and other news from Today in Palestine:
Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
E.Jerusalem home demolitions up: rights group (AFP)
AFP – The final months of 2010 saw a sharp rise in the number of Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem, an Israeli civil rights group said on Tuesday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110104/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflicthousedemolitions
PLO Report Documents Palestinian Deaths, Home Demolitions and Settlement Expansion in 2010
The Palestine Liberation organization (PLO) issued a report this week documenting Israeli human rights violations against Palestinians during 2010.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60341
Israeli authorities demolish Beit Hanina home
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli officials in Jerusalem carried out the area’s second demolition in as many days early on Tuesday morning, in the Beit Hanina neighborhood, north of the Old City. Witnesses said that bulldozers arrived in the residential area at 4:30 a.m. and demolished a 125-square-meter house, which owner Nayif Uweida said was built in 2000.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=348039
Palestinian property demolished in French Hill
The Jerusalem Municipality demolished a Palestinian property today in the French Hill area, north Jerusalem. 100 sq meters of the 125 sq meter home were bulldozed, leaving a single bedroom and adjoining bathroom standing. The original home built in the 1950s, with an extension built in 2004 after a long battle by the owner to obtain a permit from the Municipality to construct the addition. After his applications were rebuffed by officials, he decided to build the extension anyway, which the Municipality now exploited as grounds for demolition.
http://silwanic.net/?p=9974
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
IOF distributes demolition notices against 15 installations in JV
IOF served 15 notices to Palestinian citizens in Nuwaima, north of Jericho, in the Jordan Valley on Monday ordering them to tear down their homes, the village’s mosque, and a lamppost.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Israel issues 17 demolition orders in Jericho
JERICHO (Ma’an) — Israel’s Civil Administration patrols on Sunday delivered 17 demolition orders to an extended family near the West Bank city of Jericho, residents said. Members of the Az-Zayed family received orders to demolish a mosque, electricity infrastructure and tents north of An-Nuwei’ma village. The electricity structures slated for demolition were recently installed by the Palestinian Authority at a cost of 79,000 shekels ($22,225).
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=347557
Palestinian petitions high court over seized land
TEL AVIV, Israsel (Ma’an) — A Palestinian from a Ramallah village petitioned Israel’s High Court on Wednesday over construction on his land by Israeli settlers, a rights group said. The Israeli organization Yesh Din is supporting Abed Ar-Rahman Kassem, whose land in Dura Al-Qara was seized by the Israeli army in the 1970s for military needs.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=347809
Northern villagers report new settler vandalism
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Residents of Qusra village in the northern West Bank said settlers were behind a series of car-tire slashings and the slaughter of two sheep in their barn overnight. Locals told head of the village council Hani Ismail they saw at least ten settlers enter a barn in the Nabuh neighborhood early on Monday morning, and when they entered to survey the damage, two of the animals were killed.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=347706
Murder of Non Violent Activist Jawaher Abu Rahmah
Criminals White Washing Their Crimes: IDF: Medical report on Bil’in protester death contains significant inconsistencies
Defense sources say there is no evidence that Jawaher Abu Rahma was even present at the demonstration against the security barrier in Bil’in on Friday; lawyer for Abu Rahma family denies military’s claims.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-medical-report-on-bil-in-protester-death-contains-significant-inconsistencies-1.335043?localLinksEnabled=false
Eyewitnesses Describe Death of Palestinian Woman in Israeli Tear Gas Attack
A Palestinian woman died Friday after Israeli forces shot her with tear gas during a peaceful protest against the West Bank separation wall in the village of Bil’in. Israeli and Palestinian eyewitnesses, as well as staff at a hospital in Ramallah, say that Jawaher Abu Rahma died after inhaling massive amounts of tear gas fired by the Israeli military at the demonstration. She was 36 years old. We speak with an Israeli activist and an Israeli doctor who were at the protest.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/4/eyewitnesses_describe_death_of_palestinian_woman
Israeli Army’s anonymous version of Jawaher’s death contradicted by everyone, Jesse Bacon
One of the proudest moments on this blog for me came when we were among the people covering the Rachel Corrie’s attempt to bring desperately needed supplies to Gaza in the aftermath of the 9 killings aboard the Mavi Marmara. Covering the event live on twitter as the Israeli army jammed all communications gave me a clear sense of who was trying to get the truth out as best we could, and who wanted it stifled. I felt the army censorship personally in a way that had only been abstract for me before. Israel was able to suppress the story that night, but of course the people aboard the Rachel Corrie, as well as the Mavi Marmara continued to speak out. The short term victory was completely offset by the steady deterioration of Israeli crediblity.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2011/01/israeli-armys-anonymous-version/
Substantial evidence contradicts the IDF’s version of the events surrounding the death of Jawaher Abu Rahmah, Joseph Dana
The evidence surrounding the events leading to the death of Bil’in resident Jawaher Abu Rahmah disproves completely the army spokesperson’s version, to the point of putting the army in a ridiculous light. The army’s version is based on claims made anonymously, without any supporting evidence – unךike the version of the Abu Rahmah family and the Popular Coordinating Committee of Bil’in, which is detailed below. http://josephdana.com/2011/01/substantial-evidence-contradicts-the-idfs-version
Judge releases activists connected with the US ambassador protest; US State Department unaware of protest, Joseph Dana
The twelve Israeli activists arrested in connection to the protest at US ambassador’s home on Saturday nighthave been released from jail on no bail. The charges included illegal weapons possession and distributing public order were not dropped but the judge argued that there was no evidence for the charges to hold up in a trial. The state requested that the activists pay 3000 NIS as well as serve a ten day house arrest sentence. However, the judge released the activists on a condition that they stay 200 meters away from an US institution for the next thirty days. The state could push for a trial against the activists but that seems highly unlikely at this point.
http://josephdana.com/2011/01/judge-throws-out-all-activist-charges-from-us-
Two experts weigh in on Israeli killing of Jawaher Abu Rahma at the wall, Philip Weiss
Norman Finkelstein’s lecture of two years ago on Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: What We Can Learn From Gandhi.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/two-experts-weigh-in-on-israeli-killing-of-jawaher-abu-rahma-at-the-wall.html
Combined Systems Inc., stop providing equipment that Israel misuses to kill and maim unarmed protesters
Dear Combined Systems Inc., As US groups committed to justice and peace, we are writing to ask that Combined Systems Inc. cease providing CSI equipment to the Israeli government in response to the Israeli military’s ongoing and foreseeable misuse of CSI crowd control equipment to kill and maim protesters in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Israeli military has demonstrated a pattern of misuse of your equipment, directly leading to the death and injury of unarmed demonstrators in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Over the last two years alone, the Israeli military has used your products to kill two peaceful protesters from one family in the West Bank village of Bil’in, to severely injure two peaceful protesters from the US, and to seriously injure many more. According to the the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, two other Palestinians were killed by Israeli tear gas in 2002.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/01/16340/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
Signposting the occupation
On Friday 31 December – the day Jawaher Abu Rahmah was murdered by the Israeli army – I thought I smelt manure in the village of Bil’in, but it was the skunk truck (The Boesh), used by the Israeli military to crush peaceful protest. Back in 1994 I thought I lived in one nation called Israel, with an Arab minority – no one had told me about the military occupation and I failed to see it. That year I witnessed one minor and one major event: on a Saturday morning near the Damascus Gate (Bab al-Amoud) in East Jerusalem, a jeep brakes abruptly as a young Arab man jumps out of the back; two soldiers give chase, hit him with a blunt weapon and drag him back into the vehicle, which then drives on. I watched it happen and I didn’t like it, but I didn’t know what it meant. On 25 February that year, newspaper vendors near and within the Old City thrust images of a massacre into my face; I learn that a Jewish settler and medical doctor Baruch Goldstein has entered the Ibrahim mosque in Hebron and opened fire on worshippers before being beaten to death. I looked at the gruesome photos and winced, feeling sorry for the Arabs, but I still didn’t understand. What I could not see with my own eyes did not occur to me at 18 years old: that I was witnessing a brutal occupation of an indigenous people called the Palestinians.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/signposting-the-occupation.html
Palestinian’s Death Reveals Alliance with Israeli Leftists, Tony Karon
Time.com – Noisy demonstrations over the death of Jawaher Abu Rahmah, a protester in the West Bank village of Bil’in, show the growing confidence of a cadre of activist Israelis calling on the international community for action against their own government.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110104/wl_time/08599204066100
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Military Court Acquits Prominent Anti-Wall Activist
Mohammed Khatib, the coordinator of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, was acquitted of all charges today at the Ofer Military Court for lack of sufficient evidence.
http://www.popularstruggle.org/content/military-court-acquits-prominent-anti-wall-activist
More than 100 Muslim activists enter Gaza after docking aid ship in Egypt
Most of the activists flew in from Damascus and were not permitted to bring the aid with them into Gaza; seven Iranian activists forbidden entry.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/more-than-100-muslim-activists-enter-gaza-after-docking-aid-ship-in-egypt-1.335184?localLinksEnabled=false
#BDS: Open Letter from U.S. Trade Unionists to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: Boycott Apartheid Israel
Dear Brother Trumka: As labor and anti-apartheid activists, we strongly disagree with your October 27 speech denouncing the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. The BDS campaign was initiated in 2005 by Palestinian civil society — including its entire labor movement. Inspired by the international boycott that helped topple apartheid South Africa, it demands Palestinian self-determination, including an end to Israeli military occupation, the right of refugees to return to the land from which they have been ethnically cleansed since the Nakba of 1947-1948, and equal rights for all throughout historic Palestine.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2011/01/bds-open-letter-from-us-trade-unionists.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
#BDS: Petition to the Board of Directors of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2011/01/bds-petition-to-board-of-directors-of.html
Tears and gas: a call to mobilise, Jesse Rosenfeld and Joseph Dana
As 2010 came to a close in the West Bank under the regular, weekly cloud of teargas experienced among the villages bordering Israel’s 1967 Green Line, 2011 started with the death of Palestinian woman from the village of Bi’lin and the arrest of 19 Israeli activists in the Tel Aviv area.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/01/201113870502192.html
‘Israel right or wrong’ crowd advocates censorship in Seattle
By rallying pressure to prevent the placement or ads critical to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, writes guest writer Ed Mast, the “Israel right or wrong” supporters advocated censorship in Seattle.
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/israel-right-or-wrong-crowd-advocates.html
Initiative: Probe funding of extreme Left in Israel
Yisrael Beiteinu says has majority to establish parliamentary inquiry commission to investigate cooperation between international ‘anti-Zionist’ groups and local organizations.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4008684,00.html
Human Rights/Humanitarian Issues/Siege
Court: Don’t reveal number of Shin Bet detainees who did not see lawyer
High Court justices deny petition requesting Shin Bet statistics about extent of regulation, agree with State saying: Might give an opening to harm State.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4008800,00.html
Official report: 90% of Gaza water polluted
The water quality control authority in Gaza Strip said that more than 90% of Gaza Strip’s potable water was contaminated, warning of a serious threat to lives of the Strip’s inhabitants.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q
Industrial Fuel – Needs Vs. Supply – Dec 5 – Jan 1
http://www.gazagateway.org/2011/01/industrial-fuel-%e2%80%93-needs-vs-supply-%e2%80%93-dec-5-jan-1/
Goods – Needs Vs. Supply – Dec 5 – Jan 1
http://www.gazagateway.org/2011/01/goods-%e2%80%93-needs-vs-supply-%e2%80%93-dec-5-%e2%80%93-jan-1/
Single Gaza crossing opened
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Aid and commercial goods were set to enter Gaza on Tuesday via the southernmost goods terminal, Kerem Shalom, between Israel and the coastal enclave, crossings officials were informed by their Israeli counterparts. Palestinian liaison official Raed Fattouh said he was told to expect 140 to 150 truckloads of commercial goods and humanitarian aid to enter via the crossing, while six truckloads of flowers and strawberries were scheduled to leave Gaza for Europe. Exports to the West Bank remain barred.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=347934
Racism & Discrimination
Settlers protest opening of road to Palestinians
Dozens of settlers from Dolev and Talmonim drove between to Arab villages in Area B as an act of protest against the army’s decision to open a road in the northern West Bank to Palestinian traffic.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4008805,00.html
Poll: Foreigners jeopardize Israel’s Jewish character
Survey reveals majority of Jewish Israelis believe influx of immigrants, foreign workers greatly endangers Jewish character of State; 43% oppose having church, mosque built next to their homes.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4008290,00.html
Despite government pledge, asylum seekers to be housed in closed compound
Government planning new facility in the south to house asylum seekers which will be run by country’s Prison Service; had previously resolved to set up an open facility.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/despite-government-pledge-asylum-seekers-to-be-housed-in-closed-compound-1.335051?localLinksEnabled=false
A Short Anthology of Racism in Israel
“Get out of here, you sluts,” the students shouted at them. “This place is ours, and there is no room for Arabs.”
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/a-short-anthology-of-racism-in-israel-1.334878
Violence/Aggression/War Crimes
Askool: IOF troops killed 176 students, teachers in Gaza war
Dr. Mohammed Askool, the minister of education in Gaza Strip, said that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) killed 164 students during their bloody war on the Strip two years ago.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Palestinian youth seriously wounded in blast of ordnance
A Palestinian young man was hospitalized in serious condition on Monday after Israeli army ordnance exploded near him in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Overnight clashes reported at Sinjil village
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israeli military jeeps entering the village of Sinjil northwest Ramallah on Tuesday morning sparked clashes with local residents, witnesses said. According to one bystander, troops were stoned by Palestinian teens and a military jeep broke down near the village, prompting calls for backup and repair crews. The stationed jeeps became targets for stone throwing, and the soldiers responded using tear-gas canisters and sound grenades. No injuries were reported and no detentions made.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=347962
Israeli forces raid Jenin university dorms
JENIN (Ma’an) — Israeli forces briefly detained one man after they entered the a university residence in Jenin, telling students they were searching for wanted Palestinians. Soldiers also erected checkpoints around the city, targeting three Jenin-area villages. Eight military units entered a dorm housing students from the Arab American University, onlookers estimated, but a security guard said he would not allow soldiers to enter rooms in the female dormitory.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=347790
Detainees
URGENT APPEAL – Administrative Detention
Imad al-Ashhab (17) has been held for over 10 months without charge or trial. On 4 February 2011, he will either be released, or given a fifth administrative detention order.
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/doc/press/UA_1_11_ADMINISTRATIVE_DETENTION.pdf
Army Kidnaps Eight Palestinians In Nablus
Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Tuesday at dawn, eight Palestinians, including a security officer, in the northern West Bank district of Nablus, local sources reported.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60336
Gaza fishermen detained from local waters
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — An unknown number of Gaza fishermen were detained Tuesday morning after being apprehended by Israeli warships off the coast of Gaza City. Gaza’s Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement that fellow fishermen reported the detention, after seeing the boat of the men approached by Israeli vessels maintaining the sea blockade on Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=348051
Political Persecution in Silwan continues
Today at 14:00 Police and plainclothes raid Madaa community in Silwan Wadi Hilwah and detain Center Director Jawad Siam. Mr. Siam is a community activist and a social worker for the Jerusalem municipality. The aggressive arrest was made in front of dozens of children who were taking part in the center afternoon activities creating much fear and panic. Police refused to give any information on the reasons for arrest or where Mr. Siam was being taken to.
http://silwanic.net/?p=9993
The Israeli Intelligence attacked and arrested Jawad Siyam
The Israeli intelligence forces attacked Mada Center and arrested the General Manager of the Information Center , we’ll inform you the updates later .
http://silwanic.net/?p=9988
IOF bulldozes land in southern Gaza, rounds up 12 West Bankers
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) advanced into cultivated fields southeast of Rafah, southernmost tip of Gaza Strip, on Tuesday morning and damaged crops, locals reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Report: More than 1,000 Palestinians detained last year in Al-Khalil
The Palestinian prisoner society reported that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) detained more than 1,000 Palestinian citizens in Al-Khalil city last year, including women and children.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Disabled prisoner appeals for providing him with wheelchair
A Palestinian prisoner suffering disability in his feet has appealed to the Red Cross, prisoners’ ministry, and all human rights groups to urgently provide him with a new wheelchair.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87
Four of the five hunger strikers transferred to Al-Khalil
Four of the five PA prisoners who went on hunger strike 45 days ago have been transferred to Al-Khalil, while the fifth remains in Bethlehem.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Global silence over 7000 Palestinian prisoners, Antony Loewenstein
http://antonyloewenstein.com/2011/01/04/global-silence-over-7000-palestinian-prisoners/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+antonyloewenstein%2Ffeed+%28Antony+Loewenstein%29
Political Developments
‘Dahlan planned coup against Abbas’
Senior Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan in hot seat: Former members accuse him of conspiring to topple PA president. Dahlan denies charges.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4008560,00.html
PA security questions Fatah strongman Dahlan for attempted coup
Fatah activists were recently investigated on suspicion they had been recruited by Dahlan to form an armed militia to overthrow Abbas.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/pa-security-questions-fatah-strongman-dahlan-for-attempted-coup-1.335028?localLinksEnabled=false
Abbas says ‘always ready’ for talks after settlement freeze (AFP)
AFP – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Monday that he was “always ready” to continue peace talks with Israel as soon as the Jewish state freezes settlement building.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110103/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianspeacetunisia
Report: U.S. Jewish leader met Assad with message from Netanyahu
Malcolm Hoenlein denies Channel 10 report that he delivered a message from Netanyahu to Syrian president during recent trip to Damascus.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-u-s-jewish-leader-met-assad-with-message-from-netanyahu-1.335030?localLinksEnabled=false
Netanyahu says to visit Egypt on peace mission (AFP)
AFP – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would visit Egypt on January 6 in an effort to revitalise stalled peace talks with the Palestinians.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110103/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianspeaceegypt
Other News
Saudi Arabia ‘nabbed Israeli-tagged vulture for being Mossad spy’
Vulture used as part of bird migration research was reportedly captured in rural area of Saudi Arabia.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/saudi-arabia-nabbed-israeli-tagged-vulture-for-being-mossad-spy-1.335171?localLinksEnabled=false
Israel arrests 2 UK consulate workers in Jerusalem (AP)
AP – Two local staff members at the U.K. consulate in Jerusalem have been arrested by Israeli authorities on suspicion of selling weapons to Hamas militants, officials said Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110103/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_israel_arrests
Brother of Palestinian President Abbas dies in Damascus
Mahmoud Abbas cuts trip to Tunisia short after death of his brother Atta Rida Shehada Abbas; he will receive mourners at his Ramallah office on Wednesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/brother-of-palestinian-president-abbas-dies-in-damascus-1.335026
Marble pillars discovered in Gaza port
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Around 15 marble pillars have been discovered underwater at Gaza port, the Gaza government Tourism and Antiquities Ministry said Monday. The ministry said four pillars have been retrieved from the water so far, and that the 4-meter columns date back to the Constantine Empire. Ministry official Muhammad Khillah said the significance of the port lay in its underwater Roman history. Many fishermen have reported seeing crowns, pottery and the foundations of buildings when the sea is calm. The ministry would continue to examine the pillars, Khillah said, and remove them all from the water.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=347876
Sexual harassment cases in Israel’s civil service rose 40% in 2010
Over the year, 125 sexual harassment files were opened compared with 90 the year before. As recently as three years ago, the annual figure was 65.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/sexual-harassment-cases-in-israel-s-civil-service-rose-40-in-2010-1.335064?localLinksEnabled=false
Israeli neo-Nazi leader detained
Dmitri Bogotich, who is believed to have led his friends in perpetrating a series of vandalistic acts and attacks against various minorities in Petach Tikva and Tel Aviv, fled Israel in 2007.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4008464,00.html
Addamiri: Hizb Attahrir is banned in W. Bank
Spokesman for the PA security militias Adnan Addamiri said that the Palestinian organisation of Hizb Attahrir is banned and not allowed to get involved in any activity in the West Bank.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Analysis/Op-ed
Gaza Two Years Later: The roof of my house, Sarah Ali
I used to love the roof of my house. Well, not anymore. There is a bunch of kids in the middle, all gazing at some round glittering objects. Appointing himself as the referee of the game, my little cousin declares the beginning of the match. A young boy starts. His pupils start to get bigger and sharper as he measures the angle. His looks are focused on his target. He professionally flicks the little marble out of his fist with the tip of his tiny thumb. “YES,” he shouts. And the scuffle commences. His competitor, making an oath of divorce, claims that he who won had cheated. Then trying to accept the fact that he lost, he swears it was noting but a fluke by an amateur. Enraged, he quits the game and promises he would be taking revenge the next time they assemble to play.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/gaza-two-years-later-the-roof-of-my-house.html
Breaking the Israel-Palestine Deadlock, Noam Chomsky, Op-Ed
While intensively engaged in illegal settlement expansion, the government of Israel is also seeking to deal with two problems: a global campaign of what it perceives as “delegitimation” – that is, objections to its crimes and withdrawal of participation in them – and a parallel campaign of legitimation of Palestine. The “delegitimation,” which is progressing rapidly, was carried forward in December by a Human Rights Watch call on the U.S. “to suspend financing to Israel in an amount equivalent to the costs of Israel’s spending in support of settlements,” and to monitor contributions to Israel from tax-exempt U.S. organizations that violate international law, “including prohibitions against discrimination” – which would cast a wide net. Amnesty International had already called for an arms embargo on Israel. The legitimation process also took a long step forward in December, when Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil recognized the State of Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank), bringing the number of supporting nations to more than 100.
http://www.truth-out.org/breaking-israel-palestine-deadlock66511
Israel: The Next War, Alain Gresh
Netanyahu, like his predecessors, claims to want peace but he wants the humiliating peace imposed by conquest and based on denial of Palestinian rights.
http://mondediplo.com/2011/01/03israel
Arendt and Einstein warned of ‘fascism’ rising in Israel 60 years ago, Philip Weiss
Peter Belmont republishes this letter to the NYT in December 1948, in the midst of the Nakba, and referring to the massacre at Deir Yassin and the rise of Menachem Begin, penned by Hannah Arendt, Albert Einstein and Herman Eisen among others.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/arendt-and-einstein-warned-of-fascism-rising-in-israel-60-years-ago.html
‘I’ve always been mortified by what’s happening to Palestinians’ –US street
An event in Boston by Palestinian solidarity activists demonstrates the shift that is taking place in the American discourse. December 31: They set up a blockade on a city street. A simple demonstration of the inability of Palestinians to get basic goods. A man makes the statement in my headline. Note the little kid in the New England Patriots hat who asks, “Is that real? That sign– Israel bombed my house?!” Yes. And note the pure pathos, at 4:30 or so, of a few American youths trying to mime the inhumanity of the Gazan situation…
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/ive-always-been-mortified-by-whats-happening-to-palestinians-us-street.html
Courts of Racial Rule: The Imprisonment of Nuri al-‘Oqbi, Nasser Rego
‘I think the fact that the defendant is an activist for Bedouin ‘diaspora’ rights only makes it harder for his situation. Because he cannot on one hand argue that there are rights violations or non-preservation of rights for a group that he belongs to, while on the other hand he crudely violates the law time after time.’
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16526
A young Israeli Jew says, ‘My identity is the Nakba’, Alice Rothchild
Past the growing city of Modi’in, nestled in the hills over a charming landscape of olive trees, black grape vines march in undulating lines and yellow/green barley and wheat sprout in neat rows from the nearby moshavs. With the orange roofed Trapp Monastery topping a rolling hill, surrounded by Jewish National Fund forests and clusters of saber cactus marking the destroyed Palestinian villages of Beit Jiz and Beit Susin, a fascinating experiment in coexistence continues its work and struggle. Noam, a dynamic and outspoken student at Brandeis, invites us to visit her home in Neve Shalom, Wahat al Salam, Oasis of Peace and to see this work in action.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/a-young-israeli-jew-says-my-identity-is-the-nakba.html
Now it is Palestine’s turn to create facts on the ground, Simon Tisdall
As unfulfilled hopes of peace in the Middle East in 2010 fade from memory, the spectre of war in 2011 looms large. The collapse of Barack Obama’s attempt to broker direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians has created a dangerous vacuum. Men of violence vie to fill it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jan/03/palestine-create-facts-on-ground
Palestinians won’t get fooled again
Despite the Palestinian people’s rapturous reception of the defiant declaration of independence spurred by the first Intifada of 1987, all it delivered was pockets of dubious autonomy and a chance for the United States to co-opt and divide. With international solidarity again on the rise, this time the people know how to avoid the US’s vice-like grip and instead embrace the partners of old.
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MA05Ak03.html
Israeli humor – Hope kindergarten
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Sdkps0Quo&feature=player_embedded
Middle East expertise in the US press: this reporter confuses Libya and Lebanon (or thinks they are the same)
“It is highly unlikely, according to the report, that al-Megrahi was released, as was claimed, on “compassionate grounds” because of medical reports that showed he had three months to live. The Lebanese terrorist, who is still alive 16 months later, was, according to this report, rather set free…”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/middle-east-expertise-in-us-press-this.html
New York Times standards of Abraham Foxman’s definition of anti-Semitism
“Some of the evening’s awkwardness could be chalked up to a mild controversy about Godard’s attitudes toward Jews: he is a longtime supporter of the cause of the Palestinians…”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-york-times-standards-of-abraham.html
Career of Judith Miller
“Since her early days at the Times, when she inserted CIA misinformation into a piece on Libya, she’s always been a tool of power. She was the voice of the Defense Department, embedded at the Times. She was hyping bullshit stories about Iraq’s WMD capabilities as far back as 1998, and in the run-up to the war, her front-page scoops were cited by the Bush administration as evidence that Saddam needed to be taken out, right away. Lying exile grifter Ahmad Chalabi fed her the worst of the nonsense designed to push America into toppling Saddam Hussein (and giving Iraq to him), and she pushed that nonsense into the newspaper of record. She got everything wrong, and for some insane reason, she remained employed at the Times until 2005, when she negotiated her separation from her longtime professional home.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/career-of-judith-miller.html
Lebanon
Death sentence requested for retired army general arrested over spying for Mossad
BEIRUT: First Military Investigative Magistrate Riad Abu Ghayda requested the death sentence against retired army Brig. Gen. Antoine Abu Jawdeh Monday on charges of spying for Israel, a judicial report said. Judge Abu Ghayda demanded the death sentence for Abu Jawdeh, who was arrested August 2010 for “collaboration with the Israeli enemy.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=123213
UNIFIL finds several cluster bombs near Tyre
TYRE: Several cluster bombs were uncovered at the outskirts of the town of Hinnieh near the southern port city of Tyre Monday by a patrol of the Italian contingent serving as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Hundreds of southerners have fallen victim to cluster bombs dropped by Israel in the last 72 hours of its 2006 summer war against Lebanon.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=123224
Iraq
Monday: 2 US Soldiers, 13 Iraqis Killed; 32 Iraqis Wounded
The first two American deaths of 2011 occurred during combat in just one of several attacks on American targets in the last 24 hours. Although the circumstances of the attack were not revealed, their deaths coincided with several assassinations in the capital. One of today’s victims had survived a deadly siege at a Christian church last year. The only other reported attack resulting in casualties occurred just northeast of Baghdad in Baquba. Altogether, at least 13 Iraqis were killed and 32 more were wounded.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/01/03/monday-2-us-soldiers-13-iraqis-killed-32-iraqis-wounded/
Why millions in US aid may help few Iraqi refugees in the end
New Jordanian schools, built in part with US aid for Iraqi refugees, may end up serving few Iraqis. But some say that’s OK – Jordanians often needed more help.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/K-dpY4UZOcA/Why-millions-in-US-aid-may-help-few-Iraqi-refugees-in-the-end
Denmark to host seminar on Iraqi religious dialogue (AFP)
AFP – Denmark will next week host a seminar aiming to promote dialogue between different religious groups in Iraq, the foreign Minister said Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110103/wl_mideast_afp/denmarkreligionislam
Spanish court open probe into killings in Iraq (AP)
AP – A Spanish judge has opened a probe into a melee in which Iraqi security forces are accused of killing 11 members of an Iranian exile group in a camp in Iraq in 2009.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110104/ap_on_re_eu/eu_spain_iranian_exiles
How The Media Inflated The Toppling Of The Saddam Statue
Propaganda has been a staple of warfare for ages, but the notion of creating events on the battlefield, as opposed to repackaging real ones after the fact, is a modern development.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/01/10/110110fa_fact_maass?currentPage=all
In case you missed it:The photographs tell the story…
Is This Media manipulation on a grand scale? How Information Clearing House reported the Saddam statue propaganda event.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2842.htm
In case you missed it: Army Stage-Managed Fall of Hussein Statue
The colonel — selected the statue as a “target of opportunity,” the psychological team used loudspeakers to encourage Iraqi civilians to assist, according to an account by a unit member.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6424.htm
U.S. and other world news
‘We can see everything’
USAF launches ‘airborne surveillance system’.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/we-everything-usaf-launches-airborne-surveillance-system/
US Killed 2,043 People, Mostly Civilians, in Pakistan: Report
Regarding civilian causalities and attacks on women and children, the report said: “People in the tribal belt usually carry guns and ammunition as a tradition. US drone will identify anyone carrying a gun as a militant and subsequently he will be killed.”
http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-116913.html
US Kills 8 People in Pakistan
US missile strikes targeting the same building killed eight people in a region near Afghanistan today, including at least two people who were retrieving bodies from the first attack, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
http://www.uzbekistannews.net/story.php?rid=41698217&ht=Eight-killed-in-US-missile-strikes
US Senator Wants US Military in Afghanistan Forever
A senior Republican senator has said a plan should be devised for American troops to remain permanently in war-ravaged Afghanistan.
http://story.irishsun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/2411cd3571b4f088/id/726692/cs/1/
Iran invites EU, Russia and China to tour its nuclear sites
Move comes ahead of new round of nuclear talks in Turkey with six major world powers; U.S. not on the invite list.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/iran-invites-eu-russia-and-china-to-tour-its-nuclear-sites-1.335046?localLinksEnabled=false
India to drop US dollar in Iran oil dealing
India may drop the US dollar as payment for oil from Iran. The replacement would be the Japanese yen and the Emirates dirham.
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/01/01/38523281.html
Iran, India working out mechanism to continue trade
A week after the Reserve Bank of India barred dollar and euro trade transactions with Iran, the central banks of the two countries on Friday discussed new mechanisms for two-way trade but the talks remained inconclusive.
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/bkiaf_india-iran-working-out-mechanism-to-continue-trade-1396704.html
Christian Copts’ anger escalates in wake of Egypt attacks
Many believe the New Year’s Day killings in Alexandria are yet another example of their marginalization and oppression at the hands of the Muslim majority. The New Year’s Day bombing of an Alexandria church that left 25 Christians dead and scores more injured has unleashed a wave of anger among Egypt’s minority Copts directed at their government and Muslim countrymen.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/bZI7RER2y0I/la-fg-egypt-copts-20110104,0,5662654.story
Egypt on high alert for more attacks on Copts
CAIRO: Egypt is screening people who arrived recently from countries where Al-Qaeda is known to recruit after early findings suggested the network was behind a New Year’s church bombing, security sources said Monday as the country went on high alert ahead of the Coptic Christmas.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=123203
Hackers hit Tunisian websites
Amid anti-government protests, attack blocks access to stock exchange and ministry of foreign relations.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/01/201113111059792596.html
The Tunisian Intifada, Robin Yassin-Kassab
The dictatorship of Zine el-Abdine Ben Ali, a Western client, is in serious trouble. A full-scale intifada is raging. It began in Sidi Bouzid as a protest against unemployment, corruption and police brutality. Then it spread to Sousse, Sfax, Meknassi, and the capital, inflated by long-simmering resentment at Tunisia’s lack of civil liberties.
http://pulsemedia.org/2011/01/03/the-tunisian-intifada/
Syria’s debate over face veil ban
Syria’s ban on the face veil has sparked debate within the country about whether the government should have the right to enforce what many believe is a personal decision.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-12108643
An independent Egyptian Web site gives women a voice
All too often, it seems that we are living in a man’s world, especially when it comes to the countries of the Middle East. And even in the world of media, men continue to push the agenda in the directions that they see fit. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=123202
UK: Number of Muslim converts doubled in 10 years
New study reveals some 5,000 Britons covert to Islam each year despite growing criticism of Muslim community. Group: People are interested in finding out what Islam is all about.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4008864,00.html
Wiki
Bradley Manning– in song and story
David Rovics put up this song– “Song for Bradley Manning”– in a great American tradition of the folk-hero ballad… Some lyrics below.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/bradley-manning-in-song-and-story.html
Saudi Arabia and Wikileaks
Of course, Zionist media are now totally obsessed with protecting the interests of House of Saudi given their services to Israel. So the New York Times–not known for caring to represent an Arab point of view–went the extra length to publish an op-ed piece by a Saudi writer in House of Saud publications (he writes for the mouthpiece of Prince Khalid Al-Faysal, Al-Watan) in which he bizarrely but unsurprisingly argued that Saudi people don’t care about the embarrassing revelations of Wikileaks. Well, a few days later the Saudi government bans the Arab website of Wikileaks. Not caring about Wikileaks revelations, you propagandists of House Saudi, huh?
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/saudi-arabia-and-wikileaks.html
Queen Youtube talks politics in Wikileaks
d”Queen Rania chimed in on the issue as well, saying that success for moderate Arab states was critically important in order to defeat Iran’s agenda. She said that Jordan was trying to become a model, a place where people say, “this is the kind of country we want to live in.” The Queen said this is the only strategy that will ultimately work in countering Iranian influence – “this is what they’re afraid of.” Jordan’s economic reforms and support for education are part of that overall effort, but the going is tough – the Queen said that “sometimes it feels like we’re swimming against the current.”“. Personally, I don’t want to live in the same country with you, o most boring and dull queen (married to a most boring and dull king–what a couple).
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/queen-youtube-talks-politics-in.html
www.TheHeadlines.org
