Later: I waited 23 days to cry, and two years to write, Fidaa Abu Assi
What a miracle! Two years elapsed and I am still capable of taking another breath of life! Who ever expected I would be writing this right now in the same Gaza, the very same place that was being entirely knocked down two years ago? Do I have to be grateful? Am I lucky enough to survive such a gruesomely unforgettable war to keep recalling it each year? Or would I be luckier if I was among the dead –definitely not the wounded- in order to be spared the torture of living its horrible memories over and over again? I expected a relieving answer from none.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/gaza-two-years-later-i-waited-23-days-to-cry-and-two-years-to-write.html
Gaza Two Years Later: From beneath, Rawan Yaghi
I didn’t even know if my eyes were open. After a big mess everything seemed so calm I could sense the dust covering my face, the only part I could feel. I could feel my breath hitting one of the bricks of my room’s floor. Air found its way through everything surrounding my body. Silence was all I could hear.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/gaza-two-years-later-from-beneath.html
‘Why are you on the Palestinian side, working against your homeland?’, Alex Kane
Ramallah, West Bank–It’s a far cry from the daily checkpoints, beatings, tear-gassing and harassment that Palestinians have to go through, but today I can say that a tiny slice of the Palestinian experience became alive to me. My arrival at Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel early today was the start of a long trip down Israeli security harassment lane. After I showed my passport to an Israeli immigration agent, I was taken to a holding room, where I joined Palestinians trying to visit family and other–mostly non-white–people. Three hours later, I was taken to a separate room, where I was questioned by a bald Israeli who said he was from the Ministry of Defense. They immediately knew that my back story of why I came to Israel was false, and I had to admit I planned on visiting the West Bank.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/why-are-you-on-the-palestinian-side-working-against-your-homeland.html
Outside Akko, I run into Christian Zionists from Arkansas, Alice Rothchild
I am always jolted by the contradictions of Ben Gurion airport, a bastion of modernity and normalcy, evocative art and posters celebrating the Israeli national mythos. I know my Palestinian friends cannot walk these corridors, my heart lurches when the 20 year old Israeli soldier asks me: “So what are you doing in Israel?” My travel plans and contacts have all been emailed to friends in country because I do not want to expose my true identity: detective, critical observer, activist. Indeed I have been called “a danger to the Jewish people” merely because I report on what I see and I refuse to be silent. Come see what I see.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/outside-akko-i-run-into-christian-zionists-from-arkansas.html
New Year’s revolutions, Max Ajl
A friend of mine here said that what we need are not “new year’s resolutions but new year’s revolutions.” So what do I hope for in this New Year? I hope for revolutions. I hope the labor movements in Egypt overthrow their thug government, that the Palestinians in the Bantustan archipelago rid themselves of their mukhabarat, that the Arab monarchies collapse, that the Mizrahi Jews of Israel under the pressure of a burgeoning BDS campaign find themselves a leadership able to express their discontent in a way other than racism at those a little lower on the ladder than they are, that the Tunisian revolt explodes the Ben Ali regime, that the British student movement lights a radical fire under the feet of its neoliberal governments, that Russ Feingold runs for president and begins to rip apart the imperial arch in the Middle East, along with its keystone, Israel, that Palestine erupts in another Intifada, more like the first than the second; I hope that the third world unites in another Bandung around the issue of climate debt, that the Via Campesina destabilizes a few neoliberal governments in the global South, that there’s a global wave of land grabbing by peasants, and that the atomized US working class engages in a strike wave. And I hope that these aren’t just hopes, and that we turn them into the future.
http://www.maxajl.com/?p=4660&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+http%2Fwwwmaxajlcom%2Ffeedrss2+%28Jewbonics%29
Will Zuma’s Foreign Policy on Palestine Take a Leap Forward?, Iqbal Jassat
If Karima Brown is correct in her evaluation of President Jacob Zuma’s canny ability to gain ascendancy despite teetering on the brink, would it be an unreasonable expectation to have him propel South Africa to take a more hands-on approach regarding apartheid Israel? I raise this question in respect of what is generally perceived to be South Africa’s weak and indecisive foreign policy that, barring occasional censure of Israeli conduct, seems to be largely silent and ineffective.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16524
Without Borders, If Only, Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
I always found it funny to watch movies where the protagonist decides on the spur of the moment to grab a taxi and rush to the airport, passport in hand and jump on the next plane out. To think that one could just pull out a passport, a credit card and a desired destination and – poof – be there in a matter of hours, is as foreign a concept as anything to us Palestinians. Traveling for us Palestinians, is quite frankly, a nightmare. I have said this before, mostly because my own experience with traveling has always been full of trials and tribulations to say the least. This time, however, exceeded all my expectations of the predicted nightmare.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=22992&CategoryId=13
Palestine Betrayed – Book Review, George Polley
Howard Sachar, author of A History of Israel, calls it ‘A work of meticulous, even exhaustive scholarship which must be taken with great seriousness and respect by historians of diverse points of view.’ Indeed, any student of modern Israel will ignore at their peril its sheer cornucopia of factual revelations’ (from the dust jacket) … and the sheer abundance of its factual exclusions.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16523
Spokespersons and Their Causes, Lawrence Davidson
It is a stark tragedy that, as of the moment, power is the deciding factor in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For, as history teaches us, power has little regard for fairness, justice, morality, and decent futures
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27168.htm
Arab TV and the Return of the Mavi Marmara
The Arab world possesses the largest number of satellite TV stations in the world, in proportion to population. Alas, the number of satellite stations does not mean the existence of any effort to present Arab causes on both the local and global level in a useful manner. Take the second anniversary of the brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza. Arab media outlets have neither concerned themselves with the anniversary nor do they expose continuing Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza, Hebron, Negev, Lod and Nablus; this despite the growing support of people of conscience in Turkey, Europe, Asia, South America trying to break the racist blockade.
http://www.counterpunch.com/shaaban01032010.html
Bahrain FM: British Colonialism Is Not Colonialism
Sheikh (“Shake” as James Zogby says) Mouhamed Bin-Mubarak Al-Khalifa, the Foreign Minister of Bahrain(which James Zogby describes as “a beacon of democratic reform”), said the British presence in Bahrain in the 19th and 20th Centuries was not “colonialism”, and the British were there for the “protection” and “security” of Bahrain.
http://ikhras.com/2011/01/bahrain-fm-british-colonialism-is-not-colonialism/
Qasim Rashid: The War Over Muslims in America
As 2010 comes to a close, it’s clear that this year offered few favors for the American Muslim identity or reputation. Indeed, Pew reports that Muslims in America had a higher approval rating after 9/11 than in 2010.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/qasim-rashid/the-war-over-muslims-in-a_b_801427.html
Islamophobia in Western Media, Steve Lendman
Post-9/11, Western media, especially in America and Britain, describe Muslims as fundamentalists, extremists, terrorists, and fanatics. Throughout the West, Islam is identified with violence, when, in fact it has common roots with Christianity and Judaism. Their tenets are based on love, not hate; peace, not violence; charity, not exploitation; and a just, fair society for people of all faiths. You’d never know it from Islamophobic media reports.
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/01/islamophobia-in-western-media.html
Lebanon
‘Hizbullah can fire 400-600 rockets a day in next war’
Mossad official’s estimate from leaked cable predicts Tel Aviv will be hit; Iran has 300 long-range missiles, IDF chief says. Hizbullah would likely shoot between 400 and 600 missiles a day into Israel during a future war, a senior Mossad official told a congressional delegation to Israel in 2009, according to a US diplomatic cable published on Sunday.
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?ID=201976&R=R1
Son of former Lebanese PM attacked
A hand grenade was tossed late Saturday night at the residence of the son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karami, an ally of Shiite armed group Hezbollah.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-01/03/c_13674487.htm
Lebanon is staring into the abyss | Fawaz Gerges
Whatever the tribunal into the death of Rafik Hariri decides, it will pour petrol on Lebanon’s raging fire. Once again, Lebanon is on the brink of major social and political upheaval. Rumours of an impending armed clash between Hezbollah and the pro-western governing coalition have spread like wildfire among the Lebanese people, who are hoarding food and arms in anticipation of the worst.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/31/lebanon-brink-rafik-hariri-tribunal-hezbollah
Moussawi raps Bolton, says he created tribunal
BEIRUT: Tyre MP Nawwaf Moussawi lashed out at the former US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, over the weekend, saying Bolton “invented” the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) which Moussawi said was aimed at stripping Hizbullah of its “resistance role.” “John Bolton managed the process of approving the international tribunal in the Security Council.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=123161
Politicians criticize draft law to block inter-religious land sales
BEIRUT: A law proposal drafted by Labor Minister Butros Harb to prevent inter-religious property and land sale in Lebanon drew criticism over the weekend from a number of figures, while a Hizbullah official said the proposal failed to address the actual reasons behind the emigration of Lebanese, particularly Christians.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=123176
Iraq
Attack on intel service in northeast Iraq wounds 28 (Reuters)
Reuters – A suicide car bomber attacked an office of the Iraqi intelligence services in a city northeast of Baghdad on Monday, wounding 28 people, officials said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110103/wl_nm/us_iraq_violence
Gunman Kill Christian Woman in Her Baghdad Home
BAGHDAD, (AP) – Iraqi officals say a Christian woman was killed after gunmen broke into her house in downtown Baghdad.
http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=23642
Iraqi Christians bury their dead
Christians in Baghdad, Iraq’s capital, have buried their family members killed as a result of a wave of attacks targeting the religious minority community. The unrest has forced thousands of Christians to flee from their homes. In the most recent incident, two Christians were killed from a series of coordinated explosions across the Iraqi capital. It came after gunmen opened fire on worshippers in a cathedral in October, leaving more than 40 of them dead. Rawya Rageh reports from Baghdad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO_gVVZiBx4&feature=youtube_gdata
Iraqiya member criticizes incompetent ministers
Al Iraqiya List member Jamal Al Batikh argued that a number of ministers lacking competence and expertise were appointed in the new government according to political deals. In a statement to Alsumaria, Al Batikh urged Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki to remove incompetent ministers while calling on ….
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-58375-Iraqiya-member-criticizes-incompetent-ministers.html
Jordanian PM arrives in Baghdad: TV
BAGHDAD, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) — Jordan’s Prime Minister Samir Rifai arrived in Baghdad on Monday in an official visit after the country formed its new cabinet late in December last year, an official Iraqi television reported. “Jordan’s Prime Minister Samir Rifai arrived in Baghdad presiding a high-ranking delegation,” the state-run television of Iraqia said.
Demise of Iraqi water park illustrates limitations, abuse of U.S. funding program
BAGHDAD – In the spring of 2008, Gen. David H. Petraeus decided he had spent enough time gazing from his helicopter at an empty and desolate lake on the banks of the Tigris River. He ordered the lake refilled and turned into a water park for all of Baghdad to enjoy.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=1349ccf74f7266da9b600e003002019b
Standing Tall in the Rubble, RAMZY BAROUD
When the Iraqi army fell before invading US and British troops in 2003, the latter’s mission seemed to be accomplished. But nearly eight years after the start of a war intended to shock and awe a whole population into submission, the Iraqi people continue to stand tall. They have confronted and rejected foreign occupations, held their own against sectarianism, and challenged random militancy and senseless acts of terrorism.
http://www.counterpunch.com/baroud12312010.html
U.S. and other world news
Guantánamo is “A Piece of Hell that Kills Everything”, Andy Worthington
Andy Worthington reveals a distressing letter from Guantanamo by Yemeni prisoner Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27167.htm
Incoming GOP House Chairs Plan to Investigate Climate Scientists, Probe Muslim “Radicalization,” Repeal Health Care Reform
When the 112th Congress is sworn in on Wednesday, Republicans will hold a new-found edge in the House after four years in the minority. That means a field of Republican Congressmembers poised to helm the 23 House committees and their more than 100 subcommittees. Republicans have already promised a sweeping agenda, including investigating climate scientists, investigating “radicalization” in the Muslim community, and repealing President Obama’s healthcare law. We speak with Ryan Grim, senior congressional correspondent for The Huffington Post.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/3/incoming_gop_house_chairs_plan_to
MasterCard Hosted Mossad Assassins, Blocked WikiLeaks
The Israeli assassins using false Australian passports, used the U.S. MasterCard credit card company to pay bills.
http://mathaba.net/news/?x=625621
WikiLeaks: U.S. Diplomats Acted As Salespeople For Boeing Over Airbus
This is the high-stakes, international trading bazaar for large commercial jets, where tens of billions of dollars are on the line, along with hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs. At its heart, it is a global wrestling match fought every day by executives at two giant companies, Boeing and Airbus, in which each controls about half of the global market for such planes.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/02/wikileaks-boeing-airbus_n_803384.html
U.S. Embassy Turned a Blind Eye as Suspected CIA Banker Allen Stanford Bilked Investors, Secret Cables Reveal
While R. Allen Stanford was happily ensconced on the Caribbean island of Antigua, allegedly bribing officials there as he expanded his banking empire, secret cables released by the whistleblowing web site WikiLeaks revealed that U.S. Embassy officials held themselves at arm’s length even as they provided the accused fraudster with political cover.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/01/u-s-embassy-turned-a-blind-eye-as-suspected-cia-banker-allen-stanford-bilked-investors-secret-cables-reveal/
Edrogan CNN Arabic’s man of year
While CNN’s Arabic site honors Turkish PM for diplomacy, journalists criticize Edrogan’s foreign policy on Iran. ‘He is scared of angering Ahmadinejad,’ columnist writes.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4007932,00.html
Iran ‘downs two western spy drones’
Iran’s revolutionary Guards claim shooting down two drones in the Gulf for violations against the Islamic republic soil.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/01/201112202938152508.html
Brazil’s new president starts work, focuses on foreign policy
BRASILIA: Brazil’s new President Dilma Rousseff began a busy first full day in office Sunday meeting with foreign dignitaries after pledging to build on the policies of her hugely popular predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The former Marxist rebel and the country’s first female president made foreign policy her priority Sunday, taking advantage of the many leaders who came to the country for her inauguration a day earlier.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=123138#axzz19vfnnzTM
“The Most Powerful Woman in the World”
Brazil has made history with the swearing-in of its first female president. On Saturday, Dilma Rousseff received the presidential sash from outgoing President Lula da Silva at a ceremony in the capital Brasília. In the 1960s, Rousseff was a guerilla resisting Brazil’s military dictatorship. She was imprisoned and tortured for three years. We speak with Greg Grandin, professor of Latin American history at New York University.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/3/brazilian_president_dilma_rousseff_from_imprisoned
Inside Story – Egypt’s Coptic Christians
What is the Egyptian government doing to protect the its country’s Coptic Christians? Is it really trying to bridge the Christian – Muslim divide?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_7bCPpE0u4&feature=youtube_gdata
Inside Story – Tunisia’s unemployment crisis
Tunisians take to the streets for the second week. The protesters say they have been pushed to the brink by the high levels of unemployment in Tunisia. Is it just about the economy or are deeper issues driving the protests?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ5wa61jhDY&feature=youtube_gdata
www.theheadlines.org
