Israel’s new tactic: Use Cairo embassy attack to argue against Palestinian statehood
Israel’s overseas ambassadors have been instructed by the Foreign Ministry to use last weekend’s attack on the Israeli embassy in Cairo to convince decision-makers in the countries where they serve that United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state will lead to a violent eruption in the West Bank.
Fatah: PLO to seek full recognition at UN
Palestinian Authority will ask UN Security Council for recognition next week, Fatah official Mohammed Shtayyeh says.
Ambassador Rice: Palestinian U.N. Bid ‘Not Symbolic, It Is Consequential’
The U.S. stepped up its rhetoric against a Palestinian bid to gain United Nations membership during this month’s General Assembly meeting. U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice told a gathered group of journalists that the bid is “not symbolic, it is consequential” because, if accepted, it would give Palestinians access to treaties and inter-governmental bodies like the International Criminal Court. She said the “dangerous diversion” would hurt Palestinian interests in the long run because the bid would imperil the future of the already-stalled peace process between Israel and Palestine. “The reality is, the absolute only way to achieve our goal [of] two states living side by side…is through direct negotiations,” said Rice, according to the Christian Science Monitor. “There is no short cut.”
Russia to support Palestinian UN bid
Russia’s ambassador to UN says Moscow ‘will vote for any of the Palestinians’ proposals’ next week.
Saudi prince calls on U.S. to back Palestinian U.N. status (Reuters)
Reuters – Saudi Arabia’s former top U.S. diplomat pressed the United States to support a Palestinian bid to upgrade its U.N. status, saying that its longtime ally would “risk losing the little credibility it has in the Arab world” if it failed to do so.
NYT criticizes Israel, US ahead of ‘ruinous’ UN vote
New York Times editorial describes Obama’s attempt to convince Abbas to drop statehood bid in favor of talks as ‘listless, unpersuasive’; slams Netanyahu for evading negotiations at every turn. PA leadership dubbed ‘most moderate Palestinians have ever had’.
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid
IOF levels homes, structures in Al-Khalil
The Israeli occupation forces were deployed heavily in Al-Khalil governorate in the West Bank on Tuesday morning in an apparent demolition spree.
link to Palestine Information Center
The tunnel-settlement labyrinth
The authority wielded by Elad settler association impacts increasingly on the lives of Palestinian residents of Silwan and other districts of East Jerusalem. Some residents have likened Elad to a “kingdom within a state”, given its labyrinthine network of control over infrastructure and funds in Jerusalem. The jewel in Elad’s crown is the exclusive power it holds over Silwan’s historical sites, the chief earner in the mammoth revenue it gains in Jerusalem. Elad’s privately-hired, publicly-funded settler security militia command a conspicuous presence on the streets of Silwan, where they are engaged in continual violent harassment and provocation of Palestinian residents. Waleed, a resident of Silwan, states that “Elad reaps its revenue from stolen Palestinian land, largely through the Absentee Property Law.
http://silwanic.net/?p=20041
Elad double tunnel officially openeded in Wadi Hilweh under huge military protection
As part of its City of David project, Elad settler association has dug two major tunnels underneath the Silwan region, compromising the structural integrity of the buildings above-ground and endangering the lives of residents as a result. The first tunnel stretches underneath Silwan from Wadi Hilweh to al-Ein Mosque and the Orthodox Church. The second burrows under the ground beneath the Old City’s Dung Gate to al-Aqsa Mosque. Elad has attempted to prevent the media from investigating and publicising the extent of their tunnelling. One reporter to date has managed to gain entry and photograph the tunnels, however. Elad retains exclusive control over the entirety of Silwan’s ruins and historical sites, in addition to many others throughout the Old City and the rest of Jerusalem.
http://silwanic.net/?p=20049
Conference told that water situation in Palestine is “catastrophic”
A conference in Jericho and the Jordan Valley has been told that the water situation in Palestine is “catastrophic”. Delegates at the “Water is a Human Right” conference include Palestinian and international organisations, individuals and activists. They heard the head of the Palestinian Water Authority accuse the Israelis of destroying wells and water conduits which have supplied Palestinians since the Roman era, citing in particular three wells in Nasseriya and Jiftlik at the Jordan Valley. “This is a violation of all conventions to preserve our heritage,” said Shaddad Atilli. “Where is UNESCO?”. He called on European activists to let the public across the EU know about this “tragic situation”.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2813-conference-told-that-water-situation-in-palestine-is-qcatastrophicq
Settlers
PA’s UN bid may lead to ICC action against settlers
ACRI warns that successful Palestinian bid in UN will subject settlements to international criminal code, allow lawsuits against settlers.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4121579,00.html
Shin Bet: Israel’s extreme rightists organizing into terror groups
Peace Now activist targeted with threatening graffiti in latest settler ‘price tag’ attack. Extreme right-wing Jewish activists in the West Bank have moved from spontaneous acts against Arabs – following the demolition of Jewish homes by Israeli authorities, or terror attacks against Jews – to organized planning that includes use of a database of potential targets, according to new analysis by the Shin Bet security service.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/shin-bet-israel-s-extreme-rightists-organizing-into-terror-groups-1.384099?localLinksEnabled=false
Village forms night watch to prevent ‘Price Tag’ attacks
Palestinian village where mosque was torched forms group to patrol the town at night in search of settlers.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4121779,00.html
Witnesses: Settler mob attacks Palestinian vehicles near Nablus
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hundreds of settlers rallied at a main road near the illegal settlement of Yitzhar in Nablus on Monday night, closing the road and pelting Palestinian vehicles with stones, witnesses said. Ultra-orthodox settlers also chanted slogans against Arabs and Palestinians, according to witnesses. There has been as escalation in settler attacks over the past few weeks, with the Nablus district particularly affected by the violence.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=419682
Jewish settlers attack Palestinian workers, Israeli forces arrest minor in OJ
Jewish settlers sprayed a number of Palestinian workers in occupied Jerusalem’s Deir Yassin suburb with tear gas on Sunday, local sources reported.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Settlers destroy Beit Ommar farmer’s crops
This morning, Beit Ommar farmers arrived at their lands to discover that large areas of grape vines had been attacked by settlers from the illegal settlement of Karmei Tsur. The farmers immediately notified Mahmoud Ahmad Coql, who owns the destroyed fields. In total, the settlers severed two dunums (two thousand square meters) of Mahmoud’s grape vines in fields near the illegal Karmei Tsur settlement.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/09/settlers-destroy-beit-ommar-farmer%e2%80%99s-crops.html
Jewish settlers cut off Palestinian grapevines
Jewish settlers attacked Palestinian grapevines in Halhul village, north of Al-Khalil, and cut off dozens of them on Monday, local sources said.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Islamic-Christian Front: Israel to blame over West Bank settler attacks
The secretary-general of the Islamic-Christian Front accused Jewish settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories of organizing a long running campaign of terror against Palestinian natives.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Protest against settler conference met with huge Israeli armed forces presence
Elad settler association is holding a City of David conference to discuss plans for the envisaged “biblical city” to be established in Wadi Hilweh district of Silwan. With the announcement/opening of the conference, Elad has also officially opened the Wadi Hilweh tunnel, a tunnel that burrows underneath Wadi Hilweh as part of the archaeological site, and the Giva’ti Parking Lot. A large crowd of Palestinians and Israeli and international solidarity activists staged a protest outside the City of David visitors centre. A heavy presence of Israeli forces surrounded the demonstration, and the neighborhood of Wadi Hilweh is currently witnessing a heightened state of tension as Israeli intelligence units are deployed throughout the district.
http://silwanic.net/?p=20046
Siege on Gaza
One Palestinian Romeo’s journey to reunite with his Gaza Strip Juliet
For one young groom, getting married entailed traveling through the Gaza tunnels and 23 days in detention – and he is still parted from his bride.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/one-palestinian-romeo-s-journey-to-reunite-with-his-gaza-strip-juliet-1.384115?localLinksEnabled=false
Hamas donates $140,000 to Somalia
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Hamas ministry of religious endowments in the Gaza Strip has donated $140,000 to the people of Somalia through the emergency and relief committee of Arab doctors. The donation was announced during a ceremony on Tuesday at the ministry’s office, which was attended by the chair of the Arab doctors committee Muhammad Aklouk and minister of endowments Salih Ar-Ruqab.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=419787
Four workers injured in tunnel collapse in Rafah
Four Palestinian workers were injured Monday evening in the collapse of an underground tunnel on the Egypt-Gaza border, medics told the Palestinian information center.
link to Palestine Information Center
Palestinian Activism / Israeli Regime Against Protesters
Israeli Army Raid Beit Ommar, Arrest Three
Sunday 11th September: In the early hours of Sunday morning, at around 2am, Isreali military forces raided several houses in Beit Ommar, firing teargas and throwing concussion grenades. Three houses were surrounded by dozens of soldiers, who arrested Munib Jahed, 17, university student Nadim Khalil, 21, and Fares Al-Owewy, 25. All three are being held in Gush Etzion prison, where lawyers were able to visit them yesterday afternoon (Sunday).
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/09/12/israeli-army-raid-beit-ommar-arrest-three/
Israeli Army Occupy Homes in al-Nabi Saleh After Demonstration
9th September: PSP joined residents of al-Nabi Saleh for their weekly demonstration. Around sixty protesters – comprising local residents, Israelis, and international activists – marched towards the area of several local springs which have been stolen by the nearby illegal settlement of Halamish.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/09/12/israeli-army-occupy-homes-in-al-nabi-saleh-after-demonstration/
Other Israeli Regime Violence
Violent clashes erupt across Silwan
Violent sporadic clashes erupted in Jerusalem’s Silwan district between locals and Israeli occupation forces on Tuesday morning.
link to Palestine Information Center
Broken wrists and arrests by Israeli military as farmers cultivate Beit Ummar
Supporting Palestinian farmers in Beit Ummar, international activists joined the weekly Saturday activities–clearing the land for cultivation despite the harrassment of Israeli military and illegal settlers, which resulted in the injury of a Palestinian man and the arrest of a British national, Jude Wells.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/09/20130/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
Detainees
The perpetual threat of arrest Silwan’s children face: anytime, anywhere
The children of Silwan are like any others in the world: they wish to have fun, and spend their leisure time playing. The Israeli forces that dominate Silwan, however, make this impossible: the children of Silwan face the threat of daily kidnappings from their own streets – the only place available for them to play. While the Jerusalem Municipality extorts taxes from the Palestinian residents of Silwan, they do not re-invest any of that money back into the community, such as the construction of play grounds for children. Settlers, meanwhile, control vast areas of land in Silwan and physically prevent Palestinian residents from reaching them. The Palestinian child is cornered into her or his own Bantustan, exposed to arrest and kidnapping. Images documenting the kidnapping of a local child by undercover units, as he played neighborhood in Ras al-Amoud district of Silwan on 22 July 2011: Islam Jaber, 13, appears in the video after being brutally beaten by Israeli Forces. Malek Issam Da’na, 8, together with his father holds the medical report issued after he was beaten severely by Israeli forces.
http://silwanic.net/?p=20054
Family: Israeli forces detain 14-year-old boy at checkpoint
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli soldiers detained a 14-year-old child at Beit Jala checkpoint, near Bethlehem on Sunday, the boy’s family told Ma’an. Mahmoud Marzouq Zawahreh said that his son, Mazin, was accused by Israeli forces of trying to stab a soldier. Zawahreh denied the claims, saying that his son was not capable of the accused crime.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=419429
MP Abu Tir sentenced to administrative detention
Banished Jerusalem MP Muhammad Abu Tir has been sentenced Monday to six months in administrative detention in a ruling by an Israeli military court.
link to Palestine Information Center
Palestinian detainees in Etzion jail go on hunger strike
Palestinian detainees in Etzion detention center have gone on a single day hunger strike on Sunday to protest their bad incarceration conditions.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Reprisals
Israel: “Shots Fired At Army Vehicle In Eilat
Israeli sources reported that a number of live rounds were fired Sunday from Egypt into Eilat, close to the site were eight Israeli soldiers were killed last month after gunmen opened fire at a military bus driving on a highway close to the border.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62002
Boycott, Sanctions & Divestment / Solidarity
BDS: Update on MECA’s ‘A Child’s View from Gaza’ Exibit canceled by MOCHA
SAVE THE DATE: September 24, 2011/ TIME: 1:00-3:00PM/ LOCATION: Either Inside or Outside of MOCHA, 538 Ninth Street, Suite 210 Oakland, CA 94607. Courtesy of MECA: Despite our disappointment in MOCHA’s decision to cancel the venue, the Middle East Children’s Alliance is committed to presenting “A Child’s View From Gaza,” a Palestinian children’s exhibit of art to the Bay Area on the scheduled opening date, September 24, 2011. Since news of the censorship broke, we have received an outpouring of support from concerned individuals, groups, local schools and churches, and supporters of human rights, who have offered to help MECA secure an alternative venue. We are now more than ever determined to share the stories, creativity, and artwork of the children of Gaza, and hope the museum will reverse its decision and do the right thing! We will post an update on this page as soon as we are notified of any change in MOCHA’s position. We have sent a letter to the museum asking the board to reverse its decision by Thursday, September 15. Your voice counts! Please sign the action alert within 72 hours and tell MOCHA there is no benefit to succumbing to pressure from pro-Israel groups and censoring Palestinian children’s art! The exhibit will be shown either inside or outside of MOCHA. We look forward to seeing you all there—old friends and new!
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2011/09/bds-update-on-mecas-childs-view-from.html
Divesting from Israel’s Occupation: Petition at University of Colorado, Ida Audeh
In September, the University of Colorado Board of Regents will be presented with a petition urging it to remove from the university’s stock portfolio all companies that profit from Israel’s occupation of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. Launched by CU-Divest and signed by nearly 2,000 students and human rights activists, the petition states that the university’s $1.7 billion investments “may violate the University’s commitment to human rights and social justice.”
http://blog.endtheoccupation.org/2011/09/divesting-from-israels-occupation.html
Israeli actor refuses to perform in West Bank theater
Israeli actor Rami Baruch said he will not perform at a new cultural center in Kiryat Arba, a Jewish suburb of Hebron. Baruch, who was scheduled to perform his play “Pollard” at the cultural center’s opening Sept. 19, announced his decision Sunday, saying that according to his contract with the Cameri Theater he does not have to perform in the West Bank. “I made a decision, understanding that it could lead to financial ramifications and counter-boycotts,” Baruch said. “Kiryat Arba is where Baruch Goldstein and Kahane came from, and I asked myself what is my place in this whole story.”
http://www.jewishjournal.com/israel/article/israeli_actor_refuses_to_perform_in_west_bank_theater_20110912/
Another one bites the dust (Agresco liquidated)
Campaigners for Palestinian rights are celebrating after the primary Israeli agricultural produce export company Agrexco, which has been a key target of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement in support of Palestinian rights, has been ordered into liquidation after being unable to pay its creditors.
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2011/09/another-one-bites-dust.html
Resistance and Revolution as Lived Daily Experience: An Interview with Leila Khaled (Intro)
The protests and uprisings that have taken hold across the Arab world have given new contours to processes of politicization, as well as the use of the term “revolution.” Before 2011, references to “the revolution” around the Arab World would conjure images of Gamal Abdul Nasser, Abdul-Karim Qassim, Mu’ammar al-Qaddafi, George Habash, and Yasser Arafat, among others. Put differently, “the revolution”—and all that the term entailed in terms of hopes, dreams, belonging, solidarities, and conflicts—had for many of my generation felt like a distant past, one whose possibilities were foreclosed by a variety of forces; some structural and others contingent. Even those of us that self-identified as leftists, progressives, activists, and/or organizers understood ourselves to be working in a period and context far removed from that described by our parents, mentors, inspirations, and interviewees. As a historian of the second half of the twentieth century, I am often struck by how mobilized the average person was between the 1940s and 1960s, through a combination of political party affiliation, protest participation, and boycott action, to say nothing of simply bearing witness to all that defined those decades. Such degrees of politicization provided a sharp contrast to the effects of post-1970s depoliticization and demobilization across the Arab world as various regimes consolidated their rule and the regional and international order was institutionalized.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2586/resistance-and-revolution-as-lived-daily-experienc
Resistance and Revolution as Lived Daily Experience: An Interview with Leila Khaled (Part 1)
[This is Part 1 of a translated transcription of a series of interviews conducted by the author with Leila Khaled during the summer of 2007. Click here to read the Introduction to the interview.] As the question of the “statehood bid”—or rather UN membership—dominates discussions of Palestinian politics, Leila Khaled’s recollection of her experience of the nakba and its aftermath highlight how the deeply rooted questions of destitution, salvation, and return are central to the Question of Palestine. Palestinian refugees throughout the Arab world are six decades after the event still mired in a state of exception. On the one hand, the Israeli government has sought to consolidate its denial of Palestinian return by shifting the goal posts of negotiations from a recognition of “Israel’s right to exist” to one of “Israel as a Jewish state.” On the other, Arab regimes persist in their denial of equal rights for Palestinian refugees residing within their borders, allegedly for the sake of preserving their right of return while at the same time normalizing the condition of their exile. What the statehood discussion completely misses is that the bid itself perpetuates the decades-long Palestinian Liberation Organization’s (PLO) abandonment of Palestinian refugees and Palestinian citizens of Israel.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2587/resistance-and-revolution-as-lived-daily-experienc
Racism / Discrimination
Kangaroo court won’t deliver justice over Itamar killings
The gross display of collective punishment following the murder of a settler family in Itamar caused the investigation to lose legitimacy in the eyes of Palestinians and legal and human rights organizations. And Israel’s military court system guarantees that the victims and the accused will not see justice.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/kangaroo-court-wont-deliver-justice-over-itamar-killings/10371?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Rights Violations
MADA: Increase in violations against Palestinian journalists
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Violations against journalists in the West Bank and Gaza by Palestinian security forces and Israeli authorities increased in August, a Palestinian press freedom watchdog reported Monday. In its monthly report MADA, the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms, said the violations were also more varied, threatening both freedom of expression and the right to access information.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=419566
Political / Diplomatic / International
Jordan protest threatens to emulate embassy storming
Facebook page calls Jordanians to attend ‘million-man rally’ outside Israeli embassy in Amman on Thursday; organizers announce masses will attempt to break through building, take down Israeli flag.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4121004,00.html
Jordan’s king says Arab Spring bad for Israel
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan’s King Abdullah II, one of Israel’s few remaining close allies in the Muslim world, said in remarks obtained Monday that the uprisings sweeping Arab nations have put the Jewish state in a difficult position. He also hotly rejected the notion that his country should take in Palestinians as a substitute for the creation of a state for them.
Netanyahu compares Arab Spring to earthquake, says Israel must tighten security measures
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that the ongoing turmoil in the Arab World and the region is an earthquake at the international level, one that must be addressed by tightening Israeli security measures.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61999
U.S.: Attack on Israeli embassy in Egypt mustn’t spread to rest of Mideast
States Department official says Washington believes Israel, Egypt have shown their commitment to calmin
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-attack-on-israeli-embassy-in-egypt-mustn-t-spread-to-rest-of-mideast-1.384060?localLinksEnabled=false
US nervous as ties fray between Israel, neighbors (AP)
AP – The Obama administration is watching warily as relations among its allies Israel, Egypt and Turkey deteriorate, threatening Mideast stability and U.S. goals for the region.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110912/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_mideast
Israel Navy ship accidentally enters waters of neighboring Arab nation
Commander sent to jail after a navigational error caused his reconnaissance vessel to cross several hundred meters into neighboring waters before being ordered back by Israeli radar station.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-navy-ship-accidentally-enters-waters-of-neighboring-arab-nation-1.384070?localLinksEnabled=false
Egypt/Israel
Israel seeking new location for its Cairo embassy
The Israeli foreign ministry is planning to relocate its embassy in Cairo and is currently looking for a new site, Hebrew press sources said.
link to Palestine Information Center
Report: Israeli ambassador was advised to stay home on eve of Cairo embassy attack
Senior Egyptian source says despite warning, Israeli government insisted on sending the ambassador back to Cairo as soon as possible.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/report-israeli-ambassador-was-advised-to-stay-home-on-eve-of-cairo-embassy-attack-1.383847?localLinksEnabled=false
Egypt fears Turkey’s Erdogan will use visit to stir up anti-Israel sentiment
Turkey PM accompanied by a particularly large military and commercial delegation in Cairo, is due to sign a number of accords with Egypt.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/egypt-fears-turkey-s-erdogan-will-use-visit-to-stir-up-anti-israel-sentiment-1.384096?localLinksEnabled=false
Embassy Leaks: Israel’s Fallen Egyptian Friends
Cairo - Documents flew in the air, appearing like stars falling from the sky. A 20-year-old protester watched in disbelief as one by one they fell to the ground. The look of astonishment was even greater among the faces of Egyptian protesters who broke into the Israeli embassy in Cairo on Friday September 9. Egyptian security are still at a loss as to how such a breakdown could occur. Amid the confusion, police took out their frustration on protesters, running them over with armored vehicles and chasing them down the street.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/embassy-leaks-israel%E2%80%99s-fallen-egyptian-friends
Turkey/Israel
Erdogan: Turkey ready for all scenarios
Turkish prime minister rejects option of military confrontation with Israel, but stresses Ankara is prepared for worst case scenario; says Israel ‘a spoiled child that accuses anyone who dares criticize it of anti-Semitism’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4121445,00.html
Turkey’s Erdogan heads to Egypt, unnerving an embattled Israel
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan’s North Africa tour comes at a critical time for Israel, whose diplomats were forced to flee Cairo this weekend after protesters attacked the Israeli embassy.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/t1CHCl_7JZw/Turkey-s-Erdogan-heads-to-Egypt-unnerving-an-embattled-Israel
Report: Turkish warplanes now able to fire at Israeli targets
Ankara’s Star Gazete says country’s new F-16 radar system modified to recategorize Israeli targets as hostile. Order said to come directly from PM Erdogan’s office; naval, submarine radar systems to be changed next.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4121642,00.html
Turkey vows response to Israel PKK support threat
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed to respond to threats by Israel to offer military support to the PKK to punish Turkey over reducing diplomatic ties with it.
link to Palestine Information Center
Turkey PM tells Arabs: Israel has isolated itself (AP)
AP – Turkey’s prime minister has told Arab foreign ministers that Israel has isolated itself and must “pay the price” after refusing to apologize for its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last year.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110913/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_arabs_turkey
Report: Turkey no longer averting attacks on Israeli targets
Turkish newspaper reports that due to new technology, Turkey’s U.S.-made F-16 jets are now able to identify Israeli targets as ‘foe’ as opposed to ‘friend.’
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-turkey-no-longer-averting-attacks-on-israeli-targets-1.384198?localLinksEnabled=false
After Turkey, PKK now also demanding apology from Israel
PKK leader says Israel must apologize for capture of imprisoned leader in 1999; demand comes after Lieberman reportedly recommends that Israel cooperate with the Kurdish party and even consider supplying it with weapons.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/after-turkey-pkk-now-also-demanding-apology-from-israel-1.384197?localLinksEnabled=false
Other News
Another failed endeavor to win the hearts and minds of those that that they treat as second class citizens: Mabrouk! Israel to launch its first Arab satellite TV station
Pilots have also been shot for a current events program, a children’s show, and series for young people that will begin with a competition to choose young hosts for the shows.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/mabrouk-israel-to-launch-its-first-arab-satellite-tv-station-1.384111?localLinksEnabled=false
Analysis/Op-ed
Meet New York City’s Terror-Linked Political Kingmaker, Max Blumenthal
Bob Turner, the Republican candidate campaigning to replace disgraced Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, picked up a crucial endorsement last week when Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind threw his support to him. Hikind is the former leader of the the Jewish Defense League (JDL), which the FBI lists as a terror organization. He was also a confidant of the fanatical Israeli settler leader Meir Kahane, who called for the “slaughter” of Palestinians. Under Kahane’s direction, Hikind operated a front group with the JDL cadre Victor Vancier (aka Chaim Ben Pesach), who served 10 years in prison for carrying out numerous firebomb attacks on innocent people, and openly contemplated killing the renowned Palestinian professor Edward Said. According to journalists Michael Karpin and Ina Friedman, “Hikind had been suspected [by the FBI] of similar activities” including a string of six bombings against Arab-American targets across the United States.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/gadfly/meet-new-york-citys-terror-linked-political-kingmaker
Palestinians: The Usual Terror Suspects
Palestinians were not immune from the fallout of the 9/11 attacks in New York. They were among those who paid a high price and continue to do so, even though they had no direct involvement in the attacks.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/palestinians-usual-terror-suspects?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
‘Arab Sources’ on Mondoweiss, Simone Daud
Arab Sources is a place where I translate into English various Arabic sources and opinion. Arab Sources is also a place where I publish my own analysis. My broad aim is for the Arab Sources series to be an invitation to the full Zellij of Arab cultures. Arab Sources until recently was published in the Democratic party’s community blog DailyKos. It was shut down by DailyKos a week ago in a broad purge that seems to have targeted a number of African American series and Arab Sources. I think that Mondoweiss is perhaps a more suitable outlet for Arab Sources and my work.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/09/arab-sources-on-mondowiess.html
Storming the Israeli Occupation Embassy, As’ad AbuKhalil
It will be a definitive moment—or one of the definitive moments in the on-going history of the Egyptian uprising. People may be compelled to distinguish between the history before the storming of the Israeli embassy in Cairo and the history after it. The media of the Arab counter-revolution (primarily Saudi and Qatari) were very nervous and awkward in covering the story. It happened on a Friday when all the propaganda outlets should be focused exclusively on Syria (because the rest of the Arab world has become democratic, thanks to efforts of Gulf Cooperatoin Council (GCC) in the region.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/angry-corner/storming-israeli-occupation-embassy?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
Storming the Embassy: ‘Peace without Justice is Tyranny’, Nath Aldalala’a
What was built on feeble foundations is feeble. The Egypt-Israeli Peace Treaty (EIPT) was signed at a time characterised by a very different domestic and regional political climate. The most notable aspect of that period was the lack of voice from within the ranks of the Egyptian people. Commonly, legitimate governments act on behalf of their citizens to produce rightful, and thus, enduring agreements. Yet this has not been the case with the EIPT. It was signed during a period of acute tension and latent aggression in the region, and this overshadowed any desires for peace. That is, simply, why both the treaty itself and the peace it imposed remained fragile and vulnerable. After the treaty was signed, the Arab world placed a boycott on Egypt and a particularly punitive decision was taken to move the headquarters of the Arab League from Cairo to Tunis. This measure was taken to strip Egypt of its leading role in regional politics and its leadership in Arab policy.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=17103
The Egyptian People Want Israel Out, Julie Webb-Pullman – Gaza
The hasty and undignified departure of Israeli embassy staff from Cairo following popular protests on Friday (September 09) underscores the highly-tenuous state of Israeli-Egyptian relations, as well as the strength and determination of the Egyptian people. Since the overthrow of Israeli-US stalwart Mubarak, there have been increasing demands to revise Israeli-Egyptian relations, based on the perception that Israel has never honored the 1978 Camp David accords which govern them.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=17098
At the UN, the funeral of the two-state solution, Ilan Pappe
We are all going to be invited to the funeral of the two-state solution if and when the UN General Assembly announces the acceptance of Palestine as a member state.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/un-funeral-two-state-solution/10370?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Preparations for the statehood bid ignoring Palestinians, Joseph Dana
Despite its power and reach, the Palestinian Authority (PA) have made little effort to explain their controversial statehood bid in the United Nations to the rank and file living in the occupied West Bank. The plethora of opinion pieces, news articles and speeches by Palestinian Authority officials on the statehood attempt have not largely been directed at Palestinians and most have not appeared in Arabic. Conversations in Ramallah cafes over the past months have invariably drifted to the statehood discussion and the vacuum of factual information surrounding it. The PA’s lack of transparency has compounded an already mistrusted institution after Al Jazeera revealed, in the Palestine Papers, that the PA was negotiating away core rights, including as the right of return, in secret negotiations with Israel from 2007 to 2009.
http://josephdana.com/preparations-for-the-statehood-bid-ignoring-palestinians/3881?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=preparations-for-the-statehood-bid-ignoring-palestinians
Diplomatic disasters incline Israel towards belligerence, Joseph Dana
During his press conference on Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared developments in the Middle East to the events of the First World War. He was speaking just hours after the dramatic removal of Israeli embassy staff in Cairo following riots by Egyptian protesters. According to news reports from the scene, protesters managed to enter the embassy after a day of increasing anger, including destruction of a security barrier and removal of the embassy’s Israeli flag. In a post-Mubarak Egypt, protesters had tapped into deep and growing discontent regarding Egypt’s relationship with Israel.
http://josephdana.com/diplomatic-disasters-incline-israel-towards-belligerence/3879?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=diplomatic-disasters-incline-israel-towards-belligerence
Israel must come to terms with its changing neighbours
Netanyahu’s regime needs to grasp how the Arab spring has changed all Middle East dynamics. Take two countries in profound transition. One is Turkey, with an army numerically stronger than Britain, France and Germany rolled together. Another is Egypt, which a dominant army rules pro tem. And then, trailing far behind, comes Israel, a land where transition – indeed, anything close to a second thought – never happens. What? Surely we’re not talking war after a few skirmishes and a lot of angry rhetoric? No. But we are talking reality.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/11/israel-neighbours-arab-changes
Palestine’s Students Must Be Set Free, Stuart Littlewood
The last thing Israel wants is masses of bright and clever young Palestinians nextdoor in the shredded remains of the Occupied Territories. But that’s exactly what Palestinian youngsters are… bright and clever, given half a chance. So they need repressing. They need humiliating constantly. They need to be discouraged. They need to have their education disrupted big-time, so that they become a broken, dispirited, docile mass without ambition, utterly dependent on a few crumbs of comfort and easy to control.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=17097
Other News
Real News Video: Evidence that Al-Qaeda Killed Hariri
Gareth Porter: UN inquiry ignored confessions and other facts in-order to pin assassination on Hezbollah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-qaoNJ7U4E&feature=player_embedded
Iran ‘to free’ US spy-case hikers
Two Americans jailed for spying in Iran will be released in two days, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tells US news network NBC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-14897868
Jordan’s PM approved controversial casino
Documents obtained by Al Jazeera reveal that Marouf al-Bakhit personally authorised a now-cancelled casino deal in 2007.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/07/2011724125647625781.html
Taxi drivers found in mass grave in Iraq
A gang of car thieves is suspected of kidnapping and killing 40 taxi drivers and burying their bodies in a mass grave.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/taxi-drivers-found-in-mass-grave-in-iraq-2353696.html
