And other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft and destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Villagers harassed by Israeli army whilst trying to farm their land
ISM 12 Feb – In the village of Jaloud, south of Nablus, around thirty villagers, two internationals, and six Israeli peace activists accompanied farmers to their land to help plant one hundred olive trees. Towards the end of the planting, a settler from the illegal settlement of Shilo came down in a pickup carrying an assault rifle. He contacted the army and, 15 minutes later, two jeeps came down, followed by another three. There were around 25 – 30 soldiers in total, armed with rifles with tear gas canisters, some swinging batons. Soldiers requested that the people move back to the road and agreed to let five people finish planting the trees. Had the Israeli activists and internationals not been there, the weapons may well have been used on the Palestinians. There are illegal settlement outposts all around the village. The farmers of Jaloud have had 16,000 dunams of land seized by settlers
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/02/16657/
‘Muhammad is a pig’ scribbled on Palestinian homes
Ynet 13 Feb – In spite of the condemnation and army operations, ‘price tag’ activities continue: Residents of the Palestinian town of Beit Ilu near the Jewish settlement of Nahliel in the West Bank found that anonymous vandals graffitied three houses on Sunday. ‘Mohammad is a pig’ and ‘Regards from 18’ were two slogans graffitied on the houses together with stars of David. The incident is most likely an act of revenge for the forced evacuation of the Mitzpe Avichai outpost near Kiryat Arba four days ago … “A few months ago the settlers came here and started breaking car windows, burning them and hitting people. The only left the area when the IDF forces arrived.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4028049,00.html
Clashes renewed after guard fires gun at protesters in Ras al-Amoud
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 13 Feb — Clashes were renewed in Silwan neighborhoods of al-Bustan and Ras al-Amoud last night,12 February, when an Israeli guard of the Jewish graveyard in Ras al-Amoud fired his weapon at Palestinian demonstrators. Israeli forces fired heavy amounts of tear-gas grenades at residents in response. One angry demonstrator responded to the attack with the comment that “Israeli guards in our neighborhood have carte blanche use of their weapons – they have total immunity to the laws that we are subject to.” [End]
http://silwanic.net/?p=11838
Appeal on behalf of ‘Bedouins’ in Israel / Helena Cobban
Amos Gvirtz’s report deals with a long-running campaign by “Bedouins”, who are transhuman Palestinian Arabs who are supposedly “full” citizens of the State of Israel (as opposed to mere “residents” of the OPTs)… to resist having their homes torn down by the Israeli authorities. Here it is: “Martin Luther King Junior and the Struggle of the Bedouins”
http://justworldnews.org/archives/004162.html
Israel to transfer 12,000 tons of apples from Golan to Syria
Haaretz 13 Feb — Israel will begin transporting about 12,000 tons of apples from the Golan Heights to Syria on Tuesday. This is the largest quantity of the produce ever transferred between the two countries, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who will be overseeing the operation. The apples were grown by Syrian farmers living in the Golan Heights. [lest we forget that it’s not only Palestinian land that has been occupied…]
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-to-transfer-12-000-tons-of-apples-from-golan-to-syria-1.343127
Violence
Israeli commander refuses to allow murder victim funeral
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 13 Feb — Israeli authorities told the family of murder victim Husam Rweidi that his body would not be returned unless they agreed to a set of conditions, relatives said. Husam Rweidi, 24, was stabbed to death Friday by a mob of Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem’s city center. The victim’s cousin Firas Baydoun said Israeli authorities stipulated that his burial must take place at midnight, and that a maximum of 10 mourners could attend the funeral … An Israeli central commander said the family could not take Rweidi’s body to the Al-Aqsa Mosque for funeral prayers and Islamic rituals, Baydoun said … Rweidi’s father refused the demands, and the Israeli commander eventually agreed that the funeral could be held at 8 p.m. But the commander insisted the body must not be taken to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=359560
Detention
Hamas lawmaker sentenced without charge, trial
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 13 Feb — An Israeli military court sentenced on Sunday Hamas lawmaker Mohammad Jamal An-Natsha to six months of administrative detention. An-Natsha, 53, was sentenced without trial and without charge at the Ofer military court after spending two weeks in the Etzion detention center … An Israeli military spokeswoman said An-Natsha was rearrested “because he’s a Hamas activist,” but did not elaborate.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=359618
Witnesses: Israeli forces detain Beit Ummar teen
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 13 Feb — Israeli forces on Saturday detained a Palestinian teenager and attacked a woman in Beit Ummar near Hebron, witnesses said. Local popular committee spokesman Mohammad Awad said soldiers detained Mohammad At-Teet, 16, during a raid on his home. Forces beat a woman who tried to prevent the arrest, Awad said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=359427
Siege / Restriction of movement
Report: Military says Nablus checkpoints to stay
TEL AVIV (Ma‘an) 13 Feb — Israeli Military officials told the Tel Aviv-based news site Ynet on Sunday that there were no plans to dismantle the West Bank’s two largest internal checkpoints, Huwwara and Beit Furik. The comments came after Nablus governor Jebrin Al-Bakri said Thursday that he had been informed the two crossings would be dismantled. According to Ynet, “The IDF was quick to deny any plan to take down the barriers,” and a military officials was quoted as saying the only pending change at the checkpoint was a redeployment of troops.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=359729
Israeli forces re-close northern road
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 13 Feb — Israel’s Civil Administration announced the re-closure of an access road connecting a new development in the northern West Bank to the Nablus-Beit Iba road, local officials said Sunday. The development, a teachers’ residence outside the northern village of Zawarta, consists of 200 apartments and villas available for purchase to members of the Palestinian teachers’ union. The road connecting the development to the main street was opened in December following lobby efforts by Middle East Quartet members.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=359513
Crossings authority working hard to re-open Rafah terminal
GAZA, (PIC) 13 Feb — The crossings and borders authority in Gaza Strip has announced that it was working hard to restore traffic to normalcy at the Rafah border terminal between Egypt and the Strip. It said in a statement on Sunday that contacts with Egyptian officials and other concerned parties were ongoing to re-open the terminal before the citizens who were harmed by the closure, especially those stranded in Egypt.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Kaya: Freedom flotilla in Gaza by end of May
GAZA, (PIC) 13 Feb — Muhammad Kaya, head of IHH’s branch office in the Gaza Strip, has affirmed that the second Freedom Flotilla aid convoy would reach Gaza Strip by end of May on the first anniversary of the first Freedom Flotilla massacre … Kaya said that the IHH sponsors around 9,000 orphans in Gaza in addition to supporting professional training centers in the Strip and would soon open a hospital in Beit Hanun.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Palestinian scholars call on new Egyptian rulers to end Gaza siege
GAZA, (PIC) 12 Feb — The Palestinian Scholars Association, which tackles national issues from a religious perspective, congratulated the Egyptians on their removal of “the tyranny and injustice of the former Egyptian regime” led by ousted president Hosni Mubarak, calling on the new government to make serious changes for the better … The Association called upon the new authorities to look at the Gazans as brothers and end the unjust siege on the small coastal enclave, and re-open border crossings
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s73%2bqtw6endM3Q3YZ0NPBVlMQk6D7lWcJndFs6xmHNRMnl9C4cTnJ9%2fkAuhlInELw4iFeuRvWmkBcKCONjqAnkEFFy4IkRKX6M8cEmVRtD2Bs%3d
Single Gaza terminal partly open
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 13 Feb — Israeli authorities will open one crossing into Gaza on Sunday for the transfer of limited quantities of goods, fuel and construction material, a Palestinian official said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=359457
Activism / Solidarity / BDS
EU-Israel data-sharing plan condemned
AIC 10 Feb – The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) today condemned the decision of the European Commission which stated that “Israel provides an adequate level of protection of personal data”, thus giving the green light for “the transfer of personal data of EU citizens to Israel”. The Irish Government had previously attempted to block this data-sharing relationship, but to no avail. Condemning the approval, IPSC National Chairperson Freda Hughes said: “This is an outrageous move on behalf of the European Commission. Israel is a country that has used the passports of Irish, German, British and French nationals in order to extra-judicially assassinate a Hamas member in Dubai last year – and there is no reason to believe that this was the first or only such illegal action of its kind. Therefore for the Commission to allow the transfer of personal data of EU citizens to this rogue state would be farcical were it not such a patently serious issue.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3284-eu-israel-data-sharing-plan-condemned-
Loach begs for a boycott
10 Feb – Film director Ken Loach has called for Britons to give “unremitting support to the Palestinian struggle”. Speaking at a special screening of his 2006 film The Wind That Shakes The Barley, in aid of Palestinian charity Camden Abu Dis on Monday night, he called for a total boycott of Israel.
http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/45028/loach-begs-a-boycott
Egyptian revolution and Palestinians
Palestinians in Israel celebrate Egypt victory
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma‘an) 13 Feb — Young Palestinian men and women hit the streets of Jaffa in central Israel on Saturday waving Palestinian and Egyptian flags in a scene unprecedented in Israel’s 60-year history, participants said. Palestinians celebrated the Egyptian people’s victory in ousting autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak, as the youth movement of Jaffa prepared to send busloads of activists to join a parade in Nazareth … Israeli police stopped the convoy, and questioned activists on why they did not seek permission for the rally, participants said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=359321
Israeli Arabs call for a democratic Mideast in wake of Mubarak ouster
Haaretz 13 Feb – Protesters in Nazareth emphasized that the uprisings strengthen Palestinian demands for rights and self-determination … Over the past two weeks, Israeli Arabs were riveted by events in Egypt, which shoved all other issues aside. Neither social problems nor the rising cost of living were able to distract them from their fixation on Egypt … On Saturday, in Nazareth, hundreds of Balad party members staged a rally in support of the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt … Hadash party members also held solidarity rallies in locations up north … The Ta’al party also released a statement congratulating the Egyptians on the success of their popular revolt
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israeli-arabs-call-for-a-democratic-mideast-in-wake-of-mubarak-ouster-1.343018
Hamas
Multilingual PIC back online after cyber attack by Fatah
RAMALLAH, (PIC) 13 Feb — The technical support team of the Palestinian information center (PIC) [Hamas site] has managed to address the cyber attack that blocked after midnight Saturday the website’s access to online users temporarily. In a statement issued by the PIC on Sunday, the news outlet accused cyber saboteurs hired by Fatah faction and its authority in Ramallah city of attacking its website in a desperate attempt to silence the free patriotic voice that resists the occupation and its collaborators. [note: little news from PIC today, presumably because of the outage]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Hamas: Fatah incitement calls against us failed
GAZA, (PIC) 13 Feb — Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Fatah has no popular balance in the Palestinian street, at a time when the rival Fatah movement failed to mobilize revolutionary rallies in Gaza to remove Hamas’s rule there. Our correspondents said no demonstration was to be found in cities across the Gaza Strip, and no one responded to inciting calls launched by Fatah and recruited for by recently created anti-Hamas pages sprouting on Facebook.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Hamas prohibits import of Israel-manufactured clothing
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 13 Feb — A statement from Gaza’s Ministry of the National Economy said Sunday that a new set of restrictions would be put on goods being imported into the coastal enclave, including a ban on clothing manufactured in Israel. For several other items, the statement said, merchants would have to apply to the ministry for permission to sell the goods. Ma’an obtained a copy of the list, which included the following items manufactured in Israel:
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=359718
Politics / Diplomacy
Fayyad confident of Egypt’s continued support
WASHINGTON (AFP) 13 Feb — Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in an interview published Sunday he was confident of Egypt’s future support for the PA, despite the political changes there … “Egyptian people are very supportive of the Palestinian people.” … The comments came as Egypt’s new military leadership vowed to pave the way for democracy and abide by its peace treaty with Israel following president Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=359492
No risk to Egypt-Israel ties: Ehud Barak
WASHINGTON (AFP)13 Feb — Israel’s ties with Cairo are safe and sound, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in comments aired Sunday, adding that Egypt’s uprising shares little with the 1979 Iranian revolution … he expressed concern over the political potential of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s major opposition group, especially if elections take place too soon.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110213/wl_mideast_afp/egyptpoliticsunrestisraelbarak
Israel and new Egyptian leadership make contact
JERUSALEM, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Israel and Egypt’s new military rulers have made initial contact and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday welcomed their pledge to stand by Cairo’s peace treaty with the Jewish state. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of Egypt’s Higher Military Council, spoke by telephone on Saturday, a ministry spokeswoman said, declining to give further details.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/israel-and-new-egyptian-leadership-make-contact
Netanyahu gives in to Lieberman, names permanent envoy to UN
Haaretz 13 Feb – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given in to pressure by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to appoint a permanent ambassador to the United Nations, accepting Lieberman’s recommendation that Israel’s ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor, be named to the position.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-gives-in-to-lieberman-names-permanent-envoy-to-un-1.343082
Israel
Pray in mosque, rabbi rules
Ynet 13 Feb – In response to concerned traveler who feels he can’t concentrate on prayers at airport, Rabbi Efrati says ‘best option’ is to go to Muslim house of prayer … There is no prohibition on praying in mosques (apart for the Ran’s – Rabbi Nissim ben Reuven ruling, which was not accepted).” … In addition, he stressed that praying in churches was completely and strictly forbidden. In fact, it is forbidden to step into a church, he said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4016144,00.html
Rabbis: Lior should be questioned
Ynet 13 Feb – Some 70 leading Zionist Religious rabbis – including city rabbis, yeshiva chiefs and educators – issued a petition Thursday protesting the arrest warrant against Rabbi Dov Lior following his refusal to report to a police inquiry in the “King’s Torah” affair. But Ynet has learned that some rabbis refused to sign the petition and feel that Lior should be investigated.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4027643,00.html
Cabinet approves NIS 680M for Druze, Circassian towns
Ynet 13 Feb — The cabinet approved on Sunday the allocation of NIS 680 million ($184M) to Druze and Circassian communities in northern Israel. “The aid will give our communities a boost,” said Salah Fares, head of the Forum of Druze and Circassians in Israel. The aid program, which will begin this year and run through 2014, will focus on education, welfare, employment, housing and tourism. [Druze and Circassians serve in the Israeli army]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4027987,00.html
UN report slams Israel’s treatment of pregnant migrant workers
Haaretz 13 Feb – Israeli policy requires that these women leave the country within three months after giving birth or, alternatively, send their children abroad if they wish to retain their work visa.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/un-report-slams-israel-s-treatment-of-pregnant-migrant-workers-1.343023
Israel gasoline prices take cut following public uproar
Haaretz 13 Feb – Move by PM Netanyahu, Finance Minister comes after a recent increase in prices lead to mass public dissatisfaction and criticism.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-gasoline-prices-take-cut-following-public-uproar-1.343138
Analysis / Opinion
Record! I am an Arab / ‘Seham’
(with two short, affecting videos and a poem by Mahmoud Darwish) …Forgive me if I sound choppy right now but I am still tired from the last two and a half weeks and hungover from feelings that I’ve never felt before. These last 18 days have helped to redefine who I am as an Arab-American, the lens through which I see myself and the lens through which I am aware that people are seeing us, and the possibility of what can be. Most Arabs I know are still at a loss for words but things will never be the same, we are proud, incredibly proud and optimistic Arabs. Ben Ali fled Tunisia on January 15th, 27 days later Mubarak’s 30 year grip on power came to an end. 27 days and I feel for the first time that I can say with pride and certainty that Arabs can do anything.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/02/record-i-am-an-arab.html
The Orientalist blindness / Mohanad Mustafa
Haaretz 13 Feb – For years, intellectuals, mostly Arabs, have been confronted by the stereotypical, even racist, approach found in much of Western Orientalism, including that in Israel. Under this approach, there is a contradiction between Arab and Muslim culture on the one hand, and democracy, equality and social justice on the other. Based on this contradiction, this form of Orientalism rejects any hope of democratization in the Arab world and justifies the prevalent tyranny. The Israeli propaganda machine is often proud of being the sole “island of democracy” in a sea of Arab despotism.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-orientalist-blindness-1.343042
The revolution continues after Mubarak’s fall / Ali Abunimah
EI 12 Feb – …Arab people everywhere now imagine themselves as Tunisians or Egyptians. And every Arab ruler imagines himself as Ben Ali or Mubarak. The revolution has reawakened a sense of a common destiny for the Arab world many thought had been lost, that seemed naive when our mothers and fathers told us about it from their youth, and that Arab leaders had certainly tried to kill. The Arab dictators, who are as dead inside as Mubarak showed himself to be in his awful televised speeches, thought their peoples’ spirits were dead too. The revolutions have restored a sense of limitless possibility and a desire that change should spread from country to country. Whatever happens next, the Egyptian revolution will also have a profound effect on the regional balance of power. Undoubtedly the United States, Israel and their allies are already weaker as a result.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11799.shtml
When will Obama start talking to Hamas and Hezbollah? / Zvi Bar’el
Haaretz 13 Feb – It is often said that in the Middle East, anything is possible; judging by America’s behavior toward Egypt, one can say the same thing about U.S. policy … Has anyone heard a peep out of Washington about it being verboten to sit down with the Muslim Brotherhood? Just the opposite; Clinton took heart from the Brotherhood being part of the dialogue in Egypt, and even took credit for initiating it. That is a significant switch: The Muslim Brotherhood has already been given legitimacy by both Cairo and Washington.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/when-will-obama-start-talking-to-hamas-and-hezbollah-1.343040
It’s time for those who hold the keys to their homes to rise up / Dr. Salman Abu Sitta
MEMO 13 Feb – …the leaks revealed the true picture of the submissiveness of the negotiators, how low they could get, and the shameless way in which they begged the Israelis for little more than a mini-state with citizens gathered in isolated cages and Palestinian refugees abandoned along the “road map to peace”. For this, the negotiators were rewarded with great jobs and villas in Abu Dis or Jericho; in the meantime, the question of Palestine, including Jerusalem and the right of return, could go to hell. That is the real issue and scandal; it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back. After displaying great patience for 18 fruitless years since the disaster of Oslo, it is time for the Palestinian refugees to have their own people’s revolution.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/arab-media/2051-its-time-for-those-who-hold-the-keys-to-their-homes-to-rise-up
Israel must congratulate Egypt / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 13 Feb – …The thousands of young Egyptians seen on television screens across the world also proved that Egypt has a face other than the one we are accustomed to. Not just ful and falafel, films and baksheesh, but also deep social and political awareness – and in English, yet. They also proved that, contrary to what we are told constantly, hate for Israel is not at the top of their agenda. The prophecies of doom, according to which any democratic change would mean the rise of Islam, are also far from being realized. Look at the images from Tahrir Square: There are relatively few obviously religious individuals. They prayed quietly, surrounded by large numbers of secular revolutionaries. There were a fair number of Egyptian woman in the square as well. Egypt is not what we thought it was. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-must-congratulate-egypt-1.343039
Iraq
Saturday: 39 Iraqis killed, 77 wounded
At least 39 Iraqis were killed and 77 more were wounded in news attacks. The lion’s share of casualties occurred in Samarra where Shi’ite pilgrims are gathering to observe the anniversary of the death of Hasan al-Askari. Despite a severe electricity shortage that has already ignited riots and demonstrations, the Iraqi government announced increased subsidies to Iraqi citizens. The first 1000 kilowatts-hours per month will now be free to all Iraqis. While this will help the poorest Iraqis, it could induce even more shortages as it undermines previous price increases that were designed to curb usage. Meanwhile, oil workers in Kirkuk threatened a strike if their work conditions did not improve.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/02/12/saturday-39-iraqis-killed-77-wounded/
Iraq man dies of self-immolation to protest rising unemployment
(dpa) 13 Feb – An Iraqi man has died after setting himself ablaze in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul to protest against unemployment, police sources said Sunday. The 31-year-old man set himself on fire when he could not find a job, the sources told the German Press Agency DPA. He was married and had four children. Thousands of Iraqis have been protesting this month, demanding better living standards, improved services and less corruption.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/iraq-ma?localLinksEnabled=false
Iraq parliament approves eight new ministers
BAGHDAD (AFP) 13 Feb — Iraq’s parliament approved eight new ministers on Sunday, filling some crucial posts in the premier’s new cabinet but still leaving three sensitive security portfolios and the planning ministry vacant … The crucial electricity ministry, tasked with reviving services in the face of growing protests decrying the long daily power cuts, was retained by the majority-Sunni Iraqiya bloc.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110213/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpolitics
Other Mideast / Arab world
Bomb attack survivor Iran’s new atomic chief
(AFP) 13 Feb – Abbasi Davani, one of few Iranian specialists who can separate isotopes, was wounded in November 29 attack Tehran blamed on Mossad, CIA … He survived the attack, but another senior nuclear scientist, Majid Shahriari, was killed in a similar assault on the same day in a separate part of the capital.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4028004,00.html
Malware aimed at Iran hit five sites, report says
NYT, 11 Feb – The Stuxnet software worm repeatedly sought to infect five industrial facilities in Iran over a 10-month period, a new report says, in what could be a clue into how it might have infected the Iranian uranium enrichment complex at Natanz. The report, released Friday by Symantec, a computer security software firm, said there were three waves of attacks … The New York Times reported in January that Israel had built an elaborate test facility at a classified nuclear weapons site that contained a replica array of the Iranian uranium enrichment plant. Such a test site would have been necessary for the design of the attack software.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/science/13stuxnet.html?_r=1&hpw
Top US military official visits Jordan’s leader
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) 13 Feb — Jordan’s state news agency says King Abdullah II has met with a top American military official visiting to reassure the U.S.-allied leader as the uprising in Egypt reverberates around the Middle East. Jordan’s government is among several in the region facing protests calling for greater political openness and steps to lift people out of poverty.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110213/ap_on_re_us/us_mideast
Middle East rulers make concessions
(AJ) 12 Feb – Moves seen as bid to appease people after mass protests in Tunisia and Egypt toppled long-serving presidents … Protests have spread around the Arab world since starting in mid-December in Tunisia. Here are details of some of the concessions made around the region:
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/02/201121210345525985.html
Algeria opposition says to hold weekly rallies
Ynet 13 Feb — Algerian opposition groups said on Sunday they would follow up the protest they held this weekend by calling a demonstration in the capital every Saturday until the government is changed.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4028045,00.html
Bahrain promises media freedoms amid protest calls
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) 13 Feb — Bahrain’s security forces set up checkpoints and fanned out on patrols Sunday as opposition groups blanketed social media sites with calls to stage the first major anti-government protests in the Gulf since the uprising in Egypt. The wide-ranging clampdown appeared directed toward Bahrain’s Shi‘ite majority — which had led the drive for Monday’s rallies — and reflected the increasing worries of the Sunni rulers who have already doled out cash and promised greater media reforms in an effort to quell the protest fervor.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gCKrgfb4FOv_o4DDp2mYm2
Yemeni police block protesters’ march on palace
SANA‘A, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Anti-government protesters clashed with police blocking them from marching to Yemen’s presidential palace in Sana‘a on Sunday, witnesses said. The clashes occurred while President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the main opposition group were preparing for talks that the government hoped would help avert an Egyptian-style revolt in the Arabian Peninsula state, a vital U.S. ally against al Qa‘eda.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/yemeni-police-block-protesters-march-on-palace
Tunisian foreign minister resigns
TUNIS, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Tunisian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ounaiss has resigned, the state news agency reported on Sunday, a week after he became embroiled in a row over compliments he paid to his French opposite number. The resignation is likely to cause new disruption to a coalition government which has already seen several ministers resign or be fired since it stepped in to fill the vacuum left by last month’s overthrow of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/tunisian-foreign-minister-resigns-official-media
Sudanese women call for release of sons, protesters
KHARTOUM, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Women held a vigil outside the Sudan security service headquarters on Sunday, calling for the release of sons and other men arrested during a series of protests inspired by Egypt’s uprising, witnesses said. In another part of the capital, security officers prevented journalists from gathering to take part in a second protest against the arrest of colleagues, a Reuters witness said.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/sudanese-women-call-for-release-of-sons-protesters
Assange hails WikiLeaks role in Middle East revolt
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) 13 Feb — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Sunday said his site was “significantly influential” in the fall of Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, an event he said “no doubt” sparked a Middle East revolt. Assange, 39, said cables leaked on his whistleblowing site questioning US support for Ben Ali gave citizens the confidence to rise up and influenced the decisions of surrounding nations on whether to intervene.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=359696
U.S.
Crude reality / Jeremy Kahn
Boston Globe 13 Feb — Will a Middle Eastern oil disruption crush the economy? New research suggests the answer is no — and that a major tenet of American foreign policy may be fundamentally wrong … The idea that a sudden spike in oil prices spells economic doom has influenced America’s foreign policy since at least 1973, when Arab states, upset with Western support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War, drastically cut production and halted exports to the United States.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2011/02/13/crude_reality/
Audio: Scott Horton interviews Mark Rumold
12 Feb – Mark Rumold, the Open Government Legal Fellow at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, discusses the 40 thousand estimated FBI violations of laws, Executive Orders and other regulations committed during intelligence operations from 2001-2008; the post-Watergate origin of the Intelligence Oversight Board, and its severe curtailment during the Bush administration; Obama’s failure to change the government culture of arbitrary and excessive redaction of documents; and the encouraging (if probably temporary) bipartisan defeat of the PATRIOT Act’s reauthorization.
http://antiwar.com/radio/2011/02/12/mark-rumold/
Arabic dress and Iranian accents – Hollywood’s take on Afghan women
Guardian 12 Feb – As Afghan cultural adviser on an LA film I thought I’d be heeded on its crude inaccuracies. I ended up a burqa-clad extra. By Nushin Arbabzadah.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/12/afghan-women-hollywood
