And more news from Today in Palestine:
Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
OPT: Displacement risk for Palestinians in East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH Monday, January 17, 2011 (IRIN) – UN agencies and European Union (EU) officials in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) are calling for the implementation of international humanitarian law to protect the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem from forced displacement.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=91648
New 1,400 Housing Unit Plan in East Jerusalem
The Israeli Planning Panel of the jerusalem Municipality is set to approve a new building project that includes at least 1,400 homes in a settlement neighborhood in East Jerusalem, media agencies reported on Sunday.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60423
New settlements plan enrages Palestinians
JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities yesterday said they are moving ahead with a new proposal to build 1,400 apartments in east Jerusalem, enraging Palestinians who denounced the plan as another settler land grab. Palestinians have already broken off peace talks with Israel for refusing to halt construction in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. They claim these areas, which Israel captured in 1967, and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for a future state. Jerusalem officials confirmed they were aware of the plan, but would not say when the city’s planning committee would vote on it.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=296365
U.S. informs Palestinians rejection to anti-settlement draft resolution
RAMALLAH, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — The U.S. administration informed the Palestinian leadership officially that it opposes an Arab- Palestinian draft resolution in the UN to condemn the Jewish settlement activities. U.S. officials passed their position to Saeb Erekat, chief Palestinian negotiator who visited Washington earlier this week upon an invitation from the Obama administration to discuss the stalled Middle East peace negotiations.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-01/16/c_13693206.htm
Five Palestinians hurt as Israelis raze homes
Ramallah: Five Palestinians were injured on Sunday in clashes while Israeli bulldozers destroyed makeshift homes for the ninth time in a village between the towns of Rahat and Beersheba on the Negev Peninsula. The Israeli machinery and its armed forces descended on Araqeeb and razed the houses claiming that they were built without obtaining permits.
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestinian-territories/five-palestinians-hurt-as-israelis-raze-homes-1.747302
Jewish settlers desecrate Yaffa mosque under police protection
Jewish settlers desecrated a Yaffa mosque Saturday evening during an aggressive march that was apparently coordinated with police.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
IOF deports Palestinian from WB to Gaza
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) deported on Monday Mahmoud Duwaik, 30, from his hometown of Jericho in the West Bank to the Gaza Strip.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=
IDF graffiti scrawled on the wall of the Samouni home
And if you don’t like these photos, do something about it. You are being made poorer so we can orphan children.
http://www.maxajl.com/?p=4784&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+http%2Fwwwmaxajlcom%2Ffeedrss2+%28Jewbonics%29
Nof Zion to Remain in Jewish Hands
Israeli supermarket magnate Rami Levy has made made a successful bid to take over development of the Nof Zion settlement project being built near the Palestinan neighbourhood of Jabal Al Mukabber in occupied East Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60436
Israeli government extends ban on Palestinian family reunion
The Israeli government decided in its weekly meeting on Sunday to extend the ban on reuniting Palestinian families divided between 1948 occupied land and the Gaza Strip.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd8
Rabbis Call for Extermination Camps
An article in the Israeli Jewish Orthodox publication “Fountains of Salvation”, which purports to be a ‘family magazine’, suggests that Israel will create death camps for Palestinians in order to wipe them out like Amalek. The terms Amalek or Amalekites is code for the Palestinians (and other perceived enemies of the Jewish people) and originates in the Old Testament. It amounts to a call for genocide.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60435
Rabbis call Palestinian presence in ’48-occupied territory “a terrorist act”
Rabbi Zalman Melamed called Palestinian keenness to reside in “Jewish cities” in occupied Palestine a “terrorist attempt to crush two thousand year old Jewish dreams”.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Here is your peace camp: Labor’s visit to the settlements
Last week, members of the Labor party, including the party’s Secretary-General Hilik Bar and several advisers to Knesset Members and ministers, went on a visit to the West Bank. Labor members visited the Barkan industrial park, the Ariel academic center and several settlements in the area of Nablus, east of Israel’s security barrier and well outside what is sometimes referred to as “the settlements blocks”. The tour was hosted by the head of the Yesha Council (the settlers’ representative body), Danny Dayan.
http://www.promisedlandblog.com/?p=3674
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Silwan teenager re-arrested
Israeli forces re-arrest Silwan resident Musab Shyoukhi, 18, while he was already serving a house arrest sentence. Shyoukhi was taken by police from his home, on the charge of breaking the terms of his house arrest. The accusation was based on photos allegedly taken by an Elad-associated settler of Shyoukhi working on his family’s agricultural fields outside his home, which were then turned over to police. Although photos exist of the settler in question in fact hurling stones at Palestinians, international solidarity activists and journalists, he has never been investigated by police. This bears a stark contrast to Palestinian children of Silwan and other regions, who are frequently arrested on flimsy charges of throwing stones, with little or no supporting evidence.
http://silwanic.net/?p=10626
Israeli court sentences Jerusalemite child to one year behind bars
An Israeli court on Sunday sentenced a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in occupied Jerusalem to one year imprisonment for throwing stones at Israeli occupation police.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Clashes in Silwan as police up the stakes in Baten al-Hawa land grab
Violent clashes erupted in Baten al-Hawa district today following a large Israeli police raid on a residential home. The home of Yahya Silwadi and his family has stormed by police and plainclothes officers, who told residents that they needed to inspect the home for “illegal” additions and measure dimensions of the rooms. Clashes broke out when family members tried to prevent Israeli forces from entering the home. One eyewitness stated that the army began firing tear gas and sound grenades immediately as neighbors arrived on the scene. Clashes spread to Bir Ayyub neighborhood, where soldiers fired live ammunition at Palestinian residents. One observer told Silwanic that “all soldiers, who were joined by guards from the settlements, used live ammunition once their vehicles broke down.”
http://silwanic.net/?p=10613
One Demonstrator Hit Directly in the Head with a Tear Gas Projectile in Ni’ilin, Joseph Dana
Over one hundred people marched to the Separation wall in Ni’ilin this afternoon. The army continued to break its own rules of conduct by firing tear gas canisters directly at demonstrators. One demonstrator was hit in the head with a tear gas projectile and others suffered from tear gas inhalation.
http://josephdana.com/2011/01/one-demonstrator-hit-directly-in-the-head-with-a-tear-gas-projectile-in-niilin/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=one-demonstrator-hit-directly-in-the-head-with-a-tear-gas-projectile-in-niilin
Beit Ummar Invaded During Weekly Demonstration Against the Occupation, Joseph Dana
During the weekly demonstration against the occupation on Saturday, five Israeli army jeeps invaded the village of Beit Ummar and took violent crowd control measures. The army used rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas during clashes with youth inside the civilian areas of the village.
http://josephdana.com/2011/01/beit-ummar-invaded-during-weekly-demonstration-against-the-occupation/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beit-ummar-invaded-during-weekly-demonstration-against-the-occupation
Totah: Sit-in tent gave model image of resisting occupation
Palestinian MP Mohammed Totah has said that the lawmakers’ sit-in inside the Red Cross premises in occupied Jerusalem for 200 days had gained momentum.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
#BDS: “Irish Artists’ Pledge to Boycott Israel” reaches 200 signatories
Irish singer-songwriter Dylan Walshe became the landmark 200th signatory to the “Irish Artists’ Pledge to Boycott Israel”, which commits endorsers to not “avail of any invitation to perform or exhibit in Israel, nor to accept any funding from any institution linked to the government of Israel, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights”. The pledge – an initiative of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) – was launched last August and since then has garnered the support of many high profile Irish creative and performing artists such as Stephen Rea, Sinéad Cusack, Christy Moore, Donal Lunny, Andy Irvine, Damien Dempsey, Neilí Conroy, Conor Kostick, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Sharon Shannon, Robert Ballagh and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill.
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2011/01/bds-irish-artists-pledge-to-boycott.html
#BDS: US TOUR: Palestinian Queers Talk Politics
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2011/01/bds-us-tour-palestinian-queers-talk.html
Did pop star Paradis cancel Israel concert over politics?
City Mouse Online and Matan Abramovitch–French singer Vanessa Paradis claims her visit to Israel with husband Johnny Depp was cancelled for professional reasons, but insiders say anti-Israel boycott campaign played a role.
http://www.haaretz.com/culture/did-pop-star-paradis-cancel-israel-concert-over-politics-1.337312
Boycott dons fine new western garb– ‘for professional reasons’, Philip Weiss
Is this the ballgame? Vanessa Paradis has cancelled a February concert in Israel, JPost reports. And Johnny Depp is her partner, he was going over there with her. For professional, not political reasons, quoth the songbird. Well I wonder. Haaretz is in on the speculation. Isn’t that just like people saying that the Canadian megastore Bay has stopped handling Ahava products, made from minerals taken from the occupied Palestinian territories, because of sales #s, not boycott? Amounts to the same thing. Says Nancy Kricorian of Code Pink’s Stolen Beauty campaign: “It seems that everyone is dropping Ahava because sales are down, not because of the boycott — when is someone going to make the connection between plummeting sales & the boycott?”
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/boycott-has-donned-fine-new-western-euphemism-for-professional-reasons.html
King laid the groundwork. Let us keep building!
The birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is one we truly enjoy commemorating. To reflect on King’s life and work is to find hope in the future, and reverence for grueling campaigns past. As we approach Dr. King’s birthday, at a moment when Palestinians and many Israelis are mourning the Israeli military’s killing of Jawaher Abu Rahmah with U.S.-made tear gas during a nonviolent West Bank protest conducted in the spirit of MLK… …and also commemorating the 1,400 dead after the Israeli military’s attrocities in Gaza two years ago… ..and while our own country is mourning the dead and injured in Tucson…We remember the lessons of Dr. King.
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/king-laid-groundwork-let-us-keep.html
American tax-exempt organizations provide direct funding to Israeli army, Yaniv Reich
Elsewhere on this blog I have highlighted how tax-exempt donations to US organizations are used to fund overt racism and racist violence, genocidal rabbis, Jewish terrorists, and illegal Jewish-only colonies on Palestinian land. So it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that US charity money also goes directly to the Israeli army, and yet I still find it remarkable that US government subsidies in the form of tax breaks can be used to fund foreign militaries.
http://www.hybridstates.com/2011/01/american-tax-exempt-organizations-provide-direct-funding-to-israeli-army/
Human Rights/Humanitarian Issues/Siege
Illegal acts by Israeli authorities on the rise in the occupied West Bank – UN human rights expert
GENEVA (14 January 2011) – UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk expressed concern over what he described as “series of illegal acts by Israeli authorities” in the occupied territories, namely the killing of four Palestinians in the West Bank in the past two weeks by Israel Defence Forces (IDF), as well as the demolition of the historic Shepherd Hotel in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian landmark, so as to make way for the construction of more Israeli settlements.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-8D4T2H?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Gaza’s share of medicine withheld in Ramallah on political decisions
The lives of 450 kidney patients are at risk as the West Bank health ministry withholds the Gaza Strip’s share of medicines in Ramallah warehouses, the Gaza health ministry said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
UN director in Gaza quits for new post
John Ging leaves UNRWA to take senior New York post after years as champion of Gazans’ rights. John Ging, the high-profile director of the UN’s key agency in Gaza, today unexpectedly announced he was quitting to take up a new UN post in New York. Ging, 45, who has worked in Gaza since 2006, has been an enthusiastic and effective advocate for the rights of the Gazan population and a vocal critic of Israeli government policy. He has been the target of assassination attempts and death threats in Gaza, and Islamist opponents have attacked projects he has promoted.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/17/un-gaza-john-ging-unrwa
The Mayor of Bethlehem, a US Citizen under Siege
Fadi Abu Saada &Ghassan Bannoura – PNN – Dr. Victor Batarseh, mayor of Bethlehem, accused of close ties to the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Islamic Hamas movement, has been boycotted by visiting American and European officials. A retired physician, Batarseh was elected as the mayor of Bethlehem in 2005 as a candidate of the Bethlehem Brotherhood and Development bloc. By law, the holder of this post must be a Christian. He is a Palestinian Roman Catholic and holds a US passport.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9412
Violence/Aggression/War Crimes
Israeli police shoot Palestinian man during chase
A Ramallah man was moderately injured in Acre Sunday after Israeli police shot him during a chase.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Life and death in the buffer zone
Death comes quickly at a place like this. On sunny winter days, when the smell of the night’s rain is still in the air, as if it would have brought some hope for the raped, barren land of Gaza, overrun hundreds of times by Israeli tanks and bulldozers. The land between the foothills of the village of Bait Hanoun and the Israeli border, guarded by watchtowers, soldiers, snipers, helicopters and drones is a land in which death is a regular guest.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/01/16467/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
Another American Family Grieves Over Israeli Killings With Impunity, Alex Kane
Emily Henochowicz, Tristan Anderson, Furkan Dogan, Brian Avnery, Rachel Corrie and more–all American citizens killed or severely injured by Israel with no justice served and barely a peep heard from U.S. authorities. Now, add Ziad Jilani, who was a permanent resident of the U.S. and whose family holds U.S. citizenship, to that list.
http://alexbkane.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/another-american-family-grieves-over-israeli-killings-with-impunity/
Detainees
IOF troops storm Khalil village, round up 7 members of one family
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed the village of Sa’eer northeast of Al-Khalil in a pre dawn raid on Sunday and rounded up seven young men of the same family.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Hamas: PA detains 26 party members
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority has recently detained 26 members of Hamas, the party said Wednesday. The Islamist movement said the detainees were from Salfit, Tulkarem, Jenin, Hebron and the Nablus areas. Hamas said in a statement that 12 of the detainees were “school students” in Salfit, but provided no further details.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351721
Palestinian Political Prisoners Punished for Organizing Hunger Strike in Israeli Prison
Ahmad Sa’adat, the general secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Jamal Abu Al-Haija , a leader of Hamas in the West Bank, are being punished for organizing a prisoner hunger strike to protest Israeli prison conditions.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60431
Political Developments
Good Riddance: Israel’s defense minister quits Labor Party (AP)
AP – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak abruptly announced Monday that he was leaving the Labor Party — dividing the movement that dominated Israeli politics for decades and setting off a chain reaction that cast new doubts over already troubled peace efforts with the Palestinians.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110117/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_politics
Netanyahu: Government here to stay
Prime minister expresses his appreciation for ministers who resigned from his cabinet following Labor split, says enjoyed working with them. ‘The entire world knows, as do the Palestinians, that peace talks must be held with this government’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4014960,00.html
Other News
Fayyad: Taxes must rise to reduce aid dependency
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Sunday that taxes must rise to reduce dependence on donors. Fayyad, a former World Bank economist, faced a barrage of questions on the state of the economy during a meeting with journalists in Ramallah. Reporters asked Fayyad what support his government would offer to assist struggling families and the unemployed, and whether taxes would rise.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351926
Fatah accuses Jewish rabbis of fueling religious conflict
RAMALLAH, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party on Sunday accused Jewish rabbis in Israel of calling for religious conflicts and “racial terrorism.” The “racist, bloody tone” in the Israeli religious speech implies “actual dangers” on the Palestinians, said Jamal Nazzal, a member of Fatah Revolutionary Council. His remarks came after an Israeli news website published some quotes from a decree signed by major rabbis in Israel, calling for the creation of “death camps” for the Palestinians.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-01/17/c_13693376.htm
Fayyad: “Blackwater Is Not Operating In The West Bank”
Palestinian Prime Minister, Dr. Salaam Faayyad, stated Sunday that the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank is not dealing with American security company, Blackwater, and that the United States hired Blackwater to provide protection for senior American figures visting the West Bank and Israel.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60428
Israeli Think-tank says US Aid Should End
The influential Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies (JIMS) has published a study which argues that financial aid to Israel from the United States is a net loss for the country.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60433
Analysis/Op-ed
King’s words live in Palestinian city, Dorothy M. Zellner
As a veteran of the 1960s civil rights movement, I hope this year’s Martin Luther King Day will be more than the usual constant repetition of his “I have a dream” speech. This has flattened the very essence of the movement, which was the vastness and the vibrancy of hundreds of thousands of “ordinary” people who wouldn’t and couldn’t stand for any more indignities and any more insults.
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/kings-words-live-in-804582.html
Gaza Diary day 24: visiting the Samounis, Max Ajl
We oscillate here between outrage and willed calm, “maneuvering between numbness and hypersensitivity,” as a friend put it. You cannot let the anger carry you off like a riptide. Getting hoarse or shrill doesn’t accomplish anything, and in avoiding impotently raised voices, we have very good examples: almost everyone around us, every mourner’s tent we visit, every young man stonily reciting the details of the last minutes of his brother’s life, and especially the Samouni children, who, instead of roiling with justified rage, sing the words of Lutfi Yassini put to music, offer us tea and coffee, and eagerly soak up Adie’s English classes.
http://www.maxajl.com/?p=4789&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+http%2Fwwwmaxajlcom%2Ffeedrss2+%28Jewbonics%29
Gaza Two Years Later: There is nothing that tastes as beautiful as reading in the dark, Mohammed Rabah Suliman
“I just take it as a challenge, the louder the bomb, the more engrossed in my book I become; the more intense the shooting, the more pages I’m determined to read. And they just lose.” That is what my teacher told me on the first day after the war when I ventured out from home for first time in twenty two days, on a visit to my university, the Islamic University of Gaza. He asked me, “How did you spend your time during the war?” I just foolishly fidgeted as I didn’t have an answer. And he said the above words. Ever since, those words have become my fundamental doctrine, demarcating the essentially antagonistic relationship between me and Israel. That is to say, me as an individual, on the one hand, and Israel as a state, on the other hand. And ever since, I have mastered the game: Israel is set against me, and whatever crimes Israel commits are meant against none but me. This mindset proved influential, and functions rather psychologically. “Go on and defeat Israel” becomes your motto!
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/there-is-nothing-that-tastes-as-beautiful-as-reading-in-the-dark.html
A Gaza family’s tragedy
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Nour Salha was 15 years old when he saw an Israeli missile reduce his home to rubble, killing his mother and four siblings. On Jan. 9, 2009, during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, a warplane shelled Nour’s home in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. His mother Randa, two brothers Diyaa, 14, and Bahaa, 4, and sisters Rana, 12, and 15-month-old Rula were killed. “When I first heard the boom, I thought it hit an empty area, but I immediately saw our home going down,” Nour said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351830
US administration covering up for Netanyahu?
According to Haaretz’s Akiva Eldar, Obama’s administration is refusing to reveal what happened in the negotiations with Israel and the Palestinians, probably in order not to embarrass Jerusalem: The U.S. president is sticking to his refusal to declare that the negotiations be based on the 1967 borders. Moreover, the Americans are refraining from issuing any report on the positions held by each side, or from revealing who has shown a map of a permanent status agreement and offered an outline of security arrangements, and who is plucking excuses out of thin air to maintain diplomatic ambiguity. Read the rest here.
http://www.promisedlandblog.com/?p=3688
‘Time’ magazine cover story saying Israel doesn’t care about peace was ‘absolutely’ anti-Semitic, says State Dept official Hanna Rosenthal, Philip Weiss
Hamhanded journalism by neocon Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post. She gets an interview with the head of the State Department office against anti-Semitism, Hannah Rosenthal, and prods her about all the countries that “spew” anti-Semitism, and concludes that the Obama administration isn’t doing much about anti-Semitism.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/time-magazine-cover-story-saying-israel-doesnt-care-about-peace-was-absolutely-anti-semitic-says-state-dept-official-hanna-rosenthal.html
Falk: Tribalism is genocidal; while a diverse religious identity thickens the fibers of global civilization, Richard Falk
Editor’s note: This is exciting. Richard Falk, the international law prof at Princeton, emeritus, has done what all 80-year-olds should do, and started a blog. This entry, which he has allowed me to repost in full, is called “On Jewish Identity.” This is really everything I’ve asked for since the Iraq war: for American Jews to have a frank conversation about how they define their Jewishness with respect to Zionism, what Jewish values mean to them in the light of Israeli militarism and discrimination. I don’t think one neocon has ever stepped up to the plate on this challenge. The piece is resonant to me for two reasons: a, its borderless and New-Age influenced spirituality in the face of extremely tribal and particularist claims on Jewish identity, and b, the embrace of Shlomo Sand. Sand’s book is very very important. I remember a friend last year dismissing it as political. Of course it’s political; and leave out the minor bits about genetics and its values are liberal ones and the writing is gorgeous…
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/falk-tribalism-is-genocidal-while-a-diverse-religious-identity-thickens-the-fibers-of-global-civilization.html
Palestinian congressman doesn’t advertise the fact, Jeffrey Blankfort
Justin Amash, a Tea Party Republican candidate, won the 3rd CD in Michigan by a 60-37 margin according to Wikipedia, taking positions on political and economic issues that would bring a smile to the shade of Ayn Rand. The JTA says that he is of Palestinian and Syrian background, his Palestinian father having left I/P 54 years ago.The Forward says he is “The Palestinian in the House,” though it says John Sununu was the first of Palestinian ancestry to get into Congress.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/palestinian-congressman-doesnt-advertise-the-fact.html
Oh, those poor Israeli terrorist soldiers who kills civilians: an account of their “anguish”–as is customary in US press
“And it exists here in the State of Israel, and no one knows about it, and no one wants to know, and no one reports about it. People prefer not to know and not to understand that something terrible is happening not far from us, and really no one cares. And the soldiers there are unfortunate and the Palestinians are super-unfortunate. And no one helps them.” Notice that victims and victimizers are put on the same level.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/oh-those-poor-israeli-terrorist.html
Who could lead Palestinians better than Abbas?, Akiva Eldar
If progress is not made in the peace process in the coming months, this will almost certainly be Mahmoud Abbas’ last year in office.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/who-could-lead-palestinians-better-than-abbas-1.337443
Lebanon
Indictment in Hariri probe lodged
Prosecutor for UN tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Ex-Lebanon PM submits indictment against suspects.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/2011117171436837590.html
Nasrallah rejects any cabinet that protects ‘false witnesses’
BEIRUT: Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Sunday his party would not accept the formation of a new cabinet that protects “false witnesses” and corruption, conspires against the resistance and does not address the living needs of the Lebanese. “We will not accept any cabinet that protects ‘false witnesses,’ the new cabinet should reach a final decision regarding this matter and we will not accept any cabinet that manages administrative and financial corruption,” he said. “We will not accept any cabinet that does not seriously assume its responsibilities and address the needs of people who are living under the worst conditions,” he added in a televised speech.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=123748#axzz1BFxOznzy
Hezbollah ‘will not back Hariri’
Hassan Nasrallah makes first public comments since the group’s ministers brought down the Lebanese government.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/01/2011116182941987335.html
Lebanese opposition agrees not to nominate Saad Hariri as PM: Hezbollah
BEIRUT, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — Leader of the Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Sunday that the opposition had agreed not to nominate Saad Hariri for the post of prime minister in mandatory consultations scheduled on Monday, after the government collapsed as 11 ministers resigned last week. “The opposition decided unanimously not to name Hariri tomorrow, ” the chief of Lebanon’s Shiite armed group said in a televised speech, while refusing to name their candidate for the post.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-01/17/c_13693398.htm
Hezbollah to defend itself against Hariri charges (AFP)
AFP – Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed on Sunday his group would defend itself against likely charges over the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, on the eve of expected indictments in the case.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110116/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonpoliticstribunal
Saad al-Hariri Caught On Tape with “False Witness” Muhammad Zuhair al-Siddiq
Well this is embarrassing. Lebanese TV station al-Jadeed has a major scoop tonight: a leaked recording of a meeting between Saad al-Hariri, Information Branch chief Colonel Wissam al-Hassan, STL deputy chief investigator Gerhard Lehmann, and Muhammad Zuhair al-Siddiq. You can watch the entire report below.
http://qifanabki.com/2011/01/15/saad-al-hariri-caught-on-tape-with-false-witness-muhammad-zuhair-al-siddiq/
New TV’s Audio-Leaks (Part II)
Today, while people were riveted, the New TV–after long minutes of teasing–aired the second part of its audio-leak: an audio recording of a session by the Hariri tribunal with Mini-Hariri. Explosive–again. It can’t be underestimated in its impact. Mini-Hariri is far more dumb than all of us have assumed. That he would talk in a formal session with the Hariri investigators in the nonchalant and flippant way that he talked in, is just bizarre. He badmouthed people right and left and insulted even his own allies (like his own MP, Nuhad Mashnuq and said that he did not trust him).
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-tvs-audio-leaks-part-ii.html
Some Post-Speech Thoughts
Here are some quick thoughts on Hizbullah secretary-general Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah’s speech this evening, which I live-blogged here (see here for another English translation). Firstly, I found Nasrallah’s discussion of the terms of the Syrian-Saudi initiative to be quite interesting. If Saad al-Hariri really did agree to the opposition’s demands that they (a) withdraw the Lebanese judges; (b) stop funding; and (c) abrogate the cooperation agreement with the STL, then this is noteworthy. What were, I wonder, al-Hariri and the Saudis’ demands? It seems unlikely to me that al-Hariri and his allies would have agreed to these three demands, which amount to essentially torpedoing public trust in the STL, even if it would not have brought the actual Tribunal to a close (as Nasrallah pointed out).
http://qifanabki.com/2011/01/16/some-post-speech-thoughts/
Political uncertainty in Lebanon
On Monday, talks will begin on forming a caretaker government in Lebanon. But Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and other opposition groups, say they won’t accept Saad Hariri as its prime minister. Meanwhile, international investigators are expected to hand down indictments soon, linking Hezbollah to the 2005 assassination of Hairi’s father, Rafik Hariri. Al Jazeera’s Rula Amin reports from Beirut.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQQMi3sP0Y0&feature=youtube_gdata
Fifteen abused Filipino workers head home
BEIRUT: Fifteen female Filipino workers from Lebanon, all considered to be “victims of maltreatment and abuse” by their employers, were successfully repatriated on Sunday, the Philippines Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Prior to their return, the workers were sheltered for an undisclosed period at the Filipino Workers Resource Center, a facility attached to the Philippine Embassy in Beirut. An additional 84 foreign workers were repatriated Wednesday after the Filipino Embassy “made strong representations” to the Lebanese government to waive all immigration-related penalties for migrant workers suspected of being victims of abuse, Filipino media reported. The Philippines have operated a ban on deploying domestic workers to Lebanon since 2006 but have recently launched discussions with Lebanese authorities aimed at reversing the restrictions, provided the government take steps to guarantee a greater degree of protection. Filipino demands include the introduction of a minimum wage and the guaranteeing of rest periods for Filipino nationals. Some 40,000 Filipinos are thought to work in Lebanon despite the ban.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=123758#axzz1BFxOznzy
What’s Next in Lebanon?, Franklin Lamb
‘In case no one has noticed, the Obama administration just gifted Lebanon to Iran. Washington earlier presented Iraq, Afghanistan, the Gulf, and Pakistan. Could it be clearer that Iran’s strategic trump card is America’s subservience to Israel? For Iran, Israel’s strangle hold on the US government is the gift that keeps on giving.’ With his comment, my neighbor, Lebanese Human Rights Ambassador Ali Khalil, declared American hegemony in the region was on a slippery and descending slope and that yesterday’s political maneuvering in Lebanon likely accelerated American withdrawal.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16558
The Well-Deserved Collapse of Lebanon’s Government, RANNIE AMIRI
Wednesday’s timeline from the Lebanese news portal Naharnet.com read as follows: 5:17 pm Agence France Presse: Prime Minister Saad Hariri went into talks with U.S. President Barack Obama at the moment that Opposition ministers resigned from the Lebanese government. 5:32 pm Minister of State Adnan Sayyed Hussein announced in a statement his resignation from Cabinet.
http://www.counterpunch.com/amiri01142011.html
Tunisia
Battles in Tunis as key aide held
Tunisian forces exchange fire with members of former President Ben Ali’s guard, after the ex-head of presidential security is arrested.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-africa-12202283
Former Tunisia government figures arrested, new Cabinet to be named
Gunfire erupted in Tunisia’s capital Sunday as the interim government prepared to name a new Cabinet free of figures linked to the deposed president. Heavy gunfire erupted in the heart of Tunisia’s capital Sunday as the army appeared to be closing in on stalwarts of the regime driven from power last week and the interim government prepared to name a new Cabinet free of any major figures linked to deposed President Zine el Abidine ben Ali.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/Jy1CnOBOVNw/la-fg-tunisia-unrest-20110117,0,5379859.story
Neighbors in Tunisia express disgust over former first lady’s family
The Trabelsis were an ambitious and, many Tunisians say, ruthless crowd unashamed to use their connection to the first family to gain favors. He was not a good neighbor. His ferocious dogs roamed the street in front of his upscale villa, scaring away children and passersby. He drove his Mercedes way too fast down the street of the serene suburb. He demanded that the mosque’s muezzin shut up during the morning call to prayers.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/vRNzRDwFZeM/la-fg-tunisia-villas-20110117,0,4537071.story
Hizbullah praises Tunisian people’s uprising
BEIRUT: Hizbullah praised the “uprising of the Tunisian people” and called upon other Arab rulers to draw lessons from what happened in the North African country. Hizbullah said in a statement over the weekend it was “proud of the uprising of the Tunisian people that opens their way toward hoped freedom.”
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=123755
Islamists applaud popular uprising in Tunisia
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas and Islamic Jihad on Saturday expressed their respect for the Tunisian people, whose uprising led to the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ban Ali. Ben Ali fled Tunisia on Friday with members of his family and his inner circle to escape deadly protests against his 23 years of authoritarian rule. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri applauded the Tunisian people’s expression of their right to choose their leadership democratically without foreign intervention.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351354
Palestinian people show support for the Tunisian people
http://safaimages.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/LATEST-NEWS/G0000iykpQWXOCgU/I0000zFjDXeVtMxE
Libya leader regrets Ben Ali’s fall
Muammar Gaddafi laments ousted president’s departure saying it has left Tunisia in “chaos with no end in sight”.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/01/2011117244693773.html
A Tunisian demonstrator addresses the House of Saud for sheltering Bin `Ali
Watch the video.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/tunisian-demonstrator-addresses-house.html
Arab activists hope Tunisia uprising brings change
As former Tunisian president arrives in Saudi Arabia, dozens of Egyptian activists dance outside Tunisian Embassy in Cairo, chanting ‘Ben Ali, tell Mubarak a plane is waiting for him too!’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4013807,00.html
Tunisia’s nervous neighbours
Events in Tunisia are being closely watched across the Arab world, by both political leaders and citizens. While many people have been celebrating, leaders may be nervously wondering what happens next. Al Jazeera’s Rawya Rageh reports from the Egyptial capital, Cairo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJgRsND8iIw&feature=youtube_gdata
Fallout of Tunisian uprising felt around globe
CAIRO: The ouster of the Tunisian president emboldened disenchanted Arab citizens in countries such as Egypt, Yemen, Algeria and Jordan to call for regime changes and for economic reforms Sunday. In Amman, more than 3,000 Jordanian trade unionists, Islamists and leftists held a sit-in Sunday outside Parliament to protest the government’s economic policies.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=123722#axzz1BFxOznzy
Overthrow of Tunisian president jolts Arab region
BAGHDAD – Moments after Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was ejected from his palace, tweets began flying across a region that was at once enthralled and appalled by the specter of an Arab leader being overthrown by his own people.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=e44dcf07988e1b1ffaa8dd104a5b725c
New Wikileaks: US Knew Tunisian Gov. Rotten Corrupt, Supported Ben Ali Anyway, Juan Cole
The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten released a series of US diplomatic cables from 2006 on massive and pervasive corruption and nepotism in Tunisia and its effect on economic development and social problems. The cables show that the United States government was fully aware of the dangerous and debilitating level of corruption in Tunisia, and its anti-democratic implications. But they raise the question of whether Washington was wise to make Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, despite his clear foibles, the pillar of its North Africa policy because of his role, as a secular strongman, in repressing Muslim movements (as William MacLean of Reuters argues).
http://www.juancole.com/2011/01/new-wikileaks-us-knew-tunisian-gov-rotten-corrupt-supported-ben-ali-anyway.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29
Biography Muhammad Bouazizi
New TV aired a profile of Muhammad Bouazizi
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/biography-muhammad-bouazizi.html
Tunisia in a fragile state
There are still security concerns in Tunisia, even though the overnight curfew has been lifted in the Capital. Some citizens are concerned and remain skeptical about the current government, despite Ben Ali having left the country. Locals man barricades to protect their property, the army continues to patrol the streets, and there are reports of renewed clashes between portesters and security forces. Al Jazeera’s James Bays reports from Tunis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL5WbNoBqYw&feature=youtube_gdata
Inside Story – The military’s role in Tunisia
After days of rioting, Tunisia’s interim leadership says the security situation is now improving. But with President Ben Ali gone, there’s a power vacuum – and many are wondering what comes next. Tunisia’s parliamentary speaker Fouad Mebazza was sworn-in as interim president on Saturday. He has promised elections within 60 days. In the meantime troops are out on the streets to restore order after violence and looting. But as the political uncertainty continues, many Tunisians are wondering what the army’s role will now be. A key moment during the weeks of protests came earlier this week when the army’s chief of staff was said to have refused a presidential order to open fire on unarmed protesters. But does that necessarily mean the army will tolerate political change? Inside Story, with presenter Shiulie Gosh, discusses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkEfGIdBWNQ&feature=youtube_gdata
Tunisian political parties: The case of Tunisian Communist Workers Party
This party is very involved among workers and students in Tunisia and has been very involved in the uprising (it is too early to refer to what is happening as a Revolution–that depends on the outcome). The party is very courageous on matters of gender and about secularism (although it refers to it by the French word in order to avoid association between the standards Arabic word and atheism). When Bin `Ali came to power, he issued a “national” document for all parties in Tunisia to sign. To its credit, it was the only party that did not sign (even some underground parties signed). It is fiercely anti-Israel and calls for the liberation of all of Palestine. I can quibble with the party’s ideology: it sticks to a Stalinist version of Marxism-Leninism and has historically been attached to Enver Hoxa’s version of communism. The party criticized Al-Manar’s TV coverage of the last Bin `Ali’s election (because it was not critical and features henchmen of the regime). (Although Hizbullah issued a strong statement in support of the Tunisian uprising and Hasan Nasrallah is praising the Tunisian uprising as I write those words). This is its official website where you can read more about them.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/tunisian-political-parties-case-of.html
Comrade Hamma of the Tunisian Communist Workers Party
Al-Hussein sent me this (I cite with his permission): ”I’ve been looking into comrade Hamma’s previous TV appearances, the man is absolutely a legend. Below are two youtube videos compiled from differences interviews and appearances. Part 1 () starts with his bio, this man was tortured many times, spent 10 years in prison, 10 years on the run and a year and half in exile. Wrote several books, Ben Ali instructed his interior minster to collect all his books and burn them 1996. At 5:04 a report about beating by Ben Ali’s gangs after he spoke on Aljazeera and an interview with his wife on the subject. In part 2 () at 2:38 he talks about the failures of Ben Ali’s economic policies (unemployment, wealth distribution between classes, health care, education and privatization) he exclaims that Tunis was “sold to the foreigners”. At 6:20 he exposes the imperialist support of the regime. At 7:05 he lists some of the banned parties and says that constitute the most important political force.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/comrade-hamma-of-tunisian-communist.html
Crowds show their support for Tunisia’s ‘Jasmine Revolution’
BEIRUT: Crowds of supporters gathered in Beirut Sunday to attest backing for the popular protests in Tunisia which sparked a violent political transition last week. The Committee for Solidarity with the Tunisian People’s Intifada, who organized the sit-in staged outside the United Nations’ headquarters, used the North Africa uprising to broadcast their own.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=123751
The Poet of the Tunisian Revolution, As`ad Abukhalil
It is unquestionable that another star of the Tunisian Revolution is the Tunisian poet, Abu Al-Qasim Ash-Shabi (lived early in the 20th century and died very young, leaving one Diwan “Aghani Al-Hayat” (Songs of Life)). Anthony Shadid said this today: ”Hours after President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali fled Tunisia on Friday, a Lebanese broadcaster, in triumphant tones, ended her report on the first instance of an Arab leader to be overthrown in popular protests by quoting a famous Tunisian poet. “And the people wanted life,” she said, “and the chains were broken.”” The anchorwoman, I think on New TV, was not quoting the the poet. She was paraphrasing. The famous poem “The Will of Life” is known by all Arabs and goes like this: ”If the people will to live, providence is destined to favorably respond; and night is destined to fold, and the chains are certain to be broken; and he who has not embraced by the love of life, will evaporate in its atmosphere and disappear.” But I wish Arabs know more of his poetry: he wrote many nice poems and wrote a lot about melancholy–he clearly suffered from an acute case of it. He has a poem titled “To a Tyran” which says: ”Woe to you, abode of injustices, from a future, when the oppressed rise and show determination.” I am afraid that I have found one of his poems, “The New Morning” (written in 1933) more than a bit influenced–if not plagiarized from–a poem written by Mikha’il Nu`aymah titled “Contentment” (written in 1922).
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/poet-of-tunisian-revolution.html
The brutal truth about Tunisia, Robert Fisk
The end of the age of dictators in the Arab world? Certainly they are shaking in their boots across the Middle East, the well-heeled sheiks and emirs, and the kings, including one very old one in Saudi Arabia and a young one in Jordan, and presidents – another very old one in Egypt and a young one in Syria – because Tunisia wasn’t meant to happen. Food price riots in Algeria, too, and demonstrations against price increases in Amman. Not to mention scores more dead in Tunisia, whose own despot sought refuge in Riyadh – exactly the same city to which a man called Idi Amin once fled.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/the-brutal-truth-about-tunisia-2186287.html
Queen Youtube is watching developments in Tunisia–I BET
“Queen Rania of Jordan became the butt of many ominious jokes over the weekend when she tweeted that she was “watching developments in Tunisia and praying for stability and calm for its people.” She was met with a barrage of Twitter taunts, including “lol Jordan is next!” and “start palace hunting in Jedda.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/queen-youtube-is-watching-developments.html
Tonight We Are All Tunisians, YVONNE RIDLEY
Over the last few days we have seen some of the bravest people facing down some of the worst. Armed with nothing more than a revolutionary heart and hopes of a better future they gathered and protested as government forces aimed their weapons and fired live rounds in to the crowds. But the ammunition and the underlying threats of arrest and torture meant absolutely nothing to the masses – for they had simply lost their fear.
http://www.counterpunch.com/ridley01142011.html
Iraq
Sunday: 1 Iraqi Killed, 14 Wounded
For the third time in the last week, the only reported attacks against Iraqis occurred in Baghdad where at least one Iraqi was killed and 14 more were wounded in three attacks. It is unlikely that the only attacks occurred there, considering that there are other major cities where violence occurs on a daily basis.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/01/16/sunday-1-iraqi-killed-14-wounded/
Insecurity surges as unidentified assassins spread terror in Iraqi security ranks
The last two years saw an upsurge in insecurity due to an unprecedented hike in assassinations whether in Baghdad or other major Iraqi cities. These assassinations, which have so far claimed more than 2,000 lives among the country’s security forces, are carried out in two major ways. In the first, the assassins rely on silencer guns which are either imported or produced locally. In the second, the assassins rely on stick explosive charges most of which are imported.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2011-01-14\kurd.htm
Northern Iraqi governor cuts Baghdad power (AP)
AP – A local governor in Iraq’s oil-rich north cut the electricity going to Baghdad from a power station in his province Monday over a dispute with the central government that he said had left his residents without power in the cold winter months.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110117/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
Baghdad Raids on Alcohol Sellers Stir Fears
A flurry of attacks on those who sell alcohol in Baghdad has raised concerns about an accelerated movement toward strict Islamic law.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=fe9aa290ea78781a912792a187565234
Haunted by violence, Iraqi Christians flee to Turkey (AFP)
AFP – Terrorised by mounting extremist attacks, more and more Iraqi Christians are fleeing in panic to neighbouring Muslim-majority Turkey, among them lone minors sent away by desperate parents.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110116/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestturkeyreligionrefugee
Asian Cup win was for Iraqi people, says Akram (AFP)
AFP – Iraq’s Nashat Akram said he hopes the injury-time winner against United Arab Emirates that put his side within touching distance of the Asian Cup last eight would bring happiness to the football-mad country.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110116/wl_mideast_afp/fblasia2011gpdirqakram
U.S. and Other World News
Rock star hopes his music is blasted at Bush officials in jail
tommorelloAFP Rock star hopes his music is blasted at Bush officials in jailAn American rock musician and human rights activist is still holding out for the Bush administration to receive some justice, including that of the poetic variety. “[H]opefully in the not-too-distant future, when the war criminals of the Bush administration are brought to trial and are one day wearing their yellow jumpsuits and black hoods, it’ll be the music of Rage Against the Machine that is pumped into their cells 24 hours a day,” Tom Morello, the lead guitarist of Rage Against The Machine, said in a recent interview.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/rock-star-hopes-his-music-is-blasted-at-bush-officials-in-jail/
Man sets himself on fire in Cairo
A man has set himself on fire in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, in an apparent copy of a student’s protest in Tunisia which led to the government collapsing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-12204999
Egyptian forces kill African migrant on Israel border
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Egyptian police patrolling the borders with Israel shot dead an African woman when she was spotted trying to infiltrate into Israel on Sunday evening, Egyptian security sources said. The sources said police patrolling the borders along the Sinai Peninsula spotted a woman approaching the border fence toward Israel, fired several warning shots into the air, and shot her dead when she continued to run.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351757
3,000 Jordanians protest govt economic policies
AMMAN, Jordan (AFP) — More than 3,000 Jordanian trade unionists, Islamists and leftists held a sit-in Sunday outside parliament to protest the government’s economic policies. “We have been suffering in Jordan the same way Tunisians have been suffering,” Muslim Brotherhood leader Hammam Said told the protesters, referring to the popular revolt in Tunisia that ousted its strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. On Saturday, about 50 Jordanian trade unionists held a sit-in outside the Tunisian embassy in Amman, shouting “Tunisia’s revolution will spread.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=351742
Iran suspends execution sentence over outcry
Iran has suspended a sentence to hang a woman at the centre of a global outcry about stoning, a member of parliament was quoted as saying today.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-suspends-execution-sentence-over-outcry-2186427.html
www.TheHeadlines.org
