and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property and resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Villagers near wall told to stop building homes
TULKAREM — Israeli forces on Friday delivered “stop work” orders to seven Palestinian families building homes in the West Bank district of Tulkarem. The orders said the buildings did not have the required permits. The village, Nazlat Isa, is a small population center north of Tulkarem. The route of Israel’s separation wall runs along the western edge of its residential area, and severed access to much of the village land.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351170
Israel demolishes homes and classroom in West Bank village
In a bleak but beautiful landscape of undulating stony hills I watched a group of Palestinian schoolchildren take their lessons yesterday in the open air next to a heap of rubble that, until this week, was their classroom. This is the village of Dkaika, about as far south in the West Bank as you can get. It’s a community of around 300 people, without electricity or running water, whose days are spent tending their herds of goats and sheep and trying not to attract the attention of nearby Jewish settlers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/view-from-jerusalem-with-harriet-sherwood/2011/jan/14/palestinian-territories-israel
Jewish settlers storm Attof village in Jordan Valley, carry out land survey
JORDAN VALLEY, (PIC)– Dozens of armed extremist Jewish settlers under military protection stormed Attof village near Tamun town in Tubas province on Saturday morning. Eyewitnesses said the armed settlers were carrying maps, cameras and surveying instruments and carried out a land survey which raised doubts about their intents to annex more Palestinian lands to their nearby settlements.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7ay8deHxISaD7U8Kee8eghDwlLwSO6s%2biTLU6l5%2b0CE6Kh4uURcJBdgQ56vXa%2f5B19DAo%2fswoAKO5xrJo318T3%2fNCfUNLYO5zx7Cd4SvIhhE%3d
Israeli occupation to build a hotel on the ruins of the Qashala cemetery
NAZARETH, (PIC)– The Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage (AFEH) said that the Israeli occupation has started building a hotel on the ruins of the historical Qashala cemetery next to the Grand Mosque in the occupied city of Yaffa. Dozens of graves have been bulldozed after the Israeli occupation antiquities authority dug the graveyard affording no respect for this historical Islamic site.
http://www.uruknet.info/?new=73924
Clashes erupt after Friday prayers in Silwan
14 Jan (SILWANIC) — Violent clashes swept through Silwan 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. Palestinian youth responded by throwing stones at Israeli forces and settlers, causing damage to a settler’s car. No injuries have been reported. Clashes spread to neighboring districts, reaching Ein Silwan area on the outskirts of Wadi Hilweh, a district of intense settlement activity and another flashpoint for violence in Silwan village.
http://silwanic.net/?p=10500
Unfounded arrests continue in Silwan
14 Jan (SILWANIC) — Israeli forces arrested 27 year old Fadi Siyam from Wadi Hilweh in Silwan yesterday, on suspicion of stone-throwing at an Israeli settler on 10 October last year. Siyam has denounced the charges as unfounded, telling Silwanic that the place he was accused of throwing stones from is merely the daily route he takes to work. Siyam was released this afternoon without trial, on the condition that he return to the police station for further investigation on 16 January. Police have still not returned his ID card.
http://silwanic.net/?p=10550
Information Center press conference discusses arrest of its director Jawad Siyam and Israeli crackdown on activists
14 Jan (SILWANIC) — A press conference was held by the Wadi Hilweh Information Center today to discuss the recent Israeli campaign against Palestinian activists of Silwan, which has seen the arrest of several prominent community figures, dubious charges laid against them and pressure put on their families.
http://silwanic.net/?p=10503
A tale of two homes, one illegal, the other one too / Ami Kaufman
This the story of two homes in the West Bank. One home belongs to the family of Eliezer Peretz, an IDF officer from the settlement of Eli who was killed in Operation Cast Lead. The other home belongs to Oudah al-Najada, a Palestinian from the village of al-Daqeqa in the South Hebron Hills. I didn’t know of al-Najada, and today is the first time I saw his name in black on white. Simply because the Israeli media doesn’t bother to cover his story. One home belongs to a fallen hero of the IDF. The other belongs to a Palestinian. Both homes have been deemed illegal by the state. One is still standing, the other is no longer.
http://972mag.com/a-tale-of-two-homes-one-illegal-the-other-one-too/
Neighborly relations, settlement style / Yudith Oppenheimer, Ir Amin
If right-wing groups can establish settlements in the heart of a Palestinian neighborhood, why can’t a Palestinian settle in the core of a Jewish settlement? — Twists and turns in the development of the Nof Zion settlement, located in the heart of the Palestinian neighborhood of Jabal Mukaber in East Jerusalem, encapsulate the whole misbegotten story of the Jewish settlement movement in East Jerusalem. Nof Zion has made headlines in recent weeks, following the disclosure that a Palestinian entrepreneur intends to purchase the Digal company building in the neighborhood, which is in financial trouble. Right-wing organizations have launched a particularly aggressive campaign against Bank Leumi and Digal’s other creditors in order to foil the deal.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/neighborly-relations-settlement-style-1.336918
IDF collecting settlers’ weapons
Hebron Brigade commander orders Jewish residents to return arms received from army in light of relative calm in territories in recent years. ‘This isn’t Switzerland,’ says enraged settler … Hebron’s Jewish residents will be the first to be affected by the move ,… The IDF Spokesperson’s Office clarified Thursday that the weapons being collected are not in use and that the move is aimed at fighting weapon thefts and in light of evaluations of the security-related situation.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4013641,00.html
Violence
Medics: Settler shot pregnant Hebron teen
A settler shot a pregnant 16-year-old girl twice in the foot on Saturday near an illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank city of Hebron, medics said. Summer Rabi Jaber, six months pregnant, was transferred to the Hebron Government Hospital with two bullet wounds in her foot. Doctors said she was referred to the Al-Mizan Hospital, which would be better able to monitor the effect of the incident on the fetus. Jaber is from the Al-Baq’a area east of Hebron, and according to medics was shot by a resident of the illegal Kiryat Ar’ba settlement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351326
Settlers, Palestinians battle with stones near Shiloh
Three Israelis and five Palestinians were lightly wounded on Thursday when rock-throwing exchanges broke out near the Shiloh settlement 45 km. north of Jerusalem. The incident occurred a day after security forces demolished the home of a family in the fledgling Eli Ayin outpost, right outside Shiloh.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=203586
Freeze frame / Shay Fogelman
In February 1988 CBS cameraman Moshe Alpert filmed four soldiers carrying out Yitzhak Rabin’s “break their bones” order against two Palestinian teens. Their bones didn’t shatter, but Israel’s self-image and its international image did. Now, 23 years later, one of the victims speaks out.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/freeze-frame-1.336986
Activism / Solidarity / Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Leading UK store backs settlement boycott
LONDON (Ma’an) — Leading British retailer John Lewis has withdrawn Ahava Dead Sea cosmetics from its stores because they are produced in illegal Israeli settlements, the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign said Friday. John Lewis’ Managing director informed PSC of the decision and said that as a socially responsible retailer the store expected suppliers “not only to obey the law, but also to respect the rights, interests and well-being of their employees, their communities and the environment,” according to a statement from PSC.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351068
Israeli firms on Palestinian building project sign anti-settlement clause
Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem – A dozen Israeli companies working on a Palestinian construction project have signed contracts stipulating they must not use Israeli products originating in the West Bank, East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights. The move has sparked calls from Jewish settler groups and their supporters for a counter-boycott.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/13/israeli-firms-palestinian-project-boycott-settlement-goods
Jewish group files lawsuit against Livni ahead of visit to South Africa
JOHANNESBURG, (PIC)– A South African Jewish group has filed charges against Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni for involvement in the Gaza war two years ago, in an attempt to have her arrested upon her soon expected visit to South Africa. South Africa reserves the right to prosecute foreign war criminals, a French radio quoted this group as saying on Saturday. The complainants have prepared a 3,000-page report documenting Israeli violations and submitted it to the local public prosecutor.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7LQkQ%2foaaWtAzfcHc8wK77%2fn0m0b6ejT0FPIyJhyn64%2fAAMdCc58DVFjyc0ASQN2Fa6DoGNvaQUjynK2HQiGpZlxrEfTQ7TnLJpWU3DsrCgw%3d
Siege / Restriction of movement / Rights violations
Gaza patient dies waiting for permission to leave
Human rights organizations in Gaza have demanded a criminal investigation into the death of a young Gaza man who died two weeks ago while he was waiting for a permit from Israel to leave the Strip for medical treatment. Anas Saleh, 20, died on January 1 from a liver disease. He had been unconscious for several days in Gaza’s Ash-Shifa Hospital before his death. His doctors had sought permission for Saleh to enter Israel for treatment. After the request was made Israeli authorities insisted that the unconscious patient appear for questioning by the Israel Security Agency, a report from the Al-Mezan center for human rights said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=350628
Surviving off one’s flattened house in Gaza
Gaza: Hauling a shovel and a hammer Abu Ali Kader makes his daily trip not to work but the rubble of the house he once owned to complete its demolition. “For over 20 tough years, I’ve saved up every single penny working as a construction worker within the Israeli region with the intention of building this house. Yet all the money, time and effort spent on this house vanished in less than a minute,” Abu Ali in agony said. The hands which built the house are now digging through the remains to find anything worthwhile to sell.
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestinian-territories/surviving-off-one-s-flattened-house-in-gaza-1.746390
Egyptian police: Drugs [and cement] seized en route to Israel
EL-ARISH, Egypt — Egyptian police said Friday that officers intercepted a group of smugglers attempting to bring narcotics into Israel via a border tunnel … Further south along the border, Egyptian security said 10 tons of cement in trucks heading toward the Egypt-Gaza border was also intercepted. A report said the trucks were en route to tunnels in the Rafah area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351021
US medical delegation to land in Gaza on Sunday
GAZA (ABNA)- A US medical delegation is scheduled to land in the Gaza Strip on Sunday to perform a series of medical operations. The Gaza program for mental health, the trip’s coordinator, has completed preparations to receive the delegation of eight doctors of surgical specialists and psychologists from the US Physicians for Social Responsibility group. The medics will stay in Gaza until January 24.
http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=221277
Foundation: Egypt to ease entry from Gaza
The Palestinian Human Rights Foundation said Friday that Egyptian authorities have decided to ease restrictions on Palestinians entering the country from Gaza. Egypt will allow entry to all women with an Egyptian visa or papers for medical treatment, the foundation said. Further, students with university acceptance documents will be permitted entry, as will anyone with a Palestinian diplomatic passport issued in Ramallah. Any woman who entered Gaza from Egypt will be allowed to return, the foundation said. The foundation welcomed the new arrangements, but expressed concern that the policy discriminated against men. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351107
Gaza crossings closed; exports remain low
Gaza crossings were closed on Friday, one day ahead of schedule as Israeli officials maintain the curtailed operations schedule. … Palestinian coordination official Raed Fattouh told Ma’an that the crossings were set to re-open on Sunday. UN officials monitoring the terminals said the preceding week’s imports remained at 33 percent of the weekly average of imports recorded before the imposition of the blockade in June 2007. The weekly report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said exports remained limited to a few shipments of strawberries and cut flowers, noting that the 8 December announcement by the Israeli authorities to allow more exports from Gaza remains unimplemented.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=350971
Reprisals
Gaza militants launch at Israel amid increasing tensions
Palestinian gunmen on Friday fired a homemade rocket from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel despite an internal Palestinian agreement reached on Wednesday between Hamas and other factions over halting firing rockets at Israel. Palestinian witnesses told Xinhua that unknown militants fired a homemade rocket from al-Garara village, east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, into Kissufim area near the Gaza Strip borders with Israel. Israeli army forces then fired back in response. No injuries have been reported and nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/7261612.html
Israeli official warns Hamas to stop projectiles
Israeli government spokesman Ofer Gendalman on Thursday warned Hamas to stop firing projectiles into southern Israel. In an interview with Ma’an Radio, Gendalman said the Israeli government was not interested in an escalation in hostilities with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=350984
Detention
Political detainee Hardan on hunger strike for days in PA jail
RAMALLAH, (PIC)– Political detainee Mohsen Al-Hardan has been on hunger strike for days in protest at the poor incarceration conditions he is experiencing in the Palestinian Authority’s jails in Nablus city. Hardan, 49, has been in Juneid prison for more than one year and was jailed for his political affiliation with Hamas Movement … The PA intelligence, for its part, still refuses to release 12 Palestinian students from Al-Quds university from its jails in Ramallah city or let their families visit them.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7k9NCqslKpUc7nSOi6LXxX%2fVDmbayeU8dIt3jQf2YmBpaRsXoFYRQZEjfN1%2fIDrkBcMfIaFNWUgw%2f0%2bmI6mrO%2bovAqluxOlO5BtekuqKGY0k%3d
Palestinian prisoner could lose leg after being tortured in Egyptian prisons
CAIRO, (PIC)– Hafiz Abu Saada, secretary-general of the Egyptian rights group organization, said Egypt’s policies of detaining and torturing Palestinians is ruining the country’s reputation among the Arab and international communities. The Egyptian rights group received medical reports stating that Palestinian prisoner Ramzi al-Ra’i’s leg has become infected after Egyptian officials tortured him and neglected to provide treatment for his wounds, Abu Saada told the PIC Friday … Ra’i was severely beaten by Egyptian security forces, causing a severe gangrene-like infection to appear on his legs,
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7rjdii8HEC9MELKs64uQ7qj4rf4ie6OB1bkOD4iSLUds%2fuXHj7DPRsEr0H%2bR39aKNWFqm05t7AOldeKcjjpYReH81xImAYO8S8UfVsFKv9JY%3d
Hamas: PA detained 4 supporters overnight
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas on Saturday accused Palestinian Authority security forces of detaining four party supporters overnight across the West Bank. Hamas affiliates were detained from Tubas, Tulkarem and Qalqiliya in the northern West Bank, according to a statement from the Islamist movement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351224
Repression / Racism / Discrimination
Leftists march against ‘dark regime’
Thousands of left-wing activists belonging to groups Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has labeled “terror-aiders” gathered in Meir Park in Tel Aviv Saturday evening to protest against “anti-democratic trends in the Knesset”. The protesters plan to march to Tel Aviv Museum, where a rally will be held with MKs from Labor, Kadima, Meretz, Hadash, and Ta’al.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4013941,00.html
J’lem cops try to shut down leftist pub as mayor dines nearby / Dimi Reider
The mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat — responsible for the highly controversial building projects in the East of the city– went out to dine at the posh Cavalier restaurant in the city. He was spotted by activists from the Sheikh Jarrah solidarity movement, who decided to combine business with pleasure, and sat down at the outside tables of the nearby Sira pub, one of the left’s most favourite, delightfully scruffy hangouts in the capital. Aside from their well-earned pints, the activists were holding signs protesting Barkat’s policy. According to a report in Haaretz, their beer evening was soon interrupted by the city’s finest; one of the activists told the paper the scene was soon graced by “several dozen policemen…
http://972mag.com/selective-enforcement-at-its-best/
‘It’s trivial to hire Arab academics’ / Interview with Ayman Seif
We asked Ayman Seif, general director of the Authority for the Economic Development of Minorities at the Prime Minister’s Office, if it’s true that there aren’t many Arabs in Israeli government service. Apparently it is. “We are 20% of the population, but only 7% of the employees of the state are Arabs,” Seif says. In absolute numbers, out of state employees, there are only 4,200 Arabs, he says. Moreover, very few make it high in the ranks of government service.
http://english.themarker.com/interview-it-s-trivial-to-hire-arab-academics-1.336709
Ethiopians need not apply / Ido Solomon
African immigrants entering the job market today face numerous barriers. Their skin color is just one of them … “The impression I got over the phone was that there was a click between the manager and me. The conversation had gone smoothly, she sounded very nice, and it seemed that I fit the qualifications. But as soon as I got to the store and introduced myself she told me, clearly embarrassed, that she had just hired someone else for the job. It was a little odd. She didn’t say so specifically, but it was quite clear to me that it was because of the color of my skin.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/ethiopians-need-not-apply-1.336958
Haredi schools ordered to solve displacement of Sephardim
Knesset Education Committee Chairman Alex Miller (Israel Beiteinu) on Tuesday gave cities in which haredi high school girls are not enrolled anywhere one month to change that situation or to provide a very good explanation for it, after a lengthy hearing on the situation of Sephardi teens who remain at home because the schools of their choice wouldn’t accept them.
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=203339
Political/Diplomatic developments
Abbas sends condolences to overthrown Tunisian president
RAMALLAH, (PIC)– De facto Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas phoned former Tunisian president Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali a few hours before his people overthrew him to send condolences for the events that preceded his escape from the country.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s72PoR5%2bkOy%2fU4of4VZlZ0f6LLF2Yc%2fR%2bGI43MMlzFG6%2bHxZn5AuPDm3%2bdYO%2brmenDGTzIshmBVDcDr4ikpKIoEWdYm7D1Pya6Fjeh6nENuZ0%3d
PLO backtracks on Tunisia stance
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian president’s advisor to the PLO said Saturday that the body’s leadership had not taken an official stance on the situation in Tunisia, contradicting a prior statement expressing solidarity.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351347
Medvedev heads to West Bank, Jordan to revive talks
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sets off on a rare trip to the West Bank and Jordan next week in a bid to revive stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after their collapse at the end of last year. A strike by Israeli diplomats earlier this month forced Medvedev to cancel a visit to Israel, leading him to reduce the Middle East trip to just the West Bank and Amman
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110114/wl_nm/us_russia_medvedev_westbank
Other news
GPO apologizes for strip search (AFP)
The Government Press Office apologized Friday for an incident in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s guards ordered a pregnant Arab newswoman to remove her bra and told other reporters to strip to their underwear, AFP reported. The report says Israel’s GPO expressed “regret” for the humiliating search. “I want to express my regret over the fact that journalists left the GPO’s annual reception with the feeling that they received improper treatment by guards,” Director Oren Hellman said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4013765,00.html
Amnesty: Israel training UK to use Cast Lead UAVs
Human rights group Amnesty International on Friday said British soldiers are being trained in Israel in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which have been “field-tested on Palestinians” during IDF operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip in 2009, Sky News reported.
Britain has purchased 30 of Elbit’s WK450 UAVs, based on the Hermes 450 system, in a deal which Sky News says is worth nearly one billion pounds. As a result of the deal, British troops have been training in Israel in the use of the drones.
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=203607
same poll, very different emphases in reporting
East Jerusalem Arabs split on where to live (UPI)
JERUSALEM, Jan. 13 (UPI) — Most East Jerusalem Arabs indicated they would not move if their neighborhoods became part of a Palestinian state, a poll released Thursday indicated. Thirty-five percent of participants said they were willing to move if their neighborhoods were absorbed into a future Palestinian state, while 54 percent of respondents said they would stay put, Haaretz reported. Thirty percent said they preferred Palestinian citizenship to Israeli, Haaretz reported, while 35 percent of participants said they preferred Israeli citizenship and an equal 35 percent expressed no preference or declined to answer.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/01/13/EJerusalem-Arabs-split-on-where-to-live/UPI-17131294926962/
Poll: Jerusalem Palestinians prefer Israeli papers
JERUSALEM (AP) – A poll suggests that a plurality of Jerusalem Palestinians would rather remain in Israel even after a peace deal and the creation of a Palestinian state. The survey released this week shows that 35 percent of Jerusalem’s Palestinian residents would choose Israeli citizenship over Palestinian citizenship. Respondents who chose Israeli citizenship cited freedom of movement, higher income and Israeli health insurance as the reasons behind their choice … Hatem Abdel Qader, a former Palestinian minister of Jerusalem affairs, doubted the credibility of the poll and dismissed it as meaningless.
http://www.hometownstations.com/Global/story.asp?S=13843064
What the poll on East Jerusalem Palestinians really means / Maggie Sager
As a November study by Petcher Polls (slideshow here) elucidating the opinions of Palestinian East Jerusalemites makes its rounds on the internet, many hasbarists have used its conclusions to justify Israel’s illegal annexation of the city … Palestinians were also particularly concerned with losing access to Al-Aqsa mosque, which Israeli authorities have routinely restricted.
http://www.uruknet.info/?new=73922
PA tourism minister meets head of USAID
Palestinian Authority Tourism Minister Khuloud Daibes on Thursday met USAID head Mike Harvey to discuss tourism in the West Bank. Daibes thanked Harvey for USAID support for Palestinian tourism projects, particularly the restoration of Hisham’s palace in Jericho.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=350875
ICCO reaffirms support for EI after meeting Dutch minister
The Netherlands-based foundation ICCO issued the following press release on 13 January 2011 reaffirming its support for The Electronic Intifada, after a meeting between ICCO and Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11733.shtml
Russian president to inaugurate Jericho museum
JERICHO — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will be present at the formal opening of the Jericho Museum, built by Russia on lands handed over to the country by Palestinian officials three years earlier. The museum was built on 105 dunums of land once owned by a Russian Tsar, abandoned during the socialist revolution and handed back over to Russia via the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society in June 2008.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=350973
In Israel, Palestinian orchestra produces sounds of independence
…It was very strange — and yet not so strange at all — to chat with a musician friend, a Palestinian from Ramallah, in the courtyard of the Krieger Center. After all, what are Palestinians doing visiting Israel? … The 600 or so people who came to hear the orchestra play its debut concert spoke Arabic, and that was also the language onstage. The anthem was ‘My Homeland’, the Palestinian anthem. The orchestra did not, then, come to ‘Israel’, but rather to ‘Haifa’.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/in-israel-palestinian-orchestra-produces-sounds-of-independence-1.337008
Analysis / Opinion
Lost innocence / Akiva Eldar
Hanan Ashrawi was one of the first Palestinians to negotiate with Israelis over the future of the territories. After almost 20 years of disappointments, does she still believe peace is possible?
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/lost-innocence-1.336988
Forget Iran, Israel’s biggest enemy is itself / Guy Grimland
High-tech innovator Benny Landa has moved from digital printing to a new, top-secret effort to develop alternate energy sources. In that venture he expects success; it’s Israel’s ability to contend with widening social and economic gaps that fills him with trepidation … Here are some of the figures Landa collected: As of 2009, Israel was one of the most non-egalitarian countries in the world, with gaps between rich and poor among the widest in the world; as of 2007, the percentage of people employed in the total population was 37.3 percent, the lowest among developed countries and one of the lowest in the world.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/forget-iran-israel-s-biggest-enemy-is-itself-1.336960
Lieberman’s dream is Israel’s nightmare / Yossi Sarid
Lieberman and his serfs want to turn the Jewish and democratic state into a Jewish and Soviet state: corrupt judges, bribed policemen, frightened prosecutors, submissive journalists and human rights activists in handcuffs.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/lieberman-s-dream-is-israel-s-nightmare-1.336917
Israel’s right have eyes but do not see, have ears but do not hear / Carlo Strenger
Israel’s right-wing politicians are trying to divert blame for its isolation onto the country’s liberal critics — Future historians will debate how Israel’s leadership could have been so blind. They will wonder how it was possible that Israel – for 43 years – didn’t realize what David Ben-Gurion saw a few weeks after the Six-Day War: that the occupation of the West Bank was a catastrophe for Israel … The frenzy of the ‘Judaization’ of Jerusalem has now crossed the tipping point where the international community is no longer willing to just stand by … The ominous signs that Israel will soon be under great international pressure are mounting, and proposals for specific steps of boycott and sanctions are taking shape. One is to deny Israelis who live in the West Bank entry to the EU
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/strenger-than-fiction/israel-s-right-have-eyes-but-do-not-see-have-ears-but-do-not-hear-1.336224
Iraq
Friday: 2 Iraqis killed, 1 wounded
by Margaret Griffis — Only two deaths were reported in Iraq today, while a third individual was wounded in a bomb blast. Meanwhile, in response to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden‘s visit, scores of Iraqis staged a demonstration in Najaf calling for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Although U.S. troops are scheduled to leave by the end of the year, a new agreement allowing them to stay beyond 2011 could be forged. In any case, a large contingent of state department personnel and contractors will likely remain.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/01/14/friday-2-iraqis-killed-1-wounded-2/
Baghdad gets less than one hour of electricity a day / Saadoun Al-Jaberi
Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, home to more than six million people, hardly gets one hour of non-interrupted electricity supplies every 24 hours. The city has plunged into darkness with the country’s national grid still unable to increase supplies despite billions of dollars in investments. Seven years after the 2003-U.S. invasion, power production in the country is still below levels reached under former leader Saddam Hussein.
http://www.uruknet.info/?new=73931
US soldiers killed while training Iraqis
15 Jan – BAGHDAD (AP) — Two U.S. soldiers were killed by an Iraqi trooper who opened fire on them during a training exercise Saturday, raising fresh concerns about Iraq’s security forces as the Americans prepare to withdraw from the country by the end of this year.
http://www.wesh.com/r/26503853/detail.html
Syrian PM in Iraq to boost trade
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Baghdad and Damascus agreed to boost trade ties on Saturday during a visit by Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri, four months after the two neighbours re-established full diplomatic relations.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110115/wl_mideast_afp/iraqsyriadiplomacy
Lebanon
Lebanon: Controversial probe results to be uncovered Monday
PARIS (AFP) — Draft charges hinting at Hezbollah in the 2005 murder of Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri are likely to be presented under wraps to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Monday, the French daily Le Monde reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351293
Hezbollah chief to speak Sunday on Lebanon crisis
BEIRUT (AFP) – Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah will speak on Sunday for the first time since ministers from his party and its allies toppled the government of Saad Hariri, the Shiite group’s television said. The announcement comes a day after Hariri, who was in the United States when the cabinet walkout took place, returned home and vowed to cooperate in forming a new government.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110115/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonpoliticstribunal
Report: UNIFIL limits patrols along border
The United Nations is reducing its presence in southern Lebanon following the impending political crisis: Lebanese daily al-Akhbar, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, reported Friday that UNIFIL forces have limited their patrols along the southern border with Israel, fearing a looming civil strife.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4013659,00.html
US condemns Hezbollah’s wrecking of Lebanese gov’t
(AP) The United States has condemned Hezbollah vigorously for quitting Lebanon’s pro-Western government and causing it to collapse. A White House statement promises to help Lebanon peacefully reconstitute a government. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon said Friday that Hezbollah’s intentions have been “laid bare.” He said the Shiite militant group would have a hard time presenting itself as a “righteous resistance organization” if it continues trying to undermine “international efforts to find the truth.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4013776,00.html
Tunisia
With Tunis connection, Palestinians watch upheaval
Palestinians in Tunisia have checked in and are doing fine, Palestinian ambassador in Tunis Salman Al-Harfi told state news agency WAFA in a report published Saturday … A small Palestinian population remains in Tunisia, which hosted the Palestine Liberation Organization from 1982-1992, when the population reached some 5,000. Studies showed that most of the Palestinians in Tunisia left in the mid 1990s following the creation of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah in the wake of the Oslo Accords. A report from the European University estimates there remain about 1,000 Palestinians in the North African nation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351126
Shootout in Tunis as new leader takes over (AP)
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Soldiers and police have exchanged fire with assailants in front of Tunisia’s Interior Ministry amid unrest after the longtime president was ousted. Associated Press reporters saw the shootout Saturday that left two bodies on the ground on a big square in central Tunis. It was not clear whether the two were dead or injured, or who they were.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-01-15-tunisia-president_N.htm
Rebellion in Tunisian prison amid unrest
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) – A top official in the Tunisian coastal city of Mahdia says the prison director there freed about 1,000 inmates following a deadly rebellion. The official says soldiers at the prison opened fire on the inmates after they rebelled Saturday, setting fire to mattresses and other objects. The official estimates that five people were killed.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110115/ap_on_re_af/af_tunisia_riots
Tunisia’s dictator is out but what’s left behind? / Ishaan Tharoor
(TIME) In the hours after Tunisia’s President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali on Friday fled the country he’d ruled with an iron fist for 23 years, many commentators rushed to proclaim the end of an era … But the euphoria may have been somewhat premature. In Tunisia, a state of emergency remains in force with brutally enforced dusk-to-dawn curfews. Ben Ali has stepped down, but the protests — and the violent crackdown by security forces — are far from over.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2042697,00.html
Unrest engulfs Tunisia after power changes hands for second time in 24 hours
Unrest engulfed Tunisia on Saturday after a popular rebellion forced the president to flee: Dozens of inmates were killed in a prison fire, looters emptied shops and torched the main train station and gunfire echoed through the capital … Power changed hands for the second time in 24 hours in this North African country after President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled the country Friday for Saudi Arabia … Fouad Mebazaa, the former parliament speaker, was sworn in as chief of state on Saturday. He says he asked the premier to form a national unity government in the country’s best interests.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/unrest-engulfs-tunisia-after-power-changes-hands-for-second-time-in-24-hours-1.337154
Obama hails Tunisians’ ‘courage’ as ousted president arrives in Saudi Arabia
(Reuters) President Barack Obama on Friday condemned violence against Tunisian citizens and called on the government to hold free and fair elections soon … A Saudi official told Reuters Ben Ali was in the port city of Jeddah … Saudi Arabia has a history of receiving deposed rulers and out-of-favor politicians. Former Uganda dictator Idi Amin spent his final years in Jeddah.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/obama-hails-tunisia-s-courage-as-ousted-president-arrives-in-saudi-arabia-1.337107
The Jasmine Revolution / Ahmed Moor
Thanks to the New York Times, I’ve been able to engage deeply with what’s happening on the ground in Tunisia for the past month. Just kidding. The Times only just covered the story (I think the Style section had a piece about Ben Ali’s bespoke suits and impeccably manicured eyebrows) – while Al Jazeera has been doing an extraordinary job covering the biggest story in the Arab world and Africa. I wonder, what’s behind the lack of coverage?
The Arab world changed today. Now we know how easy it is to depose the malignancies in our midst.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/the-jasmine-revolution.html
Tunisia: People power succeeds without Western backing
CAIRO – These are scenes Western powers would have loved to see in Iran – thousands of young people braving live bullets and forcing an autocratic ruler out of the country. But it is in the North African nation Tunisia where an uprising forced the Western-backed autocratic President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country. Western powers remain incredulous. France, the real power broker in the Franco North African nation, was giving Ben Ali tacit support until an hour before he fled Friday.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/01/15-0
No Muslim, non-Arab reactions in solidarity with Tunisia / As`ad AbuKhalil
Another argument in favor of the political salience of Arab identity is the lack of a Muslim, non-Arab reaction in support of the Tunisian people. Many Arabs on Facebook and Twitter have noted that.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/no-muslim-non-arab-reactions-in.html
Tunisia revolution live updates
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/14/tunisia-revolution-live-u_n_809294.html
How Tunisian Facebookers will change newsrooms / Romina Ruiz-Goiriena
…many of my fellow journalists in newsrooms across the world concluded the Tehran Twitter protests were an isolated occurrence — until now. After weeks of unrest in Tunisia seen only through videos uploaded on Facebook, it seems as our psychological apprehension to rely on social networks as a news source will finally come to an end.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/romina-ruizgoiriena/how-tunisian-facebookers-_b_809423.html
Other Mideast
Egypt is not Tunisia, but…
CAIRO, Jan 15 (IPS) – “Where can I find a Tunisian flag?” The question flooded Egyptian blogs, tweeter and Facebook pages minutes after news that popular protests had forced out long-time Tunisian dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. Egypt is feeling the ripple effect from Tunisia already … Today the view from Cairo is that the military-backed regime of 82-year-old President Hosni Mubarak is far more formidable, and more subtle, than the brutal regime of Ben Ali that alienated its own people
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54143
Tunisia riots offer warning to Arab governments
CAIRO (Reuters) – Nervous Arab leaders watching young Tunisian demonstrators force an aging strongman to step aside are wondering if their own old established formula of political repression will have to change too … The unprecedented riots that have shaken Tunisia have been closely followed on regional satellite television channels and the Internet across the Middle East where high unemployment, bulging young populations, sky-rocketing inflation and a widening gap between rich and poor are all grave concerns.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110114/wl_nm/us_mideast_protests
Jordanians protest living conditions, blame gov’t
AMMAN (AFP) — Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Amman and other Jordanian cities on Friday to protest soaring commodity prices, unemployment and poverty, calling for the government to be sacked.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351302
Egypt postpones trial of suspected Mossad agent
(dpa) Trial of Egyptian businessman Tareq Abdelrazek delayed after lawyer resigns, citing his refusal to represent a ‘traitor.‘ … Two Israelis accused of spying on Egypt will be tried in absentia. .
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/egypt-postpones-trial-of-suspected-mossad-agent-1.337131
IAEA envoys visit Iran nuclear facilities ahead of P5+1 talks
(AP) Ambassadors from Egypt, Cuba, Syria, Algeria, Venezuela, Oman and the Arab League visit unfinished heavy water reactor near Arak, uranium enrichment facility near Natanz.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/iaea-envoys-visit-iran-nuclear-facilities-ahead-of-p5-1-talks-1.337136
Iran says 2 downed spy planes were US-operated
(AP) Iran said Saturday it has determined that two pilotless spy planes it claims to have shot down were operated by the United States, and offered to put them on public display.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4013915,00.html
U.S. and other world news
Imam behind NY mosque near 9/11 site steps down (Reuters)
NEW YORK — The imam and his wife behind a controversial plan to build a Muslim cultural center and mosque near the site of New York’s September 11 attack are stepping down as leaders of the project, the center said Friday. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and Daisy Khan had become the public faces of the project, which they described as a cultural center open to everyone, as opposition to the project swelled last year from critics who said its location was insensitive.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110114/us_nm/us_usa_mosque
Ex-Army translator acquitted of working as agent
DETROIT – A jury on Friday acquitted a former military translator of secretly working as an Iraqi agent in the U.S. but convicted him of making false statements when he sought a security clearance. The split verdict offered some relief to Issam “Sam” Hamama, who claimed he was only passing along basic information about Iraqis in the U.S. when he reached out to Iraqi officials in the 1990s during the regime of Saddam Hussein.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110115/ap_on_re_us/us_iraq_agent
High-tech border fence: Obama administration cancels project
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday ended a high-tech border fence project that cost taxpayers nearly $1 billion but did little to improve security. Congress ordered the high-tech fence along the border with Mexico in 2006 amid a clamor over the porous border, but it yielded only 53 miles of protection.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/15/high-tech-border-fence-ends_n_809450.html
Death threat domains : Registrar says killjulianassange.com will not be removed
According to vivantleakers.org — a new site created to track “cyber-bullying domain names of wikileaks associates” — multiple death-threat domain names have been registered going after WikiLeaks director Julian Assange. Killjulianassange.com and julianassangemustdie.com are recently registered examples, although they have no content on them at this time. Go Daddy, the site which registered both killjulianassange.com and julianassangemustdie.com said there is nothing that can be done about either site while they are contentless.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/14/death-threat-domain-names_n_809174.html
