And other news from Today in Palestine:
Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
Palestinians defy US with Security Council request (AP)
AP – The Palestinian request to have the U.N. Security Council condemn Israeli settlements looks at first like another declarative gambit that changes little on the ground.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110120/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_palestinians_defying_america
U.N. Resolution on Israeli Settlements Puts Obama in a Diplomatic Bind (Time.com)
Time.com – The U.S. wants to shield Israel from U.N. condemnation, but doing so could weaken Washington’s role as the sole mediator of the peace process.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110120/us_time/08599204332600
France to back ‘moderate’ Israel settler resolution (AFP)
AFP – France will vote for a UN Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements drafted by Arab states if it is moderate and does not halt a resumption of peace talks, its foreign minister said Thursday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110120/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansfrancediplomacy
‘U.K. to consider UN censure of Israel’s West Bank settlements’
Comment by Foreign Office official comes as dovish advocacy group J Street voices support for the recently submitted draft resolution; Americans for Peace now urge Obama to refrain from vetoing the move.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-k-to-consider-un-censure-of-israel-s-west-bank-settlements-1.338195?localLinksEnabled=false
Erekat: More than 100 countries back UN action
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The chief PLO negotiator says he has the backing of more than 100 countries for a resolution condemning settlements at the UN Security Council. Saeb Erekat told Ma’an radio that the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah would not postpone efforts to condemn settlements until after the Quartet meets, despite reports to the contrary.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352808
Clinton opposes Palestinian bid for UN resolution (AFP)
AFP – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton underlined strong US opposition Thursday to Palestinian efforts to have the UN Security Council condemn Israeli settlements.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110120/pl_afp/israelpalestinianspeaceunsettlements
‘J Street’ says US should not veto Security Council res condemning settlements, Philip Weiss
This is good. J Street mans up and says the U.S. should not veto a Security Council resolution condemning settlements. Yes there is a lot of stuff about We as American Jews commit ourselves to changing Israel’s diapers till the red heifer comes to Jerusalem, but there is some good language here, too. Is this the moment? Yesterday the 50 public leaders including Peter Beinart and Chas Freeman, today Hanan Ashrawi and J Street?
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/j-street-says-us-should-not-veto-security-council-res-condemning-settlements.html
IOF soldiers deliver new demolition notices in Nablus village
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) distributed demolition notices in Khirbat Al-Tawil east of Aqraba town, Nablus district, on Wednesday, local sources reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
New Palestinian refugee camp in Lod following home demolitions
(AIC) Fifteen kilometers southeast of Tel Aviv, next to Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport, there is a refugee camp. 74 people are living in tents at the Abu Eid Camp in the city of Lod. The extended Palestinian family now sleeps in tents on the same site where they once slept in homes. Lod is a historic place, dating back to 5600–5250 BCE. Inhabitants of the city lived through Roman, Arab, Crusader, Ottoman, and British rule. Today Lod is a city divided, known for high crime rates and drug use. In 2010, residents numbered 69,500, around a third of whom are Palestinian. This, however, was not always the case. Before the state of Israel and the 1948 Nakba, it was a small peaceful Palestinian town, not far from coastal port of Jaffa. In the mid 19th century, when an American missionary, Dr. William M. Thomson, visited Lod, he described it as a “flourishing village of some 2,000 inhabitants, embosomed in noble orchards of olive, fig, pomegranate, mulberry, sycamore, and other trees, surrounded every way by a very fertile neighborhood.”
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/israeli-society/3204-new-palestinian-refugee-camp-in-lod-following-home-demolitions
Urgent action – stop the brutal transfer of Bedouins, citizens of Israel
The ownership of the lands of the unrecognized Bedouin village of El-Araqib in the Israeli Negev are under dispute, and right now are being contested in Israeli courts… the Government of Israel, one of the sides in the land dispute, is not willing to wait until the case is concluded, and wishes to ensure that the members of the Bedouin community will not have access to these lands, even if they do win the court case. To achieve this, the government and its ally – the Jewish National Fund (JNF) are foresting the village lands – preferring a “forest” in the desert to an agricultural village for the disenfranchised Bedouin community. Anything is better, in the view of the Government of Israel, than Arabs having access to lands in Israel. This is the reason behind the extreme violence the government is using. But we have reason to be even more concerned. The Government of Israel is planning to transfer another 20 Bedouin villages, another 40,000 citizens of Israel will be treated with similar violence if we do not succeed now in passing a clear message to the Government of Israel, that it cannot cross these red lines
http://groups.google.com/group/newprofile/browse_thread/thread/80a017ca770646e9
State evades tender, as settlement receives 120 new West Bank homes
Meretz MK Zahava Gal-On demands state comptroller look into legality of the Housing Ministry’s move, insists it must be immediately stopped.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/state-evades-tender-as-settlement-receives-120-new-west-bank-homes-1.338232?localLinksEnabled=false
Ministry of religious affairs warns of Israel’s new apartheid wall in J’lem
The Palestinian ministry of religious affairs said the segregation wall being built now around Jerusalem will isolate about 100, 000 Palestinian natives living behind the wall from their holy city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
Israel moves to turn deserted Palestinian village into luxury housing project
Israelis and Palestinians dedicated to the village Lifta’s preservation have called the plan to build 212 luxury units and a small hotel the end for the last Arab village of its kind.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-moves-to-turn-deserted-palestinian-village-into-luxury-housing-project-1.338280?localLinksEnabled=false
Incoming IDF chief of staff says can answer land grab accusations
State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss to hold a hearing on incoming Chief of Staff Yoav Galant’s alleged improper use of public land next to his home.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/incoming-idf-chief-of-staff-says-can-answer-land-grab-accusations-1.338278?localLinksEnabled=false
Report: Silwan settler fires on Palestinians
An Israeli settler in occupied East Jerusalem opened fire on a group of young Palestinians who he claims threw stones in his direction, Israeli media reported Thursday., Border Guard officers dispersed the youths in the Silwan neighborhood, Ynet news reported. Two of them suffered light injuries from smoke inhalation, according to the report.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352652
Israeli Settlers Violence Report: November, December 2010
The Alternative Information Center monitored and recorded Israeli settler attacks and violations during the final two months of 2010. Introduction – As will be demonstrated, settler attacks continued during this period and were concentrated in the north of the West Bank, especially in the Nablus District. Trees were the most common target, with burnings and land confiscations, especially land close to settlements, which serve the aim of expanding settlements and providing strategic points for attacks on Palestinian residents traveling by road. Several of the attacks were done with full cooperation of the Israeli army and in plain sight of soldiers, who did nothing to prevent the settlers from attacking and burning trees.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/settlers-violence/3196-israeli-settlers-violence-report-november-december-2010
AIC Video: Settlers Attack Rabbi
A group of Israeli settlers from the illegal West Bank settlement of Shilo demonstrated in front of the home of Rabbis for Human Rights Executive Director Arik Ascherman Wednesday (January 19, 2011) afternoon.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/israeli-society/3207-aic-video-settlers-attack-rabbi-
Israeli Army Inefficiency Endangers Palestinian Schoolchildren
On Wednesday, 19 January 2011, Palestinian schoolchildren of Tuba and Maghayir al Abeed were under threat on two occasions by Israeli settlers from Havat Ma’on outpost (Hill 833).
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/hebron/3205-israeli-army-inefficiency-endangers-palestinian-schoolchildren-
Jerusalem evictions, demolitions leave lasting trauma
Occupied East Jerusalem (IRIN) – Evictions and house demolitions are a growing humanitarian concern for Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, says the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11739.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
One foot in, one foot out: A tour of a Palestinian village, Cat Rabenstine
Last week I took a walk through a friend’s village near Bethlehem. The sky was blue and spotted with clouds. It was chilly but the sun peaked through with surprising radiance. First, he (let’s call him Ahmed) showed me a 4×4 inch cement track that follows one entire length of the village, coming within yards of the school. This tiny bit of cement will, maybe within the year, become part of The Wall built by Israel in this case to separate their settlement from the Palestinian village nearby. We walked up a dirt road to two demolished houses, the foundation of one home holding the remains of its former walls. The army demolished the houses, saying they posed a security threat. One family lived in a tent for a few months before building a new house.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/one-foot-in-one-foot-out-a-tour-of-a-palestinian-village.html
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Clashes erupt after Friday prayer in East Jerusalem
Violent clashes swept through Silwan village, East Jerusalem today following the weekly public prayer held in al-Bustan protest tent. Confrontations were sparked by an amassing of Israeli troops at the entrance to Silwan, who then moved through the village towards the protest tent. Israeli forces used tear gas and rubber bullets. The violence has resulted in the injury of a number of Palestinians due to tear gas inhalation. A Palestinian cameraman was injured also by a rubber bullet.
http://silwanic.net/?p=10924
Israeli Soldiers Use Tear Gas to attack anti wall weekly protests in central West Bank
Ramallah – PNN – a number of protesters suffered from the effects of tear gas inhalation on Friday as Israeli troops attack three weekly anti-wall protests in central West Bank villages. This week protests were in solidarity with the Israeli activist Jonathan Polack, 28, who is serving three month in Israeli jail for his solidarity work in West Bank villages. One child was injured, other protesters treated of the effects of tear gas inhalation during the weekly protest at the village of Nabi Saleh.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9443&Itemid=59
Israeli army shuts down West Bank rallies
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — A child was pepper-sprayed and an Israeli peace activist detained by Israeli forces during weekly protests against illegal land confiscation across the West Bank on Friday, witnesses said. Residents of An-Nabi Saleh gathered to protest land confiscations from the nearby settlement of Hallamish, demanding a return of the land to villagers. Israeli forces arrived at the scene and prevented the protest from taking place. Officials from the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee said pepper spray was used against an 11-year-old demonstrator.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=353038
Soldiers Arrest International Supporter During Anti-Wall Protest Near Bethlehem
Bethlehem – PNN – Israeli soldiers arrested on Friday an international supporter during the weekly anti wall protest in the village of al-Ma’ssara near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. Villagers along with their international and Israeli supporters marched after the midday prayers. Israeli troops stop them from leaving the village and used rifle-buts and batons to attack some protesters. Soldiers arrested on international supporter during the protest local sources reported. The village of al-Ma’ssara protest the Israeli wall being built on local farmers’ lands every Friday, villagers started their protest nearly four years ago.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9442&Itemid=59
Israeli-Palestinian dispute lands Seattle agency in court
SEATTLE (Reuters) – An escalating war of words between supporters of Israel and Palestinians landed the transit agency for Seattle in federal court on Wednesday, accused of censorship.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70I7T520110119
Macy Gray slags some boycotters as a—holes, will play Tel Aviv
The ‘power of the affirmative’ is peddled by many a self-help guru who claims human happiness lies in saying ‘Yes!’. In opposition, responding ‘No’, turning down an opportunity and walking away is seen purely in its negative sense – as defeatist, miserablist.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/macy-gray-slags-boycotters-as-a-holes-will-play-tel-aviv.html
Boycott roundup: Ahava products off the shelves, for now
Canadian and United Kingdom solidarity activists have scored recent victories towards deshelving cosmetics made in an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11740.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Is boycott working? Ahava products discounted in cheapo promotion, Philip Weiss
This was in an email blast from Haaretz’s marketing department. Note the discounted prices for Ahava products, made from minerals stolen from Palestinian territory. And note the low-market production design. I have to wonder if the Dead Sea brand is now dead in the water thanks to Code Pink’s campaign? No I admit these are not giant discounts, ladies.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/is-boycott-working-ahava-products-discounted-in-cheapo-promotion.html
If Israel Doesn’t Want Our Military Aid, Then Why Should We Provide It?
What do a free market Israeli think tank and Israel’s leading business newspaper have in common? Yes, both promote Israeli business interests, obviously. But, more interestingly, each has called for ending U.S. military aid to Israel in recent days. On January 12, Israeli economist Yarden Gazit published a paper for the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies (JIMS), arguing that U.S. military aid to the Middle East is fueling an unsustainable arms race. Gazit estimates, for example, that for every dollar in U.S. aid provided to Egypt, Israel must spend between $1.6-2.1 to maintain its qualitative military edge.
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/if-israel-doesnt-want-our-military-aid.html
Finding Light in Dark Times, Alex Kane
BIL’IN, West Bank — Tear gas burned my eyes and throat, and I ran for cover. Moments before, more than 15 of us from a solidarity delegation organized by American Jews for a Just Peace had been protesting Israel’s illegal separation barrier that confiscates Palestinian land. It was Jan. 7, a week after U.S.-made tear gas had killed Jawaher Abu Rahmah, a 36-year-old woman from the same village. Not to be deterred by Israeli military checkpoints and roadblocks around Bil’in, more than 100 Israelis, Palestinians and internationals participated in the demonstration against the barrier. Jawaher was on everyone’s minds, and demonstrators held up posters with the words “gas won’t tear us apart” written above photos of her face.
http://www.indypendent.org/2011/01/20/finding-light-in-dark-times/
Human Rights/Humanitarian Issues/Siege/Repression
Tabba’a: Closing of Mintar crossing causes sever shortage in Gaza basic needs
Palestinian economy expert Maher Al-Tabba’a, , has warned Thursday that the closure of the Mintar crossing point caused sharp shortage in the basic needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Egypt finds 4 tunnels
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Egypt took over four tunnels Thursday on the border with Gaza and thwarted the transfer of metal and food. Authorities found large amounts of metal, used in building, and food, sources said. Authorities also found two tunnels. They were placed under tight guard to be destroyed. Security sources said the total number of tunnels seized since the beginning of 2011 was around 20 used for smuggling building materials needed for Palestinian markets. Egypt seized 600 tunnels last year, officials said, 20 of them used for cars.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352905
Hamas: Palestinian Authority stopped Gaza medical shipments
PA blames Hamas of stealing medication meant for Gaza civilians, hiding it in storage, giving it to Hamas government or selling to civilians and keeping the proceeds.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/hamas-palestinian-authority-stopped-gaza-medical-shipments-1.338226?localLinksEnabled=false
Gas shortage in Gaza
Fuel companies in the Gaza Strip have confirmed that most of the cooking gas filling stations in the territory have closed because of the significant reduction in gas being pumped through by Israel. Those stations still open are now using their reserves, which are likely to run out in two or three days. The Israeli occupation authorities usually allow around 120 tonnes of cooking gas through daily, but they have reduced the amount significantly. Israel is fully aware that the gas sector in Gaza needs a daily amount of at least 300 tonnes of gas to function normally. There has been an accumulation of empty gas cylinders across the Strip as efforts are made to increase the quantities of gas available. At present, gas is transferred via the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to the Gaza Strip, but its inefficient infrastructure means that it cannot meet the needs of the local population.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/1976-gas-shortage-in-gaza
Flour mills close in Gaza; emergency wheat supplies enter
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — After eight days of closure, Israeli authorities announced the brief opening of the bulk goods crossing at Karni, but said the southernmost crossing would remain closed for the day. The opening of Karni on a Friday marks the first time any crossing has been opened on the final day of the week since February 2009. Officials said 80 truckloads of wheat and animal fodder would be delivered through the terminal.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352972
Al-Jazeera reporter ‘banned from traveling’
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities recently prevented a West Bank-based Al-Jazeera correspondent from traveling to Jordan via the Allenby Bridge border, a Palestinian media watchdog said Wednesday. Forces offered no explanation to Awad Alrjoub as to the reason for this restriction, the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms said in a statement. The incident allegedly occurred on Jan. 17. MADA “strongly condemns the Israeli policy of banning journalists from foreign travel and moving between the Palestinian territories,” the statement said, calling on the international community “to exercise real pressure on Israel to halt its practices against Palestinian journalists and allow them to travel and move freely.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352693
PM: Israel will work to disconnect Gaza from power grid
Netanyahu, FM meet with French FM; Lieberman tells her Israel has facilitated peace, while Palestinians “commemorate terrorists.”
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=204568
Press Release: “Documenting the crime of torture in the Palestinian Authority’s Territories.”
The Middle East Monitor (MEMO) and the Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR) held a press conference this morning to launch their new joint report “Documenting the crime of torture in the Palestinian Authority’s Territories”. Hosted by Forward Thinking (FT) and chaired by William Sieghart (FT Chairman) the report contains graphic images and testimony detailing the type of torture being used in Palestinian Authority jails including hanging, beating, stress positions, electrocution, solitary confinement and so on. Giving far greater detail than many previous reports by other human rights organisations, it cites names, locations, dates and statistics based on first hand witness testimony to substantiate its claims.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/memo-articles/1975-press-release-qdocumenting-the-crime-of-torture-in-the-palestinian-authoritys-territoriesq
PA adopts plan to combat violence against women
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Cabinet endorsed on Monday a nine-year national strategic plan to combat violence against women developed alongside the UN. According to officials, the strategy takes on “a cross-sector approach, recognizing violence against women as a development issue affecting the social, economic and political systems of Palestinian society.” The implementation of the plan was set to begin in 2011.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352951
Violence/Aggression
Hebron: Checkpoint soldiers shoot driver
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Soldiers at a flying checkpoint on Route 60 north of Hebron shot and critically wounded a Palestinian citizen of Israel on Thursday night. The Israeli military said events around the shooting were unclear. Security sources identified the man as 28-year-old Jalal Al-Masri, and said he sustained a bullet wound in his head.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352962
Soldiers Kill Palestinian Teenager near Northern West Bank Checkpoint
Jenin – PNN – A Palestinian teenager was gunned down on Thursday morning by Israeli troops manning a checkpoint close to the village of Ya’bud, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9435
11 citizens treated for breathing problems after IOF gas attack
IOF soldiers callously fired teargas bombs at a Palestinian family home in Zabuba village, west of Jenin city, at a late night hour on Wednesday causing breathing difficulty for 11 of its occupants.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd8
Clashes continue in Silwan
Clashes erupted this evening between Palestinian residents of Bir Ayyub district of Silwan and the Israeli military. Troops wantonly dispersed sound grenades at the crowd. No injuries have been reported until now.
http://silwanic.net/?p=10900
War Crimes/Whitewashing of Crimes
IDF Spokesperson’s statement regarding Jawaher Abu Rahmah’s death confirms previous lies and misinformation
[Popular Struggle] The army’s statement on 19 January 2011 confirms that Jawaher Abu Rahmah attended the Bil’in demonstration, was tear gassed in the demonstration and was admitted to a Ramallah hospital because of the effects of tear gas. Given the misinformation that the army has circulated to the media in the past two weeks, the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee calls for an independent and professional investigation into the treatment that Jawaher Abu Rahmah received in hospital.
http://www.bilin-village.org/english/articles/testimonies/IDF-Spokesperson-s-statement-regarding-Jawaher-Abu-Rahmah-s-death-confirms-previous-lies-and-misinformation
Hebron reflexion: they left their mark everywhere / Pauletter Schoeder, Christian Peacemaker Teams
I sat in a stupefied silence as the fifty-six-year-old woman told us about the invasion of her home last October …In the next twelve hours, the Israeli military shot and killed two Palestinian men accused of killing four settlers. Afterwards soldiers entered the same house although the family had no connection to the killings, shot randomly into the bed … The aggression did not end there. While forty to fifty military vehicles blocked the streets outside, two bulldozers demolished the part of the house where a newly married son lived with his wife. They then destroyed another part of the complex prepared for another son soon to be married … One week after they had arrested her sons, the military came for the mother. She remained in prison for 26 days. When asked how the soldiers treated her, she said they ‘used words that no woman should hear’. At one point, they ordered her to strip, then checked her private areas, using a detector on some places of her naked body.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=44643
Detainees
Activist: Teenager detained near Hebron
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces arrested Badran Jalal Badran, 16, from Hebron and took him to an undisclosed location, a human rights monitor said Thursday. Mohammad Eid of B’Tselem said four soldiers wearing civilian clothes attacked Badran and beat him severely before forcing him into a white car at which youths had thrown stones. Soldiers arrived at the scene and dispersed a gathering of Palestinians, Eid said. They fired tear-gas canisters and live bullets into the air as the “undercover” vehicle fled, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352902
PA makes arrests after Palestinian killed at checkpoint
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas arrested three Islamic Jihad affiliates shortly after Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. Sources in the movement said intelligence services arrested three affiliates, identified as Adeeb Samudi, Murad Nawahdah and Samer Jaber, and searched the homes of other members of the party.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352915
PA-IOF troops storm Yamon, arrest I.J. activists
The IOF have stormed Thursday the West Bank, town of Yamon, and arrested two Islamic Jihad activist in harmony with another campaign unleashed by PA security in the town for the same purpose.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI
Lebanese paper: Shin Bet gave Palestinian polio
‘As-Safir’ claims an Israeli agent paid a prisoner to put a pill in a fellow Palestinian’s drink, leading to his paralysis. Lebanese newspaper As-Safir reported on Thursday that Israel drugged a Palestinian prisoner, infecting him with Polio. “The family of captive Palestinian Haitham lives in the city of Ramallah in a state of fear and anxiety and continuous crying,” the article says, “after hearing that its son was detained in a Beersheba prison. He may die at any moment, having been afflicted with polio as a result of Israeli intelligence pill DDS that was put in his drink.”
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=204454&R=R3
Hamas blasts PA for ‘blackmailing’ woman
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The circumstances around the release of a Hamas-affiliated woman accused in an attack plot sparked anger Wednesday, as the Islamist party blasted the PA for “blackmailing” her into confessing. Tamam Abu As-Saud was detained in November and released following a press conference during which PA officials said she was being let go as a humanitarian gesture from President Mahmoud Abbas.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352778
Political Developments
Obama envoys hope to preserve Israeli ‘military edge’
JERUSALEM (AFP) — Senior White House adviser Dennis Ross and another top US official arrived in Israel on Thursday for talks about Israel’s security needs, an official statement said. Ross and David Hale, adviser to US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, would “hold talks about questions regarding Israel’s security needs as well as other issues related to regional security,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said. “The aim is to protect the qualitative military edge of the IDF within the framework of negotiations with the Palestinians, so that Israel’s relative advantage will be preserved in any future agreement,” it said without giving further details.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352927
PLO to US: Negotiations not a substitute for int`l law
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — “You cannot take international law out of the negotiations. Nor can you set one up in opposition to the other,”
PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi said Thursday as nations started weighing in on a draft resolution condemning settlement construction in the West Bank. “Negotiations are not a substitute for international law and the rights of Palestinians. Yet this is the message the US administration seems to be sending in its opposition to a Security Council Resolution reaffirming the illegality of Israeli settlements,” Dr Ashrawi said in a statement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352950
PA blasts Israeli campaign to ‘blame others’
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — With no official statement from the Israeli military on an investigation into the death of a Bil’in resident hospitalized and declared dead after exposure to tear-gas deployed by Israeli troops, leaked information published Thursday placed the blame for the woman’s death on doctors. In a response to the leak, the PA government media center said “The Israeli authorities continue to issue unacceptable statements,” saying that officials have “repeatedly evaded responsibility by trying to prove that there were other causes of death.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352802
Interview: Erekat: Netanyahu’s choice of settlement over peace terminates Mideast talks
JERICHO, Palestinian territories, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) — Israeli prime minister’s choice of Jewish settlement over regional peace has caused the halt of the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Thursday in an interview with Xinhua. “Benjamin Netanyahu was given the choices of Jewish settlement and peace, and he chose settlement over peace,” Erekat said, adding “that is why the peace negotiations stopped.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-01/21/c_13700387.htm
Barghouti says Israel is no partner for peace
Jailed Fatah leader says no agreement can be reached with “government of settlement, occupation, terror, siege and aggression.” Those who believe that peace can be achieved with Israel are living in an illusion, jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti was quoted as saying on Thursday. “There is no real partner for peace in Israel now,” Barghouti said in statements published by an Algerian newspaper. “The Israeli government is a government of settlement, occupation, terror, siege and aggression. Peace with Israel is impossible at this phase.”
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=204541&R=R1
U.K. will not recognize unilateral Palestinian state, official says
Speaking during Jordan visit, Foreign Office official Alistair Burt says direct talks are the only way to reach a viable two-state solution.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-k-will-not-recognize-unilateral-palestinian-state-official-says-1.338182?localLinksEnabled=false
Ex Blair aide: U.K. believed Netanyahu was untrustworthy
In Alistair Campbell 1998 diary excerpts released by The Guardian, former communication’s chief to the British premier said U.K. officials called Netanyahu an ‘armor-plated bullshitter.’
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/ex-blair-aide-u-k-believed-netanyahu-was-untrustworthy-1.338223?localLinksEnabled=false
Israel ‘won’t tolerate Palestinian insults forever’ (AFP)
AFP – Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Thursday warned that Israel would not tolerate ongoing Palestinian attempts to secure condemnation of the Jewish state in the international arena.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110120/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansliebermanfrance
Other News
Palestinian student detained in Egypt over spy technology
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) — Egyptian police are holding a Palestinian student accused of inventing a hi-tech telecommunication network for use by terrorists, Egyptian security sources said. Al-Mu’tasem Bellah Ali Nouh worked with other Palestinians to create the device which could bypass Egypt’s communication network, security officials said, adding that he operated the network from Rafah, close to the Gaza border.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=353040
Palestinian journalist missing in Syria
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The brother of a Palestinian journalist said Tuesday that Muhib An-Nawati had gone missing in Syria, and appealed to Palestinian and Syrian authorities to help the family make contact with him. Mudar An-Nawati said his brother Muhib had left for Syria from Norway on 28 December to do research for a book titled Hamas from the Inside. He had been in touch with his wife and children in Oslo every day until 5 January 2011, Mudar said, after which there was no trace.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352462
Palestinians protesters confront French FM in Gaza (AP)
AP – Palestinian protesters hurled eggs Friday at the French foreign minister during a visit to Gaza and narrowly missed hitting her with a shoe because they mistakenly believed she had called the capture of an Israeli soldier a “war crime.”
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_palestinians_france
Israeli Olympic chiefs ready to help Palestinians: IOC (AFP)
AFP – Representatives of Israel’s Olympic committee are ready to help Palestinian athletes train for the London 2012 Games, the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110120/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansoly2012iocrogge
How old does a Palestinian need to be to pick strawberries in Israel?
A Palestinian must be at least 28-years-old to pick strawberries in Israel, and to work in a field he must be at least 35, according to criteria set by defense minister.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/how-old-does-a-palestinian-need-to-be-to-pick-strawberries-in-israel-1.338304?localLinksEnabled=false
Rabbis boycott grooms with cell phones
Heads of Lithuanian Orthodox yeshivot threaten not to attend weddings of students caught with mobile phone on premises.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4000614,00.html
Analysis/Op-ed
The tragedy of the two-state solution, Dr. Ahmed Tibi
It is fairly obvious that Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is messing around with US President Barack Obama, when on the one hand he declares that he is interested in peace while on the other he is doing his utmost to thwart a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is not the way to deal with Israel’s key ally, to the extent that after nearly two years in office Netanyahu is running rings around Obama while encircling Jerusalem with more illegal settlements.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/arab-media/1977-the-tragedy-of-the-two-state-solution
Palestinians, America and the U.N., HANAN ASHRAWI
Palestinians are well within their rights to bring the issue of Israeli settlements and their illegality before the United Nations Security Council. Our decision to do so follows both Israel’s refusal to cease all settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory, and America’s failure to ensure Israel’s compliance with international law and existing agreements. The United States should support such a move, not block it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/opinion/21iht-edashrawi21.html?_r=2
Recognition: Impossible?U.K. Opposes Palestine on Same Grounds It Accepts Israel, Nima Shirazi
In recent months, seven South American nations have recognized Palestine “as a free, independent and sovereign state.” Last week, following similar statements by representatives of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Chile, the Foreign Ministry of Guyana declared that its decision to recognize Palestine was based on “Guyana’s long-standing and unwavering solidarity with, and commitment to, the just and legitimate aspirations of the people of Palestine for the exercise of their right to self-determination and to achieve a homeland of their own, independent, free, prosperous and at peace.” Paraguay and Peru are expected to recognize a Palestinian state in coming weeks.
http://www.wideasleepinamerica.com/2011/01/recognition-impossible-uk-opposes.html
US: Should Recognize State of Palestine In 2011, MJ Rosenberg
The United States should either lay a plan on the table and demand its implementation, or the Palestinians should declare full independence.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rosenberg/post_1597_b_810568.html
Ex-Jerusalem pol asks the US ‘to intervene to keep the current Israeli Government from driving off a cliff’, Wayne Smith
Most of us have a number of acquaintances, but we often have very few people who are really close friends. A really good friend will come to you when you are doing something dumb or self-destructive and tell you to knock it off. I am a pastor from Tacoma living for three months in the West Bank and working with an ecumenical church group which focuses on peace and ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank . From my perspective here on the ground, I suggest that Israel needs a really good friend, the type that intervenes and says, “What you are doing is dangerously self-destructive.”
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/ex-jerusalem-pol-asks-the-us-to-intervene-to-keep-the-current-israeli-government-from-driving-off-a-cliff.html
‘Israeli occupation as brutal as Nazis” — Elkana, Holocaust survivor, Philip Weiss
Don’t ever use Nazi analogies, right? No. When I went to Gaza, all I could think of was the Warsaw Ghetto, and the effect on the Jewish psyche of that humiliation, and the need to impose the same experience on others. You cannot understand the occupation without looking at the cycle of abuse. Here is the president of Central European U of Budapest, Yehuda Elkana, formerly a prof of history and philosophy of science at Hebrew U, speaking to the Times of India: A holocaust survivor, who came out of Nazi ( Auschwitz) concentration camps, Yehuda Elkana said that he is against Israel’s occupation of Palestine. “When I came out of the camp and settled in Israel I had decided that what happened in Nazi Germany should never happen to Jews again. At the same time, I wished that the same brutality should not be unleashed on others. And hence, I believe that Palestinians should be protected from Israel’s occupations as the violence is no less brutal than Nazi occupation,” said Elkana. According to him, Palestinian suicide bombers and Israeli occupants are born out of the same mould.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/israeli-occupation-as-brutal-as-nazis-elkana-holocaust-survivor.html
MSM self-censorship on the Israel issue, Philip Weiss
Tonight Chris Matthews used the retirement of Joe Lieberman as an opportunity to bash the “neocons” for the Iraq war. Matthews landed on Lieberman’s disgraceful answer to Pat Buchanan’s question on Morning Joe today, saying the Iraq war was worth it because of WMD and Al Qaeda and Saddam’s threat to the region. Matthews said this was all BS. He said that Saddam posed no threat apart from his support for “Hamas.” Obviously Matthews thinks that Lieberman was thinking about Israel’s security, not the U.S.’s security. But you still can’t say this in the MSM. You can bash the NRA over the Tucson shootings, but you can’t talk about the role of the Israel lobby in our foreign policy. You can just think about it. Like Chris Matthews.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/msm-self-censorship-on-the-israel-issue.html
‘Neocon radicals overthrew the US gov’t’– Sy Hersh (No, not in The New Yorker), Philip Weiss
Neoconservatism pervades our politics. Why else does Obama appoint the discredited Iraq war planner Stephen Hadley, who as a Bush aide put the lie about Niger yellowcake into the State of the Union speech in ’02, on his Middle East braintrust? Seymour Hersh tries to get out from under the cloud of the neocons, in a speech in Qatar.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/neocon-radicals-overthrew-the-us-govt-sy-hersh-no-not-in-the-new-yorker.html
Serving Up Palestine One Slice at a Time, Philip Giraldi
As of last week, 110 countries in the United Nations have extended diplomatic recognition to the State of Palestine. All recognize Palestine as including the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, essentially the borders as they existed prior to the June 1967 Six Day War. Nearly every country in Latin America, Asia, and Africa has recognized Palestinian statehood and there are indications that many European nations will soon follow suit. Which leaves the United States, yet again, on the wrong side of history. In fact, Washington has gone in completely the opposite direction, insisting that there cannot be any Palestinian state until negotiations are completed between the two parties involved, meaning that Israel shall have a veto on any such development and will postpone it until some time in the next century.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16569
For Europe, timidity is the norm on Israeli-Palestinian peace
Since the Obama administration has abandoned the idea of a freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, the Middle East peace process is once again deadlocked. This is hardly the first time.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=123956
Oasis of Peace Blossoms in Israel, To An Extent, Pierre Klochendler
NEVE SHALOM-WAHT ES-SALAAM, Central Israel – “Once upon a time,” the educator tells Jewish and Arab five-year-old children, “a plant laid dormant, holding its life on the darkness around it, beholding the night. Butterflies, flowers and leaves, their caress, were laid to rest. Dewdrop beads, tears in an ocean of hopelessness, enchanted the plant that grew and grew into a strong tree, into an oasis of peace in a land of conflict”, into a community of two peoples, Jews and Palestinians.
http://original.antiwar.com/klochendler/2011/01/20/oasis-of-peace-blossoms-in-israel-to-an-extent/
Winners of Israeli Apartheid Video Contest
http://www.kabobfest.com/2011/01/winners-of-israeli-apartheid-video-contest
Book Review: Rula Jebreal’s Miral
Despite some memorable characters and moments, as well as the (ultimately brief) acknowledgment of Hind Husseini’s work and life, the books fails to be anything more than, as the Omar El-Khairy notes in a review of the film, “Palestine as Hollywood fantasy.”
http://www.kabobfest.com/2011/01/book-review-rula-jebreals-miral
Lebanon
Arrest warrant issued against suspected spy
BEIRUT: Military Investigative Judge Fadi Sawwan issued an arrest warrant Thursday against Adel Samir Roumieh for collaborating with Israel, the state-run National News Agency reported. The NNA said Roumieh was in the custody of military intelligence before being transferred to the Prosecutor General on charges of contacting Israeli intelligence and providing information about civilian locations and Hezbollah operation units in south Lebanon. More than 150 alleged collaborators have been arrested in the past two years for allegedly spying for Israel following the summer war of 2006. – The Daily Star
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=123951#axzz1Bd9e0bz2
Aoun: Hariri Won’t Return, Lebanon Won’t Be Divided
20/01/2011 The head of Change and Reform bloc General Michel Aoun told a news conference in Rabiyeh on Thursday that caretaker Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri cannot return to power, stressing that this position is not about insulting the Sunnis. “Why the international community wants to bring back to power a man who is accused in leading the false witnesses in the UN investigation, and there are tens of millions he embezzled with his political project,” Aoun wondered while meeting with U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams who remained silent and went away hoping to get out of the crisis.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=170880&language=en
Hariri says will seek premiership in new government (Reuters)
Reuters – Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said on Thursday he would seek to form a new government in talks next week, defying pressure from Hezbollah and its allies to step down.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110120/wl_nm/us_lebanon_government_hariri
Beirut braced for street violence
Lebanese special police forces tightened security around the government palace and other official buildings yesterday amid growing fears that the country’s political crisis could descend into street battles.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/beirut-braced-for-street-violence-2190174.html
Security forces deploy around state institutions
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army and security personnel deployed around key state institutions and diplomatic establishments Thursday as concerns mounted over Hezbollah-orchestrated gatherings in the capital.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=123963
Potential kingmaker in Lebanon supports Hezbollah (AP)
AP – A potential kingmaker in Lebanese politics is throwing his support behind the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_lebanon_politics
“Christian Lebanese don’t support the ‘Hariri Tribunal’: Good news for Hezbollah & bad news for the US & its allies!”
“… Behind Hezbollah’s power play against the tribunal lies something more than brute force: Lebanon’s Christians and Sunnis, once largely united in support of the tribunal, have parted ways. This split began a few years ago at the elite level with the defection of Gen. Michel Aoun, the leader of the largest Christian party …… At this point, a majority of Lebanon’s Christian community has actually turned against the tribunal. As a result, there is little prospect today of the sort of mass popular demonstrations that kicked Syrian forces out of Lebanon in 2005 following the assassination of Hariri, a Sunni — or that booted president-for-life Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali out of Tunisia just a few days ago.
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/01/christian-lebanese-dont-support-hariri.html
Who Will Be Lebanon’s Next Prime Minister: Doing the Parliamentary Math
Last Saturday, Lebanon’s As-Safir newspaper published an excellent analysis of the different possible scenarios that could lead to the nomination of a new Prime Minister. It sheds important light on the political math behind the question of who will lead Lebanon, now that Saad al-Hariri’s government has fallen. Download the As-Safir report here. (The above graph, produced by a friend of mine, puts the basic balance of power in visual context for all of you non-Arabic speakers.)
http://qifanabki.com/2011/01/20/lebanon-prime-minister/
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL): Prerequisites for Injustice?
Omar Nashabe delivers the LSE Global Governance public lecture. This event was recorded on 18 January 2011 in Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House The indictment of the STL in the Hariri assassination case is expected to be filed soon.
http://pulsemedia.org/2011/01/20/the-special-tribunal-for-lebanon-stl-prerequisites-for-injustice/
March 14 says it can account for funds, rejects corruption charges
BEIRUT: Politicians from the March 14 coalition fired back Thursday at what they called the opposition’s “smear and slander campaign” targeting the caretaker government and its prime minister, Saad Hariri.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=123962
In Lebanon, echoes of the Iraq crisis
After watching the collapse of Lebanon’s government last week, it is hard not to think about efforts to build a stable Iraq. The two countries have so much in common. Both are volatile democracies where any political question can provoke not just intense debate, but also the threat of violence.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=123954
Israel concerned about possible fallout from Lebanon government split (The Christian Science Monitor)
The Christian Science Monitor – The Lebanese political crisis, triggered by Hezbollah’s departure from government last week, has Israel worried that the situation could become violent and spill over the Israel-Lebanon border.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110120/wl_csm/356760
Israeli media says Lebanese militant running cells in Gaza
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Days after Israeli military chiefs warned of Al-Qaeda operatives in Gaza, Israel’s daily newspaper Ma’ariv reported Thursday that a Lebanese militant released in a 2008 prisoner exchange was running cells in the coastal enclave. Samir Quntar, imprisoned at 19 for his role in the planning and execution of an attack on Israel including the slaying of two children, was released along with the bodies of 200 slain Lebanese and Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli pilots captured in Lebanon in the 1980s.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352970
Iraq
Thursday: 56 Iraqis Killed, 252 Wounded
For the third day in a road, massive attacks targeting police and pilgrims have shocked Iraqis who hoped the seating of a new government would bring calm to the country. At least 56 were killed and 252 more were wounded in the violence which took place between Baquba and Karbala, including Baghdad, where many pilgrims are traveling by foot for Arbaeen observances.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/01/20/thursday-56-iraqis-killed-252-wounded/
Karbala and the surge of Iraq attacks
Suicide attacks on Shiite pilgrims. Mass murders of police. It’s not 2006 in Iraq anymore, but sometimes it feels like it.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/dqLtKGtpOZY/Karbala-and-the-surge-of-Iraq-attacks
Iraq’s Civil War Grinds on, with 62 Dead, 200 Wounded in Karbala Blasts, Juan Cole
Bombings took the lives of 62 Shiite pilgrims, mostly in the holy city of Karbala, but also in Diyala province. Sunni Arab guerrillas are still attempting to destabilize the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki by provoking Shiite-Sunni feuds and spreading a feeling of instability that interferes with investment and reconstruction. On Tuesday, a suicide bomber killed some 60 persons in the northern Sunni Arab city of Tikrit, as they were standing in a police recruitment line. The Sunni Arab guerrillas are thus still pursuing a strategy of punishing Sunni Arabs for what they see as ‘collaboration’ and of attempting to foment Sunni-Shiite civil violence.
http://www.juancole.com/2011/01/iraqs-civil-war-grinds-on-with-62-dead-200-wounded-in-karbala-blasts.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29
Iraq: Use of Ambulances in Attacks a War Crime
According to media reports, Iraqi security forces came under attack by a suicide bomber when an ambulance packed with explosives blew up outside a police headquarters on January 19, 2011 in Diyala Province, north of Baghdad. This follows a similar incident involving the use of an ambulance in an attack earlier the same week.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/01/20/iraq-use-ambulances-attacks-war-crime
At War: Iraqi Tradition of Celebratory Gunfire
The Iraqi prime minister issued a ban on gunshot celebrations after soccer victories to keep people from being injured or killed. But there are some things that governments just do not have the power to stop.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=bcb10f2eebad8ba064e03d505e411c6c
Sacha Baron Cohen to star in film of Saddam Hussein novel
Borat and Brüno star takes on film of Zabibah and the King, a romantic novel reputedly written by Iraqi dictator. Sacha Baron Cohen’s on-screen antics have paired him with everyone from Pamela Anderson to Janet Jackson to US presidential candidate Ron Paul. But his next film provides the Borat star with his most outlandish collaborator to date: the former Iraqi dictator – and reputed romantic novelist – Saddam Hussein.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jan/20/sacha-baron-cohen-saddam-hussein-novel
Tunisia
The man who inspired Tunisia’s revolution
Al Jazeera’s Yasmine Ryan travels to the birthplace of Tunisia’s uprising and speaks to Mohamed Bouazizi’s family.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/01/201111684242518839.html
Tunisia: ‘I have lost my son, but I am proud of what he did’
The mother of the street vendor who set himself on fire, and triggered protests across North Africa, talks to Kim Sengupta
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/tunisia-i-have-lost-my-son-but-i-am-proud-of-what-he-did-2190331.html
Birthplace of Tunisia’s revolution
Sidi Bouzid is the Tunisian town that sparked the nationwide protests that eventually toppled the rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Just a month ago, protesters brought the area outside the city hall to a standstill, following the suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire in despair with a government that constantly failed to meet the needs of its population. The area has returned to normal, but people say the journey for change is not yet over. Al Jazeera’s Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Sidi Bouzid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0dnOIvxP0g&feature=youtube_gdata
Tunisia approves amnesty, declares mourning
TUNIS (AFP) — Tunisia’s caretaker administration approved a general amnesty at its first meeting Thursday and declared three days of national mourning for victims of unrest that toppled the previous government. The cabinet is tasked with ushering in presidential and parliamentary elections within six months, following the overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who fled to Saudi Arabia last Friday after weeks of popular unrest.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352923
Tunisia’s former ruling party disbands leadership, joins with new government
The RCD party of ousted President Zine el Abidine ben Ali is the focus of continuing angry protests by Tunisians. Some RCD members have resigned their posts in the transitional government, but citizens are demanding a purge. The country’s former ruling party announced the dissolution of its leadership committee and has voiced support for the new government, state television reported Thursday, as thousands rallied against the party in the capital and other cities.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/kcJ0lKmGQAQ/la-fg-tunisia-party-20110121,0,6723903.story
Release of political prisoners in Tunisia is a welcome first step
New caretaker government frees some of those detained during the rule of the country’s recently ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Amnesty International has welcomed an announcement by Tunisia’s caretaker government that it has freed political prisoners detained during the rule of recently ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Tunisia’s new government was formed after weeks of anti-government protests across the country which resulted in a state of emergency being imposed. President Ben Ali fled the country on 14 January.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/release-political-prisoners-tunisia-welcome-first-step-2011-01-20
Tunisian families await release of political prisoners
By Abdelaziz Boumzar TUNIS, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Some brought lunch for their sons, others waited at army barricades looking out for prison vans. Many had been there since Tunisia’s government vowed this week to free political prisoners locked up under the old president.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/tunisian-families-await-release-of-political-prisoners
Tunisian Army emerges strong from revolt
TUNIS: Tunisia’s army has emerged from the month of unrest that toppled Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali with its reputation burnished and the population full of praise after it refused to open fire on protesters.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=123928
Tunisian news media relish new freedom
With Ben Ali’s regime gone, newspapers and TV stations that served as official mouthpieces are revamping, reflecting reality rather than a dictator’s vanity. ‘Before, it was just empty words,’ says one happy journalist. The revolution didn’t come just to the streets. It came to the beaten-down newsroom of an ousted ruler’s meek mouthpiece, a newspaper where journalists didn’t believe the news releases they were spoon-fed and passersby didn’t believe the headlines they read on newsstands.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/8E4JovyNDmk/la-fg-tunisia-media-20110121,0,4710643.story
Tunisia to recover all Ben Ali family assets: minister
TUNIS: The Tunisian state will recover all shares, real estate and other assets belonging to the family of ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, a government minister told Reuters Thursday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=123921
A lost generation of young people of Tunisia discuss grievances that led to their revolution
IN TUNIS They grew up being told to bottle up their frustrations, not to discuss politics and to accept a life without basic freedoms.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=40743e1b720f1b0443b9c9b7e69aa9b5
An embarrassed France backpedals from its support of Tunisia’s Ben Ali
Before former President Ben Ali fled Tunisia amid the popular uprising, France offered its support to the troubled dictator. Now France is struggling to find new footing with its former colony.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/cY2m3L9823g/An-embarrassed-France-backpedals-from-its-support-of-Tunisia-s-Ben-Ali
Generalizing Tunisia: Context Overrides Story, Ramzy Baroud
When faced with problems, most authoritarian regimes maintain a policy of rigidity when the appropriate response would be flexibility, political wisdom and concessions. This policy gives authoritarian leaders their ability to control their populations to serve the interests of a few individuals and political and military elites. It can also, however, usher their downfall, for populations can only be oppressed, controlled and punished to a point.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16568
Tunisian Uprising and West’s Double Standards, Mohamed El Mokhtar
Tunisia is a compelling case study for the Arab world. Here is a repressive ‘secular’ police state imposed, with the flagrant complicity of the West, upon one of the most economically dynamic and culturally vibrant Arab societies. Despite its well-educated and entrepreneurial middle-class, this open and modern country was heavy-handedly ruled, with an iron-fist, by an autocratic ruler, and it turns out a very corrupt and cruel one too, for more than two decades unrelentingly. She remained all this time politically completely isolated from the outside world and its many democratic convulsions, ubiquitous class struggles and universal search for freedom. The main reason to this desolate state of affairs and underserved longevity lies within the following scam.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16567
Stephen Zunes: Tunisia’s Democratic Revolution
The people of Tunisia have demonstrated their power to oust a dictatorship. The coming period will tell if they can actually build a democracy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-zunes/tunisias-decmocratic-revo_b_811342.html
Racist trash: when the White Man analyzes the natives
“However, although these acts may be imbued with symbolism after the fact, it is not yet clear that any of these individuals were primarily motivated by politics. They may have simply been suicidal. Unable to find work despite his college degree, Bouazizi had become a fruit and vegetable vendor to survive. When police confiscated his cart and all the food with it, insisting that he somehow find the money for a vendor’s license before it would be returned, it seems to have pushed the desperate young man over the edge. Similarly, the other self-immolators throughout North Africa were reportedly struggling with a range of personal problems such as unemployment, homelessness, and depression.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/racist-trash-when-white-man-analyzes.html
Two Ousted Leaders, RANNIE AMIRI
Some dubbed it the “Jasmine Revolution” out of an apparent need to romanticize all popular uprisings by tagging a color or symbol to it, as with Tunisia’s national flower. Yet it felt decidedly out of place. This was no Western-backed revolt, where an American president issues lively calls for the people’s will to be respected. On the contrary, if the U.S., France or any of the Arab client states could have intervened to preserve the 23-year rule of Tunisian dictator Zain al-Abidine Ben Ali, they would have done so.
http://www.counterpunch.com/amiri01212011.html
Generalizing Tunisia, RAMZY BAROUD
When faced with problems, most authoritarian regimes maintain a policy of rigidity when the appropriate response would be flexibility, political wisdom and concessions. This policy gives authoritarian leaders their ability to control their populations to serve the interests of a few individuals and political and military elites. It can also, however, usher their downfall, for populations can only be oppressed, controlled and punished to a point.
http://www.counterpunch.com/baroud01212011.html
The US Has a Choice in Tunisia, NICOLA NASSER
The ongoing Tunisian Intifada (uprising) cannot yet quite be termed a revolution; Tunisians are still revolting, aspiring for bread and freedom. This Intifada will go down in history as a revolution if it gets either bread or freedom and as a great revolution if it gets both. Internally, “the one constant in revolutions is the primordial role played by the army,” Jean Tulard, a French historian of revolutions, told Le Monde in an interview, and the Tunisian military seems so far forthcoming. Externally, the United States stands to be a critical contributor to either outcome in Tunisia, both because of its historical close relations with the Tunisian military and because of its regional hegemony and international standing as a world power, but the U.S. seems so far shortcoming.
http://www.counterpunch.com/nasser01212011.html
Tunis Blowback
Report: PA shut down Tunisia rally in Ramallah
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian Authority security forces in Ramallah shut down a small demonstration in solidarity with the uprising in Tunisia on Wednesday afternoon, the French daily Le Monde reported Thursday. A few dozen protesters who defied the PA were challenged by a separate gathering of Fatah activists, according to the report. The Fatah activists were attending a rally in the center of Ramallah — the capital of the Western-backed Palestinian government — in support of prisoners in Israel. It was not clear whose demonstration was planned first.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352892
2 Egyptians hurt after ‘setting themselves ablaze’
CAIRO (AFP) — Two Egyptians were injured after setting fire to themselves Thursday, a police official said, taking to five the number of attempted self-immolations in the country this week. Police said the men were workers at a textile factory in the Nile Delta province of Menufia, north of Cairo, and took the action in protest against their employer. It was not immediately clear if they set themselves on fire at the factory, or if at the same time. Both men were hospitalized after the incident.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352928
Mohamed ElBaradei Warns of ‘Tunisia-Style Explosion’ in Egypt
The Egyptian dissident Mohamed ElBaradei has warned of a “Tunisia-style explosion” in his country as self-immolation protests proliferated and anti-government activists announced plans for a nationwide “day of anger” next week. [“Suppression does not equal stability, and anybody who thinks that the existence of authoritarian regimes is the best way to maintain calm is deluding themselves,” ElBaradei told the Guardian. (Photograph: Herwig Prammer/Reuters)]”Suppression does not equal stability, and anybody who thinks that the existence of authoritarian regimes is the best way to maintain calm is deluding themselves,” ElBaradei told the Guardian. But the former UN nuclear weapons chief stopped short of calling on his supporters to take to the streets, prompting scathing criticism from opposition campaigners who believe ElBaradei is squandering a rare opportunity to bring an end to President Hosni Mubarak’s three decades of autocratic rule.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/01/19-5
Protests erupt in Yemen, president offers reform
SANAA/ADEN, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters took to the streets of a town in southern Yemen on Thursday to reject proposed political reform by the government, including a limit on presidential terms. The government announced its reform plans in the face of growing discontent that sparked sporadic protests this week. Opposition parties said they would meet on Saturday to discuss the offer as thousands of people protested in the southern town of Taiz, saying the reforms proposed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh did not go far enough.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/protests-erupt-in-yemen-president-offers-reform
Thousands rally in Jordan demanding ‘bread, freedom’
More than 5,000 people rallied in Amman and other cities after weekly prayers on Friday against Jordan’s economic policies, demanding ‘bread and freedom’ and that the government resign. “(Prime Minister Samir) Rifai, out, out! People of Jordan will not bow,” protesters chanted as they marched from al-Hussein mosque in central Amman to the nearby municipality building, according to AFP. “Our demands are legitimate. We want bread and freedom.” Police handed out bottles of water and juice to the demonstrators, who carried banners reading, “We demand social justice and freedom”, “No to oppression, yes to change” and, “We need a national salvation government.”
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/01/21/134467.html
U.S. and Other World News
Wrong men convicted of Daniel Pearl murder: probe
WASHINGTON — The wrong men were convicted of murdering US reporter Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and beheaded in Pakistan in 2002, and US officials stood in the way of the real murderers being brought to justice for the grisly crime, a report released Thursday says.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/wrong-men-convicted-pearl-murder/
Va. teen detained in Kuwait on no-fly list to return to the United States
A Virginia teenager who was placed on the no-fly list and barred from returning home to the United States from Kuwait is expected to arrive at Dulles International Airport on Friday morning, a government lawyer said. Gulet Mohamed, a 19-year-old U.S. citizen from Alexandria, was detained in Kuwait last month at the behest of the United States, according to his attorneys. They allege that Mohamed was beaten by Kuwaiti officials who questioned him about his travels in Yemen and Somalia after he left the United States in March 2009. Mohamed’s family said he went overseas to study Arabic and Islam, stayed only a few weeks in Yemen, and then lived with relatives in both Somalia and Kuwait. They said he has no connections with extremists.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/20/AR2011012004222.html
Tony Blair had way out of Iraq invasion, Chilcot inquiry told
As former PM is recalled to give further evidence, notes reveal Jack Straw argued there was ‘one last chance to avoid war’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/20/tony-blair-chilcot-inquiry-iraq
25 Tons of Bombs Wipe Afghan Town Off Map
An American-led military unit pulverized an Afghan village in Kandahar’s Arghandab River Valley in October, after it became overrun with Taliban insurgents. It’s hard to understand how turning an entire village into dust fits into America’s counterinsurgency strategy — which supposedly prizes the local people’s loyalty above all else. But it’s the latest indication that Gen. David Petraeus, the counterinsurgency icon, is prosecuting a frustrating war with surprising levels of violence. Some observers already fear a backlash brewing in the area.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/01/25-tons-of-bombs-wipes-afghan-town-off-the-map/
Iran: Military strike would not stop our nuclear program
Comment by Iran IAEA envoy comes as Tehran denies it is to offer a new uranium-swap deal in upcoming P5+1 nuclear talks in Istanbul.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/iran-military-strike-would-not-stop-our-nuclear-program-1.338167?localLinksEnabled=false
Russia opposed to Iran sanctions
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed hope that the sanctions are lifted in the upcoming talks between Tehran and major world powers, Xinhua reported.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/161118.html
WikiLeaks: US Embassy Cables Say
Iran has cleared major hurdle to nuclear weapons: “Iran had now demonstrated centrifuge operations such that it had the technical ability to produce highly enriched uranium (HEU) if it so chose”.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/20/iran-highly-enriched-uranium-wikileaks
CIA Doesn’t Want You To Know It Gave Iran Nuclear Blueprints
Here’s what I think happened with Jeffrey Alexander Sterling, the former CIA officer who just got arrested for leaking classified information to James Risen.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27300.htm
Ex-CIA officer accused of leak waives extradition
The indictment did not say specifically what information was leaked, but the dates and other details indicate the case centered on leaks to James Risen, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times. His 2006 book “State of War” revealed details about the CIA’s covert spy war with Iran.
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/ex-cia-officer-accused-800478.html
Wikileaks : Ireland Complicit in US Torture: Irish Government Knew They Were in Violation of Torture Conventions
Slowly but surely the entire shameful truth is coming out about Shannon airport, CIA renditions, and the lengths the Irish government went to avoid the evidence.
http://www.shannonwatch.org/blog/wikileaks-irish-government-knew-they-were-violation-torture-conventions
Top Sunni body freezes dialogue with Vatican
CAIRO (AFP) — Al-Azhar, the chief center of Sunni Muslim learning, suspended on Thursday its ties with the Vatican, accusing the pope of attacking Islam, but the Holy See says it wants to continue its bi-annual meetings with the Egypt-based institute. “The freeze was prompted by the repeated attacks on Islam by Pope Benedict XVI of the Vatican. The Pope has reiterated that Muslims oppress non-Muslims who are living with them in the Middle East,” said an Al-Azhar statement carried by the official Mena news agency.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=352930
www.TheHeadlines.org
