and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Jordan Valley
Settlers squat on Church-owned land, demand farmers leave
24 March 2011 15:44 Israeli settlers have set up a tent next to a Palestinian family’s camp in the Jordan Valley and demanded that the family leave. The settlers arrived in ‘Ein Al Hilweh in the north of the Jordan Valley at 11pm on Monday. They carried guns and threatened the family, then set up a tent with generators and large Israeli flags, a few metres from the Daraghmeh family’s tent. Nabil Daraghmeh, who lives with his wife and four children on land he legally rents from the Catholic Patriarchate, told EAPPI that the police then came and told him to demolish his family’s tent or he would be arrested. He said he has lived and grazed his cattle here for around 15 years. “Neither the kids nor the adults can sleep,” Nabil said. “We cannot sleep, and my children cannot go to school. They are very scared.”
http://www.eappi.org/en/news/eappi-news/se/article/4566/settlers-squat-on-church.html
Settlers ‘install fence’ at Palestinian home
TUBAS (Ma‘an) 25 Mar — Settlers from the illegal settlement of Miskiyut, protected by Israeli soldiers, installed a barbed wire fence around a Palestinian home on Thursday. The settlers barred residents from moving inside or outside the house while installing the fence around the barns of sheep and cows there, according to Palestinian and international peace activists who were also barred from the home. The owner of the house, Nabil Mutawe, told Ma’an that settlers made death threats against his family. Head of the village council of Al-Beida Mustafa Al-Fuqaha appealed to human rights organizations to urgently intervene to rescue the family noting that the settlers had previously attacked Palestinians in the area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=372138
Video: Jordan Valley Blues
from LifeSource, produced in 2010 — Synopsis: Meet Palestinian farmers living in the Jordan Valley, who are forced to abandon their land due to lack of water and harassment from the Israeli military. One tests his entrepreneurship in his home village; the other accepts work in one of the illegal Israeli colonies, sacrificing his rights as a worker and so much more. Then meet an Israeli settler who asserts he is so happy to be able to give 35 Palestinians jobs, for without him, they’d starve. Palestinians living in the Jordan Valley are among the most oppressed and thirsty communities living in the West Bank – despite the abundance of fresh water resources. Illegal Israeli colonizers are dominating the landscape and its inhabitants with large agricultural settlements, which export 99% of the dates, grapes, bananas and flowers they produce to Europe. The same Israeli permitting restrictions that are drastically limiting Palestinian water and sanitation development throughout the West Bank are obstructing nearly all Palestinian development in the Jordan Valley, 90% of which is classified as “Area C” or “under Israeli control”. Israel is demolishing Palestinian wells, pipelines and even rainwater harvesting cisterns.
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/5031/Jordan-Valley%20Blues
Settler aggression in Ein il Hilwe continues
Jordan Valley Solidarity 24 Feb Once again the settlers from the illegal Israeli colony of Maskiyyot are attempting to force the Palestinian community of ‘Ein El Hilwe off their land. Working hand in hand with the Israeli Army they have set up a tent just 10 meters from the family home of Nabeel and Ghada Daraghme. Around 100 settlers came in the middle of the night on 22nd/23rd March, with a large tent, generator and flood lighting, terrifying Ghada’s three youngest children. About forty settlers then stayed and kept the family awake for the rest of the night. This was just one day after the Israeli Army had been and told the family to take down their tent and move from the land.
Update 24.3.11 7.10pmThe settlers have now erected fence around part of the family’s home and their cattle pen. They are unable to bring their cattle home and have had to leave them out on the mountain for the night. They have also tried to take the cameras off the internationals present, but have not succeeded.
Update 24.3.11 7.35pm The army have now been and said to the family that if they do not take their home down by 6am tomorrow morning (25.3.11). To our knowledge they have not asked the settler to dismantle the tent and fence they have erected in the last few days, or asked them to leave. They still do not have a demolition order either.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=197:settler-agreesion-in-ein-el-hilwe-continures&catid=15:2010&Itemid=21
Settlers build a tent in ‘Ein il Hilwe – our pictures
Jordan Valley Solidarity – 23 March
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=196:settlers-build-a-tent-in-ein-il-hilwe-our-pictures&catid=15:2010&Itemid=21
JVS lawyer obtains a demolition freeze
23 Mar 13:13 As previously, in Abu Alajaj Bedouin community, facing a land confiscation, our lawyer succeeded to obtain a freeze of the demolition orders in Khirbet Tana. Three weeks ago, Tana, a small village in the northern Jordan Valley, faced its 6th demolition. Tana community lives in caves for centuries and few weeks ago the occupational forces decided to bulldoze those caves. Tana people stood in front of their caves to prevent the demolition but the army ensure that the bulldozers will come back to destroy them. The lawyer went there to see the situation and was astonished by the beauty of the caves and the steadfastness of the people living there. He took as much as information as he could in order to ask the Court the cancellation of demolition orders. At now he obtained a freeze and we hope he will succeed to obtain the full cancellation. The freeze has given Tana people hope and strength to struggle against the occupation policy of Palestinians transfer from their land.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=195:jvs-lawyer-obtain-a-demolition-freeze&catid=15:2010&Itemid=21
Jerusalem
Photos from Silwan today – Friday, 25 March
http://silwanic.net/?p=14013
Clashes pierce Silwan’s holy day once again
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 25 Mar — Clashes have gripped Silwan again today, with confrontations concentrated currently around Ein Silwan Street. Israeli forces are firing tear gas grenades, sound bombs and rubber bullets at Palestinian residents, in addition to the water cannon. Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians have become a regular event in Silwan each Friday, with the violence often continuing throughout the week
http://silwanic.net/?p=13924
Gaza – actions and reactions
Israeli airstrikes across Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) updated 25 Mar 09:56 — Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes on targets in Gaza City late Thursday injuring one person, witnesses and medical personnel said. Drones fired four missiles at the Palestinian Authority intelligence headquarters and an Al-Qassam Brigades site. Warplanes carried out raids on an agricultural area east of Beit Hanoun and four artillery shells were fired around the Karni crossing. One young man was injured by shrapnel, medical sources said. He was taken to Ash-Shifa Hospital for treatment of light wounds.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=372149
Netanyahu: Israel’s reaction to rocket attacks will be measured
Haaretz 25 Mar 00:11 PM meets with Medvedev, Putin in Russia; Netanyahu says Obama phoned him and complimented him for his ‘relative restraint’ in dealing with the cross-border escalation — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that if Hamas chooses to escalate cross-border tensions, Israel’s reaction to the attacks will be measured. Netanyahu spoke during his visit in Moscow, and sources close to the prime minister said that he was not eager to launch a comprehensive operation in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-israel-s-reaction-to-rocket-attacks-will-be-measured-1.351658
Gaza Strip tensions rise as Israeli leaders threaten major ground invasion
[interesting photos] 25 Mar — …Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar warned that Israel’s response would be even tougher than Operation Cast Lead. ‘Israel will soon be left with no choice but to embark on an extensive military ground operation even bigger than Operation Cast Lead,’ Sa’ar told Israel Radio on Friday … former army chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi, who commanded Operation Cast Lead, told a gathering in Paris on Thursday night that the time had come to confront Hamas once again. He said the Israeli army should hunt down terrorist leaders in Gaza and neutralize them, even if they are hiding among the civilian population.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1369926/Gaza-Strip-tensions-rise-Israeli-leaders-threaten-major-ground-invasion.html
Netanyahu: Israel ready to act with ‘great force’
CAESAREA, Israel (AFP) 25 Mar — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel is ready to act with “great force” against militant attacks, a day after Israelis launched strikes in Gaza … The prime minister said he had received a “very warm” phone call from US President Barack Obama on Thursday expressing his condolences over the latest attacks … In Tel Aviv on Thursday, Gates said Washington firmly backed Israel’s right to respond to the both the rocket fire and the Jerusalem bombing, which he described as “repugnant acts.” But he suggested Israel should tread carefully or risk derailing the course of popular unrest sweeping Arab and Muslim countries in the Middle East.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=372240
MESS Report: Israel struggling to avoid head-on clash with Hamas / Amos Harel
25 Mar — IAF attacks on Gaza have been largely symbolic thus far; Gaza residents say among targets hit was a long-abandoned building and an unused Hamas post that had been bombed before … Israel’s response to the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip remained limited on Thursday. One reason could be that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is abroad and the Israel Defense Forces will escalate its attacks when he returns. Another could be that Israel understands that it currently has little to gain from an escalation with Hamas. [and the children were symbolic collateral damage, we suppose]
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/mess-report/israel-struggling-to-avoid-head-on-clash-with-hamas-1.351661
Barak: No 100% solution to rocket strikes
Ynet 25 Mar — …Meanwhile, Arabic-language newspaper Sharq al-Awsat reported Friday morning that Israel and Hamas are in contact behind the scenes via a third party. The paper quoted an Israeli source who claimed indirect talks had been held starting Thursday in the aims of reducing tensions in the area and putting an end to IDF strikes and rocket attacks. While the identity of the third party mediating in the talks was not published, estimates point to Egypt, Turkey and possibly the Palestinian Authority as well … The newspaper also reported great tension between Hamas and Islamic Jihad over the latest escalation.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4047759,00.html
Report: Hamas calls on UN to halt Israel’s strikes on Gaza
Haaretz 25 Mar 12:51 –Al-Quds Al-Arabi reports that Hamas spokesman also called on Arab League to intervene to stop ‘Israeli aggression’ and stop Israel from ‘exploiting regional instability to carry out massacres against Palestinians.’
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-hamas-calls-on-un-to-halt-israel-s-strikes-on-gaza-1.351807
Video: Gaza mourns children killed by Israel airstrikes
(Mosaic Video Alert: March 24, 2011) New TV reports on the Israeli airstrikes over the Gaza Strip which targeted the neighborhoods of al-Shuja‘eiya and al-Zaitoun and killed nine people, including several children. The public held funerals for the martyrs on what the government called the “day of mourning their souls.” [not the usual news reports seen in the West]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XYfBCamkks
Council heads outraged over government’s idleness
Ynet 24 Mar 20:46 – Escalation of violence in the south amid continued rocket fire has created chaos in local communities. Some council heads have decided to suspend school classes whereas others stick to Home Front Command guidelines and carry on with daily routine. Various municipal officials complained the government and army are offering no support in the face of the missile threat.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4047527,00.html
As rockets strike southern Israel, kids take day off to go to the mall
Haaretz 25 Mar 02:04 — Amid the rocket attacks in the south, confusion is growing over the decision by some mayors to shut the schools. Some children are treating it like an unexpected holiday, while the grown-ups, at least in Ashkelon, are debating whether closing the schools is the right thing to do. But not all the approximately 150,000 school children in Be’er Sheva, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Kiryat Gat are staying home with their computers and televisions. For many, the day off is a chance for some unexpected mall time. In Ashdod, the malls have been as full as on an ordinary day.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/as-rockets-strike-southern-israel-kids-take-day-off-to-go-to-the-mall-1.351668
Iron Dome heads south
Ynet 24 Mar 22:46 Following escalation on Gaza border, Israel will station portable anti-missile system in south on Sunday in order to intercept rockets, mortar shells … The Iron Dome system can protect an area as big as 10X10 km from rockets and mortar shells threatening to explode in communities or on vital structures. The system can calculate the trajectory of the rockets and avoid intercepting rockets which are about to land in open areas. However, the Iron Dome cannot intercept objects fired from a distance shorter than 1.737 miles.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4047555,00.html
Joint claim of responsibility for Ashkelon attack
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) — The armed wings of two Palestinian factions claimed joint responsibility Thursday for firing Grad rockets at Ashkelon. “The shelling was in response to Israel’s escalations against our unarmed people,” a joint statement from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s National Resistance Brigades and Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades said. Islamic Jihad later denied that its armed wing took part in the attack … At least two Grad rockets slammed into the port city of Ashdod and just north of it, police and the Israeli army said. Medics said no one was injured in the strikes, which came a day after Gaza’s Hamas rulers vowed to rein in recalcitrant militant groups who had vowed to hit ever-deeper into Israel … Earlier, security sources had told AFP one of the rockets landed in an area “just south of Rishon-le-Tzion” — which is significantly further north, in an area around nine miles from Tel Aviv. Officials in the area had “heard a loud blast” but it later transpired the blast was not caused by the second rocket, which had landed just north of Ashdod.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=372180
Palestinian attacks, lightly wounds soldier near West Bank settlement
Haaretz 25 Mar — Both soldier and Palestinian were trying to hitch a ride when the Palestinian threw a stone at the soldier’s head; police saw the incident and fired at the Palestinian, lightly injuring him … Police suspect that the Palestinian intended to steal the soldier’s weapon.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-attacks-lightly-wounds-soldier-near-west-bank-settlement-1.351781
Siege
Libya-headed Palestinian doctors await Egypt’s approval to pass
Trend 24 Mar — A delegation of 20 Palestinian doctors and nurses prepare to leave the Gaza Strip for Libya to join Arab medics there, Palestinian Nursing Association said Thursday. Yousef Fahjjan, the secretary of the association, urged Egypt to let the medical mission leave Gaza through its territories. “We are still waiting for the Egyptian authorities’ approval,” he told Xinhua. The Palestinian doctors will be based on Egypt-Libya borders ” to help receive the wounded,” Fahjjan said.
http://en.trend.az/regions/met/arabicr/1850172.html
Detention / Abduction
Israeli soldiers arrest Bassem Tamimi, coordinator of Nabi Saleh Popular Committee
24 Mar — Bassem Tamimi, coordinator of the Nabi Saleh popular committee, was arrested when dozens of soldiers raided his house at noon today [Thursday] beating his wife and daughter in the process. Only yesterday the military court had ordered the indefinite remand of Naji Tamimi, another member of the Nabi Saleh population committee … Tamimi is one of the prominent figures of the Palestinian popular struggle in the West Bank and considered by many as the engine behind Nabi Saleh’s grassroots mobilization against the occupation and for the protection of the village’s lands from settler takeover.
http://www.popularstruggle.org/content/israeli-soldiers-arrest-bassem-tamimi-coordinator-nabi-saleh-popular-committee
Court [again] extends remand of Gazan engineer held in in Israeli prison
Haaretz 24 Mar 20:17 — The Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court decided Thursday to extend the remand of Gazan engineer Dirar Abu Sisi by seven days upon the request of the General Security Service and the Israel Police. Abu Sisi, who was arrested in the Ukraine according to the foreign media, has been held in an Israeli prison for 34 days.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/court-extends-remand-of-gazan-engineer-held-in-israeli-prison-1.351622
Child and father abducted from sea
ISM 23 Mar — Four days. That is the time lapse between the attack on Yasser Nasser Bakr, who was shot in the abdomen by the Israeli Navy, and yesterday’s abduction at sea of his father and brother. “…Once again they ordered us to stop, but I continued to set sail towards the beach. It was only four days after they shot my son Yasser and I just didn’t want to obey them. That’s when they opened fire on us, leaving me with no choice but to stop.” The story continues and is almost an exact copy of the stories of the Al-Laham, Al-Hissi and other members of the Bakr family. All of them are fishermen who have been abducted in the past months and whose boats remain confiscated. Nasser and his son were forced to undress and jump into the water to swim towards the gunboat. Once in Ashdod, policemen asked them why they crossed the border. “We have a GPS on board and we were only 2.7 nautical mile out!”
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/03/17151/
Israeli soldiers take pictures of Palestinian prisoners to humiliate them
RAMALLAH, 24 Mar (WAFA) –Israeli forces Thursday took pictures of prisoners with mobile phones in Israeli prisoners to humiliate and degrade them. Prisoners told the prison’s lawyer that the Isaeli soldiers physically assaulted them. They put helmets on their heads and took pictures of them with their mobile phones, as a way of degrading them. Prisoner’s Club stressed that this incident is not the first of its kind.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15623
PA frees Islamic Jihad leaders arrested after bombing
JENIN (Ma‘an) 24 Mar 22:41 — The Palestinian Authority released on Thursday two West Bank leaders of the Islamic Jihad movement who were detained Wednesday in connection with a bombing that killed a British citizen in Jerusalem. Khaled Jaradat and Tareq Qa‘dan were detained for several hours but released due to lack of evidence, Qa‘dan told Ma‘n. He said that “there was no direct reason for the arrest.” Walid Badad, an official from the Islamic and national factions in Jenin, said the release came after a meeting in which factions “affirmed the prohibition against politically motivated arrests.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=372145
Refugees
Request for UN regular budget support of Palestine refugee agency receives broad backing
UN GA — 24 Mar — In an extraordinary action today, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) decided to recommend the use of United Nations regular budget funds to bolster the United Nations troubled refugee agency in the Middle East. By a vote of 134 in favour to 2 against ( Israel, Marshall Islands) with no abstentions, delegates overwhelmingly expressed their support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which was in the midst of a rapidly deteriorating financial situation. Many said that the use of regular budget funds — which had last been tapped for UNRWA in 1974 — would help the donor-funded Agency continue its provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance to the world’s largest refugee population.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/JARD-8FA37D?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Activism / Solidarity
Israel breaks up anti-wall rallies across West Bank
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 25 Mar — Israeli forces used tear-gas to break up anti-wall protests in villages across the West Bank on Friday. Undeterred by the rain, demonstrators focused on Palestinian national unity as well as an end to Israel’s occupation. Hunger strikers from the March 15 youth movement left Ramallah’s Manara square to join the protest in Bil‘in, where this week’s slogan was “End the division and the occupation.” … Protest organizers said four villagers were injured. Ahmad Abu Rahma, 16, was shot in his right leg with a bullet that disperses hundreds of metal balls when fired. Ibrahim Burnat, 28, and Samer Ataya, 30, were both shot in the leg with tear gas grenades. Mohamad Burnat, 22, was hit in his face with a tear gas canister.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=372298
March 15 and the roots of our struggle / Safa Joudeh
EI 14 Mar — The 15 March mass mobilizations in the West Bank and Gaza came and went. But did they achieve what they set out to do? … The goal: a mass mobilization of Palestinians to pressure the Hamas-run government in Gaza, and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, to end the four-year-long division. But rather than topple the governments, as was the goal with the uprisings in neighboring countries, demonstrators hope to be able to bring them together.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11878.shtml
Brussels: Pro-Palestinian groups stage anti-Israel street play
Ynet 25 Mar — Activists dressed as IDF soldiers ‘kill’ boy playing Palestinian; women cover ‘body’ with Palestinian flag as crowd chants ‘boycott Israel.’ … The exhibit was authorized by Freddy Thielemans, the mayor of the Belgian capital, despite Israeli Ambassador to Brussels Tamar Samash’s request that he ban it.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4047699,00.html
Palestine on form
…Here’s The Independent [letter]: Census took me home at last — As a British citizen of Palestinian origin, stating my country of birth often poses a problem, and this came to a head when completing the Census 2011 form … I called the census helpline. After much internal consultation, and reference to guidance notes, I was told that “We all know it’s occupied” and that I should simply write “Palestine”, which I have done, with considerable pride and satisfaction.It’s gratifying that at least Census 2011 is clear about the reality, even while the UK Government dithers. My British passport states my town of birth but mentions no country, presumably a diplomatic cop-out to avoid controversy.
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2011/03/palestine-on-form.html
Politics / Diplomacy
Gates first US defense chief to visit Palestinians
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) 25 Mar — Robert Gates on Friday became the first U.S. Defense Secretary to visit the West Bank, meeting Palestinian leaders keenly aware of every little nod to their hopes of achieving statehood. Children in Ramallah stared as the long motorcade of U.S. cars wound through the streets of the city north of Jerusalem. With U.S. diplomacy fully stretched over revolts in the Arab world and the air war with Libya, Gates was looking to revive stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, before another war fills the vacuum they have left for six months.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110325/pl_nm/us_israel_palestinians_gates
Fayyad updates US on plan for Palestinian statehood in 2011
Haaretz & dpa 25 Mar — In meet with U.S. defense chief in Ramallah, the Palestinian PM said Israeli restrictions obstruct Palestinian efforts to build state institutions and criticized West bank settlement expansion.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/fayyad-updates-u-s-on-plan-for-palestinian-statehood-in-2011-1.351839
Egypt tells Israel it is committed to peace treaty
Reuters 24 Mar — One day after taking power, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces says it is committed to Egypt’s international treaties, reassuring Israel and the United States.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/egypt-tells-israel-it-is-committed-to-peace-treaty-1.351643
Der‘aa protesters: Liberate Golan
Protesters in the Syrian city of Der‘aa shouted slogans on Friday denouncing Maher Assad, brother of the Syrian president and head of the Republican Guard, a Reuters witness said. “Maher you coward. Send your troops to liberate the Golan,” thousands chanted as they headed to the main square in the city after the funeral of at least five protesters killed by security forces this week. Israel captured the Golan Heights in a 1967 war.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4047728,00.html
Islamic Jihad delegation heads to Syria
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 24 Mar — A delegation of Islamic Jihad officials headed to Syria from the Gaza Strip late Thursday, officials said. Jihad leader Khaled Al-Batsh told Ma‘an that Mohammad Al-Hindi and Nafeth Azzam are among the officials who departed via the Egypt-Gaza Rafah crossing in the south. Al-Batsh said the delegation would meet with Egyptian officials and expat leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad to discuss a variety of issues including reconciliation and tensions with Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=372093
Other news
Hamas govt promises to ease media restrictions
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) The head of the media office of the Gaza government, Hassen Abu Hasheesh, said Friday that the ministry of interior decided to end harassment of journalists in the Gaza Strip … The government in Gaza will not intimidate local media “through beating, cursing, insulting or chasing the journalists or raiding their offices without due legal justification,” Abu Hasheesh said. The government will stop arresting journalists and will release any journalist who is detained, he added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=372297
Dan Rather’s crew ‘humiliated by Israeli security’
AP 25 Mar — In a letter to Israeli officials, producer says legendary anchorman’s crew held up for hours at security checks, strip-searched before interview with Deputy PM Meridor … The allegations, made in a letter to Israeli officials that was obtained by The Associated Press, add to growing complaints about how Israeli security officials treat foreign media .. Andrew Glazer, an Emmy-award winning producer at Dan Rather Reports, wrote that the legendary anchorman came to do a story about improving Israeli-Palestinian relations pitched by Israel’s Foreign Ministry … “Mr. Rather said that in his career, he had never seen a crew forced to strip prior to an interview — including the one he conducted with Saddam Hussein,” Glazer wrote.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4047674,00.html
Jerusalem’s first marathon takes a ‘wrong turn’
JERUSALEM (AFP) 25 Mar — Jerusalem’s first-ever marathon ended in amusing confusion on Friday, with a Kenyan runner, said to have taken a wrong turn, crossing the finish line for the half marathon and still winning …About 10,000 participants took part in the messy marathon, held in the shadow of a fatal bus bombing and in the face of opposition from Palestinians and leftist Israelis. The race, which passed through stretches of Jerusalem’s annexed Arab eastern sector, forced the closure of many city streets and left the few thoroughfares remaining open choked with bumper-to-bumper traffic … The Jerusalem Post daily said that three of the runners – a Christian, a Jew and a Muslim – were to wear T-shirts proclaiming, “Three religions, one God.” The event drew fire from the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Committee, which sent a letter of protest to German sportswear giant, Adidas, one of the main sponsors of the event, for backing an Israeli event involving east Jerusalem and including Israeli soldiers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110325/wl_mideast_afp/athleticsmarathonisrpal
Haredi parents marry off 13-year-old daughter as ‘penance’ for flirtations
Haaretz 25 Mar — Rabbi in West Bank town of Modi’in convinced parents that Kabbalist text prescribed matrimony to atone for ‘misconduct’ … The wedding was set for the Purim holiday on Sunday. However, when the story became known, other rabbis of the town, led by the city’s chief rabbi, Meir Kessler, began a campaign to call off the wedding … The law in Israel prohibits marriage under the age of 17, except by special court permission.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/haredi-parents-marry-off-13-year-old-daughter-as-penance-for-flirtations-1.351664
Analysis / Opinion
Why a new Gaza war is possible but unlikely / Tony Karon
TIME 24 Mar — In a conflict that has raged for 63 years, all violence can be termed ‘retaliation’. The first shots were fired so long ago that it’s usually the other side’s most recent ones that each side reaches for to explain their own. But ‘retaliation’ offers a rationalization rather than an explanation for any outbreak of violence over the Israel-Gaza boundary fence. Even in exchanges of fire that both sides know they can’t ‘win’ in any traditional sense of the term, Clausewitz’s logic still applies: “War is the continuation of politics by other means.” … it’s the political calculations of the various players on both sides that will determine whether the advent of Spring will bring a new war in Gaza
http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/03/24/why-a-new-gaza-war-is-possible-but-unlikely/
Legal expert warns of ‘ethnic cleansing’ / Mel Frykberg
EI 24 Mar — …Palestinians also face discrimination in almost every other aspect of life in occupied East Jerusalem with one of the most important sectors being education. More than 5,000 Palestinian children in occupied East Jerusalem do not attend school at all. The drop-out rate for Palestinian school students in occupied East Jerusalem is 50 percent, compared with less than 12 percent for Jewish students … Israel’s Education Law requires the state to provide education equally to all residents of the city. However, the Israeli government spent an average of 2,300 New Israeli Shekels (NIS), or approximately US $604, on each Jewish child in elementary school during the year 2008-2009. In contrast, no more than 577 shekels ($151 dollars) were spent on each Palestinian child.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11876.shtml
Target Israel, not Libya / Steve Lendman
25 Mar — On April 9, 1986, Ronald Reagan called Muammar el Gaddafi the “mad dog of the Middle East.” Today, after an imposed no-fly zone, war rages to remove him. For decades, he ruled despotically, punishing enemies, rewarding friends. His days may now be numbered. Washington won’t quit until he’s gone, no matter how many corpses it takes to achieve it. In fact, however, a far greater Middle East menace threatens the entire region, the Israeli war machine based in Jerusalem. Besides illegally occupying Palestine, brutalizing Palestinians daily, persecuting Israeli Arabs, threatening and attacking its neighbors, its longstanding plan calls for dividing and dominating the region.
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/03/target-israel-not-libya.html
Sinking USS Liberty — new findings / Phil Giraldi
23 Mar — Who will write the final chapter on Israel’s 1967 confrontation with the U.S. Navy? … Forty-four years ago seems like a long time and, in terms of fashion or family photo albums, it is. But the June 8, 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty is still an important issue. Thirty-four American sailors and civilian personnel were killed … over 170 more were wounded … In an article just published, Phil reports … “Several Liberty crewmen reported seeing a periscope during the attack and it has generally been assumed that it was Israeli.” Now we know differently … “The photos and videos of the incident made by Amberjack were subsequently couriered to Washington by a ship’s officer, where they were turned over to the Pentagon.” Where is this evidence today?
http://salem-news.com/articles/march232011/liberty-sinking-pg.php
Haaretz Editorial: The silence of the 60 lambs
25 Mar — The apathy of the MKs that did not show up to the Knesset votes on the Nakba Law and Admission-Committees Law encourages the instigators of racism.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-silence-of-the-60-lambs-1.351694
Iraq
Thursday: 8 Iraqis killed, 11 wounded
At least eight Iraqis were killed and 11 more were wounded in new attacks, but an unknown number of casualties in a jail riot could place the number even higher. In Baghdad, a riot broke out at the Rusafa detention center, but no casualties have been reported despite the arrival of 13 ambulances at the center. A roadside bomb wounded three people near a souk on Nidhal Street. Four bodies were discovered in a river in Hilla. The body of a four-year-old girl was found in Amara. In Kirkuk, a pair of bombs last night wounded eight people. An unidentified body was discovered. Eighteen suspects were arrested….
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/03/24/thursday-8-iraqis-killed-11-wounded/
